PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. — A former school bus driver in Putnam County was sentenced Thursday in connection with a crash with 28 students on board.
Amy Allen was sentenced to three years of probation on a six-month suspended sentence. In September, Allen pleaded guilty to one count of reckless driving causing serious bodily injury.
With her plea deal, prosecutors dismissed 28 counts of child neglect creating risk of injury and 23 counts of driving under the influence
Allen struck a tree in April

On its 36th day, the federal government shutdown is the longest in U.S. history. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., acknowledged various forms of tangible pain are broadening.
Shelley Moore Capito
“This is very painful,” Capito said during a briefing with West Virginia reporters.
“You see the Secretary of Transportation warning of traffic delays and pull back of air traffic controllers. We know in West Virginia, our food banks are extremely busy filling a gap that should never have existed,

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – It’s a brand new day for the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center as city officials unveiled a $5.2 million renovation to the facility highlighted by all-new seats in the arena.
For those involved in the process, the new seats represent more than just a place to sit for a show or game.
Amy Shuler Goodwin
“They’re new seats. There’ll be new stories, but what you heard today was people being reflective about why this building and why this coliseum mean so much to them,”

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The new trial for a Kanawha County man previously convicted of killing four of his family members will not proceed until next year.
Gavin Smith, 21, appeared remotely before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard on Thursday for a pretrial hearing that ended with his trial rescheduled. Kanawha County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Adam Petry moved for the case to be continued so that the state could have more time to prepare.
Despite objection from the defense, Judge

FRAZIERS BOTTOM, W.Va. — One person is dead after a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Route 35 in Putnam County.
The wreck occurred at around 9 a.m. Thursday a few miles from the Fraziers Bottom exit in the southbound lanes.
Authorities said a passenger died when the vehicle they were in crashed into the back of a tractor trailer.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the crash.
The post One dead in Route 35 crash appeared first on WV MetroNews.

GALLIPOLIS FERRY, W.Va. — A Cabell County woman is charged in a deadly hit-and-run that took place earlier this week in Mason County.
Marissa Russell
State police have charged Marissa Russell, 30, of Milton with hit-and-run causing death.
Troopers allege Russell was driving on Wood School Road in Gallipolis Ferry Tuesday evening at around 5:30 when her car struck Virgil Patterson. Troopers said she didn’t stop.
Patterson, 57, of Gallipolis Ferry, died at the scene.
Russell was arraigned Thursday

KINGWOOD, W.Va. — A fire at Appalachian Wood Pellets has shutdown production temporarily and damaged multiple structures.
Officials with the company said the fire started around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in a bark storage building and no inventory was damaged. Shipping and receiving operations will continue, but production work will be temporarily suspended.
No employees were injured.
Firefighters from Kingwood, Tunnelton, Terra Alta and Albright responded.
The Kingwood Volunteer Fire Department is