On this West Virginia Morning, WVPB last spring covered efforts at Shepherd University to regrow American chestnut forests in Appalachia. One year later, that project has incorporated new technology and a familiar tree variant. Jack Walker caught up with a pair of self-proclaimed “chestnutters” to discuss the project at large, and the future of the American chestnut.
On this West Virginia Morning, WVPB last spring covered efforts at Shepherd University to regrow American chestnut forests in Appalachia. One year later, that project has incorporated new technology and a familiar tree variant. Jack Walker caught up with a pair of self-proclaimed “chestnutters” to discuss the project at large, and the future of the American chestnut.
Also, in this show, more than 4.5 million Americans cannot vote because they’ve been convicted of a felony. On the newest episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at the patchwork of state laws that restore voting rights to people after those convictions. The laws differ significantly from state to state. A few allow a person to vote from prison, while others require release and completion of probation or parole. Kay meets Anthony Cole who’s been out of prison for nearly a year after serving 12 and a half years. We listen to an excerpt from the next Us & Them: “Locked Out of Voting?”
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.
Chris Schulz 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
Hackney is accused of lying to two disaster relief agencies to obtain aid after claiming her Cabin Creek home was damaged in floods late last month.
An arrest warrant has been issued for a woman accused of defrauding two West Virginia disaster relief agencies after last month’s floods in eastern Kanawha County.
The Kanawha County Sheriff’s office is searching for 26-year-old Brittany Lee Hackney of Sissonville.
Hackney is accused of lying to two disaster relief agencies to obtain aid after claiming her Cabin Creek home was damaged in floods late last month.
As a West Virginia teenager, Amber Miller dropped out of school, took drugs and robbed homes. She wound up on the wrong side of the law and served time for a felony. In a youth correction center, she turned her life around, but after her release, had trouble finding a job to support her two sons.
As a West Virginia teenager, Amber Miller dropped out of school, took drugs and robbed homes. She wound up on the wrong side of the law and served time for a felony. In a youth correction center, she turned her life around, but after her release, had trouble finding a job to support her two sons.
Like 8% of Americans with felony conviction, Amber had to “check the box” on job applications admitting to her criminal past. The felony on her record was like a ‘scarlet letter’ and most employers were reluctant to hire her. Amber was committed to change, but was society willing to give her a second chance? Trey speaks with Amber and West Virginia politicians about the state’s plans for helping felons get back into the workforce.
A former bookkeeper has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $183,000 in labor union funds in West Virginia.
Prosecutors say 70-year-old Joan Matthews of South Charleston entered the plea Monday in federal court in Charleston to felony embezzlement and theft of labor union assets.
Matthews admitted to stealing from the Charleston Building and Construction Trades Council from 2010 to 2014. The Council is comprised of local building construction trades unions and their members who work in West Virginia and the border counties of neighboring states.
Matthews faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing has been set for Sept. 11.
Members in the House of Delegates have considered a number of bills this legislative session that increase the penalties for breaking various laws. At least three of those bills have focused on drug crimes which Republican lawmakers say is in response to the state’s substance abuse epidemic.
According to the West Virginia Health Statistics Center, 818 people died of a drug overdose in 2016 – a nearly 13 percent increase over the previous year. The Center also reports 86 percent of those deaths in 2016 were linked to at least one opioid.
Those growing numbers are why Republican legislative leaders say they’re pursuing bills like House Bill 2579.
The bill increases the minimum amount of jail-time attached to a drug trafficking offense, or someone who gets caught bringing drugs into the state. The minimum sentence would increase from one to ten years, the maximum from fifteen to thirty years. A judge would have the option to fine the offender $25,000, incarcerate, or both.
A handful of members in the House who spoke against the bill argue the penalties are too high and would end up catching addicts rather than traffickers coming in from out-of-state.
“So if you have a kid that’s an addict, and goes next door, grabs prescription drugs, comes back to a party, and they spread it around, they’ve just committed this offense,” said Democratic Delegate Isaac Sponaugle, “and they’re looking at a minimum of 10 years to 30 years in the penitentiary. That’s outrageous.”
Sponaugle pointed out the minimum sentence under this bill is the same minimum for committing a second degree murder.
Supporters of the bill, argue the increased penalties will be a deterrent and help keep dealers out of the state – protecting West Virginia citizens.
“If we do not increase this and hold a bigger hammer over their head to try to get cooperation to catch the bigger fish per say, then we’re losing,” said Republican Delegate Ray Hollen of Wirt County, “We have to have leverage to do our job and to let the police officers do their job, and the prosecutors, and the judges.”
Hollen is also a retired West Virginia State Police Sergeant.
After an hour of debate, House Bill 2579 passed 88 to 10 and moves across the rotunda to the Senate.
A bill increasing penalties for drug traffickers was largely the focus of the House floor session Friday. The bill is part of the House leadership’s plans to crack down on people selling drugs in West Virginia to curb the substance abuse epidemic.
House Bill 2648 would increase the penalties for trafficking or manufacturing a controlled substance while in the presence of a minor, making it a felony. The bill carries a penalty of a three year prison term without the ability to receive parole.
The state Division of Corrections was asked to estimate the cost of the bill, but in the fiscal note, the division said they were unable to estimate how many new offenders would be sentenced. The division did say, however, that each new offender would cost the state about $28,000 per year.
The high cost was a concern for some lawmakers, including Delegate Larry Rowe, a Democrat from Kanawha County. Rowe says it’s unlikely most of the people convicted under the bill would be major drug traffickers, but addicts who need treatment.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
/
West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha.
“Every single day we’ve been in here, except the first few, we have had a bill to raise the penalties on a crime that already exists,” Rowe noted, “We’ve just got to stop doing it, and the economic argument’s very, very wise. We are spending a fortune on corrections; we are being ruined by the amounts of money we spend on corrections as crisis response, when we ought to be spending that same amount of money on prevention.”
Delegate Kelli Sobonya, a Republican from Cabell County, is one of the sponsors of the bill. She argued protecting children in the state, no matter the cost, is what’s important.
“We can talk about the cost of incarceration, but you know, we pass legislation and penalties for two reasons, to be used as a deterrent if it’s high enough, it can be a deterrent, hopefully, you know, people won’t do that behavior, but you know, most likely addicts, they’re gonna do it anyway, because they’re addicted. They make those bad decisions, because they do have an addiction,” Sobonya said, “But you know, for instances like this, I think, you know, that parents need to be held responsible for endangering their children.”
Delegate Mike Pushkin, a Democrat from Kanawha County, opposed the bill, because he says it does nothing to assist in the treatment of addiction, which is where lawmakers should be focused if they want to curb substance abuse in the state.
“These folks aren’t thinking in the long term. They’re not thinking about the penalty, they’re thinking about what’s right in front of ‘em,” Pushkin explained, “And, while I wish this bill, this legislation, would put an end to these stories that we’re hearing; I’m afraid that it will not, and what it will do is put a lot more people who could possibly benefit from treatment; it’s gonna give them longer sentences; not allow them to parole.”
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
/
West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. John Shott, R-Mercer, House Judiciary Chair.
Several lawmakers questioned House Judiciary Chair John Shott about hypothetical situations that could come up should the bill take effect. Shott says while those situations may deserve consideration, the law allows local prosecutors some discretion.
“There’s always a hypothetical that pulls at your heartstring in these cases,” Shott noted, “There’s always a hypothetical, but those hypotheticals are based on the absolute worst case scenario. They’re based on an assumption that our prosecutors don’t deserve our trust, they’re based on the assumption that we don’t have any trust or confidence in the legal system to do the right thing, or the common sense and good judgement of our jurors to see through our situation, and do the proper result, or in our judges.”
After over an hour of debate, House Bill 2648 passed 85 to 12 and now moves onto the Senate for consideration.
