Tag: Cabell County

W.Va. to Launch Pilot Syringe Exchange Program in Cabell

A syringe exchange program is being launched to reduce diseases within Cabell County’s population of injection-drug users.

State and local officials announced the one-year pilot program on Thursday at a news conference in Huntington.

Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Karen L. Bowling says the state will provide $10,000 to the Cabell-Huntington Health Department to launch the one-year pilot Another $10,000 will be provided for technical support.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says syringe exchange programs can help reduce the spread of bloodborne illnesses such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Delegate Matthew Rohrbach says the Cabell County program also can help drug users get treatment and return them to the mainstream.

May 21, 1864: Confederate Gen. and Former Congressman Albert Gallatin Jenkins Killed in Battle

On May 21, 1864, Confederate General and former Congressman Albert Gallatin Jenkins was killed at the Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain, Virginia. He was 33.

As a young man, the Cabell County native had attended Marshall Academy, Jefferson College, and Harvard Law School before being elected twice to Congress. In 1859, he inherited his father’s plantation in Cabell County and became one of the largest slaveholders in present West Virginia.

When the Civil War began, Jenkins stepped down from Congress and recruited a unit of Confederate troops, known as the Border Rangers. The rangers played a key role in the Confederate victory at Scary Creek in Putnam County in July 1861. The next month, he formed the 8th Virginia Cavalry, which led a surprise raid on a Union camp at Guyandotte in November.

In 1862, Jenkins was elected to the Confederate Congress but soon returned to the army as a brigadier general. Two years later, he met his fate at Cloyd’s Mountain.

Jenkins is buried in Huntington’s Spring Hill Cemetery. And his home at Green Bottom is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Cabell County On Track for Record Number of Heroin Deaths

Cabell County has recorded 30 heroin overdose deaths this year, putting it on track to top a record 34 deaths reported in 2013 and 2014.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that the county’s heroin OD fatality rate is nearly 13 times higher than the national average.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says heroin’s deadly toll nationwide nearly tripled from 2010 to 2013.

National and local experts trace Huntington’s heroin crisis to prescription painkillers, such as the opioid-based drugs oxycodone and hydrocodone.

Nationally, rising heroin deaths are attributed to the inconsistent purity of heroin, differing tolerances and the mixing of heroin with other substances.

There are no easy answers for why local addicts die at such a higher rate.

WV Economic Development Council Holds Annual Meeting in Huntington

The West Virginia Economic Development Council wrapped up a two-day meeting in Huntington yesterday.

The two day meeting in Huntington focused on everything from STEM initiatives and how they affect business throughout the state to businesses that are venturing into the international markets around the world. The conference brings groups together with the hope of dining out what’s working and giving ideas for future success.

Over 100 economic development members from around the state attended the conference. Groups from Cabell, Wayne and Putnam counties hosted the conference in Huntington. The conference concluded Tuesday afternoon.

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