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A Pendleton County teenager charged with two counts of first-degree murder was arraigned in circuit court on Wednesday, November 20, with the Honorable Judge John H. Treadway Jr. presiding. Fourteen-year-old Ryder Lee Bowers appeared with his guardian ad litem and defense counsel. Bowers is represented by attorneys Grant Sherman and J. Brent Easton, and April D. Mallow is prosecuting the case. He was sworn in at the start of the hearing. He was also provided the Notice to Defendant of Criminal Trial Rights and Duties and the Notice of Terms and Conditions Governing Release on Bail Prior to Trial, which he acknowledged on the record. Defense counsel waived a formal hearing on the indictment, and Bowers entered a plea of not guilty. Bowers is charged with two counts of fi rst-degree murder in connection with the July 10 deaths of Taylar Lee Bowers and Justin D. Bowers.

A Petersburg man has been charged with stalking, destruction of property, battery and assault in the Grant County Magistrates Court following an incident earlier this month. Police were notified on the morning of Nov. 2 about a physical fight that occurred at the Grove Street BP Station in Petersburg between a man identified as Spencer Reel, of Petersburg, and another man. While an officer with the Grant County Sheriff’s Department was enroute to the scene, he was contacted by the second man involved. The man told the officer he wanted to file assault charges against Reel.

Grant County Ambulance provided an update to the Grant County Commission late last month on their call volumes, including their total number of calls last year and how they were impacted by the government shutdown.

Jeffrey Teter, the ambulance director, explained that, due to the shutdown, Medicare had not been paid initially in September. However, it was released late in October but was short their regular expected amount by approximately 2-3%. Teter explained that this reduction in funds was due to the urban Medicare payout rate being used for the funds released antdnot the rural rate. Rural Medicare rates are approximately 2-3% higher than their payout rates in urban areas.