West Virginia Ranked Again In Judicial Hellhole Report – West Virginia Headline News and Talk Radio

There’s an opportunity for West Virginia to get out of the judicial hellhole.

The American Tort Reform Foundation released its annual report today and it says the state can get off the list if proposed reforms put forward by the governor’s judicial reform group earlier this year are adopted by state lawmakers.

“The (report) lists West Virginia as a point of light for the recommendations that our state establish an intermediate appeals court and grant litigants an automatic right of appeal, which we currently don’t do,” said Richie Heath, president of the West Virginia Alliance for Civil Justice Reform.

Commission wants tour of site – NewsandSentinel.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information – Parkersburg News and Sentinel

Seeing is believing. And members of the Wood County Commission want to see the Summersville National Guard Arena and Conference Center before they commit to a similar project here.

Commissioners Rick Modesitt and Wayne Dunn said the proposed armory project is a good idea, but they want to see what they are getting into.

“We don’t know what Summersville is or what it looks like,” Modesitt said. “And that would be helpful.”

Keith Burdette, president of the Wood County Economic Development Authority, and Parkersburg Mayor Bob Newell attended Monday’s Wood County Commission meeting to update commissioners on the Fort Boreman armory project.

Newell outlined a preliminary plan for local government participation in the project. He told commissioners they would pursue a model similar to the formula used by Summersville and its National Guard facility.

Newell asked commissioners if they wished to participate in the planning and development of the project.

“It would be nice to know what other (similar) facilities bring in,” Dunn said.

Ohio County Schools Wait on Lawsuit for Retirees Benefits – State Journal – STATEJOURNAL.com

The Ohio County Board of Education met Dec. 14 to discuss all the issues, including the problems a 2006 law may be causing.

The Ohio County Board of Education has decided to wait to decide whether or not to join 49 of West Virginia’s 55 school districts in a lawsuit over health care benefits for retirees.

“Some counties are suing. Table the motion until that time,” said Tom Innocenti, Ohio County Board President.

Since 2006, school boards have had to record in their accounting books the amount of “other post-employment benefits” or OPEB owed to their retirees.

The figure has to do with retirement health care and life insurance benefits.

Hike criticized – journal-news.net | News, sports, jobs, community information for Martinsburg – The Journal

None of the half dozen citizens who spoke at Monday night’s hearing supported the Berkeley County Public Sewer Service District‘s proposed 12.26 percent increase, with several of them presenting detailed arguments against the rate hike and the district’s overall fiscal operation.

Approximately 15 people attended the hearing, which was held in Martinsburg City Council chambers. State Public Service Commission administrative law judge Keith A. George presided over the session, which lasted about an hour. An additional hearing will be held this morning beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Three Spring Mill Farm homeowners questioned the proposed rate increase as well as the district’s decision to build the north Berkeley County sewer system.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV – DNR probing grisly discoveries

Area residents are asking the Department of Natural Resources to investigate a grisly discovery between Pocahontas and Bramwell.

About eight deer carcasses have been located on the hill just between the Coopers community and the Bramwell town limits, Tommy Childress, a resident of Pocahontas, said.

“There are eight deer carcasses thrown over the hill and on the side of the road where people have been spotlighting on Route 120 between Bramwell and Pocahontas,” Childress said.

Childress said the incident has been reported to officers with the Department of Natural Resources in Mercer County.

According to Childress, firearm season in West Virginia has ended, and even if the firearm season was still underway, the carcasses would still have to be disposed of.

She’s in a Copenhagen state of mind – - POLITICO.com

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wants the world — or at least the Twitterverse — to know that he has Joe Lieberman’s back and that he thinks Democratic attacks on his friend are a “disgrace.”

The former Republican presidential nominee, who received Lieberman’s endorsement in the 2008 election, took to his keyboard Monday morning to defend the Connecticut independent, who is taking fire from the left for withholding support for the Senate’s health care reform bill.

The tweet:

@SenJohnMcCain: Joe Lieberman’s standing up for his principles on health care is being viciously attacked by the liberal left … what a disgrace!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Common ground sought over retiree costs in W.Va. (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Denied Relief, W.Va. Schools Ready to Sue (abcnews.go.com)
• Senate Clears Way for Approval of Spending Measure (nytimes.com)