West Virginia

Delegates tout successes in ‘Jobs First’ and ‘Kitchen Table’ agendas – WV MetroNews

Published

2 months ago

March 15, 2026

Delegates tout successes in ‘Jobs First’ and ‘Kitchen Table’ agendas – WV MetroNews

The Republican majority in the House of Delegates gathered a month prior to the regular legislative session to lay out priorities, especially in policies aimed at economic growth.

On the final day of the session, Delegate Clay Riley, the vice chairman of the House Finance Committee, said much of that mission was accomplished.

Clay Riley

“Jobs First, Opportunity Everywhere: There were really three pillars to that. It was our workforce ready education, it was our job creating business climate and responsible economic development,” said Riley, R-Harrison. “We were able to pass 16 of those bills out of the House this year.”

In a conversation on the House floor, he emphasized several:

The skills to work act: “Really getting our kids to get ready to enter into that workforce.”

Industrial access roads and business ready sites: “Job creating, business economy.”

And an airport development hangar fund: “Responsible economic development.”

Riley said delegates started developing the agenda last April or May, “and we said ‘What do we begin to do?’” He said that will likely happen again on issues like brownfields development. “I fully expect us to do that again,” he said.

Kitchen Table focus

The Democratic Caucus in the House of Delegates spent weeks last year traveling around the state to listen to West Virginians. That helped them develop a “Kitchen Table” agenda.

That meant an emphasis on practical issues like utility bills, healthcare, childcare and housing. The Democrats have just just 9 out of 100 House members so that meant continuing to push.

House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, said the minority caucus was able to use its focus to influence the entire chamber. The result, he said, was the House of Delegates as a whole emphasizing development and affordability issues — with less focus on culture issues.

“I think it was huge,” Hornbuckle said. “And I think you have to give it context from our Kitchen Table Tour. First of all, our Kitchen Table Tour completely changed the trajectory of the West Virginia Legislature. Prior years it was all about divisive issues and things that did not move the needles.

“Now we have not had a lot of landmark legislation this session, but noticeably, Republicans changed their tune and went very much in a pro-business direction. That is directly attributed to us in talking about kitchen table issues.”

Focus on consumers

AARP of West Virginia focused on a range of consumer protection issues, in particular legislation meant to better regulate the kinds of cryptocurrency kiosks that have been popping up in storefronts.

The organization for older Americans called that push a success that will result on better consumer protections for West Virginia.

H. B. 5353, backed by the organization, proposes a comprehensive legal framework to integrate virtual currency kiosks into the state’s existing money transmission laws.

Roger Calhoun, volunteer state president for AARP West Virginia, said the legislation will put up guardrails.

“There’s been many, many cases — millions of dollars of people who’ve been talked into going down to a crypto kiosk machine, putting in money, to pay a fine, to get their kid out of jail, to pay their house payment, to take care of fraud at a bank — just all kinds of scams, pushing thousands of dollars that goes into a machine, gives them no receipt,” he said.

He continued, “We think we had a fraud package this year. We also had a package dealing with gift card fraud. As you may be aware, that’s also a place the scammers talk people into going to buy gift cards to pay off something, to pay off some kind of debt, a fine. So we got to see legislation that’s going to be helpful.”

Not everyone was pleased by legislative results.

Attempt to lower property taxes fails

Senate Finance Chairman Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, blamed the House of Delegates for not acting on a proposed amendment to the West Virginia Constitution regarding property tax relief.

“They just took non action on it,” Barrett said.

The resolution aimed to double the existing homestead exemption for qualifying residents from $20,000 to a minimum of $40,000. If voters had a chance to approve it, the amendment would have provided substantial tax benefits to homeowners who are permanently disabled or at least 65 years old.

Moreover, the proposal would have granted individual counties the authority to further increase this exemption amount through local ballot initiatives.

Senate Joint Resolution 11, with Barrett as the lead sponsor, was adopted by the Senate on Friday. In the House of Delegates, it never moved.

Barrett said he was “highly disappointed.”

“Apparently, the House of Delegates just doesn’t see that helping seniors with their property taxes a priority, even though they had had negotiated and talked and agreed to do it just a few days ago,” Barrett said after the session ended. “So it’s just another disappointing effort by the House of Delegates.”

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West Virginia

West Virginia DMV warns public about increasingly sophisticated scams

Published

1 hour ago

May 7, 2026

Press Room

West Virginia DMV warns public about increasingly sophisticated scams

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As scammers become more sophisticated, the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles is warning the public about new and continuing scams circulating around the country.

Scams play on fear and request immediate action.
Scams rely on something you didn’t know you owed, because you don’t.
Scams rely on confusion. Some common themes of recent scams are unpaid parking violations or turnpike tolls. DMV does not collect these.
Recent scams pretending to be DMV have arrived by text, but scams can be delivered on paper or by email. A recent scam claiming to be from Kanawha County Municipal Court even used the state seal.
As scams become more sophisticated, they can look like real communications, so if you are unsure you can call DMV at (800) 642-9066 to verify if you receive something suspicious claiming to be DMV.

Continued focus on making the public aware of scams is necessary as scams continue to evolve. Please share the word with family, co-workers and friends who may not be on social media or watching the news.

DMV’s website is dmv.wv.gov, and its toll-free phone number is (800) 642-9066. DMV will always take the time to answer guests’ questions.

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West Virginia

West Virginia couple charged in York County COVID-era rent fraud cases

Published

13 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Press Room

West Virginia couple charged in York County COVID-era rent fraud cases

The Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General filed charges in York County against a West Virginia man and woman, who allegedly got thousands of dollars in COVID-era rent assistance funds under false pretenses.

Chester Joseph Little, 41, and Dawn Lea Caltrider, 43, of Orma, West Virginia face felony theft and forgery charges filed Monday, May 4, in York County in connection with getting funds through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) through filing fraudulent applications.

According to court documents, on Nov. 8, 2023, the assistant director of the York County Department of Human Services contacted the Office of the State Inspector General about suspicious ERAP applications and suspected that Little and Caltrider received funds under false pretenses.

On Sept. 24, 2021, court records indicate that Caltrider applied for ERAP funds for rental assistance for a residence in the 1500 block of Route 116 in Spring Grove, which Little claimed was his property and was paid $1,500 a month in rent and had not been paid between February 2021 to October 2021. Little asked York County Community Progress Council (CPC) to pay him for the months Caltrider was behind in rent plus rent for October 2021 through January 2022 and $18,400 was deposited in Little’s bank account.

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It was later found that the owner of the property on Route 116 was Caltrider’s sister. Caltrider and Little had lived there for a period before they moved out. Little had allegedly presented a fake lease and mortgage agreement as part of the ERAP application, and Caltrider falsely claimed she lived at the address.

Court documents also indicated that Little signed an application for ERAP benefits Oct. 6, 2021 for a home in the 400 block of Rear Pleasant Street in Hanover and reported Caltrider as his landlord. Caltrider allegedly filled out the landlord portion of the application and said that she was paid $2,000 a month and Little had not paid rent from February 2021 to October 2021. She applied to the York County Community Progress Council (CPC) to pay her what was in arrears plus rent from November 2021 through January 2022 and requested funds, totaling $24,000, be deposited into her bank account.

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A 2023 investigation uncovered that the property in the 400 block of Rear Pleasant Street was a self-storage business and was not owned by Caltrider, who allegedly presented a fake lease and homeowner insurance policy as part of the ERAP application.

More charges were filed against Caltrider after she allegedly provided another false application on Oct. 22, 2021. According to court documents, Caltrider applied for rental assistance for an address in the first block of Abbie Road in Spring Garden Township posing as her daughter and claimed to be the landlord of the address and received $17,200 in ERAP funds. Investigators found that the daughter had never lived at the address after questioning her. Authorities say Caltrider presented a fake lease and homeowner insurance policy and presented an altered Pennsylvania birth certificate in that case.

Caltrider alone faces five counts of felony forgery and one felony count each for identity theft, theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception in this particular case.

As of Wednesday, May 6, neither Little nor Caltrider had seen a judge regarding the charges.

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West Virginia

West Virginia Lottery results: See winning numbers for Mega Millions, Daily 3 on May 5, 2026

Published

1 day ago

May 6, 2026

Press Room

The results are in for the West Virginia Lottery’s draw games on Tuesday, May 5, 2026.

Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on May 5.

Winning Mega Millions numbers from May 5 drawing

12-22-50-51-55, Mega Ball: 10

Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Daily 3 numbers from May 5 drawing

7-1-6

Check Daily 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Daily 4 numbers from May 5 drawing

2-1-0-0

Check Daily 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash 25 numbers from May 5 drawing

03-04-05-09-10-14

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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