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Cops and Courts

Judge needs time to decide on Justice debt

MARTINSVILLE, VA. — When you’re waiting for a ruling on $300 million owed by the business network led by a two-term governor and candidate for U.S. Senate, what’s a little longer. The chief circuit judge in Martinsville, Va., Judge Giles Carter Greer, heard about a half-hour of arguments Monday morning from lawyers for the network of companies headed by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and from attorneys for the businesses’ longtime lender, Carter Bank & Trust. By the end, the judge acknowledged there’s a lot on the line, concluding that he needs another month to ...

Westover PD vehicle search leads to drug arrests for four men

Four men were arrested after Westover Police allegedly recovered various drugs from the vehicle in which they were traveling — as well as a stolen firearm and large amounts of cash.  Westover Patrolman Justice Carver reported he and Patrolman K. Brewer were in the area of Buckhannon ...

Lawyers in suit over foster care system blast state and say lost email evidence is an emerging trend

CHARLESTON — In a new filing about digital evidence that was purged in a lawsuit over West Virginia’s foster care system, plaintiffs’ attorneys acknowledge the circumstances aren’t exactly the same as in a jails case that prompted a blistering filing by a federal magistrate judge — but they say there’s plenty of room for comparison. In the ongoing lawsuit over conditions in the foster care system, three or more years of requested emails of officials in the Department of Health and Human Resources were purged after the employees left and cannot be retrieved. In the ...

2 charged after toddler has surgery for spider bite

BY MIKE NOLTING A man and woman are facing charges after a toddler was flown to a Morgantown hospital with a severely infected spider bite. Deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s Department were called to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital on Nov. 19 and learned the 14-month-old girl required surgery on one of her legs due to infection. Linsie Gray, 22, and Eric Melton, 20, told deputies the girl had been bitten on or around Nov. 16. The child was transported after the bite became infected and had a foul smell. Doctors told deputies the child could have died if treatment had ...

Brockway shooting victim former member of Maryland Bloods gang subset

The victim of a deadly shooting on Brockway Avenue in Morgantown early Nov. 20 had previously been federally convicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act for conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity. According to court records from the United ...

Longtime lender to governor’s companies says it will move to dismiss or transfer suit

CHARLESTON — Lawyers for Carter Bank & Trust say they will move to dismiss or transfer a $1 billion lawsuit filed by the network of businesses owned by Gov. Jim Justice and his family. The Justice companies filed a federal suit last week, contending Carter Bank & Trust of Martinsville, Va., has engaged in unfair business practices, kneecapping the Justice family businesses. The lawsuit was filed in Beckley in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Carter Bank’s lawyers countered in their own filing Tuesday that the Justice company claims are ...