Tag: Government

BridgeValley CTC and WVU Tech to Sign Agreement

BridgeValley Community and Technical College and WVU Tech will sign an agreement this week establishing multiple associate-to-bachelor degree educational pathways.

Under the agreement, officials say students who complete an eligible associate degree program at BridgeValley in South Charleston will be able to seamlessly transition into a bachelor’s program at WVU Tech.  

The pathway programs outlined in the agreement will include Accounting, Finance, Management, Business,  Marketing, Criminal Justice, Healthcare Management, Health Services Administration, Paralegal Studies and Public Service Administration.  The agreement will be signed at a ceremony at WVU Tech in Montgomery on Thursday.

Beckley Considers Ban on Playing Basketball on Streets

Beckley officials are considering banning playing basketball on city streets following residents' complaints.Residents have complained that players refuse…

Beckley officials are considering banning playing basketball on city streets following residents’ complaints.

Residents have complained that players refuse to yield to traffic.

The Register-Herald reports that Common Council revised a proposed ordinance banning street basketball on Tuesday. A public hearing and a second reading of the ordinance is set for July 14.

Basketball goals on city streets also would be banned. City attorney Bill File says the ordinance doesn’t apply to goals on private property.

Violators would face a $25 fine. Council reduced the fine from the original proposal’s $50.

Resident Judy Patterson says the council shouldn’t restrict basketball until the city maintains its parks. She says many city basketball courts aren’t properly lighting and fences are in disrepair.

Education Dept. Extends No Child Left Behind Waivers

The Obama administration is giving seven more states and the District of Columbia more flexibility from the requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law.

In addition to the nation’s capital, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has renewed waivers for Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and West Virginia. Current law requires standardized tests in reading and math to measure student progress. With the waivers, schools in those states will be able come up with different ways to demonstrate improvement.

The 2002 landmark law required annual testing and put into place consequences for schools that didn’t show progress. It led to complaints that teachers were forced to teach to the tests, and that some of the mandates weren’t realistic.

Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have waivers.

University of Charleston Receives $1.3M for Innovation

The University of Charleston has announced that the Maier Foundation is giving $1.3 million to support programs associated with the school's new Russell…

The University of Charleston has announced that the Maier Foundation is giving $1.3 million to support programs associated with the school’s new Russell and Martha Wehrle Innovation Center.

The Charleston Gazette reports the university made the announcement Monday. The school’s president Ed Welch says $1 million of the donation from the Charleston-based foundation will go toward funding a full-tuition innovation-based scholarship for at least one new student each year.

Welch says the scholarships will be awarded based on merit and that the university plans to award the first scholarship in fall 2016.

Welch says the remaining $300,000 will be used to fund the center’s director and faculty.

The estimated $16.5 million Innovation Center, which will be a sports and academic complex, is expected to open around August 2016.

Bluefield Police Request Outside Investigation into Suspect Death

Bluefield police have requested an outside investigation of the death of a suspect who became ill while in custody at the city jail.

Bluefield Police Chief D.M. Dillow tells the Bluefield Daily Telegraph that Connie Hambrick complained of a bad headache and asked to be taken to a hospital about three hours after she was arrested on June 4.

Dillow says a rescue squad took the 41-year-old Bluefield woman to a local hospital. She was transferred to a Charleston hospital, where she later died.

Dillow says Hambrick was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Tazewell County,Virginia.

He says he asked Mercer County prosecutor Attorney Scott Ash to request an investigation by state police to clarify what happened the night of Hambrick’s arrest. He says he doesn’t foresee any misconduct.

Justice Plans W.Va. Golf Course Designed by Legends

The billionaire owner of The Greenbrier resort says Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino will design a nearby mountaintop golf course.

Jim Justice announced plans for the new golf course, ski slopes and housing development in a news release Monday.

The release says the golf resort will break ground within 30 days and is expected to open in fall 2016. Justice says he hopes to attract the U.S. Open to the course someday.

The Greenbrier currently hosts The Greenbrier Classic, a PGA Tour event coming up over the July 4 weekend.

The resort also hosts the New Orleans Saints football training camp part-time.

Justice is running for West Virginia governor as a Democrat. The primary election is in May 2016, followed by the general election that November.

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