Tag: Government

Marion County Civil & Domestic Court Cases Fully Digital

Anyone filing a civil or domestic court cases in Marion County will have to do so electronically.

The Circuit Clerk’s Office implemented full e-filing of these cases on Dec. 1. The initiative is part of the West Virginia Supreme Court’s pilot electronic filing project.

Marion County kicked off the project in December 2013 when a lawsuit was filed electronically. More than a dozen other counties are expected to begin e-filing cases in 2015.

Online Information Services provides the filing service. A consultant of the company, Barbara Core, tells The Times West Virginian that attorneys can file documents and forms from any location electronically.

Core says judges can view motions and grant or deny them without leaving their offices.

W.Va. Authority Approves Rate Increases for Five Hospitals

Five hospitals have received state approval to raise their rates.

The rate increases approved by the West Virginia Health Care Authority apply to nongovernmental patients paying with private insurance or out-out-pocket.

The Charleston Gazette reports that Logan Regional Medical Center’s average rate will increase from $21,512 to $22,587.

Williamson Memorial Hospital’s average rate will rise from $11,759 to $12,229.

The average rate at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center will increase from $13,486 to $14,320.

United Hospital Center received permission to increase its average rate from $21,133 to $21,916.

Raleigh General Hospital’s average rate will increase from $23,333 to $24,476.

Bridge Day Adds Fingerprint Requirement for Participants

Rappellers, BASE jumpers and vendors participating in future Bridge Day events will have to undergo fingerprint scans.

Bridge Day Commission chair Sharon Cruikshank tells The Charleston Gazette that the scans are less intrusive than routine background checks.

Fingerprints will be checked against a terrorism watch list. They won’t be saved.

So far, reaction to the decision has been mixed.

Cruikshank says rappellers and vendors don’t have any issues. But some in the BASE jumping community aren’t happy.

BASE jumpers from around the world flock to the New River Gorge Bridge on the third Saturday of every October for Bridge Day. BASE stands for building, antenna, span and Earth, the fixed objects from which jumpers leap.

Bridge Day organizers began requiring background checks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

WVU's New Engineering Research Building to Open in Fall 2015

West Virginia University’s new Advanced Engineering Research Building is on track to open in the fall of 2015.

Associate director of design and construction John Thompson tells The Dominion Post that construction of the main building is completed. Faculty and staff will begin transitioning to the new building in the spring.

The four-story building will have offices, classrooms, a learning center and graduate student space. It also will have an 8,000-foot clean room for students working on nano-technology.

A clean room is an environment featuring purified air.

W.Va. Higher Education Changes to Help Students

West Virginia higher education leaders are finalizing policy changes to help students more easily transfer college credits and earn degrees.

The changes were approved by the state Higher Education Policy Commission and the state Council for Community and Technical College Education within the last two months.

The proposed rules state that a school should accept course credits from another institution if 70 percent of learning objectives are similar between the courses at each school.

However, officials tell The Charleston Gazette that there may be exceptions if the 30 percent difference between courses is crucial.

Rules also would require four-year public colleges to notify two-year community and technical colleges about students that meet “reverse transfer status” and can be awarded an associate’s degree while continuing work toward a bachelor’s degree.

Republican Leaders Learn Inner Workings of Committee Process

Republican Senators and Delegates met with members of the National Conference of State Legislators for a detailed look into something they participated in, but never been in charge of before: committees.

In-coming House Speaker Tim Armstead and Senate President Bill Cole invited the group to Charleston to lead a morning session taking Republican leaders through the ins and outs of organizing and running a committee meeting, setting agendas and managing not just time, but also the committee members.

“What we really tried to stress today beyond the dynamics of what you do or don’t do as far as the rules is remember it’s always about people,” Mike Haridopolos said.

Haridopolos is a former Florida State Senator, serving as the Senate’s President from 2010-2012. He and Georgia State Senator Don Balfour led senators through case studies on various issues that may come up during the committee process.

“Don and I had the opportunity to serve in the legislature for many years. We’ve see a lot of the issues that they’re going to confront,” Haridopolos said. “A lot of the issues that were in Florida or Georgia are going to come around here in West Virginia.”

All of the committee chairs and vice chairs in both the House and Senate will take over running those meetings for the first time during the upcoming session with the exception of one.

Senator Daniel Hall made the switch from the Democrat to Republican Party in November and he will chair the Senate’s Labor and Agriculture Committees. He previously served as the Vice Chair of the chamber’s Committee on Labor.

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