West Virginia
60-day session a “missed opportunity” in eyes of some WV leaders – WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Several leaders from across the state have expressed their thoughts and opinions in the four days since the 60-day legislative session came to a close.
Vice President of Policy and Advocacy for the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Brian Dayton says his group is not content with what was done.
“Frustration is probably the correct word from the Chamber’s perspective,” Dayton said Wednesday morning on MetroNews’ Talkline. “It’s really a frustration that there was a lot of missed opportunity when it came to focus on job creation, economic development and better education outcomes.”
As far as economic development goes, Governor Patrick Morrisey has been adament that his data centers bill, which got across the finish line, will attract corporations to build in West Virginia and thus, help the state thrive. The bill was one of the main focuses of his economic “Backyard Brawl” to compete with bordering states.
Lawmakers passed a couple of bills relating to education and the school system, one focusing on school discipline, while two others aim to put over $60 million of state funds towards the HOPE Scholarship.
Dayton says the session wasn’t all negative, but too much time was wasted.
“There were a few good bills that got through the process, but there was a lot of time that was spent this session, from the business community perspective, on defending against legislation that would make it harder to create jobs in West Virginia and make us a less attractive state to locate,” Dayton said. “That’s frustration right there because we’ve been on such a good path moving forward trying to advance some good ideas.”
West Virginia Manufactures Association President Bill Bissett also appeared on MetroNews’ Talkline Wednesday to share his thoughts on how the session went. He says he’s giving lawmakers and the governor more grace.
“I’m not as critical as some,” Bissett said. “One of the things I’m quick to bring out is context. You have to consider you have a new governor, you have a new Senate president, you have 10 new senators in a body of 34, you have a new process for legislation in the House — that’s a lot of new in one session. It’s not only new for the people serving, but also for those interacting with them, so that was a big factor.”
Bissett did say that he sees the concerns people like Dayton have, and he just wants to see the state prosper.
“Overall, I think there is a valid concern about how much was pro-economic development. I think some of the legislation that came out of the governor’s office was very positive, which we supported, but at the same time, I think we really need to focus on what grows the economy of West Virginia and what allows us to not only grow our population, but what allow people to stay here?”
In addition to the recently wrapped-up 60 day session, Governor Morrisey has gone on record saying there’s a chance he will call one or more special sessions this year to focus on topics such as education and PEIA. For now, Dayton says the Chamber of Commerce is setting its eyes towards making the next regular session better.
“We’re working and talking with legislators right now to do a bit of a reset heading into the 2026 session next year. We’re already thinking in that direction about how do we re-direct that focus down on those things that are going to really improve people’s lives on the day-to-day basis,” Dayton said.
West Virginia
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.
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).
— Story by David Walsh, Photo gallery by Will Wotring
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Divisions I and II are going as expected after Thursday night’s opening round in the 78th West Virginia High School State Wrestling Tournament at Mountain Health Network Arena. University, seeking a third straight large school title, and Parkersburg found themselves in the top two in the standings on a night dominated by pins as No. 1 seeds would beat up on No. 4 seeds.
University started the event minus two competitors. One did not make weight and the other, who won a state title a year ago, is not competing as he’s recovering from a football injury.
One competitor delivering big for the Hawks is Maximus Fortier, a junior who transferred in from Fairmont Senior. While there, he won the state title as a freshman at 144 with a final record of 41-1. He competes at 165 now and is 36-2 after winning with a first-round pin Thursday night.
“Come down, support the team and try to win,” Fortier said of his battle plan. “Wrestle the way we know how.”
Fortier and the Hawks won the Ron Mauck OVAC title, the WSAZ Invitational and West Virginia Duals during the season. He competed in two major tournaments as well. He went 2-2 in the Ironman and won his weight class in the Powerade Tournament which attracts the top teams in the nation.
“Wasn’t ready,” he said about the Ironman. “Did my thing at Powerade. It was big.”
Fortier said support at his new school grows every day.
“They treat me like family,” he said.
Strategy for the State Tournament is simple.
“Wrestle the way we know how to wrestle,” Fortier said.
University capitalized on a strong finish in the heavier weights and leads with 47 points. Parkersburg, which finished second here last year, trails with 39.5. Cabell Midland is third with 37.5 and Huntington fourth with 32.5.
Ripley is in year two in Division II. The Vikings placed sixth a year ago. They came to town as the Region 4 winner and qualified 11 with nine taking first and the other two second. Ripley leads after Thursday with 38 points thanks to wins by pin or major fall. Independence is second with 27 and Keyser third with 25.5. Cameron is the leader in Division III with 16 points.
The tournament continues Friday with sessions at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, the girls have their state with action starting at 8 a.m. The boys begin at 10:30.
Championship finals are Saturday night at 6:30. Wrestlers are now seeded prior to the tournament and the pill breaks deadlocks.
During the season, Ripley won the West Virginia Duals, beat Herbert Hoover twice, Point Pleasant and also got wins over Parkersburg South and Huntington.
Losing to Kansas State wiped away all hope for West Virginia to make the NCAA Tournament. That seems to be the clear consensus in the Mountain State, but is there actually still a chance? Well, I guess so.
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi still has West Virginia listed as a team to consider, the second team outside of the “next four out” grouping.
Lunardi’s current NCAA Tournament bubble
Last Four Byes: Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas, Ohio State
Last Four In: SMU, Santa Clara, New Mexico, Indiana
First Four Out: VCU, Auburn, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati
Next Four Out: San Diego State, USC, California, Seton Hall
Next: Stanford, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona State
How is this even possible?
Short answer? I don’t really know.
My best guess as to why? Two things: the respect for the Big 12 and the opportunities left on the table, and two, an incredibly weak bubble.
Should West Virginia beat UCF on Friday, it will give the Mountaineers a 9-9 record in Big 12 play. That’s not as much of a guarantee to make the dance as having a winning record, but still, it’s an impressive mark, especially when, in this instance, they would have wins over Kansas, BYU, and sweeps over Cincinnati and UCF.
If you ask me, they still have too many bad losses for it to matter. I mean, even if they got red-hot out of nowhere and made it to the Big 12 championship game next week, is that enough? Potentially, but that’s a big IF.
The one thing WVU does have on its side is the number of Quad 1 wins, which they have five of. Virtually every other team in college basketball that has a minimum of five Quad 1 victories is expected to make the tournament. In that previously mentioned scenario, they would add at least one more Quad 1 win in the conference tournament, giving the committee something to think about.
The bubble is just incredibly weak, though. Like, how in the world is Auburn, who is 16-14 currently, the second team out of the field? Cincinnati, which WVU swept and has the same record as, is the fourth team in the “first four out” grouping.
At this point, the only path I see is for the Mountaineers to cut down the nets in Kansas City — good luck with that. We could be having a very different conversation if they didn’t lallygag their way through the first 30 minutes of the games against Utah and Kansas State.
Top prospect decommits from North Dakota, considering Michigan State
Two Ohio men arrested on drug charges in Raleigh County after traffic stop
Kansas State women’s basketball stuns Oklahoma State, moves on to Big 12 semis
Keizer city councilor fined $500 by Oregon ethics commission
Cause determined for plane crash that killed school board president in Chester County
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Appeals court declares DC ban on certain gun magazines unconstitutional
‘No deal with Iran except unconditional surrender,’ Trump says
A dead woman’s key fob and two grisly crime scenes: How the Utah triple-murder suspect was tracked across state lines | CNN
DOJ continues Biden autopen probe despite former president unlikely to face charges
Fact check: Did French border guards mock influencers returning from Dubai amid Iran war?
-
World1 week agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Wisconsin5 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Massachusetts3 days agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Maryland5 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Florida5 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Denver, CO1 week ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Oregon1 week ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling