In Around West Virginia today: peer recovery coaches, Uber and Lyft, a nondiscrimination ordinance in Lewisburg, and more.
n Twelve peer recovery coaches - recovering addicts who want to help others struggling with drug addiction - graduated Monday from Recovery Point of Huntington's training program. The Herald-Dispatch reports the program has prepared 56 coaches around the state and graduated five classes since 2014.
"I've lived a hard life, but once I got to the Lifehouse I saw how they help people and I want to help people," said St. Albans native Ashley Keiffer, one of the recent graduates. "I know what it's like to be out there hurt, helpless, lonely and ashamed."
n The House Transportation Committee approved a bill on Monday that would allow for companies like Uber and Lyft to operate in the state, according to The Dominion Post. Uber is a smartphone application that lets customers request rides from drivers using personal vehicles instead of taxis. The bill now goes to the House Finance Committee.
Last year, the bill failed after some lawmakers opposed nondiscrimination language in the bill.
n Lewisburg City Council unanimously approved a measure to expand their nondiscrimination policy to include protections for LGBT individuals, according to The Register-Herald. More than 500 people showed up for the five-hour-long public hearing, with about 90 speaking. The newspaper reported that speakers were fairly evenly divided.
Opponents had fought passage of the ordinance by saying the it would allow men to put on dresses, sneak into women's bathrooms and assault women and children.
n The Huntington Planning Commission on Monday evening unanimously approved recommending zoning changes to City Council that would allow for a shooting range in the city's west end. The Herald-Dispatch reports the commission approved amending the city's zoning ordinances to define a shooting range and establish noise regulations. The changes will now go before City Council.
n A Bridgeport man is accused of killing his 16-week-old son, according to The Exponent Telegram. Jeremy Kurt Shaffer, 26, said that on Sept. 10, he put the infant down on the couch, put his hand on the back of the baby's head and neck area and "pushed down into the couch in a shaking/bouncing motion," police have said. Shaffer is charged with second-degree murder, death of a child by parent or guardian by child abuse and child neglect resulting in death.
n A former teacher and coach at Logan High School was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday for sexually abusing two students, according to MetroNews. Ryan Waugh, 32, of Stollings, pleaded guilty in November to two counts of sexual abuse by a custodian or another person in a position of trust.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.