Huntington Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Tax Credits Available For Huntington-Area Housing Developers

Real estate developers who construct housing units in the Huntington area are now eligible for a tax credit through a West Virginia Department of Commerce program.

Updated on Thursday, April 25 at 2:57 p.m.

Real estate developers who construct homes in parts of Cabell and Wayne counties are now eligible for a tax incentive.

Last week, the greater Huntington area — including eastern Cabell County and northern Wayne County — was designated a BuildWV district by the West Virginia Department of Commerce.

Since its creation in 2022, the BuildWV program has granted developers state tax credits for creating new housing options in West Virginia.

A 2024 report on housing needs in Huntington found that many local housing units are considered substandard in quality or burdensome in cost. The report also found a particular need for the construction of affordable family and multi-unit homes throughout the city.

Developers who build six or more housing units in the region are now eligible for the program’s incentives, with additional incentives for developers renovating single-family homes for first-time home buyers. To apply, communities must submit an application alongside a $5,000 application fee to the West Virginia Department of Economic Development.

“It basically makes it more profitable for developers to build new housing within the county because it allows them to apply for and receive a tax credit that they normally would be paying the state of West Virginia,” Cathy Burns, executive director of the Huntington Municipal Development Authority, told The Herald-Dispatch last week.

With the program now established, local officials are hopeful for the new housing options it could bring.

“The establishment of the [BuildWV] district in Huntington and the surrounding region is indicative that we are taking a critically important step forward,” Steve Williams, mayor of Huntington, said Thursday. “We are now moving beyond tax policy and infrastructure development. We are now preparing our communities … to welcome the population growth that demands adequate and appropriate housing.”

**Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a comment from Steve Williams, mayor of Huntington.

CSX Builds Zero-Emission Hydrogen Locomotive In Huntington

CSX No. 2100 was repowered from a kit developed in Canada by Canadian Pacific. It emits only water vapor and no carbon dioxide, depending on how the hydrogen was produced.

CSX unveiled a hydrogen-powered locomotive this week, rebuilt from a diesel locomotive at its Huntington Shop.

CSX No. 2100 was repowered from a kit developed in Canada by Canadian Pacific. It emits only water vapor and no carbon dioxide, depending on how the hydrogen was produced.

“The successful debut of our first hydrogen-powered locomotive stands as a testament to the exceptional skill and dedication of our employees at the CSX Huntington locomotive shop,” CEO Joe Hinrichs said in a statement.

Emissions from transportation are the largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions, and major railroads are looking for opportunities to repower diesel locomotives with alternative fuels.

In addition to hydrogen, some locomotives operate with liquefied natural gas or run on batteries.

Thanks to a federal grant, CSX will replace a small fleet of diesel locomotives with battery powered ones at the Curtis Bay coal export terminal in Baltimore.

State Supreme Court Will Weigh Cabell County, Huntington Opioid Lawsuit

This year every county in West Virginia, except Cabell County, is set to begin receiving opioid settlement funds, totalling over 400 million dollars from a nearly statewide lawsuit that was won in 2022.

Cabell County, and its largest city, Huntington, decided to bring their own joint lawsuit. They lost that suit in 2022, despite suing with the same claim that was used in successful state and nationwide lawsuits that the pharmaceutical companies had created a “public nuisance.”

This year every county in West Virginia, except Cabell County, is set to begin receiving opioid settlement funds, totaling over 400 million dollars from a nearly statewide lawsuit that was won in 2022.

The judge presiding over the case, U.S. District Judge David Faber, had a narrower interpretation over what constitutes a public nuisance than other judges on previous cases. The city and county appealed the decision.

Now the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is considering the case, has asked the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to answer a critical question: “Under West Virginia’s common law, can conditions caused by the distribution of a controlled substance constitute a public nuisance and, if so, what are the elements of a public nuisance claim?”

If the Supreme Court determines that those conditions do constitute a public nuisance claim then the case can proceed. Otherwise, the case against the pharmaceutical companies is dead.

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams said the nearly 100 million pills that were distributed to his city of less than 45,000 residents led to thousands of overdose deaths — and he hopes the courts see it that way as well.

“We remain hopeful that the court will find that under West Virginia law,” Williams said. “The City of Huntington and Cabell County had the right to file its claim that distributors of opioids can be held accountable for flooding the market with opioids and the resulting devastation of the opioid epidemic.”

Huntington was one of the hardest hit communities by the opioid epidemic. According to city officials, 1 in 10 residents is currently, or has been addicted to opioids. Williams said he is happy that the effort is still alive, so that the community can continue to heal.

“The reason that we need a settlement is to be able to rebuild and build back our community,” Williams said. “In a way that we can create a level of resilience to be able to overcome the curse that was placed on our community as a result of the greed of those companies.”

West Virginia Public Broadcasting reached out to the three pharmaceutical companies in the lawsuit, AmerisourceBergen, McKesson and Cardinal Health, but did not hear back in time for broadcast.

New Gold Star Families Monument, A Community Center In Boone And Appalachian Tarot Cards, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, many schools in rural areas of West Virginia have closed – leaving vacant buildings. When a community in eastern Boone County lost its elementary school, it became a community center. Briana Heaney has the story.

On this West Virginia Morning, many schools in rural areas of West Virginia have closed – leaving vacant buildings. When a community in eastern Boone County lost its elementary school, it became a community center. Briana Heaney has the story.

Also, in this show, the latest Gold Star Families Memorial Monument was unveiled on Monday in Huntington. Woody Williams, the late World War II Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, created a foundation to honor the families of those who died serving their country. This week, his final wish was granted. Randy Yohe has more.

And, Appalachia is full of spooky stories and folklore. Pittsburgh artist Genevieve Barbee-Turner channels some of that into tarot decks. Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with Barbee-Turner and brings us this story.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Caroline MacGregor produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Longtime Legislator, Banjo Player Chuck Romine Remembered

Flags at the Capitol and in Cabell County are at half-staff Thursday, honoring the life of longtime legislator Chuck Romine who passed away this week at age 87. Romine’s life combined politics and music – tied together with a passion for service.

Family and friends from near and far are listening to CDs (maybe a cassette tape as well), enjoying Chuck Romine’s Dixieland, ragtime, jug band banjo and vocals. They are remembering a popular musician and a devoted public servant. Former Cabell County Del. Chad Lovejoy said his mentor in politics and life would sometimes turn the House Chamber into a concert hall.

“He played on the floor,” Lovejoy said. “He and Shirley Love, who’s also passed, did a song together on the floor, and he would bring that banjo out to different legislative events.”

Shortly after being selected as Huntington Young Man of the Year in 1968, Romine was elected to the House of Delegates, then re-elected twice over the next 50 years – again in 1998 for one term – then one more in 2016. He retired in 2018 at the age of 83. That same year, Gov. Jim Justice awarded Romine one of the state’s great honors, a Distinguished West Virginian Award, after his life of dedicated service in public and private sectors.

Lovejoy said the Cabell County Republican, known for seeking consensus early, didn’t yearn for sound bites or the cause of the day, but conducted himself as politics “used to be.”

“He always fought for home. It wasn’t about Democrat, Republican, it was like, this is good for Huntington, this would be good for Cabell,” Lovejoy said.

Banjo pickin’ Chuck Romine with The 1937 Flood band.

*Courtesy of The 1937 Flood*

In the 1960s and ’70s, Romine and his banjo led the Lucky Jazz Band. In 2001, he took a break from politics and joined the eclectic string group, The 1937 Flood (the band, not the disaster).

Flood bandleader Charlie Bowen said Romine carried the best of music and politics wherever he went.

“Chuck was a born politician in every good sense of that word,” Bowen said. “He just naturally gravitated to people he didn’t know so he could get to know them. Governors and statesmen would have copies of 1937 Flood CDs, because Chuck would make sure they’d have one. He had a natural promoter’s instinct when it came to music because of his political background.”

Romine’s wife of 66 years, Phyllis, passed away less than three weeks ago. Lovejoy said the devoted couple seemed meant to stay together.

“He went to be with her, which is 110 percent the way he would want it to be,” Lovejoy said.

A Marshall University graduate and 40 year State Farm insurance agent, Chuck Romine lived an active life. Besides decades as a musician and bandmate, he gravitated to the water in his younger years as a boater, water skier, fisherman, lifeguard, swim instructor and competitive diver. He had a passion for golf, shooting pool and getting together with his Thursday night poker club.

Lovejoy said Romine taught him the skills of considering all sides of an issue, how to hand-tie a bow tie, coming from a time when manners and etiquette mattered. He said this father and grandfather figure was a friend and mentor to him, and so many others.

“As a citizen, a friend, husband, father, he was a consummate gentleman,” Lovejoy said. ”He’s a giant to me. You get role models that you love and say that’s the kind of guy I’d like to be as a husband, a father and as a legislator.”

First ‘Dolly Day’ To Be Held Statewide

West Virginia is preparing to celebrate its first “Dolly Day” on Aug. 9 after Gov. Jim Justice declared the holiday last year.

Last year, Dolly Parton visited Charleston to celebrate the statewide expansion of her Imagination Library Program. During the event, Gov. Jim Justice declared Aug. 9 as “Dolly Day.”

The Imagination Library program offers free books to children in the state from birth to age five, regardless of family income.

This year, Marshall University’s June Harless Center, which is a partner with the Imagination Library program, will host a read aloud event with popular books from the program.

The event will be on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 9:30 a.m. on the Memorial Student Center Plaza on Marshall’s campus.

Partners in various locations across the state have invited families to join them for read-aloud events to celebrate the program and help spread a love of reading.

For a complete list of read-aloud events occurring across the state, please visit the program website. Please note that some events may require pre-registration or are reserved for specific age groups. You may reach out to the contact listed for each event for more information.