Monday, February 07, 2011
EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...2-8-'11
- Emergency crews and a dive team began searching Larel Lake after a truck crashed into the water near Lenore, in Mingo County, just after 3:00 P.M. Monday. Dive teams from the Kermit Volunteer Fire Department, the Mingo County Sheriff's Department and Logan County Sheriff's Department recovered a Ford Crew Cab pickup truck in about 25 feet of water, and the driver was taken to Logan Regional Medical Center.
- Baltimore law firm Brower Piven is suing over Alpha Natural Resources' proposed $7.1 billion takeover of Massey Energy, making it the the third challenging the deal filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Brower Piven, which is seeking class-action status for Massey shareholders, claims the proposed price of 1.025 shares of Alpha stock and $10 cash for each Massey share is unfair. The price works out to $69.33, which the lawsuit complains is a "mere" 16 percent over Massey's price January 12th. The offer represents a 21 percent premium over Massey's closing share price the day before the deal was announced.
- Logan City Council member, 57 year old Jim Guy, who most recently served as Transportation Director and Assistant Superintendent of schools in Logan County and was best recognized for being the principal at Omar Grade school for several years, died Monday morning.
- Saturday afternoon, a Kanawha County Sheriff's deputy went to a residence on Raven Drive in Rand, where he found 21 year old Lora Mae Haynes of Charleston, and a two-year-old child sitting, in 36-degree weather, on the front porch of a home that was not theirs, while Haynes looked disoriented and intoxicated. Haynes told the deputy she road the Kanawha Regional Transportation bus to Rand to visit her mother but had been wandering around for a few hours looking for her mother's house. Child Protective Services took the child to the grandmother who lived eight blocks away. Haynes was charged with child neglect.
- At a news conference Monday, the Charleston Police Department announced that two officers discharged their weapons a total of four times while nine officers were conducting a controlled drug buy on Charleston's West Side Friday. Brandon Taguyan, a St. Albans officer was injured, but an officer from the Kanawha County Sheriff's department fired the shot that killed Steiney Richards, 38, of Detroit, who sold them a large amount of cocaine and was in his car fleeing from police. The deputy has been place on administrative leave until the investigation is complete, which is protocol anytime someone is killed. Richards used his vehicle as a weapon but was not armed.
- Logan County Sheriff's deputies say a white man in his teens or early 20s with short blonde hair, wearing jeans and a black hooded "Tapout" sweatshirt entered the Rite Aid on Holden Road Sunday evening, walked around the store for a few minutes then pointed a small, black revolver at the clerk and demanded she give him the money from her cash register. A witness then saw him run to the Dairy Delight parking lot, get in the driver's seat of a grey or blue Pontiac Grand Am and drive toward the Cora/Holden area.
- During a preliminary hearing Monday, Huntington Detective Cass McMillian said 19 year old Anthony Cole confessed, during a taped interview after his arrest, that he fatally shot Dashawn Gilbert on January 26th. McMillian said Cole told him he was originally planning to kill himself but decided against it, and a short time later, Gilbert made a comment to Cole at which point he turned around, said "May God rest your soul" and fired one shot into Gilbert's head. Cole, who, faces charges of murder will have his case heard by a grand jury. He also faces first degree robbery after allegedly hitting a Marshall student in the back of the head and stealing her debit/credit card in December.
- Allison Williams, Miss West Virginia 2003, won a $7.2 million verdict in 2009 against nine Internet companies and individuals who promoted a sex video they falsely claimed featured Williams. U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley dismissed 28 other defendants who did not respond to the complaint, ruling she lacked jurisdiction. The judge refused to reconsider, and Williams appealed. Last week, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled in Williams' favor and ordered Keeley to enter a default judgment against the 28 defendants, saying the companies and individuals ignored the lawsuit at their own peril.
- The state Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday that targets anyone who secretly puts spying software on someone else's mobile phone or device, allowing the spy to eavesdrop on phone calls, monitor text and e-mail, and track the victim's location. The bill exempts parents, service and global positioning system providers, and employers when they supplied the mobile device. Those guilty would face up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $500 or both.
- West Virginians will go to the polls May 14th and October 4th to vote for a new governor after Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed into law Monday a bill setting the dates for a primary and general election to replace former Governor Joe Manchin, who left office last November to become a U.S. Senator. The winner will serve the remainder of Manchin’s term, which expires at the start of 2013.
- Almost Home Daycare Center on Teays Valley Road in Scott Depot was closed Monday for violations that include mouse droppings in cabinets, cats in a food storage area and a large amount of dog waste in an outside play area. The Putnam County Health Department issued a letter to the owners, Frank and Mary Sacco, February 4th, saying the center's written plan covering child care and food procedures was unacceptable, and the center had until until February 7th to meet several requirements to keep its permit.
- The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, and the West Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club has filed a required 60-day notice of intent to sue Allegheny Energy for Clean Water Act violations. They say Allegheny must clean up arsenic releases into the Cheat River watershed from Allegheny's Albright power plant in Preston County.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 10:18 PM 
