Special Session Ends

The Legislature ended its latest special session Friday, after passing 10 of the 11 bills that Gov. Joe Manchin put on the agenda.

Gov. Joe Manchin came away with 10 of the 11 bills he proposed for the special legislative session. The House and Senate cast their final votes Friday, staying a day longer than their scheduled series of interim study meetings that began Wednesday.

The Associated Press has details.

Special Session Goes into Extra Inning

The Legislature has passed the chief reason behind Gov. Joe Manchin's calling them into special session -- a relief proposal for municipal police and fire pension funds -- but plans to return Friday to complete his agenda, The Associated Press reports.

House Republicans have balked at a provision in the gas tax bill that would make permanent what was supposed to be a temporary, nickel-a-gallon hike to the tax.

Enacted in 1993, the provision has been repeatedly extended. Manchin has proposed removing language from the tax statute that would have that increase expire in 2013.

With insufficient support to suspend the rules and allow for a vote on passage earlier than otherwise allowed, the House's Democratic leadership has opted to return Friday morning for that final vote.

The coal industry, meanwhile, has raised questions about Manchin's proposed tinkering with the "25% by 2025" alternative energy incentives legislation passed earlier in the year. That bill would limit the coal-related technologies that would qualify for credits under the program.

And In Other Special Session News...

After its Finance Committee rejected his "OPEB" measure, the Senate passed most of the other bills that Gov. Joe Manchin placed on his special session agenda, The Associated Press reports.

They include a key reason Manchin called the session, legislation "aimed at easing the burdens of cities and towns across the state struggling with unfunded pension liabilities for police and firefighters," the article said.

All nine of these bills passed to the House unanimously except for one proposing changes to the gas tax. It prevailed 31-2-1.

Special Session: OPEB

The Senate Finance Committee has voted down Gov. Joe Manchin's special session proposal to provide temporary relief from county school boards and others worried about their "other post-employment benefits" or OPEB costs.

As The Associated Press reports, the "nearly unanimous committee instead favored pursuing a long-term solution that also addresses future, promised benefits during the 2010 regular session. It starts in January."

The article also said that "Manchin spokesman Matt Turner noted that the House version of the bill remains alive. The House Finance Committee advanced that version to the full House later Wednesday."

Quote of the Day

"More proof we need term limits."

-- The West Virginia Republican Party's reaction to U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. becoming history's longest-serving member of Congress.

Another Milestone for Byrd

(Official File Photo)

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd became the longest-serving member in that chamber's history in June 2006. But Wednesday marks an additional endurance record for the West Virginia Democrat (who turns 92 on Friday).

Byrd has become history's longest serving member of Congress. His three terms in the U.S. House combine with this nine in the Senate (also a record) for a total of 20,774 days on Capitol Hill.

That beats the record previously set by Carl Hayden, D-Ariz., who served in the House and then the Senate from 1912 to 1969, The Associated Press reports.

AP also offers this observation:

The arc of Byrd's story is more complex than the numbers would suggest. It's been long enough for him to rescind positions that he once trumpeted, such as his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Lengthy enough to voice his regret, over and over, about joining the Ku Klux Klan a lifetime ago. Long enough to see and cheer the nation's first black president and to watch his one-time rival and later dear friend, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., succumb to brain cancer.

AP offers a video and slide show as well.

The U.S. Senate plans to begin a tribute to Byrd at 9:30 a.m., with C-SPAN offering coverage.

C-SPAN has also posted video from its 2005 interview with the senator, and of a weekend interview with Raymond Smock, director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University.

Gov. Joe Manchin is helping to headline a 3 p.m. ceremony in the state Capitol rotunda (where the only statue is of Byrd), and has invited West Virginians to mark the occasion.

West Virginia's Republican Party calls the milestone "more proof we need term limits."

The state GOP has also encouraged opponents of federal health care legislation show up at the 3 p.m. Capitol tribute and make their feelings known.

But the Republicans in the House of Delegates present for Tuesday's special session helped to endorse unanimously a Manchin-proposed resolution honoring Byrd (roll call not yet available, but all 100 delegates remain its co-sponsors).

The state Senate is expected to vote on the measure Wednesday.

5 More Charged with Scam vs. W.Va. auditor, other states

Five Kenyan-born residents of Minnesota face federal charges after a grand jury indicted them in connection with the Internet-reliant scam that duped West Virginia's auditor out of nearly $1 million, The Associated Press reports.

But the charges unsealed Tuesday further allege that the conspirators targeted three other states -- Kansas, Massachusetts and neighboring Ohio --and at least temporarily netted another $2.3 million.

Around $770,000 of the diverted money ended up in Kenya. "Most of those funds had come from West Virginia," AP reports. "Officials in the other three states identified in the indictment report that they've since recovered their money."

But as noted when the first suspect in the case was arrested and indicted, the scam will likely prove larger than what's been alleged in the criminal charges made public so far.

"West Virginia was hit by a similar scam that netted around $1 million during the same period," the article said. "Utah officials reported earlier in the year that the same sort of fraud attack diverted $2.5 million. (The initial suspect) was arrested in May after Florida thwarted a ploy attempted there."

Special Session Arrives

Lawmakers plans to tackle Gov. Joe Manchin's special session agenda in between their previously scheduled monthly interim meetings.

The Associated Press previews the special session, the fourth of the year, and will update as the opening day progresses.

Several other states are or will soon hold special legislative sessions, including Nebraska and Arizona. But those sessions aim to avoid major budget deficits, a crisis situation that West Virginia has so far avoided.

The Legislature has posted the governor's call, as well as the schedule for its three-day series of interim meetings.

MetroNews also sets the stage for the special session, while Manchin tells The Charleston Gazette that he believes lawmakers can wrap it up within the three days they'll already be at the Capitol.

Study Report: W.Va. Needs New Court, Public Financing Pilot

West Virginia's Independent Commission on Judicial Reform has recommended a half-dozen or so changes to the state's court system, including the addition of a midlevel appeals bench and a pilot program for the public funding of judicial candidates, The Associated Press reports.

The public financing pilot would affect candidates running for one of two Supreme Court seats on the 2012 ballot. The intermediate appeals court would hear certain cases filed with and assigned by the high court, with its six to nine judges sitting on panels of three.

"The report also recommends that the secretary of state publish voter guides on judicial candidates; that the Legislature continue efforts to regulate independent spending in their races; and that the state study a special court for complex, highly technical disputes between businesses," AP reports.

"But beyond that pilot funding program and allowing the governor to appoint the new court's initial judges, (the report) does not recommend any major changes to how the state elects its judges and justices through partisan balloting," the article continues. "It instead urges state lawmakers to wait until the terms of those appointees expire before deciding a permanent selection method. The Legislature should also adopt into law the informal practice of Manchin and his recent predecessors, where advisory committees recommend nominees when judicial vacancies arise, it said."

The commission, appointed by Gov. Joe Manchin and featuring retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as its honorary chair, has posted its report.

Drug Abuse in W.Va.

The West Virginia Partnership for Community Well-Being has recommended "spending $23.5 million a year in prevention, early intervention, treatment and recovery efforts," The Associated Press reports.

"The state currently spends none of its own dollars on any of those areas except treatment," writes AP's Tom Breen. "At the heart of the plan is the creation of county prevention partnerships, one group in each county, to devise local solutions and serve as a channel for state resources."

Breen, whose coverage for AP includes health care issues, had previously reported findings from the Manchin-appointed group that "preventable ailments stemming from alcohol and drug abuse" increased costs for West Virginia's health care system in 2007 to the tune of $116 million."

Guarded Optimism for "Huntington Plan" Bill

Legislation offering help to strapped city pension funds is the key item of this week's special session, and the absence of taxpayer dollars from its provisions should make the difference between passage and defeat, The Associated Press reports.

"Unlike drafts from earlier this year, the pending proposal does not tap insurance policy surcharge revenues for city pension fund relief," the article said. "Rural lawmakers had previously balked at providing such state aid."

Volunteer Fire Departments have also been eyeing that revenue source as they pursue pension-like benefits for members, and as a result have helped kill previous relief efforts.

"If there's no new funding in it, it will be fine,'' Sam Love, a former lawmaker who now lobbies for the volunteer departments, told AP. "If it's amended, I think it will kill the bill.''

Manchin Issues Special Session Call

Gov. Joe Manchin has called the Legislature into a special session that will coincide with next week's interim meetings and include such topics as municipal pensions, the gas tax and stimulus bonds, The Associated Press reports.

"Another agenda item would offer short-term relief to county school boards concerned about their retirees' non-pension costs," the article said. "Military absentee voting, gubernatorial pardons, a recently adopted alternative energy credit and federal tax law changes are also agenda topics."

The governor has posted the call.

Election 2010: Congress

West Virginia's three U.S. House seats have yet to show up on any of the major rosters of competitive 2010 races.

The Cook Political Report ranks 36 Democrat-held seat as leaning toward the incumbent or as a toss-up. The same is true for a dozen GOP seats.

The Rothenberg Political Report lists 32 Democratic seats as "in play," versus 16 Republican seats.

CQ Politics lists each West Virginia seat as "safe" for its respective party.

National Journal's The Hotline lists 15 races, none in the Mountain State.

Third Time's the Charm?

For the third time in nearly two years, West Virginia's Supreme Court has overturned a judgment (valued at $86 million with interest included) against Massey Energy Co.

"The 4-1 ruling was again written by Justice Robin Davis, and again concludes that Harman Mining and its president, Hugh Caperton, should have pursued their claims in Virginia under a clause in the contract at issue," The Associated Press reports.

The underlying lawsuit had been filed in 1998, and yielded a 2002 jury verdict in Boone County. The case then took three trips to the state's highest court. During that time, it spawned headline-grabbing photos of a justice socializing with Massey's CEO in Monaco. It also prompted a June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court addressing judicial bias.

In a quasi-related case, the state Supreme Court also ruled 4-1 against AP over a Freedom of Information Act request it filed in the wake of the Monaco photos. This decision concludes that "that public officials and public employees can keep their personal e-mails secret," AP reports.

Quote of the Day

"I think [reform advocates] are deceiving the public into thinking that the uninsured do not have access to health care and dental care."

-- Melody Potter, chair of the Kanawha County Republican Executive Committee, while alleging to The Charleston Gazette that a Charleston clinic violated federal tax laws by engaging in political activity.

West Virginia: Almost Nothing Like California

...And that's a good thing, according to a new Pew Center on the States report. It reviews various economic indicators for signs of the sorts of fiscal distress that have rocked the Golden State.

The findings: at least nine other states "are also barreling toward economic disaster, raising the likelihood of higher taxes, more government layoffs and deep cuts in services," The Associated Press reports. "

"Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin are also at grave risk," the article said, citing the Pew review. "Double-digit budget gaps, rising unemployment, high foreclosure rates and built-in budget constraints are the key reasons."

The study includes West Virginia among 10 states "least similar to California," and also awards it a "B" grade for its money management practices.

AP had earlier contrasted West Virginia's recent bad budgetary news with reports emerging from other states.

Quote of the Day

"Essentially, there is light at the end of the tunnel. We've still got quite a bit of tunnel to get through."

-- George Hammond, associate director of West Virginia University's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, as quoted by The Associated Press during Wednesday's forecast forum.

Looking for the Rebound in W.Va.

West Virginia shouldn't expect to replace the 22,600 lost during the "Great Recession" until 2013, according to an economic outlook forum covered by The Associated Press and others.

West Virginia University's Bureau of Business and Economic Research helped put on the conference, which featured speakers from WVU, the Manchin Administration and Standard & Poor's.

"The state economy should begin producing more jobs than it loses around the middle of 2010," reports AP Business Writer Tim Huber. "But the recovery is expected to be sluggish and centered on service industry jobs rather than energy."

Other reports come from the Charleston Daily Mail, The Charleston Gazette , and MetroNews (with audio).

Lawmakers Still Hearing Special Session Talk

The Manchin administration has yet to make it official, but legislators are expecting next week's round of monthly interim meetings to dovetail with a special session, The Charleston Gazette reports.

At a Tuesday conference on transportation, Finance Committee Chairman Harry Keith White, D-Mingo, "predicted that highway funding would be one of nine items on the call for the special session," the article said.

Last month, lawmakers relayed a short list of session call items to The Associated Press, and Gov. Joe Manchin would not rule one out earlier this month.

W.Va. Puts Medicaid Plans on Hold

With Congress talking health care, the Manchin administration has yet to move on its earlier announced goal of expanding West Virginia's Medicaid program, The Associated Press reports.

AP's Tom Breen also writes that Gov. Joe Manchin's plan to extend coverage to "adults earning up to 50 percent of the federal poverty level, or $10,830 for individuals, would also increase state spending, an increasingly difficult course of action as the bad economy saps revenue."

"About 271,000 of West Virginia's 1.8 million residents lack health insurance," the article said. "Very few adults are allowed to participate in Medicaid in West Virginia. Currently, it's available to parents earning up to 35 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $22,050 for a family of four. Manchin's proposal would have increased that to 50 percent, and would have allowed adults without children to enroll."

Unions Pitch Takeover of WV PEIA

As the Public Employees Insurance Agency weighs cost increases for its policyholders, "several of West Virginia's largest unions are proposing that they take control of the state's mammoth health insurance plan," the Charleston Daily Mail reports.

"The unions essentially would replace the finance board that oversees the state's (PEIA)" the article said, with the state putting funding "into a union-managed trust fund."

State officials held off responding pending further study of the proposal, the newspaper reported. It also noted that the group making the pitch "includes the West Virginia chapter of the American Federation of Teachers but not the other major teachers union, the West Virginia Education Association."

Manchin Convenes Private Coal Powwow (Updated)

Gov. Joe Manchin plans to hold a closed-door meeting at the state Capitol this hour "on the future of coal in West Virginia with government, industry and labor representatives," The Associated Press and others report.

(Update: AP covered the press briefing that followed, as did The Charleston Gazette, MetroNews (with audio), Public Broadcasting, the Charleston Daily Mail, WOWK-TV (with video) and The State Journal.)

The carboncentric confab "was requested by county commissioners from Boone, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan and Mingo counties who are worried about how proposed federal actions could affect coal revenues," Manchin spokesman Matt Turner tells AP.

Attendees could include coal company CEOs, industry lobbyists and members of West Virginia's congressional delegation. The Gazette has details.

In advance of the meeting, environmental groups told AP they should have been offered a seat at the table.

"Neither the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition nor Coal River Mountain Watch plans to protest Tuesday's meeting in Charleston," that article said. "But both say it proves the coal industry's needs are more important than those of citizens."

West Virginia: The Sourpuss State

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index ranks West Virginia last among the state in its latest measurement of "individual and collective health and well-being."

West Virginia also placed 50th in the three of the happiness survey's six sub-categories: emotional health, physical health and life evaluation.

"On average, well-being was highest in the Mountain states and West Coast states, followed by the Eastern Seaboard and then the Midwest and Southern states," LiveScience reports. "The researchers note that because a state scores high or low doesn't mean you could pluck out a resident and expect that person to be appropriately cheery or depressed. And not every state in the union sits exactly where you might expect on the list."

The article also noted this finding:

Of the personality factors, neuroticism took a toll on a state's cheery count, suggesting people living in the happiest states are more relaxed than their gloomy counterparts. For instance, West Virginia, Mississippi and Kentucky were ranked as highly neurotic and showed lower well-being scores. Utah, on the other hand, had a significantly lower level of neuroticism than other states.

Even More on the Health Care Bill (Updated)

• The 176 House Republicans who voted for the health care bill amendment that would "impose tough new restrictions on abortion coverage" included U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, and the other five House GOP women endorsed by The WISH List, "America's largest fundraising network for pro-choice Republican women candidates." (U.S. Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., voted "present.")

• The Congressional Budget Office provided a $1 trillion cost estimate for the legislative in advance of the bill's passage, which was seized on by both friends and foes of the measure.

• Citing that estimate and "numerous Democratic officials," The Associated Press pegged its overall costs at "$1.2 trillion or more over a decade...far higher than the $900 billion cited by President Barack Obama as a price tag for his reform plan." It would also "reduce deficits by at least $50 billion over 10 years and perhaps as much as $120 billion, the article said, and "slow the rate of growth of the giant Medicare program from 6.6 percent annually to 5.3 percent."

• The House Republican Conference issued an analysis highly critical of the bill. Politifact.com reviewed a dozen of its key points and rated two of them "True," five of them "Half-True" and five of them "False."

• FactCheck.org focused on the CBO estimate that "the so-called "public plan" in the revised bill wouldn’t offer much in the way of competition to private insurers... But Republicans are still recycling 'government-run' claims and old analyses that don’t pertain to the bill."

• A champion of the House bill, the AFL-CIO, has paid for ads invoking it to criticize the emerging Senate version of health care legislation. FactCheck rated the ad "misleading."

• House Republicans offered an alternative measure before the weekend vote. A co-sponsor, Capito endorsed the measure in an October press release.

• The CBO also analyzed the GOP alternative. As AP reported, CBO found that it "would reduce the number of uninsured by just 3 million in 2019. By comparison, the more expansive Democratic bill would gain coverage for 36 million." The Republican plan also offered to "reduce federal deficits by $68 billion over the 10-year period and push down premiums for privately insured people," that article said.

• Politifact offers a review of the GOP alternative as well, as well as an overview of dueling claims regarding the different approaches to health care legislation contained in a tidy form of Bingo.

• (Update) Politifact rates as "False" the allegation by Rep. Nita Lowery, D-N.Y., that the abortion-related amendment "puts new restrictions on women's access to abortion coverage in the private health insurance market even when they would pay premiums with their own money."
  

Election 2010: Congress

The Associated Press assesses the field in West Virginia's 2nd U.S. House District, where Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has held sway since the 2000 election.

"Whether wary of predictions that next year's election will be favorable to Republicans in general or simply weary after five costly, high-profile failures at ousting the state's lone congressional Republican, potential Capito challengers are scarce in the 2nd District," AP's Tom Breen writes.

(Headline corrected from "Election 2012")

Quote of the Day

"This batch of money is going to end, and we here in West Virginia, we've told agencies and that's the way we're proceeding, 'Don't go out there and hire employees and stuff. This is only short-term money, it's going to go away.' "

-- State Budget Director Mike McKown, to the Charleston Daily Mail on the finite nature of the federal stimulus funding, and the "pressure for a second round of stimulus spending."

West Virginia's Fiscal Woes

Last week brought the bad news that both general tax and State Road Fund revenues were failing to match projections, with deficits threatening both components of the overall government budget.

The Associated Press follows up by reviewing the situation elsewhere.

"Before West Virginia's news, half the states had reported deficit threats in the opening months of their budget years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures," the article said. "While four of those states have yet to estimate their shortfalls, the rest predict gaps that totaled $12.9 billion as of Oct. 30. The dismal roster includes three of West Virginia's neighbors."

AP also notes that "the National Association of State Budget Officers has also been tracking the worsening fiscal landscapes. Its Twitter account has relayed a steady stream of bad news from dozens of states since the month began."

The gloom-and-doom includes talk of tax hikes, special legislative sessions to cut in-progress budgets, furloughed and laid-off public workers and crimped services.

For now, at least, "Gov. Joe Manchin is banking on reduced spending and a special reserve of $168 million to keep the general revenue budget balanced" for West Virginia, AP reports.

More on the Health Care Bill

The Associated Press offers a summary of the health care legislation passed by the U.S. House, and also reports that the "government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate."

AP, the News and Sentinel of Parkersburg and MetroNews are among those checking in West Virginia's House delegation after the weekend vote.

AP reports as well that Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, the sole delegation member to vote against the bill, has asked the state Department of Health and Human Resources for a cost impact estimate.

"The federal legislation would increase the number of people eligible for health insurance through the Medicaid program," the article said. "Increasing the eligible Medicaid population, Capito says, could be a significant burden on West Virginia's finances."

They Voted for You: Health Care (Updated)

U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, helped the House pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, voted against the bill in the 220-215 roll call, as did all but one of the chamber's GOP members.

Passage followed a successful amendment that would "impose tough new restrictions on abortion coverage in insurance policies to be sold to many individuals and small groups," The Associated Press reports.

Mollohan, Capito and Rahall all voted for that amendment in a 240-194 roll call.

"Ironically, that only solidified support for the legislation, clearing the way for conservative Democrats to vote for it," the AP article said.

AP also explains the road ahead for the legislation, while outlining its key provisions:

The legislation would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide federal subsidies to those who otherwise could not afford it. Large companies would have to offer coverage to their employees. Both consumers and companies would be slapped with penalties if they defied the government's mandates.

Insurance industry practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions would be banned, and insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history. In a further slap, the industry would lose its exemption from federal antitrust restrictions on price gouging, bid rigging and market allocation.

Update: Before the bill's passage, the House rejected by 258-176 an amendment that would have substituted a GOP-crafted alternative.

Capito co-sponsored that amendment and voted for it, while Mollohan and Rahall voted against.

The GOP version "would have lowered costs for people with insurance but done little or nothing to expand coverage to those without any," AP reports separately. "Rep. Timothy Johnson, R-Ill., opposed the measure and was the only lawmaker to cross party lines."

W.Va. and Obama

A French television news channel recently visited the Parkersburg area for a report on how "anti-Obama sentiments run high in the Mountain State," Public Broadcasting reports.

Those interviewed included Ron Lott, who described himself as a Vietnam veteran and who espoused the widely, thoroughly and exhaustively discredited allegation that the president is not a "natural born citizen."

“He’s a Kenyan born nationalist, and I believe that any man that wants to hold the highest office in this country who can’t produce a birth certificate is a fake,” Lott is quoted as telling France 24.

Public Broadcasting also offers audio.

Report: Feds Issue Subpoenas after MU/Perdue Episode

Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed Marshall University's provost and the professor at the center of a grade-changing controversy involving the daughter of state Treasurer John Perdue, the Charleston Daily Mail reports.

The professor, Laura Wyant, told the newspaper that "she had been asked to bring before the grand jury all records in her possession related to Emily Perdue," the treasurer's daughter whose grades are at issue in the matter.

"(Wyant) said the FBI also interviewed her recently," the article said. "Nelson Sorah, a spokesman for Treasurer Perdue, said the office had received 'not a word' from federal investigators."

Marshall's student newspaper, The Parthenon, also reports on Wyant's subpoena.

Wyant earlier told that newspaper that the FBI had contacted her "and expressed concern that she was asked to falsify grades for the daughter of an elected state official."

Wyant said the FBI told her they were investigating whether records were falsified -- "and that’s a felony," she told the newspaper -- and "whether John Perdue violated the state ethics law" that says that "hose in public service should use their positions for the public benefit and not for their own private gain or the private gain of another.”

W.Va. Still Looking At Cell Phone Ban for Motorists

Citing deaths blamed on distracted drivers, West Virginia lawmakers haven't given up on banning hands-on devices for those behind the wheel and now may get some federal help, The Associated Press reports.

"Two efforts may converge if millions of federal dollars are set aside for states that adopt such restrictions," AP's Tom Breen writes. "The money could help speed along the passage of a bill that only failed in this year's legislative session because of a last-minute amendment."

Delegate Nancy Peoples Guthrie sponsored the legislation this year and plans to introduce it during the 2010 session, the article said, while the federal money would come from a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

The article also notes that the 2009 attempt "passed by a wide margin in the House of Delegates and Senate passage seemed likely, except for the addition of an amendment relating to the placement of cell phone towers in the state. With time running out on the session's last night, the House and Senate couldn't come to an agreement on the amendment and the bill died."

And while an interim study committee is crafting a 2010 version, it "currently focuses mostly on texting while driving," the article said.

W.Va. Now Fears Budget Deficit

Guarded optimism marked the opening months of the budget year, but now West Virginia officials believe recession-rocked revenues will not match expectations, The Associated Press reports.

Even though October beat its estimate, state government remains $16 million below projections for the year that began July 1, figures show, and officials expect that gap to grow.

Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow offered a ballpark estimate of $100 million for the shortfall he expects by the June 30 end of the budget year.

But while other states are laying off workers, shuttering services, cutting programs and even talking tax hikes, Manchin administration officials maintain that such options aren't on the table in West Virginia.

"We are vigorously looking for additional efficiencies in state government," spokesman Matt Turner told AP. "(Gov. Joe Manchin) believes there is much more that can be done to improve efficiency and save money."

AP also observes that West Virginia has an ace in the hole: "$168 million in revenues left unspent from the two previous budget years," the article said. "That surplus is in addition to the state's emergency reserves, which exceed $537 million. The state also has yet to tap the bulk of its estimated $1.8 billion share of federal stimulus funding. "

Muchow noted that West Virginia's "rainy day fund" exceeds the national average in size relative to the state budget, and called tapping it a last resort. Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, echoed that sentiment to MetroNews (with audio).

Another Competitor to the W.Va. Lottery (Updated)

Ohio voters on Tuesday approved a ballot issue allowing casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo, The Associated Press reports.

The Buckeye State joins Pennsylvania and Maryland, each of which recently legalized slot machine casinos, as neighbors of West Virginia with advanced gambling options.

The outcome follows a pricey and barbed advertising campaigns, with evidence that West Virginia was dragged into the fray at one point.

MetroNews also has an item.

Update: West Virginia officials tell The Charleston Gazette they "know Ohio casinos won't be good for the Mountain State's budget, but they say it's too soon to put a dollar amount on the damage."

While the impact won't be immediate, "the move is expected to hit West Virginia's Northern Panhandle casinos -- Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in Chester and Wheeling Island -- especially hard," that article said. "Ohioans make up about 45 percent of Mountaineer's and Wheeling Island's patrons combined, lottery officials said."

November Special Session Still Possible

Gov. Joe Manchin tells The Register-Herald of Beckley that "chances are strong that West Virginia lawmakers will spend part of this month’s interims sessions taking up a plan to resolve a municipal police and fire pension crisis."

About that Guy in the Chicken Suit... (Updated)

With Ohio voting today on whether to legalize casinos, The Associated Press questions whether a recent stunt staged in front of West Virginia's Capitol was meant to sway Buckeye voters.

As the article explains, several media outlets had reported on a man in a chicken costume near the Capitol's south steps "waving to morning commuters and passing out flyers that advocated 'Cockfighting at West Virginia Casinos!'

Within days, foes of the pending gambling measure seized on the episode and "invoked the specter of cockfight wagering at West Virginia casinos to urge the Ohio measure's defeat. They argue that a provision of the referendum would allow the casinos proposed for Ohio to host any form of gambling found in other states," AP reports.

And while the man in the costume had refused to give his name to reporters, "a Democratic political activist, John Bradford "J.B." Parker, later presented himself as a spokesman for the West Virginia Association for Gamecock Sports," the article said. "No group by that name is on file with the Ethics Commission, which regulates all lobbyists, or on the register kept by the secretary of state of organizations doing business in West Virginia. The group has a Web site, which consists of a single page that online records show was created five days before the chicken costume appearance."

National gamefowl groups say they've never heard of such an organization, nor have lawmakers from West Virginia's gamecock-breeding areas.

Parker told AP last week that he "would not rule out that the whole thing is a hoax, perhaps meant to influence Ohio voters."

Those who reported on the chicken man include MetroNews, the Williamson Daily News, WKKX radio and The Charleston Gazette. The latter has followed up on the episode.

Update: A reader invokes Roger Stone. AP reported -- before the chicken suit episode -- that Stone is one of "two notoriously aggressive tacticians" pitted against each other in the battle over Ohio's casino ballot issue.

Stone was a cohort of "legendary GOP tactician Lee Atwater," and "ran Ronald Reagan's Ohio campaign in 1984," that article said. "One of Stone's first forays into campaigning was as a volunteer at CREEP, the Committee to Re-Elect the President, whose misdeeds were at the center of the Watergate scandal."

Stone is aiding the anti-casino TruthPAC. The earlier AP article quotes Democratic strategist Gerald Austin, who said the "constant barrage" deployed by that group "is classic Stone and intended to confuse voters. Confused voters generally vote no."

"One of Roger Stone's rules to live by is 'Hit from every angle, open multiple fronts on your enemy,'" Austin told AP. "'He must be confused, and feel besieged, on every side.'"

W.Va.'s Stimulus Job Count at 2,409

The Associated Press reports that "more than 2,400 jobs have been saved or created in West Virginia because of federal stimulus funding, according to those who have been spending the money.

The figure comes from hundreds of reports filed in early October. After a review by state and federal officials, they were posted online by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.

West Virginia's stimulus site should also have details from the first quarterly update of stimulus spending and effects.

State government spending of stimulus dollars accounts for two-thirds of West Virginia's total figure, according to numbers provided to AP.

"The largest share of those 1,554 jobs created or retained, about 20 percent, were in education," the article said. "The next-largest share resulted from spending on Workforce Investment Act programs, which offer training and other employment services. Another 16 percent came from road and bridge projects fueled by stimulus dollars."

AP reported earlier that by the Sept. 30 end of the reporting period, state government agencies had spent $250 million of West Virginia's share of stimulus funding.

Montana Governor Headlines W.Va. Dem Event

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer topped the billing at this year's Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, the annual gathering of West Virginia's Democratic Party.

The Charleston Gazette casts the dinner and Schweitzer's appearance against the percolating issues that "Republican leaders predict...will lead them to victory in 2010."

Others with coverage include WSAZ-TV and WOWK-TV (with video).

Mollohan Still Under Scrutiny?

The U.S. Justice Department has told the House ethics committee to cease its inquiry into Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, according to a confidential committee report obtained by The Washington Post.

As the article explains, federal investigators "often ask that the House and Senate ethics panels refrain from taking action against members whom the department is already investigating."

Mollohan is among more than 30 House members and several aides featured in the report, a weekly summary of committee cases issued in July and later "disclosed on a publicly accessible computer network," the article said.

Posts on the apparent federal scrutiny of Mollohan can be found here, here, here , here, here and here.

The Post reports that "there has been no public action on that inquiry for several years. But the department's request in early July to the committee suggests that the case continues to draw the attention of federal investigators."

Mollohan told the newspaper that "he was not aware of any ongoing interest by the Justice Department in his case and that he and his attorneys have not heard from federal investigators."

Mollohan's latest campaign finance report lists $3,000 spent on Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evan and Figel in July for legal services, the first such payment since October 2008. Mollohan's campaign has paid the Washington, D.C., law firm nearly $300,000 since November 2006, its reports show.

The Skinny on W.Va.'s Proposed "Fat Tax"

Gov. Joe Manchin is questioning the existence of a proposed "fat tax" on West Virginia public employees, The Associated Press reports.

Manchin tells AP's Tom Breen that "talk of punishing hefty state workers who get health coverage through the Public Employees Insurance Agency is inaccurate and misleading." He instead "says he wants to look for ways to reward healthy choices, and wants to hear all the available options."

PEIA's Finance Board began discussing "phased-in personal responsibility agreements" in May, as AP reported at the time.

Agency Director Ted Cheatham "proposed linking premium breaks to blood screenings, advance end-of-life care directives, and ultimately enrollment in a preventive care-wellness plan," that article said. "Board members said they needed more time to weigh that proposal and seek public comment."

In Wednesday's article, "Perry Bryant, a former member of the PEIA finance board, agrees that talk of premium differentials based on health choices came not from Manchin, but from within the agency."

The Charleston Gazette has articles on a proposed "fat tax" here, here, here and here.

The Art of the Deal

Gov. Joe Manchin's approach toward taxing West Virginia's natural gas industry was invoked by a recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer to contrast the lack of success by his Pennsylvania counterpart on that front.

The article reports that despite that state's recession woes and resulting budget impasse, its "natural-gas industry's leaders and lobbyists beat back (Gov. Ed) Rendell's proposal to tax gas as it is pulled to the surface from the rich black-rock reservoir known as the Marcellus Shale."

The absence of a severance tax on that resource "makes Pennsylvania unique among the 15 states that produce the most natural gas," the article notes.

While weighing a tax, Rendell said he spoke to Manchin about the Keystone State's neighbor, which "also sits atop the Marcellus Shale and has taxed natural gas for years."

"Rendell said Manchin, a fellow Democrat, had assured him that West Virginia's tax did not 'inhibit gas extraction and that it is continuing at a record pace, and it's reaping critically needed revenues so the state can provide services to its citizens,'" the article said.

Manchin also explained his approach in an interview with the newspaper. As the article recounts:

"The Marcellus Shale is a tremendous producer. A severance tax will not deter" the drillers, Manchin said. "Believe me, if we didn't have the gas, they wouldn't be here."

Manchin said he had faced industry complaints in 2005 when he proposed to expand the tax, with some companies threatening to leave.

He offered to have the state buy up their leases "so you don't lose one penny." No one took him up on his offer.

U.S. Senate Confirms Berger, 97-0

A unanimous U.S. Senate has confirmed Kanawha Circuit Judge Irene Berger for a seat on West Virginia's southern federal court district, The Associated Press and others report.

"A former county and federal prosecutor and Legal Aid Society lawyer, Berger has been a state trial judge since 1994," the article said. "She is the first African-American confirmed for either of West Virginia's federal court districts."

Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., had jointly recommended Berger to President Obama, and each urged their colleagues to back her in advance of Tuesday's vote.

Others with coverage include The Charleston Gazette, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph and MetroNews, which also offers audio of Byrd's brief floor speech.

The Charleston Daily Mail reports on the prospects for a Republican to challenge Gov. Joe Manchin's eventual appointee to Berger's circuit court seat.

W.Va. Tries to Get a Grip on Its Vehicle Fleet

Following an audit that raised several concerns about vehicles owned or leased by state government, Gov. Joe Manchin has formed a task force while also touting recent efforts to address the topic, The Associated Press and others report.

"All employees with take-home vehicles must ensure, along with their agencies, that they are properly counting this fringe benefit," AP's article said. "The administration ordered mileage logs for all vehicles and surveyed all executive branch departments and agencies"

Manchin's Department of Administration also surveyed executive branch agencies, including those of other elected officials, and counted 9,312 state-titled vehicles.

That census "identified 56 percent of the total as specialty vehicles," AP reported. "Those include mine rescue and heavy-duty highway trucks, boats and boat trailers, all-terrain and emergency response vehicles, and transports for prisoners and veterans. The remaining 44 percent are 4,083 passenger vehicles."

The new task force, meanwhile, "has until Dec. 15 to improve the way the state manages its fleet. "

The Charleston Gazette also has coverage. The Charleston Daily Mail focuses on the task of gauging the size of the vehicle fleet. MetroNews spoke to state Auditor Glen Gainer about the administration's report, and has audio.

Health Care in West Virginia: Drug Abuse

A new report estimates that "preventable ailments stemming from alcohol and drug abuse" increased costs for West Virginia's health care system in 2007 to the tune of $116 million, The Associated Press reports.

AP's Tom Breen delves into the study by the Prevention Resource Center for the Partnership to Promote Community Well-Being, a group created by Gov. Joe Manchin.

"By 2017, the report estimates, the cost could be more than $201 million, even as the number of patients suffering from alcohol and drug-related diseases has held steady or even declined slightly in the last decade," the article said. "The only way to bring down those costs in the future, the report says, is to spend more money now -- on early intervention, prevention, treatment and recovery."

Abortion and the Health Care Overhaul (Updated)

The Associated Press reports that U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, has written a letter that he and 29 fellow anti-abortion Democrats have signed asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to ensure that the pending health care legislation now under debate not provide any federal funding for that procedure.

"House Democrats are at an impasse over whether their remake of the nation's health care system would effectively allow federal funding of abortion," the article said. "Lawmakers on the other side say they've compromised as far as they can to address the anti-abortion lawmakers' concerns by specifying that people receiving government subsidies to buy health insurance couldn't use that money for abortions. Negotiations to find common ground have not yielded fruit."

Mollohan has also issued a release on the topic.

Update: Rep. Nick Rahall, D-3rd, is among those who signed. The anti-abortion group that has posted the letter online identifies Mollohan as its author.

She Voted For You: Financial Overhaul (Updated)

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, voted against advancing the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009 from the House Committee on Financial Services.

Endorsed 39-29 by the committee largely along party lines, the measure would create "a federal agency to regulate home loans, credit cards, savings accounts and other financial services," The Associated Press reports.

The proposed office "is a cornerstone to Obama's broader plan to clamp down on Wall Street and prevent much of the reckless lending that contributed to last year's near-collapse of the market," the article explains. "But the agency also has been the administration's toughest sell to lawmakers worried that the added regulation would strain neighborhood banks and small businesses."

The article adds that "business lobbyists pressed lawmakers to scale back the legislation and won several concessions." The changes "exempted general retailers, auto dealers, title insurers, accountants, lawyers and others," AP reports. "All but the biggest banks were spared from routine agency inspections and no businesses were required to offer standard, government-approved financial services, as Obama had wanted."

Capito earlier voted against a companion measure, the Over-the-Counter Derivatives Markets Act of 2009, when the committee advanced it by 43-26.

That bill would "tighten rules on previously unregulated financial instruments," AP reported in a separate article, which called it "a long-awaited step toward governing the obscure and complex transactions at the heart of the troubles that befell some of Wall Street's most well-known financial houses."

"Republicans said derivative transactions should be disclosed and operate under great visibility but object to trading them in regulated exchanges," that article also said. "Federal regulators have argued for a tougher proposal."

AP also offers "the whys and hows of regulations on derivatives."

Update: The Charleston Daily Mail, The Journal of Martinsburg and The Intelligencer of Wheeling have articles (of 726, 366 and 326 and words, respectively) reporting that Capito's husband, Charles Capito, had been hired by United Bankshares Inc. as an executive vice president and director of business development.

He had been with what has become Morgan Stanley Smith Barney since 1976. The Daily Mail article said Capito had been working on a project for Smith Barney and Citigroup, merged under a previous deal, for the last two and a half years in New York.

He Voted For You: Hate Crimes (Updated)

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., helped send a measure to President Obama that The Associated Press describes as expanding the definition of a federal hate crime "to include crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability."

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., did not vote on the legislation, which passed 68-29 (see update below).

"To assure its passage after years of frustrated efforts, Democratic supporters attached the measure to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill," the article said. "Many Republicans, normally staunch supporters of defense bills, voted against the bill because of the hate crimes provision. "

Updated: U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, had earlier voted for the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 while Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, opposed that measure.

All three helped the House approve the defense policy measure with the hate crimes language in 281-146 roll call earlier this month.

A spokesman for Byrd told The Charleston Gazette that "the senator supported the hate-crimes provisions of the defense bill," and that "Byrd had earlier voted to invoke cloture, or end debate, on the measure so it could proceed to final passage."

Casey Pick Rankles Some in W.Va. GOP (Updated)

Some West Virginia Republican leaders are objecting after the head of the state's majority Democrats was recommended for a federal judgeship, The Associated Press and others report.

They cite the partisan position and comments of Nick Casey as well as his ties to Gov. Joe Manchin. Casey had been Manchin's campaign treasurer and became Democratic Party chairman in mid-2004 after Manchin won the gubernatorial primary.

The longtime Charleston lawyer has also been dinged for his status as a lobbyist, with critics citing an Obama campaign pledge. "Obama had promised not to appoint Washington lobbyists to executive branch posts overseeing regulations or contracts directly related to their former employers," the AP article said. Besides the seat at issue hailing from the judicial branch, "Casey has lobbied the state Legislature," the article said.

U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., jointly recommended Casey for a vacancy in the state's northern U.S. District Court (Charleston falls outside that district, another point of contention for critics). They stand by the pick.

"Through a spokesman, Byrd said Thursday said the negative comments by Republican partisans were unwarranted, and that he can attest to the content of Casey's character," AP reported.

The Charleston Gazette also has a story (updated: and reported that Rockefeller responded by calling Casey "a dedicated public servant and well-respected lawyer.")

MetroNews hears from Casey's GOP counterpart on the topic.

Update: A reader questions why Republicans have been criticizing a potential anti-abortion nominee to the federal judiciary, and also asks why that has not been part of the discussion.

Like Manchin, Casey is considered anti-abortion. As noted above, he also lobbies for the state's Roman Catholic diocese, a leading voice on that side of the abortion debate. He has helped the diocese participate in Pro-Life Day at the Legislature since at least 1993.

When Manchin won the 2004 nomination and Casey accepted the Democratic reins soon after, their stance on the issue prompted speculation that there would be "an effort to remove a pro-choice plank" from the party's platform, as The Charleston Gazette reported at the time.

That speculation returned during the crafting of the party's 2008 platform, as The Gazette and others reported.

While the 2004 platform says state Democrats "support decisions of the United States Supreme Court regarding the right of every woman to make choices regarding reproduction," the 2008 version does not appear to include that language. But it does say that "West Virginia Democrats believe that government, at every level, should not interfere with an individual's or family's right to make a personal or medical decision."

(Note: Some of the wording in the update has since been edited to conform to AP style.)

Manchin Seeks Obama Sit-Down

Gov. Joe Manchin tells The Associated Press that he's lobbied the White House for an in-person meeting with President Obama "over his administration's stance on climate change and its pursuit of cap-and-trade legislation."

"Coal is going to be our primary provider of electricity for the next 30 years. That's the practical reality," Manchin is quoted as saying. "West Virginia is very much willing to be involved and play a responsible role."

"But the governor also said his desire to meet is unrelated to his recent frustrations with Obama's Environmental Protection Agency," the article said. "He instead wants to revisit the sort of talks the two had when Obama was in the U.S. Senate."

Byrd, Rockefeller Tout Casey for Federal Bench

The head of West Virginia's Democratic Party has been recommended for a federal judgeship by the state's U.S. senators, The Associated Press reports.

Nick Casey "has distinguished himself as an attorney, as well as a tireless advocate for many social and civic causes," Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., said in a letter to President Obama quoted in a Tuesday release.

The senators want Obama to nominate Casey for a seat in the state's northern federal court district left vacant by the 2006 death of Judge Craig Broadwater.

Long a lawyer in the southern district, Casey helps head a Charleston law firm and has been Democratic chairman since June 2004, after Gov. Joe Manchin won the party's nomination for his current office. Casey had been the governor's personal attorney and campaign treasurer, the AP article said.

Byrd and Rockefeller had earlier recommended another Charleston lawyer and Democratic stalwart, Ned Rose, for the judgeship in January. But Rose withdrew from consideration without explanation in July.

Obama nominated the senators' other pick, Kanawha Circuit Judge Irene Berger. She appeared last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has since endorsed her nomination for a southern district seat.

7 Arrests at Manchin's Office Cap Mining Protest Sit-In

Seven environmental activists were arrested Monday in the reception room for Gov. Joe Manchin after they staged a sit-in to urge his intervention in a pending mountaintop removal mining project, The Associated Press and others report.

Those arrested were among a group of several dozen protesters who "delivered a letter asking Manchin to act," AP reported. "He met briefly with the group, listening and taking questions. But he said they were wrong to believe he can unilaterally yank the permits in question."

W.Va. House members Press EPA on Mountaintop Removal Mining

House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Vice Chairman Nick Rahall, D-3rd, and member Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, used a Thursday hearing on the Clean Water Act to quiz a top Obama administration official "about her agency’s position on mountaintop removal coal mining," Public Broadcasting and others report.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said the "neither EPA nor I personally have any desire to end coal mining, have any hidden agenda or any agenda whatsoever that has to do with coal mining as an industry," the report said. "I believe that coal can be mined safely and cleanly."

The appearance follows what Rahall and Capito call frustration and concern about federal scrutiny of the mining method, as reflected at this week's public hearings in Charleston and Kentucky.

"Jackson said the 79 permits currently under review have been held up for years by litigation and had never been reviewed by the EPA," Public Broadcasting reports. "She said there are some scientific concerns about the large amounts of valley fills that have been allowed since a new stream buffer rule was developed in 2008 under the Bush administration."

Public Broadcasting offers audio, while the committee links to video and hearing details.

The Charleston Gazette has an article, as does The Register-Herald. The Beckley newspaper focuses on Rahall's remarks and also includes comments from state legislators on the topic.

The Charleston Daily Mail includes hearing details while reporting that "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials are close to making a decision on six of the 23 West Virginia permits" under review.

MetroNews has an item on the hearing, with audio.

The West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training reports that as of early August, about 37% of the coal produced in the state in 2009 came from surface mining, of which the mountaintop removal method is a part. The share from all surface mining has averaged 38% so far this decade, and 36% since 1996, the earlier year for agency figures.

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.