Charleston Daily Mail

Mental Health Task Force has Big Job, Little Time: ; Group Members Are Concerned About Data,; Time, Representation in Prioritizing State's Needs

A task force charged with prioritizing the state's behavioral health care needs and studying how to ease overcrowding at its psychiatric hospitals has little time to come up with a plan and more information that is needed, some mental health consumers and advocates say. "It just seems like the task force has been charged with something that is impossible," Suzanne Williams, a National Alliance on Mental Illness member, said Monday.

Ex-Basketball Star in Prison Without Parole Still Fighting: ; Marshall Athlete Got Involved with Drugs, Committed Crimes

The question elicited first a slight pause, then a nervous laugh and finally a solemn answer from the inmate, a repeat offender who faces the worst sentence next to the death penalty - life without parole. "How long can you survive that sentence?" a reporter asked the prisoner last month during their hour-long telephone interview.

Educational Services: ; Agencies Again Face Scrutiny; Officials Say Budget Cuts Could Hit Resas Hard

In a year when each state agency is being asked to justify its every dollar, officials from the state's eight Regional Education Service Agencies are going through an almost annual rite of passage to explain what exactly it is they do. The RESAs, which are overseen by the state Board of Education, provide a hodgepodge of services, from computer repair in schools to firefighter training. These are necessary services, all agree. But critics argue that the RESAs that provide them are an unnecess...

Police Say Hit-and-Run Was Murder: ; Passengers Say Teen Struck Other Intentionally Over Drug Transaction

An argument over a drug transaction led to the death of a Charleston teen who was deliberately struck by a pickup truck driven by another teen, police said. Garrett Z. Pauley, 19, of Penny Lane, Elkview, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Josh Freeman, also 19, of Pacific Street, Charleston.

Google Ceo Urges Grads: 'Turn Off Your Computer'

PHILADELPHIA - The head of the world's most popular search engine urged college graduates on Monday to step away from the virtual world and make human connections. Speaking at the University of Pennsylvania's commencement, Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt told about 6,000 graduates that they need to find out what is most important to them - by living analog for a while.

Driver Cited for Indecent Exposure, Meth Possession

State Police cited an Elkview man for indecent exposure and possession of meth after they stopped his car on the interstate because he was driving erratically. Trooper M.J. Napier was dispatched to Interstate 64 near Dunbar after two tractor-trailer drivers called 911 to report a man in a silver Chrysler Sebring fondling himself while driving, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Magistrate Court.

Jones Says Traffic Delays Inevitable This Summer: ; Two Major City Bridges Set for Repairs

Expect delays. That's the advice from Charleston Mayor Danny Jones, who wants residents to be prepared for traffic delays starting today that are expected to get worse as two major city bridges receive major repairs this summer.

Trial Begins for Fifth City Officer: ; Four Cops Have Been Convicted of Taking Money, Computer Fraud

The trial of a fifth Charleston police officer charged with "double-dipping" has begun in Kanawha Circuit Court. Keith O. Peoples, 45, who has worked for the city for 18 years and was honored in 2003 as Officer of the Year, was indicted in May 2008 on felony charges of obtaining money by fraudulent scheme and computer fraud.

Byrd Hospitalized with Fever Caused by Minor Infection

WASHINGTON - Sen. Robert Byrd, 91 and the longest-serving senator in history, was hospitalized last Friday with a temperature spike evidently caused by a minor infection, his office announced Monday. Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, "is being treated with antibiotics, responding well and is expected to be released from the hospital in a few days," the office said in a statement.

Weather Almanac

Yesterday's high 65 Record high 95, 1931

Regional Weather

Hi Lo Otlk Akron 71 49 Clr

National Weather

Hi Lo Otlk Anchorage 61 41 Clr

Emanuel Called Ill. Governor: ; Then-Representative Contacted Blagojevich Over Grant Funds for a School in His District

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Rahm Emanuel wanted answers. Funds from a $2 million state grant to a school in his congressional district had not arrived, so he went straight to the man in charge: Gov. Rod Blagojevich. For four successive days in 2006, then-Rep. Emanuel called for Blagojevich, with one message noting it was about the Chicago Academy, according to thousands of pages of call logs reviewed by The Associated Press. Emanuel's chief of staff followed the next week with four more calls to a to...

Student Points Gun at Teacher, Shoots Self in Head

LAROSE, La. - A Louisiana middle school student stormed into a classroom and fired a gunshot over a teacher's head Monday before shooting himself in a bathroom, authorities said. Investigators found a suicide note and plans for a rampage in the teen's journal. The 15-year-old student, whose name was not released, fired once around 9 a.m. inside a classroom at Larose-Cut Off Middle School, then shot himself in the head, said Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. He was in critical but stable c...

Astronauts Finish Work On Hubble

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Spacewalking astronauts completed repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope on Monday, leaving it more powerful than ever and able to peer even deeper into the cosmos - almost to the brink of creation. The last humans to lay hands on Hubble outfitted the observatory with another set of fresh batteries, a new sensor for precise pointing and protective covers. That equipment, along with other improvements made over the last five days, should allow the telescope to provide daz...

Peace Talks Must Resume, Obama Says

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama opened his deepest foray into the Middle East quagmire, telling Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu he must stop Jewish settlements and should grasp a "historic opportunity" to make peace with the Palestinians. Obama also had pointed words for Iran on a second major Mideast dispute, warning the Iranians they had until year's end to get serious about talks with the world community on curbing their nuclear ambitions. "We're not going to have talks forever," the...

Nation & World

Statue of former president beheaded

New Study Says More Airline Passengers Satisfied

MINNEAPOLIS - Airlines are doing a better job of taking care of the passengers they still have, according to a new study. Passenger satisfaction with airline service rose 3.2 percent earlier this year, the first increase in six years, according to a University of Michigan study to be released today.

Psc to Hold Hearings in June On Rate Request

The state Public Service Commission has not yet ruled on an 18.5 percent interim rate hike requested by Appalachian Power Co. and Wheeling Power Co., but the commission has finalized the evidentiary hearing schedule on the utilities' overall 43 percent rate hike request. The hearing on the overall request will begin June 15 and will continue each day until complete, the commission said in an order issued Thursday.

Tim Horton's Adds Cold Stone Creamery

WINFIELD - If you're in the mood to throw calorie caution to the wind, a stop into the Teays Valley Tim Horton's might be worth your time. Thanks to the recent addition of a Cold Stone Creamery, patrons of the coffee joint can enjoy customized ice cream treats alongside their usual doughnuts, bagels, and sandwiches.