Williamson Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Slain Trooper’s Memorial Service Draws Crowd

More than a thousand people, hailing from close to home and around the nation, attended the Wednesday memorial service for slain West Virginia State Police Sgt. Cory Maynard.

More than a thousand people, hailing from close to home and around the nation, attended the Wednesday memorial service for slain West Virginia State Police Sgt. Cory Maynard. The trooper was shot and killed in the line of duty last Friday.

Troopers from both panhandles and from the Iowa, New Jersey and Nebraska State Police, joined masses of first responders and civilians who packed the funeral service in the Mingo Central High School gymnasium.

Curtis Meade, from Matewan, said Cory Maynard helped him once when he ran out of gas. He said the trooper ended up helping save him from living a troubled life.

“We became buddies,” Meade said. “The day I found out that it was him that was shot. It ate me up. I ain’t gonna lie, I was wanting to go after that dude. But, like God and Cory said, forgive and forget. I decided the best thing I could do is come up here and show my respects to a buddy of mine.”

Denise Browning brought her daughter Olivia to the memorial, paying a debt of gratitude to a first responder who became a perpetual part of their lives. Browning said Maynard was there in a moment of personal tragedy.

“Olivia was raped in 2019 and Cory Maynard stood by her side,” Browning said. “He was a fantastic guy in every single way. If I needed him at one o’clock in the morning, I could call his cell phone, he would talk and come if necessary.”

Iowa State Patrol and New Jersey State Police Troopers in line for visitation. *Credit: Randy Yohe/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Shawn Marcum said he was honored to call Maynard a personal friend. Marcum was one of dozens who agreed that the 37-year-old husband and father, library volunteer and community activist was the kind of person you wanted your son or daughter to grow up to be like.

“He would help anyone in need,” Marcum said. “I’ve witnessed multiple times of him just stopping on the street, both in and out of uniform, to help people. It didn’t matter whether it was to buy something to drink, if they needed food just to talk. Cory never met a stranger.”

State Police Major Jim Mitchell said the sermon he delivered at the memorial service honored a person who truly lived a life of service to others. Mitchell said Marcum was the finest example of a trooper — and a person. He called him a generous man who was raised well and cherished his loving family — his wife Rachel, daughter Zoe and son Finn.

“We want to give his family the honor that they deserve,” Mitchell said. “They’ve stood by Cory for the 15 years that he served us. And it’s not easy for a family. But they really have, and they’ve done well. So we want to honor him. We want to honor his family. We want to honor the state police family.”

Mitchell said he told Maynard’s fellow troopers to take the pain that might be inside them and manifest it for the good.

“Sometimes, if we’re careful or not careful, things like this can happen,” he said. “It can upset us, it makes us angry and makes us sad. And if you just respond to the mere emotion of it, it’s not the best thing. But if you can sit back and look at it and remember why we’re here, why we do this — that’s how we continue.”

It seemed all who attended the funeral were close or extended family who came to honor the life and legacy of a beloved West Virginia State Police Trooper.

Friends Remember Slain Trooper, Memorial Service Details

Those who knew Cory Maynard say the Williamson and Mingo County communities will suffer without his presence.

Updated on Monday, June 5, 2023 at 7:06 p.m.

Over the weekend, State Police Sgt. Cory Maynard was shot and killed in the line of duty near Matewan in Mingo County. Those who knew him say the Williamson and Mingo County communities will suffer without his presence.

Williamson Public Health Nurse Jimmy Copley said Cory Maynard was more like a brother than a friend. He said the 37-year-old husband and father would show as much care to a homeless person or recovering drug addict as to his own wife and children – and his devotion to helping all children live better lives was unmatched.

“He had actually called me a few days before all this happened,” Copley said. “He wanted to try to get with the Mingo County Health Department and come up with a summer program for kids to be out helping clean up the community.”

Childhood friend Rachel Siggers can name countless examples of Maynard’s compassion for others. The Williamson school mental health worker told the story of an unruly child – impossible for anyone to deal with. She called Maynard and asked him to come and be “bad cop” to her “good cop.” She said he came without hesitation, but didn’t follow the script.

“He was in the room with the kid for five minutes. And he’s buddied up with him and being soft with him,” Siggers said. “And, I’m looking at him like, that’s not what I asked you to do. He said, ‘Rachel, I couldn’t do it, he just needed somebody to love him.’”

Siggers said Maynard called daily after that to check on the child’s progress, coming back to talk with the child in person when necessary.

Williamson nurse April Hensley said Maynard was helping her son chart a career course – a son who aspired to be what Maynard took the greatest pride in – serving as a West Virginia State Trooper.

“Cory guided him and told him things that he needed to do and just really tried to help him,” Hensley said. “He was never off the clock. Anytime that anyone needed him, he was there. He’s not replaceable, and our community will suffer because of this.”

Jimmy Copley said Maynard had the makings of a State Police leader.

“He was absolutely proud of his time in the state police,” Copley said. “He was a long-term serving veteran and had climbed the ranks to sergeant and probably would have kept climbing. He was that good and that dedicated to his profession.”

His friends agreed – Maynard was selfless and genuine.

“He wanted the world to be a better place,” Copley said. “He saw the good and the potential good in everything. It didn’t matter. He saw your good and that’s what he wanted. He wanted to bring the good out.”

“His entrance into a room changed the atmosphere in the room,” Siggers said. “He could walk in the room, and just look at you and smile and everything would be alright. His loss is a void that I don’t know if we’ll ever get over.”

From the obituary issued by Evans Funeral Home: Funeral services will be conducted at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at the Mingo Central High School at Delbarton, WV, with Major Jim Mitchell officiating.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, June 7, 2023, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Mingo Central High School at Delbarton, WV.

Pallbearers will be Damien Hart-Shepherd University PD, Tyler Hannon-WVSP, Jim Hannon-Retired OH Highway Patrol, Jonathan Ziegler-WVSP, Thomas Boggs-WVSP, and Kyle Johnson-WVSP.

The procession route to honor the life of Sgt. Cory S. Maynard will proceed from Mingo Central High School onto King Coal Highway, continuing onto Route 65, continuing onto Route 52, continuing onto 119 North to Chapmanville, WV.

As per his final wishes, Cory was a tissue donor, and his giving heart and spirit will live on in the lives of those who are the recipients of his gift of life. Also, in honoring his wishes, his remains will be cremated following the services

Volunteers, West Virginia DEP Remove More Than 1,000 Tires From Tug Fork River In Williamson

For as long as he can recall, Williamson resident John Burchett said that when you looked over the U.S. Highway 119 Bridge leading to Kentucky, all you’d see on the Tug Fork River were tires.

“For tire businesses, individuals, the river was easiest way to get rid of things,” said Burchett, also a local part-time firefighter. “And unfortunately, that’s what people did, and we’re paying the price now.”

While a growing number of communities along the river are increasingly touting the waterway as a draw for outdoor recreation, there’s still a lot of work to be done to make sure it’s clean and safe.

Last week, Burchett was one of several local volunteers behind the Williamson PK-8 school, where there’s an access point to the river, half a mile down from the bridge.

With help from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and its Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP), the volunteers removed more than 1,600 tires from a couple 100 yards of river over three days.

Volunteers and state workers joined forces to remove more than 1,000 tires from a few hundred yards of the Tug Fork River in Williamson on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019.

According to REAP staff, the state has helped other river communities with tire clean-up projects, including those along the Coal and Elk rivers. The tires they remove go to the West Virginia Tire Disposal waste monofill in Summersville, a landfill exclusively for old tires.

The organization’s website states it will hold on to the tires they can be recycled.

“You know, if we’re going to be serious about tourism, growing that industry and helping our environment, this is what you have to do,” said Williamson Mayor Charles Hatfield. He was one of about eight volunteers present Monday morning, in addition to DEP employees and contracted workers, paid for by the DEP.

Other participants included Glen Allen Daugherty of Woodman, Kentucky, another Tug Fork River town about 30 miles downstream from Williamson.

Last Summer, Glen Daugherty kayaked nearly the entire length of the Tug Fork River in eight days with his son. Their journey, shared via pictures on a Facebook group for the river, garnered attention for the waterway’s recreational opportunities.

Last summer, Daugherty — who says his friends call him Grizzly Allen — and his son kayaked nearly the entire length of the Tug Fork River, from Welch, McDowell County to Louisa in Kentucky.

“We had to pull the kayak, and we had about 150 pounds of gear, a little tent one-man tent and a one-man sleeping shelter,” Daugherty recalled. “And we went to survive, on our own, catching fish, eating ramen, camp.”

All the while, Daugherty was posting pictures of their journey to the Friends of the Tug Fork River Facebook group, which attracted attention to their trip. He said people began joining them, bought them food and let them sleep in local schools.

“It’s such a beautiful river, and there’s so much good fishing and stuff on it, and we don’t have to drive very far to enjoy it,” Daugherty said.

Daugherty said he’s showed up to help pick up tires in Williamson, to show support for the river and its future as a recreational waterway.

“I just wish we would have more people that would get involved in these events,” Daugherty said. “And I would like to see it spread from town to town and in between, because what’s here in six months will be down there.”

Creating A ‘Wide Open’ And ‘Unimpeded’ River

Mayor Hatfield said the town is also looking forward to building a spillway around a low head dam upstream from town that is used for the city’s water intake.

Williamson Mayor Charles Hatfield helped remove tires from the Tug Fork River on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019.

That will allow the more than 150-mile river to flow unimpeded, an important factor for growing river-based recreation. The spillway could also alleviate dangerous conditions that can occur near the dam.

According to Hatfield, the dam’s only about five feet tall, but as water flows over it, it can reach about 10 feet on the other side, creating conditions that can be fatal.

“If you go over the dam and get caught … it will not let you escape,” said Burchett, the part-time firefighter. “It rolls you, until you’re just out of breath.”

With a grant from the National Coal Heritage Area Authority, Williamson has created a construction plan for the spillway.

The city is also applying for construction funds from the DEP’s program for Economic Development of Abandoned Mine Lands.

“If we can get the construction money from that grant, to do this, then this river, all 159 miles of it, will be wide open, unimpeded for recreational navigation,” Burchett said.

Volunteers are scheduled to go out for a final day for tire removals on Wednesday, Oct. 2. Burchett said volunteers will gather behind the Williamson PK-8 school around 9 a.m.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

W.Va. Airports Receive Federal Grant

Federal funding has been awarded to two airport authorities in West Virginia. U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin made the announcement Friday.

Over $730,000 will be awarded to the Mingo County Airport Authority in Williamson and to the Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority in Charleston.

About half of that grant will be used to reimburse an energy efficiency study conducted by the airport authority in Charleston, and the rest will be used to support the construction of two taxi lanes providing access to aircraft T-hangers in Williamson.

Both Sen. Capito and Manchin site the grant as necessary for improvements in safety. They also say investing in West Virginia’s airports is critical in the bolstering of the state’s economy.

The federal grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Federal Aviation Administration.

Local Foods, Local Places Grant Awarded to West Virginia County

The Local Foods, Local Places partnership is a yearly federal award to communities around the country to help integrate local food strategies into economic development efforts. The award was given to six Appalachian communities in 2016, including one in West Virginia.

The initiative started in 2014 as part of the White House Rural Council’s work to support communities that want to make local foods a stronger part of the local economy. There are now 60 Local Foods, Local Places partnerships across the country. More than a third are in Appalachia, including four in West Virginia.

The award includes a financial grant of up to 20,000 dollars and access to federal consultants.

The newest West Virginia community to receive the grant is Rainelle. The community plans on establishing a mentorship program for local farmers and producers, developing a community grocery story and converting vacant lots into agricultural production.

Previous awards have gone to West Virginia communities in Wheeling, Williamson and Huntington.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.

Outcry Prompts Suspension of Williamson Water Rate Hike

State regulators have suspended a nearly 50 percent rate increase for Williamson’s water customers and ordered a review.

The Public Service Commission ordered the suspension and review last week after it received a petition opposing the increase signed by more than 900 Williamson residents and water customers.

The petition says the rate increase will place an undue burden on customers.

The Williamson Daily News reports that the city adopted an ordinance raising the rates in August in an effort to cover a $1.2 million debt owed to Veolia Water. The private company manages the city’s water and sewer system.

The PSC suspended the rates until Jan. 29, 2016, and appointed an administrative law judge to review them.