West Virginia
West Virginia families raise addiction awareness with billboards of overdose victims
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — Addiction, its a sickness West Virginians are all to familiar with, and the life shattering impacts that come along with it.
“It’s gut-wrenching,” said Lorie Messinger. “It’s hard, it will bring back every memory in a matter of seconds that you have of your child or somebody else’s child that’s here.”
Lorie Messinger lost her son to an overdose. Since his passing she’s worked along side Leona’s Legacy of Love. Most recently putting up billboards in Huntington with the faces of families loved ones who lost their lives to overdoses.
“I hope that it brings awareness to what’s going on and people are not so judgmental,” Messinger said. “That they don’t criticize. That they’re actually kinder.”
In April the West Virginia Department of Human Services reported a 40% decrease in overdose deaths in 2024.
Despite the decline, families across the state like Rikki Abbott’s who’s brother is memorialized on the billboard are still seeing the impacts substance abuse has had on the ones they love.
“By the time that my brother was deep in his addiction, I’d already lost my dad and my mother,” Abbott said. “My dad was, before we even knew what it was, and he was on very strong medication. He was addicted to it. And then my mother had struggled as well and I lost her to suicide.”
Abbott hopes the faces of lost loved ones like her brother incline people to take the step towards recovery.
“If you’re in Huntington and you’re struggling with substance use disorder, I hope you see it and you think about it,” Abbott said. “And you realize how much those people were loved and what it meant for people to put their loved one on that board and that you would seek help.”
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — The Moundsville Police Department is investigating a pharmacy break-in that led to the theft of a large amount of narcotics.
Police said the burglary happened in the early morning hours of June 30. Investigators said the suspects broke a window, went behind the pharmacy counter and stole the narcotics.
Authorities believe the suspects are from outside the area.
Police said the suspects used a stolen Infiniti Q50. The vehicle was later recovered by Ohio authorities near Cambridge.
The investigation is ongoing and involves law enforcement agencies in multiple states.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Moundsville Police Department at 304-845-1611.
The United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox on Tuesday, ruling that states may exclude transgender athletes from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
The justices were unanimous in their analysis that the laws do not violate civil rights laws. However, the court was split on whether West Virginia’s law stood up to constitutional muster.
The ruling concludes this chapter in the ongoing cultural debate. The Save Women’s Sports Act was overwhelmingly approved by the legislature and signed by then-Gov. Jim Justice in 2021, and was almost immediately challenged in court. The legal battle trudged on for the next five years on its way to becoming a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Tuesday’s ruling settled the legal debate, but the court of public opinion weighed in on the issues long before the justice issued their legal opinions. According to Pew Research, 66 percent of U.S. adults support laws requiring athletes to compete on teams that match their biological sex. A Gallup poll found similar results, with 69 percent of adults supporting such laws.
West Virginia is not alone in passing a law to protect women’s and girls’ sports. Twenty-six other states have recognized the basic fact that there are differences between males and females and have chosen to pass legislation acknowledging those distinctions in athletic competition.
Lawmakers, who campaigned on protecting women’s and girls’ sports, can now tell constituents that they have fulfilled their campaign promise. The Save Women’s Sports Act is now the law of the land in West Virginia.
“I would say that for the foreseeable future, we have a very certain future for women’s sports. And here in West Virginia, we know what the rules are, we know what the law is, we know that it’s constitutional,” said West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey on Talkline.
Tuesday’s ruling also presents an opportunity for legislators to move on from the issue. Discussions surrounding the topic during the legislative session have been known to grind momentum to a halt, and Republicans running for office over the last five years have made it a centerpiece of their campaigns.
The issue is now settled, at least for now.
As J.B McCuskey cautioned,
“In the world of constitutional litigation, Dave, there’s never an end to any chapter.”
CHARLESTON, W.Va (WCHS) — As the conversation around two large transmission lines being built through parts West Virginia continues, the biggest question remaining is, will ratepayers be impacted?
The Valley North project is on the table and it would span from Putnam County to Frederick County, Maryland, totaling to 260 miles. Two new substations would also be built, one in Hardy County and the other in Frederick County Maryland.
According to the project website, these lines would strengthen the grid to deliver more reliable and affordable electricity to homes, hospitals, schools and businesses.
Energy Efficent West Virginia policy director, Emmett Pepper said, building these lines will not strengthen the power that we get at home.
“We have some of the least reliable electricity in the country here in West Virginia. That’s not because of the large transmission lines that we see their tower above us. It’s because of the local distribution lines, the ones that come close to our homes. While there can be some small amount of benefit potentially from the big transmission lines going in, it is the local lines that are the problem and that is not being addressed by this,” he said.
Lawmakers we spoke with earlier this month said between both transmission line projects, West Virginia could have to front the bill for anywhere between $440 million to $900 million.
“This is going to be more cost for rate payers and will not fix our problems here. There are other places in the region that have issues with transmission, but that’s not our issue,” Pepper said.
He said he’d like to see state leaders take action to ensure these costs don’t fall back on ratepayers.
“I think we need to have a rate payers’ bill of rights that would actually protect people and have a plan for how we’re going to deal with this so that it has less of an impact on rate payers,” he said.
Multiple open houses are scheduled for this project in West Virginia:
-Berkeley County, WV: July 7, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Holiday Inn Martinsburg Foxcroft Ballroom
– Hampshire County, WV: July 8, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m Bottling Works Event Center
– Tucker County, WV:July 8, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m.Tucker County High School
– Hardy County, WV: July 9, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Misty Mountain Event Barn
– Barbour County, WV: July 15, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Philippi Middle School
– Lewis County, WV: July 16, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Robert L. Bland Middle School
– Upshur County, WV: July 16, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. The Event Center at Brushy Fork
– Harrison County, WV: July 21, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. South Harrison High School
– Preston County, WV: July 21, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Craig Civic Center
– Calhoun County, WV: July 22, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Calhoun County Middle-High School
– Gilmer County, WV: July 22, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Glenville State University Waco Center
– Braxton County, WV: July 23, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Days Inn Flatwood Conference Center
– Grant County, WV: July 23, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Landes Arts Center
– Kanawha County, WV: July 28, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Sissonville Middle School
– Roane County, WV: July 28, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Spencer Armory
– Jackson County, WV: July 29, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Greene Center
– Putnam County, WV: July 29, 2026 | 4:00 – 7:30 p.m. Poca High School
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