The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports

BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. -- Following Saturday's soccer games in Barboursville, families from 13 states across the region scoured the Tri-State area looking for the perfect place to sit back, relax and enjoy their Fourth of July holiday.

Soccer legend Tab Ramos coaches N.J. team in Barboursville tournaments7:12 pm

BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. -- When Tab Ramos retired in 2002, the thought of becoming a coach never crossed his mind. Now, seven years later, he's standing on the touchline coaching the U-14 boys team from New Jersey in the U.S. Youth Soccer Region 1 Championships.

First birthday celebrates 'our miracle baby' 8:00 pm

Cross Lanes firm got $200,000 no-bid contract with osteopathic school3:00 pm

Soccer keeps Hurricane family busy

High court's elimination of juvenile referees in court system criticized

Habitat for Humanity recycling entire house

Fourth of July festival organizers fear violence

A deathbed wish fulfilled

Big kids only: Teenagers wanted a place to call their own

FLIPSIDE: 'Twilight' bites into Town Center

FLIPSIDE: 'Transformers' delivers effects, nonstop action

Public comment period for vote-by-mail program

Theater festival adds Sunday night specials

Skull found at W.Va. construction site

Marion County deputy accused of sending nude photos to teen

Bulletin board: July 4, 2009

Church activities: July 4, 2009

Samaritan Inn turns 20

Marines deployed on major mission in Afghanistan

South Charleston mayor reports on successful two years

W.Va. Supreme Court delays ruling in DuPont appeal

Feds: DEP does not properly oversee mining flood prevention

Politics

McDowell delegate vows to stop traffic to protest tolls

For at least one lawmaker, the fight over toll increases on the 88-mile West Virginia Turnpike is not over.

West Virginia charitable pharmacy gets mail-order drug license

A state board says a charitable pharmacy started by Gov. Joe Manchin has become the first of its type in the state to be licensed to ship mail-order prescriptions.

Judge orders monitor on mental health issues

The state will spend millions of dollars on new group homes, day treatment programs, jobs at psychiatric hospitals and other items associated with mental health care under an agreement reached Thursday.

Carte Goodwin may run for Congress

Carte Goodwin, general counsel for Gov. Joe Manchin during his first term between 2005 and 2009, is thinking about running for the congressional seat held by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., since 2000.

New prisons, shorter sentences recommended to reduce Corrections system overcrowding

A governor's commission submitted 14 short- and long-term recommendations to alleviate overcrowding in state prisons on Wednesday.

Business

Utility seeks approval to sell $105 million in bonds

Allegheny Energy is seeking permission to sell about $105 million in bonds to complete a pollution control project at its Fort Martin power plant.

Massey loses last appeal over Cannelton mine

Massey Energy violated federal labor law by refusing to keep union coal miners on its payroll after it bought Cannelton Industries in October 2004, according to a federal court ruling issued late Wednesday.

Soccer tournament will kick $12 million into region's economy

Hotels have been booked for months. Restaurants are expecting a rush. "The economic impact of this tournament is unbelievable," said Terrell Ellis, a fundraiser for the Kanawha-Charleston Soccer Foundation.

Special Reports

Gas plant developers fight TrAIL transmission line

Developers of two natural gas-fired power plants proposed for Virginia and Maryland are fighting plans to build a $1.3 billion electrical transmission line across Northern West Virginia.

Power line was to get more coal, witness tells PSC

Plans for a $1.3 billion power line across northern West Virginia were hatched as a scheme to funnel more coal-fired electricity into eastern cities, the state Public Service Commission heard Wednesday.

Power line deal includes free electricity for some

Allegheny Energy will provide free electricity to certain residents along the route of a $1.3 billion power line across northern West Virginia, under a deal announced Monday afternoon.

PSC testimony: Power line plan lacking

Allegheny Energy didn’t list environmental protections that have been successful in other projects when it filed an application for its proposed $1.3 billion power line across northern West Virginia, according to testimony filed with the state Public Service Commission.

Case for power line weak, PSC experts say

A $1.3 billion power line across northern West Virginia won't help the state and probably won't cure the energy crunch, according to experts from the state Public Service Commission staff.

Public records

On file: June 12-26, 2009

Charleston crime report: May 3, 2009

The following crimes were reported to the Charleston Police Department between April 23 and 29:

On file -- Kanawha County: May 3, 2009

Marriages
Divorces
Property transfers
Bankruptcies
Gun permits

News Columnists

Smell the Coffee: This green house

To my great surprise, I discover I'm an environmentalist.

Mountain Memories

Reliving the Hawks Nest disaster

According to West Virginia Archives & History, workers broke ground March 30, 1930, at Gauley Junction to start construction of the Hawks Nest Tunnel and dam. The tunnel and dam are still in use today, but before the construction was completed, many workers died from breathing the silica dust as they bored through the mountain.

Ugly piece of W.Va. history turns 100

A century ago today, the lynching of Joe Brown, a Randolph County man who shot to death the police chief of Whitmer, made news around the country.

The Bluebeard of Quiet Dell

Seventy-seven years ago today, authorities executed Harry Powers in the former state penitentiary in Moundsville. Before he died, he earned the nickname, "The Bluebeard of Quiet Dell."

The history of Blenko glass and West Virginia entwine

In January, a combination of problems forced the furnaces at Blenko Glass in Milton to turn from hot to cold. The company plans to return to production, at least in a limited way soon. But the company's history stretches back more than 100 years, and the plant's history has entwined itself with West Virginia's history in several ways including the annual production of glassware in honor of West Virginia's birthday.

The Way It Was: Taming the Kanawha, 1910

As you drive down Kanawha Boulevard and enjoy the beautiful vista, try to think back long before you or I were born and imagine when the Kanawha was a wild river.

Police Blotter

Mother arrested after West Side toddler shoots himself in the leg

A Charleston woman was charged with child neglect with injury Friday, after her four-year-old son shot himself in the leg.

Man charged with sending obscene photo via cell phone

FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- A 44-year-old man from Marion County has been arrested in the alleged sending of obscene photos to a 17-year-old girl via his cell phone.

Teen's body recovered from Jackson County lake

STATTS MILL, W.Va. -- Police have identified a Georgia teenager who apparently drowned while swimming in a Jackson County lake.

Putnam man faces six counts of sexual abuse

A Putnam County man has been charged with an additional two counts -- his sixth charge since last week -- of felony sexual abuse.

Hinton residents wonder if suspect is behind arson spree

HINTON, W.Va. -- A man has been charged with setting two fires in Hinton, and residents hope the 19-month string of arsons in their town has ended.

Watchdog

Historic tract for Mon Forest clears funding hurdle

The land is east of Bartow, adjacent to the Staunton-Parkersburg National Scenic Byway -- an unpaved section of the original east-west toll road, built in the 1840s, connecting the Shenandoah Valley with the Ohio Valley.

Four W.Va. sites on 'high-hazard' coal-ash dam list

Coal-ash handling and disposal came under new and intense scrutiny in December, when a huge impoundment collapsed in Eastern Tennessee, sending millions of gallons of liquid power plant waste pouring across fields and homes and into nearby streams.

Guardsmen struggle after alleged chemical exposure in Iraq

Larry Roberta's every breath is a painful reminder of his time in Iraq. He can't walk a block without gasping for air. His chest hurts, his migraines sometimes persist for days and he needs pills to help him sleep.

Insurers purposely cloud data, Rockefeller says

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- U.S. Sen Jay Rockefeller accused health insurance companies on Wednesday of routinely keeping customers in the dark about payments for their health care.

Jackson Kelly faces lawsuits alleging black lung evidence cover-up

The allegations stem from Jackson Kelly's representation of coal companies that opposed the granting of black lung benefits for miners.

Charity Stories

It's not too late to help a kid get to camp

Although we're finished running our daily stories on the individual camps in our 2009 Send-A-Child-To-Camp program, the fund drive isn't over -- and we still have a long way to go to meet our goal.

Arts and sciences camp to have 'green' theme

Creative Capers, an arts and sciences camp for first- through seventh-graders, has been around for 12 years and is still going strong. "Each year we have a new theme for our camp," writes one of the camp's directors, Karen Morriss. "This year, it's Creative Capers Goes Green."

Harps inspire campers at Carnegie Kid's College

It's probably not unusual for a child to grow up without ever hearing a Celtic harp, much less play one. But that's not the case for the children who attend Carnegie Kid's College in Lewisburg.

Kids with diabetes feel comfortable at camp

For most children, feeling as though they fit in -- that they're just like everyone else -- is so important. Imagine, then, what life is like for a child with diabetes, having to carefully monitor what and when they eat, check blood-sugar levels, get insulin injections.

Camp benefits parents as well as children