Delegate Larry Kump and Myself Support Medical Marijuana Law

In an email correspondance that I have received in the past on Medical Marijuana Law, Delegate John Overington does not support this measure, I do, and this is just another reason why I am the best candidate for House of Delegates, District 62.

Lewis,

I was one of the cosponsors of medical marijuana legislation last year and continue to support it, but I am extremely concerned about creating too much bureaucratic regulations as well as over-reach into other areas.

 

I will do what I can to persuade other legislators to keep this legislation simple and straightforward.

Delegate Kump
—–Original Message—–
From: Lewis Sanders

Dear Senator / Delegate,
Please develop awareness of the Joint Health Committee Study HCR 116, the study of the compassionate use of medicinal marijuana. West Virginia has allowed medical marijuana as a pilot program from 1979 to 1996.  Because 18 other states and the District of Columbia now have laws allowing citizens access to the therapeutic use of medical marijuana, it is only natural for West Virginia to take another constructive look at compassionate use methodologies in order to provide this appropriate and cost-effective pain therapy to our citizens. I urge you to talk with the other members of the state legislature and work together to pass the laws that will allow the compassionate use of medical marijuana in West Virginia. Please don’t sit back and allow West Virginia to be last again, when medical marijuana helps reduce addition to narcotics, provides relief for post-traumatic stress disorder, is natural and, according to a recent poll, the compassionate use of medical marijuana is supported by 54% of state residents. Please support medical marijuana, as these are patients, not criminals.

Thank you for your support on this important issue,

Sincerely,
Lewis Sanders
First Sergeant
USA Retired

Related articles

• Details of WV medical marijuana bill emerge (kansascity.com)
• UPDATE: West Virginia Lawmakers Hold Medical Marijuana Discussion (wsaz.com)
• William Delahunt, Thomas Finneran join a number of politicos involved in medical marijuana bids (boston.com)

From Delegate Larry Kump, Delegate District 59, Beans, the Wonder Food – Do You Own Your Own Blood?

This bill has been much criticized as unconstitutional and a bill that Delegate Overington supports, having your “Blood Drawn”.  Delegate Kump is offering an amendment to recently signed in to Law, granting more powers to our Law Enforcement to be able to draw blood without Probable Cause.  These are the types of intrusive laws that I will fight to protect the Constitutional Rights of our Citizens.  There is more than enough intrusive laws against us, the Citizen.

Subject: Do You Own Your Own Blood?

Falling Waters, W.Va. — Delegate Larry D. Kump is introducing an amendment to House Bill 2513, requiring that law enforcement officers obtain a court warrant, through due process, before they can remove a citizen from their car, drive them to a hospital and force them to undergo a blood test or immediately lose their driving privileges.

House Bill 2513, which was passed in the 2013 session of the West Virginia House of Delegates and signed into law by the Governor does just that.

Delegate Kump voted against it.

“We are a nation of laws, and the Constitution is the highest law of the land. Until a warrant is obtained, the citizens of West Virginia have Constitutional protection of their person, property and possessions, and if your blood is not your possession, I don’t know what is.” said Delegate Kump.

“No one wants people to drive drunk or drugged”, continued Kump, “However the Constitution is clear. A very similar law in Missouri was judged unconstitutional by the Supreme Court earlier this year, as it is a clear violation of the 4th Amendment.”

 

 

Working Together to Stay Independent!

Delegate Larry D. Kump

West Virginia House of Delegates District #59 Berkeley-Morgan

Counties (Eastern Panhandle) P.O. Box 1131 Falling Waters, West

Virginia 25419-1131

(304) 274-3104

Visit http://www.LarryKump.com for my legislative news and views.

May God bless you all real good!

As With Some Maryland Teachers, We Must Fight To Keep Common Core Standards Out Of Our Children’s Life

Some Md. Teachers Join Fight Against Common Core

​

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) — Delayed curriculums and heavy workloads for Baltimore County teachers is the result of a switch to tougher teaching standards called “the common core.” Now the school board has a grievance on its hands backed by every teacher in the district.

Gigi Barnett explains why.

Angry and upset, parents rallied in front of the state’s education building this week. At issue is a set of strict federal teaching guidelines Maryland adopted—along with 44 other states—called the common core.

“They don’t even want you to question about it,” said one protester. “These are our kids; it’s our say.”

In September, a parent was thrown out of a school board meeting when he questioned the common core.

“Don’t stand for this. You’re sitting here like cowards,” he said.

“What we’re saying is we need to work on this really fast,” said Abby Beytin.

Now it’s the teachers’ turn to rail against it. The backlash came this week in the form of a grievance from Baltimore County instructors. All 8,700 of them say new common core curriculums that should have been in there at the beginning of the school year are late and they’re scrambling.

“The problem lies in the curriculum that has not been in their hands in enough time to actually grasp it and be able to do it without spending an unbelievable amount of time,” said Beytin.

Abby Beytin runs the Baltimore County Teachers Union, also called TABCO. Her office filed the grievance. She fears the workload will lead to massive teacher burnout.

But millions of federal dollars are at stake. States that don’t adopt the common core miss out on funding from the government called Race to the Top.

In a statement, Baltimore County School Superintendent Dr. Dallas Dance writes, “We have received a copy of the grievance and we are reviewing it now, so it would be premature to comment on its contents. But it is important to note when we signed on to Race to the Top—which the prior administration and TABCO agreed to—everyone accepted certain reforms.”

It could take weeks to resolve the dispute. Teachers have agreed to work with the school board to find a solution. If they can’t, the issue will go to arbitration.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/11/20/some-md-teachers-join-fight-against-common-core/

Related articles

• Angry Md. Parents Band Together To Fight Common Core (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• TABCO files grievance over Common Core (wbaltv.com)
• Teachers file grievance over workload from Common Core (educationviews.org)

Drawing Blood at North Texas Traffic Roadblock – A Law That Delegate John Overington Supports – Must Not Be Allowed Here – North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood – Fort Worth police apologize

I know my Delegate, who I will not mention by name, who is a Republican, supports this type of law.  A complete violation under the 4th amendment and Constitution.  Drawing your blood for the DNA database.  We can’t allow this to ever happen.  I will continue to notify the Delegates and Senators on these issues that I find to be most important to the Citizens of West Virginia. If you go to the story, there is also a video

.

I limit my emails to just a couple a day hoping others will do the same.  We must keep our Liberties and Freedoms protected.

North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood – Fort Worth police apologize

Some drivers along a busy Fort Worth street on Friday were stopped at a police roadblock and directed into a parking lot, where they were asked by federal contractors for samples of their breath, saliva and even blood.

It was part of a government research study aimed at determining the number of drunken or drug-impaired drivers.

“It just doesn’t seem right that you can be forced off the road when you’re not doing anything wrong,” said Kim Cope, who said she was on her lunch break when she was forced to pull over at the roadblock on Beach Street in North Fort Worth.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is spending $7.9 million on the survey over three years, said participation was “100 percent voluntary” and anonymous.

But Cope said it didn’t feel voluntary to her — despite signs saying it was.

“I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go straight, but he wouldn’t let me and forced me into a parking spot,” she said.

Once parked, she couldn’t believe what she was asked next.

“They were asking for cheek swabs,” she said. “They would give $10 for that. Also, if you let them take your blood, they would pay you $50 for that.”

At the very least, she said, they wanted to test her breath for alcohol.

She said she felt trapped.

“I finally did the Breathalyzer test just because I thought that would be the easiest way to leave,” she said, adding she received no money.

Fort Worth police earlier said they could not immediately find any record of officer involvement but police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Peel said Tuesday that the department’s Traffic Division coordinated with the NHTSA on the use of off-duty officers after the agency asked for help with the survey.

“We are reviewing the actions of all police personnel involved to ensure that FWPD policies and procedures were followed,” he said. “We apologize if any of our drivers and citizens were offended or inconvenienced by the NHTSA National Roadside Survey.”

NBC DFW confirmed that the survey was done by a government contractor, the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, which is based in Calverton, Md.

A company spokeswoman referred questions to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

An agency spokeswoman sent an email confirming the government is conducting the surveys in 30 cities across the country in an effort to reduce impaired-driving accidents.

She did not respond to another email from NBC DFW asking specific questions about the program..

But a Fort Worth attorney who is an expert in civil liberties law questioned whether such stops are constitutional.

“You can’t just be pulled over randomly or for no reason,” said attorney Frank Colosi.

He also noted the fine print on a form given to drivers informs them their breath was tested by “passive alcohol sensor readings before the consent process has been completed.”

“They’re essentially lying to you when they say it’s completely voluntary, because they’re testing you at that moment,” Colosi said.

He also questioned the results of the “voluntary” survey — speculating that drivers who had been drinking or using drugs would be more inclined to simply decline to participate.

Cope said she is troubled by what happened.

“It just doesn’t seem right that they should be able to do any of it,” she said. “If it’s voluntary, it’s voluntary, and none of it felt voluntary.”

Asked Tuesday if she accepted the police department’s apology, Cope said she would wait to see what the review showed.

http://alturl.com/4nknz

 

 

Thank You,

 

Jeff Werner, Holding our Politicians Accountable

Leader of the Berkeley/Jefferson County Watchdog Group

 

Falling Waters, WVA

Related articles

• North Texas Drivers Pulled Over, Asked For DNA Samples By Federal Contractors (patdollard.com)
• North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood (lunaticoutpost.com)
• North Texas Drivers Stopped at Roadblock Asked for Saliva, Blood (libertyfederation.com)
• Drivers pulled over, asked for DNA and blood samples by federal contractors (washingtontimes.com)

My Letter to the WV Gazette – Governor Tomblin Attacks Working Class Families in WV over Cold and Allergy Medication

Governor Tomblin has commissioned a task force on Cold and Allergy Medications with Pseudoephedrine in the product.  This attacks the working class families in West Virginia, because, he would be forcing us to get a prescription to obtain cold and allergy medication with Pseudoephedrine in it, because of those who would abuse the drug to create “Meth”.  Not sure he understands the actual costs to the working class families of West Virginia.  Forcing us to go to the Doctor, just to get a script over a cold and allergy would cost us hundreds of dollars and put an undo burden on Healthcare Facilities and Doctor’s offices, not to mention Emergency Rooms. How many Doctors are going to schedule you in that day to get a script? That being said, if families can’t get in to see their doctors right away, they will go to other Healthcare Facilities and the Emergency rooms. Just think of the cost to the tax payer if we start using Emergency Rooms. Many of us have huge deductibles along with co-pays just to see our Doctor.

 

Let’s break it down, average a co-pay to see your Doctor around 50.00 dollars, prescription co-pay could average out over 20.00 dollars, than transportation cost to visit our facilities to get the script. You could be talking close to 100.00 dollars just to get your medication for a cold or allergy. Why are we being penalized because of those who would abuse the drug?  There is a law on the books to track the amount of Pseudoephedrine being sold to people and restricted on a monthly basis of sale to a single individual.

 

Instead of wasting tax dollars on a task force, how about using our tax dollars to fight the criminals making “Meth”, and stop attacking the working class family who is barely getting by as it is.  Governor Tomblin ought to focus on the bigger picture and stop interfering with our Personal Rights and Liberties.

 

Personally, I will just drive over the state line to purchase my Cold and Allergy medication should this ever become law.

 

Thank You, 

Jeff Werner

Falling Waters, WVA

If you would like contact information on sending in letters to the Press and other Media outlets, please email me at: wernerforhouseofdelegates@cecilcalvert.com

 

Related articles

• Tomblin task force backs prescription-only pseudoephedrine (wvgazette.com)
• Campaign targets cold drug regulation in West Virginia (times-news.com)
• Drug trade group starts ads against cold meds prescriptions (wvgazette.com)
• Substance Abuse Task Force Works to Keep Pseudoephedrine Under Control (wsaz.com)

Kudo To OAG Morrisey, West Virginia – Morrisey snubs Kanawha prescription drug task force

Morrisey snubs Kanawha prescription drug task force

By Eric Eyre

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey declined repeated invitations to speak before a Kanawha County substance abuse task force this fall, even though Morrisey has made the state’s prescription drug problem a top priority for his office’s Consumer Protection Division.

Dr. Dan Foster, the task force’s chairman, said he called Morrisey’s representatives several times over the past three months, inviting Morrisey to speak before the panel, which met five times.

On Oct. 20, Foster sent a written invitation to Morrisey. Foster offered to change the date of the panel’s last meeting to accommodate Morrisey’s schedule. But Morrisey’s administrative assistant informed Foster that Morrisey wouldn’t be available, Foster said.

“We felt it would be helpful to hear about what he’s doing on substance abuse, and get his ideas and recommendations,” Foster said. “We wanted to be flexible because of his schedule. I’m not sure what else I can do.”

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201311170096

Related articles

• Morrisey snubs Kanawha prescription drug task force (wvgazette.com)
• The Politics of Meth in West Virginia (counterpunch.org)
• Substance Abuse Task Force Works to Keep Pseudoephedrine Under Control (wsaz.com)
• Morrisey’s war against Obamacare – Martinsburg Journal (journal-news.net)
• Kanawha task force recommends Rx for medications with meth-making ingredient (wvgazette.com)

Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport Authority’s $3,500 bonuses questioned

 

 

 

Posted: Saturday, November 16, 2013 4:48 pm

 

 

Posted on November 16, 2013

• 

  by Matthew Umstead

 

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A decision this month to give a $3,500 bonus to each of the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport Authority’s three employees, including the agency’s part-time secretary, is being questioned.

“Last year at this time, we didn’t have enough money to buy a flag,” said Richard Talbott, who was the lone airport authority board member to vote against the expenditure.

Talbott said last week he wasn’t convinced the $10,500 in bonuses were legal, and also questioned the use of money considering the airport authority’s budget is little more than $235,000.

Berkeley County Council attorney Norwood Bentley III said Friday that a recent opinion by Attorney General Patrick Morrisey stated that bonuses are legal for government officials whose salaries are not specified by state law or ordinance.

“I used to think differently,” Bentley said.

In an opinion issued Oct. 1, Morrisey told state Auditor Glen B. Gainer III that a state constitutional ban on extra compensation only applies to salaries of public officers that have been “definitively fixed or prescribed by law, either by the constitution of the state or by statute.”

Airport Authority Chairman Richard “Rick” Wachtel acknowledged the airport has experienced a cash crunch for a number of years, but also added that the airport’s employees had not received a pay raise in five years.

“While you never want to be living dollar to dollar, you certainly want to take care of your employees,” Wachtel said.

The airport manager was paid about $36,200 in salary, not including benefits received in the previous fiscal year, which ended July 1, according to budget documents.

The airport authority maintenance employee was paid about $24,300, and the secretary received about $9,300 in compensation, also not including benefits.

Altogether, the airport authority’s three employees’ salary and benefits totaled $108,799 for the 2012-13 year.

The money that Wachtel described as a one-time supplement in pay was taken from about $17,000 in reimbursement funding that the airport received for a hangar purchase.

“It was the right thing to do,” said Wachtel, who confirmed that all of the airport authority members, except Talbott, voted in favor of the bonuses.

The other airport authority members are George Cornwell, Steve Cox, Maria Lorensen James Reuss and Hunter Wilson. Attorney Mike Keller serves as the authority’s legal counsel.

In voting against the bonuses, Talbott questioned whether use of the reimbursement funding was proper. He also questioned the fairness of giving the same bonus amount to both full- and part-time staff.

“I’m not debating whether they deserve it or not,” Talbott said.

He said bonuses typically are given to employees in the private sector when a company is enjoying financial success and based on work performance guidelines.

Berkeley County Councilwoman Elaine C. Mauck, who attends airport authority meetings as the council’s representative, anticipates the bonus issue will resurface when the airport authority makes its annual funding request early next year.

“I’m not happy with it,” Mauck said.

Matthew Umstead is a reporter for The Herald-Mail. He can be reached via email at matthewu@herald-mail.com.

http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/tri_state/west_virginia/eastern-west-virginia-regional-airport-authority-s-bonuses-questioned/article_c88677f2-4f08-11e3-8524-0019bb30f31a.html

Related articles

• Reading between the lines in Charleston (jeffwernerfordelegate.wordpress.com)
• When a Republican really isn’t republican (jeffwernerfordelegate.wordpress.com)
• High court filing: Morrisey’s EPA challenge welcomed (bdtonline.com)
• Morrisey snubs Kanawha prescription drug task force (wvgazette.com)

We Must Continue The Fight To Keep Common Core Standards Out Our Children’s Life – Oregon Parents Pull Children Out of Common Core Math

Not only does Common Core invade the upbringing of our Children and take it out of our hands, but teaches them such things as Planned Parenthood, Same Sex Marriages and Gay relationships, Abortions, and so on.  We can not allow our State Legislation and the Liberals to push the intrusive teachings on our Children against the will of the Family Circle.  I don’t need to have my step son raised on the teachings of the Liberal Agenda while I continue to teach him, that, the beliefs of Common Core go against everything I stand for….The Government has no right to tell me how to raise my children.

Oregon Parents Pull Children Out of Common Core Math

Posted by: Allison Martinez Posted date: November 16, 2013 In: News, Videos

At Evergreen Middle School in Hillsboro, Oregon, there is a new trend: Parents are pulling their children out of math class to home school math. While the principal attempted to downplay the number of families (saying it was 1%), there have never been that many parents pulling their children out of school to teach a particular subject at home.

The middle school, like the rest of the state of Oregon, is implementing the Common Core standards. The math standards have been particularly controversial at the middle school level. At the middle school level, and inordinate amount of time is spent integrating language arts into the math curriculum rather than extending the knowledge of mathematics. Many educational researchers have argued that this is not developmentally appropriate.

But the students that have been pulled out of math class are not the slow students. They are the A and B students.

One amazing aspect of the video above is that the school district superintendent were advised not to answer certain questions because they were regarded as “aggressive.”

Many common core critics have argued that the common core math standards simply slows down the amount of math knowledge attained and ensures that students will be unable to make it to pre-calculus at the end of high school.  Indeed, even Jason Zimba, principal author of the Common Core Math Standards, has said that the standards fall far short of producing students that are an internationally competitive  By keeping a child in the middle school math program, it ensures students will be unable to attain the degree of math proficiency needed in the international marketplace. These parents are clearly doing the right thing for their students.

http://freepatriot.org/2013/11/16/oregon-parents-pull-children-out-of-common-core-math/

Related articles

• Fed Up With Their Kids’ Failing Math Grades Under Common Core, These Parents Took Matters Into Their Own Hands (theblaze.com)
• New Common Core Standards Go Beyond the School Day (publicnewsservice.org)
• Common Core School Standards Criticized (kfor.com)
• What’s changed under Common Core? Comparing the old and new standards in Alabama (al.com)

When a Republican really isn’t republican

November 14, 2013

By Jessica Hayes, Falling Waters

Save | Comments (191) | Post a comment |            

Watching the Kabuki Theater that is Congress would be hilarious if it were not so terribly sad.

As the 2014 election season ramps up, so called Republicans like Shelley Moore Capito and David McKinley are running about West Virginia claiming they are fighting the Obama Administration, while nothing could be farther than the truth.

Analyzing the voting records of both of West Virginia’s so called Republicans you will find that both McKinley and Capito have voted with the Obama Administration over 63 percent of the time!

Whether it be by voting to fund the National Security Agency to spy on your emails, phone calls and texts without a warrant, voting to take away your 5th and 6th Amendment rights by voting for indefinite detention and the suspension of your right to an attorney under the National Defense Authorization Act, voting to continue funding the EPA as it kills our coal industry or most recently voting to fund Obamacare, this pair of self-declared conservatives are siding with Obama and his hirelings the majority of the time.

In fact why do we even call the Affordable Care Act Obamacare, when it should now be called Capito/McKinleyCare?

Watching them stand on the “stump” and declare they are fighting for you, and the Constitution is nothing more than pure comedic lies.

In the end, Capito and McKinley voted against the majority of Republicans in Congress, and voted to force you onto Obamacare, while they themselves are exempt. They sold you out.

And have been since re-elected.

Compromising on almost every principle, they have failed to uphold even the West Virginia State Republican Party Platform time after time.

And now both are seeking your votes, so they can continue to sell you down the river for personal political gain.

Just because they plunk down the letter R beside their name, doesn’t mean that they are representing you. Votes count, rhetoric does not. And letters behind a name mean absolutely nothing.

Your donations to the GOP in West Virginia will be used to elect them once again to continue this travesty.

Will this political theater continue? That is up to you, not the establishment, not the media, the party hacks or the talking heads. You will determine if you hold them accountable for their dismal voting records, or merely fall prey to the team R game once again.

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/601112/When-a-Republican-really-isn-t-republican.html?nav=5061

Reading between the lines in Charleston

November 18, 2013

By TOM MILLER

Save | Comments (1) | Post a comment |            

It has been a long-standing joke between older members of the West Virginia Legislature and legislative staffers who are also veterans of the system that fiscal notes attached to proposed bills indicating the potential costs of that particular piece of legislation are often designed to reflect the desires of the bill’s sponsors.

In other words, if the lawmakers who are sponsoring a bill really want it to become law, then the suggested fiscal note is calculated as a modest sum. But if the legislative bill sponsors are merely offering the bill to appease some constituents and really would prefer it die in committee, the estimated costs of implementation of this new law are inflated to make sure the bill has no hope of passage.

Some veteran staffers admit privately they have known some duly-elected members of the House of Delegates and State Senate who incorrectly describe the financial implications attached to any pending bill as a “physical note”-either as a joke or a sincere misunderstanding of the difference between the usage of the terms.

Those individuals who run the various state agencies that are affected by these bills that can-if enacted-increase or decrease annual costs of state government are also often guilty of inflating the projected costs if they want to kill the proposed legislation. And they also often will undercut the likely costs if they would like to see the bill become law.

Sean O’Leary, who prepared a report on this issue for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, noted in a report on this issue released in Charleston last week that as annual state revenues continue to decline “it is increasingly important that legislators understand how proposed legislation will affect the (annual state) budget.” He said the current method of creating these fiscal notes has often “led to biased, inaccurate and inconsistent information that legislators largely distrust.”

One example of this problem cited by O’Leary was a bill passed in the 2013 session of the legislature that requires county sheriff departments to issue bulletproof vests to deputies. The attached fiscal note indicated there would be a “zero” financial impact to the state. But a potential cost of $143,750 for each county to purchase the protective vests was included in a written summary.

And a few years back, the state Department of Education estimated it would cost $1.5 billion-roughly the amount the state spends on K-12 education each year-to provide daily physical education classes in public schools statewide. It was an estimate that the agency obviously didn’t support because the estimate included the costs of building new gymnasiums and athletic facilities statewide.

Legislators in both houses frequently amend bills as they move through the various committees.

But most of the fiscal notes attached to those individual bills are not updated to reflect changes in the financial impact of the bill caused by those changes.

The report from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy recommends an independent legislative office be created to provide an unbiased review of fiscal notes and also include an explanation as to how state agencies calculate the financial impact of a bill. That seems like a reasonable step.

Meanwhile, it is sad to learn that the West Virginia State Police digital forensics lab at Marshall University has only two civilian analysts and a six-month backlog of cases while a similar lab in Morgantown has one civilian analyst and a 14-month backlog. No wonder the agency says they need more manpower to cope with child pornography and Internet sexual predators.

State police officials recently met at the Huntington lab with members of the Legislature’s Select Committee on Crimes Against Children to present their claims of the need for additional manpower.

Sgt. Dave Eldridge told lawmakers this special state police unit conducted 665 investigations in 2012 and made 197 arrests.

In a recent case, a Morgantown man tried to hire a babysitter who would also perform sexual favors. This 15-year-old girl was actually a task force officer and he was sentenced to two to 10 years in prison for soliciting a minor online.

Children don’t talk, so the unit’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force must work backward from forensics gleaned by investigations to find the traffickers and molesters, and then discover the victims, Eldridge said.

Finally, one of the first economic results of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s recent 13-day economic European investment jaunt is last week’s announcement that Italian auto parts maker Sogefi Group will bring at least 250 new jobs to Wayne County as part of a $20 million expansion of the company’s existing plant at Prichard. The Allevard Sogefi USA plant opened in Wayne County nearly a decade ago, in 2004.

It manufactures parts for automobile engines, including fuel pumps and filters used in Toyota, Ford, Fiat, Chrysler, BMW, Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai and Kia models. As part of the expansion, Sogefi will add engine intake manifolds to its production line at the Wayne County plant that will be used in General Motors vehicle models. These will be the first parts that GM will be ordering from the plant and the company will begin hiring engineers, supervisors, maintenance technicians and other staff in January.

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/601242/Reading-between-the-lines-in-Charleston.html?nav=5002