Echoes of the Past: The Cat in the Hat, Arson and Rainbow Case

1924– 100 Years Ago

You Must Register To Vote

Everyone must register in order to vote in the primary election The election machinery of the state will put in motion soon. The law provides that the registrars shall meet the first Monday in April, get their supplies from the county clerk and proceed with a house to house canvass throughout their precincts all over the county to list legal voters.

Renick High School Notes

On Tuesday night of last week the people of this community met at the high school auditorium and formed an attentive audience for a Mr. Barham who explained the principles of the Ku Klux Klan. He also disclosed a mask. He said it was a secret why the Klan wore the mask but the truth was “it was to hide their faces,” – having seen one somewhere we might add they do all that.

To Regulate Sale Of Firearms

Endorsement of a movement to create legislation regulating the sale of firearms in West Virginia was given by W. S. Johnson. The state treasurer, to whom the sobriquet “Pistol Bill’ has been applied because of his active interest in securing gun legislation for the state, declared in an interview yesterday that he favors restriction being placed upon firearm sales, but he would not support a plan to enforce more severe penalties for illegal gun-toting than are provided for in his bill.

1949 – 75 Years Ago

Study Flood Problems

Mayor C. E. Spade reports that a corps of engineers from the Federal Engineer’s office in Huntington, have been engaged for the past ten days in making a preliminary survey of the Town of East Rainelle in connection with the local flood control project which has been under way for some time. These engineers are also making a survey of the area where Meadow Creek empties into Meadow River about three and one-half miles northwest of East Rainelle. With headquarters at the Terminal Hotel, Spade further reports that these surveys will necessitate their remaining in that locality for from four to six weeks longer.

To Do Livestock Judging

Four-H’ers who are eligile to work out and try out for the Greenbrier County 4-H livestock judging team have just been announced. Club members who are eligible are Sam Tuckwiller, Bobby Harris and Shirley Harris, each with baby beef projects, all of Central Willing Workers 4-H club; Lockhart Arbuckle and Frank Lightner of the Maxwelton Bonniie Brae club; Peggy Masters of Holiday Lewis; Betty Jane McVey of the Fort Spring Upward Trail, each carrying the 4-H baby beef project; Lynn Chase of the Muddy Creek Mountain Helping Hands club and James King of the Pine Tree Climbers 4-H, each with purebred pig projects; Bob McClung of Williamsburg Livewire Seniors, with fat pig projects, and Martin McMillion of Renick Senior Stickers club with market lamb project.

1974– 50 Years Ago

Patricia Sought For Part In Robbery

The FBI today sought Patricia Hearst as one of four rifle-toting women who held up a San Francisco bank Monday, shot two bystanders and escaped with more than $10,000.  Authorities said the 20-year old kidnap victim may have been forced to participate against her will.

Jaworski Wants Other 17 Tapes

Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski and the House Judiciary Committee want the tapes of 17 of President Nixon’s Watergate-related conversations that took place during a four-day period over Palm Sunday weekend, 1973. That was the weekend the Watergate cover-up unraveled, and a list of tapes shows Nixon and his top aides held a flurry of talks, some late at night.

Fighting Could Lead To War

Syrian and Israeli troops fought on snow-capped Mt. Hermon and the rocky battlefields below today despite Egyptian warnings the daily Golan Heights clashes could lead to a fifth Middle East war. In Cairo, news reports quoted War Minister Ahmed Ismail today as saying Egypt would join in if the Golan Heights fighting gets worse.

1999– 25 Years Ago

New Trial Date Set In Rainbow Case

The wheels of justice have begun a seemingly inexorable roll toward yet another trial in the 19-year old Rainbow Murder case. In an informal scheduling hearing in the Greenbrier County Courthouse, retired Circuit Judge Charles M. Lobban set dates for hearings in July, August and January for defendant, Jacob Beard.  Beard, 53, has been free on bond since January, when the court set aside his 1993 conviction for the double homicide. The victims, Nancy Santomero, 19, of Huntington, New York, and Vicki Durian, 26, of Wellman, Iowa, were on their way to an annual gathering of the Rainbow Family, a loosely-knit counterculture group. Their bodies were found along a rutted dirt road in a remote area of Pocahontas County on June 25, 1980.

Arson Confirmed In Plaza Photo Fire

A fire that investigators deemed suspicious has been confirmed as arson, Cpl. G. R. White of the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department reported. The fire occurred at Plaza Photo, which is located in the parking lot of the Greenbrier Valley Mall in Fairlea on April 3. Mail security personnel said they were first alerted to the fire when they noticed smoke coming from the structure’s drop-box. According to mall manager Larry Patton, a guard called 911, and the fire was put out shortly after local fire fighters and law enforcement officers arrived on the scene.

Cat In The Hat Makes Special Visit To LES

Read Across America was celebrated at Lewisburg Elementary School with a special visitor to the school. Dr. Seuss’s very own Cat in the Hat made a special appearance in the first grade classrooms. The Cat visited with the children, acted out a story, and read her favorite story to the children.

DISCLAIMER: The articles in Echoes of the Past are printed in their entire original form, including typos.

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