West Virginia

West Virginia to receive $1.2 billion in federal funding for broadband access

Published

2 years ago

June 26, 2023

West Virginia to receive .2 billion in federal funding for broadband access

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – A historic day for West Virginia and for the more than 250,000 West Virginians that lack access to high speed internet.

Today, Senator Joe Manchin held a virtual press conference alongside Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, to discuss the Bipartisan Infrastructure Laws Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program (BEAD).

The program would give West Virginia $1.2 billion of federal funding to ensure that everyone in the state has access to affordable and reliable internet.

“This has been a major, major movement for us for a long time,” Senator Manchin said. “Now to have the resources for us to complete it, there will never be another time that we will have the opportunity to make sure every West Virginia household has high speed internet.”

Secretary Raimondo said that affordability is a major factor in this decision and ensured that it will be considered when discussing state broadband plans.

“In order for us to approve the states plan, we need to be convinced that everyone will have internet at a price they can afford,” Secretary Raimondo said.

This program is a part of a larger broadband access initiative that would distribute over 42 billion dollars to all 50 states and five territories.

Senator Manchin calls on every county to ensure that every town and city within their county receives this information and says this puts West Virginia on the map.

“Now we are able to come home to West Virginia and say we will now be able to compete anywhere in West Virginia and with anyone in the world,” Senator Manchin said. “

Source link

Click to comment

West Virginia

ESPN Bracketology: West Virginia Rises Again, Officially Off the Bubble in Latest Projection

Published

22 minutes ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

ESPN Bracketology: West Virginia Rises Again, Officially Off the Bubble in Latest Projection

Darian DeVries probably wasn’t all that thrilled with how his team performed in their final game ahead of the Christmas break, but the Mountaineers were still able to take down Mercyhurst by a 67-46 score, finishing non-conference play with a 9-2 record.

The last couple of weeks have been cupcake central for West Virginia, which was much needed after the challenging start to the schedule they had and then, of course, what awaits them when they return to the floor with Big 12 Conference play beginning,

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi has continued to move WVU up in his NCAA Tournament projections over the last month. In his Christmas Day projection, he finally has the Mountaineers safely off the bubble and in the field as a No. 9 seed in the South Region.

1. Auburn vs. 16. Southern/American

8. Clemson vs. 9. West Virginia

5. Memphis vs. 12. Furman

4. Texas A&M vs. 13. High Point

6. Ole Miss vs. 11. Drake/Saint Mary’s

3. Oregon vs. 14. UMass Lowell

7. Michigan vs. 10. Utah State

2. Kentucky vs. 15. Montana

West Virginia will have the next few days off before traveling to Lawrence to take on the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 opener on New Year’s Eve.

West Virginia

Examining West Virginia's lost offensive production after the 2024 season

Published

12 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Examining West Virginia’s lost offensive production after the 2024 season

West Virginia is in the midst of a roster overhaul as new head coach Rich Rodriguez starts to build from the ground up. In the last weeks, the Mountaineers have lost dozens of players either to the transfer portal or to eligibility loss, and we look at how much production from this past season will not be returning.

On offense, about 20 guys who recorded snaps this past season will not be returning to the Mountaineers. Nine are out of eligibility, and nine have entered the transfer portal, while that number could still increase.

On offense as a whole, West Virginia has lost 83.25 percent of the total snaps played. 64.52 percent of the snaps lost are due to running out of eligibility. Out of WVU’s top four snap totals, all four came on the offensive line.

Three of them exhausted their eligibility (Ja’Quay Hubbard, Nick Malone, Brandon Yates), and the fourth (Tomas Rimac) entered the transfer portal.

Number of Snaps Lost

Note: In the table above, under the column ‘Total Percentage Lost’, the 52.42% and 46.58% are the share of the total number of snaps played, not the total numebr of snaps played at each position

At the quarterback position, Garrett Greene does not have any remaining eligibility. Greene accounted for just about 30 percent of WVU’s rushing yards, 84 percent of WVU’s passing yards, as well as 22 percent of their scores on the ground, and 75 percent of their passing touchdowns thrown.

At running back the loss of CJ Donaldson looms large. He accounted for 29 percent of WVU’s rushing total this season and between him and others who tallied up much lesser totals, West Virginia has lost 60.21 percent of their rush yards from this past season.

At the receiver position, it’s even more drastic. West Virginia has lost Hudson Clement, DayDay Farmer, Traylon Ray, Justin Robinson, and Kole Taylor, among others who were some of WVU’s top pass catchers. The Mountaineers have lost 76.23 percent of their receiving yards from last year as well as 80 percent of their receiving touchdowns.

Offensive Production Lost

Overall, there is a significant loss on the offensive side of the ball.

West Virginia lost most of their passing game as well as their receiving game due to guys leaving the program. While it’s easy to point to Greene in the passing game because he was the starting quarterback for the majority of the year, most of the production lost at receiver was due to guys entering the transfer portal. At running back, it was roughly a 50-50 split between what percent was lost to the portal and what was lost to eligibility, as Greene as well as Donaldson, were the main contributing factors there.

———-

• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.

• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel

• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @wesleyshoe

•Like us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok

Source link

West Virginia

2 charged in death investigation, victim identified

Published

20 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

2 charged in death investigation, victim identified

UPDATE 11:50 P.M. 12/24/2024

MASON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ)-Two people are facing charges in connection with a death investigation in Mason County.

Investigators found the remains of a man Tuesday who had been reported missing. The remains were found along Broad Run Road in Letart.

Authorities arrested Brandon Harbaugh and Jodi Gerlach a short time later.

Harbaugh and Gerlach are charged with concealment of a deceased human body and conspiracy, according to Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Seth Gaskins.

Investigators identified the victim as Michael S. Phalen, 65, of New Haven, West Virginia. Investigators say Phalen was reported missing Dec. 12.

Harbaugh and Gerlach were arraigned Tuesday night in Mason County are in the Western Regional Jail on a $75,000 cash or surety bond.

UPDATE 7 P.M. 12/24/2024

MASON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -A death investigation is underway after human remains were found in Mason County, according to Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Seth Gaskins.

Investigators found the remains of a missing adult male along Broad Run Road in Letart on Tuesday afternoon.

The Mason County Prosecuting Attorney identified the victim as Michael S. Phalen, 65, of New Haven, West Virginia.

Gaskins said that two individuals have been arrested in connection with the investigation. Both are charged with concealment of a deceased human body and conspiracy, although their identities have not been announced.

Source link