| MASSEY GIVES $100,000 TO REPUBLICANS - The state Republican Party purchased a building in South Charleston
that will become its headquarters for $187,000. Sources say Massey Coal donated $100,000, Mingo County businessman
Buck Harless contributed $25,000, and Clay County oil and gas businessman Jim Reed gave $10,000. Two $1,000
donations were also received.
HAZARDOUS WASTE DUMPED IN LOGAN? - The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating a report that a
Logan County community was used as a hazardous waste dump sometime in the 1980's.
David Sternberg, spokesman for EPA's Region 3 office in Philadelphia, said the regional office sent an on-scene coordinator
to the Chauncey community last week but winter weather prevented the agency's Bob Kelly from doing more than gathering
testimony from residents.
"We don't have any concrete evidence. We do have reports from residents, which we are taking very seriously," Sternberg
said.
Kelly, who is part of the Region 3 hazardous site cleanup division, has since been called to help in the Columbia space shuttle
recovery and couldn't be immediately reached for comment. Sternberg said Kelly plans to conduct an initial site assessment
of Chauncey as soon as the ground thaws.
Residents have reported seeing several tanker trunks and men in chemical protection suits for a three-week period in 1987.
They also reported some kind of dumping in a gas well, at that time. .
The Logan Banner reported this week that 56 local residents have died from cancer since 1987 and another 50 or so have
been diagnosed with cancer.
The Rev. Preston Vance, former pastor at Walnut Grove Free Will Baptist Church, said the trucks parked on a church lot
over a three-week period, often late at night.
WORKERS COMP PROBLEM UNRESOLVED - Eggs may have been on everybody's plate, but workers' compensation
was on everybody's mind yesterday at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce legislative breakfast.
The four most powerful lawmakers in the Legislature spoke to the WV Chamber of Commerce, more than 150 businessmen
and women at the Charleston Marriott. The main focus was the state's nearly bankrupt workers' compensation system that is
$2.5 billion in debt and continues to pay out more than it takes in.
"We are trying every angle," said Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin. "We simply don't have the answer right now."
House speaker Bob Kiss said one possibility for new revenue is in the House proposal to close or merge two colleges and
direct the estimated $20 million in savings to workers' compensation. So far the Senate has been unwilling to discuss the
proposal.
If the Senate does not accept the college closure idea, other revenue sources include a payroll tax, using tobacco settlement
money or pension bonds.
SCIENCE STANDARDS MIGHT ALLOW HIGHER POWER THEORY - The West Virginia Board of Education may
add to new statewide science standards a statement that creation supporters say will allow students to speak out against
evolution.
The statement doesn't mention Darwin's evolution theory specifically, but says "the development, refinement and critical
analysis of scientific theories will provide all learners a better understanding of natural phenomena."
Evolution critics also want West Virginia schools to teach "intelligent design," which contends that life must have been
designed by a non-specified higher power because it is so complex, according to news reports.
CHILDRENS HANDS SEWED IN ABUSE CASE - Two Fayette County parents face felony child abuse charges after
police allege a stepfather burned and sewed his four stepchildren's hands, according to a court document, Dale Hull burned
the tips of the children's fingers with a cigarette lighter and then used a needle and thread to sew their fingers on each hand
together.
Dale Hull has denied any wrongdoing. Tanya Hull has told Fayette County Sheriff's Department Detective J.K. Sizemore that
the children wanted their hands to be burnt and sewn.
Twenty-four-year-old Chesley Dale Hull of Mount Hope is charged with child abuse of his four stepchildren. His wife,
28-year-old Tanya Lee Hull, is charged with child neglect resulting in the of injury her children. The children are between the
ages of six and eleven.
DOMINION MOVING JOBS TO RICHMOND - Dominion Transmission plans to centralize its commercial department
in Richmond, Virginia, meaning 70 jobs will be moved out of Clarksburg.
Employees of the department deal with both industrial and residential customers, and pipeline operation.
Dominion spokesman Bob Fulton says the affected employees will be offered the chance to move with the department.
Severance benefits will be available for those who decide not to go.
The Clarksburg office employs about 400 people, with a total of about 1,500 employees in West Virginia.
COALFIELD LAYOFFS CONTINUE - Layoffs in the coalfields have reached about 4,000, as coal companies across
Appalachia struggle to get through the worst economic slump in more than two decades. West Virginia has been the hardest
hit with 2,300 layoffs.
Miners have lost their jobs in the past 13 months in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, with layoffs
continuing.
Analysts say they see no relief to the lagging coal sales and stagnant prices that have forced companies to scale back
production.
CLAY MAYOR HAS THEFT - Clay Mayor Arthur Jarrett laid off the town's only cop a few days ago because the town
did not have funds to pay him. Last night, according to the Clay Communicator, Jarrett had three large wooden owl carvings
stolen from his property on Center Street. His wife Bonnie has a $50 reward for the safe return of the 80 pound plus, hand
carved owls.
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