Local News
‘One piece at a time’ cell phone bill killed
CHARLESTON — Keeping a friend on the outside from sneaking in a cell phone to an inmate behind bars, one piece at a time, was the intent of a failed legislative proposal Monday.
The idea backfired, however, when Sen. Jon Blair Hunter, D-Monongalia, worried that the proposal might inadvertently put an innocent person on the wrong side of the law by merely carrying a cell phone into a prison.
Under the proposal, anyone taking a wireless telephone inside a penal institution would face a felony.
Before the vote, Hunter amended the proposal to add the word “intent,” so that no one could be charged unless the goal was to actually put a cell phone into an inmate’s hands.
But Delegate John Ellem, R-Wood, still wasn’t pleased, reminding fellow members of the Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority they had just heard a lengthy discussion on the problems of over-population.
“Now, we’re going to create a new charge of felony,” he said.
With that, the panel agreed to reject the proposal, intended to keep cell phone parts from being smuggled inside.
Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein explained that his agency wanted the addition to the state Code because cell phones in the hands of inmates have proved to be security risks elsewhere.
The panel approved other bills, including one that would make it a felony for one inmate to sexually assault another, but abandoned the 25 years to life sentence in favor of a 15-to-35 one.
For Hunter and the panel’s co-chairman, Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, the Monday meeting was their last, as well as Sen. Andy McKenzie, R-Ohio, now the mayor of Wheeling.
“I was here when the regional jails were built and the transition was made from Moundsville to Mount Olive,” Love said. “I saw a lot of programs expand. There were a lot of complications along the way.”
Love singled out Rubenstein for special praise and told him the committee never meant to have him or others “pinned to the wall” when they were asked to appear.
“If there ever is a Corrections Hall of Fame, you certainly should be inducted,” Love told Rubenstein. “You’re to be admired in our work.”
McKenzie sent a letter commending the committee for its work during his time as a senator.
In his final appearance, Hunter said he was most pleased in his 12 years of service to see the state embark on community corrections as a means of shoring up damaged lives and lessening the load in jails and prisons.
“I think that is going to be one of the most lasting impacts on this state of anything I’ve ever been part of in the Legislature,” Hunter said.
— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com
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New York high school students experience rafting on New River
Butterflies swarmed around Caroline Lynett’s stomach as she nervously waited around Adventures on the Gorge. Her wetsuit was on, her life vest was snug and her helmet was snapped. Lynette was moments away from her first whitewater rafting experience.
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SCHOOL CLOSINGS and DELAYS
Click HERE to go to the West Virginia Department of Education with up-to-date school closings and delays by county.
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High school group eyes county funds for wetlands project
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Snow removal budgets show overruns
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Senate approves House cemetery access measure
CHARLESTON — Families with loved ones interred in rural settings would be assured access to cemeteries in a House bill approved Wednesday by the Senate.
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Chancery court approved; Caruth back
CHARLESTON — Chancery court, an idea that creates a special venue to deal with complex and often time-consuming business cases, cleared the last hurdle Wednesday in the Legislature.
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Calendar — Thursday, March 11, 2010
today's events
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General: No room for gang members in the Guard
CHARLESTON — Criminal gangs have sought to infiltrate the nation’s military as a means of getting training for use in street warfare, a West Virginia National Guard official says.
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Ultrasound faces typical pro-life scrutiny
CHARLESTON — Two big hurdles remain for its bill to clear the Legislature in this final week, but West Virginians for Life says it is gearing up for an ultrasound signing ceremony with Gov. Joe Manchin.
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Raleigh schools will make up less than half of snow days
The Raleigh County Board of Education approved school calendar changes Tuesday that will allow the county to make up eight of the 17 school days missed due to weather conditions so far this winter.
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