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A Petersburg woman is facing felony charges after allegedly stealing a leased vehicle that she had borrowed from a friend.

Veronica Danielle Tingler, of 514 Franklin Pike, Petersburg, has been charged with grand larceny after the alleged victim reported his leased 2021 Ford Escape Sport ECO stolen to the West Virginia State Police.

According to the police report filed on the incident, the victim told officers that he and Tingler were friends and that she had been having trouble with her older vehicle.

To help her out, he offered to let her use his vehicle for a week in October 2024.

The victim told officers that they had originally agreed to let Tingler use the vehicle for the next week but he had explained to her that the SUV was a rental so he would need it back after that time.

The victim told officers that he had multiple conversations with Tingler about needing to return the vehicle, explaining that he would get in trouble with the rental company if the SUV was not returned soon.

 The Petersburg City Council confirmed last week that this year’s Trick-or-Treat event will be held on Halloween night (Oct. 31) starting at 6 p.m.

The council asked that anyone interested in participating leave their porch lights on to let trick-or-treaters and their families know which households will be giving out sweets this year.

The announcement came during the council’s regularly scheduled Oct. 7 meeting.

 Grant County’s former ambulance director has filed a lawsuit claiming he was removed from the position due to whistle-blower retaliation and discrimination following an incident in which an ambulance driver illegally pulled a concealed firearm and physically punched a suspect during a domestic violence incident.

Robert Funk worked as the county’s Director of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) since August 2017 until February 2024 when he was removed from the position.

In the first section of his complaint, which was filed last month in the Grant County Circuit Court, Funk described an incident in 2020-21 when Grant County Ambulance was contacted by Grant Memorial Hospital and requested a mental hygiene patient be transported out of the county. After the transport, Funk contacted the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, Office of Emergency Medical Services and was advised not to transport mental hygiene patients in the future.

 Grant County Schools will be hosting the Charleston Clay Center’s Clay2Go Outreach Exhibit, a large exhibit that offers interactive education and experience with scientific concepts.

Grant County Superintendent Mitch Webster said he saw the exhibit on display in another area and was impressed with the scientific interactivity and quickly began working to bring it to Grant County.

“There was a long wait list and a lot of work that goes into something like this, but I came back and went to Ms. [Linda] Carlson and asked if she would take this on and get it arranged, and she did, and I greatly appreciate that,” Webster explained.

 A local peer recovery coach and counselor was honored yesterday as a “Beacon of Hope” in the community, being awarded the 2024 Beacon of Hope award during a ceremony at Grant Memorial Hospital by the Mosaic Group.

Roger Dodd works not only with the Potomac Highlands Guild and the Russ Hedrick Resource and Recovery Center but also serves as a first contact for those hospitalized from overdose at Grant Memorial Hospital and Potomac Valley Hospital in Keyser.

“Roger’s commitment to patients is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Marla Oros, the CEO of the Mosaic Group. “He embodies the essence of a peer recovery coach, tirelessly dedicating himself to guide individuals on their path to recovery from substance abuse. Roger’s role is not just about providing support, it’s about promoting health and preventing harm. He stands as a guardian for those who may have lost their way.”

 Domestic violence is one of the most common violent crimes that passes through Grant County’s court system.

Over the past few months, one dangerous charge that has been appearing multiple times is strangulation. This is charged anytime a person “strangles, suffocates or asphyxiates another without that person’s consent and thereby causes the other person bodily harm or loss of consciousness.”

One of the more recent charges stem from an incident on June 14, when officers with the Grant County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to a dispute at Shobes Trailer Drive in Petersburg.

By Bill Bissett, Ed.D, President 

West Virginia Manufacturer’s Association

For the Mountain State to thrive and grow its population, we must be serious about both economic development and environmental protection. Economic development involves encouraging new businesses to invest within our borders or expanding existing employers who already know how to do business here at home. 

Environmental protection means meeting the safe standards set by the West Virginia Legislature, implemented by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and overseen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

In the case of wastewater permits, the safe levels are set by the West Virginia Legislature in the state’s Water Quality Standards. No permit can be issued unless it protects the people and fish downstream in accordance with those standards. 

Changes to the Water Quality Standards have been proposed this session with our Legislature. One common sense change being proposed would say that streams with little or no flow, that obviously could not be a reliable drinking water supply, should not be treated as a water supply. The protections for public water supplies would not apply in that limited area, but any discharge would have to ensure that downstream public water supplies would not be harmed. 

One Democrat member of the WV House suggested about this proposed change in a recent Committee meeting, “I don’t like chemicals in my water.” That statement may sound good and get you quoted in the newspaper, but it is not realistic.