Vol. 137, No. 115 • Since 1874 • Wayne, WV • Weekend, Feb. 4-5, 2012

CONSTRUCTION – Contractors continue their work on the new Wayne County 911 Center. Seen here, workers measure and adjust work on fixtures of the building as they continue to place the roof and fixtures on the building. The new center could be open for business as soon as July. WCN photo by Diane Pottorff

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Candidate filing over, primary set

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

WAYNE – It has been three days since the end of filing for candidacy in West Virginia. Wayne County was no exception. Several candidates filed their intent for office under the deadline as the took their application to the Wayne County Clerk’s Voter’s Registration office.

Offices that are being contested include the county commission, sheriff, prosecuting attorney, magistrate, board of education, assessor, surveyor and conservation district supervisor.

Candidates for county commission include incumbent Charles E. Sammons of Crum, former sheriff David Pennington of Kenova and former commissioner Rick Wellman of Kenova.
In the race for prosecuting attorney, only one candidate filed which was incumbent Thomas M. Plymale of Ceredo.

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SENIOR HIGH MEMBERS – The members of the Wayne County Senior High Math Field Day team are with Clinton Burch, assistant principal of Spring Valley High School and administrator of the Spring Valley Career and Technical Center. The members of the team include Gabby Marcum, David Dunkum, Adam O’Neal, Austin Marshall, Jennifer Maynard, Sara Brumbaugh and Jacob Houdy, all of Spring Valley; Logan Barrett, Taylor Spry and Zach Cavins, all of Tolsia; Yosef Finton, Bella Shi and Mariah Dunn, all of Wayne. WCN photo by Diane Pottorff

Wayne County high school
students show their math skills

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

HUNTINGTON – Students in the ninth to twelfth grades in Wayne County’s three high schools ventured to the Spring Valley High School Career and Technical Center for the annual Math Field Day.

About 45 students participated in demonstrating their skills and knowledge of algebra, geometry, trigonometry and other mathematics.

Students were divided with the ninth graders going to test in one area while 10-12th grades were tested in the main conference room of the career and technical center. Team rankings were the same for both groups with Spring Valley taking first, followed by Tolsia in second and Wayne in third.

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9TH GRADE WINNERS – The members of the Wayne County Ninth Grade Math Field Day team include Caleb Houdyschell, Daniel Stanley and Ramey, all of Spring Valley, Jake Dillon and Destinee Maynard, both of Tolsia, Zach, and Kiersten Vanhoose of Wayne. WCN photo by Diane Pottorff

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Lincoln sheriff, clerk charged in election fraud

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

CHARLESTON – Two Lincoln County officials are now without jobs and could be facing jail time after their part in an election fraud scheme was revealed.

The West Virginia Secretary of State’s office, along with the U.S. Attorney’s office, had been conducting an investigation in connection with a 2010 primary election fraud scheme.

Arrested were Lincoln County Sheriff Jerry Bowman, 58, and Lincoln County Clerk Donald C. Whitten, 62, who have admitted to the charges and agreed to plead guilty, according to a media release. The arrests were announced at a press conference Monday in Charleston.

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OH CHRISTMAS TREE – The students of Wayne High School Skills USA competed in a statewide contest of collecting canned food for a sculpture and donation to the local food bank. The school collected more than 2,000 cans of food. With the tree are Nichelle Campbell, Garrett Maynard, Courtney Cathers, Paige Kelly, Kyle Sebastian, Tyler Marcum, Brianna Arthur, Bradlea Napier and Thomas Smith. Not pictured: Ephraim Pittore. WCN photo by Diane Pottorff

Wayne students wins SkillsUSA food drive

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

WAYNE – Back around Christmas, the students of the Wayne High School Skills USA, Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), RAZE and the pre-engineering students helped with a canned food drive and sculpture for a statewide contest.

Mark Ross, sponsor of Wayne Skills USA said he was notified Monday that the Wayne students won. It was all part of a state competition designed by the Skills USA Leadership. The result was the students collecting about 2,200 cans of food and made a 14 foot

Christmas tree with simulated presents and spelled out Merry Christmas with the cans. After it was photograph for submission, it was then taken down and the food was donated to the Lavalette United Methodist Church Food Pantry.

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BOE Personnel Matters

WAYNE – The Wayne County Board of Education approved personnel matters that were recommended by the superintendent during their Jan. 24 meeting.

TERMINATONS: (Service)
Selena Maynard, Itinerant Transportation Classroom Special Education Aide at Buffalo Elementary, effective end of the 2011- 2012 school year; Carolyn Napier, Itinerant Transportation Classroom Special Education Aide at Genoa Elementary, effective end of the 2011 - 2012 school year. Frank Roswall, Kindergarten Aide at East Lynn Elementary, effective end of the 2011 - 2012 school year.

Tammy Williamson, Itinerant Transportation Classroom Special Education Aide at Kellogg Elementary, effective end of the 2011- 2012 school year.

Angela Crockett, Itinerant Transportation Classroom Special Education Aide at East Lynn Elementary, effective end of the 2011- 2012 school year. Sharon Sanders, 3.5 hour Cook at Buffalo Elementary, effective end of the 2011-2012 school year.

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EPA slows opening of new mine

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

FORT GAY – R.B. Kirk has been working the past four years getting permits to open a new surface coal mine in Wayne County.

Kirk, owner and operator of Meadow Fork Mining Co. LLC, said it is not the officials of Wayne County or the State of West Virginia that is holding things up. It is the federal government.

Earlier this month, the Department of Environmental Protection sent notice to the Wayne County Administration office to advise that the application for a permit had been given for the surface mining of about 124 acres of mining and construction of haul roads within a five block seam of coal located on Powdermill Branch Road, just south of Fort Gay.

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FUTURE HOME OF CVS PHARMACY – Scavengers stripped homes and offices at the site of the new CVS Pharmacy at the intersection of U.S. 52 and U.S. 60 in Kenova. Demolition of the buildings is scheduled to begin Wednesday with construction to follow soon after. Hometown Development of Portsmouth, Ohio, said plans call for a September opening of the 13,000-square-foot facility to be situated between 14th and 15th streets. Individuals ripped out copper pipes, wiring and aluminum windows over the past weekend before the demolition could begin. This view shows what was previously a display area and office for Ron’s Cars, a dealership there for more than 30 years. WCN photo by Michael Hupp

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NEW PARKING MACHINES – This pay machine is the newest piece of equipment at Huntington Tri-State Airport. The machine is used to take the parking fees that customers pay to park in the parking lot at the airport. WCN photo by Diane Pottorff

New parking system now online at Tri-State Airport

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

CEREDO – Huntington Tri-State Airport’s new parking system is online. The automated parking system has airport customers entering the parking lot in a new area south of the ticket booth and an exiting machine where the old entrance was located.

“The automated parking is in its infancy,” said Jerry Brienza, airport director. “There are still a few bugs to work out just like in any other electronic equipment.”

Brienza said there are currently two pay stations. A third will be put into place once the system is working correctly. The machine accepts currency, credit or debit cards as well as a pass that can be purchased inside the airport.

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RIF letters are sent to some school employees

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

WAYNE – The Wayne County Board of Education approved the list of those employees who would be receiving Reduction In Force letters during Tuesday’s meeting.

Most of those receiving the RIF letters where school bus drivers that do extra curricular runs, according to Assistant Superintendent Mike Rutherford.

“Right now, we have to see if we will get funding before we add those runs back,” Rutherford said. Loren Perry, director of service personnel and assessment, said the list changes from year to year according to the students’ needs, especially for special education.

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VALENTINE’S GREETINGS – Dewey Johnson, Chad Tiller and Selena Draper of Johnson Tiller Funeral Home shows one of the Valentine’s cards made for military personnel by the students of Wayne Elementary. WCN photo by Diane Pottorff

Funeral home collecting Valentines for the military

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

WAYNE – One local funeral home is trying to spread love to the men and women in the armed services as Valentine’s Day approaches.

Johnson Tiller Funeral Home has launched “Operation Valentine” by dropping off supplies for the kindergarten, first and second grade students at Wayne Elementary School for them to make Valentine’s Day cards.

On Friday, Dewey Johnson, Chad Tiller and Selena Draper stopped by the school to pick them up so the cards can reach the military personnel by Feb. 14.

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HEALTH DEPT. INSPECTIONS

WAYNE – The following restaurants were inspected by the sanitation inspector for the Wayne County Health Department.

American Legion Post No. 93, Kenova, 4 non-critical violations; AMVETS Post 14, Kenova, no violations; Chatterbox, Kenova, 2 non-critical violations; Coney Island, Kenova, no violations; GDC Enterprise Inc. d/b/a Golden Rail, Kenova, no violations; Gino’s Pizza of Kenova, Kenova, three non-critical violations; Gino’s Pizza of Wayne, Wayne, not recorded; Jan’s Place Inc. Lavalette, no violations; Java Joe’s Ceredo, no violations; JoJo’s Bar and Grill, Huntington, three non-critical violations; K-s Sweet Shop, Lavalette, no violations; Kellogg Elementary, Huntington, 4 non-critical violations; M&P Tavern, Kenova, 1 non-critical violation; McDonald’s No. 14338, Huntington on critical, three non-critical violations, 10-day reinspection, critical corrected.

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OATH OF OFFICE – Wayne County Circuit Court Judge James A. Young administers the oath of office for newly appointed Wayne County Board of Education member Jim McCallister. WCN photo by Diane Pottorff

McCallister takes oath for BOE

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

WAYNE – Former Kenova Councilman Jim McCallister is now the newest member of the Wayne County Board of Education.

McCallister was given the oath of office by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge James A. Young Tuesday during a special meeting of the board. Following the swearing in, President Katie Carey asked all of the assistant superintendents and directors to introduce themselves.

“My pastor has said that you are the sum of all parts of your commitment,” McCallister said. “I have made a commitment to the students, parents, teachers and service personnel to make informed decisions about the school system.”

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Man arrested for drug, weapon, fleeing charges

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

WAYNE – Deputies ended up arresting a Wayne man who attempted to flee while under arrest, during another call.

Cory Alan Griggs, 25, was taken into custody Saturday on two counts of possession with intent to deliver, three counts of possession of a dangerous weapon and fleeing - no vehicle.

Lt. T. Williamson and Sgt. J. Ward of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department were on their way to a burglary call when they noticed a Geo Tracker parked along Bartram’s Fork Road in East Lynn.

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Commission now receivers

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

WAYNE – It is official....

As of Jan. 12, the Wayne County Commission is now the official receivers of the Fort Gay Water and Sewer systems. The federal court filed the ruling several months after the commissioners agreed to become the receivers for the fledgling utilities.

One customer of the Fort Gay Water system asked the commissioners to reimburse her for the damage done to her home due to the water issues. Linda Sluss of Fort Gay told the commissioners she approached town officials asking them to turn her water off as it was damaging her hot water tank.

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Man arrested for vehicle B&Es

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

WAYNE – Several friends decided to spend Sunday riding their off-road vehicles along Lycans Ridge in Genoa.

When they returned, they discovered their vehicles had been broken into and several items were missing.

According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department reports, Billy Dale Tomblin, 19, of Wayne was later arrested by Deputy N. Triplett on three counts of breaking and entering of a vehicle along with three counts of petit larceny.

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Misc

Farmers upset over closure of FSA office

By DIANE POTTORFF
Staff Writer

HUNTINGTON – Many farmers from Wayne and Cabell counties wanted to express their disappointment in the federal government closing yet again, another office in Huntington.

A proposal by the U.S. Department of Agriculture had Alfred Lewis, state executive director of the West Virginia Farm Service Agency, explaining the reasoning behind closing the office in Huntington and transferring it to Hamlin.

Over the past three years, the FSA has faced a variety of budget-related challenges which includes managing the agency trough a period of staff attrition, continuing budget reductions and an ever-increasing workload, Lewis said. In particular, the FSA has undergone major staff reductions since the fiscal year of 2008 through FY 2012.

“Give these staff reductions, the FSA cannot maintain every existing county office location and continue to provide producers the best possible customer service while also providing the support that FSA employees deserve to get the job done,” he said. “We are asked to do more with less.”

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Ron Ferguson

Wayne BOE horse traders make new school a reality

Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a multi-part series intended to promote serious thought and discussion concerning certain problems in our state’s educational system including problems faced by local school boards which represent you, the taxpayer and voter.

THERE WILL BE A NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN CEREDO-KENOVA.

It is a “fait accompli”.

According to the dictionary, the meaning of this term is “something that is already done or decided and seems unalterable.”

And, there will be another school bond levy.

You can bet on it.

When the Wayne County Board of Education Thursday night traded the now abandoned Kenova Elementary School to the City of Kenova for its 99-year lease on the abandoned Ceredo Kenova High School property it assured union leadership would again be able to feast at the West Virginia taxpayer table.

And give the Board credit, with this trade, they really did their job, well–only it’s not the job we elected them to do.

The board negotiators should have been horse traders; you know the ones. Those guys who sell what they call a “sound, tractable young” horse which turns out to be 25-years old and dies of colic the next day.

They traded a city-block which included a school building, forced closed by state officials last May, and in return got property probably the size of three or more city blocks including a football field and stadium, a baseball diamond and a gymnasium (in good shape) with a full basement, a band room AND an abandoned school building.

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Am I a Waynuntingtonmoreland resident?

BY MICHAEL HUPP
Staff Reporter

I have lived in Northern Wayne County for several years minus a few stints in St. Albans, Mason County and a place of undisclosed location due to the witness protection program and ongoing litigation. Messy situation but that’s another story. Each place having their own set of problems, but I have yet to find one locale more unique than Westmoreland – my home for the past two years.

As a homeowner, my property taxes on the house and vehicles go to the courthouse on the hilltop. My municipal fees go to help the budget crisis in Huntington. I pay the extra city tax on goods and services because my physical address is Huntington city limits. I pay them every time I go to Foodland.

The Huntington Police Department vigilantly patrols our neighborhood streets – a fact I am not disputing or making light of. At least they are there. Westmoreland is even included in Huntington’s 2025 Plan.

The 2025 is a comprehensive effort by city leaders to distinguish the desires and needs of each individual district’s residents. Westmoreland is obviously the most easy to distinguish geographically because we are the only neighborhood that is separated by a county line.

You would think that as a Westmorelander or anyone with common sense, but things don’t always appear as they seem.

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DIVORCES

The following divorces were recorded in the Wayne County Circuit Clerk’s Office.

Jason Dale Mead and Christy L. Zirkle Mead

Tommy D. Pitts and Michelle L. Ferguson Pitts

James Wellman and Erin M. Chinn Wellman

Donald Thomas Elkins and Angela D. Miller Ferguson

Roger Neil McComas and Julia F. Skean McComas

Robert Thomas Pennington and Stephanie Michelle Brown Pennington

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MARRIAGES

The following marriage license were recorded in the Wayne County Clerk’s Office:

Brett Allen Preece, 34, of Huntington and Rebecca A. Hay, 32, of Greenup, Ky.

Leonard Pertee Jr., 70, and Margaret Gilkerson, 66, both of Smithville, Ohio

Joshua Alan Gable, 24, and Melissa Dawn Lester, 25, both of Wayne

David Eugene Morrison, 39, and Melissa Ann Harris, 36, both of Lavalette

John Willis Fraley, 34, and Sara Bethany Taylor, 20, both of Ceredo

Patrick Cole Wheeler, 25, and Amber Nicole Cremeans, 24, both of Kenova

David Wallace, 47, of Lavalette and Edwina Gail Fry, 48, of Wayne

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Don Surber

Getting W.Va. to the Super Bowl

Indianapolis hosts the Super Bowl this weekend, which means CEOs will be in town.

Gov. Mitch Daniels hopes to use the occasion to make a sales pitch for relocating factories and the like to the Hoosier State.

His legislature is about to make Indiana the 23rd state to give people the right to work without being forced to join a union or at least pay the dues.

The final vote could come as early as today, and the governor will sign the bill into law immediately.

Right-to-work will be part of his sales pitch to business executives in town for the big game.

“We’ve always seen this as a great opportunity to do our most important job, which is to try to bring more employment here,” Daniels said.

As I read news reports on this development, I wondered, why not here?

Why do people in West Virginia have to pay union dues to get a job at a factory?
That is if they can find a factory.

Plant after plant has shut down because of unions and other problems, most recently part of whatever they call the aluminum plant in Ravenswood.

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Hoppy Kercheval

In Lincoln County, a vote-buyer now runs for sheriff

Old habits die hard in West Virginia, especially when they are the “good ol’ boy” political habits of parts of southern West Virginia.

This month, former Lincoln County Assessor Jerry Weaver filed to run for sheriff.

Weaver knows all about how to win elections. In fact, he helped fix them for years when he served as assessor.

In 2005, Weaver pleaded guilty, along with former Lincoln County Circuit Clerk Greg Stowers, to federal charges of conspiracy to buy votes in elections dating back as far as 1990.

Chuck Miller, the acting U.S. attorney at the time, said: “For too long, the taint of election fraud has hung like a cloud over southern West Virginia. “I hope these guilty pleas send a message.”

It doesn’t look like Lincoln County got the message.