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Greenbrier County woman Says Paint Killed Her Son

By John O'Brien - Charleston Bureau
April 18, 2006 - CHARLESTON - A Greenbrier County woman is suing her late son's employer, whom she says caused his cancer by exposing him to dangerous materials on the job.

Donita Taylor filed the lawsuit on behalf of her son Matthew S. Belford's estate April 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Comsat Corporation, Radiation Systems' Universal Antennas Division, Lockheed Martin and Harry Morton, an individual.

Belford was employed for the building of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, a town in Pocahontas County. Taylor says the acute myelogenous leukemia that caused his death April 16, 2004.

Guy R. Bucci of the Charleston law firm Bucci, Bailey and Javins is representing the plaintiff.

"The defendants knew paints it used contained benzene and that benzene was a known human carcinogen and presented a number of health hazards to Matthew S. Belford, including cancer," the complaint says. "The defendants intentionally and/or negligently exposed those working at the Green Bank Observatory project, including Matthew S. Belford, to specific unsafe conditions."

The complaint alleges that benzene was a component of certain types of paint used on the jobsite. Those paints were Interlac 800, Interlac 665 and Interprime 198.

Belford was employed by more than one of the companies involved in the design and construction of the observatory.

Taylor is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She accuses the defendants of exposing their employees to unsafe materials without proper protection or warning.

Judge Charlie King has been assigned the case.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number 06-C-667

Arthur Lee Dies From Leukaemia

Mark Sutherland, London
August 04, 2006 - Arthur Lee, the singer and guitarist for psychedelic rock pioneers Love, has died at the age of 61. Lee died yesterday (Aug. 3) at the Methodist University Hospital in his hometown of Memphis after battling leukemia.

His manager, Mark Linn, told Reuters, "His death comes as a shock to me because Arthur had the uncanny ability to bounce back from everything, and leukemia was no exception. He was confident that he would be back on stage by the fall."

Lee formed Love in Los Angeles in 1965 and recorded three albums with the group's original lineup, including 1968's psychedelic classic "Forever Changes," frequently voted one of the greatest albums of all time.

But the group disbanded soon after "Forever Changes" and Lee struggled to find success as a solo artist. He formed several subsequent lineups of Love over the years but never quite recaptured the magic of his early recordings, when the band was the leading light of a Los Angeles scene that included the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and the Doors.

However, Love's early material proved perennially influential, with acts from Led Zeppelin to Echo and the Bunnymen citing Lee as an inspiration.

Famously unpredictable off stage, Lee served six years in a California jail for firing a pistol into the air in 1995. On his release, he put together a new version of Love and toured extensively, often playing "Forever Changes" from start to finish.

Lee was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia earlier this year and underwent bone marrow transplant surgery in May. Several benefit concerts had been held to help him with his medical bills, with former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant headlining the latest at New York's Beacon Theater in June.

Lee is survived by his wife, Diane.

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