Free Republic

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- West Virginia has lost more than 23,000 jobs since President Bush took office with the help of the state's five electoral votes, labor statistics show. That doesn't include the more than 21,000 people who have left the state's labor force since the January 2001 start of the Bush administration. Bush planned to talk about the economy and job creation during his Friday visit to Huntington. His critics hope to set the tone on those issues and reverse his fortunes in the Mountain State. Bush's supporters believe the...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Gov. Bob Wise sent a letter to Abercrombie & Fitch on Monday demanding that the clothing retailer stop selling a T-shirt that spoofs the state with the slogan, "It's All Relative in West Virginia." Wise said the T-shirt depicts "an unfounded, negative stereotype" of the state. "I write to you today to demand that you immediately remove this item from your stores and your print and online catalogues," Wise wrote. "In addition, these shirts must be destroyed at once to avoid any possibility of resale and proof be given thereof." Abercrombie & Fitch spokesman Tom Lennox...

<p>HELENA, Mont. — Gov. Judy Martz, whose first term has been besieged by missteps and dismal popularity among voters, said Wednesday she will not run for re-election next year.</p> <p>At a news conference, Martz said she wanted to spend more time with her family and insisted that her sagging popularity was not a factor in her decision. Recent polls have shown her approval rating at about 20 percent.</p>

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Gov. Bob Wise will not seek a second term, dropping out of the 2004 race three months after acknowledging an extramarital affair.Wise, a Democrat, is the first governor not to seek re-election since the state Constitution was changed in 1970 to allow a sitting governor to serve a second consecutive term. The 55-year-old Wise was linked to Angela Mascia, who oversees European projects for the West Virginia Development Office. Mascia, 35, was married at the time but has since divorced. Her ex-husband, Phillip Frye, vowed to remind voters of the affair, even by running for governor...

WHEELING (AP) -- The state has created a program to help some unemployed workers and retirees pay for health care insurance, Gov. Bob Wise said Tuesday. Workers who lost their jobs because of foreign competition and retirees whose pensions are now controlled by the federal Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. can claim a monthly tax credit that will pay 65 percent of the premium for a new health insurance program, Wise said. Coverage will be provided by Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield. The program is designed to help about 2,600 people who need assistance, Wise said. He did not say...

Wise Not Running; Democrat vultures will begin circling the carcass but Republicans have already stepped forward CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Bob Wise announced today to selected cabinet heads and gubernatorial area representatives from his office that he will not seek reelection in 2004. “No doubt the vultures in the Democratic Party who have been circling the body and waiting for the Governor’s dying gasp will now go in for the kill and line up to take his place,” said state GOP Chairman Kris Warner. “The Republican candidates have already stepped up and let the people know they are ready to...

The following are transcripts of some of the 541 e-mails exchanged between Gov. Bob Wise and Angela Mascia-Frye. The messages were obtained by the Daily Mail through a Freedom of Information Act request. July 5, 2002: Mascia-Frye: Governor...You are the best Governor ever!! Wise: ...And thanks for saying I’m the best gov’r. Actually, I am the only one who keeps the same crazy e-mail hours that you do. July 7, 2002 Wise: ...probably the best way is to leave a message on my cell which is ***blacked out*** Mascia-Frye: Thank you for your cell phone number. I won’t call you...

Manchin joins 2004 race for governor MEADOW BRIDGE - Joe Manchin formally took the plunge Saturday, diving into gubernatorial waters a second time and vowing to install proven leadership skills to make West Virginia "shine like no other state." Landing by helicopter in a football field, the secretary of state hit the ground running with a few veiled shots at the Wise ad-ministration and a pledge to parlay his business and political expertise into better days. "I'm ready," the 55-year-old Manchin exulted. "I absolutely have a vision. I've had a clear vision my entire life. I still believe that West...

Gov. Bob Wise's extramarital affair has made him vulnerable to defeat in 2004, and some party leaders are pressing other candidates to challenge him in a primary, Democratic county chairs say. Though primary wins over incumbent governors are exceedingly rare, both Secretary of State Joe Manchin and Treasurer John Perdue are being urged by party insiders to take the plunge against a weakened Wise, chairs said. Like governors across the country, Wise's fortunes have been hurt by a struggling economy and a burdened state budget. That makes his May 12 acknowledgment that he was unfaithful to his wife doubly damaging...

Political analysts are giving first lady Sandy Wise's statement about her husband's affair an A-plus, saying it gives her husband some political breathing room. But a family counselor says it's going to take more than words if the couple really is going to repair their marriage. In her first public statement since allegations about her husband's relationship with a development office employee became public, the first lady said that while she was "very angry," she was committed to rebuilding their relationship. "We still love and respect him for all the reasons we always have," Sandy Wise said in a written...

Not that he's offering any direct advice, but Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin says "a true friend" would coax Gov. Bob Wise into sitting out next year's election. Otherwise, the Democratic governor cannot avoid intense scrutiny and constant reminders from rivals and the press alike over his confessed infidelity, Chafin suggested Tuesday. Last week, Wise issued an apology to his family and the state's residents over an extramarital affair. While he never identified the other woman, a Charleston newspaper reported a musician, Philip Frye, had named Wise in a divorce proceeding against his wife, Angela Mascia-Frye, who oversees European operations...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gov. Bob Wise and a married state employee exchanged more than 500 e-mails over the past year in which they mostly talked business but also chatted about the Italian language, wine and the weather. The bulk of the e-mails released Thursday by Wise's office in response to The Associated Press' Freedom of Information Act request reflect efforts by the governor and Angela Mascia-Frye to attract foreign investment to West Virginia. The Swiss-born Mascia-Frye is the state's Europe project manager. The governor's office blacked out numerous sections of the e-mails, saying the information was confidential or involved business...

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. - Gov. Bob Wise, insisting his admission of marital infidelity is a private matter, said Thursday his main job is to work on issues confronting the state. "I stated fully that I had a brief affair outside marriage. I have taken full responsibility. That's all the people of West Virginia want to know," Wise told reporters after visiting schools in Princeton and Parkersburg. In his first public appearance since admitting to an affair, Wise told several hundred high school students that "life is about choices." "Trust me, I now think about that every day," Wise said. "We make...

CHARLESTON - After tasting blood only months ago, like a roaring lion, the Republican Party wants to feast on the Legislature again - specifically, the Senate. Which is why, although no names have been tossed out, the party is aiming its gunsights on all available Senate seats - including two in southern Wet Virginia. That means the party is shopping around for someone to take on Sens. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, and Billy Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming, assuming each runs again and survives the primary. Last November, the Republicans grabbed four of the 34 seats in the Senate, and the party hungers...

Wise: 'I was not faithful' Chris Stirewalt <cstire@dailymail.com> Daily Mail Staff Jim Wallace <jimw@dailymail.com> Daily Mail staff Monday May 12, 2003; 01:07 PM Gov. Bob Wise released a statement today saying he was "not faithful to my family" after his office was asked about allegations that he had been implicated in the divorce case of a woman who works in the state development office. "Several weeks ago, I had to do the toughest thing I have ever done -- tell my family I had not lived up to their trust, expectation and love. I was not faithful to my family,"...

Text of Gov. Bob Wise's statement released Monday by his office: "Several weeks ago, I had to do the toughest thing I have ever done - tell my family I had not lived up to their trust, expectation and love. I was not faithful to my family. I knew it was wrong, and now I must take full responsibility. "I apologize deeply to the people of our state for my actions. In my private life, I have let many people down. "I believe in accountability. I also hope one day for forgiveness, but I know that forgiveness must be earned....

W.Va. Governor Admits to Being 'not Faithful' to FamilyBy Lawrence Messina Associated Press WriterPublished: May 12, 2003 CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Accused of having an affair with a state employee, Gov. Bob Wise acknowledged Monday that he "was not faithful" to his family and asked for forgiveness. Wise, who has a wife and two children, issued a statement in response to inquiries from the Charleston Daily Mail, which on Monday reported that a man was accusing the governor of having had an affair with his estranged wife. "Several weeks ago, I had to do the toughest thing I have ever...

Beckley coal consultant H. Paul Kizer filed preliminary campaign papers on Friday to run for governor in 2004 as a Republican. Filing preliminary papers with the secretary of state allows a candidate to begin accepting campaign contributions. Kizer, who once operated 44 coal companies that ended up in bankruptcy beginning in 1993, believes West Virginia taxes coal too heavily. "Let’s add a severance tax on timber and natural gas producers," Kizer said Friday. "An out-of-state firm is going into Clay County to build a 20-inch pipeline to send gas to a Duke Power facility in North Carolina that will replace...

Gov. Bob Wise on Monday demanded an apology from the University of Virginia because a pep band lampooned his state's rural image during the halftime show of a college football bowl game. Saturday's Continental Tire Bowl pitted the University of Virginia against West Virginia University. At halftime, Virginia's student-run pep band staged a parody of The Bachelor," with a male Virginia student choosing between two female contestants. The contestant said to be from West Virginia wore blue overalls and pigtails, had a talent for square dancing and declared a dream to move to Beverly Hills, Calif. -- a reference to...