Justice family businesses under pressure
The West Virginia Weakly Reader for Saturday, August 3, 2024
This newsletter is starting to feel like it could be devoted solely to the troubles faced by the business empire controlled by Gov. Jim Justice and his family.
I woke up Thursday morning thinking this weekend’s WV Weakly Reader was focused a bit too much on the Justice network of companies. Dave mentioned similar concerns last week.
But then I wandered over to the Charleston Gazette-Mail’s website and my eyes popped. The Gazette-Mail had a breaking news banner running across the top calling attention to word that Gov. Justice may not be the proud owner of the storied Greenbrier Hotel for much longer. "Justice’s Greenbrier Hotel slated for auction due to default,” the banner said.
Dave and I treat this newsletter like we do the radio newscasts we produce in our regular jobs — we want to achieve variety and try not to get too bogged down in any one story.
However, there are times when events dictate how newscasts are stacked. So it goes for the West Virginia Weakly.
The Justice family businesses are under pressure from a number of different fronts. It can be a bit much. We’ll try to point you in the right direction.
The West Virginia Weakly Reader (sources cited in the footnotes)
🏨 The Gazette-Mail story1 in the above screenshot was based on a trustee’s sale notice published Wednesday by The West Virginia Daily News based in Lewisburg.2 The notice says the grand old hotel is going on the block at the Greenbrier County Courthouse at 2 p.m. on Aug. 27 due to a default on “the terms and conditions” of a trust deed entered into in 2014 that named Gov. Justice as the borrower of a $142 million promissory note. The Gazette-Mail characterized the notice as “the latest sign of mounting peril for Justice’s business empire.” The Justice companies released a statement blaming the threatened auction on a “political stunt by Democrats to undermine the next Republican Senator from West Virginia.”3
👨⚖️ “A perpetual reluctance to cooperate” ~ A federal judge in Kentucky is showing displeasure with two companies controlled by Gov. Justice’s family. Judge Greg Van Tatenhove has held two company executives — the governor’s son, Jay Justice and Stephen Ball, in contempt of court in a 12-year-old case in which the Justice companies have already been ordered to pay $18 million dollars in a mineral rights leasing dispute. The two have been ordered to pay $250 a day until they comply with a court order to share documents.4
🫗 In a separate case in Delaware, a company seeking satisfaction of a $10 million debt is asking a federal judge to liquidate a holding company owned by Gov. Justice and his family.5
⁉️ Not for nothing, West Virginia Metro News reporter Brad McElhinny was again excluded from Gov. Justice’s virtual media briefing on Wednesday, presumably over questions McElhinny has been asking about his businesses.6 I exchanged a few messages with McElhinny Wednesday evening. He told me this is the third straight week that his requests to participate have been ignored by the governor’s office.
💸 During his media briefing this week, Gov. Justice acknowledged work to do to persuade West Virginia lawmakers to cut the state income tax an additional 5%. The cut would come on top of the up to 4% cut triggered under a state law he signed in laste year. Justice wants to eliminate the state personal income tax entirely, saying “We’ll be Tennessee. We’ll be Tennessee on steroids.7 Sean O’Leary, a policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy challenged that assertion, posting on social media a graph showing how Tennessee makes up for a lack of an income tax — with a high sales tax that disproportionately hits low income earners the hardest.8
⚖️ Attorneys for the groups in a class action lawsuit over conditions in the state foster care system responded this week to the state’s move to ask a federal judge for a summary judgement. They filed court papers saying the case should move forward, arguing the state “cherry picked” information to show improvements.9
🔎 Former state GOP chairman Kris Warner’s campaign to succeed is brother, Mac, as Secretary of State has hit some turbulence. One of Warner’s opponents in the May primary is asking for an investigation into links between a political action committee that supports Kris Warner, the state Economic Development Authority that Warner heads and Mark Scott, who resigned from his post as Secretary of Administration last week.10
🎒 A big fight over Paden City High School is over, at least for now. Wetzel County Judge C. Richard Wilson ruled this week that the school should remain open for the upcoming school year. Wetzel County Schools Superintendent Cassie Porter sparked an uproar when she announced in June that PCHS would be closed for health and safety reasons. The school sits atop an EPA Superfund site.11 We’re watching to see if Wilson’s order will be appealed.
🫡 Former Republican state Senator Tom Scott has died. Scott passed away last week at the age of 91. He held his senate seat for four years beginning in 1994. He was a longtime physician in Huntington.12
💊 The inspiration for actor Michael Keaton’s character in the Hulu series “Dopesick” is coming to West Virginia. Dr. Stephen Loyd is taking over as the Director of the state Office of Drug Control Policy. The agency has gone without a permanent leader for more than a year.13
💊 “If anyone doubts it, the drug cartel does reach the Northern District of West Virginia; it does reach the Eastern Panhandle,” ~ Federal prosecutor Richard Bernard speaking in Martinsburg on Tuesday following the indictment of 18 people on drug trafficking charges. Authorities say the ring they broke up has connections to Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel. Seven others were charged in a separate drug investigation.14
🏫 West Virginia University Hall of Fame basketball player Kevin Pittsnogle has been tapped to lead a troubled school in his native Martinsburg. Pittsnogle is now the principal at North Middle, which was placed under a state emergency by the West Virginia Board of Education following a report that outlined a disruptive, hostile environment and low academic performance.15
⛺ Following a contentious meeting Tuesday night, Morgantown’s city council voted 4-to-3 this week to consider a proposal that would ban camping on public property. The vote follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public spaces when shelter space is lacking.16 West Virginia Watch asked the candidates for governor, Democrat Steve Williams and Republican Patrick Morrisey, about camping bans for a story published the morning after the Morgantown council meeting.17
🚰 Amid the statewide drought emergency, frustration is boiling over in the small Tucker County town of Thomas. Our new pal Dan Parks at Country Roads News spoke to business owners who are voicing dissatisfaction with the city’s response to water issues that began in late June.18 One of them, the owner of Elender’s restaurant, is accelerating plans to move the business out of Thomas. By the way, Elender’s is worth the trip to Tucker County. It has great food. I had a to-die-for burger there a while back. Oh … and Dan’s newsletter is pretty great, too. Worth handing over your email address if you’re interested in news out of Canaan Valley.
📺 Feeling creepy or maybe a little kooky? Then you should probably go to Lurch Fest! It starts today in the Barbour County seat of Philippi, the childhood home of the late Ted Cassidy. Cassidy found fame playing Lurch, the imposing butler on the 1960s sitcom The Addams Family. The festivities include a release party for a new biography of Cassidy.19 FUN FACT: Before he was Lurch, Cassidy worked at WFAA radio in Dallas, Texas. According to the online West Virginia Encyclopedia, he was part of the crew that covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.20
What we’re reading:
OPINION: Accountability needed to keep state of emergency from being another disaster ~ Andrew Donaldson, West Virginia Watch
On the campaign trail: Elliott working for U.S. Senate votes one house at a time ~ Steven Allen Adams, Parkersburg News and Sentinel
‘My home state needs to do better.’ Biden drug czar says West Virginia’s harm reduction program needs work ~ Allen Siegler, Mountain State Spotlight
Justice’s Greenbrier Hotel slated for auction due to default ~ Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE — The West Virginia Daily News
Judge rules Justice companies ‘abusive,’ fines Justice’s son $250 a day ~ Mike Toney, Charleston Gazette-Mail
Court considers whether to take holding company from Justices, seize property, change locks, prep for sale ~ Brad McElhinny, WVMetroNews
Attorneys suing state over foster care say suit should move forward, kids are still ‘in danger’ ~ Amelia Ferrell Knisely, West Virginia Watch
Extensive ties between EDA beneficiaries, Warner supporters loom amid election complaint ~ Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
Judge decides Paden City High School stays open ~ The Wheeling Intelligencer
Former physician, state senator Tom Scott dies at age 91 ~ Destiney Dingess, Huntington Herald-Dispatch
New state drug czar named after WV agency goes more than a year without a permanent director ~ Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
25 charged with drug trafficking in the Eastern Panhandle ~ Ainsley Hall, The Journal
Kevin Pittsnogle becomes the new principal at Martinsburg North Middle School ~ Ainsley Hall, The Journal
Morgantown City Council proposes encampment ban ~ Jessica Riley and Anna Goldizen, The Daily Athenaeum
West Virginia gubernatorial candidates differ on homeless policy ~ Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
Frustration in Thomas as water problem drags on ~ Dan Parks, Country Roads News
Lurch Fest set to return to Philippi ~ Taylor McKinnie, The Inter-Mountain
Ted Cassidy ~ C. Belmont Keeney, the online West Virginia Encyclopedia