West Virginia

West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee holds public hearing on child welfare system

Published

6 days ago

February 23, 2026

West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee holds public hearing on child welfare system

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – The West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee held a listening session on the child welfare system’s challenges Monday morning, ahead of a week when the committee is set to focus on reforming it. The system currently has about 6,000 children, according to the Child Welfare Dashboard.

The committee heard from parents who have dealt with the state’s child welfare system, as well as those formerly inside the system, about what they believe needs to be changed.

“We want to hear your stories, and as we go through the bills this week on CPS and child welfare, what you share with us this morning is going to help us create better policy,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Tom Willis (R-Berkeley) told attendees.

“After four and a half years of fighting, I lost my son,” Tanya Shresbury told the committee, saying CPS made false accusations against her. “I’ve missed birthdays, Christmases, everything. I’ve had six supervisors that have done visits with me. They all tell ‘em they’re great. Me and my little boy, we have a great connection. But when it comes to the judge seeing those reports … CPS no longer has them.”

Pat McKinney told the committee about his experience with CPS, in which he fought successfully to keep his daughter and son, calling it a “nightmare.”

McKinney told WSAZ he came to the meeting in hopes the agency will prioritize keeping children in family or close friends’ homes, rather than a new environment. That hope was echoed in several others’ addresses to the committee.

“If there’s an alternative, keep them in that family supportive environment,” McKinney said. “When you take a kid, you put them in an alien environment that they feel no support. My kids were so traumatized that if you walked up the sidewalk with a lanyard on, they hid. And we don’t need that. We need to stop taking kids.”

Some speakers were not parents, but advocates or former members of the system. Former state Sen. Mark Drennan, now the president of the West Virginia Behavioral Healthcare Providers Association, laid out what changes to CPS he would prioritize.

“If we want to fix the child welfare system in West Virginia, here’s what we need to look at,” Drennan told the committee. “No more children in hotels, fewer children being served out of state, more foster homes available for those children that need them, more children safely with their biological and kinship families, and more young, resilient adults aging with natural, lifelong connections. That’s what success looks like to me.”

After the hearing, Willis told WSAZ the committee will spend all week on reforms for the child welfare system, calling the current state of the system a “crisis.”

“At least from a legal perspective, we want to do everything we can to protect West Virginia kids and make sure they’ve got the best chance possible,” he said. “How can we set up systems so that the parents have a fair chance, and the children have a fair chance? Then we’ve got the most just system possible.”

Some of the reforms the committee is considering this week include: Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s “Bring Them Home” fund, a plan that aims to reduce the number of children within the child welfare system with behavioral or mental health needs that are sent to out-of-state facilities for care; working with more non-profits to ease the case management load; and implementing audio recording of CPS meetings with parents, children, and home visits.

“We’ve heard a lot of ‘he said, she said’ across the state, where we’ve heard parents would say what they heard in court wasn’t actually what happened, or what was said by the child or by the parent in the home or in a meeting,” Willis explained to WSAZ. “And so we’re looking at doing audio recordings with CPS workers to maintain accountability and transparency, especially for the court proceedings, because it’s such a critical issue, this removal decision.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet daily at 3 p.m. to discuss and move the bills, which Willis estimates to be “in the ballpark of 15” in total. Meetings are streamed online.

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West Virginia

West Virginia Surrenders Six-Run Lead, Falls in Series Finale to Kennesaw State

Published

9 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

West Virginia Surrenders Six-Run Lead, Falls in Series Finale to Kennesaw State

West Virgnia built a six-run lead through five and half innings, but the Kennesaw State Owls (5-5) scored seven unanswered runs in three frames to knock off the Mountaineers (8-2) Sunday afternoon 7-6.

West Virginia captured an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first after sophomore Matt Ineich hit a leadoff single before sophomore Gavin Kelly and senior Paul Schoenfeld were issued walks to load the bases with two outs on the board. Then, redshirt freshman Ryan Maggy line a two-RBI single to centerfield in his first career start.

The Mountaineers extended their lead in the second when Kelly hit a three went opposite field for a three-run home run, his first of the season, for a 5-0 advantage.

West Virginia starting southpaw pitcher Maxx Yehl threw five scoreless innings. The redshirt junior recorded four strikeouts on the day and limited the Owls to four hits.

Kelly added a run in the sixth, clearing the centerfield wall for his second home run of the afternoon and a 6-0 WVU lead.

Redshirt sophomore Bryson Thacker took the mound in the six. After a high and wide throw on a ground ball, a walk, and with two outs, junior Cooper Williams drooped an RBI single in right field to put the Owls on the board. Then, a pitch in the dirt rolled to the backstop to add another run, closing the gap to four, 6-2.

Carson Estridge was handed the ball in the seventh. The senior right-hander gave up a leadoff double before registering the next two outs, including a strikeout, before freshman McCollum line an RBI single just out of the reach of the glove of Kelly. Senior Jackson Chirello cut the deficit one, hammering the 3-1 pitch well over the right field wall and into the Waffle House parking lot for a two-run home run.

West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins turned to the clubhouse leader in saves David Perez to get the Mountaineers out of the inning. The freshman returned to the mound in the eighth. Senior Jamarie Brooks reached after hitting a sharp ground ball over to first that went between the legs of senior Ben Lumsden. Then, Williams blasted a two-run home run and a 7-6 Owls lead.

In the ninth, senior Matthew Graveline nearly tied the game with the swing of the bat, driving 0-2 pitch off the top of the left field wall for a one-out double to put the Mountaineers into scoring position. However, redshirt senior Harry Cain sat the last two Mountaineer hitters to collect his second win of the season as the Owls completed the comeback with the 7-6 decision.

West Virginia is back in action on Tuesday for the first of a two-game series against Radford. Game one and game two (Weds) are both scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and the all the action will stream on ESPN+.

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West Virginia

Delegate Larry Kump, master of various catch phrases, has died – WV MetroNews

Published

22 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Delegate Larry Kump of Berkeley County has died, state officials announced. Kump was 78 years old.

Larry Kump

Kump, a Republican, served in the House from 2010 to 2014, again from 2018 to 2020 and finally 2022 to the present. He had announced plans to run again in the coming electoral cycle.

“As a battle-tested and liberty minded Christian and Constitutional Conservative, my consecrated action principles of good governance remains solid and steadfast,” he wrote to supporters in January.

He had been serving in the ongoing legislative session, but had been absent in recent weeks.

The daily prayer in the House of Delegates this past Wednesday included an expression of concern for Kump: “A special prayer for Delegate Larry Kump. Lord, you know where he is in the hospital now, and I pray right now that you would send your angels there to touch him, to be with him.”

Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Kump’s death on social media, calling Kump “a devoted public servant who dedicated many years of his life to improving West Virginia.

“Delegate Kump served with a deep commitment to the principles he believed would strengthen our communities and protect our freedoms.

“On behalf of the First Lady and myself, we extend our condolences to Larry’s family, friends, former colleagues, and all those who had the privilege of knowing and serving alongside him. His legacy of service and his love for our state will never be forgotten.”

Secretary of State Kris Warner also posted condolences to Kump’s family. “Larry was a conservative Christian and a true Mountaineer! He will be sadly missed by his friends and colleagues,” Warner posted.

The West Virginia Democratic Party also put out a statement to offer condolences, saying Kump’s work reflected a lifelong commitment to accountability, public policy, and the effective administration of government.

“Delegate Larry Kump devoted his life to his family, his community, and to his state. He brought experience, independence and thoughtfulness to his role, and he never lost sight of the people he served,” said Mike Pushkin, the Democratic Party chairman who is also a delegate from Kanawha County.

Kump was known for his turns of phrase, for example kicking off his comments on the House floor with “Great googly moogly” for emphasis. He often described his adoration for his “beloved and bodacious wife Cheryl.”

He regularly concluded interactions and written communications this way: “Meanwhile, and for sure and for certain, may God bless you all real good!”

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West Virginia

Vape Safety Act of 2026 passes W.Va. House, tightening oversight and licensing for shops

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Vape Safety Act of 2026 passes W.Va. House, tightening oversight and licensing for shops

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — The Vape Safety Act of 2026 passed in the West Virginia House of Delegates on Friday, aiming to crack down on what lead sponsor of the bill Del. David McCormick, R-Monongalia, said are the bad actors in the vape shop world.

“They’re very lightly regulated,” McCormick said. “Here’s something that is becoming a blight on our landscape out here in our neighborhoods and towns. They’re all over the state and they need some oversight.”

McCormick said the bill will also strengthen licensing as to who can run the shops.

A key part of the legislation that passed the House by a vote of 88-5 is an FDA registry, requiring all the products sold in the shops to be approved at the federal level.

“Make sure that something doesn’t have 30 times the nicotine in it that it’s supposed to, which has happened, and get a 12-year-old kid addicted to nicotine,” McCormick. “That’s buying something that looks like Pokémon.”

Cracking down on the marketing strategies vape shops use is also included in the bill. It has gained support from both sides of the aisle.

“You walk into them and they have you know it looks fun and all the flavors and all the things,” Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha said. “So when teens go in there, it’s geared towards teens. So I think some regulation is important.”

Other provisions include vape shops not being allowed within 300 feet of schools, libraries or churches.

“I would deem these things almost attractive nuisance for kids and teenagers,” Lewis said. “What we want to do in this piece of legislation, we want to ultimately, above anything else, is protect our children and to get rid of bad actors to make sure that we know what’s being sold in the shop and we know who’s selling it.”

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