Local News
Related Photos
-
PHOTO BY DANNY SNYDER
Tools
'Working for You' tour visits area
State treasurer pushes value of investing
FAIRMONT — As part of his duties as State Treasurer John Perdue’s field coordinator out of the Buckhannon office, Pat Jack spreads the word around about the SMART 529, the state’s college savings program.
But the things Jack has to say about the program, the tax-advantaged savings plan designed to encourage families to save for college, have more to do with him being the father of two teens than his job for the treasurer’s office.
“We have three years until they are both in college,” Jack said during the treasurer’s stop in Marion County Thursday afternoon. “I’ve tried to explain to them that it is their job to get a good education and make good grades, and we’ll make sure college is paid for.”
Perdue said today began touring the state to highlight financial and educational opportunities available to West Virginians of all ages. His ‘Working for You’ tour came to North Central West Virginia on Wednesday and Thursday with stops in Clarksburg, Fairmont and Morgantown.
Among those stops in the local area was a trip to the Marion County Courthouse and the J. Harper Meredith meeting to meet city and county employees. Another program offered through the state treasurer’s office is the West Virginia Retirement Plus (457) Plan, where state and county employees can set something aside each month to save for retirement years.
“How many of you plan to live on the county’s retirement?” Perdue asked the staff of the Marion County Assessor’s office.
When no hands raised, Perdue said that state and county employees could build an extra retirement account for as little as $17 per month.
“When you get ready to retire, you’ll have a nice little nest egg on top of your county retirement,” he explained.
There’s a great deal of concern, however, about risk in the stock market, which has made some of the savings plans a hard sell in West Virginia, Perdue admits. And he understands how people could have some concerns as they near the golden years of retirement.
He admits that his own portfolio took a 40 percent hit during the recent downturn of the economy. However, checking online just Thursday morning, he said that there had been a 22 percent increase.
“This is the best time in your life to invest,” he said. “The point is that you’ve got to continue to push savings in good times, but in hard times, too.
“You shouldn’t get out of it — you’ve got to continue to invest and watch your nest egg grow,” he said.
Also while in Marion County, Purdue had the opportunity to visit the Youth Academy, the facility in Pleasant Valley that treats troubled youths. In the early days of the project, Perdue’s office helped the founders of the Youth Academy secure financing for the project. Now, Perdue considers it to be a model the rest of the state should follow.
“These are the people we can’t leave behind,” Perdue said. “This is a model that have been proven to work.”
E-mail Misty Poe at mpoe@timeswv.com.
- Local News
-
-
Shifting into spring
Ah, the warm temperatures of almost spring.
People are smiling. Birds are singing.
Snow is melting.
That may seem like a good thing, but the ground is becoming more and more saturated. Add the precipitation from the rain storm forecast for this weekend, and you’ve got all you need for some high waters.
-
Students plan sit-in to protest projects
A group of Marion County high school seniors is fed up with being treated as “guinea pigs” and plans to stage a sit-in today in front of the board of education office to get this point across to school administrators.
The protest, set to commence at 7 a.m., is a way for members of the graduating class of 2010 to show their displeasure for the way the board of education is handling the launch of the 21st Century Passport senior project.
-
Accused offenders in U.S. District Court
Three accused firearms possession offenders from Marion, Harrison and Monongalia counties were in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg this week.
From Marion County, 33-year-old Stacy Thompson, also known as Stacey Thompson, was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years supervised release ...
-
A ‘gateway’ measure
Two Marion County commissioners approved a “gateway” measure Wednesday that would allow the county to pursue action against a former commissioner.
In the latest installment of the copper saga, Commissioners Randy Elliott and Burley “Butch” Tennant authorized county attorney Chuck Shields to “pursue all appropriate legal action for damage to the jail by unauthorized removal of copper pipe.”
-
Mine foreman enters guilty plea
A foreman at Patriot Coal Corp.’s Federal No. 2 Mine in Fairview entered a plea of guilty to falsifying safety records.
The foreman, 40-year-old John Renner of Monongalia County, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg. According to a press release, he has been charged with making a false certification on a Mine Safety & Health Administration document that he had examined the No. 27 block seal on Jan. 24.
-
State hears arguments in Taylor case
The fate of a high-profile local murder suspect is now in the hands of five state judges.
Wednesday, a panel of four state Supreme Court of Appeals justices and one substitute judge in Charleston heard arguments in the case of Lincoln Taylor.
-
Oliverio challenges Mollohan to debate
Congressional candidate Mike Oliverio has challenged Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) to a series of debates across West Virginia’s northern district.
Mollohan has not had to debate any opponent in the Democratic Party’s primary in decades, mainly because he has run unopposed or faced token opposition.
-
Boggess’ art exhibit ‘a shared dialogue’
Jennifer Boggess wants to take you on a stroll through the woods.
A stroll in acrylic on canvas.
The Fairmont State University School of Fine Arts professor will have a display of her work through Wednesday, March 31, at the Brooks Gallery, fourth floor of Wallman Hall on the main FSU campus.
-
Fairview man killed in single-car accident
A local man was killed Tuesday after his vehicle hit a tree in Monongalia County.
Fairview resident Levi McVicker, 20, was traveling westbound on Route 7 close to 6 p.m. Tuesday when his vehicle exited the roadway edge and struck a tree. The car accident occurred toward the western end of Monongalia County near the town of Core, Cpl. James Branham said.
-
Preliminary hearing reset for local man accused of stabbing
A preliminary hearing set Wednesday for a man who allegedly stabbed another man at a Fairmont gym last week will be reset in Marion County Magistrate Court once he obtains legal counsel.
Fairmont resident Thomas Edward Smith, 58, told Magistrate Hank Middlemas that he could not find an attorney in time for the Wednesday afternoon hearing, which had to be scheduled within 10 days of his arrest and arraignment last week.
- More Local News Headlines
-
