8/9/2019 Front Page The Herald-Dispatch, March 5, 2010

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C M Y K 50 inch

Kenneth R.

ADKINSWayne County CommissionerEle

ct

Democra

t Working to make a

good county better!Paid for by Committee to Elect Kenneth R. Adkins, Kenneth R. Adkins III Treasurer.

206406

IndexBusiness 5B

Classied 1D

Comics 6C

Crossword 2DEditorials 6A

Horoscope 5D

Life 4C

Local 3A

Movies 5C

Nation 7A

Obituaries 2CJ.Spencer 4C

Sports 1B

Television 5C

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Huntington, West Virginia

Vol. 110 No. 64

Sponsorship to benefit athleticsISP deal will bring revenue, newequipment to Marshall stadiumSports / 1B

Spring is in the air

4024Weather / 5A

$234in valuable

coupons in

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Huntington, West Virginia www.herald-dispatch.com Home Edition 50

FRIDAYMarch 5, 2010

Saturday winimportant tomens teamMarshalls mens

basketball teamwants a victorySaturday night atSMU to be in theright frame of mindentering the C-USAtournament mid-week in Oklahoma.Sports / 1B

Marshall topresent filmfestivalThe Marshall Art-

ists Series willpresent the SpringInternational FilmFestival March 5-7at the Keith-Albeein downtown Hun-tington. Six differ-ent films will playduring the weekendfestival.Community / 1C

Lawrencelooking for

highway fundsLawrence County isasking for U.S. Rep.Charlie Wilsons helpin obtaining$5 mil-lion in federalmoneyfor land acquistionfor theChesapeakeBypass project, alsocalled theTri-StateOuter Belt.

Region / 2A

ChampionPublishing, Inc.

A ,C.M. L

SERVING

THE TRI-STATEFOR

YE A R S

By ANNE DINNOCENZIOThe Associated Press

N E W Y OR K S h op p er sshrugged offthe snowand worriesabout the economy to buyfull-pricespring clothing and other items atthe nations malls, resulting in thestrongest retail sales gain since

November2007,a month before therecession started.The upbeat news also helped

soothe fears among some econo-miststhat weakconsumer spendingmight make theeconomicrecoveryshort-lived.

A broadarrayof merchants,fromluxury retailer Nordstrom to mid-brow Macys Inc. to discounterTarget Corp.,reported better-than-expected solid sales increases onThursday that beat Wall Streetanalysts estimates.

The overall 3.7 percent gain inFebruary, according to the Inter-national Council of Shopping

Centerss index of 31 merchants,came in the face of a decline inconsumer confidence, high job-

lessness and tight credit.It marked the third consecutive

monthly sales increase forretailers,accordingto the ICSC.

The figures for sales at storesopen at least a year are an impor-tantmeasure of retailershealth.

I am surprised by the broader

strength in the figures, said MikeNiemira, chief economist at theICSC, whohadexpecteda 2 percentincrease. Everyone is participat-ing in this gain. And thats a goodsign for theretail sector and for theeconomyoverall.

Whenthe Great Recessionbegan,shoppers had flocked to cheaperstores from their higher-pricedrivals, butThursdaysf iguresofferclear evidence that consumers,albeitstill thrifty,are crawling backto their oldhigher-pricehaunts forcertain items while still shoppingat discounters like TJX Cos. andTargetCorp.

Retailers report strong gains for Feb.

NOTE: Sales include those from storesopen for at least one year. Reportingperiods vary slightly.

AP

Percent change in major retailers salescompared to February 2009:

-9.3%

+2.0%

+10.0%

Shoppers shrugged off snow tobuy spring clothes, showing mostretailers modest gains in February.

February 2010

+3.7%

+2.4%

+3.0%

Limited Brands Inc.

Macys Inc.

Gap Inc.

Target Corp.

Freds Inc.

J.C. Penney Co.

Stein Mart Inc.

+1.2%

By CURTIS JOHNSONThe Herald-Dispatchcujohnson@herald-dispatch.com

HUNTINGTON Christopher Stin-son seemed both jovial and defiant ashe entered three guilty pleas Thursdayrelatedto an Aug. 25, 2007, home invasionthatvictimized fivecollegestudents atanoff-campusresidence.

The 21-year-old appearedl ight-heartedat Thursdays hearing in Cabell CircuitCourt, freely talking to The Herald-Dispatch and smiling for a photo, but anaura of serious defiance was evident asStinsons head shook side to side uponhearing allegations and evidence linkedto the charges against him.

Stinson entered three Kennedy-styleguilty pleas to first-degree robbery thatallowed for his conviction without himconfessingto anyspecific acts.He receiveda 25-year prison sentence.

Cabell County Assistant Prosecutor

21-year-oldsentencedin homeinvasionHes finally getting whathe deserves, victim says

Curtis Johnson/The Herald-Dispatch

Christopher Stinson sits Thursday wait-ing for a plea hearing to begin in CabellCircuit Court.

Please see STINSON/4A

By CHRISTIAN ALEXANDERSENThe Herald-Dispatchcalexandersen@herald-dispatch.com

HUNTINGTON C.M.Love & Co.Hardware, a partof downtownHunting-ton for 100years,willclose its doors inApril, the ownerssaid Thursday.

In a prepared release, owners Garyand Nancy Pommerenck said theydecided to sell out their remaining

lease so that Campbell Woods PLLCcan renovate and occupy all three lev-elsof thebuilding at10023rdAve. TheHuntington law firm currently occu-pies theeighth,ninth and10th floors of

Downtown hardwarestore to make wayfor new law offices

Passage of the two bills to help municipali-ties address dilapidated housing and debrisremoval is considered the biggest success so

far this legislative session in the House of Dele-gates, according to Delegate Kevin Craig, D-Cabell.

Photos by Mark Webb/The Herald-Dispatch

Brian Agee, left, is assisted by Mike Sexton as he shops at C.M. Love Hardware on Thursday in Huntington.

MORE ON 3A

Delegate: Housing bills biggestlegislative success this session

C.M. Love Hardware announces it will close its doors in April, the owner saidThursday. The store has been a part of downtown for 100 years.Please see C.M. LOVE/4A

By BRYAN CHAMBERSThe Herald-Dispatchbchambers@herald-dispatch.com

HUNTINGTON Smokeandash trays in Cabell County barsand gambling parlors will soonbecome a thing ofthe past.

Cabell Circuit Judge Jane Hus-tead lifted a week-old temporaryinjunction on a new countywideindoorsmoking regulationThurs-day, whichallows the Cabell-Hun-tington Health Department to

enforce it as soon as the judgeenters herorder.The newregula-tion strengthens a 2001 law thatprohibited smoking in all of thecountys restaurants.

Fifty-five bars,video lottery par-lors and veterans organizationsfileda complaintagainstthe Boardof Health last week, arguing thatthe regulation was arbitrary andunreasonable and would forcethem toclose their doors.

While Hustead apologized to

bar owners before her rulingand said she was sympathetic totheir concerns, she added thatthe documented negativeeffectsof secondhand smoke outweigh

the alleged economiclossesthattheban might imposeon them.

I have to look at the overallwell-being of this community,she said.

Hustead did not rule on theplaintiffs petition for a declara-tory judgment, which asks thatthe court void the new smokingregulation.Because ofschedulingreasons,the casecouldtake 12 to16 months, said Amy Crossan,whorepresents bar owners.

For all intents and purposes,she signaled her decision on it,but that doesnt mean we wontgo forward on the declaratoryjudgment action,Crossan said. Idontthink itwouldhaveharmedthe Health Department to keepthe ban in effect, but yet it willharm our clients in the interimwhile the judge fully decideseverything on their merits.

Ruling allows smoking ban to take effect

Please see SMOKING/4A

I have to lookat the overallwell-being of thiscommunity.Cabell Circuit JudgeJane Hustead