MonacoGate Upends Massey Ruling

With a circuit judge sitting in for disqualified Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard, the state Supreme Court has voided its earlier reversal of a $76.3 million judgment against Massey Energy Co.

Thursday's 5-0 vote granted the petition for rehearing sought by Harman Mining Co. and Hugh Caperton, which had won the judgment.

As The Associated Press and others report, Maynard's recusal and Thursday's outcome follow "the release of vacation photos showing him with Don Blankenship, Massey's chairman, president and chief executive officer, while the judgment was headed for appeal."

The two sides will again argue the appeal March 12.

Lawyers for Harman and Caperton reacted to the decision by urging the joint recusal of Justices Larry Starcher and Brent Benjamin. Starcher has been a frequent critic of Massey and Blankenship, while Benjamin "was elected in 2004 after Blankenship spent millions on ads that promoted his candidacy by attacking his Democratic opponent," AP notes.

"The Court would gain great credibility, public confidence in the judicial system would be restored, and the litigants would take great comfort that justice will be done," the lawyers' statement said.

Thursday's order included comments from Starcher, who said "the majority" had denied both he and Benjamin time to consider recusal. He also said in the order:

I have an absolute right and duty to comment publicly on that issue, although my language should have been more temperate, I admit. But I can separate that opinion from my understanding of the law.

That comment helped prompt the recusal statement from Harman and Caperton's lawyers.

AP reports that "Starcher also noted the ad campaign that benefited Benjamin, but said that 'he, I am sure, also sincerely believes he can separate that fact from his understanding of the applicable law.'"

The AP article also had this:

The Monaco photos grabbed national headlines. Starcher has since asked for an independent probe to examine other allegations he said "raise extremely serious legal and ethical issues." While providing no details in his Tuesday memo to court administrators, Starcher said he is prepared to share what he knows with investigators.

The justices discussed the memo during a Thursday conference and "are, of course, taking a studied and deliberate approach to this issue," Bundy said. "I have no resolution to report."

Others with the story include The Charleston Gazette and MetroNews.

Decidedly different takes can be found here, here, here and here. Each seems to ignore the analysis of scholars at the Louis Stein Center for Law & Ethics at Fordham University's law school, the Stanford Center on Ethics at Stanford University's law school, and the law schools of New York University, the University of Connecticut, Georgetown University, George Mason University and West Virginia University.

Bush Coming to West Virginia (Corrected)

President Bush expects to make his 22nd trip to the Mountain State and his fourth visit to The Greenbier with a Friday speech at the storied resort.

As the Charleston Daily Mail reports, Bush is slated to attend the 2008 "Congress of Tomorrow," a "conference for the benefit of members of the U.S. Congress and their staffs."

Governor figures in Coach Rod E-Mail Revelation

Gov. Joe Manchin played a role in the back-and-forth between West Virginia University and then-football head coach Rich Rodriguez and his agent that preceded his ugly departure to Michigan, The Associated Press reports.

AP's Vicki Smith obtained a stream of e-mails that detail the behind-the-scenes machinations that have roiled the program and WVU fans. "They show (agent Mike) Brown fighting for more operational and marketing control over the football program and over money Rodriguez helped raise through a booster organization he founded," Smith reports.

Smith also reports that "In e-mails to WVU president Mike Garrison and his chief of staff, Craig Walker, Brown also complains of Gov. Joe Manchin interfering with the program."

Smith's exclusive has gotten play well beyond West Virginia's borders. The Charleston Gazette asks Manchin about the story. Others with local reaction to its revelations include Public Broadcasting and MetroNews.

Short Takes from the Session: Day 16 (Updated)

BUCKS FOR JOBS: West Virginia and Marshall universities, the intended beneficiaries, are praising Gov. Joe Manchin's proposed $50 million investment to endow a research fund. The Associated Press, The Charleston Gazette, MetroNews and the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington are among those with stories.

ABORTION: Manchin tells MetroNews' Talkline show that he would sign a pending bill "that would stop state money from funding for elective abortions for poor women." The governor "says, philosophically, funding for those elective abortions should not be part of the basic health care expenditures of the state," MetroNews reports. With audio.

'CAPTIVE' MEETINGS: Following some disagreement over the measure when it was crafted during interim meetings, lawmakers have introduced a bill "that would bar employers from forcing workers to hear talks on religious or labor matters," the Register-Herald of Beckley reports.

DRIVING WHILE DIALING: The House Roads and Transportation Committee voted down a bill Wednesday "that would have outlawed drivers talking on hand-held cell phones," The Gazette reports. Some committee members called for an interim study instead.

REAL ID: West Virginia could join the roster of states "refusing to change what appears on their driver's licenses to meet new national security standards," The State Journal reports.

PUBLIC TV (Update): The new director of the state Educational Broadcasting Authority told lawmakers he's arrived to find a "gaping hole" in his TV stations' audience: the 18-to-49 demographic. The Gazette has details.

DNR (Update): As part of its ongoing scrutiny of the state budget, the Charleston Daily Mail reports that "a decline in hunting and fishing license sales has left a $1.8 million budget hole for the state Division of Natural Resources."

Legislature 2008: Teachers

Oft-competing groups representing teachers have come out strong - and united - to decry Gov. Joe Manchin's teacher pay raise package.

"Leaders of the West Virginia Education Association, American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia and the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association issued a rare joint release Wednesday, calling the governor's proposals misleading and divisive," The Associated Press reports.

"The unions say the proposed 5.5 percent salary increase is not an accurate projection because the governor's proposal requires counties to use local share funds to pay it," the article said.

Election 2008: Short Takes (Updated)

Besides the big splash made by WVU law professor Bob Bastress into the two-seat Supreme Court race, other candidates have filed or announced plans to run in advance of Saturday's midnight deadline:

• Both the Register-Herald of Beckley and MetroNews reports that ex-state Sen. Russ Weeks, R-Raleigh, will/may challenge Gov. Joe Manchin's re-election bid. Since losing his Senate seat in 2006, Weeks has written a self-published expose of his time at the Legislature.

• (Update): With a 2 p.m. announcement expected from Weeks, a freshman legislator filed Thursday to challenge Manchin in the primary. Delegate Mel Kessler, D-Raleigh, entered the race this morning, The Associated Press reports.
  

• Hoppy Kercheval of MetroNews' Talkline also speculates that Charleston lawyers Terri Helmick and Dan Greear, a former delegate, could file to challenge Attorney General Darrell McGraw on the GOP ticket.

• U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, has filed her paperwork for a fifth term, AP reports.

• (Update) Delegate Eustace Frederick, D-Mercer, is perhaps the first incumbent from that chamber to announce he's not running to hold his seat. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph has the story.
  

Secretary of State Betty Ireland has a searchable roster of candidate filings to date. The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington also offers some filing information for regional candidates.

Bastress Throws Down in Supreme Court Race

WVU law professor Robert Bastress came out swinging Wednesday after filing candidacy papers for the state Supreme Court.

As The Associated Press reports, Bastress pointed to the MonacoGate scandal to declare that "public confidence in the courts is at a low ebb, and for good reason."

Bastress faulted his would-be primary opponent, fellow Democrat and Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard, both for his Riviera rendezvous with Massey Energy's Don Blankenship and for insisting that the ensuing concerns raised were "nonsense."

But Bastress also said that Justices Larry Starcher and Brent Benjamin should recuse themselves from the pending matter involving Massey as well. Law enforcement should also investigate the allegations raised by Starcher on Tuesday, Bastress said.

"At least a half-dozen legislators were on hand for Bastress' filing. They included wife Barbara Evans Fleischauer, a Monongalia County delegate," AP reports. "His campaign treasurer is Frank Cleckley, a former Supreme Court justice and a fellow WVU law professor."

Update: MetroNews reports both on Bastress' splash plus the latest in the case from which Maynard has recused himself.

Short Takes from the Session: Day 14

DUI: Mothers Against Drunk Driving plans to champion a bill, previewed by The Register-Herald of Beckley, that "that calls for mandatory use of interlocks on motor vehicles and harsher penalties for 'aggravated DUI'"

TIMBER: If state revenues remain healthy, Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick tells MetroNews he wants to apply any surplus toward offsetting the severance tax on timber. The Pocahontas County Democrat argues the tax cut could help the industry that employs 30,000 weather economic downturns. With audio.

LAWSUIT VENUES: The Charleston Gazette reports on progress for a bill sought by Gov. Joe Manchin, to close a loophole resulting from last year's effort to limit lawsuits filed by out-of-state plaintiffs.

INSURANCE: "Feeling they have run into a stone wall in trying to make the insurance commissioner accountable to the Legislature," a pair of delegates have revived a push begun last year to switch that executive branch office from appointed to elected, The Register-Herald reports.

The move would requires a constitutional amendment, but one of the lawmakers alleges that insurance rates are lower "in every state where the voters fill the office, rather than the governor."

Legislature 2008: Abortion

This session's top abortion-related measure is likely a bill "that would limit the amount of Medicaid dollars the state spends on the procedure to those cases in which the federal government requires it," The Associated Press reports.

AP's Tom Breen talked to bill supporters as well as to opponents who "point to the state’s steadily declining abortion rate as evidence that new legislation isn’t required to reduce the number of abortions in West Virginia."

Breen also checked in with state Medicaid officials, who estimate that abortion procedures cost the program $228,000 during the budget year that ended Jun 30. "That number will likely increase, though, as doctors have up to a year to bill Medicaid for services," the article said.

Spike and Don: The Saga Continues

The recusal by Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard from a case involving Massey Energy Co. has not ended the ruckus over his ties to its head honcho, Don Blankenship.

Fellow Justice Larry Starcher has demanded a probe into ‘‘extremely serious legal and ethical issues’’ about their dealings, The Associated Press reports.

Starcher reveals that he and perhaps court officials have been fielding allegations about their relationship for "the past year." Possible evidence goes beyond the photos of their 2006 Monaco meet-up, he writes in a Tuesday memo.

Providing no details, and conceding the information remains unproven, Starcher also said he is prepared to share what he knows with investigators.

"The reported information raises questions about whether there may have been actual rather than the appearance of impropriety,'' Starcher wrote. "I also believe that some of the alleged matters raise issues that are within the jurisdiction of authorities other than those directly associated with this Court.''

Starcher himself has weathered allegations of a less-than-impartial attitude in the case. Massey has cited his public comments critical of the company, Blankenship and some of his political activities.

The Charleston Gazette also has a story. Public Broadcasting has it as well, and also offers audio and a link to Starcher's memo.

The Thompson Factor in W.Va.

And then there were five.

More than the rest of the departed GOP field combined, Fred Thompson's decision to withdraw from the Republican presidential race has an impact on West Virginia.

As The Associated Press reports, "The actor and former Tennessee senator had the third-largest bloc" of delegates heading to the state party's Feb. 5 convention.

Thompson picked up 50 of his 103 delegates in the recent voting to settle contested at-large seats. Additional gains were likely from late results due from Mineral and Monongalia counties, and as party officials fill vacancies.

Thompson had also raised more than $26,000 from West Virginians as of Sept. 30, the third largest total among Republican candidates despite his late entry in the race. (The fourth-quarter filing from 2007 is due at the end of the month).

And Thompson had attracted several notable Republican figures to his Mountain State effort. Led by former party Executive Director Gary Abernathy, they included a dozen lawmakers, at least five county chairs, anti-abortion lobbyist Melissa Adkins, former Young Republicans chief Charles Bolen and Greg Thomas, political operative for Don Blankenship.

Manchin Makes It Official

Gov. Joe Manchin is getting the band back together.

Tuesday's re-election filing featured "many of the business and labor leaders whose groups helped form the wide-ranging coalition that propelled Manchin from the secretary of state's office to the governor's mansion in 2004," The Associated Press reports.

He also had several lawmakers on hand -- fellow Democrats -- including House Speaker Rick Thompson and Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin.

Manchin is the only candidate to file for governor so far, the Secretary of State's Office reports. The deadline is midnight Saturday, and the filing fee is $1,500.

While the GOP is expected to challenge Manchin, state party Chairman Doug McKinney predicts tough sledding.

"You're dealing with a guy with better than 70 percent approval rating, and the ability to raise tons of money,'' McKinney told AP. "Any candidate would have to campaign full-time, raise a couple of million dollars and travel to every county in the state. It's hard to get people to commit to that.''

Manchin already has $2.1 million on hand for his campaign, boasts Nick Casey, McKinney's Democratic counterpart.

There was plenty of media on hand for Manchin's announcement, including The Register-Herald of Beckley, The Charleston Gazette, MetroNews (with audio), and WOWK-TV.

MetroNews also hears from some Republican lawmakers on Manchin's track record. With audio.

Lawmakers Revive "Marriage Protection Amendment"

A proposed constitutional ban of same-sex marriage in the Mountain State has returned to the legislative agenda, as a measure "to accord West Virginia voters a chance to define marriage as an act between one man and one woman," The Register-Herald reports.

The state has a law achieving that, enacted in 2000. "The reason that a constitutional amendment is needed is because the law can always be challenged in the Supreme Court,” Delegate Linda Sumner, R-Raleigh and one of 11 sponsors, told the Beckley newspaper.

Legislature 2008: Taxes

Gov. Joe Manchin has proposed a property tax break for aircraft, arguing it could increase passenger service while making West Virginia airports more attractive as storage and maintenance hubs.

"We're looking at an industry that we think we can make some strides in," Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg told The Associated Press. "We've got a growing aerospace industry."

Supporters include Sen. John Yoder, R-Jefferson, who proposed a similar measure last year. AP reports that Yoder "cited research by Berkeley County Assessor Preston Gooden, estimating that the loss from slashing property taxes would be more than offset by new jobs, increased fuel sales and the building of hangars and related facilities."

MonacoGate Update

• The Charleston Gazette examines parallels between the bid to recuse Justice Brent Benjamin from the Harman Mining case -- and the successful 1996 quest by his future chief law clerk to win Justice-elect Larry Starcher's disqualification over campaign contributions.

• The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette opines that Benjamin should follow the lead of Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard: "If justice is not only to be done but also, for the sake of public confidence in the court, to appear to be done, Justice Benjamin should recuse himself as well." The editorial also calls for the withdrawal of Maynard's vote in the Harman reversal, "although it's not clear whether that's possible."
  

• MetroNews Talkline host Hoppy Kercheval questions the need for Benjamin's recusal, while advocating Starcher's.

DaughterGate Makes Another Splash

The New York Times now delves into the questions surrounding the EMBA degree awarded Mylan executive and Manchin daughter Heather Bresch, reporting that "the inquiry has mushroomed into a controversy that risks casting a shadow of cronyism over this state’s flagship university:"

Ms. Bresch has insisted that she earned her degree, and university officials have blamed a failure to transfer records for nearly half of her course work to the appropriate office for the situation, as documents were moved to electronic format from paper. But so far, the university and Ms. Bresch have not produced copies of her transcripts, receipts or other proof of her having paid for course work, or documents from the courses where grades seemed to have been entered years after “incompletes” were given.

Capito Makes Pitch for Veteran Care

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, wants the U.S. Department of Defense to expand its services for veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries to treatment centers beyond the one in Richmond, Va., she tells the Charleston Daily Mail.

At least 50 West Virginia soldiers recently in combat have been diagnosed with these conditions, described as being "caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain," she told the newspaper.

Capitol testified last week before the House Veterans Affairs Committee to tout a bill she's co-sponsored that would expand rural-based treatment options under a pilot program. The committee also offers audio from the hearing.

Legislature 2008: Teachers (Updated)

The West Virginia Education Association hopes thousands of its members and allies will spend part of their holiday Monday rallying at the Capitol for teacher pay raises.

With the Legislature in session, the teachers' group hopes a show of numbers will propel their counter-proposal to Gov. Joe Manchin's legislative agenda.

Manchin has asked lawmakers to approve a 3 percent pay hike, $400 raises for all classroom teachers and $20 million worth of bonuses to recruit teachers to counties and subject areas suffering from shortages.

WVEA's goal is "reaching the national average in employee salaries in the next three years (approximately 8% each year) and increasing the beginning salary to $35,000."

The competing American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, which rallied with school service workers before Jan. 9's State of the State address, has a similar proposal. "AFT wants a $5,000 increase the first year and $2,500 a year for the subsequent two years," the Herald-Dispatch reported over the weekend.

The Huntington newspaper also compared West Virginia's pay rate with that of its neighbors, while noting that "clouding the straight pay comparisons is the variance in cost of living from state to state."

Update: MetroNews quotes a recent floor speech by Sen. Frank Deem, R-Wood, on the last impact of any raises on future state budgets: "I just hope and make these remarks so we'll be aware, conscious, of keeping this state fiscally sound and not....grant pay raises that future Legislature's will have to pay for."

2nd Update: Those who covered the rally include The Associated Press, MetroNews (which also offers a response from Team Manchin and audio from the rally), the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, The Charleston Gazette and Public Broadcasting.

Spike & Don: We'll Always Have Monte Carlo

Though he's recused himself from the Harman Mining case, Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard may not be through the tumult over his relationship with Massey Energy Co's Don Blankenship.

As The Associated Press reports, West Virginia's sole appeals court has other cases involving the coal producer. The list of expected appeals, meanwhile, includes a $239 million judgment won by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Co. last year.

"Separately, Maynard is running for re-election this year and at least one Democratic primary opponent has already raised questions about his Monaco meet-up," AP reports. "Also, Maynard has promised to release “receipts and records” some time this week to answer allegations that Blankenship subsidized his July 2006 jaunt to Europe."

As for the Harman case, "A motion for the Supreme Court to rehear the case is pending. But the attorney for the plaintiff says Maynard’s recusal today could lead to the original verdict against Massey being upheld," Public Broadcasting reports (with audio).

Harman's president, Hugh Caperton, also commented on Friday's development and what lies ahead to The Register-Herald of Beckley.

Short Takes from the Session: Day 13

JAIL COSTS: Counties would pay only half the daily rate for locking up inmates at regional jails "if they’re behind bars less than a dozen hours," under a pending bill highlighted by The Register-Herald of Beckley.

MUNICIPAL PENSIONS: "After much debate and compromise among stakeholders, it appears this could be the year that the West Virginia Legislature helps cities stabilize their drastically underfunded police and fire pensions," the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington reports. "The result is a comprehensive reform bill that Kanawha County Sen. Dan Foster will introduce in the next week or two."

PRISON COSTS: A separate area of the state budget than regional jails, the Division of Corrections has seen expenses from its prison system nearly double in just seven years. But Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, cites West Virginia's relatively low crime rate to argue instead that a "concerted effort must be made to reduce prison population in the Mountain State," MetroNews reports.

"I've yet to see any studies that would indicate over the last decade West Virginia has become a more violent state, a more dangerous state," Kessler told MetroNews (audio here.) "But the statistics would seem to indicate that we have twice the prison population."

LICENSE TO LEARN: (Update) The Denver-based Education Commission of the States "is cautioning West Virginia officials against tying teenagers' driving privileges to academic performance," The Charleston Daily Mail reports.

SUGAR-FREE SCHOOLS: (Update) Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone and one of four physician-legislators, explains to The Register-Herald his push to "outlaw sugar-laden soft drinks and candy bars in schools, replacing them with healthy beverages, such as 100 percent fruit juices, high-fiber snacks and low-fat foods."

Getting the Big Drift, er, Draft

West Virginia's congressional delegation is expected to co-sponsor or otherwise support a “Wild Monongahela Act” to set aside more than 47,000 West Virginia acres for federal protection, the Sunday Gazette-Mail reports.

The legislation encompasses seven parcels, including Big Draft, "a 5,200-acre oak and hickory forest just five miles from White Sulphur Springs," the Charleston newspaper reported. "The areas would become the first new wilderness areas in West Virginia in nearly 25 years."

The proposal "includes three additional areas covering nearly 20,000 more acres of wilderness than was proposed by the U.S. Forest Service in a plan issued in September 2006," the story also notes, but is "less ambitious than wilderness expansions being promoted by various state environmental and conservation groups."

The Gazette-Mail also offers a graphic as well as detailed maps showing how the legislation would expand existing wilderness areas and create new ones.

Depending on who now owns the land affected, county officials may wince at the removal of additional territory from their potential property tax rolls.

Duncan Hunter's W.Va. Factor

Before dropping his presidential bid Saturday, Duncan Hunter had been one of seven GOP contenders registered for the West Virginia Republican Party's Feb. 5 convention.

And though he had attracted four delegates to the state convention, none of his at-large candidates survived the recent voting.

Hunter had also raised $650 from three West Virginians by Sept. 30, according to the latest available Federal Election Commission filings.

Quote of the Day

"We’ve talked to people all across the state encouraging people to run, but nobody wants to do it. He’s richer than Croesus."

-- Dr. Douglas McKinney, state Republican chairman, to The Associated Press' Tom Breen on efforts to recruit a challenger to U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

Rocky Hits The Campaign Circuit

Incumbents seeking re-election, they say, fare best when they either run unopposed or run scared.

Perhaps mindful of that adage, U.S. Sen. Jay Rockeller, D-W.Va., criss-crossed the state last week to launch his bid for a fifth term.

"I don’t want to sound schmaltzy,’’ Rockefeller told The Associated Press' Tom Breen . ‘‘I’ve been here for 44 years. West Virginia completely changed my life."

Breen also reports that "Although there’s plenty of time left to field a candidate, no Republican has stepped forward to challenge the state’s junior senator, and the GOP’s state chairman thinks it’s unlikely that will change."

Among some of Rockefeller's other newsroom stops last week:

• The Register-Herald of Beckley;

• The Charleston Daily Mail;

• The Charleston Gazette, which also spoke to wife Sharon and offers audio from the Q & A;

• The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, which also offers video from its interview;

• The Journal of Martinsburg;

• The Weirton Daily Times.

Sharpe Leaving Senate

Sidelined since major surgery last year, Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Sharpe is retiring after 44 years in the Legislature, Senate officials announced.

First elected to the Senate in 1960, but with a gap in service during the early 1980s , the Lewis County Democrat "has more years of service than any other sitting senator, officials told The Associated Press.

The 79-year-old underwent risky surgery to remove a brain aneurysm in 2007. He also lost both his wife, Pauline, and his brother Thomas in 2005.

Sharpe is the seventh incumbent senator, and the fourth Democrat, who definitely won't be returning to that chamber in 2009. Like the others, he is up for re-election this year.

Public Broadcasting recently examined the potential turnover in the Senate, where half the 34 seats are on the 2008 ballot.

Maynard Quits Massey Case - 2nd Update

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard has agreed to recuse himself from a pending case involving Massey Energy Co., The Associated Press reports.

The decision follows concerns raised over his relationship with Don Blankenship, the company's president, chairman and CEO, highlighted by recently revealed photos of the two of them together in Monaco.

Update: Maynard's decision comes after several state newspapers had opined in favor of recusal. The Charleston Daily Mail appears to have sounded the first editorial call, followed by The Register-Herald of Beckley and The Charleston Gazette.

Others with the latest development include the Daily Mail, MetroNews and Public Broadcasting, which has also posted Maynard's written response announcing his recusal.

Update II: Rejecting the call for his recusal, Acting Chief Justice Brent Benjamin has appointed Hampshire County Circuit Judge Don Cookman in Maynard's stead. AP has details.

GOP Convention: The At-Large Factor (Updated)

The unofficial results are in and Mitt Romney has retained his edge of pledged state GOP convention delegates.


Recent voting largely settled the hundreds of contested at-large seats to the Feb. 5 event.

Mike Huckabee also did well, as did Fred Thompson. Each won enough at-large seats to boost their totals above 100.

Among the tidbits:

• Mineral and Monongalia counties ran into voting problems, leaving the fate of 35 at-large seats up in the air;

• 16 party members in five counties who were unopposed for at-large seats ended up losing because no one turned out to vote in those counties (Braxton, Gilmer, Grant, Ritchie, Wirt);

• In the state's largest county, Kanawha, delegates for Romney and Huckabee out-muscled the rest of the field, though Romney ended up with nearly twice as many seats as Huckabee there;

• Of the party members who pledged to Huckabee when they filed to be delegates, nearly 90% won convention seats. That's the highest success rate among pledged delegates;

• John McCain supporters had the lowest success rate, 12%, followed by Rudy Giuliani's at 13%;

• Uncommitted delegates remain a formidable wild card, with the at-large voting increasing their numbers from 390 to 521 _ just under half the delegates seated to date.

The Associated Press has the latest details. The Intelligencer of Wheeling focuses on Ohio County results as well.

Also... The AP's recent analysis of the possible at-large vote outcome (also found here) included this:

The pledged allegiances of those delegates (eligible to vote) suggests that Huckabee is favored to pick up at-large seats in Wayne County, while Fred Thompson should add to his margin in Nicholas County.

Thompson also has a sizable portion of delegates eligible to vote in Berkeley, as does Romney in Kanawha County and Ron Paul in Jefferson and Monongalia counties. Delegate-voters are not the majority in any of those four, however.

While results have not yet been reported for Monongalia County, this assessment proved accurate, as those candidates did indeed make gains in the rest of those counties.

Update: A further crunching of the numbers reveals other interesting details:

• Huckabee was the only candidate to win all at-large seats selected in a given county, and actually pulled that off in two: Cabell and Raleigh (for a hefty total of 48). He also came close in Wayne, getting 11 of 12, while capturing 15 of Putnam County's at-large delegates;

• 145 at-large seats remain unfilled, including the 35 in Mineral and Monongalia counties;

• 23 counties have now filled their at-large slots;

• Uncommitted delegates did best in Wood County, winning 14 of 31 seats, while getting 11 of 31 spots in Berkeley County.

• Two Alan Keyes delegates won at-large seats, in Harrison County, but their candidate is not registered for the convention.

New Vet Home Flunks Inspection

Its opening already delayed for at least two years, West Virginia's new, $26 million nursing home for military veterans has been refused an operating license "because of a host of problems, including failure to meet requirements for accident prevention and infection control," The Associated Press reports.

Picking up a story from The Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram (subscription required), the AP article said a 120-page report issued last week by the state Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification details an array of problems.

They include "failure to meet requirements for therapeutic diets, care of pressure sores, vision and hearing, activities of daily living, menus and nutrition, quality of life, staffing and general maintenance," AP said.

Administrators "also failed to ensure that all job applicants were screened against the state's nurse aide abuse registry before they were hired," the article said.

"The staff is working diligently to resolve all the issues we need to resolve to get OHFLC back in there to issue a license," Joe Thornton, spokesman for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, told AP. "I hesitate to give a specific date, but I hope by the end of this month we can resolve all the issues and ask for a re-inspection."

Short Takes from the Session: Day 10

CLEAN STREAMS, PRIVATE PROPERTY: Gov. Joe Manchin's Environmental Protection chief, Stephanie Timmermeyer, sought to explain her department's approach to designating waterways for special protections on Thursday.

The Associated Press was among those covering the House Chamber presentation, as was The Charleston Gazette. The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington focused on the proposal's regional impact.

GRADES & LICENSES: The Parkersburg newspapers report that "Manchin’s plan to link high school grades to driver’s licenses for students is getting a mixed reaction in Wood County." The Register-Herald of Beckley gauges a tepid reception from lawmakers as well.

BUCKS FOR JOBS: State university officials appear largely in favor of Manchin's legislative agenda items that would "pump money into the state’s higher education system to encourage work force training and business investment," The State Journal finds. The Charleston Daily Mail, meanwhile, checks out Manchin's assertion that the state is running out of skilled workers.

HOME RULE: Senate Government Organization Chairman Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, is among those planning to resist changes to the state's "home rule" pilot program, he tells The Intelligencer of Wheeling.

HEALTHY SCHOOLS: Public Broadcasting tracks the latest sign of an ongoing effort among lawmakers: "Legislators want junk food and sugary soft drinks out of public schools. Bills introduced Wednesday would require that only healthy beverages and nutritional snacks be sold in schools." (Audio here.)

STATE ROAD FUND: Predicting a $25.8 million drop in fuel tax revenues _ their largest single source of funding _ next year, state highway officials are telling lawmakers that "demand for state road construction projects already far exceeds the available money," The Gazette reports.

W.Va. GOP Whittling Down Debt, Chairman Says

After as much as $180,000 in unpaid bills, West Virginia's Republican Party has whacked down its debts to a more maneagable $40,000, Chairman Doug McKinney told MetroNews' Talkline.

McKinney predicted the party will be back in the black by the state's May 13 primary. "I think we'll attract some of our major donors back and a lot of the people who have been regular, modest to moderate contributors but just didn't feel good about contributing to old debt, I think we'll see the Party's resurgence," he told Talkine's Hoppy Kercheval.

MetroNews also has audio from Thursday's interview.

Massey Tying Up Loose Legal Ends

With its top executive creating a furor over his ties to a state Supreme Court justice, Massey Energy Co. could pay as much as $30 million to settle a massive lawsuit filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The Associated Press reports.

The leading coal producer has agreed to a $20 million fine to resolve allegations "it routinely polluted hundreds of streams and waterways in West Virginia and Kentucky with sediment-filled waste water and coal slurry," AP reports.

The settlement terms also require it to "invest millions of dollars for pollution control improvements at its 44 mines and coal facilities in the two states and in Virginia," the article said. A Massey lawyer disputes the EPA's estimate that the price tag of that term could reach $10 million.EPA photo, "Downstream impacts from a Massey coal mining operation."

MetroNews and The Charleston Gazette also detail the settlement. The latter notes that "If approved by a federal judge, the settlement announced Thursday would rank as the largest civil penalty ever for Clean Water Act permit limit violations."

Citizen groups and environmental enforcement experts also told the Gazette that, "while praising the deal," also "wondered why it took regulators so long to catch up to Massey, and why the punishment wasn’t more serious."

EPA sued Massey and several of its subsidiaries in May. The proposed settlement reflects the latest of several efforts to resolve legal difficulties involving the company and Don Blankenship, its president, chairman and CEO.

Blankenship withdrew a lawsuit in October that had targeted West Virginia's Democratic Party over a 2006 TV ad.

Two months later, he ended his lawsuit against Gov. Joe Manchin. The two issued a joint statement to defuse Blankenship's allegations that the governor was singling out his company for regulatory scrutiny.

Massey also dodged a major bullet the month before, when the Supreme Court overturned a $76.3 million judgment against it in a coal contract dispute. But allegations of favoritism toward Massey and Blankenship by Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard have fueled a push to revisit that ruling.

(The latest, as AP reports, expands the pending recusal bid against Maynard to include Brent Benjamin, citing Blankenship's multimillion-dollar effort to help get him elected in 2004.)

The (Beckley) Register-Herald's take on the unearthed Monaco photos.

The revelation that Maynard and Blankenship met up in Monaco while vacationing in mid-2006 also factors into yet another lawsuit -- the one filed by Massey against the Supreme Court.

Pending in federal court, that case targets the very disqualification procedure that now comes into play in the petitions targeting Maynard and Benjamin.

Another remaining litigation loose end for Massey is the $239 million (corrected figure) judgment won by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Co. in July. Unless the judge hasn't ruled on a new trial motion, that case should be headed to appeal before the state Supreme Court.

Short Takes from the Session: Day 9

MINE SAFETY: The first bill up for passage in the House "would require the coal industry to post notices informing employees they are being exposed to a hazardous chemical material or lead, both of which can create serious health problems," The Charleston Gazette reports.

The article also notes that its chief sponsor, House Majority Whip Mike Caputo, D-Marion and a United Mine Workers union official, has had the measure on his wish list since arriving at the Legislature in 1997.

GUNS BENEATH THEIR ROBES: West Virginia Media takes a look at three different measures that together "would allow magistrates and family court judges to begin carrying concealed deadly weapons without permits."

SENATE TURNOVER: Public Broadcasting explores the growing number of incumbent senators who plan to seek other offices or not run for re-election in 2008. With audio.

Legislature 2008: Teachers

A new survey helps explain Gov. Joe Manchin's proposed crackdown on school bullies this session.

A survey of 2,000 teachers and service personnel found that "More than a third of teachers, 36 percent, say they lose 20 percent of instructional time every week to disruptive behavior -- a loss that amounts to one day a week," The Associated Press' Shaya Tayefe Mohajer reports.

"School employees were almost unanimous when it comes to concern about bullies, with 92 percent identifying bullying as a problem at their school or on buses," the article continues.

As Tayefe Mohajer reports, "Manchin has made discipline part of his legislative agenda for this year's session. During last week's State of the State address, he called upon lawmakers to address school bullies and disruptive students."

The American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia and the West Virginia School Service Personnel released their survey Wednesday along with recommendations. "The main thrust of the recommendations is strengthening and enforcing the 1995 Safe Schools Act," AP reports.

The Register-Herald reports on the survey and on one Beckley-area lawmaker's reaction, as well as on the related teacher pay raise proposed by Manchin.

The Charleston Gazette has coverage as well.

Update: MetroNews has a story and interviews with AFT-WV's Judy Hale and personnel group chief Bob Brown.

Quote of the Day

"When you sue people, would you believe, they don't like it. Then, when you take money from them, they like it even less. And they make a political issue out of it to try and take revenge.''

-- Attorney General Darrell McGraw, offering his view on criticisms of his handling of several recent lawsuit settlements.

AG Pitches Sales Tax Holidays to Lawmakers

Already under fire for his handling of previous state lawsuit settlements, Attorney General Darrell McGraw hopes to win over the Legislature with his latest proposal, The Associated Press reports.

"McGraw said the money from a settlement with Visa USA Inc. over antitrust and consumer protection charges has been placed in a trust to be used for a sales tax holiday," AP's Tom Breen writes.

"Some lawmakers, though, argue that all decisions about appropriating state money -- including money brought in by litigation -- should be made by the Legislature," the article said.

Radio ads paid for by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the state Business and Industrial Council are targeting McGraw over past settlements. "At a Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday, McGraw dismissed the criticism as politically motivated," Breen writes.

The Charleston Gazette also has a story, and like AP covered the sometimes-testy Senate Finance meeting.

They Voted For You: Mine Safety

The U.S. House passed the Supplementary Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act late Wednesday, with the help of West Virginia Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd.

Capito was among seven GOP members to vote for the bill, which prevailed 214-199.

The bill would "establish improved mandatory standards to protect miners during emergencies," among other purposes. Supporter call it "a needed follow-up to the sweeping safety changes in the 2006 MINER Act," The Associated Press reports.

The Charleston Gazette details some of the measure's provisions:

(F)ederal regulators would have sweeping new enforcement authority and independent investigators would probe major accidents. Mine operators would have to comply with tougher new coal dust limitations and more stringent rules on exposing workers to other hazardous substances.

The Gazette also reports that Capito "voted for the bill, after first voting for an unsuccessful Republican substitute measure and for a failed attempt to kill the legislation," and that "In a floor speech, Capito said the bill was 'flawed in many ways” and would “hold up the progress that is underway.'"

In a statement issued after the vote, Capito said "We must be cautious that new regulations do not jeopardize job security for our miners or undermine safety efforts already underway. "

AP also reports that "The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto a mine safety bill, saying the new regulations proposed by Democrats would interfere with legislation President Bush signed in 2006."

Legislature 2008: Prisons

Gov. Joe Manchin's proposed budget for 2008-2009 includes $151 million for the state Division of Corrections.

As The Charleston Daily Mail reports, that's nearly twice what West Virginia's prison system cost taxpayers just seven years ago.

Medical costs are one culprit, with more than 11 percent of the prison population over age 65, the Daily Mail found.

"Meanwhile, the inmate population in the state's prison has risen from 3,027 to 4,145 -- a 37 percent increase. Projections have this number escalating," the article said.

Among possible options, "Two bills are currently pending in the state Legislature that would create commissions to study criminal sentencing guidelines and the state's overall criminal justice system," the newspaper reported.

Spike & Don's Excellent European Vacation, Part Deux

Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard and Massey Energy Co.'s Don Blankenship have both responded to the recent airing of photos showing them together in Monaco.

As The Associated Press reports, the two longtime friends acknowledge that they met up on the Riveria while a $76.3 million case involving Massey was heading to the court.

But both reject allegations that such socializing was inappropriate. Maynard stated that their friendship "has never influenced any decision I've made for the Court," and that "The suggestion that I have done something improper is nonsense."

But others aren't so sure.

Echoing other ethics experts, Ben Greene, law professor and director of the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics at Fordham University, tells AP that "several questions arise from Maynard’s and Blankenship’s apparent socializing."

And Deborah Rhode, a law professor and director of Stanford University's Center for Ethics, said "It doesn't matter whether they planned it, or discovered by happy coincidence that they would be in the same place. ... This kind of ex parte contact is clearly inappropriate."

AP also reports on the memo from Justice Larry Starcher, whose comments about Massey and Blankenship have played a role in the underlying case as well.

"The memo asks (Court Administrator Steve) Canterbury to ensure that no documents are destroyed or records 'on servers or otherwise, of any document or digital photographs, be altered, removed or erased,'" the article said, adding that "Canterbury said the memo echoes court policy."

Update: Public Broadcasting reports on both the motion to disqualify (with audio) and Maynard's response.

MetroNews focuses on the latter.

The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington hears from one of Maynard's would-be Democratic primary challengers on the topic.

Short Takes from the Session: Day 8 (Updated)

COALBED METHANE: The Register-Herald of Beckley hears from one state senator regarding Gov. Joe Manchin's tax-related proposal.

MENTAL HEALTH CARE: Manchin's 2008-2009 budget proposal includes $9 million "to house some mentally ill patients at private facilities because of overcrowding at the state's two main hospitals," The Charleston Daily Mail reports.

ELECTING JUDGES: The Beckley newspaper also details a newly introduced bill that would remove party tags from the elections of West Virginia's judicial officials.

TOO DUMB TO DRIVE? (Update): Manchin's legislative agenda includes a bill "to make passing grades a prerequisite for teenagers seeking to obtain and keep a driver's license, a proposal he hopes will underscore the notion that getting behind the wheel is a privilege that entails certain responsibilities," The Associated Press' Tom Breen reports.

Legislature 2008: Day 8

The House and Senate have seen 900 bills introduced as their 60-day regular session enters its second week.

The bulk of the measures have been carried over from the 2007 session of the 78th Legislature.

The Top Five topics so far:

1. Crime & Punishment (adding crimes, increasing penalties): 13%
2. Regulations: 12.5%
3. Taxes (mostly proposed cuts, deductions and credits): 10.5%
4. Government Organization (creating, abolishing or transferring state agencies): 7%
5. Education: 5.7%

Regulation-related bills include one to require neck braces for high school football players (HB2018), one addressing telemarketing by quasi-state agencies (HB2004), and a bid to increase the maximum legal weight of six-axle tractor trailers (SB86).

Legislature 2008: Abortion (Updated)

West Virginians for Life has renewed its push to end "state funding for elective abortions for poor women," arguing that would "decrease the number of abortions in the state as a whole," MetroNews reports (with audio).

"Records indicate the Department of Health and Human Resources paid almost $400,000 for 798 abortions in West Virginia in 2006," the report said.

But an official with the group argues "the majority of those abortions were elective, meaning rape, incest or a health threat to the mother were not reasons for those abortions."

"West Virginia is one of 16 states that funds abortions for women who cannot afford one through Medicaid coverage," MetroNews reports. "In 1993, the Legislature passed a law that would have kept taxpayer dollars from being used in that way. A State Supreme Court ruling overturned that."

Update: MetroNews followed up Wednesday with the executive director of the pro-choice group West Virginia Free (audio here).

Margaret Chapman told Talkine host Hoppy Kercheval that "We're talking about poor women who may already have several children who don't want to be pregnant and, if they can't afford an abortion, how are they going to afford a child?"

Chapman also cited the 1993 court ruling. "They (those proposing the bill) know it to be so and it's really tragic because they are attacking West Virginia's poorest women," she told Kercheval.

Ex-Senator Going To Prison

After a promising start in the West Virginia Legislature, former Sen. Lisa Smith was sentenced Tuesday to two years in federal prison.

The Associated Press is among those with the details. Smith, R-Putnam, and her husband both pleaded guilty to failing to pay employment taxes from their in-home health care companies.

The ex-lawmaker also pleaded guilty to mailing campaign finance reports during her successful 2002 bid for the state Senate. Smith had masked her personal donations to her campaign by listing them as contributions from individuals.

Smith resigned from the senate in 2004, was indicted along with her husband in 2006 and was temporarily ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial until she received treatment.

WCHS-TV also has the story, as does MetroNews.

Karl Rove in W.Va.

Former White House deputy chief of staff and longtime Bush advisor Karl Rove was in Charleston on Monday to raise money for the state Republican Party, and Gary Abernathy appears to have an exclusive.

"Rove reminisced about his 30 year friendship with President Bush, and spoke movingly about the visits the president has held with families who have lost sons and daughters in Iraq and Afghanistan," Abernathy writes.

Local GOP activists Larry and Lisa Pack hosted the fundraiser at their home, the post said.

The state part has faced significant debt over the last several years, and has taken several steps to whittle down the amount. Chairman Doug McKinney recently announced that, with the help of Larry Pack and others, "we have been able to erase $52,600 of our debt as reported to the FEC."

The state party's Feb. 5 presidential convention has also offered an opportunity to raise funds, by charging candidates $5,000 and attending delegates $25.

Rove previously appeared at the Kanawha County GOP's annual Lincoln Day Dinner in February 2006, raising funds there as well.

Flack Quits DaughterGate Probe

A state education official has heeded the Faculty Senate at West Virginia University and stepped down from the three-member panel picked by WVU to investigate the EMBA degree awarded Heather Bresch.

The Associated Press' Vicki Smith has the details.

(AP's Tom Breen, meanwhile, coined "DaughterGate.")

Short Takes From The 2008 Session

COALBED METHANE: Gov. Joe Manchin has revived his drive to end a break on severance taxes, adding a sweetener to win over lawmakers, The Associated Press reports.

RESEARCH ENDOWMENT: Marshall University University President Stephen Kopp tells MetroNews why he supports Manchin's proposal to draw matching research funds for Marshall and West Virginia University with a $50 million state investment. With audio.

PROMISE: Local educators are the latest to question Manchin's push to change the terms of the PROMISE scholarship program, in this story from The Parkersburg News.

MINE SAFETY: AP reports that state mine inspectors would still lag behind their federal counterparts in page even with the salary hike sought by Manchin.

Degree of Doubt Update

The Faculty Senate at West Virginia University has voted in favor of removing state higher ed official Bruce Flack from heading WVU's review of the EMBA degree awarded Heather Bresch.

The Charleston Gazette has the story.

Update: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also covered the Faculty Senate meeting, while Public Broadcasting recently interviewed Provost Gerald Lang (audio here).

Bringing Food to W.Va.'s Cultural Center

State officials still plan to open a cafe to the Cultural Center on the Capitol grounds, amid lingering objections that food will attract pests that threaten the building's invaluable archives trove.

The Associated Press attended a Senate committee meeting Monday where Culture and History Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith made a case for adding both a cafe and a gift shop to the 1970s-era building.

Reid-Smith offered several examples where food and rare materials co-exist, including the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., and the Boston Public Library.

He also showed the committee an artist's sketch of the Cultural Center's original design, which had included an atrium Reid-Smith offered as an option for a cafe/gift shop.

(When asked to show the sketch to the sizable audience behind him in the committee room, Reid-Smith flashed it briefly. The committee chairman told Reid-Smith to "be nice" and show it to them again. With his back turned to the audience, the commissioner held it up over his head. Someone next to me turned to others in the audience and said, "See, I told you he was an asshole.")

The possibly related firing of longtime Archives and History Director Fred Armstrong was not discussed at the meeting. MetroNews, The Charleston Gazette and Public Broadcasting (with audio link) have coverage as well.

Election 2008: Candidate Filings Begin

West Virginia's 2008 election season kicked off Monday when more than 70 people marked the beginning of the candidacy filing period.

Those turning in the necessary paperwork include "Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, House Majority Leader Joe DeLong and former television news anchor Natalie Tennant," The Associated Press reports.

The latter two filed for Secretary of State as Democrats, and were joined by a Republican candidate for that office, Charles Minimah. Incumbents filing for re-election included Attorney General Darrell McGraw, state Treasurer John Perdue and Auditor Glen Gainer.

"At the top of the ticket were the first three presidential candidates to file paperwork in West Virginia: Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney," the AP's Tom Breen writes.

"When Republican primary voters select a presidential candidate May 13, they will be voting for his slate of congressional district delegates to the national convention," the AP article notes. "This departs from prior elections, when party members could file to run as district or 'at-large' delegates. A Feb. 5 state convention will decide the state GOP's 18 at-large delegates this year."

MetroNews and The Register-Herald of Beckley also report on the opening of the filing period, which ends midnight Jan. 26.

Also, the Secretary of State's office offers four different ways to search for candidacy filings online.

Spike & Don's Excellent European Vacation? (Updated)

(photo from court filing)

The apparent relationship between Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard and the head of Massey Energy Co. has become an issue in a case before the court.

As The Associated Press reports, a Monday filing invokes photos of Maynard and Don Blankenship together in Monte Carlo in the summer of 2006 to argue the justice's removal from the Harman Mining case.

Maynard helped form the 3-2 majority that overturned the $76.3 million judgment won by Harman and its president, Hugh Caperton, in a contract dispute with Massey.

Caperton's lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to reconsider that ruling, and want Maynard disqualified from that proceeding. They also argue Maynard should withdraw his vote from the November decision.

A Massey spokesman says that the two men vacationing within 13 miles of each other on the Riviera at the same time is a coincidence. From the AP story:

A Massey spokesman said Maynard and Blankenship did meet up that summer, but while vacationing separately in Monaco and Nice, France, about 13 miles away.

"While there, they did meet up for lunch and dinner occasionally together," spokesman Jeff Gillenwater said.

Gillenwater said he did not believe the two had coordinated their vacation plans.

"They're both from Mingo County, and they've known each other for years," Gillenwater said.

Massey sued the Supreme Court one month after the European meet-up. The federal lawsuit, still pending, alleges the court "violates due process rights by denying impartial reviews when justices refuse to disqualify themselves from hearing cases," the article said.

AP also notes that "State court rules require judicial officers to disqualify themselves from proceedings if their 'impartiality might reasonably be questioned,' or they have 'a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party's lawyer,' among other factors."

Maynard announced plans last year to run for re-election in 2008.

MetroNews also has the story.

Update: The New York Times has the story (and some of the photos).

Update II: Others with the story today include The Charleston Gazette (with photos). Also, Blankenship is on the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. An organ bankrolled by that group in West Virginia offers its take as well. Same with West Virginia Media.

Update III: Those joining the fray this morning also include the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Legislature, Day 6: Short Takes

YOUR HOME IS YOUR CASTLE, SANS TREBUCHET: Lawmakers have revived a bill from last year's session that would make clear that West Virginians "can use deadly force in the protection of your home and family," The (Beckley) Register-Herald reports.

COVER THAT CARCASS: A McDowell County high school freshman is behind legislation highlighted in the Bluefield Daily-Telegraph that aims to "spare motorists and onlookers the sight of dressed game during West Virginia’s hunting season."

LET IT GO: That's the headline summing up Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin's view of the push by fellow lawmakers to increase scrutiny of workers' compensation, as reported by MetroNews.

BUYING BLACKWATER: Gov. Joe Manchin's proposed 2008-2009 state budget includes "$5 million to purchase a portion of the Blackwater Canyon," The Associated Press reports.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY: The Journal of Martinsburg hears from local lawmakers about prospects for the 60-day session.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: The Register-Herald also reports on one Raleigh County delegate who plans to champion a bill targeting illegal immigrants (West Virginia has the lowest share of non-white and non-native residents of any state in the union, according to the U.S. Census. But there has been the occasional INS raid on work sites.)

W.Va. GOP Convention Update

Midnight marks the end of online voting to decide some 419 contested "at-large" seats to the state Republican Party's Feb. 5 presidential convention.

A dozen counties also held local conventions to settle these races. As The Associated Press reports, "initial figures show that a relative handful of party members have gained considerable sway over who among them gets to participate Feb 5."

"Party members have until midnight to cast online ballots in these at-large races," AP explains. "But to be eligible to vote this way, they had to register by Nov. 30. Less than 1,700 did so in those 30 counties" with contested at-large seats.

A review of online voters who also filed to be state convention delegates (and pledged to particular candidates) "suggests that (Mike) Huckabee is favored to pick up at-large seats in Wayne County, while Fred Thompson should add to his margin in Nicholas County," AP reports.

"Thompson also has a sizable portion of delegates eligible to vote in Berkeley, as does (Mitt) Romney in Kanawha County and Ron Paul in Jefferson and Monongalia counties," the article continues. "Delegate-voters are not the majority in any of those four, however."

Convention organizers expect to have voting results tallied by Wednesday, and that should pare down the delegate roster from 1,564 names to about 1,213. Pending those results, Romney leads the field both in total delegate filings (244) and guaranteed minimum delegates (123).

Fayette Senator Bowing Out in '08

State Sen. Shirley Love tells The Register-Herald of Beckley today that he will not seek a fourth term this year.

The Fayette County Democrat is a "a veteran southern West Virginia broadcaster who parlayed his popularity as host of a televised wrestling show into a successful political career," the article said.

Love, 74, has risen to chairman of the Senate Confirmations Committee and co-chair of the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority since then- Gov. Gaston Caperton appointed him to fill a legislative vacancy in 1994.

Love is the sixth state senator, and the third Democrat in that chamber, to opt against running for re-election in 2008. Half the 34-seat chamber is on the November ballot.