Latest news with #BluefieldDailyTelegraph
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Eric Cravey expands editor duties to Bluefield, Beckley
FAIRMONT – Eric Cravey, editor of the Times West Virginian, has broadened his responsibilities to regional editor of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph and The Register-Herald in Beckley. The newspapers' regional publisher, Terri Hale, announced Cravey's new role in southern West Virginia. He has served as editor of the Times West Virginian of Fairmont for six years. The papers are owned by CNHI LLC, a leading community newspaper company headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. 'It is an honor to have others put their faith in me,' Cravey said. 'I am ready for the challenge and look forward to working with the newsroom staffs and unearthing the rich stories of southern West Virginia.' During his tenure in Fairmont, Cravey won multiple awards, including 'CNHI Rising Star' in 2024 for improvements at the Times West Virginian. The past two years, he won first and second place awards for best editorials in Division Two of the West Virginia Press Association's Annual Awards. Cravey also led a team of reporters who won first place for in-depth reporting in the state press association competition for a series of stories on local homelessness. The series garnered praise from the community for tackling the issue. 'Eric has an excellent sense of news, loves working and training new reporters, and making our communities better by keeping our readers informed on what's happening,' Regional Publisher Terri Hale said. Prior to the Times West Virginian, Cravey served as editor of Clay Today in Orange Park, Florida, where he led his team to multiple awards, including the first place award in breaking news for their 2017 coverage of Hurricane Irma. Cravey began his career in radio news at WGIG-AM/FM in Brunswick, Georgia. He has received newspaper awards for writing about local business, features, breaking news and editorials in two states. Cravey is married to Beth Reese Cravey, a staff reporter for The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. The Craveys are parents of rescue dog Jake and son Lochlin, who lives in Boston and works in biomedical research.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Eric Cravey named editor of The Register-Herald and Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BECKLEY – Eric Cravey, editor of the Times West Virginian, has broadened his responsibilities to regional editor of The Register-Herald and the Bluefield Daily Telegraph in Bluefield. The newspapers' regional publisher, Terri Hale, announced Cravey's new role in southern West Virginia. He has served as editor of the Times West Virginian of Fairmont for six years. The papers are owned by CNHI LLC , a leading community newspaper company headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. 'It is an honor to have others put their faith in me,' Cravey said. 'I am ready for the challenge and look forward to working with the newsroom staffs and unearthing the rich stories of southern West Virginia.' During his tenure in Fairmont, Cravey won multiple awards, including 'CNHI Rising Star' in 2024 for improvements at the Times West Virginian. The past two years, he won first and second place awards for best editorials in Division Two of the West Virginia Press Association's Annual Awards. Cravey also led a team of reporters who won first place for in-depth reporting in the state press association competition for a series of stories on local homelessness. The series garnered praise from the community for tackling the issue. 'Eric has an excellent sense of news, loves working and training new reporters, and making our communities better by keeping our readers informed on what's happening,' Regional Publisher Terri Hale said. Prior to the Times West Virginian, Cravey served as editor of Clay Today in Orange Park, Florida, where he led his team to the first place award in breaking news for the 2017 coverage of Hurricane Irma. Cravey began his career in radio news at WGIG-AM/FM in Brunswick, Georgia. He has received newspaper awards for writing about local business, features, breaking news and editorials in three states. Cravey is married to Beth Reese Cravey, a staff reporter for The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. The Craveys are parents of rescue dog Jake and son Lochlin, who lives in Boston and works in biomedical research. The public is invited to an Open House at The Register-Herald on Monday, April 28 from 4:30-6 p.m. in which student art works are on display in celebration of Raleigh County Youth Art Month. There will be light refreshments and a chance to meet the new editor. Parents, students and art teachers from Raleigh County are also invited to see the exhibit.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Region remembers former Daily Telegraph Editor Samantha Perry
bluefield — People across the region were sharing fond memories Thursday of a journalist who, with passion and dedication, recorded life's good and the bad moments while striving to give people a voice and improve their quality of life. Susan Samantha Myers Perry, known to many as Samantha or Sam, passed away Monday, March 24 at the age of 58 after a long illness. Born March 7, 1967, at Bluefield Hospital to the late William 'Bill' and Nancy Myers of Montcalm, she was a lifelong Montcalm resident who lived with her husband of 33 years, Joe Perry, and their dogs Cassie and Bear. Samantha devoted much of her life to journalism when she joined the Bluefield Daily Telegraph and covered the region's events for over 30 years until she retired. She started out as a stringer before becoming a reporter in 1989, advancing to Lifestyles Editor and then becoming Managing Editor in 2001, becoming the newspaper's first female editor since it started in 1896. She later became a regional editor for CNHI, the parent company of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, for the Bluefield market as well as Georgia and Florida. Samantha was also editor of Prerogative Magazine, which started in 2007. During her long career, Samantha earned multiple local and national awards. Nationally, she was named Columnist of the Year in 2021, 2018, 2016, 2015 and 2014 by CNHI. 'Samantha was a great journalist who loved her community and making a difference in the lives of people she touched and helped,' said Terri Hale, publisher and regional executive. 'And she did make a difference in so many ways. We, her work family, love her and miss her everyday.' Andy Patton, news editor of the Register-Herald in Beckley and of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, remembered Samantha as a passionate wordsmith and strong advocate for community journalism. 'I worked along side Sam in the newsroom in Bluefield for more than 26 years,' Patton said. 'She had a way of choosing just the perfect word or phrase to paint a picture for readers and lift the story right off the page. She was a very gifted writer and excellent journalist. Her love for the community and passion for telling the community's stories were second to none.' While working at the newspaper, Samantha also worked on projects helping both children and homeless pets. For years, she coordinated the Community Christmas Tree. This annual event, also known as Little Jimmie, raised thousands of dollars every year so that hundreds of area children could have a good Christmas. She often took on Little Jimmie while also organizing the Prerogative pet food drive. This annual event brought in pet treats, food, bedding and other supplies to animal shelters across the region. Dedication to helping her community was a trait her parents helped instill in her. Craig Hammond, executive director of the Bluefield Union Mission, said he knew both Samantha and her family well. An award that his radio show, Radioactive on WHIS, presents annually, the William B. Myers Community Service Award, is named after her father. 'We identify somebody in the community who went above and beyond giving to their community and we've had a lot of recipients, sometimes it was an individual, sometimes it was an organization,' Hammond said. 'Samantha had a very important role in our public life because she was the keeper of our community's diary.' When new faces joined the Bluefield Daily Telegraph's newsroom family, Samantha patiently mentored them by sharing her knowledge and experience. Jamie Null, executive director of the Mercer County Convention & Visitors Bureau, remembered how Samantha helped hone her skills. 'I guess when I started at the paper I was in my mid-20s, and to me she was a role model and she taught me so much about journalism and how to write a story, how to write a column, and we had a connection because I was the lifestyles editor and she was lifestyles editor when she was very young,' Null said. 'We connected with features stories and Prerogative.' 'I think about how she did things and prepared me to move on in my career,' Null said. 'How she talked to people and her determination to get things done. And she always told me how proud she was of me. Even though she was my boss, she ended up being a friend and we talked every couple of weeks. She was more than a boss to me.' Photographer Tara Wyatt was the last person Samantha hired before going into retirement and like so many others, she said that she benefited from her guidance. 'I knew her for almost a year, though she retired before she could make it to one year, but she had made a good impact on me,' Wyatt said. 'She was the first person who gave me a chance on my abilities, she was the first person to call me back when I was applying to multiple places, she pushed me to become better at my craft, and has been so honest with me from the start.' Wyatt spoke about how Samatha helped her grow as a person. 'Samantha was also incredibly patient with me even when she had every reason to not be, but she probably could tell this was my first big girl, corporate job being 19 – okay, maybe not that young, but still young in the grand scheme of things – and she was able to shape me into the young, more mature woman I am now,' Wyatt said. 'She was a beautiful woman with a beautiful personality.' Even though Samantha often wrote stories for Lifestyles and columns about life in the community, she developed into a journalist ready to work with the law enforcement community and the court system while covering crimes across the area. Brian K. Cochran, a former sergeant in the West Virginia State Police and now Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney, worked with Samantha for years. 'I first met Samantha over 30 some years ago in the early 90's way back when I was a young state trooper, Cochran said. 'She was always looking for a great story involving a horrific murder case and it seemed like I was the trooper that got assigned to a whole bunch of them back in those days. She was always very nice, polite, and extremely professional and I always felt that she reported all of those cases fairly. She was so great to work with.' Cochran continued working with Samantha after he retired from law enforcement. 'Then I became a lawyer and became the City Attorney for the City of Bluefield. Our great relationship continued as she was heavily involved in reporting what the city was involved in at the time. I still thought she was always fair and honest in her reporting of what was going on in the city,' he said. 'She could be tough no doubt, but always fair. I am so very saddened to hear the news of her passing because she was such a huge asset to our community in reporting the news fairly and always being unbiased, and most importantly because she was just such a tremendous person. She is going to be greatly missed.' Mercer County Sheriff Alan Christian also said he had known Samantha for years. 'From the first days of me becoming a police officer, I've been dealing with Samantha and those folks at the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, and I can't say I've met a more fair and honest woman,' he said. 'Anytime I called, she was there to answer and if I needed anything, she was there.' Christian said he considered Samantha a friend. 'I've known her that long and talked to her that much,' he said. 'She used me as a source for the paper. I knew when I told her something, that was exactly what was going to be in there. Nothing made up, enhanced or anything like that.' Former Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter, who is now Raleigh County Clerk, met Samantha when he was a sergeant, and later major, at the West Virginia State Police Welch detachment during the mid to late 1990s. 'She was just a very good reporter and a very nice person,' Van Meter said, 'She did her job and you could talk to her, and if you talked with her and said we really can't get this out just yet, you could trust her. She was a one-of-a-kind young lady.' Greg Duckworth, formerly a sergeant with the West Virginia State Police and now president of the Raleigh County Commission, said he remembered working with Samantha when investigations were underway. 'We had so many shootings and stabbings and different crimes,' Duckworth said. 'She always reported accurately, very balanced and I just had a lot of respect for her. She was very good, solid reporter and she will very much be missed.' Greg Bishop, another former sergeant with the West Virginia State Police and now Wyoming County Prosecuting Attorney, recalled how Samantha worked to cover crimes in McDowell County. 'She was always fair and impartial,' Bishop said. 'I felt comfortable talking with her. I could be frank about things and she always treated us fair and reported the facts. Sometimes law enforcement can be hesitant to trust reporters, but you learn quickly which reporters are going to report the facts. That was the trust I had with her.' Keeping with Samantha's wishes there will be no service. The family is being served by the Roselawn Funeral Home in Princeton, WV. Online condolences may be shared via their website. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Samantha can be made to the Mercer County Animal Shelter, 961 Shelter Rd, Princeton, WV 24740. Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mitigation part of FEMA's plan for flood-prone communities
welch — Helping flooded communities reduce the chances for future devastation through new flood mitigation efforts is one of FEMA's goals, according to the federal agency's acting director. Acting FEMA Director Cameron Hamilton visited McDowell County March 21 with U.S. Senator Jim Justice, to see damage from the Feb. 15 flood firsthand and talk to county and municipal officials about what local recovery efforts need. On March 20, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said that President Donald Trump had approved his request for Public Assistance in Mercer, McDowell, Monroe and seven other Southern West Virginia counties impacted by the Feb. 15 flood. Morrisey said the Public Assistance declaration provides supplemental grants to state and local governments and certain private non-profits to cover their costs for debris removal, emergency protective measures and infrastructure restoration. FEMA has a competitive grant program called Flood Mitigation Assistance, according to agency officials. This program offers funding to state, territory and local governments. Since the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 was signed into law, funds are used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA chooses recipients based on the applicant's ranking of the project, eligibility, and cost-effectiveness of the project. 'There is a program specifically in the FEMA grant system,' Hamilton told an audience at the Welch Armory. 'There are various different programs we're looking to partner with the community to ensure that we rebuild and we rebuild back in a way that makes sense that could mitigate future risks.' Hamilton said he had spoken with Sheriff James 'Boomer' Muncy about possible flood mitigation remedies near the county 911 center which is next door to the sheriff's department in Welch. FEMA will be looking at other ways to reduce future flood hazards. 'What we encourage you all to do is speak with your local counterparts, speak with public officials so they can categorize and document and grab as many of those requests as possible and they'll route those up to our public assistance programs and that will be routed up to FEMA,' Hamilton said. 'We will then receive those applications and look at areas where we can ensure if there is a chance to recover and also mitigate future risks, those are certainly areas we are certainly very interested in partnering with to ensure we can address them.' William Swain of Elbert Road, part of Gary in McDowell County, recently visited the Bluefield Daily Telegraph and said that he has seen the results of flood mitigation. In 2013, a coal mining operation had cut down trees above the end of Elbert Road. 'And when it would rain, the rain would come down the back where they had cut down those trees down the mountain to the road, down another mountain onto the railroad track, over the railroad track, down the street onto a coal boom, United States Steel broken-up sidewalk,' Swain said. 'And this is at Elbert Road, 1303.' Swain said that the flood waters reached his property and was up over his ankles. Later he went to the McDowell County Commission and later the town of Gary, but was told there nothing they could do, so he decided to go to Charleston and speak with the state Department of Transportation. There he spoke with Paul Mattox, who was then the state's transportation secretary. 'I said Okay, I'm going to call Charleston. Swain said the chief engineer at that time, Jimmy Wriston, who later become transportation secretary, and a District 10 engineer looked at the problem on Elgood Road. Work on flood mitigation at Elgood Road started in September 2013 and was finished before Christmas that same year. The old U.S. Steel sidewalk which had been in place since the 1950s was removed. Swain said the Feb. 15 flood tested the changes that were made back in 2013. 'If it wasn't for Paul Mattox, this flood we had in 2025 would have washed everybody out of Elbert Road,' he said. Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bluefield citizens can apply now for absentee ballots
bluefield – Voters who could be away when the city of Bluefield has its municipal election on June 3 can now apply for absentee ballots months in advance. The city announced Thursday in a legal advertisement in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph that absentee voting applications will be accepted for the June 3, 2025 municipal election for Districts I, II and III positions on the Bluefield Board of Directors. Absentee ballot applications will be accepted starting March 3 through May 28, according to the legal advertisement. City residents wanting to vote absentee in the June 3 election can request an absentee ballot by filing an application form. The applications can be obtained by calling 304-327-2401 Extension 2407, by email at aheltzel@ or in person at Bluefield City Hall. 'The absentee ballot posting that we have is for anybody who knows they're not going to be present on the election day which is June 3 of this year,' said Anthony Heltzel, city clerk, human resources director and assistant city attorney. 'They can go ahead and send in a request for an absentee ballot.' June 3 ballots have not been created yet, but being able to apply for an absentee ballot now lets city voters who may be away that day have a chance to prepare weeks in advance. 'Absentee ballots will be mailed out starting April 18. We don't have any of the ballots ready yet,' Heltzel said. 'These are just people who are wanting to apply because you can only vote in an absentee ballot if you meet the qualifications based on West Virginia Code. What we're doing is just making sure everybody knows that they can go ahead and get in their requests in now if they know they'll be unavailable to vote personally.' There is a deadline for applying. 'All applications have to be in by May 28, postmarked by May 28 end of day,' Heltzel said. 'You can't request an absentee ballot after that.' Candidates for the June 3 city election have not yet been announced. Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
