Charleston Gazette

Senate Votes Itself a $5,000 Raise

Editorial, 4A How the Senate voted on the pay raise

Gates, Buffett Top Billionaire's Club: ; Record 946 Make List, Combined Wealth Increased 35% From 2006

NEW YORK - What could a Chinese dumpling maker and Mexican telecom mogul possibly have in common? They're among a record number of wealthy people who held the title of billionaire over the past year. The tally of billionaires around the globe reached a high of 946, their combined wealth growing 35 percent to $3.5 trillion, according to Forbes magazine's 2007 rankings of the world's richest people.

Coleman Guilty of Killing His Wife

aclevenger@wvgazette.com After almost two days of deliberation, a Kanawha Circuit jury found a Mammoth man guilty of first-degree murder on Thursday for shooting his wife in the face a little more than a year ago.

Pullout Timeline for Iraq Unveiled: ; Democrats' Plan Faces Uphill Fight

WASHINGTON - House Democratic leaders vowed Thursday to pass legislation setting a deadline of Sept. 1, 2008, for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, a challenge to President Bush's war policy that drew a blunt veto threat in return. "It would unnecessarily handcuff our generals on the ground," said White House spokesman Dan Bartlett. "And it's safe to say it's a nonstarter for the president."

Things to Do Today

MUSIC * TIME AND DISTANCE, ASTERIA, COURTESY OF EPIPHANY, THE EXCITEMENT, NOTHING EVER STAYS: 6:15 p.m. Cost $10. All-ages show. The Sound Store, 5839 State Route 7, Proctorville, Ohio (relocated from HYAMP). Call (740) 886-0789.

Gop's Romney Touts Coal From West Virginia Stump

daveg@wvgazette.com GOP presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney touted West Virginia's role in making the country independent of foreign energy sources Thursday night in Charleston.

Fairmont Boil-Water Advisory Lifted for Some

FAIRMONT - For the first time in more than a week, water customers in Fairmont can drink straight from their taps. A boil-water advisory for 14,000 customers was lifted Wednesday afternoon, nine days after the restriction was put in place.

National Briefs

Fire kills nine in New York row house NEW YORK - Screams poured from the burning building along with smoke and flames: "Help me! Help me! Please! Please!" Bystanders looked up to see a woman toss her children out the window one at a time to those below. The scene unfolded early Thursday during New York's deadliest fire in nearly two decades - a blaze that killed eight children and one adult, part of an extended family led by African immigrants who shared a row house near Yankee Stadium.

Wis. City Takes Top Honors As Best Place to Walk in U.S.

Walking workshop Local officials will hold the first of three walkability workshops today from 9 a.m. to noon at the LaBelle Theatre in South Charleston. Ron Van Eck of West Virginia Universitys civil and environmental engineering department will lead the workshop. MADISON, Wis. - With the thermometer hovering at 22, and the wind ripping off a frozen Lake Mendota, Rink DaVee and his brother Jim decided to take a stroll.

Putnam Spring Break Still One Full Week

Putnam County students will still have a weeklong spring break, despite having to make up four school days because of bad weather in February. "We wanted to make it so that students still have a full week of spring break," said Karen Nowviskie, spokeswoman for Putnam County schools. "We know that families have already made plans for that week."

Court Briefs

Acquitted teacher gets new trial date A new trial date was set Thursday for a former Capital High School teacher and administrator accused of groping six of his former students.

Drug Cap Bill Dies in Senate

philk@wvgazette.com Legislation intended to jump-start a 2004 law to curb soaring prescription drug costs (HB3164) apparently is dead for the session, so the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee on Thursday instead called for a yearlong study of health-care costs.

Gingrich Says He Had Affair

WASHINGTON - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group. "The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired today, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I h...

Bill Funds Library Levies

tomsearls@wvgazette.com The House of Delegates on Thursday passed legislation that will fund nine counties' library levies, but it could have problems when it returns to the Senate for consideration today.

Cities' Home-Rule Pilot Gets Boost in Legislature

tomsearls@wvgazette.com Freshman Delegate Alex Shook, D-Monongalia, is excited as the 60- day West Virginia legislative session nears an end.

U.S. Marshals Arrest Sex Offender Who Did Not Register

The first person charged with the federal offense of failing to register as a sex offender in the Southern District of West Virginia was arrested Thursday in Huntington, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Robert L. Stinson Jr. was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person younger than 13 in Detroit in 1993, according to a news release. Stinson did not register as a sex offender with the State Police when he moved to West Virginia, according to the release.

Earmark Would Extend Payments to Logging Areas in Ore., W.Va.

WASHINGTON - Payments to rural counties hurt by cutbacks in federal logging would continue for a year under a deal reached Thursday. Four Oregon House members - Republican Greg Walden and Democrats Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio and Darlene Hooley - said they had secured the one-year extension as part of an emergency spending bill for the Iraq war.

Fire That Left Pinch Family Homeless Ruled Arson

Investigators declared that a fire last weekend that left a Pinch family of eight homeless was arson. Lynn and Ignacio Gomez and their six children were staying with friends when someone burned their one-story house at 20 C River Drive late Saturday or early Sunday.

Cabell Raid Nets Drugs, Weapons

HUNTINGTON - A Wednesday night visit by authorities in Cabell County sent three people to jail and netted weapons and apparent drugs. Huntington drug enforcement officers, assisted by a State Police SWAT team and Cabell County sheriff's deputies, searched an apartment at 522 14th St. W. in Huntington about 9 p.m. Wednesday and discovered five people and what appeared to be drugs, said a Cabell County sheriff's spokeswoman.

Thursday's Weather in Charleston: