Several myths surround the enforcement of drunken driving. Here are a few:

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is in a rebuilding process in West Virginia. The group's state director, Donna Hawkins, said their success largely depends upon volunteers stepping forward to provide time and financial support.

HUNTINGTON -- Many city leaders agree that more police officers are needed to battle Huntington's increasing crime rate. Others argue that better management and fixing contractual agreements will provide greater efficiency, leading to a better department and a decreased crime rate. Police Chief Skip Holbrook has taken steps to restructure the department and increase its efficiency, but the manpower problems remain. MORE STORIES.

HUNTINGTON -- The Huntington Police Department looks different today than it did nine months ago when Police Chief Skip Holbrook took his oath of office.

HUNTINGTON -- Officials blame low manpower, a contractual agreement and a troubled court system for the Huntington Police Department's soaring overtime costs.

Huntington's crime rate far surpasses the national average, but its police force falls just below average for other cities its size.

HUNTINGTON -- The Huntington Police Department has nine administrators working inside the police station, according to data provided by the Police Department.

Students across the state are getting less instruction than one might think. According to calendars from across the state, each county schedules five instructional support and enhancement days. These days are included in the overall 180 days, but buses don't run and students are not required to attend.

HUNTINGTON -- Unlike many counties in West Virginia, Cabell County Schools typically do not have to worry about reaching 180 days of instruction in a school year.

Here are excerpts from West Virginia State Code 18-5-45 regarding school calendars:

The Herald-Dispatch exchanged e-mails with Martin Simon, program director with the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, about other states' experiences in aligning their economic and workforce development programs. Here's what he had to say:

Below is a summary of Gov. Joe Manchin's proposed fiscal year 2009 budget, pertaining to community colleges and based on a report released Jan. 16 from the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education.

Businesses soon may have more say in what programs are offered at West Virginia's community and technical colleges, and what skills are the focus of the state's workforce training programs. MORE STORIES.

Photos from Ironton's win over St. Joseph on Saturday, January 26, 2008, in the girls championship game of the 31st Annual St. Joe Invitational at the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse.

HUNTINGTON -- Although most local police support the use of cable barriers on the interstate, they say the barriers have one drawback -- they adversely affect their ability to catch speeders.

HUNTINGTON -- The cable barriers win praise in Milton, Barboursville and Huntington, but they have not been installed in northern Wayne County and a six-mile stretch of Interstate 64 east of Milton.

The Federal Highway Administration reports that nearly every state in the nation is using cable median barriers or has plans to experiment. The agency provided the following information and stories about success elsewhere.

It's been about five years since West Virginia's Division of Highways started installing cable barriers in the median of Interstate 64. The work started with nine miles of interstate between 29th Street and West Huntington in 2002. The effort produced quick results and stopped out-of-control vehicles that could have crossed the median and hit oncoming traffic. MORE STORIES.

HUNTINGTON -- West Virginia communities are having greater success in obtaining federal grant money to clean up brownfield sites. Local officials attribute the success to a state law passed in 2005 that authorized the development of two regional brownfields assistance centers located at Marshall and West Virginia universities

The sign reads $1.30.9 for a gallon of gas, but don't expect to fill up at the pumping station at the corner of Adams Avenue and 3rd Street West anytime soon. Converting old gas station properties to neighborhood-friendly uses is a big challenge because of costly environmental issues.

We asked readers to send us their memories of the tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, W.Va., on Dec. 15, 1967.

The Point Pleasant River Museum has an exhibit on display through Feb. 29 in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the Silver Bridge collapse.

The National Transportation Safety Board issued an interim report on Oct. 31, 1968, regarding its findings at that point regarding the collapse of the Silver Bridge at Point Pleasant. Here are some excerpts:

The weather was threatening and a bit of rain fell, but that didn't deter a big crowd of spectators from turning out on May 30, 1928, for the official dedication ceremonies for the Silver Bridge.

Charles P. Vogel was proud of the Silver Bridge. Vogel, resident engineer in charge of constructing the span's superstructure, was the first person to drive an automobile across the new bridge, built to connect Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Kanauga, Ohio.

Some were there, some were nearby and others were off living their lives on Dec. 15, 1967, just before sundown at 5 o'clock. But all their lives were marked forever. Residents of Mason County, W.Va., and Gallia County, Ohio, lost dozens of friends and loved ones in the collapse of the Silver Bridge 40 years ago. MORE STORIES, PHOTOS.

HUNTINGTON -- Failure is not an option, says Dr. Tom Dannals. A proposed fitness trail that's safe and easily accessible in neighborhoods stretching from Ceredo to Altizer simply has to be created for the health of the Huntington community, he said.

In an effort to keep illegal activity out of Harris Riverfront Park, volunteers are considering forming a neighborhood watch. A hub for drugs, vandalism and panhandling, the park has been the focus of revitalization talks for some time now, and volunteers wanting to restore the area met with Huntington Mayor David Felinton to brainstorm Saturday morning.

HUNTINGTON -- One snort and one injection was all it took to get Shayna Lacy addicted to heroin. The 29-year-old from West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle tried heroin after her father's death in 2004. She ran with the addiction. Doing so led to her shoplifting, robbing people and conning her own family.

The Prestera Center, a mental health facility that provides addiction treatment, lists these symptoms as indicators that someone may be using heroin. The symptoms are not proof of drug use.

Click for a listing of short- and long-term effects of heroin use.

These people died from suspected heroin overdoses this year, according to the Huntington Police Department and the Cabell County Sheriff's Department. Investigations are ongoing into each death, and in most cases toxicology reports have not been completed yet to determine exact contributors to death.

If police suspicions turn out to be true, more deaths have been linked to heroin this year in Cabell County than in the last several years combined. Law officers believe heroin usage may have been involved in nine deaths in Cabell County in 2007, while only four were reported from 2001 to 2006.

HUNTINGTON -- If the Young Professionals Committee has anything to do with it, the floodwall at the 10th Street entrance to Harris Riverfront Park will no longer be a drab gray when next summer rolls around.

Cabell County's high school Class of 2009 has shrunk by 203 students -- or more than 20 percent -- since its freshman year two years ago, according to new enrollment records reported two weeks ago.

Many teens come to that crossroad, and many choose what they believe to be an easy way out.

A study conducted by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and published in March 2006 looked at the dropout pandemic by going straight to the dropouts themselves and asking why. The research, entitled "The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Students," was based on 450 racially diverse 16- to 24-year-old dropouts from 25 locations with high dropout rates. Among the findings:

When a high school student is considering dropping out of school, high school counselors talk to students and parents about the importance of staying in school. Along with that are a few staggering numbers that indicate the success of a dropout.

In the mid 1990s, Dubuque started planning a riverfront project, prodded by the Dubuque Historical Society, which proposed a $25 million river museum/aquarium. It ended up being a $58 million facility, but the society raised every last dollar, said Dubuque's city manager, Mike Van Milligen.

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. -- It's an off day, but Charles Humphreys switches on the sound system at Point Pleasant's riverfront. Shouts and the crack of gunfire can be heard in the background while a narrator tells a story about the Battle of Point Pleasant, a story depicted in vivid color along the floodwall facing the Ohio River, very close to where the battle was fought.

Here's a look at the history of Harris Riverfront Park.

Community leaders with an interest in riverfront development will answer questions about short-term and long-term possibilities for improving Harris Riverfront Park during a public forum. It begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25,  at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena conference room.

The possibilities for Harris Riverfront Park are as widespread and creative as the community members who dream them up. Their ideas vary, but their mission is the same: to celebrate the Ohio River and see their city prosper.

Huntington officials are looking at several initiatives that would give them more tools to deal with dilapidated housing. Some of the initiatives would require changes in state law, while others only need approval from City Council. Here's a look at those initiatives and where they stand:

Dilapidated housing and the slew of problems that come with it are not confined to Huntington. Cities large and small across West Virginia are facing the same dilemma and now are asking the West Virginia Legislature for help.

When it comes to underage drinking, there are countless initiatives, programs and organizations that have tried to tackle the problem. But many people acknowledge that those under the legal drinking age of 21 are always going to find a way to get their hands on alcohol.

HUNTINGTON -- A home-rule pilot program could give Huntington more tools to address its growing problem with abandoned and dilapidated housing, city leaders said Saturday. PHOTOS.

HUNTINGTON -- A string of suspicious fires during the past two months highlights the problem Huntington has with a huge inventory of vacant housing, officials say.

Following is a summary of stories published earlier in The Herald-Dispatch about other housing issues facing the city of Huntington. To read these stories, go to www.herald-dispatch.com. Once you are there, click on the News button and click on the Special Reports section.

Duties: The Unsafe Buildings Commission orders the demolition of dilapidated houses and works with property owners to renovate their buildings.

Demolishing a house in the city of Huntington can take at least six months after a complaint is filed. It often takes much longer. Here is a look at how the process works:

Here is a list of the homes in Huntington that have been ordered demolished by the city’s Unsafe Buildings Commission.

A group of Highlawn residents is looking for ways to preserve their neighborhood's charm and historical integrity without stymieing growth. Like many cities across the country, that poses a major challenge for the neighborhood in Huntington's East End. (Ran Sept. 16, 2007)

In the next few weeks, the house at 1835 9th Ave. will be demolished, as will 13 other derelict properties in Huntington. It's a small victory, considering the city's Unsafe Building Commission ordered the demolition of 62 homes in 2006 while the housing inspector and fire marshals identified about 220 more that were either fire-damaged, unsafe or in need of major upgrades. (Ran on May 8, 2007)

When a home is gutted by fire, it only seems logical that a part of the insurance money paid to the owner goes toward cleaning up the mess. But in Huntington, that is rarely the case when it comes to rental property, city officials say. In many instances, the property owner pockets the insurance claim check, leaving the city to pay for the cleanup and neighbors to deal with problems that arise from living next to a charred structure. (Ran on July 15, 2007)

Flint, Mich., and Huntington may be hundreds of miles apart, but they share the same dilemma. Both are fighting to stop the advancement of urban decay that is fueled by population loss. (Ran June 24, 2007)

Every November, dozens of people gather in a courtroom at the Cabell County Courthouse for the county's tax lien sale. Up for bid are the delinquent tax tickets for hundreds of properties. Some fall into the sale because their owners are unable or unwilling to pay their taxes on time. Other properties are simply abandoned. For Cabell County and its levying bodies, the tax lien sale works as it is intended. Taxes are paid on a delinquent property, funneling much-needed revenue into the coffers of the school district and county and local governments. (Ran on June 24, 2007)