The following Putnam County-related news and feature items were among those published in recent editions of The Charleston Gazette, Charleston Daily Mail, Saturday Gazette-Mail and Sunday Gazette-Mail:
Nitro woman trying to help dog is struck by tractor trailer and killed
A woman who ran out into traffic to try to retrieve a dog that had been struck dead by a vehicle was killed herself when she was hit by a tractor-trailer in Nitro, officials said.
The incident happened just before 5 p.m. Nov. 17 in front of Tudor's Biscuit World on W.Va. 25 in the section of Nitro that is in Putnam County just beyond the Kanawha County line. Putnam County dispatchers said the woman ran out in front of truck, was struck and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kanawha County dispatchers said the truck driver called for help and initially told them that he'd struck a child. All emergency workers at the scene reported that the victim was a woman, not a child, a dispatcher said.
The woman was identified as Linda Sloan, 50, of Nitro.
Nitro Mayor Rusty Casto said after the incident that he'd been told a group of people had gone out to look for a missing dog when the incident occurred. The group spotted the dog just as it was running into the roadway, he said.
The dog was struck and killed by a passing vehicle, said Nitro Patrolman H.R. Blake.
Traffic briefly stopped and Sloan ran out between vehicles to get the dog, Blake said.
As she was trying to get to the dog, traffic began slowly moving and Sloan was struck by the tractor-trailer, Blake said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
W.Va. 25 was still closed to traffic several hours after the incident.
(Charleston Daily Mail)
Man dies after being hit by train
Dispatchers say a man died after being struck by a train in Putnam County.
Putnam emergency dispatchers said the man, who has not yet been identified, was walking on the afternoon of Nov. 17 along the railroad tracks near the crossing on South Poplar Fork Road in Teays Valley.
He was struck by a passing train about 3 p.m., dispatchers said.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities were investigating.
(Charleston Daily Mail)
Hurricane insurance firm to add 100 jobs
Liberty National Life Insurance Co. plans to add 100 employees at its Hurricane office in the coming weeks, the company said last week.
Liberty National is hiring insurance agents, sales staff and customer service agents in response to a growing demand for its insurance products, said Matt Wehby, the company's recruiting director.
The company specializes in supplemental life and health insurance plans.
"The market is growing so much," Wehby said. "We have a demand for more products, and we have to have more producers."
Liberty National recently secured a contract to sell supplemental insurance plans to state employees in Oklahoma, he said.
The company plans to bid on a similar contract in West Virginia and several other states. It already handles supplemental insurance for state workers in Alabama, and for school employees in Carter County, Ky.
Liberty National, a wholly owned subsidiary of Torchmark Corp. of McKinney, Texas, has thrived amid the economic downturn, Wehby said.
"When the economy goes down, our business booms," he said. "We've seen a big jump in our overall production because people are even more concerned about protecting their assets during turbulent times. We're just really busy right now."
Liberty National, which is licensed in 49 states, has more than 3,000 workers nationwide. The company primarily focuses on selling insurance plans to moderate-income adults.
The Hurricane insurance office was formerly known as United American Insurance Co. - another subsidiary of Torchmark. The name changed to Liberty National last month.
"The biggest market for us is going into small businesses and doing employee benefits," Wehby said.
The Hurricane office currently has about 20 employees. Liberty National agents earn about $61,000 a year on average.
The company might open an additional office and hire more employees in Charleston or Huntington within the next three months, Wehby said.
(The Charleston Gazette)
Witnesses refuse to testify in trial of ex-Poca High coach
Trial has been postponed for a former Poca High School volleyball coach who police say was caught in a Nitro motel room with a female student.
Christopher Miller, 27, was to have stood trial Nov. 16 in Nitro Municipal Court on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Police said Miller allegedly took a 16-year-old Poca High School student to the Nitro Econo Lodge on June 30 after having an argument with his wife. However, Richard Lindroth, who was prosecuting the case, asked Nitro Municipal Judge Shawn Taylor for a continuance. Lindroth told the judge he only had two witnesses in the case, and neither wanted to testify.
Lindroth said Miller's wife is claiming spousal immunity. Under West Virginia law, husbands and wives of people charged with a crime are not required to testify against their spouses.
Lindroth also told the judge that the 16-year-old involved in the case does not want to testify. Miller and the girl have consistently denied having sexual intercourse, and the girl denies drinking with Miller.
Police say Miller's wife discovered the couple in the motel at about 5 a.m. June 30 after she found that Miller had used their online banking account to pay for a room. She found the girl and her husband in the room, where police allegedly found two beer bottle caps in a trashcan.
A preliminary blood alcohol test confirmed that the girl had been drinking, but she said she had not had any alcohol with Miller. Miller said he had been drinking earlier, but not with the girl.
The girl's mother declined to have her daughter tested for sexual activity, police said. The legal age for sexual consent for women in West Virginia is 16.
Miller entered a written plea of not guilty on Oct. 6.
Lindroth told Taylor on Nov. 16 that he needs more time to work on the case and find out if he could force the girl to testify.
Taylor continued the trial until Jan. 25.
(The Charleston Gazette)
ICG says lawsuit over valley fill permit settled
International Coal Group said on Nov. 16 it has settled a lawsuit filed by two environmental groups challenging a federal water quality permit for an Appalachian surface mine.
The deal struck with the Sierra Club and Kentucky Waterways Alliance allows the filling of parts of four valleys with excess rock and other material at its Thunder Ridge mine in eastern Kentucky, Scott Depot-based ICG said.
It also marks a bit of a milestone in the bitter fight over mountaintop removal mining. While highly efficient, the practice is decried by environmental groups as devastating to the environment and Appalachian culture.
Among them is the Sierra Club, which has pushed the President Barack Obama's administration to ban the practice. That hasn't happened yet, though the Environmental Protection Agency is holding up 79 surface and underground mining permits for greater scrutiny and is trying to revoke the permit for one of the region's largest surface mines.
Sierra Club spokesman Oliver Bernstein called the settlement a victory.
"We feel like we achieved the best possible result given the circumstances, and we are pleased that our challenge to the Army Corps permit has led to a reduction in the number of valleys that will be filled with mining waste,'' Bernstein said in an e-mail. "Today's settlement reinforces the importance of federal action to end mountaintop removal coal mining, the sooner the better.''
The corps initially approved five, but later reduced the total by one.
Kentucky Waterways Alliance Executive Director Judy Petersen said the settlement increased protection at the mine and has led the Obama administration to look more closely at valley fills.
"I think we have stopped and/or at the very least delayed a number of valley fills in this state,'' Petersen said.
ICG already has constructed three of the valley fills and said the agreement allows it to proceed with the fourth. In exchange, ICG agreed to plant an extra 150 acres of hardwood trees on reclaimed land at the mine and donate $50,000 to the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
"We are pleased to have successfully resolved the legal issues,'' ICG Chief Executive Ben Hatfield said in a statement. "We look forward to continue working with the Corps to improve the process for reviewing and approving permit applications for both surface and deep mining in a timely manner.''
Government figures show Thunder Ridge produced just over 700,000 tons of coal in 2008 and employs about 70 people. ICG also has mines or coal reserves in West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Illinois.
(Charleston Daily Mail)
School board won't repost job; Buffalo resident questions selection of new baseball coach
A handful of parents in Putnam County are questioning the selection of a new baseball coach at Buffalo High School.
Buffalo resident Mickey Lewis asked the Putnam County School Board in a meeting Nov. 16 to reopen the posting for the position.
Lewis said his understanding is that the new hire does not live or work in Putnam County, and he feels there are more qualified coaches within the county who would take the job at this time.
Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said the board would not repost the position as long as a qualified candidate is accepted within the timeframe specified in the original posting.
Hatfield said he could not disclose the new coach's name last week, due to personal privacy issues.
However, minutes of several past board meetings show former baseball coach Jimmy Tribble resigned from the position at Buffalo High in mid-October and Brian Withrow was approved for the job in early November.
Withrow was not at the Nov. 16 board meeting. When contacted later that night, he said he lives in St. Albans and teaches at Madison Middle School in Boone County.
Withrow has taught for six years and was the head baseball coach at Scott High School in Boone County for two years, he said.
He said he has been trying for some time to get a teaching job closer to his home in Kanawha County.
"I'd been trying to get a teaching job in Putnam County and hadn't been successful, being an out-of-county teacher," Withrow said.
"I thought that might be an in for me, if I get a coaching job there."
Withrow said that prior to his hiring, he had discussed with school officials the potential concerns about him living outside the county and working in another school district.
Lewis questioned at last week's meeting if Withrow would be at baseball practices on time after having to drive to Buffalo from his job in Boone County.
"There is a feasible solution to that," Withrow said Monday night. "By the time my school lets out and (Buffalo) lets out, I will be at practices on time."
Withrow said he had heard similar concerns from other parents and community members, but he believes the situation has been resolved.
"I've talked to a few of the (athletic) boosters and discussed it," he said. "There may still be some question, but I told them I'll meet with them as a group as needed as we go along. I understand there will always be some people who have questions about these kind of things. Hopefully that will reassure them."
Lewis said he does not have anything against the coach but does not think he is the right person for the job when there are qualified coaches within the county.
School board President Craig Spicer said if the position has been posted and the posting is closed, the board can't retrace its steps now.
Hatfield told Lewis the board does not normally respond to such criticisms of personnel issues, but he said, "I will tell you that you have a lot of misinformation, and the posting was done absolutely right.
"I assure you, the person recommended is highly qualified, has no blemish and is a good guy," he said.
(Charleston Daily Mail)
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