Legislature 2010: Day 20

• Public Broadcasting reports that Gov. Joe Manchin has proposed eliminating $250,000 from the Department of Health and Human Resources' $781 million budget that allows the West Virginia Center for End of Life Care to operate. A spokesperson said DHHR Secretary Patsy Hardy "would explain the elimination of the program to the House Finance Committee in a budget hearing Monday." With audio.

• The Charleston Daily Mail reports on calls by lawmakers "to further monitor and reign in seemingly exorbitant state contracts and changes to state contracts." These legislators are "concerned that too many agencies have exemptions that allow them to bypass the state Purchasing Division," the article said.

• The West Virginia Council of Churches is championing proposals this session that focus "on treating drug and alcohol addicts, who make up the majority of inmates" in the state's corrections system, The Register-Herald of Beckley reports.

• A pending bill proposing a statewide smoking ban would not extend to "legislative offices at the Capitol," the Daily Mail reports, adding that "the state Capitol Complex remains exempt from Kanawha County's smoking ban because it is technically property of the state."

• Delegate Alex Shook, D-Monongalia, has issued a statement to The Associated Press and others apologizing for his DUI arrest in Charleston last week. Shook, who had earlier decided not to seek re-election, called the incident a "a terrible mistake" and said "he will not let a 'single bad act' define him and will work to redeem himself.