The on-again, off-again Greenbrier auction is ... off-again

The West Virginia Weakly Reader for Saturday, October 19. 2024

Oct 19, 2024

Those of us who have pets love to dote on them. Some more than others. But if you don’t mind, I’m going to ignore all the hoopla surrounding Babydog’s fifth birthday this week. Call me a curmudgeon, but it’s just not news.

That doesn’t mean that Babydog doesn’t warrant a mention here and there. Governor Jim Justice’s sidekick figured into a couple of notable news stories from this week. But this will be the only mention of her birthday.

That said, this weekend’s WV Weakly is coming to you from a cabin in Pocahontas County. Nothing like fall in the mountains. My wife and I arrived here Thursday evening to spend a weekend with a few of her old friends from college.

As I write this, they are enthusiastically catching up in the room next door. I’m doing my best to tune them out. But if this weekend’s Weakly Reader does not seem as thorough as usual, you know why.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll have a post for paid subscribers next week on how the Scots-Irish culture that dominates West Virginia plays out in elections. Look for it in your inbox on Wednesday, the first day of early voting.

The West Virginia Weakly Reader (sources cited in the footnotes)

🥂 I sort of feel like I’m on a see-saw when it comes to The Greenbrier Hotel. The on-again, off-again auction of the historic West Virginia resort owned by Gov. Jim Justice and his family is … off-again. Cheers to those West Virginia journalists who stayed up late Tuesday night to get a story out after The Greenbrier issued a statement saying its debt to the credit collection agency Beltway Capital has been paid in full, taking the second threat of a forced auction off the table ahead of the November 5 election in which Justice is favored to succeed Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Joe Manchin.1 During Wednesday’s media briefing, Justice credited God for the bail out. By the way, Justice has a habit of scribbling during his briefings. West Virginia Watch reporter Caity Coyne noted in a amusing post on X that “things really took off when Justice responded to a q about The Greenbrier.”2

🤔 Gov. Justice’s Senate campaign is dismissing concerns that he may not turn up in Washington, D.C. very much if he wins the Senate seat. In a story on his frequent absences from the state Capitol during his two-terms as governor, Justice campaign spokesperson Roman Stauffer told Politico this week that “We decline to participate in this joke of a story and respond to your anonymous sources regarding the next United States Senator from West Virginia.” 3 Justice’s Democratic opponent, former Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, has said that “a vote for Jim Justice is a vote for West Virginia having 1.5 senators in a body where every other state has 2.”4 He made the remark in a social media post days before Politico published its story. The absentee issue also came up — right off the bat — during an interview Elliott gave to Forbes that was posted this week on YouTube.5 Justice said during his media briefing that “You can tell Glenn Elliott to kiss Babydog’s heinie.”

🐶 Babydog campaigned for former President Donald Trump in the key swing state of Pennsylvania this week. She appeared alongside Gov. Justice at a ‘Team Trump’ event in Waynesburg on Thursday. Justice said this week that he plans to campaign for Trump at least five times ahead of Election Day.6

💰 Ogden Newspapers state government reporter Steven Allen Adams and Mike Tony at the Charleston Gazette-Mail both dug into the latest quarterly campaign finance reports that federal candidates were required to file this week. As you would expect, Governor Justice’s Senate campaign maintains a commanding lead over Elliott in terms of cash-on-hand heading into next month’s election, but the reports also show that Elliott out-raised Justice by about $100,000 during the three month period from July through September.78 In the governor’s race, Republican Patrick Morrisey has a huge monetary lead over Democrat Steve Williams.9

🗣️ I took the night off from my regular job to attend Tuesday evening’s debate between state Sen. Patricia Rucker (R-Jefferson) and former Del. John Doyle (D-Jefferson).10 It was held at Musselman High School in Inwood and was their second sponsored by the Stubblefield Institute at Shepherd University, which is big on promoting civility in politics. The contest between Rucker and Doyle is a microcosm of the stark differences that mark the modern political game. She is a religious conservative. He is a liberal lion. But they genuinely seem to like each other and their debate lived up to its promise of civility — at least, between the two candidates. One woman got so mad at a couple of positions Doyle staked out that she left in a huff.

💺 Gov. Justice has appointed Republican Joe Funkhouser to the West Virginia House of Delegates. Funkhouser will represent the 98th District, a Jefferson County seat previously held by Paul Espinosa. Espinosa resigned at the end of last week’s special session.

👨‍⚖️ A top Justice cabinet official is to become a circuit judge in Putnam County. Gov. Justice on Wednesday appointed state Homeland Security Secretary Mark Sorsaia to the 29th Judicial Circuit Court. Deputy Secretary Robert Cunningham will lead the department for the final few months of Justice’s term as governor.

👌 Over at the state Economic Development Department, Mike Graney, is taking over as the acting Secretary. The Justice Administration says Mitch Carmichael is returning to the private sector.

👊 West Virginia Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor, Patrick Morrisey is pledging to keep fighting new Environmental Protection Agency rules aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions at power plants.11 The U-S Supreme Court declined to block them on Thursday.

🐶 The state Capitol Building Commission has finally weighed into the drama surrounding the murals being installed at the Capitol. During a meeting on Wednesday, members of the commission voted 4-1 to ratify the project amid a lawsuit against the installation.12 The suit was filed in Kanawha County at the end of August. The project almost immediately generated controversy when it was discovered a likeness of Babydog ended up in one of the murals.

🚔 Prominent West Virginia Republican and Morgantown businessman John Raese is facing a DUI charge. Raese was arrested a week ago today after being involved in a traffic accident. According to a criminal complaint, Raese told Monongalia County Sheriff’s deputies that “he had a few cocktails while golfing.”13 Raese is a former GOP candidate for both Governor and Senate. He is 74 years old.

⛺ The fight over camping bans has moved to Clarksburg. City Council advanced a camping ban ordinance during its Thursday meeting and is expected to hold a public hearing before a final vote early next month.14

🥂 Cheers to WCHS-TV. The Charleston television station won its first ever national Edward R. Murrow award Monday night for a story by reporter Leslie Rubin on the crimes of serial rapist Charles Woods, Sr.15

⚖️ Three family members facing murder charges in the death of 14-year-old Kyneddi Miller in Boone County pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing Friday.16 Miller’s death in an “skeletal state” in April led to questions about the state’s ability to keep track of vulnerable children.

⚖️ A former state trooper has filed a lawsuit against the West Virginia State Police and three officers, alleging that he was retaliated against after he revealed, among other things, that a hidden camera was placed in the women’s locker room at the State Police Academy in Institute. The suit has been filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court. It names as a defendant former State Police Superintendent Jan Cahill, who was forced to resign.17

😒 The former Buckhannon councilman charged with two counts of production of child pornography will remain jailed until his trial.18 David McCauley’s trial is scheduled for December 9 in Clarksburg Federal Court. He had a detention hearing before a federal magistrate this week.

⚖️ Fairmont State University is facing a class action lawsuit. An attorney representing a former student who developed lung cancer told reporters at a press conference on campus this week that the problem has been ignored for 50 years.19

🪂 And if watching people jump off the New River Gorge Bridge is your thing, today is BRIDGE DAY.20

What we’re reading — opinion and anything else that grabs our attention