Local News

HARRISON COUNTY, W.Va. – A Nutter Fort woman has been charged with child abuse after allegedly hitting a 7-year-old boy with a belt over a period of months, causing bruising and bleeding.

The investigation began when troopers obtained a photo of injuries to the boy, which a witness said were caused by Elizabeth Bills, 31.

During a forensic interview with the child, police learned Bills hit the boy over a period between February and August of 2023. Troopers said the victim told them Bills “whips him hard” and “it hurts a lot when she uses the metal buckle.”

Reports indicate the bruises were red, blue, or black and would be from his back to his buttocks and sometimes on the arms and legs. Bills also forced the boy to stay away from family members in order to hide the marks on his body.

On one occasion, the victim told police she made him bleed during one beating and didn’t seem to care when he showed her. The victim also said he was beaten with a belt buckle on one occasion for waking Bills up.

Troopers said they have video of Bills questioning the victim in the corner while he cried about being hit in the head. An injury the victim said Bills did not seek treatment for.

Additionally, the witness told troopers that Bills kept the child home from daycare for a week in an effort to conceal the injuries.

Bills has been charged with three counts of child abuse causing injury and is being held in the North Central Regional Jail in lieu of a $75,000 bond.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – An unfounded report of shots fired in Morgantown’s First Ward resulted in some evacuations and tense moments Thursday night.

Residents in the area of Dorsey Avenue and Hite Street reported shots fired from a nearby home around 9:30 p.m. Thursday. Police evacuated some surrounding homes and redirected traffic due to interactions with a previous resident of the property.

After several unsuccessful attempts were made to make contact with the resident, it was determined the home was unoccupied, and the call was cleared.

No injuries were reported.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The latest Clery Report report from West Virginia University shows a significant decrease in drug and alcohol arrests, but an increase in other crime categories.

The report shows a significant decrease, more than 50 percent in liquor law and drug violations. University Police Chief Sherry St. Clair said recognizing many students are away from home for the first time, they have started to use the Student Conduct system for some first-time violators.

“Everything depends on their attitude and we understand they’re going to make mistakes,” St. Clair said. ” We’re able to use Student Conduct to educate them a little bit on that.”

Increases in incidents of rape and fondling were up, but St. Clair said some of the crimes were reported well after they had occurred, in some cases the next year.

“What we seen is a little increase in rape and fondling, but a couple of cases on each of those that happened years back and they were just reported for some reason,” St. Clair said.

Reports of stalking were up in this edition of the report and St. Clair attributes that to increased campus awareness.

“There’s a lot online,” St. Clair said. “You’re seeing stalking online and a lot of that falls into your social media stuff and online stuff that in years past we haven’t seen.”

Getting students to be more self-aware is very important as property crime increases in the area. St. Clair said they are urging students to take steps to avoid being a victim of what she calls a “crime of opportunity.”

“One of the other things that’s not on the Clery Report that we’re really pushing is crimes of opportunity, we’ve had a lot of vehicle break-ins, bike thefts, and things like that is more of a crime of opportunity,” St. Clair said. “So, we’re trying to get students to understand to lock things up.”

St. Clair wants students to know her agency is there to help and she wants to make sure students feel comfortable making reports. She also encourages students to download the live safe app to be included in any emergency notifications.

“I want to make sure people feel comfortable reporting things to us,” St. Clair said. “That’s a big thing for us and we also want to educate them while they’re here.”

West Virginia University (WVU) released its annual Clery Report detailing reported crimes and other incidents on Thursday. The 67-page document details crimes reported to campus authorities at the institution’s Morgantown campus and its Health Sciences offices in Charleston and Martinsburg.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Libraries and the West Virginia and Regional History Center will celebrate the life and legacy of NASA mathematician and space pioneer Katherine Johnson on Friday. The event will be held in the Downtown Library’s Milano Reading Room from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

West Virginia and Regional History Center (WVRHC) Director Lori Hostuttler will introduce Johnson as the newest WVRHC’s Distinguished West Virginians Program and officially open her archives, which include notebooks, photographs, correspondence, memorabilia, awards and other materials.

On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” daughters Katherine Moore and Joylette Hylick reflected on watching their mother develop into the respected mathematician seen in the 2016 movie about her life, Hidden Figures.

“When we talk, sometimes I use the phrase ” her steps were ordered,” because every step she took got her closer to the moon,” Moore said.

Her life could be characterized as a series of breakthroughs. In 1939, she was the first of three African Americans and the first African-American woman to be selected to participate in the West Virginia University graduate math program. In 1953, she began working at the all-black West Area Computing section at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA’s) Langley laboratory.

The major breakthrough was in 1957 with the Russian launch of the Sputnik satellite. Shortly after, she was assigned to the first NASA effort going to space, the Space Task Group. That laid the foundation for her famous interaction with astronaut John Glenn and his mission to orbit the earth, where he told planners,” If she says they’re good (the numbers), then I’m ready to go.”

She retired in 1986 after 33 years of working on projects like the Space Shuttle and the Earth Resources Technology Satellite program.

“She wasn’t walking around with a halo; she was fun; she played tennis; she played pinochle; she sewed beautifully; and she taught us to sew,” Moore said. “She was very, very involved.”

Joylette Hylick was also a mathematician for 30 years with NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia and eventually retired from Lockheed
Martin Corporation shared her passion for numbers. Joylette said she was an advanced learner in high school, and when the teacher was sick, she and others would teach the class.

“We would go to the front of the class and teach the class to keep moving,” Hylick said. “So, I always wanted to major in math, but it wasn’t from being pushed by her; it was the fact that I liked it, and I still do; I’m still curious.”

Katherine and Joylette said their mother was always focused on what needed to be done and encouraged them to do better, to do more, and to get involved.

“She was never an angry woman; they kept their grace, and we were able to grow,” Moore said. “My grandfather said,” I don’t want you to be bitter; I want you to be better,” and that followed us all through our lives.”

The daughters said that though the ladies in the group were very smart, they were just average people with a great appreciation for their work.

“These ladies that were hired and shown in the movie and other places mostly knew each other,” Hylick said. “I knew 23 of them myself; they went to our church, were in our schools, or lived in our neighborhood, and they were math majors who excelled in college.”

KINGWOOD, W.Va. – A Kingwood resident is facing a charge of terrorist threats after an investigation into a bomb threat at the Preston County Courthouse on Friday, September 22.

On Friday, workers in the Preston County Circuit Clerk’s Office got a call around 9 a.m. from a man later identified as Douglas Close, 59, saying there was a bomb in the courthouse that was going to explode in the next few minutes.

As a result, the building was evacuated and shut down for the day.

After the building was cleared, a voicemail was left around 8:20 a.m. at Preston County Magistrate Court saying, “Judge Shaffer, you and all the other crooked bastards are going to see what it’s like to lose a loved one today whenever this bomb goes off in that building.”

Detectives used cell phone carrier information, IP addresses, and an email address to identify Close as a suspect.

Later, detectives learned a female associate of Close had a hearing at the courthouse on the day of the incident.

Close has been charged with terrorist threats and is being held at Tygart Valley Regional Jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Morgantown Parking Authority Executive Director Dana McKenzie has proposed “Donations for Citations” to City Council members as a way to clear the backlog of unpaid parking tickets. McKenzie said he got the idea from a program recently done by West Virginia University and cities across the country.

McKenzie said this effort would benefit Pantry Plus More, pending approval from elected leaders.

“From 2018 to 2021, we have roughly 16,000 tickets still on the books, although our collection rate is roughly 93–94 percent,” said McKenzie.

McKenzie made it clear that not all parking violations would be eligible for the program. Parking in a fire zone is one example he provided that would not qualify for the program.

“What we thought we would start off with, being this is the first time implementing it, is that it would be two expired meter tickets,” said McKenzie. “So this is not going to be; if you park on the yellow, you park at a fire hydrant; this is only going to be for expired meter tickets to start, and there is no statue of limitations; they can be two or three years old.”

McKenzie said they will coordinate items in need with the pantry that will be displayed at the Parking Authority office. People would make the donation, and the ticket would be forgiven.

“I’ll give you an example; when I’ve talked to Pantry Plus, they said that a box of ramen noodles would be equivalent to one parking citation,” said McKenzie. “So you bring those items into our office, and we will excuse that parking ticket.”

McKenzie also said that this is a plan that works for the city and area service organizations; it could likely be used at different times during the year.

“If it is something that goes over well, we are even anticipating doing it again next August with school supplies,” said McKenzie.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc., has been awarded funding for eight projects at WVU Medicine Children’s, WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI), and the WVU Health Sciences Center.

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), announced the more than $20 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for the projects from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday.

“I am excited to see the resources I directly advocated for reach WVU Hospitals and Health Science Center. When I visited the brand new Children’s Hospital this past spring, I saw firsthand the standard of care being offered in the Mountain State, allowing children to stay close to home for medical treatment,” Ranking Member Capito said. “The revolutionary Alzheimer’s and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) research taking place at RNI is already changing lives. Further buildout of their infrastructure will allow for interdisciplinary innovation, spurring new methods of treatment and prevention. From facility renovations to providing genetics testing and cellular analysis to studying visual impairment, I couldn’t be prouder to support WVU Hospitals’ mission of delivering researched-base quality care to West Virginians.”

The funding will be used to expand health care facility space for patients’ treatments, medical research, and administrative areas, renovate labs, and purchase new equipment at WVU Hospitals, Inc.

“We are deeply grateful to Senator Capito for her continued support and advocacy for WVU Medicine and its hospitals, especially, in this instance, our flagship academic medical center in Morgantown, WVU Medicine Children’s, and the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Health System, said. “We’re especially excited to expand our cytogenetics lab, the only such lab in West Virginia, by building a new, more advanced one in the former Mylan/Viatris plant, which is now home to the WVU Innovation Corporation. An expanded cytogenetics lab is especially critical as we pursue National Cancer Institute designation for the WVU Cancer Institute.”

WVU Medicine Children’s will recieve $8.5 million to support the design and buildout of a surgical unit, purchase equipment and improve access to care for stigmatized services.

The Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute will use $5.5 million to construct an Interdisciplinary Innovation Space and the administrative buildout.

The Chestnut Ridge Cytogenetics Laboratory will receive about $5.5 million for a cellular analysis facility and renovations for the first Cytogenetics lab in the state.

The Chestnut Ridge Histology Laboratory will receive $3.5 million for a surgical pathology laboratory.

The WVU Health Science Center Reducing Visual Impairment will use $1.1 million for the the purchase of a mass spectrometer and a transmission electron microscope.

“West Virginians suffer from a high rate of vision loss due to the convergence of several health risk factors prevalent in the state including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and advanced age,” Ming Lei, PhD, Senior Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Education, WVU Health Sciences, said. “A team of clinicians and scientists at West Virginia University Health Sciences is conducting cutting-edge research to understand the molecular mechanism underlying visual impairment and develop intervention strategies. The new Mass Spectrometer and Transmission Electron Microscope are two critical instruments that will significantly accelerate the team’s pace of discoveries toward preserving and improving the vision health of our population. These new instruments will also provide advanced technical capacity and will allow clinicians and scientists who conduct research on other diseases at the University to better collaborate.”

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (WLLL) students are learning via email how the teach out process will be administered.

When the teach-out is complete, only classes in Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and French will remain, but officials are working to develop a partnership with another Big 12 school to offer more in-depth opportunities.

Students will no longer be able to declare majors in any language.

Current students with primary majors in WLLL with 60 credit hours by the end of the fall 2023 semester are the only students with a guaranteed teach-out. Minor or secondary major students are not guaranteed a teach-out but may still pursue WLLL classes as they are available.

Students with declared majors in Chinese or Spanish by or before the fall of 2023 will be given the opportunity to finish their degree work. Students with majors in German Studies or Russian Studies declared by or before the fall 2023 semester will be eligible for the teach out if they have or are pursuing the 60 credit hour mark. These students must also complete a minimum of 30 major credits, including their capstone, by December 2024, or the major will be removed.

Minor students in Arabic Studies, Chinese Studies, French, or Spanish will be allowed to complete work at their own pace. Those with minors in German Studies, Latin American Studies, Russian Studies, Linguistics, Foreign Literature in Translation, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and Slavic and East European Studies must submit their minor course work by December 15, 2024, or the work will be removed from their records. Because there are no Japanese program faculty members, incomplete Japanese Studies minor students’ records will be removed prior to registration in October.

At the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, the foreign language requirement will be removed as a degree requirement and removed from the 2024–25 course catalog. The number of general electives required for these students will also be adjusted by the Registrar’s Office.

The WVU Faculty Senate will hold its next meeting on October 9 at 3:15 p.m. at the College of Law.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Morgantown High School Homecoming Parade will be tonight in downtown.

Typically, parking is restricted in downtown beginning at 5:30 p.m. on High and Prospect Streets.

School officials said the parade start time was pushed back to 7 p.m. to allow recent graduates who are members of the West Virginia University Marching Band to participate. Lineup will begin at 6 p.m., and the parade will begin on High Street and disperse at the south end of downtown at Foundry Street.

Motorists can expect traffic restrictions in the downtown area until the parade has ended.