By Gov. Jim Justice The special session will resume today, Monday, May 15. The goal remains the same: pass a budget that will put West Virginia on a pathway to prosperity. But what we have to understand is there is something that is being terribly forgotten here. The[Read More…]
Month: May 2017
Highmark Inc.’s anti-fraud programs continue to see results
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Highmark Inc.’s reports that it’s anti-fraud efforts continue to be highly effective in combating fraud, waste and abuse. During the past five years Highmark reports it’s fraud team has helped to detect or prevent abuses such as fraudulent claims, saving hundreds of millions of dollars for its[Read More…]
US Attorney General Sessions discusses opioid epidemic in WV
By ERIC EYRE and JAKE ZUCKERMAN Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The chief law enforcement officer of the United States pushed for a tough-on-drugs criminal justice approach to combat the growing opioid epidemic at a speech in Charleston on Thursday, running counter to recent efforts in fighting the region’s addiction[Read More…]
Proposed federal cuts to trafficking prevention catch eye of local lawmakers, law enforcement
By WILSON R. HARVEY The Exponent Telegram CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — As local police agencies continue their fight against the spread of drugs in the area, a potential thorn is prepared to sidetrack their efforts. According to a document obtained by The New York Times, the White House’s proposed federal budget[Read More…]
Ojeda, Phillips latest to declare runs for Congress
By JAKE ZUCKERMAN Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two state legislators from Logan County announced their candidacies for the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. Delegate Rupie Phillips Jr., an independent who said he would join the Republican Party for his run, and Sen. Richard Ojeda, who was elected to[Read More…]
WV economy shrunk in 2016, federal analysis says
By JIM ROSS The State Journal CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia was one of seven states whose economic output fell last year, according to a federal report issued May 11. The Bureau of Economic Analysis said the state’s gross domestic product declined 0.9 of 1 percent last year when the[Read More…]
Senators introduce Miners Pension Protection Act
By ANDREA LANNOM The Register-Herald CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito joined several others in introducing a bill aimed at securing miners’ pensions. Senators introduced the Miners Pension Protection Act, which secures pensions by shoring up the 1974 pension plan, according to a Thursday news[Read More…]
Revised CSB report on Freedom spill makes no new recommendations
By KEN WARD JR. Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigators on Thursday issued a revised report that contains new estimates of the size and duration of the January 2014 chemical spill at Freedom Industries, but does not make any changes in the board’s findings about the[Read More…]
Blankenship plans US Supreme Court appeal
By KEN WARD JR. Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship will be asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of his conviction for conspiring to violate federal mine safety and health standards, his lawyers confirmed Thursday. Blankenship’s defense team filed a short form[Read More…]
Police, school system investigate after first grader brings unloaded handgun to school
Staff reports The Exponent Telegram STONEWOOD, W.Va. — Police and school officials are investigating how a first-grade student brought an unloaded handgun to Norwood Elementary Thursday morning. The girl apparently brought the gun to show classmates, Harrison School Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin told The Exponent Telegram. At no time were[Read More…]