CHARLESTON, W.Va. –West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner is crediting his phone’s emergency contact feature with helping alert first responders after he was involved in a crash last Friday.
Kris Warner
“Due to the motion of the phone bouncing around in the cabin of the vehicle, it sends a satellite, so you can see, even though there’s no cell service there, and it told the folks on the other end of the emergency response numbers where I was located and where the crash had occurred,”

One House committee ran legislation that would provide more financial support for public schools, and another ran legislation for pay raises for educators, service personnel and State Police employees.
The House Education Committee started dicussinng HB 5453 to modify the school aid funding formula. The bill will also go to the House Finance Committee for further consideration.
In December, the state school board approved consolidations and closures of more than a dozen schools across six

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Board of Education Chairman Paul Hardesty says he’s offering an olive branch to Gov. Patrick Morrisey and wants to meet to talk about the future of education.
Paul Hardesty
Morrisey and Hardesty have indirectly traded barbs in recent weeks. Morrisey has called members of the state Board of Education unelected bureaucrats.
Hardesty said he texted with Morrisey over the weekend and it was a pleasant exchange. He said he “most gracious.”
Hardesty said he has also texted

PRICKETT’S FORT, W.Va. — The medical examiner has been called to the scene of a crash on I-79 southbound in Marion County.
The crash was reported at 1:15 p.m. Monday at mile marker 139 and reports indicate it involved a tractor-trailer and a pickup truck.
Southbound traffic is being diverted at the Goshen Road exit in southern Monongalia County creating more congestion back to the I-68 split.
State police are investigating.
No other information has been released.
The post Medical examiner called

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two well-liked and respected former state lawmakers were membered in separate memorial resolutions Monday at the state capitol.
Tim Armstead
Former House speaker, Supreme Court Justice Tim Armstead died last Aug. 26. He was 60 when cancer claimed his life.
“Tim Armstead dedicated his life to the service of his fellow West Virginians. He was a champion for the state and a tireless advocated for children,” House Clerk Jeff Pack read from the resolution. “HIs life was a tapestry

FORT MARTIN, W.Va. — Mon Power has filed plans with the state Public Service Commission to build a new 1,200-MW natural gas-fired power plant on land adjacent to the coal-fired Fort Martin Power Station north of Morgantown and three solar arrays.
Will Boye
The combined-cycle power plant is a $2.84 billion investment in the Monongalia County operation.
“We have selected a 35-acre site next to the Fort Martin Power Station for a 1,200-megawatt gas-fired power plant that will help keep power