Economy

When federal officials decided what chemical levels West Virginians could safely consume in water tainted by the January 9 spill at Freedom Industries, their standard assumed people would be exposed for two weeks, not 100-plus days.

Two Harrison County residents have been fined for exceeding the state's trout possession limit following the discovery of more than 300 trout in their home.

The individual limit for possessing trout is 12.

The Division of Natural Resources says 70-year-old Michael Earl Fetty and 46-year-old Tammy K. Fetty of Wallace caught trout in Curtisville Lake and Huey Run Lake nearly daily. The trout were kept in a freezer in their home.

DNR officers discovered 321 trout in the home last month during an investigation.

A West Virginia homeland security official thinks responders for a Jan. 9 chemical spill into the water supply could receive $2 million in federal help.
 
Homeland security official Greg Myers says the estimate covers state and local agencies, and select nonprofits, like volunteer fire departments. He says the total could grow.
 

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and Division of Motor Vehicles Acting Commissioner Steve Dale announced Tuesday that many DMVs throughout the state may see less foot traffic as some West Virginians may now have the option to go to the web for vehicle services.

Dale says some customers can now renew their vehicle registration and request a duplicate registration card online. The  DMV’s online service portal is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The annual W.Va. Pipe Trades Apprentice Contest took place last week in Wheeling.

Awards:

Top Pipe fitter apprentice: Morgan Morgan – Local 83, Wheeling

Prize: $750, oxygen acetylene torch, gauges and hoses

Top Welding apprentice: William “Kieth” Kidd – Local 83, Wheeling

Prize: $750, Lincoln welding machine, welding hood and gear

Top Plumbing apprentice: Kenneth Raulston Jr. – Local 152, Morgantown

Prize: $750, tubing cutters, plumbing tools and tool bag

Top H.V.A.C. apprentice: Roger Harris – Local 625, Charleston

A former hospital nurse has been awarded more than $1 million in a lawsuit that claimed she was fired for expressing concerns of possible violations.
 
A Kanawha County Circuit Court jury made the award Thursday after a nine-day trial to Susan Nutter, who worked at Thomas Hospital's psychiatric unit from August 2008 to November 2009.
 

Zero-waste events--that’s the goal of one start-up organization in Morgantown. Green Earth Event Services was founded by Morgantown resident Garth Lindley in 2011. The organization provides recycling and composting services and Lindley says that while there's a learning curve among public they interact with,  he's surprised by the overall enthusiasm he receives wherever the organization sets up.

An organization working to lobby law makers to raise the minimum wage made a stop in Charleston today. The group called, Americans United for Change, is behind a tour across the country the in the "Give America a Raise” bus.

While in the state, they are joined by West Virginia Citizen Action Group, local faith and labor leaders, a small business owner, and low-wage workers.

West Virginia University hosted the state’s inaugural high school business plan competition. Sierra Cook, a Glen Dale resident and a senior from John Marshall High School took first prize: a $10,000 college scholarship to be used at any of nine WV schools.

Cook says her interest in the mushrooms was sparked when she learned about their health benefits. She believes the niche-market business idea to grow and sell shitake and miyake mushrooms has a lot of potential to take off.

About 800 people are expected to attend a conference at Marshall University in Huntington Friday through Sunday for the 37th Annual Appalachian Studies Conference.

Marshall University Education Professor and conference organizer Linda Spatig says the theme is New Appalachia: Known Realities and Imagined Possibilities.

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a coal company fighting to reinstate a water pollution permit for a massive West Virginia strip mine.

The justices say they will not disturb a federal appeals court ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency acted within its authority in 2011 when it retroactively vetoed a permit issued four years earlier by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

St. Louis-based Arch Coal Inc. and its Mingo Logan Coal Co. subsidiary challenged the appellate ruling concerning the mountaintop removal coal mine in West  Logan County.

"Future Farmers of America" was founded in 1928 with a mission to prepare future generations for the challenges of feeding a growing population. They teach that agriculture is more than planting and harvesting-- it's a science, it's a business and it's an art. There are about 5,000 members of the Future Farmers of America organization in the state of West Virginia, and almost 600,000 across the country. One of the organization’s leaders today is a young man from Point Pleasant.

Meet Wesley Davis. He goes by Wes. He’s 19 and this guy has a story.

The History Channel featured a new show this year that focused on ginseng in Appalachia. According to Neilson ratings, the show, called Appalachian Outlaws, was one of the most popular on cable channels, averaging over 2.7 million viewers per each of its six episodes. There’s no official word if season two is in the works, and while some fans are hoping that there will be a second season, other people are hoping the show will just go away.

The village of Middleway, W.Va., appears to be a moment frozen in time.  The historic district of the village is home to buildings that date back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and was a battleground throughout the Civil War. 

Nowadays, the streets are quiet, the cars are few, and the numerous buildings that line the streets are dark and uninviting.  Moss and vines creep up the old War Hospital on Queen Street and residential properties are boarded up and left alone.

The Greenbrier resort and its billionaire owner could receive up to $25 million in tax breaks over 10 years for a new medical institute.
 
Owner Jim Justice said the $86 million medical resort would offer doctors that care for professional athletes. It was first announced in 2011.
 

A bill to regulate the disposal of waste produced by gas-well drilling will likely be introduced by the governor in a special session.
 
Lawmakers who negotiated a version both sides could agree on were unable to get the measure passed before midnight Saturday, the deadline for the regular session.

West Virginia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell slightly to 5.9 percent in January.  
 
WorkForce West Virginia says the number of unemployed residents fell 700 in January to 46,900.
 
In the goods-producing sector, employment gains were seen in construction, mining and logging, while the state experienced job losses in manufacturing.
 

The West Virginia Senate Finance Committee has watered down a House bill to raise the minimum wage. The minimum wage would be increased by $1.50 over three years instead of two.
 
Under the bill amended Wednesday, the standard would increase from $7.25 to $7.50 an hour in January 2015, to $8 in January 2016, and to $8.75 in January 2017. Originally the House voted to raise the wage 75 cents each year over two years.