Arrest Made After Elderly Woman Robbed

• {West Virginia}...Joshua Cordwell, 29, a Chelyan man accused of robbing and running over an elderly woman at the Kroger in Kanawha City on Wednesday was arrested Saturday night. Cordwell was wanted for second-degree robbery and assault after being identified from a surveillance video. Police say Cordwell followed 74 year old Wanda Williams out of the store, grabbed her purse and pulled her partway into his vehicle. He then knocked her to the ground and dragged her several feet. Police say he then jumped in a car with another man and as they were leaving, they ran over her. Police are also searching for the driver of the getaway car. Cordwell faces a possible 20 years in prison.

Charleston Murder Case Sent To Grand Jury

• {West Virginia}...Kenneth Carter, 50, was in court Friday facing charges in the death of Ronald Forton, 51, of Charleston, whose body was found in an apartment on Buehring Avenue on July 21st. Brady Dunlap, was allegedly in the apartment when Carter is accused of killing Forton. He testified the attack came after a long night of drinking. Carter had been charged with malicious wounding after Dunlap was found beaten that same night, but those charges were dropped, while the murder charge has been sent to the grand jury.

Man Accused Of Murdering His Wife

• {West Virginia}...Harry Lee Smith, 66, has been charged with first degree murder in connection to the death of his wife, 62 year old Constance Smith. Cabell County Sheriff's Deputies say a call came in about an accidental shooting in the area of Birkewood Road near Barboursville shortly before 11:00 P.M. Saturday night. Deputies found Constance Smith dead, with a gunshot wound to the head. Harry Smith told Deputies that the gun accidentally discharged, but investigators say the evidence did not match up to Smith's story. Constance Smith's body was taken to the medical examiner's office in Charleston.

Woman Injured While Trapped Under Truck

• {West Virginia}...A woman was seriously injured in a two-vehicle wreck near Rock Lake Drive and MacCorkle Avenue in South Charleston Sunday. The woman was eventually freed and taken to the hospital with serious injuries after being trapped underneath a truck, with the weight of the truck on her head.

Pineville Honors Fallen UBB Miners

• {West Virginia}...The town of Pineville honored one of its own Saturday with the dedication of a new pavilion in honor of  21 year old Adam Morgan, the youngest victim of the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion at the Massey Energy operation in Raleigh County in April of 2010. Pineville Mayor Tim Ellison says building the pavilion at the town park will honor Morgan as well as 5 other miners from Wyoming County who died that day: Benny Willingham, Robert Clark, Nick McCroskey, William Griffith and Edward Jones. Along with the pavilion, the town also raised money to purchase special benches that are placed around the park. Each bench has the name of the fallen miner and the date of the UBB explosion when they perished. Morgan's bench is located in the pavilion. Ellison says a local sign maker has also designed a special tribute to Morgan which has has engraved coal buckets on one side and the helmets on the other side.

Protesters Remain Perched Above Bee Tree Mine

• {West Virginia}...Two strip-mining protesters, Catherine-Ann MacDougal and Becks Kolins, affiliated with Radical Action for Mountain People's Survival, have spent more than 10 days on a platform atop an oak tree 80 feet above the ground near the Bee Tree surface mine on Coal River Mountain in Boone County. The mine is owned by Virginia's Alpha Natural Resources. Their mission is to non-violently bring an end to strip mining in Appalachia.

Charleston Man Loses Leg

• {West Virginia}...Charleston Police arrested Thomas Carte of Lincoln County Saturday evening and charged him with DUI causing injury. Police say Arland Anderson was under the hood changing the oil in his pickup truck at the Go-Mart on 7th Avenue when Carte, the passenger of his parked truck, got behind the wheel and ran him over, driving him into a parked car and pinning him. Anderson was taken to CAMC General Hospital, where his right leg was amputated below the knee. He also has a compound fracture to his left leg and possibly a broken foot. Further charges are pending.  

PSC Approves AT&T/T-Mobile Buyout

• {West Virginia}...The Public Service Commission has approved AT&T'S plan to purchase T-Mobile, a move that representatives say will let the company eventually bring high-speed "fourth-generation" wireless coverage to most West Virginians. The Commission ruled that the deal would not harm wireless competition in the state because T-Mobile has only 0.26 percent of the West Virginia market. AT&T, which sought PSC approval in April, says the deal will let it bring 4G access to 95 percent of West Virginians within the next four to six years. Federal regulators still must approve the $39 billion national purchase.

Plane Crashes In Cabell County

• {West Virginia}...State Police, Cabell County EMS, the Barboursville Fire Department and the Ohio River Road Fire Department responded to the scene of a single-engine plane crash while landing at the Robert Newlon Field Airport in Huntington about 3:30 P.M. Saturday afternoon. The plane was carrying two passengers. One person was taken to St. Mary's Hospital with minor injuries.

Airlines Urged To Pass Savings To Customers

• {West Virginia}...Senator Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and five Senate colleagues wrote to eight airlines Friday, asking them to reduce airfares and pass cost savings on to customers from temporarily expired taxes that normally go to the Federal Aviation Administration. Those taxes, which customers paid when buying tickets, stopped going to the FAA on July 23rd, after the House refused to pass a temporary reauthorization act to keep the agency funded. The taxes are used to fund airport repairs and safety upgrades. Most airlines have been keeping those taxes themselves. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood estimates private airlines will pocket up to $200 million by keeping those taxes.

Mason County Murder Apparent Revenge

• {West Virginia}...Chad McCallister, 25, and Matthew Woods, 24, appeared in Mason County Magistrate Court Friday morning  charged with the murder of Rene Gonzalez, who was found shot to death at his home in Gallipolis Ferry. Cpl. B.L. Keefer testified McCallister told him he had been in a physical altercation with Gonzalez the night before the murder, and he and Gonzalez had an ongoing feud about a woman.  Keefer said McCallister had been visited previously by Adkins, who said he would get justice for McCallister. Woods allegedly drove Adkins to the trailer, but McCallister alleged he thought the incident would just be a robbery and a fight. According to Keefer's testimony, the motive was revenge. Their cases were bound over to the grand jury. According to West Virginia State Police Sgt. E.B. Starcher, Steven Adkins, 25, who is also facing charges in connection to Gonzalez’ death is fighting extradition in Gallipolis, Ohio, where he was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant out of Mason County.

Warrant Issued After Elderly Woman Robbed

• {West Virginia}...A warrant was issued Friday for Joshua Cordwell, 29, a Chelyan man accused of robbing and running over an elderly woman at the Kroger in Kanawha City on Wednesday. Cordwell is wanted for second-degree robbery and assault after being identified from a surveillance video. Police say Cordwell followed 74 year old Wanda Williams out of the store, grabbed her purse and pulled her partway into his vehicle. He then knocked her to the ground and dragged her several feet. Police say he then jumped in a car with another man and as they were leaving, they ran over her. Police are also searching for the driver of the getaway car.

Dunbar Man Charged With Indecent Exposure

• {West Virginia}...Forty-four year old Jonathan J. Turner, of Dunbar was arrested Thursday after police say he had exposed his genitals from inside his parked van at the Dunbar Village Plaza and the Family Dollar in Dunbar. Police found the van parked at the Dunbar Village Plaza Thursday with Turner sitting in the driver's seat. During a search of his van, police found a cellphone and camera with pictures taken at the plaza with his genitals exposed, a pipe with marijuana inside and a small bag of pot. A check on Turner came back that he was wanted in Florida for indecent exposure, but Florida would not extradite him from West Virginia, and he also had two convictions for indecent exposure in Tennessee.

Comedian Andy Dick Pleads Not Guilty

• {West Virginia}...Comedian Andy Dick is scheduled to go on trial January 17th in Cabell County Circuit Court after pleading  not guilty to charges of first degree sexual abuse during his arraignment Friday morning. Dick denied charges that he made inappropriate contact with two men at Rum Runners Night Club in Huntington last January. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for September 29th. On his way into the courtroom Friday, Dick was served with court papers from a separate civil lawsuit in Texas.

Robbed Charleston Man Won't Press Charges

• {West Virginia}...Police say 23 year old Jeremy Stalnaker of Charleston was robbed Thursday while trying to buy marijuana on Thompson Street. Stalnaker, who didn't want to press charges, told police a black man, about 6 feet tall who had dreadlocks stuck something in his back and said he would shoot him if he didn't turn over his valuables. He then made off with Stalnaker's wallet and some prescription pills.

Frontier Workers Calling For Equality

• {West Virginia}...Hundreds of Communications Workers of America union members rallied at Frontier Communications headquarters in Charleston Thursday, calling for worker equality as negotiations for a new contract near a Sunday deadline. Frontier purchased Verizon's wire line assets in July 2010, becoming the top provider of home and cell phone service, as well as internet service. Union employees who worked for Frontier before the acquisition will see their contracts expire later this year, while the contract for the CWA Local 2001 in Charleston runs out at 11:59 P.M. Sunday. Those workers want their new contract to come in line with former Verizon employees who began working for Frontier after the 2010 purchase. Union leaders say the current contracts allow for legacy employees to get paid less and have fewer benefits than former Verizon workers, even though both groups are doing the same work.

Worker Killed At McDowell County Mine Site

• {West Virginia}...The state Mine Safety Office says 40 year old Jason Stacey, a contract worker died around 8:44 P.M. Wednesday night on a mining site in McDowell County. Investigators say Stacey was working at the Superior Processing Plant in Maitland for an independent contractor, the Mike Dover Corp. of Marion, Ill., when he was electrocuted while performing a welding job. State officials say the preparation plant was being renovated and was not processing coal at the time of the incident. Stacey is the fourth coal mine related on the job death in West Virginia this year and the 11th nationally. MSHA figures show Stacey makes the third U.S. coal mining death since July 1st. Two of those deaths occurred on July 11th in Kentucky and July 21st in New Mexico.

Man Allegedly Supplies Drugs For Incarcerated Girlfriend

• {West Virginia}...Charleston Police say, when 72 William Henry Powell went to the South Central Regional Jail Wednesday morning to visit his girlfriend, Crystal Jones, 35, who has been incarcerated since May, he used a potato chip bag to smuggle pills, marijuana and cigarette-making materials to her. Troopers say Powell went into the men's bathroom off the main lobby at the facility and left a TGI Friday's potato chip bag in the trashcan inside. Corrections officers searched the bag and discovered loose-leaf tobacco, rolling papers, marijuana, five Neurontin pills and 10 Visareal pills. Powell, charged with three counts of transferring a controlled substance into a regional jail, was released on a personal recognizance bond and ordered not to have any further contact with Jones.

West Virginia Fugitive Fighting Extradition

• {West Virginia}...Steven Adkins, Jr., 25, who was arrested last Thursday night in Ohio on a fugitive from justice warrant out of Mason County, West Virginia, is fighting extradition back to West Virginia where he is charged with the murder of Rene Gonzalez. Forty-three year old Gonzalez was found dead at his home in Gallipolis Ferry on July 11th. Adkins will be back in court in Gallia County on August 25th. Chad McCallister, 25, of Apple Grove, and Matthew Woods, 24, of Gallipolis Ferry, were arrested by West Virginia State Police last Friday evening and charged with Gonzalez’s murder. Their preliminary hearings are set for Friday morning. According to the criminal complaint, the three men entered into a conspiracy where they planned to rob Gonzalez at his residence. The complaint then says Woods drove Adkins and McCallister to Gonzalez's’s home where Adkins got out of the vehicle with .410 gauge shotgun and went to the front door where he shot Gonzalez twice before the men drove back to McCallsiter’s residence.

Shooting Gets Man 15 Years In Prison

• {West Virginia}...Thursday morning, Judge Paul Farrell sentenced 27 year old Clyde Cooper to 15 years in prison. Last month, Cooper entered a Kennedy Plea to voluntary manslaughter in the death of 22 year old Jeremy Cook of Hurricane. Cook was found beaten and unconscious in an alley behind a Huntington nightclub in May 2010. He died several days later at a hospital in Huntington. Monday, Cooper’s co-defendant, Dwain Foster, entered a Kennedy Plea to unlawful wounding in connection with Cook’s death. Foster is set to be sentenced September 15th.

Woman Says Shooting Was To Protect Her Daughter

• {West Virginia}...Teresa Baker of Huntington, who is accused of killing her daughter's boyfriend, 29 year old Jeff Sadler, in February 2008, was in a Cabell County courtroom Thursday morning. Baker says she shot Sadler after calling the police, who she says failed to respond, following a domestic dispute between Sadler and her daughter, and that she did it to protect her daughter from abuse. Prosecutor Chris Chiles and Baker's defense attorney Charlie Hatcher have been working to clarify tape recordings from the night of the  incident, and both sides believe they now have transcripts that will satisfy the court. Those documents will be turned in to the court and both sides for review, and Baker will be back in court next Wednesday for another status hearing.

Fatal Accident Involves Boone County Ambulance

• {West Virginia}...Kanawha County Sheriff's Deputies say 20 year old Bryan Gray of Seth died after he clipped a Boone County Ambulance, driven by 21 year old Ashlie Browning of Alkol, while driving along Lens Creek Road near Hernshaw in eastern Kanawha County  just after 5:30 P.M. Wednesday evening. Deputies say Gray lost control of his truck heading around the curve at Bell Cove Road, crashed into the ambulance and then hit another truck, driven by 40 year old Scottie Keeney, head-on. Two passengers in the ambulance, Terry Hall and Rebecca Hayes, and Keeney were transported to Charleston Area Medical Center, while Gray was pronounced dead at the scene.

Charleston Men Charged In Beating

• {West Virginia}...Greg Allen Burdette, 34 and Lance Michael Jefferson, 18, both of Charleston, are each charged with wanton endangerment and first-degree robbery. Charleston Police say, about 3:45 A.M. Wednesday, Burdette began beating Charles Bryant over an accusation about taking some cigarettes. A complaint states Bryant was beaten after he was out of his wheelchair and on the ground. Burdette then stole Bryant's cell phone and met up with Jefferson. Burdette allegedly bragged about beating Bryant up, then took Jefferson to Bryant's Bigley Avenue home. Once there, the complaints say, Burdette beat Bryant again, and Jefferson beat Bryant and stole his wallet and backpack. According to the criminal complaints, Jefferson hit Bryant so hard and so many times that blood splattered up his arm. Burdette and Jefferson then took pictures of themselves covered in Bryant's blood.

Beckley Man Arraigned On Hospital Theft

• {West Virginia}...Beckley police have charged 33 year old Johnny Lee Ullman of Glen White with grand larceny and conspiracy to commit a felony. Ullman turned himself in Tuesday, but remains free on a $25,000 bond following an arraignment. Detective Sgt. David S. Allard says Ullman and another suspect stole more than 2,000 feet of copper and 300 aluminum lightning rods from the roof of the Raleigh General Hospital the weekend of July 15th. Police are working to identify the second suspect. If convicted, Ullman could spend 2 to 15 years behind bars.

Mercer County Man Charged With Arson

• {West Virginia}...Police in Mercer County have charged 40 year old Roger Wayne Chandler with first-degree arson. He's accused of setting one fire at Coppola's Trailer Park in Brushfork, where he lives. The July 21st fire is one of eight fires that have occurred since the spring. Chandler remains free on $25,000 bond, while the state Fire Marshal's office is still looking for suspects in the other fires.

Crash Lands Wyoming County Man In Jail

{West Virginia}...Wyoming County Sheriff's deputies arrested Jordan Paugh, 30, of Hanover, for possession with intent to deliver, no insurance and driving on a suspended license after a two-vehicle car crash near Westside High School on Route 971 just before 8:00 A.M. Wednesday morning.

Massey And Rawl Sales Settle Lawsuit

{West Virginia}...Early Wednesday morning, Massey Energy and subsidiary Rawl Sales & Processing settled a 7-year-old lawsuit with hundreds of southern West Virginia residents who say the companies' coal slurry disposal practices poisoned their drinking water. Circuit Judge Alan Moats and Circuit Judge Derek Swope had been trying to settle the case as three other judges prepared for a long trial that was set to start August 1st. Some 700 people sued over water supplies they say were ruined by 1.4 billion gallons of slurry pumped into worked-out underground mines. All parties remain under a gag order.

Rahall And Rockefeller Protest Postal Service Plan

{West Virginia}...Representative Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., has voiced his protest to the U.S. Postal Service's plan to close up to 150 such postal facilities across West Virginia, including 85 retail postal outlets in southern West Virginia. The offices cut a huge swatch across his 3rd District. Rahall says, “Consolidations and closures of postal facilities are already affecting southern West Virginia, and this announcement is more bad news for businesses and residents that we certainly do not need.” The postal agency has indicated that some of the offices might be replaced with third-party retailers that offer products and services, but Rahall says, “Once a post office closes, it’s a crapshoot whether postal retail services can be maintained. I encourage everyone to take advantage of the public comment and participation process to help ensure that retail postal services are maintained in our communities.” Senator Jay Rockefeller also weighed in saying he wants to be absolutely certain that rural states haven’t been unfairly targeted. Rockefeller is encouraging concerned West Virginians in areas that have been identified for closure to call the Appalachian District of the Postal Service to share their concerns.

Mingo County Mother Taking Case To U.S. Supreme Court

• {West Virginia}...Jennifer Workman, a Mingo County mother, is taking her challenge to the state’s child immunization law to the U.S. Supreme Court. Workman sued West Virginia and Mingo County health and education officials after Lenore Pre-K to 8 School refused to admit her daughter without vaccinations against childhood diseases. Along with the religious objections, Workman said she was concerned that the vaccinations would cause her daughter to develop autism. In March, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Workman’s claim that the immunization mandate violated her religious rights. The full appeals court refused to review the case.

Charleston Man Slams Vehicle Into House

• {West Virginia}...Zachary Love, 21, of Charleston, is facing multiple charges after smashing his SUV into a house in Fort Hill on Tuesday. Police say Love was speeding and "driving aggressively" when he ran off the road and slammed into the house after he had just smashed into a wall at the corner of Longwood Road and South Fort Drive after apparently losing control in a curve, driving through a yard on Gordon Drive and hitting  the edge of the driveway. That impact flipped the car over on its nose, causing the roof of the vehicle to slam into the roof of the house before the back end of the vehicle came crashing down on the top of the owner's BMW. Love was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital following the wreck.

Retired Putnam County Judge Returning To Bench

• {West Virginia}...In September, retired Putnam County Judge James Holliday will head back to the bench for a temporary assignment in which he handle criminal cases while current Judge O.C. Spaulding focuses on a class action lawsuit involving Monsanto and hundreds of defendants. Because of the additional judge at the courthouse, Circuit Court Clerk Ronnie Matthews asked the Putnam County Commission Tuesday for permission to hire a temporary court clerk for Judge Spaulding. He's expected to report back to county commission at their next meeting. Residents of Nitro and some surrounding areas are suing Monsanto  over alleged dioxin contamination of the town, residences and area streams. They are seeking a court-run fund to clean up pollution of their property, money to reclaim contaminated streams and punitive damages. The former Monsanto plant in Nitro churned out herbicides, rubber products and other chemicals for more than 50 years.

Teen Pedestrian Struck In Elkview

• {West Virginia}...Kanawha County sheriff's deputies are looking for someone who struck 17 year old Rocky Hunter with a car in Elkview around 2:00 A.M. Tuesday morning. Kanawha County Lt. Sean Crosier says Hunter was walking north along U.S. 119 with a friend when he was hit by a car heading the same direction, the impact catapulting him several feet. Hunter was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital with a head injury, but he was later released. Anyone with information is asked to call Knapp at 304-357-0169. Callers may remain anonymous.

Mason County Remains Identified

{West Virginia}...Tuesday, a team from the Smithsonian Institution identified the remains found Sunday night by a hiker on Duncan Creek Road in the Gallipolis Ferry area of Mason County as Ashley Crawford and Tonda Nelson. They had both been missing for nearly six weeks. Jeff Crawford was also reported missing at the time and has not been seen since. Police say, although he is not accused of any crime, Jeff Crawford is a person of interest they hope can supply information about the deaths. State Police say the remains were found on a piece of property owned by a family member of Matthew Woods. Woods was arrested Friday and charged with the murder of Rene Gonzalez.

U.S. Postal Service Considering Closures

{West Virginia}...The United States Postal Service announced Tuesday that of 3,700 small post offices, stations and branches on the Expanded Study Access List, 150 of those facing possible closure are in West Virginia. Postal Service spokesperson Cathy Yarosky says none of the post offices on the list will shut down immediately. The U.S.P.S. plans to take it's time and study each post office, talk to people in the community and see where their needs lie before any decisions are made. Yarosky says no decisions will be made on the closure of post offices before December.

Smithsonian Institution To Investigate Mason County Remains

• {West Virginia}...At 8:00 A.M. Tuesday morning, a team from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., will start investigating at the site where West Virginia State Police say a group of people looking for arrowheads stumbled upon a shallow grave and human remains Sunday night near Duncan Creek Road near Gallipolis Ferry in Mason County. The West Virginia State Police crime scene unit did an assessment of the remains and decided to call for more reinforcements. Sgt. E.B. Starcher, with the West Virginia State Police, confirms investigators have estimated the remains have been in the area for days. Duncan Creek Road is closed to the public.

Huntington Men Charged With Kidnapping And Robbery

• {West Virginia}...Bryan Littlejohn, 24, of Huntington, Derek Maynard, 20, of Huntington, and Jacolby Bills, 21, of Barboursville, are each charged with two counts of kidnapping and two counts of 1st degree robbery. Huntington Police say, while armed with guns, the men drove a man and woman to a location off of 5th Street Road in Huntington Sunday, then drove them back to their apartment on Washington Avenue, where they ransacked the apartment looking for cash. When police arrived on the scene, after getting a 911 call from one of the victims, Littlejohn, Maynard, and Bills tried run out the back door.

Kanawha County Trial Delayed

{West Virginia}...The trial of 21 year old Larry Hayes, Jr., a man accused in the death of an 18 month old baby girl, was scheduled to begin Monday in Kanawha County Circuit Court, but it was postponed a week to allow the defendant's expert witness review some of the prosecution's evidence. Hayes, who is charged with child abuse resulting in death, is now scheduled to go on trial next week. The child, Rebecca McDaniel, the daughter of Hayes' live-in girlfriend, died last October after she was taken to CAMC Women and Children's Hospital. The child allegedly suffered the injuries while in the care of Hayes while her mother was at work. Police say Hayes called the mother, Meredith Bush, and told her something was wrong with the child. Police say Hayes originally claimed nothing happened to the child while he was watching her but later changed his story, saying he fell down a flight of stairs while carrying the child.

Boone County Career and Technical Center Closed

{West Virginia}...Boone County School Superintendent John Hudson announced Monday the district was immediately closing Boone County Career and Technical Center until further notice after the building tested positive for meth residue. This is the first time in state history a school-related building in West Virginia has been closed from the result of meth making. The closure stems from two arrests made in May when Keith Phipps and teacher Jack Turley were arrested after allegedly smoking meth in Phipps' office. They've both been arraigned and charged with illegal purchase of pseudoephedrine and have attended a preliminary hearing. The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources suggested the entire facility be tested for methamphetamine residue. Those tests came back positive.

Kennedy Plea Entered

{West Virginia}...Dwain Foster entered a Kennedy Plea in front of Judge Paul Farrell Monday morning in connection with the beating death of 22 year old Jeremy Cook of Hurricane, which occurred outside Pecker's Bar, a Huntington nightclub. In August 2010, Foster, 27, and Clyde Cooper, 27, were indicted by a Cabell County Grand Jury, and both pleaded not guilty. Foster is set to be sentenced on September 15th.

Chelyan Man Killed By Vehicle

{West Virginia}...The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office has identified the person struck and killed Sunday night in Malden as Robert E. Stamper, 57, of Chelyan. Deputies say Stamper was struck first on U.S. Route 60 by a vehicle driven by Diana Brown of Charleston and then he may have been struck a second time by a truck traveling behind Brown. Stamper was pronounced dead at the scene. The body was sent to the Office of the West Virginia Medical Examiner's office.

"Spider" Ride Malfunctions At Camden Park

• {West Virginia}...State and local inspectors are investigating after witnesses say one of the arms of the "Spider" ride at Camden Park came loose Saturday night causing one of the cars to skid across the ground. Riders had to wait for almost an hour until they could get out, and at least two riders suffered minor injuries.

Argument Leads To Stabbing

• {West Virginia}...Charleston Police say Danny Egnon took a knife about 3:15 P.M. Sunday and cut John Tofi in the face during an argument at an apartment complex on Washington Street. Tofi walked to a local hospital where he was treated and released. Egnon was charged with malicious wounding.

Body Found Near St. Albans

• {West Virginia}...The Kanawha County Sheriff's Office is investigating after officials say a body found by a fisherman along Strawberry Road near St. Albans just after 7:00 P.M. Saturday matches the description of 19 year old Rasheem Williams, the young man they had been searching for Friday after he went missing in the Coal River. Williams' mother says her son had a fear of the water and would not have been in the river voluntarily. The body has been taken to the Medical Examiner's Office in South Charleston.

Car Fatally Strikes Pedestrian

• {West Virginia}...A person is dead after being hit by a car in Malden around 12:15 A.M. Sunday morning. The Kanawha County Sheriff's Department is investigating after dispatchers received a call at 12:22 A.M. that a man was lying in the road at 3405 Kanawha Boulevard East, near the Gino's and Tudor's restaurants just off the West Virginia Turnpike.

Huntington Police Chase Sends Suspect To Hospital

• {West Virginia}...David Wickline, 33, of Huntington was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center following a police chase that started on I-64 near Barboursville and ended when Wickline crashed into a tree on Alternate 10 at about 12:30 A.M. Saturday morning. Cabell County Deputies say Wickline threw a bag, believed to be filled with narcotics, out the window of his car during the chase.

Charleston Man Charged With Arson

• {West Virginia}...John H. Lawson, 34,of Charleston, was arrested Saturday and charged with one felony count of arson after police said he told them he set a fire in his apartment on Lee St. E. Lawson, who allegedly set a rag on fire and tossed a lit cigarette onto a bed before leaving, said he was upset with his landlord for being a "slumlord" and that he was attempting to get rid of evil spirits that were keeping him up at night.

Body Found In Dunbar Home

• {West Virginia}...Dunbar Police are investigating after a neighbor found 36 year old Michael Belcher dead in his home on 16th Street in Dunbar Friday night. Police say it appears the body may have been there for several days. Belcher's body was taken to the medical examiner for an autopsy.

Snake Bite Hospitalizes Ragland Man

• {West Virginia}...Forty-two year old Neil Jackson of Ragland was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center Thursday. Jackson says he was getting dressed for work when he was bitten by a copperhead snake that attacked from a window sill. Jackson says he first thought he had been stung by a bee, but, when he saw the swelling and two spots of blood, he looked up and saw a copperhead about four feet long.

More Arrests In Mason County Shooting Death

• {West Virginia}...West Virginia State Police arrested Chad Worthy McCallister, 29, of Apple Grove, and Matthew Christopher Woods, 24, of Gallipolis Ferry, Friday night in connection with the death of 43 year old Rene Gonzalez. Police had arrested 25 year old Steven Adkins of Gallipolis Ferry, earlier Friday. Gonzalez was found on the front porch of his home in Mason County on July 11th. He had been shot multiple times.

UBB Off-Limits In Coal Slurry Pollution Lawsuit

• {West Virginia}...Three judges who will hear the August trial in a coal slurry pollution lawsuit against Massey Energy have declared any reference to the 2010 mine explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine will be off limits, and they have ordered the plaintiffs' lawyers to avoid inflammatory phrases including "poison'' or "toxic soup'' in opening statements. The judges say words and phrases including "forgotten communities'' can be used, but only in closing arguments against Massey and its subsidiary, Rawl Sales & Processing. Massey had argued the phrases are prejudicial, irrelevant and of no help to jurors. Plaintiffs' attorney Van Bunch said his team has never described their clients' towns as "forgotten communities,'' explaining the reference comes from a sign that residents erected themselves.

West Virginia Man Killed In Pennsylvania

• {West Virginia}...Pennsylvania State Police say 20 year old Kerry Edward Duncan of Amma, West Virginia, in Roane County, was discovered unresponsive at a gas drilling site in western Pennsylvania early Friday morning. Police say co-workers and emergency medical personnel unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate him. The Greene County Coroner in Pennsylvania says Duncan may have been electrocuted by a fuel pump at the site.

WVU Settles With Former Provost

• {West Virginia}...It does not appear West Virginia University awarded any money in its recent settlement with former Provost Gerald Lang. Lang resigned during a 2008 controversy involving a master's degree awarded to then-Governor Joe Manchin's daughter, Heather Bresch. Lang has fought academic misconduct charges in circuit court for more than two years. Lang's case was dismissed by Monongalia Circuit Judge Susan Tucker after he agreed in the settlement not to file any new claims against WVU, its Board of Governors or officials tied to the university, both past and present. A special investigative panel strongly criticized Lang and other top WVU officials for retroactively awarding an executive master's of business administration degree in October 2007 to Bresch, who is now the president of Mylan Inc.

Kanawha County Teens Sentenced

• {West Virginia}...In a Kanawha County courtroom Friday morning, Judge Duke Bloom sentenced two teens to spend up to 75 years in prison on the robbery charges. Bloom also sentenced the teens on consecutive, unrelated burglary and breaking and entering charges that could force them to spend their lives in prison. Police say 19 year old Shane Peck and and Joseph Gibson, 18, punched, kicked, and bound 79 year old Geraldine Gibson with mining tape in her Big Chimney home last March and beat and robbed her. Geraldine Gibson, who is of no relation to her assailant, died earlier this month, but medical examiners could not definitively link her death to the injuries she sustained during the brutal home-invasion. Neither Peck nor Gibson will be eligible for parole for about 30 years.

Man Disappears In Coal River

• {West Virginia}...Emergency crews were called to the Coal River near St. Albans around 3:00 P.M. Friday after a young man went into the river with two girls and went under in shallow rapids. Crews searched the area for several hours before the search was suspended.

Ohio Man Charged With Mason County Murder

• {West Virginia}...West Virginia State Police in Mason County arrested 25 year old Steven Adkins of Gallipolis Thursday night and charged him with first degree murder in the death of 43 year old Rene Gonzalez. Gonzalez was found on his front porch around 3:00 A.M. July 11th after bieng shot multiple times. State police say Gonzalez was a known drug dealer in the area, but the connection between Gonzalez and Adkins is not known at this time. Authorities say Adkins may not have acted alone, and more arrests could come next week.

Man Shot In Huntington

• {West Virginia}...Huntington Police are investigating after 39 year old Shawn Escoe, of Huntington, was shot twice in the upper torso around 3:30 A.M. Friday morning. Police say, when Escoe answered a knock on the door of an apartment at Artisan Heights, he encountered two men he knew, and words were exchanged. One of the men pulled a gun and pointed it at Escoe, who took off running, but was shot.

Motions Heard In Massey Case

• {West Virginia}...Friday, judges in Wheeling heard motions in the coal slurry pollution case brought against Massey Energy and Rawl Sales & Processing. Some 700 people accuse Rawl of poisoning their wells by pumping slurry underground. Massey says judges hearing the case should exclude from the trial any references to some of its past problems, including a mine explosion that killed 29 men last year. Massey's lawyers also want to disallow mention of litigation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a Kentucky slurry dam that failed in 2000.

Raleigh County Fugitive Captured

• {West Virginia}...Jeff Morton, 50, a fugitive from Raleigh County who is accused of burglary and impersonating a police officer, was arrested after police found him hiding at his mother's residence in the Wriston area of Fayette County Friday. Morton was wanted in Raleigh County for felony daytime burglary and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, and a misdemeanor charge of impersonating a police officer. Officers found Morton hiding in a crawl space underneath the residence. He refused to come out, so a sheriff's K-9 unit was sent in and Morton was taken into custody. He now faces additional charges in Fayette County of resisting arrest and assault on a police dog.

Massey Accused of Poisoning Wells

(West Virginia) - A 3-judge panel has refused to dismiss a lawsuit claiming Massey Energy poisoned hundreds of Southern West Virginia wells with coal slurry. The order came yesterday as the panel prepares for the August 1st trial. Massey claimed the lawsuit should be dismissed because the plaintiffs waited too long to file the suit. Hundreds of southern West Virginians are suing over claims that Massey poisoned their well water. Maps of injection sites that plaintiffs' attorneys requested years ago recently turned up in a vault in Kentucky.

Homicide On Charleston's West Side

• {West Virginia}...Charleston Police are investigating after a body was found in an apartment complex on Beuhring Avenue on the city's West Side Thursday morning. Police say Bradie Dunlap, 60, was drinking with Kenneth Carter, 51, Wednesday night, and Carter struck Dunlap in the head with a baseball bat. Carter was charged with malicious wounding. Dunlap was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center General, and, from the hospital, he called police to check on his roommate. A patrol unit went to the apartment Thursday morning and found a man dead on a bed with signs of trauma. Police say the apartment was in disarray and blood was found surrounding the victim's body. Investigators are treating the case as a homicide

investigation.

Alpha Natural Resources And Don Blankenship Sued

• {West Virginia}...Cranberry, Pa.-based Mine Safety Appliances has sued Alpha Natural Resources and former Massey head Don Blankenship in Mingo Circuit Court. The lawsuit claims Massey officials did not comply with federal regulations that require mine operators to maintain proper ventilation and limit miners' exposure to coal dust that causes deadly black lung disease. MSA spokesman Mark Deasy says MSA lawyers filed the complaint to make Alpha a third-party defendant in an existing lawsuit filed against MSA by former Massey foreman Dusty Dotson, who developed lung disease after working for years at underground coal mines.

New York Mayor Partners With Sierra Club

• {West Virginia}...New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday he would donate $50 million over the next four years to help the Sierra Club shut-down a third of the nation's aging fleet of coal-fired plants with clean energy by 2020. Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune says the partnership will help the Sierra Club to work with communities nationwide as they tell one coal plant after another that inflicting asthma and other diseases on their children is unacceptable and that they will not accept coal pollution.

Father Pleads Guilty To Abusing Infant

• {West Virginia}...Ian Kessinger was set to go on trial Thursday, but, just before testimony got underway, Kessinger pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse resulting in injury and child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. Kessinger described how he beat his 6-week-old son, Ben. Emily Sayre, of Nitro, said she had no idea her boyfriend was hurting their son. Kessinger was arrested in February after the infant was taken to the hospital with several broken bones. In April, Kessinger pleaded not guilty to the charges. Kessinger faces up to 15 years in prison when sentenced in late August.

Rockefeller Attempts To Fight Drugs

{West Virginia}...Senator Jay Rockefeller is seeking federal aid to help Wyoming County fight prescription drug abuse. Last week, Rockefeller sent a letter to Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske asking how Wyoming County could be designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. Putnam and Mercer counties were added to the list last month, joining Boone, Cabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, McDowell, Mingo and Wayne counties.

Camp Virgil Tate Acting Director Faces Fraud

• {West Virginia}...Camp Virgil Tate 4-H Camp Acting Director Joshua Tulley, 35, of Sissonville, has been charged with employment security fraud. A 2009 warrant obtained by WORKFORCE West Virginia’s Unemployment Compensation Division claims Tulley failed to report his earnings from a job with TRG Customer Solutions Inc. when he filed a 2008 unemployment claim, and he received a total of $11,899 in benefits he was not entitled to. Tulley has two other charges pending for employment security fraud.

Protesters Perched in Trees Stop Blasting

(Marfork, WV) - Alpha Natural Resources says it has stopped its blasting operation at the Bee Tree Mine near Marfork because protesters are perched about 80 feet up in the trees near the site. State Police received an anonymous call saying two women, 24 year old Catherine Ann MacDougal and 21 year old Becky Kolins were up in the trees within 300 feet of the blasting site. They hung banners in the area that read, "Stop strip mining." They say they want Alpha to stop surface mining on Coal River Mountain, and are also calling on the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to stop issuing permits within the Coal River watershed. The two women are part of the "Radical Action for Mountain People's Survival" group.

Assistant Kanawha County Public Defender Suspended

• {West Virginia}...Steven Conifer, 31, an assistant Kanawha County public defender, was arraigned  Wednesday afternoon iand released on $5,000 bond after being arrested on charges that he was pimping out young boys over the internet. Conifer maintained his innocence and said he would be cleared of the charges in court. Police executed a search warrant on his Charleston apartment last week and found he allegedly had several online conversations about child prostitution, including instant messages with someone using the screen name "derekscarbor93" offering to provide young boys to another man for sexual uses. The user named "derekcarbor93" was allegedly linked to Conifer's residence through the computer's IP address after a New Jersey man who had received the messages contacted his local police department. Conifer is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing early next month. Conifer has been suspended.

Police Search For Vehicle Of Interest

{West Virginia}...West Virginia State Police in Mason County have taken over the case of the shooting death of Rene Gonzalez who was found dead at his home early Monday morning. Investigators say they now have a vehicle of interest they believe was in the area at the time of the murder. The car is described as a dark colored passenger car with tinted windows, believed to have a West Virginia license plate, oval headlights, and had ignition/starter problems causing it to emit a high pitch grinding sound when started. Police believe the occupants in the car may be able to provide essential information in the murder investigation. If you have any information please call the Mason detachment at 304-675-0850.

Judge Puts Lawsuit On Hold

• {West Virginia}...A lawsuit filed by Sandra Shaffer over property in Sissonville hit a snag when the judge delayed Shaffer's suit Wednesday until a decision is made on the status of her attorney. The Kanawha County Commission filed a motion saying  Mike Clifford should be disqualified. The commission argues Clifford has a conflict of interest because he was the Kanawha County prosecutor at the time of the 2003 sniper shootings. Shaffer says investigators destroyed her home in connection with the sniper shooting investigation. They are due back in court in late August.

Alpha Defends Notice At UBB Mine

{West Virginia}...The United Mine Workers of America says a notice Virginia-based Alpha Natural Resources posted at the Upper Big Branch mine, where 29 men died in an explosion last year, is a standard industry tactic aimed at discouraging attempts to unionize. A memo Alpha posted discouraging unionization on the day it bought Massey Energy says, "Signing a Union Authorization Card is like signing a blank check. You will not know what it is going to cost you or your family in the future. Unions are a business. They need monthly dues and assessments from employees to survive. We believe you need to keep all of your take home pay and not share it with any union." Alpha spokesman Ted Pile says, "It's not uncommon for the mine management to post these policies so as to inform people of the rights they're entitled to under labor laws."

South Carolina Man Facing WV Robberies

• {West Virginia}...A federal grand jury has indicted 48 year old Samuel Glenn Garwood of South Carolina on two counts of robbery. The indictment says Garwood stole $4,191 from the Pioneer Federal Credit Union in South Charleston on May 26th and $3,460 from the Universal Federal Credit Union in Barboursville on June 1st. If convicted, Garwood faces up to 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Police Search For Fugitives

• {West Virginia}...Police officers in several southern West Virginia counties are looking for two men on the run. Christopher Scott Shively, 39, is wanted by Beckley Police for seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Shively is a 6-foot tall white male, who weighs around 210 pounds. He has green eyes and brown hair, but keeps it shaved most of the time. Shively was last seen is Beckley, but he has ties to the Maple Fork and Grandview areas of Raleigh County. Fayette County Sheriff's Deputies are looking for David Allen Edwards Jr., 26, who goes by the nickname "Bubby." Deputies said he and his father kicked down the door at a home in Powellton Sunday night and fired one shot, narrowly missing a woman inside the home, then hit her in the head with a gun. David Edwards, 49, was arrested in Smithers Monday morning. Anyone with information on Edwards or Shively's whereabouts is urged to contact CrimeStoppers at 304-255-STOP.

Mingo County Man Arraigned

• {West Virginia}...James Harrison, the Mingo County man accused of fatally shooting his brother on July 15th in Matewan, was in court Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. James Harrison remains in jail without bond after being arraigned for shooting his brother, Matthew Harrison, at a home on Rutherford Brand Road. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, and the Mingo County prosecutor plans to present the case to the grand jury in September.

Daugherty Retires From Social Security Administration

• {West Virginia}...Administrative law Judge David B. Daugherty retired from the Huntington office of the Social Security Administration on July 13th after being placed on indefinite administrative leave in late May. A federal investigation was launched in May looking into a questionable number of social security cases he approved. In the last fiscal year, Judge Daugherty heard more social security cases than any other of the 1500 administrative law judges nationwide.

Raleigh County Sheriff's Deputies Cleared

• {West Virginia}...A federal jury says Cpl. Gregory Kade and former deputy John Hajash, two Raleigh County Sheriff's Deputies involved in the fatal shooting of a Cabell Heights man, didn't do anything wrong. Kade and Hajash say they shot Robert Webb after he pointed a loaded, semi-automatic rifle at them in his driveway of his home on July 4, 2006. A lawsuit filed by Mary Webb, the widow of Robert Webb, claimed the officers were negligent and denied Webb medical treatment as he lay dying. Hajash suggested he and his onetime partner were put in a position where they had no choice but to fire on Webb after they were called to his home in the wee hours of the morning to investigate a neighbor’s complaint he had been firing a weapon toward his house.

Mingo County Man's Appeal Rejected

• {West Virginia}...In a July 13th ruling, the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the appeal of George Lecco, a police misconduct as well. His appeal also said the jury should have heard evidence that he helped out in his community. County man serving life in prison after a Charleston jury convicted him of ordering the murder of police informant Carla Collins. The jury found Lecco had suggested Collins become a drug informant, but then turned on her when he resumed dealing cocaine out of his Red Jacket pizza parlor. The appeal argued the jury wrongly heard from an unreliable witness and a co-defendant who pleaded guilty, police misconduct, and the jury should have heard evidence that he helped out in his community.

Kanawha County Man Faces Sexual Abuse

• {West Virginia}...Robert Smith, a Kanawha County man, is facing 37 charges, ranging from sexual abuse by a parent to incest for allegedly sexually abusing his daughter and getting her pregnant. Prosecutors say the abuse started in 2002 when his daughter was just 9 years old, and he got his daughter pregnant when she was 14. Smith pleaded not guilty, but prosecutors say they have DNA evidence to prove Smith is the father of a 4 year old boy. His bond is set at half a million dollars. Smith faced similar charges in 2004, but prosecutors say a psychologist interviewed the girl and the doctor determined she was in fear and pressured to recant her story.

Beckley Trooper Arrests Sex Offenders

• {West Virginia}...Trooper 1st Class R.A. Daniel of the West Virginia State Police in Beckley arrested Michael Fernandez, 48, of Beckley, and Greg Lilly, 36, of Crab Orchard, Monday for failure to register as a sex offender. Fernandez is registered in Raleigh County following convictions of first-degree attempted sexual battery and lewd/lascivious acts on a child from 2006 in Sarasota, Florida. The convictions require Fernandez to register for life due to both victims being minors. Lilly is registered in Raleigh County after convictions of first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual abuse of an adult female in Raleigh County in 2006. Both convictions require Lilly to register for life due to the violent offense and multiple convictions. Each felony arrest maintains a possible one- to five-year sentence.

Confirmed Case Of TB In Huntington

{Huntington}...A confirmed case of tuberculosis or TB in Huntington has the Cabell-Huntington Health Department taking proactive steps. Elizabeth Ayers, the public health educator with the health department, says they can't release any information about the person involved, but they have contacted those believed to have been in contact with the carrier to request they have a TB skin test. TB is spread through the air, one person to another. When someone with an active case coughs, sneezes or speaks, anyone nearby can breath in the TB bacteria and become infected. Symptoms of TB include a bad cough for three weeks or longer, pain in the chest, coughing up blood, weakness and fatigue, weight loss, no appetite, chills, fever and night sweats. If you show those signs, you can call the TB hotline at (304) 526-3397 or log on to www.cabellhealth.org. You cannot get TB by shaking someone's hand, sharing food or drink, touching toilet seats or kissing.

Attempt To Settle Massey Lawsuit

{West Virginia}...For the third time, Circuit Judges Derek Swope of Mercer County and Alan Moats of Taylor County are trying to settle a long-running lawsuit that claims Massey Energy Co. and its subsidiary Rawl Sales & Processing poisoned hundreds of drinking water wells in southern West Virginia with coal slurry. The state's Mass Litigation Panel is handling the case against Massey and Rawl Sales. Judges Swope and Moats have ordered lead attorneys for both sides to meet July 25th and 26th in Charleston to discuss a possible deal and avoid the series of trials set to begin August 1st in Wheeling.

Bayer CropScience Entitled To Refund

{West Virginia}...A federal appeals panel has ruled that Bayer CropScience is entitled to a $10 million refund from the former Massey Energy Company after Bayer claimed Massey overcharged the company for coal at its Institute plant. Central West Virginia Energy had raised Bayer's coal prices after market prices rose, despite the fact that Bayer had a long-term coal supply contract with the company.

Barboursville Man Pleads Guilty

{West Virginia|...Fifty-six year old Randall Keyser of Barboursville, West Virginia  pleaded guilty Monday in Cleveland, Ohio federal court to wire and mail fraud for trying to land a six-figure construction management job in Ohio by posing as an Army general with references including the Army chief of staff, vice chief of staff and Army undersecretary. The Akron-based company became suspicious and contacted the FBI. Documents show Keyser was hired under false pretenses in at least four states. Sentencing Is scheduled for September 26th.

Remains Identified As West Virginia Soldier

{West Virginia}...The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office said Monday that remains found in France have been identified as those of Army Pfc. Lawrence N. Harris of Elkins, a West Virginia soldier missing since World War II. Harris was killed along with two other soldiers on October 9, 1944, when their M-10 Tank Destroyer was attacked by German forces during a battle in the Parroy Forest. The remains of Harris and the other soldiers, Cpl. Judge C. Hellums of Paris, Mississippi, and Pvt. Donald D. Owens of Cleveland, will be buried together in one casket at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday.

Man Arraigned For Rite Aid Robbery

{Charleston}...John Barnett was arraigned Monday morning on a first degree robbery charge after Charleston Police say, while armed with a knife, he robbed the Rite Aid pharmacy near the Little Page apartments on Charleston's West Side in June. Barnett pleaded not guilty, but police say he told them at the time of his arrest that he robbed the pharmacy because he was homeless and needed a place to stay. Barnett's trial is set for August 29th.

Woman Killed In New River

{West Virginia}...A weekend on the New River turned deadly for Judy Brown, of Cumberland, Maryland who died Saturday morning when an Alpine Adventures raft she was riding on flipped. Brown became trapped at an area known as Detroit Rock, close to the center of the river. She was underwater nearly 30 minutes before paramedics could reach her. Brown was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Saint Albans Man Sentenced

{West Virginia}...Michael Lacy of Saint Albans was sentenced Friday to 15 to 35 years in prison for sexually assaulting and impregnating an 11-year-old girl. Lacy pleaded guilty to sexual assault after his arrest last July. Lacy will also be subjected to 20 years of supervised release after he gets out of prison and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Former Police Captain Put On Diversion

{West Virginia}...Myron White, a former Charleston Police captain accused of harassing a woman may be able to avoid having a criminal record after prosecutors put his case on a pretrial diversion. The process lets the charge disappear in one year if there are no further offenses. White also must not have any contact with the 44 year old South Charleston woman who claimed White harassed her at a restaurant in May 2010. White  retired last November. The deal does not include any admission of guilt by White.

Former ARC of Three Rivers Worker Gets Probation

{West Virginia}...Friday, Judge James Stucky sentenced Mary McKinney Haynes to five years of supervised probation and ordered her to pay more than $9,000 in restitution after she was convicted of embezzling almost $50,000 from ARC of Three Rivers. Haynes was responsible for managing the finances of 200 people under the ARC.

Mingo County Man Charged With Murder

{West Virginia}...Police say 38 year old James Alvin Harrison fatally shot his brother, 34 year old Matthew Harrison, late Friday night at a house in Rutherford Hollow in the North Matewan area of Mingo County. Matthew, who was shot once in the face and once in the neck with a .38-caliber pistol, died at the scene. James Harrison is charged with first-degree murder.

Daniels Man Convicted

{West Virginia}...Friday, a Raleigh County jury found Christopher Bowling of Daniels guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Tresa Bowling. Bowling had argued the gun accidentally went off when his wife was shot in the head on the night of January 31, 2010. On Saturday, the jury recommended Bowling be sentenced to life in prison without mercy.

Jefferson County Man Arrested

{West Virginia}...Ray Cook, 37, from Harpers Ferry, in Jefferson County, was arrested Friday afternoon and charged with murder. Ranson Police say Cook shot his ex-girlfriend to death in the parking lot of the Ranson Southern States, where the two met to exchange some personal items. Investigators say the victim, Jenny Perrine, 36, from Martinsburg was shot several times while sitting in her vehicle. The shooting was the first murder in Ranson since 1998.

Police Find Dangerous Materials

{West Virginia}...West Virginia State Police are investigating after dangerous materials were found hidden in a weeded ditch line on the side of Little Coal River Road in Alum Creek in Lincoln County Saturday. Trooper G.H. Ellis of the Hamlin detachment says he found a cooler, a milk crate and a cloth sack with materials inside such as battery acid, fuel and a propane tank. Members of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection were called to dispose of the hazardous materials.

Charges Dismissed...Prosecutors To Appeal

{West Virginia}...The case against Amanda Pritt has been dismissed. Pritt was arrested last May after police say she crashed into James Dixon while he was riding his motorcycle in Charleston and left him in the street. Dixon was saved by a witness and a man who wrapped his leg in a tourniquet until help arrived, but he had to have his right leg amputated just below the knee. Police say Pritt admitted to hitting Dixon with her van. Charges were dismissed because there had not been a hearing in the last year. Prosecutors say the law isn't being applied correctly in this case, and they plan to appeal the judge's decision.

Domestic Violence Conference Set

{West Virginia}...About 100 professionals from throughout West Virginia are expected to attend a conference on domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking crimes set for Monday at the Charleston Town Center Marriott. The conference is co-sponsored by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Justice and Community Services, West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the West Virginia Regional Community Policing Institute. It is intended to strengthen the efforts of police, prosecutors, victim advocates and other criminal justice and mental health professionals involved in the investigation and prosecution of crimes involving violence against women.

Prosecutors Seek Deposition In Mingo County Raid

{Mingo County}...Federal prosecutors filed a petition this week asking a judge to require Dr. Katherine Hoover to appear August 23rd to answer questions under oath for an out-of-court deposition. The civil case is one of several in which prosecutors seek control of $2.2 million in assets seized as part of the March 2010 raid of the Mountain Medical Care Center in Williamson, a Mingo County pain clinic. Investigators allege the clinic handed out pain-drug prescriptions to people who did not need them, but no criminal charges have been filed. Hoover has been in the Bahamas, where she and her husband own an island, since the raid.

Possible Hit And Run Vehicle Found

{West Virginia}...West Virginia State Police in Wayne County say they have a suspect in the hit and run death of 38 year old Candy Mallory, a Kenova woman found 30 feet over a guardrail near Camden Park. Thursday night, troopers found a car they believe was involved in the accident. The vehicle is now in a State Police lab for testing, and police will have to wait for results before charging anyone.

Trial Delayed For UBB Security Head

{West Virginia}...The trial for Hughie Elbert Stover, the head of security at the Upper Big Branch mine, had been set to begin Monday in Beckley, but it has been pushed back to October 24th. U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger says defense lawyers wanted more time to look over 2,500 pages of materials submitted by prosecutors. Berger also must address several pretrial motions. Stover is accused of lying to the FBI and the Mine Safety Health Administration and obstructing justice by ordering thousands of pages of documents destroyed.

Ethics Commission Fines Former Dunbar Mayor

{West Virginia}...Officials with the West Virginia Ethics Commission have ordered former Dunbar mayor Roger Wolfe, who was mayor from 2005 until 2008, to pay more than $25,000 in fines and restitution for using his office for personal gain. A three-judge panel ordered him removed from office for reimbursing himself for personal expenses without the knowledge of the Dunbar City Council. Several City Council members filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission in December 2008, alleging Wolfe violated the state's ethics laws. Ethics officials also ordered a public reprimand for Wolfe and a cease-and-desist order in case he should ever return to public office.

DNA Samples Requested In Murder Case

{West Virginia}...Kanawha County Judge Paul Zakaib ruled Thursday that 24 year old Emanuel Armond McCarty will have to provide DNA samples to prosecutors after being charged with fatally shooting 48 year old Jerome Grady on Charleston's West Side in March. McCarty was indicted in June on first-degree murder charges. Grady died after being shot while driving in the 900 block of Madison Street. McCarty denies pulling the trigger. Thursday, prosecutors argued they needed McCarty's DNA to compare it with DNA found on the alleged murder weapon. McCarty's trial is scheduled to start August 1st.

Huntington Man Remains Jailed

{West Virginia}...Michael Fannin, 41, of Huntington, was in court Thursday charged with child abuse by a parent, guardian, or custodian leading to the death of 4 month-old Emma Beaty. The girl died from severe head trauma after being taken to a local hospital in May. Police say the girl was injured at Fannin's home at Marcum Terrace in Huntington. Fannin was arrested for allegedly shaking Beaty to death. Bond remains set at $1 million.

Public Defender Under Investigation

{West Virginia}...Kanawha County Public Defender Steven James Conifer is under investigation for prostitution. The Charleston Police Department executed a search warrant on Conifer after April Bird, an Asbury Park, New Jersey detective, contacted them on June 7th saying Confier had been reportedly exchanging instant messages with Windsor Leveille of New Jersey about providing young boys for sexual services. Bird says Conifer sent Leveille a non-explicit photo. The Asbury Police Department subpoenaed records from AOL and Suddenlink Communications which led officers to Conifer and his apartment at 1424 Kanawha Boulevard. Detective Cpl. D.S. Paxton with the Charleston Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division led the search of Conifer’s apartment Tuesday and seized CDs, DVDs, disks, hard drives, a cell phone, lap top and routers.

Police Chase Results In 15 Year Sentence

{West Virginia}...Larry Quickle was sentenced Thursday to up to 15 years in prison on two felony fleeing charges and for the theft of a woman's purse from a shopping cart in Kanawha Mall. In February, Quickle led police on a 110 mile per hour chase on MacCorkle Avenue in Charleston which ended with a wreck at the Patrick Street Bridge. Quickle's attorney said the suspect was trying to shake pursuers so he could hang himself.

Harley Rally Invades Charleston

{West Virginia}...About 3,000 Harley enthusiasts are expected to attend all kinds of events along Kanawha Boulevard during  this weekend's rally of the West Virginia Harley Owners Group. Organizers expect the event to have an economic effect of about $1 million in the capital city. West Virginia is one of 48 states that has a rally. Harley Owners Group Regional Manager Bruce Motta says the Mountain State has been recognized for its unique routes and as a great place to ride. The four-day event will allow Harley lovers to enjoy each other's company, listen to music and look at a variety of exhibits before it ends early Sunday morning. People who register at the event on Kanawha Boulevard will have to pay $30, but, if attendees register online, the cost is $25. Closing ceremonies will be held at Haddad Riverfront Park.

Convicted Sex Offender Avoids Trial

{West Virginia}...Convicted sex offender Brett Myers avoided facing trial for allegedly molesting a nine year old girl because prosecutors say her mother refused to cooperate. Prosecutors dropped the charge in a plea deal in which Myers admitted he had failed to register as a sex offender. Myers, who was convicted of third degree sexual abuse in 2007, was immediately sentenced to one to five years in prison. Myers has already been behind bars 16 months awaiting trial. Failure to register carries the same penalty as the improper touching charge linked to the child that was dismissed.

Man Charged After Police Find Guns

{West Virginia}...Tuesday, South Charleston Police Officers were moving a seized Cadillac, registered to Elbert L. Hall, from their garage when they opened the hood to jump-start the battery and found a gray plastic bag wrapped inside a white cloth containing a loaded Glock .22 caliber pistol. The same day, officers spotted Hall driving a different Cadillac west on MacCorkle Avenue and pulled him over when he allegedly made an illegal lane change. Police say Hall threw two plastic baggies with marijuana outside the passenger window. Police searched the car and found another Glock .27 caliber pistol wrapped in a white cloth under the car's hood and $3,000 in separate bundles inside the glove compartment. Hall was charged with felony counts of possession with intent to deliver marijuana and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, along with misdemeanor counts.

Clay County Man Indicted

{West Virginia}...Bobby Hanshaw of Clay County is scheduled to be arraigned  in Clay County Circuit Court Friday morning after being indicted this week on first-degree murder. Hanshaw was arrested in May following the shooting death of Guy Dwier near the community of Procious. State Troopers say Hanshaw was mad at Dwier for allegedly stealing his ATV in 2010 when he shot him at close range with a .30-.30 rifle, killing him instantly. Police says the two men had previous disputes.

Murder Charges Dropped

{West Virginia}...Murder charges have been dropped against a former Logan County School Board member. Sixty-four year old Jerry Godby of Chapmanville was accused of murdering his wife, Delores A. Godby, in mid-May. A complaint alleged the Godbys had been in a heated argument when, at some point, Mr. Godby went into his bedroom closet, retrieved a loaded .38 special revolver, walked past his wife in the kitchen, pointed the gun at her and fired one shot directly into her chest. During a preliminary hearing Wednesday morning, Senior Status Magistrate Judge Marva Crouch found no probable cause against Jerry Godby for the charge he was arrested on.

Huntington Grand Jury Indicts Ohio Man

{West Virginia}...A federal grand jury in Huntington has indicted Derrick George, 29, of Vinton, Ohio, on charges that he embezzled about $19,000 from the Maintenance of Way Employees lodge in Putnam County, a railroad union facility. George was the secretary-treasurer responsible for signing union checks when the embezzlement occurred during the first 11 months of 2009. If convicted, George faces a maximum of five years in prison.

Frasure Creek Mining Permit Hearing Set

{West Virginia}...The Surface Mine Board has held a hearing on the appeal of a permit for Frasure Creek Mining and has scheduled a meeting to discuss the permit again on August 17th. Opponents of the 221-acre Open Fork No. 2 mine near Fayetteville rallied against Frasure's plan Tuesday in Charleston, saying it could disturb some 3,662 acres in an area that has spent two decades turning itself into a popular tourism destination. The site is near the New River Gorge National River and Gauley River National Recreation Area, but the DEP believes neither would be harmed.

Nitro Gaming Parlor Robbed

{West Virginia}...Nitro Police say two black men and a black woman walked into Joli’s, a gaming parlor on Main Avenue, at about 1:15 A.M. Wednesday morning, the men armed with what looked like semi-automatic pistols, and robbed it at gunpoint, taking about $7,000, then fled in a gold-colored sedan. The first suspect is described as about 5’9” tall and 160 lbs., and the second man is described as bigger and heavier, about 6-feet, 2-inches tall and 250-300 pounds. The woman is described as 5-feet, 6-inches tall and 145 pounds.

Affinity Coal Reopens Raleigh County Mine

{West Virginia}...Affinity Coal cut the ribbon on a new operation near Sophia in Raleigh County Wednesday, reopening an old mine which closed in the mid 1980's when the domestic steel market fell on hard times. Improved market conditions are fueling worldwide demand for metallurgical coal, a resources that's in short supply. Affinity is a subsidiary of United Coal which is owned by Ukrainian-based Metvest, the nation's 10th largest integrated steel producer. The company plans to hire 250 miners to run the operation in Raleigh County, which at full production, will mine 1.5 million tons of coal annually. Affinity, which expects to be fully operational in the second quarter of next year, has invested $111 million to restart the old mine which includes construction of a new prep plant. The first trainload of residual coal leftover from the construction work left the mine Wednesday.