West Virginia
At a cemetery in West Virginia, a massive landslide wiped out more than a hundred headstones. What happens next isn’t clear.
WHEELING, W.Va. — The thick, brown swath of mud and debris cut starkly across the neatly trimmed green hillside.
Days of rain last week pushed creeks and streams over their banks, but it thoroughly saturated the ground, too. And eventually the steep incline along Fairmont Avenue in Wheeling let loose, sending hunks of hillside and mud downward.
The mass came to rest at the bottom of the steep hill, a couple of dozen yards from a small stream and rusty guardrail that separate the Wheeling Mt. Zion Cemetery from the two-lane road.
Among the tangled mess of trees and dirt piled at the bottom: the flat edges and rounded corners of headstones.
When the slope collapsed, it rolled over some 150 of them, dragging and pushing the grave markers down the hill with the chunks of earth.
Charles Yocke points out that if you look closely, green grass can be seen beneath the muddy path of the slide. That’s good, he said — it means the debris slid down the hill rather than cutting through it. The vaults beneath the headstones, then, likely are undisturbed.
Yocke is president of the Wheeling Mt. Zion Cemetery Corp., a group he and a few other volunteers formed nearly a decade ago to take care of the centuries-old cemetery. Through donations and burial fees — burials that Yocke does himself — the group maintains the landscaping and other upkeep.
The call came Wednesday morning.
On Saturday, he pointed to the top of the hillside overlooking the cemetery. See that house? Across the street from that is where Yocke’s friend from school lives.
“He called (Wednesday) at 7:30 a.m. and said, ‘Yock’ — because he knows I take care of it — he said, ‘Yock, you got a mudslide up here, you’ve got a big problem.”
The slide had started at the top of the hill and split into a pair of smaller paths at the base of a massive pine tree. He saw the smaller of the two sides first.
“I seen that side and said, ‘Oh, (expletive),’” he said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
He pulled around to the main gate of the cemetery, rain still falling hard against the roof of his truck.
“And I looked at it and thought, ‘What the hell are we gonna do?’ And for a grown man, how much time I’ve put into this — I started crying.”
He’s still in disbelief Saturday as he takes in the sight from across the road.
“I’ve seen so many slips,” he says, his voice trailing off.
‘It’s hard to think about’
Melissa Miller and her mother usually visit Wheeling Mt. Zion a few times a year. Miller lives in Columbus, Ohio, but she was raised in Wheeling. Her grandparents and great-grandparents are buried there, and so is an aunt and a nephew who died at birth. When they visit, they take care of the area around the graves, and they sit and talk with their late family members.
On Saturday, they came to assess the damage.
“Where it stopped, they’re right beneath it,” Miller said of the graves of her grandparents and great-grandparents. “If it continued to slide, they could have been more impacted, but thank goodness they’re at the bottom.”
Her aunt’s grave, though, was farther up the hill, she said, right in the path of the slide.
“We’re heartbroken over my aunt being … in that,” she said, gesturing toward the jumble of earth.
She said it’s a helpless feeling because, for safety reasons, no one is permitted in the cemetery right now. Yocke and Stein, on the advice of the fire department, put up no-trespassing signs. On Facebook, they warned: Stay out of the cemetery.
As Miller and her mother stood at the guardrail and looked at the mess, a man walked his dogs onto the property from the other side. From his spot across the road, Yocke yelled at the white-haired man to get out.
The man shouted back that he was looking for his uncle. Yocke told him to get out for his own safety.
“I’m not trying to be ignorant,” Yocke said. “It’s not safe. He’s pointing at me. I should go talk to him.”
He approached the would-be trespasser, who choked back emotion.
“It’s hard to think about,” he told Yocke.
As Yocke explained that the hillside hadn’t been stabilized, the man cut in: “I’m 70, I don’t care.”
“I’m not trying to give you a hard time,” Yocke said. “We don’t want nobody killed.”
Going to rest in a good place
Yocke lives near the cemetery on the same road, and his wife’s parents are buried a good distance up the hillside. It was Mother’s Day in 2015, he said, and the grass across the graveyard was three feet tall. He had to cut a path for his wife to place flowers at her mother’s grave.
“I went home that night and I just thought, ‘This is bull (expletive),’” he said.
The cemetery was owned by Ohio County, and commissioners said they wouldn’t spend taxpayer money for upkeep.
“What were these people?” he asked, gesturing toward the cemetery. “Taxpayers. They paid their taxes.”
So he and Fairmont Avenue neighbor Paula Stein began cutting grass and trimming the weeds around the headstones. Eventually, they formed the Wheeling Mt. Zion Cemetery Corp. They started a Facebook page to collect donations to pay for gas for the mowers and weed-cutters.
They put up an American flag at the main gate. There are about 400 veterans — some from as far back as the Civil War — buried in Wheeling Mt. Zion. Each and every one of those graves is marked with a small flag.
“They say you’re only supposed to do it at certain times, but the way I look at it, and the way Paula looks at it, is those guys went out and fought for us 365 days a year,” he said. “They should have a flag 365 days a year.”
The number of volunteers has ebbed and flowed over the years, and at this point, Yocke said, the work falls mainly to himself and Stein, whose parents are buried there.
It has been a labor of love, he said, and it’s taken a toll. He’s a contractor by day, and his knees have gone bad and his right shoulder is no good.
He’s not sure what will happen once he and Stein can’t take care of the cemetery anymore.
“We think about it all the time,” he said.
A man slows his sedan to a stop in front of Yocke near the cemetery, not bothering to pull off the road. Yocke tells him he’s doing an interview. The man jokes that he better tell the truth.
“I’ll lie and go to confession tomorrow,” he shouts back.
“I’ll just give you 10 Hail Marys and three Our Fathers now,” the man said. He’s not a pastor, just a mayoral candidate, Yocke says. He’s done contracting work on the man’s house in the past
There are hundreds of graves across the property, and a handful of people are still buried there each year, usually in family plots. Yocke takes care of the burials himself. He charges $750 to bury an urn and $1,150 for a traditional burial. He lines up the date and time and has a man he knows dig the hole with an excavator. He invites the family to add a shovelful of dirt to the hole.
“I think that’s what keeps on making me stay,” he said. “Because when I do a burial, the family is sad, but they see (their loved one is) going to rest in a good place.”
The money from the burials goes toward upkeep. Just last year he paid $5,000 to have a fallen tree limb cut up and hauled away.
There have already been myriad offers of help with the cleanup from the mudslide last week, Yocke said, including from state politicians.
“Everybody’s got a lot of talk,” he said, noting that it’s an election year. He hopes that means that those offers of assistance from higher up will come to fruition.
Other offers of help also pour in. Friends with small excavators have told Yocke they’re ready and willing, and many have offered to come armed with shovels.
“This ain’t no shovel job,” he said.
The mailman pulls over about 11 a.m. Saturday, stopping to chat and hand over the cemetery corporation’s mail.
“One, two, three …” Yocke counts the small envelopes, most covered in cursive scrawl. There are six of them — six donations that people have sent to help.
Recovering from the devastation will be a process.
The first thing will be to stabilize the hillside. Engineers who work with drilling companies are coming to look things over Monday, Yocke said. The hope is they’ll be able to do some of that work for free.
The tougher part will be sifting through the debris to see what’s a rock and what’s a headstone. Each headstone will have to be pulled out and cleaned, meaning they’ll all likely need to be hauled to another part of the cemetery for evaluation.
They might have to bring in someone to use x-ray machines to figure out where the vaults are. But then they have to make sure they know who is in the vault. There are lots of photos of the hillside, he said, and he’s familiar with where most of the graves were since he was the one cutting the grass for years. On Facebook, followers were already offering up historical maps of the cemetery.
“The most delicate part is putting the stones right back on the same spot,” he said. “I think that’s going to be the biggest part.”
He said a lot of people have been aggressive toward them on the corporation’s Facebook page. They want to know whether their loved one’s headstone was affected. Yocke said he has to tell them that’s something that has to be set aside until the hillside is stable.
Some have accused Yocke and Stein and other volunteers of causing the landslide.
“You’ve gotta blame somebody,” he mused. “But I think you better blame Mother Nature.”
She can be cruel.
“We put all that sweat and tears in,” he said, “and one day Mother Nature takes it away from you.”
West Virginia
West Virginia delegate candidates in Wood County split on top issues, from manufacturing to health care rules
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – Candidates running for seats in the West Virginia House of Delegates in Wood County say their top priorities if elected range from job creation and workforce development to health care policy changes and infrastructure, as they make their case to voters ahead of the election.
Incumbent Delegate Vernon Criss, a Republican running in House District 12, said jobs would be his top focus, arguing Wood County has been left out of state efforts to attract manufacturing.
“It would be jobs,” Criss said. He pointed to what he described as $340 million available through a high-impact, jobs-related manufacturing fund for companies returning to West Virginia, saying the governor “has refused to use these dollars to help the county.” Criss also cited restoring highway funding and funding for drinking water and sewer projects as priorities.
Criss said he would also push for foster care legislation in the next session, noting the governor vetoed a foster care bill this year that he said would have helped families and relatives caring for children in the system.
In House District 13, Republican candidate Melissa McCrady said her leading priority is repealing the state’s certificate of need program, which she said restricts medical facilities and practices from opening in the state.
“The main issue that I would prioritize is the repeal of the certificate of need,” McCrady said, calling it a program that limits a “free market” approach to health care by requiring approvals before certain services can expand.
McCrady said she would also like to repeal the inventory tax on businesses, which she said makes West Virginia less attractive for economic growth. She also said she supports religious and philosophical vaccine exemptions for children and adults in response to future outbreaks.
On education, McCrady said she wants to give teachers and families more voice in Wood County and reduce what she called burdensome requirements and restrictions placed on classrooms. On jobs and cost of living, she said reducing taxes and regulations and allowing the market to develop would create more opportunity for residents.
Incumbent Delegate Scot Heckert, a Republican running in House District 13, said his top issues include “infrastructure, accountability” and school funding.
“Top issues right now is infrastructure, accountability, for the school funding,” Heckert said. He said policy changes depend in part on what he hears from residents, but added he believes the school aid formula should be reviewed and that traditional public schools, homeschooling and charter schools should be held to the same set of rules.
Heckert said the state needs to do more to support teachers and address long-term retirement funding costs. On jobs and workforce development, Heckert said building a workforce is essential and suggested the state should look at incentives and assistance programs to encourage employment.
Asked about transparency and accountability, Heckert said constituents can contact him directly.
“Any constituent of District 13 can call me anytime,” he said, adding, “You can’t have one without the other.”
Criss and McCrady also emphasized transparency as a priority. Criss said the budget process should remain open to the public, while McCrady said she wants to be accessible through office hours and multiple communication channels.
Candidate for House of Delegates district 12 Charles Hartzog was not available to be interviewed.
Voters in Wood County will choose their delegates in House Districts 12 and 13 in the upcoming election. Details on early voting and Election Day locations are available through the county clerk’s office.
Editor’s note: The video for this story will be added once it airs. Please check back for the updated video.
Copyright 2026 WTAP. All rights reserved.
Charleston, W.Va. — An abrupt closure at a Charleston recovery home last week left residents searching for a new place to stay, but members of the local recovery community stepped in to help keep many of them on track.
PAAC House closed its doors Friday after funding issues left employees unpaid for nearly a month, displacing 14 residents, many of whom were still in early sobriety.
For former resident John Boso, the closure came after weeks of uncertainty.
“Services started dropping off, we’d have less counseling, less things going on,” Boso said. “And then before we know it, it’s like, you’ve got to find somewhere else to go.”
Caroline Paxton, a founder of the nonprofit True Freedom, said the sudden disruption raised immediate concerns about residents’ stability.
“I think especially in early sobriety, that’s really stressful for anyone. And so our biggest concern was we want to make sure they were able to continue to stay sober and continue on this like recovery journey,” Paxton said.
Paxton and fellow True Freedom founder Michael Paxton said they already knew many of the men through the nonprofit’s meetings. When they learned the residents had just four days’ notice to find new housing, they began working to secure placements — a process that often involves applications, interviews and fees.
They connected with HopeWorks, a recently opened home, and worked to fast-track interviews the next day. HopeWorks Director Catherine Tyler said she fortunately had many beds open and their transition has been smooth so far.
“They’re doing great so far,” said Tyler. “They are already buddies from the PAAC House, and I think that’s going to be really good for them.”
Six of the men were able to stay together, something former residents said has been critical to their recovery.
“It’s awesome that we’re all together,” one resident said. “Brotherhood was the biggest thing we had going for us. That was the only thing we were sure of.”
The men said despite the sudden closure, due to securing placements they have been able to continue attending meetings and focusing on recovery.
Several residents said they feared the disruption could have pushed them backward in their recovery.
“I was hopeless thought I was going to go right back to the life I was living then bam Mike and Caroline to the rescue it was great,” Alden Smith said.
“I thought I had come all this way for nothing,” said Christian Taylor.
Michael Paxton said helping the men find stability has been worth every effort.
“Just to know these guys, know that they’re safe and they have a place they’re loved. You know, they still have another chance at life,” he said.
Those involved encouraged anyone struggling with addiction to reach out to True Freedom.
West Virginia
West Virginians weigh in on two races for unexpired terms to state Supreme Court – WV MetroNews
West Virginia voters will play a heavy role in shaping the state Supreme Court, which has two of five seats on the ballot.
Although this is a primary election for many other races, it’s the final say-so for these two seats on the state’s highest court.
One election is for an unexpired term to fill the seat formerly held by Justice Beth Walker, who retired last year. The term expires in 2028. Two candidates are running for this seat.
The other election is for an unexpired term to fill the seat formerly held by Justice Tim Armstead, who died last year. Candidates are running to fill out the term that expires in 2032. Five candidates are vying to fill this seat.
Former Walker seat, two years on term
Thomas Ewing was appointed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey to fill the unexpired term until the election.
“What I’ve done is public record,” he said on MetroNews Talkline.
“I’m not running from that. It’s sort of my resume or my statement to the voters. I’ve demonstrated to you how I’ll do this job.”
Ewing served as circuit court judge in Fayette County for eight years before being appointed to the Supreme Court last year.
As a circuit judge, he presided over the Fayette County Adult Treatment Court. He also established and presided over several other programs, including the Fayette County Family Treatment Court, the Fayette County Teen Court and the Fayette County Truancy Diversion Program.
“I think it’s important to continue to have someone with circuit court experience on the Supreme Court,” he said.
He grew up in Hico and is a graduate of Midland Trail High School. He graduated college from Glenville State, where he was captain of the basketball team, and then the West Virginia University College of Law.
From 2004 until 2018, he practiced law with the firm Kay, Casto & Chaney.
“For me, my personal integrity matters, and if you don’t have personal integrity, if you don’t hold yourself personally accountable, then I don’t see how you can uphold the integrity of the judiciary,” he said.
Bill Flanigan is the other challenger for the seat vacated by Walker.
Flanigan is a Wheeling attorney and a Republican member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Ohio County. The Supreme Court race is nonpartisan.
“What I tried to do as a legislator and what I want to do on the court is that our laws should be written in a way that are clear and precise, easily applied and within the purviews of the Constitution as it was originally constructed,” he said on Talkline.
He was first appointed to the House of Delegates in 2016 as a Republican representing Monongalia County, but a cancer diagnosis at that time prevented him from seeking election to the seat.
Flanigan and his family moved from Monongalia County to Ohio County so his son could participate in a program for students with dyslexia. After moving to Ohio County, Flanigan was elected to the House in 2024 and currently serves that district.
Flanigan earned his bachelor’s degree from Salem Teikyo University and his law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law.
“I fell in love with the Constitution. I fell in love with the law — how it affects us, what it does for us and how it can apply to each of us as citizens,” he said.
Former Armstead seat, six years on term
Gerald Titus III was appointed by the governor to fill the unexpired term until the election.
“For me, courts, judges should not legislate, should not wade into policy issues — they should let those leaders lead and simply apply the law,” he said on Talkline.
“My job is very simple. It doesn’t mean it’s easy. There are times that it’s weighty and challenging. But for our government to function properly, I think the court plays a vital but limited role.”
Titus, a Charleston attorney, has 22 years of experience in law practice.
Before his appointment to the Supreme Court, he was an attorney with the Charleston-based law firm Spilman Thomas and Battle
He previously served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, where he worked in the Violent Crime Division.
He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University in Virginia, where he earned both a bachelor’s degree in politics and American history and his law degree.
“I just found myself in a place where I wanted to do more, where I wanted to put that experience to use. I’m in the absolute prime of my legal career. I feel like I have the most to give now as I ever will,” he said.
Laura Faircloth is a veteran attorney who has served as a circuit judge in the Eastern Panhandle for nearly a decade.
She was first elected in 2016 to the 23rd Judicial Circuit covering Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan counties and then was elected in 2024 to the newly created 27th Judicial Circuit, which serves Berkeley and Morgan counties.
“I am the only independent registered to run in this contested election in division one. I’m also the only woman who is running,” Faircloth said on Talkline, referring to her personal voter registration.
“I’m not a good old boy, and I don’t subscribe to backroom politics, which is where deals are made oftentimes. That’s never going to happen in my courtroom, and it will not happen if I’m a justice on the Supreme Court of West Virginia.”
Before her time on the bench, she led her own six-person law firm in Martinsburg.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Shepherd University and got her law degree from the WVU College of Law.
“We are like umpires in a baseball game: We call fouls, strikes and balls. We call outs and safe. And that’s it. And to do anything more is trying to assume a role that we are not permitted to assume because the sanctity of the judiciary is not to allow that,” she said.
Todd Kirby is is a circuit judge in Raleigh County and a former Republican member of the House of Delegates.
In the House, he represented the 44th District in Raleigh County starting in 2023.
He was appointed to the bench by then-Gov. Jim Justice in July 2024 to fill a vacancy and successfully won election to the seat that same year.
“There’s a long history of West Virginia Supreme Court justices having served in the Legislature,” Kirby said on Talkline.
Earlier this year, Kirby appeared at a Health Freedom Day rally at the West Virginia Legislature that focused on school vaccination requirements. But he said his appearance was an expression of his principles and should not be interpreted as him taking a stance on specific cases that might come before the court.
Kirby recused himself from a school vaccine exemptions case in Raleigh Circuit Court last year because of votes he had taken at the Legislature.
Kirby opened his own law practice in Beckley in 2011. His career has been heavily focused on child welfare, including serving as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Raleigh County handling child abuse and neglect cases. He has also worked as a guardian ad litem and as an attorney representing foster parents and respondent parents.
He graduated from Marshall University and got his law degree from Liberty University.
“My area of expertise has been the law and of course now as a circuit court judge. I feel like I have the experience as an assistant prosecutor, as an attorney for respondent parents, for foster kids, as guardian ad litem, my time on the House Judiciary Committee,” he said.
“My conservative credentials and my background, I feel like I’m the right candidate for the state at this time in its history.”
H.L. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick is a senior status judge and a long-time circuit court judge in Raleigh County with more than 30 years of experience on the bench.
“I decided I had plenty of life in me and I could serve West Virginia by serving on the Supreme Court,” Kirkpatrick said on Talkline.
He was first appointed to the bench in Raleigh County by then-Gov. Gaston Caperton in 1995 and was then elected in 1996. He served as the chief judge of the Raleigh County circuit and retired in December 2024.
“I look at myself as a referee,” Kirkpatrick said. “We are required to be impartial and be fair and apply the law in a fair manner.”
Kirkpatrick administered the Raleigh County juvenile drug court for 10 years. He also served on the state Judicial Investigation Commission, which is responsible for enforcing the Code of Judicial Conduct for judges and justices.
After retirement, he was appointed as a senior status judge, a role that allows him to be recalled for temporary assignments.
That way, he presided over the high-profile murder trial of Natalie Cochran, a pharmacist convicted of using insulin to fatally poison her husband. He also filled a vacancy on the Fayette County Circuit Court when Thomas Ewing was appointed to the Supreme Court.
He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and earned his law degree from West Virginia University.
“My strong suit is my experience,” Kirkpatrick said. “I’ve presided over every conceivable type of trial and case from speeding ticket appeals to murder trials. I’ve handled just about anything that could come down the pike.”
Martin “Red Hat” Sheehan is a veteran Wheeling attorney with 45 years in the legal profession, during which he says he has done a little bit of everything.
Sheehan is a former assistant U.S. attorney and federal prosecutor. He has been in private practice since 1990.
He is the former chairman of the Ohio County Republican Executive Committee and has previously run for a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates as a Republican.
Sheehan, speaking on Talkline, said he has been motivated by a backlog in the judicial system.
“I think that’s the big issue for me in this particular campaign is to try to get action by the court in a more timely way,” Sheehan said.
“The court loses its moral authority to help the circuit courts to manage their caseloads as well by not being able to take care of its own house.”
Sheehan notably sued the West Virginia Judicial Investigations Commission in federal court, challenging a rule that prevents judicial candidates from speaking publicly about issues likely to come before the court. He argued the rule is unconstitutional.
“I think I’m dedicated to trying to get something done,” he said. “The problem is it’s very hard for the judges to campaign. I’ve also brought suit, somewhat unsuccessfully at this time, to declare a couple of cannons in the judicial code unconstitutional because they limit the ability to have contact with the public as candidates.
“What you’ll see is, everybody running for the Supreme Court says they’re people of integrity, people of experience, whatever, and nobody is talking about any serious issues about how to fix things at the court.”
Sheehan got his bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and his law degree from Duquesne.
While he appears with the nickname “Red Hat” on the ballot, he was previously known on ballots as “Red Shoes” because of his choice of flamboyant footwear.
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