Group hopes to reintroduce elk to W.Va.

WV Metro News is reporting that a group of West Virginians that recently gathered at Chief Logan State Park are hoping to reintroduce elk to the state. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has pledged its support to the project and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) is also supportive of the idea, "provided the elk are put in a place where the public will have long standing or permanent access to them."

A elk feasibility study, conducted in 2002, identified two areas of the state that would make suitable habitats for the elk, according to a Gazette Mail article from June of this year.

It's official: ’Country Roads’ is a state song

On Friday, the West Virginia Legislature approved a resolution making the song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" a state song according to an article published by Herald Mail Media. The song, made popular by John Denver in the 1970s, joins three other songs which have been so designated by the Legislature, giving the Mountain State a total of four (count 'em, four) state songs.

Video: Country Roads, by John Denver

W.Va. House passes "Chemical Spill" bill

WSAZ 3 News Channel is reporting that the so-called "chemical spill" bill, more formally known as the Water Protection Act, has been passed, in a 95-0 vote, by the West Virginia House of Delegates. The W.Va. House and Senate will need to work out a compromised by the end of the session, which occurs this Saturday.

This year's legislative session began on Jan. 8th.  The next day 10,000 gallons of the chemical MCHM spilled from the storage facility Freedom Industries into the Elk River, just upstream of the West Virginia American Water Company’s water treatment plan. The leak contaminated water for 300,000 residents in nine counties.

Click "read more" for the rest of the story...

Legislative committee removes key provisions in "Meth Bill"

Crystal Meth Rock

Yesterday, a Metro News article reported that the House Judiciary Committee removed the requirement for prescriptions for medications containing pseudoephedrine from Senate Bill No. 6 (SB 6) on Tuesday night. However, the amended bill that would lower yearly purchase limits for medicines containing the key meth-making ingredient pseudoephedrine.

Today however, backers of a bill mandating a prescription for medications containing pseudoephedrine were working to reinstate that requirement according to an article in The Herald-Dispatch.


Click "read more" to view a video about the bill, as originally passed by the Senate.

Denver's 'Country Roads' being pushed as official state song (again)

John Denver (1973)

A Charleston Daily Mail article reports  that Del. Mary Geartheart (R, Mercer Co.) has introduced a resolution that would make John Denver's song, "Take Me Home, Country Roads", an official state song.  The resolution has passed in the House and is currently before the Senate Government Organization for consideration.

This resolution, House Concurrent Resolution No. 40 (HCR 40), can be read in its entirety on West Virginia Legislature's website.

"Take Me Home, Country Roads", also known as simply "Country Roads", was written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, and John Denver in 1970, and the song was first recorded by Denver for his 1971 album Poems, Prays, and Promises.

Click "read more" to view a YouTube video of "Country Roads".

Appalachian Power, Wheeling Power ask for 4.4 percent rate increase

According to a Charleston Gazette article, Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power have asked the West Virginia Public Service Commission for a rate increase of 4.4 percent.  The increase would go toward reimbursement of past and ongoing fuel costs, primarily coal, and purchased power.

Interesting enough, the U.S. Energy Information Administration report from March 2014 indicates that nationwide, nominal annual average coal prices to the electric power industry actually fell for the second consecutive year, from $2.38/MMBtu in 2012 to $2.35/MMBtu in 2013.

The two power companies serve about 478k customers in 23 West Virginia counties.

Report: W.Va. the most miserable U.S. state in 2013

Commenting on a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index report released in February, a Washington Post article noted that West Virginia ranked dead last in such categories as "life evaluation", "emotional health", "physical health", and "healthy behaviors".  Oddly enough, the state ranked 14th in "work environment".

A few days later, a Washington Post blog article noted that West Virginia has received a similar bad ranking on the Index since it was first issued, in 2008.

On a related and equally troubling topic: Time magazine's 2013 report named West Virginia as the nation's "most neurotic state". Click "read more" for more about that, below the page-break.

W.Va. grassroots groups assist during state's water crisis

Elk River at Charleson, WV

An article published Feb. 27th at WagingNonViolence.org notes that just hours after 10,000 gallons of MCHM spilled in the Elk River, just upstream of a municipal water system that serves nine counties, the grassroots organization WV Clean Water Hub began organizing water deliveries to those in need of water.

Soon, other West Virginia grassroots groups joined the relief effect, including Aurora Lights, Coal River Mountain Watch, Keeping of the Mountains Foundation, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, and RAMPS.  

Now, about several weeks after the spill occurred, some residents are complaining that the water still has a strange odor, and some worry about chemical residues and long term effects of exposure to MCHM, according to a WaterOnline.com article.

In a Charleston Gazette article published in January, entitled What is "Crude MCHM"? Few know., the director of West Virginia Poison Center was quoted as saying "There's not much known about this chemical".  The article also notes that current Federal and state laws "set limits and mandate samples for only certain chemicals" and MCHM isn't one of them.

Gov. Manchin Named States Co-Chairman of ARC

November 16, 2006 - Charleston, WV - Gov. Joe Manchin has been selected by the governors of the Appalachian states to serve as Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) states co-chair for the year 2007. The governor will assume the leadership position, currently held by Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher, in January. “I am honored to serve as states co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission,” Governor Manchin said. “Our states, our region and our country must chart a new course to supply more of our own energy resources to be more energy independent. The ARC has taken a leading role in these efforts with its focus on development of a regional energy blueprint for our resource-rich region. With the pending federal reauthorization of ARC, I look forward to working with our leaders on Capitol Hill to ensure that the Commission has a viable future to continue addressing the many critical infrastructure and economic needs of our region.“

Joseph Manchin III (D), 34th Governor of West Virginia

Baby boomers snapping up Monroe County ‘forested community’ lots

Mountain America LLC, a Maryland registered planned community land development company, is completing road work for and has sold 54 out of 99 individual home sites on the “Walnut Springs Mountain Reserve,” a planned forest community near Union, WV, in Monroe County. The property is situated on approximately 1,200 pristine mountaintop acres, overlooking the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests where the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains come together. The Walnut Springs development community was started in August, 2004, and is scheduled for completion in Fall of 2007.

$87 million water park resort planned for Faimont, W.Va.

Three Morgantown businessmen, David Rees, Michael Vecchio and Mark Tampoya, have announced plans to build a resort complex filled with water slides and roller coasters, movie screens, retail stores, restaurants and a hotel and conference center at Fairmont, WV. The $87-million resort, developed by The Water Works LLC, will be located on 25 acres of a 107-acre site on the East Side of Fairmont formerly occupied by the Exxon Fairmont Coke Works and the Sharon Steel plant. The resort park is expected to create 350 permanent and 125 seasonal jobs and hopes to attract visitors from West Virginia and the greater Mid-Atlantic region, including Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Columbus, Ohio, and Harrisburg.