Flood, nurses strike, deaths make the Top 10 list for 2007

No doubt about it, the alleged torture suffered by Megan Williams was the top story of 2007.

Williams, a 20-year-old Charleston woman, was allegedly beaten, raped and tortured over several days at a trailer in Big Creek by six white individuals, who allegedly used racial slurs while allegedly perpetrating the torture.

The case made national headlines and has spurred two rallies and several activists, such as Black Lawyers for Justice leader Malik Shabazz and Rev. Al Sharpton, to make trips into West Virginia to push for hate crimes against the six individuals.

Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham has worked with federal officials to see if hate crime charges could be pressed against the six individuals, but Abraham and the feds have decided not to go with hate crime charges. Abraham said the state charges carry far more severe sentences if the six are convicted.

The case drew attention as far away as Houston, where a woman is hosting a benefit concert for Williams, with all proceeds going to a fund set up in her name.

The six suspects in the case remain in jail.

The rest of the Top 10 stories of 2007 are:

2. Flooding washes through the coalfields. Again.

It seems like every year the coalfields get flooded. On April 15, many people were flooded in Logan County, as well as Boone, Lincoln and Mingo, after heavy rains poured down on the area.

Nearly three inches of rain fell in a few hours and much of Mud Fork, Stollings, Mount Gay and other areas of Logan County were under water. In Boone County, Danville suffered severe flooding. In Lincoln County, officials kept close watch on a fishing lake dam that threatened to burst, flooding homes in Hamlin.

Gov. Joe Manchin toured the area the next morning and Congressman Nick Rahall also visited flooded areas to see the devastation caused by the rushing waters.

The National Guard was called in to help clean the area and, eventually, many residents moved back into their homes.

3. ARH Nurses strike.

On October 1, nearly 650 registered nurses with the Appalachian Regional Healthcare chain of hospitals walked out and went on strike as contract negotiations broke down.

The nurses took their strike to Charleston to the State Capitol to gain support of delegates and senators.

Eventually, Gov. Manchin stepped in and enlisted the aid of newly-elected Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear. But, despite their pleas to resolve the contract impasse, both sides remained at odds.

After 83 days of picketing, though, the nurses union and ARH agreed to a contract and the strike ended.

4. Logan Mayor Claude Ellis dies in office.

On Nov. 15, the city of Logan lost its mayor.

Claude Ellis, who was in his second term as mayor, died after suffering from complications from gall bladder surgery.

Ellis, a longtime political activist, had been instrumental in getting Logan on financially-stable ground and had started work to restore the beauty to the city.

He was replaced days later by City Councilman Serafino Nolletti, himself a longtime political figure and business man.

5. Three from Harts killed in Huntington fire.

A January 14 fire at a Huntington apartment building claimed the lives of three Harts natives who were trapped inside. Seven people died in the fire. Ben Lucas, 19, Angel Ruth Lucas, 17, and 14-year-old Quentin Lucas, all of Harts, died in the fire.

6. Stream widening and countywide cleanup.

The Logan County Commission took the initiative after the April flooding to bring in some government help. Crews were sent in to do stream widening work that opened up narrow waterways to allow water to flow freely in the stream beds. The work should help control and lessen flooding throughout Logan County, according to Logan County Commission President Art Kirkendoll.

Over the summer, trash dumpsters and dump trucks were brought into the Logan, Man and Chapmanville areas to collect any trash that county residents would haul in. One person dragged a boat into the Chapmanville trash pickup and the county hauled it away for free. The cleanup removed several thousand tons of trash and thousands of old tires in an effort to clean the county of its debris and litter. The commission plans to conduct a similar cleanup effort in 2008, Kirkendoll said.

7. Pioneer Hotel finally razed.

The city of Logan has been working for years to get its dilapidated buildings torn down. Finally, the Pioneer hotel was razed.

The hotel demolition was an issue taken up by past mayors, but it was under the guidance of Claude Ellis that the city finally brought the aging structure down.

8. The search for Timothy Downard.

The first big story of the year was the search for a missing Beckley-area man who had been working in Logan County.

Timothy Downard went missing on the first of January and divers were called in to search the Guyandotte River at Chapmanville. Rescue workers found several clues as to Downard’s disappearance, including a pill bottle, cell phone and bottle of beer on the river bank near the hotel in which he was staying.

Crews and family members searched for several weeks before finally locating his body downstream.

9. Chapmanville Regional High School opens.

The state’s first regional high school opened on the first day of school. Chapmanville Regional High School brought together students from the Chapmanville area and nearly 200 from Harts in Lincoln County. The students were treated to brand-new facilities and equipment in an effort to better aid the learning environment.

10. UPS driver wins $1 million.

In December, Chuck Richardson, a longtime United Parcel Service driver, was reportedly out on a route delivering packages when his wife called with the good news: He’d just won $1 million in the Deal or No Deal second-chance lottery drawing from the West Virginia Lottery.

Several other big stories happened this year, including several drug busts, school bus crashes and robberies.

Massey Energy was hit with a $1.5 million fine in the Aracoma Coal mine fire that claimed the lives of two miners and then the company cancelled its annual picnic that had been held in the city of Logan for the past three summers.

Accused sex offenders were arrested in the coalfields, a fire destroyed a Harts-area convenience store, the town of Man elected new Mayor Jim Blevins, Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College opened its mine rescue training facility and two convicted murderers from Mingo County were given the death sentence, then had it delayed after human rights lawsuits in other states put a hold on nearly all death sentences throughout the country.