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Friday, April 25, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Serving West Virginia since 2005.
Starcher digs deeper hole in brief on refusal to recuse himself from case
Once again demonstrating his unique knack for compounding his own problems, Justice Larry Starcher's brief announcing his decision not to recuse himself from the Massey Energy-Wheeling Pitt case only managed to:* Confirm that he lied about his reasons for recusing himself from the Massey-Caperton case. When recusing himself from that case, Starcher claimed he was doing so to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Now, he admits it was just a ploy to try to force Justice Brent Benjamin to recuse himself, too. He writes, "I acted in the (Harman owner Hugh) Caperton case because I wanted to help restore public confidence in this Court. But the hoped-for stepping aside by the justice whose election so greatly benefitted from Massey's CEO did not occur." In other words, Starcher was playing politics, and admits it.* Insult one of the most respected judges in the state and imply he was in collusion with Benjamin. Starcher writes that in the Caperton case, Benjamin "appointed my replacement, and both he and my replacement cast votes for Massey in the rehearing of the Caperton case." Thereplacement appointed by Benjamin for Starcher, Judge Fred Fox, is chairperson of the West Virginia Judicial Investigation Commission, a bad choice to accuse of selling out.
* Ignore the reasons a justice is supposed to step aside or not. Starcher has his own notions of fairness, writing, "...if I alone step aside, that Acting Chief Justice (Benjamin) will both appoint my replacement and vote on issues affecting that litigant." It's not Starcher's job to worry about such things. His charge is to simply decide whether or not he should hear the case, based on his own ability to be fair and impartial.* Keep alive questions about why he recused himself only from the Caperton case. Starcher originally said he recused himself from Caperton to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Now he says it was to try to force Benjamin off the case. But the lingering question is whether there was another reason that Starcher felt compelled to remove himself from the Caperton case -- the case involving the Spike Maynard-Don Blankenship vacation photos -- but is comfortable sitting on other Massey cases. Examining options
if Doug dissolves the WV Republican Party
When I first heard that state GOP Chairman Doug McKinney was threatening to dissolve the Republican Party, my first reaction -- well, actually, my third or fourth reaction -- was to ask myself, "Gee, what party would I join if Doug dissolves the Republican Party?"Becoming a Democrat is out of the question. I refuse to join the same party as Billy Wayne Bailey.Mountain Party? Sounds too tree-huggy.Reform Party? I can't belong to a party that had Ross Perot and Jesse Ventura as members.Libertarian? It is appealing, but I don't smoke pot.Become an independent? I'm just not that wishy-washy.I solicited some advice from various Republican friends around the state, who will also find themselves in the same boat. One of them suggested we all join the Moonies. I don't think he was taking this seriously enough.If Doug dissolves the Republican Party, it creates some obvious ramifications:* Donors at the $5 level will find themselves without a party to call home.* The "Republican for a Reason" slogan will lose some of its punch.* Registered independents will have no one to catch up with.* Lincoln Day Dinners will require much less planning.* What will we do with thousands of elephant logos?* Danny Jones will have nothing left to complain about.Ending the Grand Old Party in West Virginia requires decisions
Mojo's E. Panhandle visit a sly campaign jaunt via taxpayers
Gov. Joe Manchin is spending today and tomorrow in the Eastern Panhandle. The main reason for the visit is to attend a few Democrat Party events, but the gov has mixed in some ceremonial signings and dedications in order to save campaign dollars and charge the whole trip to taxpayers. At a scheduled rest area dedication, one Eastern Panhandle observer suggested he be greeted with the sign pictured at right.
* The Charleston Gazette will have to start editorializing against the Mountain Party.* Independents will be back to having only one option in Primary elections.* Don Blankenship will have to run his own campaigns. (Oops, already did that.)* Non-partisan election of judges will be a moot point.* The state will lose the excitement of all those Republican Primary contests.* Republican consultants will be out of work. What will Vic and I do?* Republicans will fail in their goal to take over the Legislature by 2008.* Members of the GOP state executive committee will have no more meetings to skip.* When Nick Casey says something provocative, reporters will have to call Jesse Johnson for rebuttal.* Russ Soebel's book sales will plummet.* The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce can quit worrying about finding token Republicans to endorse.* Each Democrat candidate will receive an extra $250 a year from PACs.* And Sen. Mike Oliverio will have to settle for the temptation to switch to "unaffiliated."EDITOR'S NOTE: Berkeley County has been debating the merits of zoning, with an election issue on the subject coming on May 13. Delegate Craig Blair offers his analysis of a debate on the subject that occurred Wednesday evening.Pro-Zoner Jeff Feldman during his opening statement compared zoning with how Walmart stocks and organizes their stories. His message was very compelling. The store shelves are stocked a certain way and such. I'll have to admit, it was some pretty good Kool-Aid. However, later in the debate, Anti-Zoner Robert Heavner stated that he had worked in the retail business for over thirty years and that Feldman was correct on how Walmart stocked their stores. Heavner then fired off the zinger of the night. He stated that “the reason they stock and arrange the stores in a certain manner is to get as much money out of the customers pocket as possible.” What a comparison! As a child, I remember Heavner working at the local Acme grocery store. Heavner was sooooooo right in his comparison. That’s why the candy is located at the checkout and milk and eggs are in the back of the store. His comparison of zoning and how the proposed zoning ordinance would do exactly like the retailers, was an absolute home run, out of the park. His message: Zoning will allow the county the opportunity to get as much money out of the taxpayers pocket as possible.Another interesting message was repeatedly delivered by the Pro-Zoning team of Jim Linsenmeyer and Jeff Feldman, which was the prolific use of the words “if and complex”. If I had a quarter each time they used these two words, I could fill my gas tank up! How can the voters possibly feel comfortable with a “yes” vote? We have a rule of thumb in the legislature; when in doubt vote “no”. Win me over with the facts and I’ll vote “yes”, but that certainly didn’t occur during this debate.Most of the people in attendance (from both sides) did a great job respecting each other’s position, which is a good thing. I won’t mention any names, but there were few spectators who think that their support of zoning is intellectually superior and were very rude and condescending to those who oppose zoning. I believe this type of arrogance and bad behavior is only a prelude to what will happen if zoning should pass. These individuals should understand that reasonable people can disagree on an issue and still work together on many other issues. The good news for anti-zoners is that these people are ticking off voters daily, which will only further help to defeat this zoning initiative.In closing, if zoning would pass, I will respect the voter’s decision and continue to work for the betterment of our community. We should all remember that this is a divisive issue, but good people can disagree and still be friends.Pro-zoning forces did not prevail by Del. Craig Blair
Manchin: 'I've known Heather since she was born'
Gov. Joe Manchin interviewed with WSAZ-TV Thursday about his daughter and the WVU degree controversy, assuring the reporter, "I've known Heather since she was born..." You can watch it here.Also, several parties are trying to track down an interview from January wherein the gov allegedly said he remembered attending his daughter's graduation ceremony. We'll see if it surfaces...Betty Ireland's mother passes away
Secretary of State Betty Ireland's mother, Virginia Hawkins Ireland, passed away early Thursday, at the age of 94.Betty's father passed away just a few months ago, in August. It was Betty's need to care for both of her parents that played the biggest role in her decision last July not to seek reelection this year. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to Kanawha HospiceCare. You can read more details here.