Politicker.com -- West Virginia News

[WSAZ] Lawmakers Propose Ban for Texting While Driving in Ohio

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:45:00 -0400

Ohio lawmakers are offering proposals to make the state one of a growing number that ban text messaging while driving.

[WSAZ] Congressman Wilson Touring Stimulus Projects

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:52:00 -0400

Ohio's 6th District Congressman Charley Wilson is in Meigs and Gallia counties on Wednesday.

[The Charleston Gazette] How Bill Clinton got the job

( ) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:11:00 -0400

By
Politico ContributorSometime this spring, the North Korean captors began allowing the two American journalists to have periodic phone conversations with their families, and the relatives gave readouts of the c...

[Lincoln Walks at Midnight] Quote of the Day

Lawrence Messina (lmessina@gmail.com) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:14:00 -0400

"All the attention is going to those three Republicans... you just watch as this bill diminishes. Those three won't be there when the bill passes."

-- U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., opining on the GOP contingent of the Senate Finance Committee's so-called "gang of six" senators negotiating a bipartisan health care reform bill, as reported by Politico and relayed by Political Wire.

[Lincoln Walks at Midnight] W.Va. DHHR Falling Under Judicial Scrutiny

Lawrence Messina (lmessina@gmail.com) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:30:00 -0400

The state Department of Health and Human Resources, and the programs it operates, are ending up in West Virginia courts.

The Associated Press' Tom Breen reports on observations from state Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Benjamin that DHHR "is suffering from a 'systemic' lack of resources that regularly results in a failure to meet its legal obligations."

Benjamin addressed the topic in a concurring opinion in "a case in which the DHHR successfully sought a Supreme Court ruling that blocked a lower court from dismissing the agency's move to terminate a woman's parental rights."

"I am deeply troubled and concerned about this continuing resource problem," Benjamin wrote, "a problem which I sense may be worsening and may be becoming systemic.

[The Charleston Gazette] Jobs czar thinks a different green

( ) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:04:00 -0400

By
Politico ContributorWhen Van Jones, the Obama Administration’s green jobs czar, attends the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas next week, his message will not be about polar bears and plastic bags...

[Lincoln Walks at Midnight] Obama Labor Chief Visits W.Va.

Lawrence Messina (lmessina@gmail.com) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0400

Obama Labor Secretary Hilda Solis came to West Virginia for "her first tour of an underground mine...flanked by business and labor leaders seeking her ear on such issues as climate-change legislation and the administration's approach to regulating mining," The Associated Press reports.

The party included Gov. Joe Manchin, Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, Patriot Coal Corp. CEO Rick Whiting and United Mine Workers Union President Cecil Roberts.

Others with coverage include the Times West Virginian of Fairmont, Public Broadcasting (with audio) and MetroNews (ditto).

[The Charleston Gazette] With bill elusive, Dems pitch small ball

( ) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:23:00 -0400

By
Politico ContributorAs if hedging their bets on health reform, Democrats are emphasizing smaller but still significant health-related investments this year, from food safety and community health centers to a g...

[Lincoln Walks at Midnight] NRCC Targeting Mollohan for 2010

Lawrence Messina (lmessina@gmail.com) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:00:00 -0400

The National Republican Congressional Committee is including the seat of U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, among the 70 it views as ripe for a takeover in the next election, the state GOP says in a news release.

While citing the district's strong showing for Republican nominee John McCain in last year's presidential race, the release cites the spectre of a possibly pending federal investigation into Mollohan's finances and earmarks benefiting nonprofit groups he helped create and staff.

But the NRCC also launched early against Mollohan during the last election cycle, with August 2007 radio ads invoking the federal scrutiny. Mollohan ended up running unopposed the following year.

[The Charleston Gazette] Pentagon response to Guard chemical exposure angers Rockefeller

aclevenger@wvgazette.com (Andrew Clevenger) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:45:00 -0400

Read more about the Qarmat Ali hearing here. CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller is angry with the U.S. Department of Defense because he believe...