Charleston Gazette

Striking Nurses Approve Contract

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hundreds of striking nurses from eastern Kentucky and West Virginia voted Saturday night to ratify a new contract with the region's largest health-care provider. The approval ended a nearly three-month strike that forced some layoffs and brought financial hardship to Appalachian Regional Healthcare, which operates nine hospitals in the two states.

Gazette Charities Christmas Fund: ; Mission Moves Mountains of Donations

julier@wvgazette.com Earlier this month, more than 850 families formed a line that snaked through Mountain Mission's parking lot on Charleston's West Side, through the building and out of the basement to pick up boxes laden with food for their holiday meals.

Workers' Comp Fight Brewing: ; Lawmakers Could Damage Privatization, Manchin Says

tomsearls@wvgazette.com Legislative leaders and Gov. Joe Manchin are heading toward a quarrel over how to regulate workers' compensation insurance in West Virginia.

One Last Christmas: ; Terminally Ill Man Says He's Met 2 of 3 Goals in Life

sandyw@wvgazette.com He won't be alive next Christmas. Maybe not even next month.

20th Century Images: ; Show Place; by Richard Andre

If you tried to list the things most important in making Charleston a really fine city, the Civic Center would have to be included. Built in 1958 after years of hope and planning this photo shows the original structure, which is still a central part of the present- day Civic Center.

Santa's Been Good to Manchin

Though he's waiting on Santa to bring him a new head football coach for West Virginia University, Gov. Joe Manchin has been more than blessed with gifts since taking office in 2005. The governor reported receiving more than 230 items that year and in 2006, his state Ethics Commission filings show.

Video Details Man's Drug Dilution Scheme

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The idea of diluting drugs first came to Robert Courtney when he noticed that an individual-dose vial arrived from the drug manufacturer overfilled by 10 percent. By the time the Kansas City pharmacist got caught nine years later, he was diluting cancer medications and dozens of other drugs. He spared almost no patient, although he did make an exception for his mother and for a person he said he "just liked."

Vote Machines Decertified in Colo. Still Used in W.Va.

CLARKSBURG - Citing reliability and security issues, Colorado officials recently decertified electronic voting machines - the same kind that is still used in West Virginia. The systems used in 34 West Virginia counties, Election Systems and Software's iVotronic touch-screen, have been barred from Colorado elections unless upgrades can be made to the software.

Fha Oks Potomac Bridge Replacement

KEYSER - A $39 million replacement bridge over the Potomac River's North Branch between McCoole and Keyser has won approval from the Federal Highway Administration. The state Division of Highways announced the approval recently.

Man Donates Half of Liver to Grandmother

DECKERVILLE, Mich. - A man gave his 74-year-old grandmother an early Christmas present this year when he donated more than half of his liver to her. Patricia Middleton, a retired school bus driver, had been battling a chronic liver disease for a quarter-century. In August, she was told she would need a transplant.

Charleston Crime Report

The following crimes were reported to the Charleston Police Department between Dec. 13 and 19. East district

Aep Reports Wind-Related Power Outages

Wind felled trees and power lines across Southern West Virginia on Sunday afternoon, leaving about 1,200 American Electric Power and Appalachian Power customers without electricity Sunday evening, according to AEP spokesman Phil Moye. "It looks like we started having these outages early afternoon today," Moye said.

Lottery: ; Lotteries

Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007 The Associated Press

World Weather

Amsterdam 32 19 PCldy Athens 55 33 Clr

National Weather

Anchorage 27 15 Clr Atlanta 53 31 Clr

Bulletin Board

FUTURE EVENTS Kanawha County Sheriff's office will sponsor a free self-defense class from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Karate Joe's Dojo, off the Mink Shoals Exit of Interstate 79 across from Harding's Restaurant. The class is designed for females age 12 and up, but all are welcome. The presentation will highlight measures for attack prevention, surviving and winning an attack and reporting procedures. Sensei Joseph Hanson, a 4th degree black belt, Sheriff's Lt. Sean Crosier and others will be on ...

On File: ; Kanawha and Putnam Counties

Marriages Kanawha County

Snow, Heavy Winds Sweep Midwest; 11 Deaths Reported

MILWAUKEE - Highways were hazardous for holiday travelers Sunday and thousands of homes and businesses had no electricity in the Midwest as a storm blustered through the region with heavy snow and howling wind. At least 11 deaths had been blamed on the storm.

Statehouse Beat: ; a Gift of Good News From 2007

Because West Virginians seem to have an innate gift to focus on the negative, each year at this time I like to devote a few column inches to some of the positives from the past year. Some superlatives from 2007:

Innerviews: ; 'All Christmas Eves Are Sort of Magical'

He's vibrant, animated and bursting with good-naturedness, as robust as the powerful organ music he plays for the congregation at Kanawha United Presbyterian Church. Organist, music director and assistant administrator at the intimate church on Virginia Street, Ron Neal looks forward to Christmas more than in the usual sense. He starts preparing for special Christmas services as early as September. He chooses pieces carefully, an eclectic repertoire of classic and contemporary music to make C...