November Special Session Still Possible

The Associated Press reports that "West Virginia's Legislature could tackle pension debts, the gas tax and retiree benefit costs at a special session next month."

But that's only if enough lawmakers express support in advance for the measure "to help Huntington and other municipalities close funding gaps in police and fire pension programs," Manchin administration officials say.

But if the governor does call one, lawmakers tell AP they "expect to tweak a portion of the state gas tax that's based on wholesale prices. Other likely agenda items include $2.5 million for a Medicaid waiver program and a change to the way the state accounts for non-pension retiree benefits."

They Voted for You: Guantanamo Bay

U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-3rd, helped pass a plan that The Associated Press described as allowing suspected enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay to be shipped to U.S. soil, in cases in which they are to be prosecuted for their suspected crimes.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, voted to block the provision, as did all but one of the House GOP members present. They were rebuffed 193-224.

Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, did not vote on that measure, or on passage of the underlying $42.8 billion Homeland Security appropriations legislation. Both Rahall and Capito voted for the bill in a 307-114 roll call.

"Permitting Guantanamo prisoners to be transferred to U.S. soil to stand trial had been a bipartisan compromise earlier," AP reports. "It mostly tracks current restrictions put in place in June and is similar to a version backed by Republicans earlier in the year."

But "without a plan from the administration for closing the facility," some GOP critics reverted to "calling the administration's plan misguided and potentially dangerous," the article also said.

Weighing in on Health Care

Far more subdued than Tuesday's hearings on mountaintop removal mining was the Culture Center forum on health care. As The Associated Press reports, players including the state chamber of commerce, West Virginia's largest private insurer and a statewide network of community health centers were among those taking part.

During the nearly two-hour discussion, "the need for a public option in the developing federal legislation appeared to be the biggest disagreement," AP reports. "Panelists appeared more solidly behind expanding the existing Medicaid program."

And as AP explains, the conversation was partly framed by Tuesday's emergence of a health care bill from the Senate Finance Committee.

"The measure meets most of the requirements set out by President Barack Obama," the article said. "He had promised voters during his campaign to overhaul the system by extending insurance coverage to virtually all Americans, lowering medical costs and ending insurance industry practices of refusing protection to people with so-called pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage to those who become seriously ill."

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., voted for the bill in committee.

The Charleston Gazette also has an item on the forum.

Miners Get Loud about Mountaintop Removal

At simultaneous public hearings held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in West Virginia and Kentucky, environmentalists found themselves shouted down by "thousands of coal miners fearing the loss of jobs if mountaintop removal mining is curtailed or outlawed," The Associated Press reports.

The hearings allowed public comment on the corps' "proposal to eliminate or at least suspend a streamlined permitting process for surface mines in six Appalachian states," AP's Tim Huber explains. "Hearings were also being held in Tennessee and are set for later this week in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia."

Others with coverage include The Charleston Gazette (with photos), MetroNews (with audio and a sidebar), Public Broadcasting (with audio), and the Charleston Daily Mail.

Election 2010: Congress

U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, cruised to a 14th House term last year for wont of an opponent, and West Virginia's GOP is hoping to avoid a repeat of that in 2010, The Associated Press reports.

"Republicans hope the political climate has changed, and that Mollohan's positions on issues like health care will make him susceptible to a conservative challenger," AP's Tom Breen writes. "But whether those hopes have any concrete basis is an open question."

The article also notes that "the last time Republicans made a bid to unseat Mollohan was 2006, in the wake of reports alleging a federal probe into whether he has benefited from directing federal funds to nonprofit groups he helped start." But it adds that "Mollohan has said he's never been contacted about the investigation," and that "to date, no one has been charged."

Mollohan continues to bear scrutiny over these allegations, and his campaign fund listed spending more than $296,000 between November 2006 and October 2008 on legal fees. However, it has reported no such spending since then.

The AP article also said that four Republicans have filed precandidacy papers to challenge Mollohan next year. Such filings are free, and non-binding. The official filing period begins Jan. 11, and the fee for congressional candidates is $1,740.

Breen also writes that "state Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, has also said he's considering a challenge to Mollohan, although Barnes hasn't filed paperwork yet."

Like much of his district, Barnes does not reside in Mollohan's district -- but the U.S. Constitution would not require him or any other congressional candidate even to live in West Virginia until Election Day 2010.

W.Va. Lottery Fight Continues

A dispute over non-lottery gambling machines in West Virginia is pitting a Harrison County business against the Lottery Commission, The Associated Press reports.

A Kanawha Circuit judge has temporarily extended the license that allows Buck's Inc. to lease "limited" video lottery machines to participating bars and clubs, after the commission refused to renew it.

The commission is expected to petition the Supreme Court to block Judge Jim Stucky's ruling.

Lottery officials denied the renewal by citing "an ongoing dispute over “video-enhanced raffle ticket dispensing machines,”the article said. "State and federal investigators seized 144 of the devices in January from a customer of Buck’s, the Elks Lodge 482 in Clarksburg. Both the Tax Department, which regulates raffles and bingo, and the Lottery Commission argue such machines violate state law."

Both Buck's and the Elks lodge have challenged that finding in several pending court filings.

WV Court Study Ends Public Phase

Possible additions to West Virginia's court system was the focus of the third and final meeting of the Gov. Manchin-appointed Independent Commission on Judicial Reform.

The Associated Press has details. Others with coverage include The Charleston Gazette, the Charleston Daily Mail and MetroNews.

Rockefeller Rebuffed on Public Option

The Senate Finance Committee's version of health care overhaul legislation will not include a "public option" provision, after it rejected the necessary amendment from U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, The Associated Press reports.

The West Virginia Democrat's bid for a "new federally-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers" fell 15-8, AP reports. Five members from his party joined the committee's Republicans to defeat the proposal. A similar amendment from Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., also failed.

"The bill includes new consumer protections, including a ban on companies denying insurance on the basis of pre-existing conditions," the article said. "At the same time it provides government subsidies to help lower-income Americans afford insurance that is currently beyond their means. It also includes steps that supporters say will begin to slow the growth in health care costs nationwide."

AP also explains that "Finance is the last of five congressional panels completing work on President Barack Obama's No. 1 domestic priority, a top-to-bottom reshaping of the U.S. health care system to hold down costs and extend coverage to the uninsured."

Public Broadcasting has coverage (with audio), and notes that "Rockefeller can still bring an amendment to the Senate floor."

MetroNews has a report, and audio from the committee debate.

Marshall's Turn for a Grading Dispute

Both state Treasurer John Perdue and his daughter Emily have spoken to The Charleston Gazette about a dispute over grades she's received for independent coursework at Marshall University.

The younger Perdue "said she did nothing wrong and got no special treatment when she earned two A grades this summer to replace two 'incomplete' grades for courses she took during the spring 2009 semester," the article said.

She and her father said the school had allowed her to remedy the incompletes under the instruction of Rosalyn Templeton, executive dean of Marshall's College of Education and Human Service.

The Democratic officeholder had earlier told The Associated Press and others that his daughter "has become an innocent victim in an internal power struggle" in Templeton's department.

The daughter's professor during that spring coursework, Laura Wyant, has asked Marshall's Faculty Senate to investigate the grade changes, arguing they were done without her permission.

School Provost Gayle Ormiston told AP that he's reviewed the situation and concluded that Perdue's daughter "earned the grades" after she completed the coursework.

The Charleston Daily Mail, which first reported the story, called Templeton's involvement an "unusual step" as she had not been the instructor for the two independent study classes. That article also said that "Emily apparently needed the courses to gain admittance to Marshall's business school."

The Daily Mail also interviewed some of the daughter's classmates, who questioned her attendance at the coursework's non-mandatory class meetings and said that she brought her mother with her to these meetings at least twice. It further quotes an e-mail to report that Emily Perdue and her father met with a business school dean about completing the coursework so she could enter the program.

AP noted that "Perdue's situation comes two years after West Virginia University became embroiled in a master's degree scandal involving Gov. Joe Manchin's daughter. Former WVU President Mike Garrison resigned and former Provost Gerald Lang gave up his administrative post after investigators found that Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch was wrongly awarded a retroactive degree."

Update: the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington reports that Wyant "will take whatever steps are necessary to file a grievance" over the grade changes.

Byrd Released from Hospital

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., has been released from the hospital after a two-day stay, his office tells The Associated Press.

A fall at home prompted his latest trip to the hospital, where tests detected signs of an oncoming infection.

"Byrd's office said Thursday he will continue receiving antibiotics and recuperating at home before returning to Congress for the debate on health care legislation," the article said.

They Voted For You: Jobless Benefits

West Virginia's U.S. House delegation -- Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st; Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd; and Nick Rahall, D-3rd -- all voted for the "Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009."

The legislation "approves the extra three months of benefits for those jobless living in 27 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with unemployment rates topping 8.5 percent," The Associated Press reports.

Those states include West Virginia, which reported a seasonally adjusted rate of 9 percent in August.

The bill passed 331-83. "The job market appears to be the last to recover from a recession that officially began in December 2007," the AP article said. "Jobless benefits have already been extended to record lengths through federal intervention."

Byrd Falls at Home (Updated)

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., was taken to a hospital for evaluation Tuesday morning after falling at his Beltway residence, The Associated Press reports.

"Spokesman Jesse Jacobs says the 91-year-old West Virginia Democrat apparently stood up too fast and fell and that his caregiver called an ambulance 'out of an abundance of caution,'" the article said. "He said that Byrd is being examined but that at this point there is no indication that he will be admitted."

AP also notes the frail health of history's longest-serving U.S. senator, and his recent return to work after an extended illness.

Update: Byrd has been hospitalized, AP reports. "Blood tests showed his white-blood cell count was high, which raised the possibility of an early-stage infection," the article said.

O'Connor Takes Her Seat on W.Va. Judicial Study Panel

Retired U.S. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in Morgantown today as honorary chairwoman of the West Virginia's Independent Commission on Judicial Reform.

The Associated Press set the stage for the group's latest meeting, and is covering. The meeting focuses on methods that states employ to select their judges and justices.

They Voted For You: ACORN

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, helped the House amend a student aid bill to "deny all federal funds for ACORN," the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, The Associated Press reports.

Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, voted against the move in the 345-75 roll call, joined by other Democrats. Two House Democrats voted "present."

AP called the vote "a GOP-led strike against the scandal-tainted community organizing group that comes just three days after the Senate took similar action."

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., helped pass the Senate measure, an amendment "to deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN," AP reported. It prevailed 83-7. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., did not vote.

The Intelligencer of Wheeling has articles here and here scrutinizing Mollohan's vote. The latter also reports that Capito has requested congressional hearings "on the current and past allegations against ACORN to ensure that the taxpayer's money is not being used improperly or illegally."

Update: The Wheeling newspaper has shared the latter article with The Weirton Daily Times and the Herald-Star of Steubenville, Ohio.

Manchin Pulls Plug on "Bonus" Proposal

Recession-fueled fears have prompted Gov. Joe Manchin to shelve plans to give some 20,000 state employees a $500 bonus-like payment, The Associated Press reports.

"The administration earmarked $34.7 million for the payments from an unexpected surplus that totals around $168 million," the article said. "But officials may now need that money to avoid any deficit threats."

Manchin also told AP "he does not regret calling last month's special session to attempt the payments, but would not have done so had he seen the latest figures."

Quote of the Day

"I mean, I got so many amendments that it’s really quite impressive."

-- U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., reacting to the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill, as quoted by Politico.

(Rockefeller was one of several senators to meet with President Obama in the Oval Office on the health care issue Wednesday, according to a White House statement. "These meetings underscore the President's continued commitment to working with senators on both sides of the aisle to pass health insurance reform this year," it said.)

They Voted For You: Joe Wilson

U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, voted for a resolution (Political Wire has also posted text) that "disapproves of the behavior" of colleague Joe Wilson, R-S.C., "during the joint session of Congress held on September 9, 2009."

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, voted against the resolution, as did all but seven GOP members present for the 240-179 roll call.

A dozen Democrats voted against the resolution, while five voted "present."

Capito has issued a press release explaining her vote, while also pointing out a YouTube video of her Fox Business Channel appearance in which she "criticized Rep. Wilson for his outburst, calling it 'very inappropriate'" (and is referred to as "Congressman Capeeto" at least twice; the Wilson comment is 5:21 into the interview).

Kennedy: Byrd Invoked Rome to Argue Vs. Gays in the Military

Monday's posthumous publication of True Compass: A Memoir, by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has revealed an anecdote about Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., and one his favorite scholarly subjects.

Several have picked up on the passage, including Politico. Kennedy was recounting a meeting at the Clinton White House, where the then-president asked Democratic members of the Armed Services Committee for their opinions about gays in the military.

The last senator to speak was Robert Byrd, and he came up with a new one on all of us. ... He informed us, with many ornate flourishes, that there had been a terrible problem in ancient Rome with young military boys turned into sex slaves. I don’t remember the exact details, but I think the story involved Tiberius Julius Caesar being captured and abused and used as a sex slave. He escaped and then years later he sought vengeance and killed his captors.

Anyway, it was something like that. The room fell silent. The senator continued. Then President Clinton stood up. His response was short and sweet. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘Moses went up to the mountain, and he came back with the tablets and there were ten commandments on those tablets. I’ve read those commandments. I know what they say, just like I know you do. And nowhere in those ten commandments will you find anything about homosexuality. Thank y’all for coming.’ He ended the meeting and walked out of the room.”

(Nerdy footnote: Kennedy's recollection may be at fault, but the incident more likely involved Gaius Julius Caesar, of crossing the Rubicon fame (and not Augustus' successor as emperor).

The anecdote appears to confuse/conflate Caesar's alleged affair with the king of a potential Roman ally with his brief capture at the hands of Cilician pirates, both from early in his career.

Presumably, invoking the Sacred Band of Thebes would not have supported the argument. Pederasty, on the other hand, does appear to have been a recurring issue in ancient military life for both Rome and the Greek city-states. )

The Riveting World of Unfunded Liabilities

This month's legislative interim session featured at least two of West Virginia's more pressing unfunded liability problems -- serious gaps between on-hand assets and promised benefits.

Led by Huntington, a number of West Virginia's largest cities and town have been struggling beneath swelling liabilities in their police and fire pension funds. Interested parties have crafted the so-called "Huntington Plan" as a possible solution, but it requires legislative action.

Gov. Joe Manchin has said he will call the special session that plan supporters seek only if enough lawmakers appear to support it. Otherwise, the plan must wait until next year's regular session.

As The Associated Press and others report, a Monday meeting of the Legislature's majority Democrats revealed lingering concerns about the plan, particularly from those representing rural areas.

"Those areas rely on volunteer fire departments, which have sought retirement-like benefits to recruit and keep members," the article said. "The Huntington Plan does not address such benefits, but does dedicate a sliver of revenue from insurance policy surcharges toward ailing municipal pension funds."

The volunteer departments want that money instead, AP reports.

Sam Love, a lobbyist for volunteer fire departments, reminded a Monday interim committee that his clients provide the bulk of fire protection in the state. ‘‘If that one-tenth of one percent goes any where, it should go to the volunteer departments,’’ Love was quoted as saying.

Plan advocates remain hopeful that they can sway enough lawmakers. Others with coverage include The Charleston Gazette and The Register-Herald of Beckley.

---

AP and The Gazette are also among those reporting on an update to lawmakers regarding West Virginia's "other-post employment benefits," or OPEB liability.

These benefits are mostly health care promised to state employees, teachers and school workers once they retire. A consultant for the state told lawmakers Monday that "the Mountain State’s per-capita liability exceeds $4,000 — ranking it fifth nationwide — and the figure is projected to double within 10 years," AP reports.

"Rising medical costs — the same culprit fueling the ongoing push for federal health care legislation — have caused these unfunded liabilities to mushroom," AP explains. "The recession, meanwhile, has hampered government employers from paying the annual required contributions to reduce their funding gaps."

Others with coverage include the Charleston Daily Mail and MetroNews.

Water, Coal and Politics in West Virginia

West Virginia helps provide a human face to a massive investigative report by The New York Times published Sunday.

The "extensive review of water pollution records" found that "in recent years, violations of the Clean Water Act have risen steadily across the nation," but that "the vast majority of those polluters have escaped punishment" as state officials have repeatedly ignored obvious illegal dumping, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which can prosecute polluters when states fail to act, has often declined to intervene."

The article highlights a Charleston-area family that contends with painful rashes, rotting teeth and other harms blamed on the water piped into their home. The Times also interviewed Matthew Crum, a former state regulator who blames coal operations for at least some of the pollution.

Crum further alleges that "everyone was terrified of doing their job" because of pressure from mining companies and "their friends in the state’s legislature." In this regard, the article includes this passage:

In 2003, a new director, Stephanie Timmermeyer, was nominated to run the Department of Environmental Protection. One of West Virginia’s most powerful state lawmakers, Eustace Frederick, said she would be confirmed, but only if she agreed to fire Mr. Crum, according to several people who said they witnessed the conversation.

Crum was indeed dismissed after Timmermeyer took the cabinet post, the article said, adding that "Timmermeyer, who resigned in 2008, did not return calls," while "Mr. Frederick died last year."

Before his death last year, the Mercer County Democrat was known as an outspoken advocate of the coal industry. But whether others would characterize the political sway held by the late mining engineer as the article has remains uncertain. And as a member of the House of Delegates, Frederick did not vote on gubernatorial appointees.

Byrd Remembers Ted Kennedy

Looking "frail," but with "a strong voice that hasn't been heard on the Senate floor since February," U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., paid tribute Thursday to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., The Associated Press reports.

"Byrd was steady as he bade a wistful goodbye to Kennedy, who died last month," the article said. "He remembered how Kennedy gave him dozens of roses on his wedding anniversary and would bring his dogs to Byrd's office for visits."

Footage from C-Span has been posted on YouTube.

W.Va. Judge on Capitol Hill as Obama Nominee

Kanawha Circuit Judge Irene Berger is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee today as President Obama's nominee to the bench of southern West Virginia's Federal Court district.

Live video showed Berger at the hearing's start sitting just behind U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.

Statue Honoring W.Va. Women Veterans Finds Home

Perhaps in time for Veterans Day, a new statue representing West Virginia women who have served in the military will stand near the Veterans Memorial on the state Capitol grounds, The Associated Press reports.

The state Capitol Building Commission voted Wednesday to place the statue east-southeast of the popular visitor draw. It will be the same height as the memorial's four figures depicting fighting men.

"Award-winning Charleston sculptor Joe Mullins created all five statues," AP explains. "He was commissioned to sculpt the monument to women veterans more than a decade ago. The project was held up after complaints that the statue was too masculine and should be wearing a skirt. A panel of women veterans approved Mullins' design last year."

W.Va. Supreme Court Rehears Massey Appeal, Again

For the third time in nearly two years, West Virginia's Supreme Court heard arguments in a 2002 Boone County case that resulted in a $50 million verdict against Massey Energy Co.

As The Associated Press reports, while the two previous hearing yielded decisions overturning that judgment, "an almost entirely different court heard Tuesday's arguments."

This summer's U.S. Supreme Court ruling set the stage for the latest round. And while it forced the recusal of Chief Justice Brent Benjamin, "three of the four remaining justices are also new to the case: Menis Ketchum and Margaret Workman were elected in November, while Thomas McHugh was appointed following the March death of Justice Joseph Albright," AP reports.

Others on hand for the latest hearing include The Charleston Gazette, WCHS-TV (with video), Public Broadcasting (with audio) and MetroNews (ditto).

Labor Day's Competing Rallies

The hoped-for turnout, headliners, corporate sponsorship and political themes at Monday's Logan County rally drew coverage from The Associated Press, The Charleston Gazette, the Charleston Daily Mail, MetroNews (with audio here, here and here), Public Broadcasting, WSAZ-TV (with video), and WOWK-TV (ditto).

The traditional and more sedate event at Boone County prompted reports from The Gazette, the Daily Mail, WSAZ-TV (with video), WCHS-TV, and WOWK-TV (with video).

Lawsuit Threatened over Judicial "Double-Dipping"

Former longtime South Charleston Mayor Richie Robb has vowed to sue the state over the awarding of pension benefits to a pair of circuit judges and a county magistrate, The Associated Press reports.

The two judges "made headlines last year by filing for re-election, resigning and then obtaining retirement benefits," AP explains. "Running unopposed, Judges Charles King of Kanawha County and Alfred Ferguson of Cabell County later regained their benches."

Robb also faults a Summers County magistrate, J. William Jeffries, for similarly cashing in on his pension. "Robb now plans to sue the state auditor, the Consolidated Public Retirement Board or both to challenge the benefit awards," the article said.

Robb was also the lawyer in last year's unsuccessful court challenge of the recent legislative pay raises.

AP notes that legislation passed this year, as part of Manchin's 2009 agenda, "aims to deter future such instances" of "double-dipping."

Byrd Seeks Naming Honor for Kennedy (Updated)

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., is among those marking the death of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.

"In his honor and as a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear his name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American," a statement from Byrd reads in part.

The Hill has an item on Byrd's "wistful statement" and request.

The Associated Press has video of Byrd's sorrowful remarks on the Senate floor back in May 2008 when Kennedy revealed the brain cancer diagnosis.

Update: AP reports on Byrd's friendship with Kennedy, as does The Charleston Gazette.

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has also issued a statement mourning Kennedy's death, and spoke to MetroNews about his late colleague and friend.

MetroNews also has audio, and a photo of Kennedy stumping in Logan County with Rockefeller, Byrd and U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-3rd, in the audience.

The Charleston Daily Mail reports on Kennedy's visits to the Mountain State, and offers photos as well.

Gov. Joe Manchin has ordered all U.S. and state flags to be lowered at state facilities until Kennedy's funeral Mass.

The News and Sentinel of Parkersburg and WBOY-TV are also among those relaying statements from West Virginia officials on Kennedy's death.

Quote of the Day

"If it's one-size-fits-all, then we've created an incentive not to be productive, not to contribute to society."

-- Gov. Joe Manchin, expressing concerns at a Southern Governors Association meeting about any future changes to Medicaid eligibility rules, as quoted by The Associated Press.

Manchin spoke earlier to The Intelligencer of Wheeling on the health care topic.

W.Va. Bonus, Revisited

The Associated Press crunches the numbers and finds that full time state workers eligible for Gov. Joe Manchin's proposed $500 "bonus" would pocket around $375 of that after taxes, pension contributions and other deductions.

The retirees earmarked for $266 in the House amendment to the governor's bill would likely have gotten that entire amount, for wont of withholding, the article said.

AP also notes the full-time state employees _ 10,500 paid through special revenue accounts and 4,000 in federally-funded positions _ who would not have been covered by the funding provided in Manchin's special session legislation.

"The administration's proposal is no different than how other raises have been handled in the past," the article said. "When general revenue-based increases have been paid, agencies that rely on other sources of funding -- like fee-generated special revenues -- must tap their own accounts for the money."

But the article also notes that Manchin's bonus bill made one exception to this tradition, for the 5,000 or so Division of Highways workers who rely on the chronically-strapped State Road Fund.

Manchin Weighs in on Cap and Trade

Gov. Joe Manchin assessed the U.S. House-passed cap-and-trade bill while attending a Southern Governors Association panel on energy issues, The Associated Press reports.

Manchin "Gov. Steven L. Beshear of Kentucky, both Democrats, said the bill their own party is pushing ignores support for the carbon-capture technology necessary to make their states' rich coal reserves viable," the article said.

"We embrace the change," Manchin was quoted as saying. "Do I agree exactly with the way the bills have come out? No, I don't. They've identified and villainized (coal), but they haven't fixed anything."

The article explains that "the cap-and-trade energy bill now before Congress establishes incentives for new technologies such as wind and solar power and new fuels such as diesel from algae. But it holds little appeal to Gulf Coast and Appalachian states that provide most of America's domestic energy, governors from those regions said."

W.Va. GOP Hires New Executive Director

As its fundraising labors continue, West Virginia's Republican Party has hired a new executive director.

The Associated Press interviewed Troy Berman, a 30-year-old Baltimore native who took the job after working on GOP campaigns in his home state as well as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas.

Berman "comes to the post with Republicans at low tide, even by West Virginia standards," the article said. Besides Democratic dominance of the congressional delegation and across state government, "feuding within the Republican Party has spilled out onto blogs, newspapers and talk radio as members clash over how to reverse their sagging fortunes."

Berman tells AP that the upcoming, off-year election will allow the GOP to focus on legislative races. "We expect 2010 to be a good year for Republicans nationwide, and I have no reason to believe that will be different for West Virginia,” Berman said.

Judge Yanked from Massey Case

The state Supreme Court has disqualified a Mingo County circuit judge "from presiding over a water pollution lawsuit against Virginia-based Massey Energy because of his past attorney-client relationship with the defendant," The Associated Press reports.

Judge Michael Thornsbury's recusal had been sought last month by 550 current and former area residents who are suing Massey and a subsidiary "for injecting 1.4 billion gallons of coal slurry into worked-out underground mines between 1978 and 1987," the article said, adding that the lawsuit alleges "slurry seeped through cracks in the earth into the groundwater, poisoning drinking wells, and that decades of exposure put the plaintiffs at risk of cancers and other health problems."

Thornsbury declined to step aside in the case. Acting Chief Justice Robin Davis then rejected most of the allegations raised by lawyers for the plaintiffs, but later agreed to consider "a 1985 case in which Thornsbury — then an attorney, but not a judge — represented Rawl Sales," AP reported.

One of the plaintiffs in that case is also suing in the pending one. Davis concluded this week that the "past relationship could create the appearance of impropriety and lead to questions about his impartiality," the article said.

Both AP and The Charleston Gazette report that Davis cited the role of blasting damages claims in the 1985 lawsuit.

"Davis noted that an expert witness for the residents has reported that blasting activities by Massey may be one cause of fractured underground strata that allowed slurry injected by the company to contaminate local drinking water," the latter's article said.

They Voted for You: "Death Panels" (Updated)

As Political Wire recently observed, Time magazine's Swampland noted similarities between language in the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill and provisions in some of the pending health care measures described as promoting euthanasia and creating mandatory "death panels."

The Associated Press, FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com are among those who have debunked the "death panel" claims as "wrong," "nonsense" and "pants-on-fire" false.

"The provision that has caused the uproar would instead authorize Medicare to pay doctors for counseling patients about end-of-life care, if the patient wishes," AP reported.

The 2003 legislation provides coverage to terminally ill patients that includes "counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options," according to its conference report (page 663).

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, helped pass the 2003 measure. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, voted against it in the 220-215 roll call.

U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., voted against the bill when it passed their chamber 54-44.

Update: Politifact.com weighs in, and finds the comparison half-true: "(I)t's clear to us from our interviews with experts that there's a distinct difference between the 2003 law and the 2009 bill," its analysis found. "Yes, there's the appearance of inconsistency given the similar purpose for both bills, but the 2009 bill is more far-reaching than the 2003 law, which was focused narrowly on hospice patients."

For a Few Dollars More

A Legislative audit estimates that state government has reaped more than $1 million from interest in the last decade by holding back scheduled annual pay increases for its workers by one month, The Associated Press reports.

"Every year, state employees get paid $60 for every year they’ve worked for West Virginia. By law, that lump sum is to be paid on July 1," AP's Tom Breen explains. "Going back more than 20 years, though, the state has made the so-called 'annual increment' payment on July 30."

Quote of the Day

"I don't have a question. I have the answers."

An unidentified woman who "spoke for a long stretch" during last week's Town Hall-style meeting on health care held by U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, as reported by The Intelligencer of Wheeling.

Protests A-Go-Go (Updated)

West Virginia's congressional delegation has attracted protesters of one stripe of another during their August break, The Associated Press and others report.

Last week's forum on health care co-hosted by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., got the ball rolling, with AP, Public Broadcasting (with video and audio) and others noting demonstrators from various sides turning out for the event.

WSAZ-TV reported that "all the questions were pre-screened by the organizers of the event." AP reported that "Rockefeller did field a variety of challenging questions from the crowd, though, with some of the more pointed inquiries coming from audience members in an overflow room who couldn’t fit into the Erma Byrd Art Gallery with the main audience."

The handling of the forum helped spur a demonstration later in the week. "A dozen protesters lined up on a street corner next to AARP's Charleston office Friday angry over what they feel is the group's stance on health care reform," MetroNews reported.

(The item quotes Fred Joseph, a repeat GOP political candidate who has previously shown up in "Tea Party" coverage here and here.)

Then there was the Town Hall-style meeting held by U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, in Wheeling on health care. Those with coverage of that include Public Broadcasting, The Intelligencer, MetroNews (with audio) and WTRF-TV.

And The Journal of Martinsburg, reports that U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, was at a Berkeley County ribbon-cutting ceremony when "a small crowd gathered to protest health care reform, but they quickly dispersed."

"One man, later identified as Russell Mokhiber, was walking along side of a group of people, including Capito, with a small video recorder," that article said. "Mokhiber said he asked to speak to her about health care and the congresswoman responded 'not now.'"

U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-3rd, told the Bluefield Daily-Telegraph that "he will kick-off a series of town-hall style meetings on health care reform Monday morning in Mercer County. The town hall meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at the Princeton Health and Fitness Center in Princeton."

Update: Coverage of Rahall's meeting comes from The Register-Herald of Beckley and Public Broadcasting (with audio).

West Virginia: Moderate

...by a hair, according to a Gallup survey of 1,230 state residents conducted between January and June.

The poll found 40 percent identifying their political views as moderate, while 39 percent said conservative and 18 percent said liberal.

Gallup's overall finding from the national survey: "a significantly higher percentage of Americans in most states -- even some solidly Democratic ones -- call themselves conservative rather than liberal."

The Blame Game

The special session's failed "bonus" bill provides further evidence of differences between Gov. Joe Manchin and his fellow Democrats who control the House of Delegates, while also spurring a flurry of finger-pointing, The Associated Press and others observe.

"It showed divisions that had been hinted at during the regular session," the AP article said. "A number of education bills Manchin wanted, including changes to how the school calendar is set, were caught up in wrangling between the House and Senate and failed to pass."

But AP's Tom Breen also writes that "the apparent disorder, though, masks the fact that legislative leaders and Manchin all probably gained from the dispute in different ways. And not even the state employees caught in the middle will definitely lose out, since all sides agree the bonus could come back before the Legislature this fall."

The Charleston Gazette heard from groups who represent state workers, expressing "anger and dismay" that the measure didn't pass. They blame Manchin for concluding that the more generous House version of the "bonus" bill exceeded the scope of the special session call.

"It's a pretty universal perception that he's very arrogant and very haughty in how he deals with state employees, and this is more evidence of that," Gordon Simmons, an organizer with the state Public Employees Union UE Local 170, told the newspaper.

But both The Gazette and MetroNews note that one of these critical groups, the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, had endorsed the governor's $500-per-full-timer proposal.

"There was not an opportunity to build consensus prior to the special session," AFT-WV President Judy Hale told the latter. "So when the House wanted to, rightly so, add all state employees then they got into a mess."

MetroNews also has dueling legislative perspectives (and audio) on the failed bill. The Charleston Daily Mail also has coverage, while The Register-Herald of Beckley has dueling articles (here and here).

Impasse Dooms "Bonus" for W.Va. Workers

Gov. Joe Manchin had initially proposed his $500 bonus-like payment to full-time state employees for the 2010 regular legislative session. He then decided to include it in this week's special session for extending jobless benefits.

The result: "a legislative tug-of-war over whether to give $500 payments to all state workers, some state workers or all state workers and retirees," The Associated Press reports.

"The version favored by Manchin and the Senate would have used surplus funds from the previous fiscal year to pay $500 one-time bonuses to active state employees at a total cost of roughly $34.7 million," AP's Tom Breen explains. "The House, though, amended the bill to include an additional $11.1 million for state employees in higher education and county jobs not covered under the state school aid formula," as well as "$13.3 million for one-time bonus payments of $266 for state retirees."

In the end, "Manchin and the Senate balked at these additions, saying they overstepped the bounds of the special session call, and therefore also violated the state constitution," AP reported. "After refusing to concur with the House amendments, the Senate adjourned instead of appointing a committee to try and reach a compromise."

AP also covered Manchin's response to the outcome, as did The Register-Herald of Beckley, MetroNews, Public Broadcasting (with audio), the Charleston Daily Mail and The Charleston Gazette.

Special Session Starts

Gov. Joe Manchin has launched his third special legislative session of the year, The Associated Press and others report.

The state Senate passed the two key measures from the governor's agenda: a bill qualifying the state's unemployed for 20 more weeks of federally funded benefits; and a $500 bonus-type payment to each full-time state worker.

While the jobless benefits measure passed unanimously, Sen. Clark Barnes called the other "an attempt to buy West Virginia's largest voting bloc for a mere $500," AP's Tom Breen reports. "Ultimately, Barnes and Preston County Republican Sen. Dave Sypolt cast their votes against the proposal, which passed 30-2."

AP's Breen sets the scene for the House's reception to the proposals. Others with coverage include The Charleston Gazette and MetroNews.

What They Did on Their Summer Vacation (Updated)

U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-1st, earned a mention in the lead paragraph of a Wall Street Journal article regarding " a dozen taxpayer-funded trips by lawmakers during Congress's monthlong summer recess."

Rahall is "leading about a half-dozen lawmakers on a 10-day trip to the Pacific. They are reviewing how immigration laws are applied in the Northern Marianas, a U.S. territory," the newspaper reported. "The lawmakers plan to visit American Samoa, Hawaii, Palau, the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam."

The trip so far has earned Rahall mention on Guam's KUAM as well as Pacific Daily News, the Saipan Tribune and the Pacific News Center (video; reference corrected).

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is meanwhile co-hosting a forum on health care with AARP's West Virginia chapter, Public Broadcasting reports.

"Conservative protesters are planning greet" those at the University of Charleston event, the report said. "The event is closed to the public, after already filling up the available space. The AARP and other sponsors invited people to the event, which required an RSVP and was full as of Monday morning."

The piece (audio here) also notes that "Other such events across the country have been disrupted by people opposed to overhauling the nation’s health care system. Officials at the University of Charleston say they’re prepared for any protests, and had already stepped up security because of Rockfeller’s visit."

(Update: AP has coverage from the Tuesday forum.)

The office of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, has issued a press release regarding her August recess whereabouts, "Capito Returns from Trip to Israel, Palestine."

Update II: Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, is holding a Town Hall meeting Friday at Wheeling Jesuit University to discuss health care, The Intelligencer reports.

Manchin at Odds with U.S. DoD

As co-chairman of the National Governors Association, Gov. Joe Manchin has co-written a letter to a top Pentagon official "opposing a new Defense Department proposal to handle natural and terrorism-related disasters," The Hill reports.

The bi-partisan group of governors believe "that a murky chain of command could lead to more problems than solutions," and "would hinder a state's effort to respond to a disaster," the article said.

"Current law gives governors control over National Guard forces in their own states as well as any Guard units and Defense Department personnel imported from other states," the newspaper reported. "The letter comes as the Pentagon proposes a legislative fix that would give the secretary of Defense the authority to assist in response to domestic disasters and, consequently, control over units stationed in an affected state."

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."

W.Va. Tea Party Movement Attracts Attention

West Virginia's Tea Party Movement has developed a political profile as the state's most visible critic of Obama administration proposals involving cap-and-trade and health care, The Associated Press reports.

The group's members have been courted by the nascent West Virginia Conservative Foundation, while U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, spoke at its July rally targeting cap and trade.

But while the movement has raised questions about the cost and jobs impact of such proposals, allegations raised by some of its top organizers "appear to go beyond policy disagreements," the article said.

E-mails from the group "promote demonstrated untruths" about some of this legislation, and also "recycle other rumors and allegations about Obama, his family and other Democrats previously debunked by the likes of FactCheck.org and PolitiFact.com."

Several of the e-mails "have raised questions about President Barack Obama's place of birth and eligibility to serve," AP reported, adding that "late last month, state officials in Hawaii said they once again checked and confirmed that Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen, and therefore meets a key constitutional requirement for being president."

The author of a number of these e-mails was asked about their content.

"I have just about come to the conclusion, because of the newspaper articles at the time of his birth, that Obama may well have been born in the US," the author told AP. "However, rumor is that he went to college as an exchange student, which would be a felony offense and thus would disqualify him for serving. All of those records are sealed."

Wrong again, according to FactCheck. It concluded in May that a "transparent April Fools' Day hoax" complete with a faked AP story to allege that Obama received a Fulbright scholarship for foreign students. "The claim is false and the story is a hoax," FactCheck found.

Tamarack to Pay Off its Debts

Tamarack, the arts and crafts showcase built along the West Virginia Turnpike by the roadway's parent agency, has set aside the $6.9 million it needs to pay off the bonds that funded its construction, The Register-Herald reports.

But as both the Beckley newspaper and MetroNews observe, that will not necessarily trigger the transfer of Tamarack to another agency of state government as Gov. Joe Manchin has proposed.

"We continue to look for ways for Tamarack to either break even or make money," Manchin aide Jim Pitrolo told MetroNews (audio here). "Once we get that business model in place we can move Tamarack anywhere."

And as the Turnpike just hiked its toll rates to raise more revenue, the Beckley paper noted that "by setting aside the cash from its economic development tourism account, the West Virginia Parkways Authority is able to invest another $1.2 million a year in turnpike upkeep."

He Voted for You: Cash for Clunkers

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., helped approve an additional $2 billion for "cash for clunkers," which The Associated Press described as "the economy-boosting rebate program that caught the fancy of car buyers and instantly increased sales for an auto industry long mired in recession."

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., did not take part in the 60-37 vote, though he did help confirm Sonia Sotmayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court that day.

AP explains that the program "gives consumers up to $4,500 in federal subsidies if they trade in their cars for new, more energy-efficient models," and that it had exhausted its initial $1 billion.

"Without action, lawmakers risked a wave of voter discontent as they left the Capitol for a monthlong vacation," AP reported. "Supporters of the program hailed its effect on the auto industry -- which had its best month in nearly a year in July -- as well as its claimed environmental benefits."

But critics included Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who said that "what we're doing is creating debt. ... The bill to pay for those cars is going to come due on our children and grandchildren," the article said.

Jefferson To Vote Dec. 5 on Table Games

Charles Town Races & Slots is getting a second shot at getting casino table games approved for its track, The Associated Press and others report.

AP set the stage for Thursday's Jefferson County Commission meeting, at which racetrack officials successfully requested a Dec. 5 referendum on the question.

"A vote on whether to install poker tables, roulette wheels and other games alongside 5,000 slot machines at the Eastern Panhandle facility failed two years ago, but officials with the Pennsylvania-based parent company, Penn National Gaming Inc., believe the odds are now in their favor," the article said.

The Journal covered the meeting, noting that "in early July, residents and local business leaders announced that they were forming a group known as Vote Yes Jefferson County. The alliance, which is being led by Eric Lewis, said the ailing economy and new legislation that gives more revenues to local communities make it all the more important to approve the games this time around."

The Martinsburg newspaper also reports separately on community sentiment toward the proposal. "Rev. John Bethard, of Charles Town Presbyterian Church, spoke out against the games," that article said. "He still has concerns about the temptation they could pose for those struggling with gambling problems, but in light of region's ongoing economic downturn, he said the games may be beneficial."

MetroNews also has an item on the upcoming vote. AP also reported earlier on the push to re-visit the table games issue in Jefferson County.

They Voted for You: Sotomayor

U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., helped confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday.

The Senate voted 68-31 to allow President Barack Obama's first high court nominee to become its first Hispanic justice as well as its third woman and its 111th justice overall.

The Associated Press reports that "Democrats praised the 55-year-old Sotomayor as a mainstream moderate. But most Republicans voted against her, saying she'd bring personal bias and a liberal agenda to the bench."

But "in the final tally, nine Republicans joined majority Democrats and the Senate's two independents to support Sotomayor's confirmation," the article continued. "Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., suffering from brain cancer, was absent."

AP also reported that "the Senate chamber was heavy with history as senators cast their votes in turn. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., 91, the longest-serving senator who has been in frail health following a long hospitalization, was brought in in a wheelchair to vote. "

Politico also noted that "The confirmation vote brought back the Senate’s oldest and longest-serving member, Robert Byrd, who has been recovering from an illness for the past several weeks."

Manchin to Convene Special Session for Jobless Benefits

Gov. Joe Manchin expects to call the Legislature into the third special session of 2009, this time to extend the duration of unemployment compensation benefits, The Associated Press and others report.

The legislative change sought by the governor would qualify West Virginia for the necessary funding, provided through the federal stimulus package enacted earlier this year.

As AP reports, "the National Employment Law Project estimates than nearly 4,000 jobless West Virginias will otherwise exhaust their benefits by October. That figure is projected to rise above 6,100 by year's end."

The governor plans to have the session start Tuesday, while lawmakers are already in town for the month's series of interim study meetings.

The New York Times recently highlighted the projected exhaustion of unemployment benefits, as did the Charleston Daily Mail.

Others with coverage of the special session include The Charleston Gazette and MetroNews.

Quote of the Day

"All the attention is going to those three Republicans... you just watch as this bill diminishes. Those three won't be there when the bill passes."

-- U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., opining on the GOP contingent of the Senate Finance Committee's so-called "gang of six" senators negotiating a bipartisan health care reform bill, as reported by Politico and relayed by Political Wire.

W.Va. DHHR Falling Under Judicial Scrutiny

The state Department of Health and Human Resources, and the programs it operates, are ending up in West Virginia courts.

The Associated Press' Tom Breen reports on observations from state Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Benjamin that DHHR "is suffering from a 'systemic' lack of resources that regularly results in a failure to meet its legal obligations."

Benjamin addressed the topic in a concurring opinion in "a case in which the DHHR successfully sought a Supreme Court ruling that blocked a lower court from dismissing the agency's move to terminate a woman's parental rights."

"I am deeply troubled and concerned about this continuing resource problem," Benjamin wrote, "a problem which I sense may be worsening and may be becoming systemic. This underlying resource problem perhaps deserves the court's fuller attention."

The AP article also cites last month's move by Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom to revive "an independent court monitor position to track how the state provides care at (Mildred Mitchell-) Bateman and West Virginia's other public psychiatric hospital, William R. Sharpe Hospital in Weston."

The Charleston Gazette updates that situation, reporting that Bloom has appointed Ombudsman for Behavioral Health David Sudbeck as monitor.

Obama Labor Chief Visits W.Va.

Obama Labor Secretary Hilda Solis came to West Virginia for "her first tour of an underground mine...flanked by business and labor leaders seeking her ear on such issues as climate-change legislation and the administration's approach to regulating mining," The Associated Press reports.

The party included Gov. Joe Manchin, Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, Patriot Coal Corp. CEO Rick Whiting and United Mine Workers Union President Cecil Roberts.

Others with coverage include the Times West Virginian of Fairmont, Public Broadcasting (with audio) and MetroNews (ditto).

NRCC Targeting Mollohan for 2010 (Updated)

The National Republican Congressional Committee is including the seat of U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, among the 70 it views as ripe for a takeover in the next election, the state GOP says in a news release.

While citing the district's strong showing for Republican nominee John McCain in last year's presidential race, the release cites the spectre of a possibly pending federal investigation into Mollohan's finances and earmarks benefiting nonprofit groups he helped create and staff.

But the NRCC also launched early against Mollohan during the last election cycle, with August 2007 radio ads invoking the federal scrutiny. Mollohan ended up running unopposed the following year.

Update: Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball casts a skeptical eye at the 70-seat list, labeling it "something of a charade" and a "calculated gambit."

While not mentioning Mollohan by name, the analysis does cite how nine of the Democrats on the list had no GOP opponent last year, while most of the others attracted votes above the "widely accepted threshold" of 55 percent.

"While the GOP is almost assured to pick up seats next November, putting 70 Democratic seats into play and retaking the House, at this point, are more pipe dreams than realistic goals," the analysis said.

W.Va. Gets a Smidgen Bluer. Sort Of.

Gallup Poll Daily interviewed 1,230 West Virginians and found that 53 percent identified themselves as Democrats or as independents who lean toward that party, while 33 percent identified themselves as Republican or GOP-leaning.

That 20 percent gap is 1 percent wider than the one measured by Gallup in 2008, though it noted then that the Republicans had just won West Virginia's electoral votes for the third consecutive time.

The latest findings, part of a nationwide survey of political leanings conducted during the first six months of 2009, are also contrasted by the state's voter registration figures (from the 2008 general election). Those show nearly 56 percent of voters registered as Democrats, while 29 percent were Republican.

As for Gallup's national findings, "only four states show a sizeable Republican advantage in party identification, the same number as in 2008. That compares to 29 states plus the District of Columbia with sizeable Democratic advantages, also unchanged from last year."

Lawmakers Protest Turnpike Toll Hike

A trio of West Virginia legislators picketed a Turnpike toll plaza Saturday to protest that morning's increase in rates.

MetroNews and The Register-Herald of Beckley offer coverage, and photos, of the turnout by Delegates Clif Moore, D-McDowell, and Mercer County Republican delegates Mike Porter and John Shott.

Update: Critics of the Turnpike's tolls have often observed that no other West Virginia highway has them. But as MetroNews reports separately, that appears destined to change.

Obama Labor Secretary Coming to W.Va.

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is scheduled to visit the Patriot Coal's Federal No. 2 mine Tuesday with Gov. Joe Manchin and other officials, The Associated Press reports.

"Solis is scheduled to tour the underground Monongalia County mine and an airtight rescue chamber and have a round-table discussion with miners," the article said. "Federal No. 2 is one of West Virginia's largest underground coal mines."

The tour was announced ahead of Monday's news that Patriot "is closing its Samples mines and has told 314 workers they will lose their jobs Oct. 1," AP reports separately.

They Voted For You: Wall Street Bonuses

U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, both helped the House pass legislation that The Associated Press reported aimed "to prohibit pay and bonus packages that encourage bankers and traders to take risks so big they could bring down the entire economy."

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, voted against the "Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act," as did all but two of the Republicans present for the 237-185 roll call.

"Passage of the bill on a 237-185 vote followed the disclosure a day earlier that nine of the nation's biggest banks, which are receiving billions of dollars in federal bailout aid, paid individual bonuses of $1 million or more to nearly 5,000 employees," the AP article said. "Aware of voter outrage about the bonuses, Republicans were reluctant in Friday's debate to push back, even though they voted overwhelmingly against the bill. They said severe restrictions should apply only to banks that accept government aid."

W.Va. Spending Nearly $40m from Stimulus on Bridges

West Virginia has selected bridges "it could not otherwise get to in the next six years" to receive federal stimulus funding, The Associated Press reports.

The state has also chosen projects to ensure that each congressional district gets both the same amount of money and the same bridge area affected, Division of Highways officials told AP.

"Ready-to-go jobs that could quickly boost state employment were favored as well," the article said. All told, this approach "helps explain why an analysis by The Associated Press of its stimulus spending found that only around one-third of the bridges selected are considered structurally deficient or obsolete."

The analysis was part of a nationwide review of bridge-related stimulus spending that found that "tens of thousands of unsafe or decaying bridges await repairs. But of the 2,476 bridges selected by states to receive stimulus money so far, nearly half have passed inspections with high marks and so normally would not qualify for federal bridge money."

West Virginia is painting and cleaning, resurfacing or replacing a total of 87 spans, tapping $39.8 milion in the process. More than half the amount is slated to replace 26 of those bridges.

The national story noted "the wooden bridge built in 1900 carrying Harlan Springs Road in Berkeley County, W.Va., is one of the nation's unsafe structures not being repaired. About 2,700 cars cross it every day, but with holes in the wooden deck and corroded railings and missing steel poles, only one car at a time can travel the rickety 300-foot span."

The West Virginia-specific article cited state officials who said "that bridge is included in the state's six-year plan," and that they began designing a replacement and negotiating a new site with CSX Corp. in January. They expect to start building the new bridge next year.

Manchin to Discuss W.Va.'s Fiscal Health (Updated)

Gov. Joe Manchin has set a Friday morning press conference to talk about the financial condition of West Virginia state government, The Associated Press reports.

(Update: Manchin has proposed a $500 bonus-like payment to each of the state's 51,000 or so full-time employees, fueled by unexpected lottery and general revenue surpluses that total $65 million. But he's also socking away half the funds to help with future budgets, while also seeking 5 percent cuts from state agencies during the next budget year. AP has details, as does MetroNews and WOWK-TV.)

With the recession continuing to wreak havoc on state budgets across the country, West Virginia endured a tight fiscal year during the 12 months that ended June 30. Manchin officials dampened their revenue expectations for the 2009-2010 year, and lawmakers pared down the new budget as a result.

Manchin offered no details before his press event. The Associated Press reported some silver linings to the state's financial picture when the budget year ended -- while adding that that continuing economic troubles and other factors "overshadow each fiscal indicator."

PEIA Board to Vote, Again, on Retiree Subsidies (Updated)

Future West Virginia employees could lose a major perk, and with it a huge funding headache for the state, if the Public Employees Insurance Agency sticks with its initial proposal to end retiree health subsidies.

The Associated Press previews Thursday's finance board meeting, as does MetroNews and The Charleston Gazette.

(Update: The board affirmed a halt to future subsidies, but delayed the change six month so it starts with employees hired after June 2010. AP has details, as does The Charleston Gazette and MetroNews.)

The board meets " in the wake of public hearings held across the state to air the subsidy question," AP explains. "Board members voted earlier to halt subsidies for employees hired after this year. They then held off a final decision to allow public input, but may still face a legal challenge over its handling of the issue."

DaughterGate Figure Named Mylan President

The new president of generic drug giant Mylan Inc. is the daughter of Gov. Joe Manchin whose receipt of a graduate degree from West Virginia University embroiled that school in an administation-toppling controversey.

The Associated Press is among those reporting on this week's promotion of Heather Bresch, who has been the company's chief operating officer.

Others with coverage include the Charleston Daily Mail, MetroNews and The Charleston Gazette.

Mezz Makes It Happen, Again (UPDATED)

Disgraced former House Education Chairman Jerry Mezzatesta, having recently won his way back into an administrative job with Hampshire County's school board, has agreed to resign in exchange for full retirement benefits, MetroNews reports.

"In exchange for Mezzatesta's resignation, the school board has agreed to pay into the state retirement fund the contributions Mezzatesta lost when he was wasn't working between 2005-2009," the report said. "The school board has also agreed to grant Mezzatesta 100 vacation days and 90 personal leave days that will be converted into health insurance coverage."

The deal must still be approved by the state's Consolidated Public Retirement Board, MetroNews noted.

Update: The Associated Press reports that the estimated price tag of the Mezzatesta deal is around $192,000.

The article is drawn largely from The Hampshire Review. While the full article requires a subscription, the newspaper has posted text of the settlement agreement.

The agreement says that if the state board rejects the deal, Mezzatesta "may elect to initiate a declaratory judgment action seeking to compel the Consolidated Public Retirement Board to accept the aforesaid payment."

Hampshire County School Board President Bernie Hott said "the agreement isn’t covered by the school system’s insurance company, but will instead come from 'our county (school) coffer,'" an online blurb for the newspaper article noted.

W.Va. Dropping Ball on Stimulus Sewer Funding?

MetroNews reports that West Virginia may end up not spending millions of federal dollars meant to build and improve sewer systems.

"The state has been allocated $61 million dollars in a loan fund, but with an August 17 deadline to have bids approved quickly approaching, only six projects equaling $10 million have been approved," the report said. "State Department of Environmental Protection Spokesperson Kathy Cosco says 11 other sewer projects with a total price tag of $19 million should meet the upcoming deadline."

Jefferson Weighs Re-Vote on Table Games

The Associated Press reports that "two years to reconsider, a faltering economy and a new deal that would give host communities a bigger slice of the financial pie are creating momentum for a second vote on whether to let Charles Town Races & Slots put poker, roulette and other table games alongside more than 5,000 slot machines."

Of the state's four counties that host racetracks, Jefferson County was alone in 2007 in rejecting the addition of the casino games, "by a 12-point margin, 56 percent to 44 percent," writes AP's Vicki Smith.

But since then, "unemployment has more than doubled," and "there is a growing threat that nearby Maryland's venture into slots will lure away thousands who have come to the Eastern Panhandle to gamble," the article said.

The Legislature also added an incentive during a recent special session, with a measure that "would double the percentage of revenue distributed to counties and cities that host the state's four racetrack casinos," if Jefferson approves table games, Smith writes.

Smith also reports that "passage is no sure bet. Support appears to be lukewarm in one potentially powerful voting block, the Charles Town Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association."

The move comes amid final figures from the 2009 budget year, which ended June 30 and saw revenues drop at Charles Town and two of the state's other tracks.

W.Va. Home Rule Project under Fire

A group of insurance companies has sued over Huntington's approach to the state's ongoing "home rule" pilot project, prompting a local lawmaker to urge repeal of the city ordinance at issue, the Herald-Dispatch reports.

As the newspaper explains, a 2008 state panel "chose Huntington, Charleston, Bridgeport and Wheeling to participate in a five-year pilot home rule program created by the Legislature. The intent of the program is to give cities more autonomy on taxation and administrative and personnel issues."

The West Virginia Insurance Federation objects to a resulting Huntington ordinance "that allows the city to withhold insurance claim proceeds from property owners if they don't tear down their fire-damaged structures," the article said. "Huntington's ordinance requires insurance companies to withhold $2,000 from every $15,000 of benefits payable to a policyholder on every total fire loss within the city. The withheld proceeds would be placed in escrow by the city and not released until all debris has been removed."

Delegate Jim Morgan, D-Cabell, has asked city officials to remove the threat to the overall pilot project. He's also issued an open letter to Mayor Kim Wolfe, the Herald-Dispatch reports.

W.Va. GOP Sees Mixed Results from Fundraising Goal

Halfway through 2009, The Associated Press checks the progress of West Virginia's Republican Party toward its goal of improved fundraising this year.

"The party's main political fund attracted $83,213 from individual donors between January and June," the article said. "When averaged, the monthly intake exceeds the $12,000 monthly goal set by Chairman Doug McKinney."

The GOP has also raised more, per member, than the state's much larger Democratic Party. "But the six-month total is also below that of the same period in 2008, an election year, or 2007," AP reports. "And at a time when the Republican Party searches for a new, $40,000-a-year executive director, it began July with less than $14,000 left in that account."

McKinney attributes several factors to the results so far, including the recession, an insufficient example from the party's 137 executive committee members, donors who fear repercussions from Democrats, and critics within the party.

But "some of them contend he and his leadership team offer the party rank-and-file few reasons to give.," the article said. "The party activists who differ with McKinney, whose term ends next July, also believe the recession and emerging Obama administration policies give the party ways to lure donors."

And while they lag behind the Republicans in contributions from individuals, "the Democrats maintain two key funding edges over the GOP: their annual fall Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, and the often hefty transfers from the national party and its members of the state's congressional delegation."