Latest news with #Rowand
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library opens ‘Tool Lending Library'
CLARKSBURG, (WBOY) — If you're looking to start some DIY projects over the summer, the Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library may be able to lend you a helping hammer. On Tuesday, the Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library opened its Tool Lending Library to library cardholders ages 18 and older and in good standing. Library technician Wayne Rowand told 12 News that the idea was sparked by community need. 'Well, it's been kind of a dream of mine kicking around for a minute to have a tool lending library so that folks, for whatever reason, who don't have the ability to get the tools—or even some of our older citizens who have had to downsize in their living arrangements and no longer have the space to store tools—they can come to the library and request to borrow tools to work on their projects,' Rowand said. Easter Party held at Clarksburg City Park Tools available at the Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library include: Garden tools Mechanic tool set Household tool set Hand tiller Shovels and rakes Sledgehammer Power tool set Rotary tool kit Squares, levels, and accessory kit Interim library director Shannon Beam told 12 News that the library has expanding its offerings way beyond books. 'Libraries have really expanded into a library of things, so for example, we already have STEM kits, we have outdoor equipment such as fishing poles and binoculars, and we have board games. Each library kind of looks at their community and what their community needs,' Beam said. The Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library has several activities coming up for every age group, including a Mother's Day Tea Party, Clark-Con, and its annual summer reading program. You can find the dates for those events and more on its website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Morgantown, Mountain State Justice agree to settle panhandling suit
Feb. 26—MORGANTOWN — It appears the city of Morgantown and Anthony Rowand, through legal counsel from Mountain State Justice, have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit tied to the city's since-repealed panhandling law. The proposed settlement details, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, stipulate that the city will pay a total of $35, 100. Of that amount, $10, 100 will be paid to Rowand — $10, 000 in damages and $100 as the sole class member currently identified as having paid fines or costs under the ordinance. Mountain State Justice will be paid $25, 000 in full satisfaction of its claims for fees, according to the settlement. Further, the city must run a Class 2 legal advertisement indicating that any person previously charged under the ordinance will have any existing convictions vacated. No action is required on the part of those convicted. Lastly, the city must notify the Morgantown Police Department that officers cannot enforce other laws for the purpose of limiting activity solely prohibited by the repealed panhandling law. The Dominion Post reached out to the city and Mountain State Justice for comment. Morgantown Communications Director Brad Riffee confirmed the parties had submitted a settlement agreement to the court. He said the city would provide comments after the court accepted the terms. Mountain State Justice did not respond in time for this report. The law at the heart of the suit — City Code Section 371.10 — first went on the city's books in July 2005. It prohibited asking for money or other objects of value by any means with the intention of the money or objects being transferred from an occupant of a vehicle within a public roadway at that time and place. It also outlawed standing in any portion of a public right-of-way to solicit business, goods or money. Mountain State Justice said it violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution because the ordinance was content-based, meaning it only applied to individuals exercising a specific kind of speech—the solicitation of money, property or business — and not, for example, those touting a political candidate or passing out religious literature. The legal advocacy nonprofit filed suit on April 22, 2024 on Rowand's behalf, explaining he was ticketed and assessed fines under this code section nine times between June 2, 2023 and Feb. 12, 2024. The lawsuit explained Rowand often panhandles at or near the traffic light near Hornbeck Road. Earlier this month, bodycam footage of an Oct. 23, 2024 interaction at that location between Rowand and a Morgantown Police officer showed up on social media. During the interaction, which resulted in a citation for disorderly conduct, Rowand said he'd been waiting to be ticketed because, "My lawyer said I've got to get a couple of them." According to the settlement, the city claims it's not aware of anyone else to be ticketed under the ordinance. Lydia C. Milnes, deputy director of Mountain State Justice, previously told The Dominion Post nobody at the organization encouraged Rowand to break the law and she didn't know why he offered those comments to the officer. Milnes also denied, as the officer asserted during the interaction, that MSJ was using Rowand for "a fu —ing payday."
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Yahoo
Mountain State Justice responds to bodycam video shared online
Feb. 10—MORGANTOWN — Lydia C. Milnes, deputy director of the legal advocacy nonprofit Mountain State Justice, told The Dominion Post nobody at the organization has advised clients to break the law. Her comments come days after footage of Morgantown Police Officer Matt Starsick's Oct. 23, 2024 interaction with Anthony Rowand showed up on a Morgantown Facebook group page. Rowand is the named plaintiff in a class action First Amendment lawsuit brought against the city by Mountain State Justice in April 2024. In the video, Starsick writes Rowand a disorderly conduct citation for being in the road at the intersection of U.S. 119 (Grafton Road) and 4-H Camp Road. Rowand tells Starsick he's been waiting to receive a citation. When questioned further, Rowand explains "My lawyer said I've got to get a couple of them." His lawyer, he later confirms, is Lesley Nash with Mountain State Justice. When asked if he and Nash are conspiring to break the law, Rowand said, "No, she just doesn't think it's right for you guys to be targeting us." The Dominion Post reached out to MSJ about the video. "We can't disclose attorney, client privileged conversations, but what I can say is that neither Lesley nor anyone at Mountain State Justice has ever directed a client to engage in unlawful activity, " Milnes said. "We have provided advice to clients about what is lawful, what is unlawful and what we think is going on. I don't know why Mr. Rowand phrased things the way he did, but we have not directed a client to engage in unlawful activity." A little over a month after MSJ filed suit against the city, Morgantown City Council repealed its panhandling ordinance prohibiting solicitation of persons traveling in vehicles on public rights of way. Even so, Milnes said, the city continues to target panhandling. "What we saw was the Morgantown police officers began issuing tickets for the same conduct using other means. So, instead of ticketing specifically for panhandling, they're ticketing for crossing a roadway outside of a crosswalk, or disorderly conduct, " she said. "Our concern is that this is basically pretextual ; the use of other ordinances in order to continue to prevent people from engaging in constitutionally protected speech." She also noted the city's disorderly conduct code exempts constitutionally protected activities from falling under the law. In the video, Starsick tells Rowand the issue is not with panhandling, but the fact that he's standing in the roadway. "I would target anybody who's standing out in the middle of a five-lane intersection for any reason, " Starsick said, later adding, "If you want to go over there to the side of the road, or to that side of the road, I don't care. You're off of the road." Starsick later walks Rowand to the shoulder. "I know you don't make the money over here, but man, I'd rather you make a little bit less and be safer, Ok ?" he says before leaving. Starsick urges Rowand to question whether his attorney would care if he was struck by a vehicle and insinuates "a fu —ing payday " may be the real motive. Milnes said that is not the case. "I know there's a sort of allegation that Lesley or MSJ is in it for the money or something. We're a nonprofit. Our attorneys are not paid based on what cases they bring or what recovery they get in a case or anything like that, " she said. "I think that's completely unfounded." As for Rowand's lawsuit, filings indicate the parties are directed to provide the details of a proposed settlement to the court on or before Feb. 21. The Dominion Post reached out to the moderator of the Facebook group to ask who submitted the video but did not receive a response in time for this report. The city confirmed that three individuals submitted requests for bodycam footage — Nash, Mike Nolting with WAJR and Todd Stainbrook.
