Local group to present free concert at Rotary Fountain

Kelley’s Bridge Band is offering a free concert of traditional music at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Rotary Fountain area at Third and Center streets in downtown Ironton.

Bandleader Bruce Brown said, “Anyone attending should bring a lawn chair.”

This is the second concert the group has offered at the Rotary Club pergola, the first being in August of last year.

“That concert was well-attended and we hope a good-sized crowd comes this time,” said Brown.

Kelley’s Bridge has five members, including Brown, who plays violin and mandolin; Hub Rose (guitar and Irish drum), Christine Hunt (pennywhistle), Fay Reinhart (keyboard and harp), and Tim Lester (bass guitar).

“We have a few vocals with Hub or Chris, but we’re primarily an instrumental group,” said Brown. “We like to play the old jigs, reels, strathspeys, polkas, and waltzes that were popular in the Isles a few hundred years ago,” he said, “although we also play some other tunes we just happen to like.”

Rotary club representative Rich Mountain said, “The pergola area is in shade that time of day, and the fountain will be turned off during the concert. The Rotary is very happy that Kelley’s Bridge will be using the Rotary Fountain area for a free concert. We have worked hard to cleanup the area to be used for concerts, fundraisers, pep rallies, gospel sings, etc.”

911 getting back to business

IRONTON — Just 48 hours after a Thursday evening lightning strike crippled the county’s 911 center, repair work is getting the emergency systems back on line.

By Saturday afternoon the radios for the EMS and fire department were up and running, according to 911 director Lonnie Best.

The strike happened at 7:20 p.m. forcing the center to route emergency calls through Gallia County’s dispatchers. AT&T crews worked at the Park Avenue center through the night, getting two phone lines up.

Starting Friday morning, Emergitech out of Columbus put in about 12 hours at the center working on the 911 computer system.

“They are not done yet, but the 911 computers are up and running,” Best said.

Emergency calls are still going through Gallia County, but Best expects the county center to start handling calls directly by Monday.

“I was hoping to get the voice back (Friday), but it didn’t work out,” he said.

­— Benita Heath

Accident sends two to hospitals

PROCTORVILLE — Two drivers were taken to local hospitals following a car-motorcycle accident Friday night.

The accident happened at 9:13 p.m. at the intersection of State Route 7 and County Road 403 in Rome Township. A car was northbound on State Route 7 when it struck a motorcyclist going southbound on that road, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Josh Craft.

The woman, who was driving the car, was taken to Cabell Huntington Hospital and the man on the motorcycle was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center with serious injuries, according to Craft.

The accident remains under investigation. The patrol is not releasing the names yet.

— Benita Heath

Chesy man arrested in child abduction

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) ­— Police have arrested a man accused of taking a van with two children inside and fleeing from Huntington. The children were later found unharmed.

State troopers found the van with the children, ages 3 years and 9 months, inside along a road in West Hamlin about 4:15 a.m. Friday.

Media outlets report 41-year-old Brent Travis Collins, of Chesapeake, fled on foot and was later arrested. He was charged with two counts of child neglect causing the risk of injury and was taken to the Western Regional Jail.

Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook says the children were reunited with their mother.

Another man who was also in the van, 37-year-old Steven Huffman, was arrested at the scene and taken to jail. Huffman was charged with obstructing a police officer.