Veterans’ photos sought for special November event

County Commission Administrator Tami Meade is collecting photographs of local veterans as part of a Wall of Honor that Hospice of Huntington is spearheading.

The goal is to have photographs displayed during a special veterans program Hospice is sponsoring Thursday, Nov. 10.

Meade is hoping to cover the marble wall on the third floor with the photographs to honor Lawrence Countians who have served in the military.

Only copies of photographs are requested and may be brought to Meade’s office on the third floor by Wednesday, Nov. 9.

— Benita Heath

Ribbon cutting set for North Huntington project

CHESAPEAKE — There will be a ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. Monday to mark the finishing of the long-awaited North Huntington Heights project.

For the past two years, the village had sought funding to rebuild the roadway that leads to a residential area of about 120 houses. Excessive rainfall had caused numerous slides that all but eliminated the road.

The entire project cost approximately $405,000 with 90 percent coming from a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission.

The remainder came from a loan the county commissioners took out at US Bank for 10 years at an interest rate of 4.79 percent. Half of that is to be paid back to the county by Chesapeake.

“It is really a nice road,” Chesapeake Mayor Dick Gilpin said. “It will help the residents immensely. The slippage problem is totally repaired.

— Benita Heath

SSU to host annual gaming conference

PORTSMOUTH — Shawnee State University’s ninth annual Gaming, Simulation and Immersive Technology Conference, Shawnee 9.0, is scheduled with registration from 9 to 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 4 at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts.

The keynote speaker is at 11:15 a.m. and the last session, the Business Incubator, begins at 2:45 p.m. The conference will highlight the opportunities the gaming and simulation industry has to offer.

Shawnee State is a pioneer of education in the gaming and simulation industry, as one of the first universities in the United States to create a gaming and simulation program of study and building a state-of-the-art motion-capture studio.

“The purpose is to expose our local high school students as well as college students to the gaming and simulation industry,” said Coleen Kosan, Shawnee State’s gaming and simulation program adviser.

The conference will host numerous competitions in several different areas of the fields of game art, simulation and design as well as featuring a wide range of speakers.

Jose Araiza, project manager for Sony Online Entertainment, will be keynote speaker at this year’s conference. Araiza began working in the game industry as a tester in 1998, working with Sony Computer Entertainment America on several of their sport titles. His career continued as part of the core group that helped launch the acclaimed Everquest.

Araiza continues to enjoy making contributions to the game industry at Sony Online Entertainment while working on Massively Multiplayer online games like Everquest, Everquest 2, Planetside, DC Universe Online, and currently producing Free Realms PS3.

For more information on Shawnee 9.0 and the gaming and simulation opportunities at Shawnee State University, contact Coleen Kosan at coleen.kosan@gmail.com.

Registration is required for Shawnee 9.0. Visit www.shawnee.edu/gaming to register. Student registration is $25, academic or teacher registration is $75, and non-academic participation is $95.