In Around West Virginia today: fatal crashes decline, a struggling child advocacy center, "no party affiliation" increases in Preston County, and more.
n Fatal crashes in West Virginia declined from more than 500 in 1975 to 272 in 2015, The Register-Herald reports. Bob Tipton, the director of the Southern West Virginia Highway Safety Program, told the newspaper he credited law enforcement efforts.
n The state denied funding to the McDowell County child advocacy center because board members weren't attending meetings and the agency did not find outside funding to match the grant, according to WVVA. Francesca Collins, the executive director of Stop the Hurt, says the center is now in danger of closing. Child advocacy centers provide forensic interviews for victims of child abuse as well as counseling and referrals to other community resources for the children and their families. Over the last 15 years, the number of child advocacy centers has significantly increased in the state. The executive director of the West Virginia Child Advocacy Network recently told the Gazette-Mail that 36 counties were now served by 20 centers.
n Teachers and other educators met in Summersville at RESA 4 headquarters for a training on children's mental health on Saturday, MetroNews reports. The attendees learned warning signs of suicidal crises, how to intervene and supportive strategies.
n Since three years ago, the number of people registered "no party affiliation" in Preston County is up by 233, according to The Dominion Post. The Democratic Party lost 206 voters and the Republican Party gained 99 voters. Total voter registrations increased from 17,128 in October 2013 to 17,339 in November 2015.
n A prospective drug treatment center in Berkeley County would be different from some others because officials are specifically targeting opiate addiction, according to The Journal. They also want to provide a trade class, physicals and a day report center on site, versus solely offering drug addiction treatment. The newspaper reports that Martinsburg City Council has kept the Berkeley County Council from moving forward at this point due to a zoning dispute.
n A Raleigh County man was sentenced Thursday to 25 to 45 years for sexually abusing at least five boys, according to The Register-Herald. James Edward Patton, of Eccles, had pleaded guilty to five counts of third degree sexual assault, use of minors in filming sexually explicit content and two counts of use of obscene material to seduce a minor.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.