July 23, 2020

WV Gov. Justice, Marion Health Dept. admonish Fairmont church for holding large event

FAIRMONT — Covenant Church in Fairmont was admonished by Gov. Jim Justice and the Marion County Health Department after holding an event July 12 with no social distancing or mask enforcement.

Covenant Church hosted events led by Jeremiah Johnson Ministries, an organization based out of Florida that has been touring throughout the summer, visiting Dallas, Texas, on July 7 before the West Virginia event.

Pictures of the event gained traction on social media, leading Gov. Jim Justice to directly address the gathering — which allegedly saw 500 people attend from five different states, according to Jeremiah Johnson’s Facebook page — during his July 13 press conference.

“I’m a Christian, and I’m proud of it, and I truly understand the importance of church,” Justice said. “At the same time, we cannot keep doing this. We just can’t.”

Read more: https://www.wvnews.com/wv-gov-justice-marion-health-dept-admonish-fairmont-church-for-holding-large-event/article_7c430198-47bb-5cec-a445-8f9357e616c1.html

July 23, 2020

Caputo calls for special session instead of governor's 'suggestion box'

RIVESVILLE — Del. Mike Caputo has a suggestion for Gov. Jim Justice’s “suggestion box.”

“We don’t work at Walmart. We don’t put our suggestions in a box. We’re elected by the people of our district to be their voice,” said Caputo.

Caputo, (D-Marion), the House of Delegates’ minority whip who is running for W.Va. Senate this fall, is exasperated at Justice’s refusal to call a special legislative session to determine how to spend $1.25 billion in CARES Act money from by the federal government for fiscal relief during the COVID-19 crisis.

“When he talks about us sending ideas to him, that’s just not the way the legislative branch of government works. We don’t send ideas to the governor and hope he says, ‘Oh, that’s good’ or “No, that’s bad.’ We have to have discussions. We have to have facts in front of us. We have to have the available data in front of us,” Caputo said.

Read more: https://www.timeswv.com/covid-19/caputo-calls-for-special-session-instead-of-governors-suggestion-box/article_80902bd8-cc73-11ea-bb51-bb1bdf72d793.html
(West Virginian Times)

July 23, 2020

Gov. Tom Wolf cited his emergency powers to withhold millions from a Pa. county. Now it's suing.

HARRISBURG — A Central Pennsylvania county is suing Gov. Tom Wolf for nearly $13 million in coronavirus relief funding, claiming the governor overstepped his authority by withholding the money after local commissioners defied his state shutdown.

The lawsuit represents yet another test of Wolf’s emergency powers, which have been unsuccessfully challenged several times since the governor issued a disaster declaration this spring.

In May, Lebanon County’s commissioners voted 2-1 to buck the Wolf administration and lift state-mandated restrictions without permission. The governor had warned such a decision could jeopardize a county’s share of federal discretionary dollars for relief efforts.

“These folks are choosing to desert in the face of the enemy in the middle of a war that we Pennsylvanians are winning — and that we must win,” Wolf said at the time.

Read more: https://www.theintell.com/news/20200722/gov-tom-wolf-cited-his-emergency-powers-to-withhold-millions-from-pa-county-now-itrsquos-suing

July 23, 2020

Wayne Jones family, Martinsburg PD reach $3.5 million settlement

MARTINSBURG (AP) — A West Virginia city has agreed to settle an excessive force lawsuit filed by the family of a homeless Black man who was shot 22 times by police, an attorney said.

Christopher E. Brown, the attorney for the family of Wayne Arnold Jones, told The Washington Post that the lawsuit was settled for $3.5 million.

“I promised my mother before she died that we would continue to fight for justice,” Jones' brother, Bruce Jones, told the newspaper. “The settlement makes me feel a little bit better, but until I can have a chance to have these cops prosecuted, I am still going to be pushing for justice.”

The Martinsburg Police Department said in a statement that the settlement was not an admission of guilt.

Police had stopped Wayne Jones as he was walking on a Martinsburg street. Jones was shot after police said the 50-year-old Stephens City, Virginia, resident shrugged off two jolts from a stun gun, fought with officers and stabbed one of them. The officers are white.

Read more: https://www.journal-news.net/journal-news/wayne-jones-family-mpd-reach-3-5-million-settlement/article_caeeb0a2-eae1-5782-a1ce-b3472b455262.html
(Martinsburg Journal)

July 23, 2020

Gov. Justice objects to call to investigate FirstEnergy lobbying for 2019 power plant tax breaks

Gov. Jim Justice blew up Wednesday over a call to investigate lobbying efforts by FirstEnergy Corp. that resulted in July 2019 special session legislation giving a $12.5 million a year tax break to the company’s Pleasants Power Station.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Salango called for the investigation Wednesday in light of Tuesday’s arrest of Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder for allegedly accepting $60 million in bribe money from FirstEnergy operatives to push through legislation providing $1.3 billion in tax breaks to it and two other energy companies.

“The way FirstEnergy has conducted business with elected officials in our neighboring state of Ohio begs questions about their dealings with Gov. Justice and the state of West Virginia,” Salango said in a release Wednesday. “This absolutely warrants more information from Justice.”

Federal Election Commission records show FirstEnergy made campaign contributions to Justice and a number of state legislators in the spring and summer of 2019, leading up to the July special session, in which the Pleasants County power plant tax break was a last-minute addition to Justice’s special session call.

Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/justice-objects-to-call-to-investigate-firstenergy-lobbying-for-2019-power-plant-tax-breaks/article_9e824810-ddad-53eb-8237-12c1362f71e3.html

July 23, 2020

Texas A&M Veterinary Lab Hits Red Tape Trying To Do Human Coronavirus Testing

The Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab at Texas A&M University in College Station is two stories of offices and exam rooms filled with sophisticated machines. The lab is one of the largest of its kind in the country. Typical customers are ranchers, dairy farmers, and veterinarians.

“It’s a busy lab, and at times it’s almost factory-like,” said Terry Hensley, assistant director of the lab. “They’re coming every day and it’s like it never stops.”

Around the country, veterinary medical labs like this one are using their resources to do much-needed coronavirus testing on human samples. One of the machines here — called a PCR — is the same machine human labs use to diagnose COVID-19 in people.

Oklahoma State University’s vet lab, in fact, runs more human COVID-19 tests than any other lab in that state.

Read more: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-am-veterinary-lab-hits-red-tape-trying-to-do-human-coronavirus-testing/

July 23, 2020

Judge: Ex-state senator to face jury in Arkansas bribe suit

LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge ruled that a former Arkansas state senator accused of bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy will stand trial before a jury, denying his request to be tried by a judge next year.

Former Arkansas state Sen. Gilbert Baker (R), 63, is accused of being the middleman in an effort to bribe former Faulkner County Circuit Judge Michael Maggio, who is now serving a 10-year sentence in prison for bribery.

Baker's trial is slated to begin Feb. 22 and is expected to last for nearly two weeks, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Thursday.

Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. determined in an order filed Wednesday that Baker's case isn't too complicated for a jury to understand.

Read more: https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2020/jul/17/judge-ex-state-senator-face-jury-arkansas-bribe-suit/834592/

July 23, 2020

Arkansas governor: Schools need flexibility on stronger mask rules

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas' governor on Wednesday said he believes it should remain up to local school districts rather than the state whether to require all students to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus when classes resume next month.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he doesn't think a broad rule on masks for students should be issued statewide, despite a recommendation from pediatricians for a stricter requirement in K-12 schools. Arkansas this week began requiring masks to be worn in public when social distancing isn't possible, but the order exempts children under 10.

Hutchinson said some schools may have enough room for students to socially distance in class without requiring a mask.

"I think there ought to be some flexibility for the social distancing and the environment the students are in," Hutchinson said, who noted some districts have already approved such requirements. "I think there has to be some flexibility there."

Read more: https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2020/jul/23/arkansas-governor-schools-need-flexibility-stronger-mask-rules/835173/

A complete lack of leadership on part of the governor.

July 23, 2020

Pointing to Valley virus surge, Democrats call on Abbott to lock down portions of state

Two Rio Grande Valley congressmen called for Gov. Greg Abbott to institute or allow some kind of lockdown or stay-at-home order at a news conference near the state Capitol on Wednesday.

U.S. Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Filemon Vela were joined by fellow lawmakers Sheila Jackson Lee, Veronica Escobar, Sylvia Garcia and Joaquin Castro in calls for the governor to take more action on the pandemic, and to do it quickly.

“We’re very concerned that the governor is not acting swiftly and he is not acting strategically to prevent deaths,” Gonzalez said Wednesday.

According to Gonzalez, D-McAllen, people in his district are dying at two-and-a-half times the rate of people across the state of Texas.

Read more: https://www.themonitor.com/2020/07/22/pointing-valley-virus-surge-dems-call-abbott-lock-portions-state/
(McAllen Monitor)

July 23, 2020

Gregg County COVID-19 cases up 20, Smith County rises by 53; Longview, Tyler hospitals treating

Gregg County COVID-19 cases up 20, Smith County rises by 53; Longview, Tyler hospitals treating record number of patients


As hospitalizations hit a new high in Longview, Gregg County saw a much smaller rise of 20 coronavirus cases on Tuesday compared with the day before.

Gregg County Health Administrator A.J. Harris said the cumulative total has reached 1,154.

Longview Mayor Andy Mack on Tuesday afternoon said the state was reporting 85 hospitalizations in the city from the virus, an increase of eight from the previous day.

Harris said the county’s recoveries remained at 238 on Tuesday, and its death toll from the virus remained at 16.

Read more: https://www.news-journal.com/news/local/gregg-county-covid-19-cases-up-20-smith-county-rises-by-53-longview-tyler-hospitals/article_334351ac-cb60-11ea-8249-2f7638cad6f9.html
(Longview News-Journal)