March 16, 2013 — Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin entered this recent Legislative session aiming to improve the state’s education system and pushed through the Governor’s Education Reform bill, which he signed into law. On Monday, he announced his third executive order in as many months: the Early Childhood Education Task Force. Read Tomblin’s three-pronged approach to education on the WV Metro News website.
May 16, 2013 — The town of Harpers Ferry has been awarded two grants totaling $22,500. The grants were presented to the town by Sen. John Unger, West Virginia state senate majority leader, during the town council meeting Monday evening. Funding came in the form of Community Participation Grants. Read Harpers Ferry receives two grants at town council meeting Monday in The Journal.
May 14, 2013 — Starting next Monday, Sen. Joe Manchin’s staff will conduct 95 public meetings in one week, visiting every county in West Virginia. The meetings are intended to let his constituents express their views. Read Manchin staffers to launch W.Va. listening blitz in the Charleston Daily Mail.
Jefferson County Events:
Date: Wednesday, May 22
Time: 8 am – 9 am
Location: Chick-Fil-A, 156 Joshua M. Freeman Blvd., Ranson
Date: Wednesday, May 22
Time: Noon – 1 pm
Location: Skipper’s Downtown Dips & Deli, 114 West Washington St., Charles Town
May 9, 2013 — Gov. Tomblin visited Berkeley Heights Elementary School to sign SB 663, the West Virginia Feed to Achieve Act. Introduced by Sen. John Unger, the legislation requires all schools to try to maximize participation in school meal programs and take greater advantage of federal funding for them. The act was one of three bills that the governor signed Wednesday at ceremonial events in Martinsburg. At the Martinsburg train station, Tomblin signed SB 103, the West Virginia Commuter Rail Acces Act, introduced by Sen. Herb Snyder, in support of MARC commuter train service in the Eastern Panhandle. He also signed SB 596, which frees up to $100 million in state funding for wastewater treatment improvement projects in eastern West Virginia. Read Tomblin signs three bills in Martinsburg visit in the Herald-Mail.
May 9, 2013 — West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin was at the Caperton Train Station in Martinsburg Wednesday to sign two pieces of legislation that directly benefit the Eastern Panhandle: the Commuter Rail Access Act and a bill to help pay for improvements to sewer plants throughout the region. Read Signing Day: Tomblin visits are to ink Panhandle-centric acts in The Journal.
May 7, 2013 — Gov. Tomblin signed four public safety bills during a ceremony at the state Capitol yesterday. The governor addressed the room full of victim’s advocates, law enforcement officers and others gathered at the Capitol to watch him ceremonially sign four bills into law. While the mood may have been light and celebratory, Tomblin said the bills will make a difference in the lives of many around the state. Read Tomblin signs four public safety bills on the West Virginia Public Broadcasting website.
May 7, 2013 — A new political action committee formed to help Democrats keep their majority in the House of Delegates already has about $150,000 in the bank. Freshman Delegate Stephen Skinner, D-Jefferson, created the House Legislative Committee PAC earlier this year. It’s a committee caucus group, affiliated with the Democratic caucus, and the first to explicitly focus on funding Democrat candidates in the House, Skinner said. Read Democrat political action committee aims to keep House majority in the Charleston Daily Mail.
May 3, 2013 – Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin joined by U.S. Sen. Rockefeller, President and CEO of United Health System Tom Jones, and CEO of Thomas Health Systems Steve Dexter, today announced the decision to expand Medicaid in West Virginia.
“We anticipate expansion will allow us to provide insurance coverage to approximately 91,500 working West Virginians, significantly reducing the number of uninsured,” Gov. Tomblin said. “A decision to expand today, however, does not end our efforts. We must carefully watch federal efforts. If the program becomes unsustainable, particularly after three years, or the federal government changes its promised funding allocations, we must be prepared to take action to protect our State.
Read Governor Tomblin Announces Decision to Expand Medicaid in West Virginia on the Governor’s website.
April 30, 2013 – I’m Nick Casey, and I’m running to for Congress to stand up for West Virginia. Our federal government needs to refocus its priorities. Our government has enough money, but I will go after the waste, fraud, and gridlock to make to make it a more effective government. It is long past time that we begin to invest more into our future. Our infrastructure is crumbling, we don’t have a national energy policy, and we desperately need more good jobs for our people.
This campaign will focus on things like energy and infrastructure, which are two sectors that can produce good-paying jobs. Jobs repairing and expanding our infrastructure will help our entire economy grow. Right now in the Second Congressional District we have partially-finished projects. I’m talking about Route 35, Corridor H, and Route 9. Each of them is more than halfway finished and the remaining segments are already designed. Let’s finish these critical projects now, not in 20 or 30 years.
I practice law and I have an accounting background, and am a CPA, and I know our government has the money. We just need to adjust our priorities and actively seek out waste and fraud in our system. When I help with accounting at my church and we need money to pay bills, we don’t just go raise the offering levels, we find ways to save and live within our means. Our government can and must do that too.
West Virginia has the energy America needs to make us a more independent, cleaner, and prosperous nation. We have the coal, gas, wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal that our country needs. Washington however does not have an energy plan. For instance, we as a nation could switch our trucks and cars from foreign oil to West Virginia natural gas. It burns cleaner, is cheaper and we will keep that money here at home, creating thousands of good-paying jobs.
There’s no doubt we have challenges in Washington, but with challenges come opportunity. I am running for Congress to work together, as Democrats and Republicans, business and labor, we can put America back on the path to prosperity and sound budgets by investing in an infrastructure and an energy plan. I’m running for Congress to be a problem-solver. West Virginians want their leaders to get past the gridlock and partisanship and to get things done. I pledge to you that I will work across the aisle and sit down with all sides on every issue.
Today at my announcement at the capitol, I was joined by both business and labor, and Democrats and Republicans. I’m proud to have a broad coalition of bipartisan support already.
Another person who has helped me through everything in life (at least during the past 37 years) is the love of my life, my wife Mary Frances and our two children, Erin and Anthony, who both live and work in West Virginia.
Today I signed the paperwork with the Secretary of State’s office to make it official and to commit to this race. I hope you will join us. Please forward to your friends and follow the campaign on Facebook and Twitter.
| Paid for by Nick Casey for Congress, Martin Glasser Treasurer |
Nick Casey for Congress
PO Box 1311
Charleston, WV 25325
April 28, 2013 – Looking ahead to the future of Eastern Panhandle Transit Authority, Cheryl Keyrouze, executive director, is excited for the possibilities available for the organization. At a recent PanTran board meeting, Keyrouze detailed the organization’s potential for growth in its current locations and expansion to new areas. By the fifth year of the organization’s five-year plan, Keyrouze hopes to have a satellite office installed at a future bus garage in Ranson. This fits with Ranson’s 2012 Comprehensive Plan, which lists an objective a transportation objective as being connected to regional transit. Read PanTran plans potential expansion in The Journal.
