Ranson

RANSON, W.Va. -- Police were looking for a man who robbed the BB&T bank at 301 S. Mildred St. in Ranson shortly before noon Monday. The man took an undisclosed amount of money from the bank, Ranson Police Chief William "Bill" Roper said. The robber was armed with an unknown caliber pistol when he demanded money from a teller shortly after entering the bank at 11:38 a.m., Roper said. No one was injured, Roper said. The robber was described as a black male in his early to mid-20s with freckles, a medium build and a slight beard.

Frontier Communications showcased its newly remodeled retail store and held a ribbon-cutting ceremony with community leaders Nov. 16 at 1108 N. Mildred St. in Ranson, The store, which has been part of the Ranson community for 15 years, is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A fire that destroyed a vacant storage building Saturday night was intentionally set, Independent Fire Co. Chief Donald Longerbeam said Sunday. “It was an arson fire,” Longerbeam said. There was no power to the 30-by-60-foot wooden building and witnesses said they saw juveniles running from the scene, he said. The fire in the 200 block of North George Street was reported at 10:16 p.m., Longerbeam said. Though the building is four blocks from the firehouse, it had partially collapsed by the time firefighters arrived, he said.

The clothes Abraham Lincoln wore to Ford's Theater, the flag on Iwo Jima, Stonewall Jackson's uniform, pre-Columbian textiles and hundreds more artifacts like them have been spread across tables in a small shop in Ranson. Textile Preservation Associates has been conserving artifacts and preparing them for display since it was opened in 1987 by Fonda Thomsen. Cathy Heffner came on board in 1989 and bought the business from Thomsen in 2007. A 1976 graduate of Brunswick (Md.) High School, Heffner's participation in a work-study program in National Park Service conservation labs during her senior year led to a full-time job as a textile conservator with the agency.

Five fire companies responded to a house fire Thursday morning at 209 W. Seventh Ave. in Ranson, an administrative officer at the Independent Fire Co. said. The officer said few details were available, but firefighters were called at 1:10 a.m. and cleared the scene at about 4:30 a.m. The Blue Ridge, Citizens, Friendship and Middleway fire companies also responded, the administrative officer said.

RANSON, W.Va. -- West Virginia University Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center Eastern Division broke ground Thursday for a medical office building on South Preston Street in Ranson. The 7,200-square-foot building with 16 to 18 exam rooms will be across the street from the main entrance to WVUH-East Jefferson Memorial Hospital, according to a news release from WVU Hospitals-East. The building will house two existing medical practices, WVU Maternity and Women's Health Center, and University Medical and Surgical Associates.

A Ranson, W.Va., man accused of shooting another man at Jefferson Memorial Park in Charles Town, W.Va., last week was taken into custody Tuesday morning by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Mountain State Fugitive Task Force, police said. Maurice Larnard Hough, of 300 S. Marshall St., Apt. 5, was arraigned by Berkeley County Magistrate Harry L. Snow on one count of attempted murder and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, according to court documents. Hough was being held Tuesday night in Eastern Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond for the attempted murder charge and a $50,000 bond for the drug charge, according to court and jail records.

RANSON, W.Va. -- Voters in Ranson won't have trouble picking candidates in Tuesday's City Council elections. Only three candidates are running and all three are unopposed. Assured of keeping their jobs for the next four years are Mayor A. David Hamill, who has served the city for 22 years; Duke Pierson, who will add four more years to the 16 he's already served and Kim Biddle, the only woman on the seven-member board, who is going back for four more years. Incumbents whose terms have two years to go include Recorder Tony Braithwaite, and Councilmen Scott Coulter, Howard Shade and Donnie Haines.

RANSON, W.Va. Two bottles of ether were safely removed from the Independent Fire Co. Friday after someone apparently left the material outside the building, officials said. Ether is a highly flamable liquid that is used for a variety of medical purposes, said Fire Chief Ed Smith. Smith said he believes whoever left the two quart-sized cans of ether at the department did so to dispose of the material. Proper disposal of the material costs several hundred dollars, Smith said.

Ruth V. Dyer, 93, of Charles Town, W.Va., died Sunday, May 12, 2013, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Ranson, W.Va. Service and burial will be private. Arrangements are by Melvin T. Strider Colonial Funeral Home, Charles Town.

The clothes Abraham Lincoln wore to Ford's Theater, the flag on Iwo Jima, Stonewall Jackson's uniform, pre-Columbian textiles and hundreds more artifacts like them have been spread across tables in a small shop in Ranson. Textile Preservation Associates has been conserving artifacts and preparing them for display since it was opened in 1987 by Fonda Thomsen. Cathy Heffner came on board in 1989 and bought the business from Thomsen in 2007. A 1976 graduate of Brunswick (Md.) High School, Heffner's participation in a work-study program in National Park Service conservation labs during her senior year led to a full-time job as a textile conservator with the agency.

Ruby Maxine Woodward, 55, of Charles Town, W.Va., died Monday, May 6, 2013, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Ranson, W.Va. The service will be Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home in Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

Howard Kenneth Daniels, 97, went to be with the Lord on Friday, May 10, 2013. Born May 4, 1916, in Shenandoah Junction, W.Va., he was the son of the late John Hendricks Daniels and Lula Mae McKee Daniels. Ken was a graduate of Shepherdstown High School, and attended Strayer College, Benjamin Franklin Business College and George Washington University. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II in Okinawa and the Philippines. He retired from the Department of Defense in 1973.

James Elwood Shipe, 76, of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., died Sunday, April 28, 2013, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Ranson, W.Va. The family will receive friends at Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, Harpers Ferry on Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. The service will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home with Pastor Paul D. Kemp officiating.

Candidates' signs are popping up around Jefferson County as four of its five municipalities are getting ready for their biennial elections in May and June to reseat or replace mayors and council members, according to city hall records. The four town are Charles Town, Ranson, Harpers Ferry and Bolivar. Residents in the county's fifth municipality, Shepherdstown, vote next year.   CHARLES TOWN: Mayor Peggy Smith is unopposed May 23 in her bid for another four-year term. Two of the four council incumbents running for re-election are unopposed - Chet Hines and Sandra Slusher McDonald - while Rich Bringewatt and Donald Clendenning have challengers.

David Alan Mahloy Young, 32, of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., died Friday, April 19, 2013, at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Ranson, W.Va. Visitation will be Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, Harpers Ferry. A celebration-of-life luncheon will be Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Christ Church, LaPlata, Md.

Frontier Communications showcased its newly remodeled retail store and held a ribbon-cutting ceremony with community leaders Nov. 16 at 1108 N. Mildred St. in Ranson, The store, which has been part of the Ranson community for 15 years, is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A 23-year-old man who was struck and apparently killed by a train in Jefferson County on Sunday night had been walking on the railroad tracks with his girlfriend to a friend's house in Ranson just before the incident happened, police said Tuesday. Michael William Johnson, of Ranson, was struck by a Norfolk Southern train in the vicinity of Universal Forest Products off 16th Avenue near Ranson at about 11:50 p.m. Sunday, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. Johnson's body was dragged about 350 feet after he was struck by the train, according to the sheriff's department.

One of three people to be charged in connection with an Aug. 26 carjacking along Golf Course Road was arraigned Friday in Berkeley County Magistrate Court. Lisa Marie Horne, 26, of Ranson, W.Va., was arraigned by Magistrate Jim Humphrey on single counts of first-degree robbery, grand larceny and accessory to robbery, according to court documents. Preliminary hearings in magistrate court for co-defendants Brad Lee Waldron, 25, of Purcellville, Va., and Paula Christina Killian, 26, of Martinsburg, who face the same charges, are scheduled for next month, according to court records.