CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Gov. Joe Manchin met with top aides on Sen. Robert C. Byrd's staff in Washington, D.C., this week, briefing them on West Virginia's current financial condition.

At Byrd's request, Manchin also provided updates about the progress of highway projects throughout the Mountain State.  

"Sen. Byrd asked for me to bring him and his staff up to speed on our highway needs and other pressing issues with which he can help," Manchin said in a prepared statement.

"He wanted to know where we ended the fiscal year, what concerns we have and the priorities we see for West Virginians -- kind of a mid-year State of the State," Manchin said.

Manchin said Byrd, who recently spent more than a month in the hospital, is doing better and "giving us direction and orders as he always does.

"The first thing he wanted to know was our status on finishing Corridor H," the four-lane highway running from Weston to the Virginia line.

Larry Puccio, Manchin's chief of staff, said, "When the governor got back from D.C. [on Tuesday afternoon], he said he had spoken to Byrd and that he sounded very good.

"...Obviously, all the rumors we have heard are not the way it is. Sen. Byrd was very alert. I think he will shock us all and get back into his office," Puccio said Wednesday.

Jesse Jacobs, a Byrd spokesman, said Wednesday, "The senator continues to recuperate. When he returns to Capitol Hill will be determined by his doctor and his family."

Manchin traveled to Washington with West Virginia Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox and highway engineer Marvin Murphy.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Gov. Joe Manchin met with top aides on Sen. Robert C. Byrd's staff in Washington, D.C., this week, briefing them on West Virginia's current financial condition.

At Byrd's request, Manchin also provided updates about the progress of highway projects throughout the Mountain State.  

"Sen. Byrd asked for me to bring him and his staff up to speed on our highway needs and other pressing issues with which he can help," Manchin said in a prepared statement.

"He wanted to know where we ended the fiscal year, what concerns we have and the priorities we see for West Virginians -- kind of a mid-year State of the State," Manchin said.

Manchin said Byrd, who recently spent more than a month in the hospital, is doing better and "giving us direction and orders as he always does.

"The first thing he wanted to know was our status on finishing Corridor H," the four-lane highway running from Weston to the Virginia line.

Larry Puccio, Manchin's chief of staff, said, "When the governor got back from D.C. [on Tuesday afternoon], he said he had spoken to Byrd and that he sounded very good.

"...Obviously, all the rumors we have heard are not the way it is. Sen. Byrd was very alert. I think he will shock us all and get back into his office," Puccio said Wednesday.

Jesse Jacobs, a Byrd spokesman, said Wednesday, "The senator continues to recuperate. When he returns to Capitol Hill will be determined by his doctor and his family."

Manchin traveled to Washington with West Virginia Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox and highway engineer Marvin Murphy.

In addition to meeting with Byrd's staff, Manchin traveled to Washington to take an oath of office as a new member of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation Board of Trustees.

Congress established the Madison Foundation in 1986 to help improve teaching about the U.S. Constitution in secondary schools. It is an independent agency under the executive branch of the federal government.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass, chairs the foundation's board.

On Wednesday, Byrd also announced the Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bill to provide more than $93 million for West Virginia military installations.

The bill also provides money for improvements on two Veterans Administration medical centers during the new fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

The bill approved by the Appropriations Committee also includes:

| $19.5 million to complete work at the West Virginia Air National Guard's Shepherd Airbase in Martinsburg upgrading runways to accommodate larger aircraft.

| $9.56 million for the U.S. Navy to replace its Emergency Service Center at Sugar Grove.

| $2 million to expand and update technology at the West Virginia National Army Guard Armory in St. Albans. The facility was built in the 1960s.

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.