CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Both defense attorneys and prosecutors told a Kanawha County circuit judge Tuesday they will be ready to go forward with the retrail of an Elkview area man arrested in December 2020 after the shooting deaths of four family members.
Gavin Smith
Gavin Smith, now 22, was 16 when he was charged with killing his mother, stepfather and two younger brothers. All four victims had been shot to death.
A jury convicted Smith in a 2022 on three counts of first-degree murder and one count

CHELYAN, W.Va. — A man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in Kanawha County.
James Craig Jr.
The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department said James Craig, Jr., 40, was brought into custody for a reported incident on Monday. Craig is accused of approaching two women in the Chelyan Post Office parking lot and following them home.
Authorities said the women told Craig to stop following them, but he refused. According to the sheriff’s department release, Craig pinned one of the women

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The final two public comment hearings hosted by the state Public Service Commission for the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link will be held this week in Monongalia and Preston counties.
The MARL is a 107.5-mile transmission line proposed by NextEra Energy Transmission that would run from Pennsylvania to Virginia to provide electricity to the starving PJM power generation network.
The first hearing this week is Wednesday evening at the Monongalia County Center at Mylan Park and on

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A man is in custody for allegedly stealing a Lincoln County ambulance Tuesday afternoon.
South Charleston Police said Holden Stapleton, 40, was arrested in connection to a robbery at the WVU Medicine Thomas Hospital in Kanawha County while workers were bringing a patient into the facility.
Authorities said they stopped the ambulance on Route 119 near Childress Road in South Charleston, and Stapleton was brought into custody without issue.
Stapleton is in the South

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state consumer advocate and a group representing large energy users are asking the state Public Service Commission to hold off Appalachian Power until the summer of 2028 before allowing it to seek a base rate increase on its customers.
A recent order from the PSC was argued during a hearing Tuesday morning at PSC headquarters in Charleston.
Kurt Krieger
The order grants a 2.8 percent inflationary rate hike for Appalachian Power to begin July 1 with an agreement the

ELKVIEW, W.Va. — A groundbreaking ceremony officially kicked off construction on a new and expanded Kroger store at Elkview Crossings Mall.
Kroger officials, workers, and local officials gathered Tuesday afternoon to officially commence the project at the former K-Mart location. Kroger is moving several doors down the shopping center from its current location at 223 Crossings Mall Road to 201 on that same street.
James Menees speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony (Photo/Jack Carlson)
Kroger