Government

The West Virginia Air National Guard's 130th Airlift Wing has sent a transport plane and crew from Charleston to support relief efforts in storm-damaged Puerto Rico.

According to the Air National Guard, the C-130 Hercules plane is transporting equipment from New York to Georgia before departing for the Caribbean island on Thursday.

Following the mass shooting in Las Vegas, President Donald Trump is canceling a previously scheduled trip to Morgantown.

Trump had scheduled an interview and town hall taping with Sean Hannity of Fox News for Wednesday evening. 

In a Facebook post Monday morning, Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom wrote that the county commission had been informed that Trump will not be coming. Bloom had initially shared news of Trump's planned visit on Saturday. 

Gov. Jim Justice promised West Virginians on Friday he won’t raise gas and highway taxes further if voters approve a roads bond next week.

Addressing skeptical voters at a senior center in Clarksburg, Justice said taxes are already in place to support bond payments. In his remaining terms as governor, he said he won’t sign legislation to raise them again.

A judge has ruled that a West Virginia law allowing guns in city recreational centers doesn’t apply to ones leased for school activities.

Judge James Stucky in Kanawha County Circuit Court ruled recently that guns are banned at those facilities even when school events aren’t happening, as long as a school board leases or otherwise possesses it.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says Medicare has halted payments to a West Virginia psychiatric hospital because it is not in compliance with the program's requirements for a psychiatric hospital.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Medicare will not make payments for beneficiaries who are admitted to William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital effective Wednesday. Officials say it will continue to make payments for up to 30 days for beneficiaries admitted before Wednesday.

WVU Medicine has appointed Dr. Ali Rezai to lead the clinical and research programs at the newly formed West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute.

Rezai is a neurosurgeon whose clinical expertise includes neurosurgical and neuromodulation management of patients with Parkinson's disease, dystonia, chronic pain, brain and spinal cord injuries and severe mood and anxiety disorders.

State officials have hailed the start of construction on a new stretch of the four-lane Corridor H highway in West Virginia.

Gov. Jim Justice and state Transportation Secretary Tom Smith attended the groundbreaking Thursday for the 7.5-mile section that will stretch from the Randolph County community of Kerens to Parsons.

Ron Miller has resigned his seat in the West Virginia Senate to work on agriculture issues in the administration of Gov. Jim Justice.

Miller, a Democrat from Greenbrier County, resigned Thursday.

Another West Virginia county has been designated as an area with high drug trafficking.

Wood County, West Virginia and fifteen other counties nationwide are being added to the list of High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.

Japanese truck maker Hino Motors Manufacturing said Wednesday it is moving its West Virginia assembly plant about 20 miles to a larger location at a former retail distribution center.

Hino Motors Manufacturing President Takashi Ono said the $100 million investment could create up to 250 new jobs.

State university and commerce officials say collaboration among business, government and academia are needed to revitalize West Virginia's economy while releasing more details about their joint roadmap for progress.

Toyota Motor Corp. announced a $374 million investment Tuesday at five U.S. plants to support production of its first American-made hybrid powertrain.

The upgrades at Toyota's factories in Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia are part of a previously announced $10 billion in U.S. spending by the Japanese automaker. It "underscores Toyota's confidence in the capability and global competitiveness of our North American manufacturing," Jeff Moore, Toyota North America's senior vice president of manufacturing, said in a statement.

A West Virginia school superintendent has issued an apology after some said they were offended by a banner at a football game that read "Trump Perry."

U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins says West Virginia has received a $1.4 million federal grant to support the state's drug courts.

The Justice Department funding supports existing courts that focus on drug cases and helps expand them to counties that don't have them.

Nearly $2 million in federal grants will help one West Virginia city combat a drug abuse epidemic.

The city of Huntington says in a news release that two grants will be used for a program that assists overdose victims within 72 hours.

The West Virginia judicial system is joining a regional effort to combat opioid abuse, and a Kanawha County Circuit Judge will lead a multidisciplinary team that will work with seven other states.

Some lakes and streams in West Virginia will receive special stockings of golden rainbow trout next year.

The Division of Natural Resources says the releases will be held in early April to lead off the spring trout stocking season.

West Virginia House Speaker Tim Armstead says Delegate Tony Lewis has died of cancer. The Preston County Republican was 59.

Armstead says in a news release that Lewis died Sunday.