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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Board of Education has approved it’s budget for fiscal year 2024-25.

The board met Wednesday and passed the current expense budget of $334,675,657. Also, the Public Library Excess Levy Fund was approved in the amount of $3,350,017, the debt service fund which is $0, the Permanent Improvement Fund in the amount of $10,000,000 and the Special Revenue Fund for $55,551,712.

Kanawha County Board of Education Treasurer Melanie Meadows said the budget includes a little bit more than the one in the current fiscal year which ends June 30.

“It’s slightly higher than the one in place for the current year simply due to the legislative pay raise and PEIA increase that the Legislature passed,” Meadows said.

A majority of the budget is for personnel and the buildings. 76% of the budget goes towards that while the next highest chunk of the budget covers maintenance at 13%.

Meadows said ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds will expire in November this year. There will still be some moves made to pay off bills and projects in this current school year.

“You won’t see any ESSER funds in our proposed budget for next year because we have everything obligated,” said Meadows.

The decline in student population in Kanawha County is affecting the budget too. Meadows said they had to factor in about $3 million in lost funding into their budget based on the loss of students and the letting go of some staff positions that followed.

“We did have to make some staffing cuts to fill in for the loss of student enrollment,” she said.

According to Meadows, the county lost funding for the 72 total positions that were cut. The closing of three schools in the county at the end of this school year make up 20 of those positions.

Trends continue to show a downward one. Since 2015, the county has continuously lost students and that has Meadows and the board always looking ahead to what future budgets could be.

“We consider every year that we’re likely going to have to make staffing cuts and look at our facilities to keep operating with the revenue that we receive,” said Meadows.

The next fiscal year begins July 1, 2024.

Incumbent members Ric Cavender, Jim Crawford and Kate White were all reelected to the board after Tuesday’s primary election.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two cyclists competing in this week’s USA Cycling Pro Road Nationals have qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

Over 100 athletes representing multiple countries completed the 33.7-kilometer course in downtown Charleston Wednesday. About 50 of those athletes were racing for a spot on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games team.

First up, at the top of the Women’s Elite Time Trial race was Taylor Knibb of Boulder, Colorado and Trek Factory Racing. Her time of 41:54.69 was good enough to become National Champion and qualify for the Olympics.

“I’m in shock. I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m just in shock,” she said after finding out she won.

Knibb qualified for the USA Triathlon team at the Paris test event last year. Now, she’s officially heading to Paris to represent USA Cycling.

A new bike and new setup helped Knibb perform better this year. She said the Charleston route is a more flat course but very few hills thrown in and that’s more her speed.

“Last year there were so many turns but only four times did I have to get to race-pace,” said Knibb, “There are so many incredible riders out here, it was such an incredible day riding with them.”

Kristen Faulkner (Homer, Alaska; EF Education-Cannondale) posted a 42:05.88 and Amber Neben (Lake Forest, Calif.) finished with a 42:44.53 to round out the podium.

Spurts of heavy rain wouldn’t slow down the Elite Men where over 28 athletes made an attempt to make the USA team. Finishing with of a time of 37:42.08, Brandon McNulty (Phoenix, Ariz.; UAE Team Emirates) beat second place finisher Tyler Stites (Tucson, Ariz.; Project Echelon Racing) by just under a minute. Neilson Powless (Houston; EF Education – Easypost) finished out the podium with a third place time of 38:44.17.

McNulty qualifies for his second Games appearance. He said this victory ranks towards the top for his career which has included many runs in Europe.

“It’s always special to win a National Title, but this one had a bit more importance to qualify for the Olympics. This is a big one for me,” McNulty said in a drenched suit after the game.

The last few kilometers were the toughest but McNulty said he pushed through and it paid off in the end.

“I knew there was a headwind in the final stretch, I knew that would be the last big push, and I was dying,” he said. “Then luckily, I had a couple guys to catch in front of me to keep me motivated and pushing.”

Both cyclists said they enjoyed the cycling on Charleston’s roads. McNulty called it a “simple course.” Knibb said she’s looking forward to being in the city for the next four years.

Brandon McNulty

Podium Results for the U23 Women’s Time Trial:

Betty Hasse (Providence, R.I.; CCB p/b Levine Law Group): 45:38.85
Chloe Patrick (Carson, Calif.; Cynisca Cycling): 47:51.28
Ella Brenneman (Gibsonia, Pa.; CCB p/b Levine Law Group): 48:00.55

Podium Results for the U23 Men’s Time Trial:

Artem Shmidt (Cumming, Ga.; Hagens Berman Axeon): 38:52.17
Troy Fields (Hendersonville, Tenn.; Team California P/B Verge): 39:52.27
Owen Cole (Chapel Hill, N.C.; UAE Team Emirates Gen Z): 39:52.29

Racing resumes Thursday starting at 6:30 p.m. for night one of the twilight criterium featuring Junior Women, Junior Men, and U23 Men who will take the course first.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Mason County Schools now makes the newest addition to Toyota’s work-based learning program for upper-class high school students.

Toyota West Virginia welcomed Mason County to its 4T Academy during a ceremony at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center Wednesday. It makes the third school system to join the academy behind Kanawha and Putnam county schools after Toyota established the program in the state in 2022.

It’s a four-semester program offering classes in electrical, pneumatics, hydraulics, precision machining, industrial automation, robotics, and more, and it helps connect students with career opportunities in advanced manufacturing by learning from industry professionals.

Point Pleasant High School up-and-coming senior Dylan Grimes told MetroNews that he has been working with machinery at his high school’s vocational program and learning the essentials behind metal cutting. He said it’s now a passion of his that he just happened to stumble upon.

“In my ninth and tenth grade years I didn’t know what I wanted to do and looked at my options, took the tour, and I thought that this would be good for me in life,” he said.

After being selected to participate in the 4T program for the next coming school year, Grimes said it feels good the doorway opened up for him to take his manufacturing skills to a more professional level.

“The fact that they only picked ten juniors, ten seniors from my county in particular is really nice to know that I’m doing something good with my life, you know, meaningful, it just feels good,” said Grimes.

Toyota West Virginia Plant President David Rosier said they’ve been on a path of adding more school systems to the program each year since its onset in the state, with the first year being Kanawha County followed by Putnam County last year.

He said it has been quite a significant investment on their part to keep adding the districts to the program, but with Mason County making a mark at the plant already, Rosier said the opportunity to extend it to the county’s students seemed very much worth the effort.

“We pull a lot of team members from Mason County that work at the plant now, so to be able to extend this to their family members and other students in the Mason County area, and give them that same opportunity to come to the plant is really rewarding for us,” he said.

During the program, students are paired up with a mentor from the plant, allowing the students to gain real-world and industry experience working alongside them.

Rosier said they remain very busy at the plant and can use all of the additional hands they can get, he said particularly after just launching their newest line, the Fifth Generation hybrids.

He said this is an important undertaking that Toyota offers because a lot of students don’t recognize the plethora of opportunities that are available to them in the manufacturing industry in general.

“It really is a large number of diverse careers that are available in manufacturing, so to be able to open this up to students while they’re still in high school and give them that opportunity to learn what careers are available is amazing, and these kids are making decisions that will set them up for the rest of their lives,” Rosier said.

Mason County Schools Superintendent Tim Hardesty said he couldn’t be more excited for the students in the county to have this opportunity, especially amid the ongoing push across the state for more young people to stay.

“This is another opportunity for some of the best and brightest students in our school system to be able to work and live here in our state, have successful, productive lives, and to certainly give back to the community that tries to do so much for them every single day,” Hardesty said.

He also said this is just another facet being added to all of the economic and population growth that’s projected to be coming in.

“I think we’re going to see growth in our area that we have not seen before,” said Hardesty. “I think the potential is unprecedented with not only Toyota, but with the manufacturing facilities we have now, with Nuccor coming in, some of the others that are on the horizon.”

The 4T Academy is performed in partnership with the Education Alliance and Purdue University’s Indiana Manufacturing Competitiveness Center, or In-Mac.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Both Republican and Democratic winning nominees for the Kanawha County Commission say they plan to keep their campaign clean and positive until they face off against one another in November’s General Election.

Winning Republican candidate for the commission and former state senator Chris Walters joined the other winning candidate for the seat in the Democratic Party, as well as former Secretary of State, Natalie Tennant on 580 Live with Dave Allen Wednesday morning following their Tuesday night success during the Primary Election.

Walters said it’s a risk to run for any office and he couldn’t do it without the support he’s gotten from his family.

Chris Walters

“Anybody who puts their name on the ballot, they’re opening themselves to scrutiny, to negative ads as everyone has seen, and you know, that doesn’t just affect the candidate, it affects families as well, and having that support at home is just amazing and invaluable to me,” Walters said on 580 Live Wednesday.

He won against the other Republican candidate vying for a seat on the commission Dewayne Duncan.

Tennant vastly outnumbered longtime Kanawha County Commissioner and Democrat Kent Carper in votes who had also recently announced his retirement following a battle with ongoing health issues and allegations of misconduct. While he announced he would not be continuing his race for re-election, his name was still on the ballot.

Tennant said she felt a vibe from constituents early on, even before she announced she would be running for a spot on the Kanawha County Commission that they wanted to see some new energy in that role.

“I felt it early on and I just kept going and going and you know, listening to people,” she said.

Tennant said after being involved in a number of campaigns over the years, this one hit just a little bit differently because of all of the controversy surrounding her democratic opponent.

She said while she could have focused on that controversy and use it to get ahead in the race, much like other candidates did among other races, Tennant said she chose to take the high road as she didn’t feel a need to focus on the negative attention.

“I respect his family too much, you have to respect the position, too, and that’s just the way I felt about it that we didn’t need to do this, that there were enough questions, people brought it up to me, I didn’t have to say anything,” Tennant said.

She said her focus will be more on the positive, and showing people what her ideas for the county are during the lead-up to the next election in November.

Natalie Tennant

But until then, the county commissioners will have get to work finding an immediate replacement for Carper, and Tennant said she plans to apply to become one of those potential replacements as well.

Tennant said she feels it’s crucial for her to take the open position as soon as possible, because she said there are residents currently who desperately need the help she plans to provide as commissioner.

“I want to be County Commissioner today, let’s get at it, let’s get started,” said Tennant. “I have ten miles up in Dutch Ridge that need waterlines, they are living out of a cistern, and if it doesn’t rain they don’t have water and if they don’t have water they have to go get their truck and all these big tanks, doesn’t that sound like a third-world country? That’s in Kanawha County.”

Walters said he also has big plans in store to improve the current state of all of Kanawha County, particularly on an economic front.

He said he feels his experience as a legislature and in finances is a valuable asset when it comes to stepping in as the replacement for someone who has served on the commission for 28 years.

“You know, I was Vice Chair of Finances in the Senate, oversaw the finances of the whole state of West Virginia, so coming into the county, being able to comb through the budget, find ways we can save money and return that money to the tax payers, we really have to have the onus that this is not our money, this is the tax payer’s money,” he said.

Walters said he wants to build Kanawha County’s economy by continuing to invest in projects that would see an immediate return, like what the Shawnee Sports Complex has seen in Dunbar, or what Charleston’s new Capital Sports Center is projected to bring.

He said being the capital region of the state, there is so much potential for Kanawha County. Along with the many ideas he has for the area, Walters said he also wants to listen to what constituents have to say on ways of improving the place they call home.

“We have a beautiful area, we have a great river, and we just don’t utilize it enough,” Walters said. “There’s a lot more we can do to improve Kanawha County and I hope to do that and with your help, I want to hear your ideas and what you think we can do.”

Walters said he also plans to better connect the municipalities in the county to work together to resolve what needs to get done.

Once the election is certified on May 20, the current county commissioners will start working to find Carpers’ temporary replacement.

Longtime public servant and legislator Bob Ashley has died, state officials said today.

Most recently, Ashley had been a part-time regional representative for Gov. Jim Justice’s administration. Before that, he had been the administration’s legislative director.

“Bob never met a stranger and was an amazing person. He served this State for decades as a delegate, a senator, and as my legislative director and a regional representative. I know that our friends in the House and Senate would agree he had a unique ability to connect with everyone. I never saw Bob without a smile, as he had an unmatched love for life and his work. He was someone you could always rely on, and we will remember Bob with nothing but fond memories,” Gov. Jim Justice said.

“We ask all West Virginians to keep his family in your prayers.”

Ashley was first elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1984 and went on to serve as Republican Leader in the 72nd and 73rd Legislatures. He was appointed to the state Senate in 2015. He was a Delegate-at-Large to Republican National Convention 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2012.

In the Senate, Ashley was defeated in the 2016 general election by fellow incumbent Republican Donna Boley. Ashley had been appointed to a Senate seat in 2015 by Governor Tomblin to replace departing Sen. David Nohe. Instead of filing to run for that seat, Ashley filed to run against the seat held by Boley.

Ashley was the owner of Ashley Insurance Agency. He is a graduate of Marshall University.  He is also a member of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce and served more than 20 years on the Board of Directors for Roane General Hospital. He is a member of the Spencer, WV Rotary Club and the former president of the Allohak Boy Scout Council.

His wife, Anita, is a circuit judge in the area that includes Calhoun, Jackson, Mason and Roane counties.

Their son, Ben Ashley, served as director of architectural services for the School Building Authority. He now works for ZMM, an architecture firm, and he and his wife Suzette run the Ashley Insurance business in Spencer. Another son, Sam, is a petroleum engineer.

Story by MetroNews Statewide Correspondent Brad McElhinny

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The streets of Charleston are filled with Olympic-level cyclists this week for the 2024 USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships.

“These are the best road cyclists in American and frankly some of the best road cyclists in the world,” said President of the Charleston Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Tim Brady.

Some of the cyclists also compete in events in Europe and in other countries all across the world. Around 600 of them are projected to be in Charleston this week. Cyclists are competing in Charleston for a chance to go to Paris and compete in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

“It’s their signature road cycling event each year,” Brady said. “Two people will be selected for the U.S. Olympic Team for the games in Paris.”

So, how did the City of Charleston get USA Cycling to hold their largest event of the year on it’s roads? Brady said it was all thank to word-of-mouth.

The city went through a similar process last year with getting USA Table Tennis, the governing body for amateur table tennis in the country, to come to Charleston and bring the 2023 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Pan American Youth Championship. Brady said they made a connection with the folks at USA Cycling through the relationship they made with USA Table Tennis and also USA Volleyball a few years ago. USA Cycling was looking for a destination to host their 2024 Pro Road National Championships and so in came the City of Charleston.

“We brought the officials of USA Cycling in for an initial site visit and they fell in love with Charleston for a few very specific reasons,” said Brady.

Charleston was chosen from a list of four cities. This year begins a 5-year deal with USA Cycling and the City of Charleston.

One of those reasons is Charleston allows for USA Cycling to run their events all within the city limits of Charleston. There’s enough of a mixture of flat and straight roads and roads with some incline in Charleston for the competitors to race through for the time trials and road races.

The other major reason was the want by city officials to bring this event to Charleston. Brady gave a shoutout to Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin for getting USA Cycling to the capital city.

“She immediately said ‘whatever it takes, we’re all in,'” according to Brady.

City police, fire, and other major departments have been involved in the preparation process too. Brady says without the support and the excitement they’ve gotten from local leaders, this event wouldn’t be happening.

“We have great geography and topography and we have a fantastic system of city government and support that got this thing up,” Brady said.

Brady said weekday traffic shouldn’t be too much of a hassle for travelers. Saturday and Sunday will be the busiest times with the road races going on. The road race is a 13-mile course that includes a few neighborhoods and businesses surrounding the route.

The USA Cycling Pro Road Nationals run through Sunday, May 19. The rest of the schedule is as followed:

Wednesday, May 15
Time Trial
Elite Women | U23 Women
Elite Men | U23 Men

Thursday, May 16
Criterium
Junior Men, Junior Women, U23 Men

Friday, May 17
Criterium
Elite Women / U23
Elite Men

Saturday, May 18
Road Race
U23 Men, Junior Men, Junior Women

Sunday, May 19
Road Race
Elite Women / U23 Women
Elite Men

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kanawha County Republican voters have made their voices heard in the primary races for Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney and Commissioner.

Kanawha County Chief Deputy Joe Crawford defeated former deputy Sean Crosier in the Republican primary Tuesday night. Crawford received 10,776 votes to Crosier’s 6,109.

No Democrats filed to be in the primary so Crawford will become Kanawha County’s next sheriff. He replaces longtime Sheriff Mike Rutherford who announced he would not seek another term.

Crawford said his hard work paid off ever since he announced his intention of running for sheriff in June 2023.

Joe Crawford

“We worked hard and we had a good campaign,” Crawford said. “My mom told me ‘if it’s worth having, it’s worth working for. Get out and earn it. No one’s going to give you anything.'”

The shoes will be tough to fill, but Crawford said he wants to build on what Sheriff Rutherford has done for so many years and make the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department the best in the state which he believes it currently is.

“I want to continue to move the department forward with new technology and training,” said Crawford, who has spent about the past three years as chief deputy.

Recruiting and retaining more deputies is also a goal Crawford has in mine for the department moving forward.

A spirited race for the Republican nomination of Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney went to Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Debra Rusnak. Her 9,011 votes beat out Morgan M. Switzer who received 7,431 votes. Rusnak called it a hard fought battle between her and Switzer.

Debra Rusnak

“Now is the time to build bridges and end the division in the party,” she said.

Rusnak has spent the last eight years working in the Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. She believes her record as a public servant is a strong one and showed to be strong enough to win the nomination.

“I kept my campaign positive and relied on my record,” said Rusnak. “I’m not about to change that.”

Rusnak is now looking forward to November and the General Election where she will be on the ballot with the Democratic nominee John Mitchell.

Chris Walters

A change on the Kanawha County Commission is now a guarantee. Former state Senator Chris Walters bested D. Dewayne Duncan on the Republican side. Walters got 9,032 votes Tuesday night while Duncan came away with 6,682 .

In the Democratic Primary, former West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant defeated longtime Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper, who announced his resignation from the Commission last week, just a few days before election day. Tennant received nearly 10,000 more votes than Carper, 11,374 to 1,906.

Tennant and Walters will face-off in the November General Election. The winner will join Commissioners Ben Salango, a Democrat, and Lance Wheeler, a Republican and current commission president.

Walters is a longtime resident of Kanawha County. He said he couldn’t sit on the sideline and watch the population of the county continue to decline. He wants to bring his ideas to the commission and see Kanawha County “thrive” again.

“I’m not somebody to sit back and watch that happen,” Walters said. “I want to see this county blossom.”

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two Junior category athletes are taking home gold on the Opening Day of the 2024 USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships currently underway in the Capital City.

The championship cycling races kicked off on Tuesday afternoon. It began with the Junior Women’s and Junior Men’s Time Trial races where over 50 athletes from around the country completed 16.9 kilometers through downtown Charleston.

A little rain didn’t delay the Junior Women who were the first riders to hit the course Tuesday, which took them up against the clock starting from Haddad Riverfront Park along the Kanawha Boulevard to Daniel Boone Park and back. 

Lidia Cusack of Chevy Chase, Maryland and the dcdevo Racing Academy came in first place in the Time Trial race, crossing the finish line with a time of 22:55.63. Her teammate, Alyssa White is from Elkins. She finished in second, followed by Helena Jones of Boulder, Colorado and the Twenty24 Aevolo Racing Academy who finished in third.

Cusack plans to compete in the Criterium and Road Race portions of the championship later this week.

Ashlin Barry of Toronto, Canada, EF Education-Onto took the first place win during the Junior Mens Time Trial race Tuesday with a finishing time of 20:39.21.

Following behind Barry in second place was David Lapierre of Hebron, Connecticut and Hot Tube Development Cycling. Noah Streif of Boise, Idaho and EF Education-Onto finished up the race in third.

All three riders will be competing in the Criterium and Road Race.

The Time Trial races will continue tomorrow, May 15 with the U23 category and the Elite Men and Women. The Elite category winners of the Time Trial will automatically be nominated to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

The Criterium race will take place Thursday, May 16 and Friday, May 17 as part of the championship. This is a 1 mile race that starts along the Kanawha Boulevard, makes its way up Court Street, down Lee, up to Summers, to Quarrier, to Hale and back to the boulevard.

The big race, the 13 mile Road Race will round out the championships starting Saturday, May 18 through Sunday, May 19.

This race starts along the boulevard, makes its way across South Side Bridge and ascending up Bridge Road, goes down Loudon Heights before heading back to the boulevard. Then, it proceeds up Greenbrier Street/ Oakridge Drive, looping around to descend Wertz Avenue and to return once again to the boulevard.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Longtime Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick says it’s been a typical election day in the state’s most populated county.

“It’s been steady today. I think we might have a pretty good turnout. I hope so,” McCormick said.

The Kanawha County ballot is loaded with races from president to magistrate. The ballot itself that is put into the touch-screen voting machine is 17 inches long. McCormick said that’s created delays at some of the county’s 184 precincts.

McCormick and her staff sent a few extra machines to some precincts.

“We’ve taken more Express Votes out, the ones that had lines,” McCormick said.

Kanawha will be a key county in several races including challenged races for governor, the 2nd Congressional District, state attorney general, secretary of state and state auditor.

Polls will be open until 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

MARMET, W.Va. — Current and former students, staff and community members of Marmet Elementary School got to walk through the building perhaps for the final time before it closes for good.

About two weeks remain for Marmet students and teachers. The last day of school is Thursday, May 30. However, the school wanted to host a “community walk-through” event for all who have memories from the school. Folks were able to share those memories, take pictures or relay stories to others on Monday.

The school building has stood in the town of Marmet since 1937. First-year principal Justin Hersman said he met a gentleman at the school Monday afternoon who said he went to elementary school there over 80 years ago at the age of five.

“The impact that it’s had has been really big for this community,” Hersman said about the school.

Marmet Elementary is closing at the end of the school year and will consolidate with Chesapeake Elementary School. The Kanawha County Board of Education voted to move forward with those plans during a meeting this time last year.

Hersman said the staff are doing all they can to make the end to this school year a special one for the students.

“It’s been a typical school year and we’ve tried to make the students feel like they’re wanted and they’re welcomed,” said Hersman, who was also blown away at the number of people who stopped by the school Monday.

The school unfortunately had a lot of turnover with both students and staff departing when the announced closure came last May. Despite that, Hersman said the teachers and staff at Marmet, a lot of them being in their first year at the school too, have answered the call and worked hard to make this year a memorable one.

“We have really good teachers at each grade level,” he said.

One of those teachers is third-grade educator Allison Washburn, who is also in her first year at Marmet. Washburn had 15 kids in her class to start the year. That number dropped to 11 as we’re now into the final few weeks of class.

“Emotionally for the kids, my group, they’re starting to get really nostalgic and they know the school is closing,” she said.

Washburn is in her third year as an educator. She said she loves the feel of a “community school” where everyone knows everyone or the grandparents of a family went to the same schools as their grandchildren.

“It’s sad that more and more of them are closing down because people are tied to places with memories and legacies,” said Washburn.

She’s hoping to land on her feet at another school somewhere in the Fall.

Chuck Buttrick has spent a little more time at Marmet Elementary and in the community. He’s been the school resource officer for the past 11 years. The closure upsets him, but the kids, who commonly called him “Officer Chuck,” were always a bright spot.

“There’s been some great classes come through here with excellent teachers,” Buttrick said. “I know they’re going to do well at other schools. Other schools will be blessed to have them.”

One of those former students who went to Marmet is now a middle schooler. Gabriel Caruthers was a fifth grader at Marmet last year. His sister is now in his shoes as a fifth grader this year. He remembered having great teachers throughout elementary and jokingly said school was “easy” for him.