Thursday, March 20, 2014
Putnam wins regional math contest, Page 9
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50 Cents Volume 145
The DSI Landfill in Hurricane ceased its acceptance of tankers of water tainted with MCHM over the weekend.
Tainted water dumping stopped By Kelly Stadelman kelly@theputnamstandard.com
The DSI Landfill in Hurricane stopped accepting tankers of water tainted with MCHM from Freedom Industries after the city of Hurricane served the company legal papers, Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards said. “(On Friday) DSI was served legal papers advising them of the injunction that will be filed first thing Monday in the Circuit Court of Putnam County, which was required prior to the hearing,” Edwards posted on his Facebook page. “I'm hopeful that the Court will approve the injunction to keep this from continuing.” Before the court had the chance to intervene, however, Waste Management announced Saturday it would cease taking any additional MCHM waste at the DSI Landfill in Hurricane. “We understand the sensitivity of this issue and we want to alleviate any concerns that residents SEE LANDFILL ON PAGE 4
HOW TO REACH US PHONE: (304) 743-6731 FAX: (304) 562-6214
l Issue 11
School board considers calendar options By Kelly Stadelman kelly@theputnamstandard.com
The Putnam County Board of Education is considering two calendar options for the 2014-15 school year. Both draft options have students starting the school year on Aug. 20 and have 180 full days of instruction. The first option has school ending on June 4, and the second option has school ending on June 9. See page 11 for calendar options. “While 180 days has always been our goal it has never been sanctioned,” said Dr. Cindy
Daniel, assistant superintendent curriculum and instruction. “Beginning with the 2014-15 school year it is a requirement that all students must have 180 days of instruction.” The board held the first of two public hearings on the 2014-15 calendar Monday night. The second public hearing will be 7 p.m. April 7 before the board adopts a calendar. Randy Short, a Hurricane High School parent, expressed his concern about students getting enough instructional time for advanced placement course with the second semester beginning on Jan. 21, instead of following
Christmas break. “I’m in favor of block scheduling, but the advanced placement class only meets for a half a year at a time,” he said during the public hearing. “The classes are twice as long, so for every day they are out of school that is two days of educational time missed for AP classes. “Now we are looking at moving our calendar later and that is good for all the rest of the educational term, but for the AP classes it puts in a crimp.” He mentioned the surrounding counties have an earlier start date, which helps AP students. He noted that the AP testing dates
are set nationally and are always scheduled for the first two weeks of May. “She’ll be 20 days short of instructional time when she takes the tests,” he said of his daughter. “While Putnam County has had success with AP classes, one of the measuring sticks that Newsweek, etc., uses to measure schools is the successful completion of AP classes. “They will already have had the testing when those make-up days are available for the school to use.” Superintendent Chuck Hatfield SEE CALENDAR ON PAGE 11
Events Teays Valley VFD adds ambulance service, celebrates 50th anniversary highlight Civil War
By Kelly Stadelman kelly@theputnamstandard.com
The Teays Valley Volunteer Fire Department is celebrating its 50th anniversary by continuing its community programs and enhancing its offerings. “We are proud to be very involved in our community,” Cpt. John Smoot said. “Our goal is to provide a better service to the community.” One new service the fire department will provide is a nonemergency ambulance transport service. “We will be able to take people to doctors appointments and take them home from the hospital,” he said. “We should have it up and running in another month.” The department has already received certification from the state for its three ambulances. It also has drivers and EMTs. “All of the ambulances passed inspection with flying colors,” he said. “We are waiting on our
Madison Ragalyi helps Ezra Johnston and Alea Ragalyi with craft projects during the Teays Valley Volunteer Fire Department open house on Saturday. Medicare and Medicaid numbers from the state. Once we have that we’ll be ready to go.” The fire department received a two-year grant to help get the new endeavor up and running. “We will work during the next two years to make our ambulance service as effective as pos-
sible,” Smoot said. “By the end of the second year of the grant, the goal is for it to be self-sustaining.” For information on the new service people can call 304-7577075. Once the service is operaSEE VFD ON PAGE 8
Putnam County will host its annual Civil War Weekend on March 28-30. This event actually commemorates two engagements of the Civil War separated by a space of several years - Battle of Scary Creek on July 17, 1861 and The Blue & Gray Skirmish at Hurricane Bridge on March 28, 1863. Putnam County was actually a border county, in a border state. This meant that geographically the county was near the dividing line between the North and South. Neighbors, friends and even families were divided over the deep issues. The area became a scene of wild excitement and great confusion. Issues were argued, tempers flared and young men left home to enlist for the cause they held to. SEE WEEKEND ON PAGE 2
POCA, HURRICANE BOYS BASKETBALL TEAMS COMPETE IN STATE TOURNAMENT. PAGE 7 AND 8 VISIT WWW.THEPUTNAMSTANDARD.COM TO GET RESULTS FROM THE GAME