Most members of the West Virginia Schools superintendent's commission on testing want to move away from Smarter Balanced standardized exams, limit end-of-year testing in high school to only one grade and specifically explore using ACT tests as statewide assessments.

The recommendations came near the end of a nearly five-hour-long meeting that included commission members expressing worries about more students refusing to take tests this school year.

They also expressed concern about the state's plan to give entire schools and counties A-F grades based largely on standardized tests.

The commission expressed complaints that Smarter Balanced, a Common Core-aligned math and English language arts test, isn't an accurate gauge of student achievement, doesn't give much reason for students to take it seriously and doesn't provide information on what exactly students are struggling with.

Mountain State students had a 27 percent proficiency rate in math on Smarter Balanced last school year, the first year for the test statewide, and a 45 percent proficiency rate in English language arts.

"The No. 1 complaint I hear is a lack of prescriptive feedback," said commission member Mickey Blackwell, executive director of the West Virginia Elementary/Middle Schools Principals Association. Fellow commission member Blaine Hess, superintendent of Jackson County Schools, noted that providing the ACT statewide would save families the cost of paying for the popular college entrance exam.

The commission - which has 26 members, although not all were present for the full meeting - is expected to meet a third and final time on Jan. 12. Final recommendations will be made to state Superintendent Michael Martirano, who will use them to advise the West Virginia Board of Education on whether to make any changes or not.

The ACT is not required by Mountain State schools, and West Virginia uses Smarter Balanced, instead of the ACT, to meet federal requirements to report test scores.

Last month, President Barack Obama signed into law a bipartisan bill that gives states more flexibility in how they hold their schools and school systems accountable. Just like its unpopular predecessor, No Child Left Behind, the Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to give annual standardized tests to practically all students in reading and math for grades three through eight and one grade in high school.

West Virginia goes beyond the requirement by testing grades nine, 10 and 11 in high school.

In a change from No Child Left Behind, education officials have said, the new law will allow the use of the ACT or SAT in place of West Virginia's standardized test in high school, and Paul Weeks, senior vice president of client relations for the ACT, presented to commission members Tuesday information on ACT Aspire tests that also could replace Smarter Balanced in grades three through eight.

Also presenting Tuesday were representatives from Smarter Balanced; the College Board, which produces the SAT and is now offering tests from grades eight and up, as well as connections to free online Khan Academy lessons; and a consultant with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, whom state Department of Education spokeswoman Kristin Anderson said was invited to present about end-of-course exams that some states use to gauge whether students should progress to the next grade or not.

Poor Smarter Balanced scores don't stop West Virginia students from advancing or graduating, although scoring "proficient" does exempt them from remedial courses in state colleges.

Eighteen states used Smarter Balanced exams last school year, according to Luci Willits, deputy executive director of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium of states, allowing for state-to-state comparability with limitations regarding some states' individual choices in how to give the test.

But she said other states have dropped out of Smarter Balanced testing for this year, and that number could further decrease because of continuing opposition to the Common Core standards and the new federal law. Weeks said 16 states now require the ACT.

Through Post-it notes, on which they weren't required to write names, the commission voted 17-1 in support of recommending testing only once in high school.

Eleven members also voted via Post-it notes to specifically seek more information on using the ACT and ACT Aspire tests. Four members also voted to do so, but with qualifications - Kanawha County school board member Ryan White said before the vote that he'd like counties to be able to choose between the ACT and SAT - and two more said they needed more information on all options.

Commission member Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association teachers union, also made a motion to say "that we are ready to scrap the Smarter Balanced," but Courtney Whitehead - Monongalia County Schools' director of assessment, accountability and school counseling - objected.

"I know I keep being devil's advocate on this, but I just think it's really difficult with only one year of data on a test that was brand new, for us to completely say it's bad," she said. "I just don't think we can do that, everything I've learned about statistics, you can't judge it based off of one administration."

"Let's do a hand vote, let's be a man about it," said fellow commission member Jack Wiseman, a representative of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts.

Fourteen people raised their hands - joined by Barbara Zingg, a Jefferson County teacher voting by teleconference - in favor of eliminating Smarter Balanced from the conversation, with only Whitehead and Ohio County Schools test coordinator Sue McGuier voting against.

Reach Ryan Quinn at ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com/ryanedwinquinn, 304-348-1254 or follow @RyanEQuinn on Twitter.

West Virginia's congressional representatives criticized President Barack Obama's use of executive action to limit gun violence Tuesday, although some support similar ideas.

Obama announced his new proposals and actions at a White House speech in which he teared up while talking about the 20 elementary school children gunned down in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

The actions he plans to take are far more modest than failed legislation proposed in the wake of the Newtown massacre, which would have expanded background checks.

Perhaps the most controversial action Obama announced attempts to clarify a law that defines which gun sellers must perform background checks.

Anyone "in the business" of selling guns must get a license to do so, and licensed dealers must perform background checks, according to federal law. However, many gun sellers online and at gun shows are unlicensed and, therefore, do not perform background checks.

Obama announced a clarification to reiterate that sellers do not need to have a brick-and-mortar store to be considered "in the business" of selling guns.

To enforce the law, Obama said, the FBI will hire 230 more examiners to process the additional background checks. The president also proposed funding for 200 new agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to help enforce existing gun laws.

Obama also asked Congress to approve an additional $500 million to increase access to mental-health care.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., criticized Obama in a prepared statement, but has long favored some of the specific proposals - better enforcement of existing law and focusing on mental health.

"He has furthered an already divisive debate and infringed on the rights of law-abiding citizens," Capito said of the president. "Instead of acting unilaterally, the president should work with Congress to make treatment for mental illness, an unfortunate common denominator in many recent tragedies, more available and accessible, and support better enforcement of current gun laws and standards."

Capito did not respond to follow-up questions about whether she supports the president's specific proposals.

Obama, in his speech, specifically praised Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who, with a Republican colleague, proposed a bill to increase background checks after the Newtown massacre.

"Both [are] gun owners, both [are] strong defenders of our Second Amendment rights, both with 'A' grades from the NRA," Obama said of Manchin and his co-sponsor, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.

Manchin's bill would have gone further than the president's actions to require background checks on online gun sales and at gun shows.

However, Manchin, in a prepared statement, criticized Obama's actions.

"Instead of taking unilateral executive action, the President should work with Congress and the American people, just as I've always done, to pass the proposals he announced today," Manchin said. "I want to prevent future incidents of gun violence and keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill, but legislation and consensus is the correct approach."

Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., also criticized Obama's "unilateral action," while saying he could support some of Obama's proposals.

"We are all saddened by acts of violence like the attack in San Bernardino, but the best way to prevent them is to address the root cause, whether it is terrorism or mental health," McKinley said in a prepared statement. "The proposals released today will restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans, but would not have stopped these episodes of violence."

Mike Hamilton, McKinley's chief of staff, said he would have to see details on Obama's specific mental-health proposal but that, generally, McKinley favors increased funding for mental-health care.

Obama also instructed federal agencies to conduct research into gun safety technology, to prevent accidental or unauthorized shootings, and improve the tracing of stolen guns.

West Virginia's representatives have generally refused to say if they think federal public health agencies should even be allowed to study gun violence.

Obama took pains to say he believes in the right to bear arms - "this is not a plot to take away everybody's guns," he said - and that gun violence can be reduced while being consistent with the Second Amendment.

He cited Presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, as well as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., all of whom were open to expanding background checks.

"We all believe in the First Amendment, the guarantee of free speech, but we accept that you can't yell 'fire' in a theater," Obama said. "We understand there are some constraints on our freedom, in order to protect innocent people."

He noted that a majority of gun owners agree. A July poll by the Pew Research Center found that 85 percent of Americans - including 88 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of Republicans - favored expanding background checks to private gun sales and gun shows.

Obama said that, after Connecticut passed a law requiring background checks and gun safety courses, gun deaths decreased by 40 percent. After Missouri repealed a law requiring comprehensive background checks and permits, gun deaths increased nearly 50 percent, compared to the national average, Obama said.

None of that convinced Reps. Alex Mooney and Evan Jenkins, both R-W.Va.

"President Obama's most recent executive order is his latest of many proposals aimed at stripping away the rights of law-abiding American citizens," Mooney said in a prepared statement. "I will fight with my colleagues in Congress to stop Obama's continual executive overreach."

Jenkins said Obama "does not believe firearms can be responsibly owned, sold and purchased," a statement not supported by fact that Obama repeatedly has denied.

"I will fight this administration, using the power of the purse, to defund this executive action and the president's continued executive overreach," Jenkins said.

Reach David Gutman at david.gutman@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5119 or follow @davidlgutman on Twitter.

WASHINGTON - New federal data shows 2015 was a record-smashing year for the American firearms industry, with gun sales appearing to hit the highest level on record.

Background checks for gun purchases and permits jumped 10 percent last year, to 23.1 million, the largest number since the federal background check system began operating in 1998.

Black Friday 2015 was the single biggest gun-purchasing day ever, with more than 185,000 checks processed, according to background check figures from the FBI. December saw the highest number of background checks processed in any month. The last five weeks of the year all ranked among the 10 biggest weeks ever for firearm background checks.

The year-end surge happened partly in response to the mass shooting in San Bernardino, followed by calls by President Barack Obama for more restrictions on gun sales.

Obama unveiled Monday a package of executive actions that seek to curb gun violence, including conducting more background checks.

This matches a familiar pattern: tragedy, followed by calls for gun control, followed by surging firearm sales. Interest in concealed-carry permits has generally followed a similar pattern.

One point of caution with the FBI's numbers: The Bureau stresses that you can't draw a 1-to-1 correspondence between "background checks" and "gun sales":

n The numbers include background checks for gun permits, too, which may or may not be accompanied by a sale.

n Different states have different procedures in place for running permit checks.

n Some unknown but likely significant percentage of gun transactions don't involve a federally licensed dealer and, hence, aren't accompanied by a background check at all.

Still, the FBI's figures provide a useful approximation of overall gun transactions in this country, and they strongly indicate that 2015 was a great year for gun manufacturers.

One interesting wrinkle is that national surveys indicate that the number of households owning firearms is either flat or trending downward, depending on whether you prefer measurements by Gallup or the General Social Survey. If gun sales are increasing, as these numbers from the FBI and different data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives suggest, the implication is that most of the growth in the firearms industry is coming from existing owners stocking up on more guns, rather than new purchasers buying for the first time.

In 2013, for instance, calculations suggest that there were about eight guns in the typical gun-owning household. That's double the number in 1994, when the typical gun-owning household had only four firearms.

The gun control actions announced by the Obama administration Tuesday are so modest - clarifications on who needs a federal firearms license and calls for more research - that even the NRA is generally shrugging its shoulders at the changes.

"This is it, really?" the NRA's Jennifer Baker told The New York Times. "This is what they've been hyping for how long now? This is the proposal they've spent seven years putting together? They're not really doing anything."

In the end, the biggest long-term impact of the gun policy changes might simply be another month of record gun sales in January.

CCL meeting

Citizens' Climate Lobby of Charleston will meet at noon on Saturday at the WVSU Economic Development Center, 1506 Kanawha Blvd. W. There is no charge. A call-in to the lobby's national meeting to hear guest speaker Hahrie Han will follow the meeting. Han is the Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. For more information, visit citizensclimatelobby.org. To start a CCL group in the state, call Jim Probst at 304-824-5916, or email charlestonwv@ citizensclimatelobby.org.

Toastmasters clubs

Three toastmasters clubs are offered for those who like public speaking or would like to become a better speaker in the area. They are: Charleston Toastmasters, which meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of each month at the Charleston Public Library; Dobson-Craddock Toastmasters, which meets at noon on the first and third Thursdays of the month in the South Charleston Library; and Speakers Advantage Toastmasters club, which meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month at the Cross Lanes library. Go to toastmasters.org for more details or contact Dale Goff at 304-415-8685 or dale.goff3@gmail.com.

Scholarship opportunities

The Parkersburg Area Community Foundation and Regional Affiliates is accepting scholarship applications for the Dr. David Monroe Ritchie Scholarship. This fund provides scholarships for residents of Jackson or Kanawha counties who are pursuing paramedic, EMT, EMTI certification or nursing degrees through an accredited college or university and plan to work in emergency medical services in these counties. The scholarship can be applied toward tuition, books or other education related costs. To apply, visit www.pacfwv.com/applications-forms to access the PACF's General Online Scholarship Application Form or contact the office at 304-428-4438 for a paper application. For more information, email info@pacfwv.com. Application deadline is March 3.

Hall of Fame nominees

Marshall University's W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications is seeking nominations for its upcoming Hall of Fame induction class. While the nominee must be a graduate of the Marshall's journalism program, there are two other criteria in order to be nominated: contribution(s) to journalism and mass communications as a profession and contribution(s) to Marshall University and/or the School of Journalism. Nominations will be accepted through Feb. 29. Submit letters highlighting nominees' accomplishments and contributions to sojmc@marshall.edu.

Farmers market

Interested vendors may now apply to take part in this year's Winter Blues Farmers Market at the Charleston Civic Center on Feb. 25. Call Connie Tolley at 304-558-2210 for more information or to apply.

Items for Bulletin Board may be submitted by mail to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, 1001 Virginia St. E., Charleston, WV 25301; faxed to 304-348-1233; or emailed to gazette@wvgazettemail.com. Notices will be run one time free. Please include a contact person's name and a daytime phone number.

Two Charleston men were sentenced Tuesday to serve time in federal prison for drug charges.

Gregory Woods, 38, was sentenced to four years in federal prison for using a communication device to facilitate cocaine distribution. He was also sentenced to four years for "possessing marijuana for remuneration," a news release from U.S. Attorney Carol Casto said. The sentences are to be served at the same time, U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston ordered.

Woods admitted that on June 8, 2011, he arranged to sell an ounce of cocaine to a confidential informant through telephone calls made with his cell phone. After Woods sold the drugs, law enforcement executed a search warrant at his home on Early Street and recovered 13.9 grams of cocaine, 176 grams of marijuana, and a firearm.

Woods further admitted that he possessed the marijuana located in his house for distribution, the release states.

Levi Carter, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver for a drug charge Tuesday. He will spend 10 months in federal prison for distribution of heroin.

Carter admitted that on April 21, 2015, he sold heroin to a confidential informant working with law enforcement.

The drug deal took place in the parking lot of the Embassy Suites hotel in Charleston, according to the news release. Carter also admitted to selling heroin to the confidential informant on several other occasions in April and May of 2015.

Discussions surrounding the future location of the Nitro Police Department dominated Tuesday night's Nitro City Council meeting.

Following a closed-door executive session, council members passed a motion to authorize negotiating purchasing terms for a new police department building.

"We will take an engineer with us and see what would have to be done to the building and assess that cost," Nitro Mayor Dave Casebolt said. "Then we can determine how much we can pay for the building."

There is a potential for a council chamber at the building, Casebolt said. But he would not discuss any further specifics about the building.

The city pays $31,800 annually in rent to Kingsway Church for the building where the police department, city council chambers, municipal court and the senior center are located.

"Everyone on council agrees we need to move out," Casebolt said.

Nitro City Attorney Johnnie Brown amended the city's proposed lease agreement to allow the city to defer the lease terms within six days of signing.

Brown wanted the city to have that option if it is needed.

Nitro Police Chief Steve Walker is eager for the move.

"Right now there is very little security for the police department, municipal court and for City Council when they are in here," Walker said. "We have outgrown the usefulness of this building and the city has been looking for several years for another option."

Also on Tuesday, City Council members moved forward with a World War I Memorial Park project on Second Avenue after passing a resolution to accept a $60,000 grant match from the Federal Land and Resource grant.

The 4 to 3 vote was reached after council members went back and forth on how best to utilize the piece of property on Second Avenue. Council members Brenda Tyler, Andy Shamblin and Laurie Elkins voted against the project.

The park project aims to connect future generations to Nitro's World War I legacy.

Casebolt believes its one of the most exciting city projects.

No council members disagreed with the idea of a memorial park, just its location at Second Avenue, and wanted to explore if there were better ways to utilize the property for continued pressing city needs.

In other business, council:

n Approved meeting minutes from Dec. 15 and Dec. 28

n Set the terms and conditions for the sale of city property valued at less than $10,000

n Approved opening request for bids on drainage issues on the city's east end

n Announced documents for running in the upcoming municipal election will be accepted in the city recorder's office March 14 - March 25 at 4 p.m.

In Around West Virginia today: farmers and agricultural researchers are waiting to see what effect, if any, the warm weather has had on Eastern Panhandle crops; a minivan full of passengers gets stranded in Jackson County; lawyers continue to review the case of Joseph A. Buffey; and more.

n A minivan full of people looking for a detour to avoid an interstate shutdown Monday night found themselves stuck on a country road in Jackson County for nearly eight hours. That night, a portion of I-77 heading north and south was shut down in near Ravenswood when icy conditions caused accidents, so the driver of a minivan headed to Cleveland with six adult passengers decided to take a detour, WSAZ reports. The group followed directions provided by an Internet-based mapping service, which led them to a remote road in Jackson County not meant for passenger vehicles where not even a wrecker could locate them. After the interstate accidents were cleared, the group was found by emergency crews.

n The effects of the initial warm winter weather West Virginia experienced remain to be seen in the Eastern Panhandle, a region known for its agriculture. Some fruit trees might set buds that could then be destroyed by a cold patch, Michael Harman, West Virginia University extension agent for agriculture and natural resources in Jefferson County, told The Journal. Mark Orr, orchard manager for Orr's Farm Market, said in 40 years, the farm has only lost its entire peach crop a couple times. "When the weather is too warm and then all of a sudden drops to below zero temperatures, fruits like peaches, plums, cherries and other stone fruits are fragile," Orr said. "We're concerned, but we don't know if it's necessarily enough to kill them."

n The Monongalia County Board of Education met last night to discuss ways to get the public to renew the excess levy in an the upcoming election. Members also discussed the current levy, which is for about $21,482,677, the Dominion Post reports.

"If everyone is happy with their school, the chances of the levy passing is pretty good," board member Nancy Walker said. "If there is a disaster that happens that we are not in any way directed or could have forseen, then people are unhappy and that sometimes translates to a more difficult time for the levy." The current levy will expire June 30, 2017, and is expected to be on the ballot during the general election in November.

n Lawyers in Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office have requested two more weeks to pore over the voluminous file in the case of Joseph A. Buffey, 33, of Clarksburg, reports the Exponent-Telegram. In a filing with the West Virginia Supreme Court late Tuesday, Solicitor General Elbert Lin and assistant attorney generals Gilbert Dickey and Katlyn Miller asked for the extra time to decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court the state Supreme Court's decision allowing Buffey, a state prison inmate, to withdraw his guilty pleas in a 2001 rape/robbery. The justices previously granted a 30-day stay in the case that expires Friday.

Reach Lauren McGill at lauren.mcgill@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5129, or follow @LaurenLMcGill on Twitter.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Officials say more than 900 drug-related overdoses were reported in Cabell County in 2015.

Director of the Mayor's Office of Drug Control Policy Jim Johnson told The Herald-Dispatch that of those reported, 70 resulted in death. Officials say the number of reported drug overdoses in 2015 was greater than the total number of overdoses from 2012 to 2014 combined. There were 272 overdoses in 2014.

The region has been battling an increase in heroin-related overdose deaths since the mid- to late 2000s.

Johnson said his office will continue looking for solutions.

The harm reduction program, run by the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, was started in 2015. It includes the syringe exchange, which is aimed at keeping users healthy and preventing the spread of hepatitis C and other diseases.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia legal services organizations providing foreclosure prevention help to indigent residents are getting a boost from a federal settlement with the Bank of America.

The West Virginia State Bar says it has received $329,000 from the settlement with the U.S. Justice Department.

Anne Werum Lambright chairs the state bar's Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts Committee. She says the settlement involved residential mortgage-backed securities and other conduct related to the housing crisis several years ago.

She says the money can help provide counsel to people facing foreclosure today. Also, organizations involved in community redevelopment can request money to support legal work for their projects.

Saying that West Virginia is facing three crises - substance abuse, a massive budget deficit and a lack of jobs - former U.S Attorney Booth Goodwin announced his candidacy for governor on Wednesday.

"We are in serious trouble. We need a leader who is not afraid," Goodwin told a crowd of about 100 supporters in downtown Charleston. "We will work through, together, the hard problems that face West Virginia today, because we always come back stronger and with more resolve."

Goodwin offered few specifics, but tried to position himself in the political center of a three-way Democratic primary.

"If I were to say where I lie on the political spectrum, it is right down the middle," he said. "I believe what most West Virginians believe, they want a good education for their kids, they want a strong community, they want to be safe."

Goodwin answered questions largely with generalities, although he did say he agreed with Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's decision to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which brought health care to more than 160,000 West Virginians.

Asked about the state's budget deficit, projected to be well over $300 million this year, he said "there's not one quick fix," that he looks forward to hearing from West Virginians about the issue and that "there are really tough choices we have to make."

Despite West Virginia's flagging coal industry, and with many major coal companies either bankrupt or on the brink of bankruptcy, Goodwin said that "coal will always be a big part of West Virginia, there's no question about it."

He added that we've got to "come together and figure out what we're going to do going forward."

Goodwin enters a Democratic primary that includes Jim Justice, a coal and agriculture magnate and owner of The Greenbrier resort, and state Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler, of Marshall County.

Justice, a former Republican, has said he sees a "real possibility" of coal jobs returning in large numbers.

Kessler, on the other hand, largely agrees with industry forecasts that say coal jobs likely aren't coming back.

Goodwin mentioned neither candidate in his five-minute speech or in taking questions afterward from the media.

The closest he came to referencing Justice, the state's richest man, was when he said, "I'm not a millionaire, I'm certainly not a billionaire."

Goodwin spoke in front of the federal courthouse where he served as a prosecutor for 15 years, the last five as the presidentially appointed U.S. attorney.

That appointment, by President Barack Obama, could be a political liability, with the state Republican Party already calling Goodwin "his lawyer."

While he prosecuted several high-profile cases, Goodwin mentioned none of them by name on Wednesday.

"I didn't take it from the crooked politicians," he said, a reference to the Democratic judge, prosecutor and magistrate in Mingo County that his office successfully prosecuted.

His office also secured convictions and guilty pleas from former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship and six former executives of Freedom Industries, the company responsible for poisoning the Kanawha Valley's drinking water.

Goodwin didn't mention them, saying, instead, "I didn't take it from the corrupt corporate bigwigs who don't care about their workers and don't care about us."

The Blankenship trial, one of the highest profile in West Virginia history, ended just a month ago. Blankenship and his attorneys long contended that his prosecution, which came in the wake of 29 miners being killed at the Upper Big Branch mine, was political. In addition to the misdemeanor conviction, Blankenship was acquitted of two other charges.

Goodwin said that he didn't consider politics as U.S. attorney and, when asked about Blankenship, for years the pre-eminent Republican donor in West Virginia, he declined to name him.

"I didn't always take politically popular positions," Goodwin said. "You've got to do that which brings justice, and that's what I did."

Goodwin comes from a family with a long history in West Virginia Democratic politics. On hand for his campaign announcement were his wife, Amy Shuler Goodwin, the state tourism commissioner; his mother, Kay Goodwin, a cabinet secretary for Tomblin, and his cousin, Carte Goodwin, a former U.S. senator. His father, U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, was in his courtroom across the street.

Delegate Nancy Guthrie, D-Kanawha, one of several local Democratic politicians on hand, said that she was supporting Goodwin because he "doesn't have an agenda.

"He's in this for West Virginians," Guthrie said. "He's in it for the middle class."

Reach David Gutman at david.gutman@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5119 or follow @davidlgutman on Twitter.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - A convicted murderer is behind bars again after a reported yearlong sexual relationship with an underage family member.

The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington reports 34-year-old Granville Ray McCloud was arrested and charged with 10 counts of third-degree sexual assault, 10 counts of sexual abuse by a person of trust and 10 counts of incest on Dec. 18.

West Virginia State Police troopers are quoted in criminal complaints from the Cabell County Magistrate Court saying the teenage victim said the sexual encounters began in November 2014. She also reportedly told troopers the encounters were not forced.

McCloud was convicted of first-degree murder in 2000 for the 1998 slaying of 80-year-old Juanita Tia Loretta Hughes. McCloud was sentenced to life in prison with mercy, serving the minimum of 15 years before being paroled.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Deputies have arrested a Huntington man they say struck his mother with a hammer.

The Herald-Dispatch reports 47-year-old James Otis Brumfield II will remain in jail following his preliminary hearing Tuesday. During the hearing, Brumfield waived his case to a higher court and the case will go to the grand jury.

Sgt. S.G. Poff of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office said authorities arrested Brumfield on one count of malicious wounding following the incident Dec. 29. Poff said Brumfield's 72-year-old mother told investigators she was attacked while she slept.

St. Mary's Medical Center spokeswoman Angela Henderson-Bentley told the newspaper Brumfield's mother remained at the hospital in stable condition Tuesday.

Brumfield had a bond set at $500,000.

The boil-water advisory issued for the Cool Ridge-Flat Top Public Service District has been lifted.

The Raleigh County Public Service District has lifted the boil-water advisory for the Arnett System, from 786 Saxon Bolt Road to and including Cox Lane. They have also lifted the boil-water advisory for customers of the Clear Creek System.

West Virginia American Water has lifted the boil-water advisory for approximately 300 customers in Bluefield. The affected area included any customers on the following streets who recently lost water pressure or experienced a water outage: Longview Avenue, Longview Terrace, Ridgecrest Road, Heatherwood Road, Cliffmont Avenue, Meadow Street, Carrey Street, Hilltop Lane, Crestwood Drive, Gateway Drive, Locust Grove and Castlewood Lane.

Volunteer spotters are being sought to take part in the annual Southern West Virginia winter eagle survey on Saturday at Bluestone Lake and along the Bluestone, New and Greenbrier rivers and several tributary streams in the vicinity of Bluestone and Pipestem Resort state parks.

Novice bird watchers will be paired with experienced birders to help spot and identify eagles as they fly past survey observation sites.

"Surveys are special days," said Jim Phillips, retired naturalist at Pipestem, who organized the first Southern West Virginia eagle survey 11 years ago. "I've been involved with eagle and migratory bird surveys for more than 40 years and, when we have new folks join us, it is even better."

This winter, "the eagles seem to be doing strange things, maybe because of the unusually warm weather," Phillips said.

Bald eagles observed along the New River near the Virginia border are already mating, and "one eagle pair has started a third nest at a site. Six bald eagles have been observed along W.Va. 122 the week of Dec. 6 and 10 golden eagles were observed at Hanging Rock (in Monroe County) in one day during the week of Dec. 11."

Volunteer spotters are organized into survey teams led by experienced birders. The number of observation sites to be used will depend on how many volunteers confirm their participation in the survey. The survey will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 2 p.m., after which observation teams meet in Hinton to compare and compile notes.

Last year, 56 bald eagles and 2 golden eagles were spotted during the winter survey.

To register to help with the survey, email Phillips at jim@tracwv.com, or call Julie McQuade, naturalist at Pipestem Resort State Park 304-466-1800, or send email to her at Julie.A.McQuade@wv.gov. Those contacting McQuade will meet at 9 a.m. at the Pipestem Nature Center, and from there, will car caravan to the Pits area along Bluestone Lake and be in place by 10 a.m. to begin the survey.

Open stage/coffee house

The monthly open stage and coffee house with host Ron Sowell will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Unity of Kanawha Valley, 804 Myrtle Road, corner of Bridge and Myrtle roads. Local musicians are welcome to come and share their talents in a friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere. Performers sign up at 7 p.m. General admission is $5. Admission for performers, seniors and children is $2. Various coffees, teas, soft drinks and homemade treats are available at a small cost.

Trail club hike

Kanawha Trail Club will sponsor a hike at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday on St. Albans College Hill. Carpool from the parking lot at the corner of Ohio and Randolph streets, across from the post office. The hike is 3.5 miles in the College Hill neighborhood along sidewalks, paved and unpaved roads for great views of the Lower Coal River Valley. The hike passes buildings that housed the Latin College and "Raven House." There are five moderate climbs and one steep descent and an optional stop at mile 3 at a Dairy Queen.

Health education

Advance Healthcare @UC will offer ways to create a New Year. New You. New Attitude, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday in Room 105 at the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy. Jim Strawn, marketing director of Highland Hospital, will present the program. The program is part of First-Class Health Education: 101, a series of workshops hosted by Advance Healthcare @UC, along with Process Strategies and the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy. There is no charge. For information or reservations, call 304-348-1417.

Items for Bulletin Board may be submitted by mail to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, 1001 Virginia St. E., Charleston, WV 25301; faxed to 304-348-1233; or emailed to gazette@wvgazettemail.com. Notices will be run one time free. Please include a contact person's name and a daytime phone number.

With December marking another dismal month for state revenue collections, state Department of Revenue officials are now projecting the state will finish the 2015-16 budget year on June 30 with a funding deficit of $353 million - a shortfall of nearly 10 percent of the general revenue budget.

Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss said Wednesday that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin will offer a "courageous and responsible plan" for dealing with the budget deficit and to balance the 2016-17 state budget next week. Tomblin will give his sixth and final State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature next Wednesday.

"I think you're going to see from Gov. Tomblin an exhibition of leadership on how to get through this," said Kiss, who declined to talk specifics, except to say Tomblin does not intend to raid the state's Rainy Day reserve funds to close the funding gap.

"The easy thing to do might be to say, "Let's take another $200 (million), $300 (million) or $400 million out of the Rainy Day fund, but it's not the right thing to do."

In the 2015 budget bill, legislators proposed taking $22.9 million out of the Rainy Day funds to balance the budget, but Tomblin used his line-item veto to reduce that amount to $14.8 million.

Currently, the two reserve funds have a balance of $801.8 million.

Tomblin, whom Kiss noted has dealt with state budgets for most of his adult life as Senate Finance chairman, Senate president, and governor, maintains a "continued strong commitment to the fiscal stability of the state of West Virginia," Kiss said.

Asked whether Tomblin will propose tax increases to offset the budget shortfalls, Kiss said, "Obviously, anybody that follows this process knows that if your income is less than your expenses, you're either going to cut more or raise revenue," he said. "Those are basically your two options."

As it became apparent the state would have a budget deficit, Tomblin in October ordered most state agencies to cut spending by 4 percent. That follows consecutive 7.5 percent spending cuts ordered for most agencies.

In recent years, the state erased nearly $450 million a year of tax revenue by eliminating the sales tax on food, phasing out the business franchise tax, and reducing the corporate net tax from 9 percent to 6.5 percent.

While those cuts are built into the revenue estimates, state Revenue officials had not anticipated the sharp drop in global energy prices, which has caused state severance tax collections to plunge, and has also dragged down income tax collections, as energy sector employment and royalties have declined.

Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow said severance tax collections for December were $15.6 million below estimates, and for the first half of the budget year, collections are off by $94.4 million, or 47 percent below estimates.

That's primarily because prices for coal, natural gas, and oil have fallen 30 percent to more than 50 percent in the past year, he said. Currently, natural gas is going for about $1.20 per mcf, while a year ago, it was running close to $4, he noted.

"We think this is a prolonged, several years, situation," Muchow said of the weak energy market.

Overall, the state collected $335.1 million in taxes in December, $43.5 million below estimates, and 10 percent less than December 2014, Muchow said.

With the 2015-16 budget year at the midway point, overall collections of $1.85 billion are $158 million below estimates, and are down 6 percent from the same point last year, he said.

One bright spot in the revenue figures may be that beer taxes and license fee collections of $3.8 million year-to-date are 4 percent above estimates, and 10 percent above the same point in December 2014.

Muchow said part of that increase may be attributable to a new state law that went into effect in June designed to promote craft breweries in the state.

Among the changes, the law allows the sale of 32- and 64-ounce growlers of beer at various retail locations. Previously, growlers could be filled only on the breweries' premises.

"Certainly, the craft beer laws can't hurt and they probably are helping a little bit," Muchow said.

Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304 348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.

A police chase Wednesday in St. Albans ended in a suspect's car crashing and him running and hiding barefoot in the cold before being arrested, police say.

Cody A. Hudson, 21, of St. Albans, faces felony charges of fleeing with reckless indifference, transferring/receiving a stolen vehicle and prohibited possession of a firearm, according to a St. Albans police news release. Police said they found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun in Hudson's allegedly stolen silver Mazda RX-8, and Hudson cannot legally have a gun because he pleaded guilty to robbery, a felony, in Kanawha County in 2014.

The release states Patrolman Jeff Lucas noticed the Mazda, which matched the description of a vehicle stolen Tuesday from the Indian Head area, around the intersection of B Street and U.S. 60 in St. Albans at about 2:15 a.m. Police said that when Lucas attempted to stop the car, Hudson, the driver, sped west into Putnam County along U.S. 60, and a short time later crashed into a hill as he attempted to turn onto a small road.

Police say Hudson and a juvenile female who fled the vehicle on foot were both caught. They say Hudson was wearing only a long-sleeve shirt, shorts and flip-flops when he fled, but the shoes had been lost by the time he was found in a small creek.

He was taken to Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston to be treated for mild exposure on his feet.

The Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau is tapping into the origins of Appalachian culture for a new, weekend-long celebration to kick off the special events season.

The inaugural Celtic Calling, an event for residents and visitors to experience the pillars of Irish and Scottish culture, will be held from March 4-6.

During a news conference announcing the event at the Copper Pint pub on Wednesday, Tim Brady, vice president of sales for the Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the event will "celebrate our Celtic heritage that our own Appalachian culture is so deeply rooted in." The bureau's goal, he said, was to create a "fun and vibrant weekend" for people after spending the winter months cooped up at home.

Charleston Area Alliance is helping market the event to local businesses.

Susan Salisbury, vice president of community development for the alliance, said it will encourage restaurants and bars downtown to offer an Irish or Scottish dish or have menu specials throughout the weekend. Downtown retailers can also participate in a Boutique Walk to bring in additional business on March 5.

"It's going to be a tough couple of months with the weather, and downtown is thrilled to be a part of it," Salisbury said.

One of the event's major staples will be the Celtic Calling Kilt 5K Run/Walk.

Alisa Bailey, president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, said this 5K will differ from others held in the city because it will begin at the corner of Morris and Smith streets, near Appalachian Power Park, and end at Spring Hill Cemetery. Partnering with Tri-State Racer, all proceeds from the 5K will go to Friends of Spring Hill Cemetery and Park, a volunteer group that helps maintain the cemetery and assist families struggling to pay for funeral and burial services for their loved ones.

Other aspects of the weekend focus on Celtic traditions, such as music sessions and workshops and a play writing competition.

The area group FOOTMAD, which stands for Friends of Old Time Music and Dance, will host the Scottish band Daimh (pronounced "dive") on March 5 at Capitol Theater as part of its annual spring Celtic concert. Tickets for that concert can be purchased at footmad.org.

On Sunday, families can participate in a bike tour that will run from Summers Street to the state Capitol.

Brady noted during the news conference that the same weekend as Celtic Calling, the Charleston Civic Center will also host the Mountain East Conference Opening for college basketball championships.

"The city will be full of athletes from around this region, and we're trying to incorporate that as much as we can ... to make sure students and fan bases know about the event," he said.

For more information about Celtic Calling or to register for the 5K, visit charlestonwv.com.

Reach Elaina Sauber at

elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com,

304-348-3051 or follow

@ElainaSauber on Twitter.