Berkeley County

The director of Berkeley County's new convention and visitors bureau is eyeing a plan to coordinate the opening of prominent historic sites for tours one weekend a month as part of a heritage tourism promotion package. Laura Gassler, who presented the concept to the Berkeley County Council on April 11, said the plan aims to address a shortage in volunteers that tourism-oriented groups such as the Berkeley County Historical Society currently face. Historical Society President Todd Funkhouser said the organization has “a good nucleus” of volunteers, but often not enough to staff an entire weekend.

Thousands of people are expected to slog through a muddy and physically challenging obstacle course in Berkeley County this weekend as part of Tough Mudder, a fast-growing endurance series. The first wave of more than 13,000 “mudders” are expected to start the near 12-mile course about 8 a.m. Saturday near Glengary, W.Va., at Peacemaker National Training Center, which is hosting the two-day event, according to organizers. Created by a former counter-terrorism agent for the British government, Tough Mudder events challenge participants to complete muddy 10- to 12-mile obstacle courses that are designed to test all-around strength, stamina, mental grit and camaraderie of participants, according to the company.

Berkeley County Council made no change to its levy rates Tuesday, but some property owners might still see an increase in their tax bills due to increased property values.    County Council President Anthony J. “Tony” Petrucci said Tuesday that the rates were left unchanged, even with the overall improvement in property values, to provide “a little cushion” for the county to operate. For the 2013-2014 fiscal year, the levy rate for Class II property, which includes owner-occupied homes, will be 27.8 cents per $100 of assessed property value, according to county budget documents.

Everyday in the Eastern Panhandle there are individuals making a difference in the life of a child. On Thursday, May 2, the Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle will honor the memory of one of these individuals who touched the community and the lives of many local children. The Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle's 2013 Champion for Youth Honoree is Robert “Bob” Miller, a long-time Berkeley County resident and owner of Miller's Electric, who died of a heart attack earlier this year just two months shy of his 57th birthday.

Delays in completing Berkeley County's public recreation center in Inwood, W.Va., have prompted officials to nix a plan to hold summer camps for children there this year. Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Executive Director Steve Catlett said Tuesday that uncertainty about when the W. Randy Smith Recreation Center will be completed factored into the decision to  postpone until 2014 the launch of the camps at the center. Catlett said officials decided to make the announcement the month before people registered for the Berkeley Summer Energy & Explorer Camps at the new $2.1 million facility.

Legislation aimed at eliminating “puppy mills” in West Virginia now awaits the signature of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. The House of Delegates, after a floor debate, voted 66-33 to pass Senate Bill 437, according to an audio webcast streamed live on the state Legislature's website. The vote came with only one day remaining in the 60-day regular session of the Legislature. The session ends at midnight Saturday, but area lawmakers are still hoping to push through legislation to support the MARC commuter train service, among other proposals.

All six Eastern Panhandle Republican members of the West Virginia House of Delegates voted against a bill that requires central office administrators to substitute for absent teachers three days a year. Senate Bill 80 was sent Tuesday to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin as a move to reduce substitute teacher costs, which can amount to $125 per day per substitute. Seventy-eight Democrats in the House of Delegates voted for the bill, while 20 Republicans opposed the measure. Area Republicans opposed the bill because the authority to enforce it rested with the state, not local school boards.

A bill that would free up $100 million for public sewer treatment plant upgrades to meet Chesapeake Bay cleanup requirements in eastern West Virginia was advanced Tuesday by state lawmakers. Senate Bill 596 was reported to the House floor Tuesday evening after clearing the House Finance Committee earlier in the day, according to an audio webcast streamed live on the state Legislature's website. The committee passed Senate Bill 596 with a title amendment, which Jefferson County state Sen. Herb Snyder, the bill's lead sponsor, said was technical in nature and “thankfully not significant.” Twelve plants in seven of the eight Eastern Panhandle counties that feed into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed will have access to the $100 million beginning in January, if the bill passes, Snyder has said.

William F. “Slug” Carper Jr., 86, of Berkeley County, W.Va., and formerly of Bardane, W.Va., died Saturday, April 6, 2013, at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Martinsburg, W.Va. Friends will be received Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m. at Melvin T. Strider Colonial Funeral Home in Charles Town, W.Va. The service will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home with Pastor Joanna Marceron officiating. Burial will be in Edge Hill Cemetery in Charles Town.

Authorities have found no indication of foul play in the death of a man who was found Sunday evening near a private school on Apple Harvest Drive, Berkeley County Sheriff Kenneth Lemaster Jr. said Wednesday. An autopsy of the body was to be performed by the West Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, but Lemaster said he did not have any information regarding the examination results. The investigation began with a “welfare check” report Sunday at 5:51 p.m., and Lemaster said it was his understanding the man subsequently was found dead in the area of Rocky Knoll School.