Charleston Daily Mail

High Court to Hear Health Reform Challenge: Mandate, Other Aspects of Overhaul

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear a challenge to the health care overhaul act passed in 2010, with a decision on President Barack Obama's most controversial domestic achievement likely to come in the summer of his reelection campaign. The court said it will decide whether the Affordable Care Act exceeded Congress's power by requiring almost all Americans to have health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty, a powerful constitutional question that will likely make it the cou...

Charges Against Sheriff Perplex: Wondering What to Do About Elected Official's Situation

Mason County commissioners have a quandary on their hands. The county has an elected sheriff who has not returned to work since he was charged last week with firing a gun over his adolescent son's head.

Surplus Unlikely to Go for Highways: Continued Excess Revenues

Even though the condition of state roads is the top complaint from constituents, the Legislature's two finance chairmen say they would rather not devote surplus funds to highway repairs. Senate Finance Chairman Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, and House Finance Chairman Harry Keith White, D-Mingo, said Monday that the state's fiscal forecast is too uncertain to justify diverting surplus tax revenues to the state road fund.

Kessler Survives Challenge: Time Job

Sen. Jeff Kessler won his bid Monday to lead the state Senate, beating out a faction led by Kanawha County Sen. Brooks McCabe. Kessler, D-Marshall, has been acting as Senate president for the past year on an interim basis while longtime Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin was acting as governor. Tomblin won a one-year term as governor Oct. 4 and resigned his Senate post Sunday, just before he was inaugurated. That forced a vote on who would succeed him.

New Posters Show Missing Girl's Bruised Face

WESTON - Authorities have released two new posters to help locate a 3-year-old girl Lewis County girl missing since Sept. 24, and one shows a bruise on the left side of her face. FBI special agent Jeff Killeen says investigators don't know what caused it or why Aliayah Lunsford is missing four teeth.

Draft of Marcellus Bill Complete: It to Legislature for Review

A House-Senate committee pursuing rules for drilling into West Virginia's share of the Marcellus shale finished drafting its bill Monday but won't decide whether to advance it to the full Legislature until Wednesday. The lawmakers added a final handful of amendments to the bill, meant to provide oversight for developing the rich natural gas reserve.

Mountaineer Montessori Handles Lice Outbreak

An outbreak of lice at Mountaineer Montessori School has been contained, officials said. "As of today there are none, not even a nit," said Darlene Spangler, one of the school's co-directors.

Proposal Would Change Terms for Governor Vacancies in W.Va.

West Virginia governors would be able to serve 10 consecutive years if they started out by completing an unexpired term of two years or less, as part of a proposal that emerged for legislative review Monday. The provision is part of a draft measure that would ask voters to amend the state constitution and add the elected office of lieutenant governor. The House-Senate judiciary subcommittee studying the topic is also considering a separate proposal to address when a governor or other statewid...

Planned Pipeline to Be Rerouted Around Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. - Officials with TransCanada say the company will move its planned oil pipeline out of the environmentally sensitive Sandhills area of Nebraska. The company announced the decision Monday at a news conference at the Nebraska Capitol.

Medicare Fraud Detection Flawed

MIAMI - Contractors who are paid tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to detect fraudulent Medicare claims are using inaccurate and inconsistent data that makes it extremely difficult to catch bogus bills submitted by crooks, according to an inspector general's report released Monday. Medicare's contractor system has morphed into a complicated labyrinth, with one set of contractors paying claims and another combing through those claims in an effort to stop an estimated $60 billion a year in f...

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Hi Lo Otlk Akron, Ohio 58 41 Cldy

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Nation & World

Musician plays for 36 hours straight

Charity Head Resigns Amid Scandal: ; Entities Involved in Penn State Scandal Donated to Organization

PITTSBURGH - The youth charity at the center of the child sex- abuse charges against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky received donations in recent years from hundreds of corporations, community groups and individuals - including the judge who arraigned Sandusky earlier this month and Penn State itself. On Monday, The Second Mile's president resigned, saying he hoped his departure would help restore faith in its mission. The group also announced it had hired Philadelph...

Police Clear Out Occupy Camp: Dispersed

OAKLAND, Calif. - Riot-clad law enforcement officers cleared out Oakland's weeks-old anti-Wall Street encampment early Monday, arresting Occupy demonstrators and removing tents from a downtown plaza after issuing several warnings over the weekend. Protesters appeared to put up little resistance, and officers could be seen calmly leading some demonstrators away in plastic handcuffs. Warnings from authorities had been similar to those issued before officers used tear gas and bean bag projectile...

Supreme Court Favors Broad Use of Drug Courts

The state Supreme Court is ready to do what it can to see statewide implementation of drug and mental illness treatment courts, Justice Brent Benjamin said Monday. "The West Virginia Supreme Court is solidly behind drug courts," Benjamin told a conference of treatment court professionals in Charleston Monday afternoon.

Suspects in Death Plead Not Guilty

Two men accused in the 2007 death of an East End teenager pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder. Marcus Dewayne Wesley, 25, of Renaissance Circle and Michael Mandrell Johnson, 20, of Marmet were arraigned Monday in Kanawha Circuit Court. They are set to be tried Feb. 27 before Judge Charles King.

Infrastructure Frustrates Legislators: ; W.Va. Transportation System

It will take political courage from both Democrats and Republicans to fix the nation's crumbling infrastructure, West Virginia's three U.S. House representatives said. Democrat Nick Rahall and Republicans David McKinley and Shelley Moore Capito expressed varying degrees of frustration with the lethargy characterizing congressional action on transportation issues.

Jury Selection Continues in Neglect Case: ; Mother Accused of Being Intoxictated, Passing Out On Infant

Jury selection is under way in the trial of a South Charleston woman charged in the smothering death of her infant daughter. Leslie Erin Boggs, 25, is accused of being intoxicated and passing out on top of the baby.

Police & Courts

Teen allegedly pulls knife on dad