Unusual News Flows In Bluefield In 1964 And 1965
A Bluefield recap highlights odd cases from Mercer and McDowell counties including a man jailed for stealing his wife’s false teeth, a $61,200 church bequest, a fatal plane crash after a sandwich trip, a venomous copperhead shootout, and a windstorm fatality. The piece notes uncommon events and local curiosity fueling the year’s headlines.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bluefield
Mercer County
Princeton
Trinity Methodist Church
Silas Belcher
Bland Boy Is Shot While Hunting
A hunt in McDowell County ends with a Bland youth shot by a companion. Welch authorities report the incident as a hunting accident under investigation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bland Boy
Land Idle in Southwest Virginia Seen as Forest Future
TVA forester Roger Bollinger urges planting 118000 idle acres in 11 southwest Virginia valleys to grow future wood supplies. Plant Trees Grow Jobs notes 2500 acres were planted in the first two years, with each acre potentially earning $15 yearly as forests mature into jobs, factories, and broader economic benefits.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Wood Products
TVA
Roger Bollinger
Big Stone Gap
Bollinger
Virginia Valley
Virginia
Richmond Sets December 26 Record At 70.9 Degrees
Richmond, Virginia, posted a record December 26 high of 70.9 degrees as unwinterlike warmth continued. Roanoke also reported a daily record, while the forecast expected a cooling trend starting Sunday after Christmas Day’s balmy spell.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Richmond
Virginia
Roanoke
Charleston Teacher Guest Soloist Today
Mrs. James Skeens, a Charleston teacher, will be guest soloist at the morning worship service today at First Baptist Church in Princeton.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
James Skeens
Charleston
First Baptist Church
Princeton
Richard Strock Hurt in Bland County Hunting Accident
A 16 year old Bland County boy, Richard Roy Strock of near Bland, remained in serious condition after a mid afternoon rabbit hunting accident six miles east of Bland. He was struck in the head by a close range 20 gauge shotgun blast as he and a companion lifted to shoot. Powder burns noted. He was transported to the Bluefield Sanitarium after treatment at Newberry Funeral Home in Bland. Sheriff Bill Compton investigated.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bland County
Bluefield Sanitarium
Richard Roy Strock
Garnet Strock
Bland
Strock
Newberry Funeral Home
Newberry
Bill Compton
Two Bluefield Teens Hurt in Cumberland Road Wreck
Two 16 year old boys were injured in a one vehicle crash on Cumberland Road near Bluefield Saturday evening. Driver Roby Mitchem sustained head and other injuries and was under treatment at Bluefield Sanitarium. Harry Cundiff received a severe arm injury and also treated there. Police said the car hit a utility pole, broke it into three pieces, and went over an embankment. Troopers Sturms and Conley investigated.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Federal Street
Bluefield
Justice of the
Charles Caffee
Charles Leon Burress
Bastian
Mercer County
Mary Ridinger
Princeton
Lashmeet
Buchanan County
Buchanan
Fred Short
Grundy
Cumberland Road
Roby Douglas Mitchem
Rt. 1
Bluefield Sanitarium
Harry Cundiff
Nemours
Beacon Drive-in
A-Mart
R. L. Sturms
William Conley
Maximum New Year's Eve Road Patrol In Mercer
State police plan peak patrols across West Virginia on New Year’s Eve with every available trooper on duty. Col Burchett ordered full strength as weather and visibility concerns, plus intoxicated driving, raise risk. Local agencies will also be on high alert to deter unsafe driving as the year ends.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Maximum
Mercer
C. W. Andrick
W. E. Burchett
West Virginia
Tom
Times Square
New Post Office Building Under Construction In Gary
A new one story brick post office is being built in Gary McDowell County with ample parking. The builder is a Lexington Virginia financial firm and the facility will be leased by the Post Office Department on a long term basis. Completion is expected by early summer.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gary
McDowell County
Post Office Department
Lexington
1964 Saw Solid Virginia Growth
The Virginia Division of Industrial Development and Planning reports 1964 marked solid growth across employment income and population. Civilian labor force rose by 37 000 to 1 549 000 with about 75 percent in non agricultural jobs. Personal income neared 9.5 billion, and federal civilian and military activity accounted for about 18 percent of the labor force and 25 percent of wages. Population reached an estimated 4 380 000, rising around 100 000 annually.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Richmond
Division of Industrial Development and Planning
Virginia
U. S. Department of Commerce
Hawaii
Alaska
U. S. Census Bureau
Break In Nets Thief 152 at Bluefield Shell Station
The Bland Street Shell Service Station in Bluefield was broken into late Christmas or early Saturday. The thief took a money bag containing 152.06 dollars and 11 credit cards. This was the second break-in at the station in ten days with no arrests yet. Station manager Pat Pafford discovered the theft at about 7 a.m. Saturday.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bland Street
Bluefield
Pat Pafford
Tractor driver dies in hillside crash near Tazewell
Sonny Hankins 29 of Tazewell County is killed when a farm tractor slips off a bank eight miles south of Tazewell. He was riding on the hood facing backward and the tractor overturns into a creek. Hankins is state’s 1,083rd death this year. Body at Greever Funeral Home. funeral arrangements pending.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tazewell
Sonny Hawkins
Rt. 1
D. J. Johnson
Hankins
Virginia Rt. 16
Hawkins
Old Dominion
Flora Hankins
War
Bill
Alex Hankins
Bluefield
Topsy
Wesley Hankins
Sarah Hankins
Katherine Hankins
Yukon
Toney Hankins
Detroit
Mich
Greever Funeral Home
Virginia Expands Schools with 40 New Installations
Virginia reports 40 new school projects totaling about 43 million dollars, part of a $352 million education appropriation for 1964 66. Enrollment rose to 967 700. average daily attendance $353 per pupil. teacher salaries rise with master's degree premium. vocational technical programs expand. two federal funded dropout schools opened in Wise and Notoway counties.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Richmond
Virginia
State Department of Education
Department
General Assembly
Wise County
Nottoway County
United States
Quiet New Year Observances Across Nations
Ancient customs mark the new year from Germany and Belgium to France Scotland and the United States. Festivities range from ransom games and gift exchanges to church watch parties and solitary contemplation as midnight approaches.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Belgium
Germany
France
Bluefield Police Hire and Then Drop Lawyer Pay Fight
Bluefield police hired Dan Wells to represent them for a city pay raise, but the plan was reportedly dropped after discussions at City Hall. The situation remains unclear as locals wonder what was promised and why the legal step was halted. Separately, Fred Lowman of Deland survived a car fire sparked by ignition of gasoline fumes after lighting a cigarette, with his restaurant later spared from major damage.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Roy Ball
Anawalt
Billy Warner
Welch
Mercer County
Mercer
Bluefield
Dan Wells
City Hall
Butler Hammitt
Pocahontas
Florida
Orlando Sentinel
Fred Lowman
Deland
Lowman
Dave Lowman
Buckskin Osborne back in action at AP Spokane bureau
Burl Osborne former AP correspondent now in charge of The Associated Press bureau in Spokane returns to full duties after a severe kidney ailment. He and wife Louella praise Bluefield but plan to move east, visiting family in Ashland Kentucky before resuming work on major national stories. Charles E. Fuqua named division manager of PP&L Susquehanna division, starts Jan 1. Beaver and VPI graduate, World War II veteran, four children.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Burl Osborne
Associated Bureau
Spokane
Wash
Pacific City
Buckskin
Louella
Bluefield
Théh
Ashland Ky
Abingdon
Scranton- Pp&l
Scranton
Susquehanna Division
Beaver
VPI
U. S. Army
Welch student named national band group vice president
David A. Walker of Welch is named vice president of Kappa Kappa Psi on the West Virginia University campus. Ellis G. Warner of Narrows joins the sales staff of C. W. Stuart & Co. in Newark New York. Michael J. Molin of Keystone and Mark C. Walsh of Peterstown earn first term honor roll at Greenbrier Military School. Freddy Gilbert comments on business and foreign aid chatter. Thomas Cooper, son of R. E. and wife, played a lead in Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt at Berea College.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
David A. Walker
Welch
Kappa Kappa Psi
West Virginia U
Ellis G. Warner
Narrows
C. W. Stuart & Co
Newark
N. Y
Michael J. Molin
Keystone
Mark C. Walsh
Peterstown
Greenbrier Military School
Lanster
Freddy Gilbert
Germany
Freddy
Washington
Thomas Cooper
R. E. Cooper
Henrik
Father-In-Law Held After Spanishburg Shooting
John C. Spicer, 64, of Spanishburg, is charged with felonious assault after a Christmas Day shooting in Mercer County that injured Benny C. Pennington, 27, of Kellysville. Spicer, Pennington’s father-in-law, is free on $1,000 bond awaiting the grand jury in January. Pennington survived a .38 caliber wound and is reported in satisfactory condition at Bluefield Sanitarium after initial care at Memorial Hospital in Princeton.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mercer County
Mercer County Intermediate Court
Spanishburg
Benny C. Pennington
Kellysville
Bluefield Sanitarium
John C. Spicer
Spicer
Pennington
Rodriquez Wins 1964 Christmas Lighting Contest in Pocahontas
The home of Frank Rodriquez took first place in Pocahontas Virginia for the 1964 Christmas Lighting and Decorating Contest. Judging occurred before Christmas and the Rodriquez display included a choir boy, reindeer, and Nativity scene.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Frank Rodriquez
Pocahontas
Rodriquez
Cleon Crockett
Santa
A. O. Bishop, Jr
Clemson, S. C
Bill White
Dayton, C
J. M. Retcliff
Nemours
Also Mentioned on This Page
Jim Dalton
Cording
Maryland
Spelunker
Muncey Calloway
Edna Longworth
Aldie Collins
Wesley Collins
Roderfield
Sylvester Adams
Memorial Hospital
Einen Teelben
Wba
Richard Strock
Bethlehem
Scotland
Split
Bluefield Baily Telegraph
Squire Jim Belcher
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