Tag: Government

Nonprofit, Governor’s Resort Ordered to Pay in Rental Cases

A nonprofit group has been ordered to make good on unpaid bills for rental equipment and services for a canceled golf tournament at a West Virginia resort owned by Gov. Jim Justice.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the orders were made last month in West Virginia federal court.

In one case, the Justice-owned Greenbrier resort and Old White Charities, the financial arm of the PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic, were ordered to pay nearly $623,000 plus interest to Special Event Service and Rental of Bartlett, Tennessee. The company’s lawsuit says equipment was damaged by a June 2016 deadly flood around the resort. The tournament was canceled.

In a separate judgment, Old White Charities was ordered to pay $754,000 plus fees and interest for services and equipment provided in July 2016 by Select Event Group of Laurel, Maryland.

Congressman: President Trump to Return to West Virginia

West Virginia Republican Congressman Evan Jenkins said President Donald Trump will visit West Virginia for the second time this year.

Jenkins said he’ll join the president for a scheduled roundtable in Greenbrier County on Thursday, April 5. A statement released by Jenkins’ office didn’t disclose the location or reason for the president’s visit.

Jenkins said the visit will highlight the president’s “work to create jobs and opportunities for West Virginians and all Americans.”

In early February, Trump spoke at the House and Senate Republicans’ annual legislative retreat at the Greenbrier resort.

Jenkins, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, said this will be the Republican president’s fourth visit to his district in southern West Virginia.

WVDEP Launches Webpage Dedicated to Helping Citizens Learn About Pipeline Projects

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has created a new  webpage designed to help the public navigate maps and information about the five major natural gas pipelines in West Virginia that have been proposed or are under construction.

In a news release Monday, WV DEP said the site includes, “detailed maps, transcripts, (and) permit information” on a single webpage.

The five pipelines that are the focus of the webpage are the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Mountaineer Gas Company Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project, Mountaineer Xpress Pipeline, and the Rover Pipeline.

The webpage connects detailed maps of the proposed routes and DEP’s searchable online database with information about inspections and enforcement actions and any permit modifications.

The site also links to find public hearing transcripts, responses to comments received at public hearings, and press releases about the pipelines. The DEP says the page will be updated as more information becomes available.

The page also has a place to submit reports of possible permit violations.

Settlement Reached in Suit Alleging Mormons Overlooked Abuse

A civil trial that started in January in West Virginia has ended in an undisclosed settlement in a lawsuit accusing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and local church officials of covering up years of sexual abuse by one man.

Media outlets report the settlement announced Friday by Berkeley County Circuit Judge Christopher Wilkes ends a trial that began Jan. 18. Details of the settlement were not made public, and lawyers and officials are barred from discussing the case.

Plaintiffs contended the Mormon Church and others knew about 26-year-old member Christopher Michael Jensen’s sexual abuse convictions and allegations but “did nothing to warn and protect” their children.

The lawsuit was filed in 2013 by plaintiffs who say they were abused by Jensen when they were between the ages of 3 and 12.

Jensen was sentenced in 2013 to 35 to 75 years in prison for sexually abusing two children, ages 3 and 4. Jensen’s father, Chris Jensen, testified in February that no one told him about those allegations until an August 2012 hearing when his son was charged.

Allegations against Christopher Michael Jensen dated back to 2004, when he was arrested at age 13 at his middle school and charged with two felony counts of sexual abuse against two girls, according to court documents. The lawsuit alleged several church members were made aware of abuse incidents multiple times but either did not believe the abused or kept the abuse a secret.

The lawsuit also alleged that abuse continued over the years as no one in the Martinsburg church or his family, which included church leaders, disclosed Jensen’s history of sex offenses.

The church denied the claims. Defendants said Christopher Michael Jensen fooled everyone and repeatedly lied to church officials.

The younger Jensen was excommunicated from the church by the Martinsburg Stake High Council in 2013.

Governor Justice Proposes Special Session to Create Arts Department

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has proposed calling a special legislative session in May to deal with creating a Department of Arts and Culture and History.

Justice says he has been working with legislative leaders to create the new department.

Justice recently signed a bill to eliminate the Department of Education and the Arts.

The Legislature passed the bill to dissolve the agency on the final day of session. It eliminates the department’s secretary position and divvies up agencies and programs under the department’s purview.

Justice says the new department would not have a secretary but a curator of the arts.

He says he’ll move different programs and agencies into a newly created Department of Arts and Culture and History but did not give any specifics.

West Virginia Bill to Limit Use of Settlement Funds Vetoed

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has vetoed a bill that sought to limit fellow Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s use of money from lawsuit settlements.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the governor this week vetoed legislation to put a $7 million cap on the amount of settlement funds that Morrisey could have in his office’s consumer protection account.
Morrisey, who opposed the bill, has $12 million in his consumer protection account.

Justice says the bill would have discouraged state agencies from filing lawsuits and delay agencies seeking to solve problems because lawmakers would have the final say on the settlement monies’ spending.
A similar bill last year died in the state Senate.
 

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