| Yesterday was Samantha Burns' 20th birthday, but it is not a happy day for the Marshall University student's family. She has been
missing since November 11.
Her grandmother, Arlenea Hughes of
West Hamlin, says days like today make
the family's loss even more poignant.
Police have not released any information
to indicate they are close to solving the
case,
although two men who were seen in the area at
the time of Burns' disappearance have
been named suspects.
Branden Basham, 21,
and Chadrick Fulks, 25, are
accused of a multi-state crime spree after
escaping from a Kentucky jail last November.
Fulks is a native of Burns'
hometown, West Hamlin.
The men are awaiting trail for the
abduction of a South Carolina woman
who authorities believe was killed.
''ALIEN" SPECIES INVADING WV FORESTS - More than a thousand non-native plant and
animal species are wreaking havoc on
West Virginia forests, animals and
industries, at an economic cost that's
substantial but difficult to calculate.
The report was released yesterday
by the Union of Concerned
Scientists.
West Virginia forests, which cover
about four-fifths of the state, are
threatened by the well-known gypsy moth
as well as diseases and weeds such as
purple Loosestrife and Japanese stilt
grass.
A senior scientist for the
agency, says fungi and other invasive
species could radically alter the character
of state forests.
FREE HEALTH CLINIC CLOSES - A financially strapped free health care
clinic in Beckley will keep its doors closed
for at least another 30 days, after telling workers to go home.
The clinic provides
health care and prescription services to
about 2,000 uninsured and
underinsured people each month.
TELEMARKETING CONCERNS CLOSE - Applied Card Systems is closing its call
centers in Beckley and Ashland, Kentucky. The company is Raleigh County's biggest employer with 500.
Several hundred workers will apparently lose their jobs in Ashland.
The employees were notified this
yesterday.
Beckley police were called to the company,
but no incidents of violence
were reported.
Applied Card Systems
processes Visa
and MasterCard accounts.
ARRESTS MADE IN CHARLESTON VIOLENCE - Charleston police arrested a city teen-ager Tuesday who allegedly
drove by and shot a man and his dog after the man shouted at him to slow down. The incident happened on Easter Sunday,
with adults and children scurrying for cover at a Rite Aid parking lot.
Joseph Hambrick II, 19, is accused of shooting the man in the leg with a .25 caliber handgun. His dog was hit by two bullets
and died later Sunday.
Another Charleston man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stabbing another man during a Monday night fight at Charleston
Town Center mall. Geoffery Joyce, 21, was charged with malicious wounding. The victim was stabbed two times, in the
back and chest-stomach areas, at the Food Court.
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