Around West Virginia today includes stories on plans for a Forever 21 store in Barboursville, a smoking ban in Preston County, a high school diploma for a Vietnam veteran, and more.
n Fast fashion is on its way to the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, according to The Herald-Dispatch. Forever 21 is scheduled to open in summer 2016.
n The Preston County Board of Health will vote on Jan. 12 on a smoking ban at Preston County bars, gaming establishments, private clubs, hotels and motels, according to The Dominion Post. The newspaper reports that it is already against the law to smoke in most public places in the county. The law would also ban the use of e-cigarettes in places smoking is not allowed.
n The Preston County Board of Education is short about $500,000 for the West Preston Middle School project, The Dominion Post reports. Superintendent Steve Wotring said construction prices have increased since the bond was passed.
n A Martinsburg beer distributor celebrated 75 years on Tuesday, The Journal reports. According to the paper, Howard Martin had to talk his wife Lucille into opening Martin Distributing Co. in 1940. She was so successful in running it while he fought in World War II, she presented him with a Buick convertible when he returned home.
n Greenbrier County schools awarded a Vietnam veteran a high school diploma Tuesday, according to The Register-Herald. Frank Marvin Massie Jr., a retired auto mechanic, had abandoned the idea of ever receiving a high school diploma.
n West Virginia Public Broadcasting launches a Stories of Service website to share accounts of military service. The news organization got the idea from a similar PBS initiative.
n The New York Times reports on the West Virginia Supreme Court decision Tuesday to allow Joseph Buffey to withdraw a 2002 rape and robbery guilty plea. Legal experts said the case could have far-reaching implications on whether potentially exculpatory information - in this case, DNA evidence, - has to be turned over during the plea bargaining stage.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.