These are places you should visit everyday. (and buy stuff).

Let me explain. My photography now has its own online store at boxfirephotos.com. There are lots of cool pictures there, many of which you should buy. Or all of them. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Then, there's a new community journalism site at My-WestVirginia.com. It's brand-sparkling new (I like that better than brand-spankin') and needs someone just like you to write for it. You can have your own blog, collaborate on news articles, read stuff about the state or even get your more artistic work published in a new book. Do it. Good.

And finally, I recently started writing for Gather.com as a news correspondent/columnist. My stuff comes out on Fridays. Take a look.

I've been quiet for a while, becuase I've been working on a piece that I could never get through at the Times West Virginian, about the Industrial Home for Youth. The facility has a unit where prisoners are isolated, usually for behavioral problems (at least, that's the story). The trouble is, sometimes, the kids are isolated for weeks at a time. I've been able to obtain reliable data that shows how long IHY was keeping some kids locked away and isolated -- even though state law says its illegal to isolate juveniles as a form of punishment.

Stay tuned. When it's ready, I'll post it.

I've also begrudgingly joined NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, as I figured it would be a good motivator to make me finish one of several projects I've been working on over the passed couple months. I'm, oh, only about 10,000 words behind where I should be. No sweat. I can turn out 10,000 words in my sleep. Now, if they have to be in some kind of sensical order, that's a whole other issue.

Back to work. More later.

Allen Ash, a former investigator at the Industrial Home for Youth, a juvenile correctional facility, confirmed that a female guard had "sexual contact" with a teenage prisoner. She resigned, he said in a deposition transcript, and officials did nothing.

Anywhere else, this kind of stuff makes national headlines. In West Virginia (largely in part to an inept and apathetic group of media) it gets buried and forgotten.

I'd heard this from many different sources, but until now, didn't have it nailed down in a way that I was comfortable publishing it. I'm not going to say much, or try to explain it, I'm just going to reprint the transcript. Just be aware that Ash wasn't present for the events he's describing.

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- Cindy Largent-Hill, the governor's former appointment to the head of the Division of Juvenile Services, said a state biography that claimed she held a degree from WVU that the school doesn't offer was due to a "typo," according to deposition transcripts obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Largent earned a masters in counseling from WVU in 1985, but her biography on the state's Web site and a statement released by the Governor's office earlier this year announcing her appointment to the head of DJS said that Largent held a masters in "counseling psychology" -- a degree that the school offers only at the doctoral level.

In a pre-trial deposition conducted by an attorney for Allen Ash, a DJS employee who sued Largent and the state for retaliation, Largent said the mistake in her bio was "a typo."

Attorney: Specifically what was that Masters in?
Largent: Counseling
Attorney: Counseling, the State's web site (sic) indicates that you got a degree in counseling pyschology, is that the same thing?
Largent: Well, actually there is some confusion about that. When I was going through the counseling program at WVU they were applying for the counseling psychology accreditation or whatever, and so it was, long story short, it was a typo.

However, WVU didn't receive accreditation for its counseling psychology doctoral program until 1989, according to the American Psychological Association, four years after Largent said she earned her masters degree at the school. The APA says the process of accreditation takes less than 18 months.

I won a first place award in this year's Better Newspapers Contest this year. Here are the judge's comments: (pdf file, pg 9).

"In a category that can be predictable and dry, Justin McLaughlin's work sparkles. He gets right to the subject and moves along swiftly, focusing on subjects both big and small -- from high gasoline prices to challenging babysitting jobs. His turn of thought can be surprising and insightful. The light touch he brings to a very heavy subject - the impending death of his grandmother -- is inspiring. What a special writer."

:-D

A sampling of some things that happen to kids that are sent to the state's largest juvenile correctional facility, not far from Morgantown in Harrison County. These come straight from letters written by the then-director, Cindy Largent-Hill, and filed with an administrative law judge during employee grievence hearings.

The state lost a summary judgement motion this week, so the trial is set for next week. I'm assuming that voire dire is set for Wednesday and the actual trial part Thursday, but I guess the judge could seat a jury and go right into it, we'll see.

According to those familiar with the case, the state is saying that when Largent demoted Ash, he was offered a director's job - head of the transportation unit, because his investigator position was being eliminated. His letter, however, says he was supposed to report to Captain Eve for assignment with no mention of this new position. He's currently categorized as a Corrections Officer 3.

The director's job was again brought up in settlement talks, though James Merendino, IHY's Superintendent (and reportedly now a close-friend of Largent), refused to allow Ash to have the position job. Merendino never responded to my e-mail asking him to confirm this, though one source said "... he (Merendino) did not want to committ a CO3 to the Transportation unit that (Ash) would be put on a unit."

Capt. Eve also had some choice things, unprintable here, about the notion of Ash heading IHY's transportation unit, according to those aware of the details of the case.

The parties apparently never got to talking about any kind of dollar figure in the settlement.

The organizers of the Christian Freedom Fund, a pool of money that will be donated to the Harrison County Board of Education to fight a lawsuit by the ACLU, are collecting donations. They ACLU is challenging the school board's refusal to allow a portrait of Jesus hang in one of their schools.

So, they're thinking they can raise $150,000 to help pay for legal fees, but at the same time saying that the donations will be tax deductible. My question is, in what country? The money's going into a trust account, but there's no indication any non-profits are involved. Maybe there's something I'm missing.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I asked for the Morgantown Parking Authority's parking ticket database. Well, they failed to make provisions in their contract with their IT providers for this contingency (that pesky FOIA) and now think that they can charge me $330 for what they say will be two hours of work to export the database.

Too bad the FOIA doesn't allow them to charge such rediculous overhead costs.