To the recent dedication of Senator Shirley Love Memorial Road along Salem-Gatewood Road in Oak Hill. Love’s fame began to mushroom while anchoring “Saturday Night Wrestling,” which he described as a “Southern West Virginia Saturday night opera.” For two years he served in the West Virginia … Read more

To Zora “Big Mama” Stroud, the first woman to retire after 20 years of service in a West Virginia coal mine. Stroud, now 83 and living with a son in North Carolina, was recently honored at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, where a new exhibit is paying tribute to the contributions of female miners. Read more

To the West Virginia Alzheimer’s Association for offering dementia training for the state’s first responders to help in their interactions with the elderly. The free series of educational programs will deal with effective communication strategies and dementia behaviors. In West Virginia, 39,… Read more

To West Virginia University School of Medicine’s Carmen Burrell, D.O., chosen by The American College Health Association’s Awards Advisory Committee as the recipient of the Ollie B. Moten Award for 2021. This award, established in 1982, honors ACHA members who have made a significant impact … Read more

To West Virginia receiving $1.88 million from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act to track the spread of new Covid-19 variants. The state has so far confirmed cases of virus variants from the U.K., California and Brazil, mostly concentrated in the northern part of the state and th… Read more

To a $100,000 check from the Carter Family Foundation to help out with the YMCA phase II project to install an elevator with service to all three floors. The Carter Family Foundation offered a two-for-one challenge for the project, and the YMCA jumped on the opportunity and was able to recei… Read more

To West Virginia receiving nearly $2.4 million from the federal government to fund HIV prevention and treatment. The state is wrestling with one of the nation’s highest spikes in HIV cases related to intravenous drug use. The surge, clustered primarily around Charleston and Huntington, is be… Read more

To the New River Gorge National River being redesignated as New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The new name highlights the park’s features and other national park qualities as well as its traditional recreational opportunities. A rugged, whitewater river flowing northward through de… Read more

To Brig. Gen. William E. “Bill” Crane, who has officially assumed the duties, roles and responsibilities as the adjutant general for the West Virginia National Guard. Crane is taking over command from Maj. Gen. James A. Hoyer, who is retiring from active service after 37 years in uniform. In… Read more

To Captain Tommy Blankenship, of the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department, who was presented the inaugural Sheriff C.S. “Sherill” Parker Distinction Award during ceremonies in the courthouse. With nearly half a century in law enforcement, Parker died from lung cancer on Christmas Eve 2019. Th… Read more

To Mac’s Toy Fund for making accommodations to deal with Covid-19. This year is the fund’s 90th, and organizers did not want to break that long streak of providing the children in Raleigh County with toys and other trappings of a happy holiday. So it was decided that instead of having the tr… Read more

To the City of Beckley placing welcoming signs at city entrances to honor a local hero who still gives back to his hometown. Tamar Slay, a native Beckleyan who played professional basketball for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets and Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), honed his skills while playing for… Read more

To U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito and U.S. Representative Carol Miller’s recent visit to Montgomery aboard the Amtrak Cardinal to join Mayor Greg Ingram in celebration of several public and private investments in the community. The special focus was a ribbon-cutting cerem… Read more

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To Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia, in partnership with the community of Lansing and the Trusted Choice Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia, for hosting a parade and granted the wish of 3-year-old Axel Perdue recently at the New River Gorge Visitor Center in Lans… Read more

To positive steps being taken in the town of Alderson. Recent examples include Alderson Main Street matching a contribution challenge from an anonymous donor to the Greater Greenbrier Long Term Recovery Committee (GGLTRC) for the benefit of victims of the flash flooding which occurred in Jun… Read more

To a team of West Virginia University physicians pledging to provide more fresh and frozen food for those in need during this time of pandemic. Through a dedicated School of Medicine outreach program – HOPE – the team is working to raise $90,000 for a refrigerated trailer for West Virginians… Read more

To a new scholarship created as a tribute to NASA pioneer Katherine Johnson that will benefit African American students studying math or science within West Virginia University’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. Inspired by the movie “Hidden Figures,” alumna Deborah Miller established th… Read more

To the city of Smithers, which gave a nod to some of its veterans recently with new entries on the Smithers War Memorial. Located across from the Smithers Post Office, the memorial was originally unveiled in November 2002. Names of veterans both living and dead are placed on the monument. Th… Read more

To Mac’s Toy Fund, which is looking at its 90th edition. Despite Covid-19 continuing to disrupt lives and events, the annual distribution will go on, even it if is with some major changes. Rather than buy toys to distribute, Mac’s will offer grants this year to charitable organizations that … Read more

To Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, for leading the charge with the Great American Outdoors Act which permanently authorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Since it was created in 1965, only about $19 billion has been appr… Read more

To Southern Appalachian Labor School working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to distribute personal protective equipment. The masks, which were delivered to the Historic Oak Hill School, will be utilized to assist in public health efforts in the area as part of Project:… Read more

To Miller Hall being elected president of the West Virginia Board of Education, no small responsibility especially now in the era of a pandemic. Hall is no stranger to high-pressure positions in education. He was appointed to the State Board in January 2017 by Gov. Jim Justice and later serv… Read more

To Dr. Nicole Pride, chosen by the West Virginia State University Board of Governors to become the 12th president of the University. Pride currently serves as the vice provost for academic strategy and operations at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She earned bache… Read more

THUMBS UP to work officially getting underway on replacements for the school buildings destroyed in Nicholas County in the June 2016 flood. Cherry River Elementary School is slated to be “extensively remodeled” on the same property that is also to be used for a new Richwood High School and n… Read more

THUMBS UP to Beckley Area Foundation for creating a COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, which was created to support local nonprofit organizations working to provide aid to those impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. After three rounds of grant award decisions, the group has now awarded $26,45… Read more