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LEWIS COUNTY COMMUNITY GUIDE Serving all of Lewis County, West Virginia
Copyright 2019
Jane Lew resident earns Milken award
Brian Allman
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
(681) 533-8458
Miracle on Main Street
PHOTO SUBMITTED
BUCKHANNON - History is a gas for students in Lewis County native and Jane Lew resident Brian Allman’s sixth-grade class at Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School. Almost literally, as it turns out. Allman simulates a nerve gas attack in his social studies class to give students at Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School the flavor of a soldier’s dire predicament during World War I. It’s just one of the many ways Allman makes what could seem like dusty old history spring to life for his students. Whether it’s guest speakers for Holocaust Remembrance Day or a field trip to a Native American burial ground, Allman puts his students in the historical moment and helps them experience it—then shows them how to apply the lessons going forward. It’s working. Buckhannon-Upshur students are thriving in regional and state social studies competitions and applying their enhanced critical thinking skills to all their academic endeavors. Yet it was Allman experiencing a dramatic moment of personal history at a recent surprise school assembly where he was presented with a Milken Educator Award by CEO of the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching Dr. Candice McQueen and West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Dr. Steven Paine. An appreciative Allman was named a 2019-20 recipient of the national recognition, which comes with an unrestricted $25,000 cash prize. He is the only Milken
JOHN CLISE/Lewis County Community Guide
Brian and Tracy Piret, to the left, of Vincennes, Indiana, were in Weston for the Miracle on Main Street celebration over the weekend. The couple noted their enjoyment of the event and how much they liked Weston. Brian Piret noted it is a “great little town with a lot of historical personality.”
SJMH recognized Weston woman with Baby-Friendly arrested on drug Designation
charges
See Milken on Page 5
Sanitary board requests your help
By John Clise Editor
JOHN CLISE/Lewis County Community Guide
WESTON - According to officials with the Weston Sanitary Board, items are being put in the sanitary sewer system via toilets causing problems throughout the sanitary sewer system. These items will block main lines, clog pumps and block off personal home/residential lines. It can cost $6,000 to $10,000 to repair a damaged pump and $15,000 to replace a pump. One of the main items causing the biggest problem is disposable wipes, according to officials. Even though these wipes are marketed as flushable they do not break down or dissolve in the sewer and water. They become entangled in the pumps and clog them causing a blockage in the lines. Baby wipes, adult wipes and wipes of all kinds being flushed is leading to system wide troubles. Other products being flushed causing blockages include paper towels, feminine hygiene products, plastic bags, and articles of clothing. Officials ask that you do not flush these items down the toilet. Customers are asked to take note of this information, and to speak with children and others in the household about the importance of not flushing these items. Officials note they appreciate customers and all they are doing to help them keep sewer lines clear. For more information, call the treatment plant at 304269-3489 or the billing office at 304-269-1300.
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Robin Drake, OB nurse manager at Mon SJMH, discusses the hospital’s recent recognition as a Baby-Friendly Designation during a Baby Friendly Celebration and Reception Monday. By John Clise Editor
The recognition comes from Baby-Friendly USA, the accrediting body and national authority for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in the United States, Baby-Friendly USA (BFUSA) is responsible for coordinating and conducting all activities necessary to confer the prestigious Baby-Friendly® designation and ensure the widespread adoption of the BFHI in the US. Much of the program is built on The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding are: Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
Mon Health Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital has announced it has achieved the highly prestigious international Baby-Friendly Designation after a rigorous review process conducted by Baby-Friendly USA, the organization responsible for bestowing this certification in the United States. According CEO Ava Stalnaker, the process included almost every department at the hospital and involved people working tirelessly for months for the recognition of a Baby Friendly designation to happen. “It’s been a long process,” Stalnaker said. “Everyone has worked very hard.” See SJMH on Page 5
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TRUSTED ORTHOPEDIC CARE Robert Erdin, III, MD • Orthopedic Surgeon
Accepting Patients • 29 Hospital Plaza, Weston, WV • 304-269-4431 • stonewalljacksonhospital.com
Kristy Vankirk
WESTON — According to police reports, a routine traffic stop regarding a passenger not wearing a seatbelt resulted in a local woman being charged with possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance. According to reports, Officers with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department initiated a routine traffic stop on a red 1995 Ford Escort on Spring Street in Weston, after observing a front seat passenger not wearing a seat belt. As deputies then approached the vehicle to speak with the passenger, Kristy Vankirk, 39, Weston, the report noted the SATURDAY Rain 50/35
officers encountered, “a strong odor of marijuana,” coming from the car. According to the report, Vankirk admitted to deputies during questioning that she had a marijuana bowl on her person. A search of the vehicle was performed on the vehicle based on probable cause. Deputies reported finding 4.7 grams of methamphetamine, a digital scale and multiple zip-top bags leading to the charge of possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance. She is currently lodged in the central regional jail on a $60,012 bond.
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