Charges have been filed against a Putnam County farmer accused of animal abuse.

Mark Andy Santee, the owner of A&A Farms in Red House, was charged Tuesday with 19 counts of animal neglect, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. Santee has not been arrested yet.

Earlier this month, 115 animals were seized from A&A Farms.

Jon Davis, Putnam's chief humane officer, said the seizure was the largest the shelter has faced.

While many of the animals have since been adopted after Santee released them to the shelter, some still remain. Twelve of the animals will stay there until a court hearing on the case.

For Davis and humane officer Shaun Martin, some of the animals they are now placed in charge of they've never worked with before -- from a bright peacock to showy turkeys.

"We were definitely forced into the farming industry, whether we wanted to or not," Davis said.

The Putnam County Animal Shelter, which was opened in 2013, was designed for large-scale seizures like the one at A&A Farms. It took two days for the shelter, the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association and Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue to gather all of the animals on the farm.

All of the animals, except two horses, were housed at the shelter. It was at capacity for almost two days after the seizure, filled with horses, ducks, chickens, pigs, guinea pigs,turkeys, a peacock, rabbits, pheasants, a goat, and dogs.

Since then dozens of animals have been adopted by farm rescue groups. Davis said it's not as simple as adopting them out to an average farmer.

"You want somebody that knows how to handle the general situation. You just don't want to adopt to the general public," Davis said.

Santee, the owner of the farm, insisted in multiple interviews with the Gazette-Mail that the animals were not neglected.

Several dead animals were found on the property, according to humane officials from the Putnam Animal Shelter and the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Association.

Reach Ali Schmitz at ali.schmitz@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843, or follow @SchmitzMedia on Twitter.

The Hardy County Sheriff's Office shared details Tuesday morning about a chase that spanned several hours last week, ending with the death of a Virginia man.

Authorities first learned about a man escaping from police in Rockingham County, Virginia, and entering Pendleton County at about 11:15 a.m. on April 18, according to a news release.

Though the sheriff's office in Hardy will not identify the suspect until its investigation is complete, two other agencies identified the man as Casey Desper, of McGaheysville, Virginia, who was wanted on a probation violation.

Virginia authorities said Desper reached speeds of more than 100 mph, and he reportedly threw metal objects from his Jeep Cherokee and shattered the windshield on an officer's vehicle, the release states.

The Harrisonburg Police Department in Virginia said Desper threatened to "go out in a hail of gunfire," according to the release.

West Virginia authorities reportedly found Desper on U.S. 33 and then followed him toward Brandywine. Hardy County Sheriff Bryan Ward and his deputies joined the effort, along with the West Virginia State Police and West Virginia Division of Natural Resources officers. Pendleton County Sheriff Donald Hedrick also took part in the chase, the release states.

Though they lost sight of Desper, authorities later found him in a locked garage on Charlene Lane, according to the release.

As Ward and one of his deputies walked behind the garage, an engine started from inside. According to the release, Desper reversed into the back wall and then drove through the garage door as authorities stood on the other side. Desper allegedly continued through two fences, across a ravine and onto W.Va. 21 in Sugar Grove. Authorities scrambled to the nearest vehicles, such as a Hardy County deputy who rode in a conservation officer's truck.

The deputy and officer found Desper on Reddish Knob Road about two hours after the chase first started, the release states. Desper reportedly rammed his Jeep into the state truck several times, causing an airbag to inflate.

Desper continued to ram the truck as authorities tried to get outside to arrest him, according to the release. The deputy from Hardy County then shot Desper, who died after officers tried to perform CPR at about 1:45 p.m.

"No further statements will be provided until the investigation is complete," the release states.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @Gsabella on Twitter.

A Cross Lanes man was sentenced on Monday after previously admitting to selling heroin while on federal supervised release.

Darrell Spicer, 60, sold what he believed was heroin to a confidential informant who worked with the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office in June, according to a news release. A test later revealed the substance was fentanyl.

A detective with the Sheriff's Tactical Operations Patrol searched Spicer's home and found heroin, fentanyl and more than $7,000 in cash, the release states.

U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver Jr. sentenced Spicer to serve six years in prison for a charge of possession with intent to distribute heroin, along with another 18 months for violating his supervised release, according to the release. Those sentences will be served consecutively.

Beckley - A Raleigh County doctor on Tuesday stopped his trial in federal court during the second day of testimony and pleaded guilty to a drug crime.

"Have you had a change of heart?" U.S. District Judge Irene Berger asked Dr. Michael Kostenko, 61.

Kostenko, after watching jurors listen to the testimony of Michael Meadows, a former patient who also had been his employee and friend, told the judge, "I don't believe I'm popular enough to win."

Kostenko pleaded guilty to distributing oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose and beyond the bounds of medical practice.

He turned to the back of the courtroom. His daughter and former lawyer, Christina Kostenko, was visibly upset. She blew him a kiss.

Kostenko faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence and a $1 million fine. Berger set the sentencing hearing for Aug. 23.

The judge denied a request to allow Kostenko out of jail to await sentencing. He's been held in jail since last year on the charges.

Unlike the deal Kostenko backed out of with federal prosecutors last month, Tuesday's deal allows prosecutors to pursue a forfeiture action against the doctor's home in Danville, which also is his Coal Country Clinic.

Kostenko faced 20 counts of illegal oxycodone distribution charges and two counts of oxycodone distribution resulting in death.

The charges alleging the death of former patients alone carried mandatory minimum 20-year prison sentences.

"Given the climate in Southern West Virginia and the attitude toward such a matter, it really was in his best interest [to take a deal]," said Ward Morgan, of Bluefield, who is one of the attorney for Kostenko.

U.S. Attorney Carol Casto, of West Virginia's Southern District, released a statement later Tuesday vowing to continue similar prosecutions.

"West Virginia is at the epicenter of a drug crisis that is ravaging our state and has left us with the highest overdose rate in the nation. Doctors are entrusted with prescribing authority, in order to heal and protect patients, not betray that trust by contributing to prescription drug addiction," Casto said.

"My office will continue working with law enforcement to aggressively investigate and prosecute doctors who illegally prescribe the pain pills that have devastated our communities."

Morgan said that, if the trial had continued, multiple other witnesses called by prosecutors would have given testimony similar to Meadows.

Meadows told juror that the doctor was behind his addiction to opioids. He said he also had witnessed Kostenko take oxycodone, and use cocaine and marijuana.

"I would run out, and he would ask me for pills," Meadows said of Kostenko. "He cut coke with oxy. He said it kept him balanced out."

Meadows' testimony showed that Kostenko commingled his roles as doctor and friend. Morgan said that presented a problem for his client regarding the counts involving allegations over Kostenko's "standard of care."

Kostenko's other attorney, Derrick Leffler of Princeton, told jurors Monday that the doctor had been misunderstood and made enemies with colleagues in positions of power.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Miller Bushong had planned to call a cause-of-death expert and an investigator from the state Board of Pharmacy to the witness stand.

Bushong also had planned for jurors to hear from two people close to the two patients who died of overdoses after allegedly receiving illegal prescriptions from the doctor.

In a brief filed last week by Bushong, the prosecutor had noted that more overdose deaths of former Kostenko patients could become admissible during the course of the trial.

Between January 2011 and March 2016, 16 of Kostenko's patients overdosed and died, Bushong wrote.

On Monday, jurors heard from the lead FBI agent on the case and from a former Kostenko employee.

Four women and eight men were chosen Friday to serve on the jury for Kostenko's trial. Morgan described the selection process as difficult.

"A lot of the pool had been touched by the [prescription pill] epidemic," Morgan said.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

A man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly transporting prohibited items into a local correctional facility, according to a news release from the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office.

Kristopher Evans, 26, of Charleston, was arrested after police said he slipped contraband to inmates at the Charleston Correctional Facility through the a fence in March, the release said.

Deputies found a generic form of Neurontin, which is used to treat nerve pain, and a powder substance at Evans' home and believe this is what he allegedly gave to inmates, according to the release.

He was arrested at South Central Regional Jail, where he was being held for violating his parole. He remains at the jail.

A Logan County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony assault charge and admitted to an incident last year that left then-state Senate candidate Richard Ojeda hospitalized with multiple broken bones in his face.

Jonathan Porter, 42, of Holden, pleaded guilty to unlawful assault. His trial on charges of malicious assault and two counts of destruction of property, both misdemeanor offenses, was to begin Monday.

"A fight occurred between me and Mr. Richard Ojeda," Porter told the judge. "I punched him in the face and knocked him out."

Logan County Prosecuting Attorney John Bennett quickly added to Porter's statement that the incident left Ojeda seriously injured. Ojeda was rushed to a Charleston hospital where he underwent several surgeries because of facial fractures which required the implantation of plates and screws.

Ojeda delivered a significant political upset to incumbent Sen. Art Kirkendoll last spring. Both men are Logan County Democrats.

"The state will request a prison sentence," Bennett told the judge. The prosecutor added he had been up front about that with Porter and his lawyer.

The assault charge carries a one to five-year prison sentence. Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom set sentencing for June 7 in Logan County.

Wednesday's hearing, which had been scheduled to address pre-trial motions, took place in Charleston, where Monday's trial was to be held.

"We're going to return to Logan County for disposition," said Bloom. "We weren't able to pick a jury there but I think it's important for the local community to be able to attend the sentencing."

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

Wood County authorities arrested a Parkersburg man for first-degree murder after he allegedly sold a woman fentanyl and caused a deadly overdose.

Christopher Murvine, 27, is the second person jailed in the last week on murder charges in connection with an overdose.

Murvine sold $30 worth of a substance to Hannah Hescht, 23, in Parkersburg after they met outside a Foodland on Plum Street, according to a news release.

He reportedly told Hescht to be careful with the substance, which he described as "strong," according to the release.

On Jan. 25, the Williamstown Police Department responded to a home on West Sixth Street where they soon found Hescht unresponsive. Officials pronounced Hescht dead at Marietta Memorial Hospital in Ohio, and a coroner's office discovered she died from a fentanyl overdose, the complaint states.

A detective arrested Murvine about a month later on unrelated charges, and he allegedly admitted to selling Hescht methamphetamine the night before her death.

In a recorded phone call between Murvine and an unspecified person at the jail, Murvine reportedly said, "I told them I sold her ice. Buy me a little time," the release states. In a separate phone call, Murvine and an unknown person laugh after discussing how he should have lied to police. "I sold her heroin," he reportedly said.

Williamstown Police filed the charge of first-degree murder in conjunction with the Parkersburg Violent Crime and Narcotics Task Force.

Murvine is also being held on a charge of grand larceny, according to the Wood County Circuit Court.

He remained at North Central Regional Jail without bail Wednesday afternoon.

On April 20, the Putnam County Sheriff's Department arrested a Hurricane woman after she allegedly injected a man with heroin twice at her home on Poplar Fork Road.

Joney Farley, 35, reportedly injected Jeffrey Burdette with a mixture of heroin and water on March 15. Farley left Burdette at CAMC Teays Valley Hospital after he stopped breathing and became unconscious, and he later died at the hospital on March 19.

Putnam Sheriff Steve Deweese previously said Farley's arrest is the first time he can remember someone being charged with murder in relation to a drug overdose in the county.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or @Gsabella on Twitter.

Video of flash-bang grenades being thrown inside the cell of an inmate at the Western Regional Jail won't be made public, West Virginia Supreme Court justices ruled Wednesday, reversing a Kanawha County judge's ruling.

Video of the cell extraction of an inmate is prohibited under state law, the Supreme Court ruled in a 20-page opinion.

Footage captured inside a jail reveals the design and operational procedures of correctional facilities, which could lead to the escape of an inmate or injury to an inmate or employee of the facility, the justices ruled.

Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit ordered in 2015 that the video be made public, finding that it didn't fall within exemptions to the state's Freedom of Information Act.

Tabit wrote that "nothing on the videotape would put any inmate, resident or facility personnel at peril nor could the same be used by any inmate to facilitate any type of an escape from the facility."

Lawyers for the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority appealed her decision to the Supreme Court. Justices heard arguments earlier this month.

"It is quite clear from the circuit court's description that the videotape identifies the correction officers making the cell extraction, shows their equipment, shows their location before and during the entry of the cell, and reveals the path from the cell to other areas in the facility, including a door that leads to a parking area of the facility," Justice Robin Davis wrote for the court.

"We do not believe that the Legislature intended such information to be easily accessed by the public through FOIA, because it discloses information involving the design of the facility and operational procedures of personnel relating to the safe and secure management of inmates, which could be used for an escape or to cause injury."

Tabit had ordered the Jail Authority to turn over the video within five days to Charleston attorney Paul Stroebel. Stroebel is representing the inmate inside the cell that flash-bang grenades were thrown into.

Shane Marcum claims in his lawsuit against the Jail Authority that he received severe burns from the grenades.

Stroebel couldn't be reached Wednesday after the opinion was published.

Wednesday's decision was unanimous, but Justice Margaret Workman, who agrees with her colleagues' finding that the video in the Marcum case should remain sealed, filed an opinion in dissent of the majority's "all-encompassing" finding that all videos of cell extractions of inmates are sealed under state law.

Each tape should be analyzed before that decision is made, Workman wrote.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

Police arrested a man employed by Valley High School in Smithers after he allegedly sold drugs to undercover authorities.

Larry McCommack, 38, works as a teacher and football coach at the school, according to a news release from Fayette County Sheriff Mike Fridley. The Central West Virginia Drug Task Force reportedly supervised the controlled purchase of drugs from McCommack.

Authorities arrested McCommack on four counts of delivery of a controlled substance before he was arraigned in Fayette County Magistrate Court. He then posted $50,000 bail, according to a news release.

"None of these controlled drug purchases are alleged to have taken place in the area of the school," according to the release.

Fayette schools Superintendent Terry George said police arrested McCommack at the high school.

He said McCommack will no longer have contact with students.

"He's on administrative leave," George said.

West Virginia State University has sued Dow Chemical and former operators of the Institute chemical plant, alleging that the facility has contaminated the groundwater under the university's campus.

University officials insist the contamination poses no health risks - the campus does not use groundwater for its drinking water. It says the pollution threatens campus development plans and, once made public, now harms State's local and national reputation.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Kanawha Circuit Court, seeks to force the companies to clean up the contamination, prevent future migration of the chemicals and compensate the university, a historically black institution, for harm to its image in the public and potential students.

During an afternoon news conference on campus, West Virginia State President Anthony Jenkins said all efforts to convince Dow to resolve the matter have failed but that he hopes the filing of the lawsuit will change that.

"It is my hope that Dow will come to the table and take full responsibility for the mess it created," Jenkins told reporters.

The legal complaint, filed by attorneys Sam Hrko and Steve Ruby of the firm Bailey and Glasser, states: "Dow - a global chemical giant with $48 billion in annual revenue - seeks to force the costs of its pollution upon a small institution whose modest resources are already fully consumed by serving its students and its community. The law has no place for such greed and injustice."

Officials from Dow and the other companies named as defendants did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

University officials and lawyers say three contaminants have been found at "elevated levels" in the groundwater 15 to 50 feet beneath the campus. The chemicals are 1,4-dioxane, 1,1-dichloroethane and chloroform. It was not clear which of the various chemical units that operated over the years at the plant led to the groundwater contamination.

University officials say they learned of the contamination about four years ago, when they took ownership from the state of the former West Virginia Rehabilitation Center, located between the campus and the chemical plant. Dow performed groundwater sampling as part of an effort to close out one of its old permits, officials said, and informed the university when that testing turned up some issues.

Because the university's tap water comes from West Virginia American Water's Elk River facility, the concern with the campus groundwater contamination is potential exposure to humans through vapors that could travel up through the soil. In materials distributed and posted online Thursday, the university said testing has found some chemicals above screening levels that would require more investigation, but it has not discovered levels that create any health threats to students, faculty, staff or others on campus.

"Although the university must be fairly compensated for the damage Dow has done, I want to assure you that everyone here can continue learning, teaching and serving without risk of interruption," Jenkins said in a letter Thursday to the university community.

Jenkins, who became State's president in July 2016, offered no regret for the university having waited nearly four years - until Thursday's announcement - to inform the campus community about the contamination. He said the administration waited to reveal the issue until it had conducted enough testing to be convinced there was no health concern and to be able to communicate that belief with its initial notification to students, faculty, staff and students.

Jenkins said the university and its legal team also spent a lot of time working with Dow, in the hope that the parties could reach an agreement on some sort of remedial action.

While Jenkins said the university had believed Dow had the plant operations under control, some State faculty and previous administrators have been major critics of the Institute plant, because of a rocky history that included two fatal explosions in the past 25 years and a long battle over the plant's stockpile of methyl isocyanate, the deadly chemical that killed thousands of people in Bhopal, India, in 1984.

Six years ago, then-plant owner Bayer CropScience eliminated MIC manufacturing, use and storage at the plant following a U.S. Chemical Safety Board report that was highly critical of plant operations and a major change in the company's global marketing strategy.

Union Carbide, once a major institution in the Kanawha Valley, operated the Institute plant from 1946 until it sold the site to Rhone-Poulenc, a French firm, in 1986. Several other companies, including FMC Corp., operated units at the site. Bayer CropScience operated the plant from 2002 until it sold it to Dow - which had, in the meantime, merged with Carbide - in 2015. All of the various owners and operators are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.

At the request of prosecutors Thursday, a Kanawha County judge dismissed a gun charge against the man accused of killing a teenager on Charleston's East End last year.

William Ronald Pulliam, 62, of Charleston, had wanted to plead guilty to the felony charge of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. A plea hearing had been set for Thursday afternoon.

However, before the hearing could happen, Kanawha Circuit Judge Charles King signed an order prepared by prosecutors dismissing that gun charge.

Pulliam still faces charges of murder and use or presentment of a firearm during a felony in the November shooting death of 15-year-old James Harvey Means.

Means was shot twice in the abdomen with a .380-caliber revolver on Nov. 21 near the Dollar General on Washington Street East.

Charleston police say Pulliam showed no remorse after Means' death, admitted shooting him and said, "The way I look at it, that's another piece of trash off the street," a criminal complaint filed against Pulliam states.

A Kanawha grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Pulliam last month.

Pulliam faces similar charges in federal court over not being allowed to have a gun because of a 2013 domestic violence conviction.

During Pulliam's arraignment before King on Monday, his lawyer indicated that Pulliam wanted to admit to the one gun charge.

Thursday afternoon, after the charge his client had planned to admit to was dismissed, Pulliam's lawyer, Richard Holicker, explained his reasoning behind the plea attempt and said he was considering challenging King's dismissal order.

"Among the reasons we want to plead to the charge of prohibited person in possession of a firearm is to lessen the likelihood that the federal government will prosecute Mr. Pulliam on the same charge," Holicker told the Gazette-Mail. "As unusual as it may seem, we may consider challenging the dismissal order, which we have not yet seen."

If Pulliam is convicted of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm - either by guilty plea or by a Kanawha jury - federal prosecutors would have to decide if they want to pursue their case against him.

There is no law prohibiting the federal government from prosecuting a defendant on charges they already have been convicted of in a state court, but Department of Justice policy requires prosecutors to seek permission from DOJ officials before doing so, according to Kanawha Prosecuting Attorney Charles Miller, a former U.S. Attorney for the state's Southern District.

Miller said Thursday afternoon that his office asked to dismiss the charge against Pulliam to avoid complications - with the federal case against Pulliam and at the trial on the murder charge. The trial is set for late August.

"We became a little concerned as to what a guilty plea might do to the federal case, and we initially thought a jury [in the in Kanawha Circuit Court trial] should know [Pulliam] wasn't lawfully allowed to possess a firearm," Miller said.

Trial rules in West Virginia prohibit using a defendant's prior convictions to impeach them, Miller said.

The federal indictment unsealed Feb. 7 alleges that Pulliam lied on federal forms to purchase the .380 revolver.

The indictment charges Pulliam with knowingly making a false statement and representation to the information required on the federal form and two counts of the unlawful transport of firearms. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

He faces life in prison on the murder charge.

Pulliam said he shot Means in self defense, according to arguments made by his attorneys during a December preliminary hearing in Kanawha Magistrate Court.

"It don't look like self defense to us," Miller said Thursday.

Pulliam claims that Means showed him a BB gun after an argument.

Means did keep a BB gun in his waistband, Charleston Detective Chris Lioi testified during the December hearing. That was something the detective said he discovered during his investigation into Means' death. The BB gun was located in a bag belonging to a witness of the shooting, according to the detective.

Lioi said video footage from the shooting scene doesn't support Pulliam's self-defense claim. Means didn't have anything in his hands when he was shot, according to the detective.

Means was shot in the back and chest, Lioi previously said in court. The teen fell to the ground after the gunshot to his chest. When he got up, he turned to run away and was shot in the back, according to the detective.

After the shooting, Pulliam went to dinner at a female friend's home, according to the criminal complaint filed against him. That's where police say they found the gun allegedly used to kill Means.

Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.

The settlement detailed in a federal court provides $151 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit over the January 2014 water crisis.

The $151 million settlement with West Virginia American Water Co. and Eastman Chemical Co. covers a class of people including: Everyone who lived in a residential dwelling (homeowners and renters) supplied with tap water from West Virginia American Water's Kanawha Valley Treatment Plant on Jan. 9, 2014; all businesses, non-profit and governmental entities that received tap water from that same plant on that date; and everyone who was regularly employed as an hourly-wage earner by those businesses. Previous court filings have estimated the class includes 224,000 people and 7,300 businesses. Reliable estimates of the number of wage earners have not been made public. You do not have to have previously signed up, registered with the court, or hired a lawyer to take part in the settlement.

The settlement covers damages from the contamination of the region's water supply following the chemical spill at Freedom Industries.

It includes a "simple payment" option for all class members and an option to seek specific amounts for property damages, such as replacement of hot water heaters, extra expenses such as bottled water, and for medical claims.

The simple payment option involves filing a short claim form. Or, class members who think their losses were greater can choose an "individual review" option that requires documentation of actual losses, such as receipts or other proof of expenditures. The review and other management of the settlement funds will be handled by an administrator. The parties agreed that the firm Smith, Cochran & Hicks will serve as settlement administrator, subject to court approval.

The simple payment option will provide residential households with an estimated $525 for the first resident and $170 for each additional resident. The numbers are estimates, and could change depending on the number of claims.

The individual review option has no limit on the amount that residents can recover. But it requires documentation of property losses - repair or replacement of water system components such as hot water heaters, dishwashers, or other appliances - and of other expenses, such as bottled water, pre-prepared foods, discarded food, baby wipes, travel, and substitute lodging.

Residents can receive out-of-pocket expenses and additional payments of $750 for medical treatment for the spill and higher payments for demonstrated permanent injuries or wrongful death caused by exposure to or interruption in tap water. The medical claims form is in addition to filing either a simple payment option form or a documented loss payment option form for property damage or other expenses.

Women who were pregnant at the time of the water crisis can receive an additional payment of $1,500. This is also a separate form, in addition to either a simply payment option or documented loss payment option claim form.

Businesses - including non-profits and government entities - ordered to shut down during the "do not use" period can use the simple payment option to get between $6,250 and $25,000, depending on their size, based on revenue. Hotels can use the simple payment option to get up to $40,000, depending on their size.

Other businesses, non-profits and government entities - those not ordered to close - can receive $1,875.

Or, businesses can choose to file an individual review form that documents their losses, if they believe those losses were greater than they would be eligible to receive by filing the simple form.

Hourly wage earners who lost income because their place of employment closed or partially closed can recover those lost wages if they can document them by filing a work schedule or sworn statement from their supervisor or employer.

Residents, businesses and wage earners must generally file claim forms to receive any payments from the settlement. Claims forms will be available online at www.wvwaterclaims.com or by calling 1-855-829-8121, after the settlement is approved by the judge.

Residential customers of West Virginia American that don't file claim forms will be sent a check for an estimated $525.

The deadlines and timelines won't be set until the judge gives the settlement at least his preliminary approval. If the judge grants that approval, a formal notice will be sent by mail, email and other media detailing how claims can be made and relevant deadlines.

The attorneys in the case propose, subject to court approval, to receive the equivalent of 30 percent of whatever total payments are made to class members, up to the first $100 million of the settlement. They propose to receive the equivalent of 25 percent of the amount paid out from the next $51 million.

This federal settlement is intended to include businesses and residents who had filed similar class actions or individual cases or who previously opted out of the federal case. But any member of the class can object to the settlement or opt out of it before the deadline for doing so, which has yet to be determined. Any member of the class can also hire their own attorney.

Reach Ken Ward Jr.

at kward@wvgazettemail.com,

304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.

OAKLAND, Md. (AP) - A West Virginia man has been sentenced to a year in jail after leading Maryland police on a 12-mile, high-speed chase with a baby in his car.

The Cumberland Times-News reports 23-year-old Corey Austin Bircher, of Elk Garden, West Virginia, pleaded guilty to three charges in Garrett County District Court on Wednesday.

In February, Garrett County sheriff's deputies attempted to stop Bircher's car for a traffic violation, but he refused to stop. Three enforcement cruisers pursued him on a chase that reached speeds up to 100 mph on rural roads.

Officers discovered an adult passenger and baby in the car when it crashed. The passengers and a deputy were treated for injuries.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - A former West Virginia University student has been sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman inside a parking garage elevator in Morgantown.

The Dominion Post reports that 21-year-old Sadeq Abbas Alhakeem, was sentenced Thursday by Monongalia County Circuit Court Judge Susan Tucker.

He pleaded guilty in December, admitting he assaulted the woman in February 2016.

Authorities say he happened upon the intoxicated woman inside an elevator in the parking garage, that Alhakeem was also intoxicated, and video surveillance showed the attack.

A federal appeals court said Friday it would hold off any decision on a rule aimed at reducing power plant greenhouse gas emissions while the Trump administration reviews the matter.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said it would not act on the case for at least 60 days, while the new leadership at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reviews the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.

Judges at the court have been considering various legal challenges to the Obama EPA rule, including one filed by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

The EPA rule, a centerpiece of the Obama administration's efforts to combat climate change, would require reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and has been strongly opposed by the mining industry and most West Virginia political leaders. At the same time, most electric utilities, including most recently Charleston-based Appalachian Power, have made it clear that President Donald Trump's efforts to reduce coal pollution were not going to bring about a resurgence in the mining industry.

Currently, the Clean Power Plan is already on hold, under a U.S. Supreme Court order that blocked the measure pending a D.C. Circuit ruling.

In March, Trump EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt -- who had sued the agency over the rule when he was Oklahoma attorney general -- asked the D.C. Circuit Court to hold off any ruling on the pending legal challenges until the EPA had time to complete a review of the Clean Power Plan ordered by Trump as part of a move to repeal the regulation.

The D.C. Circuit agreed to put the case on hold for 60 days and ordered EPA to file status reports at 30-day intervals starting 30 days from Friday.

Also, the circuit court directed the parties to file supplemental legal briefs to address whether the case should simply be remanded to EPA rather than held in abeyance at the court.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.

The co-owners and operators of a Morgantown hookah lounge have been convicted on charges of distributing synthetic marijuana in proceedings before U.S. District Judge Irene M. Keeley, according to a news release.

The convictions followed guilty pleas entered on March 27 by Nicholas Graziano, 53, of Melville, New York, and Stephen Graziano, 25, of Morgantown, to single counts of conspiring to distribute a "controlled substance analogue" between July 2012 and April 2014, according to a news release issued Friday by Acting U.S. Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen. The pair owned and operated X Hale Hookah Lounge in Morgantown.

The synthetic marijuana, commonly known as spice, K2, incense or fake weed, is designed to resemble to molecular structure and physiological effects of real cannabis.

The two each face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $1 million when they are sentenced.

The case was investigated by the Mon Metro Drug and Violent Crime Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zelda Wesley handled the prosecution.

Permits to carry a concealed firearm are declining, along with the associated revenue for law enforcement.

West Virginians gained the right to carry a firearm without a permit last May, but the numbers started to drop back in 2014.

About 28,000 residents held a permit in 2016, which is about 2,000 less than the year before, according to State Police records.

Both legislators and authorities argued in favor of public safety before legislators overrode a veto of House Bill 4145 in March 2016, making way for permitless concealed carry.

However, neither side could agree whether permit requirements helped the public or infringed on the rights of its citizens.

They did find a common ground when it came to the importance of proper firearm training, though both parties once again split when it came to whether training should be required.

Pharmacist Don Radcliff, a permit holder for more than 25 years, stands on that common ground.

He shot and killed a would-be robber at Good Family Pharmacy in 2015, and opponents of permitless carry soon used his skilled response to highlight the need for a training requirement.

What they missed, Radcliff said, is he applied for a permit before the state required training.

Radcliff said he is actually against such requirements. He and his son — a Marine Corps veteran and Army Special Forces weapons sergeant — often train at Radcliff’s home firing range.

Everyone who takes the time to buy a gun, he said, should also take the time to practice with it.

“For those people who feel more comfortable having a gun, the only thing that I would advocate is, ‘Please know how to use the gun,’” he said.

nnn

With a permit tucked between his leather holster and a Smith & Wesson revolver, E.J. Smith stood in his garage on a Saturday morning.

Smith is an National Rifle Association-certified instructor who operates a training course at his home each weekend. His business cards promote a philosophy on the ideal firearm class: “We teach the beginner how and make the experienced better.”

He said people now apply for permits to either learn more about handguns or to travel out of state with a concealed firearm.

Not long ago, he told the class, people often stayed near their hometown. His mother grew up in Logan County and rarely left.

“She told me when she was a kid and she saw the Kanawha River, she thought it was the ocean,” he said. “But that’s not the case now. It’s nothing for us to jump in the car and be over in Parkersburg or down in Virginia.”

Before the class started he gave each student a list of 35 states that recognize concealed carry permits from West Virginia.

Smith said he grew up in Boone County, where “babies are born with guns in their hands.”

Though his students are often eager to learn, Smith wasn’t always the same way. He worked with law enforcement as a firearm trainer for decades, and the 10-hour NRA class for future instructors felt like a waste of time.

Despite his initial resistance, Smith said he started to learn new things.

“There’s tons of stuff about firearms that people in this area think they know, but don’t,” he said.

Holding one of his many revolvers, he showed the class a series of arrows, which indicate where the cylinder will turn when the gun is fired.

“I did not know that,” Alex Saul said, looking toward his wife, Denise Saul.

Alex and Denise Saul both grew up with guns, and they now teach their own kids how to shoot. Denise Saul said her son learned with the same .410-bore shotgun she used as a child.

“If I was to put a handgun in my daughter’s hand or in one of my sons’ hands, I would want them to have this class,” she said.

The Sauls said they fall under both categories of permit holders, as people who are interested in education and out-of-state carry.

After a man broke into a room at their hotel in Tennessee, and another person broke into their home in West Virginia, they decided it was time to become card holders.

Alex Saul said he grew up during a time when schools taught hunter safety, and when students showed off their Christmas presents — often guns — on school property.

“Back then, I didn’t see no reason to even have a gun on my side,” he said. “This day and time, it’s scary to even be out.”

After the class, Smith shared what he believes led to permitless carry, sometimes referred to as constitutional carry by its supporters.

The bill passed after a historic legislative session the year before, when Republicans controlled both houses of the Legislature for the first time in more than 80 years.

Then-governor Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed two bills meant to abolish permit requirements, motivating his opposition even more, Smith said.

“They were angry and they were going to prove to the governor that they can do what they wanted,” he said

Smith said the other factor was a lack of quality training classes. Why, he asked, would people want required training when instructors taught the students nothing?

The law now requires students to live-fire a handgun during their training course, and Smith said his class might be more than a couple hours if students could pay attention longer.

Smith taught science in schools for decades, and he said it’s part of his character to help others learn.

Some firearm instructors, he said, offered classes at half the normal price, awarding students a certificate after they watched a 10-minute video and shot a handgun.

“You can’t blame a gun for stupidity,” he said. “The gun is just a tool. It’s no different than any tool you’ve got in your kitchen.”

nnn

Smith likely will retire within the year, leaving fewer training options left in Charleston.

He is among many others who took a financial hit when the decline in permits started in 2014. Since then, law enforcement agencies throughout the state may have lost more than a million dollars.

Permit applications and renewals rose from 2010 to 2013, when the number of card holders peaked at more than 42,000. The number dropped by about a quarter the next year, and it has dropped slightly more each following year.

Each sheriff’s office receives $60 of the $75 application fee to cover the cost of issuing permits. Any leftover funds can be used at the agency’s discretion.

The other $15 per application goes to the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund. A $25 fee is collected after the application is approved, and the money goes to the superintendent of the West Virginia State Police.

Under the bill that passed last year, anyone who pays for a required training class or application is entitled to a tax credit up to $50.

Certain people are exempt from application fees, such as circuit judges and retired law enforcement officers, according to the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office license application.

It’s unclear how many people took advantage of fee exemptions over the years, and how much exemptions affected the amount of losses from declining application fees.

Jefferson County Sheriff Pete Dougherty said payments to his account for license fees dropped nearly 20 percent between 2015 and 2016.

“The funds in that account have been used to help purchase officer safety equipment and supplies that are needed but not funded by the County Commission,” he wrote in an email.

In sharp contrast, Morgan County Sheriff K.C. Bohrer said his agency largely is unaffected by the trend.

He said the county is less than 45 minutes from four other states, and residents still carry permits and firearms on their travels.

The Gazette-Mail sent a survey to sheriff’s deputies and police officers around the state, and 29 respondents — each using their agency’s email — replied. The survey promised confidentiality to generate honest responses.

Of the surveys sent to deputies, one respondent cited added revenue as a benefit of permits.

Those respondents who support permits (86 percent) said they most value the required firearm training, followed by background checks and then peace of mind for law enforcement.

The background check used for permit applicants may reveal things that would pass under the screening required to buy a gun, said Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives for the Charleston Police Department, at a March 2015 hearing.

Keith Campbell, the secretary of the West Virginia Citizen’s Defense League, spoke at the same hearing.

He said money motivated law enforcement’s opposition to the bill.

“This is a right we have,” Campbell said at the time. “This is a right we shouldn’t have to pay for.”

nnn

West Virginia now is among at least 11 other states that allow permitless concealed carry.

Despite a similar outcry from certain law enforcement officials and state leaders in other regions, the movement may be gaining momentum.

At least 16 states introduced legislation this year to move away from permit requirements, The Washington Post reported in February.

According to the report, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, recently signed permitless carry into law after his predecessor, now-Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, vetoed the legislation twice.

Montana’s Democratic governor, Steve Bullock, and the previous Democratic governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, both vetoed such bills in the last year, though Missouri legislators then overrode the veto.

Vermont has allowed permitless carry since its founding in 1791, according to the NRA. Most recently, North Dakota enacted its own law on March 23.

Amy Hunter, a media liaison for the NRA, said gun owners know their needs best, including what training is appropriate.

For some, training courses likely are a smart option, Hunter wrote in an email.

“However, for those who have grown up in a family with rich firearms traditions and who have spent a lifetime practicing safe firearm use, they should not be forced to undergo a government-mandated training program,” she wrote.

The NRA has said concealed carry is convenient and perhaps more socially acceptable than carrying in the open. It also cited the ability to not reveal one’s weapon, and the need to deter criminals from victimizing an armed public, as possible reasons for the changing laws.

Radcliff, the pharmacist who protected his store from an armed robber in 2015, said he doesn’t hold a strong opinion about legislation for permitless carry.

He does, however, care to see gun owners shooting their firearms and becoming comfortable with the process.

“If you’re not going to get familiar with it, then you shouldn’t even buy it,” he said.

Reach Giuseppe Sabella at giuseppe.sabella@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5189 or @Gsabella on Twitter.

The following crimes were reported to the Charleston Police Department between April 20 and 26:

East District:

Charleston Town Center, shoplifting, April 20, 5:55 p.m.

Piedmont Drive 1500 block, grand larceny, April 20, 6:30 p.m.

Washington Street East 1300 block, shoplifting, April 21, 9:55 a.m.

Ruffner Avenue 400 block, child neglect, April 21, 1:29 p.m.

Town Center Drive 3000 block, petit larceny, April 21, 7 p.m.

Renaissance Circle 1300 block, malicious wounding, April 21, 10:20 p.m.

Dixie Street/Thompson Street, grand larceny auto, April 23, 1 a.m.

Slack Street 500 block, grand larceny auto, April 23, 6:50 a.m.

Court Street 300 block, grand larceny, April 23, 10:45 a.m.

John Norman Street 1000 block, breaking and entering, April 23, noon.

Smith Street 1100 block, breaking and entering, April 23, 2:15 p.m.

Lee Street East 200 block, grand larceny, April 23, 7:30 p.m.

Delaware Avenue 500 block, shoplifting, April 24, 10:40 a.m.

YMCA Drive 100 block, breaking and entering auto, April 24, 5:25 p.m.

Ruffner Avenue and Washington Street East, petit larceny, April 24, 7:30 p.m.

Elizabeth Street 400 block, grand larceny, April 25, 3:30 a.m.

Crestmont Drive first block, petit larceny, April 25, 7 a.m.

Piedmont Road 1500 block, petit larceny, April 25, 3:30 p.m.

Piedmont Road 1500 block, petit larceny, April 25, 8 p.m.

Charleston Town Center, shoplifting, April 26, 3:40 p.m.

South District:

Alex Lane 100 block, grand larceny, April 20, midnight.

Kanawha Avenue 4800 block, breaking and entering auto, April 20, 3 a.m.

MacCorkle Avenue 6300 block, breaking and entering auto, April 20, 10:01 a.m.

Mountaineer Boulevard 2800 block, shoplifting, April 20, 9:30 p.m.

MaCorkle Avenue 1700 block, petit larceny, April 21, 9 a.m.

Fledderjohn Road 1100 block, shoplifting, April 21, 10:26 a.m.

MacCorkle Avenue 5700 block, shoplifting, April 21, 2:41 p.m.

Hazel Road 700 block, breaking and entering auto, April 21, 4 p.m.

Kanawha Mall, shoplifting, April 21, 6 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue Southeast 3800 block, shoplifting, April 22, 7:57 p.m.

Dorchester Road 1500 block, breaking and entering auto, April 23, midnight.

Churchill Drive 500 block, petit larceny, April 23, 7:45 a.m.

MacCorkle Avenue 5000 block, petit larceny, April 23, 4 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue 5000 block, shoplifting, April 23, 6:23 p.m.

RHL Boulevard 200 block, shoplifting, April 23, 6:27 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue 4900 block, shoplifting, April 23, 10:16 p.m.

Noyes Avenue Southeast 2900 block, breaking and entering auto, April 24, 6 p.m.

MacCorkle Avenue Southeast 5700 block, shoplifting, April 25, 2:35 p.m.

Cross Terrace Boulevard 2600 block, April 25, 8:40 p.m.

West District:

Costello Street 100 block, petit larceny, April 20, midnight.

Virginia Street West 700 block, brandishing, April 20, 11:45 a.m.

Virginia Street West 700 block, shoplifting, April 20, 11:45 a.m.

Red Oak Street 1500 block, wanton endangerment, April 20, 12:36 p.m.

Randolph Street 400 block, burglary, April 20, 4:23 p.m.

Hills Plaza, breaking and entering auto, April 21, 1 p.m.

Lee Street West 100 block, petit larceny, April 21, 1 p.m.

Violet Street 2000 block, burglary, April 21, 6 p.m.

7th Avenue 2300 block, petit larceny, April 22, 4:34 a.m.

Sissonville Drive 2300 block, shoplifting, April 22, 2:25 p.m.

Delaware Avenue 500 block, petit larceny, April 22, 3:30 p.m.

Delaware Avenue 100 block, malicious wounding, April 22, 4:50 p.m.

Florida Street 200 block, petit larceny, April 23, 2:44 p.m.

Pennsylvania Avenue 500 block, grand larceny auto, April 23, 6:45 p.m.

Cora Street 400 block, petit larceny, April 24, 7 p.m.

Cora Street 200 block, breaking and entering auto, April 24, midnight.

Cora Street 200 block, petit larceny, April 24, midnight.

Hutchinson Street 2000 block, domestic assault, April 24, 9:45 a.m.

Delaware Avenue 500 block, shoplifting, April 24, 10 a.m.

Pennsylvania Avenue 300 block, shoplifting, April 24, 12:20 p.m.

Delaware Avenue 500 block, shoplifting, April 25, 2:10 p.m.

Anaconda Avenue 800 block, grand larceny auto, April 26, 6 a.m.

Delaware Avenue 200 block, breaking and entering, April 26, 2 p.m.

Patrick Street 1800 block, brandishing, April 26, 10:30 p.m.

Marriages

The following people filed for marriage licenses in Kanawha County between April 20 and 27, 2017:

Patric Michael Cole, 48, and Shanell Trebae Manns, 24, both of Charleston.

Thomas Robert Burns Jr., 36, and Megan Louise Humphreys, 32, both of Elkview.

Brandon Mark Easter, 29, and Megan Anne Parker, 28, both of St. Albans.

Daniel Ray Ramsey, 44, and Darlene Gwen Morris, 50, both of Cross Lanes.

Ronald Ethan Stewart, 22, and Millicent Elizabeth Hall, 22, both of Charleston.

Norman Kristic III, 29, of South Charleston and Amy Novella Cooper, 32, of Charleston.

Jamaal Perez Thomas, 31, and Christine Denise Roth, 32, both of Charleston.

Christopher Charles Cope Jr., 27, and Staci Michelle Hastings, 38, both of Charleston.

Michael Alan Rhodes, 53, of Charleston and Charmin May Goldizen, 43, of Liberty.

Brian Michael Hill, 27, and Brittany Erica Orndorff, 22, both of Cross Lanes.

Bryan Kerwood Mabe, 53, and Kelli Jo Hinkle, 47, both of Charleston.

Beau Eli Brogan, 30, of St. Albans and Tirzah Jael Williams, 28, of Dunbar.

Greg Frederick Bradford, 60, of South Charleston and Elizabeth Kay Battle, 42, of Charleston.

Toni Marie Manns, 52, and Lorenia Antionette Gaskins, 31, both of Charleston.

Charles William Price, 60, and Carey Jo Grace, 45, both of Charleston.

Henry Bender, 66, of Pigeon and Lenora Lou Coffman, 65, of Cross Lanes.

Kevin Hilton Kessell, 60, of Fort Mill, South Charleston and Jane Hoskins Roberts, 59, of St. Albans.

Travis Alan Burdette, 36, and Samantha Lethie Crowder, 27, both of Charleston.

Thomas Scott Gessel, 54, and Cynthia Anne Majestro, 55, both of Charleston.

Shannon Lucius Mealer, 39, and Heather Lenore Schultz, 45, both of Charleston.

Zachary Steven Keeney, 25, of Cedar Grove and Ashleigh Anne Kinsolving, 31, of South Charleston.

Joshua Daniel Pack, 25, and Lindsey Nicole Cavender, 25, both of Elkview.

Leo Hayes Moss II, 35, and Tracy Lynn Robinson, 27, both of Charleston.

Christopher Alan Rucker, 36, and Amanda Renee Paschal, 30, both of Cross Lanes.

Terry Lee Fields Jr., 31, and Annie Elizabeth Debord, 25, both of Charleston.

Alfred Allen Cantrell, 54, and Tammy Ella Clay-Wills, 46, both of Charleston.

Divorces

The following people filed for divorce in Kanawha County between April 20 and 27, 2017:

Tammy Dee Hawkins-Edwards from William Howard Edwards

Victor C. Winfree from Kristen Winfree

Jessica Dawn Clay from Matthew Gene Clay

Cailtyn J. McQuown from Nicholas W. McQuown

Amanda Nicole Kelley from Michael James Kelley Jr.

Kenneth Austin Davis from Larissa Michelle Davis

Cedric Lee from Toni M. Lee

Elizabeth Ann Chandler from William Franklin Chandler Jr.

Carly Ann Reedy from Michael Reedy

Allen MacArthur Harper from Sheena S. Harper

Jessica Lynn Stoler from Shawn Allen Stoler

Amanda Jo Downs from Steven H. Downs

Kelley Ann Lane from Johnny Edward Lane Jr.

Rita Faye Hudnall from Basil Lee Hudnall

Darlene Annette Streets from Eugene Streets

Danny Edward George from Ara Tyler

Samuel Thomas Saul from LeAnn Saul

Haroon Akhtar from Carolyn J. Akhtar

Christopher Wayne Bush from Karen Mae Hughart

Tina Nicole Ruff from James Arnold Ruff Jr.

Candy Ann Platter from Jack Silas Platter Jr.

Property transfers

The following property transfers of $75,000 or more were recorded in Kanawha County between April 20 and 27, 2017:

Ronald W. and Rachel D. Means to Mark O. Withrow. Parcel, Elk District, $120,500.

Frank C. Jr. and Karen Stepp to Donna Sue Hastings. Lot, Loudon District, $120,000.

Jeremy S. and Kelly R. Duffield to Jeremy D. and Katrina D. Walker. Lots, Elk District, $169,000.

Kevin P. Litton to Marshall Rentals WV LLC. Lot, South Charleston, $90,000.

Seneca Trustees Inc. to Wells Fargo. Lot, Jefferson District, $124,100.

Stacy L. Hammonds and Daniel I. Hammonds to Stephen M. and Angelica M. Gomber. Lot, Elk District, $237,000.

Chester Franklin Waugh, II and David Loren Waugh to Carroll Monday. Lot, Union District, $84,000.

Amy Boggess to Harry J. Jr. and Debra M. Harper. Lot, St. Albans, $110,000.

Bethany Frame and Joshua Milam to Chad A. Morris. Lot, Elk District, $115,000.

Haden K. Spaulding to Timothy J. and Melissa A. Beck. Lot, St. Albans, $235,000.

Wilmer J. and Marilyn M. Hale to Diana Lynn Godby-Chin and Ronald L. Chin. Lot, Nitro, $121,750.

*The Martha Shorr Revocable Trust to Janet Atkinson. Parcel, Union District, $118,500.

Danny K. Harmon II to Jerry D. and Rebecca J. McClanahan. Lots, Union District, $88,000.

Jered W. Chapman Sr. to Amy C. Haddix. Lot, St. Albans District, $150,000.

Nathaniel K. ad Julia M. Hixson to Allyson S. Hedges. Lot, Charleston, $291,000.

Larry G. Kopelman to Yerrid Land Holding LLC. Parcel, Elk District, $600,000.

Willard Lovejoy to Yerrid Land Holding LLC. Lots, Elk District, $185,000.

Kevin W. Walker and Angela D. Walker to Patrick D. and Holly Clark. Lots, East Bank, $130,000.

Carroll Lindell Monday to James Earnest III and Angela Dawn Reece. Lot, Union District, $143,900.

Franklin E. Morrison to Richard D. and Ellen Vee Akers. Lot, Loudon District, $99,000.

James T. Findley Jr. to Jeremy S. and Kelly R. Duffield. Lot, Big Sandy District, $260,000.

Joshua R. Chapman to Kimberly D. Hensley. Parcel, Union District, $131,500.

Stephen Thomas Grishaber to Charles C. Grishaber and Lucy E. Burrows. Lot, Loudon District, $79,700.

Sacred Heart Riverview Terrace Inc. to Dennis W. and Valdere C. Nesser. Condominium, Charleston East District, $232,000.

Stephen Joseph Conreaux to Geraldine Mcallister. Lot, Union District, $95,000.

Christopher J. and Tracy M. Cartwright to Joshua R. and Carly E. Chapman. Parcels, Jefferson District, $175,000.

Leslie Ann Edwards to Dorsey E. and Crystal M. Newhouse. Lot, Kanawha City, $129,500.

Frank D. and Helen M. Frye to F&H Rentals LLC. Lot, Elk District, $150,000.

North Fork Holdings LLC to Store Master Funding XIV LLC. Lot, St. Albans, $965,800.87.

Marc B. Lazenby to Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance Inc. Lot, Union District, $90,000.

Bankruptcies

The bankruptcies listed below are limited to those filed by residents or companies in the Gazette-Mail's circulation area. Chapter 7 designates the liquidation of non-exempt property; Chapter 11 calls for business reorganization; Chapter 13 establishes a schedule of payments to creditors. The following bankruptcies were filed between April 21 and 28, 2017:

Billy Keith and Theresa Ann Hatfield, Wharncliffe, Chapter 7. Assets: $41,598, Liabilities: $78,888.

Rhonda Gale Fox, Ansted, Chapter 7. Assets: $29,097, Liabilities: $33,813.

Kimberly Rae Hike, Fayetteville, Chapter 7. Assets: $85,288, Liabilities: $106,817.

Billy Eugene Johnson, St. Albans, Chapter 7. Assets: $14,280, Liabilities: $10,614.

Megan Darlene Milam, St. Albans, Chapter 7. Assets: $5,202, Liabilities: $180,322.

Tamara Denise Coleman, Charleston Chapter 7. Assets: $54,712, Liabilities: $74,209.

Ronald Eugene and Dolly Lillian Estepp, Delbarton, Chapter 7. Assets: $207,800, Liabilities: $371,880.

Christopher Todd and Shasta Danielle Campbell, Branchland, Chapter 7. Assets: $14,900, Liabilities: $85,965.

Victoria Sue Naylor, St. Albans, Chapter 7. Assets: $14,900, Liabilities: $85,965.

Wanda Joyce Williams, St. Albans, Chapter 7. Assets: $15,500, Liabilities: $10,000.

Stephanie Dawn Bias, Danville, Chapter 7. Assets: $51,256, Liabilities: $79,755.

Kimberly Jo Cooper, St. Albans, Chapter 7. Assets: $12,025, Liabilities: $27,208.

Steve McNeill and Natalie Jo Laraba, Beckley, Chapter 7. Assets: Unknown, Liabilities: Unknown.

Ernest Lee Ruff, Naoma, Chapter 7. Assets: $36,704, Liabilities: $33,177.

James William and Thelma Mae Bolen, Midway, Chapter 7. Assets: $27,830, Liabilities: $73,438.

Onnie Reid and Virginia Kay Paynter, Oceana, Chapter 7. Assets: $91,681, Liabilities: $212,970.

John McKinley and Priscilla Lee Crump, Sophia, Chapter 7. Assets: $123,808, Liabilities: $396,899.

Kimberly Narlene Shiftlett, Crab Orchard, Chapter 7. Assets: $96,706, Liabilities: $109,773.

Rhonda Tonette Mullins, Beaver, Chapter 7. Assets: $6,116, Liabilities: $36,376.

Janet Lynn Campbell, Ronceverte, Chapter 7. Assets: $77,338, Liabilities: $119,125.

Jeffrey Lee Wilson, Sinks Grove, Chapter 7. Assets: $13,512, Liabilities: $43,313.

Grover Anderson Thompson, Ronceverte, Chapter 7. Assets: $16,496, Liabilities: $21,438.

Lanta James and Charlene Mae Jenkins, Alderson, Chapter 7. Assets: $0.00, Liabilities: $63,383.

Herbert Edward III and Amy Elizabeth Eanes, New Richmond, Chapter 7. Assets: $62,435, Liabilities: $355,152.

The West Virginia Supreme Court has refused to cancel its reconsideration of a significant case in which justices are deciding whether natural gas drillers can deduct post-production costs from the royalties paid to certain mineral owners.

In a one-page order dated Wednesday, Court Clerk Rory Perry said a motion to stop this week's scheduled oral argument in the case was "moot" because Justice Beth Walker notified Perry of her decision not to recuse herself in the case.

Natural gas royalty owners who are suing EQT Corp. over the company's payment practices said Walker improperly took part in a vote in January in which the court decided to grant EQT's request to reconsider the case. They cited the fact that Walker did not take part in the court's original ruling in the case and that her husband, Mike Walker, owns stock in several different natural gas and related energy companies.

Mike Walker loaned his wife's campaign $525,000, and the combination of his stock holdings and the loans created the "appearance of impropriety," lawyers for Patrick Leggett said in their motion filed with the Supreme Court.

Perry's order did not include any explanation of Walker's decision not to disqualify herself and, through a court spokeswoman, Walker has declined to comment on the issue.

In the case, the court had ruled on Nov. 17, 2016, against EQT in part of a continuing legal battle over natural gas royalty payments that has emerged from the boom in natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region of North-Central West Virginia and the Northern Panhandle.

The ruling said EQT could not, as the company had been, deduct post-production expenses from the royalties paid to mineral owners covered by a provision of a 1982 "flat rate" state law that provides for one-eighth royalties, despite older lease language that paid less. Post-production expenses include things like transportation and processing costs.

Then-Justice Brent Benjamin wrote the opinion in the case and was joined by Justices Robin Jean Davis and Margaret Workman. Justices Menis Ketchum and Allen Loughry dissented. The case was argued on Sept. 14, 2016.

In May 2016, Benjamin lost a re-election bid to Walker in the state's first nonpartisan Supreme Court race. Benjamin's term was to last until the end of the year. Walker was sworn in during a ceremony Dec. 5, 2016, and her term began Jan. 1.

EQT attorneys filed a petition for a rehearing on Dec. 19, 2016. The Supreme Court granted that petition Jan. 25. Walker, Loughry and Ketchum voted to rehear the case. Workman and Davis voted not to rehear it.

The oral argument on the rehearing is set for Tuesday.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at

kward@wvgazettemail.com,

304-348-1702 or follow

@kenwardjr on Twitter.