TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalWhat Now? Louisiana GOP Loses Top Contender for Governor
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — By sidestepping the Louisiana governor's race, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy denied Republicans a popular, high-profile candidate to pit against Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards, renewing speculation about whether the GOP can rally around one main contender in 2019.
The list of Republicans considering a challenge to Edwards shortened in recent weeks, as most seemed willing to step aside for Kennedy, a popular figure in Louisiana with impressive fundraising prowess.
But Kennedy's decision against entering the race threatened to start a free-for-all of governor wannabes jumping into a competition Republicans hope will unseat the only Democratic governor in the Deep South.
"There's no challenger on the horizon who brought to the table the power and name recognition and popularity of a John Kennedy," said Baton Rouge-based pollster Bernie Pinsonat. "It'll be interesting to see how this develops."
Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/louisiana/articles/2018-12-04/what-now-louisiana-gop-loses-top-contender-for-governor
Community organizer launches 2020 gubernatorial bid as Democrat
A longtime community organizer and nonprofit director announced plans to run for governor in 2020.
Stephen Noble Smith, 38, who ran the West Virginia Healthy Kids and Families Coalition for the past six years, confirmed Wednesday he plans to run as a Democrat in the 2020 gubernatorial election.
He said despite a number of positive economic indicators for the state, it doesn’t feel like the economy is thriving like some say it is. This stems from a tax structure that works against small, local business, he said, and a class of political leadership that’s out of touch with working families’ problems.
“In terms of real GDP per capita, we are producing more wealth right now in the state than we ever have before, but it doesn’t feel like it, because that wealth isn’t staying here,” he said. “It’s not staying in our pockets, it’s not staying in our roads, it’s not staying in our schools, and as long as that imbalance exists where the work and the wealth that we’re creating here goes somewhere else, we’re going to continue to be in crisis.”
Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/community-organizer-launches-gubernatorial-bid-as-democrat/article_ba8ef0fb-1ee8-52e6-8c10-1d79d1a9bc00.html
Justice family companies agree to settlement with PSC
After they were ordered to pay coal transportation fees, five of Gov. Jim Justice’s family companies agreed to a discounted settlement and paid their bills.
Justice’s companies — Bluestone Industries Inc., Chestnut Land Holdings, Kentucky Fuel Corp., Nufac Mining Co. Inc. and Orchard Coal Co. — paid $175,282 to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, about $32,800 less than they were originally charged, according to PSC documents.
The companies entered into the joint stipulation and settlement agreement in October. They paid the fees in four installments, the last of which was due Thursday afternoon.
The settlement includes “tonnage fees,” which would otherwise help repair roads that are heavily trafficked by coal trucks, and administrative sanctions that stemmed from failing to report, or inaccurately reporting, coal shipments. The companies received orders in the middle of July to “show cause” on why the PSC shouldn’t enforce Notices of Violation against the companies in circuit court. The order also launched an investigation into tonnage fees owed and whether the PSC should impose fines.
Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/business/justice-family-companies-agree-to-settlement-with-psc/article_e56cba7b-599e-5868-95ef-9aa58ac57189.html
U.S. Supreme Court seems to lean against West Virginia in tax case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed inclined Monday to side with a retired U.S. marshal who argues West Virginia is discriminating against former federal law enforcement officers like him by giving a more generous tax break to former state law enforcement officers.
James Dawson says West Virginia currently exempts the vast majority of state law enforcement retirees — including police and firefighters — from paying income tax on their retirement benefits. But retired U.S. Marshals Service employees like him don’t get that perk. Dawson has to pay income tax on his retirement benefits except for the first $2,000 annually, which is tax free.
Dawson says federal law prohibits West Virginia from taxing his retirement income more heavily than it taxes the retirement income of those who did a similar job working for the state.
During arguments before the Supreme Court on Monday, both conservative and liberal justices seemed more willing to side with Dawson. Justice Neil Gorsuch asked Lindsay See, solicitor general in West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s office, why looking at the text of the federal law wasn’t “game over,” ending the case in Dawson’s favor. And Justice Stephen Breyer listed a number of those getting better tax treatment than Dawson.
Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/cops_and_courts/u-s-supreme-court-seems-to-lean-against-wv-in/article_958cef8f-1bae-5584-a343-3d277fb3e767.html
Freedom Industries site to be auctioned next week
The former site of the company that spilled chemicals into the Elk River in 2014, contaminating the water for about 300,000 West Virginians, is going up for auction.
On Dec. 13 at noon, anyone interested in purchasing the former Freedom Industries site can place a bid. A website listing describes the property for sale as a building, plus a “commercial property on 4.9 +/- acres on the Elk River.”
A certain bid amount must be met the day of the auction, said Travis Williamson, a spokesman for Joe R. Pyle Complete Auction and Realty Service, the company handling the auction. He wouldn’t say what the minimum amount is.
If no one bids or the bid doesn’t meet the minimum amount, the property will go either to a nonprofit group or the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Williamson said. Net proceeds of the sale of the property will go to the people or businesses who filed a claim worth more than $3,000 in the class-action lawsuit that stemmed from the 2014 water crisis.
Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/kanawha_county/freedom-industries-site-to-be-auctioned-next-week/article_abd5c7ba-ec58-5bf7-9624-604180dc738b.html
Want To Teach In Hawaii? The Job Often Comes With A Big Pay Cut
When Leilani Frazier joined the Hawaii Department of Education as a teacher in 2008, she had already accrued nearly a decade of professional experience: seven years in a small school district in San Diego, followed by two years teaching English in Japan.
The California native came to Hawaii because she was looking for a new environment. She also had family here.
“I just wanted something different,” Frazier said. “I was at a life point where I wanted to try something new.”
The veteran teacher knew the move to Hawaii’s school system would involve a salary reduction. She just wasn’t prepared for it to be so steep. In San Diego, her pay had been just over $60,000 annually. Her pay for her first year in Hawaii was $46,000.
Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2018/12/want-to-teach-in-hawaii-the-job-often-comes-with-a-big-pay-cut/
Kekaha woman charged, accused of stealing almost $365K from U.S. government
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A Kekaha woman who once worked for the Navy at Kauai’s Pacific Missile Range Facility has been charged with wire fraud.
According to court documents, Rowenalynn Yorkman is accused of stealing almost $365,000 from the U.S. Government.
Between January 2011 and January 2017, Yorkman allegedly pulled off the scheme during her time as a travel clerk. She’s accused of manipulating the Defense Travel System — a system used to pay for and track travel out of PMRF — to reroute money into her personal accounts.
The 48-year-old allegedly falsified travel reimbursement documents for other staff, though no other staff members were involved in the alleged scheme.
Read more: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2018/12/03/kekaha-woman-charged-accused-stealing-almost-k-us-government/
Aggressive pigs becoming a nuisance at some state parks
A visit to Hawaii Island’s state parks provides a close encounter with nature — sometimes, a bit too close for comfort.
When two Hilo Medical Center employees, including its chief executive officer, visited Rainbow Falls in Wailuku River State Park on Wednesday morning prior to work, they found themselves scurrying back to their cars to avoid an aggressive feral pig.
“I go there every morning before I go to work,” said Michelle, a HMC technician who asked that her last name not be used. Michelle said when she arrived on Wednesday, her boss, Dan Brinkman, the East Hawaii region CEO of Hawaii Health Systems Corp., was there, as was a feral pig Michelle said had become too accustomed to being fed by people.
“The pig was going either for the garbage or for Dan,” she said. “I made noise to let Dan know and try to startle the pig, but the pig didn’t startle. So I got out of my car and was waving a piece of paper, trying to get it to go. And it just ran at me. And it did it three times, so I kept running back to my car.”
Read more: https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2018/12/03/hawaii-news/aggressive-pigs-becoming-a-nuisance-at-some-state-parks/
Minnesota church ends 70-year tradition of lutefisk dinner
FOREST LAKE, Minn. >> A Minnesota church has ended its 70-year tradition of serving a dinner of lutefisk, a Nordic dish of dried cod soaked in lye, and the pastor has penned a eulogy for the dinner’s end.
Faith Lutheran Church in Forest Lake, Minnesota, would serve a Scandinavian dinner featuring the pungent, jellylike fish the first Tuesday in December.
But the Rev. John Klawiter wrote an obituary for the annual dinner in the community newspaper last month.
Klawiter wanted the obit to read as a tribute to the seven decades the church in east-central Minnesota has served hundreds of pounds of lutefisk at the annual dinner, dubbed “Holy Tuesday,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Read more: http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/12/03/news/minnesota-church-ends-70-year-tradition-of-lutefisk-dinner/
Gov. David Ige stresses 'moving forward together' in second inauguration
Gov. David Ige was sworn in for his second term as governor today along with his new lieutenant governor Josh Green during a ceremony in the rotunda of the Hawaii State Capitol in which he emphasized common themes of his administration — cultivating the tech sector, improving the state’s public education system and encouraging sustainable food and energy production.”
Ige returned several times during his remarks to his theme of “moving forward together.”
“I know it sounds like a given—that we all work together,” said Ige. “But that is often easier said than done. Moreover, without that collaboration — as we’ve seen in our nation’s capital — it can easily lead to gridlock.”
Ige stressed the need to diversify Hawaii’s economy and move away from an over-reliance on the tourism industry, while predicting that the next great transformation of Hawaii’s economy will be enabled by technology.
Read more: http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/12/03/breaking-news/gov-david-ige-stresses-moving-forward-together-in-second-inauguration/
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