Times West Virginian • 13th March 2024

Fairmont Catholic School students get firsthand civics lesson from circuit court judge

FAIRMONT — Lucy Sole, 8th grader at Fairmont Catholic School, got her first taste of what a future as a lawyer might look like Tuesday afternoon.

Marion County Circuit Court Judge David Janes hosted 7th and 8th grade students from the parochial school in his courtroom, taking time from his schedule to introduce them to the legal system.

When Janes asked the students who was interested in becoming a lawyer, Sole’s hand shot up almost immediately.

“I really enjoyed the trip, it was very nice an

Times West Virginian • 6th March 2024

Fairmont State rolling out community health needs assessment this week

FAIRMONT — Fairmont State is using a routine health assessment survey to glean insight about the community’s overall health picture.

“It’s to gain information for stakeholders of a health care organization to determine what they need to do and what steps to implement for the community to remain a healthy community,” Autumn Durr, one of the graduate students conducting the survey, said. “Some of the questions, like is it a stable place to raise a family? Everybody wants that. Do they have that,

Times West Virginian • 24th February 2024

Coal company ordered to pay $9.1M in overdue fees for renting the Grant Town Power Plant

FAIRMONT — The long running saga of a corporate landlord chasing its overdue tenant for rent money came to a conclusion Friday with a final order from West Virginia Business Court Judge Michael Lorenson.

American Bituminous Power Partners must pay roughly $9 million dollars in back rent to Horizon Ventures. Ambit also owes Horizon interest on the back rent it is required to pay Horizon for renting the Grant Town Power Plant.

The case originated as a dispute over back rent between Ambit and Hor

Times West Virginian • 22nd February 2024

Solar expansion can resume in West Virginia after Solar Holler, FirstEnergy reach agreement

FAIRMONT — Solar energy users who sell energy back to the energy grid maintained by FirstEnergy Corp. will no longer have their sale price cut by half.

Dan Conant, founder and CEO of Solar Holler, announced the news Wednesday at a virtual press conference. Solar Holler installs the infrastructure buildings need to become capable of harnessing the sun’s rays to generate electricity. They intervened on behalf of solar users in front of the West Virginia Public Service Commission to advocate again

Times West Virginian • 21st February 2024

Four years on, WVU Medicine's management earns rave reviews at Fairmont Medical Center

FAIRMONT — Since 2020, DD Meighen has been to the emergency room at Fairmont Medical Center three times.

He was diagnosed with cancer, leading to health complications which require periodic health interventions.

“The care is exceptional there,” Meighen said. “Every time, I’ve been extremely pleased and extremely satisfied with the rotating doctors and everything. Even my family from Clarksburg who live close to UHC chose to come to Fairmont to the ER because they know of their ability to see y

Times West Virginian • 30th January 2024

Longwall mining job fair offers a chance for 'all the blue collar families'

BRIDGEPORT — Despite coal’s decline as a major producer of electricity, Allegheny Metallurgical expects coal for steel and alloy production to be a major economic driver for West Virginia going forward.

The company held a job fair Friday at the Bridgeport Conference Center, seeking experienced mine workers to support its mine in Volga, West Virginia.

“The market for metallurgical coal is strong and very important to industry, to green initiatives because it’s used to make steel,” an Allegheny

Times West Virginian • 3rd February 2024

Mon County Health Department gives kids something to smile about

MORGANTOWN — Tiffany Summerlin, registered dental hygienist, bends over Gael Garcia, one of the children present for Monongalia County Health Department’s Give Kids a Smile! event at its dentistry office.

His mother, Llorleni Garcia, stands out in the hallway. They are uninsured. Llorleni immigrated to the country two years ago from Nicaragua. She does not speak English, and works through a translator to speak to Summerlin.

“I brought him for a cleaning,” Garcia said. “I also wanted to ask som

Times West Virginian • 19th January 2024

West Virginia's cannabis industry could get an upgrade with new legislation

FAIRMONT — Cannabis is getting the old college try again in the West Virginia State Legislature.

Del. Evan Hansen, D-79, introduced HB-4873 into the House of Delegates, which seeks to establish a framework under which adults over the age of 21 can legally consume cannabis products in the state of West Virginia. Del. Joey Garcia, D-76, of Fairmont, is a cosponsor on the bill.

“Cannabis, I think, in many ways can be less dangerous than alcohol, which is regulated,” Garcia said. “And we’ve seen o

Times West Virginian • 30th December 2023

AI drives silent arms race in security field

ABOUT THIS SERIES: The applications of artificial intelligence — AI — are growing exponentially and will continue to do so as the technology advances even more.

Today, CNHI and the Times West Virginian continue an ongoing series looking at AI and its potential benefits and concerns in various parts of everyday life. This latest part revisits AI and its use when it comes cybersecurity. Previous parts of the series have looked at AI’s use in education, health care, business, social media, emergen

Times West Virginian • 1st December 2023

Fairmont's Soup Opera finds some dry ground to rest on while repairs are made to building

FAIRMONT — This week, there’s a good news, bad news situation going on at the Soup Opera.

The good news is that Director Misty Tennant and her team have found a semi-permanent location out of which to perform their work. The bad news is that their holiday plans have had to change.

“The main thing that we’re saddened about is that we will not be doing our Christmas giveaway,” Tennant said. “It’s just not going to happen. Everyone’s been calling about where they should take their donations. Ther

Times West Virginian • 24th November 2023

Thanksgiving secured but work not done at Soup Opera

FAIRMONT — The local community rallied around Soup Opera to save Thanksgiving, but the work to get the aid organization back on its feet is only getting started.

“The day has been overwhelming, we are truly blessed to live in this community, everybody has come together and brought so many donations in,” Director Misty Tennant said on Wednesday. “We’ve had a lot of help today. A lot of our board members were here to help and unload. We’re truly blessed and I want to thank everybody for everythin

Times West Virginian • 21st November 2023

Thanksgiving plans ruined by last minute flood at Soup Opera

FAIRMONT — Two days before Thanksgiving, disaster struck the Soup Opera.

A little before 7 p.m. on Monday, Misty Tennant, the director of the Soup Opera, received a video showing water spraying out of the building up the side in the back. When she returned to the Soup Opera, she walked into a crisis.

“When we got in there it was pouring out the ceilings, on the floor, the pantry, the water was everywhere,” she said. “On everything in my office, my computers, everything.”

Ceiling tiles had cra