West Virginia
Statewide school safety precautions continue to expand – WV MetroNews
![Statewide school safety precautions continue to expand – WV MetroNews Statewide school safety precautions continue to expand – WV MetroNews](https://wvmetronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Nitro-High-School-Bus-scaled.jpg)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As school districts come into session across the state, West Virginia Department of Education’s efforts to advance safety standards in schools continues to take central focus.
School Safety Director Jonah Adkins said WVDE’s School Safety Unit with the Division of Homeland Security has been taking a variety of measures to enhance those standards statewide.
Adkins said a big step they have recently been taking is through emergency preparedness drills they have been conducting across districts in each region.
The effort began in Logan County. Wednesday Putnam County Schools were conducting the drills at an undisclosed school location.
He said the districts utilize the department’s deployment system to send out a “real threat” alert as what would be conducted in the case of an actual emergency.
“It’s a test obviously, but treating it as if it were a real threat to see response times from law enforcement from EMS services and whomever else may need to be involved,” Adkins said.
He said it’s a process that needs continuous refinement to make sure schools have the quickest emergency response time they can have.
Adkins said the challenge is that with many schools being located in rural areas, the presence of law enforcement isn’t always close by, and that conducting these drills help schools take matters into their own hands as well, if need be.
He said, however, that many counties continue to work on employing School Resource Officers and armed security within their schools. Adkins said it’s most encouraging for them to keep qualified officers on hand.
“That is very positive I believe, the more presence that we can get from law enforcement officials in our schools, especially within rural areas, the better I know I’ll feel each day that students are in our buildings,” he said.
Adkins said they are looking into implementing SROs in every school building in the state. He said it would be roughly just over $30 million to achieve.
Adkins said the biggest challenge is acquiring the manpower that comes with it, and finding not just any law enforcement officer, but the appropriate one to serve within that capacity.
“I think everyone I talk to is in agreement that is really does take a special person to fill that role, someone that can build positive relationships with students at the same time as they are protecting the school,” he said.
Adkins said some counties are also further advancing safety technology in their school districts through the installation of facial recognition software at the entrances of each building.
He said he paid a visit to Marion County who recently installed the technology, and he said he was impressed to see how it works.
“It really is impressive because what they can do is they can keep all of their students and staff metrics, so when someone approaches the door it automatically recognizes that this person is supposed to be here, if it’s someone they do not recognize, principals, secretaries, they get an alert,” Adkins said.
Adkins said they hope to one day implement the facial recognition technology throughout all of the schools in the state.
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West Virginia
2024 Battle 4 Atlantis bracket: Gonzaga faces West Virginia, could see Arizona in title game
![2024 Battle 4 Atlantis bracket: Gonzaga faces West Virginia, could see Arizona in title game 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis bracket: Gonzaga faces West Virginia, could see Arizona in title game](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2400,h_1350,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/gonzaga_nation/01j5tqnrg0rfy1brey8p.jpg)
The Gonzaga Bulldogs will take on the West Virginia Mountaineers on Nov. 27 in the first of three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
The bracket for the 8-team event over the Thanksgiving holiday that was revealed Wednesday morning sets up a matchup against either Indiana or Louisville in the second game on Nov. 28. On the other side, Arizona takes on Davidson while Providence and Oklahoma battle.
Here’s the complete 2024 Battle 4 Atlantis schedule.
Nov. 27 – Quarterfinals
9 a.m. PST — Louisville vs. Indiana (Game 1)
11:30 a.m. PST — West Virginia vs. Gonzaga (Game 2)
2 p.m. PST — Oklahoma vs. Providence (Game 3)
4:30 p.m. PST — Davidson vs. Arizona (Game 4)
Nov. 28 – Semifinals
Noon ET – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
2:30 p.m. ET – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser (consolation bracket)
5 p.m. ET – Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
7:30 p.m. ET – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser (consolation bracket)
Nov. 29 – Championship
11 a.m. ET – Seventh-Place Game
3 p.m. ET – Third-Place Game
5:30 p.m. ET – Championship Game
The Mountaineers, ranked No. 83 in Bart Torvik’s 2024-25 projections, head into their first season under new head coach Darian DeVries, who helped guide Drake to the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons. His son, Tucker DeVries, is set to join him down in Morgantown, West Virginia, for his senior season. Tucker, the No. 15-ranked transfer on EvanMiya.com, was twice named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and put up 21.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game last season.
West Virginia also landed sophomore guard Sencire Harris (Illinois) and junior Javon Small (Oklahoma State). Former Washington State point guard Joseph Yesufu is also part of the Mountaineers’ incoming transfer portal class that ranks 17th in the country on EvanMiya.com.
Gonzaga has won the last five matchups against West Virginia, including the last time the two schools met in Indianapolis, Indiana, during the 2020-21 season, when the Bulldogs prevailed 87-82 behind 21 points from Joel Ayayi.
Both of Gonzaga’s potential second-round opponents made drastic changes this offseason as well. The Hoosiers look like an NCAA Tournament-caliber team on paper after coach Mike Woodson brought in Myles Rice (Washington State), Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford) and Luke Goode (Illinois) to mix with three of the top four scorers from last season. Ranked No. 31 on Torvik, Indiana returned the reigning Big Ten Rookie of the Year in Mackenzie Mgbako and 6-foot-5 senior Trey Galloway.
Woodson also brought in former Gonzaga and Arizona big man Oumar Ballo to hold down the frontcourt.
Louisville is expected to be relevant once again under new coach Pat Kelsey, who brought in a transfer portal class that ranks second in the nation behind only Saint John’s. Wisconsin transfer Chucky Hepburn, a 6-foot-2 senior, was Big Ten All-Defense last season and No. 21 on EvanMiya.com’s rankings. Koren Johnson (Washington), Aly Khalifa (BYU) and J’Vonne Hadley (Colorado) also headline the list of newcomers.
Of course, the storyline to follow will be the potential matchup between Mark Few and his old assistant Tommy Lloyd in the Battle 4 Atlantis title game. The Wildcats appear ready to compete for the Big 12 title after they returned All-American guard Caleb Love, rising junior Jaden Bradley, sophomore KJ Lewis and 7-foot-2 center Motiejus Krivas. Lloyd lost some big names in the transfer portal, namely Kylan Boswell and Ballo, but he brought in two proven scorers at the mid-major level in Anthony Dell’Orso (Campbell) and Trey Townsend (Oakland).
Should the Zags and Wildcats handle their business in their first two games, a potential top-25 matchup between West Coast powers would mark the first head-to-head meeting between Few and Lloyd.
West Virginia
Greene County fugitive arrested in West Virginia
![Greene County fugitive arrested in West Virginia Greene County fugitive arrested in West Virginia](https://ogden_images.s3.amazonaws.com/washington.ogdennews.com/images/sites/5/2023/11/20214059/default_img-1.jpg)
A Greene County man accused of running an illegal chop shop – and who had possible ties to Mexican drug cartels – was arrested in West Virginia over the weekend after being on the run for weeks.
Jimmy Lee Butterfield, 43, of Perry Township, was located Saturday by Monongalia County sheriff’s deputies while visiting a gas station near Morgantown, W.Va.
Greene Regional police Chief Will DeForte said the deputies were preparing to raid a house in the area where Butterfield was suspected of staying overnight when he pulled up to the gas station in a pickup truck near where they were staging. Deputies surrounded his vehicle, but had to break one of the truck’s windows to arrest him when he refused to get out.
Butterfield is being held at the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County, W.Va., while awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania.
Greene Regional police charged him with numerous felonies after officers raided his Perry Township home in the 200 block of Dunkard Avenue on July 2 while investigating a motorcycle theft out of Cumberland Township. While there, DeForte said they discovered suspected crystal meth with the same packaging that is typically found coming from pharmaceutical labs in Mexico.
“The (drug cartel) connection here is very real,” DeForte said.
The suspected drugs were sent to the state police crime lab for evaluation, and DeForte said they’re awaiting the results before filing any drug-related charges against Butterfield. Police did charge him Aug. 1 with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, destruction of vehicle identification numbers, owning a chop shop, prohibited possession of a firearm and escape in connection with the alleged chop shop operations. Police searched a home and a detached garage, where they found three motorcycles and an all-terrain vehicle, all with vehicle identification numbers that had been destroyed, DeForte said.
Butterfield has been on the run since the raid on his house until the Monongalia County sheriff’s deputies located him in the Morgantown area after receiving tips from confidential informants, DeForte said.
“He was staying at anybody’s house who would let him hang his hat,” DeForte said. “He was bouncing around, but most of the area where he was staying was across the border in the Morgantown area.”
Jail records show he was booked Saturday night and is being held without bond. Butterfield is not facing any charges in West Virginia, meaning his extradition back to Pennsylvania can be expedited.
West Virginia
WV Folklife Program preserves and presents the art of West Virginia’s everyday traditions – Dominion Post
![WV Folklife Program preserves and presents the art of West Virginia’s everyday traditions – Dominion Post WV Folklife Program preserves and presents the art of West Virginia’s everyday traditions – Dominion Post](https://www.dominionpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20231105ApprenticeShowcase_273_DxO-scaled.jpg)
Your father’s peanut brittle recipe that you bring into the office every holiday.
The slightly lopsided sweater that keeps you warm on chilly winter mornings, knit with the skills learned from your aunt.
Spring days spent teaching your children the same morel foraging tips your grandfather shared with you when he was your age.
Traditions are a focal part of our everyday lives as West Virginans, as Appalachians and as Americans — whether it’s something we’re conscious of or simply carry out instinctively. The state Humanities Council’s West Virginia Folklife Program is just one way the vibrant arts and traditions of the Mountain State are being kept alive and shared with the next generation, fellow West Virginians of all backgrounds and non-West Virginians alike.
The council biennially invites specialists of Appalachian traditions and their apprentices to apply to its West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. The program seeks renowned masters of their art to impart their expertise on an enthusiastic mentee. Selected pairs receive approximately $3,800 to be used for a year of one-on-one, personalized guidance in their chosen tradition.
The program has seen a variety of arts and traditions since its start in 2015. Last year’s seven mentor-apprentice pairs’ specialties included mushroom foraging, soul food cooking, Appalachian storytelling, clawhammer banjo, old-time fiddling, fiddle repair and fiber arts.
“We’re facilitating this opportunity to pass on traditional knowledge, and we’re also offering an opportunity for people who live [in West Virginia] to learn about, get excited about and to celebrate the traditional practices that are existing and carrying on here,” said state folklorist and program director Jennie Williams. “[It’s also] something to be proud of and something to let people know about in other states. This is a chance for us to show what we do, what we’re proud of and the things that are meaningful to us.”
This is accomplished not only through the mentorships themselves, but also the ways the experience is shared beyond apprentice and mentor. Throughout their time in the program, participants are asked to share their art with their community, whether it be through a public demonstration or performance, a workshop or other form of public event. At the end of the apprenticeships, a series of public showcases present the ways each pair honed their skills in the year spent learning together.
The techniques learned, art created and experiences shared don’t end with the mentorships, either — through its public access online archive, the ever-growing WV Folklife Program Collection, the WV Folklife Program also documents photos, interviews, creative works, music and more that reflect the cultural value and significant figures of West Virginia folklife.
Although preservation of cultural practices is vital, Williams emphasizes that traditions are not only meant to be passed along, but to grow and find new form.
“Tradition as a concept isn’t static. It needs to adapt in order to carry on,” said Williams. “It’s important to see how the apprentice and teaching artists are keeping their tradition relevant in a contemporary context, so that they may be adding their own creativity to it. If they don’t do that, then it can be really hard to carry on a traditional practice. You want to be able to associate your own meaning and memories to it. You want to be able to see yourself in it.”
Program alumni James Froemel of Maidsville and his mentor, Bil Lepp, worked to strengthen this very skill, among others, during the 2022–23 session of the program. The pair focused on the age-old art of Appalachian storytelling, a timeless way to bring community together.
“There’s this interactive element to storytelling. It’s alive. One of the biggest elements is that you have this shared light; you can see your audience, they can see you and it becomes this great reciprocity of storytelling,” said Froemel. “It reminds people that there are ways to engage with stories differently, and that they can not only hear the story but they have the opportunity to then retell the story. They’re part of this tradition of keeping the story going and passing it along.”
Storytelling has been a vital part of Froemel’s life for well over a decade, but his apprenticeship with Lepp broadened his knowledge of the art, mastery he himself passed along at storytelling camps during his apprenticeship.
An unexpected lesson of the program, however, was not of his own skill but the passions of his peers.
“When you apply for the apprenticeship, you’re kind of in your artistic bubble. Then you get into it, and you realize just how eclectic the idea of folklife is,” said Froemel. “It was really inspiring to see the support that existed for all of these different artistic mediums, some of them I was familiar with, some I was not. It was really just an inspiring environment to be in.”
This same discovery and inspiration is part of what Williams hopes the WV Folklife Program can bring to life for West Virginians of all backgrounds. Here in the Mountain State and across the country where similar projects have been founded, the program has proven to do just that: get people excited about and engaged with the creative practices of their families and communities.
Applications for the 2024–25 WV Folklife Apprenticeship program conclude Aug. 26 and will reopen in 2026. For more information, visit https://WVFolklife.org. Reach out to Williams at williams@wvhumanities.org with questions. Visit the WV Folklife Program Collection at WVFolklife.lib.wvu.edu.
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