WQBE News

WVU will allow a limited number of fans to attend the October 17th game against the Kansas Jayhawks. Milan Puskar Stadium will allow 25-percent capacity, and fans are required to wear facemasks. Around 15-thousand fans will be allowed in the stadium for the rest of the season.

Governor Justice is defending the changes made to the state’s color-coded COVID-19 risk map. He says the numbers are not being manipulated. Justice says the previous system discouraged testing, because only positive cases were counted, and the latest change encourages more testing.

Executive Director and Health Officer of the Kanawha Charleston Health Department, Dr. Sherri Young, says that if COVID-19 numbers continue to trend downward kids could be in the classroom as early as next week.

Police are looking for a man who’s been missing for more than a week. Thirty-two-year-old Ryan Young was supposed to be going to New Martinsville, but he never arrived. His cell phone was found in Huntington. Contact the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office if you have any information.

Mason County firefighters battled a blaze at the former Marietta Manufacturing Plant in Point Pleasant for seventeen hours. Investigators say the fire was intentionally set. No one was hurt. There is a five-thousand-dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of the arsonist.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a woman was found shot to death on Sugar Creek Road in Kenna. No arrests have been made.

Charleston Mayor Amy Goodwin announced a new program to help small businesses. The “Small Business Investment Grant Program” will provide funding for small businesses to make repairs and renovate their store-fronts, and help with marketing and customer service. A total of 250-thousand-dollars will be awarded.

Fire damaged a home on Coal River Road in the West Side of St. Albans Monday morning. It happened around 3:45 a.m., and Metro 911 dispatchers said volunteer fire departments from West Side, St. Albans, Jefferson, Institute, and Alum Creek responded. When they arrived, flames were shooting through the windows and parts of the house and the second floor of the home sustained heavy smoke and fire damage. A family of five was home and able to get out safely, and now the American Red Cross is helping them out. The cause is under investigation.

Kanawha County remained as one of only two counties in the state in orange on the latest version available Monday on the West Virginia’s county alert system map. Kanawha had a positivity rate of 7.22 on the map, and was joined in the orange by Barbour County, which had a slightly lower positive rate. Counties in the orange on the state Department of Education’s map released Saturday can only have remote instruction and student-athletes cannot participate in competitions. Kanawha was orange on Saturday’s map along with Wayne County.

Charleston officials announced that two city employees who work in City Hall tested positive for COVID-19. Both employees have had minimal interaction with other employees and do not work with the public. The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department is working on contact tracing. Both employees are recovering at home and are asymptomatic.