John Raby, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

West Virginia Starts Distributing Funds From The Settlement Of Opioid Lawsuits

West Virginia is issuing the first checks from a fund established by the settlement of opioid lawsuits in the state, which has by far the nation’s highest drug overdose death rate.

The Kanawha County Commission said Thursday it received a $2.9 million check and plans to discuss how it will be spent at its next meeting on Jan. 11. Last week the Mercer County Commission received $1.9 million.

The distribution is part of a memorandum of understanding that was previously adopted by state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and counsel for West Virginia cities and counties. According to the agreement, the board in charge of around $1 billion in funds will distribute just under three-fourths of the settlement money, and a fourth will go directly to local communities and 3% will remain in trust.

Morrisey told the Kanawha County Commission that his office and the state auditor’s office have formed a partnership to ensure that the settlement funds are used properly. All the money must be used to abate the opioid crisis through efforts such as addiction treatment, recovery and prevention programs, or supporting law enforcement in anti-drug measures.

The state is receiving money from each of its settlement agreements on a staggered schedule, with annual payments coming until at least 2036. The West Virginia First Foundation alone is expected to receive around $367 million over the next five years.

Over the past four years, drug manufacturers, distribution companies, pharmacies and other companies have reached settlements totaling more than $50 billion with governments. While the biggest amounts are national in scope, West Virginia has been aggressive in bringing its own lawsuits and reaching more than a dozen settlements.

A $68 million settlement was announced by the state in May with Kroger, the last remaining defendant in a lawsuit involving Walgreens, Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid. Walgreens settled for $83 million; Walmart for more than $65 million; CVS for $82.5 million; and Rite Aid for up to $30 million.

As part of the state’s 2022 settlement with Teva, the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy starting receiving shipments of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone in September.

After Huggins’ Exit, Interim Coach Josh Eilert Up For Challenge With Rebuilt Lineup At WVU

West Virginia had an offseason that no one hoped for. Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins is gone following a June drunken-driving arrest. Assistant Josh Eilert was named interim coach and worked to keep his roster from imploding.

West Virginia had an offseason that no one hoped for.

Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins is gone following a June drunken-driving arrest. Assistant Josh Eilert was named interim coach and worked feverishly to keep his roster from imploding because players had an emergency 30-day window to enter the transfer portal.

Several veteran players found new schools, others who had entered the portal stayed put and many newcomers arrived weeks after Huggins left. An August exhibition trip to Italy was postponed until next summer.

“It was a balancing act,” Eilert said. “It was a very delicate situation. First and foremost, I wanted to figure out who was all-in and I wanted to back them and let them know that they’re part of the foundation moving forward. And then slowly but surely as the 30 days came to a close, we’d start moving forward and putting those other pieces together and bringing those pieces in.”

On the wall of his office — Huggins’ old office — Eilert has a large photo of his introductory news conference. In the background is a reminder of his current situation: a TV graphic with the word “interim.”

In his view, Eilert, who was given a 10-month contract, is the head coach throughout the upcoming season, interim or not, and he wants to prove that he’s capable of building a program and having that tag removed.

“Now, is there a lot of pressure? Absolutely,” Eilert said. “But I’m excited to take on that challenge.”

OUT BEFORE THEY PLAYED

Once practices began, Eilert kicked graduate transfer guard Jose Perez off the team. Perez said on X, formerly Twitter, that his exit was over an academic disagreement involving study hall. Eilert said he set some non-negotiable rules during their first team meeting.

“I wasn’t going to compromise the integrity of the program and the culture of the program,” Eilert said.

After transferring from Manhattan, Perez sat out last season when the NCAA denied his waiver to play immediately. He transferred to Arizona State.

The NCAA also denied waiver requests by guards Omar Silverio and RaeQuan Battle. Silverio was Perez’s teammate at Manhattan but never played there and previously played at Hofstra. The Mountaineers planned to appeal the decision on Battle, who averaged 17.7 points last season at Montana State and previously played at Washington.

PROJECTING THE LINEUP

Only four players are back from last season’s roster.

The focus of the offense will be on Syracuse transfer center Jesse Edwards, who averaged 14.5 points and 10.3 rebounds last season. He’ll get plenty of looks from guard Kerr Kriisa, who averaged 10 points and five assists per game at Arizona.

After that, it gets tricky. In Battle’s place, the Mountaineers could turn to returning guards Seth Wilson and Kobe Johnson.

In the mix at forward are Georgetown transfer Akok Akok; Iona transfer Quinn Slazinski; freshman Ofri Naveh and veteran bench players Josiah Harris and Patrick Suemnick.

INTERNATIONAL LOOK

The roster has a considerable international flavor. For many of those foreign-born players, soccer was their first sport.

Edwards is from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Kriisa’s hometown is Tartu, Estonia. Akok, who grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire, and backup center Ali Ragab are natives of Cairo, Egypt. Naveh is from Neot Golan, Israel.

“Yeah, it’s fun. Everybody’s got different cultures, different backgrounds,” Edwards said. “For the American guys, it might be something new, seeing all these dudes with different ideas and accents.”

THINKING OF HUGGS

Huggins signed Kriisa in April. Like others, Kriisa initially re-entered the portal after Huggins’ arrest, then decided he would remain with the Mountaineers.

“After everything went down, Bob told me that he’s going to be here for me. Whatever I need,” Kriisa said. “I felt that made me feel very comfortable, even though if he’s not around the team, he’s still going to be here in Morgantown and be here for me.”

THE SCHEDULE

West Virginia opens the season at home Nov. 6 against Missouri State. The Mountaineers start Big 12 play at No. 7 Houston on Jan. 6, host No. 18 Texas on Jan. 13, top-ranked Kansas on Jan. 20 and No. 20 Baylor on Feb. 17.

West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee Given Contract Extension

The West Virginia University Board of Governors gave President E. Gordon Gee a one-year contract extension Monday amid a budget shortfall, falling enrollment and plans to cut some academic offerings.

Gee, 79, was given an extension through June 2025 during the board’s special meeting in Morgantown. His contract was set to expire next year.

Gee thanked the board after the vote was announced, acknowledged the ongoing challenges and said the intent is to have “a process that is clear, that is visible to everyone” about improving the university.

The move comes as the university is evaluating nearly half of its academic programs and addressing an estimated $45 million budget deficit.

In June, the Board of Governors approved an estimated $1.2 billion budget for fiscal year 2024 that includes $7 million in staff cuts, or around 132 positions, including 38 faculty members. The board moved forward with slashing 12 graduate and doctorate programs and approved a tuition increase of just under 3%.

Gee and other top university officials have said the budget shortfall is largely a result of enrollment declines. The student population has decreased 10% since 2015. Gee also has cited the factors of inflation stress and increases to premiums the school is required to pay for the state’s government employees’ health insurance program.

In 2019, Gee was given a three-year contract extension through 2024 at a salary of $800,000 per year. At the time, board Chairman William Wilmoth said Gee was “one of, if not the top, university leader in the country.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic started a year later, the university issued $40 million in debt to deal with it. The university also took on an additional $10 million in debt to pay for the increased employee insurance costs.

Gee is in his second stint at West Virginia that began in 2014. He also was the school’s president from 1981 to 1985. Gee also served two stints as president at Ohio State and had similar roles at Vanderbilt University, Brown University and the University of Colorado.

WVU Basketball Coach Bob Huggins Resigns Hours After DUI Arrest

West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

Updated Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 10:39 p.m.

West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has resigned following a drunken driving arrest.

The university announced his resignation Saturday night.

Huggins was charged with driving under the influence on Friday night after his SUV had stopped in the middle of traffic in Pittsburgh with a shredded tire. According to a criminal complaint, a breath test determined Huggins’ blood alcohol content was 0.21%, more than twice the legal limit.

The move comes a month after the university suspended him for three games for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview.

Huggins, 69, of Morgantown, West Virginia, was pulled over by police in Pittsburgh on Friday night. He was charged with driving under the influence, was released from custody and will appear at a later date for a preliminary hearing, according to a police report.

In a statement to the West Virginia community, Huggins said: “Today, I have submitted a letter to President Gordon Gee and Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker informing them of my resignation and intention to retire as head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University effective immediately.

My recent actions do not represent the values of the University or the leadership expected in this role. “

On Friday night, an officer observed garbage bags with empty beer containers both inside the vehicle and in the trunk, according to a criminal complaint. Huggins said he had been to a basketball camp with his brother in Sherrodsville, Ohio. An officer said Huggins was asked multiple times what city he was in but never got a response. A breath test determined Huggins’ blood alcohol content was 0.21%, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08% in Pennsylvania. A blood sample also was taken from Huggins at a hospital before his release.

It was Huggins’ second such arrest. The other occurred in 2004 when he was the head coach at Cincinnati.

West Virginia’s athletic department said in a statement it was aware of Friday’s incident. “We are gathering more information and will take appropriate action once the review is complete,” the statement said.

Last month Huggins agreed to a three-game suspension, a $1 million salary reduction and sensitivity training for using the slur during an interview with Cincinnati radio station WLW. Huggins was asked about the transfer portal and whether he had a chance of landing a player at West Virginia from Xavier, a Jesuit school.

Original story

West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. The arrest Friday night in Pittsburgh comes a month after the university suspended him for three games for using an anti-gay slur during a radio interview. According to a police report, officers saw an SUV with a shredded tire blocking traffic. Huggins was charged with driving under the influence. He’ll have a preliminary hearing at a later date. It was Huggins’ second such arrest. The other occurred in 2004 when he was the coach at Cincinnati. West Virginia’s athletic department says it’s aware of the incident and will take action once it completes a review.

West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, a month after the university suspended him for three games for using an anti-gay slur while also denigrating Catholics during a radio interview.

An officer observed garbage bags with empty beer containers both inside the vehicle and in the trunk, according to a criminal complaint. Huggins said he had been to a basketball camp with his brother in Sherrodsville, Ohio. An officer said Huggins was asked multiple times what city he was in but never got a response. A breath test determined Huggins’ blood alcohol content was 0.21%, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08% in Pennsylvania. A blood sample also was taken from Huggins at a hospital before his release.

It was Huggins’ second such arrest. The other occurred in 2004 when he was the head coach at Cincinnati.

Officers observed a black SUV in the middle of a road blocking traffic just before 8:30 p.m. The vehicle had a flat and shredded tire, and the driver’s side door was open, according to the police report.

W.Va. State Lawmaker Elliott Pritt Switches From Dem To GOP

The Republican supermajority in West Virginia’s House of Delegates became more lopsided Monday after Del. Elliott Pritt switched from the Democratic Party, the state’s GOP leader said.

Pritt, a teacher, is in his first term after defeating a Republican incumbent in the 2022 election.

“I want to welcome Delegate Elliott Pritt to the Republican Party,” West Virginia Republican Party chairwoman Elgine McArdle said in a statement. “Like so many West Virginians, Delegate Pritt has recognized that the Democratic Party of today is not the Democratic Party that our parents grew up with.”

The move gives the GOP 89 members in the House, while the Democrats’ ranks dwindled to 11. Pritt’s decision was already accounted for by late morning on the West Virginia Legislature’s official House roster.

Pritt had been the last Democrat in the House in the state’s southern coalfields.

The 34-member state Senate also has a GOP supermajority with 31 Republicans and three Democrats.

The move continues a Republican wave in the state that started a decade ago. After the 2014 election, the GOP took control of the state Senate and House from Democrats for the first time in more than eight decades.

Buoyed by criticism of former two-term President Barack Obama’s energy policies in coal-rich West Virginia, registered Democrats in 2014 fell below 50% for the first time since 1932. There are now about 456,000 registered Republicans, or 39.6% of all registered voters in West Virginia, according to the secretary of state’s office. That compares with about 372,000 registered Democrats, or 32.3%.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is the only Democrat to currently hold statewide office.

W.Va. Governor Again Floats Idea Of Income Tax Cuts

Justice did not provide specifics during his weekly coronavirus hearing Wednesday. The Republican is scheduled to give his State of the State address to the Legislature on Jan. 11.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday that he will announce yet another proposal next week to cut taxes.

Justice did not provide specifics during his weekly coronavirus hearing Wednesday. The Republican is scheduled to give his State of the State address to the Legislature on Jan. 11.

“I want everybody to stay really close in tune to what we say that night,” he said. “Absolutely, we’ll be announcing the biggest tax cuts in the history of this state, hands down.”

Senate GOP leaders are expected to offer their own proposals.

Justice and lawmakers have been at odds on how to cut taxes for nearly two years.

The governor proposed a permanent 10% reduction in the personal income tax in July after the state ended the fiscal year with a record $1.3 billion surplus. The state Senate refused to take up proposal during a special session that month.

In October, Justice came up with another plan, saying he wanted to eliminate a personal property tax that residents pay every year on vehicles. That proposal was floated before voters in November rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have given lawmakers the ability to eliminate a business and inventory tax along with the personal property vehicle tax.

Justice’s ideas for tax cuts go back to his State of the State address in February 2021. Shortly after he began his second term, the governor proposed chopping the personal income tax in half for most earners. The proposal died in the Legislature shortly before the session ended.

State general revenue collections for December were $145.6 million above estimates, while collections for the fiscal year that began in July were $833 million above estimates.