Charleston Gazette-Mail

Documenting news and life in the Mountain State since 1873.
Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper.

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

Follow us on all Gazette-Mail Platforms!

Facebook: https://t.co/Q7FY2FEJAf
Instagram: https://t.co/V8kLuJAwFY
YouTube: https://t.co/rqk1DIqZAS
Newsletters: https://t.co/Amp0d7g5v6
Gazette-Mail app: https://t.co/wBpDRPJeEJ

Plus our website:
https://t.co/ybqfSpZkgi

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

VINTAGE WV: Leonard Thompson, 63, of Fort Gay, knows the location of virtually every rattler and copperhead den in Wayne County.

He says he’s been hunting snakes for 40 years and has never been bitten -- and he doesn’t intend to be bitten. Thompson (right) and his son Charles are shown here trying to scare up a venomous snake around an abandoned house.

Leonard’s fascination with snakes began as a student at Marshall University, where he brought snakes to the zoology class. Charles, an education specialist for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, now assumes the role of Marshall’s snake supplier.

The going rate paid by the region’s snake-handler churches is $5 per foot, but he won’t sell to them.

👉 Find more vintage WV photos at https://t.co/UKpS4qRCL1.

DATE: June 16, 1976
PHOTOGRAPHER: William Tiernan

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

The Department of Justice Tuesday issued a new indictment against the man accused of killing one West Virginia National Guard member and wounding another in an attack in the nation’s capital.

Via @WV_Watch
https://t.co/di8PtF1YQg

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

Make the most of West Virginia Day Saturday with free, family-friendly events at the West Virginia Capitol Complex. @WVtourism is organizing the events to celebrate the Mountain State's 163rd birthday.
https://t.co/YAqjknz0U3

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

Registered Republican totals in Boone County, West Virginia, outpaced those of Democrats for the first time in history, according to voter data released in June 2026.

Via @WV_Watch
https://t.co/yo0lZ8bXnI

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

Nucor Steel West Virginia is on schedule to complete its $4 billion mill in Mason County by the end of this year.
https://t.co/ScIWr5CGDA

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

The Stars and Stripes Jersey is the on the line for the Elite Criterium race on Thursday with the top men’s and women’s cyclists riding the streets of Charleston to capture the discipline’s top prize.
https://t.co/dJOm6wH8xH

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

West Virginia lawmakers had many questions about how or whether they could keep regional data center growth from sending electric bills soaring.
https://t.co/5zlY6ok3hJ

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

BREAKING: One person is dead following a two-vehicle crash on Charleston's West Side Wednesday evening.
https://t.co/VhymhqZ6W5

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

Barboursville, state have different ideas on how to repurpose former juvenile facility https://t.co/4jp4fKRWV1

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

Most voters in West Virginia support keeping school vaccination requirements, according to a poll released last week.

Via @WV_Watch
https://t.co/CHy5cp3Lr5

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

The Cecil E. Roberts Legacy Museum in Charleston held its grand opening on Tuesday. The museum honors Roberts of Cabin Creek, who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America for 30 years until retiring in 2025.
https://t.co/nUhcE0ZcVE

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

Visitors to the Culture Center at the Capitol Complex might have noticed recent changes at the gift shop, beginning after the close of business last Saturday.
https://t.co/5IXaDSfl8W

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

The West Virginia Department of Education is working with local partners this summer to provide statewide feeding sites for those 18 years old and younger, working to put together nutritious meals while navigating surging food costs.

Via @WV_Watch
https://t.co/lXXOgdnW93

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

Two Charleston natives earned permanent recognition on the Obama Presidential Center’s Worker Appreciation Wall — ahead of its Thursday dedication — for their work with the Obama Foundation.
https://t.co/bLfaKRs4tf

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

BREAKING: An arrest has been made in a homicide investigation that began with a fatal car fire in Cabin Creek on Sunday.
https://t.co/QMzXcCek9m

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

FOOD GUY: Restaurant reviewer Steven Keith attended the 2026 James Beard Awards gala and after-party on Monday in Chicago, where two West Virginia restaurants were honored on the nation’s biggest culinary stage.

Via @WVFoodGuy
https://t.co/kijXZA3orl

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

The toxic legacy left behind decades ago by the coal mining industry in one of the nation’s most environmentally aggrieved communities is deepening as federal regulators pursue another multimillion-dollar contamination cleanup plan.
https://t.co/1w7RYrRFuS

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

The two newest justices on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals will be involved in deciding how the court will proceed with a case at the heart of a fight over the future of the state���s strict school vaccination requirements.

Via @WV_Watch
https://t.co/920HqXY90J

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

The first four performances are in the books for the 10-week schedule of free music in downtown Charleston as part of the 2026 Live on the Levee summer concert series.
https://t.co/cmBpcnTADf

[Charleston Gazette-Mail @wvgazettemail]

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has proposed disposal deadlines and stipulated penalties to crack down on a Huntington steel mill operator that has failed to properly label and struggled to get rid of radioactive dust.
https://t.co/iJUi0XZrPx