CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia State Parks is expanding its partnership with a popular distillery to sell its bourbon across the Mountain State.

The Lewisburg-based distillery Smooth Ambler has partnered with the state parks since 2023 to offer unique blends of its Old Scout Bourbon exclusively at restaurants and lounges located at Cacapon Resort, Canaan Valley Resort, Pipestem Resort, Blackwater Falls, Chief Logan, Hawks Nest, Stonewall Resort and Twin Falls Resort state parks.

On Monday, the state parks and Smooth Ambler have announced an expanded collection to be served at Audra, Blennerhassett Island, Cass Scenic Railroad, Coopers Rock, Babcock and Lost River state parks. The new line will also be available for purchase at select stores around West Virginia.

Andrew Robinson, Smooth Ambler’s blending and processing manager, is happy to see the partnership continue.

“We are pleased to honor our state parks with special labeling that showcases the natural beauty and spirit of West Virginia,” Robinson said. “We hope folks will enjoy our hand selected bourbon as much as they enjoy exploring the trails and nature in our state parks.”

The original line of drinks will still be available at their respective lodge restaurants.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A 24-hour, toll-free number is helping schools and counties all over the state.

The West Virginia Safe Schools Helpline is a number anyone can call any hour of the day to report violence, threats, harassment, or anything that negatively impacts students. Residents that call the number speak with an actual person every time, and do not have to provide confidential information.

Department of Education Safety Investigator James Agee presented data 2025 data about the helpline during the state board of education’s December meeting.

He says plenty of calls have been put in.

“They received 278 helpline reports that have went out so far this school year. That’s down from 439 this time last year,” Agee said.

“Among those reports are some things like student behavior issues that could include bullying or some other student concerns that could be on a bus or a school building. Occasionally, there are some alarming things about some suicidal ideations on the part of students, and also some more serious threats like maybe a gun threat,” he continued.

The helpline goes out to the affected county superintendents, a number of state department officials, and if serious enough, local authorities.

According to Agee, over two dozen calls have garnered serious attention.

“There’s about 30 immediate threats that have been there so far this school year. Before they put the report out, they get in direct contact with the county 911 center.”

Agee says the helpline also include issues with private schools.

“One notable threat last month was fellow students reported a middle school student that had talked about bringing a gun to his private school the next day. That went out, the county superintendent knew the director of that school, had contacted that director within five to 10 minutes,” Agee said. “They had developed a plan with the regional school safety officer, and within an hour, there was a law enforcement officer at the door talking with the students’ parents to address that threat.”

Agee says all the effort that goes into the helpline is worth it to provide an extra line of defense.

“In my view, this has been a great success and the money and expense and time that went into it proves that it’s working every day,” he said.

The West Virginia Safe Schools Helpline is 1-866-723-39-82.

BECKLEY, W.Va. — The 2025 fall enrollment report presented to the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission shows 57,017 students enrolled which is 942 more students than last year.

The student enrollment is not growing at WVU Tech in Beckley, in fact, it shows the most significant decline in enrollment in the last five years at 25 percent. Enrollment has dropped to just more than 1,200 students.

More specifically, enrollment has decreased by 408 students in those five years including 66 fewer students this fall than last fall.

WVU moved WVU Tech from Montgomery to Beckley in 2017. The Montgomery campus had about the same number of students then that the Beckley campus has now.

WVU Tech Dean of Enrollment Kent Gamble said despite enrollment challenges the school’s programs are doing well.

“They’re attractive and students are coming to them,” Gamble said last week on WAJR’s Talk of the Town. “Now, some of the other programs we may need to get out and recruit a little more and do some marketing.”

Gamble said high school enrollments in the area are falling. He said Tech must put more emphasis on the dual credit (enrollment) program involving high school students. He said it’s a positive starting point for any student considering post-secondary education and can be an important confidence builder for first generation students.

“It’s a great introduction because you can say to the students that you can be successful, you can do well in college look how you did in this in course while you were in high school for dual credit,” Gamble said.

WVU Tech officials conducted interviews last week for the next leader of the dual credit program.

“We’re looking for a coordinator for our program, so we’re excited to have some candidates on campus,” Gamble said. “Quality individuals that we think can move that enrollment needle with that program back up to about 500 students where we were in 2021.”

Gamble said WVU Tech hopes to take further advantage of its Metro Tuition Rate to use as an incentive for students outside the state of West Virginia. The rates can save students in Virginia thousands of dollars,” he said.

“We’re very close to the metropolitan areas of Christiansburg, Roanoke, Wytheville, as well as Charlotte and now we have the Metro Program to help us recruit out-of-state students.”

Gamble said they would like to follow the retention and freshman retention rates WVU in Morgantown had had in recent years. While first-time freshman enrollment increased by seven percent across the WVU system, the 2025 retention rate from freshman to sophomore was more than 85 percent.

“We’re also focusing on retention and strengthening retention- that is something the administration would like to do,” Gamble said. “We know we have some work to do in retention and we feel like that will move the enrollment needle.”