Free Republic

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice confirmed Cline’s death on Twitter but offered no details on how it happened. “Today we lost a WV superstar and I lost a very close friend. Our families go back to the beginning of the Cline empire - Pioneer Fuel. Chris Cline built an empire and on every occasion was always there to give. What a wonderful, loving, and giving man,” Justice said. “Cathy and I are praying for his family and all those involved in this tragedy,” Justice said. Cline died the day before his 62nd birthday and was a native of Beckley, West...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A subpoena requesting information about Gov. Jim Justice’s private properties did not come from federal prosecutors in West Virginia. Instead, the subpoena is addressed from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, a designation that may reflect the investigation is high-profile and sensitive. The Public Integrity Section’s own description of its role says it “oversees the federal effort to combat corruption through the prosecution of elected and appointed public officials at all levels of government.” Mike Stuart, the U.S. Attorney for Southern West Virginia, has talked proudly of his office’s efforts to challenge public corruption. ““Public...

Joe Manchin is considering challenging Jim Justice in 2020 for West Virginia governor, telling Politico that he's "thinking about" running for the "best job in the world." Manchin told Politico he will make a decision this fall. "I don't think there's any hurry at all," Manchin said. The Democratic senator served as West Virginia's governor from 2005-2010. He won a special election in 2010 to serve the remainder of Robert C. Byrd's term in the Senate, following his death in June of that year. Manchin defeated Attorney General Patrick Morrisey by 3 percentage points in 2018 in his bid for...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia has a mountain of borrowed money on hand for “Roads to Prosperity” highways projects. Should a slice of that money be diverted to fix bumpy, bouncy secondary roads? West Virginia went to market with $800 million in bonds last May. Because of advantageous interest rates, the state actually wound up with bonds valued at $915 million. Since then, very little has been used. According to documents available through the state Auditor’s Office, only $11,133,309.19 had been spent as of earlier this week. Meanwhile, the money in reserve generated $13,666,081.46 in interest. So what’s been spent...

CHARLESTON, W. Va - UPDATE: 2/20/19 @ 7:30 p.m. Union leaders have announced that the teacher work stoppage has ended and that schools will reopen Thursday across the state.

Hours after the WV Teachers Unions announced a statewide strike, the Omnibus Education Bill passed through the Senate, 18-16. Last week, the House of Delegates made major changes to the bill but on Monday an amendment by the Senate washed away many of those changes. The new version of the bill reintroduced ESAs, with 1,000 for special needs and bullied students. It also took the number of charter schools from two to seven, with a limit of two introduced per year. Senate President Mitch Carmichael reacted to the strike on Twitter Monday night," After years of ruining our state’s public...

West Virginia teachers will continue to strike into Wednesday, although Republican Gov. Jim Justice has vowed since January he will not sign into law an education bill allowing charter schools and education savings accounts in the state. The New York Times, however, reported the teachers’ strike led to an immediate “victory” when the West Virginia House of Delegates voted Tuesday to table the bill. Similarly, the Associated Press reported union leaders were celebrating the decision of the West Virginia House of Delegates to kill the education bill that led to the strike: The House just voted on a motion made...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The top Democrats in the House and Senate are asking for Gov. Jim Justice to improve his performance or resign. Senate Minority Leader Roman Prezioso and House Minority Leader Tim Miley put out a news release today saying, from their viewpoint, the forced departure of state Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher was the last straw. They contended that Justice has lost touch with the work in his administration because of his preference of performing his duties off-site. Tim Miley “At a minimum, Governor Justice should be at work – and if he can’t be bothered to come to...

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice claims he’s talked to Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin about him switching parties. President Donald Trump needs Manchin’s vote in the Senate, Justice said Thursday on “Fox & Friends.” “Joe and I had discussions along those lines,” Justice, a Republican, said. “I wish Joe was a Republican to tell you the truth,” he said of the West Virginia senator. “But to just tell it like it is, Joe’s got to do his thing and I’ve surely got to do mine and the president has got to do his. We need Joe’s vote. “And to be perfectly...

West Virginia governor Jim Justice announced Thursday that he is switching his party registration to Republican, but ABC and NBC ignored the major news. Justice’s announcement was teased throughout the day and ultimately came true during a Trump rally in Huntington, West Virginia. “Today, I will tell you, with lots of prayers and lots of thinking, today I tell you as West Virginians, I can’t help you anymore being a Democrat governor,” Justice said. “So tomorrow, I will be changing my registration to Republican.” Not only is it incredibly rare for a sitting governor to change their party affiliation, but...

John McCain's latest seemingly irrational remarks make it seem as if he's not in his right mind, but that's not really the case. It's just that McCain's right mind has always been wrong.

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.”

Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, a Democrat who was elected last year even as President Trump carried the state by 42 points, is expected to announce Thursday night at a rally with Mr. Trump that he is changing parties, according to three sources familiar with the plans. Speaking to reporters in the White House Thursday, Mr. Trump promised “a very big announcement” at a gathering in Huntington, W.V., that is expected to draw thousands of supporters from across Appalachia, a region that gave Mr. Trump some of the largest margins of his election. Mr. Justice, a billionaire coal and...

West Virginia's Democratic Gov. Jim Justice will announce he is switching parties at a rally with President Trump on Thursday. Justice, a coal magnate and the wealthiest man in the state, first won office last year.