Ireland runs a snag-free vote
Secretary of State Betty Ireland, her staff, and county clerks across West Virginia deserve kudos for running a virtually snag-free election on Tuesday.In most instances, returns were counted and reported promptly, and there have been no accusations of improprieties, lost ballots or other controversies -- quite an accomplishment in a primary election led by a Democrat presidential race.Ireland and election officials across the state deserve much praise. | ||||
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Thursday, May 15, 2008 "When news breaks, we fix it" Serving West Virginia since 2005
Despite embarrassing faculty vote, Garrison ignores pleas to leave
Graphic by Craig Blair
Mike Garrison, right, continues to survive as WVU president only because of the support of Gov. Joe Manchin.
Adding insult to injury more than 600 members of the West Virginia University faculty gathered on campus Wednesday and voted 569-39 to demand the resignation of the president of their university.Garrison reportedly issued a terse statement reaffirming his commitment to staying put.Apparently, Garrison believes what everyone in the state understands as well -- that as long as he has the support of Gov. Joe Manchin, whose daughter was at the center of the controversy that has enveloped the school, he does not need to be concerned about the opinions of faculty, media organizations, alumni, or anyone else.The unprecedented gathering of faculty members came on the heels of a 77-19 vote by their representatives on the Faculty Senate for Garrison to vacate the premises.Additionally, countless newspaper editorials have called for Garrison's ouster, as have other pundits across the media spectrum. And Delegates Craig Blair and Jonathan Miller are leading a call for a legislative investigation.Garrison technically answers to the WVU Board of Governors, but those members were mostly appointed by Manchin, whose continued defense of Garrison resulted in an embarrassing primary result against a little known member of the House of Delegates, especially in Monongalia County, where WVU is located. The controversy promises to follow Manchin throughout the coming general election campaign. It is an astounding situation -- the father of a student found to have been handed an unearned diploma has the power to protect the job of the president of the university guilty of the misdeed.West Virginians have spoken on Clinton v. Obama; what's Manchin waiting for?
"I wanted to definitely wait until the people in my state of West Virginia spoke on Tuesday and got to vote."That was what Gov. Joe Manchin told an interviewer on May 9 on CBSNews.com, when asked whether he would cast his vote as a superdelegate for the candidate who won West Virginia's vote.Well, the votes are in, and it appears that Hillary Clinton managed to eek out a victory over Barack Obama. And yet, Manchin remains uncommitted and unwilling to announce his support for one candidate or the other.Even for this governor -- who has made an art form of telling all sides of every issue exactly what they want to hear -- remaining on the sidelines is becoming downright laughable. Does he support Hillary, or Barack? Certainly, his fellow Democrats across West Virginia made their preference crystal clear on Tuesday. Does he agree with them, or disagree?Manchin would undoubtedly love nothing more than to wait until Hillary drops out before endorsing Obama. Or, he could endorse Hillary -- following the will of West Virginia Democrats -- and make nice with Obama later. But this governor's inclination -- as evidenced in the Mike Garrison affair -- is to do nothing but offer meaningless platitudes while hoping it all blows over in the meantime.RUSS WEEKS: Not your average Joe
Weeks signing books today at Taylor Books
GOP gubernatorial candidate Russ Weeks will be conducting a book signing today at Taylor Books in downtown Charleston.Weeks will be at the store from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. signing copies of his book, "No Strings Attached."The book details Weeks' life story, his battles against corruption, and his fight for integrity and accountability while serving in the West Virginia State Senate.