Day 35 Roundup

• Lawmakers are taking aim at the "R-Word," The Associated Press reports. The House of Delegates unanimously passed a bill to replace mentions of "mentally retarded" in state law with "intellectually disabled." "Legislators elsewhere have taken or considered similar steps," AP reports. "The topic gained national attention earlier this month when Rahm Emanuel, chief of staff to President Barack Obama, apologized for wielding the word 'retarded' as an insult."

• The Charleston Gazette highlights another legislative target: smoking at the Statehouse. A pending measure would close a loophole left by a previously introduced anti-smoking bill.

• A group of delegates, including the chairs of the House Judiciary and Constitutional Revision committees, have co-sponsored a bill to update the Freedom of Information Act, AP reports. Responding to a November state Supreme Court ruling, the legislation "would apply (FOIA) to any record prepared or received by a public office or official, if its content or context relates to the public's business," the article said.

• Concerns about burglary being deemed a nonviolent defense contributed to the less-than-unanimous Senate passage of Gov. Joe Manchin's accelerated parole bill, according to The Register-Herald of Beckley.

• With the House and Senate marking Veterans Visibility Day, the state's last surviving Medal of Honor recipient, Woody Williams, is calling on Manchin to keep veteran services funded, MetroNews reports.

• Some state employees gave up the chance to stay home for Presidents Day, instead rallying at the Capitol for seniority rights, a cost-of-living increase and an end to involuntary transfers, among other concerns, AP reports.

• Public Broadcasting checks in on the Senate and its discussion of "a project that would establish a broadband connection through 11 southern counties." With audio.

• (Update) AP also reports on political activity spurred by the recurring winter storm, including plans by Senate Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman John Unger, D-Berekeley, to scrutinize the handling of snow and ice at a committee hearing.