2008: What to look for in the year ahead

By its very nature, news is hard to predict, especially calamities and tragedies.

But the crystal ball doesn't have to be crystal clear for predicting some of the local stories that will come into focus in 2008 or spill over from 2007.

No one can escape that 2008 is an election year, although how sharply people are paying attention to politics just yet is debatable.

Likewise, there are plenty of continuing stories that are likely to share in the headlines in the year ahead, whether they be developments at Marshall University and Huntington City Hall, in the business community or in the schools.

Here are some of those stories on the horizon in the year ahead.

Politics, anyone? There will be plenty

Voters in the Tri-State will have plenty to sort out in 2008, from choosing the leader of the country to leaders at city hall.

The presidential race already is hot and heavy, with the Iowa caucuses just a few days away. But choosing a president is just one of dozens of decisions that voters will have to make in the coming year.

In West Virginia, a U.S. Senate position and three U.S. House races are up for election. The list goes on with state legislators, circuit judges, family court judges, governor, treasurer, attorney general and Supreme Court on the state level, and prosecuting attorney, sheriff, assessor, magistrates and board of education members on the county level. Towns and cities also will choose their leaders next year, including a races for mayor and city council seats in Huntington.

Voters in Ohio and Kentucky also will decide various state and local political contests. Primary elections are May 13 in West Virginia, March 4 in Ohio and May 20 in Kentucky. The general election is Nov. 4.

Marshall construction pace could speed up more

There will be construction crews aplenty at Marshall University in 2008, possibly more than were present during the past year.

Work that started in 2007 will continue on two new dorms, a recreation facility, an engineering lab and a new softball field. And other projects could start in the coming year.

The two new dormitories on 20th Street and 3rd Avenue are scheduled to be open for the fall semester of 2008, Wellman said. The new residence halls will feature two-person suites with individual bedrooms and a shared bathroom, wireless Internet and theater rooms. The new buildings will hold 784 students, and will be "living, learning" residence halls, Marshall President Stephen Kopp said. The buildings will have classrooms, and some professors will have offices in the halls.

The student recreation center, expected to open January 2009, will be at the corner of 5th Avenue and 20th Street. The 123,000-square-foot recreation center will have pools, a three-story climbing wall, a track and a fitness room. It will also have volleyball, basketball and handball courts.

The dorms and the recreation center are expected to cost about $90 million.

The new softball field is on 3rd Avenue across from the football stadium and is expected to be ready for the 2008 softball season.

The new, $3.5 million engineering facility is on the corner of 3rd Avenue and Hal Greer Boulevard, across the street from Smith Hall. With 16,000 square feet of space and six lab environments, it's a key part of Marshall renewing its engineering program. It is expected to be operational in the fall of 2008.

Construction on other facilities could start this year.

The Forensic Science Center at Marshall is set for a major expansion. A $4 million addition to the center was listed among 24 items in the university's capital projects list for budget years 2008 through 2013. Construction of a new building next to the existing one at the old Fairfield Stadium site is scheduled to start in early 2008 and last through 2010.

Marshall University's Board of Governors also included an indoor football practice facility among its list of Capital Expenditures Projects from 2008 to 2013. Pending approval, construction on a $10 million indoor practice facility would begin in mid-2008.

The university also is raising money for a new building to house the Marshall Foundation and alumni relations staff.

Lawmakers to get back to work Jan. 9

The 2008 West Virginia Legislature convenes for its 60-day regular session on Jan. 9.

Some of the key topics are expected to include: Regulating workers' compensation insurance, regional jail funding, teacher pay, annexation and municipal pensions.

"We Are Marshall" to have yet another debut

"We Are Marshall," the movie which tells the story of the rebirth of the Marshall University football program following the tragic 1970 plane crash that killed nearly the entire team, will have yet another debut early in 2008.

Home Box Office announced that the 2006 Warner Bros. release will make its debut on the premium service channel at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5. It will be broadcast several more times throughout the month, providing yet another round of exposure for the university and Huntington.

The movie was filmed in Huntington, with football sequences shot in Georgia, in 2005, and was released in theaters in December 2006. "We Are Marshall" came out on DVD in September. It was the top-selling DVD the week of its release. The movie also topped rental charts that week.

Cabell board to consider student drug testing policy

Cabell County Schools will be voting on a student drug testing policy as early as February, although they can table it until March if they feel the policy still needs work. The first draft was unveiled at the Dec. 18 board meeting, and it will be formally addressed at the Jan. 8 meeting.

The policy is being put into place because of results from the PRIDE Survey and as another deterrent to drug use. Students who participate in athletics or any other extra-curricular activity, or drive to school, would be included in the random pool. Middle school students participating in activities also would be included in the pool.

Progress expected on city sewer project

The Huntington Sanitary Board took planning steps last year for fixing the city's aging sewer system and is awaiting word from the state whether those plans are acceptable. Three contracts totaling more than $110,000 were awarded to study portions of the system and develop a plan to upgrade them.

The Sanitary Board announced last summer that it has come up with $357 million plan to deal with the city's long-standing combined sewer overflow problem, with an initial phase of improvements costing an estimated $54.5 million. State environmental officials are reviewing the plans and plan to work with the sanitary board to establish a timetable for work to begin.

About 85 percent of Huntington's sewer system consists of lines that carry both storm water and sewage. The combined lines often overflow during heavy rain, which prevents the Huntington Sanitary Board's wastewater treatment plant from treating the water. Instead, millions of gallons of untreated water flow into streams, rivers and basements and flood city streets. Though the federal government mandates there be no more than six untreated overflow events in a municipality each year, Fox said, in 2006 the city had 59 occurrences.

School building projects proceed; one to open

Although the main theme for 2008 will be the ongoing construction of the new Barboursville Middle, Milton Middle and the Southside Elementary and Huntington Middle campus, one new school will be ready to open its doors. Martha Elementary, which is about 65 percent complete, is slated to be complete by the end of May.

Students actually will get out of school nine days early so all the equipment, furniture and books can be moved to the new school. Then the old Martha Elementary will be demolished and cleaned up by the time school starts again in August.

City's home-rule plan goes under state microscope

Another issue expected to appear during the session is the five-year, home rule pilot program that the Legislature approved last year. Morgantown, which initially proposed the program, is proposing that the Legislature make minor alterations to the home rule legislation before the program move forward.

Huntington is one of four cities that has submitted plans to a state panel to participate in the program and, barring any deadline changes, will learn by June 30 whether it has been chosen.

The city's plan is focused on four proposals: Creating a land bank; changing state law to allow cities to capture fire insurance claim proceeds; strengthening ordinances to collect delinquent fees; and overhauling its tax structure by implementing a sales tax and/or occupation tax and repealing the $2-a-week user fee and reducing the business and occupation tax.

It's back to bargaining for city and its unions

Negotiations between Mayor David Felinton's administration and the city's three employee unions will occur during the first six months of 2008. Contracts for the Police Department and rank-and-file workers expire on June 30. The Fire Department's contract already has expired, but Felinton continued the terms and provisions of it through June 30.

The main sticking point in the negotiations will be the unions' health insurance package, which has become a pivotal topic at City Hall since officials learned in 2007 that they had underestimated the costs of their self-insured plan.

I-64 bridge work to slow traffic periodically

Motorists on Interstate 64 near Huntington will see long delays at times this year when work begins on replacing the bridges that cross over W.Va. 10.

The $24.8 million project will reduce traffic on the interstate to only one lane each direction at times and won't be completed for about two years. The project is another step toward the state Division of Highways' long-term goal of widening I-64 to six lanes between Huntington and Charleston.

The W.Va. 10 overpass bridges will be replaced in three phases. Pier foundations and columns will be built for the new bridges during the first phase, which is expected to start the first week of January. The first phase of work will not affect traffic on I-64, but there will be periodic lane reductions on W.Va. 10.

The second phase will begin in April 2008. All traffic on I-64 will be shifted to the existing eastbound bridge so crews can demolish the westbound bridge and start building a new one. Traffic will be reduced to one lane each direction on the eastbound bridge.

In an effort to prevent traffic from backing up, the approach to the bridge from both directions will include an exit only lane for the exit ramps, Ball said. A roadside assistance service also will be located near the construction site 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

During the third phase of construction, which is scheduled to begin in August 2008, traffic on I-64 will be shifted to the new westbound bridge so crews can demolish the old eastbound bridge and start building a new one. The new westbound bridge will be wide enough to carry two lanes of traffic going each direction.

The project is expected to be finished by October 2009.

Projects continue in downtown Huntington

Pullman also is planning on a Community Trust Bank at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 10th Street, and a Franky D's Italian Chop House. across from Max & Erma's on the upper floors.

Downtown housing is in the works, including 9th Street Flats, which are going into the old Keen Jewelers building on 9th Street, and condos in the St. James building. Dr. Joseph Touma and Gary Pommerenck, owner of Love's Hardware, have discussed plans to build loft-style apartments downtown as well.

As all this has been going on, the city of Huntington has been working on a project along 3rd Avenue to improve sidewalks and lighting and add angled parking. The Huntington-Ironton Empowerment Zone has been working with downtown property owners to give them the tools to set up a business improvement district, which would mean an extra tax for the property owners in exchange for better security, cleaning and maintenance services downtown.

City, volunteers plan more work on riverfront

Members of the community came together in 2007 to improve the safety, cleanliness and aesthetics at Harris Riverfront Park.

The Herald-Dispatch and WSAZ NewsChannel 3 hosted a community forum in October to gather input on ideas for developing Huntington's riverfront. Afterward, a group of community members pledged their time and ideas to bring the riverfront back to life.

A handful of volunteers planted hundreds of tulip bulbs near the 10th Street entrance, cleaned muck-filled grates, power washed concrete, cleaned graffiti off of bathroom walls, raked leaves and picked up litter. Also, Clear Channel Communications and Big Sandy Superstores have donated $700 to purchase new flags for the park, while the city's Public Works Department has identified funding in its budget to repair the wooden park benches.

The city plans to develop a 10-year master plan for improving the park and will have a stakeholders meeting in January before the city begins work on the master plan. The master plan process will include several public hearings as well as a survey component, she said.

To learn more about how you can get involved, call Brandi Jones, director of administration and finance for the city, at (304) 696-5540.

HADCO tries to prime pump for more jobs

Ground has been broken on a new 100,000-square-foot shell building at the Huntington Area Development Council Business Park, located off W.Va. 2. Construction and financing for the nearly $1.8 million facility is provided by BB&T bank.

Shell buildings are empty structures built to lure new businesses to the area, by saving them the cost of constructing a facility themselves. Four shell buildings already built in Cabell and Wayne counties brought in businesses from around the world.

This will be the first built at the HADCO Business Park. It's the fifth and largest of the shell buildings to be constructed by HADCO.

The Tri-State Airport Authority has approved HADCO's proceeding in building a 30,000-square-foot shell building intended to attract air related businesses. It will be on the far side of the current airport runway.

First phase of center at East Hills to open

Developer Bob Childers purchased the East Hills shopping plaza and is renovating it into the East Hills Professional Center. Located near the 29th Street Exit of Interstate 64, it's the former site of Ames, Office Depot and more recently, Grandview Weekend Outlet -- across U.S. 60 from HIMG. It's expected to open in phases, beginning this year, and will have condominium office suites available to be purchased by professionals in the area.

According to the Huntington Area Development Council, Childers expects 80 percent of the development to be sold within the first year and a half of construction. In total, the project will represent $22 million in private investments and span more than 186,000 square feet of office space.

The current facade of the buildings will be redesigned, and the parking lot will be leveled, said Childers, owner of Childers Properties. He expects the project to be completed in its entirety by August 2010.

Officials to keep eye on Heartland corridor

Work is continuing in 2008 on the Heartland Corridor, a railway for double-stacked containers on trains, that will stretch from the Virginia coast to Columbus, Ohio.

The plan includes heightening several tunnels along the route to allow for double-stacked containers on trains, as well as three intermodal facilities for easier transfer of containers between rail, roadways, rivers and airways. Prichard in Wayne County is one of three proposed sites for an intermodal facility.

National benefits of the Heartland Corridor are that it would create a quicker route for businesses that need to ship, cutting about 200 miles -- or a day and a half travel time -- from Norfolk, Va., to Chicago. It also would mean more goods moving by rail rather than highways, decreasing congestion on the highways, as well as air pollution.

The benefits for West Virginia and the Tri-State are many, members of the Heartland Corridor Working Group have said. Having the $18 million intermodal facility at Prichard could draw dozens of businesses involved with the transfer of goods. Home Depot and Wal-Mart are examples of businesses that set up distribution centers near such intermodal facilities to cut their travel expenses.

First class expected for new residency program

The Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University announced in August that a new orthopedic residency program is coming to Marshall to train surgeons to work with the musculoskeletal system.

It begins in June 2008 with its first six residents, and is expected to benefit the community by bringing some of the nation's top residents to West Virginia, where they will learn the most advanced procedures. It means better care for local patients and greater esteem nationally for the orthopedics department at Marshall. Almost 400 applicants applied for one of the six openings for the first year of the program.

Revitalization to continue on Old Main Corridor

Work toward improving the so-called Old Main Corridor on 4th Avenue from the Marshall University campus at Hal Greer Boulevard to 10th street is expected to continue in the year ahead. Buoyed by a $340,000 grant from the state's Transportation Enhancement Program, designs and more specific plans for the for the cityscape revitalization project should be forthcoming, thanks to the efforts of The American Institute of Architects' West Virginia Chapter.

After a design is settled, expected improvements include new sidewalks, bike paths and street lamps that illuminate the area better and provide safety to both residents and pedestrians.