Local News

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A group of advocates once again showed up to Morgantown City Council’s meeting to push council to take action to address the city’s homeless problem.

It was the third straight meeting such a group has turned out. While the group tries to keep the issue at the forefront, two members of council expressed frustration that others have not taken a more active role in the problem-solving process.

“Brian and I can’t do it alone,” said Fifth Ward Councilor Danielle Trumble. “He and I don’t even work on it together that much; we kind of come at it from different angles.”

Trumble and Seventh Ward Councilman Brian Butcher emphasized the stress on the social service agencies brought on by Bartlett Housing Solution’s recent financial troubles.

Butcher is a board member with Morgantown Community Resources, the managing entity at Hazel’s House of Hope, and has worked with a variety of organizations to assist the homeless.

“I do feel other members of the council should be more intentional about the conservations they have with the people that are here and other service providers in the community, and I’ve appreciated when that has happened recently,” Butcher said.

Talks are ongoing to help Bartlett Housing Solutions meet a nearly $750,000 budget shortfall caused by a loss of grant funding and poor fiscal oversight, but there are no new developments.

Local pastor Shirley Robinson said she volunteers to feed the homeless every Saturday morning. Robinson told councilors there will always be some who choose not to work, but she encourages those who can work to find a job.

“Sometimes you do need a handout; you help,” Robinson said. “But if you don’t, then let’s educate the homeless on how to be productive citizens.”

Amid that discussion, council passed the first reading of an ordinance to repeal a 2005 ordinance that prohibits soliciting people in vehicles that are in the public rights of way. The specific code, Section 371.10, is the target of a federal lawsuit filed by Mountain State Justice.

City Attorney Ryan Simonton explained soliciting money or goods is protected speech and cannot be legislated against.

“The protection against vehicle and pedestrian conflicts and interference with traffic movement should not be legislated by laws addressing particular speech,” Simonton said. “For that reason, it’s recommended that the council adopt the ordinance.”

That particular section of city code is the focus of a federal lawsuit filed last month by Mountain State Justice.

Trumble and Butcher continue to call for action on a proposal to find an organization to run the warming shelter in the city next winter. The arrangement with the Mountainline Transit Authority (MTA) to offer free rides to Hazel’s House of Hope will expire soon if a deal isn’t reached to extend it. The ride that would normally cost 75 cents has been free since September 2021. In 2023, the MTA provided more than 87,000 trips.

“We’re still trying to work through the fact that at the end of June, the bus line to Hazel’s House of Hope, Scott Avenue, and Walmart may no longer be free,” Trumble said.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. —  The 100-year-old Morgantown City Hall officially reopened Tuesday night following the completion of a two-year, $3.5 million renovation project.

Director of Engineering and Public Works Damien Davis said the renovation was long overdue, and now the building is historic yet prepared to serve the 21st century mission of serving the Morgantown community.

“The building before was moldy; it had asbestos insulation on some of the pipes, and it had an old boiler that leaked,” Davis said. “It was hot in some rooms, cold in others, and it just wasn’t a great building to work in.”

In recent years, the sidewalks that have rooms connected to City Hall under them have been reinforced, a new roof has been installed, and the facade of the building has been rehabilitated.

This project replaced windows, installed a new HVAC system, a new elevator, kitchen and bathroom upgrades, new floors, and added a secure entrance foyer.

“They were all things that we did and a lot of money we spent to get the building structurally sound,” Davis said. “But it had nothing to do with improving the quality of life of the workers here, and that’s what this project was about—to improve the quality of life of the people that work in the building.”

The initial contract with Commercial Builders, Inc., was valued at $2.9 million, and over the next two years, $600,000 in additions made the final contract price about $3.5 million.

“We added a few things to the project we weren’t thinking about originally,” Davis said. “We really gutted this whole building, and things popped up.”

Commercial Builders, Inc. was also the company that completed the sidewalk repairs and now this renovation. Davis said the age of the building required many adjustments and changes to accommodate and repurpose some portions of the building. The former plumbing in the structure is now how computer networks and internet access are distributed.

“They did an excellent job; they were excellent to work with the whole time,” Davis said. “Every step of the way, they were right there working, and the supervisor, Kenny Goodwin, went above and beyond everywhere.”

Morgantown Area Partnership President and CEO Russ Rogerson spoke at the event and highlighted the importance of public and private investment in downtown. Investments like these can encourage other investments, and that’s the hope for a downtown in comeback mode.

“Taking care of our properties in downtown is absolutely critical, and I applaud the city for their efforts to continue to utilize this building that has been a long-standing asset to the community,” Rogerson said.

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — An inmate formerly at United States Penitentiary Hazelton has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years for assaulting a correctional officer.

Dwight Foster, 50, was convicted following a two-day of assault of a correctional officer involving physical contact and possession of a weapon.

Documents said Foster hit the officer with a fist after a prison-made weapon was found during a search of his cell.

Foster will also serve three years of supervised release once his prison sentence is complete.

ELKINS, W.Va. Witnesses to a shooting in Elkins Monday told officers during the investigation they were being harassed by the victim shortly before he was shot and killed at the Heavener Acres Trailer Court.

Melvin Phillips Jr., 62, was charged with murder after he admitted to shooting Mark Wirth, 67.

At the scene, a witness told police Wirth had threatened them with a knife. When the witness told Phillips he was going to notify the manager of the property, Phillips told him he would handle it himself. At that time, Phillips retrieved a firearm from his residence and shot Wirth.

While officers rendered aid to Wirth, they did find a small knife near his head.

Police said the murder weapon was found on a trash can lid near a shed.

While being questioned, Phillips said there was an argument and that Wirth was harassing another person on the property before the shooting.

Phillips is being held without bond in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. —  Researchers from West Virginia University (WVU), Marshall University, and Florida International University are exploring the cybersecurity needs of artificial intelligence technologies with a $1.75 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Professor and Chairman of the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources in the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Anurag Srivastava, said the AI-CRAFT project is intended to develop ways to secure the emerging technology. Artificial intelligence is developing rapidly and being pushed into larger real-time applications.

“Our goal is to look at what those are, and how do I defend myself if someone is trying to hack into or make the AI behave in a way it is not supposed to behave?” Srivastava said.

The teams are building the artificial intelligence systems while engineering security and safety as they are deployed. The complexity results from the evolution from simple calculation systems used a decade ago to the addition of millions of data points as AI systems are taught to think like the human brain.

“Look at this from a new point of view now; what is the attack vector now?” Srivastava asked. “Can someone reverse engineer the AI? Can someone poison the AI so it behaves in a way it should not?”

AI technologies have quickly grown from application in autonomous cars to use in very lifelike robots and vital systems like public utilities. The research also includes developing secure data practices, access controls, and continuous monitoring to assess the security and usefulness of AI systems.

“Especially those that will be used to operate critical systems like robots or the power grid,” Srivastava said.

On the academic side, students will have many hands-on opportunities in labs and training platforms, designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving cybersecurity industry.

“Other than solving this problem for complex systems like a power grid, robotics, or autonomous cars, our goal is also to teach it because this is also a new topic,” Srivastava said.

Officials from WVU, Marshall University, and the U.S. Department of Defense will break ground on the new Institute for Cyber Security in Huntington on May 17.

MONONGALIA COUNTY, W.Va. — The United States Marshals Service is looking for a suspect known to frequent Randolph, Barbour, Monongalia, and Harrison Counties and hopes members of the public can help.

Officials said Jason David Davis, 34, is wanted for a federal bond violation related to an original charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

Davis is described as a white male, 6-foot 4-inches tall, 202 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Information about Davis can be left by calling 304-623-0486 or 911 for immediate assistance.

GRAFTON, W.Va. An alert Taylor County Sheriff’s Department deputy arrested a woman with three children who had an assortment of drugs and an open container over the weekend.

Deputies say they stopped a car driven by Malissa Sampson, 32, after smelling a strong odor of marijuana.

Sampson admitted to smoking marijuana in the car earlier that day at Tygart Lake State Park.

A search of the vehicle yielded five grams of psilocybin mushrooms, four grams of crack cocaine, 20 grams of marijuana, open containers of alcohol, THC gummies, THC chocolate, and a set of digital scales.

In the back seat, deputies said there were three children all within reach of the itmes.

Sampson has been charged with possession of an open container, three counts of possession of controlled substances, and three counts of child neglect.

Sampson is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $33,300 bond.

SHINNSTON, W.Va. West Virginia State Police arrested a Lumberport man in a suspected road rage incident on Friday.

Troopers said Ernest Leggett, 67, was driving on Route 20 near the Harrison Power Station when he thought another motorist had cut him off and was driving too slowly.

Leggett allegedly shot a semi-automatic pistol out the window at least twice between the power station and the Shinnston Dollar General store.

Troopers said Leggett followed the victim into the Dollar General parking lot, where the victim continued to Route 19. The victim drove to the Bridgeport detachment of the WVSP after he confirmed Leggett was no longer following him.

The victim told troopers that when the incident occurred, he was traveling at the speed limit when he saw Leggett wave a pistol in the windshield and then fire out the window.

When troopers searched Leggett’s home, they found the clothes worn, the pistol, and confirmed gunshot residue on the clothes. Troopers said they also found marijuana and methamphetamine in the home.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Morgantown man accused in the April 19 shooting of his, Rick Allen Cordes, 49, has waived his preliminary hearing in Monongalia County Magistrate Court.

Cordes has been charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of his wife Jennifer L. Hribar, 39, of Morgantown, at their home on Falling Water Lane after reportedly being seen arguing at two Cheat Lake night spots. Reports indicate Cordes was the aggressor in the altercations.

An autopsy confirmed Hribar’s death was caused by a gunshot wound to the back of the head.

Cordes is being held at North Central Regional Jail without bond. Bond in murder cases can only be set in circuit court.

His next court appearance has not yet been set.