Virginia bank delays plans to auction land at resort owned by West Virginia governor's family
A Virginia bank says it will delay plans to auction off land at West Virginia Gov. Jim Justiceโs posh resort in an attempt to recover more than $300 million on defaulted business loans by the governorโs family.
West Virginia places anti-abortion pregnancy center coalition at the helm of $1M grant program
A West Virginia coalition that helps support a network of anti-abortion pregnancy centers in the state is receiving $1 million to distribute to organizations committed to encouraging people not to end their pregnancies.
West Virginia's capital officials reject abortion provider's proposal to start syringe service
City councilors in West Virginiaโs capital city have voted against a proposal from the stateโs long-time abortion provider to start a syringe service program in one of the countryโs most opioid-devastated areas.
Judge rules against required coverage of HIV prevention drug
A federal judge in Texas has ruled that required coverage of an HIV prevention drug under the Affordable Care Act violates a Texas employerโs religious beliefs and undercut the broader system that determines which preventive drugs are covered in the U.S. The ruling was handed down Wednesday by Fort Worth-based U.S. District Judge Reed OโConnor, who ruled in 2018 that the entire ACA is invalid.
Anti-abortion centers to grow, wield more influence post-Roe
Hundreds of so-called crisis pregnancy centers are located across every state in the U.S. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that states can make abortion illegal, experts say these centers are likely to redouble their efforts to persuade women not to end their pregnancies.
Ann Arbor named among top charming small US cities by TravelMag
ANN ARBOR โ Hereโs a ranking that doesnโt surprise us. TravelMag recently released its 30 Most Charming Small Cities in the USA list and Ann Arbor appears along other famed small cities -- and college towns -- like Annapolis, Maryland, Charleston, South Carolina and Bloomington, Indiana. โHome to the University of Michigan, it has long been a seat of higher education, forward-thinking, technology and progressive ideas,โ wrote TravelMag. โYou can see echoes of these elements everywhere, including at the numerous annual events held in the city, including expos, airshows, and the annual film festival that has been running for decades. โIn the cityโs lively dining scene, this same balance of tradition and modernity is reflected by Ann Arbor mainstays such as Zingermanโs Deli, right through to the trendy international cuisine from across five continents.โAdWith the award-winning Ann Arbor District Library, 161 beautiful public parks and educational and cultural events abound, it certainly is a wonderful place to live.
DOJ seeks $3.2M from West Virginia governor's coal companies
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice speaks during the State of the State Address in the House Chambers of the West Virginia State Capitol Building in Charleston, W.Va., on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson)CHARLESTON, W.Va. โ The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking $3.2 million in penalties from Appalachian coal mines owned by West Virginia Gov. The U.S. and several states settled and signed a consent decree with the companies in late 2016 to resolve allegations of Clean Water Act violations from Justice-owned mines in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The defendants named in the new filing are Southern Coal Corporation, Premium Coal Company Inc., and Justice Coal of Alabama. A lead attorney for the companies and the governor's office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Obama speechwriter's memoir 'Grace' to come out in 2022
FILE - President Barack Obama speaks at a service honoring the life of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of nine people killed in the shooting at Emanuel AME Church, in Charleston, S.C. on June 26, 2015. Cody Keenan, the White House speechwriter who helped Obama work on his response to the Charleston church massacre, has a book deal. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)NEW YORK โ The White House speechwriter who helped President Barack Obama work on his response to the Charleston church massacre in June 2015 has a book deal. โGrace: A President, His Speechwriter, and Ten Days in the Battle for Americaโ will be published in Fall 2022, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media announced Tuesday.
The Latest: NBAโs Wizards cleared to return to practice
That can mean a positive COVID-19 test, an inconclusive test or potential exposure to someone who tested positive. He was pulled at halftime of Memphisโ game against Brooklyn on Jan. 8 but played the Grizzliesโ next game Jan. 11 against Cleveland. The postponement follows a positive COVID-19 test, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Boston College menโs program. The conference also said Pittsburgh's men's game at Wake Forest scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 7, will move to this Saturday evening. ___Washingtonโs NFL team says it has closed its practice facility โfor several daysโ after employees of the organization tested positive for COVID-19.
West Virginia lawmaker charged after entering Capitol with rioters
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)CHARLESTON, W.Va. โ A Republican West Virginia state lawmaker has been federally charged for entering a restricted area of the U.S. Capitol after he livestreamed himself rushing into the building with a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters. Derrick Evans on a call in which he presented dozens of new charges against members of the crowd that violently stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. He appeared before a federal judge in Huntington, West Virginia, on Friday afternoon after being arrested, news outlets reported. The legislation comes days after Republican Tennessee state Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver attended the demonstrations, which she described as โepic.โ Itโs unclear if Weaver entered the Capitol. No one in the office of West Virginia Republican House leader Roger Hanshaw responded to an email requesting comment.
Charleston weighs wall as seas rise and storms strengthen
As high tide laps against the sea wall tourist walk down the Battery in Charleston, S.C. Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. Others fear the wall will damage wetlands and wildlife, or that poor neighborhoods will be left out of flooding solutions. The barrier is reminiscent of fortifications that colonists built around Charleston 350 years ago to keep out invaders, but the Corps says the new wall is designed to keep out storm surge. The agency's proposal includes a floating breakwater offshore and some nonstructural measures, such as raising homes not situated behind the sea wall. Whether the city builds the wall or not, the process has accelerated the conversation Charleston needs to have about sea level rise, said Winslow Hastie of the Historic Charleston Foundation.
Man accused of slashing pregnant womanโs throat outside Clinton Township police station arrested in West Virginia
CHARLESTON, Mich. โ The Clinton Township Police Department announced that Kevin VanAelst was taken into custody Saturday morning in West Virginia. Police said VanAelst allegedly slashed his pregnant ex-girlfriends throat outside of the Clinton Township police station. According to authorities, Clinton Township police and U.S. Marshals received information that VanAelstโs vehicle was spotted in Charleston, West Virginia. Police said a West Virginia Police officer contacted U.S.
Tentative settlements in WVa veterans' hospital deaths
CHARLESTON, W.Va. โ Tentative settlements have been reached in several civil lawsuits filed on behalf of the families of veterans who died at a West Virginia hospital where a former nursing assistant admitted to intentionally killing seven people with fatal doses of insulin. The settlements were disclosed by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on Saturday as well as in federal court filings stemming from the deaths of six veterans at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg. Manchin said in a statement that the tentative settlement โis further evidence that the VA and the Clarksburg VAMC were negligent in the murders that happened under their watch.โThe veterans' deaths involved in the settlements occurred in 2018. Fired hospital nursing assistant Reta Mays pleaded guilty in July to intentionally killing seven patients with wrongful insulin injections. Mays admitted at a plea hearing to purposely killing the veterans, injecting them with unprescribed insulin while she worked overnight shifts at the hospital in northern West Virginia between 2017 and 2018.
Former coal CEO Robert Murray files for black lung benefits
CHARLESTON, W.Va. โ Former coal CEO Robert E. Murray, who has fought federal regulations on the industry, has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Labor for black lung benefits, according to a published report. Murray declined to speak on the record with the news outlets, but said he has black lung from working in underground mines and is entitled to benefits. He also disputed that he fought regulations to stop black lung and threatened to file a lawsuit if a story was published indicating he fought federal regulations and benefits, the outlets said. Murray told NPR last year that his lung disease was not caused by working in underground mines. โAnd itโs not โ has anything to do with working in the coal mines, which I did for 17 years underground every day.
Charleston votes to remove statue of slavery advocate
A 100-foot monument to former U.S. vice president and slavery advocate John C. Calhoun towers over a downtown square Tuesday, June 23, 2020, in Charleston, S.C. Officials in Charleston voted unanimously Tuesday to remove the statue from a downtown square, the latest in a wave of actions arising from protests against racism and police brutality against African Americans. The resolution authorizes the removal of the statue of the former U.S. vice president and senator from South Carolina from atop a 100-foot (30-meter) monument in downtown Marion Square. Just before 1 a.m. Wednesday, workers using massive cranes began to bring the statue down from its 100-foot (30-meter) monument in downtown Marion Square. In the heart of downtown Charleston, Calhoun towers over a sprawling square frequented by locals and tourists alike that is a frequent venue for festivals and large public events. Several organizers have said recently that they would no longer use the space while the statue remained.
Charleston votes to remove statue of slavery advocate
CORRECTS PUBLICATION TO THE GREENVILLE NEWS In this Wednesday, June 17, 2020, photo protesters gather around the statue of John C. Calhoun at Marion Square in Charleston during a demonstration in Charleston, S.C. Mayor John Tecklenburg called for the relocation of the monument honoring Calhoun, a slavery advocate. The move comes days after the fifth anniversary of the slaying of nine Black parishioners in a racist attack at a downtown Charleston church. In the heart of downtown Charleston, Calhoun towers over a sprawling square frequented by locals and tourists alike that is a frequent venue for festivals and large public events. Several organizers have said recently that they would no longer use the space while the statue remained. About 40% of enslaved Africans brought to North America came through the port city of Charleston, which formally apologized in 2018 for its role in the slave trade.
5 years after church massacre, S Carolina protects monuments
He also left behind pictures of himself holding the gun used in the killings, posing at historic Civil War and African American sites and holding the Confederate flag. Outraged political leaders came together and overwhelmingly voted to take down a Confederate flag that flew near a monument to Confederate soldiers on the Statehouse lawn. The law protects all historical monuments and names of buildings, requiring a two-thirds vote from the state General Assembly to make any changes. The president of the University of South Carolina wants lawmakers to let the school remove the name of J. Marion Sims from a women's dorm. The time has come to take down the monuments that honor the evil that was done in the name of Charleston, in the name of South Carolina," Rivers said Tuesday at the foot of Calhoun's statue.
10 Things to Know for Today
BERNIE SANDERS TAKES HITS AS FRONT-RUNNER Democrats unleash a roaring assault against the Vermont senator, but moderates did little to draw separation among themselves, a dynamic that has so far only benefited Sanders. SOUTH KOREAN VIRUS CASES JUMP AGAIN The majority of the nearly 300 new cases, including a 23-year-old American soldier who was based in Camp Carroll, are in the hard-hit Daegu area. WHAT EXPERTS EXPECT WITH VIRUS OUTBREAK Scientists can't tell yet just how deadly the new respiratory virus that's spreading the globe really is, but they do expect a steep learning curve for countries not already hit. GLOBAL SHARES CONTINUE SLIDE World markets fall on growing fears that a new virus' spread may be unstoppable, hurting global growth considerably. WHERE MEXICOโS DRUG WAR HAS SPREAD Gangland killings have shifted to the conservative industrial heartland state of Guanajuato, where booming foreign investment continues even as the area becomes Mexicoโs most violent.
South Carolina boy drives 200 miles to live with stranger he met on Snapchat
An 11-year-old South Carolina boy drove his brother's car 200 miles to meet a man he met on Snapchat. (CNN) - An 11-year-old boy drove 200 miles across South Carolina to meet a stranger he knew only on Snapchat, the Charleston Police Department said. The child drove from the northwest town of Simpsonville to Charleston. He told the officer early Monday morning he had taken his brother's car to go to Charleston where he wanted to live with "an unknown male he met on Snapchat," police said. Police have launched an investigation into the unknown male, Charleston spokesman Charles Francis told CNN affiliate WCSC.