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In my continuing effort to explain the rules of basketball (the ACTUAL rules, as opposed to the playground rules) to the fans, I want to take a moment to explain a call that was made in the first round of the NCAA tournament this year. Seton Hall was trailing Arkansas by 1 point with under 30 seconds to go, and Arkansas had the ball. Clearly, Seton Hall needed to foul in order to stop the clock and get the ball back with a possibility to tie or win the game. As the Arkansas player was about to cross the three-point line, a Seton Hall defender ran toward him and put both hands on the player’s back/shoulder in an obvious foul. The contact caused the dribbler to lose his balance and fall to the floor. See the play here. The officials ruled a flagrant foul, and the March Madness Twitterverse exploded. “Pathetic,” “horrible” and “cheaters” were among the printable adjectives used to describe the officials who made the call. As usual, however, the fans got it wrong. First, let me again explain that as a veteran basketball official, I am quick to defend my brother and sister officials from the relentless verbal beatings we take every single time we step on the hardwood. Experience has proven time and again that in most cases, the harsh criticism we take is undeserved. Are there calls that are missed? Of course there are. The best officials in the world get about 90-95 percent of their calls correct.  No official anywhere, in any sport, has ever called a perfect game. What I can tell you is that most of us work our tails off to get the calls right. More importantly, when we miss one (and we usually know when we have missed one), no one in the building feels worse than we do. Every year, the shortage of certified officials becomes more serious.  Games are canceled due to having no officials to cover them, and our kids suffer as a result. As the verbal and physical abuse of officials gets worse, fewer and fewer people are willing to subject themselves to it. One day, the fans who choose to berate officials will realize that without us, the games won’t be played. Today, that possibility is closer than most folks would think. So, back to the flagrant foul against Seton Hall. Several years ago, the NCAA changed some of its rules terminology. The “intentional” foul was taken out of the rules, and was replaced with the “flagrant 1” foul. Because the term “flagrant” sounds so much more severe than does “intentional,” fans still believe that a flagrant foul involves some intent to seriously harm an opponent. Not true. A flagrant 1 foul does not depend upon the severity of the contact. By definition, any player who fouls without making a legitimate attempt to play the ball, with the obvious intent of stopping the clock, has committed a flagrant 1 foul. The severity of the contact is irrelevant. So, with those criteria in mind, let’s look again at the play. Did the Seton Hall player make an attempt to play the ball? He clearly did not. He put one hand on the left side of the dribbler’s back, and the other on his left shoulder, while the ball was in the dribbler’s right hand. Was the defender simply trying to stop the clock?  Of course he was. There was under 30 seconds on the clock and his team was down by 1.  Without the foul, Arkansas could simply dribble out the clock. The foul was obvious and, it was equally obvious that it was a flagrant 1. In such a circumstance, the officials have no option. If they want an opportunity to move on in the tournament, they need to know the rules and, more importantly, have the guts to apply them despite what the fans might think. The officials in this game did exactly that.

I am sure I can speak for thousands of other folks in our region when I say I cannot wait for spring! While our winter has not been nearly as harsh as we were expecting, I am tired of the cold and dreary days and I am ready for the warm sunshine and flip flops. It is the little things about the warm weather I find myself missing the most. I am certainly looking forward to shutting off the heat and opening all the windows to let the fresh air flow through our house. I often enjoy a nice cup of coffee or tea on my front porch on a nice sunny morning. I also enjoying being outside with my daughter while she plays with her various outdoor activities. Even our fur babies are looking forward to the warmer weather to be able to start going on long walks again. In the summer I spend a lot of time at the pool with my family. We enjoy big family cook outs as well. We usually plan one or two trips in the spring and summer to visit family and friends that live in Vermont and Kentucky. Having nice weather for traveling certainly takes a lot of stress off the drive itself. I am also hoping my family can enjoy the finer things about nature this summer and spend some time camping. As a child, my family and I went camping every weekend between the states of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Every weekend was a different campground and we would often go with my parents’ friends and their children. We would cook on the open campfire, make new friends with other kids from the campgrounds and hit the playground or the pool. My sister and I would cook s’mores after dinner on the fire. I think one of my favorite childhood memories of camping was when my dad taught me how to fish in a little creek that flowed behind our campsite and I caught my very first fish. I look forward to making memories with my daughter like I have with my family growing up. So, while we are still experiencing the dreaded winter weather I find comfort in thinking about and planning for the activities and trips coming up in the spring and summer months.

Potato chip lovers rejoice! Today is National Potato Chip Day. While many of us love this crunchy and flavorful snack, we may not know the history behind the potato chip. Believe it or not, it all began in 1853 when a customer at a restaurant was complaining about the soggy, thick and unsatisfying texture of his side of potatoes. To resolve the potato problem, a chef by the name of George Crum took the order, sliced them into thinner slices, fried them until they were crisp and added salt for flavor. The unhappy customer was extremely satisfied with the chef’s correction and the new invention soon became a popular item at the restaurant. At the time, they were called “Saratoga Chips.” As time moved forward, Saratoga was dropped and the side or snack was nicknamed the “chip”. The chip was available in one flavor until 1950 when flavored chips were introduced to the market. Today, there are hundreds of flavors to choose from. They are also available in a number of different textures like wavy, kettle and original. So grab a bag of your favorite chips and some dip, and dig in! Source: http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-potato-chip-day-march-14/

As an attorney, I often get asked the question, “If I get sick, how do I make sure that my wishes are carried out?” In West Virginia, there are two types of health care documents that you can make.  The living will and the medical power of attorney.  Often times, people don’t understand the difference between the two or why they may need either one of them, so I thought it might be helpful to write a blog. A living will is a document that expresses the kind of medical treatment that you want or don’t want if you have a terminal condition or you are in a persistent vegetative state.  A living will consists of written decisions that you have made yourself.   A medical power of attorney is a document that appoints the person that you want to make health care decisions for you when you can’t make them for yourself.  In West Virginia, the person you appoint in your medical power of attorney is called a representative.  Your representative can make any health care decision that you could make if you were able. There are many reasons why you may want to make a living will and/or a medical power of attorney.  A medical power of attorney is important so that your medical care is not being decided by someone who knows very little about your wishes and what you would prefer.  Without a medical power of attorney, important health care decisions could potentially be made by a doctor or a judge who may know very little about you.  A living will is also important because it allows you to specifically set out the types of medical treatment that you want or don’t want. When appointing a representative, it is important that you give thought to your selection.  You will want to appoint someone who is trustworthy, dependable, assertive, and who lives nearby or is at least willing to travel if needed.  It is important to understand that this person will not begin to make healthcare decisions on your behalf until you are unable to do so.  Most people appoint a spouse, child, relative or close friend.  Under West Virginia law, you may not appoint your treating health care provider, an employee of a treating health care provider (unless they are related to you), an operator of a health care facility serving you, or an employee of an operator of a health care facility (unless they are related to you). When you or a loved one becomes ill and are unable to make health care decisions, it can be a very difficult time for family and loved ones.  Having a living will and a medical power of attorney can help alleviate some of the stress and heartache that go along with making such tough health care decisions.  Many people worry about signing these documents and then being stuck with them.  It is important to know that your living will and medical power of attorney can be changed at any time, as long as you are still living and competent.  Many of us go through life changes, such as divorce, deaths of loved ones, illnesses, etc., creating the need to change our living will and/or medical power of attorney.  There are many other reasons for having a living will and/or medical power of attorney and these are just a few. Keep in mind that you can write your own living will and medical power of attorney in West Virginia if it meets certain requirements.  However, this is one of the most important decisions you will ever make, so having the assistance of an attorney to ensure that your living will and/or medical power of attorney does what you want it to do is extremely valuable.  If you have a need for a living will and/or medical power of attorney or you need to change your existing ones, you should contact an attorney to discuss your particular situation.

Insurance companies are extraordinarily proficient at collecting premiums. They are quick to cancel your policy if you are even a day late paying your premium.  Unfortunately, no such proficiency exists when it comes to paying policyholder claims.  Many times, claims are delayed for weeks, months and even years.  Many times, claims are illegitimately denied even though coverage exists. What should you do when you are faced with what you consider to be an inappropriate denial of your claim?  You should call a law firm that is experienced in handling insurance disputes on behalf of policyholders and prosecuting bad faith cases against insurance companies. If your insurance company illegitimately refuses to pay your claim, there are remedies available to you.  Those remedies include damages over and above the amount of the claim itself.  Courts historically have recognized that people do not buy insurance to only find themselves faced with protracted litigation.  Many courts recognize that policyholders should not have to pay a lawyer to obtain the coverage benefits for which they have paid a premium.  Thus, when you are forced to sue your own insurance company, the insurance company not only will be required to pay your claim but also to pay your attorney fees.  Furthermore, there are additional damages recoverable in these situations.  Many courts recognize that you should be compensated for your annoyance, aggravation and inconvenience caused by your insurance company’s illegitimate denial of your claim.  Additionally, in some cases, punitive damages are awarded to punish the insurance company if its handling of your claim was arbitrary, capricious or exhibited a conscious disregard of your rights. The bottom line is, do not take the insurance company’s denial of your claim as the end of the claim process.  If you believe the denial of your claim is inappropriate or the handling of your claim is inappropriate, call an attorney experienced in protecting policyholders’ rights.

Winter is my favorite time of year to cuddle up under a blanket with a good book and a hot cup of tea. It is also a great time for one of my favorite cold weather meals – chili and cornbread. Chili Recipe Here’s a simple crock-pot chili recipe that I like to use. It is a relatively sweet chili with a kick of heat, and feel free to forego the beans if you belong to the camp that thinks chili shouldn’t include them. Ingredients: 2.5 pounds of beef chuck OR ground turkey 2 tablespoons brown sugar Salt & pepper to taste 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 large onion, chopped 5 garlic cloves, smashed 2 small cans of chopped green chilies, drained 2 cans of black beans, drained 2 cans of pinto beans, drained 1 tablespoon ground cumin 3/4 cup chili powder 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes with chilies 2 tablespoons green hot sauce 1. Divide the beef/turkey into small cubes and toss with brown sugar, salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook your beef/turkey in batches until browned on all sides, approximately 5 minutes. Transfer to your slow cooker or crock pot. 2. Add drained black beans and pinto beans to the slow cooker. 3. Reduce heat to medium and add the chopped onion to the skillet. Cook until soft, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chilies, cumin and chili powder and cook 3 minutes. Add 1.5 cups of water and the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Transfer entire contents to the slow cooker. 4. Place the cover on the slow cooker and cook on low for a minimum of 7 hours. (I generally prefer to allow it to go 8-10.) 5. Stir in 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and the green hot sauce before serving. Cornbread Recipe This is really simple and really good. Make extra and eat the leftovers for breakfast with maple syrup. Ingredients: 1 cup flour 1 cup yellow cornmeal 1/3 cup white sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon salt 3.5 teaspoons baking powder 1 egg 1 cup milk 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1. Preheat your oven to 400° F (200° C). Grease a medium round cake pan. (I usually use a 9×2 inch round.) 2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, white sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until combined. Pour batter into greased pan. 3. Bake at 400° F / 200° C for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the pan comes out clean.

They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, but with what Mother Nature has been dishing out lately, just about anything is possible. Last week, with temperatures in the 70s, it was like spring. The tulips began peeking up through the dirt and the birds greeted dawn with a song. We’ve even had spring-like thunderstorms. People could be seen donning shorts and flip flops and the walking trails were busy with folks taking to the outdoors for their daily exercise. It was easy to forget that it was still February. This week, however, has been a different story. A cold front blew in following the aforementioned thunderstorms. Now, the temps are in the 30s, the skies are gray and snow flurries are flying. We’ve had all four seasons in a week’s time. While the weekend is going to be chilly, the forecast for next week looks nearly spring-like again with temps in the 50s. Mother Nature is having a serious mood swing. For those who like to ski and snowboard, the winter of 2017 in the Ohio Valley hasn’t been the best, but for those who prefer mild temperatures and little snow, it hasn’t been all that bad. With spring just around the corner on March 20, the countdown is on. It won’t be long until the warmer temps are here to stay, so hang in there with this weekend’s chill. The air conditioners will be buzzing, you will be busting out the shorts and hitting the swimming pools in no time. Hopefully Mother Nature will be kind to us in the coming months.

The era of driverless vehicles is fast approaching, heralding the possibility of a significant drop in automotive fatalities – but also raising a completely new set of vehicle safety challenges. Regulatory responsibility for the safe operation of all motor vehicles is divided between the federal and state governments. Federal responsibility typically focuses on the vehicle manufacturers and enforcement of safety standards, while state responsibilities are geared more toward drivers in terms of licensing and the enactment of traffic laws. As more and more driverless vehicles are put onto our roadways, drivers will become less and less of a focus with respect to road safety, and state’s roles in maintaining safe roadways are likely to diminish.  Instead, the focus will likely be on ensuring that automakers sell driverless vehicles that reliably operate without causing collisions. And while the goal of driverless technology is to eliminate collisions, they will almost certainly continue to occur for the foreseeable future.  So there must be a framework for determining liability when they occur. To that end, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently issued the first Federal Automated Vehicles Policy. The Policy sets for the manufacturer guidelines for the safe design, development and testing of self-driving vehicles.  It also gives state lawmakers a “model state policy” for permitting testing, while inviting states to consider the issue of liability in a collision caused by a self-driving vehicle and what type of insurance coverage should be mandated. To date, 35 states have introduced legislation to regulate automated vehicles, and while such legislature has stalled in most states, a few, including California, Michigan, Nevada and Tennessee have enacted laws concerning the testing of self-driving cars. More states will consider such testing regulations this year and perhaps even take up the DOT/NHTSA’s invitation to consider liability legislation, and therein lies the problem. Jurors and judges – not legislators – determine liability in auto collision cases, and every state already has the laws necessary to determine responsibility for a motor vehicle collision. The last thing the public needs is its state legislature enacting liability laws that, for instance, immunize manufacturers from collisions where they can demonstrate their software was hacked, which is what Michigan has done. Legislation like this hardly promotes safety when a manufacturer can be absolved of liability for hacked software without any investigation at all into what that manufacturer did or could have done to prevent such a well-understood risk. While it remains to be seen what approaches states will take, there is no doubt that this issue will be addressed by state legislatures across the nation in the near future. When it comes to your state, please pay attention to these bills and make sure that the legislative role in liability questions stays limited to reinforcing the commonsense logic that has served all of us very well over the years – namely that the folks who make the car, and not the folks injured by it, bear the costs of injuries when they occur.

Facebook and other forms of social media have some good things about them. It is a way to see photos of nieces, nephews and children of friends and a way to keep up with the community. WTRF and WTOV Facebook pages provide "breaking news," and many worthwhile charities and other organizations can promote their causes. That is all good. What is troubling are the comments that people post trashing someone they don't know, judging a situation when they don't have all the facts, blaming the victim of a sexual assault based on a self-serving statement by the perpetrator and just generally responding to a situation a friend or acquaintance is having with no compassion. They say not to judge someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes. Social media makes it so easy to have a knee jerk reaction that gets shared, tweeted and retweeted until it has taken on a life of its own. Just as there is a lot of "fake news" on the national scene, this can happen on the local scene just as easily. What are we teaching our children? We are certainly not teaching them to "love your neighbor as yourself."  This sure isn't a lesson in forgiveness and it takes the art of gossip to a whole new level. I remind myself regularly that there is basic goodness in human beings. We see it every day when tragedy strikes and a community comes together to circle the wagons. A few bad apples can certainly make the whole bushel look bad. Maybe we can't change the bad apples. But the rest of us can make a concerted effort to think before we post. Our children are watching.

As of late, I have been thinking about different ways that we sign away our freedoms every day to more easily participate in the modern world. Depending on the need, some would say we forcibly give away these rights to participate.  Though I am conscious in some small way of doing this, am I knowingly and voluntarily signing these waivers and generalized terms and agreements?  Whether it be software I need in the office to efficiently complete my work, to my own spare time where, as a relatively newly married person, I find myself making decisions like, “Should I save up and buy the new washer and dryer outright or should I sign a seemingly beneficial lease agreement?”  After all, my clothes need to be washed now and there is seemingly as much of an investment of time and money to fill my car with gas and take my clothes to the laundromat over the time it will take to save the money. Little do I realize as I am signing all of the paperwork and thinking about the cost-effectiveness of a method of purchase and how I’ll get the washer and dryer down my narrow basement stairs, that in most leasing agreements such as these, there is in fact boilerplate language that – as I sign the dotted line - waives my right to a jury trial. Such a legal state is not something most consumer companies want to advertise explicitly, and as a result, the significant departure from our Seventh Amendment rights is often hidden within the confines and clauses of lengthy contracts. Being the anal retentive person that I am, I called one such company’s headquarters and the management of multiple stores to ask if such boilerplate language was negotiable. Surprisingly (or maybe not so), I was told absolutely not.  If I had enough of a problem waiving my right to a trial by jury, then I could just go somewhere else or buy it outright. Fair enough, some may say. After all, such is the virtue of living in a free market. But do many people have these options?  Particularly if you’re restricted in a market dominated by these sneaky technicalities that restrict those in less than able settings such as rural environments, single-parent homes, those without adequate transportation such as seniors, etc.  We cannot simply assume we always have a choice.  In a similar vein, think of those who have no choice but to choose public transportation, including those who use public transportation to access the laundromat.  For those who have large families, the easy ability to wash clothes does definitively entail access to a washer and dryer as a basic need. If there’s any doubt about such a machine being a basic need, let us first consider the legal definition according to USLegal.com, “Basic needs refer to those things that are necessary to sustain life. It is the minimum requirement of a community for a decent standard of life. Basic needs consists of adequate food, shelter, and clothing plus some household equipment and furniture”. When one has the ability to achieve enough independence to lease a washer and dryer to maintain a high standard of cleanliness for their family, is it possible to go to another company that does not have boilerplate language without these potentially disastrous consequences?  As the right to a trial by jury for most civil suits is a fundamental right within American society in accordance with the Seventh Amendment, it seems apparent that access to goods that maintain a dignity for human life should not have the average citizen unknowingly and unwillingly enter into a contract which strips them of their Constitutional Rights.  At least, as the Georgia Supreme Court expressed in Bank South v. Howard, there must knowingly and willingly be a written stipulation by the party consenting to a non-jury trial. In the end, it’s a question of whether I should maintain a modern standard quality of life and thereby give up my Seventh Amendment rights or should I find somewhere else to buy a heavily manufactured product from a company that will not use the same boilerplate language - or at least one that has the ability to negotiate said boilerplate language within a sales setting?  Just something to think about in regards to my independence and that little dotted line of terms and agreements that I sign every day.

Dear Punxsutawney Phil: I send you this urgent letter as my personal plea for your last minute assistance in hopes that you can make a difference. When you emerge from your cozy little den on Thursday, please stay and have some breakfast.  No need to rush back into that hole.  You seem to have an overly one-sided record of seeing your shadow and running away.  Let’s change those statistics, starting this year. My mother lived in Punxsutawney for a while as a child and has come back to share in the town’s celebrations that run all week long.  She says you are quite a fine fella when you hang around long enough for people to get to know you.  I, myself, would love to see you stay and mingle with your fan base rather than retreat to your little hotel in the ground. You see Mr. Phil, it’s been a long winter.  People here in the northeast could use a little taste of warm weather.  The bitter winds and icy roads came too soon this winter.  They have left us feeling tired and low on the energy we require to push through our busy schedules, not to mention the grumbling attitude that many of us develop when we open our heating bills. We want to see flowers bloom and our surroundings look alive again.  We want to feel alive again.  Can we get a little taste of that hope? With spring comes the transformation out of the depressing darkness and bitter chills of the days and nights. You know when you’ve had enough of Old Man Winter. Spring brings a fresh new outlook. Well, I have had enough of winter and I am rooting for you Mr. Phil. So, come out, come out wherever you are. We eagerly await your arrival and for news to spread. This year you can be a shining star.  Stick around.  Don’t see your shadow. Heck, don’t even look for it.  Defy the odds this year and bring us an early spring, Mr. Punxsutawney Phil. Sincerely, Erin M. Dodd

On January 20, 2017, Fish Creek experienced an infiltration of “ blackwater” or “slurry” from seeping of the Connor Run impoundment in Marshall County. This infiltration was significant enough to mobilize officials from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to on scene of a slurry release. And while the event itself was widely reported in the news media, I found no discussion at all on the nature of this “blackwater” or the Conner Run impoundment. In fact, this blackwater is the toxic waste that remains after coal is burnt to create electricity at the Kammer and Mitchell power plants. This waste is deposited in the Conner Run impoundment, which is simply a very deep lagoon in which the waste is placed, along with water, to create a slurry. Toxic substances in this coal waste often include arsenic, mercury, chromium, and cadmium, all of which can contaminate drinking water supplies and damage vital human organs and the nervous system.  In fact, one study found that one out of every 100 children who drink groundwater contaminated with arsenic from coal power plant wastes were at risk of developing cancer. The EPA has also reported that the risk of getting cancer from coal ash lagoons is 10,000 times greater than government safety standards allow. A typical coal plant creates more than 125,000 tons of ash and 193,000 tons of sludge from the smokestack scrubber each year. The most at-risk communities for groundwater contamination with this waste are those that lie near waste ponds like Connor Run impoundment, that lack a protective liner to prevent blackwater seepage into the groundwater table. Groundwater monitoring for the Conner Run Impoundment have previously shown moderate exceedances of the arsenic groundwater criterion. For anyone living in the shadow of the Conner Run impoundment, you may want to consider having your tapwater tested for heavy metals, including arsenic, mercury, lead, chromium and cadmium. For more information, you can call the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791. If testing reveals evidence of contamination, you may also want to consider a whole house water filter that removes heavy metals and other coal waste contaminants. There are a number of systems available on the market for that purpose.