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Justice appoints Del. Thorne to West Virginia Senate, leaving vacancy in House • West Virginia Watch

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Justice appoints Del. Thorne to West Virginia Senate, leaving vacancy in House • West Virginia Watch


Gov. Jim Justice on Friday appointed Del. Darren Thorne, R-Hampshire, to the state Senate, filling the seat vacated earlier this month by Sen. Charlie Trump, R-Morgan, according to the news release.

The Senate seat covers all of Hampshire and Morgan Counties and parts of Berkeley and Mineral Counties, according to the release.

“I’m honored that Governor Justice has chosen me to be the next Senator from the 15th District,” Thorne said in a separate news release from the state Senate. “I have greatly enjoyed my time in the House of Delegates, and I look forward to serving both my current constituents in Hampshire County and my new constituents in Morgan and Berkeley counties in this new role. I look forward to this opportunity and working with Senate leadership to help move West Virginia forward.”

Trump — whose seat in the Senate was not up for election this year — resigned in early December after winning his race for the state Supreme Court of Appeals.

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Thorne won his reelection to the House in November. With his switch to the Senate, a Republican will now need to be appointed for his seat in the House.

A farmer by trade, Thorne was first elected to the House in 2022. Over the last two sessions, he has signed on as the lead sponsor of seven bills. One of those — House Bill 5349, the Truth in Food Labeling Act — was signed into law. 

In 2023 and 2024 sessions, Thorne introduced two bills twice: one to ban drag performances in front of minors and another that would have dictated how schools in the state teach concepts related to race, sex, ethnicity, religion or national origin. In both years, both of those bills died in committees.

Trump was elected to the state Senate in 2014. He successfully ran for the office after serving in the House of Delegates from 1992 to 2006, serving as minority whip for the then-Democrat controlled body from 1999 on. He will take the Supreme Court seat currently held by Chief Justice John A. Hutchison, who announced last year that he would be retiring from the judicial body. 

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Monongalia County Commission may intervene in MARL transmission case – WV MetroNews

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Monongalia County Commission may intervene in MARL transmission case – WV MetroNews


MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The heavily-publicized NextEra Energy MidAtlantic Resiliency Link (MARL) project being considered by the state Public Service Commission may have the Monongalia County Commission as an intervenor.

Tom Bloom

The county commission unanimously agreed earlier this week to consider the move.

The commission heard more more information at this week’s meeting from groups opposing the project that will encompass parts of three states and cut through nearly half a dozen counties in West Virginia.

Commissioner Tom Bloom read from a letter.

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“On behalf of all the residents in the four affected counties, (the commission is asked) to please help us fight the proposed transmission line and consider Mon County becoming an intervener,” said Bloom. “So I did want to put that on the record.”

The approximately 107-mile-long MARL project would be powered in Greene County, Pennsylvania. The 500-kilovolt line would support data center development in Virginia and would also include crossings in parts of Maryland, with the state portion expected to cost approximately $482 million.

Sean Sikora

According to Monongalia County resident Juliet Marleer, one of many who have vocally opposed the project moving forward, aspects related to costs have continued to change in the negative as well as additional parameters that would make areas affected by the planned power line much worse. Aspects of the project that have been pointed out by organizations like West Virginia Against Transmission Injustice in recent weeks.

“It has gone up from the original $440 million to $1.16 billion (price tag),” said Marleer. “So right now, my question is, how do we find out exactly what’s going on here?”

Bloom said he’s concerned about recent adjustments about the width of property needed for the line.

“That’s the one that bothers me the most, the siding corridor width is 200 to 500 feet, however, with aerial easement blowouts, the maximum width could be 715 feet,” said Bloom.

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The county commission plans to make a decision on intervenor status in the near future. The state PSC is expected to schedule public hearings on the MARL application as early as May or June.

“I think that the commission can play a part in helping with that lift in regard to making sure that we have competent legal counsel representing us and our citizens,” said Commissioner Sean Sikora. “It’s been on our list of things to do and something we’ll certainly have a conversation about.”

An informational meeting for those in opposition of the MARL project will be hosted at the Cheat Lake Volunteer Fire Department sometime later this month. A specific date has not been announced.



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West Virginia Lottery results: See winning numbers for Mega Millions, Daily 3 on March 6, 2026

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The results are in for the West Virginia Lottery’s draw games on Friday, March 6, 2026.

Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on March 6.

Winning Mega Millions numbers from March 6 drawing

08-19-26-38-42, Mega Ball: 24

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Daily 3 numbers from March 6 drawing

9-9-6

Check Daily 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Daily 4 numbers from March 6 drawing

6-9-5-6

Check Daily 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash 25 numbers from March 6 drawing

05-13-16-19-23-25

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Check Cash 25 payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the West Virginia Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 11 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 10:59 p.m. ET Tuesday and Friday.
  • Lotto America: 10:15 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Daily 3, 4: 6:59 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday.
  • Cash 25: 6:59 p.m. ET Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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DNR Releases total deer whitetail numbers for 2025, down significantly from 2024 – WV MetroNews

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DNR Releases total deer whitetail numbers for 2025, down significantly from 2024 – WV MetroNews


DNR PRESS RELEASE

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) today announced that hunters harvested 92,553 white-tailed deer during the 2025-2026 seasons, which is a 17 percent decrease from the 2024 deer harvest of 111,646 and 14 percent below the 5-year average of 107,434.

This year’s decreased harvest was caused by an increase in hard mast production, which often results in decreased harvests due to the difficulty of tracking and targeting game species spread out over a landscape. Several counties also experienced an outbreak of hemorrhagic disease, which likely impacted hunter success, especially in the western part of the state.

According to preliminary numbers collected through the WVDNR’s electronic game checking system, hunters harvested 33,823 bucks during the traditional buck firearm season, 25,453 antlerless deer during all antlerless firearm hunting opportunities, 29,654 deer during the urban and regular archery/crossbow seasons, 3,102  deer during the muzzleloader season and 501 deer during the Mountaineer Heritage season.

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Click here to download county-by-county 2025-2026 deer harvest numbers.

Antlerless Deer Season 
Hunters harvested 25,453 deer during the 2025 antlerless deer season, which includes the youth, class Q and Class XS deer season. The harvest was a 23 percent decrease compared to the 2024 harvest of 33,057 and 13 percent below the 5-year average of 29,303. The top ten counties for antlerless deer harvests were Preston (1,442), Upshur (907), Greenbrier (877), Monroe (876), Mason (841), Lewis (836), Hardy (775), Randolph (774), Barbour (695) and Braxton (680).

Archery and Crossbow Deer Seasons
Hunters harvested 29,654 deer during the 2025 archery and crossbow season. The 2025 harvest was an 8 percent decrease over the 2024 harvest of 32,240 and 5 percent below the 5-year average of 31,139. The proportion of the archery harvest taken using a crossbow has stabilized and was greater than deer reportedly taken by a bow.

The archery and crossbow harvest does not include the 29 deer taken with recurve or longbows during the Mountaineer Heritage season. The top ten counties for archery and crossbow deer harvests were Preston (1,573), Raleigh (1,378), Wyoming (1,224), Kanawha (1,045), Fayette (1,032), Mercer (892), Nicholas (889), McDowell (876), Randolph (860) and Monongalia (842).

Muzzleloader Deer Season
Hunters harvested 3,102 deer during the 2025 muzzleloader season, which was 26 percent less than the 2024 harvest of 4,173 and 22 percent below the 5-year average of 3,979. The muzzleloader deer season harvest does not include the 472 deer taken with side lock and flintlock muzzleloaders during the Mountaineer Heritage season. The top ten counties for muzzleloader deer harvests were Nicholas (186), Preston (179), Randolph (158), Greenbrier (131), Upshur (115), Fayette (111), Raleigh (95), Mason (93), Barbour (90) and Kanawha (88).

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