Morning Headlines (from Asheville, N.C.): Nov. 2, 2009
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State stimulus spending credited for 2,400 jobs – News – The Charleston Gazette – West Virginia News and SportsMore than 2,400 jobs have been saved or created in West Virginia because of federal stimulus funding, according to those who have been spending the money.
Federal officials have reviewed hundreds of reports filed earlier this month by stimulus beneficiaries. They include state and local government agencies as well as private sector contractors and nonprofit groups.
The filings, and their jobs boasts, reflect spending from West Virginia’s estimated $1.8 billion share of the stimulus between February’s passage of the sprawling legislation and Sept. 30.
The stimulus program’s oversight agency, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, posted the results online over the weekend. Its West Virginia counterpart is expected to follow suit as early as today.
A national environmental group has released a study indicating two area rivers are among the top 10 waterways for total toxic discharge.
Environmental America recently released a report that documents and analyzes pollutants discharged into American waters using data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‘s 2007 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).
According to the group’s report, the Ohio River leads all waterways in total toxic discharge with more than 31 million pounds. The Muskingum River (with 4,994,243 pounds) is ninth on the list.
Environment America’s report summarizes the discharge of cancer-causing chemicals, chemicals that persist in the environment and chemicals with the potential to cause reproductive problems ranging from birth defects to reduced fertility. Among the toxic chemicals discharged by facilities are lead, mercury and dioxin.
West Virginia, Taxes, natural resources, coal – State Journal – STATEJOURNAL.com
West Virginia relies more on license fees and severance taxes to pay its bills than do a majority of states, according to a new survey of just where states get their tax dollars.
The report by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation concluded that West Virginia generated more than 12 percent of its revenue from fees and from severance taxes on coal mining and other natural resource extraction from 2006 to 2007.
Only nine states generated more money from the same revenue sources, but a critical difference is that most of those states also offset that disparity by completely eliminating another form of tax.
Alaska, for instance, generated more than half of its revenue from fees and severance taxes yet charges no individual income taxes. Taxes on oil extraction help bolster that state’s budget. At the same time, Montana collects no sales taxes yet draws a large part of its budget from taxes on coal, natural gas and extraction industries.
The Times West Virginian – Manchin: ‘No horribly offensive fat tax’
As the insurance provider for thousands of state employees and many more retirees, it’s big news when the state Public Employees Insurance Agency decides to change its financial plan for the next year.
This year is no exception. There are three changes to the plan for this year but one is receiving a lot more attention than the other two.
It’s been dubbed the “fat tax,” and it’s a measure that would permit PEIA to give those employees considered “healthy” a discount while making employees with risk factors pay the full price. The plan would require state employees to provide information on their blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels and — the source of the nickname — waist circumference.
For the second time this year, a state Supreme Court justice has blasted the Department of Health and Human Resources by suggesting the agency has systemwide problems that need rapid correction.
In a concurring opinion filed this week, Justice Margaret Workman accused the DHHR of failing to properly protect children caught between the foster care system and an abusive home.
”The intent is to issue a clarion call to the DHHR to provide child protective services with more resources and more direction in protecting children,” Workman wrote.
Workman’s opinion comes roughly two months after Chief Justice Brent Benjamin rebuked DHHR in a different case. He wrote that the agency seems to have systemic problems preventing it from meeting its duties.
The two opinions, along with other concerns, have led some frustrated lawmakers to discuss whether splitting the agency up would make the bureaus and departments that comprise it more efficient.
Paden City High School in Jeopardy – News, Sports, Jobs – The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register
As four of the 28 seniors in the Class of 2010, Stephanie West, Malakai Anderson, Josh Bennett and Mike Greathouse want Paden City High School to thrive in coming years.
However, the Wetzel County Board of Education soon will consider a proposal that calls for closing the school as early as the end of the 2011-12 school year, with plans of sending Paden City‘s Wildcats five miles north to New Martinsville to become Magnolia High School Blue Eagles.
To say most Paden City residents oppose this idea would probably be a significant understatement, as anyone driving down W.Va. 2 will quickly notice a bevy of signs bearing the phrase “Choose Paden City Schools.”
“If they close our school, we won’t have anywhere to come back to for a high school reunion,” West said. “It just wouldn’t be right for us to lose the school.”
Recently revealed documents obtained by Judicial Watch from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) show a few interesting facts and supports the claims made in my earlier articles– namely, Yosi Sergant, the former NEA Communications Director, did not work alone in organizing the controversial August 10th conference call; that the White House Office of Public Engagement was fully aware of his efforts; and most importantly, that The Corporation for National and Community Service misrepresented who actually initiated the meeting.
On August 28th, Josh Miller of Foxnews.com reported “Siobhan Dugan, a spokeswoman for [The Corporation for National and Community Service], said the call was organized by an ‘individual interested’ in the group…”
This statement does not correspond with the facts.
As votes near, insurers make last stand – Chris Frates – POLITICO.com
When the insurance industry launched the first full-scale attack on key provisions of health reform, the Democrats’ response was swift, brutal and aimed squarely at Karen Ignagni, a former Democratic Capitol Hill aide who is now the industry’s top lobbyist.
“The insurance industry is rolling out the big guns and breaking open their massive war chest to marshal their forces for one last fight to save the status quo,” President Barack Obama said during a weekly radio address. “They’re filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads. They’re flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions.”
A public presidential rebuke would intimidate many. But Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, held her ground — and may still achieve a win, as the health care debate on Capitol Hill is shifting toward the insurers’ major concern, controlling costs.
You probably were not fully aware on this first workday morning of a new month just how fully aware the month of November has officially become, thanks to President Obama and his White House proclamations.
There is an entire little-known industry in the United States, it seems, devoted to raising awareness levels about something through official proclamations.
And usually that involves getting some level of government all the way down to city councils and all the way up to the Oval Office to proclaim a day, a week or an entire month as devoted to that singular issue. Even though hundreds overlap each other. And no one really cares.
Most public officials go along with proclamations as seemingly harmless — until someone adds up the manpower hours researching and writing and printing and signing the darned things. It’s also a completely useless….
Senate climate bill faces challenges – washingtonpost.com
The climate-change bill that has been moving slowly through the Senate will face a stark political reality when it emerges for committee debate on Tuesday: With Democrats deeply divided on the issue, unless some Republican lawmakers risk the backlash for signing on to the legislation, there is almost no hope for passage.
Like the measure adopted by the House, the legislation favors a cap-and-trade system that would issue permits for greenhouse gas emissions, gradually lower the amount of emissions allowed, and let companies buy and sell permits to meet their needs — all without adding to the federal deficit, according to projections. But key Republicans are making their opposition clear, even as Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) has enlisted Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) as his most visible GOP ally in gathering support for the bill.
Sen. George V. Voinovich (Ohio), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee who was initially seen as one of the few Republicans who might consider backing the majority, is helping lead the opposition.
“Why are we trying to jam down this legislation now?” he asked during a hearing last week. “Wouldn’t it be smarter to take our time and do it right?”
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Posted under Morning Headlines, News.
Tags: Government agency, Ohio River, Paden City High School, Supreme Court of the United States, United States, United States Environmental Protection Agency, West Virginia, White House
