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BLUEFIELD (NEWS RELEASE) – This Thursday, June 20, Cherry Street will be closed from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to all but emergency vehicle traffic from Bluefield Regional Medical Center to Highlawn Avenue.More >> BLUEFIELD (NEWS RELEASE) – This Thursday, June 20, Cherry Street will be closed from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to all but emergency vehicle traffic from Bluefield Regional Medical Center to Highlawn Avenue.More >> ANSTED (WVVA) - Two individuals were taken into custody in Fayette County after placing a false 911 call. A call was received through the Fayette County 911 Center at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday stating a pairMore >> ANSTED (WVVA) - Two individuals were taken into custody in Fayette County after placing a false 911 call. A call was received through the Fayette County 911 Center at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday stating a pairMore >> BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) -- A former Massey Energy official who is cooperating in the investigation of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster is asking a judge for leniency when he's sentenced Aug. 1. DefenseMore >> BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) -- A former Massey Energy official who is cooperating in the investigation of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster is asking a judge for leniency when he's sentenced Aug. 1. DefenseMore >> PRINCETON (NEWS RELEASE) - In July 2008, The Del McCoury Band took the stage for the inaugural show of the community's first performing arts center of its kind. One hundred and seven regular season performancesMore >> PRINCETON (NEWS RELEASE) - In July 2008, The Del McCoury Band took the stage for the inaugural show of the community's first performing arts center of its kind. One hundred and seven regular season performancesMore >> ATHENS (WVVA) - Crews responded to I-77 northbound near mile marker 17 Tuesday morning after a vehicle crashed through a guard rail and over the embankment. Only one vehicle was involved. There's no wordMore >> ATHENS (WVVA) - A woman was transported to a nearby hospital after a vehicle went off Interstate 77 and over an embankment Tuesday. The crash occurred at approximately 10 a.m. around mile marker 17 --More >> Mercer County Sheriff's Deputies are investigating an armed robbery in Green Valley Tuesday. It happened at Pop's Sports Bar on Maple Acres Road around 3:15a.m. According to dispatchers, detectivesMore >> Mercer County Sheriff's Deputies are investigating an armed robbery in Glenwood Tuesday. The Mercer County Sheriff's Office says a male entered Pop's Sports Bar on Maple Acres Road around 3 a.m. by smashingMore >> BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) -- A Fayette County man faces charges of sexually assaulting a female patient in the psychiatric ward at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital. Beckley police tell media outlets thatMore >> BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) -- A Fayette County man faces charges of sexually assaulting a female patient in the psychiatric ward at Beckley Appalachian Regional Hospital. Beckley police tell media outlets thatMore >> Bluefield (WVVA) -- A very small, isolated thunderstorm brought intense rainfall to the Beckley area Monday night. This slow-moving storm dumped upwards of 2-3 inches in just an hour to MacArthur, Daniels,More >> Bluefield (WVVA) -- A very small, isolated thunderstorm brought intense rainfall to the Beckley area Monday night. This slow-moving storm dumped upwards of 2-3 inches in just an hour to MacArthur, Daniels,More >> Buchanan County authorities arrest a man after finding a meth lab in his home. A narcotics task force team arrested Eddie Dwayne Green, 38, of Puncheon Camp Road Saturday afternoon. The team was executingMore >> Buchanan County authorities arrest a man after finding a meth lab in his home. A narcotics task force team arrested Eddie Dwayne Green, 38, of Puncheon Camp Road Saturday afternoon. The team was executingMore >>
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies confiscated more than $1.5 billion worth of marijuana this year in Appalachia, a region where widespread unemployment may be enticing some people to grow pot to support their families.
Ed Shemelya, head of marijuana eradication in the Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, said aerial spotters guided ground crews to more than 750,000 plants during the 2012 growing season in the mountains of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Shemelya said nearly 430,000 of the marijuana plants were found in Kentucky. Preliminary figures showed more than 192,000 plants confiscated in West Virginia and more than 147,000 in Tennessee.
The Appalachian region, a haven for moonshiners during Prohibition, has a near-perfect climate for marijuana cultivation, plus remote forests that help growers camouflage their crops.
