Tag: Putnam County

Cartoonist Kendall Vintroux Born: July 5, 1896

Cartoonist Kendall Vintroux was born at Fraziers Bottom in Putnam County on July 5, 1896. When his father became ill, Vintroux dropped out of high school to help run the family’s farm.

His career as a cartoonist began when he submitted a humorous drawing to the Charleston Gazette about the town of Poca’s first paved road, which was only eight feet wide.

Vintroux officially joined the Gazette staff in 1922, when he was 25. By the 1930s, he’d started lampooning famous politicians like Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. Another favorite topic was the Dog Wagon, a popular Charleston diner.

In his later years, Vintroux shared cartooning responsibilities at the Gazette with James Dent, who went on to establish his own name in the cartoon world. Vintroux retired in 1968 after spending 46 years at the paper. In retirement, he got to see his cartoons displayed as part of art exhibits at Morris Harvey College. The University of Charleston, as the school is now known, still owns many of his original drawings.

Kendall Vintroux died in Charleston in 1973 at age 77.

Judge Orders Funeral Home Owners to Pay $3M for Fraud

The owners of a Putnam County-based funeral home have been ordered to pay nearly $3 million after being accused of defrauding an Iowa-based insurance company by cashing in on pre-need funeral arrangements for more than 100 people who weren’t actually dead.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers ruled Monday that Chad and Billie Harding must pay about $2.8 million — three times the amount they took from Homesteaders Life Insurance Co.

Chambers granted the insurance company default judgment in June, after the funeral home’s owners and their attorney, Jeff Woods, didn’t respond to court orders. Woods says his clients are involved in other lawsuits.

Prearranged plans free families from financial and other burdens that arise upon the passing of a loved one.

Judge Rules for Insurance Company in Funeral Home Lawsuit

A federal judge has ruled for an insurance company in its case against the operators of a Putnam County funeral home accused of filing false death claims on behalf of pre-need contract customers who weren’t actually dead.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Homesteaders Life Insurance Company was granted default judgment Thursday in its lawsuit against Poca-based Gatens-Harding Funeral Home owners Chad and Billie Harding.

The lawsuit said that the Hardings cashed in on over $1 million worth of pre-need funeral contracts for 111 people who were still alive during an eight-year period.

The Hardings denied the allegations in a filing last year by their attorney Jeff Woods.

The judge cited a “complete lack of interest in defending” the case.

The amount the Hardings will be ordered to pay Homesteaders hasn’t yet been determined.

Program Aims to Help Offenders with Mental Health Issues

A judge in Putnam County has proposed a program to help offenders with mental health issues stay out of jail.The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that…

A judge in Putnam County has proposed a program to help offenders with mental health issues stay out of jail.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Putnam Circuit Judge Phillip Stowers proposed the pretrial treatment diversion program at the Putnam County Commission meeting Tuesday.

The program would help offenders by deferring them out of jail and into mental health facilities or other programs. A panel would report to a mental health court at the end of the week and recommend which offenders should be deferred to mental health facilities.

Stowers says most offenders with treatable mental health issues are currently awaiting trial and cannot make bail to get out of jail.

The county has received a $115,000 grant to implement the program.

Court Orders Magistrate Candidate Removed from Ballot

The West Virginia Supreme Court has ordered that a Putnam County magistrate candidate be removed from the ballot based on his prior misdemeanor…

The West Virginia Supreme Court has ordered that a Putnam County magistrate candidate be removed from the ballot based on his prior misdemeanor convictions.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the court ruled Tuesday that Troy Sexton is ineligible to serve as a magistrate for the county.

In a petition filed March 7, the Judicial Investigation Commission recommended that Sexton be taken out of the race.

The petition said state law requires that magistrates not be convicted of “any felony or any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude.”

The JIC filing said Sexton has pleaded guilty to several charges, including falsely reporting an emergency incident and driving under the influence in 2014.

Sexton argued Tuesday that the offenses shouldn’t keep him from being allowed to run for magistrate. He doesn’t have an attorney.

Wal-Mart Cancels Plans for Store in Teays Valley

Wal-Mart has made an independent decision to scrap plans for a previously proposed Neighborhood Market in Teays Valley.

Media outlets report the decision comes less than one week after Putnam County Circuit Judge John Cummings overturned a county zoning decision that would have allowed Wal-Mart to build the smaller retail location along W.Va. 34.

Nearby homeowners and members of the community have adamantly opposed the proposed store since April, citing concerns over traffic and property values.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Anne Hatfield says the company’s decision to cease planning for the store isn’t linked to Cummings’ opinion, calling it an “unrelated business decision.”

Hartfield didn’t respond to a question from the Charleston Gazette-Mail asking if Wal-Mart has plans to build stores in other regions of Southern West Virginia.

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