In Around West Virginia today: Nicholas County commissioners will stay in office, overdoses in Cabell County, the status of a proposed expanded smoking ban in Preston County, and more.
n A three-judge panel has dismissed a petition to remove two Nicholas County commissioners from office, MetroNews reports. The petitioners wanted to remove the commissioners over the hiring of a county administrator, which they said was against state code, in August 2013. A judge previously invalidated the hiring of the county administrator, but the commissioners stayed in office. The three-judge panel said the commission had only misinterpreted code and had consulted attorneys before hiring the county administrator, The judges said elections would be the proper way to remove officials from office based on statutory misinterpretation.
n More people overdosed in Cabell County in 2015 than in the years 2012-2014 combined, The Herald-Dispatch reports. Nine hundred overdoses were reported, with 70 of them fatal, according to Jim Johnson, director of the Mayor's Office of Drug Control Policy.
n Preston County commissioners do not support extending the county's smoking ban to bars and other establishments, The Dominion Post reports. They sent a letter to the local board of health saying if the ban is expanded, funding from the commission to the health department could decrease.
n A 29-year-old man was sentenced on Monday to 14 years in prison for allegedly assaulting and robbing a former NFL player, Fulton Walker, in 2013. The Journal reports that Roger Carter Doleman is currently serving an eight-year sentence for possession of drugs and fleeing police. On Monday, a Berkeley County circuit judge sentenced him to 12 years for armed robbery, to follow the completion of his current sentence. He will then serve an additional two to 10 years for assault during the commission of a felony, to run concurrently with a one to five year sentence for failing to appear. Walker played for the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Raiders from 1981 to 1986.
n The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration cited Murray Energy's Marion County mine more times than any other mine listed on a November impact inspection report, according to The Dominion Post. The Marion County Mine, which MSHA referred to as Loveridge 22, received 15 citations. Alpha Natural Resources' Kingston No. 1 in Fayette County was second on the list, with 13 citations. According to MSHA's website, the report includes results from 17 mines that have histories of poor compliance.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.