A divided Municipal Planning Commission ultimately voted to deny a request to develop a subdivision on a piece of land home to a pair of historic cabins at the corner of Loudon Heights and Bridge roads in Charleston during a public hearing on Wednesday.

The application, submitted by developer J.D. Stricklen, sought approval to build 10 homes on the 4-acre property that was formerly owned by Jean Miller, who built her home there in 1978.

The plan has been met with widespread opposition from mostly South Hills residents who argue that Stricklen's plan doesn't meet the requirements of the city's zoning and subdivision ordinances. The fate of two cabins on the parcel, built in 1847 and on the National Historic Register, which Stricklen had sought to demolish, also were a major source of opposition.

Both during and after a Historic Landmarks Commission meeting in November, however, Stricklen said he was open to other options for the cabins, such as having them disassembled and reassembled elsewhere. The landmarks commission voted to postpone any decision on the cabins for 90 days, which ends next month.

After an independent investigation of the cabins' condition, Stricklen said Wednesday he hoped to donate them to the city, which could elect to have them relocated to the city-owned Chilton Preserve that sits adjacent to the parcel.

Attorney Keith George, who represents Stricklen, said after the application's review by various city departments, subtle changes were made to the plan, such as adding a "primary road" entering into the subdivision so that no driveways would pull out directly onto Bridge Road. Under that plan, the houses would face the new road, ending in a cul-de-sac.

The market value of the homes would range from $500,000 to $800,000.

"To avoid...the backs of houses being viewed by anyone on Bridge Road, a permanent landscape easement would be installed adjacent to Bridge Road," George said.

But Municipal Planning Commission ultimately ruled that the design was contrary to what's required in the zoning ordinance.

Commission Member Adam Krason cited the ordinance that all new residential construction must "conform in street orientation to the adjacent interior lot homes."

If the rest of the homes in that area face the primary roads, then the homes in the subdivision should as well, he argued.

City Council President Tom Lane spoke during the hearing and gave a presentation citing the reasons the commission should deny the application. In addition to the orientation requirement, Lane argued that the plan doesn't meet provisions in the zoning and subdivision regulations in terms of density, intensity and scale, among other factors. The zoning ordinance states that any new construction must be integrated into that community with regards to those factors.

When divided into 10 parcels, Lane argued that the size of those lots would be just half the size of other lots across Bridge Road, resulting in homes that would be much closer together. The ordinance notes that any new development should follow the residential pattern that exists in an area.

"The lots are far smaller, and the density is much greater," than the properties adjacent to the land in question, he said.

"As a developer, I come with the understanding of the need for new development, but also with an understanding that we need to protect existing neighborhoods and individuals who have made lifetime investment in where they live," Lane said.

While no one at the public hearing spoke in favor of the development, not everyone on the commission was opposed to it.

"You are all on your own on this - I think we're inviting a lawsuit," Commissioner Rod Blackstone said. He believed other commissioners' reasons to deny the application were too subjective.

Commissioner Jesse Forbes made a motion to deny the application, which was seconded by David Callaghan.

Members Mary Jean Davis, Christi Smith, Adam Krason, Nikki Moses, Steve Blackwell and Shawn Taylor also voted to deny the application.

Blackstone, Rev. Braxton Broady, Teresa Moore and Chad Robinson voted against the motion to deny.

Should he fight the decision, Stricklen has 30 days to file an appeal in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

"We haven't made any decision; we haven't even discussed it," George said after the hearing when asked if they planned to appeal.

Stricklen purchased the property and land in a binding contract for $750,000 last year after it had been on and off the market for three years. It was originally listed at $1.5 million.

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

The neighborhood smelled of smoke the night before Monika Joensson brought clothes to the Hamrick family.

She had learned through an email chain for the John Adams Middle School wrestling team that the Hamricks' Loudendale house had caught on fire early Tuesday, and after sending an email to her church group to see if anyone had items to donate, she headed to the house where the family was staying.

"They were obviously very lost and distraught and tired," she said.

Joensson is just one member of the community that forms around victims of disaster. Between the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and WV Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, every stage of the rebuilding process for victims of fires and floods is aided by volunteer efforts.

Between Dec. 24 and 31, the American Red Cross handled 65 cases of flood and fire damage, the majority of which took place in Kanawha County, according to Erica Mani, the regional director of the Red Cross.

"We're there immediately on the scene to help during recovery time," Mani said.

If there are more than six families put out of a home, the Red Cross will work on opening a shelter nearby. Otherwise it will make sure a family has the money to get a hotel room if their home isn't in livable condition.

The Red Cross is also a member of WV VOAD, which helps disaster victims in the state. Often, the group will help homeowners repair their damaged houses after floods.

"We make sure these homes get back to safe, sanitary and secure," said Jenny Gannaway, state chair of WV VOAD.

After floods, an organization with WV VOAD (like the United Methodists) and community volunteers will replace wet drywall and insulation, tear out damaged carpets and put in new flooring. They'll also connect victims with local places where they can get donated clothing and supplies.

Organizations also help people replenish some of the basic necessities that they lost. The Salvation Army has had two or three families come to them following the Christmas Day flooding.

"That might not seem like a lot," said Vandalyn Justice, a social worker with the Salvation Army, "but sometimes they're not ready to come in right away."

For families who are trying to restock their homes after damage, the Salvation Army will give them vouchers to purchase furniture and other items from their thrift stores.

"Most folks, when you lose everything," Justice said. "To have to replenish furniture and appliances and clothes ... that's costly on a basis even when there isn't a disaster."

And that's where a community can make a big difference.

Jaensson said that her community has stepped up to support the Hamrick family. On top of the clothes she and others donated, the wrestling team is hosting a spaghetti dinner to raise funds for the family. The wrestling coach at John Adams Middle School even stopped by with a brand new pair of wrestling shoes.

For Jaensson, the reason for helping out is easy.

"I don't think we're a community if we don't," she said.

Reach Daniel Desrochers at

dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com,

304-348-4886 or follow

@drdesrochers on Twitter.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Going into President Barack Obama's last year in office, progress has stalled on reducing the number of uninsured Americans under his signature health care law, according to a major survey out Thursday.

The share of U.S. adults without health insurance was 11.9 percent in the last three months of 2015, essentially unchanged from the start of the year, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. The ongoing survey, based on daily interviews with 500 people, has been used by media, social scientists, and administration officials to track the law's impact.
Release of the latest installment comes after the Republican-led Congress voted to send legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act to Obama's desk. The president is certain to veto it, but opponents say that will only help their strategy of keeping "Obamacare" alive as a political issue in the presidential election.
The sharp drop in the uninsured rate seen in 2014 - the first year of the law's major coverage expansion - now has leveled off, Gallup said in its analysis of the latest findings.
"This validates concerns that similarly large reductions may not be possible in the future because the remaining uninsured are harder to reach or less inclined to become insured," the analysis said. "Future reductions will likely require significant outreach and expanded programs targeting those who have not yet taken advantage."
The survey period included the first two months of the health law's 2016 open enrollment season, which ends Jan. 31. That covered the first big sign-up deadline, which was Dec 15 for those wanting coverage effective at the start of the year.
Gallup-Healthways said it expects results for the first three months of 2016 to show another decline in the uninsured rate. How big remains to be seen.
"A strong open enrollment period would allow the Obama administration to go out on a high note," said Larry Levitt, who follows the health overhaul for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "Weak enrollment could intensify the debate over the Affordable Care Act, particularly as the general election approaches," he said.
"There will continue to be close scrutiny of the uninsured numbers and reports of premium increases for 2017, which will start to trickle out this summer," added Levitt. "I believe the health law has crossed the threshold of sustainability, but its future success depends on growing enrollment."
The uninsured rate for adults stood at 17.1 percent in the last three months of 2013, as the law's major coverage expansion got underway, according to the survey. The drop of 5.2 percentage points by the end of last year translates to nearly 13 million adults gaining coverage.
But 2015 was a lackluster year. According to the survey, the uninsured rate dipped to 11.4 percent in the period from April-June, then edged up again the rest of the year. It was the first such reversal noted by the survey since the law's big coverage expansion began.
The health law has added coverage in two major ways, bringing the nation's uninsured rate to a historic low. Online insurance markets like HealthCare.gov offer taxpayer-subsidized private plans to people who don't have coverage on the job. And states can opt for a Medicaid expansion aimed at low-income adults with no children living at home. That's happened in 30 states, plus Washington, D.C.
Opposition to the law has blocked Medicaid expansion elsewhere. If major states like Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia were to expand their programs, the uninsured rate would start coming down again. Louisiana and Alabama are considering Medicaid expansion.
Since 2013, the Gallup-Healthways survey has found gains in health insurance coverage among all major demographic groups except seniors, who were already covered by Medicare. The biggest progress has come among low-income people, Hispanics, and African Americans.
The Obama administration had no direct response to the survey findings. Spokesman Aaron Albright noted that the law "has led to millions of Americans getting access to quality and affordable health coverage."
The survey results were based on landline and cellphone interviews conducted from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 with a random sample of 42,998 adults ages 18 and older. For results based on the total sample, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 1 percentage point.
Online:
Gallup-Healthways - http://tinyurl.com/hc2338o

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A lottery official says the estimated prize for this weekend's Powerball drawing has grown to about $700 million, making it the largest jackpot of any lottery game in U.S. history.

Texas Lottery Executive Director Gary Grief says Saturday's drawing is growing quickly with brisk sales and could grow even larger by the weekend. The jackpot was increased Thursday from the previous estimate of $675 million after no one matched all the numbers in Wednesday night's $500 million drawing.

The previous record was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot won in March 2012.

Wednesday's numbers were 2, 11, 47, 62 and 63, and the Powerball was 17. While no one matched all six numbers, a total of 45,427 West Virginia tickets did win a prize from the Wednesday drawing so players are strongly encouraged to check their tickets before discarding them. The odds of hitting the jackpot with all six numbers are one in 292,201,338, however the odds of hitting any prize in the Powerball game is only one in 24.9.

The cash value of the jackpot would be $428.4 million before taxes.

"There is definitely a lot of excitement around this record jackpot and we would love to see a West Virginian win it," acting Lottery Director John Myers said.

West Virginia has had eight Powerball jackpot winners in its history, with the most recent being Randy Smith of Martinsburg who took the $44 million cash option on an annuitized jackpot of $79 million in August of 2010.

Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Tickets cost $2 and can be purchased at West Virginia Lottery retailers across the state up until 9:59 p.m. on drawing dates.

In Around West Virginia: the state is improving children's literacy, Fayette County considers banning fracking waste, coal severance taxes are down, and more.

n West Virginia is one of the top five states in the country excelling at improving children's literacy, according to West Virginia Public Broadcasting. A study by New America's Education Policy Program lauded the state's birth through third-grade literacy improvement policy, particularly because of strong pre-K programs.

n Fayette County is considering a ban on disposing of fracking waste in the county, according to The Register-Herald. The commission will consider second reading of an ordinance prohibiting the storage, disposal or use of oil or natural gas waste at its 10 a.m. meeting on Jan. 12. The meeting will be followed by a rally in support of the ordinance.

n About 80 percent of municipal waste from Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan and Hampshire counties will no longer be sent to a landfill starting in 2017, according to The Journal. Entsorga West Virginia broke ground on a new waste-to-solid fuel facility on Wednesday. The facility will convert the waste into a clean-burning fuel to be used at industrial sites. It's expected to be completed and in use by early 2017.

n A WVU football player was kicked off the team after being arrested during the team's recent bowl trip to Arizona, according to The Dominion Post. DaeJuan Funderburk was charged with indecent exposure, sexual indecency, assault and disorderly conduct. Funderburk, a redshirt safety, had yet to play in a game.

n The West Virginia State Treasurer's office anticipates coal severance tax disbursement to the counties will be about $4 million less this fiscal year, according to the State Journal. According to a statement from State Treasurer John Perdue, the office expects to end the year with about $22 million in coal taxes, about 23 percent less than the $26.8 million collected last fiscal year.

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

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia authorities say a Maryland man has died after a tree branch he was cutting "snapped back," pinning him against the trunk.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Cpl. V. Tiong tells The Journal of Martinsburg that the 28-year-old Brunswick, Maryland, man died Wednesday in Charles Town. Tiong says he arrived at the scene on Wednesday morning to find the man 10 feet in the tree and unconscious. The man was pronounced dead minutes later.

Tiong says witness told police the victim had climbed the tree to cut a branch while another man remained on the ground. Tiong says it didn't appear the men were employed by a tree-cutting company.

The man's identity hasn't been released.

LANSING, N.Y. (AP) - Seventeen miners trapped in one of the world's deepest salt mines were rescued Thursday morning, ending a 10-hour ordeal that began when their elevator broke down 900 feet underground.

The workers were descending to the floor of the 2,300-foot-deep Cayuga Salt Mine - nearly deep enough to fit two Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other - to start their shift when the elevator malfunctioned at around 10 p.m. Wednesday, said Mark Klein, a spokesman for mine owner Cargill Inc.

With temperatures in the elevator shaft in the teens - the same as the surface - the miners were cold but otherwise unharmed, said Shawn Wilczynski, the mine manager.

"Their spirits are tremendous. I'm inspired by them, to be quite honest with you," Wilczynski said. "The first four that came out of the mine waited until the last two came out."

Emergency workers communicated via radio with the miners, who had blankets, heat packs and other supplies lowered to them.

The rescued workers ranged in age from 20 to 60, and their mining experience ranged from a few months to four decades, Wilczynski said.

A crane hoisted the first four to the surface in a basket around 7 a.m. at the mine in Lansing, about 40 miles outside Syracuse. Another four were rescued about 30 minutes later, and seven more were brought to the surface by 8:30 a.m., Klein said. The last two were rescued a few minutes afterward.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised the emergency personnel who carried out the rescue, adding that a team of investigators from several state offices will be looking into what caused the miners to become stranded.

The mine, which Klein said is the deepest salt mine in the Western Hemisphere, produces road salt that is shipped throughout the Northeastern United States. The mine is located on the shore of Cayuga Lake and extends beneath its waters.

Minneapolis-based Cargill bought the mine in 1970 and employs 200 workers there, Klein said. The mine processes about 2 million tons of road salt annually, making it one of the biggest producers in the U.S., Cargill said.

Mining operations will be shut down for the rest of the week as company officials and federal mine safety inspectors investigate the malfunctioning, Klein said.

"We want to take a step back, check things out," he said.

The crane used to rescue the workers had to be brought in by a rigging company in Auburn, 30 miles away.

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, a wide swath of upstate New York stretching from the Syracuse area to the western Finger Lakes region is underlain by what's known as the Salina formation, which contains about 3.9 trillion metric tons of rock salt ranging in depth from 500 feet to 4,000 feet. The Cargill mine is the larger of two salt mines operating in the region. The other is American Rock Salt's mine, located 35 miles south of Rochester.

New York is the nation's third-largest producer of rock salt after Louisiana and Texas.

The last serious accident at the mine occurred on the surface in March 2010, when a 150-ton salt bin collapsed, killing a contract truck driver and injuring another man, Klein said. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration later determined a piece of the bin corroded and caused it to give way.

The Raleigh County Public Service District has issued a boil-water advisory for the entire Arnett System following a water main break, and for the Airport System from 584 Scott Ridge Road to and including Grandview Park.

Customers in those areas should boil their water for at least one full minute prior to use until further notice.

The boil-water advisory has been lifted for the Wilderness Public Service District customers in East Mount Lookout from U.S. 19 to and including Middle Collison Road and all of West Mount Lookout.

The Raleigh County Public Service District has lifted the boil-water advisory for customers of the Odd System, from 786 Saxon Bolt Road to and including Cox Lane.

The Raleigh County Public Service District has lifted the boil-waer advisory for customers of the Egeria System.

Agreeing to a number of trade-offs with West Virginia University, Kanawha County commissioners on Thursday voted not to file or support lawsuits that would block the relocation of the school's Institute of Technology to Beckley.

During their monthly meeting Thursday, commissioners unanimously voted to sign an agreement with the university, which has promised to provide support to local governments that stand to suffer economic losses when WVU Tech moves out of Montgomery in 2017. As part of the agreement, the university has vowed to maintain facilities it will vacate until 2025 and will help fund economic development plans for local governments affected by the move.

"This is a tough, tough, tough, tough blow to our counties," said Commission President Kent Carper. "But we have to make the best of it."

The agreement, which also could be signed by the Fayette County Commission and towns of Montgomery and Smithers, will establish collaborative teams that will study and address the economic impact of moving WVU Tech out of the Upper Kanawha Valley, where it has been located since 1895.

Kanawha County is the first of four local governments to vote on the agreement. Rob Alsop, the university's vice president for legal, government and entrepreneurial engagement said meetings with Fayette County, Montgomery and Smithers officials are planned.

The university planned to meet with Montgomery Mayor Jim Higgins later Thursday.

When asked if Montgomery and other local officials support the agreement, Alsop said he didn't want to speak for anyone. He later said both Kanawha and Fayette county commissions and the towns of Montgomery and Smithers were involved in drafting the agreement, which was written to benefit all parties involved.

According to agreement terms, WVU will cover all expenses for maintaining the Montgomery campus for the next 10 years. That promise is a win, commissioners said Thursday.

"It was our primary goal," Carper said.

Commissioner Dave Hardy thanked the university for putting the agreement in writing instead of "making vague promises."

The university also will conduct an economic impact study on the relocation. Alsop said work on that has already started.

As for future use of WVU Tech facilities, Alsop said the university is exploring all alternatives, including state, federal, private and public takeover. When asked if the university has approached the state Department of Agriculture, which is looking to relocate some of its laboratories, Alsop said that is something the university would be open to doing.

By signing the agreement, Kanawha County officials have made official earlier promises not to sue the university. In October, commissioners unanimously decided they would not try to stop WVU Tech's move after they met with university officials who promised support for the Upper Kanawha Valley.

Carper said the agreement is fair and that the commission has sought to do the best it could since WVU Tech's relocation was announced in September. He also said he expects criticism for signing the agreement.

"But no one has come up with a better plan," Carper said, adding that suing the state over the relocation would be a waste of tax dollars and resources.

Delegate Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, attended Thursday's meeting and spoke in favor of the agreement, though he noted how difficult accepting WVU Tech's relocation has been for locals.

"There's a pain we all feel about Tech leaving Montgomery," he said. "But we have to accept it and move on."

As part of the agreement, WVU also promises to uphold existing collaborative initiatives with BridgeValley Community and Technical College and Montgomery General Hospital.

WVU's Board of Governors unanimously approved moving WVU Tech to Beckley in September. Part of the reason university President Gordon Gee and Tech President Carolyn Long gave for moving the school was its failure to meet enrollment goals and serious structural issues with buildings on campus, brought on by an estimated $100 million in deferred maintenance.

When asked if any buildings on campus would be demolished, Alsop said there aren't any plans to do so. As part of the agreement, the university will maintain buildings the Montgomery campus for the next 10 years or until they are sold.

The university will occupy the campus for at least another year as relocation happens in two stages. Starting this fall, first-year students will be admitted to the Beckley campus, which was purchased by WVU last year for $8 million. Sophomores, juniors and seniors can choose to complete their degrees in Montgomery, and the school's 15 sports programs will not be moved until after the transition is completed, in 2017.

In other news, commission:

n Appointed Kent Carper as commission president, making him the longest-serving president in Kanawha County history. This is Carper's 12th consecutive year as president and his 20th year on the commission. Hoppy Shores was also appointed president pro tempore. Shores has been on the commission for 30 years, making him the longest serving commissioner in West Virginia history.

n Decided to allocate $350,000 to the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority for the purchase of four new ambulances. Currently, the ambulance authority has 50 ambulances in their fleet, most of which have more than 250,000 miles on them. Joe Lynch, executive director of the ambulance authority, said the ambulances usually drive about 100,000 miles a year.

n Learned tax collection is down for the county by 10 percent.

n Discussed Christmas Day flooding. Emergency management received a total of 113 complaints about the flood Dec. 25, 24 from homeowners who had insurance. Forty-one homes were affected by the flood while 38 had minor damages, 17 had moderate damages and 17 had major damages. Emergency management has hauled out 24.5 tons of debris from the areas affected.

n Set aside $300,000 for new voting equipment. The cost to completely replace the equipment will be $3 million.

Staff writer Daniel Desrochers contributed to this report.

Reach Samuel Speciale at sam.speciale@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @samueljspeciale on Twitter.

Wilco fans who failed to get tickets for the band's upcoming sold-out Mountain Stage appearance have a second chance to see the alt-rock band.

The Illinois-based group, which helped the Feb. 14 radio show sell out in less than a day, is one of the headlining acts for the Clay Center's 2016 spring season.

The spring season also will include performances by classic rocker Gregg Allmann, country star Vince Gill, actress/comedian Whoopi Goldberg, and '90s hip-hop stars Salt-N-Pepa with special guest Coolio.

The regular season of shows for the Clay Center begins April 6 with Gregg Allman, one of the founders of iconic southern rock and blues act The Allman Brothers Band.

May 21, the Clay Center presents "An Evening with Whoopi Goldberg." Goldberg, one of a handful to ever win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, is known for several films, including "Ghost" and "Sister Act," but has recently been a co-host of ABC's "The View."

On July 29, the Clay Center, with Charleston Light Opera Guild, will co-present "Beauty & the Beast," the award-winning musical stage adaptation of the popular Disney film. The show will run 7:30 p.m. July 29 and 30, Aug. 5, 6 and 12, with 2 p.m. matinee performances Aug. 7 and 14.

In addition to the Clay Center's regular season, the performing arts center will have several other stand-alone shows.

March 25, hip-hop trio Salt-N-Pepa will perform, along with rapper Coolio. The Grammy award-winners are best known for a string of mid-'90s radio hits including "Push It," "Let's Talk About Sex" and "Whatta Man."

Rob Rosano, vice president of theater and sales, said discussions about bringing Salt-N-Pepa to the Clay Center had come up in the past as they noticed Charleston audiences had a real hunger for '90s R&B.

"We want to fill that void," he said. "There's demand there."

Because the group is known for dance hits, Rosano announced that for this show, the Clay Center will remove the first six rows of seats to give patrons a place to move.

"It's something we've noticed in the past," he said. "When we had Grace Potter here last time, we really wished there was some space for people to dance."

The dance zone, he said, was an attempt to give people that option.

May 8, Vince Gill will come to the Clay Center, bringing his blend of intelligent songwriting, clear vocals and expert musicianship. Over the years, Gill, a winner of 20 Grammy Awards, has released 12 studio albums, plus several compilations.

His next record, "Down to My Last Bad Habit," is scheduled for release Feb. 12.

On June 1, Wilco takes the stage. The band is currently enjoying success in its 20th year with its latest record, "Star Wars."

Mountain Stage Executive Producer Adam Harris said he was glad to hear the band was coming back to Charleston for a second time in 2016.

"I think they knew what they were doing," he said. "The acoustic show with us was maybe to test the water, to see how much interest there was in them playing in Charleston."

The show, announced at the end of Mountain Stage's final performance of 2015, had sold out by the next afternoon.

"Obviously, it exceeded everyone's expectations," Harris said.

The Mayor's Concert on June 23 was the last of the announced Clay Center shows. Partnering with FestivALL, the Clay Center will present '60s R&B legends The Temptations and The Four Tops.

While only one remaining founding member of The Four Tops remains, the band is known for a slew of hits spanning several decades - most notably, "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Reach Out And I'll Be There," and "Standing in the Shadows of Love."

As with The Four Tops, the lineup of The Temptations has changed over the years, but the vocal group also has endured and charted hits over the decades. The best known of these are "My Girl," "Just My Imagination," and "Papa Was A Rolling Stone."

Rod Blackstone, senior assistant to the mayor, said last year's Mayor's Concert with Trombone Shorty had brought a rising star to the stage, but this year they wanted to bring in a classic.

Rosano said he anticipated adding one more act to the Clay Center schedule, but that it was too soon to confirm it.

"All I will say is that it's an act I saw at Lollapalooza and that they have a song on the charts now," he hinted.

Along with the new season, the Clay Center announced the spring edition of their Sound Check Sessions.

On March 4, young and bluesy rockers The Steppin Stones perform with John Inghram's Slugfest.

Indiana indie rockers Modoc will perform at the Clay Center on April 3, along with up-and-coming local band Ona.

On May 14, the series will conclude for the spring with party blues band Andy Frasco & The U.N. with Farnsworth.

Season ticket packages for the Clay Center season are on sale now. Current season ticket holders have until Jan. 17 to renew and receive seating priority.

Season tickets range from $85 to $140, based on seating.

Single tickets for all Clay Center Presents 2016 performances go on sale 10 a.m., Jan. 25.

Tickets for Salt-N-Pepa with Coolio range from $29 to $69, with $79 for a ticket to the dance zone.

Vince Gill tickets are $35 to $75. Wilco tickets are $30 to $75, and tickets to the Mayor's Concert are $35 to $85.

Tickets to individual Sound Check Sessions shows are $15 in advance or $20 at the door.

An all-access pass for the Sound Check Sessions, which includes tickets to all three shows, is $35.

For more information, visit the Clay Center, call 304-561-3570 or go to www.theclaycenter.org.

Reach Bill Lynch at lynch@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5195 or follow @LostHwys on Twitter.

RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. (AP) - A Ravenswood man has been arrested in connection with a drug-related death.

Jackson County Sheriff Tony Boggs told media Wednesday 40-year-old Casey Cantrell was booked on charges including murder in connection with the death of 29-year-old Shannon Saffer who died of an apparent heroin overdose.

Boggs says evidence suggests that Cantrell provided Saffer the drugs that caused the overdose. He says Cantrell and Shannon Saffer's brother, Patrick Saffer, dropped off Shannon Saffer at Jackson General Hospital Tuesday morning. Saffer was suffering from an apparent drug overdose and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Boggs says Patrick was also booked on one count of obstructing an officer when he refused to identify Cantrell.

Cantrell was held without bail at the Southern Regional Jail.

It isn't clear if they have attorneys.

As Saturday's second anniversary of the January 2014 Elk River chemical spill approaches, citizen groups are releasing a report to promote their proposal for a public takeover of the West Virginia American Water Co. regional drinking water system that serves hundreds of thousands of people in the Kanawha Valley and surrounding communities.

The report says West Virginia American remains unprepared to respond to major pollution incidents affecting its source water, is moving too slow to maintain and upgrade its water-delivery infrastructure, and continues to seek large rate increases from local customers.

"WVAW serves as an example of how things can go wrong when transparency and accountability suffer in a privatized water scheme," says the report, called "West Virginia American Water Company and the Case for Public Ownership and Operation."

The 75-page report from the Civil Society Institute, a Boston-based think tank and nonprofit organization, was released Thursday with support from the Advocates for a Safe Water System, a Charleston group formed after the 2014 spill, and the Charleston branch of the NAACP.

Cathy Kunkel, a report editor for the Advocates group, said that area residents have learned in the last two years that the Kanawha Valley has "a serious infrastructure problem" with its water system.

"Main breaks are an increasingly common occurrence," Kunkel said. "At the current rate of investment, it will take nearly 400 years for WV American Water to replace all of the water mains in our system."

Last year, the Advocates launched a campaign to press for a public takeover of the local drinking water system.

West Virginia American has generally declined to respond directly to the call for a public takeover of the system.

On Thursday, water company spokeswoman Laura Jordan said she had not seen the report, but that West Virginia American officials "strongly disagree with the accusations made in the press release and believe they are not accurate or factual." In its own recent report, West Virginia American touted a variety of major infrastructure upgrades, source-water protection planning efforts and a new customer emergency notification system.

On Jan. 9, 2014, a leaky chemical storage tank at the Freedom Industries facility spilled Crude MCHM and other chemicals into the Elk River just 1.5 miles upstream from West Virginia American's regional drinking water intake. The incident prompted a "do not use" order that lasted for up to a week, and sent hundreds of area residents to emergency rooms with symptoms that were consistent with exposure to the chemicals. Reports from a variety of agencies and experts have expressed concerns that residents were exposed to MCHM through inhalation or through skin contact while bathing or washing hands -- or through contact during the "flushing" of home plumbing systems after the spill -- routes that the CDC and the Tomblin administration did not consider when telling residents that their water was again safe to use.

The spill led to passage of new state legislation to protect water supplies and regulate chemical storage tanks, though that legislation was subsequently rolled back last year, and to the federal prosecution of former owners and officials from Freedom Industries for Clean Water Act crimes.

On Saturday, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition is hosting an event to mark the spill anniversary. The group's forum, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the state Culture Center, will focus on how citizens can be involved in protecting their drinking water.

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

The man who allegedly drove the get-away vehicle was charged with murder for his role in the New Year's Day shooting in Charleston.

Sean Paul Burdette, 23, of Charleston, was charged with first degree murder and being an accessory before and after the fact to murder, according to a criminal complaint filed in Monongalia County Magistrate Court.

Burdette allegedly drove his van as the get-away vehicle when 20-year-old Shannon Cade, was shot on Jan. 1.

Police announced earlier this week that Antonio Carnell Williams II, 23, had been charged with first degree murder in the shooting.

Both Williams and Burdette were arrested in Morgantown on Tuesday.

Cade was shot while sitting at a kitchen table, late at night in a house on the 800 block of Mathews Avenue, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. He died the next day at an area hospital.

A 14-year-old girl also was shot in the house. She was shot in the head, according to the criminal complaint, but sustained minor wounds.

Williams' arrest stemmed from a tip police received from an eyewitness, Williams' girlfriend, who said she was with Williams at the time of the shooting, said Lt. Steve Cooper, Charleston police chief of detectives.

Police do not believe that Cade was the intended target of the shooting, Cooper has said. Police believe the shooting was the result of a disagreement involving Williams' girlfriend.

According to the criminal complaint, Williams drove to the Mathews Avenue house with his girlfriend, Burdette and an underage girl after hearing that his girlfriend had spent time with another man there.

Williams and his girlfriend got out of the van, but the girlfriend believed he intended to fight the man inside, according to the complaint.

"Instead, Mr. Williams, retrieved a black semi-automatic hand gun from his waist and began firing his weapon at the people inside," the complaint says.

The girlfriend, as she was running away, heard a brief pause and then several more shots, the complaint says.

"Mr. Williams immediately came back to the vehicle and said, 'I've got to get a new gun because this one jammed on me,'" the complaint says.

A 17-year-old also was arrested in Morgantown and was charged with being an accessory after the fact, Cooper has said.

Cade's killing was the third in Charleston over a span of six days last week. Arrests have been made in all three cases.

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

Ethics Commission members have approved two conciliation agreements for violations of the state Ethics Act, including a $5,000 fine and public reprimand for the former executive director of the Boone County Ambulance Authority, who illegally obtained a $103,000 no-interest loan from the authority in order to buy into a more lucrative state pension plan.

Commissioners found that Randall Lengyel violated the Ethics Act's prohibition against using public office for private gain by convincing the president and vice president of the authority's board of directors to approve the loan, which allowed him to transfer from the Public Employees Retirement System to an EMS Retirement System - created under legislation he had sought a year earlier.

Facing a civil suit in Boone County, Lengyel repaid the loan last Oct. 6, according to the agreement.

In addition to the fine and reprimand, Lengyel is required to complete an ethics training course as part of the agreement.

Commissioners also imposed a $5,000 fine and ordered reimbursement of $1,339 in investigation costs against former West Liberty University executive director of planning Ron Witt for conducting work as a private real estate agent from his university office during normal work hours.

Witt, who was an agent for Kennan and Kennan Realtors in nearby Wheeling, argued that former West Liberty president Robin Capehart in 2012 had given him permission to engage in part-time real estate work from his campus office.

Capehart resigned as West Liberty president last March, and in June entered into a conciliation agreement with the Ethics Commission, paying $10,000 in fines and costs, for using university resources and employees to benefit his privately owned independent film production company.

Under the agreement, Witt admitted he had violated the Ethic Act's ban on use of public office for private gain. In addition to the fine and costs, Witt also must complete an ethics training course.

Conciliation agreements are the equivalent of plea bargains, allowing individuals charged with Ethics Act violations to avoid public hearings on the charges.

Also during Thursday's Ethics Commission meeting:

| Executive Director Rebecca Stepto said the commission processed a record 153 formal complaints of possible ethics violations in 2015. The commission also approved 16 conciliation agreements resolving ethics violations, set statements of charges and hearing dates for 10 other ethics violations, and conducted two public hearings on ethics charges.

Stepto said there were more statements of charges issued in 2015 than the prior 15 years combined.

Conversely, she said, the commission issued just 30 advisory opinions in 2015, a number that continues to decline, since when there are questions on issues of ethics, commission attorneys can frequently refer to precedent-setting opinions previously issued over the nearly 27-year history of the Ethics Commission.

| Stepto said she had checked with the Division of Motor Vehicles about the possibility of having the division produce identification cards for lobbyists, but was quoted a cost of about $25 a card, which would be more than $10,000 to provide IDs for the more than 400 registered lobbyists.

Stepto said that the commission in the past has provided inexpensive printed ID badges to lobbyists, but nothing in the Ethics law requires the commission to provide lobbyists with IDs.

Commissioner Betty Ireland said that, if at some point the Legislature requires lobbyists to have ID badges, those costs should be added to their lobbyist registration fees.

Ireland speculated that lobbyists could push to be allowed to bypass new security checkpoints at the Capitol by showing their commission-issued ID badges.

"It would not surprise me if at some time, they get special dispensation if they have an ID badge," she said, adding, "Looking down the road, if the security folks at the Legislature make us do that, we should not absorb the cost."

| Commissioners approved several employment exemptions, authorizing state employees to seek employment with regulated private sector businesses. Those exemptions included Justin Southern, longtime spokesman for state Auditor Glen Gainer, who is not seeking re-election.

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

State Department of Veterans Assistance Secretary Rick Thompson is stepping down from that post, effective Thursday, to run for Wayne County sheriff.

"I'm young enough to do it, and old enough not to want to drive to Charleston and back every day," Thompson, 63, said Thursday.

Thompson, who has served as cabinet secretary since 2013, said he has wanted to be sheriff of Wayne County since he was in high school.

After a stint in the Army as a military police officer, Thompson said he was completing a degree in criminal justice at Marshall with the intent of pursuing a career in law enforcement when a professor threatened to flunk him if he didn't take the law school entrance exam.

That led to a change in career plans that included obtaining a law degree from West Virginia University, service as a Wayne County assistant prosecutor, and 14 years in the House of Delegates, including seven as House speaker. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in the 2011 special election.

As for his long-postponed run for sheriff, Thompson said, "It's an opportunity to go back and make Wayne County safer for my grandchildren and for other people's grandchildren."

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has not named a replacement for Thompson.

Interstate 64 exits 47A and 47B eastbound will be closed beginning 8 a.m. Sunday to allow Appalachian Power crews to perform maintenance work at the intersection of Lakeview and Jain drives in Cross Lanes.

Traffic will be detoured to exit 50 to Goff Mountain Road. Exit 47 traveling westbound will not be closed. Traffic will be stopped on Lakeview Drive during several 15-minute intervals to allow crews to safely remove wire from transmission towers. Flaggers will be on site to help any possible traffic congestion.

The work is part of Appalachian Power's Kanawha Valley Area Reinforcement Transmission Project, an approximately $330 million investment to improve service reliability for customers. More information about the project is available at www.appalachianpower.com/kanawhavalley.

With the state facing a $353 million budget shortfall, and with the benefit of hindsight, Sen. Joe Manchin said he's not sure if the business tax cuts that he pushed through as governor were a good idea or not.

"I don't know if you say they're the right or wrong move, but you've got to be competitive," Manchin said Thursday. "I couldn't be at 9 percent corporate tax and expect corporations to stay here if they didn't have to."

Beginning in 2006, the Legislature, at Manchin's behest, embarked on a series of tax cuts that, combined with low energy prices and the flailing coal industry, have left the state in a budget crisis.

Manchin and the Legislature cut the corporate net income tax gradually from 9 percent to 6.5 percent, where it landed in 2014.

They gradually eliminated the business franchise tax from 0.7 percent in 2007 to zero in 2015.

And they gradually cut the tax on groceries from 6 percent to 3 percent, before Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin moved to eliminate it entirely, which happened in 2013.

Republicans in the Legislature objected to some of these tax cuts at the time, but only to protest that they were too gradual and too small - they would have preferred larger and faster tax cuts.

It's tough to measure exactly how much money these changes have cost state revenue, but, any way you slice it, it's a lot.

It's certainly in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and it's probably about on par with the size of the current budget deficit.

In 2008, the year legislation was passed to eliminate the business franchise tax and lower the corporate net income tax, the state collected more than $388 million from those two taxes.

In 2014, the state about $204 million from those two taxes, a decrease of $184 million. The loss is certainly even greater than that, because those figures don't take into account inflation or the growth of the economy.

Repealing the food tax cost the state $170 million in foregone revenue this year, according to the state Department of Revenue.

Combine those two numbers, and you get $354 million in foregone revenue, which would cover this year's expected deficit with $1 million to spare.

Add in the foregone revenue from other smaller tax cuts in recent years - the low income family tax credit, an exemption for hospitals to buy prescription drugs - and the reduction in revenue rises to well over $400 million.

It is, of course, difficult to know how much those lower taxes may have boosted economic activity, which would negate the lost revenue.

Manchin noted Procter & Gamble's recent decision to build a $500 million plant near Martinsburg, and credited the state's lower taxes.

"We were able to attract new corporations," he said. "We've got different people coming to the state of West Virginia, we had to be competitive, they wouldn't come."

He also said that the a lot of the corporate tax money was coming from big coal companies, many of which have declared bankruptcy in recent years.

"You have corporations that are bankrupt," he said, "so where we're getting taxes, if we had the higher corporate tax, they wouldn't be paying it."

And yet it's hard to conclude that the promised benefits of the cuts - faster growth and more jobs - have materialized, whatever the reason.

West Virginia has the nation's second highest unemployment rate, among the states. We have the nation's lowest percentage of residents who are working - a decades-long distinction, but one that has not improved in recent years. We're one of only two states (along with energy-rich North Dakota) that has lost jobs over the last year.

When the tax cuts were passed, West Virginia had a higher corporate net income tax than all of its surrounding states, except for Pennsylvania. It now has a significantly lower rate than Maryland and Pennsylvania, but a slightly higher rate than Virginia and Kentucky. (Ohio is excluded from these comparisons, because it taxes a company's gross revenues, not net income.)

With West Virginia now in its third straight year of nearly across-the-board budget cuts, Tomblin will announce next week whether he will seek further cuts to balance the budget, tax increases, or some combination thereof.

Manchin said he would advise continuing to evaluate West Virginia's tax rates based on other states.

"If you can show me other states that we have to compete with, that's the world we're in," he said. "Do we have lower taxes than them, we should put taxes back on that they don't have? Then we should be looking at all of that, I say make the adjustments based on competitiveness."

Reach David Gutman at david.gutman@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5119 or follow @davidlgutman on Twitter.

A panel of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency science advisers is strongly criticizing last year's much-cited EPA report that agency officials had tried to tout as finding that the nation's natural gas drilling and production boom had not led to "widespread, systematic" impacts on drinking water supplies.

In a draft report, an EPA Science Advisory Board panel express concerns that "regarding the clarity and adequacy of support for several major findings" presented in an EPA Office of Research and Development assessment of the natural gas industry's effects on drinking water quantity and quality. The panel warned that some of the major findings "are inconsistent with the observations, data, and levels of uncertainty presented and discussed" in the report.

Of particular concern, the panel said, was a statement in the assessment's executive summary that EPA "did not find evidence that hydraulic fracturing mechanisms have led to widespread, systematic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States."

The science panel said it was concerned that the statement "does not reflect the uncertainties and data limitations" described in the full EPA study. The science board is reviewing the EPA assessment before it is finalized.

When the draft EPA assessment report was released last July, agency press officers had actually gone even further, declaring that the assessment "shows hydraulic fracturing activities have not led to widespread, systemic impacts to drinking water resources."

EPA's press statements were seized upon by gas industry officials, who said they showed their current practices were safe. Agency science officials, though, quickly tried to distance themselves from the way those findings were portrayed.

The report was a key development in the controversy over the natural gas boom. Congress ordered the study in 2010, as natural gas production in places like the Marcellus Shale region in West Virginia skyrocketed amid the increased use of a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Fracking is part of the process of preparing a well for production by pumping huge volumes of water and chemicals underground to split open rock formations to loosen oil and gas flow.

In its draft report, the science panel says that while EPA "aimed to develop national-level analyses and perspective, most stresses to surface or groundwater resources associated with stages of [hydraulic fracturing] are localized.

"For example, the impacts of water acquisition will predominantly be felt locally at small space and time scales," the draft report said. "These local-level hydraulic fracturing impacts can be severe, and the draft assessment report needs to do a better job of recognizing the importance of local impacts."

The science panel also faulted EPA for, among other things, not completing so-called local studies that examined the before-and-after impacts of natural gas production activities.

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

Thirty-seven people became United States citizens on Thursday at a naturalization ceremony at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse in Charleston. The new citizens and their nations of origin are:

Rafael Aguirre, Mexico; Noura Akkad, Syria; Alazan Albany, Syria; Amoakoh Poku Baidoo, Ghana; Vaclav Belka, Czech Republic; Claudia Pyerina Blood, Peru; Amal Bouaffia Cavell, Morocco; Karima El Haoudi, Morocco; Eybie Nicholaas Van Ryn Eyberg, South Africa; Susie Gunnels, Canada; Tetyana Hurlbert, Ukraine; Alyona Igorevna Jennings, Uzbekistan; Jelique Chicalonie Jerry, Jamaica; Bibek Joshi, Nepal; Surjeet Kaur, India; Altamash Khan, Pakistan; Dhanasuryamma Kottapalli, India; Esther Licona Almora, Mexico; Maria Zulay Maza Betancourt, Venezuela; Damani Kamar Kwesi Mitchell, Jamaica; Nefisa Seid Mufti, Ethiopia; Mark Kwame Osebre, Ghana; Niloofar Rezania Parsi, Iran; Jayesh Mangubhai Patel, India; Ivan Rubenovich Petrosyan, Russia; Violetta Yurievna Petrosyan, Russia; Eunice Paraiso Plaza, Philippines; Carol Theresa Powney, United Kingdom; Martin Powney, United Kingdom; Matthew Thomas Powney, United Kingdom; Rajkaji Prajapati, Nepal; Nitesh Ratnakar, India; Anna Aleksandrovna Shaver, Russia; Portia Gerald Ann Smith, St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Dhirachai Smuthkochorn; Thailand; Xichun Sun, China; Mariel Katinka Tuijt, Netherlands.

COUNTRY FRIED AND STEPHANIE SPINKS: 7 to 10 p.m. Cover $5. Elk River Community Center, 1047 Main St., Elkview. Call 304-965-3722.

COMEDY CENTRAL ALL-STARS: 8 p.m. Adults $25. VIP $40. Featuring Honest John, Chris Thomas, Laughing Lenny. LaBelle Theater, 311 D. St. South Charleston. Call 304-989-0864.

KURT GREEN: 8 p.m. Admission $10. The Comedy Zone, Holiday Inn, 400 Second Ave., South Charleston. Call 304-414-2386 or visit www.comedyzonecharleston.com

BALLROOM AND LATIN DANCE LESSONS: 7 to 8 p.m. Members $9. Non-members $11. Includes two hours of open dancing. Charleston Moose Lodge, 2805 Kanawha Blvd. Call 304-552-1456.

OPEN MIC: 7:30 p.m. (signups at 7:30 p.m.) Adults $5. Performers, seniors and children $2. Hosted by Ron Sowell. Unity of Kanawha Valley, 804 Myrtle Road. Call 304-345-0021.