Discussing The Merits Of A W.Va. Intermediate Court Of Appeals

On this West Virginia Morning: marijuana legislation, residents worried about plastic production, we celebrate some young artists, and we hear a debate about whether the state needs a new tier in the court system.

Bills dealing with marijuana use are budding in the West Virginia House of Delegates, according to its Democratic members. Emily Allen has more.

A ceremony was held at the state capitol this week to announce the winners of this year’s Almost Heaven Governor’s Art Exhibition. Roxy Todd reports the art contest winners include K-12 students from across the state.

Some people who live near the Ohio River in the upper Ohio Valley are concerned about a new petrochemical plant in the region. They met with the Ohio Governor’s office and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday. The Allegheny Front’s Julie Grant reports that the group wants to see more research before the plant can be built.

And finally, on last night’s episode of The Legislature Today, senior reporter Dave Mistich led a discussion on an issue that has state senators divided – Senate Bill 275 would create an Intermediate Court of Appeals.

As the bill stands now, it would create the new court with two, three-judge panels. Those judges would serve 10-year terms and the panels would be split between two districts. The intermediate court would only handle appeals from civil cases, family court, guardianship and workers’ compensation decisions.

Mistich spoke with Danielle Waltz of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Jonathan Mani, president-elect of the West Virginia Association for Justice.

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 West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.