Daily Report for Friday, October 24, 2014 *Hit-and-Run Seriously Injures Two Children *Sundowner Will Never be a Gun Range Again *Chemical Maker Opposes Ohio River Drilling Hit-and-Run Seriously Injures Two Children Two small children were injured in a hit-and-run accident in the 1300 block of St. Marys Avenue in Parkersburg around 7 pm Thursday evening. Police are looking for the suspect that struck the two in a four-door red car while they were crossing the street and then fled the scene. Authorities are also looking for anyone who may have witnessed the incident. Five-year-old Isabella Howard and three-year-old Arylla Utt were flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown with serious injuries. Howard remains in critical condition. Anyone with information is asked to call the Parkersburg police at 304-424-8444. (TheNewsCenter) Judge Killed in Accident A former Wood County Circuit Court judge was killed in a two-vehicle accident in Vienna on Thursday evening. 85-year-old Judge Daniel Douglass suffered an unspecified medical issue that led to a near head-on crash at the intersection of Rosemar Road and Millstone Drive. He died at the scene. (News and Sentinel) Settlement: Sundowner Property Will Never be a Gun Range Again A settlement has been reached by the Wood County Commission and owners of the Sundowner Gun Range in a lawsuit over the use of the property. In exchange for payoffs amounting to $65,000 from the Wildwood Homeowner’s Association and the county’s insurer, the landowners have agreed never to operate a gun range at the Gihon Road location again. Further, a restrictive covenant will be added to the deed to prevent future use of the property as a gun range. In response to complaints from homeowners, the commissioners ordered the owners to cease and desist. The business owners in turn filed suit. (News and Sentinel) Feds: Utica Shale Extraction on the Increase A new federal report is revising predictions for Utica Shale production upward – forecasting that more than one and a half billion cubic feet of natural gas per day will be extracted from the Utica next month. The report from the US Energy Information Administration was released on Tuesday. This marks the third report in which the EIA ranks the Utica with other major US shale production areas. (AVC) Guernsey Gunman Gats Gas Workers A Kimbolton man was arrested by Guernsey County Sheriff’s Deputies after shooting at gas company workers who were inspecting a line near his property. 50 year old William Locke was verbally abusive to deputies and uncooperative, so he had to be taken into custody at gunpoint. He was charged with aggravated menacing. (AVC) Local Businesses Lose $500,000 to Scam Federal prosecutors say two Athens County entities lost nearly $500,000 in a health care scam. 61 year old Robert Hartenstein has been charged with seven counts of theft after stealing more than $1.5 million from health care plans he administered over a ten-year period. The Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action Agency lost $384,574 to the scam and O’Bleness Memorial Hospital lost $91,877. Hartenstein created a company called Professional Benefits Association as a third-party administrator of health care benefits. He is accused of spending the money for bonuses, luxury vehicles and entertainment. (WOUB) Belpre Chamber Honors Local Businesses The Belpre Chamber of Commerce honored distinguished businesses at the annual dinner on Thursday evening. Jon Neff of Bob’s Market and Greenhouse was named Citizen of the Year for his volunteer efforts. Joel and Barbara Whitaker, owners of the Unicorn Wine Guild, were awarded the “Dream Big” Small Business of the Year award. Kristin Meeks of West Virginia Social Media Consultants was named Entrepreneur of the Year. (News and Sentinel) Marietta Council Rejects Armory Renovation Bid The only bid that came in for the renovation of the ground floor of the Front Street Armory in Marietta was twice as high as the engineer’s estimate for the project. The bid from Wolf Creek Contracting was rejected by members of Marietta City Council after it came in at $923,013, more than double the engineer’s cost estimate of $417,000. The problem may impact funding for the project, which is time sensitive. A $250,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation may be on the line. (News and Sentinel) Marietta Mourns Phillips Marietta is mourning the passing of Al Phillips – the patriarch of Marietta Wine Cellars. Al and Mary Jane Phillips founded the business in 2000. It burned to the ground in 2010, but the family persevered and grew the business into a successful winery, gift shop and lounge in a new location. Al Phillips lost his battle with ALS last evening. (River City) Colony Film Fest Accepting Submissions The Ninth Annual Colony Film Festival: Focused on Emerging Filmmakers has opened submissions for documentary, drama and animated films. The festival, sponsored by the Hippodrome/Colony Historical Theatre Association, will be held on March 20 and 21, 2015 in Marietta. The competition is open to students and non-students both amateurs and professionals with an additional category for local filmmakers (within 50 miles of Marietta). Awards will be presented for the best film in each category, feature length, short, animated, student, local, and Best of Festival as selected by the panel of judges. Entry fee per film is $25. Submissions may be made on-line at colonyfilmfestival with a deadline of February 23, 2015. Contact:info@colonyfilmfestival or 740.373.0894. (River City) Chemical Maker Opposes Ohio River Drilling As West Virginia considers allowing natural gas drilling under the Ohio River, a chemical maker in Marshall County is fighting the proposal. Axiall Corp is waging a legal battle to prevent Gastar Exploration from fracking wells on Axiall property along the Ohio River because the chemical company has lingering concerns over a 2013 incident it blames on high-pressure fracking fluids used by Triad Hunter to release gas from a well site on the other side of the river. The company says the fracking operation somehow made contact with Axiall brine wells causing a blowout in which brine wells were spewing flammable natural gas. The Axiall Corp had its own plans for drilling along the river – until the blowout. (Read the full story by Ken Ward, Jr here: wvgazette/article/20141022/GZ01/141029671/1419) If you like the River City News Network, please share us with your friends! Visit rivercitynewsnetwork for Daily Report archives (yesterday’s news), movie listings, scanner feeds and more!
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 16:28:46 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015