The governing body of Fairmont State University hopes to hire a new president by April.

The school's board of governors is acting as a search committee to replace Maria Rose, the current president who plans to leave the school at the end of June to spend more time with her family.

The board met last week and received 28 applications for the job, according to Cindy Curry, the school's director of human resources.

The applicants came from across the country. Only eight applicants were from West Virginia, Curry said in an emailed statement.

The committee selected 12 people to interview over Skype on Jan. 24 and 25, but Curry would not release the names of those applicants. Curry also didn't say how many of the 12 candidates were from the Mountain State.

"After the Skype interviews, the next step will be for the search committee to select a final list of candidates to participate in on-campus interviews," Curry said. "At that time, information about the visiting candidates will be shared with the campus community and media and participation from faculty, students, staff and the community is strongly encouraged."

The committee expects to hold on-campus forums about the applicants in early February.

Rose, who announced in late October that she planned to leave the school, has a long history with the school. She is a graduate of the school, and prior to her appointment as president in 2012, she served as the school's provost and vice president for academic affairs, as well as being a faculty member.

In her time as a faculty member, Rose taught developmental writing, reading and study skills and coordinated a campus-wide peer tutoring program, according to a news release from the school.

In addition to a Bachelor of Arts in education she received from Fairmont State, Rose earned a Master of Arts in reading and a doctoral degree in education curriculum and instruction from West Virginia University.

Reach Jake Jarvis at 304-348-7939, jake.jarvis@wvgazettemail.com, Facebook.com/newsroomjake or follow @NewsroomJake on Twitter.

A Hurricane nonprofit is using nearly $1 million in government and private funds to finance a rotating loan fund for health care in 26 rural West Virginia counties.

The Center for Rural Health Development Inc.'s West Virginia Rural Health Infrastructure Loan Fund project is designed to strengthen the health care industry in nearly half of the state's counties.

About a third of the funds come from a grant under President Barack Obama's POWER Initiative. The program is designed to assist communities hit hard by the decline of the coal industry.

The rest of the funds come from foundations and banks.

Sharon Lansdale, the center's president and CEO, said the organization differs from many others throughout the nation because it partners with public and private health care providers.

"What we always say is, 'We don't care how health care is developed in the community, as long as it's sustainable and reliable,'" Lansdale said.

The center's goal is to ensure appropriate health care providers stay in rural areas - whether it is a large hospital or a doctor in private practice.

Lansdale said one of its primary focuses is to make sure primary care services remain in these counties.

"We've provided everything from helping them purchase technology to have health care buildings built," Lansdale said.

The center's loans process has never failed, according to Lansdale. She said she believes the reason why is because they often partner with private loan providers. A bank loan often provides partial funds for projects, and the center covers the rest.

"We provide a lot of technical assistance for borrowers and lenders," Lansdale said.

She said many lenders don't have the time or expertise to properly work for years with providers, so when they step in, it becomes a "win-win-win situation" for the center, the lender and health care providers.

Lansdale said health care is one of the most important factors in rebuilding infrastructure in struggling communities. She believes proper health providers are as integral to communities as water and housing. Without them, she thinks businesses will not relocate or open in the area.

"Our hope is our little part in helping coal-impacted counties in West Virginia will help businesses," Lansdale said. "We hope it'll help these areas grow infrastructure."

Reach Ali Schmitz at

ali.schmitz@wvgazettemail.com,

304-348-4843 or follow

@SchmitzMedia on Twitter.

It's one of those meant-to-be stories, a case of falling into a job that becomes a professional passion.

A devout Christian, Donna Whittington envisioned life as a missionary. God apparently had another plan. Oh, she does God's work for sure. But in a different way.

For nearly 50 years, she has devoted most of her busy life to interpreting for the deaf.

Her graceful, flashing hands have interpreted events involving five governors, several state senators, President Obama and other VIPs. She's the official interpreter for the city of Dunbar.

She taught for years in Florida, where her serendipitous career kicked off. For 35 years, she taught at the state Rehabilitation Center at Institute.

Myriad credits include forming a deaf majorette corps in Florida and organizing a popular sign-language performing group, The Singing Hands.

Her rich life started modestly at Joe's Creek in Boone County. Several scrapbooks chronicle her years as an honor student, majorette and beauty queen.

After graduating from East Bank High School, she earned a degree in religion, philosophy and Bible from Morris Harvey College.

She leads a women's Bible study group and remains an active disciple in her church.

She exudes a serenity born of abiding faith. Looking back on 69 years, she believes God guided every step of her journey.

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"I grew up at Joe's Creek in Comfort, between Seth and Racine on the way to Whitesville in Boone County.

"I went to a one-room school. There were 35 kids in five grades. Each grade had a row, and when you finished first grade, you were promoted to the second row, and the next year the third row. We had outhouses.

"All the girls had to help cook in the kitchen. As a gift, the teacher made each one of us a bib apron made from feed sacks.

"My dad worked for the Pure Oil Company. He had his first heart attack at 27 and had to have heart surgery when he was 31. He had to go to Philadelphia. We were told he was the first West Virginian to have open heart surgery.

"He lived eight and a half years. He had worked all day. He was a roustabout. He went to the different oil wells and checked the gauges. He would drive his van so far and have to walk to the well.

"When he got home that day, he said he had walked about 10 miles. 'GI Blues' was on at the movies. My mom and I were going to go. I had two boyfriends and didn't know which one to ask to go with us. My dad said, 'I don't care which one you ask, but the one you don't ask, don't hurt his feelings. Don't ever hurt anyone's feelings.' He got up from the dinner table and went to the living room and had a heart attack and died.

"He was 39. I've always remembered those last words. Don't ever hurt anyone's feelings.

"I was an only child and the only girl in the community. My cousin wanted me to be a tomboy so he wouldn't be embarrassed with all the other boys. His name was Archie and he became Arch Coal. He taught me to play basketball, how to bat and play marbles and jump the creek with a stick like a pole vaulter and throw a knife and stick it in the tree.

"I went to Comfort Grade School in fifth grade. And then to Chelyan Junior High. We lived in a company house. Our rent was $5 a month. We had two bedrooms and my dad put in a bath. When we moved to Dawes on Cabin Creek, we could have an extra bedroom and the rent went to $650 a month.

"I was a majorette in the eighth grade and head majorette in ninth grade. I went on to be a majorette at East Bank High. I started twirling a baton when I was 9. I was featured twirler in junior high and high school.

"I twirled in the majorette festivals in Charleston. There were 150 majorettes in those festivals back then. When I twirled in 10th grade, there were 17,000 people at the festival, the largest audience they'd ever had.

"I got fourth place the two years I twirled. My senior year, I didn't try because I couldn't do any better than fourth.

"In high school I was Miss Marmet Town Fair and second runner-up to Miss Marmet. I was in the Junior Miss West Virginia Pageant and got third place. I always got third or fourth. I never could do any better.

"When I was little, I wanted to be a mortician. When my dad died, I was 14, and I changed my mind. I always kind of wanted to be a missionary. We went to church all the time. We lived close enough to the church to see it.

"Every service, half an hour before it started, my grandpa pulled the rope and rang the church bell. When our dog, Tim, would hear the bell, he would go to church, sit on the top step and greet everybody. He would go in the church and sit at the back door. When scratched, he would knock on the floor and the pastor would say, 'That's just Tim saying a-men.' When we were on vacation, Tim went to church anyway. He never missed a service. He even died on a Sunday.

"I graduated from East Bank in '64 and got a scholarship to Morris Harvey. I majored in religion, philosophy and Bible.

"I lived in Marmet. I rode the bus to Morris Harvey. It went to the 35th Street Bridge. I would get off and walk to the college. In the winter, I about froze to death. Women couldn't wear pants to college then, only dresses or skirts. I'd get on the bus and my kneecaps would be bright red.

"My minor was sociology. When I finished at Morris Harvey in '68, they wanted me to start the next day at the welfare department, as they called it then. But I needed a break.

"Mom and I went to St. Augustine for the summer. I got a job there at the School for the Deaf and stayed six years.

"I told the principal I didn't go to school to work with the deaf and didn't know anything about teaching. He said a teacher quit and it was a week before school started and I was the only one on the list who had a degree. So I accepted the job and had to take night classes to learn to communicate.

"He said my neighbor was deaf and I should spend the next week with her. We sat on her dining room floor and she taught me enough so I could teach the next week. I kept remembering how fascinated I was with the movie 'The Miracle Worker' with Patty Duke about Helen Keller.

"It was a good job, $6,000 a year. That was more than my dad ever made.

"In Florida, I had the only majorette corps that performed for halftime at the games. The majorettes were deaf, and they performed to music over the loud speaker. They had to learn everything by count. It hadn't been done before and hasn't been done since.

"I came home after six years without a job because my grandpa had cancer. I got a job at Seth teaching grade school and hated every day of it. I stayed one semester.

"Glen Matthews was the head of deaf services for the state and he offered me a teaching job. So I went to the Rehab Center at Institute and stayed 35 years.

"After eight years there, the state hired me as their first full-time interpreter. I became an interpreter also for the blind, which goes back to the Helen Keller movie. Not many interpreters go ahead and do that.

"I've interpreted for seven governors and Jennings Randolph and Shelley Capito and Landau Murphy Jr. I interpreted for Byrd's memorial service at the Capitol and when Obama visited the Capitol.

"I'm the official interpreter for Dunbar. I did the tree lightning at Christmas.

"I was in the band at the Charleston Rockets. They needed someone to play the bass drum. They found out about the twirling and I became the choreographer for the Rockets majorettes.

"Remember when Jay Rockefeller was working in Emmons and did the community building and named it Rockefeller Center? His dad flew in for that dedication and our majorettes performed for that.

"I was on the evaluation team for the state to evaluate interpreters. They have to show they understand the culture of the deaf and can interpret.

"I went on mission trips to Barbados to the Caribbean Christian Center Camp for the Deaf and to Jamaica to interpret for a psychologist from here. He did psychological testing for the deaf school.

"For 27 years, I had the Singing Hands, a group of people who signed music. We sang from upstate New York to Myrtle Beach and everywhere in between.

"This singer came to our group and I married him. We bought a Greyhound bus to transport the group. We sang for all the fairs and festivals in West Virginia and for churches and schools.

"I retired at the end of 2010 because I had to take care of my mom. She had dementia. I took care of her for three years.

"I still teach sign language classes at the Dunbar Rec Center. And I still have high school students who take it for credit as a foreign language instead of French or Spanish. I've taught at the University of Charleston, West Virginia State, Tech.

"Signing is fascinating. It's a foreign language, the fourth most used language in the world. For people born deaf, English is not their native language, so they have to learn English. They don't write sentences like we do. They have a different culture. They don't think things are important that we do and vice versa.

"I didn't have children. I had stepchildren when I was married, but when my marriage was over, that was over.

"The most important thing in my life is that I am a Christian. I became a Christian when I was 8. I've always taught Sunday school. I'm the leader of the women's Bible study at our church. Monday and Wednesday, I work at the food pantry in Dunbar. Friday I'm in Bible study at the Rec Center.

"I feel tired, but I want to keep doing what I'm doing. I believe in working for the Lord. I started out wanting to be a missionary, remember?

"I hope it can be said when I die that I did some good. I wish I could have done more.

"Mostly, I would like to be remembered for loving the Lord. Look back through my life. He took care of me all the way. He loves me. I'm his child. I'm a princess because I'm a child of royalty."

Reach Sandy Wells at sandyw@wvgazette.com or 304-342-5027.

Bundled up runners walk back to their cars after completing the Charleston Parks and Rec 8K Run and 5K Walk at the University of Charleston Sunday.

For the second time in as many seasons, the George Washington wrestling team is breaking in a new coach.

Alex Neal, who helped with the GW program at the end of last season after wrapping up his duties with Andrew Jackson and Hayes middle schools, is the new man in charge of the Patriots this season, and he has the young team in shape to start the 2017 calendar year.

GW placed five wrestlers in the first batch of individual weight class rankings released last week. Junior Gerrard Hall is No. 2 at 195 pounds, Isaac Isabell is No. 4 at 132, Jack Lorea is No. 5 at 126, Isaiah Isabell is No. 8 at 120 and Joseph Fore is No. 8 at 106.

"It's going pretty good, but we're very young," Neal said. "We don't have a single senior on the team. We have five juniors that are kind of leading the way right now."

That group includes Hall, his brothers Jayvon and Jaquan, Bailey Butler and Jack Lorea.

"It absolutely helps [having upperclassmen in place as a first-year coach], you can't knock that," Neal said. "We'll do what we can with what we've got."

The Patriots found some success over the weekend at Nitro's Pat Vance Invitational. Isaac Isabell took first place at 132 while Gerrard Hall finished second at 195. Isaiah Isabell was runner-up at 120. The Patriots also placed four others in the event.

"I think we're doing pretty well," Neal said. "We had a couple of days off over the break that we were kind of able to rejuvenate. We've had a couple of days off from practice so now I think we're rested and ready to make that run towards the state tournament."

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It was a good week to be ranked No. 2 in the West Virginia Coaches Association/wvmat.com state team poll.

Parkersburg, No. 2 in AAA last week, knocked off No. 1 Parkersburg South head to head at the West Virginia Duals (hosted by the Big Reds) 37-35. The Big Reds took the team title at the event.

In Class AA/A, top-ranked Independence faced No. 2 East Fairmont and No. 3 North Marion in a tri at East Fairmont. The Bees took down the No. 1 Patriots 40-33.

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Two Kanawha Valley teams had respectable showings at Parkersburg's West Virginia Duals over the weekend. Riverside got wins against Lewis County and Ritchie County along with a loss to Parkersburg South to finish second in its preliminary pool. The Warriors would go on to lose to Mountain View (Virginia) and South in the championship flight for a fourth-place overall finish.

Herbert Hoover struggled early with preliminary losses to Mountain View and Parkersburg before topping Liberty (Harrison). The Huskies moved on to the consolation flight, where they got wins again Lewis County and Ritchie County to finish the tournament in fifth place.

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Hurricane took 7th place in the team competition over the weekend at the Cameron Alumni Invitational. For the Redskins, Daniel Long (138) and Chase Gibson (145) finished as runner-up in their weight classes. East Fairmont took the team title at the tournament, with Keyser and Fairmont Senior rounding out the top three.

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Prep wrestling in the Kanawha Valley turns up a bit this week with Tuesday's Putnam County Championships. The tournament, hosted by Winfield, will also feature Hurricane, Poca and Buffalo.

Contact Tom Bragg at 304-348-4871 or tom.bragg@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomBraggSports.

Reigning Ostrowski Award winner Jordyn Dawson is up to her old tricks again, scoring an average of 26 points per game while leading the Highlanders (7-1) to the No. 1 ranking in last week's Associated Press poll.

Huntington figures to stay there when the new rankings are released today as the Highlanders added a dominant 80-56 win over No. 3 Parkersburg South on Saturday.

Dawson, a Xavier commit, remains one of the most difficult matchups in the state as she combines low-post size with a point guard's ballhandling ability and shooting range.

And while dominating games is nothing new to Dawson, Huntington coach Lonnie Lucas couldn't list enough ways in which her game has improved from last year to this season. "She's a lot more confident in her shot, especially from the outside," Lucas said. "Her foul shooting is so much better than last year. She really worked on her game all around. She knows she has to play most of the time in big games - she doesn't get much rest - but she's stepped her game up totally. As soon as the rest of them step theirs up as much as she has hers, we're going to be a lot better."

Lucas said that Dawson should become the school's all-time leading scorer a little later in the season for boys and girls, passing Tavian Dunn-Martin, who now plays for Akron after graduating a year ago.

Statistically speaking, Dawson's biggest gain from a year ago may be at the foul line where Lucas said she's gone from 58 percent to around 75 percent, a key improvement for a player that gets fouled often while slashing to the basket.

But more than any measureable metric, Lucas said he's most pleased with Dawson's maturity as a person.

"She's matured so much emotionally too, she plays under control now," Lucas said. "Little things don't bother her like they used to. As a ninth grader, she was very immature. She could do a lot of stuff physically, but she's improved so much in that aspect. This year is totally different. For so long, she didn't even realize how tough she really was."

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While on the subject of high scoring players in the MSAC, a mention of Capital's Alex Gray is necessary.

The senior is averaging 22 points per game through seven games for the Cougars (2-5) and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career last week.

Coach Ahmed Witten credited her hard work and practice and tenacity on the boards for Gray's scoring prowess.

"She's just getting to the basket and she's been practicing hard man, she's really been practicing hard," Witten said. "She does a little bit of everything. She's bringing the ball up the court. She averages six steals and eight rebounds a game and that's how she's getting the ball a lot. She's rebounding the ball, putting up a shot and then getting to the foul line."

Witten said a few small schools have shown some interest including Bluefield State, WVU Tech and Mars Hill, but Gray has not made any decision on her basketball playing future.

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St. Albans coach Scott James hopes he will have an additional job title in June - mayor.

James announced on his Facebook account last week that he is officially in the race to become the mayor of St. Albans.

"People for five or six years have asked me to run for mayor and support has grown a lot lately," James said. "I thought, 'Why not? Let's go for it.' I've lived here a long time, I love St. Albans and I feel like I can make a difference here.

James said that he would still continue to coach if he won, becoming another girls basketball coach to venture into politics after Jim Justice, the Greenbrier East coach, was elected governor.

"I would love to be able to continue to coach," James said. "This isn't about copying Jim Justice or anything, five or six years ago I started thinking about this."

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The Red Dragons have plenty going for them on the court as well as the team has won five games in a row since a 1-3 start.

St. Albans returned two Class AAA second-team all-state players in guard Jaden McDaniels and wing player Alli Johnson. But neither of them currently leads St. Albans in scoring.

That distinction belongs to post player Haleigh Legg who's averaging 16.8 points per game and providing an imposing presence down low.

James said a combination of his team properly executing the offense and Legg's work on the glass has provided her with more scoring opportunities this season.

"It's a focal point of the offense," James said. "Haleigh has been crashing the boards a lot harder than she has in the past, she's got some offensive boards and putbacks, but the girls are just running the offense. They understand that if we feed the ball into the paint, good things are going to happen."

Reach Ryan Pritt at 304-348-7948, ryan.pritt@wvgazettemail.com or follow him @RPritt on Twitter

West Virginia is hitting the stretch run for the 2017 recruiting class, but on Saturday the Mountaineers got a jump start on their 2018 class, adding a commitment from Bethel Park (Pa.) defensive tackle James Gmiter.

"I am now officially committed to... West Virginia," Gmiter announced on social media late Saturday night. "I am now a Mountaineer for life!"

The 6-foot-3, 310-pounder is the first commit in the junior class, returning the favor for West Virginia, which was the first school to offer him a scholarship. Since then, Wisconsin also offered him a scholarship, albeit on the offensive side of the ball. Pitt, Notre Dame, and many others were keeping close tabs on Gmiter, but he admitted it was going to be hard to overcome what he had seen during his numerous trips to Morgantown.

"I absolutely loved it. It gets better and better every time I come down there," he said after his most recent visit for a game this fall. "The thing that definitely stood out to me about going down there was the atmosphere and the fan base. Just being around so many people that love the sport and the team means a lot to me."

Gmiter camped at West Virginia this summer, working on both the offensive and defensive lines. He is expected to play defense for the Mountaineers, and he shined at the position during the U.S. Army All-American Combine this week, impressing 247Sports recruiting director Steve Wiltfong.

"Big, strong kid at the point of attack," Wiltfong said. "Quick, thick, wide body. Tough, too. Plays with a motor."

And if the program sounds familiar, it should. Bethel Park was also home to recent Mountaineer linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, who has made it back to his alma mater for a couple games in recent years.

Gmiter was recruited by safeties coach Matt Caponi (who recruits the area for West Virginia) and defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. He holds a three-star, 84 rating from 247Sports. While it's still very early in the next cycle, his pledge puts the Mountaineers 45th in the country in the 247Sports Team Rankings for 2018.

The University of Charleston couldn't slow down unbeaten Fairmont State Sunday evening, as the Falcons dispatched the Golden Eagles 95-78.

UC (9-3, 3-3 Mountain East) managed to trim the lead to single digits a couple times early in the second half, but simply couldn't make enough plays down the stretch to keep up with Fairmont (12-0, 6-0).

Jonathon Tshibuy (19 points) and LeJavius Johnson (18 points) led the way offensively for the Golden Eagles, while Justin Coleman turned in a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

But UC was unable to slow down Fairmont's Thomas Wimbush, who netted a game-high 30 points in the winning effort. Matt Bingaya and Shammgod Wells finished with 14 apiece, while D'Ondre Stockman had 10.

The Golden Eagles will try to shake its three-game losing streak when they visit Shepherd (7-6, 4-3) Tuesday night. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

West Virginia State men's basketball

West Virginia State fell behind early and never recovered in its 106-61 defeat at Shepherd University Sunday afternoon.

The Rams (7-6, 4-3 Mountain East) outscored State 61-26 in the first half, and then coasted to their third win over their last four games in the second period.

Ernest Jenkins and Terrance Jenkins each tallied 11 points in the loss for State (5-8, 2-5), which has lost its last three contests. Jahlen Greene rounded out the Yellow Jackets' double-figure scorers with 10.

Sklyer Roman and Steffen Davis paced Shepherd with 25 and 24 points, respectively. AJ Carr scored 15 for the Rams, while Naim Muhammed finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

State will have its hands full again Tuesday night as the Yellow Jackets head to Fairmont to take on the undefeated Falcons (12-0, 6-0).

The University of Charleston women's basketball team dropped its fifth straight game Sunday afternoon as the Golden Eagles fell 66-55 to Fairmont State.

Charleston (4-8, 3-3 Mountain East) was within a basket with five minutes remaining, but was outscored 16-8 down the stretch by the Falcons (7-6, 4-3).

Fairmont's Amanda Ruffner led the way with a game-high 31 points on 8 for 12 shooting. Ruffner also had six rebounds, four blocks, two steals and an assist.

Madison Jones led UC's three double-figure scorers with 13 points, while Anna Hayton scored 12 and Abby Watson finished with 10.

The Golden Eagles will be looking to snap their five-game skid when they return to action with a 5:30 p.m. tip Tuesday at Shepherd (5-10, 2-5), who defeated West Virginia State Sunday.

West Virginia State women's basketball

West Virginia State's women's basketball team started fast and finished strong Sunday, but were ultimately doomed by lackluster performances in the second and third quarters of their 87-78 loss to Shepherd.

The Yellow Jackets (7-6, 5-2 Mountain East) jumped out to a 24-17 lead after a quarter, but were outscored 49-26 over the next two periods by the Rams (5-10, 2-5), who picked up their first win since Dec. 16.

Aurreshae Hines led the way for West Virginia State with 15 rebounds, five rebounds and four assists, but also turned the ball over four times.

Shealyn Shafer and Damonique Patterson rounded out the Yellow Jackets' double-figure scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, Shepherd boasted five double-figure scorers, including four starters, led by Morgan Arden with a game-high 21.

West Virginia State now heads to Fairmont Tuesday for a 5:30 p.m. tip with the Falcons (7-6, 4-3).

AFTER TWO weekends of Conference USA basketball play, there are two unbeaten-in-league teams.

One is Marshall, the other Middle Tennessee. The two collide Thursday in Murfreesboro. That's an 8 p.m. tip, with Thundering Herd fans flocking to Facebook, of all places, to watch on beIN Sports.

The Blue Raiders (13-3, 3-0) aren't ranked in the polls, but are 16th in the Rating Percentage Index. After wins last week over Old Dominion and Charlotte, Marshall (11-6, 4-0) has climbed to 81st.

This should be fun.

The contest stands to be as big a challenge as Ohio State and Pittsburgh, maybe even still-ranked Cincinnati. You probably remember the death of your NCAA tournament bracket, courtesy of the Raiders' 90-81 win over Michigan State.

Dating back to an 83-74 win at home over Marshall, the Raiders are 20-4 and have become the league's gold standard. There are two players with whom Marshall fans have become painfully familiar - Giddy Potts, the long-range bomber with the really cool name, and Reggie Upshaw.

Upshaw didn't have much of a game in Marshall's 82-66 win last January, scoring just six points. But in MTSU's regular-season win and the 99-90 win over the Herd at the C-USA tournament, he racked up 31 points and 18 rebounds.

Potts has been a 3-point terror, once hitting 8 of 11 in a 90-51 bombing in 2014. He has played the Herd three times, averaging 17 points and hitting 10 3-pointers in 16 tries.

The Herd is not yet familiar with JaCorey Williams, the Arkansas transfer who leads the team with 17.4 points and 7.1 rebounds. That will quickly change.

To me, the interesting aspect is how the Herd deals with the adjustments MTSU and coach Kermit Davis made in coping with MU's offense. After the Herd bombed the Raiders in Huntington, leading by 24 at one point, Davis said of his team's defense, "We didn't really guard them. We just kind of chased them around, hoped they missed."

At Murfreesboro, Marshall went on a 21-3 run to wipe out a 16-point deficit before falling. In the C-USA tournament, you couldn't read much into MU's 61-point second half - MTSU took a 39-29 halftime lead and stayed ahead by double digits until there were 4 seconds left.

"I thought the first half, for periods of time, is as well as we've defended all year," Davis said afterward. "You can hold a Marshall team to 29 at the half, by changing of defenses. These guys have a great belief in our 1-3-1 [zone], really it slowed them down."

There you go. How well can Marshall attack changing defenses in what will be a hostile environment?

Thursday's game will serve as a the most telling barometer for the Herd thus far.

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Hey, did all assembled at Cam Henderson Center on Saturday notice those post-up baskets for D'Antoni's Herd, nicely executed by Ryan Taylor?

Yep, those plays that run counter to "Danalytics," which says post-up plays result in 0.78 per such situation. But do remember: That's an average, and personnel will vary.

Charlotte, which fell 110-93, was an opponent susceptible to inside play. The 49ers started 7-footer Benas Graciunas for whatever reason, but he played just eight minutes and scored as basket in four attempts. He was no factor.

"I went against my old rule of not posting up," D'Antoni said. "The thing you have to understand, you think you have an advantage in the post, that score 70 percent of the time, that's where you go.

"'You said not to post up.' We didn't have a kid who could make it 70 percent of the time. We've got one coming that might."

That's the 6-foot-10, 320-pound Iran Bennett, currently at Hargrave Military Academy. I've seen him, and he should be a beast in Conference USA.

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On the other hand, Deon-Tay McManus was not a beast in three years as a wide receiver. He's a man who could outmuscle a C-USA defender for a pass from time to time, but he didn't consistently get open.

If you're going to leave a year early for the NFL draft, you must dominate in college, particularly in C-USA. The last Marshall player who succeeded in making that step a year early is running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who gained 1,523 yards and scored 19 TDs in 2006.

McManus follows cornerback Corey Tindal in prematurely pulling the NFL trigger. Tindal did not make it past the Bengals' roster cutdown to 75, and was not signed to a practice squad. I wonder if McManus will make it past pre-camp tryouts.

I also wonder if these ill-advised departures are partially rooted in dissension, or if those players have a inflated sense of their development. Both Tindal and McManus left with a degree in hand, so they couldn't be blamed for not wanting to sit in a classroom again.

I don't want to discourage ambition, but McManus' decision is a head-shaker.

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And finally, one Conference USA football note: Garin Justice is the only assistant new Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin has retained from predecessor Charlie Partridge's staff.

That item was reported by OwlAccess.com, which I figure is the only media outlet which really cares about FAU football. The former Concord head coach will enter his second season as offensive line coach.

FAU may have been 3-9 and one of two FBS schools that lost to Marshall in 2016, but Justice performed a few miracles with his line. Four starters missed at least one game, with one of those missing the entire season. The backups suffered season-ending injuries at some point.

Still, the Owls averaged 4.8 yards per carry, and tailbacks Devin Singletary and Greg Howell combined for 1,892 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Contact Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dougsmock and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/dougsmock/.

MORGANTOWN - If the second half of West Virginia's season is to be shaped by a trilingual freshman with a size 15 shoe and a chiseled frame he brandishes after his largest and loudest plays, then understand Sagaba Konate did not get started in West Virginia's win Saturday against TCU. Nor was the beginning a weekend earlier on the road against Oklahoma State.

It goes back to soccer fields in Mali, the west African country where Konate found an outlet for a body that had already shot up to 6-foot-4. His role then was what it is now for the seventh-ranked Mountaineers.

"Attack," Konate said.

The thing about soccer, he discovered, was that it was not basketball. Soccer could be physical, and it would take something strenuous to keep Konate quiet during, say, corner kicks, but the officials weren't very forgiving. Basketball was different.

"You could do whatever you wanted to do," he said. "There weren't rules like there is here."

Konate would leave his home in Bamako, the capital city in Mali, after his sophomore year of high school and land in Hermitage, Pennsylvania. He averaged 16.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game during his first season at Kennedy Catholic, when it could look so simple and so outrageous.

"It was hard at first," Konate said. "At first, my junior year, I was goaltending like five times a game. I was trying to block everything. I was hanging on the rim and getting technicals. But I learned."

He was under control as a senior. Konate averaged 15.5 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks and was named the state's Class A player of the year while helping the team win its seventh state title and the first since 2001.

Only WVU and Pitt would seriously recruit Konate, and on Saturday, Konate led the Mountaineers past former Panthers coach Jamie Dixon. He had 13 points and eight rebounds, and both were career highs. He also blocked three shots. Each erased a certain score at the basket during a decisive run in the second half.

"It's very important," said Konate, who speaks Bambara, French and English. "I try to block every shot. That's my job to do as a big man. I've got to protect the court and protect the rim all the time."

TCU erased a 13-point deficit and tied the score 57-57. A layup gave the Mountaineers the lead, but TCU took a shot at the rim that Konate denied. That led to a fast break, and Konate found a spot on the right side and caught a pass from Tarik Phillip. Konate faked, because he typically goes up fast and dunks hard, and let two defenders float past. He took a knock from a third defender and scored.

Then came the flex and the biceps before he finished the three-point play.

"I used to do it in high school, but I used to get a lot of technicals," he said. "I've got to be careful."

The Mountaineers later led 64-59, and TCU used a timeout to set up an inbound play and a pass over the press. It worked earlier in the half for a dunk, and TCU found an opening again, but Konate came from the left side and pounded a layup off the right side of the backboard.

The last came with the Mountaineers ahead by nine, and that two-handed block started a fast break that ended with Konate scoring on the other end. It pushed Dixon over the edge and earned him a technical foul.

"He just continues to get better and better," said coach Bob Huggins, who will likely play host to the No. 1-ranked team in the country for the second time in as many seasons when Baylor visits the Coliseum Tuesday. "He's really listening and trying to understand. I thought the blocks really got us going and got the crowd back in the game."

Huggins then admitted the second block reminded him of what Kenyon Martin, the national player of the year in 2000, used to do for Huggins at Cincinnati.

"The difference," Huggins said, "was Kenyon did that about six times a game."

The 6-8, 250-pound Konate is nowhere near there, but he's a long way from where he started. When WVU (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) opened conference play at Oklahoma State, forward Elijah Macon, who had started 10 times, missed one game and come off the bench once in the first 12 games, couldn't play because of a knee injury. Konate had 12 points and three rebounds.

He made 5 of 6 shots against the Cowboys, made all three of his shots in the loss at Texas Tech and made 5 of 7 shots against the Horned Frogs. Konate doesn't consider jump shots, let alone attempt any, and doesn't seek any offense outside the shadow of the rim. He scores when he grabs rebounds or when teammates see him pop open under the basket, and he's made 16 of his last 20 shots with seven dunks on 13 Big 12 baskets.

"You don't think that's not by design?" Huggins said. "He knows. I think as you get older you don't understand what your limitations are and start to think you can do more things than you can."

Contact Mike Casazza at 304-319-1142 or mikec@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikecasazza and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/wvu/.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Meryl Streep's acceptance speech after receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes turned out to be the opening volley in a war of words with President-elect Donald Trump.

The actress never mentioned Trump by name, but it was clear who her target was in pointedly saying that a performance from the past year that stunned her came from the campaign trail. She noted an incident where "the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country" imitated a disabled reporter from The New York Times.

"It kind of broke my heart when I saw it," she said. "I still can't get it out of my head, because it wasn't in a movie. It was real life."

Streep said that "when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose."

Trump responded in a series of early morning tweets, calling Streep "one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood" and "a Hillary flunky who lost big." He also defended himself against claims that he was mocking Times reporter Serge Kovaleski.

Streep's comments on Trump also drew a backlash among conservatives on social media, including Senator John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, a Fox News host who has been critical of Trump.

"This Meryl Streep speech is why Trump won. And if people in Hollywood don't start recognizing why and how - you will help him get re-elected," McCain tweeted.

Streep used the Globes, which are handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, to highlight the diverse background of several of her colleagues and defend journalists.

Streep noted that "Hollywood" is a reviled place. But she said that it's really a community filled with people from other places united in the mission to show different people and make audiences feel what they feel.

"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick them all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts," she said.

Streep put in a plug for vigorous journalism, urging that contributions be made to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

While Streep won the annual Cecil B. DeMille Award and can boast of 48 Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, her career is still current. She was nominated this year for her portrayal of a bad opera singer in "Florence Foster Jenkins."

She mentioned Fisher, who died just after Christmas, and how the actress and writer urged others to "take your broken heart and make it into art."

She was introduced by fellow actress Viola Davis, who said her husband urged her every day when she worked with her to tell Streep how much she meant to her. She was too bashful then, but not on stage Sunday.

"You make me proud to be an artist," Davis said. "You make me feel that what I have in me - my body, my face, my age - is enough."

In Around West Virginia: drug-dependent infants, mental illness and homelessness, and the search for a Purple Heart recipient.

n Nearly 5 percent of babies born in West Virginia last year were drug-dependent, according to the West Virginia Health Statistics Center. The Register-Herald reports that of every 1,000 live births in the state last year, an average of 49.9 babies were born with neonatal abstinence syndrome. DHHR says the numbers are likely low.

n The Journal spoke with a woman, who remained anonymous, about the struggles and stresses of finding help for a sister who has schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and is homeless. The sister was removed from a rehab center in Hagerstown and has been staying in a hotel. And the woman hasn't been able to reach a DHHR caseworker. The woman said her sister struggles to remember to take her medication, and often doesn't know why people are upset with her.

n A Missouri man is looking for a Purple Heart recipient from Huntington, in order to return the man's medal, The Herald-Dispatch reports. Don Crigger, of St. Joseph, Missouri, said his friend found the Purple Heart at an antique store. They are looking for Pete E. Cole, a Huntington man who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, or his relatives.

Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.

BEIJING (AP) - China reiterated its opposition Monday to any contacts between U.S. officials and Taiwan's government following a meeting between Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott and the self-governing island's president, Tsai Ing-wen.

Cruz and Abbot met with Tsai on Sunday while she was passing through Houston on her way to visit Taiwan's Central American allies.

At a news briefing in Beijing on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China was firmly opposed to any contact between Taiwan's leader and "anyone from the U.S. government." He said such contacts threaten to disturb and undermine relations between Washington and Beijing.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has been ratcheting up diplomatic pressure on the independence-leaning Tsai since her election last year.

Cruz said in a statement that he and Tsai "discussed our mutual opportunity to upgrade the stature of our bilateral relations" in their meeting, which addressed arms sales, diplomatic exchanges and economic ties.

An official with Republican President elect-Donald Trump's transition team said neither Trump nor transition officials would meet with Tsai. Her stop in the U.S. was scrutinized by Beijing for any signs that Trump's team would risk its ire by further engaging with Taiwan, which China considers to be its territory.

Trump breached diplomatic protocol last month by speaking by phone with the Taiwanese leader. Trump raised further concerns in Beijing when he questioned a U.S. policy that since 1979 has recognized Beijing as China's government and maintains only unofficial relations with Taiwan.

U.S. lawmakers often meet with Taiwanese presidents when they transit through the U.S., most recently in June, when Tsai met in Miami with Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

The tabloid Global Times, published by China's Communist Party, said in an editorial Sunday that Beijing would take a hard line toward any contacts between Taiwan's government and the incoming Trump administration. China "should also impose military pressure on Taiwan and push it to the edge of being reunified by force," it said.

China has "seized the initiative. The U.S. and Taiwan now should restrain, or be forced to restrain, themselves," the newspaper said.

"Tsai needs to face the consequences for every provocative step she takes," it said.

The woman involved in a collision with a Charleston police cruiser last week has died, city officials said Monday.

Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster said Monday that he had received a phone call from the state medical examiner's office Monday morning, alerting him to the woman's death.

Also Monday, he released the name of the patrol officer involved. Stephen Doss, a two-year member of the Charleston Police Department, was placed on paid administrative leave on Friday. Doctors had initially suggested he be given time off to rest and recover from his own injuries.

Charleston police were dispatched to a domestic call at Orchard Manor at about 10:10 a.m. Wednesday. A woman had called about a burglary involving a knife.

Doss, who was on Bigley Avenue when the call came in, collided with a woman driving in the 400 block of Washington Street West. No one else was in either vehicle.

Webster has said preliminary information suggests the officer's lights and sirens were not on and that he was traveling above the speed limit, and that he believes the officer was traveling in the left lane of the two-lane, one-way road. The collision occurred near the intersection of Washington Street West and Maryland Avenue.

Webster has said neither person appeared to be injured at first, but their conditions worsened throughout the day. The woman, believed to be in her late 70s, was still being treated at a local hospital Thursday. Doss was released from the hospital on Wednesday.

Webster would not release the woman's name Monday.

"The family, from the beginning, has really stressed how important their privacy is at this time," he said.

He said the prosecutor's office had already requested to review the accident report and associated reports when they are complete. Webster estimated the accident report should be complete within seven to 10 days.

Kanawha Prosecutor Chuck Miller said it's too soon to speculate as to whether criminal charges may be filed.

This is the second time in 12 years that a woman has died after a wreck with a Charleston police officer not using his flashing lights or sirens and speeding while responding to a call. A similar incident, in 2005, resulted in the death of a motorist on MacCorkle Avenue.

Webster said numerous measures to were taken to prevent similar incidents, but he wasn't prepared to go into details Monday.

"I think it's probably important to save that for another day," he said.

Mayor Danny Jones referred questions to the police chief.

Other officers responded to the call at Orchard Manor.

In that incident, a pregnant woman reported that an acquaintance known only to her as "Mob" forced his way into her apartment, according to Lt. Steve Cooper, the Charleston Police Department's chief of detectives.

The man was holding a knife and assaulted her, leaving bruises on her arms, Cooper has said. He fled in a black sedan.

In the 2005 incident, a Charleston police officer was speeding along MacCorkle Avenue in Kanawha City without using his lights or siren when he struck another vehicle, killing the driver. Brandon Tagayun was responding as back-up to a domestic dispute call at the Kanawha Mall. Patsy Sizemore, 69, of Charlton Heights, died in the collision.

Tagayun resigned from the department in April 2006.

In March 2007, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors - speeding and failure to use his cruiser's emergency lights. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped a negligent-homicide charge against the officer. He received one year's probation and was fined $100 for each charge. He was later hired by the St. Albans Police Department.

In July 2006, the city of Charleston settled, for $1.8 million, a civil lawsuit filed by Sizemore's husband, Gary, who survived the crash.

Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.

Kanawha County sheriff's deputies say they are looking for the father of a month-old infant who was placed in intensive care because of injuries inflicted by the mother.

In a news release Monday morning, the sheriff's department announced they are looking for Khalib Austin Grass, 19, and deputies have obtained a warrant charging Grass with child neglect resulting in injury.

Deputies had previously said they were charging the mother, 21-year-old Katelyn Berger, of Cross Lanes, with child abuse causing injury and child neglect causing injury.

Detective Sean Snuffer said sheriff's deputies don't know whether Grass was present during incident, but that he lived with the mother, witnessed the infant's condition and failed to take her to the hospital.

On Wednesday, deputies responded to CAMC General Hospital to investigate a report of possible child abuse. Emergency responders had taken the 33-day-old infant to the hospital medics from the Family Care Health Center in St. Albans, because the infant was in respiratory distress and had broken ribs, according to the news release. The infant was then taken to the intensive care unit.

Detectives responded to the hospital and assisted with the investigation. A medical examination found the infant had numerous fractured ribs and a punctured lung. Medical staff told detectives that the injuries to the infant were consistent with abuse and not a medical disorder or accidental trauma.

Berger told deputies that on Dec. 31, she had picked up the child from a bed and squeezed her as she held her, police have previously said. She told deputies she was tired and frustrated at the time of the incident and that, after the incident, she noticed a change in her daughter's breathing.

Police arrested Berger Friday and took her to South Central Regional Jail, where she was unable to post the $100,000 cash bond. Berger was still listed as an inmate of the jail Monday morning.

Anyone with information on Grass' location can call 304-357-0169, submit a tip at www.kanawhasheriff.us, or send an email to tips@kanawhasheriff.us.

Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.

PITTSBURGH - Former Pro Bowl linebacker and current Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter was charged early Monday with assaulting a doorman at a bar and a police officer who intervened hours after the team's wild card win over the Miami Dolphins.

The altercation happened at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, following the Steelers' 30-12 home victory over the Dolphins in the opening round of the NFL playoffs.

According to a criminal complaint, officer Paul Abel was working security at another nearby bar when he was told by an off-duty officer that the doorman at The Flats on Carson Street was being threatened by a Steeler.

Abel said he arrived to find the doorman refusing to let Porter - who appeared to be intoxicated - into the club.

"Last time you were here, you threatened to kill me," Abel overheard the doorman saying to Porter. "You need to leave. You are not getting in." Police didn't immediately explain the context of the remark, but online court records don't show any charges relating to such an incident.

Abel, the 5-foot-6, 145-pound officer who filed the complaint, said Porter, 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, ignored him when he asked what was going on and grabbed him by the arms and lifted him off the ground. The doorman, described as 6-foot and 195 pounds, wasn't aggressive with Porter and had his hands in his pockets, according to the complaint.

Abel said he pulled Porter away from the doorman, according to the complaint. That's when Porter grabbed the officer's wrists "so tightly that I could not pull them away from him, no matter how hard I tried," the officers said in the complaint.

Porter backed away but then refused to put his hands behind his back.

Porter eventually allowed himself to be handcuffed but yelled, "You're lying, I never touched you," as Abel arrested him, the complaint said.

Porter was charged with aggravated assault on the officer, simple assault on the doorman, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, defiant trespass and public drunkenness. Physical contact with a police officer is automatically charged as aggravated assault in Pennsylvania, even if the nature of the alleged conduct would constitute simple assault against a regular citizen.

Online court records don't list an attorney for Porter, who posted $25,000 bond and faces a preliminary hearing Jan. 19 in Pittsburgh City Court.

The Steelers said in a statement that they were aware of the incident and were gathering additional information.

Porter, the Steelers' outside linebackers coach, spent 13 seasons as a linebacker with Pittsburgh, Miami and Arizona. He went to the Pro Bowl four times, three with the Steelers, while playing there from 1999 to 2006, and once with Miami. He also starred on the Steelers' 2006 Super Bowl team.

The Steelers face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Baylor is No. 1 in The Associated Press men's basketball poll for the first time - and the Bears get to celebrate with a top-10 matchup Tuesday at West Virginia.

The Bears (15-0) have made a meteoric rise in the poll, going from a team that didn't receive a vote in the preseason poll to one that received 55 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel on Monday.

Villanova, which received one first-place vote, had been No. 1 for the last five weeks, but the Wildcats (15-1) dropped to third after losing at Butler last week.

WVU was able to stay in the top 10 despite a loss last Monday at Texas Tech. The Mountaineers, who slipped from seventh, rebounded with a solid win over TCU in Morgantown on Saturday.

Kansas (14-1), which was No. 1 on eight ballots, moved up from third to second, giving the Big 12 the top two teams in the poll.

UCLA (16-1), which got the other first-place vote, stayed fourth.

Gonzaga (15-0), the only other unbeaten Division I school, and Kentucky remained fifth and sixth, while Duke, Creighton, Florida State and WVU rounded out the top 10.

A longtime Charleston City Councilman announced his resignation on Monday.

Councilman John H. Miller, who was elected four times, said in a letter that his resignation was due to health issues.

Miller hadn't attended a Council meeting since early October, according to City Clerk J.B. Akers.

He was first elected in 2003 to represent Kanawha City in what was then the 18th Ward and served more than 13 years on Council, according to a press release from the city.

Since the 2015 election, Miller has represented the 17th Ward due to boundary changes and redistricting. Ward 17 includes most of Kanawha City between MacCorkle Avenue and the Kanawha River.

Miller is a retired educator who became well known in the city for his televised public service announcements that said, "It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?"

In his resignation letter, Miller said his fellow Council members were a "second family" to him. He recalled how his daughter, Johna, used to do her homework in Council chambers during meetings.

"Serving my ward, Charleston and working on committees, particularly finance, has been a joy," Miller said.

Mayor Danny Jones said in the press release that Miller was "a very effective member of City Council until his health started limiting his ability to do what he'd been doing so well for so long."

"I'm grateful for his service, his friendship and his support for many of the projects and initiatives that we have developed to make Charleston a better place to be," Jones said.

Trout anglers in Southern West Virginia can breathe a sigh of relief.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have approved a plan that will allow trout stockings to continue in streams that are home to two endangered crayfish species.

Barb Douglas, senior endangered-species biologist for the service's West Virginia field office, said agency officials signed a letter Monday morning that authorizes the state Division of Natural Resources to stock rainbow trout in Wyoming County's Pinnacle Creek and Clear Fork and in McDowell County's Panther Creek and Dry Fork.

The decision came in time to allow the DNR to stock the streams on schedule. All four should receive their first stockings of 2017 sometime in February.

Douglas said Fish and Wildlife Service biologists are confident that the stockings won't hurt populations of the Guyandotte and Big Sandy crayfish, both of which were placed on the nation's Endangered Species List last spring.

Small populations of Guyandotte crayfish live in Pinnacle Creek and Clear Fork. Those are the only places the species is known to exist. Big Sandy crayfish have been found in Panther Creek and Dry Fork, but also have been found at a handful of other locations in the upper Big Sandy River watershed.

Douglas said DNR officials became concerned about the stockings during the agency's annual review of its trout-stocking plan.

"Last summer, they realized that they had been stocking over those crayfish," she added. "There was concern that the trout might eat the crayfish, so they looked at the literature to see if any research had been done [about predation on crayfish by trout]. There was evidence that brown trout ate crayfish, but we didn't know about rainbows.

"So last fall, [DNR biologists] went to [Logan County's] Buffalo Creek, caught some [rainbows] and examined their stomach contents to see what they were eating. Based on the DNR's findings, we decided that rainbow trout could be stocked."

Bret Preston, the DNR's assistant chief in charge of fisheries, called the approval "welcome news."

"Recreational fishing won't miss a beat, and the crayfish will be protected," he said. "The streams will get the same amount of fish they were supposed to get, on the same schedule."

Brown trout, which in the past had made up 20 to 25 percent of the fish placed in those waters, will not be stocked. Preston said the DNR will fill the void with rainbows.

He also said the Fish and Wildlife Service's decision "shows that resource management agencies can work together to address an issue and have something positive and good come out of it. This was a great cooperative effort between the service's state office, [crayfish expert Zac] Loughman and our agency."

Douglas said the service and the DNR "work well together. We try to base our [fish and wildlife] management on sound science, and this is a good example of us doing that."

Reach John McCoy at johnmccoy@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1231 or follow @GazMailOutdoors on Twitter.

West Virginia Writers Inc. is now accepting submissions for its annual contest for grades 1-12, the New Mountain Voices Student Writing Contest. Submissions are accepted now through March 15 (with a late deadline of March 31). The contest is free to enter and offers prizes in three age groups; grades 1-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12.

The contest offers six suggested writing prompts that students may choose to use for their submission. The topics this year include: "The time I ate ____"; "A visit back in time"; "Death on Popcorn Mountain"; "I can make a difference"; "Haunted House"; and "The person I admire most."

Alternately, students may create their own original story or poem to submit outside of the offered prompts.

Each of the contest's three age groups will have their own first, second and third place winners, as well as honorable mentions, with 1st place winning $100, 2nd place $50 and 3rd place $25. There are no fees to enter the New Mountain Voices Student Writing Contest, though only students who are residents of West Virginia are eligible.

Winners will be announced June 10 in an awards ceremony during West Virginia Writers Annual Writers Conference, held at Cedar Lakes Conference Center in Ripley. All winners, including honorable mentions, will receive certificates suitable for framing.

For official contest entry forms, contest rules and the Frequently Asked Questions List concerning the contest, please visit wvwriters.org/contest.html, or email contest coordinator Eric Fritzius at wvwcontest@gmail.com.