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House passes bill allowing educators to carry concealed weapons

CHARLESTON — The House of Delegates passed a bill that would allow educators to carry concealed firearms as designated school protection officers. The bill passed 89-11 Wednesday after more than an hour of debate. The bill now goes to the state Senate. Supporters maintained educators could represent a first line of defense against an attack from the outside, especially in rural counties where school protection officers are hard to find or spread thin. “School shooters are terrorists. That’s all they are. They’re there to terrorize the people in the school,” said ...

House resolution calls for study of state park possibilities for Cheat Lake

BY MIKE NOLTING A study resolution is moving in the House of Delegates to look at the possibility of making Cheat Lake in Monongalia County a state park. The House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources approved the resolution. Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, pointed out to the committee members that the area was once a popular tourist area that could be revived. The Mont Chateau Hotel was a tourist attraction from 1894 until 1956 and was a popular regional destination before the interstate highway. “It (the lake) is actively still making hydroelectric power; there ...

House passes bill allowing 14-year-olds to work without permit

Kids as young as 14 could get a job without a work permit under a bill passed by the West Virginia House of Delegates. Delegates were split on the wisdom as debate unfolded in the House on Tuesday, but the bill passed by a fairly wide margin, 83-16. “I must say that many of us in this room probably worked when we were 12, 13, 14 years old out on a farm, bailing hay, digging postholes, whatever we were doing,” said Delegate Todd Longanacre, R-Greenbrier. “And if [there is] one thing kids need today in our society [it] is to start learning work at an earlier age not a later ...