West Virginia
Lawmakers eyeing changes to the PSC as the legislative session is underway
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — With utility rates raising concern among many people across the Mountain State, lawmakers in the West Virginia Senate are eyeing ways to bring change.
Senate Bill 119, introduced by Cabell County Democrat Senator Mike Woelfel, would require Commissioners of the Public Service Commission to be elected rather than appointed.
“At this point, the fact that the commissioners are appointed by the governor really gives the citizens really no accountability in terms of holding folks responsible for these high utility rates,” Woelfel said.
According to move.org, people in the Mountain State pay the highest average water bill in the country at $121. They also found people in West Virginia are paying around $42 more per month for utilities this year compared to last.
Woelfel said West Virginians are facing some of the highest utility rates in the country, and this bill would add an extra layer of accountability and oversight.
“There’s not a consumer representative on there,” he said. “The deck is stacked in favor of utilities and this is not a panacea. This is one measure among others that I’d like to see enacted that would help our residents in terms of managing the utility costs.”
Woelfel’s bill is being supported by Ohio County Republican Senator Laura Chapman, proving it’s a bipartisan effort.
“I think that again, transparency and accountability needs to happen in this arena because we have more energy resources under our feet in West Virginia than Saudi Arabia,” Chapman said. “Why are our costs the number one in America?”
Chapman is also proposing legislation that would put a freeze on utility rates, giving the PSC about a year’s time to find solutions to curb rate hikes, something both Chapman and Woelfel said is a step in the right direction.
“So they’ll be evaluating if there’s any cost drivers, if there’s infrastructure costs that are too astronomical and doesn’t make sense for the public to have to pay for,” Chapman said.
For the first time since the 2015-16 season, the West Virginia Mountaineers women’s basketball roster will feature a West Virginia native.
Wheeling product Alexis Bordas transfers in after having a tremendous freshman season up the road at Duquesne, where she averaged 15.5 points (ranked fifth in the A-10) and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting 34.6% from beyond the arc. At season’s end, she was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team.
Morgantown’s Olivia Seggie was the last West Virginia-born player on the women’s hoops roster.
Of course, WVU was Bordas’ dream school. Pretty much her entire family went to school here and grew up coming to Mountaineer games, so Mark Kellogg probably didn’t have to do much convincing once he made it known that they wanted her.
“Chase Harler’s from Wheeling, so I came to a lot of his games. Jevon Carter, my brother, loved him. We watched a lot more of the men back then, but Kysre Gondrezick, she was someone that I always watched.”
When asked what it’s like to finally be in a Mountaineer uniform and practicing with the group, she responded, “Yeah, it’s great to finally be here and get to meet all my teammates and become such good friends with them already. It’s been super fun, and just seeing the difference from day one to now, and how much we’ve progressed already, it’s super exciting to see.
“All the fan support last night, we had an event, and just seeing all the fans and how it’s June, and everyone’s already so excited and rallies around this team,” she added. “I know it’s extra special being from West Virginia, and I’m sure lots of little girls will look up to me and hope to be playing here one day, so it’s great to be a role model for them, too.”
Nine times last season, Bordas registered 20+ points, and of course, as a true West Virginian would, she had her best performance against the Pitt Panthers, dropping 38 on them in an 84-69 win. She went 11/22 from the field in that one, including a 10/18 day from three-point range.
Bordas is a high-volume shooter from range, as 58.8% of her attempts came from downtown last season. When you shoot 34% from there and can maybe hit the high 30s, no one will care about the shot diet being so reliant on the three-ball.
Under the new rules, Bordas will have four years of eligibility remaining.
Follow
CLENDENIN, W.Va . (WSAZ) – Gov. Patrick Morrisey visited Clendenin West Virginia Saturday during Summerfest.
10 years ago a devastating flood swept through the community.
The governor announced $450,000 of funding for a Streetscape project during a commemoration for the June 2016 flood. The funding will go toward Clendenin’s main street – improving sidewalks, landscaping, and other pedestrian amenities.
Funding for the project comes from the Transportation Alternatives Program – a federal initiative to fund smaller scale transportation projects.
Copyright 2026 WSAZ. All rights reserved.
It was a phenomenal year for the West Virginia Mountaineers on the diamond, and even with the season having been over for over a week now, the honors continue to roll in.
On Friday, second baseman/catcher Gavin Kelly and left-handed starting pitcher Maxx Yehl were both named First-Team All-Americans by D1Baseball.com. It is the first time in program history that two Mountaineers have been recognized as First-Team All-Americans in the same season.
Gavin Kelly
Kelly was essentially everyone’s pick to have a breakout season for the Mountaineers in 2026, but I’m not sure anyone expected him to do it the way he did. He hit nearly .400 all year and went on a power surge out of nowhere toward the end of the season, becoming one of the top home run hitters in the country over the last month or so of the year.
Kelly was named a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, the MVP of the Morgantown Regional, and is currently participating in the Team USA Collegiate National Team training camp in Cary, North Carolina. For the year, he hit .382 with 19 home runs and 63 RBI, cementing himself as a top draft prospect in 2027.
Maxx Yehl
Maxx Yehl was one of the best stories in all of college baseball that didn’t get talked about nearly enough. He was forced to sit out the 2025 season as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery, and prior to this season, Yehl worked exclusively out of the bullpen. The plan all along was to eventually stretch him out into a starter, and in his first year in the role, he was one of the best in the entire country.
Steve Sabins and Co. did a good job of playing it safe with him early, letting him only go two and four innings in his first two starts before turning him loose. There were a couple of moments where Mountaineer fans had to take a deep breath after he was removed from two starts, one of which was in the Morgantown Regional against Kentucky. He bounced back strong and two days later, pitched a gem against the Wildcats, helping the team advance to the super regionals for the third straight season.
Yehl finished the season with a 9-3 record, an ERA of 2.13, and 112 strikeouts to just 26 walks. He was also the first WVU hurler to win Big 12 Pitcher of the Year since Alek Manoah, who did it in 2019.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
-
Sports5 minutes agoJ.T. Poston posts a 12 on a single hole at Travelers Championship in stunning meltdown
-
Technology12 minutes agoMidjourney’s wild body scanner scans you in water
-
Business15 minutes agoWhy tech stocks are getting hammered
-
Entertainment20 minutes agoSigh. Again? ‘Love Island USA’ confirms another contestant fired over apparent use of racial slur
-
Politics30 minutes agoCommentary: This California bill is so bad it has me agreeing with a Trump Republican
-
Sports42 minutes agoWife, kids of Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas in Caracas when earthquakes hit Venezuela
-
World50 minutes agoStars, Stripes, VIPs and Protests: Brussels hosts US Independence bash
-
News1 hour agoCan the so-called nanobubbler save the Reflecting Pool? | CNN Politics
