Times West Virginian • 12th April 2024

Documents: Former Marion County employee studied law on Circuit Court Clerk's dime

FAIRMONT — The Marion County Circuit Clerk’s Office reimbursed a former employee almost $50,000 from 2019 to 2022 for payments made to West Virginia University, according to records obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request.

Current Circuit Clerk Belinda Biafore said the payments were unrelated to any function performed by Circuit Clerk employees. The state auditor’s office is investigating.

“The county wants to get to the bottom of this, find the truth of the matter,” County Attorney

Times West Virginian • 27th March 2024

Fairmont City Council grills organizers of questionable event

FAIRMONT — Fairmont City Council denied the permission LumberjAxe sought in order to sell alcohol at a dwarf wrestling event they had planned for June.

The majority of council voted down a proposed ordinance that would have granted consent for the event with the exception of Council Members Josh Rice and Rick Garcia.

“At the end of the day we’re representatives of our community,” Councilmember Rebecca Moran said. “I talked to a bunch of people in my community, including an individual with dwar

Times West Virginian • 23rd March 2024

Fairmont City Council to approve $125,000 contract for new city manager

FAIRMONT — The City of Fairmont will pay incoming City Manager Travis Blosser an annual salary of $125,000, according to documents presented to city councilors for next Tuesday’s meeting.

Council will vote on approving Blosser’s contract and bringing him onboard officially at the March 26 meeting. Blosser negotiated his salary and contract with Mayor Anne Bolyard and City Attorney Kevin Sansalone.

“The thing I’m most excited to bring to bear as Fairmont’s City Manager is just, oozing passion t

Times West Virginian • 19th March 2024

Marion County Volunteer Fire Departments maintain detailed records of levy expenses

BUNNER RIDGE — Each of Marion County’s 13 volunteer fire departments is an open book, Bunner Ridge Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Roger Channel, said on Monday.

Channel is also secretary of the Fire Levy Board, which oversees the distribution of funds from the levy to each of the volunteer fire departments. Levy board meetings are open to the public, however, there is no set date and time for them. Channel explained the board tries to meet once a quarter, but conflicting schedules between

Times West Virginian • 2nd March 2024

Fairmont officials look forward after naming new city manager

FAIRMONT — Del. Mike DeVault recalls a time during the West Virginia legislative session when his colleagues offered up what he perceived initially to be bad legislation.

At a caucus meeting, he brought up his concerns. A fellow delegate informed him the legislation was really about bringing a new company to the state, and if this legislation didn’t change a crucial word, the state was going to miss out on the investment. Putting the company’s name out there might hurt the business’s competitiv

Times West Virginian • 29th February 2024

With new Fairmont city manager named, just how did Council make its decision?

FAIRMONT — Although Travis Blosser’s nomination was near unanimous among Fairmont City Council, one council member dissented at the choice.

“I’m not saying that Mr. Blosser won’t do a good job for Fairmont, but I felt as for me, as a representative of the city of Fairmont. I was voted in to make the best decision on the most qualified candidate for the city of Fairmont,” Deputy Mayor Josh Rice said. “And he wasn’t it for me.”

Blosser’s nomination proved controversial among members of the publi

Times West Virginian • 28th February 2024

Council to negotiate hiring Travis Blosser as city manager under allegations of improper conduct

FAIRMONT — An allegation Fairmont City Council broke the open meetings act overshadowed the nomination of Travis Blosser as the tenth city manager at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

Council voted on a resolution to nominate Blosser to city manager in order to begin contract negotiations, to which Deputy Mayor Josh Rice was the single dissenting vote. However, before the resolution was heard, a member of the public voiced her concerns regarding an email sent by Human Resources Manager Paula Fri

Times West Virginian • 7th February 2024

Police pay dominates at Fairmont City Council budget workshop

FAIRMONT — Fairmont City Council is racing to have its 2024-2025 budget finalized in time for the March 28 deadline, but tripped over a police shaped obstacle at a budget work session Tuesday afternoon.

After Mayor Anne Bolyard opened discussion on the budget, Fairmont Police Chief Steve Shine raised an issue that is driving what he sees as a real problem to continued efficacy of the police department.

“We have not kept up with surrounding agencies and been competitive with them,” he said duri

Times West Virginian • 19th April 2024

After being damaged by storm and wind, crews prep Fairmont Jacobs Building for more rainfall

FAIRMONT — Around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night, Fred C. Young, maintenance supervisor, got a phone call that chilled his blood.

The roof of the Bauer Building, next to the election center, was gone. Two million dollars worth of voting equipment was stored in the Bauer Building as a thunderstorm battered buildings all over town.

Fortunately, when Young arrived it wasn’t the Bauer Building that had its roof sheared off. It was the building adjacent, which lay vacant. A police cruiser rolled up to t

Times West Virginian • 19th March 2024

Marion County Volunteer Fire Departments maintain detailed records of levy expenses

BUNNER RIDGE — Each of Marion County’s 13 volunteer fire departments is an open book, Bunner Ridge Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Roger Channel, said on Monday.

Channel is also secretary of the Fire Levy Board, which oversees the distribution of funds from the levy to each of the volunteer fire departments. Levy board meetings are open to the public, however, there is no set date and time for them. Channel explained the board tries to meet once a quarter, but conflicting schedules between

Times West Virginian • 7th March 2024

Grant Town officials request money for water infrastructure repair

FAIRMONT — Grant Town is racing to replace a defunct water line before 21 houses connected to the line lose access to water.

The Marion County Commission earmarked $180,000 for the repairs at Wednesday’s meeting after Grant Town Council member Bob Riggs made the request. He said the state’s Infrastructure and Job Development Council denied the town’s request for funding to repair the water issue.

“We already had complaints from a couple of residents about the water quality,” Mayor Charlie Rosi

Times West Virginian • 28th February 2024

Monongah officials face challenging time hiring new police chief

MONONGAH — The Town of Monongah is restructuring how the police chief is compensated in hopes of attracting more applicants.

Council’s first reading of an ordinance changing a full time police officer’s pay to hourly led to an in-depth discussion around the town’s search for a new police chief at Monday’s council meeting. The ordinance itself would switch a full time officer to hourly and increase pay by one dollar to $21.25 an hour. However, the ordinance is related to the town’s search for a

Times West Virginian • 27th February 2024

Monongah Town Council takes lead on Narcan training after spike in overdose deaths

MONONGAH — After the recent deaths of a few Monongah residents to drug overdose, Monongah Town Council chose to lead by example to prevent it from happening again.

The town invited members from the Marion County Quick Response Team to demonstrate how to properly administer Narcan before the start of the Town Council session on Monday night.

“The whole goal was to bring awareness and education to the community and to let them know if, you know your friend or neighbor or whoever is overdosing, h

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 • 8th February 2024

Marion County Commission told negotiations underway to bring 200-plus jobs here

FAIRMONT — The Marion County Regional Development Corp. teased Marion County Commission with word of an impending development deal set to bring 200-plus jobs to the I-79 Tech Park.

MRDC Executive Director Bruce McDaniel and President Nick Fantasia kept mum on the company in question due to ongoing business negotiations, but indicated it was good news for Marion County.

“While we can’t tell you who the developer is, you can see them from where you are,” Fantasia told commissioners.

McDaniel de

Times West Virginian • 21st December 2023

State senators bring stocking stuffers full of money for Marion County community projects

FAIRMONT — West Virginia Senators Mike Caputo, D-13, and Mike Oliverio, R-13, brought their proverbial red Santa sack to Marion County Commission, stuffing the metaphorical stocking full with checks for several projects during the final commission meeting of the year.

In total, Caputo and Oliverio brought roughly $98,000 Wednesday for projects around the county.

“That’s all we got for Christmas today from Santa Claus,” Caputo said. “But once again, thank you to the commissioners because we cou