As Princess Young stood inside the vast concrete warehouse at 501 Stockton St. on Charleston's West Side, she cried at the thought of what the building's future could mean for people like her daughter, who has been in recovery for more than a year in a facility in Kentucky.

"I don't think any parent should have such difficulty finding help for their child," she said. "No mother should ever have to get behind the wheel of a vehicle with a jonesing child in the passenger seat to embark on an eight-hour trip just to seek treatment. I will never forget that drive - it was just the two of us, and we had to keep stopping, because she was so sick. I was driving as quickly and safely as I possibly could, and then out of nowhere and with absolute clarity, my daughter reached over and touched my hand and said, 'Mom, thank you for not giving up on me.' I ask you - what mother would?"

For Young's daughter, Lindsay, help finally came after weeks of fruitless searching for treatment in her home state of West Virginia. Now, Young said she hopes that other women in the Kanawha Valley won't have to leave their families to seek treatment, thanks in part to the planned Recovery Point of Charleston, which dedicated its building on the West Side Tuesday and will begin construction in the coming months.

"It's incredible that we have come this far," said Charleston Mayor Danny Jones. "This is a great day for Charleston ... this will touch a lot of people's lives in a very positive way."

Lindsay's problem started her junior year of college, Young said. Her daughter had become addicted to opiates, and despite coming home to St. Albans, she could not stop using. Lindsay was arrested in early 2014, but it was several more months before she finally admitted she needed treatment. But for Young, who has worked in mental health services for years, the level of treatment Lindsay needed was hard to come by in West Virginia - after two weeks of fruitless searching, a friend pointed her to Liberty Place Recovery Center for Women in Kentucky, the facility Recovery Point of Huntington and Charleston are modeled after.

"I thought I knew how the system was supposed to work. How could this be happening in my home state? How? Finally, help came by accident, by an absolute chance encounter with an old friend," she said. "I believe so much in what Recovery Point has to offer, because they're bringing hope to addicts, to their families and this community."

Rachel Thaxton, program coordinator of Recovery Point of Charleston, said the facility will start the bidding process on the project within the next month, and will likely begin construction within six weeks after the bids close. The main building will have 92 treatment beds, which will be opened about 10 beds at a time initially, and Thaxton said the facility will also construct 24 transitional apartments on the property that will house up to 48 more women.

According to Recovery Point of Huntington, the parent facility for the women's center in Charleston, its treatment costs are $25 per person per day, compared to an average $250 per day for those in a traditional treatment facility, or $50 per day in a regional jail. Its outcomes are also better, said Matt Boggs, executive director for Recovery Point of Huntington. Boggs said 68 percent of those who graduate from the program remain sober for a year, and of those, 85 percent stay sober for more than two years. Half of graduates also report earned incomes of more than $2,000 per month after completing the program, and many say their family relationships and living situations have improved dramatically after completing the treatment program.

To date, Recovery Point of Charleston has raised 71 percent of the total cost of the project - about $4.7 million of a $6.6 million total, Boggs said.

Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Bailey, who runs the county's drug court program, said long-term programs like drug court and Recovery Point are integral tools for rehabilitating addicts, and she hopes the Charleston facility and others like it will become a greater priority in order to avoid the alternatives - often jail, or homeless shelters where women are surrounded by active addicts in often sub-par living conditions.

"Unfortunately, jail is a place I send people to keep them alive, because they're relapsing; it's not a good use of their time or our tax dollars, but I have no other alternatives," Bailey said. "I can't sleep at night knowing I'm telling women 'this is what you need to do to recover,' that they must go live in a poverty-level, dilapidated housing situation, and try to do better there. That's all we can offer you? I can't sleep at night knowing that what I told them to do - leave jail and enter a homeless shelter, those are our options."

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

Lawmakers voted Tuesday to delay receiving an audit of the state Higher Education Policy Commission and Council for Community and Technical College Education after officials said they were not given enough time to respond to its recommendations, which call for a complete restructuring of the two institutions.

The audit, conducted over the past year, alleges the commission and council do not uphold their legislative mandate to oversee the state's colleges and questions their process for approving budgets, academic programs and tuition increases. It asks the Legislature to consider restructuring the commission and council by limiting their authority and divesting certain functions back to the state's colleges.

The committee's vote lays over taking action on the report until its next meeting, which will not come until after the Legislature adjourns in March.

Legislative auditors delivered their findings to the Joint Standing Committee on Government Organization during interim meetings at the state Capitol on Tuesday. The report wasn't given to state higher education leaders until Friday, something that has been a point of contention between the commission, council and audit office.

While auditors claim they were forthright with their call to restructure the commission and council, higher education officials say they had no idea the recommendation was coming.

Both Paul Hill and Sarah Tucker, chancellors for the state Higher Education Policy Commission and Community and Technical College System, respectively, said the report was delivered to the Legislature in haste. They also contend its findings are flawed.

In a statement provided after Tuesday's meeting, Hill said the commission is disappointed higher education officials weren't given time to respond. He also alleges the audit is an unfair critique that lacks sufficient evidence for its claims and support for its recommendations.

"West Virginia's economic future hinges significantly on our ability to educate more of our citizens, and while we welcome a fair evaluation of our agency, we fear that such an incomplete and uninformed review could only serve to erode the far-reaching work we are doing to achieve that goal," Hill said.

Tucker also sent a statement, saying the review reflects auditor's misunderstanding of the state's higher education governance structure.

Some lawmakers also questioned the short amount of time auditors gave the two institutions to respond before appearing before the Legislature Tuesday.

Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, asked if the audit office normally gives "damning reports" with such short notice. Legislative Auditor Aaron Allred admitted he would have liked to have delivered the audit's findings last week, but said the report needed to go to the Legislature before session's start Wednesday.

Snyder also raised concern over the audit's lack of data on budget cuts to the state's higher education system. He said auditors, who specifically raise issue with the commission and council approving all tuition increases the past four years, should have included in their report tables showing the amount higher education funding has been cut.

"Laying the blame on them is unfair when it lies with these two chambers," he said, adding that higher education officials have had no choice but to increase tuition after years of disinvestment from the state.

The Legislature has cut higher education funding each of the last four years, bringing state funding to a decade low, according to commission data.

In response to accusations that the cost of sustaining the commission and council exceeds any benefit the state receives, Tucker said the two institutions are worth funding because they bring in more money than what the Legislature appropriates each year. Over the past 7 years, the commission and council have secured $125 million in federal grants. State funding for the two institutions is about $3.5 million each year.

In addition to saying the commission and council do not oversee or provide accountability to the state's colleges, Allred asked if giving the two institutions $3.5 million a year is worth it. He noted the $3.5 million the two receive is 1 percent of the state's current budget deficit of $350 million, adding that the deficit means difficult decisions need to be made.

In addition to overseeing the state's colleges, the commission and council also administers financial aid programs and gives West Virginia students about $100 million in scholarships and grants each year. The two institutions also partner with several business around the state and have outreach programs that encourage students to attend and complete college.

The commission and council, over the years, also have consolidated many administrative positions by sharing staff.

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

The day before West Virginia lawmakers planned to start the 2016 session with anti-Common Core bills on their minds, the state schools superintendent's Commission on Assessment again appeared ready to recommend replacing the current Smarter Balanced standardized tests with ones purchased from ACT.

But the state Department of Education, which Superintendent Michael Martirano leads, still isn't publicizing what it says will be "final recommendations" from the 26-member commission. Martirano, who said he has purposefully been largely absent from the commission meetings so as not to interfere with the members' discussions, came in at the end of Tuesday's meeting and told the members, who've met three times since December, that they should think of themselves as an "in perpetuity group."

He noted the ongoing controversy among lawmakers over the state's standards, and said the state needs to consider whether tests align to the standards. Martirano has said the new education requirements - which the state Board of Education approved last month - are no longer based on Common Core, despite them containing mostly identical language, and legislative leaders say they're seriously considering using legislation to change the standards further.

"Since a lot of that is under concern right now ... we can't bury our head in the sand and say that we're gonna just say that 'This is what we're going to do, and this why' without a thoughtful review," Martirano said.

He said he wants the commission to identify the pros and cons of various tests, and he and the state school board need to ultimately settle the related issues of standards, testing and school accountability.

"Everything right now is under fire, and it behooves us to stay out in front of things, to gather information and to vet these things," he said.

The commission will provide its recommendations to Martirano, who will make recommendations to the state school board.

When asked Tuesday why "final recommendations" weren't yet being publicized, Deputy State Schools Superintendent Cindy Daniel noted that while the fact that the commission favors ACT was strengthened by Tuesday's discussion, she said the commission hasn't considered other testing options that "maybe we're not fully aware of right now."

Discussions Tuesday among commission members - who include teacher union representatives, county school board members, county superintendents and others - and representatives from the ACT and SAT did highlight that studies of how well either test can adequately measure whether West Virginia's students are meeting the state's new standards have not been finished.

Paul Weeks, senior vice president of client relations for ACT, said the alignment between the ACT exams and the Mountain State's new standards will be "very strong," because the new standards don't veer too much from Common Core, to which the ACT is well aligned.

Heather Hutchens, general counsel for the education department, also pressed ACT and SAT representatives Tuesday with questions about data privacy for Mountain State students taking their tests. She said a law the Legislature passed in 2014 increased student privacy protections beyond that required by the federal government, and the ACT refused to sign West Virginia's resulting student privacy agreement regarding the Compass test. Hutchens said Compass, which helped determine whether West Virginia high school juniors needed to take developmental courses in their senior year, wasn't given this school year due to the impasse.

Last week, a majority of the testing commission's members recommended moving away from the Smarter Balanced tests, limiting end-of-year testing in high school to only one grade and specifically exploring using ACT and ACT Aspire, which is offered for grades 3 through 10, as freely provided statewide assessments.

Despite that, SAT representatives, who presented at last week's meeting alongside an ACT representative, returned again Tuesday to, alongside ACT, provide more information about their offerings.

Daniel said SAT representatives were allowed to provide more info Tuesday despite last week's decision because, while 11 members said they wanted more information from ACT, others continued to express an interest in the SAT as well. Commission member Ryan White, a Kanawha County school board member, specifically said he wanted more information on the SAT, expressing support for allowing counties to choose between ACT and SAT.

Two members said they needed more information on all options, but more information on Smarter Balanced wasn't presented Tuesday.

Near the end of Tuesday's meeting, Daniel drew on a large pad of paper on an easel two columns to compare and contrast SAT and ACT, and asked commission members for input.

"I know we could go on listing strengths and weaknesses," commission member Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association teachers union, said after a while. "... I think we're ready to make a recommendation for which one of these we should go with."

But Daniel noted there remain many unanswered questions, and after Martirano spoke, the commission adjourned.

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

In recent years, state lawmaker Doug Reynolds has co-sponsored legislation that targeted West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

Now, Reynolds, D-Cabell, is running for attorney general.

Reynolds announced his candidacy during a press conference at the state Capitol Tuesday, saying he would rebuild the attorney general's Consumer Protection Division. Reynolds also said he would crack down on scam artists who prey on West Virginians.

"West Virginians deserve an attorney general who takes this seriously, who will hire consumer protection attorneys that will aggressively pursue these folks who come here," Reynolds said. "When you just give a small fine and put out a press release, nobody learns a lesson."

In October, Reynolds announced he would not seek re-election for his seat in the House of Delegates' 17th District, raising speculation that he was considering a run for attorney general.

If elected, Reynolds said he would aggressively fight the state's drug problem. He said "pill mill" pharmacies and medical practices must be shut down.

"This has to end right now," he said. "We have to stop this."

Reynolds, a Huntington lawyer, is president of Energy Services of America, a gas pipeline construction firm. He has served in the House of Delegates since 2007.

Reynolds, a former member of the state Economic Development Authority, also owns the Herald-Dispatch newspaper in Huntington. In 2007, he bought the newspaper from Champion Industries, a company owned by his father, Marshall Reynolds.

As attorney general, Reynolds said he would establish a "hotline" to help answer legal questions from small business owners.

"As a business owner, I know the challenges facing our small business owners in West Virginia, and I will work to eliminate bureaucratic red tape and other obstacles facing the state's entrepreneurs," he said.

Morrisey filed for re-election Monday, after flirting with a run for governor last summer. Morrisey isn't expected to face any opposition in the GOP primary.

Among Democrats, Charleston lawyer Dave Higgins has announced plans to run for attorney general, but he has yet to file official papers to enter the race. Candidates in state and local races have until Jan. 30 to do so. Charleston lawyer Mark Hunt declared his intentions to seek the attorney general's office last year, but he has since decided to run for Congress in West Virginia's 2nd District.

Reynolds has twice sponsored bills that targeted Morrisey's office.

In 2013, Reynolds was lead sponsor of legislation that would have required state government lawyers with salaries above $100,000 to have a license to practice law in West Virginia.

Shortly after taking office, Morrisey hired a solicitor general, Elbert Lin, who didn't have a West Virginia law license at the time. Nonetheless, Morrisey put Lin on the state payroll with a salary of $132,000. Lin secured his West Virginia law license months later.

Reynolds' bill died in the House Judiciary Committee.

In 2014, Reynolds spearheaded legislation that would have set strict ethics rules for Morrisey's office. Morrisey fought the bill.

House Democrats called the bill "good policy," while Republicans described the legislation as a "witch hunt" and "personal attack" against Morrisey.

The House passed the legislation, but the Senate declined to take up the measure.

The bill would have required the attorney general to step aside from lawsuits his office has filed against companies or individuals that had paid him or any immediate family members within the past five years.

During the past two years, Morrisey's office has overseen a lawsuit against drug giant Cardinal Health. The lawsuit - filed by former Attorney General Darrell McGraw in 2012 - alleges that Cardinal Health shipped an excessive number of painkillers to "pill mill" pharmacies in West Virginia, helping to fuel the state's prescription drug problem.

Morrisey's wife, Denise Henry, lobbies for Cardinal Health in Washington, D.C. She has an ownership stake in a lobbying firm, Capitol Counsel, which has received more than $1.5 million from Cardinal Health since Morrisey took office.

Morrisey, a former drug industry lobbyist and corporate lawyer, also represented Cardinal Health in legal matters before he was elected attorney general.

The state Lawyer Disciplinary Board recently dismissed an ethics complaint against Morrisey. The complaint alleged Morrisey had an "incurable conflict of interest" with the Cardinal Health lawsuit.

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

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House is promising a nontraditional address for President Barack Obama's final State of the Union. But, no, don't look for him to slow-jam Tuesday's speech or rap it.

Nontraditional is more likely to simply mean a shorter list of policy proposals and more attention to the president's broader vision for the country.
What else is there to watch for? Plenty. The president's speech promises all sorts of election-year dynamics, a new face, an empty chair and a dollop of nostalgia.
Some things to watch:
LONG LOOK AHEAD
With time running out on his presidency, Obama knows it would be pointless to propose lots of new initiatives. Instead, look to see what sort of future the president sketches for the country well beyond his remaining year in office. Bill Clinton, in his 2000 valedictory, harked back to Theodore Roosevelt's talk of a "growing nation with a future that takes the long look ahead."
LONG LOOK BACK
Obama doesn't want to emphasize his lame duck status, so he's likely to go light on the nostalgia in his last State of the Union. But, with a rare audience of tens of millions of Americans, this is a prime opportunity for the president to begin shaping a summarizing vision of his presidency before people tune him out to focus on the 2016 campaign. How does he balance nostalgia with the speech's forward-looking elements?
ALTERNATE REALITIES
The Republican presidential candidates are painting a grim portrait of America, one downtrodden economically, culturally divided, cowed by terrorists – that has lost its standing in the world. Obama is delivering his address earlier than usual this year to put his own, rosier stamp on things before the primary season is in full swing. How does he project a more optimistic view of America while still acknowledging the very real anxieties and worries that Republicans are tapping into? And will he call out the GOP candidates for divisive rhetoric? Don't expect him to scold the candidates directly, but he'll still make his displeasure clear.
THE CANDIDATES
The audience for Obama's address will include senators itching to replace him – and some of them are even running. Expect the cameras to pan to the likes of Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermonter seeking the Democratic nomination. They may well have been giving some thought to their body language: when to clap, when to sit on their hands, when to scowl, when to smile. It also will be notable to take stock of who's not there. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, for one, will be holding his own "State of Our Union" town hall in New Hampshire.
AN EMPTY CHAIR
A big part of the State of the Union tableau is the guests whom the White House chooses to seat in the first lady's box and to highlight in the president's speech. This year, the White House hopes to give oomph to its push for tighter regulation of guns by leaving one seat in the first lady's box empty, to represent the victims of gun violence who no longer have a voice. Members of Congress will be sending their own messages through their invited guests, including a 9-year-old Syrian refugee, a Planned Parenthood official and a Muslim New York City police lieutenant. Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who refused to license same-sex marriages, planned to be there, too, but didn't say who invited her.
THE SPEAKER
Look for a new face behind Obama: House Speaker Paul Ryan, who replaced John Boehner. Ryan, who was Mitt Romney's running mate in 2012, will be seated next to Joe Biden, who got the veep job instead. Boehner was typically stone-faced during Obama's addresses. What will we see from Ryan, who's pledging to go on offense against Obama this year? His office popped out a "Get to Know Paul Ryan" video Tuesday just for the occasion.
THE MAGIC NUMBER
Every year, Obama's speechwriters vow to keep the address tight – and every year things just don't quite work out that way. This year really will be different, the White House promises. The number to beat is 5,902 words: That was the length of Obama's first – and shortest – State of the Union, which ran about 52 minutes. His longest State of the Union ran about 69 minutes in 2010, still well-short of former President Bill Clinton's 89-minute opus in 2000.
Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nbenac

Marcia Meeks fields dozens of calls every day from people trying to enroll in health insurance. But when one woman called about her dying husband, Meeks saw firsthand the tragedy a lack of health coverage can bring.

In November, the woman called for her husband, who had not enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan when he had first become disabled, and who had been diagnosed with cancer. "I knew I couldn't help her right then - I could sign him up for coverage starting Jan. 1, but I started asking if he might qualify for extra help," Meeks said. "I took their income - no, they were over. I asked if there was anyone else living in the house, and she said she had sons, so that put them in range. I filled out her application, never promising her anything, but giving her a little bit of hope."

Meeks checked every other day to see whether the application had been approved. The woman called again to tell Meeks that her husband had received two pain medication prescriptions they couldn't afford to fill, and so she checked again, but the application had yet to be approved. Later the same night, Meeks said something told her to check the application again, and she found that it had been approved. The family got two prescriptions valued at more than $180 for less than $7.

"She called me back and said, 'If I had found you four or five months ago, I really think he wouldn't be dying,'" Meeks said.

The same woman called Meeks again last Friday to tell her that her husband had died.

"I though to myself, 'I wasn't able to help him for very long, but at least I helped him get that pain medication,'" she said.

Meeks, director of the West Virginia State Health Insurance Assistance Program and the Senior Medicare Patrol Program, deals primarily with Medicare recipients, but her office also has an in-person assister trained to help people enroll in expanded Medicaid and individual coverage through the Affordable Care Act.

She was one of nearly 100 health insurance navigators gathered in Charleston Tuesday to celebrate the more than 200,000 West Virginians who have gained insurance coverage since 2013 under the ACA. The event fell 18 days ahead of the deadline for 2016 ACA health insurance enrollment on Jan. 31.

This is the third year of ACA open enrollment. According to West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, the organization that coordinated the event, more than 34,450 West Virginians have newly enrolled or re-enrolled for individual insurance coverage through the ACA marketplace, and more than 165,000 have enrolled in expanded Medicaid. West Virginia has seen a huge drop in the rate of uninsured, from 14 percent in 2013 to 8.6 percent in 2014.

"We know that in those last couple of weeks everyone will be coming out, and I think it's important to remind people of the penalty," said Joanne Grossi, regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This year, the tax penalty for forgoing health insurance is 2.5 percent of a person's income or $695 per adult, whichever is higher.

According to Scott Streator, vice president of CareSource, an Ohio-based nonprofit managed care organization that now operates in 10 West Virginia counties, a market study the company conducted before entering the state revealed that while only 9 percent of West Virginians characterize their health as "excellent," a full two-thirds believe it could be improved, and most cited health-care affordability as the second-most important barrier to wellness behind lack of exercise.

To counteract that, CareSource is offering $0 copays on generic drugs for its silver plans, as well as $0 copays for primary care visits, with no limit on how many primary care visits a consumer can have in a given year, Streator said. CareSource is offered to residents in Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, Kanawha, Lincoln, Marshall, Mason, Ohio, Putnam and Wayne counties.

For Colleen Anderson, health coverage has been her single biggest expense in her 40-year career as a self-employed graphic designer and writer who was diagnosed with high blood pressure early in her career.

"I never had to use it; I'm very, very lucky, because I don't know where that $10,000 or sometimes $20,000 deductible would have come from, but it was a constant source of stress for me," she said. "Then, two years ago, I got affordable health care, and for the first time in my working life, I could afford it, and it was good insurance. I actually had a copay for the first time in my life."

Many federally-qualified health centers, hospitals and state agencies offer in-person assisters trained to help people navigate the health insurance marketplace and select a plan. West Virginia NaviCare has several enrollment events scheduled across the state, including on Thursday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Summersville Regional Medical Center, Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Davis Medical Center in Elkins, and on Tuesday from noon to 7 p.m. at the Bridgeport Conference Center in Bridgeport. More events will be held on Jan. 20 from noon to 7 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Morgantown, Jan. 21 from noon to 7 p.m. at West Virginia Northern Community College in Wheeling, Jan. 25 and Jan.26 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Wood County Courthouse in Parkersburg, Jan. 29 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Disability Action in Fairmont, and on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Raleigh County Convention Center in Beckley.

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

About 75 Charleston residents, city officials and police officers attended a special town hall forum on Tuesday to discuss ways to enhance safety and a sense of community on the West Side.

The forum, hosted by the Charleston Police Department, Charleston Main Streets and City Council members at Stonewall Jackson Middle School, addressed questions and concerns from the public in light of three shooting homicides on the West Side between Dec. 27 and Jan. 1.

Charleston Main Streets is taking a proactive approach to build stronger neighborhoods on the West Side primarily through heightened communication.

Executive Director Ric Cavender said Charleston Main Streets is compiling an email list serve for West Side residents and business owners to share information about incidents in their neighborhoods. The East End has had its own list serve for years, Cavender said, which has "opened up lines of communication that maybe didn't exist before."

"It allows us to be aware if there's a break-in in the neighborhood," he said.

The organization is also working to develop a map of the West Side that divides it into micro-districts to better identify its neighborhoods. But that effort, Cavender said, must be led through recruiting "district captains" for different neighborhoods to help finalize such a map. The West Side's landmass makes up more than one-third of the city.

"How can we better identify different areas of the West Side to educate people and create a sense of communities throughout these neighborhoods?" Cavender said.

Charleston police Chief Brent Webster and chief of detectives Lt. Steve Cooper answered multiple questions posed by residents, such as the possibility of establishing an outpost on the West Side.

"Traditionally, outposts have failed," Webster said. "The officers working those areas of town are usually out on the street.

"Police have always been designed to be short-term solutions to long-term problems."

Some expressed frustration over a lack of police action toward drug dealers on their streets.

"When you see your street turning into an open-air drug market at 12 [o'clock] in the afternoon, you realize that stable street is about to become very unstable," one woman said, who has reported a suspected drug dealer on her block to the police multiple times to no avail.

Sometimes, Webster said, there's just not enough hard evidence to charge such suspects with a crime.

Sgt. Paul Perdue said several neighborhood watch groups have sprung up during the first two weeks of 2016. A year and a half ago, he said, there was only one such group on the West Side.

"Police can't start a neighborhood watch," Perdue said. "It has to start within a community; our role is as a liaison."

While unemployment and blighted buildings are often blamed for the higher crime rate on the West Side, some argued that it takes more than jobs and tearing down vacant buildings to heal a community.

"I come to these meetings and I'm hearing all about businesses, businesses, businesses," said Deanna McKinney, a West Side resident and the mother of 18-year-old Tymel McKinney, who was shot and killed in 2014 while sitting on his porch. "How will that help these kids? Their parents aren't parents to them, they have no one to guide them, so they turn to the streets."

All three victims of the recent shootings, she noted, were under 21.

Jeff Sikorovsky, marketing director at HospiceCare on the West Side, pleaded with City Council to focus on building more resources that benefit its residents directly.

"Someone said earlier that if we add jobs, people will live [on the West Side]," he said. "People don't want to live here; they want to live on the East End, where there's a ball park, the Clay Center, the Capitol, the Roosevelt Center and hospitals."

Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.

Landlords dinner/ meeting

West Virginia Landlords will meet at 6 p.m. for social hour/dinner on Thursday at Fifth Quarter. The meeting will follow at 7 p.m. All landlords are welcome. Call 304-342-4342 for information.

International club

The International Club of Charleston will meet at 6:30 p.m. Friday for a potluck dinner at Trinity Lutheran Church. The program will follow and Asmael Saifo will speak on "Syria Today."

Karaoke night

Unity of Kanawha Valley will be home to Karaoke Night at 7 p.m. on Friday at 804 Myrtle Road, corner of Bridge and Myrtle roads. Share your talents in a warm, friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere. Various coffees, teas, soft drinks and homemade treats are available at a small cost or bring food to share. General admission is $2.

Kids' night out

Kids' Night Out will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Marshall Recreation Center in Huntington. Climb on a rock wall, swim in the indoor pool, play ball on the courts and have a pizza party. The program is for potty-trained children ages 4-12. Bring a swimsuit, towel, change of clothes and closed-toed shoes. The cost for $20 for members ($15 for each additional sibling), and $25 for non-members, ($20 for each additional sibling). Register at the Welcome Desk or on the Recreation Center website. Kids' Night Out will also be held Feb. 12, March 11 and April 22. Contact Chad Steen at 304-696-4653 or steenc@marshall.edu.

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.

WASHINGTON - Eyeing the end of his presidency, President Barack Obama urged Americans Tuesday night to rekindle their belief in the promise of change that first carried him to the White House, declaring that the country must not allow election-year fear and division to take hold.

"The future we want," he insisted, "is within our reach." But opportunity and security for American families "will only happen if we work together ... if we fix our politics," he added.

The nation's goals must include "a rising standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids," he said in his final State of the Union address.

At the heart of Obama's address to lawmakers and a prime-time television audience was an implicit call to keep Democrats in the White House for a third straight term. Sharply, and at times sarcastically, he struck back at rivals who have challenged his economic and national security stewardship, calling it all "political hot air."

In a swipe at some Republican presidential candidates, he warned against "voices urging us to fall back into tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don't look like us or pray like us or vote like we do or share the same background."

His words were unexpectedly echoed by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was selected to give the Republican response to Obama's address. Underscoring how the heated campaign rhetoric about immigrants and minorities from GOP front-runner Donald Trump in particular has unnerved some Republican leaders, Haley called on Americans to resist the temptation "to follow the siren call of the angriest voices."

"No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome," Haley said in excerpts released ahead of her remarks.

Seeking to shape his own legacy, Obama ticked through a retrospective of his domestic and foreign policy actions in office, including helping lead the economy back from the brink of depression, taking aggressive action on climate change and ending a Cold War freeze with Cuba.

He vowed a robust campaign to "take out" the Islamic State group, but chastised Republicans for "over the top claims" about the extremist group's power.

"Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger and must be stopped," he said. "But they do not threaten our national security."

The president's words were unlikely to satisfy Republicans, as well as some Democrats, who say he underestimates the Islamic State's power and is leaving the U.S. vulnerable to attacks at home.

Obama was frank about one of his biggest regrets: failing to ease the persistently deep divisions between Democrats and Republicans.

"The rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better," he conceded. "There's no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I'll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office."

Mindful of the scant prospect for major legislative action in an election year, Obama avoided the traditional litany of policy proposals. He did reiterate his call for working with Republicans on criminal justice reform and finalizing an Asia-Pacific trade pact, and he also vowed to keep pushing for action on politically fraught issues such as curbing gun violence and fixing the nation's fractured immigration laws.

Yet Obama was eager to look beyond his own presidency, casting the actions he's taken as a springboard for future economic progress and national security. His optimism was meant to draw a contrast with what the White House sees as doom-and-gloom scenarios peddled by the GOP.

"The United States of America is the most powerful nation on earth. Period," he declared. "It's not even close."

FLINT, Mich. - Gov. Rick Snyder late Tuesday activated the Michigan National Guard to help distribute bottled water and filters in Flint and asked the federal government for help dealing with a drinking water crisis that began months ago.

Snyder's executive order triggering the Guard's deployment is intended to bolster outreach to residents, whose tap water became contaminated with too much lead after the city switched its water supply in 2014 to save money while under state financial management. Local officials first declared a public health emergency in Flint in October in response to tests that showed children with elevated levels of lead.

Since then, authorities have struggled to ensure residents have safe drinking water. People in Flint have been told not to drink the water until it is determined to be safe, and volunteers and police in recent days have been going door to door with bottled water, filters and lead test kits.

Snyder on Tuesday also requested support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate a recovery plan with other federal agencies that have the programs, authorities or technical expertise to help.

"As we work to ensure that all Flint residents have access to clean and safe drinking water, we are providing them with the direct assistance they need," the Republican governor said in a written statement.

Guard members are expected to begin arriving as early as Wednesday. More than 30 members will be in place by Friday, enabling American Red Cross volunteers to join door-to-door efforts instead of staffing sites where residents can pick up free bottled water, filters, replacement cartridges and home water testing kits.

Earlier Tuesday, Genesee County sheriff's Capt. Casey Tafoya said volunteers and police hoped to get to 500 to 600 houses a day in a city of about 99,000 residents with an estimated 30,000 households.

State troopers and sheriff's deputies escorted eight teams as they trudged through cold temperatures and 3 inches of snow, with more falling. Flyers were left at homes where no one answered, giving the location of where to pick up the items later.

"We plan to go every day this week, and we'll continue until everyone has safe drinking water," state police Lt. Dave Kaiser said.

For more than a year, water drawn from the Flint River leached lead from old lines into homes after the city switched its drinking water. Exposure to lead can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities in children.

Flint has since returned to Detroit's system for its water, but officials remain concerned that damage to the pipes caused by the Flint River could allow them to continue leaching lead. They also want to ensure monitoring protocols are followed properly this time.

The state auditor general and a task force created by Snyder have faulted the Department of Environmental Quality for not requiring Flint to treat the river water for corrosion and belittling the public's fears. The agency's director stepped down last month.

Nearly a month ago, the task force also raised concerns about a lack of organization in responding to the disaster.

Snyder, who has also faced criticism, said Monday that the water situation is a "crisis" and last week declared an emergency.

He said that since October, more than 12,000 filters have been distributed, more than 2,000 blood tests have been done - uncovering 43 cases of elevated lead levels - and more than 700 water tests have been conducted.

"I trust the good men and women of the National Guard will jumpstart the Snyder administration's lackluster response to this public health crisis," Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, said in a statement. "Sadly, myself and many leaders of my community have advocated for this type of response for months."

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democrat who represents the Flint area, said: "It is the state's ultimate responsibility to act and make it right. Flint residents are the victims in this crisis and they deserve a more urgent response equal to the gravity of this crisis."

Eggert reported from Lansing, Michigan.

Monongalia County officials say a winter storm, combined with dozens of traffic crashes, kept many students stranded on buses for several hours Tuesday evening.

Monongalia County 911 Director Michael Wolfe said there were 55 crashes and 30 requests for motorist assistance Tuesday between 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. No injuries were reported, but crashes caused widespread traffic jams and delayed school buses for hours.

Some students didn't make it home until as late as 9 p.m., MetroNews reported Wednesday.

Monongalia County Schools Superintendent Frank Devono told The Dominion Post that dozens of students also were stranded at their schools.

While neighboring counties dismissed students early Tuesday, Monongalia officials did not make the same call. The county issued a two-hour delay for Wednesday, but ended up closing all schools early Wednesday morning.

Several West Virginia University basketball players were stuck in rush-hour traffic and had to run on foot to the WVU Coliseum for the team's game against No. 1-ranked Kansas. (No. 11-ranked WVU won the game, 74-63.)

R.D. Grooms, a Morgantown parent, told the Gazette-Mail that he drove his 2-year-old and 9-year-old children to the dentist at about 2:30 p.m. and, by the time they were ready to leave around 3 p.m., the roads "were just a sheet of ice." They didn't get home until 10:30 p.m.

"Luckily, we had dentist appointments and they didn't have to get onto the bus," Grooms said.

He said he would've had to drive his minivan up two or three hills to reach his home, so he parked in a CVS lot on one side of Chestnut Ridge Road to wait it out. He ordered pizza from a restaurant across the street, and the delivery person walked across the four-lane highway to deliver food to his family in the van.

Grooms said every hotel he called was booked, in part, because of the game.

"The whole time," he said, "I was about a mile away from my house."

Charleston and Huntington are among 15 U.S. cities to make it to the semifinal round in America's Best Communities competition, qualifying them for a chance to win economic revitalization grants of up to $3 million.

A ceremony on Wednesday was held to announce Charleston's advancement to ABC's semifinals.

"Great communities don't just happen - they are the result of people working together for the common good," said Tammy Shingleton, Charleston area general manager for Frontier Communications, one of four companies sponsoring the competition. "After achieving this milestone, it is clear Charleston isn't just a great community - it is one of America's best."

Representatives from the two West Virginia cities will take part in the America's Best Communities Summit April 26-27 in Durham, North Carolina, during which semifinalists will present their proposals to a panel of economic revitalization experts and executives from the competition's sponsoring companies - Frontier, DISH Network, CoBank and The Weather Channel.

At the end of the summit, eight communities will be named finalists, with each receiving $100,000 to begin implementing their strategies. In April 2017, the three communities that make the largest impact during the course of one year and show the best potential for achieving sustainable revitalization will be named grand prize winners. The top community will receive $3 million, with $2 million going to the second-place finisher and $1 million going to the third-place community.

Of the 350 communities that entered the competition, 50 were named quarterfinalists last April, and received $50,000 each from America's Best Communities to develop revitalization plans. In addition to Charleston and Huntington, other West Virginia communities to make the Top 50 cut were Ripley/Jackson County and Fairmont.

Charleston used its $50,000 grant to fund a retail strategy and merchandise mix plan for the downtown, to pay for a Wi-Fi assessment that included costs and options for deploying a downtown wireless network, to conduct a survey of downtown pedestrian needs and to begin planning for the Charleston EDGE Project, a proposed housing development at Donnally and Capitol streets designed to attract young talent to the city with affordable housing and a community leadership program.

"We've gotten a lot out of the competition already," Charleston City Manager David Molgaard said. "It's caused us to focus on what it will take to revitalize Charleston and make it an attractive place in which to live and work for generations to come."

Work already done by the Imagine Charleston program "helped set the stage for our ABC committee, and dovetailed nicely into this project. It got us ahead of the curve in this competition," Molgaard said.

Qualifying for ABC's semifinals "is a pretty big deal," Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said. "It shows that we're moving forward and have our sights set on the future."

The competition, he said, "helps us continue to focus our energy on ways to make Charleston more attractive, not only to those of us who live here now, but to future generations."

"We spent a lot of time together brainstorming and doing some hard work," said Susie Salisbury, leader of Charleston's ABC team. "I'm excited to be here today."

Other communities making it to the semifinal round in the competition include: Portsmouth, Ohio; Lake Havasu City, Arizona; Statesboro, Georgia; Valley County, Idaho; Chisago Lakes, Minnesota; DeKalb, Illinois; Fort Dodge, Iowa; Darrington/Arlington, Washington; Valparaiso, Indiana; Tualatin, Oregon; Wenatchee, Washington; Madison, Indiana, and Angola/Freeport, Indiana.

Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelhammer@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5169, or follow @rsteelhammer on Twitter.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin will deliver his sixth, and presumably final, State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at 7 p.m.

We asked our readers what they are most interested in heading Tomblin talk about during the speech.

Of the respondents, more than half indicated that attracting new business, drug addition and the budget deficit are the top challenges facing West Virginia. Respondents also indicated that loss of jobs, quality of education and the number of people living in poverty are challenges that need to be addressed.

Below, you can watch live stream of the State of the State, courtesy of WV Public Broadcasting, and follow our live feed for commentary from our staff. While you're watching, you can play along with State of the State bingo. Simply print off the bingo card (or find the one on page 3D of Wednesday's paper), and mark off each square when applicable.

West Virginia Senate President Bill Cole on Wednesday refused to say if he would abide by the ruling of the state Supreme Court, if the court rules that a Democrat should fill the vacant seat in the Senate created by the resignation of Democrat-turned-Republican Daniel Hall.

Asked repeatedly if he would abide by the court's decision, the state's highest judicial body, Cole, R-Mercer, declined substantive comment.

"We'll see how that plays out. We'll see how that plays out," he said. "I'm not going to comment on it. We'll just see how it plays out. We'll just see what happens. You're asking me to comment on things that haven't happened yet."

The state Democratic Party filed suit with the Supreme Court, asking for a Democrat to fill Hall's seat. The local Republican committee for Hall's senatorial district responded to the Democratic lawsuit, asking for a Republican replacement.

The Supreme Court will hold oral arguments in the case on Tuesday at 1 p.m. Justice Brent Benjamin recused himself from the case and it is unknown if Chief Justice Menis Ketchum will appoint a replacement.

Hall was elected in 2012 as a Democrat but switched parties in 2014 and resigned last week as a Republican.

Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, who ultimately will appoint the replacement, said he will do what the court advises, but if they offer no opinion, he will appoint a Democrat.

Cole, a candidate for governor, and Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey also filed briefs with the court, asking for a Republican replacement.

Control of the Senate hangs in the balance. The Republicans hold a 17-16 majority but, if a Democrat fills the vacancy, it would deadlock the chamber, potentially stymieing much of Cole's agenda.

Cole's reluctance to answer whether he would follow an order from the court or not likely concerns one clause in the West Virginia Constitution. The third sentence of Article 6-24 of the Constitution reads: "Each house shall determine the rules of its proceedings and be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members."

In the brief he filed with the Supreme Court, Cole twice referenced that line, perhaps implying that the Republican majority in the Senate could deem a Democratic replacement for Hall "unqualified," even if the Supreme Court orders a Democratic replacement.

In his brief, Cole's counsel wrote that the Democrats' lawsuit "seeks relief which will undermine important separation of powers principles. Constitutionally, the Senate is empowered to determine the qualifications of its members."

While Cole would not comment on what Republicans would do if the court rules against them, his top deputy indicated that they would not abide by such a decision.

"We judge the qualifications of the members and we do not believe that a Democrat in that seat after it's being vacated by a Republican is qualified to hold it," Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, told West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Not that they would have much choice in the matter, as they are currently the minority in the Senate, but the state Democratic Party said it would abide by the Supreme Court's decision, no matter what it is.

"By threatening not to recognize the Supreme Court of Appeals' power to interpret the law and to reject the governor's constitutional appointment power, Senate President Bill Cole and Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael have crossed the line," Democratic officials said in a prepared statement. "The Republican senators moving forward and not honoring the West Virginia Supreme Court's decision will put in doubt any laws that are passed and cause a constitutional crisis."

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

One of the five defendants who admitted taking part in the violent robbery of Foodland on MacCorkle Avenue in 2014 failed out of a program designed for youthful offenders that he was sentenced to attend.

Ricky Patterson, 19, was sentenced to spend time in the Anthony Center in June after he admitted being paid $30 to enter the Kanawha City store and serve as a lookout while others robbed the store. A store clerk was shot during the robbery.

On Wednesday, Patterson, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, appeared again before Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit. Prosecutors said he was "deemed unfit" for the Anthony Center program, which lasts between six months and two years.

Tabit said she was concerned Patterson was trying to manipulate the court system. If she were to sentence him to prison Wednesday, he would immediately be eligible for parole.

Instead, the judge handed down a sentence of five years home confinement. She also ordered he take part in Kanawha County's Day Report program.

The charge Patterson pleaded guilty to carried a possible one to five year jail sentence.

Alisyn Proctor, 20, who pleaded guilty to assault during the commission of a felony, was also sentenced to the Anthony Center.

Her brother, John Proctor II, asked Tabit to sentence him to the youthful offender program, but he was sentenced to 80 years in jail.

Levi Lanham, 18, was sentenced to 20 years for first-degree robbery, and Telisa McCauley, 23, was given a 25-year sentence for the same charge.

Shawna Sampson was shot in the chest while opening the door to the store's office. She said during the June sentencing hearing that she had recently returned to work on light duty and still had problems breathing.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

More spacious seating, complimentary Wi-Fi and soft drinks and other perks will be available to travelers using Amtrak's Cardinal route, linking Charleston to New York, Washington, Cincinnati, Chicago and other cities along the line, with the inauguration of business-class service starting Jan. 20.

The new service, announced Monday, makes it possible to reserve seating in a business-class car equipped with spacious leather seats, free Wi-Fi access and unlimited online access to the digital editions of The New York Times and The Washington Post. Business-class travelers also will receive free nonalcoholic beverages, complimentary access to the Metropolitan Lounge at Chicago's Union Station, and an access pass for Philadelphia's ClubAcela lounge for $20 per day.

In addition to providing upgraded service to Charleston passengers, Amtrak's addition of business-class cars to its Cardinal trains "means they're not going to take Amtrak out of here," said Charleston Mayor Danny Jones. Congress has eyed the Cardinal route for possible cutbacks, and even closure, several times over the years.

The Cardinal travels between Chicago and New York three times a week, with the route's eastbound Train 50 scheduled to arrive in Charleston at 8:21 a.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Westbound Train 51 is scheduled to arrive in Charleston at 8:29 p.m. on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Other West Virginia cities served by the Cardinal include Huntington, Montgomery, Thurmond, Prince, Hinton, Alderson and White Sulphur Springs.

Reservations for business-class service, as well as existing coach service, are available now at www.amtrak.com, or by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL.

Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelhammer@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5169, or follow @rsteelhammer on Twitter.

Last fall, federal agents searched the home of a former University of Charleston student who was expelled over allegations that he stole thousands of dollars worth of textbooks and computer equipment from the school and sold them online under the name Robin Hood Literature.

A federal search warrant unsealed last week details why agents searched the home of Adam St. Clair, of Sherwood Road in Charleston, in November.

In an affidavit, FBI Special Agent James Harrison II wrote that he was investigating "criminal wrongdoing that took place at the University of Charleston" between September 2014 and September 2015. Several UC teachers reported textbooks, Apple TVs and computers being stolen from locked offices in university buildings, according to the affidavit.

There is no record of any criminal charges filed against St. Clair. Assistant U.S. Attorney Clint Carte said Wednesday he couldn't comment on the status of the case.

Harrison wrote that on one Saturday in September 2014, St. Clair was seen coming out of the office belonging to Karen Hoschar, a UC assistant professor. When Hoschar returned on Monday, she found that someone had accessed her computer in her locked office, using the log-in for another UC assistant professor, Hannah Johnson, who denied ever using the computer.

In May 2015, school employees discovered a "keystroke logger" - a device that, when plugged into a computer, records what people type - inside a computer cabinet in UC's Clay Tower, according to the affidavit. UC's information technology department allegedly restored some deleted data on the device and found it had recorded log-in information for several UC students and professors.

In August 2015, "two UC employees, who had learned of the multiple thefts of textbooks from offices on the UC campus, undertook a broad search of internet vendors that were offering for sale textbooks like those that had been stolen on the UC campus," Harrison wrote in the affidavit.

The employees found a store on Amazon.com named "Robin Hood Literature," where they found many of the same textbook titles that had recently been stolen from UC's campus, according to the filing.

"The site also offered for sale several pieces of electronic equipment of descriptions similar to electronic equipment that had recently been stolen from offices and rooms inside buildings on the UC campus," Harrison wrote. The email address associated with the online store was "amsaintclai@gmail.com."

A UC professor learned of the site and ordered a textbook like one that had been stolen from her office. When the package containing the textbook was delivered, the return address was St. Clair's Sherwood Road home, according to the affidavit.

UC security personnel confronted St. Clair on Sept. 24. According to the affidavit, St. Clair had a keystroke logger identical to the one found in the cabinet; two thumb drives; a "swipe card" used to gain entrance around the campus; and four metal door keys to UC buildings, the affidavit states.

The next day, St. Clair allegedly returned college textbooks, electronic equipment and other items which were later determined to have been stolen from buildings on campus, according to the federal filing. UC officials estimate St. Clair returned about $30,000 worth of items. St. Clair made two trips to the school to bring back the property, UC officials told Harrison.

"On the first trip, St. Clair stated ... 'There was more than I thought. I guess I got carried away,'" the affidavit states. "After making the first delivery, Adam St. Clair telephoned [security officials] and said 'I found more stuff at home. Can I bring it by after work?'"

That day, St. Clair - who could not be reached for comment this week - was expelled from UC and banned from the campus, according to the affidavit.

UC spokesman David Traube said Wednesday that he could confirm only that St. Clair is no longer a student at the school "and there is an ongoing legal situation surrounding it."

"Any further information on him or with his situation would have to be handled or commented on by law enforcement officials," Traube said.

Someone using St. Clair's log-in accessed or tried to access the UC network more than 20 times after he was expelled, the filing states.

In November, U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Eifert granted Harrison's request for a warrant to search St. Clair's home.

Federal agents found about 100 textbooks there, according to federal court documents. Agents also confiscated computer equipment and other items from the Sherwood Road home.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.