Catching up on the news
Some things never change
Locals back to printing McKinley PR releases as news
McKinley sponsors never-going-to-happen commission and, of course, gets front-page coverage
Thursday morning's front-page of the Intelligencer brought us a David McKinley public relations release disguised as a front-page story. The headline reads:
Rep. . . .
Balancing the state budget?
Yet another editorial shifts blame away from the party in power
Remember when the Democrats controlled both houses of the state legislature? Back then, Mike Myer columns and editorials opposing what the legislature was doing or about to do always had "Democrat-controlled" or "Democrat-led" in front of "legislature." Now that the Republicans are in control, the adjectives have . . .
Posted in: michael myermike myernews-register editorialrepublican legislaturewest virginia state governmentwv legislaturewv taxes
Who's running West Virginia?
The Charleston Gazette-Mail's Ken Ward Jr. recently did an excellent two-part report at his Coal Tattoo blog trying to answer the question "who really runs West Virginia?" In his posts he points to energy, especially coal companies, which didn't surprise me. Today's morning papers did little to suggest otherwise.
. . .Sometimes no publicity is the best publicity (with evening update)
Ryan Ferns and "free-publicity-for-our-favorites week"
I noted on Friday that it appeared that our local "newspapers" were celebrating "free-publicity-for-our-favorites week." As of this morning, the papers have covered Capito, McKinley, and Morissey but have ignored their favorite state senator, Ryan Ferns. Ferns has been making news but my hunch is that it doesn't lend . . .
Following the WV legislature 6
Active fracking bills
SB 508 - nuisance lawsuits
On Thursday SB 508 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. (I previously wrote about this bill here.) According to the Gazette-Mail:
The bill (SB 508) gives businesses virtual immunity from private “nuisance lawsuits” so long as the business does not violate a law, regulation or the terms of . . .
Posted in: frackingwv legislature
Following the WV legislature 5
Do our local "newspapers" know that the legislature is in session?
House approves religious exemption bill
The AP is reporting:
A West Virginia religious-exemptions bill that opponents say would allow for discrimination has cleared the Republican-led House of Delegates.
Approved by Thursday's 72-26 vote, the proposal would let people cite religious objections to state actions . . .
The Koch brothers look to buy themselves another state
WV Senate President and gubernatorial candidate Bill Cole speaks at exclusive Koch gathering for high-rolling political donors
Metro News had the following headline in mid-December:
Cole: Upcoming Legislative session ‘zero’ about run for governor
As they reported:
With the session less than one month away and lawmakers prioritizing their agendas, Cole said his mission is all about “delivering a subsidized session for the taxpayers for . . .
