January 5, 2019

State approves third voting machine model

The Pennsylvania Department of State announced this week the certification of a third new voting machine model that includes copies of paper ballots. The news comes as Gov. Tom Wolf urges counties to upgrade from voting machines that store all votes electronically, citing concerns over security or votes lost to corrupted data.

Acting Secretary of State Robert Torres approved a machine made by Unisyn Voting Solutions on Dec. 14; the state previously had approved another machine from Unisyn and one from manufacturer ES&S earlier in 2018, a department news release states.

The release states two other machines are expected to be certified in January, and department spokeswoman Wanda Murren said certification for a sixth machine is expected later this year.

The department announced in April that counties across the state have until the end of 2019 to replace paperless machines, and that all new machines must be ready for use in the 2020 presidential election, the release adds.

Read more: http://www.theintell.com/news/20190104/state-approves-third-voting-machine-model

January 5, 2019

Parkersburg mayor has sign taken down, streaming stopped; cites contentious atmosphere

Parkersburg City Councilman J.R. Carpenter, left, talks with City Attorney Joe Santer, prior to the start of a January 2017 council meeting at which the motto displayed behind them was approved. The sign was recently removed at the instruction of Mayor Tom Joyce, who said council members were not living up to the words it displayed.


PARKERSBURG — A sign bearing a motto adopted by Parkersburg City Council has been removed from council chambers after nearly two years, and council meetings are no longer being streamed live on YouTube.

Mayor Tom Joyce said he made both decisions based on how city legislators have been interacting with one another.

“I had the sign taken down because if you read that sign, quite frankly, I don’t think City Council was living up to the promise they made in January 2017,” Joyce said.

The reasons the streaming of meetings was stopped after Nov. 13 “are exactly what we just talked about,” he said.

Read more: http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/local-news/2019/01/parkersburg-mayor-has-sign-taken-down-streaming-stopped-cites-contentious-atmosphere/

January 5, 2019

Education panel talks reform, teacher pay, absences, charter schools

CHARLESTON — The state schools superintendent and the leaders of the two teacher unions all want to see education improve, but differ on how to move it forward.

Superintendent Steve Paine, West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee and American Federation of Teacher-West Virginia President Fred Albert shared their thoughts during a West Virginia Press Association Legislative Lookahead session on Friday.

Lee offered praise for the Legislature’s willingness to approve the governor’s proposed 5 percent pay raise for teachers and state employees — the second in two years. “We have to continue with the investment in education that came last year,” he said.

He hopes that the two new education chairs — Sen. Patricia Rucker and Delegate Danny Hamrick, who were invited but were unable to attend – will listen to the experts when they consider education reforms. Those experts are the teachers and service workers in the schools. “If you want to make change for the best, that’s where you go.”

Read more: https://www.dominionpost.com/2019/01/04/education-panel-talks-reform-teacher-pay-absences-charter-schools/

January 5, 2019

Four Hazelton prison workers injured; staff works without pay during government shutdown

HAZELTON — The high-security U.S. Penitentiary at Hazelton is on lockdown Friday after an incident this morning in which an inmate assaulted multiple staff.

According to Richard Heldreth, president of local 420 of the American Federation of Government Employees, four staff members received minor injuries during the incident.

“The violent and understaffed conditions at the FCC have not improved in the past few months. While the [Bureau of Prisons] has hired a handful of officers in the past two months, this does not even begin to make a dent in the situation, especially when you factor in the staff that we have lost during the same time frame,” Heldreth said.

Last year three inmates were killed at the prison, including infamous gangster James “Whitey” Bulger. Several correctional officers were injured in other incidents of inmate violence. Workers staged an informational picket to call attention to staff cutbacks at the federal facilities, and a federal review team visited Hazelton in November.

Read more: https://www.dominionpost.com/2019/01/04/four-hazelton-prison-workers-injured-staff-works-without-pay-during-government-shutdown/

January 5, 2019

Supreme Court justices plan to unveil new financial policies

Newly-elected West Virginia Supreme Court justices plan to present new financial and administrative policies to state lawmakers during the upcoming legislative session, according to an emailed statement from the court.

Justices, who requested that questions and responses be sent in writing, sent an emailed response to questions about efforts to improve trust in the judicial branch of government, following the impeachment of four justices and the federal convictions of two justices in 2018.

In the statement, justices said when the full five-member Supreme Court convenes this month, several new financial and other administrative policies will be presented for approval. They also referenced a travel policy implemented in June of 2018.

The justices did not answer several questions sent to them about new policies, including questions about who is responsible for ensuring policies are followed, what would have to occur for policies to be changed or disregarded, and whether the implementation of new policies has led to discovery of any new ethical, transparency or spending problems.

Read more: https://www.timeswv.com/news/supreme-court-justices-plan-to-unveil-new-financial-policies/article_07caba1c-0fda-11e9-8700-6333eb2be757.html

January 5, 2019

Legislation introduced to secure miners pensions and health care

A recently introduced piece of legislation — the American Miners Act of 2019 — is aiming to secure the nation's retired miners' pensions and health care.

Introduced by U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Mark Warner, D-Va., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Doug Jones, D-Ala., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., the bill would:

• Amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to transfer funds in excess of the amounts needed to meet existing obligations under the Abandoned Mine Land fund to the 1974 Pension Plan to prevent its insolvency due to coal company bankruptcies and the 2008 financial crisis.

• Extend the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund tax at $1.10 per ton of underground-mined coal and $0.55 per ton of surface-mined coal for 10 years. The release said the tax is critical for supporting the Black Lung Disability Trust fund, which provides healthcare and benefits to more than 25,000 miners and their dependents.

• Ensure that the miners who are at risk due to 2018 coal company bankruptcies will not lose their health care.

“Our coal miners made a commitment to provide our nation with the energy we needed to power our nation to prosperity," Manchin said in the release. "They did so time and time again even when it risked their health and their lives."

Read more: https://www.register-herald.com/health/legislation-introduced-to-secure-miners-pensions-and-health-care/article_3dea66bd-f74d-520b-abba-4bb600537361.html

January 5, 2019

Panel: WV's path to fix medical marijuana banking remains unclear

West Virginia has about six months — and one regular legislative session — until its medical marijuana program launches, and lawmakers and other officials are still trying to figure out where the money is to go.

Gov. Jim Justice signed the Medical Cannabis Act into law in 2017, with sales scheduled to begin this July 1. However, transferring funds in a program legal under state law but illegal under federal law proved to be a blind spot in the legislation.

A lawyer for the state treasurer, a professor of medicine, a lawyer who sits on the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board and a state lawmaker discussed the issue in a panel Friday hosted by the West Virginia Press Association.

According to Diana Stout, general counsel for the state treasurer, two solutions her office floated during legislative interims in September will not be viable.

Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/panel-wv-s-path-to-fix-medical-marijuana-banking-remains/article_0329986d-6486-5201-b8ad-64282510945b.html

January 5, 2019

Judge orders governor's company to provide financial info

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A coal company West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice owns has been ordered by a federal court to release financial information to prosecutors.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail quotes the U.S. District Court judge’s order filed Wednesday as saying attorneys for Justice Energy Co. are required to provide the information this month.

Federal prosecutors under U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart have said in court documents that Justice Energy may not have the means to pay its $1.2 million in sanctions the court ordered in a civil contempt judgment against it in 2016, partly stemming from Justice Energy failing to make payments to a company it made an agreement with after the company accused it of a contract breach.

Brian Abraham, general counsel to the governor, says the order pertains only to Justice’s private businesses and not his Capitol office.

Read more: http://www.theintelligencer.net/wire/?category=10026&ID=84552

January 4, 2019

Rhodes scholar and 'Dreamer' fears he can't return to US

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — He became the first "Dreamer" to win the prestigious Rhodes scholarship, but for recent Harvard University graduate Jin Park, the joy of that achievement has given way to uncertainty.

The 22-year-old, who lives in New York City, risks not being allowed back in the country if he enrolls at the University of Oxford in England in the fall.

President Donald Trump's administration rescinded the option for overseas travel for those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, or DACA, when he moved to phase out the Obama-era program in 2017.

But travel abroad, which was allowed under limited circumstances such as academic study during the Obama administration, should still be permitted because the federal courts have upheld the program for now, argue Park and his supporters.

Read more: https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/ap/national/rhodes-scholar-and-dreamer-fears-he-can-t-return-to/article_57c2d838-65a4-5e1b-bf33-03a3224b0fbb.html

January 4, 2019

Oklahoma University president to predecessor: 'Cross me again, and I will destroy you'

This article was published a few weeks ago. I'm posting it because the previous OU president referred to in the article is former Democratic governor, David Boren.


NORMAN, Okla. -- The relationship between OU President James Gallogly and his predecessor, David Boren, has crumbled amid threats and feuding over the financial status of the university and other issues, according to multiple sources within the university community.

Before he took office, Gallogly was critical of the university's financial status in a June 19 Board of Regents meeting. Boren countered with a letter on June 20 to The Norman Transcript, defending OU's finances and stating a significant part of the university's debt was bonded with scheduled payments.

Following the publication of that letter on June 20, Gallogly told a senior OU administrator to deliver a message to Boren: “You tell him that I am the meanest son of a bitch he has ever seen, and if he ever crosses me again, I will destroy him.”

The statement was confirmed by multiple sources who spoke to the Transcript on a condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from Gallogly.

Read more: https://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/cnhi_network/oklahoma-u-president-to-predecessor-cross-me-again-and-i/article_0cb1e8e6-cf5a-5609-943f-5bef2d370aca.html