Kanawha County | featured news

By By Jenna Johnson
The Washington Post

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - As President Trump's campaign staff searches for locations for his campaign rallies, the requirement are simple: Where can they quickly assemble a massive, supportive crowd that can energize the president and allow him to dominate cable news for an evening?
This week, they selected Huntington, a city of roughly 48,000 that's located on the Ohio River in far western West Virginia near Ohio and Kentucky - right where Appalachia ends and the Rust Belt begins.

By Jennifer Gardner

For Mingo County native Mary Richardson, last week was a long-awaited homecoming of sorts. It was a chance to show off her home state to 150 new friends - along with several hundred of their family members and more than a dozen out-of-town, behind-the-scenes folks working to produce a world-class beauty pageant from center stage of the Clay Center's Maier Performance Hall.

Stage/Theater"ANYTHING GOES": 8 p.m. Tickets $20. Charleston Light Opera Guild production of Broadway classic. Features songs like "De-Lovely," "Anything Goes" and "I Get a Kick Out of You." Charleston Light Opera Guild Theatre, 411 Tennessee Ave. Call 304-342-9312.
"CINEMA UNDER THE STARS": 8:30 p.m., Admission $1, Heritage Station. Featuring "Finding Dory." Call 304-696-5954.
Dance lessonsBALLROOM DANCING LESSONS: 7 to 8 p.m. 8 to 10 p.m. open dancing. Donations accepted. Ballroom, social and Latin dancing. 2805 Kanawha Blvd E. Call 304-552-1456.

West Virginia Paving will be paving the following streets in Charleston from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. today:
Hillview Drive: from Cook Drive to Sheller DriveCook Drive: from Cantley Drive to end
Sheller Drive: from Sheridan Circle to Hillview Drive

Trail club hikeThe Kanawha Trail Club will have a hike at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the New River Gorge Polls Plateau Trail. Carpool from the parking lot at the corner of Ohio Avenue and Randolph Street in Charleston, across from post office. Regroup at trailhead outside of Bragg. The hike is a 4-mile loop with only moderate elevation change. Pretty trail with meadows, forest, wildflowers, and a few downed trees.
Golf tournament

By By Carol D. Leonnig, Sari Horwitz and Matt Zapotosky
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - Special Counsel Robert Mueller began using a grand jury in federal court in the District of Columbia several weeks ago as part of his probe into possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign, according to two people familiar with the investigation.
The development is a sign that investigators continue to gather evidence in the case.

By Jake Zuckerman

HUNTINGTON - If reports of the assembling of a grand jury in relation to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election rattled President Donald Trump, he didn't let it show Thursday before a raucous crowd at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington.
Although news broke of the jury's formation mere hours before the rally, Trump doubled down on his narrative that the allegations are just much ado about nothing.
"There were no Russians in our campaign, there never were," he said. "We didn't win because of Russia, we won because of you."

After more than 13 months, the Elk Valley branch of the Kanawha County Public Library reopened this week. The branch had to be closed, along with every other business in the Crossings Mall, after the June 2016 flood washed out the bridge to the shopping center.

By Phil Kabler

Getting the new budget year off to a strong start, the state took in $252.78 million in tax revenue in July, missing projections by $2.9 million, or 1 percent - but with a very big asterisk, according to Gov. Jim Justice's chief of staff, Nick Casey.

By The Associated Press

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia man has been charged in connection with the death of a 1-year-old boy.
The News and Sentinel reports that according to a criminal complaint, 38-year-old William Travis Schoonover of Parkersburg was arrested on Wednesday and charged with death of a child by parent, guardian or custodian.