By Steven Allen Adams The Parkersburg News and Sentinel CHARLESTON — State Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel and Assistant Senate Minority Leader Joey Garcia know that they are outnumbered by Republicans in the West Virginia Senate, but they believe their legislative agenda could have some bipartisan support. “We are small in number, but we are fairly nimble and active,” said Woelfel, D-Cabell. The two lone Democratic members of the 34-member Senate held a press conference Tuesday afternoon in the Senate...

Screenshot By Laura Bilson Charleston Gazette-Mail Surrounded by friends and neighbors, Washington Manor residents Terri Singleton and Donna Badger line danced together in the gymnasium they have known most of their lives. “I learned to swim in that swimming pool,” said Singleton, 53, referring to the pool outside the MLK Jr. Community Center in Charleston. The MLK Jr. Community Center provides Charleston’s families a space to come together and serve one another through community events. With the theme “The Dream...

Screenshot By Esteban Fernandez Times West Virginian CHARLESTON — For her social studies project, Pleasant Valley Elementary fourth grader Abrien Quinn chose to travel to the state’s capitol to witness her first protest. “I learned a few things,” she said. “Honestly, more people came to the protest than I was expecting. And I learned that a lot more people than you think, actually do care.” However, Abrien’s father, Dillon Quinn, saw something new from the state’s opposition leaders. The state’s Democratic...

Staff reports The Parkersburg News and Sentinel PARKERSBURG — The North Star Child Advocacy Center (NSCAC) recently released its 2025 preliminary numbers which are showing the number of interviews conducted having gone up over the last year as the center continues its work with children who are the victims of violent crime. The release was done ahead of the full statistical analysis that has yet to be released by the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network, said Executive Director Greg Collins...

By Steven Allen Adams For The Intelligencer CHARLESTON – With the West Virginia Department of Education intervening in Hancock County schools following severe financial discrepancies, the House of Delegates quickly originated and passed a bill providing emergency financial aid to the county. The House passed House Bill 4574, creating a path for condition-based emergency funding for financially distressed county school systems, in a 91-2 vote. The House also passed House Bill 4575, making an $8 million supplemental appropriation to the...

By Greg Jordan The Register-Herald HINTON — Bald eagle sightings across southern West Virginia and into Southwest Virginia, along with the possibility of nests throughout the region, are among the results of an annual wintertime eagle survey. The 21st Winter Eagle Survey was conducted Jan. 10 in the Summers County area. Volunteers new to eagle spotting joined the Eagle Brigade of Southern WV — which includes Three Rivers Avian Center, Bibbee Nature Club and Hanging Rock Migration Observatory — for...

By Gage Vota For The Intelligencer WHEELING — Snow and cold conditions couldn’t stop the community coming together on Sunday afternoon for the annual Interfaith March for Peace and Justice in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The march kicked off at the Windmill atop Wheeling Hill and ended at West Virginia Northern Community College. Rabbi Joshua Lief, spiritual leader of Temple Shalom and Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee member said that the annual march has...

By Steven Allen Adams The Parkersburg News and Sentinel CHARLESTON – Nearly four years after it first announced that it was considering Mason County for a plant to turn coal into other products, Gov. Patrick Morrisey Monday said Frontieras North America has closed on property. Morrisey in a press release announced that the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Frontieras North America, a subsidiary of Frontier Applied Sciences, has closed on the purchase of 183 acres in Mason County to move forward with a...

By Steven Allen Adams The Parkersburg News and Sentinel CHARLESTON — More than a year ago, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said the state was heading for a structural deficit, but he presented lawmakers a balanced general revenue budget. He is now presenting a balanced budget for the next fiscal year with a new tax cut, but lawmakers are asking what changed since last year. During his annual State of the State address Wednesday night, Morrisey presented House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay,...

Screenshot By Riley McCoy The Register-Herald BECKLEY — An entire courtroom erupted into applause Friday as a new group of U.S. citizens completed their immigration journey. At the Robert C. Byrd Courthouse in Charleston, more than 50 immigrants took the Oath of Allegiance to become United States citizens. The ceremony was presided over by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge B. McKay Mignault, who led her first naturalization program under the guidance and continuity of Judge Joseph R. Volk, who typically presides over...