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Outdoor and sports activities dominated the recent Petersburg City Council meeting, with the council discussing the proposed skate park and signed a letter of support for a proposed sports center.

First, discussions surrounding the addition of a small skate park into the Petersburg City Park, continued last week when project leader Joanna Kuhn appeared before the council during their regularly scheduled March 4 meeting to talk about the status of the project. Kuhn, who works with the with Eastern Regional Family Resource Network, first brought the project to both city and county leadership as a way to expand youth activity in the area. 

Eastern Action

Local families now have a new resource in the community following the official ribbon cutting on the Grant County Family Support Center. 

Community members, business owners, elected officials and local leaders gathered together last week to celebrate the official opening of the Grant County Family Support Center, located in the heart of Petersburg. 

The Center is part of Eastern Action (previously Eastern West Virginia Community Action Agency) and already has similar centers in Hampshire, Hardy and Pendleton counties. 

Allegheny Wood Products (AWP), a domestic and international wood products company started and headquartered in Grant County, is facing back-to-back lawsuits from both a former employee and a large bank who claims the company owes them over $40 million in unpaid loans. AWP announced at the end of February they would be ceasing operations and closing all of their facilities, including the plant in Petersburg. The number of workers estimated to have been impacted has varied, with an approximate 850 people potentially affected. However, that number does include contractors who are not direct employees of the company. 

The first lawsuit filed against the company is a class action suit filed by James Beane, a former employee of AWP and on behalf of all others “similarly situated.” This suit is filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

Jacob Glen Vance, 23, of Petersburg, has admitted to having a machine gun and methamphetamine.

On Friday, West Virginia State Auditor JB McCuskey was joined by United  States Attorney Will Thompson, West Virginia State Police and Truist Bank officials to announce  the recovery of nearly a million dollars, stolen from the state of West Virginia.  
The money was stolen through a check fraud scheme that remains under investigation but due to a collaborative action taken by the State Auditor’s Office, the  Treasurer’s Office, the United States Attorney’s Office, the Governor’s Office, West Virginia  State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Truist Bank $966,083.04 was recently  recovered and deposited back into a state bank account.

The Grant County Commission signed their annual resolution and letter of support for the Mineral County Community Corrections program last week, saying they were pleased with the program’s work in the county and intended to continue working with them to help those convicted of a crime and suffering from substance abuse disorder.
“I don’t have anything bad to say about this program,” said commissioner Scotty Miley. “We have worked together well over the years. When I started, we had one employee here part-time. Now, we have two full-time employees here every day.”

Two Grant County women are facing felony charges after they allegedly stole over $2,500 worth of lottery tickets and then had a family member attempt to cash in the winning tickets for money.
While the charges were filed last month, they stem from an incident in November 2023 when an officer with the Petersburg Police Department was contacted by a local gas station employee to report a theft.

The Grant County Board of Education gave one final review and their approval last week to officially move forward with the proposed excess school levy set to appear on May’s ballot.
The vote was held during their regularly scheduled Feb. 27 meeting and received unanimous approval from the board. The proposal lists in detail how the funds will be spent if the levy is approved by the voters later this year.
The Grant County School system currently has an excess levy in place, which has assisted in funding multiple facility updates and improvements at all four county schools as well as increased school safety efforts through the funding of Educational Public Relations Officers (PRO officers) and aides on buses. This existing levy, which was approved on a five-year cycle, will end prior to the new levy going into effect. The newly proposed levy is also financially smaller than the previous, meaning even if approved, citizens will see a tax drop.
How will the money be spent?

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