Tuesday, March 22, 2011
EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...3-23-'11
Richmond-based James River Coal Co., which operates mines in Kentucky and Indiana, says it's planning to raise approximately $512 million selling debt and common stock. The deals include 6 million shares worth roughly $137 million. Separately, the company aims to raise $125 million selling convertible notes and $250 million selling senior notes. Documents filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission show James River plans to spend the money on its pending acquisition of International Resource Partners and marketing subsidiary Logan & Kanawha Coal. Charleston, W.Va.-based International Resource Partners operates nine underground and surface coal mines in southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. The company's mines produced 1.9 million tons in 2010.
- Lamar Jackson, 31, originally from Detroit, was killed in a stabbing in a home on Rural Avenue in Huntington Tuesday morning. Police arrested Ciesha Shana Brown, 20, of Huntington and charged her with first degree murder. Brown was arraigned in magistrate court and denied bond. She is due back in court March 31st.
- Thomas Harrah, 45, of Seth, a former Upper Big Branch Mine foreman, has been charged with two felonies in connection with the federal investigation of the mine. The two-count information charges Harrah with making false statements to an FBI investigator with the Mine Safety and Health Administration, as well as making a false statement on a form required by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. According to court documents, Harrah performed foreman’s duties at UBB from January 2008 to August 2009, and he signed examination reports, despite the knowledge that he was not qualified to do so. Each count against Harrah carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
- Cable company Suddenlink has filed for damages from NTELOS and FiberNet. The filing claims NTELOS misrepresented how the company would conduct business after it acquired FiberNet and that FiberNet has interfered with Suddenlink’s ability to conduct business with customers and potential customers in West Virginia. FiberNet has made claims against Suddenlink that the company denied in the filing.
- The state Supreme Court has canceled an April 15th filing deadline in a legal case brought by New Martinsville lawyer H. John Rogers seeking to bar Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin from being paid to act as governor. Tomblin became Acting Governor when Joe Manchin stepped down in November to become a U.S. Senator. Rogers contends the Constitution calls on Tomblin to act as governor, not to assume the post and its $150,000 annual salary and perks until a replacement is elected. Monday, the court said the matter is ready for consideration without additional filings.
- Tellis Larry, 30, of Millwood, in Jackson County, was sentenced to 44 months during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Charleston Monday. He was arrested on January 30, 2008 following a traffic stop in Ravenswood where police seized approximately 21 grams of crack cocaine from his vehicle, which he admitted he intended to distribute in and around Jackson County. Larry pleaded guilty in December 2010 to a one-count information charging him with possession with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine base. The sentence will run consecutively with a June 2010 conviction of first-degree sexual abuse.
- Christopher Cunningham escaped from the custody of the Charleston Work Release Center on March 11th when signed out for work but never returned. Cunningham was captured by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department Tuesday in Princeton.
- Jett Alan Wilcher of St. Albans was in Kanawha County Circuit Court Tuesday charged with exposing himself and public masturbation. Wilcher had allegedly been spotted by parents outside Weimer Elementary in St. Albans a few times when the students let out and one person said she saw him exposing himself and masturbating near her car. Wilcher plead not guilty on two misdemeanor indecent exposure charges.
- Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin said Tuesday he's signed legislation reducing the sales tax on groceries. Beginning January 1st, consumers will pay 2 percent on each $1 worth of food purchased. Currently they pay 3 percent. Tomblin says the measure will let consumers keep about $26 million annually.
- The West Virginia Attorney General's Office says, since the state Supreme Court revised its appeals process, its workload has spiked, and additional staff has been hired to handle the workload. New rules adopted by the court late last year require responses to every appeal, even if the justices decide not to hear a case. Deputy Attorney General Barbara Allen says, between December 1, 2010, and early February, the office wrote about 81 responses to criminal appeals. That's as many as in all other months of 2010.
- The Obama administration may need to call for an expansion of the debt ceiling later this spring to avoid potential defaults on the national debt. The Treasury Department estimates the current debt ceiling of $14.3 trillion will be reached by May 31st. During a speech at the University of Charleston Monday, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin said, until Congress adopts a viable, long-term plan to reduce the nation's deficit, he will oppose any future votes to raise the federal debt ceiling. Manchin said we must get our fiscal house in order.
The state-funded Chemical Alliance Zone trade group wants to raise the pay of its director, Kevin DiGregorio, from $90,000 to $144,000 a year, a proposal that has drawn criticism from at least two of the nonprofit's board members. DiGregorio, who has served as director of the South Charleston-based group since 2007, now gets paid for 2 1/2 days of work each week. DiGregorio has requested to increase his time to four days per week, which would raise his salary to $144,000. He also has asked the board to pay him $12,000 annually for health benefits, bringing his total compensation package to $156,000 a year. Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy, who serves on the Chemical Alliance's executive board, and board member John Maher, director of the Marshall University Research Corp. and former Chemical Alliance Zone director, have voted against the pay hike. Hardy says the organization has two employees and a $200,000 budget.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 8:52 PM 
