Tag: Parkersburg

WVU Medicine Offering Drive-Thru Coronavirus Testing

West Virginia University Medicine on Wednesday opened drive-thru coronavirus testing sites for pre-screened patients.

The sites will be in Morgantown, Parkersburg, Bridgeport, Wheeling, and Martinsburg, according to a WVU Medicine news release. They will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week.

Patients need a referral from a physician in order to have a sample collected at one of the sites to “ensure only the highest-risk patients are identified and receive the appropriate medical intervention,” the release said. Results will be ready in about three to four days.

Gov. Jim Justice on Tuesday announced West Virginia had its first person test positive for the virus. He said the person was in the state’s Eastern Panhandle but did not require hospitalization. All 50 U.S. states now have confirmed cases.

Justice had warned that it was only a matter of time before a confirmed case would be documented in the state. He and state health officials have repeatedly expressed frustration over limited testing nationwide.

He has ordered bars, restaurants and casinos in the state to close with the exception of carry-out food services. Schools statewide are closed until at least March 27, under an earlier order from Justice. A state of emergency is in effect for all of West Virginia.

State officials say that, as of Wednesday, 137 people have been tested for the virus, with 122 negatives, 14 tests pending and one positive.

Both Justice and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin have noted the virus could be especially damaging in West Virginia because of the state’s elderly population and high percentage of people with existing health problems. About 20% of West Virginia residents are age 65 and older.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the vast majority recover in several weeks. But for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause severe illness, including pneumonia.

February 13, 1913: Mother Jones Arrested in Charleston

On February 13, 1913, labor leader Mary Harris “Mother” Jones was arrested in Charleston for agitating striking miners during the deadly Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike.

Jones was no stranger to West Virginia’s labor movement, or its jails. Since the 1890s, she’d been active in union causes across the country but felt a special affinity for miners of the Mountain State. She once reported that conditions in West Virginia “were worse than those in Czarist Russia.” During a 1902 strike, she’d been jailed in Parkersburg for violating a court injunction.

Her arrest in 1913, though, was different. By this time, much of Kanawha County had been placed under martial law, meaning that the military was in charge of law enforcement. After being taken to Pratt, she was court-martialed and held under house arrest. New governor Henry Hatfield—a licensed physician—personally visited with Jones but did little at first to free her—even though the octogenarian labor leader was reportedly suffering from pneumonia. After she was finally released, “Mother” Jones testified before Congress on the poor living and working conditions in the West Virginia coalfields.

February 12, 1901: Congressman Jacob Blair Dies at 79

Congressman Jacob Blair died in Utah, on February 12, 1901, at age 79. He was born in Parkersburg in 1821 and orphaned at a young age. He studied law under his uncle John Jay Jackson Sr., was admitted to the bar, and then elected prosecuting attorney of Ritchie County.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Blair was elected as a pro-Union congressman from Virginia, representing what is now northwestern West Virginia. He was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives on New Year’s Eve 1862, when he and two congressional colleagues met at the White House with President Abraham Lincoln regarding West Virginia’s potential admission to the Union.

When they left the White House, Lincoln still hadn’t made up his mind. Eager for an answer, Blair entered the White House the next morning through an open window and was told the president would indeed approve West Virginia statehood. Thus, Blair was likely the first West Virginian to learn the news.

Jacob Blair was reelected to Congress twice more before being appointed minister to Costa Rica. He spent his last 25 years in Wyoming and Utah.

January 17, 1947: Labor Lawyer Harold Houston Dies in Florida

Labor lawyer Harold Houston died in Florida on January 17, 1947, at age 74. When he was young, his parents moved from Ohio to Jackson County and then to Charleston.

In 1901, after getting a law degree from West Virginia University, Houston opened a legal practice in Parkersburg.

By 1912, he’d returned to Charleston and soon became chief attorney and counsel for most of the state’s major labor organizations. Among his clients were striking coal miners, Sid Hatfield and others accused of murder in the Matewan Massacre, and United Mine Workers of America leaders charged with treason following the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain.

After the treason trials, Houston was fired as UMWA counsel by national president John L. Lewis. In 1931, Houston helped Frank Keeney organize the West Virginia Mine Workers Union—which briefly competed with the UMWA. Houston also ran for local, state, and federal offices on the Socialist ticket.

In later years, he was involved in an automobile dealership and a real estate addition in the Spring Hill section of South Charleston that bears his name. He eventually retired to Lake Worth, Florida.

December 11, 1893: Governor Jacob Jackson Dies in Parkersburg

West Virginia’s sixth governor, Jacob Jackson, died in Parkersburg on December 11, 1893, at age 64. The son and grandson of congressmen, Jackson came from one of the region’s most distinguished families. His father was also one of West Virginia’s founders.

Jackson first worked as a teacher and then opened a legal practice in St. Marys. He served as the Pleasants County prosecuting attorney before and during the Civil War. His work took him occasionally to Wheeling, where he was once arrested for making pro-Confederate remarks.

A staunch Democrat, Jackson served after the war as Wood County’s prosecuting attorney, as a legislator, and as Parkersburg’s mayor. In 1880, he was elected governor. He’s best remembered for his tax-reform attempts. Jackson ordered a thorough assessment of personal property. Prior to Jackson becoming governor, certain powerful businesses had not paid their fair share of taxes. His efforts, though, met with limited success due to the foot dragging of local assessors and opposition from railroads and other taxpayers. After leaving office in 1885, Jacob Jackson returned to Parkersburg, resumed his law practice, and served as a bank president.

November 18, 2009: Senator Robert C. Byrd Longest Serving Member of Congress

  

On November 18, 2009, Senator Robert C. Byrd became the nation’s longest-serving member of Congress.  He was first elected to public office in 1946.  After serving two terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates and one in the state senate, he was elected to three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.  In 1958, voters sent him to the U.S. Senate, where he would remain from 1959 until his death in 2010 at age 92.

In his early years, Byrd primarily was a conservative. He notably led a filibuster against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Over time, he became more liberal and eventually became one of President George W. Bush’s staunchest critics.

He served as the Senate’s Democratic leader for 12 years. And in 1989, he became chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.  In this role, Byrd famously brought billions of federal dollars to West Virginia, including an FBI center in Clarksburg, IRS offices in Parkersburg, and a Fish and Wildlife Training Center in Shepherdstown. 

For Byrd’s career of service, Governor Bob Wise and the legislature named him West Virginian of the 20th Century.

Exit mobile version