Election Results

The West Virginia Primary came and went without too many surprises. Hillary showed she can still pull out some victories but easily winning the Democrat vote in the state. But it's probably for not as Obama seems to have it all but locked up. West Virginia was conceded long ago by the Obama campaign. Hillary did bring up an interesting point though by saying "no Democrat has won the White House since 1916 without winning West Virginia." And, from best I can see, there's definitely no guarantee that Obama can beat McCain in West Virginia.

Of more local interest, it appears West Virginians are sending a message to the West Virginia Supreme Court by voting out Elliott “Spike” Maynard. Maynard has come under fire for his long-standing friendship with Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. Pictures of Blankenship and Maynard vacationing together on the French Riveria surfaced last year while Massey cases were pending before the court. The publicity drew a great deal of criticism and forced Maynard to recuse himself from all Massey cases. On a positive note, Larry Starcher didn't run for re-election, so things even out for all.

Marion County failed to pass the school bond, but it was closer than I anticipated. The bond failed by slightly more than 800 votes. By failing the bond, the county forfeited $20 million in School Building Authority money. The bond would have touched every section of the county but building a badly needed East Fairmont Middle School, performing renovations at Fairmont Senior, North Marion and East Fairmont and performing additions at East Dale, East Park, Pleasant Valley, Watson, Jayenne, White Hall, Fairview, Blackshere, Barrackville and Monogah. Instead, the BOE will have to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to make improvements that must be made. Can you say consolidations?

I'll be anxious in more breakdowns for the county, especially over the bond issue. I'm still surprised by how close it really came to passing. But pretty disappointed that Marion County once again fails to progress. I guess when you have the I-79/Downtown Fairmont Connector being built, you don't need to invest in education. Plus, we have a waterpark on the way and a minor league baseball team. Who needs schools?