Tag: Violations

Equipment, Staffing Issues Shut Down Fire Department

A West Virginia fire department has been temporarily shut down over outdated equipment and inadequate staffing.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports state Fire Marshal spokesman Tim Rock says the Northfork Volunteer Fire Department voluntarily closed earlier this month following an investigation. Rock says the department has 180 days to correct the violations.

Northfork Mayor Carol Sizemore says officials are working to bring the department up to standard, and limited EMT services are still running. The town of less than 500 will be serviced by neighboring volunteer fire departments in the meantime.

McDowell County Commissioner Michael Brooks called the closure “unreal,” emphasizing the sense of security volunteer fire departments bring, as well as their potential to save million in personal property expenses. He attributed the problems to funding more than manpower.

West Virginia Judge Suspended for Code of Conduct Violations

A West Virginia judge has been suspended for 45 days without pay for violations in two cases in which the defendants died.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled this week to suspend Kanawha County Magistrate Jack Pauley. The court also censured Pauley for violations of the Judicial Code of Conduct.

Pauley accepted the charges during a November hearing, saying he was trying to keep cases moving in the magistrate court system.

Pauley first was elected as a magistrate in 1992. His attorney, William Forbes, said in November that Pauley had never been hit with any rules violations prior to the charges.

Pauley was charged with signing a domestic violence protection order against 36-year-old Housein Bikir Keaton, even though it didn’t include all of the required information, on Aug. 25, 2016.

The commission said Pauley left his night shift early, and he didn’t sign an arrest warrant for Keaton. Keaton was no arrested, and he found dead of a gunshot wound the next day.

Pauley also was charged with improperly taking over Joshua Lee Miles’ case, which was assigned another magistrate. While the presiding magistrate was out of the office for medical reasons, Pauley signed an order to allow Miles to be released from jail on April 12.

Because of an error in faxing the order to South Central Regional Jail, 36-year-old Miles wasn’t released. He was found dead in his jail cell on April 13 of an apparent suicide.

W.Va. Magistrate Faces Judicial Misconduct Charges

A West Virginia magistrate is facing state judicial misconduct charges.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the Judicial Investigation Commission has charged Kanawha County Magistrate Jack Pauley with 12 violations of judicial conduct.

The charges are related to allegations that Pauley signed a domestic violence protection order that was missing required information, improperly took over another magistrate’s case in violation of administrative rules, and ended his night shift early in August 2016 without calling another magistrate to cover the shift.

Pauley declined comment to the newspaper.

A judicial hearing board will hold a public meeting before making a recommendation on possible discipline to the state Supreme Court.

State Orders Building Halt to Concrete Plant Near Morgantown

West Virginia environmental officials have ordered a halt to construction of a concrete plant in northern West Virginia, saying agency inspectors found violations in May, June and July from storm water runoff.

The order issued last week tells Connellsville, Pennsylvania-based Wendell H. Stone Company Inc. that it lacked controls to keep water and sediment from flowing off the construction site.

The operation in southern Monongalia County is intended to produce about 95,000 tons of concrete annually.

The Department of Environmental Protection told the company to submit a compliance plan within 20 days and stop building until it meets its permit terms.

A call to the company wasn’t immediately returned.

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