A woman was taken to the hospital for severe burns after a man lit her on fire early Sunday morning on Charleston's West Side, police said.

The woman was sleeping on a porch of a home in the 400 block of Randolph Street around 6 a.m. when a man walked onto the porch, poured gasoline on her and lit her on fire, said Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives for the Charleston Police Department.

The woman, who suffered extensive burns, was taken to Cabell-Huntington Hospital to be treated at the hospital's burn unit, Cooper said.

The fire also spread to the home, which was empty at the time of the incident, Cooper said.

Shortly after the incident, a man who matched the description of the suspect kicked in the door to a home on Wyoming Street. He poured an accelerant on the floor of the home and attempted to light it on fire, Cooper said. However, the homeowners were able to stop him and chase him off before he set fire to the home.

Cooper said police believe the same man is responsible for both incidents.

Police did not release any more details about the victim or the male suspect.

A man most recently arrested after a confrontation in Montgomery has court records containing more than 25 accusations of criminal activity since 2010.

Carlton Blankenship Jr. said he would "pop" a man in the face during the confrontation, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

The man watched as Blankenship, 25, revealed a handgun in his waistband, according to the complaint.

Blankenship has a pending domestic battery charge from 2013, the complaint states, and a recent felony conviction for a drug-related charge.

Montgomery Police arrested him Wednesday on charges of assault, brandishing a deadly weapon and possessing a prohibited firearm.

In 2011, Blankenship punched a boy, age 15, in the face. He then flashed a handgun and took the boy's cellphone.

Authorities indicted him on a charge of first-degree robbery, but he later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of battery.

Blankenship's arrest on Wednesday is a violation of his probation, which stemmed from his recent conviction for conspiracy to commit a felony.

On June 17, 2016, police arrested him on several active warrants, along with a new charge for having small bags of methamphetamine.

The officers also confiscated a loaded revolver from Blankenship, according to a criminal complaint.

Blankenship avoided prison when Kanawha Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman suspended the sentence and instead sentenced him to probation, according to a court order.

His supervised probation started on Jan. 20 and was supposed to last three years, according to the order.

The order from January states that Blankenship "is not likely again to commit crime and that the public good does not require he be fined or imprisoned."

Along with prison time, Blankenship has also avoided several criminal charges.

Court records show the recent dismissal of conspiracy, assault, brandishing and battery charges.

The case unraveled when both the subpoenaed witnesses and the arresting officer missed a court hearing, according to the records.

A missing officer or missing victims led to the dismissal of charges in at least three other cases.

The charges included delivery of a controlled substance, destruction of property and malicious wounding.

Blankenship is also known as Red, King Red and C.J. Woods. His Facebook profile includes pictures of handguns, money and gang signs.

A photo was uploaded to Blankenship's profile on June 17. It said, "Take the charge and don't snitch."

On Thursday afternoon, he remained at South Central Regional Jail in lieu of a $25,000 bond. He was also being held without bond for the probation violation.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @Gsabella on Twitter.

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia high school football coach who led his team to three state championships faces felony charges in a solicitation case.

Media outlets report 34-year-old Bridgeport High coach Josh Nicewarner was arraigned Friday in Harrison County Magistrate Court on charges of soliciting a minor by computer and use of obscene matter with intent to seduce a minor.

Harrison County Sheriff's Lt. Detective Rob Waybright says Nicewarner allegedly sent a lewd video to a teenage girl and asked her to send inappropriate photos of herself.

It wasn't immediately known whether Nicewarner has an attorney to comment on the charges.

Nicewarner coached Bridgeport to Class AA football championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He's been suspended from his position in addition to his job as a teacher at Liberty High School.

A man is still evading police after he allegedly set fire to a woman in Charleston on Sunday morning.

Police said the man, whose identity is still unknown, set fire to Rachele Jarrett, 44, as she slept on the porch of an abandoned home on Randolph Street on the city's West Side.

Jarrett remained at Cabell Huntington Hospital in critical condition on Monday morning, said Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives for the Charleston Police Department.

Cooper said a nearby surveillance camera captured video of the arson attack.

"The video depicts him going up onto the porch with a gas can, and immediately a fire ignites," Cooper said. "He leaves the porch and then our victim, Ms. Jarrett, barrels off the porch, engulfed in flames."

Cooper called the man's actions "calculated and malicious."

After the man set Jarrett on fire, Cooper said, he allegedly kicked his way into a home on Wyoming Street and tried to set it on fire. The homeowners chased him away after he poured gasoline on the floor, Cooper said.

He said another surveillance camera recorded video of the man walking into Union Mission's Crossroads shelter in Charleston on Saturday night.

The man faces charges of malicious wounding and first-degree arson, Cooper said.

"It's shocking to the conscience, and it's important that if anyone knows who this man is, that they contact us -- even anonymously," Cooper said.

Anyone with information about the man's identity or whereabouts can call 304-348-6402. To leave an anonymous tip, visit charlestonwvpolice.org/tip.html.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @Gsabella on Twitter.

Police have identified the bicyclist who was struck by a car and killed Saturday.

Shawnee Paxton, 18, of Jefferson, was riding a bicycle in the 5300 block of MacCorkle Avenue Southwest just before midnight Saturday and was struck by a vehicle, according to the South Charleston Police Department.

Paxton was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center, where she later died, police said.

Police are still investigating the incident.

Flash floods killed a man Sunday night in Ohio County and authorities searched for the man's girlfriend throughout Monday morning.

Michael Grow, 24, was driving with his girlfriend, Page Gellner, 18, in Wheeling at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, said Tom Howard, the county's sheriff.

A rush of water pushed their car off Browns Run Road and into the raging waters of an adjacent creek, he said.

Howard and his chief deputy. John Schultz, found Grow trapped on a guardrail down the road.

"We got him untangled from there, pulled him onto the roadway and we started CPR on him," he said.

Grow had a "slight pulse" at the scene, Howard said, but he later died at Wheeling Hospital.

Emergency crews are now searching 10 miles of water including Browns Creek, Wheeling Creek and Big Wheeling Creek to find Gellner, said Dave Weaver, planning officer for the Wheeling-Ohio County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. The Ohio County Sheriff's Office, Wheeling Fire Department, Marshall County EMS and the National Guard are involved with the search.

As of Monday afternoon the search was unsuccessful, Weaver said, but authorities plan to continue the search until sundown.

"We're searching until we find her," Weaver said.

After two mistrials and nearly two years in jail, Tremaine L. Jackson has been granted bond and his third trial for the alleged murder of Bryan Rogers in a 2015 West Side shooting has been set for Nov. 13.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles E. King set Jackson's bond at $150,000, allowing for 10 percent payment for release.

"I'm going to set bail in light of the fact that the jury couldn't reach a verdict," King said.

There was previously no bond set for Jackson, 25. His attorney, Chuck Hamilton, requested King set bond, stating Jackson has been in jail "quite a long time."

Hamilton's request for bond was based heavily on the July 18 mistrial caused by a hung jury.

Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Jennifer Gordon objected, stating a "mistrial does not weigh in favor of granting bond."

"Why doesn't it?" King asked. "If they couldn't reach a verdict. The state had a chance to prove their case on either murder in the first degree, second degree or voluntary manslaughter and you didn't do it."

Gordon maintained that there was still substantial evidence against Jackson and that he was a flight risk, had a propensity to commit more crimes and interfere with witnesses or jurors.

"You argued all of that to the jury and they didn't accept it," King said.

Rogers was killed Dec. 27, 2015. When police arrested Jackson a few days later, he admitted to shooting Rogers for stealing heroin from him in a taped confession.

"I was just like BOOM, I just shot one time bro," said Jackson, in a transcript of the confession that was presented to the jury.

However, Jackson's defense, Hamilton and Robby Long, said Jackson had been on heroin for three days and was coerced into making a confession.

During this month's trial, Jackson testified that he was not in the alleyway where the shooting took place. Instead, he said he was in front of a funeral home near the scene of the murder.

Jackson originally went on trial in Sept. 2016. The jury had been deliberating for three days when a mistrial was declared, after a juror, Taniqra Payne, 31, visited the crime scene, told other jurors about it and lied to the court about it.

Payne was charged with perjury and received two years probation.

Reach Kayla Asbury at kayla.asbury@wvgazettemail.com, call 304-348-3051 or follow @kasbury_ on Twitter.

GLOUCESTER, Mass. - The city is seeing more heroin overdoses today than it did two years ago when it introduced a unique amnesty program replicated by hundreds of police departments across the nation that encourages addicts to turn in their drugs to police without fear of arrest to get fast-tracked for treatment.

About halfway through the year, Gloucester, a historic fishing city north of Boston, has had 16 confirmed or suspected fatal opioid overdoses, police Chief John McCarthy said. That's on pace to exceed the nine confirmed cases the city saw last year and 10 in 2015, when the ANGEL program launched, according to state data.

At the same time, the number of addicts walking through the police station doors has declined. The department has helped 564 addicts get into treatment, but roughly two-thirds of those came within the first full year. McCarthy estimates the department is averaging about one walk-in per week.

"We're in a position to get people into treatment, but the sad part is the drug that they're taking, in all probability, is going to put them into overdose," he said on a visit this month. "It's a lot harder drug that's on the street."

Gloucester, like many other communities, is seeing more addicts overdosing on more potent varieties of the drug than it did when its amnesty program rocketed to national notoriety. The rising toll is prompting city officials to try new approaches.

Police and the addiction counselors they work with have been stepping up efforts to reach addicts on the streets and in the homeless shelters and other places they congregate, rather than waiting for them to come through their doors.

McCarthy, who took over last October after the prior police chief and founder of the ANGEL program was forced into retirement after misleading investigators in an unrelated matter, said a recent spate of overdoses on fishing vessels prompted local officials to start distributing Naloxone, the overdose reversal drug commonly known as Narcan, to boat operators and training their crews on how to use it.

The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, a nonprofit established to help the Gloucester police and more than 260 other departments in 30 states that have adopted its model, has also brought on a number of full-time staffers, including an outreach worker whose job is to keep up with the hundreds of addicts who have gone through the program and to seek new participants.

"I try to meet people where they're at," Roberto "Tito" Rodriguez said one recent July afternoon as he dropped into a local meal center for the homeless and low income. "Some people just need to vent. Others need a ride to a meeting or help with housing. Whatever they need, that's what I do."

The organization, which goes by its initials, PAARI, has also received a grant to post 25 AmeriCorps service members at police departments throughout Massachusetts to do similar work. It's working with the local sheriff's office to start assisting prison inmates with substance abuse problems as they're released.

Few experts are willing to fault the ANGEL program for failing to curb the growing opioid epidemic. Indeed, at least 2,500 people have been placed into treatment through the program and its affiliates, PAARI said.

"Opioid overdoses are soaring in much of the country, and the total for Gloucester might well have been higher if not for the ANGEL program," said Keith Humphreys, a psychiatry professor at the Stanford's School of Medicine who is not affiliated with the program.

Even the office of Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, which has long complained police don't have the authority to grant blanket immunity to addicts possessing illegal drugs, noted measuring the success of the program based on overdoses is "comparing apples and oranges."

Gloucester police still have the open-door, no-questions-asked policy that was the hallmark of the original ANGEL program. But as a practical matter, they've done away with the volunteer "angels" who helped provide emotional support and counseling to addicts as they awaited transfer to a treatment facility, a process that used to take hours, McCarthy said.

These days, few addicts come into the station. Most call the department and can typically be connected to treatment by a police officer or PAARI, which opened its office across the street.

Former addict Richard Naugle says he'll be "forever grateful" for the new ways Gloucester officials are reaching out to addicts. The 39-year-old father of two young boys says their efforts put him back on the right path after he was arrested in February for stealing thousands of dollars from a hardware store, where he worked, to support his oxycodone addiction.

Naugle, who was sentenced to 18 months' probation and ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution, was referred by police to Rodriguez at PAARI, who quickly placed him into treatment and has kept tabs on him.

Naugle says he's now six months sober and working at a power equipment repair shop.

"They're doing God's work over there," he said. "How do you repay someone for saving your life?"

State treasurers from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois are calling on drug giant McKesson Corp. to take steps to combat the nation's opioid epidemic - or possibly risk losing investments by those states.

The treasurers' request comes a day before McKesson's annual shareholders meeting in Irving, Texas. The treasurers said they would "re-evaluate" their state's investment position in McKesson and encourage other institutional investors to do the same -- if the board ignores their demands.

The state treasurers stopped short of saying they would recommend pulling investments in McKesson stock.

"West Virginia has been ground zero for the opioid epidemic, and I am deeply concerned for the people of my state," said West Virginia Treasurer John Perdue, a native of Boone County, which has one of the highest drug overdose death rates in the U.S. "These 'Big Pharma' companies need to address the issues head-on and make changes to protect future generations.

Perdue, along with fellow Democratic state Treasurers Michael Frerichs of Illinois and Joseph Torsella of Pennsylvania asked McKesson's board to do the following:

| Change the company's bylaws and appoint an independent board chairman. (McKesson CEO John Hammergren now doubles as board chairman).

| Hire an independent consultant to gauge the financial risks the company faces because it distributes prescription painkillers.

| Link executive pay with progress in curbing the opioid crisis.

| Issue a report on the impact of the opioid epidemic and possible solutions.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union made similar demands last week. The Teamsters plan to hold a protest outside McKesson's shareholder meeting Wednesday morning.

In January 2016, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed suit against McKesson, alleging the company awarded bonuses and commissions to sales managers while "West Virginia was drowning in millions of doses of highly addictive prescription painkillers."

Between 2007 and 2012, McKesson shipped 54.3 million oxycodone pills (typically sold under the brand name OxyContin) and 46.2 million hydrocodone tablets (Lortab, Vicodin) to West Virginia, according to the state's lawsuit.

Only two drug wholesalers shipped more prescription opioids to West Virginia during those years.

During the past six months, about a dozen counties, cities and towns in West Virginia have filed suit against McKesson - or announced their intention to do so. The lawsuits also name other drug wholesalers as defendants.

The complaints seek to link the nation's rash of heroin overdoses to the flood of prescription pain pills shipped by the distributors.

"Heroin addiction is tied directly to the overuse of opioid painkillers, and the overuse of opioid painkillers is tied directly to 'Big Pharma,'" said Illinois state Treasurer Michael Frerichs. "The industry needs to acknowledge and address its role in fueling this crisis if we have any hope to save people from this addiction and assured death."

Earlier this year, McKesson hired an outside law firm to investigate allegations raised in Morrisey's lawsuit. The investigation came at the request of the Teamsters, which has pension and benefit funds that invest in McKesson.

McKesson has appointed three of its board members to oversee the investigation.

The law firm has agreed to meet with Teamsters officials and invited the union to turn over any information that should be investigated.

The state treasurers sent a letter outlining their requests to McKesson board member Ed Mueller, who serves as lead independent director.

Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4869 or follow @ericeyre on Twitter.

A man allegedly drove his truck into a pedestrian as they passed each other on a road near Petersburg, killing him.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Joshua Evans on Friday for the suspected murder of Robert Shoemaker, according to a criminal complaint filed in Grant County Magistrate Court.

Authorities found Shoemaker's body 25 feet over an embankment off Welton Orchard Road about two weeks ago, according to the complaint.

Officials discovered the body four days after Evans allegedly hit Shoemaker, who was walking down the road.

Evans drove his truck in the northbound lane, the complaint states, and then he swerved into the opposite lane to hit Shoemaker.

According to the complaint, a witness saw Evans speeding farther down the road with a heavily damaged windshield.

Another witness said he asked why the truck's windshield was missing. Evans, the complaint states, said he "hit someone and they had died."

Authorities found the truck - its exterior re-painted and its identification numbers removed - in Hardy County. There was an "obvious attempt to disguise the truck," the complaint states.

They found a man in the truck, who said Evans wanted the vehicle transported to Wardensville, according to the complaint.

Investigators said nothing at the crash scene would suggest that someone tried to stop before Shoemaker was killed.

An autopsy revealed Shoemaker's injuries are "consistent with being struck by a vehicle," according to the complaint, "and speed was involved."

Deputies arrested Evans on a charge of second-degree murder. He remained at Potomac Highlands Regional Jail in lieu of a $350,000 bail on Tuesday morning.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or Follow @Gsabella on Twitter.

An intentional fire, which sent one woman to the hospital in "grave condition" on Sunday, was allegedly meant for a different target.

Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives for the Charleston Police Department, discussed the case on "580 Live" with Charleston Mayor Danny Jones on Tuesday.

He said the suspect, Carl Magee, meant to set a man on fire as he slept on the porch of an abandoned home in the city's West Side.

While on the show, Cooper did not specify who the man was. He previously said David Barrett was on the porch with the victim.

Barrett was sleeping next to Rachel Jarrett at the abandoned home on Randolph Street, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

They woke up as Magee poured gasoline on their mattress, according to the complaint. Barrett escaped, but flames soon engulfed Jarrett.

A neighbor's surveillance camera recorded a video of Magee walking onto the porch with a gas can. A fire then erupts, and Jarrett runs off the porch, still on fire.

Police circulated an image from the surveillance camera. They also released a surveillance image of Magee at Union Mission's Crossroads Shelter from the night before.

Along with the fire on Randolph Street, Magee is also accused of trying and failing to start a fire on Wyoming Street.

Cooper said Magee targeted someone at the second home, and the investigation is ongoing.

On Monday evening, the mayor announced a $2,500 reward for information that might lead to Magee's arrest.

His location and identity remained unknown until Kanawha City residents reported several break-ins that night, Cooper said on the radio program.

Homeowners said Magee may have stolen a gun, putting authorities on edge, Cooper said. It was later learned Magee had no firearms.

"I thought, 'We have to get this guy,'" Cooper said. "'He's turning into just a one-man crime wave.'"

Cooper said on the show that Sgt. James "Tyke" Hunt found an abandoned bike at an apartment complex on Chesterfield Avenue.

Believing Magee may have stolen a bike, police then searched the complex. They later discovered someone let Magee into an apartment.

"They didn't realize who they were dealing with," Cooper said, "and so they were being friendly with him, and he had kind of just charmed his way in."

He said officers heard Magee run out the back door, and a chase soon followed.

"As soon as they put the cuffs on him, he said, 'I'm glad you caught me,' " Cooper said.

Magee allegedly identified himself in the surveillance images. He also admitted to lighting Jarrett on fire, the criminal complaint states.

Cooper said during the radio show that Magee - a California man who is now homeless - has been to Alaska, Arkansas and Ohio.

He came to West Virginia after a relative told him there was money to be made as a drug dealer, Cooper said.

Police charged Magee with attempted murder, first-degree arson and malicious wounding. He remained at South Central Regional Jail in lieu of a $500,000 bail on Tuesday afternoon.

Before his arraignment on Monday, Magee denied the accusations against him. He said an "older gentleman" knocked over a gas can.

Magee claimed the person created an altar for the purpose of doing "something very demonic."

"This act right here: I don't know if it was voodoo, witchcraft or what," he said.

Reporter Ryan Quinn contributed to this report.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @Gsabella on Twitter.

A tractor-trailer traveling north on Interstate 64/77 overturned near Bigley Avenue on Wednesday morning.

The truck contained a material that is harmful to aquatic life, said Carrie Jones, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.

Two of three northbound lanes remained closed as of 9:15 a.m. Jones said all northbound lanes may close to make room for a tow truck.

"And especially if it has hazardous material, it's going to take a little bit longer because they need to be extra cautious," she said.

The Charleston Fire Department's hazmat crew worked to secure 10 containers of a fungicide called "Vital-Green," said Shane Hudnall, of the DOT, in a livestream.

He said officials are aware of a small leak inside the truck and that nearby drains are closed off.

"It's very problematic for aquatic life, so we don't want it getting into any of the drains or streams or anything like that," Hudnall said.

Reports of the crash started at 7:50 a.m., a Kanawha County dispatcher said.

He said the tractor-trailer tipped over on a curve, but it was not immediately clear what caused the crash.

No injuries were reported, but an ambulance remained on scene as crews worked to clean the area.

"I imagine it will probably take awhile because they have to offload it before they put it back on its wheels," the dispatcher said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, joined by four other states, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling they say infringes on gun rights.

In a brief Tuesday, they say the 4th U.S. Circuit Court majority erred in concluding police can frisk someone they believe has a weapon.

Morrisey, joined by attorneys general from Indiana, Michigan, Texas and Utah, says innocent gun owners have the right to carry weapons "without the fear of being unreasonably searched."

They say existing case law requires police determine someone is dangerous as well as armed.

The case involved Shaquille Robinson, a felon with an illegal gun in his pocket. He was arrested by Ranson police in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle after an anonymous tip of someone seen loading a handgun.

The Trump administration has again gotten an extension of time to file its response to former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's request that the U.S. Supreme Court hear an appeal of his conviction for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards at the Upper Big Branch Mine, where 29 workers died in an April 2010 explosion.

U.S. Department of Justice lawyers had been scheduled to file a response to Blankenship's Supreme Court petition by Wednesday.

Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey B. Walls asked for and received an additional month. The government's response to Blankenship's petition is now due on Aug. 25.

In a letter to the court clerk, Walls had said that the extension "is necessary because the attorneys with primary responsibility for preparation of the government's response have been heavily engaged with the press of previously assigned matters with proximate due dates."

The government had previously asked for and received an additional month. Blankenship's petition to the Supreme Court was filed in May and the government's response was originally due in late June.

Blankenship was convicted in December 2015 of conspiring to violate federal mine safety and health standards during the 15-month period before the April 5, 2010, explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, in Raleigh County.

In April 2016, U.S. District Judge Irene Berger sentenced Blankenship to a year in prison -- the maximum sentenced allowed -- saying Blankenship had created a culture at Upper Big Branch that "encouraged unsafe working conditions in order to reach profitability and production targets."

Federal law makes violation of mine safety and health standards, or conspiracy to violate those standards, a misdemeanor, punishable with a maximum of one year in prison. Efforts by safety advocates to push legislation that would toughen the sentencing for mine safety crimes have made little headway, even after some political leaders criticized the law in the wake of Blankenship's sentencing.

Blankenship also was fined the maximum $250,000 and was ordered to spend one year on probation.

While Blankenship was not charged with causing the disaster, the accusations against him focused on rampant violations of safety standards - mine ventilation, roof support and dust control - known for decades to be effective in preventing mine explosions.

Blankenship, a Mingo County native who turned 67 in March, said before his incarceration that he was living in Las Vegas with his fiancée. While his lawyers pursue his appeal, Blankenship -- a man prosecutors noted in court filings remains "fabulously wealthy" -- continues his own public relations campaign and a series of interviews with various media outlets to insist he was innocent. Blankenship has said he wants the Trump administration to revisit the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's conclusions that a "corporate culture" that valued coal production over worker safety was the root cause of the Upper Big Branch disaster.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.

A driver walked away unharmed after a train plowed into the back of her car in Charleston on Wednesday afternoon.

Madison Vipperman, 20, said she drove on East Point Drive toward Kanawha Boulevard East when the crash unfolded.

Vipperman had never seen a train in the area, despite traveling on the same route for months.

She didn't think to look for a train as she crossed the tracks. A locomotive from Kanawha River Railroad approached.

"By that time it was too late - I heard the train horn blaring," she said.

Her boyfriend, Tristan Craigo, said he expected Vipperman to be home soon. Instead, Craigo's cellphone rang.

"I freaked out because she said 'I got hit by a train,' and you don't think of this when you think of getting hit by a train," he said. "You think, 'Holy crap, she's probably seriously injured.' "

Correctional officers in West Virginia prisons, regional jails and juvenile correctional facilities will get $1 an hour pay raises, starting Sept. 2.

The state Personnel Board approved the plan Thursday. It includes a $2,080 increase in the base salary for Level 1 correctional officers, from $22,584 to $24,664, an increase of about 9 percent.

"Today was the start of many good things I think could happen if we work together," Elaine Harris, international representative of the Communications Workers of America, said afterward.

Harris has lobbied for years for increased pay for West Virginia correctional workers, who have dropped to the lowest pay level in the United States.

"We used to say, 'Thank God for Mississippi,' but we're dead last," she said. "This, hopefully, moves us up some."

The revenue to cover the pay increases will come from savings from unfilled vacancies at the correctional facilities.

In a statement, West Virginia Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary Jeff Sandy said the pay raise is the first step to addressing serious turnover and vacancy issues in prison, regional jail and juvenile services facilities.

"A lot of work went into this action," Sandy said. "Governor [Jim] Justice supported this. He stated that we had to do something for these dedicated employees. Many correctional officers spoke to me personally about this, and I knew we had to act."

Also Thursday, the Personnel Board postponed a vote to eliminate all but one position in the legislatively defunded state Division of Tobacco Prevention, allowing those employees to keep their jobs, at least temporarily.

Several Tobacco Prevention staffers expressed dismay that the Legislature had zeroed out a $3 million appropriation for the division, which oversees programs for smoking cessation and to discourage tobacco use.

Plans are to eliminate all but one of the eight full-time positions in the division, leaving only the division's director, Jim Kerrigan.

Kathy Dansberry, cessation program manager, said the loss of funding will eliminate anti-smoking programs geared to black residents, the LGBT community and to pregnant women - segments of the population that all smoke more than the national average.

"All these programs are gone," she told the board. "It's hard to have something you've worked on for 15 years, and it's gone."

While plans are to continue scaled-back versions of the tobacco Quitline hotline and the RAZE program, geared at junior high and high school students, youth program manager David Deutsch said he finds it difficult to comprehend how one person will be able to oversee all the programs.

"I really think this program has been good for the state," he said of RAZE. "We know tobacco remains a major threat to the youth of our state."

Some questioned whether their salaries could continue to be funded through federal grants, but Anne Williams, deputy commissioner for the Bureau of Public Health, said that would eat up a third of the grant money intended to fight tobacco use.

"This is a legislative decision, and we have to leave it at that," she told the board. "When you lose $3 million, tough decisions have to be made."

Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304 348-1220 or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.

A man booked on a murder charge Wednesday died at Tygart Valley Regional Jail on Thursday morning.

Jail officers found Randy Shull, 63, unresponsive in his cell around 6 a.m. Thursday, according to an email from Lawrence Messina, spokesman for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

Staff members tried to resuscitate Shull, and emergency responders treated him for an honor, Messina said.

He said officials do not believe Shull's death was a suicide. State Police and the state's Regional Jail Authority are investigating Shull's death.

Officials had booked Shull at the facility, located in Belington, at noon on Wednesday.

Tucker County sheriff's deputies arrested Shull after he allegedly killed a woman after three days of arguments, according to a criminal complaint.

Deputies arrived at Shull's home in Parsons just before 4 a.m. Wednesday They found Katherine Lillie dead on the floor, her head against the wall.

As he sat on the couch, the complaint states, Shull said, "I killed her," and, "I only pushed her."

Deputies charged Shull with second-degree murder after an interview at the State Police detachment in Parsons.

Shull also faced out-of-state charges of driving under the influence after his car got stuck on a railroad on May 13, according to court records.

In that incident, a train smashed into the car before a Pennsylvania State Police trooper arrived to help, according to a criminal complaint.

The trooper noticed Shull smelled like alcohol, the complaint states, and that he drove onto a closed road to access the tracks. He then refused to undergo a breath test or a field sobriety test, according to the complaint.

Authorities arrested him on two misdemeanor charges of DUI and two summary offenses for traffic violations. Shull posted a $2,000 bail the next day.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @Gsabella on Twitter.

A collection of West Virginia and Virginia citizens on Thursday began a legal fight to try to head off the expected approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, launching the second federal court lawsuit in as many months over the controversial, 300-mile project.

The new lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Virginia, seeks to block FERC from issuing a certificate approving the MVP project and giving its developers the ability to use eminent domain to condemn property for construction of the natural gas pipeline that would run from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to Pittsylvania County, Virginia.

Essentially, the case argues that such an approval by FERC would violate the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which requires that private property may only be taken "for public use" and that "just compensation" must be paid. It argues that, when reviewing pipeline proposals, FERC does not evaluate them under a constitutional standard, but instead applies its own economic balancing test to determine if potential public benefits outweigh possible damages.

"FERC has replaced our Founders' guidance in the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause with its own economic sliding scale/balancing test that, at best, weighs perceived public benefits against adverse effects when determining whether to grant a private corporation the uniquely governmental power of eminent domain," says the legal complaint, filed on behalf of 10 families, including West Virginians in Summers County and one in Monroe County.

Named as defendants in the case are FERC, acting commissioner Chairwoman Cheryl A. LaFleur, and Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC.

FERC declined to comment on the lawsuit and Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC spokeswoman Natalie Cox would say only that the company was aware of the complaint and would review it.

A legal challenge to the MVP project already is pending before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. That case, brought by the Sierra Club and other citizen groups, challenges the approval by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection of a water quality certification for the pipeline. DEP Secretary Austin Caperton refused to hold an appeal hearing on his agency's approval of that certification, but did not explain his reasons for the action.

Last month, FERC staff issued their final environmental report on the MVP project, but the commission itself - down to one member while the Senate considers two nominees from President Donald Trump - has not yet granted the pipeline its needed certificate.

Among other things, the new lawsuit alleges that when faced with administrative challenges to its actions, FERC "inevitably tolls" those challenges, a move that "permitting construction to proceed at a blistering pace, thus rendering any challenges moot."

"FERC's actions embody the spirit of seeking forgiveness rather than permission, while landowners and other interested citizens are demoted to subservient permission seekers, bearing no resemblance to the principle of the 'consent of the governed' upon which this nation's laws were derived."

Shortly after filing their initial complaint on Thursday, lawyers for the citizens asked U.S. District Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon to grant them a preliminary injunction to block FERC from issuing that certificate.

"There is no public interest impacted, hindered, or otherwise affected by preserving the status quo pending determination of the parties' respective rights and in precluding FERC and MVP from engaging in the unconstitutional exercise of eminent domain," the request for an injunction stated.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.

A man was arrested Thursday in connection to a reported break in at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston where "several thousand" dollars worth of property was stolen.

The break in was reported Thursday morning. The suspect was identified as 34-year-old Josh Hanshaw, a Charleston man, according to a news release from Charleston police.

Detectives were able to identify Hanshaw after recognizing him from past arrests, which also were theft related crimes, the release reads.

Hanshaw was expected to be arraigned Thursday evening in Kanawha Magistrate Court.

This is a developing story.

OAK HILL, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia man was found guilty in the death of his 3-month-old child.

News outlets report 28-year-old Michael T. Warrick was convicted Tuesday on charges of death of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian or other person by child abuse.

The child died at Plateau Medical Center on December 2015. Prosecuting Attorney Larry E. Harrah says the infant died as a result of shaken baby syndrome.

According to court records, an autopsy by the medical examiner's office found the baby had suffered traumatic injuries consistent with abuse. The medical examiner's report indicated the injuries occurred during the infant's last 24 hours of life.

The child's mother, 23-year-old Jade Rebeka Taylor Warrick, was also charged with death of a child by a parent, guardian, custodian or other person by child abuse.