Tag Archives: West Virginia

CBS News reports: West Virginia’s governor fired a group of recently graduated corrections officers Monday, after they made a gesture resembling a Nazi salute in their class photo. Governor Jim Justice also fired a staffer Monday at the state’s corrections officer academy, the third staffer terminated in the scandal, and suspended four instructors without pay for failing to report the …

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports: A number of West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation employees are suspended and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is calling for some terminations after a photo surfaced that shows more than 30 participants in a basic training class doing a Nazi salute. The cabinet secretary for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public …

The Hill reports: Former coal executive and federal prisoner Don Blankenship filed paperwork on Thursday to launch a third-party White House bid. Blankenship, who also unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in West Virginia last year, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission announcing he would be a presidential candidate for the Constitution Party. The former coal baron released a statement …

The Associated Press reports: A farming business owned by the family of West Virginia’s billionaire governor has received $125,000 in soybean and corn subsidies, the maximum allowed from a federal program meant to help American farmers through the U.S. trade war with China. There is no evidence Gov. Jim Justice did anything illegal. But at least one analyst said the …

Politico reports: Joe Manchin will not run for governor of West Virginia in 2020 against Republican Gov. Jim Justice, the Democratic senator announced Tuesday. “When considering whether to run for governor, I couldn’t focus just on which job I enjoyed the most, but on where I could be the most effective for the Mountain State,” Manchin said in a statement. …

Law & Crime reports: A former West Virginia county official who made headlines in 2016 for her racist online post about then-First Lady Michelle Obama was sentenced to prison Thursday for the embezzlement of disaster relief funds. Pamela Ramsey Taylor, 57, the former director at the Clay County Development Corporation, a West Virginia-based elderly non-profit group, was sentenced to 10 …

Reuters reports: He’s a billionaire who owns mines, farms and the swankiest resort in all of West Virginia. But how Jim Justice spends his time as the state’s 36th governor has largely been a mystery. Since he took office a little more than two years ago, Justice has been dogged by criticism that he’s rarely at the Statehouse. He’s been …

WHSV-TV reports: On Tuesday, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey [photo] filed a lawsuit alleging the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese and former Bishop Michael J. Bransfield knowingly employed pedophiles. The suit also alleges they failed to conduct adequate background checks for those working at the diocese’s schools and camps. The Wheeling-Charleston Diocese encompasses the entire state of West Virginia. The complaint alleges …

The Huntington Herald-Dispatch reports: Former Massey Energy CEO and U.S. Senate candidate Don Blankenship on Thursday filed a lawsuit seeking at least $12 billion in damages from a variety of national news and political organizations, claiming they set out on a “search and destroy” mission against his 2018 candidacy for the Senate. The lawsuit, filed in Mingo County Circuit Court, …

NBC News reports: A video showing a white woman swearing at the general manager of a Mexican restaurant in West Virginia for speaking Spanish went viral over the weekend. “English is our first language, so you need to speak English,” the woman, identified in the video as Jill, screamed at Sergio Budar, the manager. “Get the f— out of my …

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports: A Clay County woman who pleaded guilty Monday to defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency is the same woman who was fired from a county development agency in 2016 after making a racist Facebook post about then-U.S. first lady Michelle Obama. Pamela Taylor, 57, admitted she took more than $18,000 in flood relief benefits. She falsely …

Huntington’s CBS affiliate reports: The West Virginia Republican Party has issued a statement denouncing Delegate Eric Porterfield’s comments about the LGBTQ Community. In the statement, WV GOP Chairwoman Melody Potter said, “As West Virginians, we are taught to respect one another, love our neighbors, and when we disagree to seek understanding of our fellow Mountaineers. “In recent days, Delegate Eric …

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports: A second round of bigoted comments from a Republican delegate has drawn frustration from legislators and no sign of resolve. Delegate Eric Porterfield, R-Mercer, made the comments after calling a reporter to discuss a report in Friday’s Gazette-Mail. That report detailed a flurry of criticism House Democrats aimed at Porterfield on Thursday in response to an …

Via press release: Delegates Robbie Martin, R-Upshur; Patrick Martin, R-Lewis; and Caleb Hanna, R-Webster, today announced they plan to introduce a bill that would divert $10 million from the state’s current nearly $200 million surplus to help President Donald Trump build a wall along the southern U.S. border. “West Virginians support our President and the wall,” Delegate Carl Martin said. …

ABC News reports: Democrat Richard Ojeda may have lost his bid for Congress in West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District but the man who’s been called “JFK with tattoos and a bench press” still has plans to run — for president. Fresh off his defeat last week, Ojeda made the news official Monday morning. It’s a long-shot bid for the White …

The Charleston Gazette reports: U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins will be sworn-in as a temporary justice on the Mountain State’s highest court in the East Wing of the capitol. Jenkins effectively resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives Sunday after representing West Virginia in Washington, D.C., for almost four years. That congressional seat will remain vacant until January, when one of …

The West Virginia Metro News reports: Don Blankenship will not be on the November General Election ballot for U.S. Senate in West Virginia after the state Supreme Court denied his attempt in an order handed down Wednesday afternoon. The order came about three hours after oral arguments had concluded before the Court in which Blankenship’s attorney argued the state’s Sore …

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports: The West Virginia House Judiciary Committee approved 14 articles of impeachment against the four sitting justices of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on Tuesday. “It’s a sad day, and it certainly isn’t a cause for celebration,” Judiciary Chairman John Shott, R-Mercer, said Tuesday as the articles were distributed to the 24 committee members present …

Politico reports: West Virginia’s secretary of state on Thursday denied Don Blankenship’s bid to appear on the Senate ballot as a third-party candidate, a victory for Republicans hoping to consolidate votes against Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in the general election. Secretary of State Mac Warner said Blankenship’s bid would violate the state’s “sore loser law” preventing a candidate who lost …

The Hill reports: Ex-coal CEO Don Blankenship is preparing to run as a third-party candidate in the West Virginia Senate race after losing his bid for the GOP nomination in a move that is likely to spark a fierce legal battle. Blankenship’s campaign announced that he will file paperwork on Tuesday to appear on the ballot in November as the …