A federal grand jury has indicted a Wayne County couple accused of failing to pay employee payroll taxes.The U.S. Attorney's Office announced the…
A federal grand jury has indicted a Wayne County couple accused of failing to pay employee payroll taxes.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the indictment against Michael and Jeanette Taylor on Wednesday.
The couple is charged with conspiracy to defraud the US by withholding roughly $1 million from the IRS in payroll taxes from employees’ paychecks at Taylor Contracting from 2007 to 2009.
The Taylors are also accused of withholding over $161,000 in payroll taxes from employees’ paychecks at Bluegrass Aggregates in 2010.
They own both businesses.
Investigators say the money withheld was used for personal benefit.
The Taylors also face one count of willfully failing to truthfully account for and pay employment taxes withheld for their employees at Taylor Contracting.
The town of Wayne will host a celebration in honor of the 174th anniversary of the town’s formation on January 18, 1842.
The Herald-Dispatch reports Town Councilman Robert Thompson announced that the event will take place Saturday, Jan. 16 at Wayne Town Hall.
Thompson invited the public to attend the birthday celebration. Free cake and refreshments will be offered, and visitors are welcome to listen to the story of Laban Walker that evening. Walker was the only man legally hanged in Wayne County.
During the Civil War, the town of Wayne suffered greatly and was raided multiple times by Union forces.
Wayne was initially home to about 150 residents when it was incorporated in 1882. Thompson says it’s now home to nearly 1,500 people.
The Wayne County assessor has resigned ahead of a hearing on whether he should be removed from office.Eric Hodges submitted his letter of resignation on…
The Wayne County assessor has resigned ahead of a hearing on whether he should be removed from office.
Eric Hodges submitted his letter of resignation on Friday. He has been in jail since late August on charges of embezzlement, computer fraud and two counts of unlawful use of a state purchasing card, among other charges.
The Herald-Dispatch reports that Hodges’ resignation was delivered to a three-judge panel upon the defendant’s arrival at Wayne County Magistrate Courtroom.
Wayne County Commission President Bob Pasley said the commission will conduct a special meeting Tuesday to formally accept Hodges’ resignation. Commissioners will then determine the next step for the assessor’s office.
Pasley said the commission would consider naming an interim assessor or just name a successor.
Sixteen schools in eight West Virginia counties will share more than $12,200 in grants for sustainability projects.
The grants are provided by the state Department of Environmental Protection and ZMM Architects & Engineers as part of the Green Apple Day of Service, which is scheduled for Sept. 26.
The day of service gives students, teachers, parents, and residents an opportunity to volunteer with local schools in an effort to create safer, healthier and more efficient learning environments.
The projects are in Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Monongalia, Putnam, Upshur and Wayne counties.
A Wayne County high school is closed after a bed bug was found in a classroom.Tolsia High Principal Reva Sanders-Wallace says students were dismissed…
A Wayne County high school is closed after a bed bug was found in a classroom.
Tolsia High Principal Reva Sanders-Wallace says students were dismissed early Thursday after a teacher and students discovered the insect in a classroom. The school was closed Friday so an exterminator could treat the building, according to media reports.
Sanders-Wallace says the discovery of the bed bug does not mean the school is infested with the pest, but she said she wanted to aggressively deal with the problem.
The school is located near the Kentucky border and serves Fort Gay and Crum.
Sanders-Wallace said students should return to classes on Monday.
An Italian based automotive parts manufacturer announced plans to more than double the work force of their West Virginia location. Sogefi USA will add 250 jobs to their Wayne County plant as they create a new line of parts for General Motors vehicles.
“Today, thanks to our collaborative efforts and hard work, 250 West Virginians can look forward to good paying new jobs,” Governor Tomblin said as he made the announcement at Sogefi USA’s manufacturing plant in Wayne County Tuesday morning.
A $20 million investment by the Italian company will more than double the plant’s workforce from 160, adding 250 new positions over the next five years
“The 250 jobs we’re talking about are more important than number on a piece of paper,” Tomblin said. “They’re 250 people who will be able to put food on the table, 250 people who will take pride in working for a world class company like Sogefi and they’re 250 West Virginians who will get good paying jobs right here at home.”
Two-hundred and fifty people like Frank Workman, a maintenance technician who started at the Prichard location when they opened in 2004. Workman said Tuesday the added jobs will be good for a county whose unemployment rate sits at more than 6 percent.
“I think this community needs it. There are a lot of people looking for jobs and it’s a great opportunity for the community, this state and all of the people that are involved,” he said.
The manufacturing plant produces automotive parts, including gasoline, diesel and oil filters and cooling modules. Beginning next year, the plant will start producing engine air intake manifolds, creating the need for additional technology and workers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwoNjCczD3U
Sogefi currently employs a variety of personnel at their Prichard location, from the assembly line to warehouses, from accountants to industrial engineers. General Manager Troy Thomas said positions will be added in all departments to handle the increased production.
“Think about this for a moment, over 25 vehicle models that you pass every day on the road are supplied from this plant and that’s soon going to grow,” Thomas said during a press conference at the plant. “So, it’s impossible to miss the product that we produce in this plant.”
Credit Ashton Marra
/
Sogefi General Manager Troy Thomas show Governor Tomblin and Department of Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette engine parts manufactured at the Wayne County plant.
The expansion announcement comes after a 13-day investment trip the governor and members of the state Department of Commerce took to Europe in October. There, they met and encouraged businesses to locate or expand their locations in the state, including a private meeting with Sogefi’s CEO Guglielmo Fiocchi in Paris.
Thomas said the international company had planned expansions in North America before meeting with the governor, but his involvement encouraged Sogefi to expand in Wayne County.
“Sogefi’s plan for expansion in North America didn’t necessarily have to be located here in Prichard. There were other states that competed hard for that investment and those jobs, like every state does,” he said, “but obviously we’ve had a good experience here and the governor helped to seal the deal to make sure that Sogefi’s expansion, for this product line, is going to be located here in Prichard.”
“Anytime a company is making that type of announcement, that type of an investment, it shows that they have some faith in West Virginia,” Tomblin said after the announcement. “I think the changes we have made by privatizing worker’s comp, lowering the taxes and so forth, the work force training that we offer in West Virginia is one being noticed.”
Sogefi will begin adding position in January of next year to start producing its newest line of parts for General Motors.
