Economy

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story quoted Shelia Bailey with Songer Insurance  says fire insurance rates should actually go down for homeowners involved in the annexation proposal. With annexation, residents will have service from a full time fire department. Neighborhoods currently without reasonable access to fire hydrants can have higher rates but the city has the funds to install hydrants in those areas should they be annexed.  

Beckley is currently the eighth largest city in West Virginia. If things go the way some plan, it could soon become the third.

  A private foundation says the well-being of West Virginia's children has improved over the past two decades. But there are still problem areas.

A report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranks West Virginia 37th in the nation in children's well-being.

The report is based on 16 indicators, including children without health insurance and proficiency in math and reading.

More research has surfaced indicating the abysmal state of rural infrastructure these days, especially in West Virginia, and shortfalls in federal funding for highway maintenance could make the problem worse as well as leave many road workers filing for unemployment.

On a drizzling morning around 7:00, Sam Rivers has just lit the oak-wood fire for the meat smoker, and smoke is pouring over the sidewalk into the rain. The owner of Dem 2 Brothers and a Grill, Adrian Wright, stands behind him. Adrian oversees the entire operation, from the time when the ribs and pork begin grilling in the early dawn, until the spicy barbecue sauce is made each night.

The National Park Service in Glen Jean is gearing up for a sampling program and is looking for volunteers. 

Ginseng annually brings millions of dollars in revenue into Appalachia. But its future as a revenue option, or even its existence at all in these parts is far from certain. Growers are struggling to conserve the plant and ensure the vitality of the industry. Those concerns as well as new research that sheds light on the therapeutic qualities of the plant were discussed at the 2014 Ginseng Summit.

A small gathering of key stakeholders in the ginseng industry gathered at the Golden Seal Botanical Sanctuary just outside the small town of Rutland, in Meigs County Ohio, to discuss important topics surrounding the medicinal root.

Agri-tourism is not a new concept to Jennifer "Tootie" Jones. A fifth generation farmer, she raises grass fed beef on Swift Level Farm in Lewisburg. She was one of the farmers who attended yesterday’s event at the Capitol Market. She sells beef to 14 West Virginia restaurants and several retail stores, some of which are featured on a new online map, called Bon Appétit Appalachia, a project by the Appalachian Regional Commission. There’s also a print map, which lists 283 food destinations across the region, including:

  Former West Virginia Gov. Gaston Caperton has been appointed as a senior adviser to an insurance broker.

USI Insurance Services says in a news release that Caperton will help strengthen the company's client base in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia and seek new areas of investment.

Caperton will be based out of USI's Charleston office.

The first of Tom Toliver’s gardens is in what looks like an unlikely place—there’s a lumber mill across the street, a busy road without sidewalks, and the garden itself is nudged in between a pawn shop and a DeWalt tool center. Along 6th street, a mom and her two kids walk by carrying groceries from the nearby Family Dollar. Toliver also lives down the street. He believes that putting gardens in urban areas, like Charleston’s West Side, helps reduce crime and revitalize the neighborhood.

A bridge closing in Fayette County means long-term disruption for river
traffic as well.

The West Virginia Department of Highways and the Federal Highways Administration are replacing the Thomas Buford Pugh Memorial Bridge on Route 41 in the town of Prince.

Construction of the new bridge will require temporary full river traffic closures and long term river detours between Prince and the town of McCreery on the New River.

Construction is scheduled to begin this month and the detour will remain in effect until the project is completed  next July.

A state actuary says expanding military service credits for public employees' pension benefits will cost more than $197 million.

A report by Consolidated Public Retirement Board actuary Harry Mandel projects that active Public Employees Retirement System participants will be eligible for $113.9 million in increased pension payments. Retirees will be entitled to about $43.6 million in increased payments.

West Virginia's Public Service Commission is warning residents about a scam by callers who claim to represent utility companies.

The PSC says a Parkersburg-area man reported that he had been bilked out of about $1,500 by a caller claiming to represent Appalachian Power Company.
 

The federal government announced Wednesday a reduction in the amount of aid West Virginia’s eight black lung clinics will receive this year for operating and clinical costs. The announcement continues funding cuts for the state’s Black Lung Program for the third year in a row.

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is planning to make its objections to proposed EPA rules loud and clear. The union has a rally scheduled at the end of the month in Pittsburgh.

Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power are asking the state Public Service Commission to approve a 17 percent rate hike for their West Virginia customers. Gov. Tomblin appoints a new head to the state School Building authority. A Marshall University player uses his failure to be drafted in the National Football League as motivation to make it in the pros in Canada and a southern West Virginia educators is teaching her students about the important connection between clean watersheds and clean drinking water.

Frontier Communications and the Communications Workers of America have extended their contract again while negotiations continue on a new labor agreement.

Frontier says the existing contract will remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 2. The contract was set to expire Saturday night.

  WorkForce West Virginia is receiving more than $191,000 in federal funding to help West Virginians who are out of work find employment opportunities.

Sen. Joe Manchin says the funds are through the Re-Employment and Eligibility Assessments program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The federal program helps reduce the number of weeks unemployment insurance benefits are claimed by advancing the re-employment of claimants.

  West Virginia is receiving more than $6 million in federal funds for job training programs for laid-off workers.

The U.S. Department of Labor is awarding more than $154.7 million nationwide through the Job-Driven National Emergency Grant program.

Officials say the funds will be used to train workers who lost a job through no fault of their own for jobs in high-demand industries.

  Patriot Coal has laid off 75 workers at two southern West Virginia mining complexes.

Patriot spokeswoman Janine Orf confirmed Wednesday that 60 employees were laid off at the Wells complex near Wharton. Fifteen lost jobs at Patriot's Corridor G complex near Danville.

In April, the St. Louis-based company issued 60-day layoff notices to workers at both locations.

Before layoffs, Wells employed 450 workers Corridor G employed 397.

The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act requires companies to provide notice to employees if large layoffs are possible.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. plans to temporarily idle its Pinnacle underground mine in southern West Virginia.
 
In a regulatory filing, Cleveland-based Cliffs attributes the decision to poor market conditions for metallurgical coal.
 
Cliffs says in its Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the mine would be idled around Aug. 25 if market conditions don't improve. The mine's idling could last more than six months.
 
Pinnacle spokeswoman Patricia Persico says 397 hourly employees would be laid off if the mine is idled.