Latest news with #DeVault
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Iowa State Patrol ready to enforce new hands-free driving law
DES MOINES, Iowa — Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law on Wednesday that prohibits the use of electronic devices while driving in Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol stands ready to enforce the new law. 'We want Iowans to know that once that law goes into effect, you know, we will be enforcing that law,' Ryan DeVault, a State Trooper with the Iowa State Patrol, said. Otley resident expresses concern following co-op fire DeVault says that the new hands-free driving law will save lives. 'It's a big day for Iowans, you know, not only the state patrol, you know, everybody that's out here in the motoring public here in Iowa to get this hands-free bill, a true hands-free bill passed in the state of Iowa that Governor Reynolds signed this morning. So, you know, we have no doubt that it's going to save lives on Iowa roadways,' DeVault said. The law will go into effect July 1, 2025. Officers will begin to issue warnings until January 1, 2026, when they will issue citations that come with a $100 fine. Iowa News: Iowa State Patrol ready to enforce new hands-free driving law Advocates lobby for legislation that aids Iowans struggling with mental illnesses Gov. Reynolds signs 'hands-free' distracted driving bill into law WHO 13 Farm Report: Wednesday, April 2nd Menace's Feilhaber, Kljestan comment on Vermes exit from Sporting KC Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Marion County delegates weigh on on W.Va. House bill fast tracking
FAIRMONT — A chaotic Friday session of the House of Delegates didn't help when it came to passing a cap on electricity rates. House Bill 3173 would have placed a two year cap on electric rates, beginning July 1, 2026. According to the legislative findings in the bill, electric rates for state residents more than doubled between 2005 and 2022, outpacing increases in every other state in the country. 'Because West Virginians have the second lowest median income of any state, these electric rate increases have caused great hardship to lower income residents, including elderly residents living on monthly Social Security checks,' the bill's text states. 'In many instances electric bills are the single highest expense, particularly in the winter and summer. Rising electric rates also harm West Virginia's economy and impede the state's ability to attract technology businesses such as data centers and other industries that use large amounts of electricity.' House Democrats introduced the bill. However, House Republicans killed the bill after Democrats tried to move the bill out of committee to the floor of the House. Typically, bills have to go through a committee process before reaching the main chamber of the House. The discharge motion from State Del. Evan Hansen, D-79, would have fast tracked the bill. Del. Mike Pushkin, D-54, accused Republicans of killing the bill. 'What we voted no on was not the bill,' House Del. Mike DeVault, R-74, said. 'The wall was a discharge, meaning we're going to circumvent the process and bring it to the floor. We weren't voting no on the bill. We're voting on someone saying it's referred to us as a nuclear option.' DeVault said he's never seen a discharge motion successfully work. He added there's a process to considering bills. The process allows for deep consideration of a bill while it works through committee, where delegates can vet the bill and hear testimony on it. DeVault said he didn't like the idea of something being force fed onto the floor. However, on Monday, Democrats pointed out it was the Republicans who were in disarray. 'What happened Friday was an embarrassment to our government, an embarrassment to our state and everybody needs to be paying attention to what's happening,' Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-005, said. 'Nothing but chaos on Friday.' Democrats posted a video of the House's Republican leadership befuddle themselves after switching rulesets between Jeffersonian rules of legislative procedure to Masonic rules of procedure and back. It wasn't immediately clear what the goal was. 'Let me tell you what they were doing,' Fluharty said. 'They're originating bills out of committee, and let's talk about what that really means when bills originate out of committee. They bypass the actual procedural process of introducing a bill, having a lead sponsor, a list of sponsors and the public having notice of what the bill is about.' Fluharty accused Republicans of doing this fast track for a bill that would remove residents from Medicaid in the event the federal government reduced its Medicaid contribution to the state, as well as for a bill that would cap child sexual assault claims to 18 years after reaching maturity. After receiving assurances from the federal government that Medicaid would not be cut, state lawmakers shelved the Medicaid bill. The math doesn't look particularly reassuring in case of a cut, however. 'It would cost the state about $170 million to take that up, because that's a federal program, right?' DeVault said. 'What do you want to cut? All of a sudden, we got $170 million expenditure to pick up on. Where are we going pull $170 million from? So what they wanted to say is, if the feds cut it, we can't pick up the check. If the feds don't cut it, then this bill means nothing.' DeVault called House Bill 3518 a safety measure for the state. Suddenly facing a $170 million cost would mean having to cut other things in the state, such as road patching. State Democrats sounded the alarm on the trigger bill on Monday, after the bill was introduced into the House of Delegates on March 28. The bill has been moved into inactive status.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Marion County delegates support bridge renaming to honor area veterans
FAIRMONT — Two of Marion County's delegates sponsored a resolution to have a pair of bridges renamed after three United State Army Veterans on Friday. The three Army veterans are brothers. The two bridges are located in Wetzel County. The first, known locally as the Stewart Street Bridge, lies over the West Virginia Fork of Fish Creek. The second is the Church Fork Bridge, which carries U.S. 250 over Church Fork Creek. Lead Sponsor Del. Charles Sheedy, R-Marshall County, wants to name the Stewart Street Bridge, in Hundred, after Vernon and Vincent Tustin, and the Church Fork Bridge, in Wetzel County, after Terry Tustin. 'Big family,' Del. Mike DeVault, R-Marion County, said. 'All five of them served in WWII together. The two youngest ones served in the military and the Korean conflict. Just the fact none of them died in combat, they all survived.' DeVault and Del. Phil Mallow. R-Marion County, joined Sheedy as sponsors on the bill. Neither Mallow or Sheedy returned a message by press time. The West Virginia Department of Highways only names bridges after individuals once they are deceased. According to Terry Tustin's obituary, he died at the age of 73 in 2017. Vincent Tustin died in 2023 at 86 and Vernon Tustin died in 2005 at the age of 68. All three men resided in Hundred. Terry and Vincent were both boilermakers. Terry Tustin served in the Army from 1965 to 1967. Vernon Tustin served in Korea. Vincent Tustin's obituary doesn't mention where he served in the Army. 'He was a jack of all trades,' the obituary said about Terry Tustin. 'He loved to help other people fix and repair things. He loved his old cars and blue grass and country and western music. He also loved hunting, fishing, and spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.' DeVault said the idea to honor the Tustin brothers by naming bridges after them came from Sheedy, who is a military veteran. His father was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on Dec. 7, 1941. DeVault said he wanted to sponsor the bill because there's a lot of families that put their members on the line. The idea his family could be ripped away by war troubles DeVault. A similar fear made the basis of the 1998 Steven Spielberg film saving 'Private Ryan,' which itself was based on the loss of two of the Niland brothers in WWII. The U.S. Army itself instituted the sole survivor policy, after all five Sullivan brothers perished after their ship was sunk in an attack. DeVault said Fairmont had its own group of brothers who served in WWII, the Monell brothers. He said seven of them served in the war in different theaters. One of them, Frankie, later operated a bar supper club in East Side. Bridges make good memorials, DeVault said. 'It's everlasting,' he said. 'Anybody that drives the road or sees the bridge or road name, from what I understand in perpetuity, gives a living legacy even though they're gone. It's kind of a cool thing, I think. I look at those bridge names and often wonder, what's the story?' House Speaker Roger Hanshaw referred the resolutions to committee for further discussion.
