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State Supreme Court’s New Website More Public User Friendly

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has launched a new www.courtswv.gov website. In a release, the court noted it’s designed to “enhance the public’s ability to find information about the state court system and its work.”

”We remain committed to transparency in the judicial branch, and the new website offers even more information and a readily accessible format,” Chief Justice Beth Walker said.

Website improvements include a new “latest news” feature on the homepage with information about recent events, as well as important website features.

Information is now organized by user, as well as by topic. There are four icons – Public, Jurors, Attorneys, Media – that include links that those specific groups of users search most often.

There are eight new resource icons with links to the most frequently visited pages: Court Information by County, Court Forms, Supreme Court Opinions, Intermediate Court Opinions, Supreme Court Calendar, Intermediate Court Calendar, E-Filing, and Payments.

The court said the new site will be easier for people to access on mobile phones because the view automatically changes to provide the best user experience possible on each device.

The West Virginia court system launched its first website in 1997 and last redesigned the site in 2011.

Online Obituary Scam Targets Most Vulnerable

An online and phone funeral obituary scam is preying on West Virginians in the throes of bereavement.

West Virginia Board of Funeral Service Examiners President Gene Fahey has warned the state’s 500 or so funeral directors to alert families to the scam.

Fahey said the scammers begin by looking up obituary listings on funeral home websites. Then, using a staff name from that website, they google the next of kin and call them asking for money and credit card information before they can proceed with the funeral arrangements.

“When you make arrangements at a funeral home, many people have never done it in their life,” Fahey said. “Often, they’re not sure what the process is. But unless there is a person who is doing this from a distance, meaning that they are out of the country or out of town, and they’re trying to make some arrangements via the internet, most families meet with a funeral director in person.”

The targeted victims are surviving spouses or the elderly.

“They may have never gone through this process in their life and they’re extremely vulnerable,” Fahey said. “It’s really sickening that someone in this world would try to exploit their vulnerability.”

Fahey said at least two West Virginia families have received these scam calls with more happening in neighboring states.

“Fortunately, both of those West Virginia families immediately called the funeral home and reported what had happened,” Fahey said. “That gave us the heads up to make sure that we get the word out so that we can let families know that funeral homes are saying that this is a potential scam that’s going on. Please do not fall for it.”

Fahey said most funeral arrangements are made face to face at the funeral home.

“They discuss all the arrangements, they discuss different options, discuss the options for payment,” he said. “They never would call and demand payment without the family being aware that a call was going to be taking place. It would not happen in this profession.”

W.Va. ‘Communities In Schools’ Website Launched

The goal is keeping all students in school and, ultimately, graduating.

Gov. Jim Justice and First Lady Cathy Justice launched the Communities In Schools website Monday for her nonprofit education initiative, Communities In Schools (CIS) West Virginia.

CIS aims to forge community partnerships and bring resources into schools to help remove barriers to student learning. The goal is keeping all students in school and ultimately graduating.

West Virginia Superintendent of Schools David Roach said the program reduces the risk when it comes to at-risk students.

“I cannot overstate the important role Communities In Schools plays in our public schools,” Roach said. “The relationships built with our most vulnerable children lead to better outcomes academically, emotionally and developmentally. The new web resource will be instrumental in developing even broader avenues of support for CIS, our children, and our schools.”

First Lady Justice started the CIS program in 2018 with three pilot counties. Since then, the program has expanded to include 194 schools in 36 counties. She also accepted a $15,000 check Monday from the Truist West Virginia Foundation in support of CIS, presented by Truist West Virginia Regional President Patrick O’Malley.

“We are extremely grateful for the continued support of Truist West Virginia,” First Lady Justice said. “They see the value that our CIS program brings to our education system and are paving the way for other West Virginia businesses to follow suit.”

The website will feature a CIS county on the homepage every few weeks. The counties will be featured in alphabetical order starting with Berkeley County. More information about the impact of CIS across the state can be found on the website’s home page under “Our Impact.”

W.Va. Secretary of State to Unveil Records Requests Website

Secretary of State Natalie Tennant is unveiling a website to track public records requests throughout state and local governments.

Tennant told The Associated Press the website cataloging Freedom of Information Act requests will be up Friday, as state law requires.
It will list agencies, what was requested and who requested the information. It will say how much agencies charged and whether they partly or entirely granted requests, or denied them, and reasons for denials.

The site won’t include agency records produced in response.

Local and state entities must begin submitting information on requests made Friday and afterward. The law doesn’t include penalties for agencies that don’t comply.

The website is required under a law passed by the Republican Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in April.

City Hopes Redesigned Website Betters Image

Huntington officials announced yesterday morning a major redesign of the website for the city.

Mayor Steve Williams and Huntington officials felt it was time to change an outdated part of the city, the website. Huntington’s digital presence had fallen behind, according to city leaders. Williams said they had to make a better first impression.

“They’ll come and start to look and get a first impression from the website, the proper first impression will be a lasting one and we believe that it will lead to people understanding that this is a city that is comfortable for families to live as well as businesses to grow,” Williams said.

After bidding out the project the city went with locally owned Bulldog Creative Services to build the site. The new site will make it easier to find information needed for starting a business, finding needed forms and in the future paying bills. The site features a “Business Wizard” to walk people through the steps of getting started in establishing a business. Williams said they have to help entrepreneurs.

“What we want is if someone is seeking to do business in the city is to make the process much easier, they can actually go through the business wizard or through or the icon at the top, business and actually guide them through all of the forms they need,” Williams said.

The site can be found at CityofHuntington.com.