| SUIT SAYS STUDENT'S RIGHTS VIOLATED - The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia filed a lawsuit
yesterday against the city of Charleston and its police department.
The ACLU is alleging Charleston police racially profiled three black college students one year ago. The men's car was
stopped by nine Charleston police officers who allegedly ordered the students to kneel. The lawsuit says the men were
handcuffed and interrogated, and their vehicle was illegally searched.
No evidence of criminal misconduct was found. The students were attending a Leadership Training Conference at West
Virginia State College.
37 CHARGED WITH COCKFIGHTING - An alleged cockfighting operation has ruffled some feathers in McDowell
County, after State Police put an end to the operation and cited 37 people.
State Police said everyone present was charged with animal cruelty, a misdemeanor which includes a minimum fine of $215.
About 40 gamecocks were discovered in a barn. It is illegal to possess fighting birds in West Virginia, but a misdemeanor to
run or watch cockfighting. The same barn was also the site of a cockfighting bust about two years ago that resulted in 150
citations.
VACCINATE HORSES FOR WEST NILE - State Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass is urging horse owners to vaccinate them against the West Nile Virus. State Veterinarian Doctor Joseph Starcher says the vaccine, which was in its experimental phase last summer, has proven to be highly effective. The vaccine has been formally approved by the U.S Department of Agriculture.
The drug must be administered twice, with three to six weeks between doses. The vaccine must be given by a licensed veterinarian. A third of the horses that contracted the disease last year died or had to be put down due to the severity of their illness.
TAKING FROM PETER, GIVING TO PAUL - Governor Wise is suggesting an idea that could deposit one billion dollars into the state's near-bankrupt Workers' Compensation Division by diverting proceeds of a proposed sale of pension bonds. It would allow for a cash infusion into the Worker's Comp insurance system for injured workers without increasing payroll taxes or premium increases from state businesses.
However, the taxpayers would still be left to fund the state teacher retirement system, among others.
A legislative work group says it continues to discover several startling facts about the Workers' Comp system. An administrative law judge told them that when a worker appeals a decision from Workers' Comp, lawyers for the division show up at only 17 percent of the thousands of appeal hearings. Most of the time no one comes to defend the Workers' Comp decision.
New Workers' Comp Director Greg Burton says that may mean the agency needs more lawyers to attend the appeal hearings>
The group learned that 25 percent of those injured workers receiving Total Permanent Disability payments from the state
actually live outside of West Virginia. They may be on someone's payroll in another state while collecting disability here.
TAX REVENUES STILL DOWN - April was not a cheerful tax collection month for the State of West Virginia. State officials estimate a shortfall between tax projections and collections grew by about $400,000.
That increases the total to about $22 million for the budget year that ends June 30th.
The state is expecting a $250 million shortfall during the next budget year.
CIGARETTE COSTS GO UP TODAY - The new tobacco tax rises from 17 cents per pack to 55 cents today. The "sin" tax was touted as helping people get off nicotine, in addition to bringing in about $60 million extra every year to the state. West Virginia can then collect three times that amount in matching federal funds to finance the state's Medicaid program.
The new tax will cost smokers an extra $10 per carton. The cost will be higher if the individual packs are more expensive.
So will the tax cut down on the amount of people smoking? Anti-tobacco forces say it's a good incentive to stop smoking.
Addiction experts disagree, saying addicts will do whatever it takes to get the product. Tobacco store owners believe there will be a short-lived dip in sales, but they will return to normal in a few weeks.
Kentucky's tax on tobacco is just three cents a pack, so many West Virginians are expected to cross the border and stock up.
PROMISE SCHOLARSHIPS HELPS WEALTHIER FAMILIES - Fifty-six percent of the high school seniors across the state who have earned PROMISE Scholarships have parents who make more than $60,000 a year.
Figures also show 20 percent come from families which earn more than $100,000 annually and another 36 percent have parents who make between $60,000 and $100,000 a year.
The numbers show 13 percent, or 541 of the recipients, come from families making less than $30,000 a year.
Officials with the PROMISE Scholarship say income figures aren't a true measurement of need. They say it doesn't take into account the expenses of individual families.
Approximately 1,300 of the recipients will also qualify for a needs based state Higher Education Grant.
MOLLOHAN OPPOSES BUSH TAX PLAN - West Virginia's First District Congressman Allan Mollohan (D-WV) is calling the Bush tax plan "reckless." He says the Bush-touted $550 billion tax cut directed to a privileged few will not help the United States or its struggling economy.
Mollohan says the Bush plan transfers the burden of paying off the debt from very high income tax payers to middle and lower income tax payers.
Nearly half of all Americans will get a $100 tax break, while those who earn $1 million will get $92,000.
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