September 2, 2019

Pete Buttigieg flexes campaign muscle in Iowa, plans to open 20 offices in 20 days, have nearly 100

Pete Buttigieg flexes campaign muscle in Iowa, plans to open 20 offices in 20 days, have nearly 100 Iowa staff


Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is flexing his campaign muscle in Iowa, with plans to expand field offices and hire more staff to organize around the state.

Buttigieg will open 20 offices in Iowa in 20 days, campaign officials told the Des Moines Register. He’ll also have 98 paid staffers on the ground by the end of the first week of September, with additional hires expected.

The moves represent a major ramp up in the first-in-the-nation caucus state for the South Bend, Indiana, mayor, who currently has one office in Des Moines. He had 62 staffers in Iowa as of mid-August.

"In order to go the distance and win this election, we need to build the relationships and organization on the ground to reach Iowans where they are," Buttigieg told the Register in a statement. "And that's exactly what we're building in Iowa."

Read more: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/09/02/iowa-caucus-democrat-mayor-pete-buttigieg-field-offices-additional-hires-staff-organization-polling/2135561001/

September 2, 2019

Rescue operation underway for over 30 people in boat fire off Ventura County coast, officials say

Source: ABC

VENTURA COUNTY (KABC) -- A massive rescue operation was launched early Monday morning in response to reports of dozens of people in distress on board a boat that possibly caught fire off the coast of Ventura County, authorities said.

More than 30 people on board a 75-foot boat near Santa Cruz island were in need of assistance, according to a tweet from the Los Angeles division of the United State Coast Guard.

https://twitter.com/USCGLosAngeles/status/1168490856904396800

Coast Guard officials said a group of crew members were rescued, including one with minor injuries, as they worked to evacuate the remaining passengers. It's unknown exactly how many people were on board the vessel.

Ventura County fire officials said they were working to assist the Coast Guard with a boat fire.

Read more: https://abc7.com/dozens-being-rescued-after-boat-fire-off-ventura-county-coast-officials-say/5508025/

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Fox8 is stating that 34 people were killed.

https://fox8.com/2019/09/02/officials-34-killed-in-boat-incident-off-ventura-county-coast-in-california/

September 2, 2019

Report: State Medical Board Had Evidence of Sexual Abuse by OSU Doctor Richard Strauss

A working group convened by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has determined that the Ohio Medical Board had significant evidence as early as 1996 that Ohio State University athletic doctor Richard Strauss was sexually abusing patients, DeWine announced today.

The governor created the working group in May after an independent investigation found that during his tenure at OSU, Strauss likely abused as many as 177 people beginning as early as 1979.

Records from the state's medical board were redacted in a report issued by that independent investigation, but because DeWine's working group is a governmental entity, it was able to view those documents.

The records showed that investigators knew Strauss had been performing inappropriate examinations on male students, but more or less ignored that evidence.

Read more: https://www.citybeat.com/news/blog/21084956/report-state-medical-board-had-evidence-of-sexual-abuse-by-osu-doctor-richard-strauss

September 2, 2019

Campus OU alumna Violet Patton increases gift commitment by $22 million OU alumna Violet Patton inc

Ohio University alum Violet Patton, who celebrates her 103rd birthday today (Aug. 30), recently increased her already significant gift commitment to the Ohio University Foundation to a total of $64 million, according to an OU news release.

Dr. Patton, who received her bachelor’s degree in education in 1938 and was presented with an honorary doctor of letters from OU in 2011, made a historic commitment to the university in 2010 when she committed $13.3 million that will establish the Violet L. Patton Center for Arts Education. A few weeks later, she committed an additional $28 million to honor her parents Gladys W. and David H. Patton with the naming of the Patton College of Education.

According to the release, “The impact of her generosity is evident on the Athens Campus in the Patton College’s transformational building renovation, which was completed in 2017.”

The additional $22 million gift commitment will support the capital projects for which Patton “has demonstrated unwavering commitment and passion for nearly a decade,” the release said, listing the Patton College’s facilities and the new Violet L. Patton Center for Arts Education.

Read more: https://www.athensnews.com/news/campus/ou-alumna-violet-patton-increases-gift-commitment-by-million/article_48315184-cb3b-11e9-bfb9-9fa3a81b78a9.html

September 2, 2019

WVU "Very Close" to Announcing Solution to Northern Panhandle Hospital Closures

Representatives from WVU and WVU Medicine say they are “very close” to announcing a solution to some of the job and health care losses projected in the northern panhandle after two hospitals announced they were closing earlier this month.

In an interview with WV Metro News Thursday, WVU President Gordon Gee said there are plans to expand on what WVU Medicine is already doing in the northern panhandle.

Gee said they are especially concerned about keeping adult and child psychiatric services in the panhandle and that they hope to open up two smaller health facilities – one in Wheeling and one outside of the city in another part of the community.

Those new facilities should absorb some of the jobs lost from the two hospital closures. Additionally, Wheeling Hospital, which is under a management agreement with WVU Medicine, currently has about 350 vacancies. The hospital is in the process of interviewing and hiring for those positions.

Read more: https://www.wvpublic.org/post/wvu-very-close-announcing-solution-northern-panhandle-hospital-closures

September 2, 2019

Federal magistrate recommends tossing Blankenship's 2015 mine safety conviction

CHARLESTON – In a rare legal move, a federal magistrate says Don Blankenship’s 2016 conviction for conspiring to violate mine safety laws should be tossed out.

In a filing released Aug. 26, Magistrate Omar Aboulhosn said the federal government failed to turn over evidence that could have helped the former Massey Energy CEO’s case.

“It’s obviously good news,” Blankenship told The West Virginia Record. “But still, the U.S. judicial system did what it thought was in its best interest.”

In his filing, Aboulhosn also said he did not find evidence that former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin nor Assistant U.S. attorney Steve Ruby acted with ulterior motives while prosecuting the case and that they did not have improper motive or malice toward Blankenship.

Read more: https://wvrecord.com/stories/513240763-federal-magistrate-recommends-tossing-blankenship-s-2015-mine-safety-conviction

September 2, 2019

Lawsuit: School official harassed trans teen in bathroom

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a West Virginia transgender student who said an assistant principal harassed him when he tried to use the boys' bathroom.

The American Civil Liberties Union announced the lawsuit against the Harrison County Board of Education in a news release Wednesday.

The statement says the district has failed to create a safe school environment for teenager Michael Critchfield.

The ACLU says an assistant principal followed Critchfield into the boys' bathroom in November at Liberty High School and said, "You freak me out." Critchfield says he also was ordered to prove his gender by using a urinal. He was 15 at the time.

Read more: https://www.wvnews.com/newsfeed/wv/lawsuit-school-official-harassed-trans-teen-in-bathroom/article_ac0cb451-1b9f-5ba7-bb50-0106ed24bea5.html

September 2, 2019

Do I stay or do I go? For Joe Manchin, a big decision awaits

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Joe Manchin is one again at a career crossroads that says as much about the West Virginia politician as it does the state of American politics.

The Democrat says he'll decide right after Labor Day whether to stick with being in the U.S. Senate, where he was just reelected for a six-year term, or make a run for West Virginia governor in 2020.

In some ways, it's almost a risk-free political choice because Manchin can try to return to the governor's office, the job he had before joining the Senate, without forfeiting his Senate seat or complicating his party's drive to control Congress.

If he decides to run for governor and wins, conceivably he could even temporarily name his own successor in the Senate. But as a rare Democrat who can win a statewide race in a state that has fallen hard for President Donald Trump, Manchin's decision will be telling.

Read more: https://www.wvnews.com/newsfeed/politics/do-i-stay-or-do-i-go-for-joe-manchin/article_372466c1-9383-500a-9776-16df2dcb867f.html

September 2, 2019

West Virginia state senator charged with prostitution

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia state Sen. Mike Maroney (R) has been charged with soliciting a prostitute.

A Marshall County court clerk says the Republican lawmaker turned himself in and was arraigned Wednesday morning on three misdemeanor charges. He has pleaded not guilty and paid a $4,500 bond.

A criminal complaint says Maroney exchanged text messages to discuss prices and set up meetings with a woman who has admitted to being a prostitute. He also sent her a picture of himself.

Police have been investigating the woman and say two people have already pleaded guilty to soliciting her for sex.

Read more: https://www.wvnews.com/newsfeed/west-virginia-state-senator-charged-with-prostitution/article_605440c3-5e64-5af8-99d3-0b68ecaafce3.html

September 2, 2019

Taylor WV Magistrate Bolton admonished by Judicial Investigation Commission; resigns

GRAFTON — Taylor County Magistrate Robert Lee Bolton III ignored orders from two judges, an administrative order and the Judicial Investigation Commission not to practice law while on duty and at the public office, an admonishment from the Judicial Investigation Commission of West Virginia found.

Bolton has resigned effective Oct. 15 as part of an agreement with the Judicial Investigation Commission.

Bolton’s agreement to resign made formal disciplinary action unnecessary, according to the admonishment filed at the state Supreme Court clerk’s office by Christopher C. Wilkes, vice chair of the Judicial Investigation Commission.

“However, the commission found that the violations were serious enough to warrant a public admonishment,” Wilkes wrote.

Read more: https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/taylor-wv-magistrate-bolton-admonished-by-judicial-investigation-commission-resigns/article_c2d287cf-7a47-545d-b614-0759dcc30788.html