Tag: Jim Justice

Voices Of Voters And Wyoming Co. Water Pollution This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, drinking water in Wyoming County is making people sick but it’s unclear who is responsible. Also, a look at voter concerns ahead of May’s primary election.

On this West Virginia Morning, drinking water in Wyoming County is making people sick. But it’s unclear who is responsible for the creek’s pollution, or when residents will have clean water.

Also, with West Virginia primary elections in about three weeks, government reporter Randy Yohe gauges voter concerns and readiness before they head to the polls.

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

Justice Calls For More CPS Reporting, Funding In Wake Of Child’s Death

Reports surfaced last week of the death of a 14-year-old girl leading to her mother’s arrest. Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday that this was not a CPS case.

Reports surfaced last week of the death of a 14-year-old girl found emaciated, and of her mother’s subsequent arrest. Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday that this was not a Child Protective Services (CPS) case.

According to reporting from Eyewitness News, Julie Anne Stone Miller, 49, of Morrisvale in Boone County was arrested and charged with child neglect causing death last week.

The girl’s grandmother told Chief Deputy Mark Abbott that the girl had not attended school since late 2019 or early 2020 and had barely been out of the house in years.

This detail prompted the media to ask Justice during his weekly media briefing if the girl had been homeschooled and if so, why an academic assessment hadn’t brought attention to her condition.

“I think the answer just got to be just one thing,” Justice said. “The CPS folks, from what I understand, [had] no idea about this, about this child, no idea whatsoever.”

Department of Human Services Cabinet Secretary Cynthia Persily released a statement Monday. The press release provided no further information on the minor who passed away, but in the headline, she called the incident a criminal case.

Justice also said more funding for staffing at Child Protective Services was necessary.

“The more money we have, the better we’ll do,” Justice said. “The more workers we’ll have, the absolute better we’ll do. You know, we have got to understand that we’ve got to step up in every way, and try to do more.”

According to the Child Welfare Dashboard, child welfare positions are 88 percent filled in the state. Most vacancies remain in the Child Protective Service Worker category with 78 vacant positions. Earlier this year, the Department of Human Services announced an easing of the staffing shortages.

Justice asked the public to speak up and speak out if they see something suspicious.

“This is a tragedy that, I mean, it’s unthinkable,” Justice said. “I mean, it’s totally unthinkable. But stuff like this happens. And really, and truly, we got a lot of people out there that may have known of this kid, or whatever, this child, and speak up. I mean, yeah, this, really and truly, this is no different than being diligent, you know, in every way, from the standpoint of, you see somebody that looks suspicious, something that may be possibly going on, speak up. Tell us about all this.”

With Federal Clawback Averted, Justice Renews Calls For Health Funding

With fears of a federal COVID-19 relief fund clawback quashed, Gov. Jim Justice urged lawmakers to restore funding to health and human services in West Virginia.

For weeks, the possible federal clawback of $465 million in COVID-19 relief funding for schools has loomed large in West Virginia.

But on Friday Gov. Jim Justice announced the state would not have to return the funds, which the United States Department of Education initially said were not spent according to federal guidelines.

News of the potential clawback threw a wrench into the final weeks of the West Virginia Legislature’s regular session this year. Out of caution, lawmakers ultimately approved a state budget of $4.9 billion — a figure lower than the $5.22 billion budget Justice proposed in January.

In March, Justice announced plans to hold a special legislative session in May to reexamine budget spending. With the specter of the clawback removed, lawmakers are now looking to bulk up the state budget.

And Justice has expressed a particular focus on restoring funding to West Virginia’s health and human resources.

State lawmakers significantly reduced funding for Medicaid services in this year’s regular legislative session.

This included a reduction of nearly $11 million in funding for the state’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Waiver program, which provides residents with disabilities financial support and at-home health services.

During a virtual press briefing Tuesday, Justice said the dismissal of the federal clawback opens the door for restored funding.

“Where we need to concentrate our efforts right off the get-go is to restore the dollars that we pulled out of the budget … for the most needy of our people,” he said. “We didn’t need to [cut funding], and if we don’t watch out we’re going to get our really needy folks in a real mess.”

Lawmakers who supported the cuts during this year’s regular session said the reductions would increase spending transparency and limit unnecessary expenditures.

But opponents of the budget cuts have expressed concern that the lack of funding could broadly reduce Medicaid services for West Virginia residents, including individuals with disabilities.

In March, Justice announced plans to call a special legislative session before May 14, West Virginia’s primary election. He said reexamining the state budget was a top priority for the prospective session.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers have expressed a preference that the session be held later in May, to coincide with interim meetings at the State Capitol.

As of Tuesday, no date for the special session has been finalized.

Federal Court Rejects State Transgender Student Athlete Ban

The ACLU and Lambda Legal, a national LGBTQ rights law firm, brought the case on behalf of a 13-year-old middle school student in Harrison County who wanted to run on her track team.

A federal appeals court struck down West Virginia’s ban on transgender student participation in school sports Tuesday.

The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said the 2021 law violated Title IX, the landmark 1972 law that enshrined gender equality in school sports.

The ACLU and Lambda Legal, a national LGBTQ rights law firm, brought the case on behalf of a 13-year-old middle school student in Harrison County who wanted to run on her track team.

“The ruling makes clear that the law is discriminatory,” said Billy Wolfe, an ACLU-WV spokesman, in an email. The student, Becky Pepper-Jackson, is the only one affected by the ruling, Wolfe said, but encouraged others who might be affected to contact the ACLU.

The 2-1 decision, for now, invalidates House Bill 3293, which the legislature enacted and Gov. Jim Justice signed. 

Last year, a U.S. district judge upheld the enforcement of the law, but the Fourth Circuit overruled that decision.

In an emergency appeal last year, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the state to enforce the law while the Fourth Circuit considered the case. The justices declined.

In a statement Tuesday, Morrisey said he would continue to defend the law.

West Virginia is one of 21 states that have enacted some type of restriction on transgender student participation in school sports.

In 2020, the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of a Virginia transgender boy who challenged his school’s refusal to let him use the bathroom that matched his gender identity.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal in that case as well.

In Tuesday’s ruling, one of the three judges, G. Steven Agee, dissented. He was nominated by President George W. Bush to the court in 2008.

Federal Court Orders Justice-Owned Companies To Pay $8.5 Million

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia has enforced a state court decision last year to award Western Surety more than $8.5 million, plus interest.

A federal court has placed liens on several companies owned by Gov. Jim Justice to satisfy a previous state court-ordered judgment.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia has enforced a state court decision last year to award Western Surety more than $8.5 million, plus interest.

The federal court placed charging orders, or liens, on Justice Coal of Kentucky, Justice Coal of West Virginia, Justice Management Services, Chestnut Land Holdings, Dublin Land, Twin Fir Estates and Justice Family Farms.

The judgment in favor of Western Surety was issued by the Circuit Court for Fairfax County, Virginia, in September. The award comes with post-judgment interest of 6 percent per annum.

In a separate case in the Western District of Virginia, Western Surety seeks another $3 million from Justice, Bluestone Resources and Southern Coal, alleging breach of contract.

Justice, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, faces numerous legal challenges.

Another bond provider, Federal Insurance Co., sued Justice and four of his companies in June in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking $8.1 million in damages.

Last month, a $1.2 million helicopter was seized from Bluestone Resources to partially satisfy a debt owed to a Caribbean investment firm.

In February, 1st Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, sued Bluestone in the Virginia court, charging breach of contract and seeking $4.5 million in damages.

The complaint accuses Bluestone of defaulting on loan agreements and also seeks attorney’s fees and possession of collateral.

According to the complaint, that collateral consists of “equipment owned by Bluestone Coal” and three properties that are part of the Wintergreen Ski Resort near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Lane, Sign Improvements Aim To Reduce Traffic In Eastern Panhandle

Lane and signage improvements in Berkeley County aim to reduce traffic congestion in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. The Department of Transportation project was announced Tuesday.

In recent years, West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle has experienced population growth and undertaken new development projects. While this provides economic benefit, it also creates a new problem: traffic.

West Virginia Route 9, which stretches from Morgan County to Jefferson County, has become increasingly prone to traffic congestion, Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday.

Justice — alongside West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) Secretary Jimmy Wriston and West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley — visited Martinsburg Tuesday to unveil a new WVDOT project that aims to improve travel on the highway.

“It’s a growing area,” Wriston said. “We got some inefficiencies in the way traffic moves through the area on Route 9, and we want to address some of those things.”

The fifteen-step project includes adding new turn lanes, improving major intersections and enhancing lane signage over 10 to 15 miles of the highway in Berkeley County northwest of Martinsburg.

Currently, an average of 24,300 vehicles travel on portions of the highway each day, according to a press release from Justice’s office. Crash rates on the highway are roughly double the state average, the release said.

Blair said that improving transportation infrastructure in the Eastern Panhandle is important to sustain local growth.

“It’s about getting the work done,” he said. “It’s about stepping forward and getting things right.”

Justice echoed Blair’s sentiments, and said infrastructure plays an important role in attracting new residents.

“If we’re wanting to recruit more and more and more folks here and all of a sudden they’re sitting in traffic all day long … are they really going to come?” he asked. “We have got to absolutely market ourselves.”

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