Trial for ex-Marine in abduction case

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A Cabell County judge says there won’t be any more delays in the case of a former Marine accused of abducting a teenager from the Milton Flea Market in 2005.

Circuit Court Judge Dan O’Hanlon on Friday scheduled an Aug. 17 trial for 46-year-old Michael Brown.

Brown is accused of abducting Lu Jin from the flea market in October 2005. Authorities say Jin, who was 19 at the time, escaped and wasn’t injured.

Brown was indicted in January 2006 on kidnapping and grand larceny charges. Seven trial dates had been set since then but the proceedings were delayed.

He was involuntarily retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 2006 because of misconduct while deployed in Japan. According to court documents, he now lives in McKavett, Texas.

Tractor Show set for June 19-20

IRONTON — The eleventh annual Lawrence County “Ironmasters” Antique Show will be June 19 and 20 at the Ironton Hills Plaza on the corner of State Route 93 and U.S. 52.

On Friday there will be engine running exhibits, a tractor drive at 6:30 p.m. and a camp fire session starting at 9 p.m. Saturday will feature more engine running exhibits, a tractor parade at 11 a.m., afternoon games and a kiddy pedal tractor pull at 3 p.m.

There is no admission to the event. For more information, contact Lee Nance at (740) 533 1925 or Don Mootz at (740) 532 4974.

ODOT announces traffic projects

LAWRENCE COUNTY — County Road 1 (Old U.S. 52) is closed between the 9.32 and 9.48-mile markers for a dual bridge replacement project.

The project site is located just south of U.S. 52 and its junction with C.R. 144 (Charley Creek Road) at Sybene. Throughout construction, traffic will be detoured into the village via T.R. 276 (Sandusky Road), and all traffic will be maintained within the community. The scheduled completion date is October 15.

A slip repair project is under way at the 4.50-mile marker on S.R. 7, approximately one mile north of Chesapeake. The project site is situated off the south (right) side of the highway, between S.R. 7 and the Ohio River.

There should little to no impact to traffic on S.R. 7; however, C.R. 3 (Old S.R. 7) will be affected by this project and traffic will be maintained by flaggers. The scheduled completion date is June 30.

S.R. 217 is reduced to one lane between its junction with S.R. 218 and S.R. 7 for a two-lane resurfacing project. In addition, S.R. 218 will be reduced to one lane between S.R. 217 and the Gallia County line for resurfacing.

Throughout construction on both routes, traffic will be maintained in one lane with the use of flaggers when crews are at work.

Construction for a bridge repair and resurfacing project on U.S. Route 52 has resumed, and contractors will be completing paving operations from the state Route 650 exit at Hanging Rock to the eastern corporation limit of Coal Grove.

Traffic will be reduced to one, 11.5-foot lane in each direction.

As part of this project, two lanes of northbound traffic on the 13th Street (Ashland, Ky.) Bridge will be reduced to one, left-turn lane to mitigate traffic from the bridge to a single, westbound lane on U.S. 52; the right-turn lane on the bridge will not be affected by this project.

The scheduled completion date for all work is August 31.

IPA to hold public meeting June 11

IRONTON — On June 11, the Ironton Port Authority (IPA) will hold a public meeting to discuss the ongoing work associated with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) $200,000 Petroleum Assessment Grant that was awarded to the IPA in 2007.

The meeting will be 5 p.m. at the city center, second floor.

The grant money was awarded to assess abandoned and former gas stations or other potential petroleum-impacted brownfield sites within the City of Ironton.

The IPA has completed an inventory of potential petroleum-impacted sites within the City and is open to comments from City of Ironton residents on the addition of other sites to the inventory.

To date, three sites have been chosen for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments. The Public Meeting will include a discussion about the ongoing assessment work, the next step in the assessment process, and comments or concerns from attendees.