New and active virus cases continue to decline. The state Department of Health and Human Resources confirmed eleven new deaths on Wednesday including a 90-year-old man from Kanawha County, a 78-year-old man from Boone County, and a 57-year-old man from Logan County. Active cases dropped 461 and were at 8,067. Recoveries were at 120,030.
WVU makes it six in a row in BIG-12 play with a win over TCU 74-to-66. The Mountaineers Texas road trip is being cut short. Tomorrow nights game against Baylor is canceled because of COVID issues in the Bears squad.
A series of rolling roadblocks are planned for this morning on I-64 around mile-marker-eight. App Power crews will be clearing trees from the power lines, and troopers will slow down traffic between nine and eleven.
Charleston Mayor Amy Goodwin is expected to make an announcement this morning on the future of baseball in the Capital City. Late last year Major League Baseball announced a restructuring of Minor League affiliates, and West Virginia Power did not make the cut.
Governor Justice thinks legislation restricting the emergency powers of his office is an overstep. The House of Delegates passed two bills that would limit the governor’s authority. Justice says he hopes the legislature does not strip away powers to act, because governors are elected to act.
Governor Justice will hold a second virtual town hall tomorrow on his proposal to get rid of the state’s income tax. The plan would initially cut income tax in half and raise the state sales tax by one-and-a-half-percent.
The West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration is suspending a Charleston pub’s license and ordering it to close immediately after complaints about overcrowding and COVID-19 violations. Officials say the Copper Pint violated social distancing and face covering requirements and was in excess of fifty-percent capacity.
A man is under arrest in connection to four fires at the same apartment complex in Chapmanville. James Hutchinson is charged with arson. One firefighter was hurt, and Hutchinson is facing additional charges of wanton endangerment and assault on a government official.
Appalachian Power says 85-percent of customers who lost power between February 11th and February 15th no have electricity. Most of the remaining outages are in Cabell, Mason, and Wayne counties. Around 12-thousand customers still do not have power.
The state Board of Education voted to mandate all elementary and middle school students return to five-day in-person instruction beginning March 3rd. High schools can stay in blended mode if the infection rate in the community is high.