Thursday, June 30, 2011
EKB Capsule News...West Virginia...7-1-'11
Mingo County attorney Letitia “Tish” Chafin has filed to run for the state Supreme Court of Appeals in 2012. Chafin will be running as a Democrat for one of two open seats on the state’s highest court. Justice Robin Davis has also announced her intention to run for re-election. Chafin made it clear she is not running against Davis, who has served on the Supreme Court since 1996. Justice Thomas McHugh has announced he is not running. Chafin is a past president of the West Virginia State Bar and is managing partner at the H. Truman Chafin Law firm, where she works with her husband, state senator Truman Chafin. She also sits on the Marshall University Board of Governors and is a member of the West Virginia Education Alliance and West Virginia Children’s Home Society Board of Directors. In an e-mail to potential supporters earlier this month, Chafin announced that Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper will chair her campaign, former state senator Oshel Craigo will head her fundraising committee. Former Democratic Party Chair Chuck Smith will be campaign treasurer, and lawyer Anthony Majestro will serve as the campaign’s attorney.
- A Cabell County grand jury has indicted Pamela Faye Taylor, 63, of Huntington, a former daycare owner, on a charge of child neglect resulting in injury. Taylor was arrested in October 2010 after a 10-month-old child was found with a red mark on his face in the shape of a hand and a bruise on his forehead. The child is believed to have received the injuries while at Pam's Kids Daycare in Huntington. Taylor is set to be arraigned July 13th.
- Eighteen year old Telisa McCauley of Charleston was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for first degree robbery. Police say, last May, McCauley and Whitney Avery robbed Robert "Jeff" Moore, 53, of Charleston, after Earl Moore brutally beat him on Fife Street in downtown Charleston, leaving him in a coma.
William Porter, 34, of Charleston, has been arrested for arson for allegedly setting his neighbor's house on fire on Kilby Street in February. Police suspect him of setting at least seven homes on fire during the past eight years, two of which were his own.
- Chester Wilkinson, 57, of Charleston, has been charged with possessing child pornography. Kanawha County Sheriff's Deputies say Wilkinson’s computer contained several illegal images of minors engaging in sexual activities.
- Michael Moore, 28, of Charleston, has pleaded guilty to distributing heroin in the Charleston area from December 2010 to March 2011. Moore told officers he purchased heroin from his associates and let them drive his car to distribute the heroin. Moore faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when sentenced October 6th.
- New charges of second degree sexual assault by a parent, guardian or custodian were filed against Michael David Adams, 27, of Pliny, Thursday. Putnam County Deputies say he raped a 14 year old girl while out on bond after raping another 14 year old girl. He's being held on a half million dollar bond on the new charges and no bond while awaiting sentencing for his conviction on sexual abuse charges in August. He was convicted last week of molesting his wife's 14 year old cousin. Court documents say Adams raped the other girl June 21st while his wife was taking a shower. The victim and her father were living in the same home along U.S. 35 as Adams and his wife. Adams has admitted he had a prior felony conviction. This could allow the judge to double the 25 year potential sentence he faces for the recent conviction.
Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants says a program aimed at reducing truancy at Kanawha County elementary schools has surpassed expectations and resulted in a significant decrease in the number of children missing classes. Plants developed the program prior to the school year after more than 5,100 students in Kanawha County were listed as habitually truant in the 2009-10 school year. Under the initiative, prosecutors worked with parents and school administrators to put an end to truancy. The program is expected to continue next year. Plants says he'll talk with teachers and school officials to determine if they need to tweak anything.
- After more than thirty years of public service, state Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline retired Thursday. Cline, who announced her retirement last month, worked as commissioner for 10 years. Cline, who recently turned 55, now qualifies for retirement benefits, which was a major factor in the decision to step down. Cline first started working in state government in 1978 in the accounting department of the state Division of Highways. She later moved on to become the commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles for eight years under Governor Gaston Caperton's administration. In 2001, Governor Joe Manchin named her insurance commissioner. Interim Insurance Commissioner Mike Riley has worked in the office since 2001.
- The West Virginia Public Service Commission has approved a $98.7 million rate increase for Appalachian Power Company and Wheeling Power Company. The increase amounts to 7.9 percent. A typical residential customer can expect a $6.40 increase. In 2008, the PSC agreed to implement rate hikes over four years that would help companies recover costs of coal. The case is now in its third year. During a hearing in May, company leaders told the PSC that the gradual increases were needed to avoid a huge upward swing in rates. Rates increased 12 percent in 2009 and 8.2 percent in 2010.
- U.S. Representative David McKinley says the Environmental Protection Agency’s deadline for coal-fueled power plants to comply with proposed tighter emissions regulations is proof the federal agency needs to be reined in. EPA wants plant operators across the nation to significantly reduce emissions of toxic materials, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, in some cases by the end of 2014. McKinley says forcing compliance in the time frame EPA has mapped out will have a devastating effect on West Virginia, costing jobs and stifling economic growth in the state. American Electric Power is hoping to persuade EPA to extend the deadline for complying and grant a reprieve of sorts to the 242 workers in West Virginia alone who would otherwise see their jobs eliminated until 2020.
West Virginia ended the fiscal year Thursday with almost $300 million in tax revenue surplus. Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin says he couldn't be more pleased. The state’s revenue collections outdistanced projections in almost every month of the fiscal year while several taxes performed at a much higher rate than anticipated. Tomblin says more than half the surplus has already been earmarked to go into the Rainy Day Fund. The legislature has already appropriated about 45 million dollars. The new budget year begins Friday.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 11:49 PM 
