Tag: Charleston

Charleston Mayor to Governor: Veto This Municipal Gun Ordinance Bill

Charleston Mayor Danny Jones says he will meet with Governor Tomblin very soon and ask him to veto a gun bill passed by the legislature last week.

Senate Bill 317 makes gun laws uniform state wide. But the bill defines a municipally owned recreation facility as a swimming pool, recreation center, sports facility housing an after school program or other similar facility where children are regularly present.  The bill permits a person to carry a lawfully possessed weapon into such a center, as long as it is stored out of view.

Mayor Jones is pretty upset about it.

“One of those rec centers is associated with Kanawha County schools and if you carry a gun onto school property, it’s a felony. And so I’m wondering if legally if they can even do this.  So, we’re ready to go to court and we’re ready to do whatever we can do to challenge this and to put a stop to this.”

Jones said he and city officials toured one rec center this morning to determine where lockers could be located so that firearms could be securely stored as the bill requires.  He says the city won’t install lockers and that the state should pay for them.

He also blames gun lobbyists from out of state for pressuring lawmakers to pass this during an election year.

Charleston Mayor Considering In-Home, Business Water Testing

Charleston Mayor Danny Jones is exploring the city taking on testing of hotels and homes, to “prove to folks that the water is okay if, in fact, it is.”

Jones said he doesn’t know how many samples would be collected because he is awaiting a report from an Ohio-based company that would outline the cost of testing. He didn’t reveal the name of the company. 

Jones also said he isn’t sure what would be done with the proposal but said it will be released publicly. The Charleston City Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, March 3.

Although Governor Tomblin and state officials have launched an independent in-home testing campaign through Dr. Andrew Whelton and Corona Environmental Consulting, Jones said more focus needs to be had on Charleston.

“The governor has a big territory to cover and we’ve got Charleston to worry about. Our brand has been butchered worse than anybody’s. We can’t wait,” Jones said. 

“We hope the governor won’t cease from coming in here and doing all of the testing that he wants but, we need to do some of our own testing.”

Jones said the purpose of the testing is to prove to residents and potential tourists that the water is safe and to restore confidence in the safety of the city. 

On a recent personal trip to the west coast, Jones said he learned the outside perspective of Charleston–and West Virginia as a whole–“is not good.”

“They wonder if the water has been poisoned in West Virginia. They don’t differentiate between nine counties and 55 counties. It’s just one state and they’re not too mired down in the details. It’s not good for the state,” he said.

Businesses Lose $61 Million Because of Elk River Spill

A local research group has calculated that roughly $61 million was lost by local businesses as a result of the chemical spill into the Elk River.

The Center For Business and Economic Research at Marshall University conducted a preliminary investigation on the impact of the January 9th chemical spill into the Elk River. They wanted to see what the loss of water and the subsequent closing of restaurants and other businesses meant to the economic climate in the 9 counties effected by the water ban. And what all that meant for those that live on tips and pay-checks from week to week.

CBER estimates:

  • That for each day that the ban was fully in place $19 million was lost.
  • For the two business and weekend days, that number equals close to $61 million.
  • That’s 24 percent of the economic activity in the 9 county area. 
  • Nearly 75,000 workers were effected, which represents 41 percent of area workers. 

According to CBER the high number is indicative of the type of businesses that were most affected, restaurants, bars and the like and the lower-wage, service-producing personnel that work at those facilities. She said it will take a while before even the businesses know what the ban will mean long-term.  

"Some of them will never be able to regain what they've lost from that first week or four days and some of them, their customers may come back stronger now." – Christine Risch, Director of Resource and Energy Economics

The estimated $61 million lost does not include the cost of cleaning up the spill or any emergency funds spent during spill. 

Charleston (The Town for Extreme Tourists)

Like many others, I’m distressed and angry about the chemical leak that fouled my city’s water supply and turned off the taps for three hundred thousand…

Like many others, I’m distressed and angry about the chemical leak that fouled my city’s water supply and turned off the taps for three hundred thousand taxpayers. But I can’t sustain my outrage without a dose of laughter now and then. And it occurs to me that Charleston may want to consider looking for a niche in the extreme tourism market. So, with the help of my co-writer and accompanist, George Castelle, I’ve put my thoughts into a song:

Charleston—the town inimical

Hip, historic, cool and chemical

Yes, there’s sludge, and it could spill

So if you’re looking for a thrill…it’s

Charleston—we’re excellente

Whole place smells like Good n’ Plenty

You’ll get accustomed to the stink here

Just don’t shower, eat or drink here

Flush your pipes and flush your hoses

Close your eyes and hold your noses

Flush your drain and flush your sink

Now fill your glass…let’s have a drink

Charleston’s a real big time

Come on in, the water’s fine

It’s a dandy place for a holiday

Unless you work for the E.P.A.

Methyl cyclo hexane methanol

May not even kill us after all

But downstream they’re goin’ batty

It’s on its way to Cincinnati…from

Charleston—there’s no place hotter

Better bring some bottled water

Climb our mountains, if you care to

Y’all come back, now, if you dare to

Charleston Records Only One Murder in 2013

Charleston is on the verge of recording its lowest number of murders in two decades.

The Daily Mail reports that with less than a week left, the city has recorded just one murder in 2013. That’s down from 10 last year.

Police Chief Brent Webster says it’s hard to take all the credit for a low murder total because a lot of killings are fueled by rage.

However, he believes the partnership between the city police and the federal prosecutor’s office in the Drug Market Intervention initiative on the city’s West Side has helped reduce violent crime.

He also credits neighborhood watch programs and an emphasis on having officers walk beats in their patrol areas.

 

Charleston's Big Question: Gun Laws or Home Rule?

A gun rights group has gone to court in an attempt to stop enforcement of Charleston’s gun ordinances.
 
     The West Virginia Citizens Defense League asked Kanawha Circuit Court on Tuesday to issue an injunction against the ordinances.
 

The group says Charleston isn’t complying with a new state law that removed the authority to regulate guns from cities participating in West Virginia’s home rule program.
 
     Charleston officials haven’t decided whether to opt out of the program or modify the city’s gun ordinances.
 
     The ordinances limit handgun purchases and prohibit handguns and other deadly weapons on public property.
 
     City Attorney Paul Ellis says the city will review the complaint and respond in court.

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