John Unger

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Their stories, John Unger believes, are sad and becoming too common. Retirees and senior citizens are finding it harder to live in the Eastern Panhandle because of a high cost of living, including increasing tax assessments, said Unger, D-Berkeley. To address the concerns, Unger is holding an event he described as a rally/forum Friday at the Quality Inn in Martinsburg, starting at 2 p.m. The hotel is on Edwin Miller Boulevard.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - State Sen. John Unger on Tuesday night easily won a third term in the West Virginia Legislature, fending off what observers had predicted would be a stiff challenge from Berkeley County Republican Party leader Jerry Mays, according to unofficial results. With all 59 precincts of the 16th Senatorial District tabulated in Berkeley County, Unger, 37, received 11,081 votes or 63.1 percent. With all of Jefferson County's 30 precincts counted, Unger received 8,260 votes.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The West Virginia Legislature will hold its September interim meetings in Martinsburg, State Sens. John Yoder and John Unger announced Tuesday. The decision to hold the session from Sept. 9 to 11 in Berkeley County came about after Yoder, R-Jefferson, said he had a discussion with Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin earlier this year, then drafted a letter and asked Unger, D-Berkeley, to sign it as part of a bipartisan effort. Area members of the House of Delegates signed a similar letter drafted by Del. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, Yoder said.

MARTINSBURG -- Six secondary state routes in Berkeley and Jefferson counties will be repaired with a portion of a $27.3 million appropriation to the West Virginia Department of Transportation that was approved by the State Legislature last month, State Sen. John Unger said this week. A 1.8-mile section of Bakerton Road and 3.46 miles of Bruceton Road in Jefferson County, along with 1.48 miles of Back Creek Valley Road, 1.06 mile of Cushwa Road, 2.09 miles of Rustic Tavern Road and .71 mile of Ted Kesecker Road in Berkeley County are to be repaved and upgraded, said Unger, who chairs the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - State Senate candidate John Unger has an ambitious plan afoot to win his first bid for public office. Starting this morning in Paw Paw, W.Va., Unger, 29, a Democrat, said he plans to cover Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson counties by foot in an effort to build a platform to represent his potential constituents. "We want to listen to the issues and concerns of the people throughout the region," said Unger, who said he'll do that by going door-to-door in the various towns and communities and talking one-on-one with people at town hall meetings.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- State Senate candidate Pat Murphy said this week that he didn't know that two contributors had given him more than the $10 limit he had set for contributions to his campaign. Murphy, who is running against 16th District incumbent John Unger, D-Berkeley/Jefferson, received a $100 contribution from one person and $25 from another, according to a financial statement filed by his treasurer. Murphy said he didn't know about the donations until being shown a copy of the statement this week.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The West Virginia Senate paved the way for local governments to raise funds for road projects on their own, as part of an effort to address expected decreases in state and federal funding for roads, amid diminishing returns from gas tax revenues. On Friday, the Senate approved a bill, called the West Virginia Community Empowerment Transportation Act, which was originated in the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee earlier this month, that would create a state Transportation Authority to review financing proposals assembled by county commissions to pay for highway construction and improvement projects, said committee chairman, Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA.-State Sen. John Unger said this week that he has been encouraged by a number of people in state and national political circles to run for Congress next year, and the Berkeley County Democrat acknowledged he is weighing his options. "I'm exploring it, but there's no exploratory committee," said Unger, who is serving his third four-year term in the West Virginia Legislature. "Right now, I'm being encouraged by a number of people - Democrats and Republicans. " When asked Wednesday whether he would run for the 2nd Congressional District seat now held by Republican Shelley Moore Capito, Unger said no decision had been made.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - State lawmakers finished their 60-day session Saturday night, and there were victories and defeats on issues affecting the Eastern Panhandle. Sens. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, and John Unger, D-Berkeley, worked to pass two bills that would generate more money for new school construction in the Panhandle, but the efforts failed, Unger said. Snyder and Unger initially proposed allowing local counties to keep any new tax revenue from such development as new shopping centers and use it for school construction.

Unger running for Senate MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Rhodes Scholar will be hitting the campaign trail in an effort to unseat Sen. Harry Dugan this fall. John Unger of Martinsburg filed Tuesday to run in the May 12 Democratic primary for the 16th District seat. The 29-year-old economic development and trade consultant becomes the third candidate for the seat, along with Dugan, R-Berkeley, and former Berkeley County Commissioner Howard Strauss, another Republican. "I want to give something back to the community for the opportunities it has given me in my life," said Unger, who is a member and first president of the West Virginia International Trade Development Council.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- John Unger scored a convincing victory Tuesday night against challenger Pat Murphy to secure the Democratic Party's nomination for a fourth term in the state Senate, according to unofficial results. With all 91 precincts in the 16th district reporting, Unger received about 69 percent of the vote and Murphy, 62, received 31 percent, according to tallies compiled from the county clerks in Berkeley and Jefferson counties. The senatorial district includes 59 of 66 precincts in Berkeley County and all 32 precincts in neighboring Jefferson County.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- State Senate candidate Pat Murphy said this week that he didn't know that two contributors had given him more than the $10 limit he had set for contributions to his campaign. Murphy, who is running against 16th District incumbent John Unger, D-Berkeley/Jefferson, received a $100 contribution from one person and $25 from another, according to a financial statement filed by his treasurer. Murphy said he didn't know about the donations until being shown a copy of the statement this week.

MARTINSBURG -- Six secondary state routes in Berkeley and Jefferson counties will be repaired with a portion of a $27.3 million appropriation to the West Virginia Department of Transportation that was approved by the State Legislature last month, State Sen. John Unger said this week. A 1.8-mile section of Bakerton Road and 3.46 miles of Bruceton Road in Jefferson County, along with 1.48 miles of Back Creek Valley Road, 1.06 mile of Cushwa Road, 2.09 miles of Rustic Tavern Road and .71 mile of Ted Kesecker Road in Berkeley County are to be repaved and upgraded, said Unger, who chairs the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. --A bill that would allow West Virginia counties to restrict the location of "exotic entertainment," such as strip clubs, passed the State Senate on Saturday, but amendments jeopardized final passage by the midnight end to the 79th Legislature's first 60-day session. As of Saturday at 11 p.m., the House of Delegates had yet to concur with the Senate Judiciary Committee amendments to House Bill 2412, which Sens. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, and John Unger, D-Jefferson/Berkeley, predicted would endanger, if not kill, the bill.

DEC. 10, 1946-DEC. 7, 2008 MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - John Ronald Unger, 61, of Martinsburg, died Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008, at his home. Born Dec. 10, 1946, in Berkeley County, W.Va., he was the son of the late John Francis Unger and Jean L. Kearns Unger. He retired from the West Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. He served in the Air National Guard. He was a member of Otterbein United Methodist Church. He is survived by two sons, Sen. John R. Unger II and Ryan M. Unger, both of Martinsburg; and two grandchildren, Kylie A. and Katie A. Unger.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Former employees of AB&C Group Inc., who were laid off last month, could receive some of the wages they are owed as early as next week, attorneys said Friday during a court hearing. Two boxes of paychecks for workers laid off March 14, the day they were to be paid, were turned over Friday to an attorney appointed by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gina M. Groh to marshal the custody of company assets seized by a court order signed Monday. Before distributing the March 9 payroll checks, attorney Carmela Cesare, the court-appointed receiver, is expected to verify that the checks can be cashed and photocopy them for the benefit of two civil lawsuits filed against the company since it shut down.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- Former employees of AB&C Group Inc., who were laid off last month, could receive some of the wages they are owed as early as next week, attorneys said Friday during a court hearing. Two boxes of paychecks for workers laid off March 14, the day they were to be paid, were turned over Friday to an attorney appointed by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gina M. Groh to marshal the custody of company assets seized by a court order signed Monday. Before distributing the March 9 payroll checks, attorney Carmela Cesare, the court-appointed receiver, is expected to verify that the checks can be cashed and photocopy them for the benefit of two civil lawsuits filed against the company since it shut down.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - State officials are working to speed-up unemployment benefits for hundreds of laid-off AB&C workers and a daylong assistance program will be held for the workers next Tuesday to help them with needs such as job training and health insurance, Sen. John Unger said Tuesday. Workers at the AB&C plant in Ranson, W.Va., were expecting paychecks last Friday but were instead told to clean out their desks because they would not be able to return to work this week. Some workers received checks while others did not, officials said.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Despite attempts by two Eastern Panhandle state senators to delay the bill or put conditions on it, a controversial proposal that will allow tolls on local highways like W.Va. 9, U.S. 340 and U.S. 522 passed during the closing moments of the state legislative session in Charleston, W.Va., over the weekend. Eastern Panhandle lawmakers criticized the idea pushed by Gov. Joe Manchin. Sen. John Unger said previously that the idea basically boiled down to Manchin "looking to the Eastern Panhandle as an ATM machine.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- State Sen. John Unger has ended his campaign for West Virginia's 2nd District congressional seat, saying he did not want to take part in an election process that was broken and soured by the "greed of money and tearing people down. " "I'd rather give hope and build people up," Unger, D-Berkeley, said in an interview Saturday, the day after he said he decided to end his campaign for the seat held by Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito "for now. " "We haven't stopped.