State lawmakers haven’t seen a price tag for drug testing welfare recipients in West Virginia, but both Republican and Democratic state senators are backing the proposal.

The Senate Health and Human Resources Committee advanced legislation (SB 6) Tuesday that would mandate drug testing for about 2,000 adults who receive welfare benefits through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in West Virginia.

“It’s a way to reach people who need help,” said Sen. Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, who heads the health committee. “It’s a compassionate approach. A lot of times they don’t seek help on their own.”

The state Department of Health and Human Resources has yet to present a cost estimate for operating the statewide drug-testing program.

Sen. Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, said he had reservations about the bill, but he voted to support it after state health officials told lawmakers Tuesday that West Virginia has an adequate number of drug treatment facilities and job skills program to accommodate welfare recipients who fail drug tests.

State officials estimate the drug-testing program could flag about 390 people the first year.

“When this has been done in other states, the results and benefits have been kind of questionable,” Palumbo said. “But when they [DHHR officials] say this is well within their ability to handle it, it gives you comfort.”

At legislative interim meetings last year, lawmakers learned that few welfare recipients are testing positive for drugs in the dozen or so states that already have the high-cost screening programs.

In December 2014, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling that Florida’s drug-testing law was unconstitutional. Florida’s program required testing of all public assistance applicants.

Under West Virginia’s bill, DHHR must have “reasonable suspicion” that a welfare recipient is using drugs before the agency could order a drug test.

“There certainly have been a lot of states that haven’t been successful, and we’re trying to learn from their mistakes,” Ferns said.

Any of three factors would trigger a drug test:

n An applicant shows “qualities indicative of substance abuse.”

n A person applying for benefits has a drug-related conviction within the past five years.

n The welfare recipient has a baby who tests positive for controlled substances within five days after birth.

Under the bill, those who fail drug tests must complete a substance abuse treatment program and a job skills class. A second failed test would prompt a one-year suspension from receiving welfare benefits. A third positive test leads to a lifetime ban.

“We have a drug epidemic in West Virginia, and anyway we can identify individuals who need assistance and point them in a direction to get assistance is something I’ll support,” said Sen. Chris Walters, R-Putnam.

Sen. Bill Laird, D-Fayette, was the only health committee member who voted against the bill. Laird is not seeking re-election.

The legislation next moves to the Senate Finance Committee.

Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4869 or follow @ericeyre on Twitter.

With sentencing dates approaching, a federal judge has scheduled a hearing for next week to discuss the plea agreements made by Freedom Industries and six former Freedom officials related to the January 2014 chemical spill that contaminated the Kanawha Valley's drinking water supply.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston set one hearing for 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 27 to discuss all seven cases. The judge said in a brief order that he would "hold a hearing to discuss the factual and legal basis for all pled offenses."

Johnston has sentencing hearings in the Freedom cases scheduled to start on Feb. 1 and run through Feb. 17.

Former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin reached plea agreements with Freedom, the corporate entity, and with six former Freedom officials. All agreed to plead guilty to water pollution crimes related to the Jan. 9, 2014, incident at the company's Etowah Terminal on the Elk River, just upstream from West Virginia American Water's regional drinking water intake.

Former Freedom officials who pleaded guilty are Gary Southern, Dennis Farrell, Charles Herzing, William Tis, Robert Reynolds, and Michael Burdette.

Under federal court rules, before entering judgment on a guilty plea, a judge is supposed to determine the factual basis for a plea.

During one Freedom plea hearing last year, one of the defendants initially raised questions about whether he had really committed a crime.

When Johnston asked Tis during a plea hearing in March 2015 whether he was guilty, Tis responded, "I have signed my name to these documents. If you're asking me in a court of law under oath, no, I don't believe I have committed a crime, but I am pleading guilty."

Johnston then said, "All right, counsel, we need to talk about this. I don't take pleas when the defendant doesn't admit guilt."

Tis then replied, "I guess I misunderstood what you were asking me, your honor."

"The events of that date, and how they occurred, and the failure to have a permit, because I was an officer of that company, I do agree with everything that was written there," Tis said. "So, to that extent, I am pleading guilty to Count Number 2. As a layman, I feel differently, but based on the law, I am pleading guilty, and I understand that."

Johnston went on to say that "this has actually never happened before."

When a defendant "tells me they're not guilty of a crime" they go to trial, the judge said, "and you just told me that you don't believe you're guilty of a crime."

Tis responded, "I do believe I am guilty of this offense. There's no doubt that as we wrote this up and I read it, and re-read it, and put my name on it that, as an officer of this company, I am guilty of that."

"The part that perhaps isn't [and] should be a part of this hearing is that there were people that we had hired that were charged with doing these things and their failure results in my failure, because of the way the law is written, I am guilty of this crime," Tis told the judge.

During another of the Freedom plea hearings, Johnston told prosecutors and defense attorneys, "I suppose it probably is an understatement to say that I'm a stickler about factual basis." The judge noted that earlier that day he entered an order throwing out a third plea agreement in a coal company kickback case because of what he said was a lack of a factual basis for the plea.

In that Freedom hearing, involving Farrell, Johnston encouraged lawyers in the case to file additional legal briefs to explain the factual basis for the plea. Prosecutors filed five different briefs in response to the judge's concerns to address the basis for the pleas involving Freedom, Southern and Farrell, Tis and Herzing, Burdette and Reynolds.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.

Owners of a longtime Italian restaurant in Charleston filed a lawsuit last week claiming its insurance company won't provide reimbursement for the loss it allegedly suffered during the water crisis.

Attorneys for Joe Fazio's Restaurant Inc. filed a lawsuit in Kanawha Circuit Court against Motorist Mutual Insurance Company. Fazio's claims it paid its premium so it would be paid for the amount of money it lost while restaurants were ordered closed for about five days after the January 2014 chemical spill.

Among other expenses Fazio's wants compensated for are those associated with the loss of food and Coca-Cola products. Motorist has failed to honor the restaurant's claim, the lawsuit states.

Just as he believes the state should not be involved in setting wages for construction workers on state-funded projects, Senate Government Organization Chairman Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, wants to repeal a 75-year-old state law that prevents wholesalers and retailers from selling goods and services at below cost.

"You can charge whatever you want, and the government won't have anything to do with it," Blair said of legislation to repeal the state's Unfair Trade Practices Act (SB 259).

Enacted in 1939, the law states that it is intended to "safeguard the public against the creation and perpetration of monopolies and to foster and encourage competition."

Intended to prevent large companies from driving competitors out of business by temporarily offering below-cost prices, the law requires at least a 4 percent markup over cost by wholesalers, and at least a 7 percent markup by retailers.

While it may have served a purpose in the Great Depression, Blair said the law - like the prevailing wage statute he also opposes - is an unnecessary intrusion of government into the free-market economy.

"When government gets involved in setting prices - price fixing - then you end up with a perverted economic system that has undue components that affect the consumer," Blair said.

As a practical example, he said the law inflates the cost of gasoline by more than 20 cents a gallon, which he believes is the reason gasoline retailers oppose the bill.

"Some are trying to make that it's a partisan bill, and it's anything but," Blair said.

Blair's Government Organization Committee was scheduled to take up the bill Tuesday, but took it off the agenda following objections from the West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association (OMEGA), which represents gasoline retailers, convenience stores and independent grocers.

Ryan Thorn, government affairs coordinator for OMEGA, said the Unfair Trade Act is an important backstop to protect small businesses against large corporations.

"It's a protection for West Virginia's small, locally owned businesses," he said.

Repeal of the law, he said, "Would result in less competition and less choices for consumers, and, ultimately, higher prices."

Thorn said he suspects Blair and co-sponsor Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, are playing to constituents who see lower gas prices in neighboring Virginia and Maryland.

"I'm sure they hear it from their constituents every day, why are our gas prices higher?" Thorn said, adding that OMEGA believes higher gas taxes in West Virginia, not the lack of competitive pricing, is the reason.

"There's no evidence at all that repealing Unfair Trade would lower gas prices," he said.

"I am not in the pocket of the business community," Blair responded. "I'm going to do what's right for the people of West Virginia."

Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.

A man contracted to work at the Toyota plant in Buffalo during the water crisis two years ago alleges he had to have his appendix removed after being exposed to the chemical that leaked from Freedom Industries.

Matthew Bess was working as a cleaning crew for Voith Industrial Services at the Toyota plant during the January 2014 chemical leak, in which MCHM leaked into the Elk River from Freedom Industries and contaminated the area's water supply for days. Bess filed a lawsuit against Toyota West Virginia and Voith earlier this month in federal court in Charleston.

Huntington attorney J. Patrick Stephens says Bess was required to pressure wash at the plant during the time the water ban was in place. Bess claims he suffered bodily injury when he "involuntarily drank water and inhaled the vapors while working." As a result, Bess says he had to have his appendix removed.

"Breathing in or drinking water caused his initial health problems," Stephens said. "His medical records corroborate the claim, for the most part."

A spokeswoman for Toyota said Tuesday she wouldn't comment on the litigation and a representative from Voith couldn't be reached for comment.

Bess is also suing Eastman Chemical, the company that manufactures the MCHM; West Virginia American Water and its parent company, American Water Works.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

Considering she was a teacher, a Head Start worker, a mother to five, a grandmother to 13 and a great-grandmother to seven, it'd be hard to accuse Ardath Stanton Francke, who died Monday at 91, of not caring about children.

But, as she said in a 2009 interview, it was one time she let a child down that led her to help found Daymark, which has been serving disadvantaged youth for over 40 years.

It was around Christmas: children were bringing college friends home, a neighbor asked her to keep a puppy for a week so she could surprise her own children with it, a friend asked her to get a plant for her mother, and she'd already agreed to allow another friend's daughter to have her wedding rehearsal dinner at her house.

"The phone rang, and it was a Head Start teacher. She said, 'Ardath, can you take a 14-year-old girl into your house until after the holidays?'" Francke recalled in the interview. "I told her I couldn't do that. On Christmas Eve, we went to the midnight service at church. I walked into the entry, and there was a manger scene. And 'No room in the inn' just reverberated in my head.

"I sat through the service, but I didn't feel much Christmas spirit. Where was that child? I had turned her away. When I walked out into the cold, brisk starlit night and the Catholic bells were chiming across the street, my heart felt like a stone."

She said it was the guilt over that child that led her to help found Daymark in 1974. Vicki Pleasant, the Charleston-based nonprofit's executive director, said it's now an umbrella organization for Patchwork, an emergency crisis shelter for runaway and homeless youth; Turning Point, a semi-independent living program for those ages 15-21 who are in state custody for various reasons, such as their parents' physical or sexual abuse; and a transitional living program for those ages 16-21, with four beds for homeless teenagers and one for a youth in state custody.

Pleasant said Daymark also provides a program to help youths get GEDs, plus a substance abuse prevention group and a group focused on learning basic living skills, like how to cook and open bank accounts. In all, Daymark has served over 40,000 youth since its founding, Pleasant said.

"Guilt can be productive," Francke had said in her 2009 interview.

Pleasant said Francke was a board member for many years, helped recruit other board members and raised an "enormous amount" of money.

"There wasn't anything that she didn't do for many, many years," Pleasant said.

Francke was born on April 6, 1924, the oldest of three children, in Greenbrier, Arkansas. The family eventually settled in Greenwood, Mississippi, when she was in elementary school. She graduated from the Mississippi State College for Women in 1946 and started teaching in Jonestown, Mississippi.

She married a doctor, Paul Francke, after seeing him for six months. They wed in 1949 and she went to work in a private school to support them both during his low-paid residency in Chicago, Illinois.

She said she owed her husband "so much," saying he taught her to play tennis, ski and ice skate, and they rode horses in the mountains every Wednesday. He died in 2010.

"That was the love of her life," said Kate McWhorter, a grandchild who had taken care of Franke since September, while she was in hospice. "And that's what brought her the most peace at the end of life was the thought of seeing him again, and she was confident she was going to.

"She said she felt she was going home."

The family moved to Charleston in 1952, when she also became a member of the local First Presbyterian Church, which eventually helped start Daymark. After her children left home, she became the parent-involvement worker for Head Start, an early childhood education program for children from low-income families. After her experience of Christmas guilt, she helped assemble a task force of several organizations to found Daymark.

In 2006, the nondenominational West Virginia Institute For Spirituality opened a "hermitage" building named after Francke in the backyard of its Virginia Street location. The building, meant to provide visitors seclusion for temporary periods of study and prayer, has a gathering space and a small apartment. Francke was a longtime supporter of both the institute and its predecessor, the Roman Catholic Cenacle Sisters.

Sister Molly Maloney said Francke completed training to become an associate spiritual director for the group and donated funds to help create the hermitage.

In 2012, Franke received a Governor's Service Award for Lifetime Achievement.

"I have never met anyone that has met her that hasn't been amazed by her," McWhorter said.

Francke's funeral will be 1:30 p.m. Sunday at First Presbyterian Church in Charleston, with a family visitation after the service. Donations can be made to First Presbyterian, 16 Leon Sullivan Way, Charleston, WV 25301, or to Daymark, 1592 Washington St., East, Suite 2, Charleston, WV 25311.

A judge ordered a Kanawha County public defender to pay $50 for giving a client a copy of a packet that contained the identity of a confidential informant.

Photos of the packet ended up on social media.

Sarah Whitaker, the public defender; her counsel, Timothy Mayo; and assistant prosecutor Tera Salango, agreed on the terms of the order, which directs Whitaker to pay $50.

Judge Tod Kaufman accepted the order at a hearing Tuesday afternoon, after asking Whitaker why she gave a copy of the packet to her client.

"Your honor, I simply forgot," Whitaker said.

The order also says that the parties have agreed to no longer photocopy confidential informant packets.

On. Dec. 2, Whitaker gave her client, Tracie Jones, a copy of a packet containing the name of the informant Jones allegedly sold drugs to. Whitaker said she had spent a couple hours reviewing the case with Jones, so forgot to ask for the packet back.

After Jones received the packet, a man she used to live with, Andre Lee, posted several photos of the packet on Facebook.

Whitaker had signed an order on Oct. 23 prohibiting the copying and distributing of packets containing confidential informants' identities. The Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney's Office requests all defense lawyers to sign similar agreements.

Lee posted numerous photos of the packet on Dec. 10 with captions like "I'd be ashamed of myself," "exposed" and "cheap whore." The photos show the name of the informant, his address, and some of the rules for informants and potential cash rewards, ranging from $60 to $200.

The packet also lists Lee and Jones as "targets." Marijuana is written next to Lee's name, while prescription pills is written next to Jones.

Whitaker became aware she had let Jones leave with the packet on Dec. 14 and subsequently notified the court. On Dec. 15, she was called to Judge Kaufman's chambers and removed from the case.

Jones, 45, of Charleston, was charged with possession with intent to distribute oxycodone on July 9. She allegedly sold to a confidential informant working with the Metro Drug Unit on April 20, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.

The hearing Tuesday was supposed to start at 11 a.m. The parties involved met behind closed doors instead, and the judge postponed the hearing until 1:30 p.m.

Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.

St. Albans Council gave preliminary approval Tuesday to an ordinance to increase enforcement of nuisance violations and place liens on public nuisance property without obtaining a court order.

In addition, the ordinance would allow the city in some circumstances to sell city property without an auction. It also would allow the city to more easily enter into agreements with other governments.

The proposals were first outlined by the city when it applied to participate in the state's Municipal Home Rule pilot program. The program is designed to give local governments more power. The city was admitted into the program in September.

Under the proposal, the city property inspector could issue citations to property owners or tenants for nuisance violations involving vacant structures, sanitation, high weeds, motor vehicles, swimming pools, the accumulation of rubbish or garbage and the disposal of garbage, after providing a written notice.

The city also could place a lien on property for costs incurred in abating exterior sanitation and nuisance violations when an owner fails to correct the situation, the city performs the necessary work, the city notifies the owner of the costs, and the owner doesn't pay in a timely manner.

Selling city property without an auction would be allowed if the property were sold for fair market value. Also, City Council would have to determine that the property would be used for specific economic development projects or that it would provide a specific, necessary, convenient resource for the citizens. Such a sale would have to be advertised in the newspaper.

The ordinance would allow the city to enter into agreements with other governments by passing a resolution - a one-step process - rather than passing an ordinance, which is a two-step process.

The ordinance passed Tuesday evening by unanimous voice vote. There will be a public hearing at a future date and the ordinance must be approved again at a future council meeting before it becomes final.

In other action, Patrolman Brandon Tagayun was promoted to sergeant. He has been with the St. Albans Police Department for eight years. The sergeant's position became open because of an early retirement. Mayor Dick Callaway and police Chief Mike Matthews presided over the promotion ceremony.

Also at the meeting, council gave preliminary approval to an ordinance prohibiting parking on the south side of Adams Avenue.

Final approval was given to an ordinance subdividing the property at 2757 Washington Ave.

Council approved the purchase of a 2016 Ford Explorer for $25,940 for the police department with money from a grant. The vehicle will be purchased on a state bid from Stephens Auto of Danville.

It also was agreed to pay current invoices, which total $10,302.

Ward 5 Councilman Christopher Withrow, Ward 6 Councilwoman Loretta Griffith, Ward 8 Councilman Kevin Pennington and Councilman John Boles Jr. did not attend Tuesday's meeting.

Council's next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 on the second floor of the municipal building at 51 Sixth Ave.

The City of Dunbar may soon change how they deal with pit bull and mixed pit bull breed dogs.

Humane Officer Mike Wolfe explained to the Dunbar City Council on Tuesday evening how they could better deal with vicious dogs in Dunbar.

Wolfe wants to change Dunbar's current ordinance to eliminate the discrimination of pit bulls and change the wording to "dangerous dogs," similar to the ordinance the City of Charleston has in place.

Currently, any pit bulls or pit bull mixes within the city limits of Dunbar have to be kept inside or secured in an outdoor kennel either with a concrete floor or a fence that goes two feet underground, according to Wolfe.

"Basically it's a jail cell in someone's yard," Wolfe said.

If the owner takes the pit bull for a walk, the dog has to wear a muzzle around its mouth, regardless of the dog's temperament.

Instead of limiting the restrictions to the pit bull breed, the dangerous dog ordinance would put these restrictions in place for any vicious dogs. It would be more efficient for the city because veterinarians rely on DNA testing to determine whether a dog is a pit bull or not. Most veterinarians would not be able determine whether a dog has pit bull blood based off a photograph.

Wolfe presented a handout with pictures of 16 dogs that looked similar to pit bulls at the council meeting on Tuesday evening. The city council members and audience were surprised that only three of the dogs were a pit bull mix.

"Looks can be deceiving," Wolfe said. "The dangerous dog ordinance is much better."

Police Chief Jesse Bailes said after looking at the yearly numbers, "There are more people who call with animal complaints than burglaries."

The City of Dunbar also promoted three firefighters to lieutenant: Josh Bowers, T. W. Hindman and Kevin Pickens.

By promoting three firefighters to lieutenant, the rank structure of Dunbar Fire Department will be similar to those of neighboring departments.

"When we're out running calls with other departments, this will help streamline us," Fire Chief Butch Ellis said.

Dunbar Mayor Terry Greenlee read a letter from South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens, who thanked the Dunbar Fire Department for their help and professionalism while putting out the fire at Mojo's Sports Bar.

Greenlee said he drove by the location recently and was shocked at how well the fire was contained.

"It's a wonder the whole block didn't go down," Greenlee said.

Councilman Greg Hudson also praised the Dunbar police for their compassion when they helped an older woman in need last week.

Hudson said Dunbar police officers came in contact with the woman in a home without utilities and worked with the churches in the area to get the woman's heat turned back on.

Hudson applauded the police for taking the time to check the legitimacy of her story and for taking the steps to help her.

"It's hard to know who's true and who's false," Hudson said. "It was a wonderful blessing."

South Charleston High School Principal Michael Arbogast also presented the State of the School address to the Council.

Arbogast said the International Baccalaureate program is basically "AP program on steroids," and is the best program on the market. Arbogast said the high school has an 87% pass rate on AP exams.

South Charleston High School is also streaming most of its activities and programs online. Parents are able to stream the morning announcements online to stay up to date with what's happening at school. The only events that cost money to stream are sporting events.

Arbogast said South Charleston High School is the first school in Southern West Virginia to utilize streaming. He said he received a phone call from a student's grandmother who streamed graduation in her Oklahoma nursing home last year. She was unable to make it to her grandchild's graduation, but was able to watch her grandchild walk across the stage from the comfort of her nursing home with her friends thanks to the streaming technology.

"That was really heartwarming," Arbogast said.

Reach Laura Haight at 304-348-4843, laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com or follow @laurahaight_ on Twitter.

Both area residents and City Council members were left with unanswered questions regarding the shutdown of Tent City after Council met Tuesday evening.

About a dozen people from the city and Kanawha County attended Tuesday's meeting to express their concerns for the 20 to 30 people ejected from Tent City earlier in the day. Others wanted to know why Mayor Danny Jones made the decision on one of the coldest days this winter.

A handful were from Mount Juliet United Methodist Church in Belle, which has provided food, clothing and other items to Tent City residents in the past.

"This was not a threat to the city; we were always offered hospitality, food, drink and a fire," said Johnny Meadows, a Mount Juliet parishioner. His wife, Debbie Meadows, said when she called the mayor's office after work when she heard about the dismantling, the woman who answered the phone told her, "why don't you take them in?"

"How can you just go in and decide to displace a whole community? I don't understand how one person can make that decision," Debbie Meadows said.

Ezekiel Ellis said he had been staying at Tent City for three weeks with his fiancee, Dorothy Bradfield, before they returned Tuesday afternoon from Prestera to find the site completely bare.

After five people from the community spoke, Jones discontinued the public speakers portion of the meeting. But by the end, it was clear that Council members, too, had questions about Tent City.

Councilwoman Shannon Snodgrass said she knew nothing about Tent City, let alone its shutdown, until just before Council's meeting.

"As a Council Member, I'd like to know, what happened today?" Snodgrass asked.

Jones refused to answer Council members' and residents' questions about his decision.

Councilman Chuck Overstreet also was unaware of Tuesday's events until he saw the media reports.

"I feel your pain, and just want to let you know we're not apathetic to your feelings," he told those who spoke up about Tent City.

Councilman Bernard Slater asked Jones directly: "Do we have a plan in place at all to help the homeless at Tent City?"

"You would've had to have been there today," Jones shot back. "And I'm not going to get into it."

That's when Brooke Drake, who also attended to show her support for Tent City's homeless, interrupted to ask a question as Jones concluded the meeting and the clerk called the roll, following him out of Council chambers as he left City Hall. Jones also wouldn't answer questions from the media because he'd already held a press conference on the issue earlier Tuesday.

"To not even look at me when I'm trying to speak to him, [these] people in Belle are taking better care of our community members than our own mayor," Drake said.

City Attorney Paul Ellis said after the meeting that Waste Management, which owns the property Tent City sat on, "made it clear to us that no one there was permitted to be on the property any longer." The company provided a written notice of that decision to city officials in a letter dated Jan. 19.

"The right things were done today," Ellis said. "With regard to what the mayor says or doesn't say, that's his business."

"We just were not informed," Snodgrass said.

For Ezekiel Ellis and Bradfield, their first priority is finding a place to stay in the coming days.

"They act like we're just another problem to get rid of," Bradfield said, as Traci Strickland, supervisor for homeless programs at Prestera Center, worked to help the two acquire proper identification, which many shelters require.

Also on Tuesday, Council:

n Voted to authorize the mayor to receive and administer $143,000 in grant funds from the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety to purchase 100 radios, microphones and cases for the Charleston Fire Department.

n Voted to authorize the mayor or city manager to apply for a 2015 Emergency Management Performance Grant through the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to help the city continue its emergency management response system.

n Authorized the finance director to establish the Civil Center Project Debt Service Fund, to account for activity related to financing the Civic Center Project.

n Approved a proposal by State Equipment to purchase a backhoe for roughly $80,200 to be used by the street department. The purchase will be made by piggybacking a State of West Virginia contract.

n Approved payment of an invoice of $47,100 from Gracie R. Marker & Sons, Inc. for materials and labor related to an emergency storm sewer replacement at 908 Chappell Road.

Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.

More than 9,000 Fayette and Nicholas county residents are without power on what is so far one of the coldest nights of the year.

Fayette County emergency dispatchers said a major substation blew in Brownsville on Fayette 39 near Gauley Bridge, causing a significant portion of the county to lose power.

In Fayette County, 7,264 Appalachian Power customers were without power. In Nicholas County, 2,009 Appalachian Power customers were without electricity. First Energy reported 1 to 20 customers without power in Nicholas County. An additional 452 Appalachian Power customers were in the dark in Greenbrier County.

Appalachian Power estimated the power would be back on by midnight, Fayette dispatchers said.

Dispatchers said the county Homeland Security director was working to get shelters set up in the area.

Dylan Cooper, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Charleston, said overnight temperatures in Fayette and Nicholas counties will be in between 5 degrees and 10 degrees. The eastern end of Nicholas County may dip down to closer to zero, Cooper said.

"Between last night and tonight will be the battle for the coldest day so far," Cooper said.

AARP meeting

AARP will meet at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at the South Charleston Library for a greet and eat meeting. Bring a covered dish or snack.

WVU fan club

Kanawha Valley WVU Fan Club will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at Harding's Restaurant, Interstate 79, Exit 1, Mink Shoals exit.

Lunch and learn

University of Charleston's Graduate School of Business and Leadership will sponsor a Lunch and Learn Session from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at 900 Virginia St. E. The speaker will be Christina Chard, assistant professor at the University of Charleston School of Business and Leadership and the director of the Master of Forensic Accounting Program. The focus will be on Understanding Fraud, White Collar Crime and Organizational Impact. The cost is $10 per person and includes registration fee, catered lunch and a certificate of completion. For information, contact Ashley Calvert at 304-357-4373 or ashleycalvert@ucwv.edu.

Snowball tea

Alpha Lambda Master chapter to Beta Sigma Phi International sorority will hold their annual "Snowball Tea" at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Stonewall Jackson Middle School library. Members and their guests will dine on soup, sandwiches and dessert. There will be a snowball theme while participating in games about the winter season.

Items for Bulletin Board may be submitted by mail to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, 1001 Virginia St. E., Charleston, WV 25301; faxed to 304-348-1233; or emailed to gazette@wvgazettemail.com. Notices will be run one time free. Please include a contact person's name and a daytime phone number.

WASHINGTON (AP) – After seven years, 2 million-plus deportations, two executive actions and 720,000 “Dreamers,” the bottom line on President Barack Obama’s immigration record still remains an open question for many immigrants and their advocates.

In the end, the Supreme Court may fill in the blank.

By agreeing to hear a challenge to Obama’s immigration plan, the court on Tuesday raised hopes that Obama may have one last chance to make good on an unfulfilled promise to millions of immigrants, many of whom feel abandoned by his administration’s recent deportation raids.

If the court sides with Obama, ruling that he has the authority to unilaterally shield up to 5 million immigrants from deportation, Obama would claim a sizable last win on an issue that has dogged him for years. His administration would, however, face another challenge – implementing a complex program in a matter of month as Republicans vow to reverse it just as quickly.

If the court rules against Obama, he could spend his last months in office making headlines for deporting people, rather than shielding them from deportation, as he’d planned.

At issue are Obama’s actions to allow parents of U.S. citizens to stay in the country, along with an expansion of Obama’s earlier program protecting people brought to the U.S. illegally as children – known as Dreamers. Lower courts have put those programs on hold amid claims Obama exceeded his authority, but the Supreme Court agreed to have the final word.

Advocates said they see the pivot point as a reflection of the seesaw nature of Obama’s record on the issue. Despite his efforts to pass immigration legislation and use his executive power to protect some immigrants, his broader deportation policy led activists to label him the “deporter-in-chief” and left wounds some say won’t be healed.

Most recently, advocates were incensed by deportation raids targeting 121 Central American immigrants, arguing the raids sowed fear and skepticism in a community that could make it harder for advocates and the administration to persuade people to come forward later.

Angela Maria Kelley, an immigration expert at the liberal Center for American Progress, likened Obama’s policies to a “high school romance: One minute you’re in love, the next you’re being dumped.

“It does feel like it can take on a bipolar presence in the community,” Kelley said.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Obama’s executive action by late June. That would leave Obama with barely half a year to get the program up and running before his presidency ends. Most of the Republicans running to replace Obama have already vowed to tear up the program if elected.

Obama’s expanded program for people brought here as children was hours away from being launched last year when a judge put it on hold, so ostensibly, the administration could flick the switch on almost overnight with little additional preparation.

But the much larger program for parents of U.S. citizens wasn’t nearly as far along when the court shut it down.

Ahead of the injunction, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had secured office space in Arlington, Virginia, for a new processing center, with plans to hire about 1,000 people to screen applications. But the administration would have to hire and train those workers, finalize the forms and application process, and disseminate that information to applicants.

Administration officials predicted that could take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months. By comparison, it took 60 days to launch the initial program covering people brought here as children.

“We’re certainly interested in moving forward with implementing these executive actions as expeditiously as possible,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Another hold-up could come from applicants, who would need to pull together application fees and documents proving they’ve been in the country for years. How quickly the government could process applications is another question.

In the first six months of Obama’s earlier program for people brought here as children, 200,000 were approved out of roughly 423,000 applications.

Working against the president is deep uncertainty about what happens to those who apply for protection if a Republican who opposes Obama’s actions wins the White House. New applications would almost certainly be halted, but immigration advocates predicted the next president would find it harder to retract work permits from those approved before Obama leaves office.

“There’s a real question right now of whether people are safe from deportation, not the least because in the last few weeks we’ve seen increased raids by the president,” said Karen Tumlin, legal director at the National Immigration Law Center. “But folks are so eager to have the protections from family separation, if the chance does present itself, I would anticipate a tremendous outpouring of interest.”

Reach Kathleen Hennessey on Twitter at https://twitter.com/khennessey and Josh Lederman at https://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia Delegate Patsy Trecost is challenging Secretary of State Natalie Tennant in a Democratic primary.

The Harrison County lawmaker announced his bid for secretary of state Tuesday.

Trecost was elected to his first term as a delegate in 2014. He was previously the mayor and a city council member in Clarksburg.

Tennant was first elected in 2008 and won re-election in 2012. She is seeking a third term after losing a 2014 bid for U.S. Senate.

Morgantown Republican Mac Warner is also seeking the four-year office.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) - The principal at Fairmont Senior High School has been suspended for four days.

Media outlets report the Marion County Board of Education approved Tyson Furgason's suspension Tuesday night.

County schools Superintendent Gary Price says Furgason's failure to complete daily duties was the reason behind the suspension.

Furgason has not been at school since leaving on Jan. 4 following a discussion with Price.

Although the suspension was for four days, Price says he's not sure when Furgason will return. He says assistant principals and other administrators are performing Furgason's duties in his absence.

Several counties in West Virginia, including Kanawha, opted to send students home early, as most of West Virginia sits under a winter storm watch for later in the week.

Kanawha students were being sent home two hours early, as were students in Monongalia County. Other schools, including those in Wayne, Wyoming, Mingo, Calhoun, Clay and Randolph counties opted to close even earlier Wednesday, sending students home before lunchtime.

Schools in counties including Fayette, Summers, Greenbrier, McDowell, Roane, Boone, Lincoln, Wirt and Raleigh opted to close three hours early Wednesday due to anticipated snowfall and inclement weather conditions.

The National Weather Service says the winter storm watch is in effect from Friday morning through late Saturday night.

The weather service says more than a foot of snow is possible in some locations, and sleet could initially mix with snow on Friday. Forecasters say accumulations could make roads impassable and topple trees and power lines.

In Around West Virginia today: Martinsburg Police to limit vehicle pursuits, the West Virginia Hive Network assists entrepreneurs, and more.

n The Martinsburg Police Department will begin pursuing suspects in a vehicle only when they are suspected of "violent forcible felonies," The Journal reports. Police said the policy was meant to protect innocent bystanders who could be struck during a pursuit. "It must be so important to apprehend the suspect that officers are justified in placing an innocent third party at risk of losing their life and/or property," the new policy says.

n The West Virginia Hive Network is building six facilities in the southern part of the state where potential business owners can find assistance opening and sustaining a business, according to The Register-Herald. At the hives, entrepreneurs can find out if their business idea is viable and connect with mentors. The first, in Beckley, includes work stations and conference spaces, free Wi-Fi, a lounge, a 3D printer and more. The facilities are also planned for Summersville, Richwood, Oak Hill, Lewisburg and Hinton.

n A Berkeley County lawmaker suggested to a teacher who contacted him about PEIA budget cuts via Twitter that she should get a second job, work during the summer, or contribute less to her retirement fund. Gina Pratt, a Title I teacher at Back Creek Valley Elementary, had contacted Republican Delegate Eric Householder, assistant majority whip, to ask him to support more funding for PEIA, after the insurance company approved cuts to benefits last year. She told The Journal she already has a second job. She also said Householder must not understand that public workers who work during the summer, such as police officers, will pay more as a result of PEIA budget cuts as well. Householder told The Journal that many West Virginia families, including his, have had to cut back on spending or obtain second jobs.

n Police are charging four people with murder more than a year after Franklin Borders was killed in Oak Hill, according to WVVA. Joseph Lawson, of Beckley; Quantel Saunders, of Beckley; Corte Lawson, of Beckley; and Sabrina Gray, of Oak Hill are being charged with murder. Police said a witness had come forward, saying she had heard gun shots then saw two men fleeing from the area in a silver Dodge Neon on Nov. 2, 2014.

Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.

Longtime Kanawha County Delegate Patrick Lane will not run for re-election.

Lane, a Republican and vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is currently in the midst of his sixth term in the House of Delegates.

"I've been here 12 years and it's just time to do other things," Lane said Wednesday.

He represents the 38th House District, which covers Cross Lanes and a northwestern corner of Kanawha County as well as a chunk of southern Putnam County, including Scott Depot.

He has been a prominent supporter of, among other things, the creation of drug courts, education reform and changes to the state's mandatory immunization rules.

Four candidates have filed to run for the House seat currently held by Lane: Republicans David Bender, Nancy Reagan Foster and Bob Keller, and Democrat Tom Tull.

Candidates who have filed in recent days for this year's election include:

n Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for president, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, one of the leading Republican candidates.

n Incumbent Republican congressmen David McKinley and Evan Jenkins, who are running for re-election.

n Delegate Patsy Trecost, D-Harrison, will challenge incumbent Natalie Tennant in the Democratic primary for secretary of state. Trecost, a former Clarksburg mayor, joins Tennant and Republican Mac Warner in the race.

n Robin Righter, a former employee of the state auditor's office, is running for auditor. She joins fellow Democrat Mary Ann Claytor and Delegate J.B. McCuskey, R-Kanawha, in the auditor's race.

n Wayne King, a lawyer from Clay, is running for the open seat on the state Supreme Court. He joins Morgantown lawyer Beth Walker and Bill Wooton, a Beckley lawyer and former legislative leader, in the non-partisan race.

Local health departments around West Virginia would have to cut services if the state goes forward with a proposed 25 percent reduction to their funding.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's proposed budget for fiscal year 2017, which begins in July, contains a line-item cut of $4 million for aid to local health departments, Chad Bundy, president of the West Virginia Association of Local Health Departments, told local health officials Wednesday morning.

The current aid for health departments is $16.6 million, but that would be reduced to $12.6 in the budget that Tomblin submitted to the state Legislature. The state gives health departments a base amount and then more money based on the number of people they serve.

West Virginia faces deficits totaling $800 million in the current and upcoming budget year.

Tom Susman, a lobbyist for the state Association of Local Health Departments, said a 25 percent cut would be unprecedented. Susman said he had seen media reports of the state's budget problems and figured there would be a 4 percent to 5 percent cut to local health department aid.

"No one had any idea that it would be this size of a reduction," Susman said.

Representatives of local health departments from around the state gathered Wednesday at the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department to talk about what the cuts would mean to their agencies and to discuss next steps.

Dr. Michael Brumage, health officer and executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston and Putnam County health departments, said the cuts would mean a 10 percent, or $400,000, cut to the departments' combined budget of $4 million.

"We're hoping were going to have our budget restored at least to some level again," he said. "We were all expecting to take a budget cut - we know that the state and our county is in dire straits when it comes to resources that are coming in - but a 25 percent cut seems to me to be inordinate."

Brumage said the department is still considering what cuts would have to be made, but there are no plans to cut jobs at this point.

"We're going to have to take a hard look at our advanced health services ... the breast and cervical cancer screening that we do, family planning services. Those are the things that we would look at first and then we would have to look deeper," Brumage said.

Health departments are responsible for restaurant inspections, studying the origin of diseases in communities, monitoring diseases, and promoting health, among other responsibilities.

"Public health provides more than what people see," Brumage said. "I like to equate it to like the programs you don't see on your desktop that are important to keeping your computer running. People don't see a lot of what we do and they'll only see it if it gets cut away.

"And then it will have a severe impact and then often it's too late," Brumage said.

Julie Miller, administrator of the Boone County Health Department, said the proposed state cuts would be in addition to a slash to her department's local funds.

"In Boone County we had a reduction in our county aid of between 45 and 47 percent -that's just for this fiscal year," Miller said. "It happened, I think, in October and we don't know what it's going to be next year."

Miller said Boone County has seen a rise in tuberculosis cases, which require home visits. They also deal with disease outbreaks, restaurant inspections and health promotion.

"We're a small health department that takes a lot of work when you've got one person doing that," she said. "We need not to have a cut in our funds so that we can take care of the community."

Lee Smith, health officer for the Monongalia County Health Department, said the cuts would limit his agency's ability to offer services, the number of patients it could treat and the agency's growth.

More than that, though, the cuts would affect the health and safety of the public, he said. In recent water crisis -both in Flint, Michigan and the one two years ago in Charleston - the local health departments worked with the state to help keep people safe, he said.

"So I think that any type of budgetary reduction is going to serious impact our ability to do public safety for the people of this state," he said.

Chad Bundy, president of the West Virginia Association of Local Health Departments, is asking health departments to hold emergency meetings to determine how the budget cuts might affect them. The information will be compiled for a letter to Tomblin, asking him to reconsider the cuts.

Reach Lori Kersey at lori.kersey@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1240 or follow @LorikerseyWV on Twitter.