Tag Archives: West Virginia

Billionaire WV Gov Got Up To $24M In Bailout Funds

ProPublica reports: Companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his family received up to $24 million from one of the federal government’s key coronavirus economic relief programs, according to data made public Monday. At least six companies from Justice’s empire showed up on the list of Paycheck Protection Program aid recipients released by the Small Business Administration. The …

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West Virginia Gov “Surely Hopes” That Pandemic Will Cause An Exodus From Cities, Spur Return To Rural Life

“I would surely hope so. If you could see what I’ve lived with every day in West Virginia, you would be packing up and heading here tomorrow, because it’s the most pristine air, the most pristine water, good family people that have real values, low crime, good schools, the roads are good. “People have such a misconception of West Virginians. …

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West Virginia Governor Delays Primary Until June 9th

The Cumberland Times reports: Gov. Jim Justice rescheduled West Virginia’s May 12 primary election to June 9 on Wednesday, citing fears about the coronavirus spreading at polling places. Justice said medical experts told him that having the primary on its originally scheduled date would be unsafe for voters and poll workers, since health officials have warned of a surge in …

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West Virginia Gov Endorses Jerry Falwell’s Proposal For Counties To Secede From “Barbaric Totalitarian Virginia”

The Independent reports: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, appeared at a press conference on Tuesday and endorsed a proposal by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. that certain counties secede from Virginia and join Justice’s neighboring state. “West Virginia’s role is one thing, and that is to tell the world just how inviting we are and that we would …

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Future WV Prison Guards To Get Lessons On Holocaust

The Associated Press reports: West Virginia plans to begin training its corrections department staff about the Holocaust after a photograph of correction officer cadets giving Nazi salutes led to dozens of firings and widespread outrage, officials said Tuesday. A spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety said the leader of the regional Anti-Defamation League chapter …

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WV Governor Fires All “Nazi Salute” Prison Guards

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 …

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West Virginia Prison Guard Trainees Make Nazi Salute

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 …

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Don Blankenship Files For Third Party Presidential Run

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 …

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Billionaire GOP Gov Gets Federal Farming Subsidies

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 …

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Joe Manchin Won’t Run For West Virginia Governor

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. …

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County Official Fired In 2016 For Racist Facebook Post About Michelle Obama Gets Sentenced For FEMA Fraud

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 …

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Billionaire West Virginia Gov Who Switched Parties For Trump Rarely Shows Up At Statehouse, His Critics Say

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 …

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WEST VIRGINIA: Republican AG Sues Catholic Diocese, Alleges Former Bishop Knowingly Employed Pedophiles

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 …

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Failed Senate Candidate Don Blankenship Files $12B Suit Against Media Outlets For Ruining His Campaign

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, …

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VIRAL VIDEO: Woman Melts Down In Mexican Eatery At Hearing Spanish, “Get The Fuck Out Of My Country”

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 …

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County Official Fired In 2016 For Racist Facebook Post About Michelle Obama Faces 30 Years For FEMA Fraud

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 …

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West Virginia GOP State Rep: If My Son Or Daughter Say They Are Gay, I’ll See If They Can Swim [VIDEO]

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 …

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WV GOP Rep: Gays Are A Modern Day “Terrorist KKK”

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 …

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WEST VIRGINIA: State GOP Reps Propose “Standing Up To Liberals” By Giving Trump $10M For Border Wall

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. …

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IT BEGINS: First Democrat Formally Files 2020 WH Bid

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 …

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