The forecast, prepared with assistance from the West Virginia Division of Forestry, is the third in a series of fall foliage updates the Tourism Office will release over the next few weeks. Reports will include the percentage of color change across the state and suggested travel routes through peak areas.

“Fall color is popping up all over the state,” said West Virginia Tourism Commissioner Chelsea Ruby. “While some of our higher elevations have peaked, there are still several weeks’ worth of leaf peeping ahead in southern West Virginia and the panhandles.”

Travelers are encouraged to share their favorite fall photos using #AlmostHeaven to help populate the Tourism Office’s live leaf map—available at WVtourism.com/fall.

“There are several areas of our state that still need those iconic fall photos added to the map,” said Ruby. “The live leaf map is to help travelers plan their future fall getaway or bring those along for a virtual journey through fall color, so I encourage all West Virginia fans to post your favorite fall photos of Almost Heaven.”

Travelers visiting West Virginia to see fall color are encouraged to check the status of individual businesses before taking a trip. A statewide indoor face covering requirement is in effect and visitors are encouraged to maintain a safe social distance when traveling the state.

To access the foliage forecast and fall travel inspiration, visit WVtourism.com/fall.

Fall Foliage Update

For the best views this weekend, seek out areas in north-central and eastern West Virginia, where color is between 75% and 100%, with some of the highest elevations just past peak. Warm hues are saturating the hills of Randolph County along Cheat Mountain west toward Kumbrabow State Forest and the Swiss mountain village of Helvetia, and in Webster County from Williams River in the south to Holly River State Park in the north.

Featured Country Road: W.Va. 310 in Marion County

Pops of yellow and red are beginning to show along W.Va. Route 310 from Grafton to Fairmont, making this a great weekend to get out and enjoy a scenic drive. Points of interest along this country road include Tygart Lake State Park, where you can see fall colors surrounding the 10-mile-long lake.

Head north on 310, stopping at Valley Falls State Park for a hike by the rippling waters of the Tygart Valley River. Then wrap up your leaf-peeping excursion in the city of Fairmont with a hearty Italian meal, a decadent dessert, or some history hunting.

As you travel down these fall-lined country roads, post and share photos using #AlmostHeaven. To read more about this featured road trip click here.

For fall photos along this road trip, click here.

Applications for the up to $4,750-per-year college scholarship are still being accepted until March 1 for those who want to start receiving the money for next fall.

As long as you apply and fill out the required Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by then, you can still submit the required SAT or ACT score until Aug. 31.

But Chancellor Sarah Tucker noted Friday that a little more than 2,300 students had applied so far, compared to more than 6,700 last school year.

“These numbers worry me,” she told members of a higher education policy board. “And they should worry all of you.”

She cited multiple reasons for the drop — all related to the pandemic and the connected school closures.

“High school students are dealing with immediate concerns right now: Are they going to be in school in-person, are their sports going to be playing, how do they keep their grades up and, most importantly, how do they stay safe, how do they keep their families safe?” Tucker said.

Also, “we have so many [high school] students who have chosen to go to virtual school and so many students who have chosen to do homeschooling this year.”

Online-only public and private school students, as well as homeschoolers, are eligible for the scholarship, just like in-person public schoolers. Many students are enrolled in-person currently but are only attending online because COVID-19 related issues have shuttered their classrooms.

Tucker said many high schools used to put all their seniors together in a computer lab and have them fill out applications, but they can’t do that currently.

“We also have [high school] counselors who are spread really, really thin,” she said. “They’re trying to deal with food insecurity, they’re trying to deal with mom and dad calling because of fears about COVID, they’re trying to deal with making sure classes are safe for their students — and filling out the Promise Scholarship is, understandably, not on the forefront of their minds right now.”

Tucker said her agencies are planning to run a digital marketing campaign this December to attract applicants.

She said to increase applications, “the best way I know how to do that is just to keep talking about it and talking about it and talking about it and talking about it, until people are sick and tired of hearing me talk about it — because then maybe they’ll fill out their applications.”

You can use the scholarship to attend in-state public and private nonprofit two-year or four-year schools, like West Virginia University and West Virginia Wesleyan College. You can go to cfwv.com/promise to learn more about the requirements and apply.

Also Friday, the state Higher Education Policy Commission board, to whom Tucker spoke, put off voting on approving incoming West Liberty University president W. Franklin Evans’ compensation.

A spokeswoman for the commission said the commission doesn’t yet have a signed contract. A spokeswoman for West Liberty said the university failed to send a letter to the commission saying the university’s Board of Governors had approved the contract, so the approval had to be deferred to a later date.

West Liberty has offered Evans a two-year contract with a base salary of $225,000 per year. Atop that, the contract would give him a $1,000 monthly vehicle stipend for a vehicle for both professional and personal use and require him and his family to stay in the university president’s house, for free.

Fanti Group is an Italian industrial group, founded in 1948, specializing in packaging, owned by the Fanti family. The group has an aggregate revenue of 120 million euro, operates several plants in Italy along with several production and commercial entities in Europe, Russia, and Africa that manufacture more than 100 million metal cans every year.

“My father Giorgio Fanti, founder of Fanti Group, visited this area in the United States for the first time in the 70’s to see how U.S. manufacturers worked and to see if it was possible to buy some steel,” said Stefano Fanti, Chairman of Fanti Packaging. “I was a kid at that time, but I still remember when he left home ‘per l’America’ and when he returned to Italy after a long business trip bringing lots of ‘strange’ presents and toys. Now, after 50 years, I am glad to achieve my father’s American dream by starting a production plant in the United States. Our U.S. entity will be established in Weirton, West Virginia, and it will be legally owned by our main company located in Bologna, Italy, that has the name of my father.”

West Virginia was one of three states in consideration for the company’s expansion into the United States.

“Fanti USA will be the largest expansion in the history of the Fanti Group,” said Nicola De Santis – CFO, M&A, Business Development, Board Member of Fanti Group. “In West Virginia, we found the right place to expand. We studied the market, the supply chain, and the potential locations intensively. We traveled extensively before the COVID limitations and met a lot of people across the United States. Here in West Virginia we plan to initially create 20 jobs and to grow to 40-50 jobs after 3-4 years. One of the main reasons we have chosen West Virginia is because of the great support from the Governor’s Office and the West Virginia Development Office. Their great assistance to develop our project made our decision easy.”

Gruppo Fanti’s leadership team visited West Virginia in early 2019 as part of their due diligence in finding their U.S. expansion site.

“While we competed with Pennsylvania and Ohio for this new plant, our state’s pro-business climate, made possible by the business experience and incredible leadership of Governor Justice, along with our manufacturing base and an incredible workforce helped us prevail in the end,” said West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Ed Gaunch.

“Weirton has a long history with manufacturing,” said West Virginia State Senator Ryan Weld. “The loss of Weirton Steel was obviously a huge blow to the area. But since then, Weirton has been adding bricks to the wall of Weirton’s comeback and Weirton’s future: Pietro Fiorentini, Bidell, and now Fanti Group.

“I’d like to think everybody’s leadership for coming together and putting this new brick in place.”

The company is modifying an existing site in Weirton and plans to start production in Q2 of 2022.

“West Virginia, and particularly the Northern Panhandle, is noted for its industrial background, cooperative spirit, and dedication to get things done. Gruppo Fanti’s decision to locate their new plant in Weirton is the result of those traits,” said Marvin Six, executive director of the Business Development Corporation of the Northern Panhandle. “We worked closely with the West Virginia Development Office, State Auditor’s office, and the Brooke County Commission over the last eight months to demonstrate our strengths. Gruppo Fanti’s investment in our area illustrates the confidence international companies have locating their plants here.”

“This is nothing but a giant team effort,” Gov. Justice said. “You’ll find that West Virginia is really, really on the move and West Virginia has now become the diamond in the rough that everybody missed.

“The biggest thing that I need to do is in someway convey to you our level of appreciation and our level of support,” Gov. Justice continued. “We will always be there for you, and I believe we’re going to have an incredible relationship.”

“No way, shape or form,” Manchin said.

Republicans, fearing losing control of the upper chamber, are using the prospect of Democrats packing the Supreme Court and eliminating the filibuster to influence the runoff election for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, Manchin said.

Since no one received a majority in the election for Senate in Georgia on Nov. 3, a runoff election will be held Jan. 5 between the top two finishers for the full term and for an unexpired term.

Democratic victories for the Senate in Georgia would result in 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans and the Democrats taking control as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would cast the deciding vote when there is a tie.

The threat that Democrats will expand the number of justices to stack the Supreme Court or eliminate the filibuster is a “scare tactic” by the Republicans, Manchin said.

If the Democrats should win the seats in Georgia, which is possible because of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory there, There won’t be a tie vote for Harris to break on the Supreme Court or filibuster issues because Manchin said he will vote against it.

“I’ve laid that fear to rest,” he said.

The Founding Fathers intended there to be a body, the Senate, where the minority can be a check and balance on power and everyone works in a bipartisan way, Manchin said. The filibuster is the check and balance, he said.

Otherwise, the minority would have no input, Manchin said.

“Without it (the filibuster), then you break the Senate,” he said.

The House of Representatives has no filibuster rule, so former congressmen who are elected to the Senate see things from a different perspective, Manchin said. Senators who were governors, for example, like Manchin, see it from a point of view including the minority, he said.

“Their mindset is different from ours,” Manchin said.

Manchin’s stand had little influence on Melody Potter, chairwoman of the West Virginia Republican Party.

“West Virginians can’t trust a word Joe Manchin says these days; his opinions shift with the winds coming off the Potomac swamp,” Potter said. “He voted against Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation, voted to impeach President Donald Trump, has voted against COVID relief funding and voted against tax cuts. We look forward to beating him if he runs for re-election.”

Manchin said he voted against Barrett because the Senate has never confirmed a Supreme Court justice for a vacancy that arose after July in an election year.

Divisive issues further split a nation that is already divided, Manchin said.

An issue with a definite impact in Georgia and other states including West Virginia would be healthcare and the Affordable Care Act, Manchin said. Georgia, like West Virginia, has experienced the closure of rural hospitals, he said. Also, funds to states through the act, besides helping people, create jobs, including 16,000 jobs in West Virginia, he said.

In the Georgia races, Democrat Raphael Warnock, who received about 33 percent of the vote, will face Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who received about 26 percent.

In the other race, Republican Sen. David Perdue received 49.7 percent of the vote to Democrat Jon Ossoff’s 48 percent.

During the briefing, Gov. Justice announced that, at his direction, West Virginia Insurance Commissioner Jim Doddrill has approved $43 million in premium credits on all small and large group healthcare plans of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield in West Virginia.

The credit will help nearly 3,000 small and large West Virginia businesses with the cost of offering group healthcare plans in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.

“This approval will enable Highmark to provide each of its small and large commercial group policy holders a one-time credit in consideration of the difficulties experienced by West Virginia businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gov. Justice said. “This is really good stuff for a whole lot of businesses and great West Virginian workers.”

The Governor added that the total insurance premium relief that has been implemented for West Virginia consumers and businesses due to COVID-19 is now more than $140 million.

“As the USDA continues to finetune federal regulations, we felt it was important not to rush into new rules and regulations. With uncertainty on several key issues, we do not want to put our farmers at a competitive disadvantage,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt.

Currently, 21 states will continue to operate under the 2014 Farm Bill with three states opting for federal oversight by the USDA. Neighboring Virginia and Kentucky will continuing to operate under the 2014 Farm Bill while Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania have approved plans that meet the requirements of the 2018 Farm Bill. West Virginia’s state plan had been approved by the USDA to take affect October 31 of this year, but the WVDA asked to delay the implementation until September 30, 2021.

“The Department sent the USDA comments from staff and producers regarding their current rules. We hope they take these into consideration and make the necessary adjustments to help our farmers before we move forward,” said Leonhardt. “For our farmers to be successful, we need clear, concise regulations enforced equally across the country.”

The following comments were sent to the USDA regarding federal regulations: https://agriculture.wv.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/WVDA-Comments-USDA-IFR-1082020.pdf

For more information or questions, contact John Moredock at 304-558-2212 or jmoredock@wvda.us.

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials who sits on the Board of Public Works.

“The West Virginia Department of Agriculture is warning the public to be on the lookout for these products. If you suspect you have purchased tainted goods, we encourage consumers to return those products to the retail store they purchased it from or discard the product,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt.

The best by date of the bottle is located on the side of the bottle cap. The recall was initiated after it was discovered that product smelled like cleaning agent.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at 540-721-2045 or the West Virginia Department of Agriculture at 304-558-2227.

Affected products include:

A2A2 2% half gallon; Creamline Whole Milk half gallon; Homogenized Whole Milk half gallon; Homogenized Whole Milk quart; 2% Half gallon; 2% Milk quart; Non-Fat Creamline Milk half gallon; Non-Fat Creamline Milk quart; Chocolate Milk half gallon; Chocolate Milk quart; Orange Cream Milk quart; Orange Cream Milk quart; Cowpuccino Milk quart; Heavy Cream quart; Half and Half quart; Buttermilk quart; Lemonade half gallon; Eggnog quart returnable bottle; Old Fashioned Custard returnable quart bottle; Eggnog half gallon returnable bottle; Eggnog quart returnable bottle; and Old Fashioned Custard nonreturnable bottle.

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials who sits on the Board of Public Works.

“We are so excited to be able to bring classical music to our WVSO patrons throughout the state,” said Music Director Larry Loh. “During these uncertain times, we must rely on technology to help us to continue to share the gift of music, and we are thankful for our friends at WV Public Broadcasting for helping to make this a reality.”

President of the WVSO, Joe Tackett had this to say; “After hours of discussions with our musicians, we are proud to make a commitment to bring back music in a new, safe way. While the pandemic has caused massive upheaval, we will be doing all that we can to financially support our musicians and stagehands so we can keep the music playing. We have made a promise to our community to innovate, and not hibernate”.

The WVSO will stream live from the WV Culture Center on Sunday, November 15 at 3:00 p.m. Current WVSO subscribers will receive complimentary access to the stream as a thank you for their loyal support.

Tickets for access to the stream are available for $15 for single tickets and $25 for family tickets and can be purchased through wvsymphony.org. As a thank you for your loyal support, all subscribers to the 20-21 season will receive complimentary access to the live stream. This access is available to subscribers regardless if they have received a refund or made a donation for the cancelled concerts in 20-21. For more information or questions regarding access, please contact Amanda McDonald, amcdonald@wvsymphony.org or 304-957-9880.

Thanks to a partnership with WV Public Broadcasting, the November 15 stream will be broadcast on WV Public Television on Friday, November 27 at 8:30 p.m.

The all-strings orchestra will kick off the November concert with a performance of Elgar’s Serenade. Following, Music Director Lawrence Loh will lead the Symphony in performing George Walker’s Lyric for Strings. Walker wrote Lyric for Strings when he was only 24 years old. Walker, who passed at the age of 96 in 2018, was the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. The show will conclude with an arrangement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, featuring return soloist Orion Weiss on the piano.

The concert is made possible through the generous support of the Elliot Foundation, Encova Insurance, and Suttle and Stalnaker. The WVSO thanks its loyal patrons for their continued support and engagement during this time.

The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra is West Virginia’s premier performing arts organization, presenting classical, pops, and chamber-music concerts annually throughout the Mountain State. Currently entering its 82nd season, the WVSO is a proud member of the community and enriches the region by providing affordable, high-quality concerts, collaborations with West Virginia arts organizations and a nationally award-winning education program.

At this month’s state social-work convention, Bob Hansen, executive director of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources’ Office of Drug Control Policy, urged treatment providers to get their patients to download its “Connections” app for cellphones.

The app gives folks in recovery a personal touch, from peer support to one-to-one messaging, which Hansen said is especially needed during this time of social distancing.

“There’s been an early study that, really,” said Hansen, “access to treatment has not been dramatically reduced and the good reason has been the use of telemedicine and the technologies.”

A recent study in Appalachia shows women with substance abuse disorders who used the Connections app stayed in treatment longer than those who didn’t.

Although telehealth is a prime support for people with addiction problems during the pandemic, statistics show the number of overdoses since March has risen in West Virginia and across the nation.

To counter this, Hansen pointed out his group is also working to get more Naloxone on the streets.

“We’re working with homeless agencies, health departments and treatment providers to get as much Naloxone out there” said Hansen. “So that, if people are still using drugs and if they overdose, our goal is to save as many lives as possible.”

Emergency medical responses to suspected drug overdoses in West Virginia soared to more than a thousand in May, at the height of the pandemic. In June, the number dropped to about 850, but that’s almost 200 more than the same time last year.