After an eight-hour manhunt spanning three states, Pennsylvania State Police on Tuesday captured a man accused of fatally shooting three people in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle.

Erick Shute, 32, was taken into custody in Chester County, Pennsylvania, said police in Pennsville Township, New Jersey.

Shute is accused of fatally shooting three men Monday near Cacapon Resort State Park in Morgan County, The Journal in Martinsburg reported. The victims were identified as Jack Douglas of Great Cacapon, and Travis Bartley and Willie Bartley, both of Hedgesville, Morgan County Sheriff Vincent Shambaugh told The Journal.

Shambaugh said the deaths were caused by gunshots from a .223-caliber rifle in what was apparently a property dispute Monday evening.

Late Monday, Pennsville Township police had issued an alert on their Facebook page saying they were looking for Shute, who used to live there with his mother.

Pennsville Police Chief Allen Cummings said Shute was involved in the anti-government sovereign-citizen movement. Sovereign citizens are people who reject their U.S. citizenship and don't recognize laws, taxes and other types of government authority.

In 2009, Shute drew the Pennsville community's backlash when he hung an American flag upside down, calling it a message of distress about the government.

In 2011, Shute was charged with aggravated assault of a police officer, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.

Shute went into the Pennsville Police Department in 2011 to ask if they could sign a peace treaty letting him drive his car without registration, said Bill Brennan, first assistant prosecutor in Salem County, New Jersey. They said he left when they wouldn't agree to it.

Cummings said Shute was then pulled over for having fake license plates he made of cardboard. Shute also had a fake driver's license he made himself. Cummings said during a traffic stop, Shute then rolled up his car window on an officer's arm.

Brennan said Shute was convicted in 2012 of fourth-degree resisting arrest, but the jury could not reach a verdict on aggravated assault.

Shute received a fine with no jail time, but spent a week in jail before that because he didn't show up to two court hearings in the case, Cummings said.

During the manhunt, Pennsville police also moved two judges, including the judge who oversaw the police assault case, into hotels because Shute had previously threatened them, Cummings said. He said some officers had their wives stay with relatives during the manhunt, since Shute knew where many of them lived in the small town.

Shute once filed a lawsuit that went nowhere against Pennsville Township and the police department, and personally delivered a subpoena to Cummings' home, Cummings said.

"We were concerned, that's for sure," he said. "I had bad feelings. I was very concerned about where he was going to go, what he was going to do. After committing a murder ... sometimes people make decisions that they have nothing else to live for, and you kind of wonder if he's going to come back and take people with him."

Three Kanawha County Parks and Recreation pools are open for the summer.

Coonskin Park's pool, north of Charleston, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Labor Day weekend. Rates are $3 for adults, $2 for children ages 4-12 and $2 for senior citizens.

Pioneer Park Pool, in East Bank, is open daily from noon to 6 p.m. until Aug. 7. Rates are $3 for adults, $2 for children ages 4-12 and $2 for senior citizens.

Shawnee Park Pool, in Dunbar, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Aug. 7. Rates are $5 for ages 12 and over, and $3 for children ages 4-11 and senior citizens.

The Kanawha State Forest pool, which is not opening this season, is not a county pool and is not operated by the Parks and Recreation Department.

The House of Delegates voted 72-19 Tuesday to approve a bill to give Boone County Schools the extra money that county officials said they need to give employees their final paychecks on time this month.

The state Senate approved the bill (SB 1010) Monday, and it heads to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's desk for a signature. At the start of this month, Tomblin expanded the special session call to allow lawmakers to consider the bill.

The bill would provide the Boone public school system about $2.2 million more for this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Tomblin's statement said the money would allow the school system to "continue to meet payroll responsibilities while working toward a solution to address significant shortfalls caused by an unprecedented drop in local property tax collections."

"It will allow us to meet all of our payroll obligations for fiscal year '16," Boone Schools Superintendent John Hudson said of the bill, which he thanked lawmakers and the governor for supporting.

The bill passed the House Tuesday afternoon with Delegates Azinger, Cadle, Faircloth, Folk, Foster, Frich, Gearheart, Hanshaw, Howell, Ihle, Kurcaba, McGeehan, Overington, Rohrbach, Shott, Sobonya, Summers, Walters and Waxman voting against it. Delegates Deem, Ellington, Ferro, Flanigan, Ireland, Manchin, Trecost, Upson, and Brad White didn't vote.

The bill passed the Senate 32-0, with only Sens. Karnes and Mullins absent. All legislators who represent Boone County supported the bill.

In a letter to employees earlier this month, Hudson wrote that if the steps the school system had already taken to save money - including asking for more state money - didn't help the school system meet payroll, the last June paychecks would be given in early July, when the new fiscal year starts.

Jeff Huffman - a Boone assistant superintendent who will become superintendent now that Hudson is taking the helm of Putnam County Schools - said the county assessor's office estimated that tax collections would drop about $2.4 million from last fiscal year to this one.

But he said the drop has actually been about $9.3 million to date, and that unexpected $6.9 million loss represents 17 percent of the county's operating budget.

Hudson's letter said the "unanticipated" bankruptcies of Alpha Natural Resources and Patriot Coal were largely to blame. Delegates said that if Boone gets any money from the coal companies in bankruptcy proceedings, the school system must turn that money over to the state to help reimburse it.

Boone's school board made headlines this school year for voting to close three elementary schools and cut 80 positions, but those savings won't take effect until next fiscal year.

Despite Hudson's arguments that the school system's leaders were not to blame for the possibility of delayed paychecks, a lawyer for West Virginia's branch of the American Federation of Teachers union sent a letter to Hudson and Boone school board members, accusing the board of threatening to unlawfully withhold wages owed to teachers and service personnel."

The lawyer, Jeffrey G. Blaydes of the Charleston-based firm Carbone & Blaydes, wrote that the union had directed him "to explore all legal rights and remedies available to their members."

"This bill is going to help a lot of people," Delegate Jeff Eldridge, D-Lincoln, said Tuesday. "It's not just 700 employees. I'm sure most of these people have kids, this is gonna affect them. They chose to get their payment broken up in 12 months, never thinking that something like this could happen."

Charles Chapman, Boone schools' treasurer/financial services director, said that while most school employees work about 10 months per school year, most opt to spread their paychecks over 12 months.

Reach Ryan Quinn at ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com/ryanedwinquinn, 304-348-1254 or follow @RyanEQuinn on Twitter.

Ed Johnson has had his fair share of fun through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He's taught a couple of classes and he's taken even more.

Known as OLLI, the institute is sponsored by the Bernard Osher Foundation. OLLI is a nationwide program that offers educational experiences designed for people aged 50 and older. Participants in the program can learn about almost anything: what it's like to work backstage Disney World, common church organs in Morgantown and top 40 hits from the 1930s.

They might even take an in-depth look at the movie "Cool Hand Luke."

"You've got to keep your brain working," said Johnson, 65, of Morgantown. "Just like your body, you have to use it or you'll lose it."

Johnson and others working with OLLI, which in the Mountain State is hosted by West Virginia University, hope to expand its services to Charleston after about a year of small-scale success in Morgantown. The program offered classes in Charleston throughout the fall and winter, but organizers want to revamp this satellite campus and bring in a larger crowd.

People in the greater Kanawha Valley interested taking classes or teaching them are invited to attend a town hall meeting from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday at the Charleston Area Medical Center Research and Training Center to discuss how to best expand the program.

Jascenna Haislet, director of OLLI at WVU, said the program is a way for people to keep learning late into life without the hassle of going back to school.

"All of these classes are taught by volunteers, many of whom are members," Haislett said. "There are also retired professors from (WVU) and anyone in the community who has an interest or an expertise they would like to shared."

Haislett said the participants in the program often walk away from classes having found a new friend who shares a common interest with them.

Some of the more common classes OLLI at WVU teaches revolve around music, art, literature, health and economics.

Although the program is designed for people 50 and older, it is open to anyone willing to pay a $100 yearly fee. This fee allows participants to take as many or as few classes as they want to during the year.

"There are a number of folks who have a higher education backgrounds, but more and more, it's people who don't have a background in higher education," Johnson said of the instructors. "We have a few former professors who just love to teach - this way they don't have to grade papers."

With no grades, no report cards and no pressure to ace an exam, Johnson and his friends have found a place where they can enjoy the love of learning.

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

Royal Dutch Shell's decision to build a major chemical plant in Pennsylvania boils down to a bet that North American shale gas in the next decade will remain cheaper than oil, the main petrochemical feedstock used in other regions. It's a risk no one else has dared to take.

A barrel of Brent crude now costs about 20 times more than a million British thermal units of U.S. natural gas, a ratio that has shrunk from 60 times in 2012. As the continent's cost advantage erodes, producers from Braskem to Chevron Phillips Chemical are reluctant to commit to fresh investments after they complete a wave of new plants in the next couple years.

The hesitancy leaves few major projects in the pipeline after 2020 even as demand is expected to rise for such products as ethylene and polyethylene, which are used in plastic bags and bottles.

That's contributing to a potential supply shortfall at the start of the next decade since chemical plants take five to seven years to complete, said Hassan Ahmed, an analyst at Alembic Global Advisors. Prices should rise without more production, boosting earnings -- and potentially doubling stock prices -- at chemical makers such as Dow Chemical Co. and LyondellBasell Industries, he said in a note Monday.

"After this first wave comes, people are paranoid about further additions because of all the volatility in energy," Ahmed said in an interview. "We could see major under-investment, and that will keep markets tight."

Shell's ethane cracker and polyethylene plants outside Pittsburgh would begin production after 2020, following a half dozen similar projects on the U.S. Gulf Coast starting up through 2018. Shell said the factories will be built by about 6,000 construction workers and will employ 600 people when completed.

The company, which didn't release an estimate of its investment, may spend $3.5 billion on the project, Ahmed said. The U.S. chemical industry has announced $161 billion of investments since 2010, said Kevin Swift, chief economist at the American Chemistry Council. The new plants will produce more than local markets need, sending excess supply abroad.

Shell's announcement last week won't push Braskem to pull the trigger on a similar project in nearby West Virginia, CEO Fernando Musa said in an interview at the chemistry council's annual meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The plant, as well as a planned polypropylene factory in Texas, remains under consideration, he said.

Any decision requires the company to try to guess the future spread between oil and gas prices, Musa said. "Right now we are not comfortable on making that bet."

Braskem already has taken a $5 billion wager on North American shale gas: It is starting up new ethylene and polyethylene plants in Mexico whose ethane feedstock price is linked to the benchmark at Mont Belvieu, Texas.

Chevron Phillips plans to start production next year at an ethylene and plastics complex outside Houston that will cost $6 billion. The company isn't ready to commit to a planned second "megaproject," Chief Executive Officer Pete Cella said in an interview at the industry conference in Colorado last week.

"The folks that are running light feeds like us have seen some compression in our margins," Cella said. "That has to give people some reason to step back and think much harder about where supply and demand for all the energy constituents are going before you move forward on a major investment."

BASF, the world's largest chemical company, this month postponed a decision on whether to build a 1 billion-euro ($1.13 billion) plant in Texas that would convert methane to propylene, its biggest ever investment in a single facility, partly in response to volatile raw-material prices.

North American profit margins for making ethylene and polyethylene plastics are still among the best in the world, albeit off their peaks. The first wave of new North American plants may create some downward pressure on prices by increasing supply, but the excess will quickly be consumed by global demand that grows by the equivalent of three to five large ethylene plants every year, said Nova Chemicals CEO Todd Karran.

Not everyone is so bullish on basic chemicals. Charles Neivert, an analyst at Cowen & Co., on Monday downgraded LyondellBasell to market perform from outperform in part because he expects increased capacity and higher ethane prices to pressure margins.

Nova will decide next year whether to expand its ethylene plant in Corruna, Ontario, by 50 percent, he said.

"If you get into 2020 and you expand the lens beyond North America, you don't see a whole lot of supply coming on," Karran said in an interview. "But demand keeps ticking along."

The Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. - When a Social Security Administration employee blew the whistle on a federal judge and a lawyer bilking the system for more than $600 million in fraudulent disability payments, another judge hired a private investigator to spy on the employee in an attempt to gather enough evidence to have the worker fired.

That's the story federal prosecutors in Kentucky laid out in court documents this week after Charlie Paul Andrus, former chief administrative law judge for the Huntington, West Virginia, office of the Social Security Administration, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to retaliate against a witness. He is scheduled to be sentenced this fall, and could face up to 10 years in prison, a fine or both.

Andrus' guilty plea is the latest development in the case against Eric Conn, a colorful eastern Kentucky attorney who made millions of dollars in Social Security disability cases that earned him the nickname "Mr. Social Security" and attracted thousands of poor clients to his rural Kentucky offices that featured small-scale replicas of the Lincoln and Washington memorials.

In April, federal prosecutors indicted Conn and Administrative Law Judge David Black Daughtery for conspiracy, fraud, obstruction, false statement and money laundering as part of a scheme they say wrongly obtained more than $600 million in federal disability benefits for thousands of people based on unreliable medical evidence supplied by Conn. The Social Security Administration is reviewing the disability benefits of more than 1,500 of Conn's clients.

Andrus is not charged in that case. But as the chief administrative law judge in Huntington, Andrus was Daughtery's boss. In 2011, The Wall Street Journal published an article questioning Daughtery's relationship with Conn and the high number of disability claims he approved. The Social Security Administration demoted Andrus after the article was published, which also coincided with a criminal investigation.

Prosecutors say Andrus was embarrassed by the article, and he knew who was the primary source for the article and the investigation that led to his demotion. The source, who was not identified in court documents, was a Social Security Administration employee who would occasionally work from home. Prosecutors say Andrus met with Conn in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, and the twodevised a scheme to hire a private investigator to spy on the worker, hoping to catch the employee on video not working when he or she was supposed to be working.

In August 2011, Conn told Andrus he had evidence of the worker abusing the work-from-home program. The video was mailed to the Huntington Hearing Office addressed to the acting chief judge.

Court documents say Andrus "knew it was wrong" to spy on the worker and interfere with the worker's employment and livelihood and "wanted to retaliate" against the worker for "providing truthful information to law enforcement officers and The Wall Street Journal."

Solomon Wisenberg, Andrus' attorney, did not immediately return a request for comment. A woman who answered the phone in his office said Wisenberg was in court Tuesday. Jim Deckard, one of Conn's attorneys, also did not respond to a request for comment.

Jo Ann Criss, 63, of Newville, passed away June 9, 2016. Service will be 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, at Greene-Robertson Funeral Home, Sutton, with visitation one hour prior.

Walter Maxwell Coy, 77, of Yawkey, passed away Sunday, June 12, 2016 at home.

He was a retired mechanic from Hobet Mines.

He is survived by his sons, Ronald (Janie) Coy and Randall (Patricia) Coy, all of Yawkey, and Russell (Tammy) Coy of Westerville, Ohio; sisters, Minnie Young, Pricilla Schuler and Beatrice Schuler; seven grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

Service will be 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 15, at Curry Funeral Home, Alum Creek, with Pastor Jackie Miller officating. Committal service will be 11 a.m. Thursday, June 16, at Coy Family Cemetery, Yawkey.

The family will receive friends one hour prior the service at the funeral home.

Condolences may be expressed to the family by visiting www.curryfuneralhome.org.

Curry Funeral Home, 2097 Childress Road, Alum Creek, has been family owned and operated since 1950.

Elizabeth "Libby" King Braley Colan, 81, of Elkview, passed away Sunday, June 12, 2016 at CAMC General Hospital, Charleston.

She was retired legal secretary for O.R. Colan Associates. Libby was preceded in death by her husband, O.R. Colan; son, Richard Braley; parents, W.H. King and Ora Daubenspeck King; sister, Freda Bailey and Geneva King; and brother, Milford King.

Surviving are her brothers, William King of Indianapolis, Ind., and Glen King of Clay; sisters, Connie Quedens of Georgia; and grandson, Cy Braley.

Service will be 11 a.m. Thursday, June 16, at Hafer Funeral Home. Burial will be in King Cemetery, Clay.

Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

Online condolences may be sent at www.haferfuneralhome.net.

Arrangements are in the care of Hafer Funeral Home, 50 N. Pinch Road, Elkview.

Mary Irene Burnett, 93, of Cross Lanes, formerly of Cabin Creek, died June 12, 2016. She was born May 9, 1923 at Elkridge and was the daughter of the late Clyde Edward and Virginia Dare Reed Bobbitt. She was also preceded in death by her husbands, Delbert James Adkins and Howard Edward Burnett; a daughter, Diana Jean Pauline, and son-in-law, Alfred Neal; and her three siblings, Christine, Clyde and Mae.

She had traveled all 50 states and several foreign countries.

Surviving are her daughter, Betty Joan Shiflet and husband, Charles, of Coal City; grandchildren Theresa, Jamie, John and Tiffany; five great-grandchildren; and sister, Ann Adkins of Gallagher.

Service will be 1 p.m. Thursday at O'Dell Funeral Home, Montgomery, with the Rev. Daniel Saylor officiating. Burial will follow in Montgomery Memorial Park, London.

Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.

Expressions of sympathy can be sent at www.odellfuneralhome.com.

Carolyn F. Buckland, 81, of Nitro, passed away June 9, 2016 at Thomas Memorial Hospital after a long illness.

She was born May 19,1935 to Frank and Bertha Feazell. She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers, Bernard Feazell and Paul Feazell.

Carolyn leaves behind her husband of 58 years, Cletus G. Buckland, and daughters, Becky and Glenn Hudson of South Charleston and Chastity Buckland-Walsh, and grandchildren, Ashley and Mark Roberts and Allen and Hannah Hudson, all of South Charleston, and Michael Patrick Walsh of Nitro. She also leaves behind several loving nieces and nephews.

There will be a graveside service at a later date.

The family requests, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to ltty Bitty Kitty Committee (IBKC), P.O. Box 40223, Charleston, WV 25364, or make donations directly to cats4rescue@gmail.com, in memory of Carolyn and her love for animals.

Cooke Funeral Home and Crematorium, Nitro, is assisting the Buckland family, and you may express online condolences at www.cookefuneralhome.com.

Dotty H. Brightwell, 88, of Cross Lanes, went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, June 12, 2016 at her daughter's home, where she resided the past six years. She was born Dotty Helen DeWeese of Nitro on June 21, 1927.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Oley Willard Brightwell of Coal River; her parents, Luther and Blanche DeWeese; and brother, Dallas Angel of Nitro.

Dotty is survived by daughter, Millie "Pixie" Turner and husband, David, of Scott Depot; sons, Charlie and wife, Brenda Brightwell, of Dayton, Ohio, and Mike and wife, Paulette Brightwell, of Scott Depot; 10 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

Dotty was a charter member of Twin City Bible Church, Nitro, for 58 years. She loved the fellowship of her church family and friends. She was a past employee of the Ballard's farm company as a demonstrator of product and sales for over 40 years.

Gathering of family and friends will be held at noon Wednesday, June 15, at Casdorph & Curry Funeral Home, 110 B St., St. Albans. Funeral service will follow at 1 p.m. with Pastor Scott Bandy officiating. Burial will follow at Cunningham Memorial Park, St. Albans.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to HospiceCare, 1606 Kanawha Blvd. W., Charleston, WV 25387-2536.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.casdorphandcurry.com.

Ranvil Ray "Randy Ray" Barker III, 31, of Charleston, passed away Saturday, June 11, 2016 at home.

He was born Aug. 27, 1984 in Charleston, attended South Park Missionary Baptist Church and was a 2002 graduate of Gloucester High School in Hayes, Va., and was a member of the ROTC.

Ranvil will be loved and missed by many.

He was preceded in death by maternal grandparents, Burl and Eula Dent; paternal grandfather, Ranvil Ray Barker; and paternal grandmother, Helen Hudson.

Ranvil is survived by mother, Clara Brisdendine of Charleston; father, Ranvil Ray Barker II of St. Albans; sister, Stephanie Hodges of Charleston; nephews, Milo and Eliot Hodges of Kenna; several aunts, uncles and family members; and his furry buddy, Kitler.

The funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 15, at Stevens & Grass Funeral Home, Malden, with the Rev. Kermit Monk officiating. The burial will follow the service at Graceland Memorial Park, South Charleston.

Family and friends will gather for a visitation one hour prior to the service on Wednesday at the funeral home.

The family is accepting flowers or donations can be made to the family.

The online guestbook for Ranvil Ray Barker III can be accessed at www.stevensandgrass.com.

Basil W. Barker, 60, of Nellis, died June 11, 2016. Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, June 17, at Leonard Johnson Funeral Home, Marmet. Burial will be private. Details at www.leonardjohnsonfuneralhome.com.

William "Bill" L. Baker, 79, of Charleston, formerly of Oak Hill, passed away June 13, 2016 at Bowers Hospice House. Arrangements by High Lawn Funeral Home, Oak Hill.

Arcuri, John — 10 a.m., Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery, Dunbar.

Blossfield, Daniel L. — 1 p.m., Massey Cemetery, Winifrede.

Brockwell, Jonathan — 5 p.m., Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home, Charleston.

Clay, Wayne A. — 1 p.m., Freeman Funeral Home, Chapmanville.

Criss, Jo Ann — 1 p.m., Greene

Hawley, Homer Sr. — 2 p.m., Rock Branch Independent Church, Nitro.

Hinzman, Carl Sr. — 2 p.m., Keller Funeral Home, Dunbar.

Igo, Ronald — 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Mortuary, South Charleston.

Mash, Ralph — 11 a.m., Casdorph and Curry Funeral Home, St. Albans.

Pauley, Ruth — 2 p.m., Chapman Funeral Home, Hurricane.

Pennington, Peggy — 11 a.m., Cunningham Memorial Park, St. Albans.

Skidmore, Margaret — 11 a.m., Stockert

Thompson, Emerson — 11 a.m., Rosa Old Regular Baptist Church, Baisden.

Warden, Drema — Noon, Bartlett

Watson, Phyllis — 7 p.m., Casdorph and Curry Funeral Home, St. Albans.

LONDON - It's the disused power station that became an art-world powerhouse, and now London's Tate Modern is even bigger, with a new 10-story wing to help absorb more than 5 million visitors a year - and more work by women and non-European artists on display.

The gallery beside the River Thames opened in 2000 and succeeded beyond its creators' wildest dreams, becoming the world's most visited modern art museum.

Starting Friday, the public can visit its 260 million pound ($367 million) extension, a 10-story, pyramid-shaped structure by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron.

It's a striking building, clad in a lattice of bricks whose texture has been likened to a nubby old sweater. Inside, rugged concrete columns under soaring ceilings evoke the site's industrial past. Parts of the old power station have been transformed - concrete tanks that once stored oil are now performance spaces.

Tate Director Nicholas Serota said Tuesday that the gallery now has 60 percent more space, allowing it "to show a much more diverse range of work than we have previously been able to do."

"We're showing work from across the world, not just from northwest Europe and North America," he said.

"And we're giving people the opportunity to have a new view of London" from a viewing terrace atop the pyramid.

Tate Modern chief Frances Morris said the gallery's post-1900 art collection has been rearranged to give a stronger sense of "the ebb and flow of history" and to make links between artists from different parts of the world.

More than a third of the post-1960 artwork on display is by female artists. Morris says the gender imbalance is bigger in the older work because "until recently, it wasn't a level playing field."

There's work by giants of modern art such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Mark Rothko in the old building, now known as the Boiler House. The newly built Switch House contains more recent art, in eclectic forms.

"There's almost everything you can think of, from light and sound through film and video performance to a work made out of car tires," Morris said. "We even have a work made out of couscous."

Tate Modern transformed the surrounding neighborhood, helping to turn a riverside backwater into a hub of arts and nightlife dotted with new luxury apartment towers.

Serota says the revamped gallery expects to attract "a slightly larger number of visitors" than the current 5 million a year. The main aim is to give people room to roam - and spend money, in a new restaurant, bar and gift shop. (Admission to the gallery itself is free).

If there is a cloud on the horizon, it's the possibility Britain might vote to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum - a prospect many in the arts world fear could undermine international cooperation.

"This is a museum that presents its face to the world and it's enjoyed particular collaborations with European colleagues," Serota said. "We also know that we employ a large number of people here who come from other parts of Europe. And anything that makes that more difficult to do will, I think, diminish the quality of what we're able to show and do here."

Lovers of Blenko Glass, one of West Virginia's oldest and most beloved handmade glassware companies, will have the opportunity to add three unique new pieces to their collections in time for West Virginia Day on Monday.

As part of the state's 153rd birthday celebration, the West Virginia Division of Culture and History will have two limited edition handblown-glass pieces foe sale on Monday at the Culture Center. The first, a cobalt blue and gold topaz vase, will be introduced by Culture and History Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith and Blenko president Walter Blenko at 10 a.m. Only 153 of the vases will be available for sale, to correspond with the state's 153rd birthday.

The other piece that will be available at the Culture Center, an azure-to-crystal fade pitcher, was commissioned by first lady Joanne Jaeger Tomblin to commemorate the state's birthday. Only 80 of the pitchers will be available for sale. The pitchers will be available for $63, and the vases, also designed by Harvey and hand-blown by artisans at Blenko Glass in Milton, will be sold for $54. Walter Blenko will sign the vases from 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at no additional charge.

The two Blenko pieces are only one part of the Culture Center's birthday celebration, which will feature a Blenko Glass exhibit of works from 1950 to the present and the Sesquicentennial Artists Invitational exhibit, a collection of pieces from 30 West Virginia artists produced in 2013 for the state's 150th birthday, as well as youth programs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that include weaving and other hands-on crafts, according to Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner of the Division of Culture and History.

"The Culture Center sits right here on the Capitol grounds, so it is the premier welcome center and the premier visitors' site for people coming to West Virginia; not only do we have the state museum here, but we have the state archives and continually rotating art and craft exhibits, so that people get a real sense of what is best about West Virginia," Gresham said. "Because of the role we play, it's important for us to take time and invite people to celebrate West Virginia's statehood."

Special guests for the event will include re-enactor Wes Armstead, who will speak about the history of the civil rights movement in the region, and West Virginia native and author Cat Pleska, who will read an excerpt from her book "Riding on Comets: A Memoir." The event will also feature music by jazz musician Steve Himes, of Charleston, as well as birthday cake to be served at 12:15 p.m.

On Saturday, the Capitol Market will have its own Blenko piece available in its West Virginia Marketplace. Allan Hathaway, owner of the Purple Onion and the West Virginia Marketplace, said the collectible, a decanter in the shape of the Capitol dome, is a functional piece of art that benefits a worthy cause - 10 percent of the proceeds will go to the CAMC Foundation to benefit CAMC Women's and Children's Hospital.

"We are the West Virginia store, and everything we sell is made in West Virginia - this ties in perfectly for our state's birthday," Hathaway said. "I'm a Milton boy, so working with Blenko in our West Virginia store is just the perfect combination."

Like the other two pieces, the decanters are limited in number, and the market will have 100 of them to sell Saturday starting at 9 a.m. They come in three colors - crystal, yellow topaz and cobalt blue - and cost $110 apiece. The mold used to make them will also be on display, and will also be donated to CAMC, Hathaway said. The two designers who created the piece will also be at the West Virginia Marketplace to sign the decanters Saturday.

Reach Lydia Nuzum at lydia.nuzum@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @lydianuzum on Twitter.

Dr, Christopher Colenda, chancellor of the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center and president and CEO of its larger successor, the recently formed West Virginia United Health System, will retire at the end of August, according to the university.

Colenda, who has served as head of the Health Sciences Center and then of the WVUHS for the last seven years, presided over the addition of three hospitals to WVUHS, including Potomac Valley Hospital in Keyser, St. Joseph's Hospital in Buckhannon, and later this year, Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Glen Dale, during his tenure. Colenda also oversaw the development of a joint operating agreement among West Virginia University Hospitals, University Health Associates, and the West Virginia University School of Medicine, and was instrumental in helping establish the WVU School of Public Health.

"I am grateful for Chris' service and for his friendship," said WVU President E. Gordon Gee, who is also president of the WVUHS board of directors. "He has led with passion and with a sincere commitment to our patients and their families. That dedication has created a more unified and progressive approach to healthcare in West Virginia."

The Board of Directors of WVUHS has appointed Dr. Albert L. Wright, Jr., the current President and CEO of WVU Hospitals and chief operating officer of the WVUHS, to replace Colenda effective Sept. 1.

"My seven years at WVU has been an extraordinary journey, and folks, it's time for me to retire," Colenda said. "I am deeply grateful the Board of Directors of the West Virginia United Health System for enabling me to lead this wonderful organization. I am humbled by the over 12,000 health professionals in our system who put the wellbeing of patients first. I am blessed to have had an executive team who led - and will continue to lead - our efforts to create an integrated healthcare system, with an academic focus, and the heart and soul of West Virginia values. Dr. Wright will be an outstanding champion of those values."

A Kanawha judge granted a motion Wednesday to sever the trial of a woman allegedly involved in a string of robberies at CVS stores from the trials of others involved.

Kristy Albright, 38, of Logan County, was indicted on second-degree robbery and conspiracy charges in April.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King granted a motion to separate Albright's case from others involved in the conspiracy, according to Kanawha Prosecutor Chuck Miller.

Albright allegedly drove the getaway car when her boyfriend, Charles "Eddie" Jacobs, robbed CVS stores for prescription pills.

Jacobs, 31, was charged in December with four counts of second-degree robbery. Police say he robbed CVS stores on Oakwood Road, in Charleston's East End, in Dunbar and in Teays Valley. He allegedly robbed the Oakwood Road store twice.

Jacobs reportedly told police that Albright drove him during the robberies.

Kellie Cook, the store manager of the Oakwood Road CVS, was arrested and charged in December with two counts of second-degree robbery.

Cook, 41, of Dunbar, told Jacobs about the amount of prescription pills in the store on Oakwood Road and the dates the pills were delivered to the pharmacy, according to a criminal complaint against Cook filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

He told police that after Cook gave him information about the Oakwood Road store that he paid her $5,000 both times he robbed that store, according to the complaint.

On Sept. 18 and Oct. 16, the CVS on Oakwood Road was robbed. The CVS at Plaza East in Charleston was robbed on Nov. 5. The store in Teays Valley was robbed Dec. 8 and, on Dec. 12, the store in Dunbar was robbed.