Police in Morgantown are investigating after a body was found in the Monongahela River near the Walnut Street boat ramp. Investigators say it’s too soon to determine if foul play was involved. The medical examiner’s office is trying to identify the man.
Three people were hurt when a Boone County ambulance crashed into the Kanawha City fire station. The ambulance went through a red light with lights and siren running when it collided with three other vehicles. There were no patients on board, and no one inside the fire station was hurt.
West Virginia has reached an agreement with the federal government over adoption laws. The state will not bar people in addiction recovery programs from adopting children. The federal Office of Civil Rights said it found “systemic deficiencies” in West Virginia’s disability rights policies.
The Kanawha County Board of Education is adopting state rules for approving charter schools. Nonprofit groups can apply to the local school board to create a new charter school. Applications are due by August 31st, and only three charters schools are allowed to open statewide.
The governor announced increased, optional, COVID-19 testing for minorities and vulnerable populations in four counties. Anyone in Berkeley, Mercer, Jefferson, or Raleigh counties can get a test on a first come, first served basis. Additional testing is also available in Kanawha and Cabell counties.
Governor Justice says gyms can reopen on Monday, and whitewater rafting and zip lining will resume next Thursday, with a limited number of people on rafts and in buses.
Horse racing, rock climbing and guided fishing trips are back in West Virginia. Thursday, spectator-less horse racing resumed, and guided fishing trips and rock climbing can begin today. Fishing trips are limited to one guide and two anglers per boat.
A 76-year-old Kanawha County woman and a 70-year-old Wayne County man are the latest COVID-19 deaths in West Virginia, bringing the state’s death toll to 62. DHHR confirmed and additional seven positive cases, for a total of more than 14-hundred.
The Kanawha County Courthouse will reopen Monday with safety measures in place. Fever screening and face masks are mandatory, and some offices will require appointments to maintain social distancing.
Nearly six-thousand West Virginians applied for unemployment benefits last week, and state officials say they’ve already processed more than 164-thousand unemployment claims since mid-March. Fiesta Tableware is laying off a third of its workers, and the Hancock County company says the job losses could be permanent.