STEPHANIE VANDETTA NAMED MARION COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD'S NEW CHIEF

 

Stephanie Vandetta, married to the 4^th of 5 Frank Vandettas in 5 generations of that family, has been named Marion County Rescue Squad Administrator/Chief of Operations.

 

Stephanie’s husband is a North Marion grad with the Monongah Fire Department. They were married in 2012.

 

Stephanie has been assistant Chief of Operations for 8 years and has been with the Rescue Squad since 2009. She survived a covid bout in 2020.

 

Stephanie replaces Michael Angelucci in her new position. He will retire at the end of the year after 22 years with the Rescue Squad.

 

After graduating from Mansfield College in Pennsylvania, Stephanie studied emergency medical services at Fairmont State and once worked at WVU Hospitals.

 

Stephanie Kishbaugh Vandetta once lived in Hazelton, Pennsylvania.

 

Former Monongah mayor Greg Vandetta, Class of 1975, married to Monongahfest president Debbie Manzo Vandetta, Class of 1973, is a cousin of Stephanie’s husband, Frank Vandetta IV.

Country’s Blake Shelton on Fairmonters' helpfulness

I’m not surprised. People in Monongah and Marion County have been helping strangers since I was growing up there, and probably a lot of decades before that.

Anyway, here’s the story:

FAIRMONT, West Virginia – During a radio interview this morning, country music star Blake Shelton took a moment to praise Fairmont, West Virginia residents who had helped him with a mechanical issue with his rental car as he passed through the city recently:

“We were just leaving the city limits of Fairmont, West Virginia when I noticed that we had a flat tire so I pulled over to the side of the road and we were about to call the car company but then just a minute or two later there were two, maybe three cars that pulled over behind us and offered to put the spare on. So I let them. I mean, I was just so impressed that people could be that friendly to pull over so quickly and offer to help a complete stranger. You have to understand that this is something that would’ve never happened in L.A.!” Shelton said with a laugh.

He added later, “And they had no idea who I was before they pulled over. So yeah, that’s my story about Fairmont. It’s nice to know that there are still places like this in America.”

Award for Rescue Squad

Mike Angelucci

The Marion County Rescue Squad got the 2016 Marion County Chamber of Commerce Presidential Award,  Chamber president Tina Shaw announced.

The Rescue Squad started in the early 1970s.

Marion County Rescue Squad Administrator and Chief of Operations is North Marion and WVU graduate Mike Angelucci, whose 

grandfather is the brother of Julie Angelluci, Class of 1953, quarterback in 1952 on the first of five Monongah High state football champs who retired as teacher from the Anne Arundel County school system in Maryland.

Michael lives in Farmington.

Coal decline = hiring freeze

The decline of coal mining affects everyone in West Virginia, not just the miners.

Marion County, for example, gets 15% of its revenue from the county's coal severance tax from two mines in the county. And Commissioner Randy Elliott fears that will decrease.

County commissioners put in a hiring freeze. There are 117 county employees.

White Rock farmhouse fire ‘suspicious’

The Monongah Fire Department battled a “suspicious” blaze Saturday evening, an abandoned farmhouse on White Rock just past old Fisherman’s Wharf.

It was up a gravel road, so access was limited.

Fire departments from Monongah, Pleasant Valley, Barrackville, Boothsville, Worthington and Shinnston and the Marion County Rescue Squad responded to the call.

New city manager for Fairmont

Fairmont City Council chose Clearwater, Florida City Auditor Robin Gomez as its new City Manager.

In Clearwater since 1999, University of Miami graduate Gomez works with a $355 million annual budget.

Gomez has served in this position since December 1999. He’s expected to begin his Fairmont role in November.

48 applied for the Fairmont City Manager job.

Fairmont attacking abandoned property

Fairmont, known for decades as The Friendly City, wants to become the No Long Ugly City.

The city is working with Blighted, Abandoned and Dilapidated Buildings (BAD) to demolish or deconstruct 300 buildings in Fairmont.

Crews demolished the Teamsters building on Jackson Street earlier this week. Interim City Planner Mark Miller says it was vacant for several years and becoming a safety hazard.

Abandoned property is a problem all over Marion County.

Monongah Mayor Greg Vandetta is conferring with the town’s code enforcement officer about what to do when people don't comply after a letter is sent to them about property maintenance violations.

Former Monongah Town Council member Sanford Carr, Rick Sypult and Danny DeNoon, tired of looking at a Camden Avenue (U.S. 19) eyesore, rolled up their sleeves and cleaned up the property. No red tape or waiting for this trio.

Mannington also is armpits deep in abandoned property.

With less than half the state’s civilian population having a job and coal mining being hammered toward extinction by regulations, finding the property owners is a problem because they just up and leave to look for better prospects elsewhere.

At 17.6%, West Virginia has the highest percentage of working-age people on disability benefits, far above the national average of 10.4%, which probably is a reflection, in part, on working in the coal mines, one of the most dangerous jobs in America for a century.

At 41.9, West Virginia has the fourth-highest median age, because the younger residents are seeking employment and a better life elsewhere. And they abandon their property as a farewell gift to their neighbors.

 

Another brush with death for Ashley’s family

Odis Martin of Fairmont, stepfather of Ashley Hunt, and Ashley’s brother and sister escaped serious injury when their Dodge Dakota pickup trust was sideswiped by a Ford F-350 driven by Thomas Augustus of Worthington.

Both cars went over an embankment on Ice’s Run Road in Fairmont.



Ashley Hunt

Augustus was trapped in his car for 30 minutes before being flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. His injuries apparently are not life-threatening.

Wrote Ashley:

“Thanking God my lil brother, lil sister and stepdad are okay tonight! Please pray for the man driving the other vehicle. Holding my family a little tighter tonight. What scary news to get! So thankful!”

Ashley is no stranger to being thankful for family escapes from danger. Her dad, Brian Coleman (Mr. Hoagie), spent four weeks in the West Penn Burn Center after a 2014 fire that destroyed the home of Brian and Ann Coleman.

Eventually, Brian recovered enough to resume his Mr. Hoagie business in several Marion County locations.

Ashley is a Marion County substitute teacher after graduating from North Marion High and Fairmont State. She frequently is involved in charitable work or helping out those in need after a crisis.

Remarkable recycling

Marion County Solid Waste Authority is doing its recyling job so well that it’s overflowing.

No wonder.

There are eight recyclables sites in Marion County and curbside pickups in Fairmont. And Monongalia County recyclables wind up there, too.

The sites are open 24/7 and you don’t have to live in Marion County to drop off recyclables.

MCSWA just wants to get the litter off the roads, out of the homes and off the lawns and into the landfills.

It’s a beautiful thing they’re doing.

Abandoned homes increasing in Monongah, Marion County

Abandoned homes and businesses are becoming a bigger and bigger problem in Monongah, Mannington and the rest of Marion County.

Monongah Mayor Greg Vandetta is conferring with the town’s code enforcement officer about what to do when people don't comply after a letter is sent to them about property maintenance violations.

 

With less than half the state’s civilian population having a job and coal mining being hammered toward extinction by dwindling use of coal and regulations, finding the property owners is a problem because they just up and leave to look for better prospects elsewhere.

You can buy a home in Monongah listed at $24,900, which is less than one-fourth the state’s mean price for homes. There’s one listed in Mannington for $19,900.

At 17.6%, West Virginia has the highest percentage of working-age people on disability benefits, far above the national average of 10.4%, which probably is a reflection, in part, on working in the coal mines, one of the most dangerous jobs in America for a century.

 

Plus a lifestyle that puts West Virginians near the top nationally in obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

At 41.9, West Virginia has the fourth-highest median age, because the younger residents are seeking employment and a better life elsewhere.

When Paula and I drove through East Monongah when we came to Marion County for the 2015 Monongah High Alumni Reunion, we saw abandoned businesses nearly all the way from the Monongah Fire Department to Ann DeMary Eates and Joe Eates' house on Bridge Street.

Monongah is not alone.

The 1868 Bowers Mansion in Mannington is owned by those who live in another state. That makes it difficult to contact them, or even if the town does, to get them to do something about their property. They just walk away from the problem.

Mannington Mayor Jim Taylor said “We have about a dozen or more properties in the city where the owners have abandoned their houses.”

That leads to tall grass in yards and shabby outside walls. And dangerous use of the inside by ne'er-do-wells.

Taylor said it’s tough to notify an owner who doesn’t live in the state any more.

Monongah residents have complained about the abandoned properties, through Facebook and directly to the Mayor’s Office. But it’s not an easy solution for towns strapped for cash anyway.

Fire destroys White Hall home

Monongah Town Recorder Patty Steele McCombs reports:

“Monongah had a structure fire Thursday at Valleyview Drive” in White Hall. Valleyview is off Manuel (Routes 58 & 2), which is west of I-79.

The home was declared a total loss by the Monongah Fire Department. Shawn Parker was among the Monongah firefighters who answered the call.

Home owner Ronnie Jones' son, who was in the basement, got out safely. He suggested a propane tank on the back porch may have started the blaze. 

Winfield, Bunner Ridge, Worthington, Barrackville and Shinnston fire departments also responded to the call.

Sitting empty 25 years, Fairmont’s Spadafore Building will be renovated

Share

Previous Next

The Spadafore Building at Fairmont Avenue and First Street, vacant for 25 years in Fairmont, will be renovated. 

Fuzzy Mammoth Development bought four lots, including the one with the Spadafore building, and razed the red brick building adjacent to the yellow-brick Spadafore Building.

In 1995 the Spadafore with its Art Deco influences was listed as a contributing resource to the downtown Fairmont National Register historic district.

According to a report from the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, a couple years ago the Fairmont Community Development Partnership (FCDP) wanted to purchase the property to create a parking lot for the potential redevelopment of the neighboring historic YMCA building.

Muriale’s named 2015 Small Business of the Year for West Virginia

From left: Marion County Chamber of Commerce President Tina Shaw,
Muriale's owner Rocco Muriale,
SBA W.Va. District director Karen Friel

Muriale’s Restaurant in Fairmont was named U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2015 Family-Owned Small Business of the Year in the West Virginia District.  

Owner Rocco Muriale is a second generation family member.

Muriale’s Restaurant is an Italian restaurant off I-79 that began in 1969. The restaurant was started by brothers Frank and Sam Muriale, their wives, grandparents, and other family members.  

The restaurant seats 300.

SBA’s West Virginia District Office will celebrate Muriale’s award during a luncheon at the Canaan Valley State Park & Conference Center in Davis, Wednesday, May 27 at 11:30 a.m. 

Fairmont Pulp wants more in-state waste

Fairmont Pulp Mill, owned by Resolute Forest Products, 702 AFR Drive, Fairmont, is trying to get more West Virginians to use its facilities.

Forest Resolute Products opened in 2012 and has an estimated $280,000 in yearly revenue and 3 employees. Resolute’s phone number is (304) 368-0900.

Resolute Forest Products’ Fairmont Pulp Mill, one of three of its kind in the world, recycles in Harrison and Marion counties. But only 2% of its waste comes from West Virginia.

“The biggest things we're trying to do is build awareness in the state. Try to get more programs for recycling because the hardest thing is the collection,” said Brian Wilmoth, General Manager of the Fairmont Pulp Mill.

Once the paper is collected it's brought to the mill where more than 200,000 tons of wastepaper is processed per year.

If you want to recycle through Resolute Forest Products they can bring paper right to the Fairmont Pulp Mill or drop it off at the county  solid waste authority.

Black ice caused Worthington accident

Thanks to Jay Holman, Class of 1941, who lives in Carolina and is active with his class's reunions, we know the names of the Worthington wreck victims: Devin Harvey, 26, and Drake Butler, 19, from the Farmington-Mannington area.

Devin Scott Harvey's obituary appears in the Fairmont Times.

Lions stick together to keep us informed, huh? Even if the Fairmont Times put up barriers to it to try to wring a few money pennies out of people who don't even live in the Times' delivery area.

My thanks to Terri Orsini Saye, Class of 1972, who lives in Durham, North Carolina, and June Paxton Rogers, Class of 1948, for providing me a copy of the story in the Fairmont Times, which blocks non-paying customers, even those NOT in its delivery area, from reading the online material without paying for it. This even applies to obituaries, which are NOT the intellectual property of the Times (but of the families who provide the information to the funeral home, forcing me to check out a dozen funeral home web sites daily because the Times blocks free access to the obituaries).

Terri’s parents are Mary Louise Baker Orsini, who started at MHS with the Class of 1948, and Tony Orsini, Class of 1946, who live on Swisher Hill.

The finally revealed Times article on the horrific accident:

FAIRMONT — Two people were taken by helicopter following an early-morning

vehicle accident in Worthington Monday.

Worthington Fire Chief Chris McIntire said black ice may have caused a jeep to

slide across the center line of Helens Run Road.

McIntire said the jeep was then hit on the passenger’s side door by an oncoming

pickup truck.

“The jeep was t-boned,” he said.

Following the accident, McIntire said the driver and passenger of the jeep were

flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital by HealthNet. Crews had to use an extraction

tool known as the “jaws of life” to free the entrapped passenger of the jeep.

McIntire said the driver of the truck refused to be transported to the hospital

but had non-lifethreatening injuries.

The names of those involved have not been released and the conditions of the two

individuals transported to the hospital has also not been released.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Department, Worthington and Farmington Volunteer

fire departments and the Marion County Rescue Squad responded to the accident

Monday.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the accident.

That’s a no-no, judge

Marion County Family Court Judge Amy Swisher was publicly admonished by the West Virginia Judicial Investigation Commission for  pushing an expired protective order against her ex-husband's girlfriend.

Swisher obtained a temporary personal safety order against the other woman, who was arrested by Fairmont police after she went to the Marion County Courthouse with Swisher's ex-husband to drop off a payment to the judge.

Swisher did not tell police, magistrates or the prosecutor that the woman was allowed to be at the courthouse to conduct business if she made every effort to avoid the judge.

Police, magistrates and the prosecutor also did not know that the protective order had expired. The charge of violating the order was dismissed for the ex-husband’s girlfriend.

7 Monongah High alumni running in Monongah and Worthington

At least seven Monongah High alumni are running for office in Monongah and Worthington.

In Monongah, incumbent Greg Vandetta, Class of 1975, filed for mayor.

Incumbent Patty Steele McCombs and Teena Ailstock filed for recorder.

Don Harris, incumbent Bertha Wilson, incumbent Bill McCombs, Class of 1959, incumbent Warren Sloan, Frank Cosco and Johnboy Palmer, Class of 1974, have filed for council.

In Worthington, Edgar Burley, Class of 1962, filed for mayor, and Debra Slick filed for recorder.

Jessica Buby, Kathy Perry, Regina Humphrey, Roger Shumate, Class of 1970, Samantha Wright, Andrea Williamson, Sandra Hulsey, Class of 1960, Betty Miller, Nick Demus Jr., Class of 1973, and Doris Basnett filed for council.

For Farmington council, Tom Menas, Ruth Ann McKinney, Clarence Stout, Carol Pitts and James Roach have filed. Daniel Hively, Donna Costello and Stephanie Cummons have filed for mayor.

In Rivesville, Bill Lawrence, Bill Newhouse, Yvonne Liberto, Michelle Bradley, Tom Cunningham, Mark Dorsey and Peggy Reynolds have filed for council. Ed Mahalick, Jim Hershman and Les Clifton filed for mayor, and Bonnie Myers filed for recorder.

In White Hall, Guy Ward filed for the mayor seat, while Arley Hayhurst, George Abel, Chad Corley, Zella Keener, Gary Wilson and John Jacobs filed for council. Charles Mason filed to run for recorder.

Old Kuhn mine causes Rt. 250 brush fire

By Kim Freda, WBOY-TV Assignment Editor

  

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's office of Abandoned Mine Lands and the federal Office of Surface Mining is investigating an underground coal mine fire that ignited a brush fire off of Route 250 in Marion County.

Flames were reported along the road Tuesday, Nov. 18, along with heavy smoke, according to Marion County 911. An engineer from the DEP's AML office met with the landowner and determined there was smoke but not an open flame from the mine. There is not an immediate threat of a ground collapse, although the AML will quickly address the fire to eliminate the smoke, said DEP Spokeswoman Kelley Gillenwater.

The smoke appears to be from the former Kuhn Mine which was operated by Virginia and Pittsburgh Coal and Coke and was mined prior to 1977 when the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed.

Preliminary estimates indicate the fire is at least 300 feet by 50 feet wide, Gillenwater said. While the exact depth is unknown, engineers estimate that the average is approximately 30 feet from the surface to the top of the coal seam, said Gillenwater.

The actual coal seam the fire is in could stretch for miles, Gillenwater said.  The AML engineer is working with an environmental consultant and property owner to determine the exact extent and location of the fire. Once that is determined, crews will have to access the coal seam where the fire is located, said Gillenwater. Crews would have to extinguish the fire, backfill the area and put in a clay seal on both sides to prevent oxygen from getting into the seam to fuel the fire, which could be burning in other areas of the seam.

The fire has likely been burning for years, Gillenwater said, although there is no way to know for sure. While other areas of the coal seam could be actively burning, the AML's focus is to identify the extent of the fire along U.S. Route 250 so smoke can be eliminated from the multiple homes and businesses in the area.

Worthington wends way into holidays

Worthington is in a holiday mood already.

Jane Pritchard Moore, Class of 1975, shook off her own problems with anti-cancer drugs and hustled over to the Worthington Fire Hall as her church and others provided a community Thanksgiving meal.

Jane’s enthusiastic post: “What a Blessing to give!”

Joann McDaniel Huff, Class of 1949, married to Robert Huff and living in Worthington, was there, too.

 Valerie Huff Williams posted:

 “Just talked to Mom ... she said the dinner was good and there was a good turnout.”

Worthington is just getting started.

There will be a holiday open house noon-5:30 p.m. Nov. 30 in downtown Worthington.

Let the Worthington web site give you the details:

“Join in the festivities at this traditional holiday event. Stroll our sidewalks and enjoy musical entertainment. Stop and visit with Santa in front of the Worthington Inn. Have your child's picture taken with Santa. Food and beverages abound in our eateries while shops offer holiday snacks and exciting merchandise. Enjoy the entertainment of carolers. Take a carriage ride and view the Christmas decorations in downtown Worthington. Beginning at 5pm, activities also begin on the southeast Village Green, prior to the 5:30 tree lighting celebration.”

Ah, Worthington knows how to get into the spirit of the holidays!

Another ATV accident; West Virginia No. 1 in country

Tyler Sillman, 17, was riding his ATV on Mods Run Road in Mannington when he was in an accident Oct. 11.

He was airlifted to Ruby Memorial Hospital with two collapsed lungs, a broken back was in surgery for eight hours.

He remains in intensive care, but doctors hope to send to Shepherd's Rehab Center in Atlanta for further treatment by Wednesday. It is known for its treatment of brain and spinal cord injuries.

Tyler’s family has created a Prayers for Tyler Sillman Facebook page to give updates about his condition and facilitate donations for Tyler’s medical expenses.

West Virginia is No. 1 nationally in deaths and serious injuries caused by ATV accidents.

In September, also in Mannington, the latest in a long line of ATV victims in West Virginia was flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital (WVU Medical Center) after a 10 p.m. accident on Braden Drive.  

Two weeks earlier Tristan, the grandson of Monongah High Alumni Association president Linda Lopez Gandy, Class of 1965, married to Jim Gandy, broke his leg in an ATV accident on Fairmont’s Chesapeake Road and was flown to Ruby.

West Virginia leads the nation in per-capita fatalities from ATV accidents. There have been 588 reported ATV deaths in West Virginia since 1982, including 66 to children under 16.

Kentucky and Pennsylvania have higher ATV death totals, but West Virginia is No. 1 in per-capita ATV deaths.

Two-thirds of West Virginia’s ATV crashes happen on public roads. Tourists tend to stick to the trails more.

250 died in West Virginia ATV accidents in 1999-2006, including 215 West Virginia residents.

From 2007 to 2011, 1,701 ATV riders died in crashes on public roads in the USA — about 340 a year. Two-thirds of all fatal ATV crashes occur on public or private roads.