County roads closed due to slip, culvert

County Road 32 will be closed at mile marker 2000 until further notice due to a landslide that has made the road impassable.

County Road 64 will also be closed at mile marker 1490 due to a collapsed culvert until county crews can get it replaced.

 

Lawrence Street Bridge reopens

IRONTON — County Road 22 (Lawrence Street) in Ironton is now open to traffic.

Crews from DGM Inc., expedited their efforts in a bridge replacement project over Little Storms Creek, reopening the route more than 10 days ahead of the scheduled Sept. 2 opening, a press release from the Ohio Department of Transportation District 9 stated.

Although the contractors have finishing work to complete, the route will remain open to traffic.

Traffic will be maintained by flaggers when crews are at work.

The project to put in a single-span concrete box bridge began on June 3.

The more than $900,000 project, under the supervision of ODOT, raised the bridge and road five feet to place it out of the flood zone.

 

Naval ship crew sought for article

The historical landing ship tank USS LST-325 will be at the Port of Ashland from Thursday, Sept. 5 through Monday, Sept. 9.

If you or anyone you know served on this ship, please contact Brandon Roberts at The Ironton Tribune by calling (740) 532-1441 ext. 14, or e-mail brandon.roberts@irontontribune.com.

 

Traffic stop leads to seizure of cocaine

LUCASVILLE — A Columbus woman is facing felony drug charges following a traffic stop Thursday night in Scioto County.

Ohio State Troopers stopped a 1999 Pontiac Grand-Am on U.S. 23 in Lucasville at approximately 8:05 p.m. for a moving violation.

Criminal indicators were present, a release from the OSHP stated, and after questioning the passenger, she allegedly admitted she was concealing contraband on her person.

At the Portsmouth post, the passenger voluntarily forfeited about 84 grams of suspected cocaine and eight grams of suspected marijuana. The contraband has a street value of $8,500.

The passenger, Shameka A. Gavin, 27, was charged with first-degree possession of cocaine and cited into Portsmouth Municipal Court.

 

 

Cabell Huntington hospital taking over community kitchen

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) ­— The community kitchen born of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” TV show will reopen Sept. 14 under new ownership.

Cabell Huntington hospital has had a financial role in Huntington’s Kitchen since it began in 2010, but marketing director Doug Sheils says the hospital is now taking over.

He tells West Virginia Public Broadcasting that will mean even more resources for the community than the nonprofit Ebenezer Medical Outreach group could provide.

The mission of teaching people about how to cook healthier food will continue.

Though there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to show the kitchen is working, Sheils said one of its shortcomings has been the inability to actually quantify those results. So the hospital will be following up with cooking class participants.

“That’s one of the weaknesses that we have had, is to be able to prove the return on investment that we’ve made,” Sheils said.

But he’s not critical of how others have run the program.

“We’re really kind of pioneers so to speak in developing a program like this, so we’re learning on the fly,” he said. “There’s not a text book that tells you how to do this kind of kitchen and so we’re learning from our mistakes. We’re building upon them and trying to do the best that we can.”

Cabell Huntington has also formed an advisory panel to help grow community involvement and to develop new classes that address chronic disease.

Ebenezer decided to give up managing the kitchen because it needs to focus more on its medical services, where it’s bracing for an increase in demand and patient load under the federal Affordable Care Act.

 

Two West Virginia hospitals in talks about partnership

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Cabell Huntington Hospital and Pleasant Valley Hospital in Point Pleasant are discussing a possible partnership.

The hospitals announced Friday they’ll work over the next three months toward an agreement.

A news release says the 201-bed Pleasant Valley Hospital will continue providing hospital, nursing home and rehabilitation services.

Cabell Huntington has 303 beds and cares for patients from more than 29 counties in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio. It is affiliated with Marshall University’s schools of medicine and nursing.

 

BCPL game and movie night part of Labor Day events

CATLETTSBURG, Ky. — Boyd County Public Library will sponsor a game and movie night on Saturday, Aug. 31, as part of the Labor Day weekend festivities in Catlettsburg.

The BCPL events will take place in the parking lot of the Boyd County (UK) Extension Office at 25th and Center streets. Games and crafts will start at 6 p.m.

At 8:30 p.m., there will be an outdoor showing of the 1975 Disney movie, “The Apple Dumpling” gang.

The movie, rated G, stars Don Knotts, Bill Bixby and Tim Conway. It is about three orphans who strike gold in 1878 California.

The Catlettsburg Branch of BCPL, located at 2704 Louisa St., will be open during the day Saturday (it is normally closed on Labor Day weekend), from 1 to 5 p.m.

All BCPL branches will be closed on Monday, Sept. 2, in observance of Labor Day.

For more information on all library programs and services, visit www.thebookplace.org.

 

AK Steel reaches $1.6M settlement

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — AK Steel Corp. is paying a $1.6 million civil penalty to resolve air pollution violations that occurred at its now-closed coke plant in Ashland.

The settlement also calls for AK Steel to spend at least $2 million to improve emissions at its Ashland West Works facility.

The Independent in Ashland reports Kentucky will receive $25,000 of that penalty.

The West Chester, company said in a statement Wednesday that the settlement was reached “without admission of the alleged violations by AK Steel.”

Robert Dreher with the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division says the settlement holds AK accountable for years of violations at the plant. AK Steel closed the coke plant in June 2011.