According to an analysis by Finder, an independent compar-ison platform and information service, West Virginia’s reac-tion to the COVID-19 pandem-ic stands out among the nation.

The platform ranked the state number one in its response time to the pandemic, applaud-ing the state government in their early reaction in not only closing schools but in also en-couraging social distancing.

“Rather than wait for a problem to arise, West Virgin-

ia shuttered schools four days before the state saw its fi rst confi rmed case of the corona-virus,” the report concludes. “It also declared a state of emer-gency a day before a case was confi rmed. And on the day after it reported its fi rst confi rmed case of the coronavirus, West Virginia closed all restaurants and bars for dine-in services.”

According to their data, West Virginia closed schools statewide on March 13 and declared a state of emergency

because of the virus on March 16, all before a single con-fi rmed case was discovered in the state.

The tested case was discov-ered on March 17, with gover-nor Jim Justice closing bars and restaurants on March 18 and issuing a stay-at-home order and closing other nonessential businesses on March 24.

The report recognizing West Virginia was the last state to have a confi rmed case of COVID-19, the overall reac-

tion time relative to other states with earlier confi rmed cases far outperformed other state gov-

Tuesday, April 28, 2020Issue 17 • Two sections • 14 pagesUSPS 226480 • Petersburg, WV

$1 (94¢ + 6¢ tax)

Meet the CandidatesGovernor Candidates (D), 3B

www.GrantCountyPress.com

Saddle ClubEvent winners, 2B

Yes: 72%No: 28%

Last week’sresponses:Do you think that moving prisoners

from high-risk areas into West Virginia federal prisons is risking the

health of state residents? support social distancing limiting shoppers in stores.

Public Notices

Page 5B•Vepco Operating

Permit• City of Petersburg

Budget• Mining Permit Release

See COVID, page 7A

On April 22, West Virginia Governor Justice announced the state’s public schools would not be reopening this semester.

The announcement pertains to school buildings, with distance learning and meals continuing to be supplied for the duration of the regular season.

He also clarifi ed that spring sports and basketball tourna-ments would be offi cially can-celed.

The announcement did not address graduation ceremonies, a topic that appears to be left to individual districts.

Grant County superintendent Doug Lambert said the coun-ty is planning to recognize the graduating class of 2020 with a ceremony.

“Things are changing very rapidly but we fully intend to honor our seniors and, if all pos-sible, we intend to do that with an in-person graduation,” Lam-bert said. “Graduation is import-ant to the seniors, to their par-ents, to their family and to our employees. We don’t intend to lose that this year.”

He explained that the school year will continue via distance learning until the regularly planned end of the semester.

“We encourage everyone to stay positive,” Lambert said. “We are working as hard as pos-sible to provide for our students and to make informed decisions in an ever-changing situation.

As of April, 26, GMH COVID-19 testing:

80 Tests75 Negative

1 Positive (recovered)3 Pending

1 unable to test

All Grant Rehabilitation and Care Center residents to

receive COVID-19 testing.On April 17, West Virginia

Governor Jim Justice ordered all residential long-term care facili-ties to conduct COVID-19 test-ing for all residents as well as all staff of those facilities. This in-cluded Grant Rehabilitation and Care Center, Petersburg.

Grant Rehabilitation and Care Center reported testing of all residents and staff has been completed. All results will be monitored by the health de-partment and reported to WV DHHR. Reports are pending for residents and staff. There are no

See Updates, page 7A

Family Crisis Center works to fi ght rise in domestic abuse

With a statewide stay-at-home order still in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, com-munity based programs aimed at protecting domestic abuse victims have faced a sharp rise in those reporting at-home vio-lence.

One local agency facing this infl ux of reports is the Family Crisis Center, a nonprofi t agen-cy that provides services to the

victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking and human traffi cking in Grant and surrounding coun-ties.

According to Catherine Durr, who helps lead the center, the shutdowns have required the agency to end face-to-face contact with their clients; how-ever, she explained that their shelter is still operating as a

place of safety and advocates are still available through their hotline.

“The stay-home order has created a situation in which abusers have more access to their potential victims,” Durr said. “It can make victims feel isolated.”

According to the Grant County Offi ce of Emergency Services and 911, Grant Coun-

ty overall has seen an up-tick in domestic violence-related calls since the stay at home order was put into place last month.

Durr explained that the COVID-19 precautions have had other concerning effects on issues surrounding domestic vi-olence, including the court sys-

DUMP TRUCK - A Mountain State Concrete truck took a spill while attempting to take a turn off Route 42 outside of Petersburg last week. The truck took the turn too fast and fl ipped on its side. The West Virginia Division of Highways, Grant County Am-bulance, the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Company and the Grant County Sheriff’s Department responded to the incident. Brian Omps Towing out of Winchester arrived on the scene to move the vehicle. Deputy Kirk Thorne oversaw the scene. For more photos of the accident, see page 7A.

Report ranks West Virginia as best COVID-19 response in nation

Man found with meth in traffi c stop

Earlier this month, a Har-dy County man was arrested in the Radio Shack parking lot following a traffi c stop.

On April 10, David Ray Steward, 39, of Wardens-ville, was arrested by offi cer D. Lambert of the Peters-burg Police Department af-ter he was stopped for a de-fective equipment violation.

During the stop, offi cer Lambert discovered proba-ble cause that Steward had illegal substances in the ve-hicle. After a search, the of-

Attorney General addresses price gouging, utility scams

In an interview last week, West Virginia Attorney Gener-al Patrick Morrissey addressed multiple issues affecting Grant County, including price goug-ing and scams.

“It is our goal to be as re-sponsive as possible to all 55 counties,” Morrisey said. “I never want Grant County to feel as if they are being overlooked because I can assure you, your concerns matter.”

Morrisey outlined his of-

fi ce’s role in preventing price gouging, an issue that has been heavily debated since the be-ginning of the COVID-19 pan-demic.

“As the attorney general’s offi ce, it is our job to enforce the laws, and price gouging in one of those laws,” Morrisey said. “Price gouging goes into effect during a state of emer-gency, which we are in right now. It is designed to protect the integrity of the supply chain

while also ensuring consumers are not being victimized.”

According to Morrisey, it is unlawful for any business or person to increase the price of any good or service deemed as vital and necessary for the health, safety and welfare of consumers by more than 10% during an emergency.

However, he clarifi ed that

See FCC, page 7A

See Attorney, page 7A See Arrest, page 7A

Schools closed for the semester, graduation fully intended

GRCC Fishing dayLocal senior citizens, 1B

Page 2A GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, West Virginia April 28, 2020

Local FlavorBy Camille HowardOut where we live,

things are pretty calm and even though there are a good many houses around, there doesn’t seem to be much traffic on our dirt road.

Any time someone drives in or out we can hear the crunching of gravel as they go up or down the hill.

We had a friend in col-lege who said he lived in the “locks your doors sec-tion” of Hagerstown, Md., but where we live there’s not much action (thankful-ly).

So I was surprised to wake up in the middle of the night last week to the sound of what seemed like someone trying to get in the house.

Now, we’re used to hearing cats and dogs wan-der around in the middle of the night, but this was a lit-tle different.

I heard this scratching and banging outside, loud enough to wake me up, and after getting my eyes open I listened and heard the same sounds again.

My first thought wasn’t a burglar, but some animal trying to get in the trash. We’ve had an array of pos-sums and raccoons visit us, but I’d never heard scratch-ing on the side of the house. My imagination took me

straight to a bear, but then I’ve never seen any sign of a bear in our hollow.

I am not brave by any stretch of the imagination. I like real crime TV shows, but I never did understand why a person who heard someone breaking into their home, would go to in-vestigate.

I got out of bed and de-cided to turn the outside lights on to scare away whatever was out there. As I was heading for the switch I heard scratching near our bedroom outside door.

To explain, we live in a two-story log house and off the master bedroom is a balcony on the second level, which you can only access from the bedroom.

After the scratching noise came a loud crash and then more scratching on the logs. Just as I was about to turn the light on I heard a small “meow” out-side on the balcony.

I turned the light on and there was our tuxedo cat, Kiwi, waiting to get in ... at 2:30 a.m. A cat burglar!

She trotted into the room, gave me that “follow me to the kitchen” look and ran downstairs.

I turned the light off and went back to bed. I am not going to start a “feed the cat at 2:30 a.m.” routine.

The next morning I went outside on the deck and sure enough, a small patio table was overturned and there were claw marks on the wood around the balco-

ny where she struggled to get up.

I was happy my bear, possum, raccoon theory was debunked.

My Grandma Heath, who lived in the mountains above Uniontown, Pa., had bears that would visit her house occasionally.

Once she had been out picking apples and has placed them in bags just inside her basement door where it was cool until she could work them up into sauce.

She lived by herself, so when she heard banging at the basement door and “someone” trying the door handle, she peeked out the window and saw a good sized black bear trying to get in.

Later we all saw where the bear had clawed the door and the side of the house.

Determination fueled by hunger ... an experience most of us have shared.

I like to give our dog, Baby, an empty peanut but-ter jar to keep her busy. She will spend a long time try-ing to get out the last taste from the jar.

For you peanut butter lovers, you can sympathize.

This week’s recipes are for two no-bake peanut butter desserts - they won’t last long!

NO-BAKE PEANUT BUTTER

CHEESECAKECrust:9.5 ounces of graham

crackers (or your favorite cookies)

7 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:2 1/3 cups cream cheese1 1/2 cups powdered

sugar1 cup peanut butter1 teaspoon vanilla

extract1/2 cup heavy creamChocolate Ganache:2/3 cup heavy cream4.4 ounces of dark choc-

olate, choppedIn a food processor,

process graham crack-ers until crumbs are formed. Add melted butter and process again until combined. Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Refrig-erate while making the filling.

In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese and powdered sugar.

Beat until smooth and creamy. Add peanut but-ter, vanilla extract and beat again until smooth and creamy. Add the heavy cream and beat 2-3 minutes more until smooth.

Pour the cheesecake mixture into the spring-form pan. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight. You can also freeze the cake.

Prepare the ganache - in a small saucepan bring to simmer heavy cream, remove from heat and add chopped chocolate. Let stand 1 minute and stir until the chocolate has melt-ed and the ganache is smooth.

Let cool slightly and pour over the cheese-cake. Pour straight into the springform pan or open it and then pour the ganache.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serv-ing.

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE

PEANUT BUTTER BARS

Peanut butter layer:1 cup unsalted butter,

melted and slightly cooled

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar2 cups graham cracker

crumbsChocolate topping:1 (12-ounce) package

semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup creamy peanut butterPeanut butter layer:Line a 9x13 baking

pan with foil or parch-ment paper, making sure to leave some overhang for easy removal, and set aside.

Combine the melt-ed butter and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Add the pow-dered sugar and con-tinue mixing until fully combined. Then, add the

graham cracker crumbs, 1 cup at a time, and mix until fully combined.

Scoop the peanut but-ter mixture into the pre-pared baking pan and press it down into one even layer. Set aside.

Chocolate topping:Add the chocolate

chips and 1/4 cup pea-nut butter to a micro-wave-safe bowl and microwave in 20-30 in-crements, stirring well after each increment, until completely melted and smooth.

Pour the melted choc-olate mixture on top of the peanut butter layer and spread it around evenly.

Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 1/2 hours or until the bars are firm and the chocolate topping is set.

Once the bars are firm, lift them out of the pan using the overhang from the foil or parch-ment paper, slice, and enjoy.

No-bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Home Grown Initiative - Glenville State expands scholarship opportunity for prospective teachers to all 55 counties

Last year, Glenville State launched a scholar-ship program to address the growing teacher shortage in West Virginia.

That program, the Home Grown Initiative, focused on prospective teacher identification in the coun-ty schools partnered with scholarship support for candidate attendance at GSC, practical experienc-es, and mentoring during teacher preparation into the start of full-time teaching.

The goal is for those students to return to their home counties to student teach and, if available, be able to apply for open posi-tions in their home district.

With input from coun-ty superintendents, the program is now being ex-panded to all 55 counties in West Virginia.

Superintendents iden-tify what is a “high need” teaching position for their district and notifies GSC. Qualified students are then nominated by the superin-tendent or their designee for a scholarship in that teaching area.

To be eligible for the Home Grown Initiative scholarship program, stu-dents must be a newly en-rolled, first year student at GSC and be from any county in the state. They must enroll in the Bachelor of Arts in Education degree major that their superinten-

dent has identified as “high need,” have a minimum 3.0 GPA and minimum average ACT composite score of 20 or SAT composite score of 1020, obtain recommen-dation from the school su-perintendent or designee, and be willing to complete their student teaching back in their home county if pos-sible.

The annual $3,000 scholarship is renewable

based on certain criteria.The scholarship is com-

petitive with only 35 stu-dents to be accepted for the upcoming academic year.

Application deadlines are being relaxed this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, al-though applications should still be submitted as soon as possible.

For more information on the Home Grown Ini-

tiative at GSC, contact the Office of Admissions at 800-924-2010 or the De-partment of Education at 304-462-4119.

Grant Memorial Hospital officials have been closely monitoring the Coronavirus situation, also known as COVID-19. We are working with local agencies, doctors’ offices, public transportation, emergency personnel and other organizations to identify ways to protect our community.

We have been following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines to help plan for potential COVID-19 in our communities, while we are also caring for those with influenza and other illnesses.

Here are the changes you will find at Grant Memorial Hospital:

1. Current visitor restrictions already in place will continue. 2. Access to the hospital will be through the main entrance only for all patients, visitors, doctors

and employees. 3. Upon arrival you will be asked a few questions before entering the hospital. These questions

are from the CDC, and help us identify any risk of COVID-19 exposure. Please allow a few extra minutes for this process. Our staff will be available to assist as needed.

GET MORE INFORMATION FROM: The CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/

2019-ncov/about/index.html the WV DHHR Hotline at 304-800-887-4304

or visit coronavirus.wv.gov for statewide alerts and up-to-date information throughout the state

If you are experiencing coronavirus symptoms

STOP! Call 304-257-1026 to speak to an ER nurse BEFORE coming inside. The ER nurse will ask questions to

evaluate and assess your symptoms prior to your visit.

304-257-1026 117 Hospital Drive Petersburg, W.Va.

www.grantmemorial.com

Reduce your risk of

coronavirus infection:

Wash hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rub

Cover nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with

tissue or flexed elbow

Avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms

and avoid touching your face or eyes

DO I HAVE A COLD, FLU OR COVID-19?

April 28, 2020 GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, W.Va. Page 3A

Page 4AApril 28, 2020

The Wheeling IntelligencerEducation lessons learned during shutdown

No reasonable person can blame public school teach-ers and/or officials for not being ready for the COVID-19 shutdown. For years, in a much different context, many of them have been recommending two steps that, had they been implemented fully, would have helped students and teachers deal with the extended break from in-person classes.

We refer to ensuring every student has some sort of computer and vastly increasing access to internet service, of course. Many children do not have computers at home and many do not have internet service there.

Removing those obstacles will take time and money. We already knew that. Educators’ experiences during the past month or so make the link between technology and pedagogy clearer than it may have been to some in the past, however. Both initiatives need to be viewed as high priorities.

One reason for that was cited during a teleconference meeting of the Indian Creek Local Board of Education last week. During a report on distance-learning practices being employed to help students, Indian Creek Education Association President Karen Lloyd discussed technology limitations. “When high school teachers have hundreds of students and they have trouble connecting. they’ve been making more efforts to really connect with parents,’’ Lloyd told board members.

Precisely. Parents are always critical to the education process, for obvious reasons. Their importance grows ex-ponentially when students must learn from home, rather than in their classrooms.

A significant number of parents do not seem to have ad-opted the role of surrogate teachers, however. Throughout our area, teachers report some students are not completing the homework assignments they have been given. Hence, the need, as Lloyd mentioned, to connect with parents and attempt to persuade them to act as enforcers for schools.

Most school districts seem to have adopted a lenient at-titude toward completion of assignments during the shut-down. They have little choice in the matter. No one saw this coming. No one was truly ready for it.

Lessons learned from the shutdown - about technology and how to cope with gaps in its availability, and about parental cooperation and failures in that respect - need to be put to use in preparing for the next epidemic. No one can say when, but there will be a next time.

WV shared editorials

The Bluefield Daily TelegraphUpcoming June election choices

Although West Virginia’s primary election has been postponed until June 9, the impact on area voters should be minimal. Absentee voting is still the best and safest way to cast a ballot, at least for the time being. And area residents who wish to vote absentee can still request a bal-lot by mail now.

County clerks have been taking applications for absen-tee ballots, and there are plans to mail additional postcard absentee applications to West Virginia’s registered voters, according to Mercer County Clerk Verlin Moye.

Gov. Jim Justice announced earlier this month that he was postponing the state’s May 12 primary until June 9 due to the ongoing pandemic. Justice and Secretary of State Mac Warner postponed the primary in the hope that the pandemic will slow by June and allow more people to cast ballots in person at their regular polling places.

Of course, no one knows what the future will bring in these uncertain times. While we hope the pandemic will have run its course by June, this crisis also could linger into the summer months.

That’s why casting an absentee ballot is probably the best course of action, at least for now.

In fact, a majority of the state’s county clerks are urg-ing the governor to have an absentee-only election, Moye said.

“We were wanting that as a group,’’ Moye said of ab-sentee balloting. “We thought that would be sufficient to have no in-person voting. That way, the risk is minimized because they already relaxed the law to account for that to make it OK; and every registered voter would have gotten an application and you still may. We were in the process of doing a mass mailing to every registered voter; that was an application to order an absentee ballot.’’

In Union, Monroe County Clerk Donald J. Evans also supports using only absentee voting for the primary elec-tion.

“It keeps the contact down between voters and poll workers,’’ Evans said of absentee voting. “You vote your ballot inside your own home, and we can wear the appro-priate equipment and such, and make it as safe as we can get.’’

The postponement will give the clerk’s office more time to prepare for the election without jeopardizing peo-ple, McDowell County Clerk Don Hicks said. However, Hicks warns that doing the election only by absentee vote could present problems such as ballots getting lost or de-

Shared editorials continued on 5A

Governor lays out plan for reopening economy In his daily briefing

yesterday, for state resi-dents, Gov. Jim Justice out-lined a plan for reopening businesses while keeping COVID-19 cases to a min-imum.

In a program he called “West Virginia Strong - The Comeback,” he out-lined the steps necessary to reopen the economy but cautioned that any setback in the decline of corona-virus cases would halt the process until the numbers were down.The Comeback Roadmap

• Expanded testing ca-pacity

• Increased hospital surge capacity

• Ramping up the supply of PPE

• Ramping up the con-tact tracing capability

West Virginians should continue to

• Practice physical dis-tancing

• Wear face coverings in public where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain

• Follow statewide Stay at Home Order until lifted

• Follow all county health department regula-tions

• Telework when possi-ble

The criteria for opening businesses is

• Three consecutive days maintaining statewide cumulative percent of pos-itive test results below 3%

If this criteria is achieved some businesses will be al-lowed to open but will not be required to open.

The cumulative percent of positive test results may be found on the web site coronavirus.wv.gov. Along with the total number pos-itive tests, total deaths and total number of state residents tested, is the cu-mulative percent. Monday morning’s percentage was 2.47%, below the 3% re-quired and what the gov-ernor hopes is the first of

three days below 3%.Also on that web site is

the cumulative percent pos-itive charge which shows the decline of positive tests since the end of March.

When the three-day low percentage is achieved, he outlined what businesses/services would be allowed to open each week.

Week 1• Hospitals and elective

medical procedures• Outpatient health care

(working with boards and associations to develop ap-propriate criteria) - prima-ry care, dentistry, physical therapy/occupational ther-apy, psychological/mental health

• Testing of daycare staffWeek 2

• Small businesses with less than 10 employees

• Professional services (by appointment only and waiting in vehicle instead of inside) - hair and nail salons, barbershops, dog grooming

• Outdoor dining at restaurants

• Churches and funerals with limited gathering size (every other pew, physical distancing, face coverings)

All the above with phys-ical distancing, sanitization and face coverings.

Weeks 3-6• Office/government

buildings• Specialty retail stores• Parks and/or restrooms

and facilities at parks• Gyms, fitness centers,

recreational centers• Dine-in restaurants• Hotels• Casinos• Spas/massage• Remaining small busi-

nessesThese changes will be

announced at least one week prior to reopening.

Absent from the list of possibile openings and no timeline set are

• Nursing home visita-tion

• Entertainment venues

such as movies theaters, sporting events and con-certs

• Gatherings larger than 25 people

The conditions for re-opening the economy are to start out slow and pos-sibly stop or reverse if the following appear

• An unexpected in-crease of COVID-19 posi-tive hospitalizations

• Significant outbreaks of community-based trans-mission (not clusters or outbreaks in nursing homes or vulnerable communities) which could be on a county

by county basis or regional hotspot basis

• Cumulative percent of positive test results surges above 3%

In going forward the governor said there will be guidance for each busi-ness sector which will be released in advance, limita-tions of size of gatherings will stay in place until lift-ed, testing data will be ana-lyzed daily and the reopen-ing plan will be modified in necessary.

For updated information go to coronavirus.wv.gov or governor.wv.gov.

Senators protest transfer of inmates to W.Va.U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.

Va.) and Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) urged U.S. Attorney General Wil-liam Barr to immediately halt plans to send new out-of-state inmates from COVID-19 hotspot regions to FCC Hazelton and FCI Gilmer to quaran-tine.

This decision puts West Virginia’s already vulnerable population, our correctional officers and their fam-ilies at a greater risk of exposure to COVID-19.

Manchin said in part, “Instead, I respectfully request you consid-er helping West Virginia during this challenging time by utilizing the ex-cess capacity at FCC Hazelton and FCI Gilmer to support efforts already underway to relieve the overcrowd-ing in our state jails and waive the cost of housing those state inmates for the duration of the pandemic.

“This act of compassion by DOJ and BOP would greatly benefit the people of West Virginia while we

continue to fight this terrible virus. “By working as a partner with the

state to better utilize the excess ca-pacity in these facilities we can join together on a solution to enhance physical distancing in our state jails and slow the spread of COVID-19 in West Virginia.

“Again, I implore you to cease the movement of these new out-of-state inmates to West Virginia and work with the state to bolster ongoing ef-forts to protect the public, our correc-tional officers, and the current inmate population.”

Capito stated, “The impact of this pandemic continues to show no

boundaries and it has hit our judicial system as well.

“While I strongly oppose the re-lease of prisoners from their sentenc-es and understand the need for trans-fers within the system, I have become increasingly concerned for the health and safety of the men and women at FCI Hazelton and FCI Gilmer as well as their families and surrounding community.

“We have been extremely fortu-nate that we have not had a coronavi-rus outbreak in either of these facili-ties, and we cannot risk one now.

“I respect the analysis by the BOP, but too many brave West Virginians who work long hours in an already dangerous environment have ex-pressed their concern about this po-tential transfer.

“As such, I am asking the BOP to heed the call to halt these transfers on behalf of the health and safety of these West Virginians as we continue to fight this pandemic.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “We have been extremely

fortunate that we have not had a coronavirus outbreak in either of these facilities, and we cannot

risk one now. - Sen. Capito - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

W.Va. Senate President Carmichael, House of Delegates Speaker Hanshaw issue statement on reopening plan

Release from the W.Va. Legislature

Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, issued the following joint state-ment applauding Gov. Jim Justice’s announcement about the planned steps to reopen the West Virginia economy.

“The past six weeks have been some of the most difficult and chal-lenging times in our state’s history. The COVID-19 virus has had a devastat-ing impact on the lives of all West Virginians. Fam-ilies have lost friends and loved ones to this deadly virus. Others have suffered economic losses that will last for months or years, but it is important that we start planning now for how we return to normal life in America.

“We were pleased to see Governor Justice lay out a plan for getting West Vir-ginians back to work. We are happy to have had input into the plan the governor announced today. We are happy that the actions tak-en by the state in the past several weeks have slowed

the spread of this virus. Now, we look forward to turning our attention to the process of recovering from the damage this virus has caused, both to our com-munities and to our econ-omy.

“We join Governor Jus-tice in his goal to reopen the West Virginia econo-my as quickly as possible while respecting the need to maintain necessary health and safety protocols. We support the governor’s desire to get our business-es open and our economy moving again. Governor Justice correctly remarked last week that it is critical to our State to get workers back on the job and busi-ness owners back to doing business, all as quickly as possible.

“We support the focus in the plan announced by Governor Justice on near-term efforts to get people working again as quick-ly as possible, and we are looking forward to work-ing with the governor to provide whatever support is necessary from the Leg-islature to jumpstart an economic recovery in West Virginia.”

April 28, 2020 GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, W.Va. Page 5A

April 26, 1950Petersburg High School

senior Dorothy Lewis was crowned as Miss Peters-burg High School.

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Miller celebrated their golden anniversary, with an open house at their home, with about 100 people at-tending.

Sgt. Daniel Kuykendall spent a 40-day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Kuykendall and then was discharged from the army.

Pvt. Dewey Cosner Jr. was to be stationed in Alas-ka for a long period of time.

Veach-Townsend Clin-ic births included: Mr. and Mrs. Milton Austin of Moorefield, a daughter; Mr. and Mrs. Byron Bland Jr. of Onego, a daughter; Mr. and Mrs. John L. Boor of Petersburg, a daughter; and Mr. and Mrs. John William Sites of Franklin, a son.

April 27, 1960Eleanor Jean Harper of

Petersburg and Janet Ma-rie Cullers of Gormania received their nurses’ caps from Winchester Memorial Hospital.

Winners of the Golden Horseshoe were: David Cuppett Jr., Christine Cline and Sull McCartney Jr., all of Petersburg High and David Bomboy of Bayard High.

Mr. and Mrs. Ashby Weese observed their 60th wedding anniversary at their home, April 25.

Births at Grant Memo-rial Hospital included: Mr. and Mrs. Eston Carr of Maysville, a son, April 18; Mr. and Mrs. Cletus Sites of Rough Run, a son, April 19; Mr. and Mrs. Walter Miller of Moorefield, a son, April 21; Mr. and Mrs. Tra-cy Vandevander of Frank-

lin, a son, April 22; Mr. and Mrs. William Kisamore of Riverton, a son, April 23; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Franz of Maysville, a daughter, April 22; and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Porter of Petersburg, a son, April 24.

Coach Barr and the Vi-kings moved their season record to 2-2.

Landes news: “We are having real warm weather at this time, Saturday, was a real hot day about 92 in the shade.”

Mr. and Mrs. Albert Lahman observed their 53rd wedding anniversary at their home.

April 29, 1970Connie Lipscomb was

crowned Miss Petersburg Junior High School queen. First runner-up was Judy Ours and second runner-up was Sue Carole Harman.

Jackie Reel was named Miss Petersburg Senior High queen. First run-ner-up was Shelby Moyers and second runner-up was Barbara Sites.

Sp/4 Ronald W. Van-Meter of Cabins, who was serving with the army in Vietnam, was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with “V” Device.

Sp/4 Paul Helmick of Dorcas left for Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he was stationed with the U.S. Army.

Retiring personnel hon-ored at the county teachers banquet were: C.D. Sions, C.P. Hott, Bess Mohl, Thel-ma Stallings and Clement Stump.

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Harris of Maysville an-nounced the birth of a daughter, at Grant Memori-al Hospital.

April 30, 1980The state Fire Marshal

informed the Grant County Board of Education that the “B” gym at PHS must be closed as soon as the new gym was finished, unless the wiring in the old gym was replaced.

Union Educational Complex was the scene of

a break-in, April 23, with several thousand dollars in school equipment taken and damage to the school.

Open for business at their new location on Key-ser Avenue in Petersburg was Tri-County Lighting.

Tracy Hawk had a eighth birthday party giv-en by his father, William Hawk of Scherr.

A 45th wedding anni-versary celebration for Mr. and Mrs. Otis Kessel of Petersburg was April 20, at First Baptist Church fel-lowship hall.

Members of VFW Post 6454 and auxiliary had a fellowship dinner to com-memorate its ninth anniver-sary of the post. It started with 54 charter members and grown to 223 members in 1980.

Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Wratchford of Petersburg announced the birth of a son, April 21, at Grant Me-morial Hospital.

Continued from Page 4A

Second lawsuit fi led in Clarksburg VA hospital deaths

Early 4-H Club from the Landes-Pansy area: (front) Glen Kimble, Stanley Alt, Ralph Alt and Helen VanMeter and (back) club leader Goldie Ratcliff, Mildred Kimble, Eulala Shreve, Vera Kimble, Glenvel Shreve, Dewey Alt, Kenneth Kimble and Dorothy Ratcliff.

The value of West Virginia’s investments dropped about 7.5% after the stock market downturn due to the new coronavirus, the executive director of the Investment Management Board said.

Craig Slaughter told the Consolidated Public Retire-ment Board on Wednesday that state investment assets fell about 4% in February and about 10% in March. Some of those losses were recovered in April, The Charleston Ga-zette-Mail reported.

Entering the downturn, the Investment Management Board had total fund assets of about $19.7 billion, while state pension fund assets were about $15.9 billion.

Slaughter said markets are likely to remain volatile, especially if coronavirus infections surge again later this year.

Consolidated Public Retirement Board Executive Di-rector Jeffery Fleck said the value of investments in a 401(k)-style retirement plan for educators has dropped nearly 12% to $507 million since January.

Under state law, the legislature must redirect revenue to fund public teacher and employee pension plans if those assets don’t grow by 7.5% annually.

State investment assets drop after market downturn

A woman is suing the federal government over the 2018 death of her hus-band from a wrongful insu-lin injection at a West Vir-ginia veterans hospital.

Norma Shaw’s lawsuit is the second one filed against Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie in the past month involving the Lou-is A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg. Both suits allege a “widespread system of failures’’ at the hospital.

Shaw filed the federal lawsuit in the death of her husband, George Nelson Shaw Sr., an 81-year-old retired member of the Air Force.

Federal prosecutors have said they are probing the deaths of up to 11 pa-tients at the hospital.

Shaw’s lawsuit said her husband was admitted to the hospital on March 22, 2018, for lower extremity swelling, fatigue, weakness and shortness of breath. He

died on April 10, 2018. A physician determined the cause of death was heart disease and advanced de-mentia but did not make a mandatory referral to a state medical examiner for an autopsy.

Nine months later, his body was disinterred. An autopsy performed at an air base in Dover, Del., found four insulin injection sites on both arms and one leg. His death was ruled a ho-micide, the lawsuit said.

It said no physician or-der was issued for the injec-tions and that the hospital failed to securely store in-sulin and prevent its access by unauthorized personnel. It alleges an employee who administered the injection was not qualified to be a nursing assistant and that hospital staff failed to take appropriate action to stop the employee from giving the shots.

It also said similar sud-den deaths occurred on at

least seven other occasions from July 2017 to June 2018.

Clarksburg VA hospital spokesman Wesley Walls declined comment on the lawsuit. Walls has said af-ter the hospital discovered the allegations, it had “fired the individual at the center of them.’’

The lawsuit also said hospital and Veterans Af-fairs leadership failed to in-vestigate and document the factors that led to the other deaths and failed to notify patients and families about the unexplained pattern of events that could have prevented future deaths, in-cluding Shaw’s.

The lawsuit, first report-ed by the Charleston Ga-zette-Mail, seeks unspeci-fied damages.

It was filed by Charles-ton attorney Tony O’Dell, who also filed a notice of a pending lawsuit in Oc-tober with the Department

of Veterans Affairs in the 2018 death of John William Hallman. The notice said the 87-year-old Navy vet-eran died at the Clarksburg hospital in 2018 from an insulin shot he did not need and caused his blood sugar to spike.

The first lawsuit involv-ing the insulin shots was filed last month by Melanie Proctor in the death of her 82-year-old father, former Army Sgt. Felix Kirk Mc-Dermott. That death also has been ruled a homicide.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has said the VA inspector general told his office about the opening of a medical and criminal investigation of the hospital in July 2018, after at least nine patients were diagnosed with unex-plained low blood sugar.

The VA is the govern-ment’s second-largest de-partment, responsible for 9 million military veterans.

layed in the mail. Hicks said some voters simply prefer to cast their ballots in person.

Some are also worried about the possibility of vot-er fraud occurring if a ma-jority of ballots are cast by mail.

It is our hope that most voters will still be able to cast a poll at their normal polling precincts come June 9. That would be the best outcome. But right

now, no one can say with 100 percent certainty that it will be safe to have large crowds voting together at polling precincts this June.

So absentee voting is certainly a good option to consider at the moment, particularly for senior cit-izens and others who are considered high-risk due to chronic health conditions.

We still encourage ev-eryone to vote, and this is a great way to do so for now.

Shared editorials

The Greenville, Miss. city council has issued a new order that lifts the city’s unconstitutional ban on drive-in church services during the coronavirus crisis in the wake of a lawsuit that Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed on behalf of a local church.

The church voluntarily withdrew its request for a tem-porary restraining order against the city Wednesday in light of the city’s changed position.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of in-terest in the case, Temple Baptist Church v. City of Green-ville, agreeing with the church that the ban cannot single out churches while allowing similar types of activities elsewhere, such as drive-in restaurants.

Lawsuit prompts Mississippi city to offi cially lift ban on drive-in church services

Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) has an-nounced a grant of $9,398,776 from the Department of Transportation to airports in West Virginia.

Locally, the Grant County Airport in Petersburg re-ceived $20,000.

These Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Airport Grants will provide relief to local airports who have lost revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is part of a $10 billion allocation of funds from the CARES Act to airports nationwide.

“Our airports play a critical role in ensuring goods and services arrive at their destination on time, especially during a crisis,” said Miller. “I am so happy to see this significant funding come home to provide West Virginia with the resources needed to combat this virus quickly and effectively.”

“This $10 billion in emergency resources will help fund the continued operations of our nation’s airports during this crisis and save workers’ jobs,” said U.S. Trans-portation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

“Thank you to the dedicated men and women from the FAA’s Office of Airports for creating an entirely new pro-gram in record time to assist airport sponsors in desperate need of these funds,” said Federal Aviation Administrator Steve Dickson.

Airport receives grant money from Dept. of Transportation

West Virginia Supreme Court upholds right to work law

By John Raby - Associated PressThe West Virginia Supreme Court has upheld a so-

called right-to-work law and handed a defeat to labor unions which had sought to preserve workers’ union dues.

In an opinion released Tuesday, the justices granted summary judgment to the state and overturned a February 2019 ruling by a lower court judge who had sided with the unions.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey had struck down as unconstitutional some provisions of the 2016 law, which authorized union employees to stop pay-ing dues and fees or, in lieu of that, make payments to a charity or third party.

After the Republican-led Legislature crafted the bill, then-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, vetoed it and lawmakers overrode the veto the next day, making West Virginia the 26th “right-to-work’’ state.

The state chapter of the AFL-CIO and other unions then filed a lawsuit, maintaining the law illegally took their assets since they still have to represent all employees in a union shop, including those that the law would allow to stop paying union dues.

The new law would have required unions and union officials “to work, to supply their valuable expertise, and to provide expensive services for nothing,’’ Bailey wrote.

But the state Supreme Court ruled the law “does not violate constitutional rights of association, property, or liberty.”

Proponents said the law would attract businesses and give workers more freedom over their ties to unions. Dem-ocrats argued the law was solely meant to undercut unions for political reasons, allowing workers to benefit from union representation without paying dues. Democrats also argued the economic benefits were unproven and wages would drop.

Page 6A GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, W.Va. April 28, 2020

Local and area obituariesDERIKA SHAE CRITES

PVCD meeting notice

Eleanor Harman, 93, of Petersburg, W.Va., passed away Tuesday, April 21, 2020, at Grant Rehabilita-tion and Care Center, Pe-tersburg.

Born Oct. 8, 1926, in Petersburg, she was the daughter of the late Floyd E. Maske Sr. and Laura Belle (Crites) Maske. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Vernon E. Harman Sr. on Sept. 18, 1991; one brother, Floyd E. Maske Jr.; and one sis-ter, Beulah Hawley. Elea-nor was the last surviving member of her immediate family.

Eleanor enjoyed spend-ing time with her family and friends. She loved to craft, sew, crochet and horseback ride. Her goal was to ride a horse on her 100th birth-day. She enjoyed putting puzzles together, tending to her flowers and eating out with her family.

Eleanor was a faith-ful member of North Mill Creek Baptist Church.

She is survived by two sons, Vernon (Teena) Har-man of Petersburg and Marcus Harman of Peters-burg; two grandchildren, Paul (Rosie) Harman and

Brandee (Patrick) Chap-man; four great-grand-children, Dylan (Maddie) Chapman, Mackenzee Chapman, Katelyn Har-man and Chasyn Harman; two stepgreat-grandchil-dren, Patrick Chapman and Joseph Chapman; one s tepgreat-great-grand-daughter, Ursula; and a special caregiver, Wilma Judy.

Memorials in memory of Eleanor may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hos-pital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959

Arrangements by the Schaeffer Funeral Home, Petersburg. Condolences to the family may be made at www.schaefferfuneral-home.com. (4-28-20)

ELEANOR HARMANDerika Shae Crites,

18, of Maysville, W.Va., passed away Friday, April 17, 2020, at University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, Va.

Born Sept. 30, 2001, in Petersburg, W.Va., she was the daughter of Derek and Jennifer Crites of Mays-ville, W.Va.

Along with her parents, she is survived by three sis-ters, McKenna Crites, Sa-die Crites and Karli Crites, all of Maysville; mater-nal grandparents, Darlene Kessel of Petersburg and Bobby and Missy Whetzel of Moorefield, W.Va.; pa-ternal grandparents, Wayne and Lucy Crites of Moore-field; several aunts, uncles, cousins; and the Custer family.

Derika was a member of the Petersburg High School Class of 2020. She was also a member of Petersburg High School FFA Chapter and Barn Crew Livestock 4-H Club. She had a pas-sion for farming with her father and grandfather. She enjoyed showing livestock at the Tri-County Fair, where she made a lifetime of memories and friends. She also enjoyed spend-

ing time with family and friends, hunting, fishing and kayaking.

Due to the present health concerns, there will be no public visitation. All services and interment will be private at South Branch Valley Memorial Gardens, Petersburg.

Memorials may be made in memory of Derika to Crites Family, c/o Derek and Jennifer Crites, 2454 Ridge Rd., Maysville, WV 26833.

Arrangements by the Schaeffer Funeral Home, Petersburg. Condolences to the family may be left at www.schaefferfuneral-home.com. (4-28-20)

E. GENE BOSLEYEmory Gene Bosley,

79, of Petersburg, W.Va., passed away Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, at Winchester Medical Center, Win-chester, Va.

Born on March 1, 1940, in Petersburg, he was the son of the late Emory Lee Bosley and Annie Eliza-beth (Sirbaugh) Bosley. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two sisters, Bonnie Lee Strawder and Lila “Patsy” Grogg.

Gene served in the U.S. Army. He retired from the U.S. Postal Service in Dull-es, Va.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Aurora (Moreno) Bosley; one son, Ashley Gene Bosley of Pe-tersburg; one granddaugh-ter, Paige Bosley of Peters-burg; one half brother, Roy Bosley of Winchester; two nieces, Kim Christiansen of Falls Church, Va. and Brenda A. (Glenn “Doc”) Vance of Petersburg; and two nephews, Gary Grogg of Falls Church and Eddie

Grogg of Edinburg, Va.Funeral services were

Thursday afternoon, Jan. 23, at the Schaeffer Fu-neral Home chapel, Pe-tersburg, with Pastor Rick Bergdoll officiating. Inter-ment was in South Branch Valley Memorial Gardens, Petersburg, with military honors by Potomac High-lands VFW Post 6454 and West Virginia Army Honor Guard.

Condolences to the fam-ily may be left at www.schaefferfuneralhome.com.

(4-28-20)

ARLENA V. ALT KIMBLEArlena Virginia Alt

Kimble, 97, of Petersburg, died Wednesday, April 22, at the Grant Rehabilitation and Care Center, Peters-burg.

Born June 9, 1922, in Petersburg, she was the daughter of the late An-drew Jackson Riggleman and Dora (Kite) Riggle-man. She was also pre-ceded in death by her first husband, Sherman D. Alt in 1968 and her second hus-band, whom she married in 1972, Carl A. Kimble Sr. on July 24, 2019; two brothers, Hetz and Gordon Riggleman; and one sister, Jessie Mae Crites.

Mrs. Kimble attended school in Dorcas and was a former member of the Dorcas Baptist Church, later attending Brushy Run Church of God. She was a homemaker. She worked for Dr. C.E. King for sev-en years and was a for-mer cook at Johnson Run School.

She is survived by three sons, Isaac “Sonny” Alt of Keyser, Louie Alt of Fisher and Michael S. Alt of Up-per Tract; three stepsons, Carl Kimble Jr. of Moyers, Joseph Kimble of Upper Tract and John Kimble of Smoke Hole; one sister, Genevieve Vance of Cum-berland, Md.; one brother,

Marcell Riggleman of Ste-phens City, Va.; five grand-children, six stepgrand-children and numerous great-grandchildren.

Due to the pandemic, we are taking government recommendations into consideration and we en-courage online expressions of sympathy to the family. Pastor Ken Hamilton will conduct a private graveside service at the Lahmansville Cemetery, Lahmansville.

Memorials may be made to Grant County Re-habilitation and Care Cen-ter, 127 Early Ave., Peters-burg, WV 26847 or charity of your choice.

Memories and words of comfort may be left at www.basagic.com or on Facebook at Basagic Fu-neral Home. (4-28-20)

WILLIAM WENDELL SABOWilliam Wendell “Bill”

Sabo, 82, of Elkins, W.Va. and formerly of Petersburg, W.Va., passed away Thurs-day, April 23, 2020, at his home in Elkins.

Born Nov. 24, 1937, in Greensburg, Pa., he was the son of the late Charles Sabo and Nina Rebecca Alt Sabo.

On Aug. 16, 1969, he married Betty Ann Cornell who survives. They cel-ebrated 50 years of mar-riage last year. He is also survived by one son, Mark William Sabo and wife Ka-sey of Virginia Beach, Va.; one daughter, Lisa Ann Shetler and husband Curt of Windber, Pa.; one grand-son, Tristan Charles Bird of Stratford, Conn.; and one sister, Carolyn Sabo of Martinsburg, W.Va.

Bill served in the U.S. Army and retired from the West Virginia Department of Banking as chief bank examiner to enjoy his loves of hunting and fishing.

Due to the present

health concerns there will be no public visitation. All services and interment will be private in Lahmansville Cemetery, Lahmansville, W.Va. with the Rev. Greg Rotruck officiating.

Memorials may be made to Bethel Church, 3330 Franklin Pike, Petersburg, WV 26847.

Arrangements by the Schaeffer Funeral Home, Petersburg. Condolences to the family may be left at www.schaefferfuneral home.com. (4-28-20)

MARGARET M. VINCELLMargaret M. Vincell,

92, of Petersburg, W.Va., went to be with the Lord on Saturday, April 25, 2020, at Grant Rehabilitation and Care Center, Petersburg.

Born May 10, 1927, in South Charleston, W.Va., she was the daughter of the late William Anderson Dent and Pribble Mallory Dent.

In addition to her par-ents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Shelba D. Vincell II; three brothers and two sis-ters.

Margaret was a woman of great faith. She always said that her greatest desire was to instill the “love of Jesus” in her family. She was a member of Highlawn Baptist Church in St. Al-bans, W.Va. and faithfully attended Ox Hill Baptist Church, Chantilly, Va. and Main Street United Meth-odist Church in Petersburg, for many years. Faith and family were most import-ant to her.

She retired from Colum-bia Gas as a payroll proces-sor, worked for Kanawha

Valley Bank in Charles-ton, W.Va., George Mason Bank and the Virginia De-partment of Transportation in Fairfax, Va. before retir-ing to Petersburg in 1992.

She graduated from the Charleston School of Com-merce and attended Morris Harvey College.

She is survived by two children, daughter Yvonne Williams (Elwood) of Moorefield, W.Va. and son Shelba D. Vincell III (René) of Franklin, W.Va.; three grandchildren, Mark Rowland, S. Joseph Vin-cell (Allison) and Shelley Vandiford (Chris); nine great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchil-dren.

Due to the present health concerns, all services and interment will be private in South Branch Valley Memorial Gardens in Pe-tersburg, with Pastor Brad Mitchell officiating.

Arrangements by the Schaeffer Funeral Home, Petersburg. Condolences to the family may be left at www.schaefferfuneral home.com. (4-28-20)

The Potomac Valley Conservation District boa-rd will meet Wednesday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be held by teleconference only. Call in instructions are posted on the District webpage: www.wvca.us/distr ict /pvcd.cfm or by contacting

the office at 304-822-5174. The meeting agenda

will be available three days prior to the meeting and a copy may be obtained on the webpage or by contact-ing the office at 500 East Main St., Suite F, Romney, WV 26757. The public is invited to participate.

AttorneyContinued from front

10 percent price cap if the increase can be directly at-tributed to additional costs imposed on the seller by the supplier of the goods or can be attributed to ad-ditional labor and material costs used to provide the service, plus the custom-ary markup by the seller.

“We investigate every report of potential wrong-doing when it comes to this,” Morrisey said. “We want to protect the people of the state and make sure they are not being taken advantage of when they are vulnerable. That’s why price gouging laws exist.”

Price gouging is a mis-demeanor which could po-

tentially result in a fi ne or even jail time.

Morrisey encouraged anyone who believes they have seen an instance of price gouging to contact his offi ce at 1-800-368-8808 or visit his website at ago.wv.gov.

Morrisey also warned of two scams his offi ce has been aware of concerning stimulus checks and utility companies.

“We have had multiple reports of callers attempt-ing to steal stimulus check funds,” Morrisey said. “We often see things like this during times when a lot of money is on the line and there is some confu-sion around it.”

Morrisey said consum-ers should never give out personal information over

the phone or allow some-one they do not trust to “deposit” the money for them. He also urged con-sumers to be critical of calls from “banks.”

He also pointed to an-other scam being report-ed from consumers about “utility companies” call-ing and threatening to dis-connect service unless the consumers provides them with immediate payment.

“We are, of course, asking people to act re-

sponsibly during this time,” Morrisey said. “To pay their bills if they can and do not fall behind in debt if they do not have to. However, we have worked with West Virginia elec-tricity providers and shut-off notices are not being sent at this time. They are also not calling to threat-ening disconnection.”

Overall, Morrisey en-couraged citizens who believe they have been targeted by a scam to call

his offi ce and report he sit-uation.

“If you see something, say something,” Morrisey said. “It’s important to re-member just because you didn’t fall for something doesn’t mean someone more vulnerable than you may not. It’s a matter of protecting our neighbors.”

Morrisey said his offi ce has been working closely with governor’s offi ce to ensure all the health orders put into place are constitu-tional and that individual rights are not being dis-placed.

“We need to protect the citizen’s health but also protect their constitution-al rights,” Morrisey said. “We have had a great deal of support and input from President Trump and his

offi ce and they have been an ideal partner in this. The president routinely checks in with Governor Justice and with my offi ce to make sure West Virgin-ians are being protected and supported. We are grateful to have him in the White House during this time.”

Morrisey, a long-time Trump supporter, said the personal relationship be-tween the White House and Charleston has been a positive asset for decision makers.

Morrisey ended by en-couraging everyone to fi ll out the census and ensure their voices are heard and counted and that West Vir-ginia had an accurate pop-ulation report.

FCCContinued from front

tem disruption that can slow down safety mea-sures.

“What we need to do is check on our neigh-bors, our family and our friends,” said another rep-resentative from the cen-ter. “Victims of domestic violence may not be able to reach out.”

The Family Crisis Cen-ter was originally founded in 1981 in Keyser and now plays an important role in

Grant County. Due to the pandem-

ic, they are not currently accepting donations of clothing, toys or house-hold items.

However, they are seek-ing nonperishable food items, cleaning supplies and other safety items, such as gloves. They are also accepting monetary donations to help fund their efforts. For more in-formation, call their ho-tline at 1-800-698-1240, email at fcc911@frontier.com or contact them via Facebook by visiting their Family Crisis Center Inc. page

Information on the center was shared at last week’s PITAR meeting, a community-run program aimed at reducing drug use in the county and building community health.

The meeting also in-cluded information about the growing concern of homeless individuals in the county.

Raj Masih of the Poto-mac Highlands Guild and Russ Hedrick Resource and Recovery Center said the issue has gotten worse since the stay-at-home orders and was putting a

strain on the limited pro-grams in the area able to address it.

“We rely on the Coun-cil of Churches and Min-isterial Association to help us anytime we encounter a person who is home-less and has nowhere to go,” Masih said. “We are so grateful for them and what they do, but that is not a long-term solution. We have seen this issue increase heavily over the past few weeks and we don’t really have a solu-tion.”

Over the course of the meeting, representatives from several local support programs and agencies, including:

The Re-entry Council (which helps those re-cently released from jail assimilate back into soci-ety), recovery programs and meetings, the Poto-mac Highlands Guild, the Potomac Valley Transit Authority and Jobs and Hope West Virginia, all clarifi ed they were still working to ensure ser-vices were provided to those in need despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

April 28, 2020 GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, W.Va. Page 7A

Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia Attorney General

“If you see something, say something. It’s important to remember just because you didn’t fall for something doesn’t mean someone more vulnerable than you may not. It’s a matter of protecting our neighbors.”

Family Crisis Center

“What we need to do is check on our neighbors, our family and our friends. Victims of domestic violence may not be able to reach out.”

COVIDContinued from front

ernments. Other top-performing

states in the analysis in-

clude Michigan, Delaware and New Mexico, all of which despite having con-fi rmed cases a week be-fore the Mountain State, issued stay-at-home or-ders the same day as West

Virginia.Virginia ranked 19 in

their response, with Ken-tucky coming in at 13, Maryland at 16 and Ohio at eight.

The worst state reac-

tion, according to the re-port, came from Nebraska, which, despite having a confi rmed case on Feb. 17, did not declare a state of emergency until March 13 and did not close schools

until April 1. Even more, as the re-

ports last update on April 23, Nebraska has not is-sued a stay-at-home or-der or closed nonessential businesses.

However, despite rank-ing last in the analysis, the state has approxi-mately 2,300 confi rmed COVID-19 cases, placing them 38 in overall number of cases.

ArrestContinued from front

fi cer found several hypo-dermic needles as well as methamphetamine.

Steward was also found

to be driving on a suspend-ed license and was charged with numerous other mov-ing violations.

He was transported to the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail and was ar-raigned by a Grant County

Magistrate.Deputies Earle and J.M.

Rohrbaugh of the Grant County Sheriff’s Offi ce as-sisted on the scene with the traffi c stop.

UpdatesContinued from front

positive tests to date.Those tested, or their

families will be notifi ed when results are in.

After all test results and in and notifi cations are completed, the results will be posted for the public. The identity and privacy of those tested will be protect-ed by law.

For more information on Governor Jim Justice’s plan to re-open the econo-my, see page 4A.

New safety regulationsfor businesses

Effective April 16, Governor Justice ordered restriction on the number of the public entering busi-nesses based on square footage for all counties in the state. Glasscock re-minded citizens that when waiting outside, to always keep six feet away from the next person.

“People can be infected and shed the virus with-out being ill,” Glasscock explained. “If you are in public, wear a cloth mask (a coffee fi lter in between the layers for extra protec-tion) to prevent the virus from spreading if you do not know you are infect-ed.”

• The new rules re-leased by the governor last week also say busi-nesses that remain open during the pandemic must implement a written plan to limit staff, contractors and vendors to essential personnel.

Businesses that remain open are also to implement social distancing practic-es, including a minimum six feet from other people, where possible.

Hygienic and disin-fecting supplies are to be made available to staff and others.

And protective barriers are to be made available to employees exposed to the general public.

The new rule establish-es limits of two members of the public per 1,000 feet of customer fl oor space at any time.

Businesses that are smaller than a 1,000 feet of space aren’t supposed to have more than fi ve people, including employ-ees, at any given time.

For businesses with at least 80 percent of sales in grocery food products, it’s a little looser — three members of the public per 1,000 square feet.

Businesses are sup-posed to enforce social distancing — for example, creating one-way aisles or marking off 6-foot bound-aries in areas where peo-ple are likely to stand or wait in line.

• Grant County contin-ues to have one positive COVID-19 test.

“After being informed of a positive test result, the Grant County Health Department personnel began an investigation. If

you are a person who was identifi ed as a contact, the Grant County Health De-partment will reach out to you to assess and give guidance and monitor for signs or symptoms of ill-ness.”

The Grant County Health Department also clarifi ed that they are un-sure if the person came into contact with the virus via community spread or while out of state.

However, they did ex-plain the family has been very cooperative and pro-active and everyone who could have come in con-tact with the virus in Grant County has been contact-ed.

A contact is defi ned as a person living in the same household, caring for that person, or being within six feet for 10 minutes or

more, or being in contact with secretions.

Advice from the Grant County Health

Department:Do not leave the home

unless getting essential items (food and medicine) or if providing an essential service.

• If leaving the home, wear a mask.

• Practice social dis-tancing. Always stay at least six feet away from others.

• Wash hands frequent-ly for at least 20 seconds with warm soapy water.

• Avoid touching the face.

• Avoid being in crowds of people, regardless if young or old.

• If experiencing a fe-ver, cough, shortness of breath and / or body aches,

stay home. Please call 304-257-1026 and press 5 to speak to an ER nurse to be screened prior to any testing if determined nec-essary.

• Do not go anywhere in public if potentially exposed to someone who has tested positive, even if no symptoms are expe-rienced.

• If experiencing a med-ical emergency, please go to the nearest hospital or call 911 and tell them the symptoms.

West Virginia remains under a “Stay at Home”

order. This order is NOT martial law and is not a lock-down. It does

close all non-essential businesses.

The order requires res-idents to remain in their homes and leave only for essential services.

To see the full order visit the Grant County Press Facebook page or website.

Grant Memorial Hos-pital also announced this week they would be can-celing their Health Satur-day event scheduled for May 2.

Page 8A GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, West Virginia April 28, 2020

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SPORTSApril 28, 2020

Jayden Hall, 9, shot his fi rst turkey, a gobbler with a 10 1/4 inch beard and 1 inch spurs on April 18, while hunting with his dad in Grant County. He is the son of Jerod and Jessica Hall of Maysville and the grandson of Mike and Bev Hall of Petersburg and Linda and Lannie Phares of Maysville.

Grayson Kimble, 11, the son of Beth and Todd Heare of Dorcas, caught his 4 pound, 20 inch trout, on April 17. He is the grandson of Bruce and Susan Kimble of Petersburg.

YoungOutdoorsmen

PHS Vikings name new basketball

coachLast week, the Peters-

burg High Athletic Depart-ment announced Stacey Berg would be stepping into the boys varsity basketball coach.

According to their re-lease, Berg is a graduate of Petersburg High School (class of 1991) and Fair-mont State University.

He brings to the position over 10 years of coaching experience. Most recently, he has been part of the Vi-king middle school boys basketball program. Under Berg’s two years of guid-ance the team has a com-bined record of 52 and 18. They were 2017-2018 run-ner up PVLs and 2019-2020 PVL champs.

Berg is also a board member for Grant County Little League Basketball.

“We want to foster val-ues in young men such as responsibility, respect, and being part of something big-ger than one, a team,” Berg said. “I will do my best to mold a group of individuals to be responsible and hold themselves accountable. We will be committed to the school and the community and will be committed to work with our student ath-

letes to provide the oppor-tunity to thrive on and off the court. Academics will be held at a high standard. A student that does well in the classroom will do well on the court.”

In his personal life, Berg enjoys time with his family, spending time on the farm, and anything that involves the outdoors. Currently, Berg is a sales manager for Grant County Mulch. He is married to Gwen Berg. They have fi ve children, Bryce and Payton Berg and Bailey, Grant, and Gracie Brill.

Family is very important and Berg wants to convey that to the basketball pro-gram.

“We look forward to the challenges that lay ahead. I realize there will be bumps in the road but with the sup-port of the community, we will thrive together,” Berg said. “As Michael Jordan said, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my ca-reer. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Marking 100 Years of the

MonongahelaToday marks the

100-year anniversary of the establishment of Monongahela National Forest.

In 1920, following the passage of the Weeks Act in 1911, President Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation desig-nating land purchased for the protection of the Monongahela River as Monongahela National Forest.

Since that time, the forest has grown from an initial 7,200 acres to more than 900,000 acres, all in West Virgin-ia. The Forest continues to benefi t the public more than ever by pro-viding recreational op-portunities, a wide va-riety of forest products, and abundant natural re-sources for all to enjoy.

The Monongahela National Forest is noted for its rugged landscape with spectacular views, rivers, blueberry thick-ets, highland bogs, and open areas with exposed rocks.

This forest ranges in elevation from 900 feet at Petersburg to 4,861 feet at Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia.

The Monongahela has fi ve federally desig-nated wilderness areas: Otter Creek, Dolly Sods, Laurel Fork North, Lau-rel Fork South, and Cranberry; and one Na-tional Recreation Area, Spruce Knob - Seneca Rocks.

Seneca Rocks is one of the best-known land-marks in West Virginia. These rocks have long been noted as a scenic attraction and are pop-ular with rock climbers. The rocks are a magnif-icent formation rising nearly 900 feet above

the North Fork River.The Monongahela

has a bounty of water activities, as the head-waters of six major river systems are located on the Forest (Mononga-hela, Potomac, Green-brier, Elk, Tygart, and Gauley). These water-ways provide excellent white water rafting, and the 576 miles of trout streams offer many fi sh-ing opportunities.

“We invite every-one to celebrate with us on April 28, in spirit and online, 100 years of caring for the land and serving the public on this national forest,” said Shawn Cochran, forest supervisor. “I’d like to thank the state of West Virginia, our part-ners, volunteers, as well as past and present For-est Service employees who have served and dedicated themselves over the years to caring for this land that belongs to all of us.”

To celebrate the for-est’s birthday online:

• The Forest will “take over” the For-est Service Instagram account April 28, #MNF100: https://www.instagram.com/u.s.for-estservice/

• There will be a fl urry of tweets on the Eastern Region Twit-ter account April 28, #MNF100: https://twit-ter.com/usfs_r9

• Visit the Centennial website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd623523.html

• Read and share the “This Week in History” articles: https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/mnf/learning/history-culture

Grant Rehabilitation and Care Center residents take a fi shing trip... safely inside

Resident Mary Gilkerson

Resident Mary Eye and GCRCC employee Donna

Carr

Residents Betty McConnell and Thelma Rohrbaugh

Resident Edna Alt

Resident Rella

Rhodes

GCRCC Administrator Teresa Halliday

Page 2B GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, West Virginia April 28, 2020Even Exchange

answers

1. Glass, Gloss

2. Aaron, Baron

3. Center, Canter

4. Shelf, Shell

5. Nation, Notion

6. Dagger, Danger

7. Merge, Verge

8. Scout, Scott

9. Garnet, Garner

10. Prime, Pride

Potomac Highlands Saddle Club announces winners of 2019 horse show

PeeWee and Lead Line participants Michael Friel, Brinley Ruddle, Sadie Kessel, Faith Smith, Aubrianna Hollaway, Alaina Fegley, and Levi Bergdoll received gift bags from Kerri Snyder.

PeeWee riders Natale, Aubrianna Hollaway, Brinley Ruddle, Alaina Fegley and Faith Smith.

Junior class winners Allyson Alderman, Kirsten Friel and Paisley Hawk. Not pictured - Kayla Lantz.

Pee Lead Line - Levi Bergdoll, Sadie Kessel and reserve champion Michael Friel. Not pictured - champion Jayden Smith.

Senior class winners Misty Mongold (champion), Nicole Brock (reserve champi-on) and Jacquelyn Bergdoll.

PeeWee champion Faith Smith and reserve champion Alaina Fegley.

Winners of the Poto-mac Highlands 2019 horse show, sponsored by the Potomac Highlands Saddle Club include:

PeeWee: Faith Smith - straight barrels, bean bag race, clover leaf barrels, keyhole, 50 yard dash and turn around and Alaina Fegley - turn around.

Lead Line: Jayden

Smith - bean bag race, clo-verleaf barrels, turn around and 50 yard dash.

PeeWee champion was Faith Smith, reserve cham-pion was Alaina Fegley, lead line champion was Jayden Smith and reserve champion was Michael Fri-el.

Junior class: Allyson Alderman - pole bender,

straight barrels, bleeding heart, cloverleaf barrels, turn around, four corner stake and thread the nee-dle; Paisley Hawk - turn around and baton relay; Kayla Lantz - 50 yard dash; Kirsten Friel - keyhole.

Senior class: Misty Mongold - pole bending, pick-n-stick, can race, turn around, four corner stake,

baton relay, keyhole, thread the needle; Nicole Brock - cloverleaf barrels, 50 yard dash; Jacquelyn Bergdoll - straight barrels.

Junior champion was Allyson Alderman and re-serve champion was Pais-ley Hawk. Senior cham-pion was Misty Mongold and reserve champion was Nicole Brock.

Native brook trout propagation program shows promise in W.VaBy John McCoy, The

Charleston Gazette-MailAfter a couple of lean

years, West Virginia’s at-tempt to grow native brook trout in a hatchery is finally bearing fruit.

Roughly 1,200 juvenile brook trout are growing inside the Reymann Farms aquaculture facility near Wardensville, and will be stocked in four Eastern Panhandle streams later this spring.

The idea, said Division of Natural Resources fish-eries biologist Brandon Keplinger, is to take brook-ies from area streams, spawn them in the field or in a hatchery, and grow the resulting offspring to a size that would give them a good chance of survival once released.

“We’re trying to create brook-trout populations that look like the popula-tions some of our streams once had,’’ Keplinger con-tinued. “We’re not out to stock fish that will be caught immediately; we’re trying to establish popula-tions of spawning, self-sus-taining native brook trout.’’

DNR workers and vol-unteers have been working on the project since the fall of 2017, but until now the results were nothing to write home about. The first

year’s effort, in which only a few mature trout were spawned, produced just 47 fingerlings. Last year’s ef-fort produced 350 finger-lings, but only 58 could be stocked.

“Those fish were grow-ing fine, but we had a cat-astrophic failure at the hatchery that killed most of them,’’ Keplinger ex-plained.

This year’s produc-tion has the potential to more than make up for the past two years’ shortfalls. Keplinger said it will allow approximately 280 fish to be stocked in each of the four streams designated to receive them. The streams used to harbor native brookies, but lost their pop-ulations due to overfishing, environmental degradation and other factors.

Though he declined to name the targeted streams, Keplinger said they are lo-cated in Hampshire, Berke-ley and Jefferson counties. Three of the streams re-ceive cold-water discharg-es from limestone springs, so water temperature and quality shouldn’t be a prob-lem. The fourth, located at a higher elevation and therefore colder, has been made more fertile by tons of limestone sand dumped in its headwaters.

The current crop of brook trout is being reared in a hatchery, but Keplinger said the fish should not be considered ``hatchery trout’’ in the usual sense of the term.

“The brookies we raise in our other trout hatcheries are ‘cultured fish,’’’ he ex-plained. “Those were bred specifically to grow quick-ly to a quality size and have nice coloration.

“The brook trout we’ll be releasing this spring ha-ven’t been cultured in any way. They’re the offspring of wild trout we captured last fall. They’ve been reared to fingerling size in a hatchery, but they’re still native brook trout in every sense of the word.’’

Because they haven’t had the wildness bred out of them, the natives should retain the instinct to leave the cold spring flows they occupy in summer and move to prime spawning habitat in fall when water temperatures drop to more tolerable levels throughout the streams.

“These fingerlings are

the offspring from trout that live in streams very simi-lar to the streams we’ll be stocking them,’’ Keplinger said. “That’s one of the rea-sons we think the stockings will be successful.’’

If surveys performed last year are any indication, the native-propagation pro-gram is already producing desired results despite the relatively low numbers of fingerlings stocked in 2018 and 2019.

“We went back in late July or early August, and we ended up finding three-quarters of the fish we stocked last spring, and we found adults of spawn-ing size,’’ Keplinger said. “If conditions allow, this year we’ll be looking for young-of-the-year fish that would have been spawned last fall.’’

Keplinger and his co-workers clip the tip off a fin on each of the fish they release so the fish can be identified during the sur-veys.

“Through genetic analy-sis, we’ll be able to deter-mine whether or not they’re

heritage-strain fish,’’ he added. “The fish we’re stocking will help make the existing population more genetically diverse.

“It could only take two or three fish with the right (variant genes) to enhance a stream’s genetic diver-sity. A little diversity can really make a difference.’’

Keplinger said the fish currently in the hatchery should be 2 to 3 inches in length by the time they’re released - not yet big

enough to be of interest to anglers, but big enough to evade some of the preda-tors they’re likely to en-counter.

Because they’re being released at such an ad-vanced size - roughly three times as large as they would be if they’d been hatched in the wild - Keplinger be-lieves this year’s crop of brookies will probably be ready to spawn by the fall of 2021.

DNR fi sheries biologist Brandon Keplinger explains the idea and process to repopulate streams

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -“We’re not out to stock fish that will be caught im-mediately; we’re trying to establish populations of spawning, self-sustaining native brook trout.’’

Brandon Keplinger, DNR- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

April 28, 2020 GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, W.Va. Page 3B

A brief review of Democratic candidates seeking election for Governor of W.Va. in primary

JODY MURPHYParkersburg

Top issues: Economy:Murphy says one of his main goals is to grow the state’s economy. “We need to take firm con-trol of our oil and gas,” Murphy said. She also supports fighting the com-merce clause, growing en-trepreneurship, industry and manufacturing, mar-keting the state as being a businesses friendly place and improving infrastruc-ture in a way that promote economic growth (internet, cell service and possibly rail services).Fight the population decline:One key issues Murphy points to as a growth con-cern for the state is the steady loss of population. He refers to the state’s in-ability to retain college graduates as the “brain drain,” saying in order to create a state that students are able to stay in, West Virginia needs to rebuild

and refurbish cities, create entrepreneurship and tax-free zones and incentivize living in the mountain state.Other topics he addresses is: improving tourism, gov-ernment accountability and education.

STEPHEN SMITHCharleston

Top issues:Coronavirus Plan:Since announcing his run, Smith has made the COVID-19 pandemic a central topic of his plat-form. He says the pandem-ic highlights issues in the healthcare system, which he says was not built to withstand this problem, as well as highlighting how many West Virginians live at or below the poverty line.

Infrastructure:Smith says the primary is-sue with the state’s infra-structure lies with govern-ment corruption inside the West Virginia Division of Highways. “Like most government

agencies, the WV Divi-sion of Highways (DOH) has stopped working for us. Politicians steer con-tracts to their friends and wealthy neighborhoods get served, but the rest of us have a hard time getting to work. Worse yet, bad roads risk lives. Accidents are up overall. And police, fire, and EMS workers have shown us the rising vehi-cle maintenance costs for their fleets. Every school day, bus drivers are wind-ing past slips and slides in order to get our kids safely to and from school.”While he explains this is not the fault of the state workers, it is the high lev-el managers who make far more income.

DOUGLAS HUGHESLogan

Top Issues:Opioid Epidemic:According to Hughes, the opioid epidemic has not only been a massive issue for the social and family lives of many West Virgin-ians, but has also done a

lot of damage to the state’s economy. Hughes said he believes that if addiction prevention adequately addressed, drug recovery will fall to the lev-els of the 1980s, if not low-er. “We can then fix roads, fund the Public Employees Insurance Agency, consoli-date schools when the cit-izens want and a thousand other things.”Jobs:Hughes said he supports both the growth of tourism as a means to increase the state’s economy as well as building in-state resources. He specifically points to the Hatfield-McCoy Trail system as strong proof that West Virginia Tourism can lead to the state’s success.

BEN SALANGOCharleston

Top issues:Government integrity:One top issue Salango claims to be damaging the state is government cor-ruption. He believes that state government must have stricter compliance

with the Freedom of In-formation Act (FOIA) so the public can see exactly how our government is run. He also plans to create an ethics reform program to hold elected officials more accountable.

Education:Salango says he is a strong supporter of public educa-tion, pointing to the high number of West Virginia students who rely on the state’s education infrastruc-ture. He supports increase pay for educators and be-lieves a smaller class sizes need to be encouraged. He also says he will sup-port a student loan reduc-tion bill and a first-time home buyer tax credit to incentivize people to stay in West Virginia.

DR. RON STOLLINGSMadison

Top issues:Health/Coronavirus:Stollings points to the COVID-19 Pandemic as being an important start-ing point to rebuilding the

state’s response and care for health issues. According to Stollings, some of the plans to fight the issue include: Ensur-ing the care and well-being of our citizens is our first priority, especially health care professionals and first responders; developing an aggressive response to the coronavirus by educating state residents about the risk factors and how to pro-tect themselves; continuing ongoing diligence in social distancing and securing more protective gear, rapid point of care and antibody testing capabilities.

Economy:According to Stollings, the crumbling infrastructure in the state is one of the lead-ing issues in building the West Virginia economy. Stollings’ economic plan, “Thrive WV,” will utilize these funds to make criti-cal improvements. Every one of these investments in infrastructure will fur-ther his economic goals: support entrepreneurs and small businesses; enhance access to quality healthcare including the expanded use of telemedicine; expand education programs and opportunities; attract busi-ness, manufacturing and employees and attract re-tirees with good incomes to the state, particularly those who grew up or attended college here.

NOTICE OF COMMENT PERIOD FOR DRAFT/

PROPOSED OPERATING PERMIT SIGNIFICANT

MODIFICATIONTitle V of the Feder-

al Clean Air Act and the state Air Pollution Control Act requires that all major sources and certain minor

sources have a permit to operate which states all requirements (e.g. emis-sion limitations, monitor-ing requirements, etc.) established by regulations promulgated under the aforementioned programs. The Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has determined that

the draft/proposed permit signifi cant modifi cation ref-erenced herein meets this requirement.

The DAQ is provid-ing notice to the general public of its preliminary determination to issue an operating permit signifi cant modifi cation to the follow-

ing company for operation of the referenced electric generating facility:

Virginia Electric and Power Company

Mt Storm Power StationPlant ID No.: 023-00003

436 Dominion Blvd.Mt Storm, WV

26739-8632

This notice solicits comments from the public and affected state(s) con-cerning the above prelim-inary determination and provides an opportunity for such parties to review the basis for the proposed approval and the “draft” permit signifi cant modifi ca-

tion. This notice also solic-its comments from the U.S. EPA concerning the same preliminary determination and provides an opportuni-ty for the U.S. EPA to con-currently review the basis for the proposed approval as a “proposed” permit. This notice also incorpo-

rates changes to the Gen-eral Requirements of the following preconstruction permit(s): G60-D056C.

All written comments submitted by the public and affected state(s) pursuant to this notice must be re-ceived by the DAQ within thirty (30) days of the date of publication of this notice. Under concurrent review, written comments submit-ted by the U.S. EPA must be received by the DAQ within forty-fi ve (45) days from the date of publication of this notice or from the date the U.S. EPA receives this draft/proposed permit signifi cant modifi cation, whichever is later. In the event that the 30th/45th day is a Saturday, Sun-day, or legal holiday, the comment period will be extended until 5:00 p.m. on the following regularly scheduled business day. The public shall have 135 days from the date of pub-lication of this notice to fi le petitions for concurrently reviewed permits. Upon notice by the U.S. EPA to the DAQ, prior to the end of the 45-day notice period, the U.S. EPA may choose to hold the 30 day comment period on the draft permit and the 45 day comment period on the proposed permit sequentially. During the public comment period any interested person may submit written comments on the draft permit and may request a public hearing, if no public hearing has

already been scheduled. A request for a public hearing shall be in writing and shall state the nature of the is-sues proposed to be raised in the hearing. The Director of the DAQ shall grant such a request for a hearing if he concludes that a publichearing is appropriate. Any public hearing shall be held in the general area in which the facility is located, after 30 day notice is given. The DAQ will consider all writ-ten comments prior to fi nalaction on the permit.

Copies of the DAQFact Sheet and Draft/Pro-posed Permit Signifi cant Modifi cation may be down-loaded from the DAQ’sweb site at the following address: http://www.dep.wv.gov/daq. Copies of the Permit Application, DAQFact Sheet, and Draft/Pro-posed Permit Signifi cant Modifi cation are available for public review at the following location between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.:

WV Department of Environmental

ProtectionDivision of Air Quality

601 57th Street SECharleston, WV 25304

Contact: Frederick Tipane

(304) 926-0499ext.: 41910

Comments and ques-tions concerning this mat-ter should be addressed to the above referenced individual.4/28________________

Page 4B GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, W.Va. April 28, 2020

FOR SALE:2 trailers for sale - as is. Must be moved. $1,000 each or make offer. 304-851-91044/21-4/28f ____________Oak fi rewood. Cut and split. Full size pickup load $80. Free local delivery. 304-257-30978/13tfn _______________Steel plates for 6x6 posts, drilled ready to use. 6 sets. $75 OBO. 304-749-7182. 9/24tfn _______________PSE Stiletto compound bow, comes w/ soft case, sights, silencer, etc. Red/black. Asking $350. Call 304-257-8166.5/21tfnf_______________Give the gift of delicious oranges fresh from the grove! Four unique variet-ies. Twenty delicious or-anges. Limited time offer. Only $19.99 ($5.99 s/h per box). Call Hale Groves 1-855-548-0380. Mention item #487 and code HM-VH-N203 or visit www.halegroves.com/A122054/28p ________________

RENTALS:2 bedroom trailer, $375 month. Call Randy 304-257-4114.5/29tfn _______________House for rent. 3BR, 2BA, oil heat, city water on Rig Rd. $600/mo & $600 secu-rity deposit. 304-749-7249 after 6 pm 304-703-8452 (cell).4/28-5/19p ____________Mobile home lots for rent at Cedar Manor Trailer Court in Petersburg, WV. Inqui-ries call 304-668-0730.5/25tfn _______________

Very nice 2 bedroom newly remodeled apartment lo-cated in Petersburg. Avail-able soon, non-smoking, pet free. $500 per month, water and trash paid by owner. Call 668-0949.4/28-5/5 ______________For rent or sale in Rom-ney - 4BR, 2BA 1900 sq. ft. full basement, A/C, new appliances, walk-in closet, concrete driveway. Rent $1,100/mo. + security de-posit; sale $179,900. Call Mark Redman at 304-790-0534 or 304-257-1455.4/14-5/5 ______________

SERVICES:Flooring: C&P Carpet Plus. 108 South Fork Rd., Moorefi eld. 304-538-6462. All of your fl ooring needs and in-stock items.3/1tfn ________________Painting. houses, barns, roofs, log homes, fences etc. 31 years experience, licensed and insured WV034430. Call Sherwin Dale Kimble. 304-358-3794.4/7-5/12p ____________Septic Tanks pumped: M&M Septic Service. Call 304-851-2037.8/13tfn _______________Painting: Houses, roofs, barns and roofs, poultry house roofs, outbuildings, churches, fences, busi-nesses, stain log homes, pressure washing, interi-ors, 30 years experience. 304-358-7208, Ronnie Kimble, WV licensed and insured.1/21-10/20p __________

A&S Enterprises specializ-es in all of your wastewa-ter needs in Grant, Hardy and Pendleton counties. Offering septic tank pump-ing, grease trap pumping, portable toilet rentals, A/C restroom trailers, Class S wastewater operators ser-vicing lift stations, lagoons, WWTP and recirculating sand fi lters. In business for over 25 years. WV licensed and insured. We accept check and debit/credit cards, 304-257-9505.11/19tfn ______________Seamless gutter installa-tion. Call Vernon Harman Construction 304-257-2509. Accepting credit cards.2/23tfn _______________

HOMES:EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITYAll real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or an in-tention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.” This news-paper will not knowingly ac-cept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. Dwellings adver-tised here are available on an equal opportunity basis. To complain of discrimina-tion, call HUD toll-free in West Virginia at 304-347-5216 or call toll free for the hearing impaired at TDD 1-800-927-9275.tfn___________________

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CHILD CARE:Teddy Bear Daycare, Pe-tersburg, has openings for children age 6 wks - 12 yrs of age. 304-257-5575.11/18tfn ______________

YARD SALES:The annual Grandview Subdivision community yard sale will be resched-uled for Friday, June 5 & Saturday, June 6 pending if restrictions have lifted.4/21-4/28f ____________

EMPLOYMENT:Tri-County Tool Rentals is now looking for an highly skilled mechanic. We will be paying $20-$25 an hour

for this mechanic. We arelooking for someone skilled in engine repair, hydraulic systems repair, and electric systems troubleshooting. We need someone to trou-bleshoot and fi x our mostdiffi cult repairs across our fl eet of skid steers, exca-vators, telehandlers, and manlifts. We offer healthinsurance and paid time off. So come down and join our team at Tri-County Tool Rentals!!! Every day brings a new challenge and rewarding work. Call 538-7895 to make appointment. No interviews at store are possible now.4/28-5/12 _____________The Grant County Sheriff’soffi ce is accepting applica-tions for an eligibility list for a full-time deputy sheriff. Qualifi ed applicants must be under 45 years of age and a certifi ed West Virgin-ia law enforcement offi cer. Deputies are required to reside in Grant County,WV. Applications can be obtained by calling 304-257-1818. Applications can then be mailed. Application deadline is May 15, 2020.4/28-5/5 ______________

LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS

CITY OF PETERSBURGFISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2020 - JUNE 30, 2021

Levy Estimate - Budget DocumentSTATE OF WEST VIRGINIA

MUNICIPALITY OF PETERSBURG:In accordance with WV Code §11-8-14, as amended, the Council proceeded to make

an estimate of the amounts necessary to be raised by a levy of taxes for the current fi scal year and does determine and estimate the several amounts to be as follows:

The amount due and the amount that will become due and collectible from every source during the fi scal year INCLUDING THE LEVY OF TAXES, is as follows:

REVENUE SOURCEUnassigned Fund Balance 10,000Property Taxes - Current Expense 281,650Prior Year Taxes 5,000Supplemental Taxes 500Tax Penalties, Interest & Publication Fees 100Gas & Oil Severance Tax 5,000Excise Tax on Utilities 100,000Wine & Liquor Tax 26,000Animal Control Tax 500Hotel Occupancy Tax 15,000Fines, Fees & Court Costs 5,000Licenses 11,000Building Permit Fees 3,000Franchise Fees 15,000IRP Fees (Interstate Registration Plan) 7,000Gaming Income 15,000Sale of Materials 200Video Lottery (LVL) 1,000TOTAL ESTIMATED REVENUE (GENERAL FUND) 500,950

COAL SEVERANCE TAX FUNDRevenue SourceAssigned Fund Balance 500Coal Severance Tax 6,000TOTAL ESTIMATED REVENUE (COAL SEVERANCE FUND) $ 6,500

ESTIMATED CURRENT EXPENDITURES General Fund Coal Severance Fund

Mayor’s Offi ce 16,563City Council 17,978Recorder’s Offi ce 12,352Treasurer’s Offi ce 18,200City Clerk’s Offi ce 15,450Police Judge’s Offi ce 2,000City Attorney 1,000Regional Development Authority 1,900Planning & Zoning 720Elections 3,000City Hall 25,000 6,500Police Department 124,217Streets and Highways 206,000Street Lights 30,000Parks & Recreation 11,570 Visitor’s Bureau 15,000TOTAL ESTIMATED EXPENDITURES 500,950 6,500

MUNICIPALITY OF PETERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIAREGULAR CURRENT EXPENSE LEVY

FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2020 - JUNE 30, 2021

Certifi cate of Valuation Assessed Value Levy Taxes

for Tax Purposes Rate/$100 LeviedClass I

Personal Property 12.50Total Class IClass IIReal Estate 35,482,930 25.00 88,707Personal Property 420,250 1,051Total Class II 35,903,180 89,758Class IVReal Estate 25,384,580 50.00 126,923Personal Property 14,449,163 72,246Public Utility 3,954,299 19,771Total Class IV 43,788,042 218,698Total value & projected revenue 79,691,222 308,940Less Delinquencies, Exonerations & Uncollectible Taxes 5% 15,435Less Tax Discounts 2% 5,865Total projected property tax collection 287,398Less Assessor Valuation Fund 2.00% 5,748(Subtracted from regular current expense taxes levied only)Net Amount to be raised by Levy of Property Taxes 281,650

MUNICIPALITY OF PETERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIAEXCESS LEVY /LEVIES

Fiscal Year July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021 Certifi cate of Valuation Levy Taxes Assessed Value for Tax Purposes Rate/$100 LeviedClass IPersonal Property 4.49Total Class IClass IIReal Estate 35,482,930 8.98 31,864Personal Property 420,250 377Total Class II 35,903,180 32,241Class IVReal Estate 25,384,580 17.96 45,591Personal Property 14,449,163 25,951Public Utility 3,954,299 7,102Total Class IV 43,788,042 78,644Total Value & Projected Revenue $ 79,691,222 110,885Less Delinquencies, Exonerations & Uncollectible Taxes 5% 5,544Less Tax Discounts 2% 2,107Net Amount to be Raised by Levy for Budget Purposes 103,234State of West VirginiaCounty of Grant:Municipality of Petersburg:

I, Sarah J. Moomau, Recording Offi cer of said municipality, do hereby certify that the foregoing are true copies from the record of orders made and entered by the council of the said municipality on the 15th day of April, 2020.

Sarah J. MoomauRecorder

4/28________________________________________________________________

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April 28, 2020 GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, W.Va. Page 5B

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ADVERTISEMENTNotice is hereby given that Vindex Energy LLC, 100 Tygart Dr., Grafton, WV 26354, has submitted an application to

the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) 47 School Street, Suite 301, Philippi, WV 26416-1600, for a Phase 1 release on Permit Number O200512 Increment Number 2 issued for 51.75 acres.

The permit is located in Union/Davis District of Grant County, 5.5 miles southeast of Bayard on Laurel Run of Stony River of the North Potomac River.

Vindex Energy LLC completed backfi lling and regrading on 8/20/2018 and is requesting release of 60 percent of the performance bond currently in the amount of $52,000.00.

Written comments will be received at the DEP address above until 6/11/2020 or thirty (30) days from date of fi nal publication.

4/21-5/12 ______________________________________________________________________________________

LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS • LEGALS WV magistrate suspended over fi shing encounter

A West Virginia magis-trate has been suspended for 90 days for violating codes of judicial conduct during a confrontation with Division of Natural Resources officers after he went fishing.

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday increased the suspension recommended by a judicial hearing board against Wayne County Mag-istrate David E. Ferguson. The board had recommended a 30-day suspension without pay and a $2,000 fine.

The court said the harsh-er suspension was justified due to Ferguson’s “flagrant attempt to intimidate’’ law enforcement officers.

The court said Ferguson was fishing with his father in February 2017 at East Lynn Lake, which had been restocked with trout that day.

DNR Cpl. Larry Harvey said he and another offi-cer saw Ferguson catch the daily limit of six trout, then caught two more, giving one to his father and one to an-other man. When officers ap-proached Ferguson, he began pacing and screaming.

Ferguson was cited for exceeding the fish limit. He paid a small fine, plus court costs.

Page 6B GRANT COUNTY PRESS, Petersburg, West Virginia April 28, 2020

WVU TodayEven before West Vir-

ginia reported its first case of the novel coronavirus, Dr. Sally Hodder and her team recognized the need for a COVID-19 patient data registry.

It was after attending a January conference at the National Institutes of Health when Hodder, an infectious disease special-ist who lived through the 1980s AIDS/HIV epidem-ic, predicted with confi-dence that we’d soon have a pandemic on our hands.

Her colleagues at the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science In-stitute at West Virginia University, of which she directs, knew likewise.

So they started build-ing a patient data regis-try, in collaboration with WVU Medicine, although there were no patients to put in it at the time. Now, the WVCTSI’s COVID-19 registry contains more than 7,500 negative cases and 450 positives from indi-viduals tested through the WVU Medicine system.

“We’re not going to be done with this virus after one wave of infections,” Hodder warned. “In my opinion, until we have an effective vaccine, there will be multiple waves. If you look at the influenza pandemic of 1918 – yes, it was a different virus but it killed about 50 million people worldwide before it was done. And the second

wave was deadlier than the first.”

Updated daily, the reg-istry includes detailed in-formation from patients including testing method, ICU stays, ventilator use, medications, vital signs, pre-existing conditions, labs, procedures, and basic demographics such as age, gender and race, to name a few. Identifiable personal information, such as patient names, is not included. Researchers are provided specific datasets upon ap-proval.

In the clinical and re-search worlds, patient registry data is utilized by scientists to assess health outcomes for a popula-tion. This project further represents how WVU and WVCTSI are leading the COVID-19 response and serving the residents of West Virginia.

“As COVID-19 esca-lated in Europe, I spoke

to our team about the need to get this built and they built fast,” said Wes Kim-ble, assistant director of clinical research services at WVCTSI who led the charge on the project. “I told them, ‘This is go-ing to be the hot topic for years. The research on this is not going away anytime soon.’”

Kimble had already helped develop these types of registries, including one of West Virginia heart fail-ure patients.

It’s all consistent with the WVCTSI’s goal of creating research infra-structure to address health disparities in the Mountain State.

“We’re here to improve health outcomes in the state,” said Hodder, also a professor of infectious dis-eases in the WVU School of Medicine. “Having a patient registry that can provide data that address-

es COVID-19 patient out-comes was a no-brainer.

“Initial patient reports of this virus suggested that it was largely a respiratory disease accompanied by pneumonia and fever. More recently, we’re seeing it as a multi-organ disease with increasing reports of kid-ney and liver failure. With a registry like this, you can pull in those variables, which, eight weeks ago, we never understood would be important.”

Since news of the reg-istry got out, researchers have flooded WVCTSI with requests, Kimble said. Some of those proj-ects involve convalescent plasma therapy in patients with severe COVID-19, neurological outcomes in COVID-19 patients and predictive modeling to identify high-risk patients.

For now, both Hod-der and Kimble view the registry as a project that may not end depending on the uncertain future of COVID-19 outbreaks.

“So it is absolutely, crit-ically important that we have good data sources and look at outcomes in an organized way, in real time, because I think this is with us for the near future,” Hodder said.

Questions about the reg-istry should be directed to Kimble or Emily Morgan, WVCTSI data services specialist.

Dr. Sally Hodder

Coronavirus update: WVU team builds patient registry to harness virus research, predict outcomes

Wes Kimble

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PSC student spent spring break making a difference

Tyrin Musser, a sophomore engineering student at WVU-PSC, spent spring break helping his communi-ty by making masks to be distributed in the Potomac Highlands area of West Virginia.

Written by Potomac State College Student Jason Littleton

Tyrin Musser, a sopho-more engineering student at West Virginia Universi-ty Potomac State College, spent his recent spring break making a difference.

He and his family have spent the past month mak-ing masks for local health-care workers. “I just want-ed to do something to help my community,” Musser said.

With the help of his mother, Kimberly, who could no longer go to work due to the stay-at-home re-strictions, the motivation to start sewing masks came naturally.

“Working as a dental hygienist, I saw the short-age of protective supplies firsthand,” Kimberly said, so armed with her mother’s sewing machine, the whole family came together to help.

Musser’s family has

been making two kinds of masks. The first type of mask, made of cloth, are washable and reusable and can also be sanitized with UV lights. The second type of masks are made of poly-propylene, the same ma-terial that N-95 masks are

made from. The Mussers now work

with hundreds of individ-uals who are volunteering their time from their homes to create the much-needed mask, even people from as far away as California have reached out to help.

With the assistance of the Mineral County Health Department and the Na-tional Guard, the thousands of masks that have been created are being distribut-ed to the counties of Grant, Hardy, Hampshire, Pendle-ton, and Mineral.

The West Virginia Mask Army is the nonprofit or-ganization the family is working under and they en-courage anyone interested in helping to make masks or donating to contact Kim-berly at 304-668-5279 or to visit the West Virginia Mask Army website.

“We just want to thank all the healthcare workers for their sacrifices. You are the real heroes here,” Kim-berly said.

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