WVVA-TV Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

West Virginia Families Impacted by 2016 Floods Get New Homes

Several families impacted by flooding last year in West Virginia have received new homes.

WVVA-TV reports the Rainelle residents were handed keys to their homes on Monday. The homes have 8-foot (2-meter) support beams should severe weather come again.

The work was done by Appalachia Service Project, a Christian ministry focused on home repair and replacement in central parts of the region. The organization has built more than 50 homes for those who lost theirs in the 2016 flood.

Darlenia Killen says she lived more than a year in a single bedroom apartment and Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer. She walked into her new home saying, “I could not be more appreciative, I’m afraid I might cry.”

The families also received Thanksgiving baskets with turkeys.

Three Charged with Illegally Taking Items from Donation Center

Three people have been arrested for taking donated items while falsely claiming to be flood victims.

Sgt. C.R. Johnson of the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources tells WVVA-TV that a recent anonymous tip lead the department to investigate siblings Eric Stone, Diane Stone and Marcia Stone of Rupert.

Johnson says the three suspects live in an upstairs apartment and were not impacted by the flooding. However, he says they took cleaning supplies, bed sheets, pillows and pet food from a Rainelle distribution center.

The three have been charged with obtaining services under false pretenses.

The Greenbrier Sheriff’s Department assisted in the investigation.

It wasn’t immediately clear if any of the suspects have attorneys.

New Drug Treatment Center to Open in Mount Hope in August

Construction is underway for a new drug treatment center in southern West Virginia.

WVVA-TV reports Open Minds Recovery Services is expected to open by mid-August in Mount Hope. The 100-bed facility will treat males dealing with drug addiction.

Facility manager Calvin Woolwine says that while a $500,000 state grant is covering the costs of specialists and renovations, how many patients they’ll be able to serve dependents on support from surrounding counties.

Woolwine asked the Raleigh County Commission for additional funding on Tuesday. Commission president Dave Tolliver plans to review the proposal.

Woolwine said the center will focus on turning prisoners into patients, possibly saving money and lives along the way.

He says if things go well, they will plan to open a facility for women as well.

Graffiti Suspects Avoid Charges by Repainting Bridge

Rather than charging five people accused of spray-painting graffiti along a Mercer County bridge, authorities say they had them repaint it instead.

Mercer County Commissioner Greg Puckett tells WVVA-TV that he, Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash and Chief Deputy Darrell Bailey agreed to allow the five suspects to avoid misdemeanor charges by fixing what they had done.

All five completed their work along the bridge over Eads Mill Road in Princeton on Sunday.

Several cameras have been installed on and around the bridge to keep it clean.

Fire Destroys Childhood Home of Former W.Va. Gov. Marland

A fire has destroyed the childhood home of former West Virginia Gov. William Marland.

WVVA-TV reports that the fire occurred Sunday at the house in Glen Rogers.

The house is now owned by Michael Foye’s grandparents. Foye says his family was at a gathering down the street when a neighbor told them the house was on fire.

According to the West Virginia Archives and History, Marland moved with his parents from Johnson City, Illinois, to Glen Rogers when he was 7 years old. He was elected as governor in 1952 at age 34. He died in 1965.