CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — Highway officials have taken the next steps necessary to replace a bridge deck for one of West Virginia’s busiest spans.

Charleston’s Fort Hill Bridge was the topic of discussion Wednesday as West Virginia Division of Highways engineers met with officials from the Federal Highway Association and city leaders from Charleston and South Charleston, according to a news release from the DOH.

The news release accompanies the launch of a public website which provides a timeline for the project:

FEBRUARY 2026

The DOH plan to meet with first responders, elected officials and business owners to gather input on the project.

MARCH 2026

The deck replacement is expected to be advertised.

JUNE 2026

Bids for the project will be accepted.

AUGUST 2026

Contractors will build median crossovers that will be used by traffic during the deck replacement.

DECEMBER 2026 – JANUARY 2027

Work will be suspended for the holiday season.

JANUARY 2027 – DECEMBER 2027

Interstate 64 will be reduced to two lanes east and westbound. The deck replacement is expected to be complete on Wednesday, Dec. 1.

MAY 2028

Crossovers will be removed and other minor work will be completed.

Contractors are expected to work 20 hours shifts six days per week until the project is complete. The DOH noted contractors will be offered financial incentives to finish early.

The 50-year-old span was under construction last year as contractors patched potholes and put down an impermeable membrane to prevent water from reaching the concrete deck.

The bridge carries roughly 100,000 vehicles per day across the Kanawha River in West Virginia’s capital city.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — One mark of good teams is finding ways to win when being far from your best.

Perhaps that explains why first-year West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge found so much satisfaction in the Mountaineers’ 59-54 victory against Kansas State on Tuesday night, one in which the home team overcame a lengthy scoring drought in each half to improve to 13-0 at Hope Coliseum.

“This was probably my favorite win,” Hodge said. “It would’ve been easy to say it wasn’t our night, we didn’t have it and none of us could make a shot. To our guys’ credit, they found a way, kept believing and there was no panic.”

The Mountaineers (14-7, 5-3) failed to score for nearly 6 minutes to start the game and suffered through a drought of more than 7 minutes in the late stages.

The latter drought came after Brenen Lorient scored with 10:19 remaining to leave WVU with a 45-41 lead.

WVU then missed its next seven shots and turned it over three times, before getting a follow-up basket from Treysen Eaglestaff with 3:17 to play to cut what been a 49-45 Wildcat advantage in half.

Another second chance on WVU’s next possession led to Eaglestaff’s go-ahead three off the wing with 2:08 remaining.

“You’re kind of seeing Trey’s evolution as a player,” Hodge said. “He was a high level scorer and now he’s finding ways to impact winning when maybe he’s not having his best shooting night.” 

After Chance Moore split two free throws, the Mountaineers came up with a key stop and got a triple from Honor Huff to lead by five, though Kansas State (10-11, 1-7) immediately countered with a P.J. Haggerty trey to trail 54-52 with 1 minute left.

Then came the most pivotal sequence of the night, with Eaglestaff following up his miss with a bucket on a play in which he was also fouled. He converted the free throw for a conventional three-point play to give WVU a five-point advantage with 43 seconds remaining.

“They out-toughed us down the stretch,” Wildcats’ head coach Jerome Tang said. 

Haggerty answered with a bucket to make it a three-point margin, and the Wildcats got the ball back after Huff missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Haggerty’s off-balance triple in an effort to tie was well off the mark.

Huff then sealed the verdict by making two free throws with 8 seconds left for the final margin.

Not until Moore got free on a fast break for a dunk 5:49 into the game did WVU score, at which point the Wildcats led, 7-2.

“It was a slow start for both teams,” Huff said. “We were just giving them the ball. Couldn’t get anything going. We were missing shots. I got pulled out early. It was about maintaining focus as a group.”

K-State’s largest advantage was 13-5 after a David Castillo triple, one that Tang felt could and perhaps should have been a good bit more.

“Each guy was trying to make their own play. I felt if we’d have kept sharing it like we did to start, instead of being up eight, we maybe could’ve been up 14,” Tang said.

Sure enough, after WVU managed five points over its first 17 possessions, the Mountaineers came to life offensively. Huff led the charge by making four treys over a stretch of 5:01, the last of which allowed WVU to lead by eight.

“We had one stretch where Huff made four threes without a dribble and the scouting report was to make him dribble,” Tang said. “We can’t have those kind of errors. We’re not good enough to overcome those.”

Eaglestaff accounted for the next bucket to make it a 10-point game, though the Wildcats were back to within six at halftime despite Haggerty, the Big 12’s top scorer, being held scoreless on 0 for 7 shooting over the first 20 minutes.

“You feel good about it, but you’re a little nervous about it, because you’re only up six,” Hodge said. “You’ve done a really good job on him, but you know he’s a great player you can’t hold down for two halves.”

WVU gained its second 10-point lead at 34-24 when Lorient scored in the paint 2:45 into the second half, but the Wildcats got treys on successive possessions from Haggerty and Nate Johnson to draw back to within four.

The Wildcats’ first lead of the second half came at 47-45 on Johnson’s fast break layup and neither team scored for the next 4-plus minutes.

Huff scored a game-high 17 points to go with eight rebounds, while Eaglestaff scored 12 and led all players with nine boards. 

Lorient overcame two fouls in the first 6:29 to finish with 10 points and six rebounds.

“His response was incredible,” Hodge said. “Was proud of him for not letting his early foul trouble derail his entire game.”

Haggerty scored 16 points on 6-for-19 shooting and was limited to two free-throw attempts. He entered averaging 23.4 points on better than 48 percent shooting.

“The coaches came in with a really good game plan,” said WVU guard Jasper Floyd, who was on Haggerty for much of the matchup. “They showed us his strengths. As a group, we did a great job not allowing him to play to his strengths.”

Castillo added 15 points and Johnson contributed 13 in defeat.

Taj Manning’s nine rebounds led KSU, but the Mountaineers won the board battle 38-31 and had 15 second-chance points to KSU’s four.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — A West Virginia lawmaker from Taylor County delivered a pointed speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, calling for sweeping reform of Child Protective Services following the death of 11-year-old Miana Moran — a case that has raised more questions about the state’s child welfare system.

Sen. Jay Taylor (R-Taylor) opened his remarks by holding up a photograph of Miana, urging lawmakers to see her not as a statistic or a case number, but as a child who “deserved protection.”

The child died Feb. 16, 2025. She weighed 43 pounds at her autopsy, according to investigators.

Her measurements were “grossly inconsistent with her chronological age,” Taylor County Deputy Chris MacQueen wrote in the court document charging Moran’s custodian, Shannon Robinson, with her murder. MacQueen said the medical examiner also noted Moran had head lice, a yellowish tint to her skin, bones “visibly protruding” because of her extreme thinness, and multiple bruises and lacerations on her body.

Last Tuesday, Robinson was indicted on charges of murder of a child by a parent, guardian, or custodian by refusal or failure to provide necessities, and child neglect resulting in death. The child’s father, Aaron Moran, was arrested on Saturday after being indicted on the same charges.

Taylor said lawmakers cannot ignore what has been publicly revealed about CPS’s involvement before the child’s death.

Taylor County Prosecuting Attoney John Bord told Eyewitness News that CPS visisted the home where Miana Moran, 11, was found dead weeks before her death in Feb. 2025. (WCHS)

Last week, Taylor County Prosecuting Attorney John Bord confirmed during an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News that CPS visited Robinson’s home, where Miana and her older sister lived, multiple times prior to the girl’s death, including within weeks of her dying.

Bord said CPS workers made physical contact with the child during the final visit, though he could not specify who made the referral or what allegations were made.

“I think the department has some responsibility in this, too,” Bord said, referring to the West Virginia Department of Human Services. “Again, we haven’t gotten anything to say that specifically, but you asked me my opinion, and it’s my opinion.”

Shannon Robinson, 51, of Grafton, is being held without bond following an arraignment hearing on Thursday. She’s accused of the murder of Miana Moran, 11. (WCHS)

“If those reports are accurate, West Virginians are right to ask an obvious and fair question,” Taylor said. “How did this happen?”

Gov. Patrick Morrisey confirmed last week that DoHS has opened an internal investigation into CPS’s handling of the case.

“That alone tells us what every West Virginian already knows,” Taylor said. “Something went wrong, and it cannot be ignored.”

He rejected early claims that Mianna was homeschooled, noting reporting from Eyewitness News that confirmed she was enrolled in a public virtual school program through Upshur County Schools.

Aaron Moran, 42, of Grafton, was arrested by West Virginia State Police on Saturday. (WVDCR)

“We owe the public the truth,” Taylor said. “Because wrong diagnosis leads to wrong reforms.”

Taylor told senators that legislation is now being drafted to overhaul CPS oversight and accountability. He said the goal is not political gain, but restoring public confidence in a system tasked with protecting vulnerable children.

“We cannot accept a system where the agency investigates itself behind closed doors and elected lawmakers are left unable to confirm that children are truly being protected,” the senator remarked.

Taylor acknowledged long-standing concerns raised by CPS officials, including staffing shortages, high caseloads, and low pay, but said those realities cannot excuse systemic failure.

“Those challenges may be real,” he said. “But they are not an acceptable excuse for failing a child.”

He criticized what he described as a culture of secrecy within CPS, arguing that while confidentiality can protect children, it can also shield the system from scrutiny.

Sen. Jay Taylor (R-Taylor) holds up a photo of Miana Moran, 11, during a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday where he called for CPS reform in light of details revealed following her death last year. (WV Legislature/Photo by Will Price)

“Secrecy without oversight does not protect children,” Taylor said. “It protects systems.”

Taylor called for meaningful legislative oversight, improved documentation, supervisory accountability, and transparency into CPS decision-making — without compromising the privacy and dignity of children.

The senator concluded by urging lawmakers to confront the reality that failures are often only revealed after a child has died.

“We have failed in our responsibility to our children,” he said. “That is hard to say, but it is necessary to say, and acknowledging that failure is the first step towards fixing it.

DoHS has not responded to a request for comment regarding the case.

Eyewitness News has filed Freedom of Information requests seeking records related to CPS involvement before and after the girl’s death. On Monday, assistant general counsel Lauren Withers said the agency was currently researching to determine any public records in its possession that are responsive to the request and not otherwise exempt by law.

“We anticipate having a final response to your request no later than February 26, 2026,” Withers said.

In 2024, Kyneddi Miller, 14, was found dead in a “skeletal state” in her Boone County home.

In 2024, Kyneddi Miller, 14, was found dead in a “skeletal state” in her Boone County home. The case marked a turning point in West Virginia, exposing widespread breakdowns in the state’s child protection system and prompting major scrutiny of how abuse and neglect cases are handled. (Family Courtesy Photo)

Advertisement

The case marked a turning point in West Virginia, exposing widespread breakdowns in the state’s child protection system and prompting major scrutiny of how abuse and neglect cases are handled.

Documents obtained by Eyewitness News showed child protective services knew or should have known about the teen more than a year before her death.

A Nov. 2025, a federal audit found the state did not comply with 91% of investigation requirements when responding to reports of child abuse and neglect.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said news coverage of Kyneddi’s death prompted the audit that sampled 100 of 23,759 of West Virginia’s screened-in family reports of child abuse and neglect from Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024.

State lawmakers have introduced bills this session attempting to bolster accountability for DoHS.

House Bill 4579 would require CPS workers to wear a body camera while investigating reports of child abuse and neglect. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it hasn’t yet been taken up for consideration.

“The time is now to reform child protective services in this state,” Taylor said. “Not with rhetoric, not with excuses, but with accountability, transparency, and responsibility worthy of the trust West Virginia’s place in us.