Associated Press, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. Redistricting Resulted in Simple Swap

The complicated redistricting process prompted by population shifts resulted in one simple change in West Virginia’s congressional districts.

After two legislative committees adjusted political district boundaries to ensure equal representation, and an ensuing lawsuit challenging the plan was dismissed, Mason County was moved from the 2nd to the 3rd congressional district.

A more ambitious draft plan that switched 19 counties among the three congressional districts was rejected.

The 2010 Census showed population growth in the Eastern Panhandle and the Morgantown area and declines in the southern coalfields and the Northern Panhandle.

West Virginia Wesleyan College political science professor Robert Rupp says that while state lawmakers avoided making wholesale swaps in district lines, he expects more dramatic changes after the 2020 Census.

Thirteen Charged in W.Va. Cocaine Ring Bust

More than a dozen people have been charged with participating in a cocaine trafficking ring in West Virginia.

Seven people from West Virginia, three from Florida and three from Maryland are charged in a 73-count indictment issued March 18 by a federal grand jury in Martinsburg.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II announced the indictment on Monday in Wheeling.

The charges include money laundering, conspiracy and distributing a controlled substance near a public college.

Ihlenfeld says the group brought cocaine and crack cocaine to Keyser from other parts of the country to sell.

If convicted, each defendant faces up to life in prison on the conspiracy charge.

The charges stem from an investigation by the Potomac Highlands Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.

Second Alderson Broaddus Student Charged in Fight

A second Alderson-Broaddus University student has been charged and expelled in connection with a group fight at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Twenty-year-old Mychael Vantrell Knox of Virginia Beach, Va., is charged with misdemeanor obstruction.

State police say in a criminal complaint that Knox refused to give Buckhannon Police Chief and Lt. Douglas Loudin his cell phone when the officers attempted to serve a search warrant for it last week.

Gregory has said about 20 students were involved in the fight last weekend near the Wesleyan campus.

Alderson Broaddus spokeswoman Ashley Mittelmeier says Knox has been expelled.

The university expelled 19-year-old Steven Smith of Virginia Beach last week after he was charged with malicious wounding.

Knox and Smith are both being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.

Court Says W.Va. Jail Agency Not Liable in Lawsuit

The West Virginia Supreme Court has dismissed the state Regional Jail Authority from a lawsuit that alleged a male correctional officer repeatedly raped a female inmate.

The court says the authority is entitled to immunity because the woman failed to provide any evidence that the officer’s alleged actions occurred within the scope of his employment.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the woman against the authority and the officer. The lawsuit alleged that the officer raped the woman 17 times while she was an inmate at the Southern Regional Jail in 2009.

The lawsuit claimed the authority was negligent in training, supervision and retention of the officer.

The Charleston Gazette says the court issued its 4-1 opinion Thursday. Chief Justice Robin Davis dissented.

McDowell Co. Lawmaker Charged with DUI

A McDowell County lawmaker has been charged with driving under the influence.

State police arrested Delegate Clif Moore during a traffic stop early Saturday morning on U.S. 52 on Elkhorn Mountain.

Senior Trooper B.D. Gillespie wrote in an incident report that he observed Moore’s vehicle swerving and crossing the center line several times.

Gillespie reported that field sobriety tests indicated that Moore was under the influence of alcohol. His report says Moore refused to take a breath test at the state police detachment in Welch.

Moore remains free on $500 bond. The 65-year-old McDowell County Democrat didn’t immediate return a telephone message Sunday.

Moore had been charged with DUI in Columbus, Ohio, in 2011. He received a six-day sentence in that case.

Gov. Tomblin Vetoes 20-Week Abortion Ban Bill

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has vetoed a bill that would have banned abortion in West Virginia after 20 weeks.

The Democratic governor said he vetoed the legislation because of constitutionality issues raised by his legal team and attorneys for the Legislature.

The bill resembles a law struck down in Arizona that the U.S. Supreme Court later decided not to reconsider.

Because of the legal penalties it includes, Tomblin said the medical community thought the proposal would unduly restrict the doctor-patient relationship to the detriment of the health and safety of expectant mothers.

Tomblin said his legislative record and career show his priority in the “gift of life.”

The bill sparked days of debate about fetal pain and women’s rights before passing both Democratic legislative chambers overwhelmingly.