Today, the Charleston Gazette-Mail begins a morning round-up, to be posted Monday through Friday, of West Virginia headlines you should check out. To suggest an article be featured, send to erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com.
Here's a look at some of the headlines around West Virginia today:
n The owners of Lake Shawnee in Mercer County tell The Register-Herald the haunted history of the tourist destination. According to the newspaper, it was popular in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, until the death of a young girl on the swings caused its closure. About 30 years later, Chris White's father was on a tractor when he had an encounter with the girl, the paper reports.
"She was in a ruffled dress and she just appeared," White said. "He wasn't scared, but the only thing he could think of was, 'Well, if you like this tractor so much, I'm going to give it to you.' So he got off of it and left it sitting there. It's still sitting where he left it in the late '90s."
n Alpha Natural Resources will sell nine mines in southern West Virginia as part of its bankruptcy restructuring, according to The Register-Herald. Two unnamed sources tell the newspaper that the properties are the Edwight Surface Mine in Naoma, the Twilight Surface Mine partly located in Raleigh County and partly in Boone County, the Green Valley mine in Nicholas County, the Black Bear/Ben's Creek mines, Rawl, Twin Star in Mingo County, the Cucumber Mine in McDowell County, Rock Spring in Wayne and Lincoln counties, Boone County's Revolutionary/Independence Mine, and the Superior Mine in Logan County.
n On this date in 1934, "Hot Rod" Hundley was born in Charleston, according to West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Hundley led the WVU varsity squad to a 72-16 record and three straight Southern Conference titles, then played six years in the NBA for the Lakers and was twice named an all-star.
n For the first time, Morgantown was the site of LGBT rights group Fairness West Virginia's annual conference and reception, held on Saturday, according to WBOY. "When people hear LGBT rights, they assume special rights, but that's not the case at all," said WVU junior Justin Click, according to the TV news station. "It's equal rights."
n NPR talks about how West Virginia has become more red, noting that hours before President Barack Obama was set to land in Charleston last week, an anti-Obama rally was held outside the state Capitol.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.