Thursday, August 28, 2014
Cabell Midland boys soccer / Page 12 50 Cents Volume 116 Issue 34
2014 Pumpkin Festival Queen Mahalie Hargis sits in the pumpkin carriage that will bear her and her teen queen in this year’s parade.
Hargis crowned Pumpkin Queen By Amanda Smythers amanda@theputnamstandard.com
Mahalie Hargis, a 19-year-old student at Marshall University, will preside over the prestigious West Virginia Pumpkin Festival this year. “I honestly didn’t know how I was going to do,” said the newly crowned Miss Pumpkin Festival 2014. “All of my friends were up there and they all looked so gorgeous. I’m so excited. I can’t even describe how I feel.” Hargis will be joined by the 2014 Teen Queen, 15-year-old
Madelyn “Maddy” Price of St. Albans High School. Hargis competed against nine other girls from around West Virginia in Sunday’s pageant, picking up the “Best Interview” award along with her overall win. This, she said, was not a surprise to her. “That was possibly the best personal interview I’ve had in my life,” she said. “The judges were so open and I really connected with them. They made me feel really comfortable.” Price also took home extra accolades. She won the award for
The sled challenge is used to simulate breaking through the roof with an axe. The railroad tie had to be knocked all the way to the back of the sled to move on.
Culloden VFD turns 60 years By Michael Circle michael@theputnamstandard.com
The Culloden Volunteer Fire Department held a family picnic and car show at Tabernacle of Praise to celebrate 60 years of service with the community. More than 100 adults and children enjoyed the food, raffles, bounce houses, and a visit from an Air-Evac emergency helicopter. “It’s a community event to let
the local residents know we are here,” senior firefighter Brent Burger said. “We don’t want people to only find out we are here when something bad happens.” The Ladies Auxiliary helped organize the event in order to raise awareness about needs of the fire department. “Our Ladies Auxiliary works to raise money for the guys so they can get new equipment,” auxiliary president Elizabeth
Lawhon said. “They need something, we do it. This event helps in building a relationship with the community for the department.” The highlight of the daylong celebration was the firemen’s challenge. The challenge drew in firefighters from the around the region. The competition incorporates real-life scenarios a firefighter might come across while fighting a structure fire. See Culloden, Page 6
See Queen, Page 7
Marijuana eradication efforts under way in Cabell By Amanda Smythers amanda@theputnamstandard.com The Cabell County Sheriff’s Department confiscated more than $60,000 worth of marijuana plants in a preplanned eradication that utilized officers in air and on foot. The eradication was cut short by bad weather, but this did not stop the department from confiscating as much as it could. “It was good for the amount of time we were able to fly,” said Detective
Matt Siebel, who is in charge of drug investigations. “It went as expected.” The 49 confiscated plants were in various stages of maturity, with the younger plants valued at around $1,500 and the older valued at around $2,500 each. They were found in the Hillview and Pleasantview areas of Cabell County. “You never know what you’re going to get,” said Sheriff Tom McComas. “It’s amazing we could get so much from those two areas alone.” McComas said the National Guard
provided a helicopter and the Guard worked cooperatively with the sheriff’s department to coordinate the eradication. He said officers couldn’t have recovered what they did without the helicopter. “The advantage of the aerial platform is that it allows you to see more than you can from the ground,” McComas said. “The aircraft had to literally walk [the deputies] into it.” McComas said all of the confiscated growth was found on public property,
The Cabell County Sheriff’s Department seized over See Marijuana, Page 6 $60,000 in an eradication day.