Tag: Kanawha County

Fall Fires Prevail Despite Burn Ban

Residents of the Kanawha Valley may have noticed smoke in the air. Emily Rice reports that the Division of Forestry is fighting about 82 fires in the state’s southern coalfields.

Officials are hopeful that Thursday’s rain showers will calm the thousands of acres that have burned across the southern region of West Virginia this week.

Due to ongoing dry weather conditions, Gov. Jim Justice issued a burn ban on Monday.

Jeremy Jones, director of the Division of Forestry, said the ban helped with prevention, but Thursday’s rain will help firefighters get ahead of the fire.

“Today’s rains really knocked things down, which will give us an opportunity to get in and really gain some good containment on the large fires that are currently burning down in that area,” Jones said.

According to Jones, the forestry department has seen about 82 fires in the last week and those fires have consumed about 5,500 acres of land in Kanawha, Boone, Fayette, Wyoming, Mingo, Lincoln and Logan counties.

Jones also said all the fires were caused by humans and are under investigation.

“They were all human-caused, they’re under investigation, and we wouldn’t release that information specifically,” Jones said.

Smoke from the fires affected air quality in Charleston Thursday, bringing the area’s air quality index (AQI) to 140 at around noon, which is unhealthy for people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens.

At 4:19 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2024, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a Code Orange Air Quality Advisory for southern West Virginia lasting through Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024.

Wildfire smoke contains fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, which are microscopic solid or liquid droplets that can be inhaled and cause serious health problems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

PM2.5 is considered unhealthy for “Code Orange” and sensitive groups once the Air Quality Index surpasses 100, according to AirNow, a website that publishes air quality data. The chart measures from green to maroon with green being good and maroon being hazardous for all.

According to the Air Now Fire and Smoke Map, by Thursday evening, the Kanawha Valley’s AQI fell to 52 which is considered moderate.

A Code Orange Air Quality Advisory means that air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups. Sensitive groups include children, the elderly, and people suffering from asthma, heart disease, or other lung diseases. 

The effects of air pollution can be minimized by avoiding outdoor exercise or strenuous activity.

“This is the kind of polluted air that can impact them (sensitive groups) the most,” Megan Keebler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Charleston, said. “Typically, what we advise during this time is just to avoid being outside as much as possible. If you have to be out there just for like, short stints at most, maybe even moving anything outdoors to rescheduling them or moving indoors, if at all possible, and wait until the air quality gets better before resuming outdoor activities.”

No New Outcomes As Kanawha County Finalizes Early Ballot Recount

After the Kanawha County Commission and county clerk’s office found a corrupted early voting data stick last night, election officials did a manual recount of 31,575 early, in-person ballots.

“No outcomes were changed as a result from all of those ballots,” Kanawha County Public Information Officer Megan Bsharah said. “So all of the results stayed the same.”

Bsharah confirmed officials completed the manual count at 6:43 a.m. this morning after an all-night recount.

The state will make all election results official by canvas on Nov. 12.

Feds Partner With Local Agencies To Reduce Domestic Violence

Two regions of West Virginia have been given a special designation intended to reduce domestic violence involving firearms.

Of the 19 West Virginia homicides linked to domestic violence in 2020, 14 of them involved firearms. Now the Charleston and Wheeling areas are among 78 communities nationwide approved for concerted federal efforts to reduce intimate partner firearm violence.

U.S. Attorney Will Thompson, of the Southern District of West Virginia, will oversee efforts in Kanawha County.

“Usually [in a] highly volatile domestic violence situation, somebody’s going to end up dead,” Thompson said. 

“Not only do we worry about the victims of domestic violence, I also worry about my law enforcement partners. Some of the most volatile situations they ever have to encounter while they’re on duty is walking in not knowing who’s gonna be armed or not armed,” he added.

In the Northern District of the state, U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld will handle cases in Ohio, Brooke, and Hancock counties. He says the designation means prosecutors won’t always have to rely on victims, who are often reluctant to testify against abusers. 

“Most of the domestic violence cases are charged in state court. We’re talking about misdemeanor domestic battery and domestic assault. We’re talking about felony domestic violence. We’re talking about violations of protective orders that occur just within a particular county and don’t involve interstate commerce,” Ihlenfeld said. “The overwhelming number of those cases are prosecuted at the state level. What we can offer from the federal level is stiffer penalties.”

Ihlenfeld also said the designation makes it easier to prosecute domestic violence cases because they don’t rely as heavily on testimony from victims who may be reluctant to testify.

The Justice Department anticipates additional jurisdictions will be designated for focused attention in the future.

Kanawha County Commission Seeks Burn Ban Over Drought

As drought conditions become more severe in central West Virginia, some local officials have expressed concern for public safety and a desire for tighter regulations on firemaking.

On Monday, the Kanawha County Commission penned letters to Gov. Jim Justice and Jeremy Jones, director of the West Virginia Division of Forestry. In these letters, the commissioners requested a formal “burn ban” for the county, prohibiting man-made fires while drought conditions persist.

Similar bans are currently active in several other parts of the state, including Fayette, Nicholas and Wirt counties.

Commission President Lance Wheeler, Commissioner Ben Salango and Commissioner Marc Slotnick made the request because “the ongoing extreme drought” brought “dry vegetation and dry, brittle leaves on the ground,” according to a Tuesday press release.

Currently, Kanawha County is experiencing an “extreme drought” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

With little rain expected in the days ahead, the commission expressed concern that this would put the county at greater risk of wildfires, as residents could have less control over the spread of their burns.

“We implore people not to burn this week,” they wrote. The commission asked residents not to burn trash, and to ensure cigarettes “are completely out before disposal.”

This summer, sparse rainfall has brought challenges to agriculture across the state, leading Justice to declare a state of emergency for all 55 West Virginia counties in July.

In March, dry conditions and strong winds led to the spread of wildfires in the state’s Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands.

Under state law, outdoor burning is prohibited from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 during daytime hours due to increased wildfire risk.

But the governor and state forester can issue a burning ban to address environmental concerns outside that time period — a step that members of the commission are now urging state officials to take.

Prosecutors Begin To Charge Suspects For Making Threats Against Schools

As of Monday evening, the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security reported more than 60 schools in 34 counties were affected by the more than 140 threats made in the past week.

More than a dozen individuals – a mix of juveniles and adults – have been arrested for making threats against schools across West Virginia. 

As of Monday evening, the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security reported more than 60 schools in 34 counties were affected by more than 140 threats made in the past week.

Counties from Preston to Kanawha are beginning to arrest and charge suspects, some of them students, in relation to the threats.

Debra Rusnak, prosecuting attorney for Kanawha County, said threats against schools are taken very seriously, and four juveniles have been charged with making terroristic threats. 

“Anytime we receive a threat against our schools, or any school or children, we take that very seriously,” she said. “We are very concerned. What we don’t want is to be lax or not take these seriously and then something bad happened. I would rather us react on a precautionary measure to ensure that we are taking steps to make our kids safe.”

The terroristic threat charge is a felony offense that carries no less than one to three years in prison or a fine of $5,000 to $25,000 or both fine and confinement.

Rusnak said she has been in contact with officials across the region to support efforts to apprehend suspects.

“It is somewhat different in investigating a juvenile case and handling a juvenile matter,” she said. “So I have been able to offer advice to individuals who are in our county and as well as individuals who work in other agencies outside of the county. This is not a Kanawha County issue. This is a nationwide issue.”

Steven Dragisich, prosecuting attorney for Hancock County, said three individuals in his jurisdiction have also been charged with making terroristic threats. He emphasized that the law does not distinguish an individual’s intent when making a threat.

“Whether or not they intend to carry out, if they make a threat, and they make a threat like this, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of whether they’re a juvenile or an adult,” he said.

Dragisich said it may be several months before any hearings will be scheduled in these cases.

Officials are asking the public to not share threatening posts online and instead to contact law enforcement directly, or through the SeeSend app, which allows users to submit anonymous information about potentially threatening behaviors or activities.

Postal Sorting Center To Remain In South Charleston

On Thursday, the news that the facility would retain its current functions came as a relief. The center will also get an investment of $22.8 million. 

After months of uncertainty, the U.S. Postal Service will not downgrade its South Charleston mail processing facility.

The Postal Service’s plan to convert the Charleston processing and distribution center into a local mail sorting hub and send some of its current responsibilities, and potentially workers, to Pennsylvania, stirred anxiety among state and local leaders.

On Thursday, the news that the facility would retain its current functions came as a relief. The center will also get an investment of $22.8 million. 

U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito opposed the changes and engaged directly with the Postal Service on the issue, including Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Kanawha County commissioners and Charleston Mayor Amy Goodwin thanked the senators, as well as American Postal Workers Union Local 133.

Tim Holstein, vice president of the local and state postal workers union, said there would be some slight changes at the facility, but workers now have certainty before the holidays. 

“Congratulations, West Virginia. We won,” Holstein said.

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