MetroNews This Morning
MetroNews This Morning 7-8-24
This summer, saddle up with the only sports book where you can bet on horse racing, FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get a no-sweat first bet up to $500. Just download the app or go to fanduel.com/horses to score your no-sweat bet up to $500. 21+ in present in Colorado. Offer valid on first real money wager of $5 or more. Verify FD Racing account required. Bonus issued in non-withdrawable racing site credit that expires seven days after issuance. Max refund $500, restrictions apply. See terms at racing.fanduel.com. It's a gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER. This is Metro News this morning, bringing you this morning's biggest news headlines from across the state. And good Monday morning to you, it is July 8, 2024. I'm Jeff Jenkins and this is Metro News. This morning, this is our Monday through Friday podcast on Metro News. The voice of West Virginia over the next 15 minutes will get you up to date on what's going on across the mountain. We'll have the report from the Metro News anchor desk, Kyle Wiggs on sports. And Hoppy Kercheval is back with his daily commentary that all just moments away. It's going to be a steamy one and we're waking up in West Virginia this morning with temperatures in the 70s. We'll challenge the 90s today again, heat and humidity in West Virginia. This is Metro News this morning. It's a Monday morning. It is July 8, 2024. I'm Jeff Jenkins. Let's go to the Metro News anchor desk with Carrie Huda Sec. Good morning, Carrie. Good morning, Jeff. The 2024 Charleston Sternville Regatta is in the books. That's the sound of one of the 125 new and classic cars filling up the canal boulevard for the annual car show, one of the last events closing out the five-day Charleston Stern Charleston Mayor Amy Schuler Goodwin says it was another phenomenal year for the Regatta, which started up in the city Wednesday. It's a significant economic driver, it's a significant community, a nighter, and this is going to continue for years to come. Goodwin said Saturday night's crowd for Vanilla Ice and the other 90s hip-hop artists appeared to be one of the biggest brought into the city since their agotta came back three years ago. I'm Kat Skelton, wvmetronews.com. A parole hearing is set for this morning for one of the two women who murdered Morgantown teenager Schuyler Nice. Rachel Schof will appear before the parole board for a second time today. She and Schuyler Eddy developed a plan to stab Nice to Death in July 2012. Schof was denied parole last year. Eddy won't be eligible for parole until 2028. A nitrowoman accused of biting and abusing her children is scheduled to enter a plea today in Kellogg County Circuit Court. Jennifer Clark is scheduled to appear before Judge Dave Hardy at 1130 this morning. Police say bite marks and blood were found on one of Clark's three children back in October 2022. The State Board of Education meets at nine this morning in Charleston. The board's agenda includes updates on several county school system reviews, including Logan and Upshire County Schools interventions, as well as an update on a special education state of emergency in Hampshire County. A set of rules for fire hydrant maintenance across the state is ready for review and comment. The rules were developed by the State Public Service Commission's Fire Hydrant Task Force. Morgantown utility board general manager Mike McNulty serves on the task force and says the rules include a mandatory inspection of all hydrants statewide every year and they should be tested for flow levels every five years. You don't think much about it until your house is on fire I imagine, but it's very important that we have that capability to fight a fire and protect property and save lives. The rules are currently on a 30 day comment period. Changes are coming on the West Virginia turnpike beginning today. The turnpike is closing the Bluestone travel plaza which is located northbound in Mercer County. The plaza itself is being rebuilt, but now the fuel and parking areas will be closed to allow for completion. The same thing will happen at the southbound travel plaza, Beckley beginning August 1st. West Virginia Parkways is already executive director Jeff Miller says despite the ongoing construction happening on the turnpike, they're trying to minimize the work as much as they can during the peak summer travel season. Limit the work that's being done throughout the entire course of the summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day. There's some projects that are ongoing and we perform a lot of night work through the summer just to not disrupt the flow of traffic and some projects we simply cannot shut down. One of the project's travelers will notice is the median barrier wall north of the Mossi exit. State Transportation Secretary Jimmy Riston says they want to work with teens before they get behind the wheel of a car. Riston says the Department of Transportation has a new safe driving initiative that will focus on driving behaviors. This is serious. A mistake out there on that highway takes a minute and bad things happen quickly. But boy, the results of them can last a lifetime and we've got to really attack this. We've got to stay committed to it and we're doing just that. Riston talked about the department's plans during a recent episode of the DOT's On The Dot podcast. Concord University is leading the way when it comes to a competitive e-sports program. Concord e-sports team director Austin Clay says since the program started in 2019, the school has fielded national championship teams almost every year since then. We are one of the probably top 25 teams in the nation, especially in Rockley. Rockley is our forefront game now currently is Rockley, but we are definitely one of the shining stars, especially when it comes to production. Rocket League is a competitive video game based around the game of soccer. You can read more about it at wvmetronews.com. The new mayor of Beckley is ready to get to work as the city transitions to a city manager form of government. Ryan Neal was sworn in last week following the retirement of Rob Brappold. Neal says he'll be part of the discussions with selecting a permanent city manager. He explains how the change will work. The mayor will be more of a ceremonial mayor, run the city council meetings, be the eyes and ears of the people that live in the city, work in the city, own businesses in the city, and in my job is to kind of steer the city manager to get things done that the people want done. City Treasurer Recorder Billy Trump is serving as the interim city manager during the next few months. The Huntington Police Department has a swearing in ceremony later today. Six new police chaplains will be sworn in at 3 30 this afternoon. Thank you, Kerry. And stay tuned. Coming up next, we'll talk more with the mayor Charleston. A little horse is Charleston Mayor Amy Schuler. Good one after a five day festival when a lot was going on. We'll hear from the mayor coming up in Kyle Wigs or has sports and there's been a youth soccer team here in West Virginia that has qualified for national competition. Kyle with that and more. We're getting the work we've started. Thanks for joining us. Good morning. News in the Mountain State happens quick and for decades, you have depended on Metro News for accurate news delivered fast. Now here's your chance to help keep your fellow West Virginians informed. If you see news happening, become a Metro News Hawk by texting news to 35651. If you take a picture or video of what you see, submit that as well. Text the word news to 35651 to submit your tip or story. Standard texting rates apply. Please don't text and drive. If West Virginia matters to you, then downloading the all new Metro News TV app on all your content devices, well, it's a must. And it's free. You'll gain access to both live and archived content, including Procline, Sportsline, three guys before the game, and much more. It's Metro News for your ears and your eyes. Go on to wvmetronews.com or download the free app on Roku, Amazon devices, Apple TV, iOS and Android Metro News TV. Now you can watch the voice of West Virginia. Thanks for joining us this morning. I'm Jeff Jenkins, Kyle Wicks with sports coming up first, though, in our background. It's a wrap on the third year return of the Charleston Stern, where we got at Charleston Miami, Sherwood Goodwin. Said it was another phenomenal year, drawing in the same, if not exceeding the previous year's numbers of people and economic impact to the city could not be more pleased. Mother Nature really participated with us this year. So I want to give thanks and props to her for sure. It was absolutely an amazing four days. I mean, obviously exhausting, but this is exactly, exactly when we're planning and we plan the entire year for this event. We got what we wanted people were here to have a good time. People were here with their families. They're looking around today at the car show. This is a labor of love, not just for us, but the people who are entrance not only in the car show, but our local bands that took this stage. Our main focus of the Charleston Stern, where we're gonna has always been family focus. That will always be our commitment. We had travelers from all over the East Coast converge here in Charleston, West Virginia. It's music to a mayor's ears to not only hear the great sights and sounds that you see coming and hearing from the stage, but it's talking with parents. It's talking one on one to the vendors to say, "One vendor told me, 'I'm done for the year after this event,' because I make so much money off of this event. I don't have to worry about getting my next big thing because the Charleston Stern, where we got it, is so successful for those local vendors and those local businesses." And yes, the return on investment is significant. The return on investment is significant, but it does not hold a candle to the image and what this does for not only the city of Charleston, not only the state of West Virginia, but the entire East Coast and our country to show, "This is who we are and not to latch up." Charleston Mayor Amy Schuler Goodwin. Kyle Whigs with sports and Kyle, you soccer has been gaining ground in West Virginia and now we've got a national championship participant that's gonna happen. Yes, this is a great story. The state of West Virginia sending a team to the youth soccer national championship tournament for the first time. The West Virginia football club's 18 and under girls team advanced last week by beating Erie, Pennsylvania club director and coach Kim Smee says, "This particular group of young ladies, they've been improving each and every year." I think our club is a whole, does a really good job of advancing those teams from the young ages and keeping them together to the older ages, and I think a team like this is proof that if you stay together long enough, I think eventually all clicked for the right time and it was able to do that for the state group. The U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships will take place starting July 23 in Orlando, Florida. Football media days begin this week on Tuesday, the event this year takes place in Las Vegas. So with the 16 team league, they've divided it into two days, eight teams on Tuesday, eight teams on Wednesday. The matineers will go as part of day two on Wednesday head coach Neil Brown, he'll be joined by lineman Wyatt Milam, defensive lineman Sean Martin, defensive back Aubrey Burke saying quarterback Garrett Green, again, that comes up Wednesday from Las Vegas. The first eight teams go on Tuesday, Major League Baseball Sunday, Mets beat the pirates by final of three to two, Pittsburgh scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead, but they relinquished that lead in the top of the ninth. Pirates will be represented at the all-star game by two players, pitcher Paul Skeens going to the all-star game as a rookie and outfielder, Brian Reynolds, Detroit beat the Reds 5-1 to complete a three game sweep. The Reds will be represented at the all-star game by shortstop Ellie Dayla Cruz, Baltimore, beat Oakland on Sunday, six to three. The Orioles will have two all-star starters. We knew that Adley Rochman and Gunnar Henderson also starting pitcher Corbin Burns named and all-star represent the Orioles on Sunday. Thanks Kyle. Also today at WV, Metronews.com, there's a commentary from our own Joe Bricado looking at the high school sports landscape in West Virginia with recent changes. You want to catch that at the website WV, Metronews.com. This is Metronews this morning. For Monday morning, July 8, 2024, I'm Jeff Jenkins on Metronews, the voice of West Virginia and the voice of Metronews is happy Kirchivol. Congress returns to Washington this week following the holiday break. His committee meetings and hearings are scheduled, but there really is only one topic for discussion, at least among Democrats. Should President Joe Biden step aside as the nominee? Well, yes, he should. Biden followed his disastrous debate performance with a less than reassuring interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. While Biden seemed a little more alert, several of his answers added to the alarm. He told Stephanopoulos, "I don't think anybody's more qualified to be president or win this election than me." I guess if you give Biden the benefit of the doubt, and fewer Democrats are willing to do that, that that answer is reflective of a fighting spirit and a history of overcoming challenges. But it is more likely now that attitude is delusional. His approval rating is in the mid-30s, polls show him trailing Donald Trump by six points nationally, and he's behind in nearly all battleground states that he won in 2020. And he is the best candidate to win the race. In the interview, Biden also danced around pointed questions about his cognitive abilities and refused to commit to taking an independent examination. He said, "I take a cognitive test every day." Now, I don't think that kind of test is really necessary. Voters saw for themselves during the debate that Biden's mental capacities have degenerated. Most of us recognize this because we've seen it in our spouse, our parents, our grandparents, close friends, ourselves. We have personal experience with loved ones in cognitive decline, and have had to make difficult decisions about their well-being. We know what we're looking at. If we saw a parent struggle as Biden did during the debate, the following day, we'd be consulting with family members about taking away their car keys. When pressed on whether he would step aside, Biden said he would, if, quote, "The Lord Almighty came down and said, 'Joe, get out of the race,' then he said, 'I'd get out of the race.'" Well, I'll defer to each individual on how they communicate with the good Lord, but we should keep in mind the faithful who do not specifically hear the voice of God do look for signs. And in Biden's case, the signs are everywhere that he should step aside. Notably, Biden has presented this race in existential terms. Democracy itself is at stake, but when Stephanopoulos asked how he would feel if Trump won, Biden gave a pithy response, quote, "I'll feel as long as I gave it my all, and I'll feel as long as I did as good a job as I know I can do, that's what this is all about." No, it's not what it's all about. This isn't some middle-level job interview where doing your best gives you peace of mind. This is a critical election that is so much more than what any individual wants for himself. This time four years ago, Biden was up ten points. Now he's down six. Biden needed that debate to turn around his campaign. That failed miserably. The ABC interview was supposed to begin reassuring Democrats. It did not. Although his performance in that interview was stronger, his answer simply confirmed that he is delusional and in denial about voters' legitimate concerns about his mental acuity. Tomorrow, but it looks like we'll get some rain, maybe a little cooler temperatures, at least some more unstable atmosphere when we get to the midweek. But at least to start the week gets hot, it's humid across the state of West Virginia for this first full week of July. Thanks for joining us this morning. Kerry Houdersick at The Anchor Dance, Kyle Wigs with Sports, and the Happy Kerchival commentary. Stay with us all day long at wvmetronews.com. I'm Jeff Jenkins. Have a great day. This summer, saddle up with the only sports book where you can bet on horse racing. FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get a no-sweat first bet up to $500. Just download the app or go to fanduel.com/horses to score your no-sweat bet up to $500. 21+ and present in Colorado. Offer valid on first real money wager of $5 or more. If you find FD Racing account required, bonus issued in non-withdrawable racing site credit that expires seven days after issuance. Max refund $500. Restrictions apply. See terms at racing.fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.