Tag: The Herald-Dispatch

W.Va. Office that Supervises Sex Offenders Will End

A West Virginia office that has supervised sex offenders for nearly a decade will end.

The Herald-Dispatch reports the Intensive Supervision Office will end in September. The move comes after West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Justice Allen Loughry signed an order calling for a consolidation and reformulation of the state’s probation office on June 26.

Loughry wrote that the program’s centralized, rather than local, administration means that in many cases the court’s ISO probation officers are not afforded the local knowledge and wisdom of the circuit judges and chief probation officers in the communities where the offenders reside.

According to the administrative order, a decrease from 14,000 to 10,000 total supervised individuals led to the program’s end.

Illegal Activity Penalties Considered for Property Owners

West Virginia cities are considering ordinances targeting property owners for repeated illegal incidents on their premises.

Local news outlets report similar proposals in Huntington and Nitro follow the model of a Martinsburg drug house ordinance that went into effect in May and has since produced several busts.

The Herald-Dispatch reports the Huntington City Council Public Safety Committee voted Monday to send the ordinance to the full City Council with a favorable recommendation. The law would see the declaration of properties where two or more illegal incidents occur within a year as public nuisances, resulting in the eviction of tenants involved in the illegal activities and possible fines for the property owners.

WSAZ-TV reports that Nitro Mayor Dave Casebolt says a similar ordinance might go into effect this month.

W.Va. County to Allow Students Out Early for Eclipse

Students in at least one West Virginia county will be allowed to get out of school early to watch next week’s solar eclipse.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that Cabell County Schools Superintendent Ryan Saxe said at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday that parents will be allowed to pick up students up to one hour early next Monday as an excused absence. The county’s school system will operate on a regular schedule that day.

A small part of the United States will experience a total solar eclipse. About 90 percent of the sun will be covered in West Virginia. The eclipse will peak about 2:33 p.m. locally. That’s around the time most elementary schools in Cabell County begin dismissing for the day.

Some schools have eclipse glasses for distribution to students.

Thousands Without Water After Nearly $894,000 in Unpaid Bills

Water service has been turned off for more than 1,000 homes as the Huntington Sanitary Board has sent thousands of shut-off requests to West Virginia American Water as it pursues customers more than 30 days late on paying their sewer bill.

The Herald-Dispatch reports city communications director Bryan Chambers says the water company has acted on 1,252 of the nearly 4,000 requests sent since April and that 1,055 were sent June 28.

According to the city, the board has more than 22,000 accounts and those that are two months past due total nearly $894,000.

Board director Wes Leek says members approved a measure stationing an off-duty police officer at its office as customers have threatened service representatives, in addition to spitting at and punching the bulletproof glass they sit behind.

Todd Alexander Named Superintendent of Wayne County Schools

A new schools superintendent has been named in a West Virginia county.The Herald-Dispatch reports Wayne County's education board unanimously approved Todd…

A new schools superintendent has been named in a West Virginia county.

The Herald-Dispatch reports Wayne County’s education board unanimously approved Todd Alexander as its next superintendent on Saturday. Alexander is an assistant superintendent for Cabell County Schools where he has worked for more than 20 years. He begins his new role on July 1 and will serve under a three-year contract with an annual salary of $120,000.

Board president Trey Morrone says pursuing a candidate with a strong financial background was a must as the county has fallen on hard financial times. He says Alexander felt like the full package.

Alexander will replace interim superintendent David L. Roach, who took over for Steven Paine after he was selected to be West Virginia’s next superintendent of schools.

Some Customers Facing Higher Water Quality Fee

Water quality service fees will be increasing for some customers in West Virginia.

The Herald-Dispatch reports when the fee began in 2014 in the Huntington area, it was scheduled to be a flat $7.15 for residential and non-residential property owners for two years. That was while the Water Quality Board conducted mapping of impervious surfaces — man-made structures contributing to water runoff — on non-residential properties.

Stormwater Utility Director Sherry Wilkins says the mapping is completed.

As a result, the newspaper says the fees will increase for 2,080 non-residential customers.

Residential property owners will still pay the flat rate.

Non-residential owners will pay the $7.15 rate up to 3,000 square feet of impervious materials, plus an additional $1.05 for every 1,000 square feet of impervious material between 3,000 and 1 million square feet.

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