WQBE News

Bon Secours Health System will close Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital by September. The Ashland hospital is shutting down after nearly seventy-years, and putting around a thousand employees out of a job.

A man is recovering after he was shot in the arm in the Lesage area. The victim was checking on his father’s property, because of issues with trespassers, when someone fired shots from a vehicle. No arrests have been made.

The state school board is considering a proposal that would cut the required number of social studies credits to graduate from four to three. The board says it has received a “vigorous response” during the public comment period. State Superintendent, Steven Paine, plans to recommend keeping the number of required courses at four at the upcoming board meeting.

The West Virginia Senate unanimously approved a bill permitting faith-based drug prevention in schools. The bill permits faith-based electives, and is not exclusive to a particular religion.

Cook Out will open at the former Bojangles location in Kanawha City. The burger joint opened in Huntington in 2014. No opening date has been set for the Charleston location.

Police are looking for two suspects after one of them fired shots from an AK-47 style rifle and hit a home on the West Side. The whole thing was caught on RING video. No one inside the house was hurt.

Mingo County deputies are investigating a fatal shooting in the Delbarton area. A man was found shot to death outside a home on Hell Creek Road. A suspect was taken into custody, but no charges have been filed.

Frontier Communications says its business and operations are solid, despite bankruptcy rumors. Kanawha County commissioners sent a letter to Frontier asking the company to confirm its future in West Virginia. Commissioners are concerned about the one-thousand-plus employees in the state. Frontier says it’s evaluating its capital structure with an to reducing debt.

For 5th grade students at Mary C. Snow Elementary, science class has become hands-on and 3D. Z-Space is an augmented reality program that only a handful of students here in West Virginia have experienced. Kids at Mary C. Snow are getting the chance to learn through a brand new innovation center created by Bible Center Church. It’s helping people of all ages, but those behind the initiative are starting with students. Donations made the center possible, and the church received grant money from the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation to create art studios, a wood shop, and a technology lab.

Kanawha County commissioners sent a letter to Frontier Communications Corp. calling on the company to confirm its future in West Virginia after media reports say Frontier is considering filing for bankruptcy early this year. Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said in a news release that the biggest concern is the 1,000-plus employees in West Virginia. Frontier Communications is one of the state’s sole landline service providers and serves many rural communities.