WV MetroNews
The Voice of West Virginia
GLENVILLE, W.Va. — Faced with an early deficit, one big swing of the bat and four shutout innings to follow allowed Gilmer County to reach the Little Kanawha Conference Championship game. The Titans defeated Tyler Consolidated, 5-3 in the second LKC semifinal to set up a matchup against Williamstown Friday at 5 p.m.
WVU signee and senior pitcher Bryant Yoak kept the defending LKC champions off the scoreboard in four of his five innings on the mound. Yoak struck out nine batters and allowed four hits on 81 pitches.
“He had several pitches working. His changeup was as nasty as can be. His slider was working,” said Gilmer County head coach Ben Hall. “Of course it never hurts when you can rare back like he does. I thought he did really well keeping batters off balance all night. That’s a good hitting team.”
“I mixed in my main three pitches,” Yoak said. “My sinker was on. My changeup was on. And my curveball was on for the most part too. I was able to locate that on 3-2 counts and that’s huge for a putaway pitch.”
The Titans (23-3-1) scored a pair of runs in the second inning before Tyler (18-11) answered in the third. A two-run double from Ethan Clark and a run-scoring groundout by Owen Westbrook gave the Silver Knights a 3-2 lead.
After relinquishing the lead, Yoak stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the frame. He delivered a bases-clearing double to put the Titans back on top, 5-3.
“To be able to go back out there with a cushion, that’s a big relief off my shoulders,” Yoak said. “It showed we could buckle down in big situations.”
“It shows our resilience,” Hall said. “If we are going to make a run at this thing, which I think we can, we’ve got to beat good teams like that. We can’t let people get ahead of us and fold up tents. I thought the guys did a great job of staying together as a team, manufacturing runs, playing small ball when needed. And it never hurts with two strikes to hit a bases clearing double.”
Yoak was relieved by Kolten Holbert in the sixth inning. After retiring the side in order in the sixth, Tyler put two runners in the scoring position in the seventh inning with two men out. Holbert collected his fifth strikeout to end the game.
“That’s a freshman coming on the mound and he is going to be a guy to watch for,” Hall said. “Kolten Holbert has just been lights out all year. Every time we ask him to do something, he does it.”
The Titans and Williamstown will meet for the first time this season in the final. The Yellowjackets defeated South Harrison, 7-2 in the first semifinal.
“Williamstown is very loaded. This is a big matchup. This could be a matchup we see in Charleston if we both make it. We have to come out [Friday] and play our baseball. We can’t get caught up in who they are. At the end of the day, it is us versus us.”
“It would mean a lot,” Yoak said. “I have never been in the Night of Champions. I would love to bring it home.”
Reese Davis went the distance on the mound for the Silver Knights. He allowed three earned runs, five hits and he struck out eight batters.
Yoak and Brody Brockleman each had two hits for the Titans.
MetroNews will publish an additional story on Yoak this weekend.
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Actions have consequences.
Former Jefferson County Commissioners Tricia Jackson and Jennifer Krouse have learned that the hard way. (Read more from Brad McElhinny here.)
The two refused to attend any of the commission meetings between September 7 and November 30 last year as a protest of the slate of three candidates nominated by the Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee to fill a vacancy on the five-member commission. (Jackson is a Republican. Krouse was a Republican at the time, but she has since switched her registration to the Mountain Party.)
Krouse complained in a Facebook post that none of the three was a “true conservative.” Their protest meant the commission did not have a quorum and therefore it could not fulfill its legal obligation to appoint a replacement or take any other official action.
County business ground to a halt for nearly three months.
Vacant positions went unfilled. The county emergency services agency could not renew its maintenance contract for radio services, which endangered public safety. Grant applications sat idle. A county developer could not retrieve a $1 million bond he had posted even though all requirements were met. (The county ended up paying $18,000 in legal fees to the attorney for the developer.)
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Harvey took legal action to try to remove the delinquent duo from office. A three-judge panel heard testimony consistently reinforcing the argument that Jackson and Krouse failed to do their sworn duty even as they continued to be paid—nearly $9,000 each in salary, plus benefits.
The evidence was overwhelming, and the three-judge panel hearing the case left no doubt in their scathing decision:
This Court therefore FINDS the Respondents willfully ignored this duty, prioritized their own agenda over the needs of the citizens of Jefferson County, and weaponized their deliberate and intentional refusal to attend meetings and appoint a fifth commissioner in order for the Respondents to advance their own agenda.”
The Court concluded that their actions clearly constituted “deliberate, willful and intentional refusal to perform their duties as Commissioners.”
And so Krouse and Jackson have been booted off the Commission. Interestingly, Jackson is running for the Republican nomination for State Auditor, so her name is on the May 14th Primary Election ballot.
Commissioners take a simple, but meaningful, oath when they assume office to “faithfully discharge and perform the duties of the county commission… so help me God.” Krouse and Jackson violated the letter and the spirit of their oath. They put their personal agenda, which was hazy at best, above the greater good of the county. Appropriately, they have been removed from office.
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GLENVILLE, W.Va. — Williamstown junior Parker Schramm tossed a complete game and he added three hits to help the Yellowjackets reach the Little Kanawha Conference Championship game with a 7-2 win over South Harrison at the Sue Morris Sports Complex.
Schramm allowed six hits, walked three batters and struck out six.
“He was throwing strikes. He was battling for us. He got a couple double plays so that always helps,” said Williamstown head coach Levi Maxwell.
“Anytime you can save a guy and the guy can throw the whole game, that’s huge. Parker has been a guy we have counted on throughout the season and he did a great job today.”
Four of Williamstown’s first six batters scored in the first inning. Luke Ankrom, Carson Hill and Wyatt Siley all delivered run-scoring hits in the opening frame.
“When we score four first in a game, we are doing really well. That’s a good cushion to start out with. We took advantage of some of their miscues.”
South Harrison cut their deficit in half in the third inning. Back-to-back RBI singles from Seth Gain and Gabe Ferrell pulled the Hawks within 4-2. However, a two-run single from Carson Haines in the fourth inning and a run-scoring single from Ty Ott built a five-run lead for the ‘Jackets.
Williamstown (23-3) will face the host team Gilmer County (23-3-1) Friday at 5 p.m. in the LKC Championship game. The Titans defeated defending league champion Tyler Consolidated, 5-2 in the second semifinal.
“We haven’t won it [the LKC] since I have been here. It would be huge for us and it would give us some momentum that we need.”
South Harrison fell to 20-11. Ferrell and Zane Harlow each had a pair of base hits for the Hawks.
WVU signee Maxwell Molessa and Hill each had two hits for Williamstown.
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DUNBAR, W.Va. — High school students in Kanawha County are receiving some recognition as they get a head start entering the workforce.
The Ben Franklin Career Center in Dunbar was host to its second annual #I Am Going To Work signing day Thursday for students who completed various programs and were hired on with different companies across multiple industries.
Ben Franklin Assistant Principal Nicole McCartney said these students deserve to be acknowledged.
“It’s a great event, we recognize students a lot of times for college and for military, but I feel like this is a kept secret, and we need to recognize these students for going to work,” McCartney said.
She said Ben Franklin offers about 17 high school programs that gives students the opportunity to acquire a career directly following their high school graduation. McCartney said they also offer six post-secondary programs where students will return to Ben Franklin after they graduate to complete the program.
Some of the programs offered at Ben Franklin include Animal Systems, Automotive Technology, Coding App and Game Design, Early Childhood Classroom Assistant Teacher, Law and Public Safety, Manufacturing, Medical Assisting, Pre-Nursing, and Welding.
McCartney said the programs offered at Ben Franklin are beneficial for every student as it gives them lots of options while they figure out their futures.
“It’s a good stepping stone, it’s an exploratory time,” McCartney said. “Kids need to be able to come to CT centers and decide, ‘is this for me, is this a skill that I am going to be good at, is this something that I want to do.”
Ben Franklin student Brooke Shaw is a graduate of the Honors Medical Assisting program. She was one of the few dozen students being recognized Thursday.
Shaw got an opportunity to go to work for WVU Medicine Thomas Hospitals. She said the program was an experience she can truly be proud of.
“It’s a really great experience, I’ve been in here for two years and I’ve made a lot of great friendships and it’s really great to see them graduating with me,” Shaw said. “We’ve learned a lot about the Medical Assisting program, how great the healthcare field is, and how many options there are.”
She said tuition is free and she recommends every area high schooler to enroll at Ben Franklin as it’s a way to help them explore all of their options.
Shaw cautioned, however, that it’s sometimes not an easy path to navigate, and one that takes a lot of hard work and dedication.
“We’ve all debated a lot of times if we wanted to finish, and we’ve taken a lot of tests, and it has been a hard, bumpy ride, but we made it, and we can finally say that we finished,” said Shaw.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 55% of young people ages 16 to 24 were employed in the U.S. as of July 2023. It’s still remains below the previous level of 56% of young people who were employed prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2019.
McCartney said it’s always exciting to see more young people entering the workforce in the state and making the choice to stay and make West Virginia the place they work and live.
“It’s probably one of my favorite events so far that we’ve created here at the school, and it’s an exciting time, because I think it’s something that we miss sometimes,” said McCartney. “Like I said, we recognize our college, our military students, but we don’t always recognize our students that are going to work, and that’s important, that’s our workforce, that’s where we are as a state, so we need to recognize that.”
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act said that 34% of young people in West Virginia currently make up the state’s workforce.
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KEARNEYSVILLE, W.Va. — U.S. Senate candidate Alex Mooney was joined by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at a rally in Kearneysville, Thursday evening with hundreds of people from the Eastern Panhandle in attendance.
Over 300 were in Jefferson County for the rally at the RSD Horse Auctions in Kearneysville. Mooney and other candidates for office in West Virginia are in the final stretch of their campaign before the Primary Election May 14. The 2nd District U.S. Congressman was thankful for Cruz’s support.
“It means a lot considering he has a race of his own but he needs help,” said Mooney.
Cruz, who is in a key race to keep his seat in Texas, talked about why he made the trip to the Mountain State.
“I’m supporting Alex because I know who he is,” Cruz said following Thursday’s campaign rally. “He’s walked the walk.”
Cruz said Mooney is not one to make empty promises while on the campaign trail. He called Mooney a warrior.
“Alex has been standing and fighting for the people of West Virginia while in Congress,” said Cruz.
Congressman Mooney says he’s has been narrowing the gap between himself and the front-runner for the U.S. Senate seat Governor Jim Justice. Mooney took more jabs at the governor, again calling him a Democrat.
“He’s just like Joe Manchin, he’s Joe Manchin 2.0,” Mooney said. “He’s Democrat-lite and voters don’t want that anymore from Republicans.”
Cruz said with longtime U.S. Senator and Democrat Joe Manchin not running, “it’s a very different race.” He said rather than elect a candidate who could go toe-to-toe with a Democrat in the General Election, the focus now is on electing the candidate who will fight for conservative values.
“He will keep his word that he will faithfully fight to defend the constitution, to defend out nation, to defend freedom,” Cruz said.
Other Eastern Panhandle colleagues showed up to support Mooney including State Treasurer Riley Moore, who gave remarks, and Jefferson County Senator Patricia Rucker.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — While University combined for 30 runs in victories against Bridgeport and Buckhanoon-Upshur to start the postseason, Hawks’ head coach Mindy Parks felt her team was capable of more quality plate appearances.
Thus, Parks’ team focused on that Wednesday while being afforded a day off as a result of the 2-0 start in Class AAA Region I, Section 2.
On Thursday, it helped pay off in the form of a sectional championship, which University secured with a commanding 13-2 victory against Buckhannon-Upshur at Lynch Field.
“We worked a lot yesterday on staying back on the pitch and being more patient. They threw a lot more balls than strikes and we had to find their pitch,” Parks said. “They were more discipline tonight and hit the ball harder.”
The win allows UHS (18-8) to advance to a Region I best-of-three series next week where a trip to the state tournament will be at stake.
The matchup went to the second inning scoreless after Buccaneers’ shortstop Kynnedy Marple turned a double play off the bat of Lexi Elza to help Buckhannon-Upshur (15-17) starting pitcher Kailey Hart overcome a leadoff walk.
But after Hawks’ pitcher Maddie Campbell struck out the side in the top of the second, UHS went on top to stay.
Sophia Lehosit’s double to left brought in the game’s first run, and Carley Voithofer drove in the next two on a double to center. At that point, Hart was replaced in the pitching circle by Marple, who kept the deficit at three runs for the time being.
When the Bucs came to bat in the third, they produced all of their offense. Reese Curry accounted for a leadoff single and came around to score on Marple’s triple to left, before a sacrifice fly from Jansen Kimble brought in Marple on a play that caused a collision between the second baseman and right fielder.
Back to within one run, B-U’s momentum was short-lived.
Josalyn Phillips accounted for a two-run single to right, plating Elza and Campbell for a 5-2 lead, and marking the start of a five-run frame for University, which scored its last three runs of the inning on separate Buccaneer errors.
B-U got two baserunners in the fourth, including a Taylor Spratt single, but Campbell induced an inning-ending groundout to second by Curry to keep the 8-2 advantage intact.
“Winning is a byproduct of the growth we have. The last couple years, University has really put it on us,” Buccaneers’ head coach Levi Bender said. “We’re young again, starting three freshmen and three sophomores, so we’re looking to bridge the gap a little bit each game, inning and pitch.
“We’re taking steps forward. You’re either getting better or worse. As long as we’re growing, we can take positives and a silver lining out of it. We’re not where we want to be yet, but it’s a stepping stone and the girls can take that into the offseason and hopefully they take it seriously and we come back next year and have that gap even closer.”
Elza drew a walk to lead off the fourth and scored on an error that came on a play in which Campbell singled. Voithofer accounted for her second two-run hit of the matchup — this one a single to left — that made it 11-2, and the Hawks wrapped up their scoring on a two-run triple to right from Kelsey Park, who had re-entered after being forced to leave momentarily after she was involved in the third-inning collision.
“I’ve talked about the bench all season and how great it is to be able to have that, because last year, I wouldn’t have had enough players to put out there using a DP-flex,” Parks said. “Two injured players, I pulled them out real quick. That’s the glory of having kids that really care. Those kids got hits and got that inning rolling. I was really proud of them for that.”
Campbell worked around Marple’s one-out single in the fifth to keep the Buccaneers off the scoreboard and end the matchup early.
Marple, a freshman, was responsible for half of her team’s four hits.
Voithofer and Phillips had two hits apiece to combine for half of the UHS eight hits. The Hawks also worked six walks.
“We worked hard yesterday on quality at bats and they executed and came through. I was excited for them,” Parks said.
Campbell struck out seven and issued two base-on-balls.
Hart, Marple, Sophie Lantz and Becca Pastorius were each utilized at pitcher by the Bucs.
“We threw just about every girl out there that we have that can throw pitches and tried to mix it up on them and mix up the speeds. They’re a really good team and they’re experienced and have seen just about everything,” Bender said. “They’ve played a lot of softball together and it showed.”
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HARRISON COUNTY, W.Va. — A Harrison County Judge has granted a preliminary injunction in the case involving a group of student athletes from Lincoln Middle School who were suspended for a track and field meet following a protest at a previous meet.
WBOY reported Thursday that Judge Thomas Bedell filed the injunction during a hearing. A decision on a final injunction will happen at a later date.
“Even though there was no malice found on either part of the defendants, the plaintiffs have met their burden and the temporary injunction has been granted,” said Bedell.
Five female student athletes forfeited their attempt during a shot put event in Harrison County last month. The group was then barred from competing in their next event, per a school rule, known as a voluntary scratch rule. Although, the rule is not mentioned in the athletic handbook.
Lincoln Middle School’s head track coach Dawn Riestenberg testified that there is a unwritten voluntary scratch rule that has been in place for four years.
The following is a statement released by the Harrison County Board of Education:
“The Harrison County Board of Education strongly denies any form of retaliation against the Lincoln Middle School students who voluntarily chose to scratch from an event at the Harrison County Middle School Championship Track Meet. The students were permitted to engage in their selected form of protest without issue. In fact, the coaches and principal were aware of the likelihood of the protests and permitted the students to remain on the roster for their events.”
“Those students, like all of the other students on the team, however, were subject to a team rule that any player who scratches in an event cannot participate in that event at the next track meet. This neutral, school-specific rule was in place before the students’ protests and has nothing to do with those protests in any way.”
“Other than not being permitted to participate in the same event in which they scratched at the next track meet, the students have competed in track meets and events following their protests without restriction.”
“To be clear, no students have been retaliated against or penalized for expressing their views at the Harrison County Middle School Championship Track Meet.”
Two of the five girls testified during Thursday’s hearing that they didn’t know anything about the voluntary scratch rule. Furthermore, the student athletes cannot be punished for making any other demonstrations of free speech at upcoming track meets.
State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey issued his own statement following the announcement of the granted preliminary injunction:
“These girls didn’t disrupt anything when they protested. They should be commended, not punished. We need to teach them that it is noble to stand firm in their beliefs and address their grievances within the protections guaranteed by our constitution.”
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A subject wanted on an outstanding warrant for sex crimes has been arrested in Monongalia County and is being held in the North Central Regional Jail.
Police got a tip that Jacob Hammer, 23, was in the area of a home on Community Drive and had an outstanding warrant from Wichita, Kansas for sexual exploitation of a child.
Police said Hammer was taken into custody without incident.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, W.Va. –A trio of men are going to prison for multiple felony drug crimes in Fayette County.
The Fayette County Prosecutor’s Office said Christopher M. Carver, 49 of Bluefield, Demetran “D.D.” Gray, 45, of Oak Hill, and Michael L. Grimmett, 44, of Russellville, were sentenced this week.
Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Ciliberti, Jr. says a two-day jury trial concluded on March 6 where Carver and Gray were convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute between five and 50 grams of methamphetamine and possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine. Grimmett was convicted of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and misdemeanor conspiracy.
On January 21, 2023, an officer with the Fayetteville Police Department observed a vehicle on U.S. Route 19 that was traveling with no illuminated taillights or registration lights. The officer conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and identified Carver as the driver. Gray and Grimmett were passengers in the vehicle. Carver could not provide the officer with a driver’s license, registration, or proof of insurance. The officer then determined that Carver did not have a valid driver’s license.
Upon investigating further, the officer found Carver to be in possession of drug paraphernalia. Carver also told the officer that there were drugs in the vehicle.
The officer did a pat down of Gray and Grimmett and found over $1800 in cash, drug paraphernalia and digital scales on the two men.
Inside the vehicle, the officer located a second set of digital scales, a small quantity of suspected methamphetamine, suspected marijuana, and packaging materials resulting in the arrest of all three occupants of the vehicle.
Laboratory testing confirmed that the officer had seized over 43 grams of methamphetamine.
Circuit Judge Paul M. Blake, Jr. sentenced Carver and Gray to 40 years in prison for the conspiracy conviction and one to 15 years in prison for the possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine conviction. Judge Blake ordered the sentences be served consecutively. Judge Blake doubled the conspiracy sentence for both men because of their prior drug related felony conviction. Carver and Gray must both serve 11 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Grimmett will serve one year in jail for the conspiracy misdemeanor and one to 15 years in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Those sentencings will be served consecutively. Grimmett will be eligible to apply for probation if he successfully completes the GOALS program, an in-patient substance use disorder treatment program under the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Through a team effort between the Morgantown Area Partnership and the Preston County Economic Development Authority , the area is now included in the BUILD WV territory to incentivize the construction of affordable housing.
MAP President and CEO Russ Rogerson said qualifying housing development projects within a 20-mile radius of Browns Mill, WV, can receive state sales and use tax exemptions for building materials and a 10-year property value adjustment refundable tax credit to defray building costs. The Browns Mill location was selected as the center point in order to maximize the area of land in each county.
Projects eligible for the BUILD WV Act must meet the following criteria:
–be in a certified BUILD WV Act District.
–generate approved costs greater than $3 million, or include at least six units or houses.
–create a significant positive economic impact on the state.
–the project will directly or indirectly improve opportunities in the area where the project will be located for the successful establishment or expansion of other commercial businesses.
–provide additional employment opportunities in the state.
“The developer now needs to get their project certified by the state, and that is an important step,” Rogerson said. “Once they do that, it becomes more of an administrative process to receive the sales tax credit.”
The program was created by state lawmakers in 2022 and is managed by the West Virginia Department of Development. Applications must get the approval of state Commerce Secretary of Commerce, Chelsea Ruby, Secretary of the Department of Tourism, and Mitch Carmichael, Secretary of the Department of Economic Development.
PCEDA Executive Director Roberta “Robbie” Baylor said local developers are prepared to take advantage of the program.
“For our district, we actually had a developer that came to us and asked to apply for this status because they wanted to take advantage of it,” Baylor said.
Photo: Dominion Post
A tight monetary policy leading to rising interest rates and high inflation is forcing many developers to pump the brakes on new construction.
“Say, somebody is looking at the increased cost of development, and their numbers aren’t quite as attractive as they need to be; building material processes are up,” Rogerson said.
Baylor said the program incentivizes the construction of workforce-affordable homes for families, but not necessarily low-income homes.
“The hope is it will provide incentives to builders to develop, not low-income, but workforce affordable housing in both Preston and Monongalia Counties,” Baylor said.
Co-owner of Metro Properties David Biafora told WAJR News the program would be of value to some developers.
“On a $5 million project, if you can save at least the 6-percent sales tax to the state,” Biafora said. “That goes a long way against the rent.”
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