Retired Putnam County Judge Returning To Bench

• {West Virginia}...In September, retired Putnam County Judge James Holliday will head back to the bench for a temporary assignment in which he handle criminal cases while current Judge O.C. Spaulding focuses on a class action lawsuit involving Monsanto and hundreds of defendants. Because of the additional judge at the courthouse, Circuit Court Clerk Ronnie Matthews asked the Putnam County Commission Tuesday for permission to hire a temporary court clerk for Judge Spaulding. He's expected to report back to county commission at their next meeting. Residents of Nitro and some surrounding areas are suing Monsanto  over alleged dioxin contamination of the town, residences and area streams. They are seeking a court-run fund to clean up pollution of their property, money to reclaim contaminated streams and punitive damages. The former Monsanto plant in Nitro churned out herbicides, rubber products and other chemicals for more than 50 years.