Today's Around West Virginia includes stories on school funding cuts in Fayette County, what Medicaid expansion has meant to the state, a Change.org petition over a controversial superintendent, and more.
n Fayette County schools are not only planning for the across the board cuts to all state government agencies announced earlier this month, but also are dealing with less funding because of reduced tax revenue from coal companies. The 1 percent cut from state school aid that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced will equal a $276,888 cut for the schools, while the regular and excess levies are expected to see a total decline of $2.3 million for fiscal year 2016, according to The Register-Herald. The story notes that Alpha Mining, Trinity Coal Co. and Walter Energy have pending bankruptcy filings.
n An Ironton man has been charged for allegedly attacking a third person since 2010, according to The Herald-Dispatch. A judge revoked Rhamel Ugen Hatcher's probation and sent him to jail Wednesday after he was charged with felony unlawful assault earlier this month. He allegedly beat an off-duty firefighter behind a nightclub. The victim of the first attack, a leukemia patient named Jeremy Scott Cook, died in the beating on May 14, 2010, according to the paper.
n An online petition for the removal of the Wetzel County Superintendent, Leatha Williams, has more than 750 signatures, the Wetzel Chronicle reports. A Wetzel County parent blames a "lack of communication" when changing policies and "overwhelming feelings of negativity, frustration, disrespect, and confusion that parents, teachers, and students have regarding statements and actions made by our superintendent."
n The Marshall University math club carved 90 pumpkins that will be arranged into math equations and displayed for the public to solve at the well-known Pumpkin House in Kenova, according to The Parthenon. The Pumpkin House was started by Kenova resident Ric Griffith more than 30 years ago and features 3,000 pumpkins, carved by volunteers, on display.
n The CEO of the West Virginia Primary Care Association, Louise Reese, says Medicaid expansion as a result of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, was a "tremendous burden" taken off the backs of West Virginians, reports West Virginia Public Broadcasting. More than 70,000 people in the state were able to access health care through Medicaid expansion in the state in the first year after the law's implementation. Reese was speaking on a panel at Shepherd University.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.