Obama Nominates Goodwin for U.S. Attorney in W.Va.

President Barack Obama has nominated R. Booth Goodwin, a federal prosecutor and son of a U.S. District judge, to the top job at his office in that district, The Associated Press and others report.

Goodwin has been an assistant U.S. Attorney for eight years in the state's southern federal court district. U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., had jointly recommended Goodwin as U.S. Attorney.

Goodwin's father is the chief judge of the district. "The prosecutor has won praise for his role in an investigation of widespread political corruption in southern West Virginia," AP reports.

The Charleston Gazette also has an item. "If confirmed, Goodwin would be the first U.S. Attorney for West Virginia to go through the official nomination process since Kasey Warner, who left the office in 2005 under mysterious circumstances," that article noted. "Current U.S. Attorney Chuck Miller has held the position since Warner's ouster."