August 2006 Past News
 
 

Aug 31 pm  Charlies Stover, see Obituary page

Aug 31 pm We're in typing mode and new posts limited until the Communicator makes it out the door Friday afternoon. Here's something to hold you until then.....

Aug 31 pm  The husband leans over and asks his wife, "Do you remember the first  time we had sex together over fifty years ago?  We went behind this very tavern where you leaned against the back fence and I made love to you"  "Yes, she says, "I remember it well" "Ok," he says, "How about taking a stroll around there again and we can do it for old time's sake?"  "Oh Charlie, you old devil, that sounds like a crazy, but very good idea!"  There's a police officer sitting in the next booth listening to all this, and having a chuckle to himself. He thinks, "I've got to see these two old-timers having sex against a fence. I'll just keep an eye on them so there's no trouble."

    So he follows them. They walk haltingly along, leaning on each other for support, aided by walking sticks. Finally they get to the back of the tavern and make their way to the fence.   As she leans against the fence, the old man moves in. Suddenly they erupt into the most furious sex that the watching policeman has ever seen. This goes on for about forty minutes. Finally, they both collapse panting on the ground.
    The policeman is amazed. He thinks he has learned something about life that he didn't know. After about half an hour of lying on the ground recovering, the old couple struggle to their feet and put their clothes back on. The Policeman, still watching thinks, this was truly amazing I've got to ask them what their secret is. As the couple passes, he says to them, "Excuse me, but that was something else. You must've had a fantastic sex life together. Is there some sort of secret to this?"   The old man says, "Fifty years ago that wasn't an electric fence."

Aug. 31 pm This morning's post tried to soften the allegations against Donnie Welch. Of course, everyone is innocent until proven otherwise. But...  When the Feds nail you with felony after felony, there must be a little something to it.

Aug. 31 pm  Yesterday Donnie Welch  AKA "Junior" , was indictment in Federal Court with 9 counts. They've got him on everything from carrying a Smith and Wesson semi auto pistol, to fibbing to Badges,  to possession of a bomb, meth lab conspiracy, to lying to  a Federal Grand Jury during the Sam Murphy sessions.

Aug. 31 pm Friday morning, 11 am, some kind of detention hearing will be held. Most likely the Feds will work to revoke any bond considerations. Welch will be arraigned before Judge Mary Stanley Sept. 13th at 10 am.

Aug. 31 pm Full details in Friday afternoon's edition of The Communicator, Clay County's near award winning newspaper.

Aug. 31 pm Last week Badges from all over searched for Stephen Porter Cogar after the subject rammed into a Clendenin Police Dept cruiser. Still on the lam and considered dangerous, the Roane County Times Reporter has an update.

Aug. 31 am  Mary Lydia Bullard, 76, of Wallback, see Obituary page

Aug. 31 am We're going into typing mode for the next Communicator. No new posts until we get it out the door sometime Friday afternoon late.

Aug. 31 am Bobby West has been the Town's Chief water operator for five years. Under his stewardship, water issues have settled down and for the most part, the old plant has produced a pretty steady flow of potable water.

Aug. 31 am Bobby turned in his 30 day notice last Sunday. The search is on

Aug. 31 am Over the last three months, the Town of Clay has been negotiating with Rapid Cable system for a new better deal for  municipal TV subscribers. During a sit down meeting with the head honcho, things sounded pretty good with enhanced service, local input for basic package selection, DSL promises, and even space for local public access stations.

Aug. 31 am That all changed late last week when the Town received a letter from already in the county Rapid Cable who wrote, they were through with slow poke egotiations and agreements. All deals were off. The 99 of so current subscribers are back to, take what they offer or switch to Dish.

Aug. 31 am Linda Rhodes owns the land the local cable provider uses to house their receivers and equipment. Rhodes complained to the Mayor a couple weeks ago, that Rapid nor their predecessor, CeBridge, had paid any rent for the use of her ridge top land. After sending a letter to Rapid seeking a written agreement and with no response from the Colorado based LLC, Rhodes is threatening to padlock the receivers and such. Other have suggested she also cut off the electric service.

Aug. 31 am  With Rapid without any type of franchise agreement with the Town nor paying rent for the services they use, you might want to call John Osborne over at KAT Communications for a Dish TV receiver. See home page ad for details.

Aug. 31 am   Sometimes emotions get in the way of middle of the road postings...

Aug. 31 am Take for instance Donnie Welch's "alledged" part in the we want to blow up the Sheriff plot. After reading the ATF court documents naming Donnie and others and after hearing Sam Murphy name Welch as one of his accomplises, well, we should have said allegations, supposedly what happened and middle of the road stuff like that.

Aug. 31 am  Also came mention yesterday of Travis Welch getting nabbed for fibbing to Badges. We should have left it right there as well. We didn't. Our blunder.

Aug. 31 am  Sometimes when you see these kids now young adults, and other kids, horse around into and out of trouble, you just want to shake them (or worse) until they straigthen up.  For those that do make the change, good job and welcome to the real world.

Aug. 29 pm  Was planning to post on last night's Commission meeting but....

Aug. 29 pm This morning 911 scanner listeners heard coded message after coded message.

Aug. 29 pm By mid day Black Shirts, Green Shirts, and the Feds had Donnie Welch in custody.  Welch is the young man fingered as a conspirator in the  "We Want to Blow Up Holcomb" blasts last August 7th. He may be in deeper do do than Sam "Guilty Guilty guilty" Murphy.

Aug. 29 pm With Murphy holding immunity and Donnie the guy that added the screws, propane, blasting caps, and rigged the lid to KaBoom our Top Badge, young Mr. Welch could be looking at a real stiff sentence.

Aug. 29 pm For his part in fibbing to this morning's Badges in pursuit of Welch, brother Travis Welch was arrested for providing false information.  Badges don't appreciate some thangs, and fibbing stands out as "got you good" bell ringer.

Aug. 29 pm  With murphy spilling his guts and Welch in custody, the question remains, who's next. Who actually took the bomb to Eagle's Bend. Who else was in the bomb making? Who else did Murph and Welch tell?

Aug. 29 pm  Since 11 years of age, Donnie Welch and for that matter Travis have had problems. While in Boy Scout Troop 123, fights, and outlandish behavior were common. During one weekend camping trip, they changed liked Dr Jeckel in a matter of minutes. The guess is, drugs had a part in that problematic weekend over 10 years ago. Hindsight is 100%.

Aug. 29 pm  Back then parents griped that "those kind" of boys should not be a part of Scouting, that they didn't want their little cherubs around the  Donnies and Travis' of the world. Back then our response to those outcries was: Scouting's values and traditions are exactly what those boys need.   Guess it just didn't take.

Aug. 29 pm  Donnie Welch is in deep stuff. Full details in this Friday's Communicator.

Aug. 29 am  Happy 28th Birthday wishes to Jason Workman

Aug. 29 am Update coming

Aug. 28 am There was a church down in Texas that had a very big-busted organist. Her breasts were so huge that they bounced and jiggled while she played the organ. Unfortunately, she distracted the congregation considerably.  The very proper church ladies were appalled. They said something had to be done about this or they would have to get another organist. One of the ladies approached her very discreetly and told her to mash up some green persimmons, and rub them on her breasts and maybe they would shrink in size; but warned her to not eat any of  the green persimmons though because they are so sour, they will make your mouth  pucker up and you won't be able to talk properly for a while. She agreed to try it.   The following Sunday morning the minister got up on the pulpit and said.......  "Dew to thircumsthanthis bewond my contwol we will not hath a thermon tewday"

Aug. 28 pm  From the email bag:  Mika & Savanna Cadle of Bomont want to send Hugs & Kisses to their PaPa Buck Coleman.  He will be celebrating his 64th Birthday on August 28, 2006

Aug. 28 pm Clay County Commission meets Monday afternoon beginning at 5pm. They have a big long agenda to deal with including  a presentation on the some day soon flu pandemic. Watch for some dimly lit person to complain about the CCC's support of naming Lake Sampson , Lake Sampson.  If for no other reason, they have padded pews and cold air conditioning in the CCC room at the Courthouse. Public meeting open to the world and sure to be fun filled!

Aug. 28 pm Last Friday we posted info on Clay County PSD. We wrote that the new Board, Greg, Simpson, and Ted were no different than earlier rotten, back room dealing, appointed leaders. In our post we cited the WV PUblic Service Commission web site information which states that the PSD decided to go after a second bank loan to pay for pay raises, equipment, and run a water line over to the new Valley Dale Elem school . According to the official PSC site, the local Board vote to go after the loan July 19th during a regular meeting of the group.

Aug. 28 pm  Having attended that July 19th meeting, we knew, no vote was taken on an additional loan nor a second loan. We smelled the classic rotten fish so common in these parts.

Aug. 28 pm This morning PSD Chair Greg Fitzwater and Office Manager Bev Duffield cried FOUL!!! According to Greg, there was NOT a request made for a second loan, there was NO back room meeting for a second loan, he nor Duffield knew ANYTHING about a second loan, and, for that matter, they hadn't even got the final OK (from the bank) for the first properly voted on and approved loan to replace master meters.

Aug. 28 pm Ms Duffield acknowledged receipt of the same paperwork we quoted from and commented that she didn't understand the meaning of it. She said she would call the powers that be in Charleston and get things straightened up.

Aug. 28 pm Do you believe them? This time YES. This time the WV PSC has it all screwed up. We stand corrected.

Aug. 28 pm Some much for a juicy front page story in the next edition of The Communicator. Rats!

Aug. 28 pm Last night the thunder and lighting zapped Clayberry. The potato wagon unloaded!

Aug. 28 pm  Today all the little rug rats headed off  for the first day of school. Parents breathed easier. Summer is over. Peace and quiet returned to homes county wide.

Aug. 28 pm BOLO: Jeannie Davis carries all her auction equipment around in a nice looking black and silver cargo trailer. Friday night late, someone or someones stole the trailer from her Procious West Virginia business location. The trailer was loaded with tables, chairs, a two big tents/canopies. Be on the look out and call the Green Shirts if you see such items around the county.

Aug. 28 pm  Clara Cadle is an 80 something senior citizen that lives in the Procious area of Clayberry. She spent the winter making quilt tops, 35 of them to be exact. Sometime earlier last week, thugs came in her roadside home and stole 20 of the quilt tops along with two brand new pairs of shoes. Dirty rotten pukes!

Aug. 28 pm A couple months back Betty Fisher down at Betty's Place Family Restaurant  said she was closing her doors Labor Day weekend. We have an update. Because of increased community support and more foot traffic, she now plans to stay open. Great "fired" bologna sandwiches second to none!

Aug. 27 am Here's our recap for the last full week of Aug. 2006.

Aug. 27 am  Plague takes three forms _ bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic. 13 new cases appeared this week in the USA. Iran opened a nuclear reactor.  700 war protesters followed the vacationing Dubbya to Maine this week. From the NY TImes. while this country continues its war to stamp out pot growing and smoking, the rest of the civil world disputes the evils of the promised reefer madness.

Aug. 27 am  There have been 2,845 coalition deaths, 2,618 Americans, two Australians, 115 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, three Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 31 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, four Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of August 25, 2006, according to a CNN count

Aug. 27 am Even with temps at 100 degrees this past week, it felt different. There were longer shadows even at noon, by 8:15pm dark was upon us, and kids had on their new first day of school sneakers and shirts. Normally well tended gardens turned into masses of jungle with red tomatoes barely visible. Wed whacking and grass cutting took longer as grass toughened up. The new school year is here. Parents smiled.

Aug. 27 am The two worst places to start, grow, a business? Forbes magazine says West Virginia is the 49th worst state. Only Louisiana fairs worse. There's only two states illegal aliens refuse to come, and you guessed it, West Virginia is one of them.

Aug. 27 am Maybe what goes on in Clayberry is a symptom of that statewide stigma.

Aug. 27 am  Backdoor dealings at Clay County PSD became public this week after the WV PSC made public a vote by the local water provider to secure more long term debt (bank loan) to pay for day to day operation expense. The sad part is, the PSD never told anyone (vote in public),  they were adding to the requested water rate increase by increased debt load. Their slick tactics continue the tradition established in the county years ago.

Aug. 27 am  On another matter, the WV PSC made their intentions clear, they plan to take the local operations of Elk Power Company and turn the electric company over to the region wide AEP even if they have to use eminent domain tactics.

Aug. 27 am Mid week, Congressional candidate Mike Callaghan came to Clay to visit and listen. The poorly attended event was hamstrung by lack of advance publicity plus hot hot weather. Or, maybe we're just not ready to hear another round of promises and pictures of a rosy future.

Aug. 27 am Badges stumbled on another meth lab this week in the Valley View Rd section of the county and busted three young entrepreneurs.

Aug. 27 am    With government checks still a  five days away and gas prices hovering around $3 per gallon, the last ten days of the month has never been tougher. Local stores might as well close up until Sept. 1st.

Aug. 27 am Yesterday kids splashed around in the Elk River as have youngsters for decades.

Aug. 27 am Fall is here, where did Summer go?

Aug. 27 am OK boys and girls, here's some pornography you're sure to enjoy, sound too!

Aug. 27 am Wrap Up coming soon

Aug. 27 am  315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled

Aug. 27 am  The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino

Aug. 27 am  On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily

Aug. 27 am   Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode

Aug. 27 am  The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before

Aug. 27 am  Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips

Aug. 27 am   Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries

Aug. 27 am   By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand (and you thought this list was completely useless.)

Aug. 27 am Thanks BT for the info

Aug. 26 am Elk Power Co serves parts of Clayberry and is one of seven WV utility companies owned and operated by the Musser family. Those companies include: War Light and Power; Black Diamond, United Light, Union Power, Elkhorn Power, and Kimbell Light.

Aug. 26 am Back in Jan 06 Elk Power nearly went under and had their power source (Appalachian Power Co) cut off. The WV PSC stepped in and discovered a whole host of problems stemming around poor management and misappropriation of company funds by the owners.

Aug. 26 am The WV Public Service Commission state code mandated purpose is to support the providers NOT support or assist customers. There is a separate division, the Consumer Advocate Division (CAD) charged with being on our side. The CAD filed paperwork (June 2006) asking that most of those companies be taken over by Appalachian Power Company.

Aug. 26 am So serious are the problems, lack of service, power outages, extended power outages, outdated equipment, etc., the WV PSC agreed with CAD and went one step further. The WV PSC included all the Musser companies in the proceedings including Elk Power.

Aug. 26 am If a sell price can't be worked out between Appalachian Power and the Musser Companies, the PSc will invoke eminent domain and take them.

Aug. 26 am The WV PSC heard the CAD request and allegations Aug. 25th.

Aug. 26 am The WV Public Service Commission web site is here. The Consumer Advocate Division site can be found at this link. And the above mentioned hearing and findings is located here..

Aug. 26 am and some people say there's nothing going on in Clayberry!

Aug. 25 pm  First some background. Clay County PSD decided they wanted a water rate increase last Spring. Already in the top ten highest priced water providers in the state, they wanted to further retard the future of Clay County.

Aug. 25 pm  They said they had an urgent need. The request was made for an emergency rate increase followed by a second increase this Fall. The WV Public Service Commission gave them a 5% increase without public comment. Poof! Presto water bills went up 5%. During that emergency increase review, the PSC discovered the PSD had a 33% margin of profit after expenses and would be less than $1000 a year in the red if everything was paid in full. Much of that in the red part was caused by the hiring of Bill Dunn to oversee the construction of a water line.

Aug. 25 pm The WV PSC tells water providers, before asking for a rate increase, make sure you add a bunch of debt. A favored method is going in debt with new bank loans.

Aug. 25 pm Clay PSD did just that and now it appears they want even more.

Aug. 25 pm In addition to getting the thumbs up to purchase a brand new pick up truck, Boardsters Greg, Ted, and Simpson got the approval to replace master water meters via a $7500 Clay County Bank loan.

Aug. 25 pm  From the WV PSC web site, a letter dated August 22 2006 reads in part: the District noted that in a July 19 2006 meeting it was decided that it needed to borrow additional funds in the amount of $7500... the additional funds would provide for employee raises, possible extensions of service to an elementary school and various equipment purchases.... Lastly, staff notes that the PSD has requested approval to borrow $7500... needed immediately in order that master meters may be repaired.

August 25 pm   Two loans clickers. Two. According to the PSC in Charleston, the PSD voted on the 19th to request the SECOND loan. They did NOT. There was discussion of  "A"  loan. That was also the meeting where Board Chair Greg Fitzwater said the public had NO right to know how much of an increase each employee received.

August 25 pm  Here's one more example of back room deals that don't pass the rotten fish test. I'd write: New faces on the Board but the same ole shit except  we don't post potty mouth. So, new faces on the Board but the same ole crap. Pitiful!

Aug. 25 am  Linda Joyce (Wilmoth) Tracy, 59, of Clay,  see OBITUARY page

Aug. 25 am  Almost everyone has done a Google search. Here's the link. Once there, type in the word "failure" and click the Feeling Lucky button.

Aug. 25 am The search continued Wednesday for Porter Steven Cogar, the guy  that evaded Badges in the cross county chase Tuesday night. Acting on a tip, Badges headed down to the Southern end of the county to ValleyView Road. Didn't find Mr Cogar but they did discover a working, in operation, meth lab. Three enterprising young men were taken into custody.

Aug. 25 am  Today is the last day of summer for Clay County kids. School starts Monday for all those little snot lickers.   Be sure to check out the Events page for lots going on in our little county.

Aug. 25 am It's always good to know who reads this web site. RB Legg for instance....   For our Republicrats, earlier this week on our homepage we had a spoof on Hillary Clinton's aircraft crashing and a picture of a witch's broom stuck in the dirt.

Aug. 25 am Wednesday was the first day for teachers. During the mandatory to attend, first day, meeting, teachers are given a pep talk and told to teach em well this year. It's normal for the School Board Prez to add a few words of encouragement.

Aug. 25 am This year Bd Prez RB Legg used a power point presentation of that same witch's broom stuck in the dirt. Chuckles were NOT heard from all the participants in the audience. Certainly over the line in the mandated gathering on school time, wonder if anyone will even mention the over the line acid to RB?

Aug. 24 am The Fall election season is now in progress. Yesterday, Congressional candidate Mike Callaghan visited Clayberry for a pig roast and a pep rally. A dozen or so showed for both events.

Aug. 24 am New stuff added over on the ADVISORY page including the CCHS football schedule, Midget League Football schedule, and PSD water man Harold Allen doing a music show down in Charleston Friday night.

Aug. 24 am Here's what we've pieced together (our guess) from Tuesday's police chase thru Kanawha and Roane Counties..  Porter Steven Cogar was coming out of the Speedway convenience store when he more than just bumped into a Clendenin Badge. Without an apology but rather some potty mouth, when the Badge told him to hold up, he didn't. Instead, he high tailed it for his truck and shagged out of town with the blue lights close on his behind.

Aug. 24 am  At the Amma exit of I-79 he stopped long enough for the Badges to pull up right behind him. As they exited their cruiser, he put it in reverse and bashed into their cruiser big time, disabling it. They opened fire. A small amount of blood was found on the F-150. The pick em up truck faired worse than Cogar.

Aug. 24 am After checking the jail web sites, 10:45 pm last night, Mr Cogar is still on the lam

Aug. 24 am  On our other post from Wednesday, some media outlets had it , well, just plain wrong.

Aug. 24 am Sam Murphy named one "helper" for sure! During questioning by Judge Copenhaver, Murphy said Donnie Welch rigged up the batteries, put them in the box, added the screws and propane tank and activated it..

Aug. 24 am With Murphy given immunity from any further prosecution if he keeps talking, a couple notes.

Aug. 24 am When asked about the intent of the bombs, Sam said they were to scare the Sheriff.  Asst Fed Prosecutor Monica Swartz made it clear the bombs weren't to scare our Top Badge, "It was to kill, .. do away with Sheriff Holcomb...."

Aug. 24 am As for the two telephone calls, Sam Murphy said he called his girl friend and asked her to go buy $100 worth of pot from a buddy and for the girl friend to bring the weed to him in jail. According to Murph, another telephone call was made where  he knew his buddy was going to get sentenced at Clay Courthouse and he asked him to bring him some pot.

Aug. 24 am Keep in mind Murphy has to tell the truth or risk blowing his plea deal, Prosecutor Swartz straightened the truth once again. She said there were other phone calls made by Murphy, they have tapes of those conversations,  his girl friend was a conspirator, she had entered into an agreement; and,  a 3 way phone call was made from the Courthouse with the girl friend's sister making arraignments to get drugs into Central Regional Jail.

Aug. 24 am After the Swartz truth syrup, Judge Copenhaver asked if all that was true, Murphy, wiggled, rubbed his neck, looked at his attorney and replied, Yes Sir.     At 2:43pm the Court accepted his plea with the Judge saying, "You stand convicted."

Aug. 24 am  The Indian chief introduced his wife to a newspaper reporter.  The reporter asked her name.  The chief replied, "Three Horse."   "That's a picturesque name," said the reporter. "Does it have a deep

 symbolism?"   "Yes," the chief replied. "Nag, nag, nag!"

Aug. 23 pm Much of the web updating is done late evenings when Frontier DSL speed is greatest. The last few days that service has been off more than on. Last night after a service call seemed to go well, the DSL went Kaput again. No DSL, no updates , sorry.

Aug. 23 pm Today Congressional candidate Mike Callaghan is coming to town for a 3pm pig roast in front of Kevin Duffy's office on Main Street right beside the  Health Dept. building. A public forum followed by a pep rally will be held at the Lion's Club building.  True it's a political thang but it is free free food and the world is invited.

Aug. 23 pm Scanner listeners were glued to the receivers last night as Badges were in hot pursuit of a pick em up truck. From the scanner traffic: Around 9:50 calls came in on a gray F-150 p/u that rammed a badge mobile in Clendenin. First traffic said shots had been fired at Badges down there. Corrections came that only  the Badges did the trigger pulling at the truck. After crashing into the cruiser, the Clendenin boys were in pursuit all over Roane County and heading back into Clayberry from Newton. Sheriff Holcomb yanked his breeches on and made it from his home to Hansford in under 7 minutes! The F-150 truck driver was identified as Porter Steven Cogar.  On scene at the Wallback exit of I-79, the Top Badge and Miles Slack were ready to deploy spike strips.

Aug. 23 pm Somewhere in the scanner talk, from Holcomb to Slack, " If you have any contact with him, make it at gun point!";  911 reported the Clendenin unit in pursuit the entire way calling for assistance as they traveled thru Roane County.

Aug. 23 pm Our guys were told to stay at the county line (Wallback Exit) and wait, and "Roane County doesn't need you..."

Aug. 23 pm By 10:30pm last night, most of the excitement petered off.  Calls came in on side roads which could have been used to slid addle. Around 11:41pm last night, Holcomb reported " We do have the vehicle.".... Guess he didn't wait at the county line.

Aug. 23 pm  Yesterday at 2:21pm Samuel Todd Murphy plead guilty to trying to blow up Sheriff Holcomb Aug. 7th 2006 and two counts of using a telephone for a drug transaction. In the oral agreement presented to Judge John Copenhaver, the words "meth" were removed and "pot" was inserted.  Note: they didn't use the word pot but  marijuana is too hard to spell!

Aug. 23 pm  Murphy will be sentenced in Nov. He faces up to 18 years in the slammer, $750,000 in fines, court costs and other fees, and three  years of supervised release after he gets out. He will receive immunity from further charges as long as he keeps talking to the Feds.

Aug. 23 pm That last part should have many Clayberry druggies squirming. If not, you should be!  More on Murphy later this week.

Aug. 23 pm Today is the first day back to school for teachers and school service personnel. Kids start next Monday, Aug. 28th.

Aug. 23 pm Two weeks ago during the School Board Board meeting, Asst Big Cheese Kenneth Tanner gave a glowing report on how well students did on the last round of WesTest exams. He was able to show wonderful performance levels equaling pats on the backs for the school administration.

Aug. 23 pm During today's back to school pep rally, word will come that adequate yearly progress (AYP) was NOT met for the middle school. AYP is a part of the No Child Left Behind game plan for performance. School unable to show AYP are forced to pay for busing of students to schools in other counties as parents' request.

Aug. 23 pm  The School Board also met Aug.  21st. During that gathering, the elected folks OKed filling a new "teaching the teachers" position. Mary Ann Triplett was selected for that cushy spot just as School Boardster Beth Cercone predicted in early August.

Aug. 23 pm New administration or old, the same back room negotiations and deals continue in beautiful Clayberry.

Aug. 22 am Yes we know, 'had the wrong date for Monday. Just call us dumb bunnies

Aug. 22 am  The Communicator made it out the door late Monday afternoon. 24 pages of hard hitting news and views second to none on life in Clayberry. Even Johnny Woofter may be happy with this  one.

Aug. 22 am According to the VineLink web site, Tommy Young Jr was released from NY custody yesterday. New start, new day.

Aug. 22 am A little more than a year ago,  before noon on Aug. 7th, four loud explosions were heard around Town. The home made bombs were intended for Sheriff Holcomb and others. The Kabooms went off when a guy picking up cans for recycling opened the trigger rigged box lid.

Aug. 22 am Bomb maker Samuel Todd  Murphy was peed at stepped up law enforcement activities muzzling his meth lab production. Today at 1:30 Mr. Murphy will enter a plea avoiding days at trial.

Aug. 22 am  According Mr. Bean Pole, equipment for the new Taco Mel stand at Two Run will arrive this week with a grand opening around Labor Day weekend.  It's about time Duuuuuuuffy!

Aug. 22 am  Congressional Demorat challenger Mike Callaghan will be in Town Wednesday afternoon for a fund raiser. The poorly advertised and announced event starts out with a pig roast (3pm) on Main Street beside the Health Dept building followed by an open forum  (5pm) at the Lion's Club building and then a pep Rally at 7pm. Mike is vieing for Shelley Moore Capito's seat in Congress.

Aug. 22 am Most of us know Harold Allen as the new water man at Clay County PSD. He's also a heck of a strong Delta blues slide guitar picker and singer. Harold will be performing at Taylor Book Store on Capitol Street Aug. 25 beginning at 7:30pm.

Aug. 22 am Update on last night's School Board meeting coming later today

Aug. 22 am This is for everyone over 50 whose eyesight isn't what it used to be. When trying to read small e-mail print (especially in the  early hours), if you hold down the Ctrl key on your key board and turn the small wheel in the middle of your mouse, the print size will change - it will either get larger or smaller - depending on which way you turn the wheel.

Aug. 21 am Tonight the Clay County Board of Education meets at the Standard Bryant annex on Gump Street. Agenda items include:   Approve personnel from the preferred recall list for the 2006 - 2007 school year for professionals, teacher aides, bus drivers, and secretaries;  Accept the resignation of James Oates as 4th grade teacher at Ivydale Elementary School, effective immediately;   Approve the employment of a 4th grade teacher at Ivydale Elementary School;    Approve the transfer of Mary Ann Triplett as Reading Teacher at Clay Middle School to Literacy Curriculum Facilitator at Clay Middle School, new position (paid through Title I, Title II and School Improvement);   Approve the employment of a Reading Teacher at Clay Middle School, job posted through Wednesday, August 23, 2006, (Mary Ann Triplett's former job);   Approve the employment of Jared Fitzwater as Assistant Football Coach at CCHS (David Woods' former job);  Approve the employment of the following substitute teachers for the 2006 - 2007 school year:  1.  Linda Grandinette, 2.  Sheila Paxton, 3.  Mike Schoonover;     Approve the transfer of Reuben Bragg from Roane County Schools to CCHS for the 2006 - 2007 school year;    Approve the Policy for School Parental Involvement Council;   Approve the request from Clay Middle School Band for $3,825.00 to continue band program;  Approve the sale of Bus #28, #37, #18, and the old maintenance white van;  Approve the rate of mileage for employees at $.40 per mile effective August 23, 2006.  Discussions:  extra time/extra pay;  late job postings

Aug. 20 pm Under overcast skies, here's our week that was...

Aug. 20 pm On the nationals scene, our little talked about backdoor draft continued.  Rummy and others put the best face on the strongest country on earth being holed up in the not so safe green zone... There have been 2,831 coalition deaths, 2,604 Americans, two Australians, 115 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, three Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 31 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, four Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of August 18, 2006, according to a CNN count

Aug. 20 pm Mel Gibson gets arrested and has his day in court in a matter of two weeks ( given three years probation). Here in Clayberry Earnest Davis remains behind bars since March 27th still waiting on the wheels of justice to turn. Unable to pay a $50 bond, the slow churning has cost Davis his freedom for 140 days and the county nearly $7000.00. He has been found guilty of nothing nor has he had a trial.

Aug. 20 pm Thursday evening the Health Dept. Board met and OKed $25 per month pay raises for employees but a 10% raise for the Director. Board Chair Connie Harper thought what was good for the goose was good for the gander but that didn't work. Linda Klotzbach walked away $3200 richer.

Aug. 20 pm Ex Senator Randy Schoonover was back in court this week. Looking pale and bent over, his Aug. trial has been delayed until at the earliest, Oct.   This past week defense attorney Wayne King worked it hard trying to get Charles Raymond Wable off the hook for growing pot. Without any evidence Wable was growing the stuff ( no garden hose, no hoe, no bug spray, no fertilizer etc.) the jury took just a few minutes to say guilty guilty guilty guilty.

Aug. 20 pm Soon to be out of office Commissioner Jimmy Sams turned 50 years old. With the Harrision County Jesus painting stolen, the only question remaining: Will Sams take his Ten Commandments display with him when he leaves office Dec 31st. Answer: No

Aug. 20 pm On Thursday and Friday, Joe Robertson of Trophies Only outdoor show captured on film what we let go unnoticed.. the Elk River is beautiful and abundant with bass. Just one more sign that tourism is the future not smoke stacks.

Aug. 20 pm With school opening Aug. 28th, parents were seen dragging the rug rats here and there for new shirts, shoes, and such. The noon day sun looked different, the shadows were longer. Even with temps near 100, it didn't feel as hot,  we're thinking of fall, and the Apple Festival.

Aug. 18 am  Publication of the Communicator has been held up until Monday afternoon. No great big earth breaking story, we just didn't have the time to do all the articles justice. The wait will be worth it.

Aug. 18 am    The community of Lizemores is holding a two day Celebration which begins today. Info is on the EVENTS page.

Aug. 18 am These fishing guys have it made. They travel around the world filming great angling adventures on beautiful locations. Joe and Shea Robertson are fishing the Elk River this morning with Mitch DeBoard for the Trophies Only cable TV show.. Two other segments will be filmed later this year. That exposure plus a new campground at Dundon and the BC&G excursion railroad coming... Clayberry is going down a new road. That new path is one local blue bloods have no control over. Good.

Aug. 18 am  Many in the county say they don't want tourists (foreigners) coming in here. Our future rests in tourism. Naysayers, step aside.  For the rest, make plans for those lemonade, trinket, and T Shirt roadside stands. Cash $ in your pocket

AUg 18 am  Towards the end of the golf course, Dave hit his ball into the woods  and found it in a patch of pretty yellow buttercups.  Trying to get his ball back in play, he ended up thrashing just  about every buttercup in the patch.  All of a sudden.....POOF!! In a flash and puff of smoke, a little  old woman appeared. She said, "I'm Mother Nature! Do you know how long it took me to make those buttercups?  Just for doing what you have done, you won't have any butter for  your popcorn for the rest of your life:  Better still, you won't have any butter for your toast for the rest of your life...... As a matter of fact, you'll never have any butter for anything the rest of your life!!!!!  Then POOF!.....she was gone!

      After Dave recovered from the shock, he hollered for his friend,  "Fred, where are you?" Fred yells back "I'm over here in the pussy willows."  Dave shouts back, "DON'T SWING, FRED; FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T SWING!"

Aug. 17 pm  Bertha Valder, 85, of Ivydale, see OBITUARY page

Aug. 17 pm Here's what we're working on for the next edition of the Communicator: Randy Schoonover's morning in court today;  Sam Murphy's court plea; Mike Lanham heading back to the slammer; the Big Otter FD meeting and filed lawsuit; and the most recent School Board meeting.

Aug. 17 pm If that's not enough to fill a newspaper.... can't leave out the Tuesday filed lawsuit against the CCC, Sheriff, Green Shirts, and 911 center; tonight's HEalth Board meeting ( 6pm); and Clay Roane and Clay County PSD meetings.

Aug. 17 pm If that's still not enough, we hope to have pictures from today's Trophies Only TV show float trip down the Elk.

Aug. 7 pm Body Wisdom massage shop on Main Street has a special in progress. Get your feets massaged for just $10!

Aug. 17 pm Kat Communications has a new deal for those wanting Dish TV service. See home page for details.

Aug. 17 pm School opens Aug. 28th. Curtain climbers will be out of our hair in just 11 days.

Aug. 17 pm  The Clay County Swimmming Pool closes for the season after Saturday's Skate Park pool party. All proceeds benefit building a $100,000,  8000 square foot center at Clay County Park.

Aug. 17 pm The Ladies Auxiliary of the VFW post have started a fund raiser to renovate the memorial at the old Courthouse. 6 tickets for $5, winner receives Black Hills 14 ct gold earrings. Get your raffle tickets today.

Aug. 17 pm   No new posts until we get the paper to bed.

Aug. 17 am We're having some technical problems in updating the site. Be patient please

Aug. 17 am From the email bag: Free temporary food handlers cards shall be obtained at the Clay County Health Department if you have not attended a class within the last two years. You will be required to read some information and answer ten questions. This card will be good to serve food during the Apple Festival. You may come in between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Any Questions please contact the Clay County Health  Department at 587-4269.

Aug. 17 am Tonight at 6pm the Clay County Board of Health meets in the NH Dyer Health Dept. building on Main Street.

Aug. 17 am Something odd... Most places, during the normal work day, a town fills up with traffic. Here in Clay, our workers leave town to go to  work.

Aug. 17 am Every body smile today. Film crews will be in the county today filming a float trip down the Elk with mitch DeBoard. All you folks thinking about mooning them, stop it right now!!!!!!!!

Aug. 17 am We've got a new lawsuit in the county.  We have a family in the county wanting to live a normal quiet life and feel the Sheriff's office, the County Commission, and the 911 Call Center have been negligent.

Aug. 17 am That family is Renee Boyd and Tommy Young Sr. Yelp, filed their suit Tuesday!

Aug. 17 am Lots of new stuff over on the ADVISORY page

Aug. 17 am  More as we can post it

Aug. 16 am  Soooo Sheriff Taylor's middle name stumped a bunch of you. On the show he was Andrew Jackson Taylor

Aug. 16 am  A market researcher called at a house and his knock was answered by a young woman with three small children running around her. He asked her if she minded replying to his questions and when she agreed, he asked her if she knew his company, Cheeseborough- Ponds.  When she said no, he mentioned that among their many products was Vaseline and she certainly knew of that product.   When asked if she used it, the answer was,  "Yes, we use it when we have sexual intercourse."  The interviewer was amazed.  He said, "I always ask that question because everyone uses our product and they always say they use it for the child's bicycle chain, or the gate hinge or some other purpose; but I know that most people really use it for sexual intercourse, they just don't like to say so.  Since you've been so frank, could you tell me exactly how you use it?"    "We put it on the doorknob to keep the kids out."

Aug. 16 am  The Communicator comes out this Friday. Deadline for classifieds, events, notices etc. is tonight at 10pm.

Aug. 15 am Belated birthday wishes to Bud Ferrebee and 94 year old Mrs. Virginia Jarvis of Ivydale

Aug. 15 am Really hacks me off big time. You trivia heads were emailing answers within five minutes of the post. Everyone had the correct answers

Aug. 15 am Gilligan's first name was Wiley, Skipper was Jonas Grumby, The Professor was Roy Hinkley. And Yes, you even knew Ginger's last name, Grant. Makes me sick.

Aug. 15 am Here's one more. Sheriff Andy Taylor? Mayberry? What was his middle name?

Aug. 15 am This afternoon at 5pm, Clay County PSD meets for their monthly meeting.

Aug. 15 am Update coming on last night's Big Otter Fire Dept meeting.

Aug. 14 am Aging in place and limping along as best he can, Happy 50th Birthday wishes to Jimmy Sams

Aug. 14 am Tonight at 7 pm the Big Otter Fire Dept. Board of Directors meets at the firehouse. With Jeff Boggs lawsuit filed against the group last Tuesday, the meeting might be one worth taking in.

Aug. 14 am Does anybody else think it's quiet in Clayberry. Aren't we due something juicy? Sometimes keeping your ear to ground the gets it dirty. If somebody else hears something, email

Aug. 14 am  Clay County PSD meets Tuesday at 5pm

Aug. 13 am Lot's Circuit Court stuff going on this week too. Air conditioned and nice soft seats. If you don't start snoring or talking too loud, you can stay in there all day except for juvy stuff.

Aug. 14 am We've got something special at the library this week. Back in the Winter, a group called the WV Music Hall of Fame attended a CAEZ meeting. This week that group has a traveling exhibit set up at the Library complete with listening stations. Anyone interested in promoting or preserving West Virginia music might want to stop by the Library this week.

Aug. 14 am For all of us that thought today was the grand opening of Taco Mel's, owner Kevin Mr Beanpole Duffy emailed over : it is important to remember the mission of Taco Mel's -- bringing Los Angeles Taco Stand food to the rest of the known universe -- Taco Mel's is authentic and true to its beginnings at the East LA Taco Stand of Aurelio Rojas and his wife -- no dining inside -- EVER -- no matter how big the company gets, Taco Mel's will NEVER have indoor seating -- Food is served on paper plate with Taco or Burrito wrapped in foil paper -- you choose your level of heat from the sauce available at the delivery window - -Taco Mel's does not serve fountain drinks -- it does offer soft drinks in cans and bottled water -- to be quite blunt about it, Taco Mel's is, like all Los Angeles Taco Stands, designed to serve a superior product that is fresh made and served to

the customer within minutes of ordering
Aug. 14 am No taco's today, maybe around the end of the month clickers.

Aug. 14 am Trivia: On Gilligan's Island, What was Gilligan's first name?

Aug. 14 am Trivia:  On Gilligan's Island, what was the Skipper name in that series?

Aug. 14 am Trivia: What was Mary Ann's last name?

Aug. 14 am  Trivia: What was the Professor's name on that series?

Aug. 14 am Email answers ASAP

Aug. 13 am  Here's a peek from the last seven days.

Aug. 13 am  "Thousands of shells and hundreds of tanks coated with the metal that is radioactive, chemically toxic, and nearly twice as dense as lead. A shell coated with depleted uranium pierces a tank like a hot knife through butter, exploding on impact into a charring inferno. As tank armor, it repels artillery assaults. It also leaves behind a fine radioactive dust with a half-life of 4.5 billion years." We're using uranium in Iraq. Withe residue everywhere, our soldiers that make it home are feeling the effects of our dirty little secret.

Aug. 13 am  There have been 2,819 coalition deaths, 2,592 Americans, two Australians, 115 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, three Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 31 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, four Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of August 10, 2006, according to a CNN count.

Aug. 13 am Our School Board met Monday evening. Clerk Link acknowledged there are still problems with his $7.9 million Valley Dale school. Site elevations are off and need corrected before construction can begin. Dept. of Environmental Protection complaints (2) need corrected. The highlight of the meeting was Beth Cercone making public what the county has known since the beginning of time. Cercone asked about bogus hiring practices where the "right" applicant for a job is hand picked before the job  is posted.

Aug. 13 am The blue bloods in the county are going to have to take Cercone over the side and talk to about how things work in Clayberry.

Aug. 13 am Tuesday evening emergency service and law enforcement crews were called into action on a DOA and drug overdose. Eric Pierson was buried Friday.

Aug. 13 am After months of bickering with both sides thinking they're absolutely right, property owner Jeff Boggs filed a lawsuit against the Big Otter Fire Dept. The dispute centers around a small, pie shaped, strip of land beside the firehouse. Sometimes a Court decision is the only way to settle such matters. This is one of those instances.

Aug. 13 am  County Commission met this week and OKed pay raises for Circuit Clerk employees Jull Caruthers and Clarissa Hanshaw. Ernie Davis, the guy held since March 27th ($7500 in jail costs) and still waiting for a mental competency hearing came up. The CCC was asked to go the man's bond ($50) in an attempt to save even more hard to find tax dollars. They said they're not in the bond business. In attendance Senator White told the assembled to work together and grow the county of little. What he DIDN'T say was: If you guys would get your S*** together you could do something good for the county. What he DIDN'T know was: Many in this county want nothing new for the county.

Aug. 13 am  Thursday evening Clay Roane PSD met. Several people along the newly completed Amma Left Hand water project refuse to pay monthly bills. Even with a WV PSC verdict that mandates monthly payments by the customers who haven't hooked up to water service, they refuse. Imagaine that, people refusing to pay for something they aren't using! Clay Roane's attorney turned in his bill for legal work against now off the Board, Melissa Postelwait. The invoice totaled $1300. One person told the Board to give the bill to Postelwait. A couple weeks ago,  a property owner barred the PSD from access to the Ovapa tank site saying they didn't have a bone fide right of way. Last Tuesday the Circuit Court's temporary injunction order forced the guy to remove the obstructions ( barb wire).

Aug. 13 am   Both Tressy Moore and Harry Tanner have had a troubled existence ... for years. The downward spiral of drug addiction hit rock bottom this past week as murder charges were added to Harry Tanner and Tressy Moore's rap sheet. The grizzly details of the killing were made public online at the membership restricted ocala.com. Those details are posted on our ADVISORY page.

Aug. 13 am Where's the Tacos!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A new sign went up touting the Aug. 14th opening of Taco Mels. Owner Kevin Duffy says there has been a delay due to infrastructure needs at the historic Gulf station ( wiring). No tacos or burritos for another couple of weeks.  DUFFY!!!! This ain't a court room! We're hungry! Get cracking!

Aug. 13 am Saturday night, beauties from everywhere descended in Clayberrry for the 33rd Annual Golden Delicious Festival Pageant. Sun tanned, pretty and with perfect smiles galore, Jocelyn Tanner took the Ms Golden Delicious crown. Hannah Butcher will reign as the Delicious Teen.

Aug. 13 am Saturday evening brought out the crowd for the Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad night at Summer Jam. In addition to great West Virginia musicians, the 100 people or more heard the updates on the excursion railroad plans. Ground breaking ceremony will be next month at the JG Bradley Campground at Dundon.

Aud 12 am A very belated Happy 3rd Birthday wish to Hunter Sizemore

Aug. 12 am  Need your car washed? The Panther's Den Boxing Club is hosting a car wash today at Fas Chek in downtown Clay beginning at 10 am.  The $ will be used during the Apple Festival to put on a first time ever boxing contest.

Aug. 12 am  From the email bag: Don't know if this is the correct email address, but I saw on your news page where some one else from Clay County was over here in Iraq. Justin Vaughan, I my self am from Clay County, Lizemore to be exact. Just wanted to let you know I enjoy your news page and events, it keeps me updated with what is going on back home in Clay. I've been in the Marine Corps for 10yrs, and have deployed to Iraq 3 times, finishing up my 3rd one now. Just wanted to say thanks for all your support back there.     SSgt McGraw Byron H     HML/A-269

Aug. 12 am  Also from the email bag:  Hello Folks, I am Dale W Harding of Milton WV, and a decendant of Francis Smith Hanshaw and Lucy Ellen Varney of Clay Co.  Our family would like to plan a Hanshaw,Varney,Butcher,Davis Reunion at the Blue Knob Church, near Maysel, on October 14th, but we dont know who the current pastor of the church is, or how to contact him. We need permission, and dont want to just show up and bardge in.  Also we were wondering if the picnic area was still behind the old church and would like to have the names of some good sting players and old fashioned singers in the area.  If you can offer any help, please contact me at usafnamvet68@aol.com or write to Dale W Harding, Rt2, Box 39, Milton WV, 25541  phone 304 544 0366  Thanks and God Bless. Dale

Aug 12 am  An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen.

The two gentlemen were talking, and one said, "Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. I would recommend it very highly. The other man said, "What is the name of the restaurant?"   The first man thought and thought and finally said, "What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know... the one that's red and has thorns."   "Do you mean a rose?"  "Yes, that's the one," replied the man. He then turned towards the kitchen and yelled, "Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?

Aug. 11 pm For the most part we think of local druggies as dumb and wasting their lives away. Often we report on the druggy thugs breaking in and stealing or swiping cars for joy riding. It's not a regular thang for them to actually go after a person.

Aug. 11 pm It's time to think again. Yesterday we posted the Star Tribune online news on Tressy Moore and Harry Tanner being charged with murder down in Clay County Florida.   Always trying to think the two could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and falsely charged..... NOT

Aug. 11 pm  Here's the online report on the grizzly stabbing ( 27 times) as reported by ocala.com by Tressy. And Yes Harry Tanner also did some of the dirty deeds.

Aug. 11 pm Because ocala.com is membership viewed only after this date, the complete article is posted on the advisory page.

Aug. 11 pm Sorry to be so slow with the updates. Will try to get caught up by Saturday noon.

Aug. 10 pm Here's the online booking info for Tressy Moore.

Aug. 10 pm  Here's an interesting little tidbit...

Aug. 10 pm Mitch DeBoard is the average Joe on the street with kids, wife and such. Mitch may soon be a celebrity.

Aug. 10 pm  Film crews from the "Trophy Only Outdoors" show will be in Clayberry Aug. 16 and 17th. They will filming a float trip down the Elk River. That show is an off shoot from the Dr Buck series seen on the Men Channels each Friday night. Mitch is the local contact, will be in the documentary, and who knows, may be the star of the show!

Aug. 10 pm  Plans call for a return visit for filming in Oct and Nov. Who would of ever thunk Mitch Deboard a star?

Aug. 10 pm For those making plans to visit our 342 square miles, don't forget Curry's Cabin in the far end of the county. Barry Curry said today they still have some weekends open during the Fall foliage season. Finally, a nice place to stay will visiting the county of Clay.<>

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Transfer interrupted!

"#006600">Aug. 10 am Tonight Clay Roane PSD meets in regular session in the CCC room at the Courthouse. Bell sounds at 7pm.

Aug. 10 am Yell we're waiting to see some action too. The Taco Mel sign says they're opening Aug. 14th. As of last night, still np action there. Rats!

Aug. 10 am And the winner is... Almost everybody. All but three people correctly guessed our mystery chrome dome pictures. On the left was RB Legg  and the right, newbee to the School Board RIc Tanner. Thanks for everyone that made a guess

Aug. 10 am  For months, nearly a year, the Big Otter Fire Dept. has been in a feud over a strip of property on one side of the firehouse. One group says they own the dirt while the other side says, Nope, the land belongs to another. We understand the lawsuit was filed Tuesday afternoon.

Aug. 10 am Details coming.

Aug. 9 pm For those trying to email Justin Vaughan over in Iraq, try this email address: mailto:justin.s.vaughan@us.army.mil

Aug. 9 pm If you haven't purchased the most recent copy of The Communicator, this next post may be a bit confusing to you.

Aug. 9 pm As predicted in the last edition of  The Communicator Harry Tanner (HT) and Tressy Moore are in deeper stuff. Tressy was charged with murder in the first degree while HT now stands charged with 2nd degree murder. Here's the link from Clay County Florida.

Aug. 9 pm Last night Clay County lost another man to drugs. The scanner message came across as possible DOA and drug overdose.

Aug. 9 pm We've brought the ARCHIVED page up to date. Sorry to be so slow.

Aug. 9 pm During this morning's County Commission meeting, the Clay County Human Society's letter was read out loud. That letter is printed over on the ADVISORY page. Juicy stuff!

Aug. 9 pm Full update from Wednesday's CCC meeting late tonight.

Aug. 9 am  Readers of the Communicator remember our story on Kevin Braley earlier this year. Terminally ill Braley hired a friend of a friend to drive him to Charleston for his Rx. On the way home, that friend of a friend drove off with Braley's costly pain killing meds never to be seen again.

Aug. 9 am Kevin Scott Braley, see OBITUARY page.

Aug. 9 am County Commission meets this morning at 10 am. Air conditioned comfort and nice soft cushions on the pews. This morning soon to be in office Jerry Linkinoooooger won't be in attendance ( learning the ropes), he'll still be doing school system work up at Big Otter.

Aug. 9 am Several have tried emailing servive man Justin Vaughan and noted that email address doesn't connect. Justin if you are reading, please email again please.

Aug. 9 am  For those of you that think the government is a little too nosey when it comes to your internet search habits, here's a search engine that doesn't keep any record of where you went and how often. True, Google resisted giving Big Brother your information, IXQuick keeps NO info laying around. 'Bet that hacks off King Dubbya!

Aug. 8 pm Just got this in:  This is SPC Justin Vaughan sending Clay well wishes and God's blessings. I would just like to ask everyone in Clay to pray for me and my fellow soldiers as we are about to leave Kuwait and head into Iraq in a couple of days. Thank you and may God bless!

Aug. 8 pm  Justin's email address is: justin.s.vaughan@us.army.mil

Aug. 8 pm  Someone is going to have to talk to School Boardster Beth Cercone. There are some things you don't talk about at a public meeting. Like, the every day practice of hand picking someone for a cushy job, writing a job description for that one person and then posting the job. Ms Cercone stepped waaaaaay over the line last night during the School Board meeting. Shame  shame shame.

Aug. 8 pm The school system plans to create a new position to teach teachers how to teach. They're calling the new position, a teacher coach. Last night School Superintendent Gillespie was telling the Board about this most important job. He said he planned to "post" the job today. Cercone said in her community, the name of the successful bidder was already known and known for sometime.  She was saying , Why bother?

Aug. 8 pm Should have seen the administrators wiggling and trying to get out of the discussion. Asst Super Joan Haynie did an excellent job at side stepping the issue Cercone brought up. Double speak or Governmentese is what that is actually called. Normally such responses will get the hot seat issues side tracked.

Aug. 8 pm Not so with Beth Cercone. In response to Haynie, Cercone pressed on, actually pressed on twice. She said she appreciated that blah blah blah but that wasn't the question. Once again Cercone asked about the not so secret  practice of creating a job for just one person and then making it known, no one else need apply for the position.

Aug. 8 pm With the job already promised (last Spring during the reshuffling of the Board office)) and Cercone shedding troubling light on the illegal practice of the school system, other administrators tried to smooth things over. Didn't work. Cercone read one of the qualifications for the new job and asked if that was inserted in the posting so only one person could apply.

Aug. 8 pm  No    no    no     no way... not so came the replies.  Had it not been a public meeting and  people would have responded with Well Duhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Aug. 8 pm  School Boardster Beth Cercone better watch out. Any additional exposure of those back room hiring practices will get her in deep doo doo. With the voting strength of the school system, they could get her un-elected next time around just like they got Link out of the system. To make sure Link would not come back after retirement they voted in lock step to get him elected as County Commissioner. Of course that wasn't 100% successful but at least he's just the $50,000 a year clerk of the works these days.

Aug. 8 pm One other note from last night's School Board meeting. Kenneth Tanner is very good at spinning facts and figures into something  more digestible. Tanner presented the public with WesTest scores showing how wonderful our students are performing. Each year Tanner or some other $68,000 a year school system fact stretcher massages out: Clay County has the best performing schools in the universe. Every kid will be a rocket scientist.

Aug. 8 pm  So thick is the crap even the most ardent supporter has to gag a little.

Aug. 8 pm Truth is, West Virginia did so poorly on national standardized tests, we created out own test to make things look better. Of course, our graduates discover reality as soon as they head off to college of get a job. Those test results Kenneth Tanner provided do not reflect how the students compared to other students in the country. Click here for some truth.. just don't tell Kenneth, makes him sooooooooooooo mad!

Aug. 8 am Last night for about 45 minutes, lightning, thunder and rain lashed parts of Clayberry. The nasty storm followed a day of intense heat and sticky humidity. Much of Monday night was spent resetting those **!! digital clocks, micro wave ovens just to redo them again after the power blinked off and on over and over again.

Aug. 8 am The Kitchen Restaurant, Kathy's Flower Shop, and Clay Furniture were flooded during the storm. Not from bad roofs or stopped up drains inside their buildings but from curbside storm drains. Three of the four storm drains  were plugged solid. Rain water always finds some place to go and last night it went thru the front doors of those businesses.

Aug. 8 am With the power blinking and  interior lights turning that brown color, got to wait for better conditions.

Aug. 6 pm Dora Jean Jarvis, see OBITUARY page

Aug. 6 am Are you ready for another week? It's here anyway.

Aug. 6 am Look at it this way. The kids will be back in school in just a couple more weeks.

Aug. 6 am  Tonight at 6 the School board meets in regular session. Here's a partial list from Beth Cercone's web site agenda:  Approve the employment of Nancy (Lynn) Brogan as Multi-Categorical Resource Room Teacher at Clay Middle School, successful bid;    Approve the employment Heather Walker as Math Teacher at CCHS, pending certification;  Accept the resignation/retirement of Sandra King as Art Instructor at CCHS, effective immediately;  Accept the resignation of David Woods as Assistant Football Coach at CCHS, effective immediately;  Approve David Wayne as RESA III Representative for Clay County Schools;  Approve the voluntary removal of Shelia Stone's name from the substitute cook list;  Approve the transfer of students from Calhoun and Nicholas Counties to Clay County Schools;   Approve the transfer of students from Clay County Schools to Roane County Schools, pending Roane County Board of Education approval;   Approve the Substitute Teachers for the 2006-2007 School Year.  Discussions:     Doug Wayne to appear before the Board;  Mr. Linkinoggor to give up-date on Big Otter Elementary School;  Mr. Tanner to speak on Test Scores for the 2005-2006 School Year;  Policy on testing for early entrance into Kindergarten;    Dates of LSIC meetings for the 2006-2007 School Year;   Mileage for employees;  Water treatment equipment at Lizemore Elementary

Aug. 6 am the meeting will beheld at the Satndard Bryant Annex on Gump Street

Aug. 6 pm  Hot Darn Hot! So steamy were the last seven days, it hurt just to look without sunglasses. For the roofers, asphalt workers, and other outside workers, our condolences. Global warming? No chance.    Here's our look back...

Aug. 6 pm With no plan in Iraq, tax cuts for the rich, stagnant minimum wage, no stem cell research, lobbyists writing bills, only the White House isn't saying Iraq is in a civil war and we caused it.

Aug. 6 pm   There have been 2,812 coalition deaths, 2,585 Americans, two Australians, 115 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, three Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 31 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, four Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of August 4, 2006, according to a CNN count.

Aug. 6 pm Here at home Town Council readied to put the brakes on a tried and true fund raising effort known as Bucket Brigades at Two Run. AKA: Begging.  Tuesday evening our elected leaders prepared  terms and conditions that future brigades must use in the Town of Clay. In reality they opened the door to liability lawsuits out the yingyang. Behind the scenes people asked, if they don't own the road, how can they write laws for it.

Aug. 6 pm CAEZ met this past week as they have for 11 years. This time even Clay County had some good news to report. The new railroad track side campground at Dundon is nearly ready for cabins, welcome center, utilities and landscaping. A ground breaking ceremony on the old "brown field" land will be held in three weeks. Naysayers keep saying, there ain't never going to be anything here! An excursion railroad? BS!!! Who needs a campground?  Truth is, inch by inch, tourism and tourism dollars are coming to Clayberry. Naysayers, quietly step aside please. Thank you.

Aug. 6 pm After years of neglect, our one public library in the county continued to improve. With new air conditioning, a new coat of paint, new drainage and repaired gutters, the first time in years summer reading program continued. Over a dozen small fries enjoyed the "Surfs Up" reading program and activities.

Aug. 6 pm Heck, the library even has clean windows!!!

Aug. 6 pm Thursday evening the county's lead economic development group, the BDA, held their monthly meeting. While they continued their quest for an industrial park near Ovapa, Senator Randy White, Small Business Development Reps and others encouraged the group to work with other agencies, to maximize their efforts. It was as if they w ere being told, don't try to reinvent the wheel. They were told their mission is to work with existing businesses and not necessarily building buildings.

Aug. 6 pm Sheriff Holcomb mentioned a new drug of choice now entering the area. Top Badge Holcomb said the new, clear, liquid stuff was easier to make and much more potent than meth, and much more life threatening. This past week, Green Shirts, Black Shirts, Brown Shirts and the military were still after pot growers overhead in choppers and on the ground with machetes. Using resources wisely may not be their strong suit.

Aug. 6 pm Them dumb bunnies, they can't do that.. it will never happen!!!!!!! Wrong. Friday night that itty bitty band of volunteers hosted a Skate Board Exhibition in the Go Mart parking lot. 100 people showed with over 25 doing the skateboard thang complete with scrapes, red marks and bruises. Most of old timers could have done without the music but the kids knew every word. The first time ever event (also a fund raiser) was an indication of the need for teen activities in our little county. Their late night pool party was equally successful.

Aug. 6 pm Saturday night a group of 60 or more took in another free music show hosted by WYAP-LP. Mostly gray headed, toes were tapping and the applause and horn honking was great. Small town America at it's best.

Aug. 6 pm The heat of summer is here. With school opening in just three weeks, shirtless boys are brown as toast, knees are beat up, midget football leagues are practicing. Oldsters are sitting on the porch stringing green beans. Fresh corn is on every table. New government checks came in this week. Life is good for another week or so.

Aug. 5 pm  Tommy Keiffer Sr. 81, of Indore, see OBITUARY page

Aug. 5 am Carolyn Elaine “Tootsie” Rogers, 56, of Clay, see OBITUARY page

Aug. 5 am Friday afternoon the latest bestest yet edition of The Communicator made it to the news stands. Our lead article covers Thursday night's Business Development Authority  meeting.   The BDA is normally a quiet bunch that say little in a public meeting.  Thursday evening was different.

Aug. 5 am  With Senator White present and  Jim Epling present, the meeting turned into a pep rally for growth and prosperity. They spoke of working together, building relationships.  It happens every once in a while, maybe it's a phase of the moon or something, it was a pep rally.

Aug. 5 am  With Senator White present, they talked of working together and using their resources.

Aug. 5 am Here's a teaser to get you to cough up 70 cents for the paper.....     How about a four lane highway from Clayberry to R 19 over in Nicholas County. Plans are being laid to do just that.

Aug. 5 am Is there any interest in building a skate park in Clay County? Last night's Skateboard Exhibition in the Go Mart parking lot provides the answer. Yes. Complete with loud music, a wooden ramp/jump, and slalom course, 20+ boarders spent 2 hours spinning, twisting, and falling left and right.  50 others watch from the sidelines. The place was packed!

Aug. 5 am  A group of volunteers have worked for four months organizing to build an 8000 square foot Skate Park at the Clay County Park in Maysel. If all goes well, the $100,000 facility will be built late next summer. If all goes bad, at least the kids had something fun to do on a Friday night. Last night's event and pool party were fund raisers for the project.

Aug. 5 am To find out more, there's a link to their web site over on our LINKS page.

Aug. 5 am For us old gezzzers, bring a lawn chair to the FasChek of Clay parking lot tonight at 6pm for the next edition of WYAP's Summer Jam 2006 outdoor music show. Their link is over on the home page.

Aug. 4 am No new posts until we get The Communicator out the door. Looks like we'll be done around 4pm

Aug. 4 pm When you're at the County Clerk's office today, tell Michelle Happy Birthday. Her navel day is Saturday

Aug. 4 pm  The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is in need of new members.  We at the Clay Post 4419 invite you to become a member of our post if you are a veteran of WWII; Korean Service June 27, 1950 to July 27, 1954; Vietnam Service July 4, 1965 to March 28, 1973; Southwest Asia Service August 2, 1990 to November 30, 1995; and, the current Iraq operation.  There are also times when the Navy and Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal that was awarded would make any person eligible for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.  Our meeting times are the second and fourth Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at Clay, West Virginia.  Please come and join in with us.        Joe Lanham, Post Commander;  Hoy J. Davis, Post Quartermaster; Clay, West Virginia Post 4419; P.O. Box 627, Clay WV 25043

Aug. 3 pm Evaline Hubbard, 80, see OBITUARY page

Aug. 3 pm We're going into typing mode while we put together Friday's Communicator. No new posts unless something juicy. Make sure you've purchased your last edition. This one builds on it.

Aug. 3 pm Today at 5pm  the Clay County BDA meets in regular session. If for no other reason, their meeting room , the CCC room, is air conditioned nice and cool. Come out and attend a public meeting. Skeers them to death!

Aug. 3 pm We've got the follow up on Harry Tanner. Known as HT in these parts, the guy is in deep doodoo. Coming in Friday's Communicator.

Aug. 3 pm We're trying to get Sheriff Holcomb to slow down long enough to give us an update on the pot plant raids and a new, stronger than meth drug, soon to be killing our Clay County youth. Serious and getting worse every day.

Aug. 3 pm Baptist Preacher was seated next to a cowboy on a flight to Texas. After the plane took off, the cowboy asked for a whiskey and soda, which was brought and placed before him. The flight attendant then asked the preacher if he would like a drink. Appalled, the preacher replied, "I'd rather be tied up and taken advantage of by women of ill-repute, than let liquor touch my lips." The cowboy then handed his drink back to the attendant and said,     "Me too, I didn't know we had a choice.... "

Aug. 2 pm From the Florida TImes Union Aug. 2 : Two people were arrested Tuesday in Clay County after Orange Park police caught them driving a pickup truck reported stolen from an Ocala homicide victim.     Authorities arrested Tressy Moore, 28, and Harry Tanner, 29, both of Clay, W.Va., about 2 a.m. after police recognized the truck the two were in as it went through a fast-food drive-through. Both face charges of auto theft.     The truck was reported stolen from Wilhelmos Van Kempen, 47, who died on a neighbor's doorstep after being stabbed during an attack in his home, according to Ocala police.

Aug. 2 pm  Avis Rose has a birthday Thursday. When you see Ms Rose tell her happy navel day

Aug. 2 pm Since the beginning of time kids, adults, firemen and about all groups have held bucket brigades as fund raisers. The choice location has always been around the old radio station building at Two Run. They stand along the road or on the yellow lines with plastic buckets in hand yelling out DONATE or PLEASE HELP or GIVE MONEY TODAY

Aug. 2 pm Those little baseball players and cheerleaders with big eyes compel  the motorist to hand over the loot. It's common for groups to net several hundred dollars for their efforts on a Saturday

Aug. 2pm  Yesterday Clay Town Council met. During the meeting, Council gave the thumbs down to such brigades. They mentioned during a recent begging Saturday, one woman was throwing her leg out in front of passing motorists to get their attention. During that same Saturday, little kids were standing in the middle of the intersection.

Aug. 2 pm  Council is working up  a list of restrictions to curtail the fund raisers. During the Sept meeting, Council will vote the first reading of the new ordinance. Guidelines will include: No kids under 14 years old allowed, the groups will have to have a permit, total ban of brigades at Two Run, have to use orange cones and wear reflective vests, limit the number of brigades to one or two per year, and limit  the hours of begging to Saturday mornings only.

Aug. 2 pm  Another era coming to a close.

Aug. 2 pm Senator White attended Tuesday's CAEZ meeting.

Aug. 2 pm The group plans to hold a ground breaking ceremony in Sept for the new JG Bradley Campground at Dundon during their annual banquet.

Aug. 1 Late pm  Too Seepy, Update Coming in PM

Aug. 1 pm  As for Nada Waddell's 25th anniversary with that ace cub reporter.... Her Dad once said, he had a debt owed to the devil and he was paying it back in son in laws.

Aug. 1 pm BOLO: We've got a lost dog. See CLASSIFIED page.

Aug. 1 am  Carolene Marie Samples, 68, of Bomont, see OBITUARY page

Aug. 1 am  Today at 6pm Clay Town Council Meets at the Main Street water plant. Today at 4 pm CAEZ\s economic development committee meets followed by the full Board at 6pm. Both CAEZ meetings will be held in their Main Street office beside the Welfare Office.

Aug. 1 am 25 years ago today Nada Mullins Waddell married the Mel Gibson look alike. The county has mourned ever since.

Aug. 1 am  How many of you have a bogus copy of Windows XP on your puter? How many of you fell for the Windows update called Genuine Advantage gotcha update from Bill Gates? How many of you now have that pesky little balloon popping up on your screen? Raise your hands. Just as we thought, a bunch of ya

Aug. 1 am Here's a work around to get rid of that **!! balloon without spending $400 for a new XP disc.

Aug. 1 am  Dubbya is H bent on tossing the Constitution in the rubbish can. Finally a Judge is proceeding with  a trial on whether the Feds and AT&T violated the Constitution with warrantless searches. Interesting reading for our civil libertarian clickers.

Aug. 1 am Update coming later today.