News Clippings
The following are freelance articles I’ve written for Reuters and others since January 2010, as well as links to articles where I or West Virginia Watchdog are cited as sources:
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Nov 4_(Reuters) – A popping light bulb was mistaken for an exploding package in a West Virginia post office on Friday, prompting evacuation of the building and concern over a mysterious white powder, authorities said.
Electrical short prompts post office evacuation | Reuters
CHARLESTON, W.Va. Oct 26 (Reuters) – The former security chief at a West Virginia coal mine where 29 miners died last year was convicted of two felonies on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
Ex-mine official convicted in deadly U.S. disaster | Energy & Oil | Reuters
“Even as West Virginia goes Republican nationally, state Democrats take elections at the local level very seriously,” said Steven Allen Adams, the editor-in-chief of West Virginia Watchdog, an online publication covering politics in the state. They’ve been a majority party for over 80 years, and the reason is a base that gets out the vote.”
Why Did Tomblin Prevail in Special Election Despite GOP Efforts? | Governing.com
(Reuters) – Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin held on for a slim victory in the West Virginia governor’s race on Tuesday, narrowly preventing a third state special election embarrassment for President Barack Obama.
Democrat narrowly wins West Virginia governor’s race | Reuters
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Oct 4 (Reuters) – West Virginians voted on Tuesday in a close governor’s race that has become as much about a Democrat not on the ballot — U.S. President Barack Obama — as about the two men who are running.
UPDATE 3-U.S. governor’s race seen as Obama referendum | Reuters
(Reuters) – A Republican candidate for governor of West Virginia is aiming to tap voter dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama in a bid to win the Democratic stronghold in an election next week.
Republican aims to win West Virginia governorship | Reuters
Last year on April 5, 29 miners died in a methane explosion caused by poor ventilation at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, W.Va. A report by the Mine Safety and Health Administration ruled that the event that caused the explosion could have easily been prevented by Massey Energy, which was well aware of a long history of safety problems in the mine. In the year leading up to the explosion, the Upper Big Branch Mine was cited 458 times for safety violations, with 50 of those violations being willful violations of the law—nearly five times the national average for citations of a single mine.
Troy Davis Executed, While CEO Responsible for Deaths of 29 Miners Sails Free | MichaelMoore.com
(Reuters) – The pilot killed in the crash of a vintage military plane at a West Virginia air show was identified on Sunday as John “Flash” Mangan of North Carolina, officials said.
Pilot killed at West Virginia air show is identified | Reuters
(Reuters) – A World War II-era plane crashed in a fireball on Saturday at a West Virginia air show, killing the pilot, officials said, a day after another vintage plane crashed at a Nevada show, killing nine people and injuring more than 50 others.
Historic plane crashes at West Virginia air show | Reuters
(Reuters) – A West Virginia man on a tri-state killing spree gunned down six people and ran over a seventh with his car before committing suicide, police said on Wednesday.
Gunman attacks seven people in three states, then kills self | Reuters
“West Virginia is poised for success,” Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin opened his State of the State address last January. Indeed, as with most states, it was hit hard by the recession, but in many ways, “the economy is very good,” observed Steve Adams, editor-in-chief of the not-for-profit West Virginia Watchdog. The state boasts a AAA bond rating. It has a budget surplus. Exports reached a record $6.4 billion in 2010, up 33 percent over the previous year. It has attracted new businesses to the state that have invested approximately $1 billion dollars over the past year. “We’ve come out (of the recession) okay in many ways,” Adams told MillionaireCorner.com.
West Virginia Moves Beyond Coal Mining Image | Millionaire Corner
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Reuters) – Comedian Andy Dick pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he sexually abused a security guard and another man at a West Virginia bar by grabbing their crotches.
Comic Andy Dick pleads not guilty to sex abuse charges – The Washington Post
(Reuters) – A West Virginia high school has been closed and its principal and a teacher arrested after officials discovered traces of methamphetamine in the building, authorities said on Wednesday.
Evidence of meth use closes West Virginia technical school | Reuters
This goes to the top, all the way to Massey’s executive suite elites and board of directors who profited from the deliberate safety shortcuts that killed those 29 men. It also goes to Congress, where corporate-protecting Republicans continue to block regulatory reforms that would stop the needless killing of miners. For information, contact West Virginia Watchdog at: www.westvirginia.watchdog.org.
Jim Hightower | MASSEY ENERGY’S MURDEROUS LIES
WILMINGTON, Del./CHARLESTON, W.Va, May 31 (Reuters) – Coal miners Massey Energy Co MEE.N and Alpha Natural Resources Inc (ANR.N: Quote) cleared legal hurdles to their $7 billion merger on Tuesday after courts in West Virginia and Delaware refused to block the deal.
UPDATE 3-U.S. courts will not block Massey-Alpha deal | Metals & Mining | Reuters
CHARLESTON — For the second time, a Kanawha County Circuit Court dismissed a lawsuit that would halt the groundbreaking of a new “green” school on Mileground Road.
Green school lawsuit dismissed | The Dominion Post
BECKLEY, West Virginia, May 19 (Reuters) – The worst U.S. coal mine accident in four decades, in which 29 miners died, was “man-made” and could have been avoided if mine owner Massey Energy Co MEE.N had followed basic safety measures, an independent investigation concluded on Thursday.
UPDATE 4-Probe blames Massey for mine blast that killed 29 | Metals & Mining | Reuters
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia (Reuters) – Five people were arrested on Monday in connection with 29 fires intentionally set over the weekend in Morgantown, West Virginia, authorities said.
A report issued last week by the Pew Center on the States lists West Virginia as the second worst funded public pension system in the nation for fiscal year 2009, but state lawmakers say public pensions are returning to pre-recession levels.
W.Va. Pension Funding Scores Low in Pew Study | WBOY-TV
CHARLESTON, W.Va., March 22 (Reuters) – A former Massey Energy Co MEE.N employee who had worked at the West Virginia coal mine where 29 miners were killed last year was charged on Tuesday with making false statements to investigators and forging a document, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Former Massey Energy worker charged with felonies | Energy & Oil | Reuters
I made it just in time for the music, so I missed the pre-concert talk. My friend Steve Allen Adams was there, and he recorded the talk and shared it on the website Kanawha Valley Live. Here’s their post (West Virginia Symphony Orchestra Takes You Behind the Music), and you can check out the video below.
Post-Symphony Wrap-up | West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A gay coal miner who filed a discrimination lawsuit against his former employer is leading the push for statewide LGBT protections in West Virginia. Sam Hall, who filed a lawsuit against Massey Energy Co. last year, spoke at a rally Monday at the Capitol in support of anti-discrimination bills, as onlookers chanted, “stand with Sam.” Watch video of the rally above.
(Reuters) – A lack of protective rock dusting, worn drill bits and a small amount of methane gas likely contributed to the deaths of 29 miners in West Virginia last April, mining authorities said on Wednesday.
Officials say worn bits, faulty sprays involved in mine blast | Reuters
(Reuters) – A deputy U.S. marshal was fatally shot and two others were wounded on Wednesday as they were trying to arrest a West Virginia man who also was killed in the exchange, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
U.S. marshal killed serving arrest warrant | Reuters
(Reuters) – Public sector workers in West Virginia, in support of public employee protests in Wisconsin, will rally to demand better pay and improved working conditions, a union spokesman said on Sunday.
West Virgina workers plan rally for union rights | Reuters
Tommy Hinds and Steven Allen Adams, through the magic of video, chronicle the protest of the Westboro Baptist Church at the West Virginia Capitol Complex in Charleston, WV, as well as the flash mob counter-protest. Apparently God doesn’t hate rain.
Charleston, WV, Defeats Westboro Baptist Church with Love | YouTube
West Virginia Watchdog Managing Editor Steven Allen Adams WAS on LIVE with Rick Johnson and Michael Agnello on WCHS Radio 58 at Nov. 17, 2009, to discuss the phantom Congressional districts story.
West Virginia Watchdog on LIVE with Rick Johnson and Michael Agnello | YouTube
Two TV stations initially rejected the new ad after a complaint was filed with the West Virginia Broadcasters Association. The complaint claimed the new ad falsely accused Maloney of wanting to eliminate tax incentives. The association found that the sources cited by America Works — the Sept. 7 debate and the April 19 AP story — were insufficient evidence to show that Maloney wants to eliminate tax incentives. Those were the same sources used in the “Greedy Millionaire” ad. America Works changed the citations used in the ad and the stations have accepted it, according to the independent news website West Virginia Watchdog.
FactCheck.org | West Virginia’s Bitter End
The statement came after West Virginia Watchdog, a state chapter of the non-profit Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, reported the subpoenas are part of a federal grand jury investigation into work done at the Governor’s Mansion in Charleston.
Manchin confirms DOJ served state with subpoenas | CNN Political Ticker
Eileen Norcross is cited on The West Virginia Watchdog and explains how states should value their pension obligations.
Is West Virginia Taking Pension Debt Seriously? | Mercatus
Today is an extraordinary day in West Virginia. Gov. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) appointed his former legal counsel, Carte Goodwin, to fill the unexpired term of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) for the next few months. The West Virginia Legislature is amending state law to allow for a special election in 2010, opening the door for the 62-year-old Manchin to run for the remaining two years of Byrd’s term. And Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va) is hosting a fundraiser at his home in Charleston for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.); a fundraiser that Manchin is not attending according to West Virginia MetroNews.
PJ Media | Governor Manchin Names Old Family Friend as Senator to Replace Robert Byrd
Steven Allen Adams of the West Virginia Watchdog – a project of the Public Policy Foundation of West Virginia – and I talked yesterday about bringing ballot initiative and referendum rights to West Virginia (my home state). The first segment in a three-part on putting the voters in charge of the Mountain State is excerpted below:
West Virginia: Bringing Initiative & Referendum Rights to the Mountain State | Citizens in Charge
