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UNDERWOOD RELEASED - Former West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood is home, eleven days after undergoing
open heart surgery in Charleston Area Medical Center.
The 80-year-old Underwood had aortic valve replacement surgery and a quadruple bypass. He was admitted on January 28
after suffering shortness of breath and flu-like symptoms.
Doctors have said Underwood is in excellent health, other than his heart problems.
MORE ATV DEATHS - A Mingo County man is dead after losing control of his all terrain vehicle. The body of 27-year-old
Kenneth Ferguson of Gilbert was discovered about 8:30 yesterday morning.. A local resident said he went outside to get his
newspaper, and saw a severed leg in his driveway. When the man looked over the embankment, he saw the man lying face
down, according to the Mingo Sheriff's Department.
Ferguson's death is the second ATV death recorded in the state this year. Last year there were 27, the highest total since the
Center for Rural Emergency Medicine at West Virginia University started keeping records, the most deaths in any state.
RUNNING START NOW A SLOW DOWN - Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin wanted to finish legislation dealing with
ATVs, medical malpractice, workers comp and tort reform by January 24, described as a "running start." Most of the
legislation has bogged down. Tomblin says he was then shooting for Feb. 8, the midway point of the session. Now, it seems
to be following a longtime pattern of completing legislation in the 11th hour.
The workers' compensation bill has been on the Senate side for more than a month.
WELFARE CUTS MAY CAUSE PROBLEMS - Washington has voted to compel more single mothers to move from
welfare to work, a mandate that worries some West Virginia state officials with 33,000 jobs leaving the state last year and a
stagnate economy.
The measure stiffens work requirement as welfare women are are removed from the system.
The Bush administration proposal requires 40 hours of work a week, with 24 of those hours spent actually working, rather
than in training or in searching for a job.
Welfare reform was launched when the economy was booming in 1996.
"A check in the mail every month won't teach responsibility," bill sponsor Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, said. "It won't build
confidence."
Rep. Allen Mollohan-D said he doesn't oppose the goal of putting more people to work. Recipients need more training,
education and access to child care to truly escape poverty, he said.
"I just don't think the numbers add up in the Republican bill," Mollohan said. "They're mathematically challenged when it
comes to spending money to help needy people, but they have very sharp pencils when it comes to tax cuts for very wealthy
people."
Congressman Nick Rahall-D said the bill "isn't a step forward. It's a leap backward."
"We have counties with very high unemployment rates," said Shana Phares of the West Virginia Division of Health and
Human Resources. "People without these barriers have a hard time finding work. It's going to be a great challenge."
HOME SCHOOLING RULES MAY CHANGE - Home-schooled children could participate in sports, band and other
extracurricular activities if a bill passes in the legislature.
Students taught at home would have to enroll in at least three credit hours of classes taught by a school over the Internet and
would be required to take statewide assessment tests.
EXTENDED WEIGHT COAL HAUL - Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin was to introduce a bill yesterday to permit
coal trucks as heavy as 126,000 pounds to travel on certain roads. Chafin says he believes the bill will pass this session.
The bill allows an "extended weight coal haul system" beginning in July. Interstate highways would not be eligible, but other
state roads, including Appalachian corridor highways would be.
Currently weight limits are 60,000 and 80,000 pounds.
"It's vital to the coal industry and trucking business in Southern West Virginia," Chafin, D-Mingo, said. "They cannot continue
in business without it."
The state has allowed overweight coal trucks to operate for several years.
A THOUSAND NURSES PROTEST - One thousand nurses and nursing students converged on the state capitol this
week, wanting lawmakers to hear their side of the health care crisis.
Nurses from all over the state say they are regularly forced into mandatory overtime, sometimes working double shifts. They
say it's not fair to themselves, their patients or their families .
The average age of a nurse in West Virginia is 55. They fear West Virginia won't be able to attract enough new nurses to
take the place of those retiring.
The Senate Labor Committee is working on legislation that would fine facilities who overwork their nurses.
ELECTRIC COMPANY GIVEN EXTENSION - Allegheny Energy got a seventh extension this week of default waivers
on credit agreements.
The utility company based in Hagerstown, Maryland, is continuing to negotiate with lenders on restructuring about $1.7
billion dollars in debt.
Without the extension, which runs through February 21, Allegheny would likely file for bankruptcy protection. The company
repeatedly has warned that if it can't resolve its credit issues, it probably will file for Chapter Eleven protection.
Allegheny Energy provides electricity and natural gas to 1.7 million customers in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and
West Virginia.
STEEL INDUSTRY HANGING ON - West Virginia's Weirton Steel has posted a net loss of about $24 million for the
fourth quarter and $117 million for 2002.
Like many other US steel producers challenged by cheap steel and foreign competition, Weirton Steel has been unable to
post a profit for several years.
SNOW DAYS A PROBLEM - Several hundred members of county school board members from across the state plan to
talk with state lawmaker this week asking them to allow counties not to have school for the mandatory 180 days this
year.
Uphsur County School Board President Doctor Robert Rupp says county schools have been victims of significant snowfalls
and cold weather this winter and many counties will have to go without a spring break.
Rupp says county school boards would ultimately like to have more local control of the school calendar.
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