Greenbrier County Story Archives - Page 3 of 11 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

ARC Supports Expansion of Recovery Programs in W.Va.

A new recovery program in Greenbrier County that gives women a place to live as they work through a recovery program received a $498,024 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).

Seed Sower is a nonprofit that opened an 11 bed facility in Greenbrier County for women recovering from substance use disorder earlier this month. The program partners with Fruits of Labor, a restaurant and for-profit company providing job training and placement to people in recovery.

The ARC funds are part of the commission’s initiative to address substance use disorder called INSPIRE, short for INvestments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery Ecosystems.

The money is expected to support Seed Sower’s expansion in four communities across the state in the next two years.

Alderson’s Home and Business Decorating Contest Kicks Off With Annual Parade

Residents and business owners in the Greenbrier County town of Alderson can compete for eight different awards in the city’s annual Christmas Decorating Contest. It’s a friendly competition that’s been around for five years.

The Alderson Christmas Decorations judging committee hopes the competition will help the town feel more connected this holiday season. To enter, residents and businesses should have lights turned on and displays ready by 6 p.m. on Dec. 8.

The judges committee will then drive through the town to select winners for categories including best nativity, old-fashioned Christmas and best large and small businesses. Officials say more categories could be added at the committee’s discretion, even up to the day of judging.

Winners not only get bragging rights and recognition on Facebook but will also find a sign placed in their yards by Alderson Main Street, a non profit organization that sponsors the event.

Visitors are encouraged to get out to see the lights after dark from Dec. 3 to New Year’s Day. The Alderson’s Christmas Parade is set for Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. It’s also the day the lights on the Alderson Memorial Bridge will be turned on.

Country Roads Angel Network Invests in Meat Processing Plant

A Greenbrier County company plans to build a meat processing plant in White Sulphur Springs after being selected as the latest investment from the Country Roads Angel Network. (CRAN) It’s the first company located outside of Morgantown to be supported by the investor network.

CRAN plans to invest $100,000 in Mountain Steer Meat Co. Mountain Steer is the third business in the state to be supported by the network.

The first two selected were in Morgantown. Mountain Steer started during the pandemic. The company saw a need for more localized food in 2020 after meat processing plants shut down across the country. The owners hope to fill a void in the supply chain and improve food quality for consumers in the region.

Mountain Steer plans to build a new processing plant in West Virginia.

The company currently offers meats at Greenbrier County restaurants, farmer’s markets and a grocery store, according to the company website. Mountain Steer has hired one full-time and one part-time employee. The company hopes to hire a butcher and several more employees with this investment.

Mountain Steer Meat Co. was connected with CRAN as a client of the West Virginia Hive, a 12-county entrepreneurial support program of the New River Gorge Development Authority in southern West Virginia.

CRAN is made up of investors largely native to the Mountain State who now live in places across the country. According to a release, “members are dedicated to the betterment of West Virginia and hope their investments will generate various levels of positive impact.”

W. Va. Gov. Gives Up Fight For Second High School Basketball Coaching Job

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is giving up his fight to take on a second basketball coaching job in his home county.

In a letter dated Tuesday — shared with news media by Steve Ruby, an attorney representing the governor — Justice told the Greenbrier County Board of Education he was withdrawing his name from pursuing the position of coach of the Greenbrier East High School boys basketball team. Justice already coaches the girls team at the same high school.

‘The great State of West Virginia honored me with its highest honor when the people elected me twice as their governor. Other than GOD above and my family, I place my duties as governor above all else,” Justice wrote.

“And I have delivered for West Virginia and will continue delivering. I have not dropped any balls nor will I. Vacations and parties are not Jim Justice. All I do is work, and love my work, and love the people of West Virginia, especially the kids,” he added.

Throughout the two-page letter, Justice outlined his qualifications for the coaching position. He also noted that state law requires public entities hire the most qualified candidate for an open position.

“One would have to think that 20 years as head coach, 26 seasons (six boys, 20 girls), with all exemplary evaluations and incredible success should really speak volumes,” Justice wrote.

But Justice also hinted that his fight for the boys basketball coaching position had brought about criticism.

Supporters of the governor have spoken to the board in favor of him having the job, but players on the basketball team have said they want a coach fully dedicated to the position.

On Aug. 24, the Greenbrier County Board of Education voted 3-2 to reject the governor’s application for the second coaching gig. Justice then brought forth a public employee’s grievance, arguing he was the most qualified candidate to coach the boys’ team.

Now, Justice’s efforts to get the second coaching position are effectively over.

“I refuse to spend time fighting HATE. My Dad said over and over to me that you should never try to teach an elephant to sing — the elephant will never be able to do it and you’ll only frustrate yourself,” Justice wrote in the letter. “I don’t have time to be frustrated. We need to move forward. Pick a coach. The kids deserve that, and I wish them all the success.”

Last week, former state lawmaker Del. Isaac Sponaugle informed Justice of his plans to bring a lawsuit over where the governor was residing, noting Justice’s interest in the second coaching position.

A state constitutional mandate requires the governor and certain other elected state officials to “reside at the seat of government.”

After years of legal wranglings — which at one time put the case in front of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals — Sponaugle and Justice settled a previous suit on the matter in March 2021, after the governor agreed to live in Charleston.

It was unclear Tuesday evening whether Sponaugle would continue to pursue legal action over the governor’s residency in a renewed case.

As Justice Fights For Coaching Job, There’s A Renewed Legal Threat Over His Residency

A former West Virginia lawmaker who sued Gov. Jim Justice over where the governor lives says he’s once again filing legal action.

The revival of the residency dispute comes after a court case was dismissed earlier this year — and as Justice continues to fight for a high school basketball coaching position.

Isaac Sponaugle, a Pendleton County attorney and former member of the House of Delegates, notified Justice this week of his intent to sue over a constitutional mandate that the governor live in Charleston.

Article 7, Section 1 of the West Virginia Constitution states that the Governor and the state’s five other executive branch officers “shall reside” at the seat of government while in office.

In a letter sent to Justice dated Wednesday, Sponaugle said the governor isn’t abiding by an agreement stemming from earlier legal proceedings.

Sponaugle initially filed suit in 2018, alleging that Justice was in violation of the residency mandate.

After years of legal wranglings — that one time landed in the hands of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals — Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Daniel P. O’Hanlon dismissed the case in March 2021, after Sponaugle and attorneys for Justice agreed that the governor would reside in Charleston.

“Jim Justice hasn’t lived up to his word that he would reside at the seat of government,” Sponaugle said in a news release. “It’s his choice on how this will proceed, but he will reside at the seat of government, either voluntarily or involuntarily, as long as he remains governor of the state of West Virginia.”

Justice responded to the legal threat through a statement released his attorneys, Michael W. Carey and Steven R. Ruby, who called Sponaugle’s efforts distracting.

“We were disappointed to see Mr. Sponaugle grasping for media attention by trying to revive this pointless case, which he already took $65,000 in state money for settling once,” they said. “It’s simply out of touch with the objective facts of Gov. Justice’s accomplishments, which exceed those of any administration in memory… If Mr. Sponaugle is looking for a boost in his next political race, it’s unfortunate that this is how he’s decided to pursue it, because West Virginians know better.”

At least tangentially related to Sponaugle’s renewed legal threat is Justice’s recent activities in Greenbrier County. While he already coaches the Greenbrier East High School girls basketball team, Justice has been fighting to get the coaching job for the boys’ team.

Last month, the Greenbrier County Board of Education voted 3-2 to reject the governor’s application for the second coaching gig.

Supporters of the governor have spoken to the board in favor of him having the job, but players on the basketball team have said they want a coach fully dedicated to the position.

Justice has filed a public employee grievance in the matter. The Greenbrier County board is set to discuss the grievance during a special meeting set for Friday afternoon.

Upon first learning of being rejected for the position, Justice hinted at pursuing legal action through a grievance.

“From the standpoint of where we move forward and how we do things within our state, these are the very reasons that our employees across our state have laws,” Justice said at the end of an August 24 virtual briefing on the pandemic. “These are the very, very reasons. There could never be a more shining example. There’s no way.”

Sponaugle made note Thursday of Justice’s coaching ambitions as he threatened renewed legal action in the residency case.

“Jim Justice needs to decide what he wants to do with his time.He’s a part-time Governor, part-time businessman, and part-time basketball coach,” Sponaule said. “The only thing that he’s doing full-time is residing in Greenbrier County. That’s going to end, and he will abide by the Constitution whether he likes it or not.”

Governor Reports Six Church Outbreaks In W.Va.

At least six local health departments in West Virginia have now reported coronavirus outbreaks related to churches.

As of Wednesday, the state reported 34 positive cases of COVID-19 at the Graystone Baptist Church in Greenbrier County, four positive cases at the First Baptist Church in Ohio County and four active cases at the Church of Christ in Bloomingrose, Boone County.

All three churches are closed, and Gov. Jim Justice said one person has been hospitalized. Earlier in June, Hampshire, Jefferson and Marshall county health departments notified the state of outbreaks associated with one church each. The state said those cases are no longer active.

“While church is surely the most sacred ground, it is the spot where we’re singing and where we’re projecting our voices, and we’re closer together,” Justice said in a virtual press briefing, “there’s more elderly there, and all of the things that make it just right for an outbreak, a potential problem.”

Justice urged people to wear masks while they worship. He said he would support requiring people to wear masks in theory, but waffled on whether he’d actually enforce such a rule. To the east, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has been requiring people to wear masks in indoor public spaces since late May.

“To be perfectly honest, I am a proponent,” he said, adding later, “I want good West Virginians to be all together. And I don’t want to start mandating things on West Virginians that could potentially divide us. It’s a tough call.”

In Ohio County, most churches reopened earlier in May with policies urging people to bring face masks, and with seating arrangements that encouraged social distancing, said county health officer Howard Gamble.

“We tell people, this is a virus,” Gamble said Wednesday. “The more ways you give the virus to spread, it will find it.”

In Greenbrier County, Graystone Baptist Church Pastor Youel Altizer told the Beckley Register-Herald members weren’t wearing face masks. Church officials declined several requests for an interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Both Ohio and Greenbrier health departments urge people who attended those churches, or anyone who has had contact with infected churchgoers, to get tested.

Wheeling Hospital offers drive-thru testing to patients with symptoms or anyone who has been exposed to the virus.

On Friday, June 19, the West Virginia National Guard will help facilitate free coronavirus testing at the Exley Center on Hil-Dar, a housing community in Wheeling, and again on Saturday, June 20, at the North Wheeling Dream Center. Testing is free and no proof of symptoms or insurance is required, although the Guard does require proof of residency, like a driver’s license. Testing is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In Greenbrier County, the Guard wrapped up four days of testing on Monday. According to Justice, more than 800 people were tested, and at least eight came back positive. Most tests have been processed at this point.

Coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh said church outbreaks and cases associated with West Virginians who have traveled out of state account for an increase in positive cases. The Preston County Health Department is investigating a cluster of positive COVID-19 cases all linked to recent trips to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a popular tourist destination for West Virginians. Three people have tested positive. The department said in a news release that it expects more.

The state has recorded 2,376 positive cases of COVID-19 and 88 deaths. Justice said nearly a tenth of the population has been tested.

During the Wednesday press briefing, Justice said there are still 13 active coronavirus cases at four jails and two prisons in the state. He also said the state’s unemployment rate has dropped 3 percent from May to 12.9 percent, below the national average of 13.3 percent.

Emily Allen contributed to this report.