Security fence for Gov.'s Mansion

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State officials plan to install security fencing at the Governor's Mansion and they say it won't harm the beauty of the Capitol Complex.

Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Joe Thornton said the fencing will enhance the campus' look as well as safety. Thornton said the state needs to improve security at the Capitol Complex but officials want to maintain the area's open and inviting feel.

A Department of Administration contract proposes a system that could include black wrought-iron fencing and gates, Victorian lanterns and brick and concrete columns between fence sections.

Administration spokeswoman Diane Holley said bids for the project are to be submitted by July 15.

Harpers Ferry historical park grows

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. -- The Civil War Preservation Trust is transferring part of the School House Ridge battlefield to the National Park Service.

The ceremony Thursday is among several events commemorating the 150th anniversary of abolitionist John Brown's October 1859 raid on a Union arsenal.

Other events co-sponsored by the Virginia and West Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commissions include panel discussions with scholars and tours relating to both the raid and the 1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry.

Body discovered in Ohio River believed to be missing W.Va. boater

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- Searchers have recovered a body from the Ohio River that authorities believe is that of a Parkersburg man who disappeared after a boat capsized.

Police say the body was discoveredWednesday afternoon several miles downriver from where the boat capsized Saturday near Blennerhassett Island.

Wood County Coroner Mike St. Clair says he believes the body is that of 20-year-old Jeremy Midcap. The body was sent to the state medical examiner for identification.

Midcap was one of seven people on the boat. Authorities said his father, 50-year-old David Midcap of Parkersburg, was declared dead at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital. Five others made it safely to shore.

Weston whittles down city debts

WESTON, W.Va. -- Debts are slowly starting to shrink for the financially troubled city of Weston.

Security fence for Gov.'s Mansion

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State officials plan to install security fencing at the Governor's Mansion and they say it won't harm the beauty of the Capitol Complex.

Deputy Secretary of Public Safety Joe Thornton said the fencing will enhance the campus' look as well as safety. Thornton said the state needs to improve security at the Capitol Complex but officials want to maintain the area's open and inviting feel.

A Department of Administration contract proposes a system that could include black wrought-iron fencing and gates, Victorian lanterns and brick and concrete columns between fence sections.

Administration spokeswoman Diane Holley said bids for the project are to be submitted by July 15.

Harpers Ferry historical park grows

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. -- The Civil War Preservation Trust is transferring part of the School House Ridge battlefield to the National Park Service.

The ceremony Thursday is among several events commemorating the 150th anniversary of abolitionist John Brown's October 1859 raid on a Union arsenal.

Other events co-sponsored by the Virginia and West Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commissions include panel discussions with scholars and tours relating to both the raid and the 1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry.

Body discovered in Ohio River believed to be missing W.Va. boater

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- Searchers have recovered a body from the Ohio River that authorities believe is that of a Parkersburg man who disappeared after a boat capsized.

Police say the body was discoveredWednesday afternoon several miles downriver from where the boat capsized Saturday near Blennerhassett Island.

Wood County Coroner Mike St. Clair says he believes the body is that of 20-year-old Jeremy Midcap. The body was sent to the state medical examiner for identification.

Midcap was one of seven people on the boat. Authorities said his father, 50-year-old David Midcap of Parkersburg, was declared dead at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital. Five others made it safely to shore.

Weston whittles down city debts

WESTON, W.Va. -- Debts are slowly starting to shrink for the financially troubled city of Weston.

Mayor Julia Spelsberg says state tax officials agreed to waive tens of thousands of dollars in penalties on unpaid taxes, so the city now owes about $50,000. That's less than half its original debt.

Weston also is working with the Internal Revenue Service on a plan to pay $230,000 in back taxes and $60,000 in interest. In April, the IRS froze more than $152,000 of the city's assets.

Suspicious fires put town on edge

HINTON, W.Va. -- Another suspicious fire has struck Hinton, where resources already are stretched thin after more than 20 arsons in the past 17 months.

A blaze began in a vacant downtown building early Wednesday. Fire Chief Ray Pivont said the fire could have quickly spread to neighboring buildings if a newspaper carrier hadn't spotted it.

State fire marshals haven't yet ruled it an arson, but Pivont suspects the fire was deliberately set.

City Manager Chris Meadows says the Summers County seat has hired two new police officers, reactivated its neighborhood watch program and that fire marshals have been in town for up to two months at a time investigating.

Moundsville prison becomes 'Mexican' for new movie

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. -- The former West Virginia Penitentiary at Moundsville has a supporting role in a film starring Nick Nolte: It's the stand-in for a Mexican prison in a movie called "Warrior.''

The Lionsgate film will be released next summer. Executive producer John J. Kelly calls it a modern-day "Rocky,'' featuring mixed martial arts and the story of two brothers. Nolte plays their father.

Most of the film is being shot in Pittsburgh, but Kelly's crew was at the Gothic 1860s prison Wednesday and expects to finish shooting Thursday.

Lottery suspending sales for 12 hours to switch vendors

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia Lottery sales will be suspended for 12 hours this weekend while the Lottery switches to a new vendor.

Lottery Director John Musgrave said Thursday that sales will be halted Sunday from 12:01 a.m. until noon to complete the conversion to GTECH's terminals.

Musgrave said more than 4,000 employees from 1,521 lottery retail outlets have been trained to operate the new terminals.