http://www.timeswv.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:25:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_324032559.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_324032559.html Some of West Virginia’s largest cities can soon freeze and gradually pay down their daunting pension funding shortfalls, after the House of Delegates sent Gov. Joe Manchin his special session relief proposal Thursday.The bill was the governor’s chief reason for summoning the Legislature just months before its regular, 60-day session. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:24:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_324032511.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_324032511.html A state Supreme Court justice says West Virginia’s Freedom of Information laws are too narrow to fully serve the public’s right to know, and some lawmakers are willing to look at changing the code.Justice Margaret Workman wrote Wednesday that the Freedom of Information Act should be changed so that the context in which records are produced can be considered when deciding if they qualify as public records open to view by all. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:10:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_323031034.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_323031034.html Beneath a life-sized statue of history’s longest-serving U.S. lawmaker, West Virginia officials were paying tribute to Sen. Robert C. Byrd.Gov. Joe Manchin told a crowd of more than 200 in the state Capitol Wednesday that West Virginians have never lost confidence in the senior senator, who has been in Congress since 1953, with the last five decades spent in the Senate. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:31:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_322003202.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_322003202.html The Senate is a resolutely superlative place, so it was resolved that the august body on Wednesday will open its session by saluting Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Congress’ longest-serving member.“United States senators, like baseball fans, love statistics,” the West Virginia Democrat, who turns 92 on Friday, observed during a 1986 floor speech. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:27:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_322002746.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_322002746.html A group representing hundreds of West Virginia police officers sees the value in the special session legislation that aims to help ailing municipal pensions, one of its officials said Tuesday.But the state’s Fraternal Order of Police also has concerns with Huntington’s plans to switch its newest officers to a new pension program once — and if — the bill becomes law, Vice President Joe Crawford said. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:23:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_322002406.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_322002406.html A federal grand jury in West Virginia has linked five more people to an international scam that allegedly tricked government agencies in several states into paying at least $3.3 million to bogus companies with names that sounded like legitimate firms.The charges unsealed Tuesday implicate Minnesota residents Michael M. “Mikie” Ochenge, 33; Robert M. “Robe” Otiso, 36; Paramena J. “Joseph” Shikanda, 35; Albert E. Gunga, 30; and Collins A. Masese, 20. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:17:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_320021756.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_320021756.html Members of one West Virginia county school board are taking a look at the idea of year-round schools, an issue that has some support from President Obama and Gov. Joe Manchin. Last month, Piedmont Elementary Principal Steve Knighton traveled to Marshall County in the Northern Panhandle, to discuss the year-round schedule at Piedmont, a school in Charleston’s East End. Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:13:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_319031346.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_319031346.html The 39th anniversary of a plane crash that killed most of Marshall University’s football team has been marked by hundreds at a memorial service.They gathered Saturday around the Marshall University Memorial Fountain to honor the 75 victims of the 1970 plane crash. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:25:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_317222545.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_317222545.html West Virginia cities with cash-strapped pension funds could be in store for some relief when the Legislature heads to the Capitol next week.Gov. Joe Manchin issued a call Friday for a special session to coincide with the previously scheduled three-day series of monthly interim meetings that starts Tuesday. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:24:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_317222504.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_317222504.html A Tucker County man has been arrested after investigators found skeletal remains under a shed behind his house during a search for the body of his ex-wife, State Police said Friday.Wesley Cale Sr., 42, is charged with concealing a body and is being held on $150,000 cash bond at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail, First Sgt. J.A. Wise said. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:03:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_317030441.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_317030441.html The state Supreme Court has ruled that public officials and public employees can keep their personal e-mails secret.The court ruled 4-1 Thursday that none of the 13 e-mails between former Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard and Massey Energy Chief Executive Don Blankenship are public records. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:22:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_315052257.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_315052257.html An array of West Virginia’s top political leaders stood shoulder-to-shoulder Tuesday with executives from the state’s top coal producers, vowing to form a united front in the face of what they call mixed signals and heavy-handedness from federal mining regulators. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:12:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_315051231.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_315051231.html West Virginia’s plans to expand its Medicaid program have been put on hold while Congress debates overhauling the nation’s health care system.Gov. Joe Manchin’s proposal to expand Medicaid coverage for adults earning up to 50 percent of the federal poverty level, or $10,830 for individuals, would also increase state spending, an increasingly difficult course of action as the bad economy saps revenue. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:40:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_313114131.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_313114131.html Sen. Jay Rockefeller says current federal energy legislation doesn’t do enough to protect West Virginia’s coal industry. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:38:00 +0000 http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_313113945.html http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_313113945.html The U.S. Census Bureau is looking to hire up to 1,000 temporary part-time workers to conduct the 2010 count in West Virginia.