| GAS PRICES DROPPING SINCE WAR - Gasoline prices are down 10 cents a gallon in West Virginia since the start of
the Iraqi war. The price is expected to go down further in the weeks ahead. The price averages $1.59, according to the
latest AAA Fuel Gauge, above the average $1.41 per gallon for self-service low-test a year ago.
AAA said this week that the drop in gas prices reflects a nearly 25 percent decline in the price of crude oil since the start of
the war in mid-March. Crude went to $40 a barrel before the war, but has since fallen to $28.
WORKERS' COMP GETTING HARD ON CLAIMS - The state Workers' Compensation Division has denied or
reduced more than half of the claims submitted by providers of rehabilitation services since last month, when it began to
review all rehabilitation bills for the first time.
The division has reviewed 5,755 claims filed over the past two years by vocational rehabilitation counselors, denying 2,415
bills outright, paying a lower amount on 576 and forwarded another 797 to an accounting unit for further review. .
HALLIBURTON WILL RAKE THE MONEY - Halliburton, the oilfield construction company Vice President Dick
Cheney once headed, will rake in tens of millions of dollars in profits from the Iraqi war, according to Fortune magazine.
So far the reconstruction contracts have been awarded without open, competitive bids.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., is co-sponsoring the legislation "to ensure that there are no secrets when it comes to
awarding contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq."
Halliburton will land even more lucrative contracts to rebuild roads, seaports, airports, electric power systems and oil
production facilities. Halliburton received the first contract for emergency oilfield services in Iraq, a no-bid contract worth as
much as $7 billion. over the next two years. The company is expected to be a major sub-contractor because of Bush
administration ties.
Fortune says the Iraq war could not have come at a better time for a company facing financial problems, including a $4 billion
asbestos lawsuit. Fortune predicts, "Halliburton will be making money there long after the U.S. Army departs."
Vice-President Dick Cheney still gets a $1 million stipend a year from the company for once serving on their board, where he
earned millions.
REPORTERS ASKED TO LEAVE CHARLESTON SPEECH - Reporters were asked to leave a speech by U.S.
Commerce Secretary Donald Evans on Tuesday night, after being told by event organizers that members of the public were
welcome.
After the national anthem and a brief prayer, a Gazette reporter was asked by a woman who did not identify herself and
Mary Diamond, press secretary for Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., to leave.
At least one television reporter and two cameramen were also asked to leave.
Members of the Kanawha Republican Executive Committee told a Gazette reporter he would be allowed to attend the
dinner.
EIGHT MC DOWELL SCHOOLS WILL CLOSE -
Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey Walker rejected a request by McDowell County citizens who wanted to block a vote
on school closings. The state school board will finalize the decision today at a meeting in Monroe County.
The state school board seized control of McDowell County schools in November 2001, and plans to close eight schools,
including Big Creek and Iaeger high schools.
The state plans to build a consolidated high school in Bradshaw. Three other schools also will be built.
McDowell County residents say the state shouldn't have the right to seize schools and close them without approval from the
local school board. "We're majorly disappointed," said Linda Martin, co-director of Challenge West Virginia, a small
schools advocacy group that's supporting the lawsuit.
"Do people in communities now have no rights in regards to their schools and what happens to their children?" she
asked.
The state Department of Education will hold school closing hearings for four Lincoln County high schools next month.
The state plans to build a consolidated high school in Hamlin which will cost $30 million, the largest project undertaken in the
state, which will house about 800 students.
SOUTH CHARLESTON COULD LOSE 800 JOBS - More than 800 jobs at the South Charleston's Mayflower plant
could be lost without major government intervention, according to Kanawha County Commissioner Kent
Carper. Workers at Mayflower Vehicle Systems build sub-assemblies and stamp sheets of metal for trucks and autos.
The plant says it is facing high workers' compensation costs and increased international competition. The plant's biggest
contract with Mercedes will end next year. It may join the list of closed plants that have gone out of business or shifted
production abroad.
COAL TRUCK ACCIDENT KILLS BOONE COUNTY MAN - A coal truck accident in Boone County killed a 76-year-old man who
was trying to get to a flea market on the west side of U.S. 119. He turned into the path of a loaded coal truck.
"The coal truck driver, from everything we've been able to see so far, did everything he could to avoid the accident," State
Police Lt. M.G. DeBord told WSAZ-TV, although he was cited for being overweight.
DOMINION RESOURCES POST 27% GAIN - Cold weather and high natural gas prices helped Dominion Resources
post a 27% increase in profit in the first quarter.
The Richmond, Virginia-based electric utility and natural gas supplier said today its first-quarter earnings totaling $471 million
dollars.
MAN BREAKS INTO POLICE STATION - A Harper's Ferry man who was accused of trying to break in to a police
station has been indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury. 22-year-old John Kruse was armed with a large steak knife when
he smashed the front door of the Harpers Ferry's Police Department last year. He went to the evidence room looking for
drugs.
COAL MINERS MAY PROTEST HILLBILLY SHOW - Appalachian coal miners are thinking about going to New York
to protest a reality television series based on The Beverly Hillbillies. United Mine Workers president Cecil Roberts says
some of the union may attend the annual shareholders meeting of Viacom, the parent company of CBS. Network reps have
been doing casting calls in several Appalachian states, including West Virginia.
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