SWITCH: Mobile | ePaper | Subscribe

Homes Rentals Jobs Autos Contests

Suspicious death of juvenile in West Point

West Virginia

Law enforcement officers and emergency service personnel converge on the scene of the shooting in downtown Williamson, W.Va., Wednesday, April 3, 2013, where Sheriff Eugene Crum was shot and killed at point blank range. (AP Photo/Williamson Daily News, Kyle Lovern)

Sheriff gunned down near courthouse

John Raby, Vicki Smith The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - 3:04pm

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — A sheriff known for cracking down on the drug trade in southern West Virginia’s coalfields was fatally shot Wednesday in the spot where he usually parked his car for lunch, a state official said, and a suspect was in custody.

State Police told Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin that Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum died of his wounds, said his chief of staff Rob Alsop.

Crime, Murder, Fatal shooting, National Read more Comments

FILE - This Jan. 2, 2013 file photo shows Shain Gandee, from MTV's "Buckwild" reality series in New York. Gandee and his uncle have been reported missing in West Virginia. The Kanawha County Sheriff's Department said 21-year-old Shain Gandee and his uncle, 48-year-old David Gandee, were last seen around 3 a.m. Sunday, March 31, at a bar in Sissonville, W. Va. Family members said the men planned on riding their all-terrain vehicles, but did not say where. They reported the men missing after they couldn't get in contact with them Sunday. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Invision/AP, file)

MTV reality star, 2 others found dead

John Raby The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, April 1, 2013 - 1:55pm

SISSONVILLE, W.Va. -- A cast member of the MTV reality show "BUCKWILD" was found dead Monday in a sport utility vehicle in a ditch along with his uncle and a third, unidentified person, authorities said Monday.

Features, Fatal auto accident, Missing Persons, MTV, Reality TV Read more Comments

New colleg graduate has thriving wrestling career

John Raby The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, December 24, 2012 - 5:15pm

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than six years after entering West Virginia University, Michael Paris got his advertising degree this month. And for as long as he can, he doesn’t plan to use it.

Not while he’s traveling the globe for TNA wrestling, which signed him in June 2011 as alter ego Zema Ion, a hair-obsessed Filipino supermodel.

Pro-Wrestling, Sports, Wrestling Read more Comments

College mascot cited for killing bear without wearing orange

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - 9:14am

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia University mascot who got in trouble for using his uniform musket to kill a bear has been cited for another problem — not wearing blaze orange during the bear hunt.

School mascot, College, Hunting, National Read more Comments

This image provided by the West Virginia State Police shows a fireball erupting across Interstate 77 from a gas line explosion in Sissonville, W. Va.,Tuesday Dec. 11, 2012. At least five homes went up in flames Tuesday afternoon and a badly damaged section of Interstate 77 was shut down in both directions near Sissonville after a natural gas explosion triggered an hour-long inferno that officials say spanned about a quarter-mile. (AP Photo/West Virginia State Police)

W.Va. gas line explodes creating inferno

John Raby, Vicki Smith The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - 6:19pm

SISSONVILLE, W.Va. — At least five homes went up in flames Tuesday afternoon and a badly burned section of Interstate 77 in West Virginia was closed after a natural gas line exploded in an hour-long inferno.

Explosion, Natural gas, National Read more Comments

WVU mascot told to stop firing musket at wildlife

John Raby The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, December 7, 2012 - 3:45pm

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The musket toted by West Virginia University’s Mountaineer isn’t just a prop — it’s a bona fide weapon, and mascot Jonathan Kimble demonstrated that when he brought down a black bear with it in the woods.

College Football, College Sports, Rifle, Sports Read more Comments

Massey Energy Company Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship at a Senate Health and Human Services subcommittee hearing on mine safety. (AP)

Coal mine official cooperating with Feds in blast probe

Vicki Smith The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - 10:01am

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — An executive who ran several Massey Energy coal companies and worked closely with former CEO Don Blankenship faces criminal conspiracy charges and is cooperating with federal prosecutors, a sign that authorities may be targeting Blankenship himself in the fatal West Virginia blast that was the nation’s worst mine disaster in four decades.

Business, Crime, Coal Mine, Explosion Read more Comments

South Weber man gets four years for property fraud

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, November 5, 2012 - 5:35pm

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Utah man has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to sell property in a Hurricane subdivision at inflated prices.

Crime, Fraud, National Read more Comments

South Weber man to be sentenced in massive mortgage fraud

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, November 5, 2012 - 7:33am

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Utah man is set to be sentenced for his role in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme to sale property in a Hurricane subdivision at inflated prices.

Crime, Fraud, Mortgage, National Read more Comments

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney walks with comedian Dennis Miller, left, and senior adviser Barbara Comstock, before boarding his campaign plane in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, after Tuesday's presidential debate with President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Traveling with Romney to historic Romney

Zofia Smardz The Washington Post

Last updated Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 10:05am

ROMNEY, W.Va. -- We saw lots of Romney signs on the way to Romney, W.Va., but they were all in the Old Dominion. Once we crossed the line into the breakaway state to the west, poof. We drove for miles through woodsy, hilly Hampshire County, reading plugs for "Alkire for Sheriff" and "Rowan for Congress," but not a presidential placard in sight. Until Romney, when we spotted a sign on a lawn at the edge of town.

For Obama.

Features, Mitt Romney, Travel Read more Comments

West Virginia school stops prayer before football games

The Associated Press The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, September 24, 2012 - 2:58pm

SISSONVILLE, W.Va. — Sissonville High School has stopped offering a prayer before football games after a national organization told school officials the practice is unconstitutional.

Many students and parents don’t agree with the decision.

Prep Sports, Prayer, Sports Read more Comments

South Weber man pleads guilty in mortgage scam

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, July 12, 2012 - 4:40pm

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A South Weber, Utah man has admitted his involvement in a multimillion-dollar mortgage scam linked to property in a West Virginia subdivision.

Crime, Utah Read more Comments

(JEFF GENTNER/The Associated Press) Clay Mullins, brother of Rex Mullins, a victim of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, meets with officials from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011 in Beaver, W.Va. Officals said that the new owners of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 men were killed in an April 2010 explosion, would pay a record $210 million to cover fines, compensate victims’ grieving families and improve underground safety.

Families demand prosecutions in W.Va. mine blast

Lawrence Messina, Vicki Smith The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - 8:59am

BEAVER, W.Va. — Money — even a lot of it — is cold comfort to some relatives of the 29 men who died in the worst mining disaster in decades. They want justice, the kind that comes with a courtroom and a prison cell.

Explosion, Lawsuit, Miners, Fatality, National Read more Comments

(RON AGNIR/The Associated Press) A single-engine T-28 from the six-plane Trojan Horsemen Demonstration Flight Team crashes and explodes during a performance at the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge Open House and Air Show on Saturday at the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg, W.Va.

WWII-era plane crashes at W.Va. air show

The Associated Press The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, September 17, 2011 - 11:26pm

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- No spectators were reported injured when a World War II-era plane crashed at a West Virginia air show and burst into flames on Saturday.

Air Show, Plane accidents, Plane Crash, Safety, Accident Read more Comments

Gunman kills 5, self, in three-state shooting spree

Vicki Smith The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - 3:54pm

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Authorities say a man who killed five people near Morgantown and ran down an elderly woman in neighboring Pennsylvania also shot and wounded a gas station attendant as he crossed back through West Virginia. He then took his own life in Kentucky.

The path of violence that Shayne Riggleman cut through three states before committing suicide during a police chase was "one of the most heinous crimes I've ever witnessed," State Police Capt. James Merrill said Tuesday.

Crime, Murder, Gunman, Shooting, National Read more Comments