West Virginia’s roster is loaded with star talent (by WVU’s standards) on both sides of the ball, and even special teams. But there are more than a handful of players that don’t quite get the recognition they deserve.

Who are they?

In this week’s fan poll, I asked who the most underrated player was on the roster giving the following options: WR Preston Fox, DL Edward Vesterinen, C Brandon Yates, and TE Treylan Davis. It just so happens that they finished in that exact order of receiving votes. Fox won the poll pretty comfortably with 41.3%, Vesterinen checks in at second with 30.7%, Yates in third with 19%, and Davis finished fourth with 9%.

Fox is without question the most underrated player on the roster, in my opinion, so I’ll agree with the fans. He catches pretty much everything thrown his way and makes the difficult ones look easy. I’m sure Jaden Bray and Traylon Ray will get more targets, but when the Mountaineers need to move the sticks, look for Fox to be who Garrett Greene looks to.

I threw Vesterinen in there as a bit of a wrinkle because although he probably doesn’t get the attention during game broadcasts, most WVU fans realize the value he brings on the defense. I would argue the same could be said with Yates, who has played a ton of football and started at several positions. If it were a redshirt freshman or sophomore that had no starting experience, I think there would be greater concern with the center position heading into the season.

Davis would have been my second choice because he truly flies under the radar, living in the rather large shadow of Kole Taylor. Sure, Davis doesn’t pose the same threat in the passing game, but he’s capable of making some plays. He’s improved that aspect of his game each year while also remaining the top blocking tight end on the roster. Davis is just as important to the Mountaineers’ success on the ground as anyone lining up across the offensive line.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On Thursday, Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin and GAI Consultants held a media briefing at the Kanawha County Library to unveil a first look at a draft concept of the Capital Connector Project.

The Capital Connector is a project that aims to connect Charleston’s East End and West Side by enhancing the area by the Kanawha River, specifically the Kanawha Boulevard Walk and Bikeway.

The project will begin at Magic Island on Charleston’s West Side and will go for over three miles to the base of the 35th Street Bridge. Upgrades will also come to parts of Greenbrier Street connecting the East End and the West Virginia State Capitol Complex.

Mayor Goodwin says plans are coming to fruition and just now becoming available for the public, but the work to get this project started goes back to the beginning of her time in office.

“Five and a half years ago when I first became mayor, we started on this,” Goodwin said Thursday. “We started going after the funding to do this type of planning. This is something that, for five and a half years, we’ve been working on, but honestly, the city has been asking for this for decades.”

Charleston received a $25 million RAISE grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation in late June after receiving over $1 million in 2023 to do an initial study.

Kanawha County resident Heidi Talmage says she was surprised at how much funding is going towards the project.

“I was stunned at how much funding is going to be available for this project,” Talmage said. “It sounds like they are really expecting to be able to do something very meaningful and not just a little band-aid on a long-term problem.”

Talmage also says she thinks this project bringing in more people to the city.

“I think this is going to be a big benefit to the town and to make it more attractive to a bigger variety of people,” Talmage said.

One of the ways the Capital Connector Project may attract more people to the city is the vision to enhance commuter trails along the Kanawha Boulevard. To make the Kanawha Boulevard Walk and Bikeway better, the City of Charleston and GAI Consultants want to reduce four to five 12-foot traffic lanes, allowing for expansion of the pedestrian pathway. In addition, the concept has intersection signal modifications, lighting upgrades, and better stormwater management.

James Yost, Landscape Architect manager for GAI Consultants, says this project means a lot to him and is worth the long days and late nights.

“I’ve lived in Charleston my entire life,” Yost said. “At 36 years old, I’m able to do my most important project that I’ve ever had to do to date. I’m very excited every day I get to work on this. We’ve had many late nights, and it doesn’t matter because I’m enjoying every minute of this.”

Yost was the main presenter at the hearing Thursday night, and he answered questions from community members about the plans.

Community members were able to write in public comments Thursday evening to help expand the vision and can do so until September 14.

Goodwin says it’s the citizens that need to make their voices heard so the project can be catered to them.

“We can come up with what we think would be really great for the city, but it’s you,” Goodwin said. “It’s the public telling us, ‘Hey, I saw this when I was traveling to this city,’ so obviously there’s great inspiration you’re going to see from different cities, but it’s coming from our public.”

Goodwin says there are so many ideas for the project, that some may be put on the backburner to fit the budget.

“The construction grant is $25 million, that’s the funding that we have,” Goodwin said. “We also have to look at what we actually can do within those budget restraints.”

Yost says GAI and the city are keeping their eye on future projects that might not be within the budget.

“We are also looking at even future projects as well,” Yost said. “We’ve highlighted a few areas along the trail that might not be within this first round of money that we get, but it’s something else that we can add on to because the $25 million is going to go so far and then there’s always the future as they continue to add on to the space and then expand into the communities as well.”

There will be another meeting regarding the Capital Connector Project in the coming months that will focus on design development.

A summer 2025 groundbreaking is the goal for the Capital Connector.

CHARELSTON, W.Va. — Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power customers continue to display their opposition against a $265 million rate increase.

Four organizations, West Virginians for Energy Freedom, WV Citizens Action Group, People’s Action Institute and 350 Network Council came together for a ‘Bills Too High Rally’ in front of the AEP Office in Charleston Thursday afternoon to address the increasing power bills.

However, the event was not only a way to address their concerns of the rising energy costs, but advocate for locally-owned and renewable energy solutions. 

Emmett Pepper is an attorney who has been representing various organizations going before the state Public Service Commission on the matter. He said the company’s aim to raise customers rates by 15.4% is very concerning.

“Of course I’m wearing the city council hat too, I’m concerned about the constituents as well, a lot of low-income folks are going to be affected by this,” Pepper said.

Another spokesperson of the event, Tyler Blake last week started an online petition called ‘AEP Stop the Hike’ after he felt something needed to be done. He said the petition has now reached nearly 500 signatures.

Blake said the petition reflects a resounding sense of anger from all who are living pay check to pay check and on a fixed income as it is.

“People in West Virginia who are current rate-payers of AEP or Appalachian Power are aggravated, they’re upset and they cannot afford these rate hikes,” Blake said.

He said he also took the petition door-to-door around different communities from Princeton to Huntington.

The power company filed the request for the increase with the PSC a couple of weeks ago and Thursday’s rally marked a series of several pushback events that have been held in West Virginia since then. If approved, it would increase the average residential bill by approximately $28.72 a month.

Blake said he doesn’t understand how the utility company has the audacity to raise the bill by such an extreme amount considering many are relying on disability checks and social security.

“When I went to the public hearing on Monday at the PSC in Charleston, I was sitting there and I was listening to the stories that people were giving and I mean, they’re absolute tear jerkers, you had people there, mothers there who were crying and begging and pleading to the PSC and to AEP not to allow this rate increase,” he said.

At the same time, AEP is also in the middle of another rate hike and fuel cost case where they are seeking a rate increase of $20.4 million under what’s called the Expanded Net Energy Cost. They held a hearing on Monday for that as well.

Pepper said what’s not being publicized much about that particular case is the fact that it will significantly increase rates for small businesses, churches, and schools by 25 to 30%.

In addition, he said there’s also another concern where the company is not letting those trying to be more energy efficient off the hook either.

“The other thing that may have not been as well publicized that’s concerning is that if an individual looks at a big rate increase like that coming and says ‘well, gosh maybe I should just buy some solar panels so I can cut some of my cost,’ according to the proposal, they actually are making it harder for people to even go solar, slashing the amount of a credit that you get if you have solar panels,” Pepper said.

According to the organizations that were host to Thursday’s rally, West Virginia has some of the highest growing electricity rates in the country due to the state’s dependency on privately owned power companies that prioritize profits over affordable energy solutions.

However, it’s part of a movement across 17 states to secure more affordable energy as well accountability from for-profit utilities. There are currently over two dozen similar events taking place across the country this week.

Blake said people can still sign the petition by going to his ‘AEP Stop the Hike’ Facebook page as well as get up-to-date on the movement.

He encourages everyone to sign it to help remind the power company that they don’t accept the hikes.

“Your voice needs to be heard, you deserve to be heard, you’re the one paying the bill,” Blake said. “We want your voice to be heard, AEP needs to know that you can’t afford these rate increases.”

He said you can also test him at (304)908-0089 and it will automatically send you a link to the petition to sign online.