West Virginia
“Anti-swatting” bill could make 911 pranks a felony in West Virginia
BLUEFIELD, W. Va. (WVVA) -Lawmakers in West Virginia are setting their sights on tackling a phone prank that can put people’s lives in jeopardy, including innocent victims and the police. It’s called swatting. They hope to strike down the prank by boosting it’s severity in the criminal code. The bill has been introduced so knowingly making false reports of an emergency to law enforcement, or swatting, could soon be a felony.
The mountains in West Virginia do not serve as a barrier that keeps out the hoax known as swatting. It’s even been reported here in the Two Virginias. The Mercer County 911 Center reports receiving multiple swatting calls.
“They are calling in fake calls for the purpose of getting armed officers to respond to addresses. And when they call, they’re actually stating that a crime is being committed at that time and a lot of it is a horrific crimes like murder or bombings or domestic violence and hostage situations,” says Julie Lockhart, training coordinator for the Center.
Online gamers or streamers are often the victim of these calls, with swatters use an IP address to find your location, then create a scenario with a 911 call that would trigger a swat response. Lockhart describes swatting as a “cyber-prank,” but there’s nothing funny about it. In some cases, responding SWAT teams have mistakenly killed the swatting victim. But it creates harm even in the instances when no one is hurt. The psychological trauma is undeniable for both victims and officers.
“… Somebody you’re playing online, and all of a sudden, you have armed officers at your door, thinking something is going on…” says Lockhart, “…It’s very terrifying, not just for the victim of this swatting, but also for the officers and the first responders, so it can be, not only physically terrorizing, it can be psychologically terrorizing as well.”
Lockhart says dispatchers take every phone call seriously, but many of these calls can appear to be legitimate thanks to swatters using phony phone numbers to seem like a local caller, even if they’re somewhere else entirely. However, she says Mercer County officers are trained to approach every situation with caution.
Copyright 2024 WVVA. All rights reserved.
BOONE COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – We have a traffic alert for drivers in the Danville area of Boone County.
Starting on Friday, they should expect delays as crew perform work on the Jill Micah Hess Bridge along U.S. 119.
According to the West Virginia Department of Transportation, northbound traffic will be shifted from the slow lane to the fast lane.
This will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and drivers are asked to expect delays.
Copyright 2026 WSAZ. All rights reserved.
West Virginia
Community Catalyst Grant applications are open through West Virginia First Foundation through June 30 – WV MetroNews
The West Virginia First Foundation, which was established to use drug lawsuit settlement money to try to alleviate problems related to addiction, reported having access to $378.5 million in financial resources and noted that more than $34 million in grants have been awarded since the organization’s start.
The West Virginia First Foundation met for a few minutes Thursday at Ascend West Virginia in Charleston. The meeting was also available for view through streaming.
Executive Director Jonathan Board highlighted the launch of the Community Catalyst Grant application and a statewide needs assessment intended to identify service gaps.
Designed as a three-year, outcomes-driven investment, the program will support projects focused on public safety response, day report centers and generational prevention efforts. The program opened for applications on June 1 and remains open through June 30.
“We’re very encouraged by the interest and engagement so far,” Board said.
The board also approved a $4 million funding request for the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. The project is focused on expanding access to innovative addiction treatment and recovery support tools while building the technology and infrastructure needed to support implementation across West Virginia.
Additional details about the project and funding agreement are to be released in the coming weeks following the completion of final documentation. West Virginia First Foundation and Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute plan to issue a joint announcement once the agreement process is complete.
“They’ve gone through a very rigorous process for the correct funding,” Board said. “Their team has presented an opportunity to fund a project that will build technology, training and support systems of care needed to expand access to an innovative addiction treatment approach throughout the state of West Virginia, and really beyond.”
The West Virginia First Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 2023 to manage and distribute 72.5% of the state’s opioid settlement funds, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The organization is aimed at combatting the addiction crisis through grants and regional projects.
The next regular meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Directors is scheduled for Sept. 17 although it’s subject to change.
West Virginia may have come up empty-handed in two tries against North Carolina in the College World Series, but they earned the respect of their head coach, Scott Forbes, who was incredibly complimentary of the Mountaineers following Wednesday’s game.
“I want to congratulate West Virginia. A heck of a team, a heck of a run,” he opened his postgame press conference with. “They are very well coached. They just play the game the right way. It’s a credit to their coaching staff. They come at you a lot of ways. A lot of speed, deep pitching staff, so we really had to work in those two games to beat them. I’ve been in their shoes, and I know what that feels like, and it’s a stinker. But man, they got a lot to be proud of, and they should be extremely proud of how they represented their university.”
The culture at WVU is as strong as it gets
Multiple times this season, West Virginia looked like they were well on their way to a loss and were rewarded with a win because they never stopped playing hard. Everyone thinks of the two games against Kentucky in the Morgantown Regional, and rightfully so, but they also came back to win after trailing by eight against UCF and after trailing by five to BYU.
For a moment, there was a belief that the magical moment was going to come again during Wednesday’s game against Forbes’ Tar Heels. With two outs in the 7th and trailing 12-1, Armani Guzman busted his tail down the first base line to beat out a grounder to short. It ultimately led to a five-run inning for the Mountaineers, all of a sudden turning a laugher into a semi-interesting game. Gavin Kelly hit a solo home run in the 8th to make it a five-run deficit, and in the ninth, Ben Lumsden just missed a three-run shot that would have really put pressure on North Carolina, even with two outs.
To have your team still playing hard when trailing by 11 with their season likely about to come to an end, it says a lot about the character of this group, but also how deeply ingrained the culture is at WVU. There’s a reason this program has turned the corner over the last 14 or so years and is continuing to trend up. They’ve had the right people in place leading it.
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