Grant could bring broadband to rural Jefferson Co.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE ... August 17, 2009 ... The Herald-Mail

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — A partnership between Jefferson County Schools and American Public University System in Charles Town, W.Va., has until Thursday to submit an application for an $11 million federal grant to install a wireless broadband computer network that will bring the county into the information age...

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$2 million For Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College

By RON GREGORY ... August 14, 2009 ... Lincoln Journal

LOGAN - Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College has been awarded a $2 million grant from the federal government, according to Southern President Joanne Jaeger Tomblin.

Tomblin said Southern has been approved for a Title III grant under the Strengthening Insitutions Program sponsored by the United States Department of Education.

The college will receive the $2 million over a five-year period beginning in October of this year. Tomblin said the funds will be used to upgrade classrooms with multimedia equipment.

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Mercer CVB Unveils State's First Interactive Tourism Map

By Annette Sorah ... August 13, 2009 ... State Journal

Visitors headed to Southern West Virginia now can make detailed plans for their travels, including territory they plan to ride on the Coal Heritage Trail.

The Mercer County Convention and Visitors Bureau announced this week its new interactive Web-based marketing project, which began approximately four months ago, according to Beverly Wellman, executive director to the Mercer County CVB.

"This is a new technology," Wellman said. "We are the first in the state. It's just very gratifying to see this come to fruition."

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Belington Community Medical Services Association to Receive $1.15 Million In Stimulus Money

The association is one of 126 centers nationwide getting funding, and the the only health center in West Virginia receiving any money.

By Hilary Magacs ... March 3, 2009 ... State Journal

BELINGTON -- Eric Ruf is the executive director of the Belington Community Medical Services Association. He's excited that the association will be receiving more than $1 million in federal stimulus money. "The money mainly will be used to help us expand and grow our mission, which is to support and take care of the uninsured or underinsured," says Ruf.

Ruf says more than 6,200 people visited the Belington Medical Clinic last year and 30 percent were underinsured or uninsured. A physician's assistant at the clinic says the money is coming at just the right time...

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Several Companies Looking To Set Up Shop In Braxton County

The Development Authority is now moving forward with plans to build another building to accomodate the anticipated growth.

By Gil McClanahan ... July 19, 2009 ... WTRF

Flatwoods -- The Braxton County Development Authority is opening the door to what they hope is a world of opportunity. A company is set to move in here on the second floor of the Braxton Technology Group building, joining the first tenant who have no regrets making the move

"We're right on a centralized interstate, and although it's out in the middle of nowhere it's centralized to everybody in the state of West Virginia," says Wally Howerton of Micah Systems...

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Bottle rocket contest kicks off Aerospace Expo

By Ben Adducchio ... May 29, 2009 ... WV Pubcast

On Thursday, about 600 students in grades 8-10 set off homemade bottle rockets and spoke with aerospace leaders as part of the North Central West Virginia Aerospace Expo in Bridgeport...

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West Virginia broadband policy

June 1, 2009 ... TMC News (The Dominion Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX)

Gov. Joe Manchin signed West Virginia's Internet access bill into law in 2008. The legislation creates a broadband development council, provides for mapping high speed Internet services and establishes reporting requirements for state infrastructure, and requires any new service that relies on state money to be at least 600 kilobits per second -- three times the FCC's definition of high speed.

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Verizon sells off landline service in W.Va.

By George Hohmann ... May 13, 2009 ... Charleston Daily Mail

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Verizon Communication's decision to sell its wireline business in West Virginia and 13 other states could be a good thing for the Mountain State, the head of the West Virginia Public Service Commission's Consumer Advocate Division said...

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Bill Would Grant President Unprecedented Cyber-security Powers

By Roy Mark ... April 2, 2009 ... eWeek.com

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 introduced in the Senate would allow the president to shut down private Internet networks...

"We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs — from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records — the list goes on," Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), bill co-sponsor, said in a statement. "It's an understatement to say that cyber-security is one of the most important issues we face; the increasingly connected nature of our lives only amplifies our vulnerability to cyber-attacks and we must act now."

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Spending Provisions In the Stimulus Plan

Feb. 13, 2009 -- Congress released details Thursday night of its $787 billion stimulus plan, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. About 65 percent of funds in the measure go toward spending, while about 35 percent will pay for tax cuts. Below is a breakdown of some of the key spending provisions in the measure.

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Schools Already Making Plans With Stimulus Money

By Claudio Sanchez ... March 9, 2009 .. All Things Considered

The more than $100 billion allocated for education in the administration's stimulus package will take some time to trickle down to local school districts. In some cases, the money may not arrive soon enough to avert more layoffs and budget cuts. But that isn't stopping superintendents and teachers from thinking about how to spend it.

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Provost says Tech will turn corner

Leader outlines positive changes

By Davin White ... March 10, 2009 ... Gazette Mail

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The campus leader at West Virginia University Institute of Technology said despite struggles to attract students, a tough audit report and some people's perception of the campus, the Montgomery school is turning the corner.

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Wounded Warrior Program In Pocahontas County

Wounded Warrior Weekend is wrapping up in Pocahontas County, Monday

By Martin Staunton ... March 9, 2009 ... WVNS TV

SNOWSHOE- -- 59News spoke with some of the men who have come to West Virginia to learn how to make it down the Mountain even though they have suffered life-altering injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Computer technology fingers illegal aliens

Bucks, Montgomery already scan prints to determine residency

By Robert H. Orenstein ... March 10, 2009 ... The Morning Call

After being arrested in Bucks County, suspects place their hands on an imaging screen that scans their fingerprints into a computer linked to a federal database.

Within minutes, prison officials can learn the person's criminal record -- whether he is wanted for other crimes and whether he is in the country illegally.

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Potomac River mostly spared from 4,000 gallon of coal ash that spilled from Md. paper mill

By DAVID DISHNEAU ... March 10, 2009 ... Star Tribune

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A 4,000-gallon spill of potentially toxic coal ash sludge mostly missed the Potomac River and doesn't appear to have done much harm, a Maryland environmental official said Tuesday.

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Rahall Announces $13M for Crime Fighting Grants in West Virginia

Special to Huntingtonnews.net ... March 8, 2009

Washington, DC (HNN) – U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) on Friday, March 6, 2009 announced the availability of $13,139,007 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to continue the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program in West Virginia.

"When it comes to fighting crime, every dollar counts," Rahall said. "This program enables law enforcement departments across southern West Virginia to acquire crime-fighting technology and training they need to help keep our communities safe."

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Bethany College President Focused

By LINDA COMINS ... March 8, 2009 ... News Register

In his second year of leadership, Bethany College President Scott D. Miller is upbeat about Bethany’s role as "a small college of national distinction."

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The truth about newspapers

Community papers feel recession’s effects but remain strong

By Misty Poe ... Times West Virginian ... March 08, 2009

FAIRMONT — Much has been said about the state of newspapers lately.

From the Rocky Mountain News to The Daily News in Philadelphia, newspapers that have served generation after generation of readers have closed their doors. And just Friday, it was reported that almost half of the San Francisco Chronicle’s staff would lose their jobs. The news has left many to speculate about Hearst Corp.’s plans to shutter their print editions and go completely online — similar to a plan that the Detroit Free Press started early this year.

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National Policy Will Shape State Energy Debate

State legislators are keeping a close eye on how the Obama administration and Congress are shaping the future of energy.

By Walt Williams ... March 7, 2009 ... WOWK TV

CHARLESTON -- What happens in D.C. won’t necessarily stay in D.C. when it comes to the future of energy policy in the Mountain State. State lawmakers will spend a good part of the 2009 Legislative session crafting legislation determining where West Virginians get their electricity and how that energy is provided. But looming over the discussions are policy debates now taking place in Washington, D.C.

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Education Stimulus Dollars Headed To West Virginia

The total for the state is $417 million dollars.

By Gil McClanahan ... March 6, 2009 ... WBOY TV

CHARLESTON -- Zander Holstein,4, is legally blind, but he'll benefit from West Virginia's $417 million education stimulus package. More than $75 million has been earmarked for education for the disabled.

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Production Equals Paychecks

Most West Virginians know it’s not the “tooth fairy” that takes care of family, rather it’s J-O-B-S.

By Roger Lilly ... March 5, 2009 ... State Journal

One hundred and sixty million is the approximate number all West Virginians should monitor more than the Dow, NASDAQ, or S&P 500: 160 million is the number of tons of coal currently produced annually in West Virginia.

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Global Science and BSI creating a joint venture

March 5, 2009 ... Third Factor

Global Science and Technology, a West Virginia-based software, database and engineering company, and Biometric Services International (BSI), a subsidiary of the National Biometric Security Project and also based in West Virginia, have announced that they are entering a collaborative venture to improve biometric technology. Between the two of them, BSI is expected to bring their biometrics experience while Global Science will be bringing their technology expertise to the joint efforts.

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Recycling Gadgets When They Go Pffft...

By JULIE SCELFO ... March 4, 2009 ... NY Times

AMERICANS discarded 2.25 million tons of computers, printers, cellphones and other electronics in 2007. About 82 percent ended up in landfills. The Green Home called up Jason Linnell, the executive director of the National Center for Electronics Recycling, a nonprofit group based in West Virginia, to find out how we can recycle our old gadgets instead.

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Committee wants year-long study of nuclear power

By Mannix Porterfield ... March 4, 2009 ... REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER

CHARLESTON — Nuclear power might be the wave of West Virginia’s energy future, but for now, it’s back on the Legislature’s shelf.

Rather than tackle the divisive and controversial issue, a Senate subcommittee decided Wednesday not to send up a bill aimed at diluting an "effective ban" on nuclear power currently in state code.

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