Tag: weirton

Italian Manufacturer Bringing Jobs to Weirton

An Italian manufacturing company is moving forward with plans to invest $9 million toward a new facility on West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle.

News outlets report that local officials met with representatives of Pietro Fiorentini USA on Friday to officially sign off on a land purchase agreement at a business park in Weirton. The planned industrial facility was first announced in 2013.

The project is set to create an initial 41 jobs in the first phase. There would be up to 150 positions when fully operational. Workers will be producing pressure regulators, valves and pressure reducing and meter systems for the natural gas industry.

This will be the first manufacturing facility in the U.S. for Pietro Fiorentini, which is based near Vicenza, Italy.

ACLU Wants to Review West Virginia Police Shooting

West Virginia’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is seeking details related to the death of a 23-year-old black man who was fatally shot by police.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that attorneys with the ACLU filed Freedom of Information Act requests last week with both Weirton police and State Police in connection with the May 6 shooting death of Ronald Williams Jr.

A State Police trooper wrote in a report that Williams was pointing a gun at officers when he was shot in the back of the head outside his ex-girlfriend’s house in Weirton.

The ACLU’s Jeff Martin says the organization wants to review whether policies and procedures were being followed by Weirton police at the time of the shooting.

Williams was from McKees Rocks, outside Pittsburgh.

Weirton Council Approves Local Sales Tax Under Home Rule

Taxable items and services offered by Weirton businesses soon will cost an additional penny on the dollar.

The Weirton Daily Times reports that City Council voted on Monday to create a 1 percent municipal sales tax under the state’s home rule program. The council also amended its business and occupation tax to eliminate a wholesale tax.

State law requires cities that impose a municipal sales tax to reduce business and occupation taxes.

Mayor Harold Miller says the sales tax is expected to generate $1.2 million to $1.5 million in revenue for the city.

Weirton is among 28 cities participating in the home rule program. The program shifts power from the state to the local level.

Seven Indicted in Ohio Heroin-Trafficking Ring That Reached into West Virginia

A federal grand jury has charged seven individuals suspected in a heroin-trafficking operation in eastern Ohio with one count each of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance.

Federal authorities say a grand jury in Columbus recently indicted four suspects from Steubenville, one from Irving, Texas, and two from Weirton, West Virginia.

Authorities say the yearlong investigation into the Steubenville-area operation resulted in the seizure of eight firearms, three vehicles and about $110,000 in suspected narcotics proceeds.

Court documents allege the organization was responsible for street-level heroin sales in Steubenville and Bellaire in Ohio and in Weirton and Wheeling in West Virginia.

Conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin is punishable by 10 years to up to life in prison.

Weirton Plans To Create Sales Tax Under Home Rule Program

Weirton City Council plans to establish a city sales tax under the state’s home rule program.

The City Council plans to ask the West Virginia Home Rule Board to approve an amendment to Weirton’s home rule plan implementing a 1 percent sales tax.

The Weirton Daily Times reports that a resolution authorizing the city manager to submit the amendment to the board received the City Council’s unanimous approval on its first reading. The resolution will undergo a second reading at a special council meeting before it’s submitted to the board.

Weirton is among more than a dozen cities chosen in 2014 to participate in the home rule program. The program gives municipalities a larger say in how they govern by shifting power from the state to the local level.

Chemical Spill Closes Part of Main Street in Weirton Friday

A section of Weirton’s Main Street is open again after a chemical spill from a steel plant closed it for most of Friday.

Media reports say the Fire Department reopened Main Street late Friday afternoon after the spill from the ArcelorMittal Steel plant.

According to Fire Chief Jerry Shumate, 200 to 400 gallons of hydrochloric acid leaked from a broken pipe at the mill.

Shumate says no workers or residents were treated for exposure.

No residents were evacuated and the chief says crews worked swiftly to contain the spill.

Hydrochloric acid is highly corrosive. It has many industrial uses, including the removal of iron oxide from steel before processing.

Exit mobile version