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Manchin says state remains ‘strong’

EDUCATIONHAITI EARTHQUAKE

KENNY KEMP | Gazette

Gov. Joe Manchin said in his sixth State of the State address that West Virginia is better off economically than many of its neighbors.

By Phil KablerStaff writer

In his sixth State of the Stateaddress, Gov. Joe Manchin tolda joint session of the LegislatureWednesday that, unlike many ofits neighbors, West Virginia isnot in a state of disarray andeconomic turmoil.

“All of us have read the na-tional headlines about employeefurloughs, about governmentshutdowns and even increasedtaxes,” Manchin said. “Althoughour budget may be more slen-der than in recent years, we allshould be proud that the stateof our state is strong.”

He said West Virginia remainsin a planning mode, not the“panic mode” that has led to em-ployee layoffs and furloughs in26 states, and tax hikes in 32states.

“Our welcome centers andrest stops have stayed open, ourstate offices have normal oper-ating hours, our social servicescontinue, and we are payingour bills on time,” Manchin said.

Manchin’s 45-minute addresswas highlighted by his intro-duction of actress Jennifer Gar-ner, who grew up in Charleston,and was recognized Wednesdayfor her work with the groupSave the Children.

Manchin said he will provide$1 million of state funds to Savethe Children’s efforts to assistneedy children in rural counties.

Also in that light, Manchincalled on the Legislature to pro-vide funding for six additionalState Troopers and support stafffor the state’s Crimes Against

Children Unit, a six-Trooper unitthat has arrested nearly 1,300sexual predators since its in-ception in September 2006.

“I am committed to makingWest Virginia a leader in fight-ing this most horrible type ofcrime,” Manchin said.

Expansion of the unit was oneof a limited number of propos-als on a Manchin legislativeagenda restrained by state budg-et constraints.

Because of budget issues,Manchin said the state cannotafford pay raises for state orpublic school employees thisyear, beyond the regular annu-al increment increases.

Other initiatives Manchin pro-posed Wednesday include:

■ A public financing pilotproject for the two SupremeCourt seats that will be open inthe 2012 election.

“The goal is to relieve judgesfrom the burden of politicalfundraising and to reduce thepotential for the appearance ofbias as a result of campaign do-nations,” Manchin said.

He also said the stateSupreme Court will proposenew rules to provide full appel-late review of all circuit court de-cisions.

■ Creation of a separate, cen-tralized Fleet Management Of-fice to operate the entire fleet ofstate vehicles.

“It’s time to set excuses asideand tackle this longstandingproblem,” Manchin said, adding,“It’s clear the overarching prob-lem is the lack of centralized ve-hicle oversight and manage-ment.”

■ Legislation to assure that all

Manchin urges state to rally around coal industryBy Ken Ward Jr.Staff writer

Gov. Joe Manchin on Wed-nesday night urged West Vir-ginians to “stand up for ourcoal miners and our families,”against federal efforts to reducemountaintop removal impactsand limit power plant emissionsthat cause global warming.

In his annual State of theState address, Manchin bothcriticized those who seek to re-duce coal’s negative effects and

insisted West Virginia is doing alot to make coal cleaner.

The remarks drew criticismfrom environmental group lead-ers and praise from coal indus-try lobbyists.

“It’s a continuation of hismantra,” said Don Garvin, leadlobbyist for the West Virginia En-vironmental Council. “It basical-ly was a big rally cry for coal.”

Bill Raney, president of theWest Virginia Coal Association,said industry officials were glad— but not especially surprised —

at Manchin’s strong statement.“The governor has been very

helpful,” Raney said. “I thinkthey’re probably doing every-thing they possibly can to get thefederal government’s attention.”

In his speech, Manchin ac-knowledged, “2009 was a toughyear for coal.”

“Despite the fact that half ofour nation’s electricity is gener-ated by coal, and that our na-tional economy depends on thisabundant, reliable and affordableenergy, some want to villainize

this resource that helped us wintwo world wars and built thegreatest country in the world,”Manchin said.

But the governor also said,“We are reaching new and bet-ter ways to use our coal. Thereis a balance to be had betweenour economy and our environ-ment and West Virginia is lead-ing the way in finding that bal-ance.”

Manchin noted the passage

W.Va. hasavoided ‘panicmode,’ he says

INSIDE: More on the State of theState 7A, 8A

ONLINE: Read text of State of theState address at wvgazette.com

By Jonathan M. KatzThe Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Dazed sur-vivors wandered past dead bodies in rub-ble-strewn streets Wednesday, cryingfor loved ones, and rescuers searchedcollapsed buildings as officials feared thedeath toll from Haiti’s devastating earth-quake could reach into the tens of thou-sands.

The first cargo planes with food, wa-ter, medical supplies, shelter and snifferdogs headed to the Western Hemi-sphere’s poorest nation a day after themagnitude-7 quake flattened much ofthe capital of 2 million people.

Tuesday’s earthquake brought downbuildings great and small — from shacksin shantytowns to President RenePreval’s gleaming white National Palace,where a dome tilted ominously abovethe manicured grounds.

Hospitals, schools and the main prisoncollapsed. The capital’s Roman Catholicarchbishop was killed when his office

and the main cathedral fell. The headof the U.N. peacekeeping mission wasmissing in the ruins of the organization’smultistory headquarters.

At a triage center improvised in a ho-tel parking lot, people with cuts, brokenbones and crushed ribs moaned undertent-like covers fashioned from bloodysheets.

“I can’t take it any more. My backhurts too much,’’ said Alex Georges, 28,who was still waiting for treatment a dayafter the school he was in collapsed andkilled 11 classmates. A body lay a fewfeet away.

“This is much worse than a hurri-cane,’’ said doctors’ assistant JimitreCoquillon. “There’s no water. There’snothing. Thirsty people are going to die.’’

Bodies were everywhere in Port-au-Prince: those of tiny children adjacentto schools, women in the rubble-strewnstreets with stunned expressions frozenon their faces, men hidden beneathplastic tarps and cotton sheets.

Haiti’s leaders struggled to compre-hend the extent of the catastrophe — theworst earthquake to hit the country in

THOUSANDS FEARED KILLED OR TRAPPEDNational Palace before tremor

After

AP photos

Quake touches residents in W.Va.By Veronica NettStaff writer

Justin Drabnis’ wife flew out of Haiti’scapital city of just two hours before aseries of massive earthquakes devastat-ed the city.

“It was a close one,” said Drabnis, aClarksburg resident who lived in Haitifor about two years. His wife Deborahwas in Haiti visiting her parents, who aremissionaries.

Drabnis is one of several state resi-dents who closely monitored relief effortsto the island nation — and any infor-mation about friends or colleagues who

might be missing, injured or dead.“I haven’t been able to pull away from

CNN since the news started,” AnnetteCrislip said. “It’s just beyond sad.”

Crislip has been traveling to Haitisince the 1970s. She’s a member ofFriends of Fort Liberte, an Elkins-basednonprofit group that has provided reliefefforts to the Fort Liberte community, lo-cated north of the capital city of Port-au-Prince, for nearly 30 years.

Port-au-Prince is also the country’seconomic center, Crislip said. ManyHaitians work there, make use of its hos-

World starts rushing aidto devastated country

An earthquakevicim is treat-ed outside of

Port au PrinceWednesday.

AP photo

Schoolsinnovationzones OK’dBy Davin WhiteStaff writer

Schools in Kanawha andPutnam counties will beamong 19 “innovation zones”named by the state Board of

Education onWednesday.

Piedmont Ele-mentary and thenew West SideElementary, un-der constructionat the corner ofKanawha Boule-

vard West and Florida Street,will both receive waivers ofstate policy to try out newstrategies in an effort to makegains in student performance.

In particular, Piedmont willdo away with letter grades onreport cards and offer indi-vidual education plans thatare currently only given tostudents who are autistic,gifted or have learning dis-abilities. The plans also willpromote wellness, interper-sonal skills and civic respon-sibility.

At the West Side Elemen-tary, officials will “promote anew culture of learning” byteaching leadership skills toteachers, parents and com-munity members by immers-ing the school in StephenCovey’s books “The Leader inMe” and “The 7 Habits of

INSIDE:McDowellregainspartialcontrol ofschools1C

______—SEE HAITI, 9A

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T O D A Y O N W V G A Z E T T E . C O M

More about what’s online on 2A

gRead Gazette reporter Ken Ward's blog, “Coal Tattoo: Mining'sMark on the World” at http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/

______—SEE RALLY, 9A

______—SEE MANCHIN, 9A