Charleston Daily Mail

Wvu Taps Chancellor for Health Sciences Health Chancellor

A psychiatrist has been named the new chancellor at West Virginia University's Health Sciences Center. Dr. Christopher Colenda, a West Point graduate, has served most recently as the dean of medicine and vice president of clinical affairs at Texas A&M Health Sciences Center.

Regional Weather

Hi Lo Otlk Akron 84 65 Rain

National Weather

Hi Lo Otlk Anchorage 65 m Clr

Some Fed-Up Smokers Are Growing Their Own Tobacco

RICHMOND, Va. - Something unusual is cropping up alongside the tomatoes, eggplant and okra in Scott Byars' vegetable garden - the elephantine leaves of 30 tobacco plants. Driven largely by ever-rising tobacco prices, he's among a growing number of smokers that have turned to their green thumbs to cultivate tobacco plants to blend their own cigarettes, cigars and chew. Byars normally pays $5 for a five-pack of cigars and $3 for a tin of snuff; the seed cost him $9.

Baghdad Blasts Kill at Least 95: ; Wave of Explosions in Iraq Deadliest This Year

BAGHDAD - A truck bomb exploded across the street from Iraq's Foreign Ministry near the Green Zone, knocking out concrete slabs and windows and leaving a mass of charred cars outside as a wave of explosions around Baghdad killed at least 95 people and wounded more than 400. A suicide truck bomber also targeted the Finance Ministry minutes earlier in the deadliest apparently coordinated attack in Iraq so far this year - a major challenge to Iraqi control of Baghdad. A steady escalation of atta...

News Pioneer Hewitt, 86, Dies

NEW YORK - Don Hewitt, the CBS newsman who invented "60 Minutes" and produced the popular newsmagazine for 36 years, died Wednesday. He was 86. He died of pancreatic cancer at his Bridgehampton home, CBS said. His death came a month after that of fellow CBS legend Walter Cronkite.

Nation & World

Burglar targets police station

Salmon Found in River Indicates Recovery

ALBANY, N.Y. - For the first time in more than a century, scientists have found wild-born Atlantic salmon in a Lake Ontario tributary that once teemed with the fish. Federal biologist Jim Johnson says more than 40 yearling wild Atlantic salmon were collected this summer in the Salmon River at the eastern end of the lake in New York.

Report Finds Drunken Driving Arrests On the Rise for Women

WASHINGTON - The number of women arrested for drunken driving has jumped nearly 30 percent in the past decade, a dangerous trend that was all too evident when a wrong-way crash involving a woman in New York killed eight people. The Transportation Department said the number of women arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs increased 28.8 percent between 1998 and 2007. The number of men arrested under the influence fell 7.5 percent during the same period.

Men Charged for Animal Cruelty: ; Officers Found Nine Horses in Field Without Proper Food, Water

Two Jackson County men have been charged with animal cruelty after humane officers discovered nine horses in a field without proper food or water. Sgt. J.F. Bare of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department filed the criminal complaint against Josh Butcher of Ravenswood and Eddie Jones of Fairplain after finding the horses in a meadow at Jones' Shinn Lane residence.

Police and Courts

Man turns himself in to authorities

Third Sheetz in Cabell County Opens

The third Sheetz convenience store and gas station in Cabell County opened its red-framed doors today in Huntington. The store is located on 18th Street West.

Poca Will Rely On Arthur and Cuffee: ; Dots Coach Worried About Injuries As Team Attempts to Bounce Back From a 2-8 Season

POCA - Most could probably argue that the success of the Poca High football team this season squares solely on the feet of talented running back Caleb Arthur. Arthur, after all, rushed for 1,801 yards last season and scored 17 touchdowns. Poca Coach Bob Lemley indicated the senior is stronger, quicker, and more explosive than before.

Judge Barred From Trial: ; Supreme Court Justice Rules Mingo Judge Can't Hear Suit Against Massey Due to Past Relationship

A southern West Virginia judge has been disqualified from presiding over a water pollution lawsuit against Virginia-based Massey Energy because of his past attorney-client relationship with the defendant. Mingo County Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury shouldn't hear the lawsuit against Massey and subsidiary Rawl Sales & Processing because that past relationship could create the appearance of impropriety and lead to questions about his impartiality, acting state Supreme Court Chief Justice Robi...

Businesses Urged to Prepare for Flu: ; Health Agency Chief Says Plan for Education, Prevention Should Be in Place Before Season Starts

The local business community is being urged to plan ahead to address health concerns before influenza season starts. Businesses should prepare and have a plan in place before the flu season starts, said Dr. Rahul Gupta, executive director and health officer of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department.

Cities On Forbes List Defend Selves at Conference: ; Charleston's Susie Salisbury Pointed to City's Employment, Mall Traffic, Events

Charleston's Susie Salisbury and representatives from eight of the 10 communities labeled by Forbes magazine as America's "Fastest Dying Cities" met in Dayton Aug. 8 to discuss the stigma and what to do about it. A report in The Wall Street Journal noted that organizers of the Dayton conference named it, "Ten Living Cities," while Dayton skeptics called it "Deathfest."

Man Is Master of Vacuum Repair: ; Owner of New Shop at Riverwalk has Been in the Business for 26 Years

With 26 years of experience under his belt, David Meabon can certainly dish the dirt on vacuum cleaners. Meabon, 52, has been in the business for more than 26 years and has seen just about everything in past customers' vacuum bags.

Business Briefs

FiberNet executive to serve as panelist

Seattle Votes Down Fee On Plastic, Paper Bags

SEATTLE - Seattle voters' rejection of a 20-cent fee on plastic and paper bags represents a sound defeat for other efforts in U.S. cities to limit the use of the throwaway bags, plastics industry officials said. A referendum on an ordinance to charge the bag fee at grocery, drug and convenience stores was easily defeated in Tuesday's primary in this liberal city - whose voters are known for taxing themselves to pay for parks, libraries, affordable housing and other causes.

Obituaries: ; Obit; Express Condolences Online at Dailymail.Com

Today's Obituaries Armentrout, Henry W. Bartram, Charles A. Bostic, Roy T. Burdette, Freda A. Campbell, Shirley Cockrell, Molly P. Ford, Lois O. Freeman, Stuart B. Hammons, Carl R. Hatcher, Rose M. Holstine, Kathaleen B. Karn, N. E. Lawrence, Clyde E. Leehy, Evelyn Marks, Doy H. Orndorff, Vicki N. Piercy, L. P. Plumley, Samuel R. Puffenbarger, Norma J. Ryder, Jarrett D. Smith, John D. Snodgrass, Buddie M. Stentz, Mary J. Symes, Robert D. Taylor, Glenna M. White, Savannah J. Wooten, Everett W....