Charleston - United States

LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate crime boss in HBO's "The Sopranos" was the brilliant center of one of TV's greatest drama series and turned the mobster stereotype on its head, died Wednesday in Italy. He was 51.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Best-selling author Vince Flynn, who wrote the Mitch Rapp counterterrorism thriller series and sold more than 15 million books in the U.S. alone, died Wednesday in Minnesota after a more than two-year battle with prostate cancer, according to friends and his publisher. He was 47.

BOSTON (AP) — Jonathan Toews broke a scoring slump in Chicago's three-goal onslaught in the second period against previously stingy goalie Tuukka Rask, and the Blackhawks led the Boston Bruins 4-3 through two periods in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals on Wednesday night.

FAIRPORT, Mich. (AP) — A wooden beam that has long been the focus of the search for a 17th century shipwreck in northern Lake Michigan was not attached to a buried vessel as searchers had suspected, but still may have come from the elusive Griffin or some other ship, archaeologists said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI uses drones for surveillance of stationary subjects, and the privacy implications of such operations are "worthy of debate," FBI Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday.

The death in Italy of James Gandolfini, who played Mafia boss Tony Soprano on the popular HBO show "The Sopranos," was part of an unusual convergence of mob-related news making headlines this week. Here's a look:

In celebration of West Virginia's 150th birthday, our sports staff decided to take a look at some of the athletes, coaches and venues that make sports in the Mountain State special.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Morgantown-based radio company filed a wide-ranging lawsuit against West Virginia University officials and a television station group Wednesday, asking a judge to block WVU from awarding a lucrative me...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- OK, so lets get something straight right off the bat here: When West Virginia was born, so to speak, 150 years ago today, sports werent that big a deal. Yes, they were playing some golf over in Scotland, where the British Open was abou...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The media company owned by John Raese filed a lawsuit late Wednesday against numerous administrators at West Virginia University and another media company in the latest action involving the universitys athletic media rights.We...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has vowed to fight government overreach, but the West Virginia ACLU and womens health advocates say it is Morrisey whos doing the overreaching.The ACLU and WV Free say Morrisey ap...

“The Road to Statehood” airs Thursday night at 8 p.m. on West Virginia PBS, in commemoration of the state’s 150th birthday.

WHEELING, W.Va. — Ohio County state Delegate Ryan Ferns said his vote Tuesday against fellow Democrat and new House Speaker Tim Miley was a protest vote. Ferns believed that certain outside special-interest groups were going too far to sway votes. “What I believed were excessive bullying tactics,” he said on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.” Ferns was the only Democrat, outside of Miley himself, to vote against Miley. Ferns said he has no problem with special interest groups endorsing certain candidates, but don’t bully and in some cases threaten delegates. “I wasn’t going to stand by and be a part of that type of action for a speakers election,”...

WHEELING, W.Va. –It could have been called Kanawha, Augusta, Allegheny or Vandalia. But all of those names were rejected in favor of West Virginia, the state that officially marks its 150th birthday on Thursday. Those who created West Virginia out of the western part of Virginia debated the name of the new state, its shape and its rules for governance on the third floor of the federal customs house in Wheeling which later became known as Independence Hall. On Wednesday night, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, members of the Legislature, Wheeling Mayor Andy McKenzie and other state and local leaders returned to the same...

SUTTON, W.Va. — Deputies in Braxton County said they have caught the teenagers responsible for vandalizing nearly every school bus owned by the county school system. One by one the windows and windshields were broken out of 30 vehicles sometime early Wednesday morning in a parking lot near Sutton. Braxton County Director of Curriculum Services Brenda Wells told MetroNews it was nothing more than senseless vandalism. “I just can’t imagine who would do that when we are here to support kids. That’s what it’s all about,” she said. “It’s just frustrating to find that people don’t see the big picture of things.” Only one or...

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — Two men from Maryland were rescued Tuesday from a run-away dock on the Ohio River. The WVDNR District 6 Office in Parkersburg was notified by 911 around 11:30 a.m. that two individuals had been spotted on a run-away floating dock just north of Blennerhassett Island across from Belpre, Ohio. Officials with the DNR said recent weather had left the river high, muddy, and full of debris, which made a rescue attempt difficult and dangerous. Two Natural Resource Officers responded to the call. They launched one of the agency’s patrol boats and began searching for the run-away dock.  After a brief search, the dock with...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia Radio Corp. alleges the WVU Foundation violated state and federal non-profit laws by forfeiting more than $5 million in 2007 from a loan to WV Media. File photo West Virginia AD Oliver Luck was listed among 10 defendants in the lawsuit WVRC filed Wednesday. WVRC’s wide-ranging lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Monongalia County Circuit Court, names 10 defendants in all, including WVU president Jim Clements, athletics director Oliver Luck, WVU Board of Governors chairman Drew Payne and WV Media president Bray Cary. The suit claims unlawful dealings tainted the 2008 purchase of a scoreboard for Milan Puskar Stadium and...

WHEELING, W.Va. – Taxes are changing in Wheeling. On Tuesday, Wheeling’s City Council approved a .5 percent addition to the sales tax, reduced the business and occupation taxes for retailers by 26 percent and eliminated the B&O taxes for manufacturers. “The B&O tax is the most archaic tax in the state of West Virginia, but still in the City of Wheeling we need to have a police force, a fire department, an inspection department and (have) infrastructure needs,” said Wheeling Mayor Andy McKenzie. McKenzie said the addition to the sales tax will help offset the losses that will come with the reduction and...