Jefferson County

When George Bernardino needed something in the U.S. Navy clinics he ran over the years, all he had to do was sign a requisition. Bernardino is not in the Navy anymore. Two weeks ago, chosen from a slate of 56 applicants, he took over as public health administrator for the Jefferson County Health Department. Now when he wants something that exceeds his budget, he'll fill out grant applications. “Finding the funds to improve things will be my biggest challenge,” he said. Bernardino, 39, retired in August, ending a 20-year Navy hitch, almost all as a hospital corpsman.

A partnership between the Arts & Humanities Alliance (AHA!) of Jefferson County and Eastern Panhandle Transit Authority is expected to give new meaning to the definition of a “traveling exhibit.” Transit Authority Executive Director Cheryl L. Keyrouze announced at a planning session with community stakeholders Wednesday about plans for mural art to be painted this spring on one of the agency's buses that serves Jefferson County. Given that raising local money is the public transit agency's biggest challenge, Keyrouze welcomed the partnership, which she said might have been unthinkable and unlikely to some.

Peter Dougherty, president of the Jefferson County Board of Education; Steven V. Groh, an assistant county prosecutor, and retired Charles Town Police Chief Louis Brunswick will be interviewed next week by the Jefferson County Commission in the county's quest to replace ousted Sheriff Bobby Shirley. Each will be interviewed Tuesday morning in the commissioners' meeting room below the Charles Town Library. The interviews will be open, but public comment won't be accepted, Commission President Dale Manuel said.

Two Martinsburg, W.Va., residents have each been indicted on 39 felony counts by a Jefferson County grand jury in a case stemming from a burglary spree at more than a dozen homes in the county last summer. Court records show that Matthew Wayne Killian, 28, and Nikki Brady, no age available, both of 294 Connector Road, face a series of counts, including 13 each for burglary and grand larceny, 12 for conspiracy and one for daytime burglary. The pair is accused of taking thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, guns, TVs and other electronics, plus cash from the homes that were entered.

West Virginia State Police have arrested more than 170 sex offenders since the first of the year for providing false information to the state sex offender registry. State Police 1st Sgt. Michael Baylous said the agency and the U.S. Marshal Service has verified the information for more than 1,000 offenders on the registry during that time, after a weekend sweep by state police. Baylous said additional arrests are expected as individuals are located and investigations are completed.

Jefferson County Homeland Security and Emergency Management will hold two business continuity planning workshops Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Hampton Inn, 157 Pamlico Drive in Charles Town. The first session will run from 1 to 4 p.m. and the second will be from 6 to 9 p.m. The workshops will be taught by David Skeen, the West Virginia state continuity planner; Barbara Miller, director of Jefferson County Homeland Security and Emergency Management;  and Neal Nilsen from AskNeal.com.

For at least the fourth consecutive year, legislation to increase the number of West Virginia State Police troopers to a minimum of 800 statewide has been introduced in the state Legislature. State Sen. John R. Unger II, D-Berkeley/Jefferson, who again is the lead sponsor of the legislation this year, said Friday the agency is budgeted to have 698 troopers, but currently has 33 vacancies. “We are anticipating approximately 10 to 15 more retirements by the end of 2013,” Unger said.

An apparent technical problem that prevented Sprint wireless users from dialing 911 to report emergencies in Berkeley and Jefferson counties has been resolved, officials said. Dispatchers who had received 911 calls via Sprint were unable to hear the caller since Thursday afternoon, emergency dispatch officials said. As of 10 p.m. Thursday night, however, service was restored to print wireless users, said officials in both counties. The 911 dispatch center in Jefferson County can be reached at 304-725-8484 and in Berkeley County at 304-263-1330.

The process of finding a replacement for former Jefferson County Sheriff Bobby Shirley will be quick and open to the public, according to a unanimous vote by the county commission Thursday. The commissioners also voted to advertise for applicants in local newspapers next week for the $44,800-a-year job. The sheriff runs the department's law enforcement division and oversees the county's tax department. The latter responsibility also adds to the salary 15 percent of all delinquent taxes collected each year up to a total of $15,000.

A ruling Monday from the West Virginia Attorney General's office made it official that no special election will be held to find a replacement for former Jefferson County Sheriff Bobby Shirley. The Jefferson County Commission will, by law, have to appoint a Democrat to fill the position until the county's general election in 2014. The winner will fill the remaining two years of Shirley's term, which ends in 2016. A Democrat, he was re-elected to a second four-year term in November. Shirley resigned in January following his guilty plea to a federal civil rights violation.