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ATV CONFERENCE ON DEATHS - Representatives with the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission will be in Morgantown today for a regional public hearing on
all-terrain vehicles. The huge increase in ATV deaths over the past five years is the
reason for the hearing. ATV deaths have doubled in that time period. West Virginia
has the highest death rate in the country.
EDUCATION TROUBLES - The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gave the state C's and F's when
it came to preparing students for college, the number of students who ended up going to college, the affordability of tuition,
and the number of students who actually graduate. That study has prompted everyone from the governor to the state board
of education to business leaders to sit down and talk about ways to improve education in West Virginia. That meeting took
place yesterday. .
VAL-SAL SYSTEM NIXED - Berkeley County schools have voted to end the county's valedictorian/salutatorian system.
The board of education voted four-to-one yesterday to adopt a system where more of the county's high school students will
be recognized for their academic achievements. Students will receive summa cum laude, magna cum laude or cum laude
honors based on their grade point average.
MAIL ORDER PRESCIPTION COMPANY IN TROUBLE - A Fairmont company that
mail-orders prescriptions has gone to court to keep the state from forcing it to
close.
The state Board of Pharmacy had ordered Discount Prescription Center to cease
operations on May 13th saying it was operating without a license and does not have
a pharmacist on staff.
The board says only licensed pharmacists can use the terms "prescription," "drugs"
or "medicine" in a business name or advertising.
Owners Steve and Carole Becker filed a motion in Kanawha County Circuit Court
yesterday to stay open, stating their business is not a pharmacy and isn't required to
be licensed by the board.
CHARLESTON CAB DRIVER MURDERED - A Charleston cab driver was shot in the back
of his head in his taxi early Wednesday morning. It was Charleston's eighth murder
this year.
61-year-old Loyd Lanham of Charleston was fatally shot about 6 o'clock this morning
on the city's east side, his body discovered by a fellow cab driver.
Charleston has experienced dozens of other shootings and injuries this year, where
the victim did not die.
LINCOLN DEATH COULD BE HOMICIDE -State Police say an autopsy can't determine
the cause of death of a Lincoln County man found last weekend in the Guyandotte
River. 42-year-old Joseph Basadre of Harts could be a homicide, they said.
Investigators are working with the state medical examiner to determine the cause
of death.
GROUP WILL STUDY BOARD'S PAY - Four state Board of Education members and
three citizens have been appointed to determine whether a policy governing
payment of board members for their time and expenses should be revamped.
The review was prompted by criticism that school board members can collect
one-hundred dollars in per diem pay for reading mail, making telephone calls, giving
media interviews or attending funerals, conferences and ceremonies.
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