I understand that at least one, and possibly more of the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration officials under investigation by federal authorities for allegations of accepting gifts, travel and other considerations in exchange for favorable treatment for liquor distributors and bar operators are cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charleston.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- I understand that at least one, and possibly more of the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration officials under investigation by federal authorities for allegations of accepting gifts, travel and other considerations in exchange for favorable treatment for liquor distributors and bar operators are cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charleston.
Those individuals are believed to be Commissioner Dallas Staples, Deputy Commissioner Keith Wagner, Enforcement Director John Duncan, Danny Cantley and Fred Wooton.
Reportedly, the day after news that the ABCA had been subpoenaed by the federal authorities, Gov. Joe Manchin called Staples and Wagner to a meeting in his office, where he told them he didn't know what was going on, but ordered them to get things cleaned up, posthaste.
Which is probably a good thing to get on the record, if you suspect the possibility that somebody might be wearing a wire.
nn
A few more post-election thoughts:
Wonder if Dan Greear might have been able to close the 4,700-vote gap with Attorney General Darrell McGraw had the state Chamber of Commerce spent some of its $700,000 on ads promoting him as a viable candidate instead of simply attacking McGraw.
While Greear's campaign itself was comparatively cash-strapped, it did a poor job giving voters any reason why they should have voted for Greear, and not just vote against McGraw.
Also, considering how strongly McGraw ran in Nicholas, Greenbrier, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph and Hardy counties - McGraw had a margin of about 4,650 votes in those counties - one wonders what the outcome might have been had Teresa Helmick - daughter of Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, - followed through on her pre-candidacy filing as a Republican candidate for the office.
She decided not to run for attorney general in mid-January.
nn
As usual at about this time after an election, the rumblings are starting over whether there will be any attempt to unseat Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, as Senate president.
That's especially true this year, since a new Senate president could be positioned to run for governor in 2012, something Tomblin does not aspire to do.
While Tomblin lost three sure votes when Sens. Billy Wayne Bailey, Shirley Love and Bill Sharpe did not seek re-election, it seems unlikely that at least five of the six new Democratic senators - Jack Yost, Bill Laird, Corey Palumbo, Richard Browning or Herb Snyder - would be inclined to back an effort to oust Tomblin.
nnCHARLESTON, W.Va. -- I understand that at least one, and possibly more of the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration officials under investigation by federal authorities for allegations of accepting gifts, travel and other considerations in exchange for favorable treatment for liquor distributors and bar operators are cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charleston.
Those individuals are believed to be Commissioner Dallas Staples, Deputy Commissioner Keith Wagner, Enforcement Director John Duncan, Danny Cantley and Fred Wooton.
Reportedly, the day after news that the ABCA had been subpoenaed by the federal authorities, Gov. Joe Manchin called Staples and Wagner to a meeting in his office, where he told them he didn't know what was going on, but ordered them to get things cleaned up, posthaste.
Which is probably a good thing to get on the record, if you suspect the possibility that somebody might be wearing a wire.
nn
A few more post-election thoughts:
Wonder if Dan Greear might have been able to close the 4,700-vote gap with Attorney General Darrell McGraw had the state Chamber of Commerce spent some of its $700,000 on ads promoting him as a viable candidate instead of simply attacking McGraw.
While Greear's campaign itself was comparatively cash-strapped, it did a poor job giving voters any reason why they should have voted for Greear, and not just vote against McGraw.
Also, considering how strongly McGraw ran in Nicholas, Greenbrier, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph and Hardy counties - McGraw had a margin of about 4,650 votes in those counties - one wonders what the outcome might have been had Teresa Helmick - daughter of Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, - followed through on her pre-candidacy filing as a Republican candidate for the office.
She decided not to run for attorney general in mid-January.
nn
As usual at about this time after an election, the rumblings are starting over whether there will be any attempt to unseat Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan, as Senate president.
That's especially true this year, since a new Senate president could be positioned to run for governor in 2012, something Tomblin does not aspire to do.
While Tomblin lost three sure votes when Sens. Billy Wayne Bailey, Shirley Love and Bill Sharpe did not seek re-election, it seems unlikely that at least five of the six new Democratic senators - Jack Yost, Bill Laird, Corey Palumbo, Richard Browning or Herb Snyder - would be inclined to back an effort to oust Tomblin.
nn
Those election night aficionados who like to track precinct-by-precinct results, Keith Biggs of Point Pleasant among them, are miffed by a recommendation from the Secretary of State's Office directing them not to release those numbers until after election canvassing is complete.
The intent is to protect the privacy of voters of provisional ballots, but Biggs said privacy shouldn't trump state law that requires release of the precinct results on election night.
nn
I'm not one to say I told you so, but Kanawha County bar revenues continued to rebound in October, based on the Lottery Commission's limited video lottery figures.
October revenues were $3,135,754, up 4.5 percent from September.
Revenue figures declined initially after the countywide public smoking ban was imposed July 1, but have rebounded, just as the health experts predicted (and has occurred in other jurisdictions that imposed smoking bans):
July revenue dropped 10 percent, to $3 million, and the decline leveled off to -3 percent in August, at $2.9 million. Then, revenue increased 3.5 percent in September, back to $3 million, and increased an additional 4.5 percent in October.
That means Kanawha LVL revenues outperformed the statewide figures for the period. State revenues dropped 4.3 percent in September and increased by only 3 percent in October.
Meanwhile, fraternal organizations last week complained that they were especially hard hit by the ban, and a quick analysis shows that indeed, they didn't follow the pattern of a drop followed by a steady recovery, like the other LVL retailers in the county.
Like other bars and clubs, the fraternals saw a 10 percent revenue drop in July, to $158,564 - although three of the six fraternals analyzed actually had revenue increases that month.
In August, instead of seeing the losses level off, they actually accelerated to -14 percent, at $135,903. In September, while other establishments were enjoying an upswing in revenue, the fraternals dropped another 8 percent, to $125,152.
It was only in October that the fraternals began to see an upswing, increasing 2 percent, to $127,352.
Which raises the question, do these organizations draw a vastly different clientele than other establishments in the county, or are there factors at play beyond the smoking ban?
Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or call 348-1220.
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