From 2010

Pocahontas Health Dept Wants To Make Sure All County 7th Graders Are Vaccinated

September 29, 2010

By Heather Niday

Marlinton, WV – Pocahontas County School Nurse Jenny Friel says many seventh grade county students aren’t up to date on their immunizations. To rectify this, Friel says the state health dept has come up with a Seventh Grade Health Initiative to offer the immunizations in the schools, similar to the flu vaccination program last year. Friel and County Health Nurse Linda McCoy spoke to the Pocahontas Board of Education about the program Monday night.

Friel says immunizations such as whooping cough, tetanus, and Hepatitis B are recommended at this age. Students can also begin getting a vaccination against meningitis. She says this will also give students the majority of the vaccinations now required by college admissions. A signed permission slip from a parent or guardian will be required.

County Health Nurse Linda McCoy says they want to apply for a state grant called Take Your Best Shot. If successful the Health dept could get anywhere from $2500.00 to $5000.00 to help pay for advertising, flyers and other supplies related to the vaccination program, but not the actual vaccines. McCoy says there’s one stipulation – the county must be able to sustain the program once the grant money is exhausted.

Board President Kenny Vance says he supports the initiative and the grant application.

“I think it’s something probably that I’m going to refer you to Mr. [School Superintendent CC] Lester and if he approves it, we’ll go with it on the grant” says Vance.

The grant is due by November 1st.

McCoy also told the board the Health dept will no longer automatically offer Tuberculosis tests to those who take a food handlers class. She’s now required to do a risk assessment before administering the test. Friel says current school policy requires anyone who handles food in the schools have food handlers card and a valid TB test.

In other business, Pocahontas County HS FFA Advisor Samantha Bartley asked the board for permission to take five agriculture students to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis next month. She explains why this trip is important.

“We have to find a way to motivate the students to see that there is more to FFA than just the Ham-Bacon sale” says Bartley “or selling fruit. And sadly enough that’s what the kids have been involved with right now and I think it’s time to broaden their horizons.”

Bartley says she and fellow teacher Scott Garber will take care of the driving duties using a rental van from Mitchell Chevrolet. She says there is sufficient funding in the FFA’s budget to pay the expenses for all five students. The board not only approved the trip, but also made a commitment to ensure that all five students have FFA jackets to wear.

The board also approved an 8th grade trip to Virginia Beach next spring for Marlinton Middle School students. Board member Jan McNeel asked that sponsors Heather Simmons and Stephanie Burns do their best to tie the trip itinerary into classroom objectives.

Student representative Nathan Hammons says students at the high school are celebrating spirit week leading up to the Homecoming game against Bath County on Oct 1st. He says several seniors also recently traveled to Davis and Elkins College for a day of meeting with college representatives.

Personnel Agenda Approved Monday Night:

Green Bank Elementary-Middle School
Employed:
Cheryl Jonese – Student Interventionist
Michael Kane – head basketball coach (girls)
Michael Murphy – asst basketball coach (girls)
Shane Jones – head basketball coach (boys)
Allen Taylor – asst basketball coach (boys)
Resignation: Anne Smith as athletic coordinator

Marlinton Elementary School
Resignation of Carol Alderman,teacher, due to retirement
Employed: Jamey Weber-after school program teacher

Hillsboro Elementary School
Employed: Darlene Arbogast, Maria Hall, Kelli Hickson, Rosanne Zeni, Virginia Calhoun, Gina Hardesty and Lois McCutcheon – after school program teachers

Marlinton Middle School
Employed:
Shirlene Groceclose, Richard McLaughlin, Denise Sharp, Louisa Kiner, Lesli Mensing and Kristi Weese – after school program teachers
Michael G. Burns – student interventionist
Lauren Brooke Dickenson – special education student interventionist

Pocahontas County HS
Employed:
Linda Beverage, Teresa Rhea, Christopher Sutton, Melvin Linsey, and Leah Shinaberry – after school program teachers
Kathryn Kolonay and Sherman Taylor – alternative education program teachers
Michael G. Burns – student interventionist
Scott Garber -asst basketball coach (boys)

County
Employed:
Lauren B Dickenson and Victoria Poundstone – substitute teachers
Maria Hall, Denise McNeel, Kathleen McGee and Sharon Vance – teacher mentors
Gary Cutlip – transfer to a different bus route beginning at Marlinton Middle School

Teacher Arrested

Information Needed: WEST VIRGINIA STATE POLICE
PRESS RELEASE

Office of Public Affairs
Lieutenant Michael Baylous
Telephone: 304-746-2198

Marlinton, West Virginia – On Tuesday, April 8, 2014, Corporal M. A. Agee, of the Marlinton Detachment of the West Virginia State Police, arrested Ms. Samantha Bartley (25 years of age, from Marlinton, West Virginia) for three (3) counts of sexual assault by a guardian. These charges stem from a complaint from a former student of Pocahontas High School. The victim claims that as a student in 2013, he engaged in sexual relations with Ms. Bartley, who was employed as a teacher at the school. The victim was a juvenile at the time the sexual relationship is alleged to have occurred. An investigation by Corporal Agee developed probable cause to arrest Ms. Bartley. She was arraigned in Pocahontas Magistrate Court.

Any questions or requests for interviews should be directed to Corporal M. A. Agee at 304-799-4101. Any questions concerning Ms. Bartley’s employment status should be directed to the Pocahontas County Board of Education.

Breaking News!!!

the felony indictment was handed down on donna price on april 1.
the wv supreme court indicates that they received communication from judge rowe on april 3.
rowe requested that both rowe and pomponio be recused from presiding over the price case.
no reason was given in the judicial recusal request.
no reason is required to be given in the judicial recusal request.
 
per rowe's request, chief justice robin jean davis assigned a special judge to the price case.
this assignment was made on april 8, 2014.
the special judge assigned to the case is thomas keadle.
keadle is a senior status judge based out of hampshire county.
 
the wv supreme court indicated that all of these documents should be available in the court file at the pocahontas county courthouse.
 

They are trying to mess over Donna!!! Look how far they went to protect a man!!!

"Houston We May Have a Problem"

I got a tip to go down to the courthouse and check the records regarding Donna's indictment.  That tip paid off!! It was suggested that I look for the paper trail regarding the recusals of our elected prosecutor and his assistant.  They don't exist!!  Neither is there any evidence that Judge Rowe appointed  the special prosecutor in the case.  I asked Connie directly and I checked the record.  Those records do not exist!!!

This means that something "funny" went on (and I don't mean humorous) in regarding to the grand jury proceedings.  This "special prosecutor" doesn't have a jurisdictional trail which can be pointed to establish her bona fides.

Is it possible that the "due process" of the law was circumvented as it was in my own case in which Chris Cole had a private conversation with the judge and got an order "for the purpose of finding probable cause."  The only difference is that there is no evidence that any judge appointed this special prosecutor to show up.  You don't suppose the court would have ignored that little item??????  Well, if they didn't where is the evidence?  It surely isn't in the record.  I have checked that and confirmed it with Connie.

The Other Side of the Climate Change Issue

Biological Impacts Summary

• Atmospheric carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It is a non-toxic, non-irritating, and natural
component of the atmosphere. Long-term CO2 enrichment studies confirm the findings of
shorter-term experiments, demonstrating numerous growth-enhancing, water-conserving, and
stress-alleviating effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on plants growing in both terrestrial and
aquatic ecosystems.

• The ongoing rise in the air’s CO2 content is causing a great greening of the Earth. All
across the planet, the historical increase in the atmosphere’s CO2 concentration has stimulated
vegetative productivity. This observed stimulation, or greening of the Earth, has occurred in
spite of many real and imagined assaults on Earth’s vegetation, including fires, disease, pest
outbreaks, deforestation, and climatic change.

• There is little or no risk of increasing food insecurity due to global warming or rising
atmospheric CO2 levels. Farmers and others who depend on rural livelihoods for income are
benefitting from rising agricultural productivity throughout the world, including in parts of Asia
and Africa where the need for increased food supplies is most critical. Rising temperatures and
atmospheric CO2 levels play a key role in the realization of such benefits.

• Terrestrial ecosystems have thrived throughout the world as a result of warming
temperatures and rising levels of atmospheric CO2. Empirical data pertaining to numerous
animal species, including amphibians, birds, butterflies, other insects, reptiles, and mammals,
indicate global warming and its myriad ecological effects tend to foster the expansion and
proliferation of animal habitats, ranges, and populations, or otherwise have no observable
impacts one way or the other. Multiple lines of evidence indicate animal species are adapting,
and in some cases evolving, to cope with climate change of the modern era.

• Rising temperatures and atmospheric CO2 levels do not pose a significant threat to
aquatic life. Many aquatic species have shown considerable tolerance to temperatures and
CO2 values predicted for the next few centuries, and many have demonstrated a likelihood of
positive responses in empirical studies. Any projected adverse impacts of rising temperatures
or declining seawater and freshwater pH levels (“acidification”) will be largely mitigated through
phenotypic adaptation or evolution during the many decades to centuries it is expected to take
for pH levels to fall.

• A modest warming of the planet will result in a net reduction of human mortality from
temperature-related events. More lives are saved by global warming via the amelioration of
cold-related deaths than those lost under excessive heat. Global warming will have a negligible
influence on human morbidity and the spread of infectious diseases, a phenomenon observed
in virtually all parts of the world.

Source: Idso, C.D., Idso, S.B., Carter, R.M., and Singer, S.F. (Eds.) 2014. Climate Change
Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts. Chicago, IL: The Heartland Institute.

Where the Money Is!!!

Former Greenbrier deputy settles civil rights suit for $100K

May 13, 2013 11:19 AM
By LAWRENCE SMITH

Hicklin

BECKLEY – A former Greenbrier County Sheriff’s deputy has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging he improperly had sex with a woman when she has still a teenager.

U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger on May 2 entered an order dismissing Cendlelyn Stanley’s civil rights suit against Chris Baker. The order came after the sides announced a settlement four days before a trial was scheduled to begin.

The order stipulated that Baker, 33 and of Renick, agreed to pay Stanley, 20 and of Rainelle, $100,000 in exchange for her dismissing all claims against him.

Also, Baker agreed to the amount on the condition he would not obligated to pay pre- or post-judgment interest.

According to the complaint originally filed in Greenbrier Circuit Court on June 29, 2010, by Stanley’s mother, Cheryl Ball, Baker used his position as a deputy sheriff to befriend Stanley a year earlier.

After gaining her trust through a series of conversations, Ball alleged Baker had sex with Stanley on multiple occasions in his police cruiser while in uniform. This occurred while she was 16 years old, the lawsuit claims.

In the suit, Ball alleged when then-Sheriff Roger Sheppard hired him on June 12, 2007, he was aware of Baker’s perversions. According to the suit, Sheppard was aware Baker was fired from one of his previous jobs at a convenience store “for poking holes in a wall and using the holes to watch females use the restroom.”

Elected sheriff in 2004, Sheppard was defeated for re-election in the 2008 primary by Bruce Hosey, who lost in that year’s general election to Republican James Childers.

In last year’s election, Jan Cahill, a Democrat and former State Police captain, upended Childers’ re-election bid.

Both Sheppard and Childers were named as co-defendants in the suit. Along with ones for assault and battery and intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress against Baker, Ball made a claim of negligent hiring, training and supervision against Sheppard and Childers.

The case, which was originally assigned to Greenbrier Circuit Judge James Rowe, was transferred to U.S. District Court on July 26, 2010, after Katie Hicklin and Wendy Greve, attorneys for Sheppard and Childers, filed a notice of removal.

Records show Baker was left to fend for himself after Berger on Dec. 11 granted a motion by West Virginia Counties’ Risk Pool, Greenbrier County’s insurance carrier, that argued it was not obligated to pay for any damages that might be awarded since he was acting outside the scope of his authority during his alleged encounters with Stanley.

A month later, Berger granted a motion by George Joseph, Baker’s attorney, to withdraw from the suit since WVCoRP would no longer be paying him to represent Baker.

On April 15, Berger granted a motion Hicklin and Greve filed a month earlier asking that the complaint be amended to list only Stanley as the plaintiff since in the course of litigation she turned 18 year old. It also dismissed Childers as a defendant following Berger’s Sept. 18 ruling finding Ball failed to plead any of her four claims against him.

Two weeks later, Berger granted a joint motion filed by Stanley and Sheppard dismissing all claims against him.

Throughout the suit, Stanley was represented by Charleston attorneys Michael O. Callaghan and Joshua R. Martin.

According to the Greenbrier County Clerk’s Office, Baker was terminated from GCSD on Oct. 21, 2009. His salary was $34,820.

A search of records in both Greenbrier Magistrate and Circuit courts shows no criminal charges have been filed against Baker for his alleged encounters with Stanley.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, case number 10-cv-955

Greenbrier Circuit Court, case number 10-C-134

Sound Familiar????

View photo

This April 21, 2008 file photo, Chesterfield County Sheriff, Sam Parker addresses members of the media during a news conference at Chesterfield High School, in Chesterfield, S.C. Parker goes on trial Monday, April 7, 2014 is charged with five counts of misconduct in office, two counts of furnishing contraband to inmates and one count of embezzlement. Seven of South Carolina’s 46 sheriffs have faced charges or criminal investigations in the past four years. Unlike most of them, Parker is fighting the charges. (AP Photo/Brett Flashnick)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — When "Big" Sam Parker was elected sheriff of Chesterfield County in South Carolina in 2002, he wanted to make good on his promise to help the place where he lived his life.

Parker obtained a helicopter, guns and other equipment for his department. He recruited people to help his deputies out for big events like high school football games. And Parker did favors for inmates who earned his trust in the county jail, even flying one of them on his plane to see his sick mother.

But prosecutors who will be trying Parker on several criminal charges starting Monday see the sheriff's actions in a different light. They say he gave away those guns without filing the proper paperwork, allowed people to act as deputies without proper training and allowed his inmates too many perks.

Parker is one of seven sheriffs of South Carolina's 46 counties to face charges or criminal investigations in the past four years. Privately, sheriffs across the state have grumbled that their behavior has been scrutinized too closely and prosecutors have used a vague law to criminalize policy violations. Parker's own lawyer suggested after his arrest in March 2013 that sheriffs in rural areas had done similar things for decades and he was being singled out for some reason.

While most of the other sheriffs pleaded guilty, avoided jail time and quietly faded away, Parker is fighting back, risking the possibility of spending time on the other side of the law to save his 40-year policing career.

"Sam is looking forward to getting his side of the story in front of an objective jury," his defense attorney Johnny Gasser said.

Parker is charged with five counts of misconduct in office, two counts of furnishing contraband to inmates and one count of embezzlement. The misconduct and contraband charges each carry up to 10 years in prison and the embezzlement charge has a maximum five-year punishment.

The investigation into Parker began when that inmate he had helped to see his sick mother became mad after the sheriff punished him for a violation and went to authorities. The same State Law Enforcement Division that Parker retired from after 12 years as an agent began a wide-reaching probe.

The prisoner, who was serving 15 years for arson and was sent to Chesterfield County to help with tasks like fixing cars and maintaining county property, told investigators he was allowed to drink alcohol, sleep outside the jail, use an iPad and have unsupervised visits with women, according to an indictment against Parker.

Parker also gave away confiscated weapons, including an M-14 semi-automatic rifle, to friends who were not deputies, prosecutors said.

Parker also allowed people that he called reserve deputies to wear police uniforms and carry badges even though they did not have any training to be law officers, according to the indictment.

The allegations against Parker stunned his fellow sheriffs, who meet several times a year for training and to swap stories.

"I've never known him to drink; I've never known him to smoke. I've always known him to be in church and I've always known him to be straight down the line. That's why I'm interested to see what happens next week and whether all this stuff in the paper really happened," said Fred Knight, sheriff of neighboring Marlboro County.

Knight and Parker knew each other. Knight's police career started as an officer in Cheraw, the largest city in Chesterfield County. They each worked at SLED, with Parker becoming sheriff in 2003 and Knight voted in as sheriff two years later.

Parker was zealous about protecting Chesterfield County, which has about 47,000 people far away from major cities — 60 miles from Charlotte, N.C., and 70 miles from Columbia. He trained and equipped one of the best SWAT teams in the state and some of the best tracking dogs. He got a military surplus helicopter and could often be found hanging out the window at the controls, looking for suspects.

And since he was isolated from much of the rest of the state, he shared those assets with neighboring counties. Marlboro County deputies said if they needed to interview an entire neighborhood, Parker sent as many officers as he could.

"He'd be right there with his SWAT team suited up," said Marlboro County Sheriff's Lt. Jamie Scales.

Parker voluntarily stepped aside when he was indicted so the governor wouldn't have to suspend him. But he wants his job back. If he is found not guilty, he will ask Gov. Nikki Haley to put him right back in office.

And last month, he walked into the county election offices and paid $2,700 to file as the only Republican seeking a four-year term for sheriff. Four Democrats also signed up.

Because as Parker said as he sought re-election the first time in 2006, being sheriff was a lifelong dream.

"I'm a working sheriff," he said. "I'm here for the people and not for the power."

___

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP

Indictment

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Former Pocahontas prosecutor indicted for embezzlement

April 2, 2014 2:24 PM
By CHRIS DICKERSON

MARLINTON – The former Pocahontas County prosecuting attorney has been indicted on felony charges of embezzlement.

Price

On Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Donna Meadows Price for allegedly embezzling more than $1,000 during her tenure as the county prosecutor from June 2009 to December 2012.

While she wasn’t indicted on a count of grand larceny, the indictment also claims she stole almost $4,000 in goods on her last day of office in December 2012. That list includes three iPad 2s, various law books, office supplies and equipment, paper shredders, a space heater, a printer stand and Nook accessories.

Price was defeated in the 2012 general election by Marlinton attorney Eugene Simmons, who joined the race as an Independent after Price won the primary.

At the time of her defeat, a six-count statement of charges had been filed against her in 2011 by the Lawyer Disciplinary Board, the prosecutorial arm of the state Supreme Court. The statement stemmed from complaints lodged against her by the county’s two circuit judges, Joseph C. Pomponio Jr. and James C. Rowe, who accused Price of either dereliction of duty or making questionable decisions.

Specifically, Pomponio accused Price of failing to prepare orders in cases, including juvenile delinquency, present cases to the grand jury, return telephone calls, spend sufficient time in the office and cooperate with law enforcement. The statement noted in a letter sent to Pomponio dated four days earlier, Sheriff David Jonese said Price failed to bring multiple drug-related cases in trial the previous two years, and asked for the appointment of a special prosecutor to handle them.

In his complaint, Rowe took issue with Price using a woman placed on an improvement period by the state Department of Health and Human Resources in an abuse and neglect case as a confidential informant to aid in undercover drug buys. Though Price denied it was, Rowe said the woman acting as an informant was a conflict of interest by not only exposing her to the very thing to which she has an addiction, but also putting her in jeopardy of permanently losing custody of her child in violating the terms of her improvement period.

Also, Rowe noted that after she was appointed as a special prosecutor, Price sat on the case of a Greenbrier County sheriff’s deputy accused of having sex with a minor for nearly a year. According to the statement, Price asked to be removed from the case in early 2011.

Last month, the state Supreme Court took the recommendation of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board and reprimanded Price for her actions in that statement of charges. It ordered her to follow a written and executed plan of supervised practice for three years, complete nine additional hours of continuing legal education per year and to pay court costs for the proceedings.

Pocahontas County case number: 14-F-01; West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number: 11-1345

West Virginia Supreme Court

War Against Women--The Indictment

Editor's Note:  When Donna Price-Meadows Took office, the office was pretty much a shambles.  The Former Prosecutor,  Weiford had stripped the county's computers even to the point of "removing" the hard drives.  Donna had to order new computers, etc.  Ironically, she never prosecuted Weiford for what undoubtedly would be considered theft of public property under the circumstances.  Now we see here being indicted for a similar situation, the Walt Weiford was not even prosecuted.  I suspect that Donna regrets this now!  

Donna was not a part of the good ole boys.  It all started when she set the hounds of hell loose on Totten which ended up in a federal investigation.  This broke the blue code of silence which all law enforcement personnel are expected to enforce.

Take a look at this list of things and see just how "silly" this whole thing was when you realize that entire hard drives were taken by the former prosecutor.  Donna was indicted for taking "drug charts" off the wall, even as little as a $17.50 poster.  Eugene Simmons charged me with "stealing" a public document valued at $1.00.  The charges were later dismissed by Magistrate Carrie Wilfong (and with prejudice)  Eugene Simmons will go to any length to take down his enemies.  He wants to reduce them to the same level as he is.

Woody Indictment

The Question: Does This CC Have the Balls To Discipline the Sheriff?????

Here's the sheriff's response along with the County Commissions Response.

They don't know what is going on!

This complaint was filed in 2012

Date With Destiny

 
WV ODC  "motion to continue" hearing was held Monday at 8:30am.
the "motion to continue" was granted by the hearing subcommittee panel.
new dates and location have been officially scheduled for a public hearing.
its now full steam ahead and ol' JL has new date with destiny.
 
Aug 12 and 13
Brier Inn
Lewisburg WV
9am

Re: Sheriff Misuse of the Courthouse Camera System