White House to Transfer Ebola Funds To Combat Zika Virus

Washington — Congressional officials say the Obama administration has decided to transfer leftover money from the largely successful fight against Ebola to combat the growing threat of the Zika virus.

Most of the $600 million or so would be devoted to the Centers for Disease Control, which is focused on research and development of anti-Zika vaccines, treating those infected with the virus and combating the mosquitoes that spread it.

The officials spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter before an official announcement expected from the White House on Wednesday.

Researchers fear Zika causes microcephaly, a serious birth defect in which a baby’s head is too small, as well as other threats to the children of pregnant women infected with it.

President Obama has asked for about $1.9 billion in emergency money to fight Zika but the request has stalled in the GOP-controlled Congress. While the administration has acknowledged that substantial Ebola funding is left over, it has already committed much of it to helping at least 30 other countries prevent, detect and respond to future outbreaks and epidemics.

Ex-Coal CEO Faces Up to 1 Year In Sentencing in Mine Crime

Charleston, W.Va. — Former coal executive Don Blankenship could receive up to a year in prison and a fine of $250,000 in connection to the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades when he is sentenced one day after the tragedy’s sixth anniversary.

But just as important as the length of his sentence is whether the ex-Massey Energy CEO will remain free while he appeals the ruling.

Blankenship could actually be in and out of prison by the time he gets an appellate ruling, his defense attorneys have said in court filings.

If he is sent to prison immediately, “the court of appeals likely won’t even have decided the case until after he’s served his sentence, and so the appeal really becomes largely academic,” said Barry Pollack, a white-collar defense attorney for Miller & Chevalier. Pollack wasn’t involved in the case.

Blankenship is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for a misdemeanor conspiracy to willfully violate mine safety standards at Upper Big Branch Mine.

Prosecutors didn’t charge Blankenship with causing the explosion that ripped through the southern West Virginia coal mine in 2010, killing 29 men. They painted him as a wealthy, intimidating boss who was intricately involved in decisions at the violation-plagued Upper Big Branch, and prioritized profits over essential safety precautions.

A jury convicted Blankenship of the conspiracy on Dec. 3, but cleared him of felonies that could have stretched his sentence to 30 years.

Blankenship’s lawyers want to keep him out of prison on his $1 million bond until the appeal is settled.

They say he meets the legal marks because he is not a flight risk or a danger to the community, and his lawyers can raise enough questions about the lower court’s ruling that an appeals court likely will change it.

— Wire report