Economic woes topped headlines in January

Bad economic news in the Ohio Valley topped the headlines in January.

Local United Steelworkers officials were told in January to expect the shutdown of the Severstal Wheeling plant stretching from Steubenville to Mingo Junction for the entire month of March, affecting about 1,100 union positions and an unavailable number of salaried workers.

Severstal confirmed restarting its massive blast furnace at Sparrows Point, Md., and taking the company's electric arc furnace at Mingo Junction, the last steelmaking furnace in the area, off line. A Severstal spokesman with New York public relations firm Taylor-Rafferty said the shutdown would come in early to mid-February.

However, Ken Aspenleiter, former president of USW Local 1190 at Steubenville, said the order book had picked up and he anticipated enough work to carry the plant through February.

The shutdown is expected to be temporary, both union and company officials have said. However, as of this month operations at the plant had not resumed.

Also in January, the Indian Creek Local School District Board moved forward with its first project to be completed outside of the bond issue that was passed during the Nov. 4, 2008, election.

Board members passed a resolution declaring urgent necessity, waiving competitive bidding and authorizing an agreement for a pre-engineered building to provide space for the high school band.

Atkins noted the current band room was not large enough to hold its 150 students. The 6,000-square-feet modular design provides "more than enough room" for the band, Watkins said.

In other news in January:

Follansbee Mayor Tony Paesano in January received news from Paul Mattox, West Virginia commissioner of highways, that the state Department of Transportation had planned repairs to the Market Street Bridge, including the span's towers, cables, hangers and deck in order to maintain its 5-ton weight limit.

The news came after city councils from Follansbee and Steubenville, Brooke County Commission, local representatives to the West Virginia Legislature and other area officials petitioned for the span to be kept open for as long as possible.

The West Virginia Division of Highways recently announced the Market Street Bridge will be closed Jan. 11 so crews with Ahern and Associates of South Charleston can begin repairs to the span.

Steubenville Police investigated the shooting death of Torre Carter, 35, on Jan. 9.

City Police Chief William McCafferty said Carter was shot around 12:30 a.m Jan. 9 while trying to enter a house at 1245 Arlington Ave.

McCafferty believes the shooting was a setup and the shooter or shooters were waiting for Carter based on evidence at the scene.

The murder has yet to be solved.

Weirton Medical Center announced it would lay off an undetermined number of employees totaling 36 full-time equivalent jobs in January.

The cuts were to come across union, non-union and management positions in a number of departments, the hospital said.

At the time the hospital said the job reduction would result in annual savings of $2 million.

Dr. Joseph P. Endrich, president and chief executive officer, said the outcome resulted from a five-month operational review to identify areas where patient care could be provided more efficiently at a lower cost.

The Jefferson County Regional Airport Authority Board of Trustees focused on five pending project proposals to spend anticipated upcoming federal stimulus money during its meeting in January.

An update to infrastructure at the Jefferson County Industrial Park was discussed, along with an extension of the current air park runway to 5,000 feet. The completion of a parallel taxiway and construction of a new air park hangar also were discussed as possible projects. The installation of an automated weather observation system was discussed as well.

Board members estimate the construction of the basic shell for a new hangar's cost at about $55,000, while the projected cost of a completed hanger would be about $100,000.

Board members also discussed formulation of a new 20-year plan for the air park as required by the Federal Aviation Administration. The plan would replace the first 20-year plan for the air park.

Approximately 175 hourly and salary employees lost their jobs at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort as the company prepared to deal with a poor economy and increased competition from similar operations in Pennsylvania.

Mountaineer's President and General Manager Jack Sours announced 8.6 percent of the Chester-based operations would be reduced.

Sours indicated the gaming industry in West Virginia would be seeking changes in state law to allow slot operations in the Mountain State to be more competitive with Pennsylvania gaming businesses.

Action taken in Columbus Jan. 31 allowed the expansion of Wildfire Motors to proceed, adding as many as 100 new jobs to its employment roll.

Actions were taken by the Ohio Tax Credit authority on a $246,505 tax credit and by the Ohio Development Financing Advisory Council on a $750,000 loan for Wildfire, which designs, imports, distributes and partially manufactures Chinese-sourced products at its facility in the Jefferson County Industrial Park off county Road 43.

It was announced the United Way of Jefferson County met its 2009 campaign goal of $450,000.

The announcement in mid-January came as welcome news from Nancy Jo Grim, who assumed the executive director's duties the first of the year.

Area officials were assessing the economic and travel ramifications of the permanent closing of the Fort Steuben Bridge on Jan. 15.

The 80-year-old Fort Steuben Bridge, designated for demolition later this year, was declared permanently closed in mid-January because of deteriorating conditions of the span's deck plates.

The permanent closing of the Fort Steuben Bridge came as business representatives from Jefferson County and Weirton prepared to meet in an open forum for an update on the current status of the Fort Steuben, Veteran's Memorial and Market Street bridges as well as provide an opportunity for members to ask questions on the potential impact to commerce traffic in the Upper Ohio Valley.

Residents who have battled the Apex Landfill and plans to expand operations at the solid waste facility took their case to a local court.

Nearly 200 residents living near the Apex Landfill filed suit Jan. 20 asking a Jefferson County judge to stop a request to expand the landfill from increasing its operations.

The lawsuit, asking for a jury trial and monetary damages, was assigned to Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Bruzzese Jr.

The 191 plaintiffs listed in the 40-page document also are seeking monetary damages citing, "fumes, gases, vapors, odors and chemical emissions that have migrated from the Apex Landfill into the plaintiffs' air supply, water supply and property."

The lawsuit still is ongoing.

Two years after the shooting death of her son, Kelly Schoonover was still looking for answers and justice. Approximately 20 friends and family members gathered for a candlelight vigil outside of the Kendall Avenue house where Joshua Schoonover was gunned down in the early morning hours on Jan. 21, 2007. Steubenville Police Chief William McCafferty said the murder case is still "a very active investigation."

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 1 named city police detective John Stasiulewicz officer of the year.

"John has been a great mentor to me personally and when we started talking about nominations for the award the decision was unanimous. He was instrumental in solving the Spanky Wade murder case and bringing peace to that family and now 22-years after Jill Howard was murdered that case is also solved because of John's tenacious and relentless pursuit of justice," declared Shawn Scott, chaplain for the FOP lodge at the time.

A suspect was arrested and charged in connection with a robbery that occurred Oct. 22 at the Toronto American Legion Post 86.

Tom Trifonoff, 61, of county Road 46 was charged through City Police Prosecutor Mike Calabria with one count of felony safecracking; one felony count of grand theft; and one count of felony tampering with evidence after Trifonoff allegedly confessed to stealing an undetermined amount of money from the Legion, according to Patrolman Charlie Daniels.

Police said he confessed to the alleged robbery after again being questioned by police. Trifonoff in November pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to six months at the Eastern Ohio Correction Center.

Police arrested a suspect in connection with a series of break-ins at the Toronto Apothecary Pharmacy in January.

Thomas R. Smith II, 24, of 15657 state Route 152, was arrested Jan. 9 at his residence by City Police after an investigation into the three brazen robberies. Smith was charged Jan. 12 with three counts of felony burglary by Police Prosecutor Mike Calabria, according to Patrolman Rick Parker.

The pharmacy on Franklin Street was broken into twice in December by someone who tried to first smash the front window before crawling through the drive-by window in the back of the building. Bottles of prescription cough syrup were taken, according to police. The bandit struck once more on Jan. 7, again crawling through the drive-through window. Locals and police had dubbed the suspect "the cough syrup bandit," and what was stolen "wasn't just over-the-counter stuff," said Parker. "It contained codeine."

Thomas was sentenced in March to six months in the Eastern Ohio Correction Center and four years' probation.

The Mary H. Weir Public Library was awarded $5,000 in grants by the the West Virginia Library Commission for programming and technology, including a bilingual literary station.