Upshur County

The commission meets Thursday with a relatively light agenda. Here’s what I’m watching.

From potential addressing changes to a water plant property acquisition, Thursday’s Buckhannon City Council meeting agenda has a few items worth watching.

Weyerhaeuser has released a community survey to gather ideas on how to invest $1 million in Upshur County through its THRIVE program. Company representatives are seeking broad community input on projects that will benefit the area for years to come.

A renovated church in Hampton has reopened as the Hampton Venue, ready for weddings, reunions and other events. Owner Gary Connell held a ribbon cutting Nov. 21 and is taking bookings now — with a limited-time offer waiving rental fees if you book food through Jaws BBQ.

Several speakers urged the Upshur County Board of Education to keep Rock Cave Elementary open during Tuesday’s regular meeting. A board of state-appointed officials will vote on the closure on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

A Buckhannon man and woman were arrested after a license plate reader pinged a truck that had been reported stolen out of Harrison County.

The Upshur County Sheriff’s Office will place a full-time deputy at Hodgesville Elementary School until January 2026 after a Buckhannon man charged with threatening to shoot students was released on GPS home confinement following a guilty plea.

One after another, dozens of speakers stepped to the podium for nearly four hours Thursday night with the same message for state officials: Don’t close our school. The community rallied, teachers pushed back, students showed what’s at stake. The vote comes November 20.

Organizers say the Almost Heaven BBQ Bash will focus on affordable or free family activities in 2026, adding Lego building contests and donated Lego play areas alongside professional barbecue competition and live music.

Upshur County officials plan to apply for a $5,000 mural grant from the West Virginia Department of Tourism to fund a historic mural.

A Buckhannon man wanted on a New York parole violation was arrested downtown after officers — tipped off by a local bar — found a holstered handgun under his jacket.

A Buckhannon man was arrested after police say he choked a woman who took his beer away and asked him to leave her home.