West Virginia
West Virginia middle school student dies after sustaining injury during football practice
Cohen Craddock, 14, died on Saturday after he sustained injuries during a Friday football practice in Madison, West Virginia. An outpouring of support has been seen as news spread through the area.
A West Virginia community is mourning the loss of a middle school athlete who died Saturday, one day after he was injured in football practice.
Cohen Craddock, an eighth-grade student at Madison Middle School in Madison, West Virginia, died on Saturday after sustaining injuries during a Friday football practice. Madison is located about 30 miles outside of Charleston, the state capital.
Joseph Smith, executive director of the Boone County Ambulance Authority, told local news station WSAZ that medics responded Friday to Madison Middle School to treat a football player who sustained a head injury.
Cohen was then taken to a hospital for further treatment; a day later, on Saturday, he succumbed to his injuries. The Boone County Ambulance Authority, who responded to his injuries posted a memorial for Cohen on their Facebook page.
“Today we’re all Redhawks and our hearts are heavy with the unimaginable loss of a bright young athlete in our community,” the post said.
The Boone County Schools Superintendent Matthew Riggs released a statement of behalf of the schools.
“The entire Boone County Schools’ community is beginning to mourn the loss of Cohen Craddock, an 8th-grade student at Madison Middle School. As a Redhawk, Cohen was loved by his classmates, his teachers, his administrators, and the entire Madison Middle School staff,” the statement said.
An outpouring of support came following the news from nearby communities with Roane County High School posting a memorial on their Facebook page.
Schools around the US mourn fallen athletes
Cohen’s death in West Virginia is the most recent in a handful of cases that have generated headlines around the country as football season is getting underway, including some with unique circumstances.
In Alabama, Caden Tellier, the quarterback for Morgan Academy in Selma suffered a brain injury during the team’s home opener on Friday and died the following day. Tellier’s death followed that of New Brockton 14-year-old Semaj Wilkins, who suffered a medical emergency during an afternoon football practice on Aug. 13 and passed away.
In Kansas, 15-year-old Ovet Gomez-Regalado died two days after suffering a medical emergency in an Aug. 14 practice at his high school outside of Kansas City.
And in Hopewell, Virginia, Javion Taylor, 15, died after doing about 40 minutes of light drills on Aug. 5.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
West Virginia
WestCare West Virginia opens male residential facility in Buckhannon
BUCKHANNON, W.Va (WDTV) – WestCare West Virginia cut the ribbon for its Hope in the Mountains complex on 22 N. Locust Street. The new facility will treat men with substance abuse issues with the hopes of fighting the drug epidemic in West Virginia.
Each room in the complex includes 56 beds, a television set and clean bathroom. Stephen Wright spoke ahead of the ribbon cutting along with Buckhannon officials. He said this facility differs from others on how they approach treatment.
“We really focus on the individual and the individual needs and focus on their progress in the program versus a number of days that a person is in treatment. So it’s really individualized,” said Stephen Wright, chief operating officer of WestCare Appalachia. “So we still need aftercare, outpatient counseling, and those things. But this really gives an opportunity for an intervention to break that cycle for individuals struggling with addiction. Because lots of times they must be separated from the living circumstances that they’re in at that time.”
Copyright 2026 WDTV. All rights reserved.
West Virginia
West Virginia Scores Rehearing Over Drug Discount Injunction
A federal appeals court agreed to rehear West Virginia’s request to lift an injunction barring enforcement of state restrictions against drugmakers seeking to limit discounts to pharmacies under a federal program.
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted Thursday West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey’s request to rehear en banc arguments over a preliminary injunction. All active judges in the court will review the case after a three-judge panel in March ruled to keep the state’s SB 325 temporarily blocked while litigation plays out over the law.
The court said the case is scheduled for oral argument …
West Virginia
Heavy rain, flooding affect multiple north-central West Virginia counties – WV MetroNews
BARBOUR COUNTY, W.Va. –Rainy conditions in the Mountain State are expected to subside after six days of continuous rainfall across West Virginia.
On Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch and a flood watch for most of the state as rain continued moving across the region.
NWS Meteorologist Tom Mazza said north-central West Virginia counties—including Wirt, Calhoun, Lewis, and Barbour—were hit hardest by rain showers throughout the day.
“That whole stretch just south of Clarksburg, Clarksburg got a little flooding too, but that area did get hit with the flooding, along with tree damage, so severe thunderstorms there as well,” Mazza said.
In Jane Lew, located in Lewis County, West Virginia, the town hall posted on Facebook that the town park will be closed due to flooding. Officials said it will remain closed until they can assess the damage caused by the flooding.
In Harrison County, the town of Lost Creek also experienced heavy rain and flooding.
Barbour County Emergency Manager Corey Brandon said they received several rounds of heavy rain throughout the day Wednesday.
He said this caused flooding in areas that typically experience flooding during heavy rain events.
“Which resulted in a lot of water getting out of the ditch line, and also our streams and creeks getting out of their ditch lines and causing a lot of problems for a lot of low-lying areas,” Brandon said.
He said they saw a lot of rain in the Clemtown, Moatsville, and Nestorville areas, which they hadn’t seen since 2018.
Brandon said they also had to relocate an elderly woman because rising water was nearly blocking the only access road to her home.
“She had some mobility issues, so the fire department requested that we get her out of the house just in case something were to happen overnight and weren’t able to get to her after that point,” he said.
Brandon said emergency services and the Philippi Fire Department were able to reach her and relocate her to a hotel until the water recedes.
He said that while crews were assisting the woman at her home, areas they typically monitor were beginning to recede.
Brandon said officials are now monitoring local rivers to ensure they do not rise out of their banks.
“Now were anxiously awaiting for the streams and creeks to subside and now we’ll be watching the local rivers to make sure that they stay in their banks as well,” he said.
said that after the rain seen since last Thursday, the region should experience a brief dry spell.
“Leftover showers in the morning (Thursday), clouds and fog, with a gradual clearing during the day Thursday, then it looks like we have several days of nice weather, seasonal spring weather to allow us to dry out,” he said.
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