Top ten events that helped shape Roane County life in 2007
By David Hedges, Publisher
www.thetimesrecord.net
There was no shortage of news, both good and bad, in Roane County during the year 2007.
A review of the past 12 months by the news staff of The Times Record and Roane County Reporter produced this list of the top 10 news stories of the year.
#1 Record jury verdict
Some called it the shot heard 'round the world, at least as far as the world of class action lawsuits and natural gas ownership rights are concerned.
In January, a six-member jury in Roane Circuit Court returned a record-setting $404 million verdict in a lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 10,000 natural gas royalty owners in the state.
The suit claimed Columbia Natural Resources and related companies defrauded royalty owners out of payments for gas taken from their wells. Chesapeake Energy, which purchased CNR two years after the lawsuit was filed in 2003, said the ruling would be appealed.
The verdict in the first class action lawsuit ever filed in Roane County was believed to be the largest award of its kind in state history. It came after a three-week trial that included testimony from 26 witnesses and over 170 documents entered as exhibits and included $134.4 million in actual damages and $270 million in punitive damages.
After the verdict, Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon said the decision endangered future gas exploration in Roane County and the rest of the state as well as Chesapeake's plans to build its regional headquarters in Charleston.
Later that summer, Chesapeake announced it would go ahead with the project in Charleston. The company also continued to pursue gas leases in Roane and surrounding counties.
#2 Spencer Veneer closes
Spencer Veneer told its 132 local workers in June it would be closing its operations.
General Woods and Veneers, the plant's Canadian-based parent company, cited financial difficulties when company officials gave workers only a one-week notice of the shutdown.
The plant opened in October 2000 in the former Norris Industries location in the Roane Industrial Park and later expanded to include an adjacent building purchased from BFGoodrich.
The state and county economic development authorities filed a lawsuit to prevent the company from removing equipment used as collateral on a $2.3 million loan made in 2001 until the company could pay off more than $1.5 million that was still owed.
#3 Guard deployed to Iraq
A band played and tears flowed as members of the local Army National Guard left town for their eventual deployment to Iraq.
After departing by bus on a Saturday afternoon in late July, approximately 50 members of the 821st Engineering Co. joined with more than 100 members of the Summersville unit for two months of training at Ft. McCoy, Wis., before they shipped out for Iraq in October.
#4 Newton building dispute
Residents got into a dispute over control of the Three Forks community building in Newton. After police were called to meetings of the Three Forks Community Action Association on several occasions, and the locks to the building were changed numerous times, the dispute ended up in court.
Treasurer Juanita Linger, who was at the center of the controversy, appealed a magistrate ruling in May that she turn over financial records to the officers elected at the group's annual organizational meeting in June.
About 50 people attended the June meeting at the community building and elected a new slate of officers, while Linger and a smaller group met elsewhere and elected their own set of officers.
The dispute did not end there, as Linger appealed the magistrate's ruling to circuit court, where the lower court's decision was upheld in spite of Linger's protests.
#5 Bank robbery
Police said a Spencer man who tried to rob Traders Bank made off with $63 after holding a straight razor to a bank officer's throat.
David Boothe, the bank's executive vice president, provided the money out of his own wallet after the man walked into the bank and grabbed Boothe from behind.
"I think his intent was to slit my throat," Boothe, who escaped with only minor injuries after a struggle, said.
Police said the suspect left the bank and stopped in a nearby barbershop to have his head shaved in an attempt to hide his identity. The plan did not work, as police arrested Roger D. Chapman, 30, of Prospect Street a short time later only two blocks from the bank.
#6 Principal protest
Shelly Stalnaker resigned as principal of Geary Elementary/Middle School after a group of parents and teachers stepped up complaints about what they saw as a lack of progress at the school.
Roane Board of Education members had tried to calm the growing storm by naming longtime Geary teacher Brenda Chadwell as a part-time assistant principal, but the complaints continued.
Chadwell took over the top spot in November after Stalnaker, who was in her fifth year as principal at the school, resigned to take a job with the state Dept. of Education.
#7 Drought hits area
Roane and 41 other W.Va. counties were part of a drought emergency declared by Governor Joe Manchin in June. According to the USDA, pasture production in Roane was down about 50 percent from the lack of rainfall, forcing many farmers to sell their livestock.
The drought continued into the fall, when Charles Fork Lake, Spencer's primary water source, was down nearly eight feet from its normal levels.
Long after the growing season was complete, the rain finally started to fall in December, when nearly double the rainfall was recorded as compared to the same month in recent years. That brought the lake up to normal levels and gave farmers some hope that next year would be better.
#8 Estate disputes
The estates of two prominent Spencer women ended up in court.
A lawsuit filed against Spencer Mayor Terry Williams regarding the estate of longtime Spencer City Council member Elsie Daugherty was finally settled as the two sides reached an agreement.
Family members had challenged a revised will Daugherty signed only hours before her death that named Williams not only as executor of the estate, but also administrator of a trust, the new will set up.
As part of the settlement with Daugherty's nieces and nephew, the trust was to be dissolved, which meant Williams would not draw an annual salary as administrator. Williams was allowed to remain as executor, although his share of the nearly $1.8 million estate was limited to $55,000.
In an unrelated case, the executor for the last remaining family member of a prominent Spencer physician found herself in court for allegedly taking money from the estate.
Joyce Conrad has been asked to repay most of the $300,000 she took from the estate of Hazeldeane Gordon, daughter of deceased Spencer physician Dr. A.T. Gordon.
The bulk of the estate, appraised at more than $2.5 million, was supposed to go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Conrad's attorney told the court she had put her farm up for sale to repay the money she owed.
#9 Kellwood developments
One part of a Spencer landmark found new life, while another was being torn down as the year came to an end.
The Kellwood knitwear plant, idle since the business closed its doors in 2000, had been controlled by five sets of owners before agreements were reached to turn the various portions of the property over to the Roane Economic Development Authority.
One part of the plant has been used for storage by the local Armacell manufacturing plant, while Harris Oil began using another portion of the building in 2007.
At the end of the year, two other sections, which previously housed the cutting department and the dye house, were being torn down to pave the way for future development prospects.
#10 Spectacular fire
A huge blaze consumed a building on Spencer's east end that was used by three businesses.
The fire in the early morning hours of Monday, July 9, destroyed a 5,000-square-foot building on East Main Street that housed the Floor & More carpet store and a coin-operated laundry downstairs and a furniture warehouse in the upstairs portion.
More than 30 firefighters from Spencer and Clover worked for several hours to extinguish the blaze, a task made more difficult by the fact that more than a hundred pieces of bedding, including mattresses and box springs, and several pieces of furniture were stored upstairs. The items were owned by McIntosh Hardware, Furniture and Appliance.
Losses to the building and contents were estimated at a minimum of $750,000.
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