In Around West Virginia: Wyoming County volunteers come together to provide a homeless man with housing, the new West Virginia channel, an update on the Steward Butler case, and more.
n Thanks to a social media post, Wyoming County came together to purchase the supplies and build a home for a homeless man in Long Branch, according to The Register-Herald. Heather Morgan, of Reedy Creek, posted about Darron Morgan, who has been living in a tent. She told the newspaper he said, "So many times I've cried myself to sleep in that tent, thinking no one cared, and asked God how did I get here. Where did I go wrong? And how am I ever gonna get out of this place?" Morgan said that none of the volunteers would forget the experience. "Lives were forever changed, and not just Darron's," she said.
n West Virginia Public Broadcasting announced the creation of The West Virginia Channel. The channel will showcase the state's culture and history. Comcast and Suddenlink will carry it. "It's long past time for us West Virginians to reclaim our story," West Virginia Public Broadcasting executive director/CEO Scott Finn wrote.
n A man died of a prescription drug and alcohol overdose during a standoff with police early Sunday in Martinsburg, The Journal reports. Timothy Scott Myers, 45, allegedly shot at his wife before police arrived, then told police they shouldn't enter his residence and he had numerous weapons at the ready, according to a release Martinsburg Police sent the newspaper.
n Cabell County prosecutors and the defense for former Marshall University football player Steward Butler want the state Supreme Court to decide whether Butler can be charged with civil rights violations for allegedly attacking two gay men after seeing them kiss on the streets of Huntington in April, The Herald-Dispatch reports. Cabell County Circuit Court filed a certified question with the Supreme Court, received on Dec. 22. Cabell County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Lauren Plymale previously told the Gazette-Mail they want to know if a June decision by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, which found that LGBT discrimination in the workplace classified as sex discrimination, extended to the states. Some legal experts have said the decision could extend to more forms of discrimination than employment.
n About 130 people are using a Monongalia County program that provides free syringes and prevention education to drug users, according to The Dominion Post. Milan Puskar Health Right had applied for a $10,000 grant, thinking about 75 people would participate. Costs are now closer to $20,000.
n Over 400 new voters took advantage of the state's online voter registration system last month, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant told MetroNews. She believes more people will register as more candidates announce their campaigns in the new year.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.