West Virginia
A bill decriminalizing drug test strips in opioid-devastated West Virginia heads to the governor
A bill decriminalizing drug test strips in opioid-devastated West Virginia heads to the governor
By: Leah Willingham | AP
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A bill that would decriminalize all dtrug test strips used to detect deadly substances in West Virginia, the state with the nation’s highest overdose rate, is headed to the desk of Republican Gov. Jim Justice.
Justice hasn’t said publicly whether he supports the bill, which has received bipartisan support. The proposal follows a law signed by Justice in 2022 that decriminalized fentanyl drug test strips.
“As time has gone, unfortunately, we’ve got fentanyl, now we’ve got carfentanil, now we’ve got xylazine,” Republican Deputy House Speaker Matthew Rohrbach said on the House floor before the legislation passed overwhelmingly Friday.
Rohrbach, who is also the chamber’s substance abuse committee chair, said the bill is meant to ensure that all drug test strips will be available to people who need them, without lawmakers having to pass new legislation every time a new one is developed.
“It just says, ‘test strips for deadly drugs will be exempted from drug paraphernalia,’” Rohrbach said.
Under West Virginia law, drug paraphernalia could be hypodermic syringes, needles, capsules, and balloons, among other items. A person found in possession of drug paraphernalia could face a misdemeanor charge, a fine of up to $5,000 and six months to a year in jail.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described drug test strips as a low-cost method of helping prevent drug overdoses.
The proportion of drug overdose deaths involving heroin has declined in recent years. Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues were involved in 76% of all drug overdose deaths occurring in West Virginia in 2021, up from 58% in 2017. Approximately 75,000 of the nearly 110,000 overdose deaths of 2022 could be linked to fentanyl, according to data from the CDC.
Xylazine is a tranquilizer not approved for use in people that is increasingly being found in the U.S. illegal drug supply, and was declared an emerging threat by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy in 2023. Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid approximately 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl.
Legalizing test strips could bring those numbers down, advocates say, saving lives by helping more people understand just how deadly their drugs could be.
The regular season is now behind us, and we are moving on to the next chapter of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season, the week of conference tournaments.
With their win on Friday over UCF and thanks to TCU taking care of business against Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon, the West Virginia Mountaineers have locked up the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 tournament, meaning they will receive a first-round bye. Ross Hodge’s squad will await the winner of No. 10 BYU and No. 15 Kansas State.
While most may think it’s best to pull for K-State to spring the upset, it’s actually probably better if BYU wins. Why? Well, simply because beating Kansas State isn’t going to boost your resume. If there’s any chance at an at-large bid for the Mountaineers, they need to beat more quality teams. Beating BYU a second time would go a long way, and then springing the upset against Houston in the quarterfinals would really open some eyes.
Anyways, here is a look at all of the matchups and the entire bracket.
First round byes: Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia, UCF
Double byes: Arizona, Houston, Kansas, Texas Tech
Tuesday (First Round)
Game 1: No. 12 Arizona State vs. No. 13 Baylor, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+
Game 2: No. 9 Cincinnati vs. No. 16 Utah, 3 p.m. on ESPN+
Game 3: No. 10 BYU vs. No. 15 Kansas State, 7 p.m. on ESPN+
Game 4: No. 11 Colorado vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN+
Wednesday (Second Round)
Game 5: No. 5 Iowa State vs. winner of No. 12 Arizona State/No. 13 Baylor, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN/2
Game 6: No. 8 UCF vs. winner of No. 9 Cincinnati/No. 16 Utah, 3 p.m. on ESPNU
Game 7: No. 7 West Virginia vs. winner of No. 10 BYU/No. 15 Kansas State, 7 p.m. on ESPNU
Game 8: No. 6 TCU vs. winner of No. 11 Colorado/No. 14 Oklahoma State, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2/U
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
Game 9: No. 4 Texas Tech vs. Game 5 winner, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN/2
Game 10: No. 1 Arizona vs. Game 6 winner, 3 p.m. on ESPN/2
Game 11: No. 2 Houston vs. Game 7 winner, 7 p.m. on ESPN/2
Game 12: No. 3 Kansas vs. Game 8 winner, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN/2
Friday (Semifinals)
Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7 p.m. on ESPN/2
Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN/2
Saturday (Championship)
Game 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 6 p.m. on ESPN
Full Bracket
West Virginia
Gia Cooke hits clutch 3-pointer and No. 15 West Virginia women land in Big 12 Tournament title game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gia Cooke scored 14 points and her go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute helped No. 15 West Virginia escape with a 48-47 victory over Colorado in a Big 12 Tournament semifinal on Saturday night.
A 3-pointer by Desiree Wooten gave sixth-seeded Colorado a 45-43 lead with 1:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. On West Virginia’s next possession, Cooke’s offensive rebound led to her clutch 3-pointer that gave the second-seeded Mountaineers a 46-45 lead with 38 seconds remaining.
After a miss by Colorado, Jordan Harrison made two free throws for a three-point West Virginia lead at 16 seconds. Wooten was then fouled on a 3-point try with two seconds left but made only two free throws. Cooke was fouled immediately but missed both free throws, leaving Colorado one last chance. Instead, a steal by Harrison preserved the win for West Virginia.
The sluggish performance was not indicative of two teams that came into the matchup on a roll. Colorado had won seven of nine games and the Mountaineers had won eight of nine.
Harrison led West Virginia (26-6) with 15 points and Kierra Wheeler contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Zyanna Walker scored 16 points and Wooten 12 off the bench for Colorado (22-11).
West Virginia led 13-12 after one quarter, then neither team made a shot in the final six minutes of a dismal second quarter. The Mountaineers missed their last 10 attempts, the Buffaloes their last six, and the score was 17-17 at halftime.
West Virginia’s Jordan Harrison chases after the ball after knocking the ball away from Colorado’s Jade Masogayo during second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. Credit: AP/Charlie Riedel
The Mountaineers opened up a 12-point lead in the third quarter, but missed their last nine shots. Still, they took a 34-30 lead to the fourth quarter.
Up next
West Virginia will play No. 10 TCU in the championship game on Sunday.
Colorado is hoping for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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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