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Former jail supervisor sentenced to 17 years for coverup of fatal assault of West Virginia inmate

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Former jail supervisor sentenced to 17 years for coverup of fatal assault of West Virginia inmate


A former supervisor of the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, West Virginia was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Thursday for covering up an assault by correctional officers that led to the death of a 35-year-old inmate, Quantez Burks, three years ago.

A federal jury convicted former lieutenant Chad Lester in January of three counts of felony obstruction charges that included witness tampering, conspiracy to tamper with witnesses, and giving false statements. In his efforts to cover up the assault, Lester allegedly threatened subordinate officers with violence and retaliation, added false statements to multiple officers’ reports, and instructed officers to give a false cover story to investigators in addition to personally giving his own false statements.

Seven other officers involved in the fatal assault of Burks pleaded guilty and testified against Lester during his trial last year. Specifically, Mark Holdren, Corey Snyder and Johnathan Walters pleaded guilty to conspiring to use unreasonable force that ultimately led to Burks’s death while Ashley Toney and Jacob Boothe pleaded guilty to “violating Burks’s civil rights by failing to intervene when other officers used unreasonable force.” Steven Wimmer and Andrew Fleshman pleaded guilty to conspiring to use unreasonable force.

Aside from Lester, Wimmer is the only other corrections officer to be sentenced as of Thursday. Five of the remaining officers are scheduled to be sentenced next month while Fleshman’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July.

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Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of Virginia, Lisa Johnston, said after the sentencing:

On the defendant’s watch, correctional officers killed an inmate, and the defendant conspired with them to cover up their crimes…The defendant violated the public’s trust in the law enforcement system he had sworn to uphold

The case was investigated by the FBI field office in Pittsburgh.



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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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University, Ripley out to early leads at state wrestling – WV MetroNews

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University, Ripley out to early leads at state wrestling – WV MetroNews


— 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.

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“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.

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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.

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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.



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