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WV Flags At Half-Staff In Honor Of Smith
By: Associated Press
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Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is honoring former West Virginia Gov. Hulett C. Smith by ordering the lowering of flags at state facilities.
Tomblin today issued a proclamation ordering the immediate lowering of all U.S. and state flags to half-staff in Smith's honor.
Smith died Sunday in Arizona at the age of 93.
The Beckley native first ran for governor in 1960, but failed to win his party's nomination. The Democrat was elected four years later, at a time when governors were limited to a single term.
During his tenure as the state's 27th governor, the Legislature enacted measures to control air and water pollution and to protect human rights. Smith signed bills in the 1960s that abolished the state's death penalty and implemented its first strip mining laws.