Ashton Marra, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Coal miner wins $1 million Powerball

A coal miner is the state’s newest millionaire after winning the West Virginia Powerball.

State Lottery Commissioner John Musgrave announced Monday David Feamster from Rupert is the latest one million dollar Powerball winner. He matched five numbers from last Wednesday’s drawing, missing only the Powerball number.

A father of three, Feamster and his wife say they already have plans for the money. He says they will donate to their church, pay off their mortgage and put some in savings.

His ticket was one of only three nationally to match five from that particular drawing and no one won the jackpot by matching all six numbers. Feamster bought his winning ticket at a gas station in Rainelle.

W.Va. health exchange enrollment numbers expected next week

After an influx on inquiries in the first 24 hours of the health care exchange, an official at the state Department of Health and Human Resources says the federal government is working to fix bugs and increase capacity both online and at their national call center.
Assistant to the Secretary at the DHHR Jeremiah Samples said Thursday the federal government did experience some technical issues in the first 24 hours of the online exchange. He accounted the issues to the large number of Americans looking for information about health care coverage.

“The feds are saying they’ve had 7 million independent hits from across the country on the federal exchange itself,” Samples said, but added they’ve worked to increase capacity on the site to account for the numbers.

As for the federal call center, a second option for people looking to sign up for health coverage, Samples said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services received more than 295,000 calls the first day, but have also added phones lines to decrease the wait time.

“The first day we were hearing wait times as long as a half an hour,” he said, “and they’re saying that the wait times at the call center have been cut in half since the launch, especially over the last 24 hours.”

As far as the number of West Virginians who have taken advantage of the exchange, the state won’t receive those numbers until early next week, but Samples could say a majority of people using in-person assistors at county DHHR offices are of lower incomes and find they are eligible for Medicaid under the state’s program expansion.

“That’s probably because there’s more experience in that low income population dealing with the DHHR offices,” he said.

As for the large number of not just West Virginians, but Americans who have shown interest in the health care marketplace, Samples said he’s not surprised about the surge in interest.

“We anticipated that there would be three major rushes to assess what coverage was available by the public, Samples said. “Here October 1st. We also anticipate around January 1 because that’s when the coverage actually begins and then towards March 31 toward the end of the open enrollment period.”

He based that assessment on the annual trend the DHHR sees during open enrollment for Medicaid.

Mingo Co. judge pleads guilty, resigns from office

Judge Michael Thornsbury pleaded guilty to federal charges for violating a Mingo County man’s Constitutional rights when attempting to cover up a drug deal.

The man, identified as G.W., was advised by his attorney to provide the FBI with information that Sheriff Eugene Crum bought drugs from him. Thornsbury was attempting to cover up the purchase and was charged with two counts of conspiracy for the scheme.

Along with pleading guilty, Thornsbury tendered his resignation as Mingo County Circuit Judge and consented to disbarment by the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

“A judge swears an oath to uphold the Constitution and to abide by the highest standards of integrity. For a judge to have violated someone’s Constitutional rights is really beyond the pail,” said u.S. Prosecuting Attorney Booth Goodwin after the hearing, “but to violate someone’s rights in order to obstruct a federal investigation, that’s really unthinkable.”

Thornsbury faces a maximum 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

Prosecutors agreed to also dismiss separate charges in which the former judge tried to frame his secretary’s husband.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 13, 2014. He was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

Need help navigating the health care exchange?

The number of uninsured West Virginians is expected to drop by 70 percent in the next three years. That’s according to numbers from the state Insurance Commissioners Office and presented by West Virginians for Affordable Health Care in the wake of open enrollment under the health care exchange.

The non-profit group is working with organizations around the state to help West Virginians navigate that new exchange and sign up for insurance.

WVAHC Executive Director Perry Bryant said so many Americans have become interested in signing up for coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s central facet that the federal website crashed Tuesday morning and there was a wait time of up to 15 minutes for the federal call center.

He said in order to help with the influx, some West Virginia groups have created their own websites to assist consumers looking to buy health insurance or qualifiers sign up for Medicaid in the hopes that they can impact the state’s overall health in the future.

“It is a new day. It is a new era and one in which we are going to take a significant step towards providing quality, affordable health care in West Virginia and I’m proud to be a part of that effort,” Perry said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

To enroll or find assistance in navigating the health care exchange, visit one of the following sites:
www.healthcare.gov
www.localhelp.healthcare.gov
www.goenrollWV.org

Or call:
Federal Call Center 1-800-318-2596
WV Primary Care Association 1-877-WVA-HLTH

To report any possible fraud or scams related to ACA, contact the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-363-8808.

Tomblin to travel Europe promoting W.Va. industries

Governor Tomblin announced a trip later this month touring 5 European countries to lobby business leaders for investment in West Virginia industries.The…

Governor Tomblin announced a trip later this month touring 5 European countries to lobby business leaders for investment in West Virginia industries.

The 13 day trip is scheduled for mid-October and has the governor and three members of the state’s Development Office meeting with business leaders in Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

Tomblin said he will be focusing on strengthening the relationships West Virginia has with companies already doing business in the state as well as targeting some who are considering investing.

One of the main focuses is a plastic-polymer trade show in which the governor said the state can offer the abundant bi-products of the Marcellus shale industry, in particular ethane, to the industries for production.

“My whole goal is to create jobs and bring investment to the state of West Virginia and my theory has been you can’t sit and wait for business to come through the door,” Tomblin said during a press conference Tuesday. “You have to go out and let people know what we have to offer in West Virginia and that’s what we hope to do on this mission.”

Nearly one-third, or $11.3 billion in West Virginia’s annual exports go to Europe.

The governor’s office has not yet released the amount this trip will cost the state.

Mingo Co. Commissioner accepts deal, pleads guilty

Mingo County Commissioner David Baisden pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge stemming from a federal investigation into corruption in the county. Baisden agreed to a plea bargain from federal prosecutors and will await his sentencing in January.
“No comment.”

That’s about all Mingo County Commissioner David Baisden had to say as he exited the U.S. District Courthouse in Charleston after pleading guilty to federal charges.

Judge John Copenhaver went over the terms of Baisden’s plea agreement just minutes before he was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond. The commissioner’s only other comment was about the people of Mingo County.

“I love them and continue to pray for me. Thank you,” he said as he climbed into the driver’s seat of a pick-up truck.

According to federal sentencing guidelines, Baisden faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for attempting to extort Appalachian Tire, a Williamson business that sold tires at a discounted rate for county owned vehicles.

In June of 2009, Baisden directed a county employee to buy a set of tires at the government price from Appalachian for his wife’s vehicle.

When Appalachian refused, Baisden threatened to take county business to another dealer and made good on the threat when managers at Appalachian didn’t respond to the voicemail left on the store’s answering machine.

“You know, this shows you that elected officials have to play by the same set of rules as everyone else,” U.S. Prosecuting Attorney Booth Goodwin said after the hearing. “What Commissioner Baisden did was abuse his power to shakedown a business for special favors.”

As a part of his plea agreement with Goodwin’s office, Baisden agreed to resign as commissioner before his sentencing date, is banned for life from ever seeking elected office and waived his right to appeal to his sentence.

Goodwin said he also agreed to fully cooperate in any future investigations into corruption in Mingo County by the federal prosecutor’s office, an investigation that is on going.

“Our investigation into Mingo County corruption continues. I would anticipate further developments,” he said.

Baisden’s sentencing is scheduled for January 14 in Charleston. He said he will wait until that day to resign as County Commissioner.

Mingo County Judge Michael Thornsbury is expected to plead guilty to charges stemming from a separate investigation Wednesday, October 2.