Proctorville fire department sets demo derby

The Proctorville Volunteer Fire Department will have its 10th demolition derby Saturday starting at 1 p.m.

“It is one of our fundraisers,” Charlie Green, a member of the department, said.

Money raised from the event will go toward buying gear for the department.

The derby will be at the arena behind the VFW Bingo Parlor on Route 775. All participants have already registered.

Admission is $8 at the gate with doors opening at 9 a.m. Refreshments, including hot dogs and hamburgers, will also be sold.

Beard Mortuary hosts Ohio University students

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Beard Mortuary played host to a group of students from Ohio University on Monday. The students, under the direction of instructor Dr. Darlene Daneker, are studying grief counseling and issues related to death and dying.

Funeral director/embalmer Shane Ritchie addressed the group about the duties of a funeral director and the operation of a funeral home, followed by a tour of the facility.

Dr. Daneker believed that the visit was a very positive experience for her students, many of whom had never been inside a funeral home before, by taking away the mystery surrounding funerals and funeral directors; allowing them to see that the work done by funeral professionals, while confronting death, is really more about celebrating life.

St. Mary’s to have free flu shot drive thru

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — St. Mary’s Medical Center, in conjunction with the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, will have a free flu shot drive thru on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 8 to 11 a.m. (or while supplies last) at St. Mary’s Center for Education at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 29th Street in Huntington.

Flu vaccines will only be offered to those 18 and older. Vaccines cannot be given to those with a latex allergy, egg allergy, fever or organ transplant recipients.

Wind energy efforts shift from WVU to Marshall

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A wind-energy research group is moving from West Virginia University to Marshall University.

The state Division of Energy announced the change Wednesday.

Marshall’s Center for Business and Economic Research will take over the Wind Working Group.

Director Christy Risch recently completed a review of state policies that are needed to promote the industry for the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The Wind Working Group is focused on developing new opportunities for the industry and determining whether they’re economically viable.

It includes wind developers, regulators and environmental groups, economic development groups, land owners, scientists and others.

It convenes again in September 2012.

W.Va. sewage hauler indicted in illegal dumping

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A commercial waste hauler convicted of illegally dumping sewage and portable toilet waste in 2003 has been indicted on new charges.

Francis Zuspan was indicted Wednesday on charges he illegally discharged sewage into a public treatment plant in Mason, a violation of the federal Clean Water Act. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison and daily fines of $100,000 for the violations.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says Zuspan knowingly pumped untreated waste into a pipe that was part of the town’s treatment facility in February. That caused an equipment malfunction and a temporary shutdown of the plant.

Zuspan declined comment.

He was sentenced to 20 days in jail and six months home confinement after his 2003 conviction. It, too, involved Mason’s plant.