Rep.-Elect Riley Moore will be on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee next year.
State Treasurer Riley Moore was elected to represent West Virginia’s first congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives in November. On Friday, the Republican party appointed him to the Appropriations Committee.
“I look forward to finding a path towards fiscal responsibility and also fighting for the interests and equities of the people of the great state of West Virginia,” Moore said in a statement to WVPB.
As Republicans will control the White House, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives, they are planning to legislate come January. Part of that process is selecting committee members.
On this West Virginia Morning, the possible effects of a Republican Supermajority in West Virginia’s legislature, and reducing your carbon footprint by buying refurbished tech.
On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginia’s legislature has a Republican Supermajority. The Senate has the highest percentage of Republicans of any state legislative chamber in the nation. Briana Heaney sat down with political science professors and legislators to discuss the impacts of the state’s supermajority.
And state Treasurer Riley Moore was elected to the US House of Representatives in November and was recently appointment to the appropriations committee.
Also, in this episode, the latest story from the Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Front reports on reducing your carbon footprint by buying refurbished tech.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Maria Young produced this episode.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
On this West Virginia Week, we recap a chaotic week at the State Capitol and we look at grassroots activism in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.
On this West Virginia Week, we recap a chaotic week at the State Capitol. Republican lawmakers nominated Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, as president of the West Virginia Senate on Sunday.
But in a meeting of the state’s Republican caucus, conflict arose surrounding a newly elected lawmaker, incoming Del. Joseph De Soto of Berkeley County. After De Soto allegedly made death threats against his fellow delegates, the would-be legislator faces felony charges.
Meanwhile, residents of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle have turned to grassroots activism, with aims of blocking or reforming plans for a water bottling plant in Jefferson County. Community members have a litany of environmental and developmental concerns about the project, which was presented to the Jefferson County Planning Commission last month.
Also in this episode, we’ll hear about Appalachian humor in the digital age, a Mountain State culinary crash course and a new addiction recovery project funded by opioid settlement dollars.
Jack Walker is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caelan Bailey, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.
Mercer County has been granted a Major Disaster Declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Mercer County has been granted a Major Disaster Declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The declaration is a result of Hurricane Helene, which caused extensive damage throughout southern West Virginia from Sept. 25 to 28.
In November, West Virginia’s Congressional delegation wrote a letter to President Joe Biden and FEMA urging them to consider the state’s appeal for a Major Disaster Declaration.
The declaration releases federal funding to support individuals affected in Mercer County.
Eligible expenses include rental assistance, home repair, home replacement, lodging and more.
FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) Teams will be in Mercer County, W.Va., beginning Dec. 13 to provide help to people affected by Tropical Storm Helene. FEMA staff can answer questions about applications for Individual Assistance as well as help people who have not yet registered.
Those affected by the storm do not need to wait for DSA teams to apply for FEMA assistance. Other options include:
Newly elect West Virginia Delegate Joseph De Soto has been arrested for allegedly threatening fellow state lawmakers.
West Virginia State Police arrested Delegate-elect Joseph De Soto in Martinsburg early Thursday morning for making “terroristic threats.” Multiple sources told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that De Soto threatened to kill his colleagues.
On Wednesday afternoon, a Martinsburg area law enforcement official received a complaint that De Soto “advised he was going to kill” five West Virginia state lawmakers, according to a Thursday criminal complaint obtained by WVPB.
Per the complaint, an incident during a meeting of the state’s Republican caucus made De Soto feel “he is being attacked and forced out of his position” as a newly elected member of the state legislature.
The complaint alleges that De Soto wrote in a Dec. 10 email, regarding his fellow lawmakers: “I had a vision to destroy them from the vision of Moroni. … They will all go to hell, I will send them there as commanded.”
In a text message, the complainant allegedly asked De Soto to “stop saying [he was] going to kill people,” according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, De Soto responded: “I did (sic) say I am going to kill people I said I am going what (sic) is necessary to put them from office.”
A fellow delegate from West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle who was named in the complaint recounted his experience on social media Wednesday evening, and said he received threats against his life.
“I received a phone call that I’ve been named in a death threat and I have to move my family to safety,” Del. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson, posted to Facebook.
Clark also confirmed he referred to Delegate-elect De Soto in the post.
“I would say that the escalation to this had something to do with what went on in the caucus,” Clark told WVPB Thursday afternoon, referring to Sunday’s House Republican caucus with new members.
Chair of the West Virginia Republican Party Tony Hodge said the Republican Party had taken steps on Sunday to expel De Soto from the party’s caucus.
“The West Virginia Republican Party supports our House leadership and their expulsion efforts. We disavow and condemn the behavior of the former Republican Delegate Elect,” Hodge said in a text to WVPB Thursday afternoon.
De Soto was charged in Berkeley County’s magistrate court with a felony for allegedly making terroristic threats.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
De Soto’s alleged threats followed a caucus meeting where House Republicans allegedly voted to remove him from office. According to the criminal complaint, De Soto said he had a vision to destroy Del. Hite, Del. Funkhouser, Del. Horst, and Del. Clark.
This move by House Republicans is allegedly due to fraudulent claims De Soto made about his past experience, as previously reported by Kyle Vass and Austin Siford of the ACLU of WV in July. De Soto has falsely claimed that he served as a combat medic, is a practicing doctor, worked for the CIA, and negotiated with ISIS.
A representative from the Secretary of State’s office confirmed that prior to his arrest, De Soto switched parties, and is now a registered Democrat. The representative said it is working to confirm what party will now be assigned to fill De Soto’s position if he is removed from office.
Mike Pushkin, chair of the West Virginia Democrat Party, said, per state code, if De Soto leaves office before his term is over, his position will be filled by another Democrat from that district.
In 2018, the legislature passed HB 3004 to change the party appointment process, shifting the process to replace a delegate to the party they were affiliated with at the time vacated their seat, not necessarily the party they were elected under.
“Republicans changed the law over the objections of Democrats, ” Pushkin said.
However, Pushkin said his primary concern at the moment was the wellbeing and safety of fellow lawmakers.
“Nobody should ever feel unsafe just for doing the people’s work. It’s critical that law enforcement and the justice system handle this with seriousness. Threats of violence have no place in our democracy. Period,” Pushkin said.
The West Virginia State Police told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that the police report is not available to the public, and could not confirm any details on the arrest.
Del. Clark did not respond to requests for comment from WVPB about the details of the threat.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, did not return a request for comment about the caucus’ actions around de Soto.
The Berkeley County Republican Executive Committee and the Berkeley County Democratic Party did not respond to requests for comment on this story.
House of Delegates Communications Director Ann Ali told WVPB in an email Thursday afternoon that all delegates were safe.
“The House of Delegates trusts all matters of safety to the Capitol Police and the West Virginia State Police who acted swiftly yesterday to keep all parties safe,” she said.
Thursday afternoon, the Magistrate Court of Berkeley County set De Soto’s bond at $300,000 cash. As of Thursday afternoon it had not been paid, according to the magistrate court website.
De Soto’s preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 23 at 10:50 a.m., according to the magistrate court website.
View the criminal complaint against Delegate-elect Joseph De Soto filed in the Berkeley County Magistrate Court here:
Michael Barker was the maintenance director for Boone County public schools but now he has been indicted on 18 counts for allegedly stealing approximately $3.4 million from the school district.
Barker put in orders for school maintenance supplies though a company owned by alleged co-conspirator, Jesse Marks. That company is listed as Rush Enterprises, a Kentucky company with an office in Kenova West Virginia.
However the school system supposedly only received a fraction of those orders, the rest of the money was split and pocketed by the duo. For example, the criminal indictment stated that the Boone County Board of Education put in an order for 4,993 cases of hand soap, but only received 829 cases.
The indictment states that Barker received over $2 million in the scheme.
United States Attorney Will Thompson said Barker used the allegedly stolen money to make extravagant purchases.
“My prior role as a judge and in my role as a father, I’ve seen the struggles our children face in the school system, and this one’s a hard one to watch,” Thompson said.
Barker’s alleged co-conspirator, Marks, has not been indicted. When asked about why Marks has not been indicted yet Thompson said “With respect to Mr. Marks, I want to say, stay tuned. I’m not going to answer any further than that.”
