Tag: Huntington

Former Marshall Star Makes a Name with Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters will crowds Tuesday night in Charleston and Wednesday night they will do the same in Huntington.

Johnny Thomas played one season at Marshall University in 2010-2011 after transferring from North Carolina State University. The Morehead City, North Carolina native endeared himself to Marshall fans with his hustle and attitude. Finding him on a team known for being flashy comes as a bit of a surprise. During his time on Marshall’s basketball team, Thomas had a reputation as a guy that did the small things.  Thomas joined the Globetrotters last year; he said it was an honor.

“I always wanted to play professional basketball, so when the Globetrotters offered me that opportunity I took it and ran with it,” Thomas said. “The Globetrotters organization is so recognizable through everyone’s eyes and it get so much respect that you want to be a part of a brand that is associated with being ambassadors of goodwill.”

The Globetrotters have been playing ball for 88 years all over the country and world. They’ve played in 122 countries and according to their website in front of a 188 million fans.

Thomas goes by the nickname Hawk. He said he was working out for the team before joining the Globetrotters and they noticed he could jump a little. The coach told him after seeing him dunk, we’re calling you hawk because you can really fly.

Thomas said it takes a unique basketball player that can fit with the Globetrotters and  do all the tricks, while still being charismatic and interacting with the crowd all the while playing a little basketball. Those tricks recently led to an attempt by Thomas to hit a shot from five stories above the floor at Madison Square Garden in New York.

 

He said it’s nice to see how much the Globetrotters mean to the people that come out to see them all over the world.

“I am excited to be a part of it, it does amaze me at the fan loyalty that we have, we’re the only supported franchise in history where people are always on our side, people are always wanting us to win, that’s what I love,” Thomas said.

Thomas is excited about the chance to play in the area once again. He said his short time in Huntington meant a lot to him.

“I’m looking forward to coming home and really seeing people that I haven’t seen in a long time and just having a great time with it,” Thomas said. 

City of Huntington Works to Revitalize Fairfield Area

One area of Huntington will soon see demolition and construction that could go a long way towards changing the city’s reputation.A plan to tear down and…

One area of Huntington will soon see demolition and construction that could go a long way towards changing the city’s reputation.

A plan to tear down and rebuild housing in the Fairfield area of Huntington has gotten the green light. One of the oldest housing units under the care of the Huntington Housing Authority, Northcott Court, will be demolished. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams recently made the announcement during his State of the City Address that Northcott will be torn down in favor of two new 40-unit senior housing complexes and an additional 50-single family and duplex housing units.

They will move the current residents to suitable housing nearby. The new will be scattered throughout the area and not all concentrated in one place like the Northcott facilities. Once Northcott is torn down city officials hope there will be commercial development on the property.

The relocation process has already started for some residents and will pick up in the spring. The Housing Authority was passed over by the federal government for funds to start the process over the summer, but now has the go ahead. Sandra Clements is the Councilwoman for the 5th district which includes the Fairfield area where Northcott Court is located. She said the demolition is just one step in the revitalization effort.

"I want to see the area revitalized, I want people to come back to Fairfield and feel comfortable and feel that it is their community and that they can make it grow," Clements said.

  “I want to see the area revitalized, I want people to come back to Fairfield and feel comfortable and feel that it is their community and that they can make it grow,” Clements said. “There are lots of things that need to happen in order for that to continue, not just housing, we need to have jobs, things going on in the community that will attract people and keep them here and want them to take pride in their community,” Clements said.

Northcott Court has become synonymous, fairly or unfairly with crime in Huntington and more directly crime in the Fairfield area of the city. Clements said this revitalization could mean so much for the neighborhood.

“I think that whenever you talk about projects or public housing, people have the image of crime, people not working and people not wanting to work,” Clements said. “And I think moving Northcott Court will help to dissipate some of that feeling.”

Since the 1940’s Northcott Court has been one of the first things people see as they drive into the city from the Hal Greer exit off interstate 64.

The area has already been rezoned for commercial development and Huntington Mayor Steve Williams says the city hopes one of the businesses that moves in along Hal Greer Boulevard is a grocery store.

“The Huntington Housing Authority will seek to attract a private developer to redevelop the Northcott property,” Williams said. “More than $60 million of investment is projected to occur in the Fairfield neighborhood as a result of these efforts.”

The Housing Authority will cover moving costs of those in the Northcott Court facilities and hopes to have all tenants relocated by the end of May. 

Cabell County to Develop Incubator School for Expeditionary Learning

Cabell County School officials are excited about a new school they hope will set an example for schools around the state. Cabell will develop the incubator school through a waiver they attained with an innovation zone grant.  

The school will open in the fall of 2015 in Huntington and Cabell County School Board officials hope it is the next step in education. It will be a consolidation of Peyton Elementary and Geneva Kent Elementary in the east end of Huntington. They’ll use the former Beverly Hills Middle School facility that was vacated in December for a brand new Huntington East Middle School.

Cabell Superintendent William Smith is excited about the possibilities.

“What you should see in a classroom like this is more student engagement, a high level of student engagement,” Smith said.

Cabell officials say it’ll be the first expeditionary learning school in the state. Known as EL for short, students will learn about completing projects that will stretch across different subject areas and can sometimes take the entire school year.

The Cabell Board has made trips to EL schools in Chicago, Denver and Asheville, North Carolina.

They describe the school as an incubator school because of the experimental learning environment. They hope what they learn from their experiment leads to others around the state doing their own experiments and developing expeditionary learning environments of their own.

Cabell County Schools will team with the Harless Center at Marshall University to study how educational concepts are working and what the next step might be to continue the growth that will take place in the classroom.

Ryan McKenzie is Principal of Peyton Elementary. He’ll be the new principal of the developed school. He says the work students do here will be beneficial to the community.

"The kids will be engaged in learning that is real out in their communities," McKenzie said.

“The kids will be engaged in learning that is real out in their communities, out in the real world,” McKenzie said. They’ll be doing water analysis projects in the community and sending that report off to the Mayor’s office or the commission

The board will depend on the teachers to relay and adjust how the learning environment is working

Renovation will begin soon on Beverly Hills Middle to turn it into the new incubator school.

Jobs First Program Helps Huntington’s Homeless

Officials at the Cabell-Huntington Coalition for the Homeless are taking a new approach to the problem of homelessness and unemployment.

  Jobs First is a new idea developed by coalitions around the country. Instead of working with job candidates by training, developing and molding them before they apply for jobs, Jobs First helps them find jobs right away and continues to train them while they’re employed.

Helping the unemployed and homeless find work first puts them one step closer to a stable living environment where they can provide for themselves.

The Huntington Coalition started the program last July with a goal of helping 10% of Huntington’s homeless gain employment in a year.

The Coalition offers help ranging from:

  • Finding the proper clothing
  • Getting to and from the new job
  • Keeping that job.

So far the program has helped find jobs in:

  • Telemarketing
  • Fast food
  • Office work
  • River barges.

The program has placed 30 people in jobs and as word-of-mouth has grown throughout the homeless community the pace has picked up recently, with nine people finding jobs in January. 

Huntington Mayor Speaks with Students

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams took some time out of his schedule last week to pay a visit to Marshall University students and professors.Since his…

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams took some time out of his schedule last week to pay a visit to Marshall University students and professors.

Since his election in 2012, Huntington Mayor Steve Williams has made a conscious effort to be out in the community. Last week marked the beginning of a second year of “Coffee with the Mayor.”  This is a once a month visit Williams makes to the Marshall University Memorial Student Center – his effort to hear the concerns of students and faculty.  

Monica Winkfield is a Marshall student who stopped in last week. She said she was skeptical at first.

“When I first heard he was coming I was like “yay this is going to be awesome right, what a publicity stunt.” But the fact that he took the time to listen and to share ideas and to say hey let me talk to you a little bit after this, makes me feel like there is some merit and some promise in what he’s saying,” Winkfield said.

Mayor Williams said their questions don’t go unheard, he says he makes an effort to take on-going concerns and do something about them.

“Safety has definitely been a concern by students and faculty and staff. In the evenings it’s awfully dark around campus and so we’ve just entered into an agreement that starts this week where we are upgraded the lightning all around campus down 5th avenue and 3rd avenue,” Williams said.

The agreement between the city, Marshall University and Appalachian Power will improve the visibility around the area, William’s hopes making students and staff feel safer.

He said it’s vitally important to make an effort to be on campus and know what’s going on when Marshall is one of Huntington’s main entities.

The sessions are sponsored by the Student Government Association. Jordan Wooldridge is the SGA Chief of Staff. He said making sure the campus is a safe haven will continue to be a concern for students.

“Some things I would like to see on campus maybe more safety features we can look at, because it’s always increasing in today’s society and unfortunately that’s something we have to deal with,” Wooldridge said.

The next “Coffee with the Mayor” session is scheduled March 6.

Huntington Mayor Enacts Hiring Freeze

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams has enacted a hiring freeze and stopped unnecessary spending for the remaining five months of the fiscal year. Williams…

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams has enacted a hiring freeze and stopped unnecessary spending for the remaining five months of the fiscal year.
 
     Williams said at a City Council work session Thursday that Huntington’s revenues and expenditures are normal, but the state’s second-largest city has less than $100,000 in contingency funds.
 
     The Herald-Dispatch reports the move means vacated positions won’t be filled and Huntington won’t undertake new major projects until July 1.
 
     After Williams was inaugurated in January 2013, he cut each city department’s budget by 2 percent.

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