West Virginia Press Association Staff Report CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Insurance and PEIA, on Tuesday, heard a presentation from Jeff Knight, president and CEO of The Health Plan, regarding their coverage options available through PEIA (Public Employees Insurance Agency).  “We are a West Virginia-based health insurance company,” Knight said, explaining what The Health Plan is. “We’re one of three managed-care organizations who manage the Medicaid business here in West Virginia. Something that a lot of people don’t know is we’re also a PEIA option.” Joining K ..read more

by Jamie Harris The Berkeley Springs Lady Indians softball team was back in action this week with four games against some solid competition. Despite not picking up a win in any of those contests, there was some good news for the Lady Indians softball program. Senior Allison Gray set a new school softball career homerun mark when she hit two homeruns this past week to give her 18 career homeruns. The previous record was 16 set by Katie Hoffman several years ago. This home- run record is based off when the team started playing on a field with an outfield fence. Currently sitting at 18, Gray ha ..read more

West Virginia residents have until Tuesday, April 23 to register to vote in the May 14 primary election, update their address or change their party affiliation. Voter registration and changes can be made with the Morgan County Clerk’s office on the first floor of the county courthouse, or through the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office and website. Early voting in the May 14 primary and non-partisan election begins on Wednesday, May 1 and runs through Saturday, May 11 at the Morgan County Clerk’s office. May 8 is the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot in the primary election. That ..read more

Warm Springs Middle School sixth grade and seventh-eighth grade bands and the middle school sixth grade and seventh-eighth grade choirs will be performing in concert on Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m. at the Warm Springs Middle School gymnasium. Ian Helmick is the band director and Lora Hetrick is the choir director.  Each group will perform separately, said Helmick. The bands will do a combined band piece and the choirs will perform a combined choir piece. The sixth-grade band will perform musical pieces that include “Thor’s Hammer”, “Clash of Warriors” and others. The seventh/eighth grade ba ..read more

by Trish Rudder The completion of the improvements to Berkeley Springs State Park will be celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, April 19 at 1 p.m. in the park. Construction of the Berkeley Springs State Park Improvements Project began last fall and entailed upgrades to the Warm Springs Run stone walls, improve water drainage, improve sidewalks and replacing a bridge. The Foundation began fundraising for this project in 2018. Former Park Superintendent Chris Hansroth originally suggested the project and the new bridge will be dedicated as the Chris Hansroth Memorial Bridge in his ..read more

My Great-Grandmother, Arizona Henry, was mostly tolerant of my healthy eating until I told her to get rid of the bacon grease. I remember telling my Grandma to throw away the bacon grease because it was a saturated fat and it would clog her arteries. She was shocked that I would say such a thing. I could tell by the look on her face that she was having none of my healthy eating when it came to bacon or bacon grease, as she politely told me that there better be no bacon grease wasted at her house or the wooden spoon would come out of the drawer. One of her favorite meals was her egg and wilted ..read more

BlackCat Music Cooperative has announced their very popular youth vocal group, The Young Yukes, will be in concert Sunday, April 28 at the Ice House in Berkeley Springs. The show, “Tangled Up in Bloom – A Musical Mayhem” was created and fully produced by the six-member group to include song selection, stage presentation, show posters and social media impact. Admission is free to the public and the program begins at 4 pm. The Young Yukes, created in the fall of 2018, have played at various venues in the area and have been requested to perform for state legislators, corporate holiday dinners an ..read more

by Trish Rudder Planting a tiny forest to celebrate Arbor Day will welcome volunteers to plant trees and shrubs on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Berkeley Springs Depot. Town of Bath Councilwoman Rebecca MacLeod said the tiny forest will be dedicated to the late Gale Foulds, a longtime environmental volunteer and leader. The plantings will help continue the remediation of the eastern section of the former rail yard, which is being cleaned up using natural soil building and habitat restoration, she said. MacLeod said last week that two West Virginia native Red Spruce seedlings w ..read more

West Virginia Press Association Staff Report CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority, on Monday, heard an update regarding the “Justice Reinvestment Initiative,” from Council of State Governments Justice Center Senior Advisor, Carl Reynolds. “What I’d like to do today is very briefly tell you about justice reinvestment, and what that means,” Reynolds began. “It’s essentially an intensive technical assistance project that’s paid for mostly by the federal government – by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.” “What we do is we get our hands on ..read more

By Autumn Shelton, WV Press Association CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia is doing better than most of the nation when it comes to the number of students filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), but there is still a decline. On Sunday, Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker, chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC), presented an update to members of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability, during their interim meeting, about the number of students applying for FAFSA, and the current problems surrounding the application proc ..read more