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Attending the recent SkillsUSA leadership academy in Charleston, with advisers and student members and officers from around the state, were South Branch Career and Technical Center SkillsUSA adviser, Mrs. Heather White; SBCTC SkillsUSA historian, Kourtney Alexander; SBCTC SkillsUSA vice president, Owen Reel; and West Virginia SkillsUSA reporter, Kailee Armentrout.

Teresa Nazelrodt, a resident of Petersburg, has been hired as the Workforce and Continuing Education program coordinator at Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College.

She has lived in Petersburg her entire life and has been married to her husband, Mark Nazelrodt, for 26 years. They have two sons, Eli and Isaac.

Nazelrodt has nearly two decades of clerical and administrative experience within the community and has also volunteered her time for several programs through WVU Grant County Extension, including agriculture services, 4-H, and the family nutrition program.

“In working with the Grant County WVU Extension Service, I helped our 4-H and CEOS members in much the same way that I now work with our Workforce Education students,” said Nazelrodt.

Petersburg High School welcomed a new Spanish teacher this year, Belen Brualla, who traveled to Petersburg from her home in Spain.

“Spain is a small country in the south of Europe with a population of 48 million people. Once a very important Empire, it managed to spread its language around 21 countries. Now, the greatest country is the United States and I am privileged to be living the American dream,” Brualla said.

Since arriving in the community, Brualla said she has faced some minor challenges, including making sure her paperwork is all in order, but says she was immediately welcomed into the local community.

One of her greatest joys so far since arriving in America, has been to share her culture with her students.

“As I have been teaching and getting to know my students, I have learned to love this place even more, and this has definitely made me want to share my culture so my students get to enjoy it and learn more about it,” Brualla said.

A recent examination of West Virginia counties has ranked Grant County as the eighth best in the state to raise a family.

The report was done by the SmartAsset Company, a consumer-driven financial company that provides educational economic content. According to the company, these studies compare four key categories: housing affordability, academic performance of students, availability of recreation and community centers per 1,000 residents and childcare costs.

In a press release about their study, the company explained that they determined “housing affordiblity” off of a five year time period, which will account for economic fluctuations.

They also explained that one of the primary considerations in the study focused on the local school system, including student performance. This examined standardized testing results in math, reading and language.

Next, the study looked at the number of recreation and community centers in the area (per 1,000 residents) and the average cost of childcare in each county’s local economy.

From these, each county was given an average score on a one to 10 scale, with 10 being the best and one being the worst. Based on these average scores, the counties were ranked and the top 10 were published on their website.

City of Petersburg schedules annual Spring Clean-up Day for May 6

The Petersburg City Council met last Monday for their regularly scheduled monthly meeting. During the meeting, the council approved multiple lease updates as well as provided an update on the ongoing effort by the city to update their water treatment plant.

The first lease update approved by the council was a 20-year lease between the City of Petersburg and the Southside Depot. The Depot serves as a visitors’ center, offering information to those visiting the area as well as serving as a space for community events and housing the South Side Studios.

The second lease approved during the meeting was between the city and Landis Office Center. This lease will run for 63 months and was created in regards to office equipment and maintenance at the city’s facilities.

Next, the council approved the date for their annual Spring Clean-Up Day, which will fall on Tuesday, May 6.

The meeting also included an update from Councilman Robert Spanswick, who is helping to oversee the multiple water treatment plant upgrades currently planned.

 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.