Free Republic

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Companies owned by Gov. Jim Justice and his family are being sued in federal court in Kentucky, accused of fraudulently transferring property to avoid responsibilities in a business deal that was the subject of a related lawsuit a few years ago. The lawsuit wants punitive damages of at least $16.9 million. “This agreement was an unlawful and corrupt agreement by the conspirators to accomplish an unlawful goal of fraudulently transferring or liquidating valuable real estate belonging to Justice Companies, so that plaintiffs could not collect on debts owed to them by Justice companies,” the lawsuit alleges. The...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Supreme Court has overruled a lower court injunction that blocked West Virginia’s right-to-work law, chastising a circuit judge for the pace of decision-making and for issuing the injunction in the first place. The state’s unions failed to establish the likelihood of success based on the merits of three constitutional claims, wrote Justice Menis Ketchum in the court’s majority opinion. The state AFL-CIO issued a statement noting that the Supreme Court ruling applied specifically to the injunction, saying unions will continue to fight during a broader hearing in circuit court and anticipating an eventual appeal of...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s possible there could be additional delays before a decision is made on the constitutionality of the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act following an hour of oral arguments Tuesday before the state Supreme Court. Justice Margaret Workman questioned the decision by the office of state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey to bring the right-to-work law to the Supreme Court before there’s been a full hearing on the merits of the case in circuit court. “I just think you all are taking a shortcut coming up here wanting all of the answers without the lower court having made any...

LEXINGTON, KY — David Black Daugherty, the former Social Security administrative law judge who was based in Huntington, was sentenced Friday to spend four years in federal prison for his role in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. Daugherty, 81, approved more than 3,000 Social Security disability cases submitted by a now convicted Kentucky lawyer in exchange for money. He pleaded guilty earlier to two counts of receiving illegal payments. Daugherty’s attorney asked the federal judge at Friday’s sentencing in Lexington, Kentucky, to allow his client to self-report to prison in order to give him time to help his wife adjust...

Will They Be Removed?: 30 Places Named After Former Klansman Robert Byrd August 16, 2017 That's just a few. Since we're gonna rename schools and take down every sign and statue of people who have a controversial past. Are we also going to include Former Klansman and Grand Wizard Robert Byrd? If we are consistent, these are some places named after Robert KKK Byrd that should be taken down. You won't see this on cable news.

Longtime liberal pollster Stuart Rothenberg apparently had a hard time handling President Donald Trump's visit to West Virginia on Thursday. During that visit, Mountain State Governor Jim Justice officially announced his switch to the Republican Party, thereby consolidating full GOP control over the executive and legislative branches in that state, and bringing the total number of Republican U.S. governors to 35.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Bragging about keeping his promises on immigration, the economy, the environment and crime, President Trump celebrated on Thursday with a raucous West Virginia crowd as the state’s Democratic governor announced that he will switch to the Republican Party. With Gov. Jim Justice by his side, Mr. Trump hailed stock market records and the growth of coal income in West Virginia. And he delivered a lengthy critique of the federal investigations of his campaign’s ties to Russia, calling the matter “a fake story that is demeaning to all of us.”

See you tonight Huntington, West Virginia! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain🇺🇸 Tickets: http://www.DonaldJ.Trump.com SEE YOU TONIGHT AT 7:00pmE - HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA! I will be heading to Huntington, West Virginia tonight! Enjoy a THROWBACK THURSDAY

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The goal of Appalachian Power Company is to rely 50 percent on coal and 50 percent on renewable energy, according to the company’s president. “The intent is to get coal down to about 50 percent, stay there and then bring the other resources up,” Chris Beam said on last week’s MetroNews “Talkline.” As the company starts to work with new employers, the demand for new energy sources increases. “A lot of the things that we’re hearing from them is they have their own mandated requirements that they have to meet from their board of directors like you...

RANSON, W.Va. — The decision a few years ago by leaders in the Jefferson County City of Ranson to annex the former Jefferson Orchards property along state Route 9 paid off in a big way Thursday when the manufacturing company Roxul announced plans to build a $150 million plant there. Roxul, which makes stone wool insulation, decided the Ranson site was the best after reviewing a number of other sites for its second North American plant, Ranson City Manager Andy Blake said. “We competed with people from all over the company. Their site selection team decided this was strategically one...

The resurrected feeling of American possibility came not from pontificating TV pundits or a radio host in a studio miles away. Optimism arrived here in Gillette, Wyo., because of what people were seeing: the unemployment lines getting shorter and their daily commutes getting longer. Tom Gorton, 41, drove through those increasingly congested streets in his Arnold Machinery truck late on a spring afternoon, under the watch of mountains covered in white from a spring snowstorm. As Gorton settled behind his desk, he was heartened to see how messy it was with orders, one year after hundreds of layoffs at two...

In 1922, four years after her American son was killed in action in World War I, Sallie Maxwell Bennett received a letter from Emil Merkelbach, a German officer who had fought against her son in the battle that ended his life. "You will look upon my writing, no doubt, as something unusual, and rightly so, for it is indeed not exactly usual for a former enemy of his own accord to report about his opponent in the World War. I was myself a German officer in the World War." Emil Merkelbach was the leader of a German balloon squadron stationed...

After years of fights with the Obama administration and the EPA, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is well positioned to take down Senator Joe Manchin in 2018. About a year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, and though the court didn’t know it at the time, this probably killed off the plan for good. [snip] If and when the Clean Power Plan is cast aside, it will be a major victory for Patrick Morrisey, currently the attorney general of West Virginia, chairman of the Republican Attorney Generals Association, and a strong...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Secretary of State Mac Warner is working with all 55 county clerks to clean up voter rolls in the Mountain State. The office has removed 47,490 names off the lists since Warner took office in mid-January. “There are a lot of people who have moved, changed names, gotten married, deceased — there are a number of reasons why these files have extra names on there,” Warner explained on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.” Of the total removed names, 1,170 were convicted felons who lost their right to vote upon conviction. West Virginia had at least three counties that had...

West Virginia is continuing its reform of archaic weapons laws. On Friday, the 24th of March, the House passed HB 2679, a reform of gun bans in parks. From theet.com: The House also approved House Bill 2679 by a vote of 94-4. The measure would allow firearms to be carried in state and county parks for self-defense, and it would prohibit county parks from banning guns. Coonskin Park in Kanawha County is apparently the only county park in the state to prohibit guns. Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, argued that county officials should be allowed to restrict guns in the...

Representatives from 13 states including 12 state attorneys general and one governor filed a motion in support of President Trump’s temporary travel ban. From the Dallas Morning News: Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday led a coalition of 13 states in filing a brief with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals defending President Donald Trump’s revised immigration order.In the brief, Paxton and representatives from 12 other states argue that the Trump administration’s new order is legal and falls under the president’s power over foreign affairs and national security. Those joining the brief included Paxton plus AG’s in the...

Unlike some Hollywood A-listers, Jennifer Garner certainly isn’t rooting for Trump to fail. In fact, she wants to help President Donald Trump make good on some of his campaign promises. The star said she knows that many people from rural communities voted for Trump. She traveled to her hometown in West Virginia last year and saw for herself how many Trump supporters were there.

SPENCER, W.Va. — Roane County Sheriff Matthew “Bo” Williams handed in his written resignation Wednesday as part of a plea bargain with a special prosecutor. Williams, 31, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with the felony crime of entering without breaking. He stole drug evidence from the evidence locker at the Spencer Police Department last October. He faces 1-10 years in prison. Williams’ resignation was part of the plea agreement. The Roane County Commission will meet Friday to formally accept it and choose an interim sheriff. The commission will then have 30 days to choose a sheriff who will...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Dismantling the Clean Power Plan could get messy. The plan meant to curtail carbon dioxide emissions and battle global warming, one of the Obama administration’s signature achievements, already has been the subject of legal battles in federal court. Now a group of state attorneys general, including West Virginia’s Patrick Morrisey, is promoting a multi-step process to eliminate the plan, starting with the suggestion that President-elect Donald Trump declare it unlawful on the first day he takes office. Another group of attorneys general has issued a statement in response, saying they’ll fight the plan’s elimination tooth and nail....

Being on the hook is not going to be pretty when interest rates are raised back up, and debts come due. At a personal level, it will mean more stress and juggling to make ends meet. For the larger economy, it will mean cities and states unable to meet obligations or balance their budgets – ending in bankruptcy, and bailouts. Meanwhile, millions of people are relying on that money to keep coming in order to survive. Something is going to go very wrong. Relying upon government to function and send you money is not a secure plan. The mathematics are...