Security at W.Va.'s Capitol

With an armed police force, concrete barriers and myriad cameras amid its features, security at the West Virginia state Capitol has made strides within the last decade or so, The Charleston Gazette reports.

The article recalls a series of eyebrow-raising incidents from the 1990s:

• Someone hauled away an ATM containing nearly $20,000 from the Capitol's East Wing;
• $7,000 worth of camera equipment was stolen from the photo lab in the Capitol basement;
• 13 personal computers "disappeared" after being delivered to Building 3's loading dock;
• A contract security guard pleaded guilty to stealing more than $62,000 from Capitol Complex parking meters;
• Members of a state employees' union took the Senate Judiciary Committee hostage, refusing to allow committee members to leave unless they voted for a collective-bargaining bill.

The story follows up on coverage of a proposed 6-foot-tall, 960-foot-long fence "around the Governor's Mansion, past the Holly Grove mansion and up Greenbrier Street to the mansion driveway. Four contractors have bid on the project, with bids ranging from $478,000 to $868,161."