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.

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.)