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On Monday,
Gov. Jim Justice – along with WVU Health System President and
CEO, Dr. Albert Wright, and WVU President Gordon Gee –
came together at Wheeling Hospital to announce preliminary plans to
reestablish hundreds of jobs and to enhance healthcare services in
the Northern Panhandle, following the premature closure of Ohio
Valley Medical Center last week. [Watch
Video]
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On
Wednesday, September 11th – the 18th anniversary of the 9/11
terrorist attacks – Gov. Justice attended a memorial ceremony
to honor the thousands of people who lost their lives that day. The
ceremony began at 8:46 a.m. – the same time the first plane
hit the first tower. [Watch
Video]
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Gov.
Justice also ordered all United States flags and West Virginia
state flags to be displayed at half-staff in observance of Patriot
Day and in honor of those who died in 9/11 as well as the first
responders. [Read More]
Additionally, the Governor asked all West Virginians to observe a
moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. and also released a statement urging
West Virginians to keep the heroes and victims of 9/11 in their
hearts. [Read More]
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Over the
past week, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management (DHSEM) has been notified by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) that West Virginia has implemented all
requirements to be released from the manual reimbursement
requirement. The release from this so-called "manual
drawdown" will allow DHSEM to operate more efficiently and
help communities recover from disaster more quickly. DHSEM has
worked closely with FEMA to address these findings by developing a
monitoring program, submitting a financial monitoring plan and a
monitoring schedule for review. [Read More]
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On Monday,
Gov. Justice hosted David "Bugs" Stover at the Governor's
Mansion as Stover completed a 100+ mile walk from Wyoming County to
Charleston in support of the completion of the Coalfields
Expressway. During their meeting, Gov. Justice and leaders with the
Department of Transportation assured Stover that the project is a
top priority they intend on completing as soon as possible, highlighting
that crews have been working this summer to build the newest
section of the expressway – an 8.9-mile stretch from Slab Fork
in Raleigh County to Mullens in Wyoming County. [More
Photos]
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On
Saturday, Gov. Justice helped celebrate a milestone birthday
for Wheeling, riding in the city’s 250th Anniversary Parade. During
the event, the Governor rode along in a 1959 Pontiac convertible,
greeting spectators and taking in the pageantry of the parade. [More
Photos]
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At the
annual West Virginia Teacher of the Year Gala Wednesday
night, the Department of Education and the West Virginia Board
of Education announced Marshall County’s Jennifer Schwertfeger as
the 2020 West Virginia Teacher of the Year. Schwertfeger
teaches traditional and college-level science courses at Cameron
High School. A ten-year veteran of education, she has transformed
the way science is taught in her classroom with meaningful hands-on
and “minds-on” interactive lessons. [Read More]
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Last
Friday, the Division of Forestry along with West Virginia State
Parks released a fall foliage map, projecting when leaves will
change colors for the fall across different regions within the
state for people who hope to take in the sights this autumn season.
[Read More]
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This past
weekend marked the beginning of the 2019 Gauley Season in the
Mountain State. As fall approaches, Summersville Lake is partially
drained to prepare for Winter rain and snow. Beginning on the
Friday after Labor Day, water is released from the lake and fed
into the Gauley River. The releases continue for six weeks and
create what we now know as “Gauley Season,” providing thrill
seekers some of the toughest rapids to navigate on this world class
river. [Read More]
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On Monday,
State Parks announced that elk management tours are set to return
to Logan County this September and October. Reservations are being
taken now for guided tours of the elk reintroduction site at the
Tomblin Wildlife Management Area, where elk from Kentucky and
Arizona were released in 2016 and 2018. West Virginia’s last native
elk was seen in Webster County in 1875. [Read More]
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On
Thursday, a public meeting was held at Lavalette Elementary
School to obtain public comments and feedback concerning a
feasibility assessment for a proposed 75-room lodge and conference
center near the Beech Fork Dam and Recreation Area near Huntington.
[Read More]
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This week,
the Department of Transportation highlighted recent work they have
done using drones to complete mapping and surveying projects across
the state. This new technology is allowing crews to do work that
would normally take them a month in just nine days. And, thanks in
part to that time-savings, it's estimated the use of drones saved
the state $340,000 in one month alone. [Watch
Video]
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This week,
a total of 133 volunteers lent their time and efforts to
the annual Great Kanawha River Sweep, picking up litter at Kanawha
Falls, Krodel Park, Magic Island, Rush Creek, Winfield Beach, and a
1.5 mile stretch of the Elk River – a tributary into the Kanawha
River. This year, crews removed about 3.5 tons of trash along with
a total of 361 tires. Volunteers spent a total of 290 hours on
the cleanup. The Elk River site saw the greatest improvement, with
45 volunteers collecting 2.13 tons of trash and 358 tires alone. [Watch
Video]
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Leaders
with the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs (HHOMA)
visited Capital High School on Tuesday to meet with a group of
students for the latest stop of HHOMA's 2019 Statewide Listening
Tour. These Listening Tour events give individuals in historically
underserved areas of West Virginia a platform to talk to state
officials about questions or concerns they have about their
communities. At Tuesday's event, students discussed a wide range of
topics that affect young West Virginians and spoke to
representatives from state, non-profit, and business organizations
on options for life after high school. [Watch Video]
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On
Thursday, the Department of Education unveiled West Virginia's
Balanced Scorecard results, which outline accountability ratings
for each public school in the Mountain State as part of West
Virginia’s School Accountability System. Each public school in the
state received a scorecard that provides parents, students,
educators, and communities an annual update on multiple measures
that together show how well students are learning, growing, and
achieving. The Balanced Scorecard is used to outline clear
information on where schools are excelling and in what areas
schools may need to improve. [Read More]
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On
Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Resources today that
William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital has been readmitted to the Medicare
program through the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS). In September 2017, CMS terminated Sharpe Hospital from
participation in the Medicare program, meaning that Sharpe could
not admit Medicare patients. After nearly two years of the
recertification process and CMS surveys, CMS determined that Sharpe
successfully met all requirements and is in compliance with the
Special Conditions for Psychiatric Hospitals and participation in
the CMS Medicare program. [Read More]
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Commerce
Secretary Ed Gaunch toured several businesses in Marion, Harrison,
and Monongalia counties at the end of last week as the most recent
stop on his ongoing statewide business listening tour. [Read More]
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This week,
the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety announced that
it is continuing efforts to recruit correctional officers and
staff through a series of upcoming job fairs. Seven of these
one-stop career events will be held throughout the state between
Sept. 17 and Nov. 7. These events will allow recruits to sign up on
the spot. Minimum qualifications include a high school diploma, a
valid driver’s license and passage of a physical agility test and a
drug screening. [Read More]
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On
Thursday, West Virginia State Parks announced that Canaan Valley
Resort State Park will further solidify its status as a mountain
biking destination this weekend when more than 100 middle and high
school students shred the park’s newest trail during the West
Virginia Interscholastic Cycling League’s 2019 Rally in the
Valley Race. The race is part of a two-day event that starts on Saturday,
Sept. 14 and highlights Canaan Valley’s new six-mile mountain
biking trail. The race is on Sunday, Sept. 15 and hundreds of
visitors, including racers and their families, are expected to
visit and stay at the park this weekend. [Read More]
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Last
Friday, the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs announced
that it is taking entries for the 36th Annual Poster Competition
for the Martin Luther King, Jr. State Holiday Commission. Each
year students throughout the state of West Virginia have shared
their artistic abilities by submitting their entries as a way of
celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This
year, the mission of the competition is to focus on this famous
quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from Stride Toward Freedom: "True peace is not
merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."
[Read More]
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Soldiers
with the West Virginia Army National Guard’s 119th Engineer Company
(Sapper) recently conducted demolition and grenade range operations
at Camp Dawson. The 119th Sappers are combat engineers with the
National Guard, who perform military engineering duties such as
breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or
clearing minefields, preparing field defenses, as well as working
on road and airfield construction and repair. [Watch
Video]
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Maj. Gen.
James Hoyer, the Adjutant General of the West Virginia National
Guard, and Command Sgt. Maj. Phillip Cantrell, senior enlisted
advisor for the WVNG, recently visited soldiers from the 821st
Horizontal Construction Company in Kuwait. These soldiers are
deployed in support of Operation Spartan Shield. [More
Photos]
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