AG Morrisey upset with House bill

If there was a honeymoon for new state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey it appears to be over. A group of Democrats introduced a bill Friday at the statehouse that Morrisey, a Republican, sees as a direct shot at his decision to hire Washington, D.C.-based attorney Elbert Lin as his solicitor general.

Lin, the highest paid member of Morrisey’s staff, is in the process of getting a law license to practice law in West Virginia. The House of Delegates bill would amend state code to say any lawyer hired by the state to make more than $100,000 has to have a license to practice in West Virginia before he or she is hired.

Morrisey sent out a release responding to the bill late Friday. He called it a “childish bill.”

 “Shame on Delegate Doug Reynolds and his 10 co-sponsors who introduced House Bill 2788 today. This is petty partisan politics at its worst and shows what certain delegates’ priorities are,” Morrisey said in the release.

Attorney General Morrisey went on to say West Virginia scored a major victory when Lin was hired, citing his credentials that include clerking for a U.S. Supreme Court justice and working for a top law firm. Morrisey is paying him $132,000 a year, which Morrisey says is a pay cut.

Morrisey didn’t hold back in his criticism of some of those who sponsored the bill. He called Del. Reynolds “a desperate politician.” He said Jefferson County Del. Tiffany Lawrence was one who ”preaches bipartisanship in Jefferson County yet acts like a liberal Democrat in Charleston” and Morrisey described Kanawha County Del. Doug Skaff as a “so-called bi-partisan leader.”

Morrisey defeated longtime state Attorney General Darrell McGraw in the Nov. General Election.

The introduced bill was sent to the House Judiciary Committee.

Accused arsonist waives preliminary hearing

A Summers County grand jury will be the next stop for a double arson case against a Hinton man.

Billy Joe Gill waived his preliminary hearing Friday in Summers County Magistrate Court. He was arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly setting fire to a house and then in a residential area known as Brick Row. Eleven residences were destroyed and 30 people left looking for other places to live.

Gill asked the magistrate Friday to reduce his bail from $200,000 to $20,000. The request was denied.

Gill’s attorney says his client maintains his innocence.

Man arrested after wife dies from drug overdose

A Roane County man is behind bars and facing murder charges after a drug overdose.

Police say Renee Honaker, 30, died from an overdose after her husband, Todd Honaker, 34, of Spencer, supplied her with drugs. The incident happened Friday around 7 p.m.

Police believe Todd Honaker was under the influence of the drug at the time of the incident.

Honaker is charged with first degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance after police say he did not act to help his wife from dying.

Two people injured in Huntington robbery

Huntington Police are searching for two men wanted in connection with a robbery and shooting.

Police say the suspects robbed two men after they met at a house in the 900 block of 13th Street just after 1 a.m. Saturday.

During the robbery, one of the victims was shot multiple times. He was transported to Cabell Huntington Hospital where he is expected to survive.

The other robbery victim got hurt jumping out of a window trying to escape from the suspects. He was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center for non-life threatening injuries and has since been released.

Police say they have two persons of interest in the incident.

Police believe the crime was drug related.

Boone County fire claims one life

One person is dead and another injured after a trailer fire in Boone County.

The fire happened Sunday around 6 a.m. on Coal River Road in Orgas.

Fire Marshals say an 18 year old man died as a result of his injuries and his girlfriend was taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation. The man’s father was also in the trailer but managed to get out safely.

Names and ages have not been released.

The cause of the blaze still remains under investigation.

Logan doctor arrested on drug related charges

A Logan County physician is behind bars on drug related charges.

Police arrested Dr. Fernando Gonzalez-Ramos Sunday and charged him with conspiracy to deliver controlled substances.

Gonzalez’s office was searched before the arrest by West Virginia State Police, the Logan County Sheriff’s office and the FBI.

The details of what law enforcement found in the office has not been released.

Gonzalez’s office is located on Route 10 in West Logan.

Police say there was a line of patients at the office when they arrived and the building had no running water.

Gonzalez has been taken to the South Western Regional Jail.

Tornado blown off the map

The unincorporated community of Tornado is going through some changes.

“The U.S. Geological Survey, an official agency of the federal government, has decided to change the name of Tornado, which was originally named in 1899,” said Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper.

This week, the commission received a letter from the federal agency stating that the community of over a thousand people will now be called Upper Falls.

At Thursday night’s commission meeting, Carper addressed a packed courtroom filled with area residents, local delegates, and representatives of state lawmakers upset over the change and seeking answers.

Carper said this weeks letter was the first they had heard about it even though the agency claims they sent a another letter last year.

“They claimed they sent us a letter in September when they did this,” said Carper. “We can’t find the letter and their is a rumor that maybe it went to Lincoln County.”

Carper was told that the change came after Robert Thompson, a resident of the area, petitioned the U.S. Geological Survey’s place names division to change the name Tornado to Upper Falls. Federal officials approved the change, but local authorities didn’t find out about it until after the fact.

The details into exactly why Thompson wanted the change was not known since the he failed to attend Thursday’s meeting.

Carper said this isn’t right and the commission is going to send a letter requesting the name be changed back immediately.

“The communities overwhelmingly oppose the idea and so does the county commission,” said Carper.

Representatives for U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, and Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito voiced their support for the letter asking for the name to be changed back.