CEO bails out Champion Industries with $3M loan

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Chief Executive Marshall Reynolds is bailing out printing and office furniture company Champion Industries with a $3 million loan.

Chief Financial Officer Todd Fry said Tuesday the loan is part of a deal that gives Champion time to amend a credit agreement that it defaulted on last March.

Without the deal, Champion could be required to immediately repay debts that totaled more than $65 million in November.

The credit agreement includes a $70 million term loan and a $30 million revolving credit line that Champion arranged when it bought The Herald-Dispatch newspaper in 2007.

Fry says Champion is using the Reynolds loan and another $3 million in cash to pay down debt and is trying to decide how it will pay another $1 million toward its debt as required by the agreement.

OLBH smoking cessation available

RUSSELL, Ky. — Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital (OLBH) invites anyone wishing to stop smoking to join its free smoking cessation program. Sessions meet Mondays at 6 p.m. at the OLBH Human Motion Vitality Center conference room.

The 12-week program utilizes the proven Cooper-Clayton method to help participants become non-smokers. Sessions are free except for the cost of nicotine replacement or Zyban. Family, friends or other members of an individual’s support system are welcome to attend.

“It often takes more than willpower to become a nonsmoker,” Jean Bowling, R.N., said. “The best way to stop smoking is through a combination of counseling, support and nicotine replacement therapy.

“Regardless of how long people have been smoking, every day they are a non-smoker will improve their health and could add years of quality living.”

For more information, or to register, contact the OLBH CareLine at (606) 833-CARE (2273).

Marshall scientist receives $930,000

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A Marshall University scientist has received a $930,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to acquire a high-end microscope system.

Michael Norton is director of Marshall’s Molecular and Biological Imaging Center. He said Tuesday that the confocal/multiphoton system will replace a 13-year-old microscope.

Norton says the new system will be used by researchers and students for projects in a variety of fields, including neurobiology, genetics, physiology, molecular biology and bioengineering.