February 27, 2022

Christo Aivalis: MSNBC Confirms Trump is BANKRUPT

February 27, 2022

Beau of the Fifth Column: Let's talk about shifting landscapes in Ukraine...

February 27, 2022

West Virginia Legislature passes bill to redesignate Glenville State College as university

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — The West Virginia Legislature has passed a bill to redesignate Glenville State College as Glenville State University.

The bill, House Bill 4264, was introduced in January, receiving approval from the House Education Committee on Feb. 10. The full body considered the first reading of the bill Friday.

That allowed the bill’s third reading and final passage to take place Tuesday, which was also Glenville State Day at the Legislature.

Representatives were on hand from each academic department, Alumni Relations, and Athletics to share information and answer questions. A special display table featuring historic photographs and artifacts from the institutional archive was also part of the setup.

Read more: https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/west-virginia-legislature-passes-bill-to-redesignate-glenville-state-college-as-university/article_5783b2a8-9424-11ec-a6ee-a70c25c772a1.html

February 27, 2022

Man convicted of threatening West Virginia's Joe Manchin, Greg Gutfeld and Laura Ingraham

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York man has been convicted of making deadly threats to a U.S. senator and two Fox News personalities.

Military veteran Rickey Johnson, 48, of Manhattan, was convicted by a jury Thursday in Manhattan federal court of threatening a federal official and making interstate threats.

Sentencing was scheduled for May 25, when he faces up to 20 years in prison.

-snip-

Prosecutors said he posted videos online early last year threatening to kill U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, and Fox News hosts Greg Gutfeld and Laura Ingraham.

Read more: https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/man-convicted-of-threatening-west-virginias-joe-manchin/article_bb40afce-2c9a-5b3d-8884-888fc927ae67.html

February 27, 2022

West Virginia bill blocking 'critical race theory' teaching misses deadline

CHARLESTON — With Friday the de facto deadline to move bills out of committees and with the West Virginia House of Delegates gaveling out until Monday, a bill to deal with concepts and teachings derived from critical race theory didn’t make it out of its final committee.

The House Judiciary Committee moved Friday evening to turn House Bill 4011, the Anti-Stereotyping Act, into a study resolution and bring it back for consideration during the 2023 legislative session in a 13-9 vote.

HB 4011 sat near the bottom of the committee’s agenda since 9 a.m. Friday as lawmakers worked through 15 bills and resolutions that saw lengthy debates break out over livestock trespassing, disclosure of certain information by online marketplaces, and whether to call a convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution.

Sunday is the final day for bills to come out of committees in the house of origin, but both the House of Delegates and state Senate adjourned until Monday, effectively making Friday the final day to move bills out of committees. With the House gaveling out at 6:30 p.m., the House Judiciary Committee resumed its meeting afterward.

Read more: https://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/local-news/2022/02/west-virginia-bill-blocking-critical-race-theory-teaching-misses-deadline/
(Parkersburg News and Sentinel)

February 27, 2022

WV Senate President says his signature bill will 'protect' coal companies. But the industry itself i

Days before the start of the 2022 legislative session, Senate President Craig Blair virtually addressed a crowd of reporters from the desk in his Senate office. It was the state press association’s annual legislative event where West Virginia leaders show off what they’re looking to accomplish in the coming 60-day session.

One of his priorities, Blair, R-Berkeley, told reporters, was legislation creating a state-funded insurance company to help mine operators otherwise unable to get reclamation bonds, as the private market for bonds dries up in the face of coal’s massive economic decline.

Blair described the bill as so important that it would be the first introduced in his chamber — Senate Bill 1. He said the measure was “sorely needed to protect the mining industry.”

But just two days earlier, behind the scenes, the coal industry had rejected that assessment.

Read more: https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2022/02/21/wv-coal-didnt-want-mine-reclamation-bill/

February 27, 2022

'It's scary': While hundreds of workers face layoff in Brooke County, WV lawmakers move to slash th

‘It’s scary’: While hundreds of workers face layoff in Brooke County, WV lawmakers move to slash the benefits they’ll rely on


Just south of Weirton, Shannon Baldauf spends her work days suited up in layers of fire-retardant clothing, climbing atop massive, blazing furnaces that purify tons of coal.

“It’s a heat like you’ve never experienced,” she said.

But come this summer, Baldauf and nearly 300 others who work at the Cleveland-Cliffs coke plant in Follansbee will be out of a job. The plant is closing, and Baldauf isn’t sure what comes next.

“It’s definitely scary,” she said.

West Virginia’s unemployment system is meant for moments like these: to exist as a safety net for people like Baldauf who are unexpectedly between jobs. But while that’s the reality for Baldauf, 200 miles away under the Capitol dome, state lawmakers are advancing bills that chip away at that safety net by slashing the length of time workers can stay on unemployment benefits.

Read more: https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2022/02/24/wv-lawmakers-move-to-slash-unemployment-benefits/

February 27, 2022

Marshall University files lawsuit against Conference USA

HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA — Marshall University filed a lawsuit against Conference USA in Cabell County Circuit Court on Tuesday in an effort to facilitate its early exit from the conference.

In the suit, Marshall University’s Board of Governors is seeking relief in the form of a declaratory judgment and temporary, preliminary and permanent injunctions against Conference USA in proceeding with arbitration.

Marshall Athletics issued a statement Tuesday evening in regards to the lawsuit.

“For more than two months, Marshall University has attempted to reach a resolution with Conference USA regarding our decision not to participate in the league after this academic year; however, no progress has been made.

Read more: https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/marshall-university-files-lawsuit-against-conference-usa/article_3f563bf2-1bfe-562a-935a-7089094da028.html
(Huntington Herald-Dispatch)

On Feb. 11, however, Conference USA released its 2022 football schedules, which included Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss — a move that led to those schools issuing the public statements about their intent to leave and Conference USA’s unwillingness to negotiate an amicable exit.

February 27, 2022

Legislative takeover of state ed policy would be called 'clarification' on ballot; Senate postpones

Legislative takeover of state ed policy would be called 'clarification' on ballot; Senate postpones action


The West Virginia Legislature is on the verge of sending to voters a proposed state constitutional amendment that could have a sweeping impact on state education policy.

It’s set for possible final approval by the state Senate Monday, after senators postponed Friday that last required OK. If senators approve it Monday without further changing it, it will go on the ballot in November.

The amendment would give lawmakers final say over all West Virginia Board of Education policies. These include what students are required to learn in social studies, science, English and math, plus teacher training requirements, student discipline rules, school building specifications, charter school regulations and other issues.

Currently, lawmakers can’t amend or reject the policies the state school board passes.

On the general election ballot, this sweeping change in authority would be titled the “Education Accountability Amendment.” Regarding what the amendment would actually do, this would be the explanation voters would read on their ballots:

Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/education/legislative-takeover-of-state-ed-policy-would-be-called-clarification-on-ballot-senate-postpones-action/article_2a55a1db-a1a7-569d-877b-51feb37c3b95.html

February 27, 2022

WV House bill gutting state mine inspectors' enforcement powers prompts public hearing, draws UMWA

WV House bill gutting state mine inspectors' enforcement powers prompts public hearing, draws UMWA ire


A West Virginia House legislative committee has advanced to the full House of Delegates a sweeping bill that would strip away nearly all enforcement powers from the state’s mine law enforcement office, setting off a heated debate on the House floor Friday and resulting in a scheduled public hearing next week.

The House Government Organization Committee on Thursday afternoon advanced House Bill 4840, which would remove the powers of the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training to issue orders or financial penalties to mine operators for failing to meet safety standards, and eliminate operator mine permit fees.

HB 4840 would remove the minimum number of “visits” that mine inspectors must make to all the mines in their districts, discard a requirement that governor nominees to the state mine safety board representing operators have experience in “health and safety,” and get rid of a provision allowing for inspectors to examine mines with no advance notice.

“We are completely opposed to this insult to West Virginia miners and especially to their families, who have a right to expect them to come home safe and sound at the end of every shift,” United Mine Workers of America spokesman Phil Smith said of HB 4840 in an email Friday.

Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/legislative_session/wv-house-bill-gutting-state-mine-inspectors-enforcement-powers-prompts-public-hearing-draws-umwa-ire/article_56c0e38d-9b8a-58cf-aef8-6877ecd6dbb5.html