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TexasTowelie's JournalNuclear subsidies bill to be adjusted
After dozens of witnesses lined up last week to oppose his proposal for nuclear subsidies, House Speaker Larry Householder says he expects some changes to the proposal before it passes the House in mid-May.
“It was all good testimony, though some may not see it that way,” the Glenford Republican said. “The purpose of it was to sort of smoke out the opposition, see what was out there, and some of the things that might be able to be addressed in this bill.”
A variety of environmental groups and business organizations opposed House Bill 6, which would offer credits of $9.25 per megawatt hour of carbon-free electricity, paid for via a new $2.50 monthly charge on residential electric bills, with higher amounts for larger business users.
In exchange, Ohioans would no longer pay current mandates for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
Read more: https://www.ohio.com/news/20190430/nuclear-subsidies-bill-to-be-adjusted
'Do you really want to take that on?' Manchin freezes governor's primary
West Virginia’s senior senator continues to flirt with the concept of leaving Congress to run for governor, leaving a race frozen and onlookers scratching their heads.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., won reelection and a six-year term in November. By January, he began teasing the notion of challenging incumbent Gov. Jim Justice in 2020. He elucidated those remarks this week in a radio interview with WV MetroNews.
“By this fall, with all of my family involved, I should be able to make a decision,” he said.
State Democrats, meanwhile, can’t make heads or tails of Manchin’s waffling. Some say he’s just saving space for a surrogate candidate; some take him at his word that he’s weighing a run in earnest; most all agree that he’s boxed out any newcomers to race, for fear of going toe-to-toe with one of the most formidable political brands in West Virginia.
Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/do-you-really-want-to-take-that-on-manchin-freezes/article_6127f406-812f-5142-b7ba-d3ff66a38c46.html
West Virginia magistrate pleads guilty to tax fraud
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — A magistrate in West Virginia has pleaded guilty to tax fraud.
News outlets cite a statement from U.S. Attorney Bill Powell in reporting that Ohio County Magistrate Harry A. Radcliffe III entered the plea on Monday to conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service.
As part of the agreement, a nine-count indictment against Radcliffe, which included charges of wire fraud, filing false income tax returns and bribery, was dismissed.
Defense attorney Dave Jividen said the plea stemmed from Radcliffe's failure to report some income on his tax return, such as money earned from mowing yards.
Read more: https://www.herald-dispatch.com/ap/ap_region/west-virginia-magistrate-pleads-guilty-to-tax-fraud/article_7171c772-e30e-55de-85ed-8f1f8911989b.html
W.Va. House Democrats Call for Action Against DNR Director After Domestic Violence Charge
Some Democratic members of the West Virginia House of Delegates are calling for action against a state agency director who was charged with domestic battery earlier this month.
Delegates Cynthia Lavender-Bowe and Amanda Estep-Burton are the lead signatures on a letter to Gov. Jim Justice calling for Division of Natural Resources director Stephen McDaniel to be fired.
The two lawmakers wrote Monday they believe McDaniel’s continued employment would be “unacceptable.”
McDaniel was arrested on charges that he physically assaulted his ex-wife in Florida on April 6. According to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, he entered a deferred prosecution agreement that will allow for his charges to be dropped after one year.
Read more: https://www.wvpublic.org/post/wva-house-dems-call-action-against-dnr-director-after-domestic-violence-charge
Hospitals across West Virginia file suit against pharmaceutical companies
MOUNDSVILLE — A slew of hospitals operating throughout West Virginia filed a lawsuit in Marshall County Circuit Court Monday against a number of pharmaceutical companies.
The hospitals and hospital networks filing as plaintiffs in the case are:
— Appalachian Regional Healthcare
— Bluefield Regional Medical Center
— Charleston Area Medical Center
— Davis Health System Affiliates
— Grafton City Hospital
— Greenbrier Valley Medical Center
— Monongalia Health System Affiliates
— Plateau Medical Center
— West Virginia University Health System
Among the more than 20 defendants in the case are: companies involved in the process of distributing opioids, including AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation; others involved in marketing opioids, including Purdue; and national retail pharmacies involved in selling the drugs, including CVS, Rite-Aid and Walmart.
The suit alleges the companies, through their various roles in the marketing, distribution and sale of opioid medication, created and perpetuated the ongoing opioid crisis.
"Defendants systematically and repeatedly disregarded the health and safety of the public," the complaint alleges. "Charged by law to monitor and report dangerous behavior, they failed to do so in favor of maximizing corporate profits and increasing their market share."
Read more: https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/hospitals-across-wv-file-suit-against-pharmaceutical-companies/article_8bf5b79a-9b2c-52bc-91c0-bb8a99ca7ebc.html
The hospitals are suing for unreimbursed costs for treatments related to the opioid crisis.
Man found guilty in shooting homicide of transgender woman sentenced to prison
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A two-year long murder case wrapped up Monday in the Nueces County Courthouse.
Four defendants have now received their punishments. All were accused in the brutal murder of a 47-year-old transgender woman from Robstown, Texas. She was shot upwards of 17 times.
On Monday, the last of the defendants was sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
"The worst of the human condition was met with the best of jury service," First Assistant District Attorney Matt Manning said.
Read more: https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/man-found-guilty-in-shooting-homicide-of-transgender-woman-sentenced-to-prison/503-9dd40079-8243-4685-8ac6-1f101b0a28d0
Harris County DA hits ITC with five environmental charges
The Harris County District Attorney’s office has charged Intercontinental Terminals Company with five counts of water pollution, Kim Ogg announced Monday.
ITC’s Deer Park petrochemical storage tanks caught fire in mid-March. The days-long conflagration created a thick plume of toxic smoke and chemicals that blanketed parts of greater Houston. The blaze led neighborhoods and schools to “shelter-in-place,” prompted to the temporary closure of the Houston Ship Channel, and raised concerns about air and water quality in the area.
“The discharge from the ITC fire into Tucker Bayou is a clear water pollution case,” Environmental Crimes Division Chief Alex Forrest said, in a news release announcing the charges. “We are looking forward to reviewing the reports of other local and federal agencies, as they complete their investigations, so that we can determine if other charges will follow.”
The company is being charged with one count of water pollution for each day water pollution in Tucker Bayou was at criminal levels during the five day period from March 17 through March 21.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Harris-County-DA-hits-ITC-with-five-environmental-13804597.php?ipid=houstonhomepage
New Mexico militia leader Hopkins pleads not guilty to firearms charges, jailed without bail
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A federal magistrate judge ordered the leader of an armed group that detained asylum-seeking families near the U.S.-Mexico border to remain jailed Monday as he awaits trial on a federal firearms charge.
Larry Mitchell Hopkins, who is also known as Johnny Horton Jr., pleaded not guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition during a detention hearing that was delayed earlier in morning because the federal courthouse in Albuquerque was abruptly evacuated.
The U.S. Marshals Service said it could not provide information hours later on why the courthouse was cleared. It reopened shortly after noon. Hopkins had his initial hearing in Las Cruces, near Sunland Park, New Mexico. U.S. Marshals transferred him to Albuquerque after he was attacked in the jail.
Hopkins, 69, clad in a gray jumpsuit and shackled at the waist, wrists and ankles, inched across the courtroom as an officer helped him down a step and escorted him out of the courtroom where he had been waiting to appear before the judge.
Read more: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2019/04/29/nm-militia-leader-hopkins-pleads-not-guilty-ordered-stay-jail/3621255002/
'Affluenza' mom Tonya Couch in jail again after reportedly failing urine test
Tonya Couch, the mother of "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch, is back in custody after authorities say she failed another drug test.
Couch, who faces charges of hindering the apprehension of a fugitive — her son — and money laundering, was arrested Friday, her 52nd birthday, jail records show.
According to court documents, she is accused of violating the conditions of her bond by failing a urinalysis test. The substance she reportedly tested positive for is not named.
Tonya and Ethan Couch were arrested in December 2015 after fleeing to Mexico. Tonya Couch was released on bond the following month and has been in and out of jail since then.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/04/29/affluenza-mom-tonya-couch-jail-again-after-reportedly-failing-urine-test
Bonnen: Death threats prompt security detail
Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen (R) said he and his family are receiving round-the-clock protection from Department of Public Safety troopers after he received death threats from people he described as “fringe gun-rights activists.”
The revelation, contained in a Sunday evening message on Bonnen’s Facebook page, was the latest round of an escalating skirmish between the Republican leader of the House and gun-rights activists pressing for the right to carry weapons without a state-issued license to carry.
In a message directed to friends and neighbors in his House district, Bonnen said activists had returned to his Lake Jackson neighborhood over the weekend to “manufacture support” for no-license carry, also known as constitutional carry.
“The organizations that are dispatching their members to our doorsteps have a lengthy track record of using fear and intimidation to push their agenda in our Capitol, and since that hasn’t worked, they’re attempting to turn up the pressure by targeting my friends and neighbors,” Bonnen wrote.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190429/bonnen-death-threats-prompt-security-detail
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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