Saturday, March 26, 2011
EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...3-27-'11
Five year old Christopher Roop was killed and his mother, Tequila Sunrise Roop, was taken to the burn unit at Cabell Huntington Hospital as the result of a house fire on Lewis Street in Chelyan, in Kanawha County, early Saturday morning.
- Raleigh Circuit Court jurors in Beckley have sided with Virginia-based Massey Energy and a subsidiary, Goals Coal Co. in a suit claiming a Massey Energy coal-loading silo built 235 feet from Marsh Fork Elementary near Sundial in Raleigh County exposed hundreds of children to possible health problems, such as asthma and other lung ailments. The class-action lawsuit, which began five years ago claimed Massey and Goals Coal had created a public nuisance and demanded a court-administered medical monitoring program. To win medical monitoring in West Virginia, plaintiffs must prove they have suffered significant exposure to a proven hazard and that the exposure increases their risk of developing serious latent diseases. The plaintiffs' attorney, Kevin Thompson, said he was disappointed in the verdict and would continue to fight the coal company on other fronts.
- M. Blane Michael, Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has passed away. Michael, who grew up in Grant County, served as special counsel to Jay Rockefeller during his first term as Governor of West Virginia. Michael was later nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed as a judge for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, with jurisdiction over federal courts in West Virginia.
An escapee was captured at 1:00 A.M. Sunday morning. Police say 31 year old Raymond Adkins Jr. had just been arraigned on breaking and entering charges at the Lincoln County Courthouse Friday and was being escorted to a squad car outside to be transported to the Western Regional Jail in neighboring Cabell County when he assaulted a Hamlin police officer and escaped from custody. Hamlin Police Chief Chris Wilkinson says Adkins' hands were cuffed in front of his body. When outside, the officer escorting Adkins unfastened one of the cuffs and asked Adkins to place his hands behind his back to be re-cuffed for transport. Adkins punched the officer, put him in a chokehold, and wrapped the handcuff chain around his neck before eventually releasing the officer and running from the courthouse with the handcuffs dangling from one of his wrists. Wilkinson said Adkins has never been charged with or convicted of a violent crime, but he was serving time on home confinement when he was arraigned on this latest charge. He was scheduled to report to jail in a few weeks after being convicted of several other breaking-and-entering charges.
- Jack Rolfe Jr., 18, of Ona, turned himself in Friday after he allegedly was seen outside the Cabell County Vocational School Thursday waving a handgun from a car. Officers say his ex-girlfriend, who attended the school, had ended their relationship. Rolfe was charged with brandishing, terroristic threats and wanton endangerment. He was lodged in the Western Regional Jail on a $15,000 bond.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 9:20 PM 
