The annual Toys for Happiness toy drive is celebrating a happy success after collecting 1,000 toys that will be distributed to families in need throughout the community. Toys for Happiness is a local collaboration between multiple Grant County groups and businesses that sends an “Elf” (known throughout the rest of the year as Denver Riggleman) onto the roof of Petersburg Electronics and he stubbornly refuses to come down until their goal is hit.

This year, the group way exceeded their 650 toy goal, hitting around 1,000. The toys will be gifted to families who applied for assistance this Christmas. For those still interested in contributing to the Toys for Happiness, donations will still be accepted this coming week at the Press offi ce

The Petersburg City Council met last week and approved a request to install a speed bump on Bryan Street. Community members Phyllis and Allen Eckert (who live on Bryan Street) explained that the need for a speed bump became clear on Halloween, when a frightening incident occurred with a speeding vehicle and a group of trick-or-treaters crossing the residential street. Eckert brought with them a petition containing signatures from nearly everyone on the street, with the only exception agreeing that the speed bump was necessary but had issues with how the bump on Mountain View Street.

A Petersburg man was among three people sentenced last week in federal court for drug trafficking in North Central West Virginia. According to an announcement by United States Attorney Matthew L. Harvey announced, Jacob Wilson, 29, of Beverly, Lawrence Lower, 36, of Petersburg and Michael Wayne Miller, 55, of Wardensville will be serving prison time on drug charges.

Major changes are underway at the Mount Storm Energy Center as older turbines are being removed with plans to replace them with new, more advanced technology. According to Clearway Energy, the company that owns the wind farm, construction has begun to repower the Mount Storm Energy Center. The Mount Storm wind farm will be upgraded with new, state-of-the-art turbines designed to generate more reliable power on a smaller footprint for another 35 years. Before new wind turbines can go up, the old ones must come down. From November through January, residents may see or hear wind turbines being “felled.”

A Grant County man is facing multiple new charges after allegedly failing to register social media accounts after being convicted of a sex crime. Ronald Peter Legg, of Grant County, was convicted transferring obscene material to minors in April 2005 and, as a lifetime registered sex offender, is required to register any new online accounts with the West Virginia State Police within 10 days of their creation. Legg was indicted in November with two counts of failing to register a Facebook/ email account while being a lifetime sex offender.

On Nov. 18, the Grant County Commission approved to assist in funding a drone to be used by county law enforcement. The request for the purchase was made by Cpt. Kirk Thorne with the Grant County Sheriff’s Department during the regularly scheduled Oct. 28 meeting. During that meeting, Thorne explained that the drone would feature a speaker, an infrared camera, a spotlight and a 500 times zoom feature. The technology can be used to perform silent reconnaissance to follow suspects, even during night hours, and when officers are close enough to apprehend a suspect, they can then use the spotlight to notify officers where they are located.

T h e  P e t e r s burg City Park will o n c e
again be t r a n sformed into a cozy Hallmark
scene as the Chamber of Commerce prepares to host its annual Hometown Christmas Celebration. Scheduled for
December 6 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., this event is a combined effort between community partners, including the City
of Petersburg, the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), and several local organizations such as the Lions Club.