The judicial excess that was practiced by some members of the West Virginia Supreme Court is news and it has been treated as such for the last couple of months. Does it justify half of this morning’s front page? Okay, there are now pictures. Was it that slow of a news day? I looked around to see what stories other news sources were carrying that did not make it into the local morning paper. Here are two that jumped out at me.

Over 1500 news sources carried the following AP story about Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. The story was available early last evening:

Gates admits crimes with Manafort, embezzlement

And here's the lede:

The star prosecution witness in the financial fraud trial of Paul Manafort testifies that he concealed millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts on Manafort’s behalf and falsified documents to help his former boss obtain millions of dollars more in bank loans.

There is nothing about the Manafort trial in this morning’s paper and the only Trump-related story was a page 3 AP article about sanctions for Iran.

How about this important regional energy and environment story from the Associated Press?

Appeals Court Tosses Key Permits for Atlantic Coast Pipeline

It explains:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has thrown out two key permits for the Atlantic Coast pipeline.

Environmental groups say the ruling Monday by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means construction should be halted on the 600-mile natural gas pipeline.

The judges said a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit was "arbitrary and capricious" because it provided no specific limits for the allowable impact on five threatened or endangered species.

Again, the paper reports nothing about this. (No doubt an editorial about “radical environmentalists” is forthcoming, however.)

5:15 PM Update

The House Judiciary Committee is apparently looking to recommend impeachment for all remaining justices: From WV Metro News:

Delegates begin voting on articles impeaching all WV justices

If they are eventually impeached, Governor Justice will get to appoint the entire court with only one coming up for a vote this November.

Again, local representative Shawn Fluharty states it very succinctly:

Articles of impeachment presented on every SC Justice one week before Aug 14th deadline knowing full well trials will not be completed. So @WVGovernor and his people are taking over a branch of government. Let that sink in. #wvpol

— Shawn Fluharty (@WVUFLU) August 7, 2018

I'll bet President Trump wishes he had this kind of power.