Eastern Panhandle News

Local News – The Panhandle News Network | WEPM & WCST

WEPM-AM

    Ukraine — Pastor Tim Guerino from the Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission is spending Holy Week in Ukraine. He is working with other volunteers in the war-torn area to bring water filtration systems, housing, and hope. He called in to the Panhandle News Network Wednesday morning: In a note he sent out in the early […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 27, 2024, 7:16 pm
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va — The upcoming solar eclipse is altering plans in one Eastern Panhandle school system. Morgan County Schools announced on Tuesday that due to April 8th’s solar eclipse, the school system is rescheduling its Faculty Senate early dismissal for April 8th to “coincide with this historic event.” That early dismissal had been previously […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 26, 2024, 3:25 pm
INWOOD, W.Va. — An early morning domestic violence incident has resulted in the arrest of      an Inwood man. The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office tells The Panhandle News Network the call came in around 3:42 Monday morning. Deputy Carroll met the caller at a convenience store near Inwood. The victim said her boyfriend, identified […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 26, 2024, 12:51 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — In his second mission trip to Ukraine, Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission Superintendent Pastor Tim Guerino has made a stop in Moldova, where a team he is working with is building a home for a family. He gave an update to the Panhandle News Network on Thursday as he traveled from one spot to […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 22, 2024, 4:56 pm
Story by Daniel Woods HEDGESVILLE, W.Va – At approximately 9:08 am on Thursday, Berkeley County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a bomb threat at Hedgesville High School that came in through an online reporting system. Once on scene, deputies worked with school officials to evacuate staff and students before bomb detecting K-9s arrived and did a […]
Author: lukewiggs
Posted: March 21, 2024, 9:28 pm
MARTINSBURG, W. Va. — A Berkeley County jury deliberated an hour and a half Thursday before finding a Martinsburg man guilty of first degree murder in the 2022 death of his wife. Samuel Lee Lineberg, 57, had confessed to police that he killed his wife with a baseball bat in November 2022 soon after learning […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 21, 2024, 7:13 pm
  MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Former Berkeley County Sheriff Nathan’s name is still on the ballot in the Republican Primary race for Berkeley County Sheriff this spring, despite his announcement earlier this year that he’d be withdrawing from the race. Harmon posted on social media in February his intent to withdraw his name from the race, […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 20, 2024, 5:29 pm
Berkeley Springs W.Va — Story by Daniel Woods The Morgan County Sheriff’s Department reports that a 14-year old reported missing on Sunday afternoon has been found. The search began Sunday night utilizing search dogs from neighboring Frederick County, Virginia, but was halted due to the darkness and continued into a daytime search on Monday. The […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 18, 2024, 9:22 pm
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — A daytime search effort is underway in Morgan County for a teenager who was reported missing Sunday afternoon from the 1100 block of New Hope Road.   Morgan County Sheriff KC Bohrer says the 14-year-old is new to the area and has never ventured out this far before. The teen, described […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 18, 2024, 3:29 pm
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. —  The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating a daytime search this morning for a teenage boy who went missing from the 1100 block of New Hope Road Sunday afternoon. Sheriff KC Bohrer says his department was notified late Sunday and while they started a search then, they did not find the […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 18, 2024, 12:23 pm
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. —  There has been a search all night for a teenager missing out of Morgan County. Morgan County Chief Deputy Johnny Walter says the youth has been missing since Sunday afternoon: Walter said the department has been looking all night for the 14-year-old, who is described as a Latino male, 5 feet […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 18, 2024, 11:23 am
HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. — Harpers Ferry Water Works is releasing information regarding a proposed rate increase ahead of an upcoming public hearing. The Water Commission of the Harpers Ferry Town Council will hold an open meeting of a proposed increase in the water tariff of the Harpers Ferry Water Works. Town Council Public Hearing Place: Harpers […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 15, 2024, 4:33 pm
BEDINGTON, W.Va. — A project that will turn a former DuPont plant on the Potomac River into a 100-megawatt solar energy facility got the green light from the West Virginia Public Service Commission Wednesday. Bedington Energy Facility, LLC, applied for the solar siting certificate on Dec. 8, 2023, to locate the plant on the former […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 14, 2024, 2:45 pm
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — There’s an update on US 522 bypass work. The West Virginia Division of Highways District 5 Construction Engineer Daniel Watts says work on the Berkeley Spring Bypass, US 522, project continues as crews are currently working on waterlines. In April, crews will begin to construct a roundabout on the southern end […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 13, 2024, 6:00 pm
NPS — The National Park Service (NPS) is continuing to seek tips from the public to aid in the ongoing investigation of an aggravated assault near Point of Rocks in Frederick, MD that occurred in the evening of March 6, 2024 and a related incident that occurred in the afternoon of March 10, 2024. A press […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 13, 2024, 5:48 pm
HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. — You could say support for Berkeley County Meals on Wheels is ‘growing.’ Executive Director Dianne Waldron announced this week that Hedgesville High School FFA students had over an acre of farmland donated to them. Waldron says the students will plant, potatoes, radishes, beets, carrots, and onions and donate the fresh produce to […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 13, 2024, 5:05 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. —  An Inwood man has admitted to fraudulently taking over a quarter of a million dollars from his father. The U.S. Attorney’s office reports Joseph Beach, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. According to court documents and statements made in court, Beach was the fiduciary for his father, who is […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 13, 2024, 5:00 pm
BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — Morgan County Emergency Services and their partner agencies are hoping to “address” an ongoing issue. According to a note this week on their social media pages, there are continuing issues with improper addresses being used as well as addresses not being displayed or being displayed improperly. “While this may not seem […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 13, 2024, 4:49 pm
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — Two Jefferson County commissioners face 42 charges based on their refusal to attend meetings and conduct the business of the county. The charges were filed by the State Police and under the oversight of a special prosecutor, John Ours of Grant County, late last week against Tricia Jackson and Jennifer Krouse. […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 12, 2024, 5:29 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A Jefferson County woman was sentenced in federal court last week for nearly three years in prison on charges she sold fentanyl on a college campus. The U.S. Attorney’s office tells The Panhandle News Network Hannah Marie Behm, 54, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 11, 2024, 2:55 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The City of Martinsburg Releases Thursday’s City Council Meeting Agenda ahead of the March 14th meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 6:30 PM in the George Karos Community Room of the Martinsburg Police Department at 125 W. Race Street in Martinsburg. Agenda  1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Salute to Flag […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 11, 2024, 2:24 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Berkeley County’s Sheriff’s Department is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a suspect that eluded law enforcement officers in the early hours of Friday Morning. At approximately 12:24 am on Friday, March 8th, BCSD Deputy Miller was on routine patrol in the 1700 block of Williamsport Pike and observed a black sport […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 8, 2024, 5:28 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore has been a proponent of the Hope Scholarship program, an education savings account (ESA) program that allows families to use the state portion of their education funding to tailor an individualized learning experience. The money can be used toward home school curriculum, private schooling, or tutoring. […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 7, 2024, 6:31 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Quintel N. Owens, age 39, of Katy, Texas, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for selling fentanyl in the Eastern Panhandle. The US Attorney’s office says Owens sold more than 780 grams of fentanyl in Berkeley County over a period of several months. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 7, 2024, 4:52 pm
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — A New York man received his sentence Wednesday for threatening to kill U.S. Senator Joe Manchin two years ago. According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Robert F. Crosson, 60, was sentenced to 16 months in prison. That time will be followed by […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 7, 2024, 1:09 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. —  A Morgan County man has been sentenced in federal court after prosecutors alleged he illegally purchased weapons and sold those firearms to others. Some of the firearms were recovered as part of criminal investigations in other states. U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld tells the Panhandle News Network that Kenneth Carey Markley,  45, of […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 6, 2024, 5:32 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. —  A relatively new initiative to protect domestic violence victims has netted a Jefferson County a decade-long sentence in prison on federal charges involving domestic violence and firearms. U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld’s office says Paul Richard Tomlinson, 24, of Harpers Ferry was sentenced this week to ten years in federal prison for interstate violation […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 6, 2024, 5:26 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A Berkeley County man has been sentenced to serve six years in prison on federal firearms and drug charges.        The U.S. Attorney’s office reports Austin M. Ferguson, 28, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison for the distribution of fentanyl and possession of a […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 6, 2024, 5:19 pm
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. – A Berkeley County man has been sentenced to a decade in federal prison after being found with illicit drugs and  drug paraphernalia.  The U.S. Attorney’s office reports Javier Lewis Howard, age 41, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced this week to 10 years in federal prison to be followed by three years of […]
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 6, 2024, 5:16 pm
CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — The beginning of the year marks budget time for area county commissions. This week, The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office made public its Fiscal Year 2025 presentation packet provided to the Jefferson County Commission.      
Author: Marsha Chwalik
Posted: March 5, 2024, 5:04 pm