This is WMMT’s Regional Roundup, a compilation of news from around the region, as reported in area newspapers.

About half of the registered nurses who were on strike against Appalachian Regional Healthcare should be back on the job by the end of this month. The rest are expected to be back at work by March 31, according to the Appalachian News-Express. About 700 nurses at nine ARH hospitals took to the picket line on October First, and the mandate for callbacks was part of the agreement made when the strike ended last month. About 150 replacement nurses were hired during the strike and they are being allowed to keep their jobs. The transition, however, has not been without problems. Pat Tanner, head negotiator for the Kentucky and West Virginia nurses associations, said – quote-"There have been a few more bumps in the road than we anticipated. We will work to resolve those issues as we work to get everyone back on the job – end quote.

The town of Grundy is putting two pieces of property on the auction block. According to the Virginia Mountaineer, officials will sell the Rife Wholesale and Ken Ratliff properties on January 26. The Rife Wholesale building was removed from the land in 2004 and the property is deemed suitable only for a parking lot because it is in the flood plain. Previous bids for the properties were rejected by the town council.

A Johnson County teenager is the 2008 Miss Kentucky Teen USA. 15-year-old Shannen Reil of West Van Lear was chosen over 50 other young women from across the state, according to the Big Sandy News. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Reil, she is a student at Johnson Central High School. She will represent Kentucky in the Miss Teen USA pageant.

Although no specific school consolidation proposal has been offered, residents of the Virginia communities of St. Paul, Pound and Appalachia are expressing their opposition to the potential loss of their local schools. Members of the St. Paul High School Alumni Association have, in fact, started an organization, called Voice for Community Schools, for the purpose of saving its school, according to the Coalfield Progress. Spokesperson Suzy Harrison said – quote – Not only are we trying to save our school – we’re trying to save our town. I’m not sure if everyone realizes what closing a school would do to our community – end quote. Pound residents met in late December to express similar sentiments, and Appalachia residents met last Saturday. Schools in the three towns have been targeted in previous consolidation proposals in Wise County.

A Loyall City Council member turned in his resignation just as his cohorts were poised to oust him from the council. Guy Howard, who is facing an indictment in a Harlan County, Kentucky, court, vacated his seat last week, and the council appointed Elvin Smith as his replacement on Monday, according to the Harlan Daily Enterprise.

Another historic building in downtown Hazard is gone. The Star Furniture building, which dates to 1925, was demolished recently because of structural problems that made it dangerous to pedestrians and passing vehicles. The week before it was torn down a piece of the building did fall on an empty van parked in a lot next to the building, according to the Hazard Herald. At various times, the building housed Hazard Furniture Store, Department of Agriculture offices and the Lexington Herald-Leader’s local bureau.

Larry Mohn has retired as police chief of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, according to the Coalfield Progress. Davey Horner has been named interim chief. Also retiring recently was Police Captain Grady Woods.

Walkers on a Paintsville Lake trail will soon have more than moonlight to light their way. The state park in Johnson County, Kentucky, has received a grant of more than 130,000 dollars to enhance its recreational areas, according to the Paintsville Herald. At the top of the list of improvements is a lighted pedestrian walkway at the dam.