Friday, January 27, 2012

Election 2012: Candidate Filling - 01.26.12‏

Sheriff:

•  Larry G. Gerwig, Democrat

•  Berk Reed, Democrat

Assessor:

•  Gary L. Wolfe,  Democrat

County Commission:

•  Larry Chapman, Democrat

•  Norma Hurley, Democrat

•  Tom Minney, Democrat

Magistrate:

•  Carol Reed Wolfe, Democrat

•  Mickey Metz, Democrat

•  Lori Rosenburg, Republican

•  Alton L. Skinner, II, Democrat

Prosecuting Attorney:

•  Gerry Hough, Democrat

Board of Education:

•  Misty Pritt

•  William K. Simmons

Gilmer County Circuit Court Report - 01.26.12

Judge Richard A. Facemire appeared in Gilmer County on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 for his regular monthly motion day, which had been rescheduled from Monday, January 23, 2012.

Four fugitive from justice cases were heard and all 4 waived extradition back to their respective states:

•  Josue Ferrera waived to return to New York.

Nancy Aviles served as interpreter for him since he did not understand the English language very well.

Brian Perry  waived to return to Pennsylvania.

Imprisonment Status:  Pre-Trial Felon
Brian Timothy Perry
	Full Name:	Perry,  Brian Timothy
	Height:	6’  3”
	Weight:	385 lbs.
	Birth Date:	08.11.1960
	Gender:	Male
	Booking Date:	01.13.2012
	Facility:	Central Regional Jail
	Imprisonment Status:	Pre-Trial Felon

Offender Court Order Information

•  Tremayne Davis waived to return to Virginia.

Imprisonment Status:  Pre-Trial Felon
Tremayne Amond Davis
	Full Name:	Davis,  Tremayne Amond
	Height:	5’  9”
	Weight:	155 lbs.
	Birth Date:	04.21.1989
	Gender:	Male
	Booking Date:	01.13.2012
	Facility:	Central Regional Jail
	Imprisonment Status:	Pre-Trial Felon

Offender Court Order Information

Rodney Williams waived to return on Ohio.

Imprisonment Status:  Pre-Trial Felon
Rodney Terrell Willians
	Full Name:	Williams,  Rodney Terrell
	Height:	6’  0”
	Weight:	250 lbs.
	Birth Date:	02.19.1974
	Gender:	Male
	Booking Date:	01.20.2012
	Facility:	Central Regional Jail
	Imprisonment Status:	Pre-Trial Felon

Offender Court Order Information

All 4 fugitives were represented by Daniel Grindo of Gassaway.

•  Two juvenile cases were dismissed.

•  Another juvenile case was heard and reset for status on Monday, April 23, 2012 at 9:00 AM.

•  Another juvenile case was heard and reset for Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 9:00 AM.

•  The civil case of Frances Frame vs. John Frame was before the court for a status hearing.

A scheduling conflict arose and plaintiff’s attorney, William Richardson Jr. , could not appear but Timothy Butcher appeared for the defense.

After getting Richardson’s secretary on the telephone, Judge Facemire set a new scheduling conference for Wednesday, February 01, 2012 at 9:00 AM when he will set a new pretrial and trial date.

•  State of West Virginia vs. Yarica Jackson

She was before the Court for reconsideration of her sentence, which the Judge denied.

She was represented by Kevin Hughart of Sissonville.

•  State of West Virginia vs. Jason Pritt

He was before the Court and agreed to allow the prosecutor to file information against him charging conspiracy.

Judge Facemire agreed to conditionally accept his plea and ordered a pre-sentence investigation by the probation officer, Tara Kennedy.

He will be sentenced on Thursday, March 08, 2012 at 9:00 AM.

Pritt was represented by Clint Bischoff of Summersville.

•  State of West Virginia vs. Mark Ward

He was before the Court for information to be filed against him as a co-defendant of Jason Pritt.

However, his attorney asked for his case to be rescheduled and it will now occur on Wesdnesday, February 01, 2012 at 9:00 AM.

He is represented by David Karickhoff of Sutton.

•  State of West Virginiavs. Roseann Shelton

She was scheduled for sentencing but her attorney informed the Court that she was in the hospital.

Judge Facemire asked for a medical statement regarding her hospitalization and reset her sentencing for Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 11:00 AM.

•  State of West Virginia vs. Danny Reaser

He was before the Court for sentencing and he was sentenced to not less than 1 nor more than 5 years in the penitentiary.

However, his sentence was suspended and he was placed on 5 years probation and must pay court costs within 18 months.

He was also represented by Kevin Hughart.

•  State of West Virginia vs. Joshua Hoover

He was before the Court and moved for a new bond, which was denied.

He is going to enter a plea at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, February 01, 2012.

He was represented by David Karickhoff.

•  One guardian hearing was granted and one was revoked.

Chief Judge Jack Alsop presided over Court this morning in Gilmer County.

•  One fugitive from justice waived extradition back to his state of Oklahoma.

Imprisonment Status:  Pre-Trial Felon
Mario Mejia-Zarza
	Full Name:	Mejia-Zarza,  Mario
	Height:	5’  9”
	Weight:	160 lbs.
	Birth Date:	08.13.1985
	Gender:	Male
	Booking Date:	01.25,2012
	Facility:	Central Regional Jail
	Imprisonment Status:	Pre-Trial Felon

Offender Court Order Information

•  Mario Mejia-Zana was represented by David Karickhoff and authorities have until 4:00 PM on Wednesday, February 01, 2012 to pick Mario up or he will be released from Central Regional Jail.

•  Two juvenile cases were also on the docket.

Make It Shine Applications Available for 2012

Applications are now available for the 2012 West Virginia Make It Shine Statewide Cleanup. This annual event is jointly sponsored by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Division of Highways.

During the first two weeks of April, the DEP’s Make It Shine program will provide resources such as cleanup materials, waste hauling and landfill fees to community groups volunteering to conduct litter cleanups on state streams or public lands.

More than 3,800 West Virginia citizens participated in last year’s statewide cleanup. These volunteers removed close to 150 tons of litter and 4,200 tires from our state’s landscape.

The application deadline for those wishing to participate in the 2012 Make It Shine Cleanup is March 01, 2012.

Applications are available through contacting Travis Cooper of the Make It Shine Program at 1.800.322.5530, or by email at: :Travis.L.Cooper@wv.gov”.

GCHS Girls’ Basketball: Gilmer County 68, Wirt County 30

Gilmer County defeated Wirt County 68-30 at home Thursday night, January 26, 2012.

Jordan Morris scored 24 points.

Maggie Lilly scored 14 points.

Morgan Allen scored 11 points.

Hannah Nichols led Wirt County with 19 points.

Lady Titans will return to action at 7:30 PM Tuesday, January 31, 2012, against St. Marys at home.

Wirt 6 8 8 8 – 30

Gilmer 16 14 21 17 – 68

WIRT COUNTY (6-11)

Brittani Gaskins 1 0-0 2

Kayla Kinney 3 0-0 6

Hannah Nichols 9 0-1 19

Shania Tanner 1-2 1

Liz Adams 1 0-0 2

Totals: 14 1-3 30

GILMER COUNTY (13-3)

Jordan Morris 9 1-2 24

Maggie Lilly 5 4-8 14

Morgan Allen 4 0-0 11

Tiffany Young 1 5-6 7

Julie Bishop 3 0-0 7

Michaela Gumm 2 0-0 5

Totals: 24 10-16 68

GSC Men Basketball: Glenville State 80, Fairmont State 59

Glenville State sank 10 three-point shots and posted an 80-59 victory over Fairmont State.

Kevin Gray led the way with 26 points in the win for the Pioneers.

Nate Cash tallied 16 points and 15 rebounds while Andy Dollman chipped in 13 points.

He and Jamel Morris each dished out four assists apiece.

GSC hit 18-of-22 free throws.

Steve Custis guided the Falcons with a team-high 20 points.

He hit all three attempts from behind the arc.

Isaac Thornton hit for 18 points while Melvin Rhodes chipped in nine points.

The Pioneers return to action on Saturday, January 28, 2012, when GSC hosts to Wheeling Jesuit.

Game time is set for 4:00 PM.

GSC Women’s Basketball: Glenville State 92, Fairmont State 78

Glenville State registered a 92-78 home win over visiting Fairmont State Thursday evening.

Tenisha Wilson tallied 27 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the win for the Pioneers.

Mishae Miles accounted for 16 points and 12 rebounds while Danielle Woodmore had 11 points and a game-high 12 assists.

Kenyell Goodson netted 13 points and Ginny Petties had 12 off the bench.

Beth Deren added 11 in the win.

GSC sank 13 three-point buckets.

Hailey Garrett registered 16 points and 10 boards to lead FSU.

Briana Welch contributed 15 while Emily Lohr netted 13.

Kelsi Wright amassed 12 points and four assists to go along with a team-high three steals.

The Lady Pioneers return to action on Saturday, January 28, 2012, when they host Wheeling Jesuit.

Tip-off is set for 2:00 PM.

WVSP: Man Dies from Tainted Moonshine; Don’t Drink It

The death of a man in Doddridge County has sparked a police investigation and troopers want you to be safe.

A man in his 60’s died this week at Ruby Memorial Hospital, supposedly after drinking poisoned moonshine he got in the county.

WV State Police Troopers say the unidentified man drank from a bottle of moonshine he got from a friend last Saturday night.

He was flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital after what was believed to be stroke symptoms.

He died at the hospital this week.

After testing and investigations, it was determined that the tainted moonshine shut down the man’s internal organs.

Troopers say you take a risk drinking illegally made moonshine because there’s no guarantee that it meets the safety regulations of the FDA.

“You don’t know what they’re putting in it. You don’t know how they’re creating it or producing it. So when you get something from the store, obviously it’s had to meet the standards of the US government and the FDA. Illegal moonshine is dangerous. You have to really be careful when you get things like this. We’ve had several poisoning cases in the past and that’s just a risk you don’t need to take,“ says Sgt. Wayne Vessels.

Investigators believe they know where the moonshine came from but they’re working to stop any more from getting to the public.

If you bought moonshine recently in the Doddridge County area, you do not need to call the state police but troopers are advising you not to drink it.

G-otcha™: Braxton County Man Arrested after Threatening to Blow Up a Bank

Imprisonment Status:  Pre-Trial Felon
Mirriam Andre Duncan
	Full Name:	Duncan,  Mirriam Andre
	Height:	6’  2”
	Weight:	180 lbs.
	Birth Date:	03.10.1979
	Gender:	Male
	Booking Date:	01.20.2012
	Facility:	Central Regional Jail
	Imprisonment Status:	Pre-Trial Felon

Offender Court Order Information

A Braxton County man has been arrested after allegedly threatening to blow up the City National Bank in Sutton.

32 year-old Miriam Andre Duncan has been charged with attempted robbery and terrorist threats.

Duncan walked into the City National Bank in Sutton and tried to withdraw money from an account that apparently didn’t exist.

When a teller told Duncan there was no money in the account, he threatened to blow up the bank.

The teller pressed an alarm button, an officer who was nearby responded to the call.

According to the officer tried to restrain Duncan, he supposedly shoved the officer.

Duncan has been arrested and is being held behind bars at the Central Regional Jail on a $500,000 bond.

The Braxton County Sheriff’s Department as well as the Sutton Police Department and West Virginia State Police were involved with the arrest.

WVFSA: IMPORTANT PUBLIC MEETINGFOR GILMER & CALHOUN FARMERS & RANCHERS - 01.31.12

The WV Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Office Management Team will hold a public meeting in Gilmer County to solicit public comment regarding USDA’s proposed office consolidation plan in which the Gilmer-Calhoun County FSA office is being considered for consolidation.

This action is being undertaken as a result of budget and staff reductions to FSA. This means that FSA cannot maintain every existing county office location and continue to provide producers the best possible customer service.

The USDA WV Farm Service Agency Management Team, Alfred Lewis, State Executive Director - Public meeting for Gilmer and Calhoun County farmers and ranchers offering a forum for producers to weigh-in on the proposed consolidation of the Gilmer-Calhoun County FSA office.

The meeting will be held January 31, 1:00 PM at the Gilmer County Recreation Center, 1365 Sycamore Run Rd, Glenville, WV.

Media availability with Alfred Lewis, SED immediately following meeting and 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.

CONTACT:

Richard V Snuffer, II
State Communications Coordinator
USDA Farm Service Agency
304.376.(cell)
“Rick.Snuffer@wv.usda.gov”

For more information about FSA and FSA programs, visit   www.fsa.usda.gov

All public comments will be taken into full consideration prior to development or implementation of a final consolidation plan.

For more information, contact WV Farm Service Agency at 304.284.4800.

WV Schools Including GSC Celebrating $300K in Research Grants

Officials with the Higher Education Policy Commission are joining faculty and students from nine schools to celebrate the award of more than $300,000 in scientific research grants.

The schools involved are:

•  Alderson-Broaddus College

•  West Virginia Wesleyan College

•  WVU Institute of Technology

•  Concord University

•  Glenville State College

•  Marshall University

•  Shepherd University

•  West Virginia State University

•  West Virginia University

Charleston: Cars, Trucks, SUVs and Crossovers

Hundreds of vehicles will be on display this weekend at the Charleston Civic Center as part of the 2012 West Virginia International Auto Show.

“We consider this a one stop shop for all makes and models,“ said Jeremy Nelson with Smith Company Motor Cars.  “The public has the opportunity to just come in and look.“

If you go, you’ll be able to see vehicles from Ford, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Ferrari, Lexus, Land Rover, Acura and Suzuki among others.

Pre-production models of the 2013 Ford Escape, 2013 Ford Mustang and 2013 Chevrolet Malibu will be in place along with new models of the Chevrolet Sonic, Ford Focus, Hyundai Velostar, Toyota Camry, Volkswagon Beetle and others.

Nelson says dealers are seeing more and more demand for fuel friendly vehicles like the all-electric, plug in Chevrolet Volt and Nissan LEAF which will be on hand.

There will be more than 27 vehicles to test drive.

In addition to the practical vehicles, an exotic vehicle collection will also be part of this year’s West Virginia International Auto Show which will include models from Aston Martin, Ferrari and Maserati, courtesy of Foreign Cars Italia.

Hours for the West Virginia International Auto Show which the West Virginia Auto and Truck Dealers Association sponsors are from 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM on Friday and Saturday and from 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM on Sunday.

Admission prices are $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens, $4 for kids 7 - 12 and free for kids six and younger.  Sunday is Kids Day, so kids under the age of 12 will get in free with a paying adult.

G-otcha™: Lewis County Man Arrested for Defrauding a Woman

Imprisonment Status:  Pre-Trial Felon
Timothy Edward Berg
	Full Name:	Berg,  Timothy Edward
	Height:	5’  11”
	Weight:	168 lbs.
	Birth Date:	08.15.1962
	Gender:	Male
	Booking Date:	01.18.2012
	Facility:	Central Regional Jail
	Imprisonment Status:	Pre-Trial Felon

Offender Court Order Information

A Lewis County man allegedly defrauded a woman out of $1,065 for contractor’s work that was never completed nor started.

Timothy Berg, age 49, reportedly sought work for a construction business called T&G Construction, which, according to police reports, doesn’t exist.

In November of last year, the victim made a down payment of $840 for the installation of a roof on her residence in Jane Lew.

The victim reportedly also later gave Berg another $225 at a later date.

Berg never started on the project nor did the victim receive the $1,065 deposit in return.

Berg was behind bars in the Central Regional Jail and is released on $50,000 bond.

Gilmer County Family Court Report - 01.26.12

William R. Wood (50) of Glenville divorced Rhonda Wood (49) of Normantown, WV on January 25, 2012.

Goodwin Nominated For U.S.-China Commission

Former U.S. Senator Carte Goodwin will be nominated by Senate leaders for a two-year term on the United States-China Economic Security Review Commission.

Goodwin served briefly in the U.S. Senate following the June 2010 death of Senator Robert C. Byrd and before the election of Senator Joe Manchin.

“Carte will be a terrific addition to this Commission and its work to provide the President and Congress with an overview of the major issues that drive the relationship between our country and China,” U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller said in a prepared statement. “Carte is well known as a problem solver with an impressive ability to strip away the rhetoric and get straight to the facts, and most importantly, he has a keen understanding of the role that outsourcing and the decline in local manufacturing has meant to a state like ours.“

The commission has 12 members.

Three members each are nominated from the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, and the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House.

Gilmer County Little League Meeting – 01.27.12 - Tonight

The Gilmer County Little League will meet at the Pioneer Grill at 6:00 PM on January 27, 2012.

Election of new officers will take place as well as some very important topics for the upcoming baseball season for Gilmer County Youth.

Anyone wishing to help or coach is encouraged to attend.

We will need coaches for the following:

Baseball

Girls Softball

Girls Senior League

Softball

Coaches Pitch and Tee ball

For further information please call 304.997.6394

Ty Coleman Moss

Ty Coleman Moss is the name chosen for the son born to Nathaniel and Loretta Moss of Normantown.

He was born January 13, 2012 at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital of Weston.

He weighed 9 pounds and 1 ounce.

The couple also has two other children, Asia and Bali Moss.

The mother is the former Loretta Lynn Shackelford, and is a homemaker.

The father is a Loader Operator.

Paternal grandparents are Jimmy and Emma Moss of Normantown.

Aleah Makenzie Smith

Aleah Makenzie Smith was born on Monday January 23, 2012 at United Hospital Center in Clarksburg at 8:20 AM.

She weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz.

She was 19 inches long.

Her parents are Amy and Daniel Smith of Sand Fork, WV.

Aiden Wesley Pumphrey

Aiden Wesley Pumphrey is the name chosen for a son of Jessica Pumphrey of Weston.

He was born January 13, 2012 at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital of Weston.

He weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces.

His mother is the former Jessica Wolford.

Maternal grandparents are Larry Wolford and Cathy Claypool of Buckhannon.

Daltin Michael Williams

Kevin ( Mike ) Williams and Ashley D. Nicholas announce the birth of their first child, a son, Daltin Michael Williams born on December 26, 2011 at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital of Weston.

He weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces.

Maternal grandparents are Lorrie Bean and Kenny Nicholas of Weston.

Paternal grandparents are Kevin and Tammy Williams of Weston.

Kevin Jeffery Anthony Hall Jr.

Melinda D. Randall and Kevin A. Hall of Weston announce the birth of their third child, a son, Kevin Jeffery Anthony Hall Jr. born on January 09, 2012 at Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital of Weston.

The little boy weighed 7 pounds and 6 ounces.

The mother is a homemaker and the father is employed at Universal Well Services.

Maternal grandparents are William Randall of Ohio and Debbra Wells-Randall of Sutton.

Paternal grandparents are Joel and Christine Richards of Weston.

G-Comm™: U.S. v. Jones: The Battle for the Fourth Amendment Continues

n a unanimous 9-0 ruling in United States v. Jones, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared that police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects. But what does this ruling, hailed as a victory by privacy advocates, really mean for the future of privacy and the Fourth Amendment?

While the Court rightly recognized that the government’s physical attachment of a GPS device to Antoine Jones’ vehicle for the purpose of tracking Jones’ movements constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, a careful reading of the Court’s opinion, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, shows that the battle over our privacy rights is far from over.

Given that the operable word throughout the ruling is “physical,” the ruling does not go far enough. The Court should have clearly delineated the boundaries of permissible surveillance within the context of rapidly evolving technologies and reestablishing the vitality of the Fourth Amendment. Instead, the justices relied on an “18th-century guarantee against un-reasonable searches, which we believe must provide at a minimum the degree of protection it afforded when it was adopted.”

As Justice Samuel Alito recognizes in his concurring judgment, physical intrusion is now unnecessary to many forms of invasive surveillance. The government’s arsenal of surveillance technologies now includes a multitude of devices which enable it to comprehensively monitor an individual’s private life without necessarily introducing the type of physical intrusion into his person or property covered by the ruling. Thus, by failing to address the privacy ramifications of these new technologies, the Court has done little to curb the ’s ceaseless, suspicionless surveillance of innocent Americans.

In the spirit of the Court’s ruling in US v. Jones, the following surveillance technologies, now available to law enforcement, would not require government officials to engage in a physical trespass of one’s property in order to engage in a search:

Drones—pilotless, remote-controlled aircraft that have been used extensively in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan—are being used increasingly domestically by law enforcement. Law enforcement officials promise to use drones to locate missing children and hunt illegal marijuana plants, but under many states’ proposed rules, they could also be used to track citizens and closely monitor individuals based on the mere suspicions of law enforcement officers. The precision with which drones can detect intimate activity is remarkable. For instance, a drone can tell whether a hiker eight miles away is carrying a backpack.

Surveillance cameras are an ever-growing presence in American cities. A member of the surveillance camera industry states that, “pretty soon, security cameras will be like smoke detectors: They’ll be everywhere.” The cameras, installed on office buildings, banks, stores, and private establishments, open the door to suspicionless monitoring of innocent individuals that chill the exercise of First Amendment rights. For example, the New York Police Department has adopted the practice of videotaping individuals engaged in lawful public demonstrations. The government also uses traffic cameras as a form of visual surveillance to track individuals as they move about a city. In some areas, a network of traffic cameras provides a comprehensive view of the streets. In 2009, Chicago had 1500 cameras set up throughout the city and actively used them to track persons of interest.

Smart dust devices are tiny wireless microelectromechanical sensors (MEMS) that can detect light and movement. These “motes” could eventually be as tiny as a grain of sand, but will still be capable of gathering massive amounts of data, running computations and communicating that information using two-way band radio between motes as far as 1,000 feet away. The goal for researchers is to reduce these chips from their current size of 5 mm to a size of 1 mm per side. In the near future law enforcement officials will be able to use these tiny devices to maintain covert surveillance operations on unsuspecting citizens.

RFIDs, Radio Frequency Identifications, have the ability to contain or transmit information wirelessly using radio waves. These devices can be as small as a grain of rice and can be attached to virtually anything, from a piece of clothing to a vehicle. If manufacturers and other distributors of clothing, personal electronics, and other items begin to tag their products with RFID, any law enforcement officer armed with an RFID reader could covertly search an individual without his or her knowledge.

Cell phones, increasingly, contain tracking chips which enable cellular providers to collect data on and identify the location of the user. The collected geodata is stored on the device, anonymized with a random identification number, and transmitted over an encrypted Wi-Fi network to the cell phone provider. It is reasonable to expect that government will eventually attempt to tap the troves of information maintained by these cellphone providers.

Collection of Wi-Fi Data: Recently, a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology invented for a mere $600 an aerial drone that can spy on even private Wi-Fi networks. The drone the professor created was a mere eighteen inches long. Such a device could be used to detect financial information, personal correspondence, and any other data transmitted over the wireless network. Coupled with the visual component of the aerial drones, these drones will be capable of detecting almost all intimate or personal activity.

Facial-recognition software is another tool in police forces’ surveillance arsenal in which police take a photograph of a person’s face, then compare the biometrics to other photographs in a database. Such a system can easily be placed onto the back of a smart phone and only weighs 12.5 ounces. Facial-recognition software is currently being used in conjunction with public surveillance cameras at airports and major public events to spot suspected terrorists or criminals. Cities such as Tampa have attempted to use this technology on busy sidewalks and in public places.

Iris scanners have quickly moved from the realm of science fiction into everyday public use by governments and private businesses. Iris recognition is rarely impeded by contact lenses or eyeglasses, and can work with blind individuals as well. The scanners, which have been used by some American police departments, can scan up to 50 people a minute without requiring the individuals to stop and stand in front of the scanners. The introduction of sophisticated iris scanners in a number of public locations, including train stations, shopping centers, medical centers, and banks in Leon, Mexico, is merely a foreshadowing of what is coming to the U.S. The information gathered from the scanners is sent to a central database that can be used to track any individual’s movement throughout the city.

As this list shows, the current state of technology enables government agents to monitor unsuspecting citizens in virtually any situation. One of the hallmarks of citizenship in a free society is the expectation that one’s personal affairs and physical person are inviolable so long as one conforms his or her conduct to the law. Otherwise, we are all suspects in a police state. Any meaningful conception of liberty encompasses freedom from constant and covert government surveillance—whether or not that intrusion is physical or tangible and whether it occurs in public or private. Thus, unchecked technological surveillance is objectionable simply because government has no legitimate authority to covertly monitor the totality of a citizen’s daily activities. The root of the problem is not that government is doing something inherently harmful, but rather that government is doing something it has no lawful basis to be doing.

Unfortunately, by failing to establish a Fourth Amendment framework that includes protection against pervasive electronic spying methods that are physically unintrusive and monitor a person’s activities in public, the Court has ensured that the core values within the Fourth Amendment will continue to be fundamentally undermined. New technologies which enable the radical expansion of police surveillance operations require correspondingly robust legal frameworks in order to maintain the scope of freedom from authoritarian oversight envisioned by the Framers.

Obviously, the new era of technology, one that was completely unimaginable to the men who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, requires an updated legal code to enshrine the right to privacy. The courts, first of all, must interpret the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure as a check against GPS technology as well as future technologies which threaten privacy. Second, as Justice Alito recognized, “the best solution to privacy concerns may be legislative. A legislative body is well situated to gauge changing public attitudes, to draw detailed lines, and to balance privacy and public safety in a comprehensive way.” I would take that one step further and propose that Congress enact a technological Bill of Rights to protect us from the long arm of the surveillance state. This would provide needed guidance to law enforcement agencies, quell litigation, protect civil liberties including cherished First Amendment rights, and ensure the viability of the Fourth Amendment even at the dawn of a new age of surveillance technology.

Bon Appétit: Pasta Fazul

Ingredients:

  3 cloves garlic, minced
  1 onion, chopped
  1 carrot, finely chopped
  2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  2 teaspoons dried basil
  1 teaspoon dried oregano
  4 tablespoons olive oil
  1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
  2 cups cooked cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  8 ounces macaroni
  2 tablespoons butter
  1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet, saute garlic, onion, carrot, parsley, basil and oregano in olive oil until onions are tender.

Add the tomatoes plus 1/4 cup of the can juices and the salt and pepper.

Cover and stir frequently, simmering for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add the cannellini beans and cover.

Simmer for 20 minutes.

Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and toss with butter and Parmesan cheese.

Add to cannellini bean mixture.

Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Ask the Doctor: Exercise Is Essential to Health

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Some time ago, you wrote about an exercise that could be done to strengthen abdominal muscles.
You mentioned that there was another exercise, but it requires doing it at a gym.
You did not describe that exercise.
Would you do so for those of us who go to a gym on a regular basis?
- C.N.

ANSWER: Gyms have all sorts of abdominal exercise equipment for their members.
The one I was thinking of is the “captain’s chair,“ the structure that you hoist yourself onto by resting your body weight on your forearms.
The exercise then involves drawing your knees to your chest.
You can do the same exercise hanging from a cross pole, but it’s much more tiring in that position.

Flashback: What Happened on January 27, ....

•  1864 West Virginia Third Cavalry troops fought a skirmish with Confederate troops near Wayne Court House, Wayne County.

•  1891 The West Virginia Legislature adopted a joint resolution denouncing the Congressional passage of the Force Bill and endorsing United States Senators John E. Kenna and Charles J. Faulkner, and United States House of Representatives members William L. Wilson and John D. Alderson, all of West Virginia, for their opposition to the bill.

•  1913 The Harpers Ferry High School opened to serve students in Harpers Ferry and Bolivar, Jefferson County.

•  1953 State Senate president Ralph Bean formally introduced Senate Bill 32, which included the coal severance tax proposal of Governor Marland.

•  1978 Due to the extremely cold weather, the Appalachian Power Company announced it had only a 59-day supply of coal remaining and asked customers to conserve energy. The West Virginia Public Service Commission issued an order requiring cut backs if the supply reached 40 days.

•  1992 The Putnam County School Board reversed its decision to close Buffalo High School, and gave the school at least one more year after outraged supporters protested.

•  1992 Trustees for the funds that pay health-care benefits to 120,000 retired coal miners sent notifications to coal companies that they were seeking a federal court order to double the employers’ contributions. Without the increase, the trustees said beneficiaries would lose benefits by May 01.

Daily G-Eye™: 01.27.12

Stargazing - 01.27.12

Leo, the lion, springs into the evening sky this month.

Its brightest star, Regulus, rises around 7:30 or 8:00 PM, with the body of the lion following over the next couple of hours.

Denebola, the star that marks its tail, rises around 10:00 PM.

Gravitational Waves V

There’s probably more than one way to make a black hole. One is the collapse of a massive star. Another is the merger of two other dead stars, known as neutron stars. Such a merger would produce a brilliant outburst of energy. It would also produce an outburst of ripples in spacetime known as gravitational waves.

A gravitational-wave observatory known as LIGO will be looking for these mergers when it completes a major upgrade in a few years. Scientists say it should be able to detect any such merger within about 50 million light-years — perhaps dozens of them every year.

Alan Weinstein is a physicist who’s working on the LIGO project.

WEINSTEIN: The first thing it would tell us is that black holes — astrophysical black holes really are the objects described theoretically from Einstein’s equations. Einstein’s equation tells us that what black holes are is not dense matter but more or less infinitely curved space. It’s a different kind of an object. We don’t have direct evidence that such objects actually exist.

MIT physicist and LIGO pioneer Rainer Weiss says the gravitational waves would also reveal important details about the mergers.

WEISS: The thing that everybody’s going to ask is what happens when they crash into each other. That’s going to be a test of what nuclear physics is like. How do you suppose these neutron stars bounce when they hit each other, do they splash, what’s the equation of the state of nuclear matter in these stars and so forth. Gravitational radiation will tell you that, more than anything else, because it can look right through the thing and it doesn’t get disturbed by anything. That’s the nice thing about gravitational waves. You can get a real nice view of what’s going on inside.

G-MM™: Meditation Moment - 01.27.12

Lord, sometimes I want to forget about you.

It is true that I wish to know, love and follow you.

I would even go so far as to say that my chief desire is to do your will.

But unfortunately things are not that simple all the time.

Some circumstances of my life and work get me down.

I find some people hard to love.

I feel I cannot always cope with your call.

I am blinded by that lamp of which you are the light.

I want to shield my senses from your constant, penetrating demand.

Lord, please grant me the faith not only to endure but to respond with open heart to your call.

2 Samuel 11:1-10, 13-17. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned—Ps 50(51):3-7, 10-11. Mark 4:26-34.

Phillip Drane

Phillip Drane

Age 59, of Sutton formerly of Munhall, PA went home to be with our Lord Monday January 23, 2012.

He was born the son of the late Robert L. and Mary J. Shaver Drane.

He was an active member of Stump Chapel Baptist Church where he enjoyed leading Bible Studies.

He was a carpenter who enjoyed using his handyman skills and was always up for a new and challenging project.

Phillip was preceded in death by his parents, sister; Pamela, brothers; Robert and John Drane.

He is survived by his loving wife of 38 years, Brenda, son; Jason Drane (Stefanie), granddaughter; Hailey Drane of Virginia Beach, VA, brother; William Drane (Stacy), sisters; Kim Fallon (Mark), Beth Milke (Dale) all of Munhall, PA and many nieces and nephews who adored him.

Funeral services will be held 1:00 PM on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at Stump Chapel Baptist Church, Tesla, WV with Rev. Ted Legg officiating.

Burial will follow in Braxton Memorial Cemetery, Sutton.

Friends may call 6:00 - 8:00 PM Friday January 27, 2012 at Greene-Robertson Funeral Home, Sutton, WV.

Family suggest donations to: Stump Chapel Baptist Church 2636 Old Turnpike Road Little Birch, WV 26629.

Greene-Robertson Funeral Home is humbled to serve the Drane family.

Hunter Harvey Woods

Hunter Harvey Woods

Infant son of Harvey and Crystal Lynn Hundley Woods of Dille, WV went home to be with his Heavenly Father on January 22, 2012.

He was born on December 03, 2011 in Summersville, WV.

Hunter was preceded in death by his Maternal Grandmother; Shirley Jones Hundley.

He is survived by his parents, brothers; Derek Woods of Richwood, WV, Christopher Canter of Widen, WV, sisters; Selena Rosalee Woods at home, Heather Lesnett of Waynesburg, PA, Paternal Grandparents; Ledford and Linda Woods of Dille, WV, Maternal Grandfather; Richard Hundley of Stuarts Draft, VA, God Parents; Anthony and Jennifer Duffield of Clay, WV.

Graveside service will be held 2:00 PM Friday January 27, 2012 at Hall-Woods Cemetery, Dille, WV with the Rev. Wayne Litton officiating.

Friends called Thursday January 26, 2012 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at Greene-Robertson Funeral Home.

Greene-Robertson Funeral Home is proudly serving the Woods family.

Estelle Leona Chapman

Estelle Leona Chapman

Age 104, of Ellenboro, WV (Finch Community), departed this life January 25, 2012, at her residence.

Estelle was born June 01, 1907, in Pleasants County, WV, a daughter of the late James Harlan and Ella (Cline) Underwood.

As a young adult, she was employed by the former American Viscose plant of Parkersburg, where she worked in the reeling department and later in her life she worked in the Glenmoore and Regina Bakeries of Cincinnati, Ohio.

She was a Methodist by faith.

She is survived by her niece, Sheila McDonald (John) and great niece, Sheri Lawrence (Richard), both of Ellenboro, WV (Finch Community); great nephew, Gregory McDonald, Pine Grove, WV; great great nieces, Megan Francis (Jesse) and Shayla Lawrence, both of Ellenboro; great great nephew, Tyler McDonald, Davenport, Iowa; and her step daughter, Donna Casto, Parkersburg.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Harold F. Chapman; sister, Lillian Rinehart; brother, Layman Underwood, and step-son, Gregory Chapman.

Funeral services will be 1:00 PM Saturday at the McCullough-Rogers Funeral Home, Pennsboro, WV, with the Layman John McDonald officiating.

Burial will follow in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Ellenboro.

Friends may call from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Saturday at the funeral home.

01.27.12

History on January 27, yyyy

Today is Friday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2012. There are 339 days left in the year.

Thought for Today:

“The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.“ — Wallace Stevens, American poet and author (1879-1955).

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Jan. 27, 1967, astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo spacecraft.

On this date:

In 1756, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.

In 1880, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.

In 1901, opera composer Giuseppe Verdi died in Milan, Italy, at age 87.

In 1943, some 50 bombers struck Wilhelmshaven in the first all-American air raid against Germany during World War II.

In 1944, the Soviet Union announced the complete end of the deadly German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for more than two years.

In 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.

In 1951, an era of atomic testing in the Nevada desert began as an Air Force plane dropped a one-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flat.

In 1967, more than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons.

In 1972, “Queen of Gospel” Mahalia Jackson, 60, died in Evergreen Park, Ill.

In 1973, the Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.

In 1977, the Vatican issued a declaration reaffirming the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on female priests.

In 1984, singer Michael Jackson suffered serious burns to his scalp when pyrotechnics set his hair on fire during the filming of a Pepsi-Cola TV commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Ten years ago:

Wafa Idris, a Palestinian paramedic, became the first female suicide bomber against Israel; her attack claimed the life of an 81-year-old man.

A munitions depot in Nigeria exploded; more than 1,000 people died, most of them drowning in a nearby canal during the resulting stampede.

The Super Bowl matchup was decided as the New England Patriots upset the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-17, to win the AFC championship and the St. Louis Rams defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 29-24, to win the NFC championship.

Thomas Johansson defeated Marat Safin 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to win the Australian Open final.

Five years ago:

Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched in Washington, D.C., calling for the U.S. to get out of Iraq.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a congressional delegation to Pakistan, where she met with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Serena Williams won her third Australian Open singles title, routing Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2. Kimmie Meissner and Evan Lysacek won their first national titles at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Wash.

One year ago:

Tens of thousands of Yemenis demanded their president step down; taking inspiration from Tunisians’ revolt, they vowed to continue until their U.S.-backed government fell.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that color-coded terror alerts would be phased out by late April 2011.

Today’s Birthdays:

Singer Bobby “Blue” Bland is 82

Actor James Cromwell is 72

Actor John Witherspoon is 70

Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 67

Rhythm-and-blues singer Nedra Talley (The Ronettes) is 66

Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 64

Chief U.S. Justice John Roberts is 57

Country singer Cheryl White is 57

Country singer-musician Richard Young (The Kentucky Headhunters) is 57

Actress Mimi Rogers is 56

Rock musician Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) is 55

Commentator Keith Olbermann is 53

Rock singer Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 51

Rock musician Gillian Gilbert is 51

Actress Bridget Fonda is 48

Actor Alan Cumming is 47

Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 44

Rock singer Mike Patton is 44

Rapper Tricky is 44

Rock musician Michael Kulas (James) is 43

Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 43

Actor Josh Randall is 40

Country singer Kevin Denney is 36

Tennis player Marat Safin is 32

Thursday, January 26, 2012

WV Lottery - 01.26.12

Governor Tomblin Commends Legislature on Passage of H.B. 4086

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin issued the following statement, praising the West Virginia Senate and House of Delegates for the passage of House Bill 4086. The bill relates to a personal property tax reduction for construction of a $2 billion ethane steam cracker in West Virginia.

“To spur economic development, attracting an ethane steam cracker has been my number one goal and I am so pleased, with this vote, the legislature has sent a clear signal that they are joining me in this effort.

“It is through bipartisan support, like this and that of last month’s historic Horizontal Well Act Relating to Marcellus Shale, that we show potential investors West Virginia is ready and willing to take the development of our vast natural gas reserves to the next level in order to help address our country’s energy needs and expand our manufacturing sector.

“This tax relief bill, I believe, showcases our State’s commitment to being a great business partner today and long into the future,“ said Governor Tomblin.

The governor proposed H.B. 4086 which reduces personal property taxes for a company that builds an ethane cracker in West Virginia that has a minimum of $2 billion in investment. Instead of taxing the property at 5% of it is original value for 10 years, the bill extends the salvage value tax treatment of 5% for 25 years.

G-otcha™: Sand Fork Man Arrested on Sex Abuse Charges

Imprisonment Status:  Pre-Trial Felon
Jimmie Glen Steward
	Full Name:	Stewart,  Jimmie Glen
	Height:	5’  10”
	Weight:	285 lbs.
	Birth Date:	08.21.1960
	Gender:	Male
	Booking Date:	01.24.2012
	Facility:	Central Regional Jail
	Imprisonment Status:	Pre-Trial Felon

Offender Court Order Information

The West Virginia State Police have arrested a Gilmer County man on five counts of first degree sexual abuse and one count of providing false information to a trooper.

According to the criminal complaint, Jimmie Stewart, age 52, of Sand Fork, WV is accused of sexually abusing a juvenile girl, age 10, up to five times.

Officials said Stewart denied touching the girl and said on one occasion, the girl flirted with him.

Stewart is being held in the Central Regional Jail on $25,200 bond.

AAA: Gasoline Prices Hold Steady in WV

The current average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline in West Virginia is $3.474, down less than a half penny per gallon from a week ago.

The price of crude oil was up slightly today as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $1.25 to settle at $99.58 at close of formal trading on the NYMEX.

Oil markets continue to take direction from euro zone debt concerns and mounting geopolitical tension with Iran.

The European Union (EU) has agreed to an embargo on Iranian crude oil.  This plan would be expected to remove 450,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the current European supply by July 01.

A tightening of supply, such as this, would be expected to put upward pressure on crude prices.  At the same time, momentum also seems to be building to address the euro zone debt crisis as EU finance chiefs met to restart talks to restructure Greek debt to avoid default.

Positive global economic news, and the associated increase in demand for oil, would also be expected to pressure prices higher.

After rising sharply to begin last week’s holiday-shortened trading week, crude oil prices trended lower throughout the latter part of the week as dismal demand numbers and euro zone debt concerns specifically with Greece outweighed any upward pressure due to tension with Iran.

While last Thursday’s weekly Department of Energy report did show a drawdown in crude stocks, which initially sent oil prices higher, it was accompanied by bearish demand numbers the lowest in more than ten years and a build in gasoline stocks, which ultimately pressured prices lower.  Crude oil settled at $98.46 to end last week, the lowest price of 2012 and a decline of $2.25 from the settlement price to begin last week.

While crude oil prices have declined slightly, gasoline prices have remained relatively flat.  This comes as the potential upward pressure of expected refinery shutdowns has been offset by downward pressure from continuing demand destruction.

The current national retail average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is $3.38.  Today’s price is fractions of a penny cheaper than last week, but 15 cents more expensive than one month ago and 27 cents more expensive than one year ago.

While the price of gasoline at the pump increased by more than ten cents during the first two weeks of 2012, the price over the past two weeks has been within a penny of today’s price.

This week’s average prices: West Virginia Average =  $3.474

Average price during the week of January 17, 2011 =  $3.475

Average price during the week of January 25, 2011 =  $3.146

Today’s National Average Price =  $3.381

Area Gasoline Prices on 01.25.12:

Arnoldsburg = $3.??

Buckhannon = $3.49

Burnsville = $3.43

Clarksburg = $3.39

Gassaway =  $3.43

Glenville = $3.49

Grantsville =  $3.??

Harrisville = $3.39

Jane Lew = $3.49

Linn = $3.52

Parkersburg = $3.39

Pennsboro =  $3.39

Spencer = $3.39

Sutton =  $3.45

Weston =  $3.49

West Union =  $3.29

G-LtE™: ODE TO THE KING

In a forlorn kingdom in a mountainous state, a king lived in his egg shell white palace along a crooked creek where black lions guard the gate. Unlike most kings’ abodes with moats, high stone walls and drawbridges to deter prying eyes, the castle’s expanse was in open view for serfs to see and unbeknown to the king more than a minority dubbed the scene to be representation of an ostentatious monstrosity.

The view allowed the king to flaunt his wealth and so everyone would know who the potentate was, his name was inscribed in tall letters of noir on a white wall above his stable’s door.

The king, rich beyond compare, strove to continually amass gold for his engorged asset trove. His breakthrough to unimagined richness, as believed by local serfs, arose from his sapping precious minerals from a supply line snaking through Gil to a distant monarch’s turf.

When the king was apprehended for the heist, he compensated the offended party at a discounted price and surplus gold he had acquired with the ruse was used to amass more treasures to jealously covet for his personal use.

Throughout Gil, serfs lived in forlorn, air swept huts not far away from the king’s luxurious lair. Their children had wailed themselves to sleep at night since birth after unsatiated sups while each day the king’s family gormandized to expand their girths.

Many luckless serfs in Gil lost their land when they could not pay taxes due. The king bought that land at deflated prices and as his holdings grew he bragged that he owned nearly four score thousand acres in addition to his egg shell white palace he displayed in open view.

The king owned fleets of chariots his indentured servants drove. Those conveyances bore his noir insignia in bold, the same as the one on his barn along the crooked creek where his regal palace reflected riches made possible by his unquenching thirst for gold.

The sleek white chariots were dispersed throughout Gil to give the king multiple eyes and ears, and nothing remained secret to him to make serfs quake with nagging fears. They believed that if they provoked the king in any way they would lose their jobs or suffer another daunting fate from orders barked from the castle with its lion guarded gate. Real or imagined it mattered not because the perception of the king’s choice to do as pleased preserved his iron fisted control over Gil’s down trodden lot.

The king crowed that in one way or another on any given day more than 50% of Gil’s serfs depended on him for pay. His recurring reminder of   economic sway was designed to maintain his grip in an inordinate way. He called the tune for Gil’s legal entity including tethered esquires certified for skills in deceit, subterfuge, and perfidity. The serf’s schools were under his unrelenting thumb, the church was too where serfs went to pray, and he even controlled local news of the day.

That control arose after the king’s young son ran amuck by transporting forbidden stash into Gil before shooting it up and parlaying the excess into glittering cash. The son’s nab was followed by rehab in a posh resort, a punishment reserved for the kingdom’s elite unlike harsch treatment metered out to penniless serfs caught with illicit snort.

After the stash incident involving the errant son, the king hastened his emissary to order the kingdom’s crier never to utter words to defame the royals’ name. From that day hence the crier dutifully complied because for him to remain employed the king must remain unannoyed.

When the king was questioned about his hand throughout Gil’s pie he always feigned innocence with abject deny. In fact, he stood behind a hidden curtain to pull strings and levers to attain fruits of his incessant oversight endeavors. Instead of visible involvement in his manipulation throughout the land his approach was to dispatch surrogates to transmit details of a kingly command.

One more days than not, in the early morn the king sped to Gil’s main village in his uno one chariot to where stalwart subjects had assembled to permit him to perform. He predictably boasted of recent acquisitions of treasures galore and before leaving he always delivered his brand of jest making claque members’ roar knowing that if they did, free breakfasts from the king would be secure.

The day finally arrived when the king lost control of the kingdom’s news. The time tracked with advent of the information highway with truth permeating remote hollows and byways. Now, with clicks of a mouse electrons caress on silicon chips to cause Gil’s computers o hum, and what had been a chronic deterrent to shedding chains of repression has irreversibly come suddenly undone.

With serfs more in the know, new found accountability is sweeping throughout Gil enabling freedom to sprout, and that development is unwelcome to the king and his coterie because adequately informed serfs wield substantive clout.

As applies to mortals all, Gil’s king will eventually morph to worthless litter, not anything of enormous value associated with mesmerizing glitter. Wise serfs don’t view the king’s riches with envious lust because they know that worldly treasures in storage are no substitute for purpose-driven moorage. The serfs realize that what counts most in the end, be it for a king or those without regal peerage, and is contributions beneficial to fellow men, not cold collections of treasures bequeathed to next of kin.

All the above relates entirely to what Gil’s serfs say and similar to most stories told the final end game is yet to unfold. Maybe, the king will alter his ways to do something unconventionally bold. A monumental start would be to align his power with Gil’s GSC coalition to cause the peoples’ enemies to cower. The choice is solely the king’s to make. He either supports Gil’s children at stake or he is a willing party to unwarranted intrusion by the wicked State. To protect the children would be a fitting memorial into time immemorial unlike his egg shell white estate where vigilant lions guard its gate.

~~  Author on File ~~