West Virginia residents recovering from last summer's floods can explore available resources at a meeting in White Sulphur Springs.The meeting will be…
West Virginia residents recovering from last summer’s floods can explore available resources at a meeting in White Sulphur Springs.
The meeting will be held Thursday evening at the White Sulphur Springs Civic Center.
Among those expected to attend are Gov. Jim Justice, along with representatives of the state Army National Guard, the departments of Commerce, Transportation, Military Affairs and Public Safety, and the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The governor’s office says in a news release that Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher and other state and federal partners will share information on flood recovery plans.
The meeting will include a dinner hosted by the groups Neighbors Loving Neighbors and West Virginia Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters.
The floods last June killed 23 people statewide, including 15 in Greenbrier County.
Construction is expected to start this week on a replacement for a flooded-out bridge leading to a mall in Elkview, West Virginia.
The Kanawha County Commission says in a news release Tuesday that construction on the culvert bridge at the Crossings Mall is expected to begin Thursday and should be completed in about two months.
Tara Retail Group owns the mall and is headed by developer Bill Abruzzino, who filed for bankruptcy in January. A federal bankruptcy judge this month approved a financing plan for the new bridge.
The mall has been closed since floodwaters knocked out the bridge last June. Dozens of businesses have closed and more than 500 people are out of work. The floods killed 23 people statewide.
A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a financing plan to allow the reconstruction of a washed-out bridge leading to Crossings Mall in Elkview, West Virginia.
Local outlets report the mall has been closed since a flood washed away the culvert bridge in June 2016. Dozens of businesses have closed and more than 500 people are out of work.
Tara Retail Group owns the mall and is headed by developer Bill Abruzzino, who filed for bankruptcy in January.
The Kanawha County Commission says in a release that the ruling allows contractor David Alvarez of Applied Construction Solutions to begin the reconstruction. The contractor will front the cost in exchange for priority status as a creditor.
The reconstruction will take 60 days or less, according to the contractor’s testimony.
After months of sharing a space at Bridge Elementary School, teachers at Bridge and Clendenin Elementary have moved into new portable buildings.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the schools had been sharing a building at Bridge Elementary in Elkview since the June flood destroyed Clendenin Elementary.
Kanawha County Schools spokeswoman Briana Warner says 12 new portables have been placed at Bridge. Students will attend classes in the portables when they return from spring break on April 17.
At the combined Bridge and Clendenin elementary schools, there are currently 360 students along with 45 teachers and staff.
Nearly $35 million in federal funding will help repair roads and highways damaged in West Virginia over the past two years.U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins…
Nearly $35 million in federal funding will help repair roads and highways damaged in West Virginia over the past two years.
U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins announced the funding Monday from the Federal Highway Administration.
Jenkins says in a news release the state Department of Transportation will use $4 million for roads and infrastructure on federal lands in Greenbrier, Pocahontas and Randolph counties that were damaged in last June’s flooding.
The statement says an additional $14 million in grants are for statewide road repairs from the June floods, while nearly $17 million in grants are to fix roads damaged in 2015 floods.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting won 11 Associated Press awards this weekend, including a public service award for coverage of the historic 2016 floods in southern West Virginia.
The WVPB news team earned the Associated Press of the Virginias Broadcasters’ Douglass Southall Freeman superior award for public service for its coverage of the devastating flooding that hit southern West Virginia in June 2016.
The awards were announced on Saturday, April 1, during a luncheon in Roanoke, Va.
WVPB’s flood coverage included stories and contributions from every reporter in the newsroom, but it was a true organization-wide effort. The news team got help in its coverage from every other department at WVPB, and collaborated with the video production team for a 1-hour Inside Appalachia TV special about the flooding and its aftermath.
Jessica Lilly receives her award for best radio anchor.
news anchor superior award. WVPB also won a meritorious newscast award for an episode of West Virginia Morning filed during the flood coverage and hosted by Liz McCormick.
McCormick also received a meritorious award for her feature called “Drug Epidemic Takes Toll on Foster Care System” about one dramatic way the heroin epidemic is affecting West Virginia.
Individual Effort
Assistant news director and statehouse reporter Ashton Marra, and Appalachia Health News coordinator Kara Lofton each earned meritorious awards for outstanding effort by an individual reporter, having both made significant personal contributions to WVPB’s news coverage during 2016.
Chad Matlick and Dave Mistich were recognized for their outstanding digital talent with a meritorious award for best website, which included live view updates of the 2016 elections on a state and national level.
