News Staff West Virginia health officials are reporting lower COVID-19 numbers, with more than five-hundred new cases of the virus, and the total number of active cases dropped to just over 24-thousand. The daily positive test rate is up at over 10-point-nine-percent.
West Virginia added another red county to the list. There are now thirty-eight counties in the red on the state’s COVID-19 alert map. Marion County is the latest county to be added. Thirteen counties are in the orange. Calhoun County is the only green county in the state.
The West Virginia University football team is preparing to face the Army option offense. The Black Knights won nine games this year and have the fourth-best rushing offense in college football. The Mountaineers take on Army Thursday afternoon in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. The game is televised on ESPN beginning at 2:00 p.m.
A signature from President Trump is all that was keeping the New River Gorge from becoming a National Park. New River Gorge will become the country’s 63rd National Park and increase tourism by over twenty-percent.
Evan Jenkins is the next Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court. He takes over from current Chief Justice Tim Armstead on January first. Jenkins says he’ll continue to bring accountability and transparency back to the court system.
Thomas Health is experiencing network issues related to a bombing in Nashville where an A-T-and-T hub was damaged. Thomas Health is able to provide care locally, and is trying to connect to a backup data center in Texas. The FBI is investigating the bombing, and says the bomber died in the explosion.
Police have identified the body of a woman who was found in Mason County. Thirty-year-old Kaitlyn Zerkle was found dead along Admasville Road. Investigators say the death appears to be suspicious.
Six Marshall University students are displaced after a fire destroyed their house on Hal Greer Boulevard. No one was home when the fire broke. The students were off campus for winter break. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The man accused of killing a Charleston police officer earlier this month is out of the hospital. Thirty-eight-year-old Joshua Phillips is charged with first degree murder in the shooting death of patrolman Cassie Johnson. Phillips was shot and wounded in the altercation. He’s being held at the South Central Regional Jail.
The fire that killed a West Virginia Air National Guard firefighter has been ruled arson. The state Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating two structure fires that were intentionally set, about three miles apart near Martinsburg. There is a five-thousand-dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the fire.