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Washington Attack Didn’t Make Sense – State Journal – STATEJOURNAL.com

West Virginia‘s two senators and a congressman saw fit last week to criticize a West Virginia company that employs hundreds of people and pays millions of dollars each year in taxes.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd led the parade in criticizing Massey Energy for refusing to help replace Marsh Fork Elementary School in Raleigh County because of “potential environmental dangers.” The school is situated near a Massey mining complex. Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Congressman Nick Rahall piled on.

The legislators’ behavior is disappointing.

First, the politicians did not appear to have all of the facts. Massey officials said no one from the Raleigh County school board has asked the company to help fund a new school.

Second, Marsh Fork is hardly the only school or public facility in West Virginia that is situated near an industrial site. Do public officials want to establish a precedent to require a lawful business to relocate a nearby public facility because of perceived risks?

The Times West Virginian – Former county employee pleads guilty to embezzlement

A former county employee charged with embezzling more than $9,100 from two county-run organizations has pleaded guilty to the felony charge.

On Sept. 30, Diana Jill Cosco entered the plea before Marion Judge David R. Janes, who delivered a suspended sentence of one to 10 years in jail and placed her on three years probation.

Cosco was employed as an administrative assistant for the county commission until she was charged with forging County Administrator Kris Cinalli’s name on a $932 check from the Marion County Development Authority without his knowledge in August 2008.

Robert Byrd launches Afghan war warning blast at Obama | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times

Anyone who’s ever been anywhere near military combat knows that if you hear an incoming shell, it’s likely too late to duck. President Obama and his senior staff contemplating the latest new military strategy to correct the mess in Afghanistan might want to prepare to duck, down there in the White House bunker.

There’s a large-caliber shell incoming from Capitol Hill and it was launched Wednesday by none other than the frail man who has served in Congress longer than any other person in American history.

Sen. Robert Byrd, the 91-year-old Democratic institution from West Virginia, has been in the hospital more in the last year than he’s been on the Senate floor. He rarely votes anymore. He rarely speaks there either. But Wednesday he got himself there with the help of aides.

And he had a lot to say.

Cap-and-Trade Climate Bill Would Slow U.S. Economy, CBO Head Says – washingtonpost.com

A House-passed bill that targets climate change through a cap-and-trade system of pollution credits would slow the nation’s economic growth slightly over the next few decades and would create “significant” job losses from fossil fuel industries as the country shifts to renewable energy, the head of the Congressional Budget Office told a Senate energy panel Wednesday.

CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf emphasized that his estimates contained significant uncertainties and “do not include any benefits from averting climate change,” but his message nevertheless contrasted sharply with those of President Obama and congressional Democratic leaders, who have suggested that a cap on carbon emissions would help revive the U.S. economy.

Elmendorf testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that the cap-and-trade provisions of the House bill — in which emitters of greenhouse gases would be able to buy and sell pollution credits — would cut the nation’s gross domestic product by 0.25 to 0.75 percent in 2020 compared with “what it would otherwise have been,” and by 1 to 3.5 percent in 2050.

SNAP Wants Priest Removed From Board – News, Sports, Jobs – The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

Members of a support group for victims of clergy abuse sought to have a Wheeling Jesuit University board member suspended Wednesday.

Judy Jones and Steven Spaner – representing the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests – demonstrated in front of St. Joseph Cathedral to bring attention to a lawsuit filed several years ago against the Rev. Thomas Gleeson.

The suit alleged sexual misconduct between Gleeson and a seminarian at the Jesuit School of Technology in Berkeley, Calif.

SNAP is calling for the suspension of Gleeson from Wheeling Jesuit University’s board of directors.

The group also wants an explanation about why he was appointed to the board despite allegations against him, and it is seeking a settlement involving him and an investigation into the original accusation.

State cars not well tracked  – State News – Charleston Daily Mail – West Virginia News and Sports -

West Virginia agencies do not maintain, control or supervise their employees’ use of state vehicles, auditors announced Wednesday.

In a 40-page report, the legislative auditor’s office said some state employees are using their cars primarily for personal use.

The auditors also told a legislative subcommittee that West Virginia agencies are failing to report vehicle use as taxable income for at least 90 employees, including Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass and state Treasurer John Perdue.

Auditors also say the state government doesn’t even know how many cars it owns. No single agency oversees all the state vehicle operations.

The Division of Motor Vehicles has incomplete records on vehicles with state plates, the auditors found.

Morgantown Ranked Among Top 50 Best Places to Launch a Business – State Journal – STATEJOURNAL.com

Morgantown is making national headlines again.

This time it’s good news for small businesses.

CNN Money has published a list of the 50 best places to launch a small business.

The list consists of the top 10 large, 20 medium and small metropolitan areas for being small business incubators.

Morgantown ranks seventh in the nation among small metro areas.

The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia – Green launches pro-coal petition

Convinced the Environmental Protection Agency is bent on “vilifying coal,” Sen. Mike Green launched a special Web site Wednesday to put citizen pressure on the Obama administration, hoping to gain approval of 23 permits in West Virginia.

Green hopes to attract as many as 15,000 online signatures at the site, www.supportwvcoal.com, and forward them to the EPA.

“Let your voice be heard immediately,” Green, D-Raleigh, said in announcing the Web site.

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