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Floral shop owner talks pandemic impact on Mother’s Day

Kammie Lantz was hastening to the hydrangea stems when the phone rang. Over the sounds of rustling and clipping — flower shop sounds — she answered, with a shoot of a chuckle. “Thank you for calling. Yes, we’re definitely busy, but I’m not complaining. How can I help?” She had been giving variations of that greeting all morning. That’s because Kam’s Florist, the Terra Alta enterprise she owns and operates with her husband, Jamie, had been tilling for Mother’s Day. And Mother’s Day, even with a COVID-19 corsage, is still Mother’s Day. Except when ...

Newburg borehole concerns some residents, environmentalists

By Jeniffer Graham and Jessica NelsonIt’s been more than 10 years since the Whitetail Kittanning Mine closed. More than one year since contamination was discovered. Four households are still without a permanent water supply. And a borehole continues to dump pollutants into Raccoon ...

Explanations of terms and events in main story

By JENIFFER GRAHAMAND JESSICA NELSONThese explanations of terms and events used in the above story and throughout the series may help offer a bit more insight.The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Western Region (OSMRE) says when a company submits a permit to open a mine, it must also post a bond. The bond ensures there will be money to reclaim the mine should the company go bankrupt. According to Stan Jennings, president of Save the Tygart Watershed Association, the bonds are never enough to cover the reclamation. A bond release is a three-phase process through which ...

M-SNAP donates 635 pounds of food to area pantries

The Mountaineer Spay Neuter Assistance Program is donating 635 pounds of dog and cat food to area food pantries as another way to keep animals out of kill shelters. M-SNAP’s primary goal is to reduce the number of unwanted, abandoned, stray and feral animals through spay/neuter ...

WVU to furlough 875 employees

West Virginia University officials said Friday it was temporarily furloughing 875 employees at its campuses in Morgantown, Beckley and Keyser, a move it hinted at earlier this month when it said it was facing a $30 million deficit brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. WVU said it expects to ...

Manchin, AG Barr to stop out-of-state inmate transfers to federal prisons

No more new, out-of-state inmates will be transferred to federal prisons in West Virginia during the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., made the announcement Friday. The senator said he received assurances from U.S. Attorney General William Barr that no more new, ...