Enthusiastic ticket-buyers have pushed the record Powerball jackpot to $800 million for Saturday night's drawing. Ticket sales on Thursday were double the previous record for that day, said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery. During one hour around midday Friday, sales were $13.2 million, or $219,277 per minute.

Here's a rundown of some key figures - if not the winning numbers - connected to the drawing.
JACKPOT
Could it hit $1 billion? Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery, says officials with the Multi-State Lottery Association raised the estimated jackpot for Saturday night's drawing again because of strong sales - but that the $800 million prize could rise again before Saturday's drawing.
ODDS OF WINNING
To put it gently, not good. The odds are one in 292.2 million. Realistically, you're really, really, really unlikely to win. One hopeful thought: Scott A. Norris, an assistant professor of mathematics at Southern Methodist University, says your tiny odds improve a bit if you let the computer pick your numbers rather than choosing yourself.
POSSIBLE NUMBER COMBINATIONS
There are 292.2 million possible combinations of the five white balls and red Powerball. That's where the one in 292.2 million odds comes from, and they stay the same regardless of how big the jackpot grows or how many people buy tickets.
LUMP SUM VS. LIFETIME PAYOUT
Once you beat the astronomical odds and win, you'll get to choose between being paid $800 million through annual payments over 29 years or opting for $496 million in cash. Those figures are before federal and state taxes, which will eat up roughly half of the cash-option prize. What's your best bet? Olivia S. Mitchell, a professor of insurance and risk management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, says a safe option to avoid the risk of overspending or an investment mishap would be to take the annuity.
SINCE THE LAST WINNER
The jackpot started at $40 million on Nov. 4 and has been growing since then because there have been no big winners for the twice-weekly jackpots. Because the payout is based on sales, the prize has grown more quickly as people rush to buy tickets. More ticket sales also make it more likely there will be a winner, as all the extra tickets mean more number combinations are covered.
STATES WHERE THE GAME IS PLAYED
Powerball is played in 44 states as well as the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
BUYING TICKETS
A regular ticket costs $2 - about the same as a gallon of gas. Powerball sales must stop by 10 p.m. EST on Saturday, but states can cut off sales earlier.
TIME OF DRAWING
10:59 p.m. EST on Saturday.

During the past two years, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has repeatedly said he played no part in his office's lawsuit against prescription drug giant Cardinal Health, a company his wife lobbies for in Washington, D.C.

That's what he told the public. That's what he asserted in a court of law.

But that's not what he told a state lawyer disciplinary board that investigated him.

After repeated denials, Morrisey recently acknowledged he didn't "permanently screen" himself from the Cardinal Health case until July 2013, seven months after he took office after ousting longtime Attorney General Darrell McGraw, according to testimony Morrisey gave to the Lawyer Disciplinary Board's investigative panel.

That's the same month the Charleston Gazette first reported on Morrisey's ties to Cardinal Health.

At the time - and on multiple occasions since then - Morrisey insisted he stepped aside from the lawsuit after winning the election.

The lawyer disciplinary panel concluded that Morrisey's role in the Cardinal Health lawsuit wasn't "substantive," but that he did take part.

"[Morrisey] made public statements that he stepped aside from the Cardinal Health case after taking office in January [2013]...but he doesn't deny he had some involvement with the case before his decision to screen himself entirely from the case in July 2013," wrote Robby Aliff, chairman of the investigative panel, in an order released Friday.

Morrisey spokesman Curtis Johnson denied that his boss misled anyone.

"Such characterizations are incorrect, and such assertions have been discredited," Johnson said.

Since Morrisey took office, his wife's firm, Capitol Counsel, has received $1.47 million from Cardinal Health for lobby work in Washington.

In statements to the investigative panel, Morrisey also revealed for the first time that he represented Cardinal Health on legal matters before being elected attorney general in West Virginia.

During 2013, the panel found that Morrisey asked that a court hearing about the Cardinal Health case be rescheduled because he couldn't attend.

Morrisey also "provided directions" to former chief deputy Dan Greear - who was assigned to manage the case for the office - about how to supervise outside lawyers hired to help the attorney general with the lawsuit, according to evidence cited by the panel.

Morrisey also attended a closed-door meeting with Cardinal Health lawyers to talk about the company's "substance abuse strategies" in May 2013, the investigative panel found - all at a time Morrisey would later publicly state he had recused himself from the lawsuit.

Morrisey's explanation? He told the investigative panel that he took part in the lawsuit before the "permanent screen" in July to "better evaluate any potential conflicts that could arise if he ultimately decided to manage the [Cardinal Health] case."

The panel also interviewed Greear, who testified that Morrisey never pushed him "in a certain way" on the Cardinal Health lawsuit. The panel found "no clear evidence that Morrisey was ever involved with the Cardinal Health litigation in a substantive way."

After the Gazette reported on Morrisey's ties to Cardinal Health in 2013, Morrisey told the investigative panel he asked his office's technology department to "implement an electronic wall" to screen him from the case. His office later adopted a conflict of interest policy that dictates "formal screening procedures."

Greear told the panel Morrisey "abided by the permanent screen" on the Cardinal case after July 2013.

The Lawyer Disciplinary Board dismissed an ethics complaint against Morrisey last month, ending the panel's investigation.

The Cardinal Health lawsuit, which Morrisey inherited from McGraw, alleges that Cardinal Health helped fuel Southern West Virginia's problem with prescription drugs by shipping an excessive number of pain pills to the region. Cardinal Health is the nation's second-largest prescription drug distributor. The case has dragged on for more than three years with few developments.

In response to the newspaper's reports in July 2013, Morrisey released a statement saying he stepped aside from the Cardinal Health lawsuit "earlier this year" and assigned Greear to manage the case in January 2013.

In the statement, Morrisey indicated that his wife's longtime work for Cardinal Health didn't prompt his decision to step aside from the lawsuit. Instead, Morrisey alleged that McGraw implied to him at a 2012 parade that McGraw filed the Cardinal Health lawsuit to retaliate against Morrisey's campaign.

"While McGraw's statements disturbed me greatly and led me to believe that at least some part of that case was politically motivated, after I took office I decided that, not withstanding McGraw's comments, West Virginians deserved the case to be decided on the merits," Morrisey said in the July 2013 statement.

He continued: "While not required under the law, because of McGraw's ethically problematic comments, earlier this year, I recused myself from the litigation as it pertains to Cardinal Health."

McGraw has said he never spoke to Morrisey about Cardinal Health or the lawsuit.

The Gazette later requested documents about Morrisey's decision to distance himself from the Cardinal Health lawsuit. Morrisey responded that he recused himself "orally" - not in writing.

Morrisey later reiterated that he withdrew from the Cardinal Health lawsuit after he took office.

At a town-hall meeting in Martinsburg in December 2014, Morgan County USA reporter Russell Mokhiber asked Morrisey when he stepped aside from the Cardinal Health lawsuit.

Morrisey responded: "Right, so I said I have not been involved in that case from the beginning of the year."

In January 2014, a Gazette reporter asked the same question at The Associated Press Legislative Lookahead event in South Charleston.

Morrisey said: "So I've said I wasn't involved. I wasn't involved in this case. I've said that all along."

Last year, the Charleston Gazette filed a lawsuit against the attorney general after he refused to release records that could shed light on his role in the Cardinal Health lawsuit.

Morrisey fought the release of emails and other documents, alleging that they didn't show he was involved in any matters related to the Cardinal Health lawsuit. Morrisey repeated that assertion, through former General Counsel Misha Tseytlin, in numerous court filings over the past year, saying "no such information exists." The lawyer disciplinary cited some of the same documents as evidence that Morrisey did take part in the Cardinal Health litigation, though not in a "substantive way."

In several filings, Morrisey told the court he consulted with a private lawyer about whether the Cardinal Health lawsuit presented a conflict in the spring of 2013, but only because he wanted to know if he could take part in the case "in the future" - even though records would later reveal that he already was involved at the time.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King sided with Morrisey, ruling he didn't have to release the emails and other documents.

Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4869 or follow @ericeyre on Twitter.

A state lawyer disciplinary board has dismissed an ethics complaint against West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, but the panel warned Morrisey that future rules violations could lead to sanctions.

A Huntington businessman filed the complaint in 2014, alleging Morrisey had an "incurable conflict of interest" with his office's lawsuits against out-of-state prescription drug wholesalers.

After a yearlong investigation, the Lawyer Disciplinary Board determined there were no grounds to charge Morrisey with a violation of the Rules of Profession Conduct, which dictate lawyer ethics, according to an order released Friday.

In a prepared statement, Morrisey said the board "clearly rebuked the unfounded political attacks from my opponents." He called the complaint "frivolous."

"In closing this case, the board reaffirms what I've been saying from the beginning: There were no violations of ethical rules," Morrisey said. "Our position that we have handled this matter appropriately and ethically has been authoritatively affirmed."

Before taking office, Morrisey lobbied for a national trade group that represents many of the drug companies named in the lawsuits.

Morrisey's wife, Denise Henry, lobbies in Washington, D.C., for Cardinal Health, one of the wholesalers being sued by Morrisey's office.

The lawyer board's investigation also revealed that Morrisey, who worked for a law firm in Washington, represented Cardinal Health before he became attorney general in 2013.

The lawyer disciplinary board declined to sanction Morrisey, saying he represented Cardinal Health on Medicare reimbursement regulatory issues - not on prescription drug sales, the subject of his office's lawsuits against Cardinal Health and the other prescription drug distributors.

In statements to the board, Morrisey said the complaint was nothing more than a "political tactic aimed at creating the appearance of an ethical cloud."

Former Attorney General Darrell McGraw filed the lawsuit in 2012. Morrisey inherited the case the following year after defeating McGraw. The lawsuit alleges the drug wholesalers shipped an excessive number of pain pills to West Virginia, helping to fuel the state's prescription drug problem.

Morrisey told the panel that his wife's work for Cardinal Health didn't pose a conflict of interest - and that he could have continued to take part in the lawsuit. In sworn affidavits, Morrisey asserted he had "no material interest in any compensation" his wife received from Cardinal Health, and that her income has "no impact on his own judgment."

But the investigative panel concluded that Morrisey made the right call when he decided to recuse himself from the Cardinal Health lawsuit in July 2013, though the board noted that Morrisey has publicly stated he stepped aside from the case after he took office in January 2013.

The disciplinary board said Morrisey, as a public official, should be held to a higher ethical standard, and his involvement in the Cardinal Health case could be seen as improper conduct. His wife's lobbying firm - she has an ownership stake in it - has received more than $1.5 million in payments from Cardinal Health since Morrisey took office.

"[Morrisey's] involvement with the Cardinal Health case under the existing circumstances could reasonably be seen in the eyes of the public to diminish the integrity of the process and thereby create the appearance of impropriety," wrote Robby Aliff, who headed the Morrisey investigation.

The panel also said it had "concerns" that Morrisey hasn't stepped aside from a companion lawsuit against 11 other drug wholesalers that compete with Cardinal Health. The panel found that the two lawsuits are "essentially indistinguishable" and include the exact same allegations.

The panel concluded that Morrisey could avoid the "appearance of impropriety" by giving up control of that lawsuit, but conceded it would be up to a circuit court judge to force Morrisey to step aside.

In response to questions from the Gazette-Mail, Morrisey announced he would step aside from the lawsuit against the 11 other drug wholesalers. He assigned that case Friday to Chief Operating Officer Anthony Martin and Deputy Attorney General Vaughn Sizemore.

"We will always advance the best ethical practices in our office," Morrisey said.

Records show that Morrisey received a copy of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board's decision Dec. 17.

The ethics complaint against Morrisey also stated that Cardinal Health executives donated $4,000 to Morrisey's campaign in 2012, $3,000 of which came after McGraw's office filed suit against the company. A Cardinal Health vice president also contributed $1,000 to Morrisey's campaign after he defeated McGraw.

Cardinal Health, the second-largest drug distributor in the U.S., paid $2,500 toward Morrisey's inaugural party after he was elected.

The investigative panel found the contributions didn't appear to "amount to extraordinary campaign support," and it wasn't unethical for Morrisey to accept the donations. But the board noted that attorneys general in other states restrict campaign contributions from companies their offices are investigating.

In the end, the disciplinary board didn't charge Morrisey with any ethical violations, but the board wrapped up its findings with these words: "[Morrisey] is strongly warned regarding his duties pursuant to the conflict of interest provisions of the [lawyer] rules of professional conduct, and warned that any future violations of the rules may result in sanction."

Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4869 or follow @ericeyre on Twitter.

JESSE, W.Va. (AP) - State Police say four people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a man in West Virginia.

Lt. Michael Baylous said Saturday that officials discovered the body of a man in the Craney area of Wyoming County around 10 p.m. on Friday. The State Medical Examiner's Office is working to identify the man.

Baylous said John Toler, 27, has been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a felony. He said Robert "Tre" Burton, Vicki Toler and Raesha Massey have been charged with accessory after the fact to murder and conspiracy to commit a felony.

Sgt. A.D. Palmateer said Saturday the suspects are being held at the Southern Regional Jail in Beckley and that they do not yet have lawyers.

TUNNLETON, W.Va. (AP) - It is said that friends stick with each other through thick and thin, and nowhere is that more evident than in the friendship of Harry Burgoyne and Lorin Bowmar. Burgoyne and Bowmar have been hunting together for many, many years, but the last 17 have cemented the friendship.

Burgoyne is blind, and Bowmar takes his friend deer hunting every year, and each year Burgoyne has come home with a deer.

"To me, Lorin and I have a very special relationship," Burgoyne said. "People I use to hunt with me before this accident aren't coming around anymore. It was like being handicapped made me a hindrance."

Their first hunting experience together was at Snowshoe for a handicapped hunt, and they hunted there twice before going to Dream Mountain a couple of years, and then onto private land.

"It is a simple process, really," Burgoyne said. "I hold the rifle, Lorin tells me up, down, left, right and squeeze."

Perhaps not that easy, but the two have practiced together to get their technique perfected over the years.

"There is no formal training for this," Bowmar said. "I picked him up at his home on day and said, 'Let's get your gun and ammo. We are going to practice shooting,' and off we went."

"We have practiced a lot," Bowmar said. "I look over his shoulder and tell him what to do. I may adjust his shoulders at times, but I never touch the gun."

This year, it took them seven minutes to get a 100-pound doe, and they were done.

"We got into Lorin's tree house, and he began to build us a little fire," Burgoyne said. "He stopped trying to build the fire and said 'There are seven or eight out there now."'

"He sighted up the rifle by telling me where to aim, and I squeezed the trigger," Burgoyne continued. "We were finished."

To be honest, the local Department of Natural Resource officers were not too excited about Burgoyne hunting in the first place.

"There is one thing about the whole thing," Burgoyne said. "When we first started doing this, the head DNR men in the county were not too keen about it."

"Then the state made a ruling that anyone 18 or older with a hunting license can help a handicapped person legally help a person hunt," Burgoyne said.

Burgoyne had an all-terrain vehicle accident back in 1989 which took away his sight when his ATV flipped and landed on top of him.

"My wife had given me an ATV for Christmas in 1988," Burgoyne said. "I went riding with my two sons-in-law when we were riding on a strip mine road, and I went up an ash pile."

"My ATV more or less dug into the ash pile and then flipped on top of me," Burgoyne continued. "It flipped onto my face, and they really didn't think I was going to live, but I did."

Burgoyne said he was in and out of the hospital until April 17, and then spent 12 weeks at the Greater Guild for the Blind in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, trying to learn everything he could.

Neither of the friends would change anything about hunting together.

"Lorin does this because he wants to help me," Burgoyne said. "And we enjoy our time together."

ONA, W.Va. (AP) - When the boots come on and the engines roll out, firefighters know they'll rarely find any joy at the end of an emergency call. As Milton and Ona firefighters hosed down the charred frame of the Grove family's home on Dec. 19, the bravery of one Ona Elementary third-grader highlighted the silver lining on smoke clouds.

With a space heater fire spiraling out of control in their Malcolm Springs home, 9-year-old Kenny Grove rushed through the house upstairs to his sister's bedroom, shaking sleeping 7-year-old Kaylie Grove awake and out the door.

Recognizing more than most the courage a burning building requires, the Ona Volunteer Fire Department honored Kenny with a ceremony Jan. 2 at the department's Howells Mill Road station.

"When someone shows courage and bravery like this, you have to recognize it," Ona Fire Chief Walt Williams said. "Our job is a thankless job. There are not too many people who want to come in through the door and do this job, especially for nothing."

Kenny was shy to receive his certificate of recognition from Williams and the other firefighters, and couldn't pin down the hows or whys of what happened the morning of Dec. 19. All he knew, then and now, was to let his instincts take over.

"I just did what I did," Kenny shrugged. "I wasn't really thinking about it."

Just a baseball's throw from Ona Elementary, Kenny's third-grade class had recently taken a field trip walk over to the fire station, learning the ins and outs of fire safety. While nobody thinks it will happen to them, Williams knows too well that an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Honoring those who react with intelligent instincts is part of the station's public service, he said.

"It's good to see young people learning fire prevention," Williams said. "The kids are easier to teach than adults and they learn better. They're always soaking up all the knowledge that we can give to them like a sponge."

Kenny said he sure doesn't feel like a hero, but his family thought otherwise. His grandparents, Mark and Annette Grove, were in their home with Kaylie asleep upstairs when a space heater's gas hose ruptured in the living room around 9 a.m. that Saturday. While Annette and Kenny frantically tried to contain the fire, it spread out of control to the couch, curtains and Christmas presents.

With time to escape running out, Kenny pulled his sister out of bed and grabbed one of the two family dogs. Once outside, Kenny tore through the neighborhood, banging on doors for a phone to call 911. Milton firefighters responded first, but the house had become a total loss with one of the family's dogs dying inside.

Thanks to Kenny, that's all that was lost. Obviously proud of their grandson, Mark and Annette said Kenny's bravery is a combination of who he is and what he learned that day in school.

"When he came home from school that afternoon, he had us do a fire drill," Mark said. "We went through the whole system they had taught him, and I think if it wouldn't have been for that, he wouldn't have done the things he did."

"I think he's remarkable," Annette said. "He's a special kid anyway. He's just precious. He's just got a big heart."

While Kenny had nerves of steel during the fire, Annette said Kenny still had a 9-year-old boy's moment of losing everything before Christmas.

"Later, he broke down, but at the time he did what he needed to do," she said.

While Kenny said he doesn't plan on a firefighting future, he said he'd rather be a police officer or join the military. Whatever the path, the big-hearted little boy has a mountain of bravery to serve him well.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Officials say three people have been killed in a house fire in Huntington.

Officials tell WSAZ-TV that a grandmother and two children died in the fire early Saturday. The victims have not yet been identified.

Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire. Several other people who lived in the home were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

They walked past churches.

They walked past businesses, both occupied and boarded up.

They walked past Cunningham. Parker and Johnson funeral home.

They walked by people poking their heads out of their houses, craning to hear the chants.

"Hands up, guns down!"

"What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now"

"Young lives matter!"

For 1.1 miles, from Orchard Manor to Stonewall Jackson Middle School, a group of around 50 people walked to send a message of anti-violence.

"It's a beautiful thing," said Takeiya Smith, 21, who goes to West Virginia State University. "You have people coming out from the community, saying this is not OK. And that we want better."

A week after three separate shootings left three people dead on the West Side of Charleston, members of the community gathered with signs saying things like "we shall live, not die."

The march snaked its way down Washington Street. A man outside of Huggie's Barber shop recorded video on his phone, people slowed down in their cars and beeped their horns in support.

Damairah Loe, 11, and Cece Langley, 15, held a sign that said "Young lives matter" as they walked, occasionally chanting along.

All three aspire to work in law when they get older, because they feel like it's a way to help the community. They were all were hoping for similar things when they talked about what they thought would help the community.

"Better role models for young kids," said India Frith, 14. "And using their heads instead of weapons."

Most of the people marching mentioned the need for more role models in the community.

"If you live in a neighborhood and the only successful person is a drug dealer, what are you going to try and be?" asked Shanequa Smith, 41, who is currently trying to get her PhD from West Virginia University.

Volunteers from Big Brothers and Big Sisters were in attendance to pass out applications for mentors, as well.

"You want to lead by example," said Deanna McKinney, who organized the event. "We need good people who are doing positive things to show them it can be done."

After the walk, the group gathered in front of Stonewall Jackson Middle School, where people took turns sharing their feelings about the violence.

"We are all we've got," said Isiah Carvens, 19. "And I'm tired of losing family. I can't lose any more, I really can't."

Many spoke a message of resilience, raising their voices to make a change.

"If we don't make a stand, this circle is going to be a lot smaller than this," said Nehemiah Bays, 19. "Because people are going to get killed."

Bays pleaded for people to think before they act. He attributed a lot of the violence to posts on Facebook, or feuds over money and drugs.

"You can't take it back once it happens and that's the thing about death," Bays said. "I don't think people understand death until it happens."

McKinney compared raising attention to an issue to a leaky faucet.

"If it keeps dripping," she said, "someone's going to get up and fix it."

For many, the event was a way of standing up to the violence.

"With so much negativity, this is a little bit of light," Smith said. "That all the violence and tragedy isn't what this community is about."

For Ieshea Frith, 37, it wasn't a question that things would get better in the neighborhood.

"I know so," she said.

At 3:30 p.m., a little boy stood in the middle of the park in Orchard Manor and threw a wiffleball up in the air and swung his bat.

An hour earlier, around 50 people had gathered, with a safer life for that little boy in mind.

Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.

The new chairman of the House Education Committee says legislation to further change West Virginia's K-12 learning standards isn't inevitable, but time is running out for lawmakers, the state Department of Education and the state Board of Education to come to an agreement to avoid such a bill.

"I certainly don't want to close the door," Delegate Paul Espinosa, R-Jefferson, told the Gazette-Mail. The next legislative session begins Wednesday.

When asked if he or other lawmakers desire particular changes - something State Schools Superintendent Michael Martirano has long asked to hear from those who oppose the standards - Espinosa said he doesn't want to "micromanage" the department or state school board to develop specific standards.

He reiterated that though Martirano says West Virginia's new standards are not Common Core, they have much language identical to Common Core. He said he's continued to receive emails and calls from constituents who complain they are a "rebranding" of Common Core.

"They look essentially just like the Common Core standards with relatively few cosmetic changes," Espinosa said. He said there were positive changes made.

When asked why he's opposed to Common Core standards, a national standards blueprint that has been adopted by more than 40 states, he said his main concern is that many West Virginians oppose the standards, and he's representing those constituents.

Last week, House Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, named Espinosa the new House Education leader, replacing former delegate Amanda Pasdon, R-Monongalia, who resigned at the end of last year citing health reasons.

Dave Sypolt, R-Preston and returning chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said he's still gathering information on the state's new standards before deciding whether they move far enough away from Common Core. He said he'll also need to speak with the committee to see whether there is support for standards legislation, noting there wasn't enough support for repeal last year from Senate Republicans.

Last month, the state school board voted to replace, effective next school year, West Virginia's Common Core-based math and English language arts standards with new education requirements. The revisions came after lawmakers, including Espinosa, failed in their effort to repeal the standards during the last session. A repeal bill passed the House 76-20 but died on the last night of the session when the House refused to agree with the Senate version, which would've instead required a review of the standards.

Despite the repeal bill failing, Martirano launched a special online "Academic Spotlight" review of the standards and eight town hall meetings on the issue across the state.

That review allowed the public from early July until Sept. 30 to comment online on any of the more than 900 standards. It garnered more than 240,000 online comments from more than 5,000 individuals. More than 90 percent of the comments supported the standards and, although the website accepted comments from anyone over 18, self-identified West Virginia K-12 teachers were responsible for 91 percent of the comments.

"Content review teams," made up of 48 educators, reviewed the comments during two two-day sessions, focusing on the top five most-disagreed-with standards in each grade level or course, and recommended changes. Education department officials said they then used the feedback to draft the standards changes, although the department didn't include every revision the content review teams suggested and made some changes they didn't propose.

Some of the changes that came out of the standards review include the requirement to teach cursive, and some higher-grade math standards were moved to different courses. But the standards that emerged from that review process - and the additional changes made following the final, normal 30-day public comment period required before new standards and other state school board policies are adopted - do retain much of the same wording, down to the same examples and similar ordering, that are in Common Core. Martirano, however, has repeatedly said the new standards are no longer Common Core, and has responded to the similarities by arguing that what students need to learn can only be stated in limited ways.

When asked why he didn't feel like the review conducted was enough, Espinosa expressed concern with the process, noting he attended a Shepherdstown town hall where attendees could only write down their questions on pieces of paper to have a panel of individuals respond, without opportunity for back-and-forth response.

He said he's interested in developing a group "of all interested parties" to review the standards, including looking at what's been done in other states that have ditched Common Core.

Before the state adopted its new standards, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he preferred to leave Common Core in place for a few years.

State school board President Mike Green said Thursday that West Virginia has already repealed the Common Core standards, but said he's always open "to listen to any suggestions and recommendations if they're specific."

When asked whether he'd support a general review, he said: "I'm not going to agree to do anything now that we just did."

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

As Senate Finance Committee chairman, Senate president and governor, Earl Ray Tomblin has overseen the drafting of West Virginia state budgets for 30 years.

But a projected $353 million deficit could make putting together the 2016-17 state budget in the upcoming legislative session one of his biggest challenges.

"It's going to be a lean year, but I think we will still provide the services and do what we need to do," said Tomblin, who said state agency spending cuts of 7.5 percent, 7.5 percent and 4 percent over the past three years will remain in effect.

Tomblin said giving his sixth and final State of the State address on Wednesday will be a bittersweet experience, as he begins his 41st and presumably final year in state politics.

"It's going to be an active year. It's going to be a challenging year," he said in an interview with the Gazette-Mail last week.

"This was the year we thought we'd be back on the plus side," the governor said of six-year revenue forecasts that did not project severe drops in prices for natural gas, oil and coal.

Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss has said Tomblin will propose a "courageous and responsible plan" to address the deficit. Tomblin would not say if that plan includes tax increases.

"There's been discussions for several years, and the one in particular would be the tobacco tax. I think there will be a lot of discussion on that this year," he said.

Currently, West Virginia's 55-cent-a-pack cigarette tax is 46th-lowest in the U.S. Advocates point out that a $1 a pack increase would raise more than $100 million a year for the state, while giving people another reason not to smoke.

"If it happens, it has to be a balanced increase," Tomblin said, saying the tax can't be so high that it hurts retailers in border counties.

"It's one of those things where we want to do everything we can to discourage young people from smoking, but at the same time, we don't want prices so high, it puts small businesses out of business," he said.

While the energy market has contributed to the state's revenue downturn, the state also cut business taxes and eliminated the sales tax on food during Tomblin's tenure as Senate president and governor, reducing state revenue collections by more than $400 million a year.

However, Tomblin said the business tax cuts were instrumental in helping the state land some major investments, including the Macy's distribution center in Martinsburg, and the $500 million Proctor and Gamble manufacturing plant now under construction near that city.

"That will be huge, I think, when that's up and running," Tomblin said, saying he believes the plant will attract other suppliers and spin-off businesses to the Eastern Panhandle.

Tomblin mused that when he first came to the Senate in 1981, the Eastern Panhandle was relatively poor and under-populated, resulting in a 16th Senatorial District that encompassed seven counties. Today, with a population and economic boom, the 16th District is made up of just Jefferson County and the portion of Berkeley County that includes Martinsburg.

"Today, there's lots of people living there, and lots of employment, and we're spending lots of money over there building schools," he said. "It's because of some of the things we've done with the lowering of business taxes, and our workforce training efforts." The area has also become home to many people who commute to the Washington, D.C., area.

Likewise, Tomblin said the Northern Panhandle suffered a downturn when the steel industry left the region, but has rebounded in recent years with the Marcellus Shale natural gas boom.

"If the energy market worldwide ever gets straightened out, I feel very confident we still should have a very good chance of getting the (multibillion-dollar ethane) cracker plant, and all the downstream investment," he said.

In 2013, Brazilian company Odebrecht said it hoped to build a "cracker" plant, which removes components of raw natural gas and uses them in other applications, in Wood County. But in February 2015, an Odebrecht official said the company was reconsidering those plans in light of the downturn in the natural gas market.

Tomblin hopes a myriad of job training opportunities directed at southern West Virginia, particularly for laid-off miners and their families, will eventually lead to a revitalization of that hard-hit region.

"The mining jobs may not be returning, and you can always go back to that if they do, but it's good to have a little college training under your belt," he said. "Coal in southern West Virginia has had highs and lows for years, and it seems to be hit particularly hard this time."

The decline in West Virginia coal production is forecast to continue, because of competition from inexpensive natural gas, fewer quality reserves in Southern West Virginia, competition from other areas and from renewable power, and more rigid environmental standards.

For the second year, Tomblin will be dealing with a Republican-led Legislature. He hopes lawmakers will focus on resolving the state's budget deficit and diversifying the economy.

"I would certainly hope that we could deal with issues that improve the state and its opportunities and budgets, and don't let them get tangled up in some of the more social-type issues we usually have," Tomblin said.

Last session, Tomblin vetoed bills that would have barred abortions after 20 weeks, allowed people to carry concealed handguns without a license and permitted the sale of raw milk, among others. Legislators overrode his veto of the abortion bill.

Tomblin said there's still no consensus with the Legislature on the key issue of state highways funding.

Tomblin's Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways last year concluded that the state needs to raise an additional $750 million a year to adequately maintain state roadways, and an additional $350 million a year to complete proposed highways construction projects.

Legislators balked at the commission's main proposal, a $1 billion road bond issue, to be funded by keeping tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike through 2049.

"Trying to get consensus is a little bit hard to come by for additional money," the governor said, saying there is some consolation in passage of the federal highways bill in December that will provide $2.3 billion of road funding to the state over five years.

Going into what is likely the final year of a long career in state politics, Tomblin hopes his legacy will be education, workforce development, and fighting substance abuse problems in the state.

"I think we've made some major progress in the substance abuse problem," said Tomblin, who cited expansion of community-based drug treatment programs, establishment of a statewide, 24-hour drug abuse help line, and more emphasis on treating drug abuse as an illness rather than a crime.

"We can't lock them all up," he said.

"Education, workforce development, substance abuse, those are three things that I've spent a lot of time and effort on," Tomblin said. "There's still quite a bit of work to be done, but we've brought them to the forefront, and I think, made some strides."

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

West Virginia's deputy state schools superintendent says state education officials don't control student transfers in Gilmer County, which hasn't provided its promised number of students to the state's first inter-county elementary, and says there's no discussion of forcing redistricting.

Cindy Daniel, who in December told the Gazette-Mail she was working with the Gilmer superintendent to ensure the students intended to go to Leading Creek Elementary actually do so, said last week that despite the school having only about 150 students of its planned 240, a Gilmer family's choice of which school to send their child to shouldn't be harmed. She said some students who were supposed to attend Leading Creek have, at their families' requests, been transferred elsewhere.

"I think we need to treat those students in the same manner as we treat any other students in the state," she said, noting that other counties approve students' requests to transfer from one school to another.

The state Board of Education took over the Gilmer school system in 2011 and still controls finance, personnel and facilities decisions there. Lewis County is responsible for Leading Creek's finances, but there's a special board overseeing the school that includes representatives from both counties and Daniel herself. Planning for the school started years ago, when there was a different Gilmer superintendent and a different deputy state schools superintendent overseeing state intervention counties.

Staff of the state School Building Authority, which put $10.3 million into building the new school on the Gilmer-Lewis line, had raised concerns about Gilmer busing students from the former attendance area for Troy Elementary - which combined with Lewis' Alum Bridge Elementary to form the new school - to Leading Creek, dropping only some of the students off there and continuing to transport the rest on south to Glenville Elementary. Also, a planned redistricting of some Sand Fork area students to attend the inter-county school never occurred. Daniel said she didn't know why that didn't happen, and, to her and SBA staff's understanding, the students from that area were counted in the planned enrollment for Gilmer's new consolidated elementary school, which is expected to combine the county's remaining three elementary schools when it opens next school year in the Glenville area.

Daniel said the combined enrollment of the Troy and Alum Bridge schools was about 190 at the end of last school year, and there aren't even 50 kids in the portion of the Sand Fork area that was supposed to be redistricted - so the full 240 number doesn't appear possible even if redistricting occurred.

She said enrollment isn't even at 190 because many of the former Troy students aren't at Leading Creek for various reasons, including that some were sixth graders who wouldn't attend the prekindergarten through sixth grade inter-county school this year, and some were attending Troy on transfer but reverted back to their original intended schools instead of going to Leading Creek.

She said 16 Troy students never showed up at Leading Creek because their families requested transfers. Upon recommendation by the state-appointed Gilmer superintendent, Gabe Devono, the local Gilmer school board approved the transfers to attend a different school. Local board members Bill Simmons and Misty Pritt agreed they have had control over transfers, but two other members, Carl Armour and Norma Hurley, said that isn't the case.

"In essence, the school board has no authority at all, we merely go in there and sit, and we have no decision-making roles," Armour said.

Regardless of whether the local board does or doesn't have control of transfers, a majority on the five-member board - Armour, Hurley and Pritt - say they're for allowing students to transfer to the schools they want. Simmons said he didn't want to discuss how he'd vote on transfers before the full board discusses it in a meeting, and the Gazette-Mail was unable to reach the final board member, Thomas Ratliff, last week.

SBA staff said the experience will change how they'll approach inter-county schools.

"We've encouraged Gilmer County to honor their commitment here, but I'm just saying I don't think there's a will to do that," SBA Executive Director David Sneed said.

He said the SBA - which distributes state general revenue, bond proceeds and lottery money for school construction and renovation projects around West Virginia - will likely start requiring counties to specify attendance areas for proposed schools, identify the particular students who will attend the schools and require a parent survey to see whether they'd be willing to actually send their kids.

"We will need that confirmed before we fund a project and not afterward, so we will most definitely need to change our approach," Sneed said.

Scott Raines, the SBA's architectural services director, said student transfers from school to school have generally been increasing, making it more difficult to plan how large to build new schools. He said the SBA will start requiring counties to give written assurances that certain kids will come from certain areas.

"I know from here on out, I'll make sure we don't make this kind of mistake again," he said. Regardless, he said he believes Leading Creek will succeed.

Raines said possible overcrowding at Gilmer's upcoming consolidated elementary school could force the county to send more kids to Leading Creek. He said the SBA hasn't looked into whether Gilmer could, with current planning documents, be legally forced to provide more students to Leading Creek, and that may be something the agency's board could look at if problems persist.

Reach Ryan Quinn at

ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com /ryanedwinquinn,

304-348-1254 or follow

@RyanEQuinn on Twitter.

Two years after a chemical spill contaminated the water of more than 300,000 West Virginia residents, a group of concerned citizens and action groups gathered in the state's Capitol to learn more about how communities can protect their drinking water.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition, a statewide nonprofit organization that advocates for safe water and clean rivers and streams, hosted the first of four regional public forums that focused on ways the public can protect their source water, and what the state has been doing in the two years following the Elk River chemical spill to address water protection. The forum was held Saturday, the two-year anniversary of the day thousands of gallons of the chemical crude MCHM spilled into the Elk River, leading to water-use bans that lasted days.

"We encountered some unique challenges back in January of 2014," said Dr. Rahul Gupta, state health officer and commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health. "We were on the ground and dealt with a specific substance that we didn't know what to do with."

Gupta, who was the health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department when the chemical spill occurred, said the experience served to highlight the inadequacies in state regulation and local response for such a large-scale event. In response, the West Virginia Legislature passed Senate Bill 373, which regulates chemical storage tanks like the Freedom Industries tank involved in the 2014 spill, and requires public water utilities statewide to adopt source water protection plans, which all public water systems are required to submit by July 1, 2016, and update every three years.

"We are now one of the strongest states in requiring source water protection plans, starting July 1 of this year. In most states, it's voluntary," Gupta said. "As that goes forward, it is allowing utilities, both large and small, to put their information in and get that information - where are those tanks, what are the substances in those tanks, and to be able to get that information to those utilities and figure out those emergency plans and be able to have public input and planning."

The state has identified 126 water systems so far that will require a source water protection plan, and has completed plans for more than a dozen of them, Gupta said. The BPH has a plan template that each water system will individualize, Gupta said, and that will identify potentially significant sources of contamination, including things like chemical storage tanks, rail yards, landfills and mines. The plans will include guidance on prioritizing threats, notifying the public, planning for water shortages and coordinating emergency response.

Representatives from the West Virginia Rivers Coalition also discussed how individuals can better protect their water. Autumn Bryson, the program director for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, said state law on developing source water protection plans requires public input, and the Clean Water Act requires public drinking water utilities provide their customers with regular reports on the status of the system.

"That's why it's so important that the public stay informed about their water," Bryson said.

Land owners have another means of protecting their water through something called a conservation easement, which protects the property even if it is transferred to someone else, Bryson said. Bryson also suggested that residents do more common upkeep, such as ensuring that their property's septic tank is working properly or appropriately disposing of household chemicals, to help keep their water system running smoothly.

"As the old adage goes, 'failing to prepare is preparing to fail,'" Gupta said. "Water and sanitation infrastructure issues are not exclusive to West Virginia. It's a national issue, because the majority of the infrastructure is from the turn of the last century, or after World War II; the timing for that is running out, and you're seeing that in terms of spills and failings."

Reach Lydia Nuzum at lydia.nuzum@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @lydianuzum on Twitter.

He is an academic, so it only makes sense that Dr. Sameh Asal, imam of the Islamic Association of West Virginia, would think the best way to combat rising anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States is with more education.

But the kind of education Asal has in mind isn't about reading and memorizing texts, although he's a supporter of that, too.

It's about establishing interfaith partnerships, serving the community and interacting with other West Virginians. Asal understands that as his connections with the community grow, greater understanding of Islam will leave no room for hatred of what some Americans don't understand.

It's also about the understanding that meaningful communication with people of other faiths requires realizing people are at different starting points.

"I'm not going to be offended by anything," he says, when he speaks to groups. "Ask any question that comes to your mind."

"This openness dispels doubts and confusion," he said.

So to Asal, growing fear of Muslims in the United States isn't a challenge to overcome. It's an opportunity.

"I think it's a chance to educate many people," he said.

Asal was passionate about education and Islam from an early age.

Part of it was where he grew up - in the city of Menofiya, where education was emphasized by most other residents and in particular his parents, in Egypt, where religion is deeply valued.

It also had a lot do with him.

Asal said he jumped at the chance when his father asked him if he wanted to transfer from public school to the prestigious Al-Azhar University - one of the oldest universities in the world - in middle school. (While it's called a university, education for younger students is also provided.)

He put his mind to excelling in school, eventually leaving his last position as an imam in North Carolina to return to Egypt to defend his doctorate of philosophy in Islamic studies and English.

Upon his return, he became the imam of West Virginia's Islamic Association in June.

Despite the onslaught of hatred Muslims have experienced, Asal said he immediately felt warmth and love from the West Virginians he's met in his new home.

"I fell in love with Charleston," he said. "People here are very hospitable and kind."

He noticed that some West Virginians, though, seemed like they wished they were somewhere else. People kept asking him why he would leave Raleigh to come to Charleston.

"People here underestimate themselves," he said. "It gave me a feeling that people are not happy about staying here."

Being imam isn't a 9-to-5 job. He is imam when he's speaking at school, responding to media inquiries or counseling other Muslims. He also has to be ready to serve when he's playing with his kids, Abdul-Rahman, Maryam, Layan and Razan, or spending time with his wife, Amira El-Shabasy.

Faith and education are intertwined in Asal's life. Being imam involves consistently studying, progressing, improving.

"Calling" isn't the right term for it, according to him. That's too easy.

"It's much deeper than that," he said. "To me, it's a mission."

In November, Asal saw fear of Muslims begin to rise after what was believed to be a fake Syrian passport was found near one of the terrorists who killed 130 people in Paris.

It kept up after another attack in San Bernardino, California in December, when a terrorist couple opened fire at a work holiday party.

West Virginia hasn't been immune to hysteria over local events, either. A post on Facebook about "foreign Muslims" at the Kanawha State Forest shooting range got more than 1,000 shares on Facebook last month.

Asal is kindly and speaks with a gentle tone, but when the subject of anti-Muslim sentiment comes up, his voice takes on new urgency. After another horrific terrorist attack occurs, he notices a double standard in the coverage and conversations that follow.

"I have no doubt that the guy who attacked the church in South Carolinia, killing nine innocent people and terrifying many others is a terrorist," he said.

"He's not a terrorist because he's not Muslim?" he questions. "The guy who attacked the Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in Colorado. This is a terrorist attack, a terrorist assault. Name it criminal, name the person a crazy person or he is like this or has psychological problems, but this is a terrorist attack against innocent people."

In the wake of the attacks, it didn't take him long to discover another reason to love West Virginia.

An estimated 250 to more than 300 people turned out for a rally in support of Syrian refugees in November.

"I would say for bigger cities we might not have that number of people," he said.

Asal was amazed, and inspired.

"We're not alone in this," he said. "Together we are fighting hate and fighting xenophobia."

In Asal's eyes, a divine creator - whether you call him Allah or God - designed the world to be perfect for education and faith to thrive together. People of different faiths are meant to learn from each other.

"We are descendants of the same family," he said.

Asal broke out in Arabic for a moment, then referred to the Quran. "If your Lord so willed he would have made the whole of humanity as one nation, but they will continue to be diverse and different," he said.

Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.

Music

WEST VIRGINIA YOUTH SYMPHONY: 3 p.m. Adults $10. Children 18 and under free. Winter Concert, featuring works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius. Scottish Rite Temple, 406 Capitol St. Call 304-957-9888.

Etc

KANAWHA TRAIL CLUB HIKE: 1:30 p.m., St. Albans College Hill. Carpool from the parking lot at the corner of Ohio and Randolph streets. Hike is 3.5 miles in the College Hill neighborhood along sidewalks, paved and unpaved roads. Five moderate climbs, one steep descent and an optional stop at a Dairy Queen.

A Huntington woman whose son is in a West Virginia state prison getting treatment for opioid abuse will attend the State of the Union address in Washington, as a guest of President Barack Obama.

Cary Dixon, who spoke at the opioid abuse forum that Obama hosted in Charleston in October, will sit with first lady Michelle Obama as the president delivers his final State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Dixon's son is in a residential substance abuse treatment program in a state prison, where he is serving time for drug-related crimes. He is eligible for parole in September.

Sitting in the president's box at the State of the Union is a very select honor, and guests are almost always mentioned in the president's speech.

The guests, the White House wrote last year, "exemplify the themes and ideals that the president lays out in his address."

Last year there were only four guests in Obama's box, all of whom were mentioned in the speech. Obama had eight guests in 2014, the most any president has had going back to Reagan.

This year's guests, the White House said, personify the president's time in office and represent compassion, innovation and courage.

Obama came to West Virginia, the state that leads the country in drug overdose deaths, to discuss the opioid crisis.

At the forum in Charleston, Dixon told the president about how her son's addiction had affected her entire family.

She talked about shock at hearing of a first DUI, fear at a first trip to jail and embarrassment when family from out of town can't interact with a loved one under the influence of drugs.

"We dread the next phone call, we can't sleep because we haven't received a phone call," she said. "We're relieved when our loved ones acknowledge that they have a serious problem and understand that they need help. And then we're devastated when we help them seek treatment only to find out that there is a month-long waiting list, or that there's no insurance coverage, or that there's a big requirement for money up front for treatment."

A visibly moved Obama told Dixon that her thoughts reminded him of his own daughters and gave her a hug after the event.

"It's like having your heart walking around outside your body," he said of parenting. "All you care about is making sure they're OK, but they're so vulnerable."

On Friday, Dixon said that she was honored and humbled to be invited to the Capitol for the once-a-year speech.

She said she was hoping to focus not on her personal story, but on addiction in general.

"As a community and as a nation we haven't known what to do with this disease," she said. "Addiction is a disease, people don't want to become addicted to drugs. These are real people, they're not bad people, they are sick people."

She said she was grateful for the national attention focused on the issue.

When Obama was in Charleston he announced new steps intended both to help stem the flow of prescription painkillers and to make it easier for people fighting addiction to find treatment.

Those steps included asking federal agencies to provide training on properly prescribing opioids to doctors who work for the federal government and asking agencies to review their health insurance plans to ensure there are no barriers to addiction treatment.

The White House also frequently points out that the Affordable Care Act requires insurance plans to cover substance-abuse treatment. But just because treatment is required to be covered does not mean it is available.

"We need funding, we need resources for treatment," Dixon said on Friday. "We need resources for prevention."

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

Waiting for her turn to approach the microphone, Jhanvi Sheth was restless as she watched her fellow spellers, one after the other, misspell their words.

After 57 spellers braved the hot stage lights in South Charleston High School's auditorium, Jhanvi finally got her chance to spell.

She didn't look back the rest of the morning.

By correctly spelling "flotilla" after about 25 rounds, Jhanvi, a Charleston Catholic High School eighth grader, on Saturday won the Kanawha County Spelling Bee. She was one of only 20 competitors to spell a word correctly. Saturday's bee had 61 entrants.

While she confidently spelled each of her words, Jhanvi said the first few rounds were difficult to sit through.

"I was nervous," she said.

It's not uncommon for several spellers to go down in the first round of a spelling bee, but Saturday's competition got off to a rough start. Out of the first 10 spellers, only one got their word correct. It didn't get much better until the field thinned out in later rounds.

Longtime pronouncer Kennie Bass said watching 41 spellers go down in the first round made him feel bad for the students, who already have proven their merit as spellers by outlasting competition in class and school spelling bees.

"I've been doing this for a long time," the WCHS anchor said. "And I've never seen anything like that before."

While the first few rounds were ruthless - nine spellers were eliminated in the second round and all but three had left the stage by round nine - the top spellers were tenacious when asked to spell several difficult words.

Jhanvi, who has spelled in Kanawha County's bee each of the last two years, said her success can be owed to hours of studying.

"I memorized words from my school bee and asked my mom and dad to ask me words, too," she said, holding two trophies - one she'll keep and one that will be displayed at her school once her name is engraved on its side.

"She worked very hard for this,"said Jhanvi's dad, Ashish. "And there were a lot of bright kids up there."

Jhanvi, like many seasoned spellers, used lifelines available to her. Each speller is allowed to ask the pronouncer to repeat the word, as well as ask for its definition, language of origin and part of speech - all clues that can be used to figure out the correct spelling of difficult words.

Many of Saturday's eliminated spellers did not ask those questions.

While they didn't win the bee, the two runners-up, Taylor Martin and Jeeya Patel, both elementary students, also used the technique.

Jeeya, a fifth-grader at Ruthlawn Elementary School, came in second place, which allows her to advance with Jhanvi to the next competition, the Gazette-Mail Regional Spelling Bee.

Spelling competitions in West Virginia and around the country are tiered. Spellers usually start in either a class or school bee. Winners go on to a county bee and then to regionals before advancing to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Recent history favors Kanawha County spellers who advance to regionals. The last three Gazette-Mail Regional Spelling Bee champions have been from Kanawha County.

Jhanvi will first focus on spelling in the regional bee, though. She said she'll start focusing on languages of origin so she can be better prepared to spell foreign words.

Jhanvi's determination to advance - this is the last year she is eligible to compete - has rubbed off on those around her.

"I'm learning words as she's studying," Jhanvi's mother, Falguni, said. "She really wanted to win this time."

Saturday's bee was sponsored by the Kanawha County Schools Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the county board of education. Judges included retired educators Barbara Jones, Pam Mullins and Peggy Alexander and Kanawha County Magistrate Mike Sisson.

Jhanvi and Jeeya will now advance to the Gazette-Mail Regional Spelling Bee, which is scheduled to take place March 12.

The winner of the regional bee will receive an all-expense-paid trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., outside Washington, D.C. They'll also get $2,500 in a SMART529 college savings account.

The Gazette-Mail Regional Spelling Bee is sponsored by the West Virginia Automobile and Truck Dealers Association and WSAZ, which will broadcast the competition at a later date on myZtv.

Reach Samuel Speciale at sam.speciale@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @samueljspeciale on Twitter.

While I was enjoying a leisurely walk on a cold day, a snowflake landed on the sleeve of my coat. I examined its intricate beauty, and was reminded of God's creativity and awesome power. As we embark on a new year, perhaps some of us are apprehensive about facing a new challenge, or concerned about an existing problem, but we can rest assured that the spirit of God will empower us to meet every situation - new or old - with confidence and strength.

It is important to appreciate what a turning point this can be in your life. Whatever has happened in the past year, the New Year brings fresh beginnings. Life is about change. So let our mornings begin and our days end in prayers of gratitude. Let us be thankful for the blessings of the past and the promise of the future, accepting that the changes that come about are opportunities for our growth and for our good.

A long time ago, a friend gave me a book for my birthday. When I opened it, I was surprised and puzzled to find that its pages were blank. My friend said, "Write whatever you want; make it your book - your way."

In this New Year, I remember my deceased friend lovingly. The book she gave me with its clean, white pages is a reminder that each of us receives an opportunity like mine every Jan. 1. We are given 365 blank pages, and we may write whatever we choose on each one. What a splendid chance to begin anew, living each day differently, correcting previous mistakes.

Some of us make New Year's resolutions. We may resolve to read the Bible more, pray more or attend church on a more regular basis. However, if God is not at the center of our resolutions, they will not succeed. But if our resolution is in agreement with God's will, then He will enable us to do it. Philippians 4:13 tells us, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength," and John 15:4 says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

We must pray before making our resolutions: Pray for wisdom. Pray for strength to complete our goals. And remember to give God all the glory. A new year shouldn't necessarily require a new resolution. If we put God first in our lives and seek His will, then every day will be a "new day" in Christ.

Lord, we commit into your hands the happenings of the past year and ask for your direction and guidance in the coming year. Please give us Your grace, Your tranquility and Your wisdom. In Jesus' name. Amen,

Peggy Toney Horton lives in Nitro and can be reached at pegylu@suddenlink.net.

Associated Press

No ticket matched all six Powerball numbers following the drawing for a record jackpot of nearly $950 million, lottery officials said early Sunday, boosting the expected payout for the next drawing to a whopping $1.3 billion.

The winning numbers - disclosed live on television and online Saturday night - were 16-19-32-34-57 and the Powerball number 13. All six numbers must be correct to win, although the first five can be in any order. The odds to win the largest lottery prize in U.S. history were one in 292.2 million.
Officials with the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs the Powerball game, said they expected about 75 percent of the possible number combinations would have been bought for Saturday night's drawing.
Since Nov. 4, the Powerball jackpot has grown from its $40 million starting point as no one has won the jackpot. Such a huge jackpot was just what officials with the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs the Powerball game, hoped for last fall when they changed the odds of matching all the Powerball numbers, from about one in 175 million to one in 292.2 million. By making it harder to win a jackpot, the tougher odds made the ever-larger prizes inevitable.
The U.S. saw sales of $277 million on Friday alone and more than $400 million were expected Saturday, according to Gary Grief, the executive director of the Texas Lottery.
The record jackpot lured an unprecedented frenzy of purchases. Anndrea Smith, 30, said Saturday that she already had spent more than she usually does on Powerball tickets.
"I bought four yesterday, and I usually never buy any," said Smith, manager of Bucky's gas station and convenience store in Omaha, Nebraska. She's not alone, saying the store sold "about $5,000 worth of tickets yesterday. Usually on a Friday, we might sell $1,200 worth."
Powerball is played in 44 states as well as the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The next Powerball drawing is Wednesday.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) - Fewer West Virginia coal miners failed drug tests last year compared to the year before, officials say.

Around 290 miners failed drug tests in 2015, Eugene White, director of the West Virginia Mine Safety Office, tells the Times West Virginian. That's down from 310 workers in 2013 and 314 miners in 2014.

The decline is likely due in part to the fact that fewer miners are working as the decline of the coal industry has forced mines to shut down and lay off workers, White said. Companies, which are required by law to test at least 25 percent of their workers, may also be cutting back on tests in an effort to save money, he said.

"Some companies screen 25 percent of their workers while most do 100 percent," White said. "With the declining market in coal, a lot of companies will cut their costs by not drug screening as much."

But White said coal companies and state officials are also taking steps to fight substance abuse in the coal mining community. Officials have placed posters in every mine in the state to educate miners about the dangers of drug abuse, White said.

"We'll be talking to every miner in the state," he said. "We have decals we'll be handing out and to let them know how serious this is."

Workers who fail a test are immediately suspended, pending a hearing with the board of appeals.

White said it's important to remove the workers with substance abuse problems from the mines for safety reasons, particularly because they operate heavy machinery. But officials are also dedicated to ensuring these workers can get back on their feet, he said.

"We try to get them assistance whether it be through counseling or rehabilitation," he said. "Our job is to try and get them back into the workplace as quickly as possible."

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Emmakate Franz, 12, has been dancing ballet since the young age of 3.

She began classes like most children, but she had the advantage of having a ballet instructor as a mom. Christian Franz is the director of the Fragrant Offering Dance Company based out of Covenant Church in Shepherdstown.

Emmakate not only danced with Fragrant Offering, but also at the Inwood Performing Arts Company, under the exceptional tutelage of director Denna Smith and assistant director Susan Banks, formerly a soloist in the Houston Ballet.

It became evident early on that Emmakate would excel at her art, dedicating many hours per week to practices and performance.

This past summer, after video audition and letters of recommendation, Franz received a scholarship to study with the Maryland Youth Ballet, recognized as one of the finest schools for classical ballet in the region. She took classes five days per week, at least three hours per day, learning the disciplines of classical ballet, pointe and modern dance.

"I love dancing with MYB (Maryland Youth Ballet)," Franz said. "The instructors are very nice and they believe in me."

And believe in her, they do. Franz is performing the coveted role of Clara in 16 performances of MYB's Nutcracker production this year.

"It's really quite a huge honor for a new student coming in to be offered a leading role," said mom, Christina. "We're very proud of Emmakate."

Franz has also earned other opportunities to compete in prestigious ballet events. Early this year she participated in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in Pittsburgh, the world's largest global network of dance. Franz took third place out of 60 in her age group, propelling her to the elite final competition that takes place in New York City each year.

She plans to compete again in Pittsburgh at YAGP in early 2016, performing two classical pieces, one duet and a contemporary piece. The judges will score based on a variety of factors such as control, turns, smile, performance and potential.

"It's exciting getting to compete in front of such great judges," said Franz. "It's scary, but it gets a little easier each time and I like getting the feedback."

In addition to the competition and performances, dancers at these events are able to participate in classes and workshops taught by experts in the field. There are opportunities to earn scholarships and win dance supplies as well.

Franz was selected this year "One to Watch" part of the ambassador program to represent Russian Pointe, a ballet apparel company.

"This is very exciting for Emmakate," said her mother. "She will be featured on the poster for the company."

When asked what she loves most about dancing, Franz replied, "I can just let myself go and not worry or think about things. I get lost in the music and motions."

As far as her future plans, Franz hopes to be able to continue to receive scholarships to study with MYB until she can one day achieve her ultimate goal of becoming a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre.

She's well on her way with an upcoming performance at the Kennedy Center in January in the American Ballet Theatre's' production of Sleeping Beauty. Franz will be performing the garland waltz en pointe.

The Maryland Youth Ballet has four more performances of the Nutcracker, Dec 26 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., and Dec 27 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. For tickets visit www.marylandyouthballet.org.