Joe Manchin

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin reacts to the crowd after being sworn in at the state Capitol in Charleston, W.Va., on Monday.

Virginia "Ginny" Kief, who says she's "73 and holding!," of Martinsburg, W.Va., was congratulated Monday on 33 years of service at the West Virginia Division of Tourism's Interstate 81 welcome center south of Inwood, W.Va. Kief is retiring on Aug. 30. Berkeley County Commissioner Anthony J. "Tony" Petrucci and Martinsburg City Councilman Richard Yauger read congratulatory resolutions and Division of Tourism Commissioner Betty Carver presented remarks on behalf of Gov. Joe Manchin.

Gina Marie Groh, an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Eastern Panhandle since 1998, has been appointed by West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin to the new judgeship for the state's 23rd Judicial Circuit. Groh will be only the third female circuit judge in West Virginia when she takes the oath of office. See Saturday's edition of The Herald-Mail for the full story.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- The Berkeley County Commission, in following action taken by Gov. Joe Manchin, will close all county offices on Friday as a special day of observance in honor of the late Senator Robert C. Byrd. The County Commission encourages all employees to join their state counterparts in honoring and celebrating the life of the state's senior senator. County offices will also be closed on Monday in observance of the July 4 holiday. All county offices will be open for business at normal operating hours on Tuesday, July 6, 2010.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Fairmont State and Shepherd universities each will receive about $100,000 to launch science-related programs. Gov. Joe Manchin's office said Thursday that $100,000 of interest earned by the "Bucks for Brains" Research Trust Fund will go to Fairmont State University for its efforts to capture content from new-media applications such as social-networking sites. The information would be used to generate new knowledge about national security and law-enforcement threats.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Gov. Joe Manchin says he's now prepared to discuss the process for finding a successor for the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd. The governor's office has announced Manchin will discuss the succession process with reporters Wednesday in Charleston. Republicans, labor leaders and the business community have all weighed on the future of a Senate seat held by Byrd for more than a half century. Last week, Manchin said he would not start searching for a successor until after the longest-serving senator is laid to rest.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Gov. Joe Manchin and Eastern Panhandle law enforcement officials discussed Monday what the state's plans are for police forces in the area in light of growing demands for police service in the region, officials said. Local police want to know how the state can beef up staffing at West Virginia State Police detachments in the region, Jefferson County Sheriff Everett "Ed" Boober said. Jefferson County has 13 troopers, less than what the county had nearly 10 years ago, Boober said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Gov. Joe Manchin is scheduled to take part in a political debate Thursday night at Hedgesville High School as part of a two-day visit to the Eastern Panhandle, officials said. Manchin's opponents are former Republican state Sen. Russ Weeks and Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson. Both are expected to attend. Open to the public, the debate is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the auditorium, according to campaign and school officials. Manchin is seeking re-election to a second, four-year term.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia is slated to be the featured speaker for the second regional Jefferson Jackson Dinner hosted by Berkeley County Democratic Party leaders in Martinsburg. The event is Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. Tickets for the fundraiser and fall election rally at the Holiday Inn are still available. The event is expected to include appearances by U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, Gov. Joe Manchin and state Senate leaders Earl Ray Tomblin and Truman Chafin, according to Berkeley County Democratic Party leader John Fink.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, and state and federal highway officials are scheduled to take part in an opening ceremony Monday for the last two sections of the new route for W.Va. 9 between Martinsburg and Charles Town, W.Va., officials said. The ceremony, to be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Short Road (9/19) exit for the new four-lane route, is open to the public, West Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Brent Walker said Thursday.

In the days after the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Conn., I made it clear that I believe it is time for us to move from rhetoric to action to prevent future acts of senseless mass violence. Since then, much has been made of those comments - some of it accurately reflecting what I said, some not. Because I am an A-rated, lifelong member of the National Rifle Association and a proud defender of the Second Amendment, some people viewed my comments as a tipping point in the debate about guns in America.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin lamented Friday night that “it's hard to get anything done in this Congress” during a friendly gab-fest with about a hundred of the party faithful at the Peking Restaurant.  The problem these days is Congress is divided, said Manchin, D-W.Va. The members don't know each other. “There's no collegiate atmosphere,” he said. “It's hard to say no to somebody that you know or care about. But it's easier to say no if you don't know somebody.”  Manchin hammered at the nation's fiscal problems, saying it won't be fixed if members of Congress keep blaming each other.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin got resounding yeas and nays Friday in a straw poll taken among about 60 Eastern Panhandle mayors and county public officials on the subjects of Afghanistan, health care, energy and the economy. Manchin, D-W.Va., met with the mayors of eight of the nine Eastern Panhandle municipalities at a forum in the basement meeting room of the Charles Town Library. Elected officials and staffers from the three counties made up the rest of the audience. The forum was one of three stops Manchin made in the Eastern Panhandle.

An independent and a Morgantown, W.Va., man who believes the white race is superior have become candidates in West Virginia's special election for governor, gathering enough voter signatures to obtain spots on the Oct. 4 ballot. The Secretary of State's office recently approved the candidacies of independent Marla Ingels of Mason County and Harry Bertram of the American Third Position Party. They join acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, Bill Maloney and Bob Henry Baber, who are respectively the nominees of the Democratic, Republican and Mountain parties.

Five of the six Democrats running for their party's nomination for governor in the Oct. 4 special election were in Martinsburg Friday night trying to round up support for their upcoming May 14 primary.  All told, 16 West Virginians — eight Republicans, six Democrats and two from the Mountain Party — will square off in the primary. They all hope to fill the vacancy created when Joe Manchin left the governor's mansion to take over the U.S. Senate seat of the late Robert C. Byrd in November.

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller in Martinsburg on Wednesday praised acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin as a "terrific leader," and West Virginia's senior senator said he hoped there would not be a special election for governor in 2011. "I don't say that politically. It just doesn't make sense, does it?," Rockefeller told a large group of Eastern Panhandle elected officials and business leaders gathered for a roundtable discussion on economic development. Seated next to Tomblin in Berkeley County Council Chambers, Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Fairmont State and Shepherd universities each will receive about $100,000 to launch science-related programs. Gov. Joe Manchin's office said Thursday that $100,000 of interest earned by the "Bucks for Brains" Research Trust Fund will go to Fairmont State University for its efforts to capture content from new-media applications such as social-networking sites. The information would be used to generate new knowledge about national security and law-enforcement threats.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, and state and federal highway officials are scheduled to take part in an opening ceremony Monday for the last two sections of the new route for W.Va. 9 between Martinsburg and Charles Town, W.Va., officials said. The ceremony, to be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Short Road (9/19) exit for the new four-lane route, is open to the public, West Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Brent Walker said Thursday.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. --Gov. Joe Manchin cut a ribbon Monday to a $50 million gift in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Manchin attended a ceremony dedicating the last 4.6 miles of the new four-lane W.Va. 9 from Charles Town, W.Va., to Martinsburg. The $50 million section from Kearneysville, W.Va., to Martinsburg unofficially opened Aug. 31. The complete 15-mile highway will be four lanes from the Virginia state line in Jefferson County to Martinsburg once the final one-mile easternmost leg is completed in 2012.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Gov. Joe Manchin in a visit to the Eastern Panhandle Tuesday said if elected to the U.S. Senate this fall, he was prepared to serve from "the back row" if his fiscally conservative, pro-coal positions put him at odds with fellow Democrats. "This country has got to get its financial house in order. I had to face that in 2005 when I (took office as) governor," said Manchin when asked in an interview if he would support allowing tax cuts that passed during the Bush administration to expire this year.