Past
News April 2006
April 30 pm We're polishing of the
4th month of the year. Spring came to Clayberry. Yesterday lots of folks
were getting an early start by planting frost sensitive tomatoes and flowers.
Good Luck. Small boats and canoes were seen on the Elk bass fishing. Motorcycles
leaned into the corners enjoying our winding roads. The Spring time tradition
of yard sales got underway.
April 30 pm Nationally, Things are
a mess..... For those interested in civil rights and privacy, Congress
is working to take privacy out of the internet completely.
When our buddies get into drug problems, we go to jail. Not so with rich
and famous
like Rush Limbaugh. With 16 billion in profits so far this year, the
big oil companies so the economy is "robust". Those of us in
the real world think otherwise.
April 30 pm Illegal immigrants made
plans to show the country how important they are to society. Employers
are showing support for the low
dollar labor market.
April 30 pm And, how do you bust up
resistance to government sponsored religion? You break up organized religions
and turn them into small congregation, powerless, splinter groups. Happened
with the Baptists and they never
saw the big picture.
April 30 pm We're not even thinking
about Dubbya's bloody oil war.... There have been 2,609 coalition deaths,
2,396 Americans, two Australians, 104 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, three Danes,
two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 29 Italians, one Kazakh,
one Latvian, 17 Poles, one Romanian, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11
Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of April 28,
2006, according to a CNN count.
April 30 pm Before the County Commission
is a chance to improve cable TV and cable internet opportunities in the
county. Instead of OKing a whimpy franchise with minimal good, they decided
to take a second look. Good, they're finally thinking.
April 30 pm In the land where
little people think nothing good can happen, it has. A small band of volunteers
known as the BC & G RR Co-Op has worked behind the scenes to build
a tourist railroad line from Dundon to Taylor Station near Widen. This
week, their efforts paid off. In addition to the already operating rail
cars, the BC&G located and secured their first 35 ton Engine. Tiny
steps finally paying off. I think I can.. I think I can....
April 30 pm With the primary
election just around the corner, nearly 200 residents have already voted
at the Courthouse. Politicos kept working for their respective candidates.
More signs went up. Politicians came to town and shook babies, kissed hands,
and made promises. Saturday's rally over at the proposed Valley Dale school
site netted around 20 supporters.
April 30 pm We scratched our heads
and wondered as Iron Mike attacked another guy while under the influence
of alcohol or something. Out on bond, many were thinking, maybe it isn't
safe to walk down the sidewalks of Clay.
April 30 pm On this Sunday ....
With a few heading off to church, others reading the Sunday morning paper
(or web site), others put away the thoughts of higher gas prices and headed
to the garden to spend some quality time alone with the land. Even with
gas $3 a gallon, troublesome criminals walking the streets, we're still
quiet little Clayberry. That's a good thang.
April 30 am Irene Nelson,
75, of Maysel, see OBITUARY page
April 30 am For those that were
planning on getting rid of a bunch of junk and didn't want to toss the
stuff over the hillside, read the ADVISORY page. Bummer
April 30 am Wrap Up Coming
In the mean time
April 30 am "OLD"
IS WHEN... Your sweetie says, "Let's go upstairs and make love," and you
answer, "Pick one, I can't do both!"
April 30 am "OLD" IS WHEN....
Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
April 30 am "OLD" IS WHEN..... "Getting
lucky" means you find your car in the parking lot.
April 30 am "OLD" IS WHEN.....
An "all-nighter" means not getting up to pee.
April 29 am Friday evening the latest
edition of Clay County's Communicator hit the news stands. The latest installment
of What They Make for the school system is included.
April 29 am Check our EVENTS page for
lots of good things to do today. With bright sunshine expected, there's
no reason to stay inside and mope around.
April 29 am This afternoon we
also have a political rally of sorts. That aging, sagging, retiring, School
Super invited teachers and staff loyal to his County Commission bid out
to the new ValleyDale School site. Out in the middle of no where, it should
be interesting to see if Team Link can muster a strong showing from his
voting base.
April 29 am Good Morning CS. Is this
better?
April 29 am We've got a couple
nuggets of info.
April 29 am For those say tha Buffalo
Creek and Gauley RR Co-Op is just a pipe dream, sit down. They now have
their first honest to goodness locomotive. Yelp a 35 ton model too! No
not some a classic steam or Shay engine, but it's a start. At the
very least, the "yard engine" could offer some bargaining or "trade" opportunities.
More as we get it
April 29 am Michael Lanham was arrested
and jailed after punching out that ace cub reporter April 6th. A few days
later, he made bond and left the jailhouse.
April 29 am Friday afternoon, near
the front of the CAEZ office, around 2:15 pm, Warrrior Mike as he calls
himself was walking down Main Street carrying a couple beers and bottle
of Vodka. A bearded guy told Mikey he didn't appreciate an earlier incident
where Lanham threatened a fellow on ozygen. Humping up as is his
norm, Mikey hauled off and punched the H out of a bearded fellow.
The bearded guy ended up mopping the street with Lanham's head according
to eyewitnesses. At one point, with his head in an arm lock, Iron Mikey's
feet were in the air as the older guy got in several punches to the top
of Lanham's head. A lady from the Hotel came out with a can
of pepper spray. Realizing the threat of an eye full of pain, Warrior Mike
stopped his assault.
April 29 am With police arriving
within minutes, the victim decided NOT to press charges. Out on bond, Mikey
was turned loose, free to go, and assault the next person. Badges were
unable to find the full bottle of Vodka.
April 29 am In the last 5 years, the
out of control Mike Lanham has been arrested 36 times including 14 incidents
of battery. Still out on bond and unable to control himself, Mike Lanham
remains walking Main Street Clay.
April 27 pm We're going into typing
mode to get Friday's Communicator out on time. No updates until late Friday
except...
April 27 pm Just checked with
Ray Knotts office about the opening of Lake Sampson. According to his office
staff, the Official Dedication will be May 3rd at 1pm. The first trout
will be stocked during that ceremony. Watch for all the elected and want
ta bees to take credit for the new asset to the county.
April 27 pm This morning workers were
in high gear planting a bunch of trees near the face of the dam. As of
noon today, the long delayed guard rail installation remains missing. The
mud hole pond as some economic leaders have called the tourist spot is
full, the path around the facility is graveled, all the don't do this or
that signs are in place and the road has been paved. Clayberry is ready
for a nice place to enjoy. Thanks 2005 Clay County Person of the Year,
Fred Sampson.
April 27 am William Donsel
Spencer, 77, of Wallback, see OBITUARY page
April 27 am Have you voted? No excuse
voting now in progress at the County Clerk's office at the Courthouse.
Don't wait around clickers, vote early and vote often.
April 27 am Who would of ever thunk
it? A massage parlor in Clay? We're getting one. Located on Main
Street just across the street from the Communicator office. Don't get any
ideas boys, this is a real massage parlor, therapy massages.
April 27 am Private business has always
been the foundation of growth in this country. Besides a new parlor, the
ready to open Lake Sampson at Wallback has sprouted a new business. Clayton
Moore has opened a bait shop on Summers Fork where you turn up to the lake.
April 27 am More non government jobs
created in the last week by the private sector than the CCC and CAEZ combined
in the last 10 years!
April 27 am A week from today is the
grand opening of Lake Sampson at Wallback. Don't let anybody tell you any
different. One guy and one guy alone held the government and coal company
feet to the fire and secured the 14 acre tourist attraction for the
county. That guy is Fred Sampson of Ivydale!
April 27 am Entered our on line election
poll? Time is now. On Line Poll closes at 6pm today. Here's the questions:
who do you think will win the County Commission, County Clerk, and School
Board races. Use our deltacorporation@hotmail.com
address and mark in the subject box, POLL. Single shots OK. Results in
Friday's Communicator
April 27 am Meet Mike Callaghan today
at the Lion's Club from 4 to 6pm. Free munchies too
April 27 am Tonight's WYAP live discussion
group includes, Congressional candidate Mike Callaghan and 11th Senatorial
district candidate, Greg Tucker. Tune in to 101.7FM or listen online. Use
the YAP Radio button on our home page. Once you get over there, click the
blinking "ON AIR" button and turn up your speakers.
April 26 pm We've received several
responses on our online poll and some questions.
April 26 pm Here's the poll again.
Email: who you think will win the County Commission, County Clerk,
and School Board races. Use our deltacorporation@hotmail.com
address and mark in the subject box, POLL.
April 26 pm No you don't have to list
three candidates for school board. If you want to single shot a name, fine.
If we see the same person (TD for instance) emailing multiple times, we'll
count just the first one. And, if you're voting for one person you
don't have to call the opponent a dub bunny name.
April 26 pm Keep em comin', we'll post
in Friday's Communicator.
April 26 am Free munchies during the
just listed Meet the Candidate forum. See EVENTS page for Thursday fun
April 26 am Nothing Clayberry loves
more than a newbee coming to town and then skidaddling out the back door.
That's what locals in the Southern end of the County have been saying about
the Town's first ever municipal judge, Henry Bear.
April 26 am Man oh man, the rumors
are flying with the guy leaving under the cover of darkness.
April 26 am We emailed Mr Bear Monday
to find out about the rumor. We got this back Tuesday evening: We had
to reopen our house back up in Maine as our daughter will be taking it
over while she attends the University of Maine... and pay bills, etc...
Stop listening to rumors when you can go to the source. I am in the
process of returning to the "County" as we speak. See you in a few.
Hank
April 26 am Rats, there goes a perfectly
good and juicy rumor!!!!!!!!
April 26 am How about a quickie clickers.
Friday's edition of the Communicator will be the last one before the May
9th election. Email over: who you think will win the County Commission,
County Clerk, and School Board races. Use our deltacorporation@hotmail.com
address and mark in the subject box, POLL.
April 26 am Go ahead and email right
now. We'll post the results in Friday's paper.
April 25 pm Monday evening the County
Commission met in regular session. Gleaned from that gathering: we have
a new Asst. Prosecutor, Clint Bischoff from Nicholas County ($33,000 per
year); the BDA was match funded $34,000 by the CCC to continue their
eco/dev activities; there are a total of 11 ballots for the May 9th election;
and , the Ivydale school building sold to Lighthouse Baptist Church will
be used as a polling place. Forget about separation of church and
state in Clayberry. Just after the sell, locals were told the Lighthouse
group would NOT be holding church services there until a new school
was built and in use at Big Otter. With church services held there weekly
and the church group deciding who gets to use the taxpayer paid for facility
evenings and weekends, that original no church service statement can be
called an outright lie.
April 25 pm Also, retired teacher
Jerry Stover has worked with the Historical Society since inception. The
State Road is replacing the old concrete archway bridge on Church Street
with a filled area and box culvert. Stover is working to somehow
dress up that ugly site into something a little more pleasing to the eye
from Main Street. Due to the number of historical structures in the area,
Stover is involved. Sounded like, they are trying to get some kind
of textured, natural, old looking facade added to the open end of the new
bridge to make it less objectionable.
April 25 pm This morning Ex Senator
Randy Schoonover was arraigned in Circuit Court land. With a Special Judge
and Prosecutor on hand, Schoony said not guilty. His trial will begin August
28th with John Mitchell Sr handling the defense work.
April 25 pm With election day
just around the corner, something is in the air and it ain't just ramps.
April 25 pm Our retiring School Super
started his campaign for County Commissioner 18 months ago. With quiet
determination and finesse he went to work laying out his strategy and gathering
his school land forces. In that little paper over in Clay, he added religious
messages to his weekly column, he developed and distributed a campaign
cookbook with well known endorsements on each page; and signs went up.
With 350 in his employee coupled with wives, aunts, uncles, kids, etc.,
Linky poo has to be considered a strong contender with nearly 1000 votes
on his side.
April 25 pm Or is he?
April 25 pm There is an under current
in Clay. It's the one we all know, the one not spoken out loud. People
are talking about his campaigning during school activities; they're
talking about his aloofness at dinners and Meet the Candidate forums; and,
his years of arm twisting, massaging of the numbers to look good.
Web blogs are little more than cheap shot anonymous ranting. But, those
blog comments are certainly a way of looking at the change in the wind.
April 25 pm Just months ago,
the Linkster was considered a shoe in for County Commission. Now, if he
takes the spot held by Jimmy Sams, it would have to be considered an upset
victory. Election night should be interesting.
April 25 pm The Communicator
comes out this Friday. Deadline for meeting notices, events, classifieds,
etc. is Thursday morning at 9am.
April 25 am We're all talking about
gas prices at $3 per gallon and higher. Of course, we're still buying.
Here's a map link showing current gas
prices throughout the US. You can enlarge it to show area detail.
April 25 am Ramps are often called
nature's Spring tonic. As one of the first greens to emerge after a long
winter, eating ramps was used as way to clean out the system.
April 25 am Being quite found of the
stinky treat, that round web writer gobbled up two huge plate loads of
ramps Sunday during the Big Otter Ramp Feed. It didn't take long for the
ramps to start working.
April 25 am Now five pounds lighter
and still sitting on the throne, a full update coming later today.
April 24 pm A photographer for
CNN was assigned to cover southern California's wildfires last year.
He wanted pictures of the heroic work the firefighters were doing as they
battled the blazes. When the photographer arrived on the scene, he realized
that the smoke was so thick it would seriously impede, or even make impossible,
his getting good photographs from the ground level. He requested
permission from his boss to rent a plane and take photos from the air.
His request was approved and he used his cell phone to call the local
county airport to charter a flight. He was told a single engine plane
would be waiting for him at the airport.
Arriving at the airfield,
he spotted a plane warming up outside a hanger. He jumped in with his bag,
slammed the door shut, and shouted, "Let's go!" The pilot taxied out, swung
the plane into the wind and roared down the runway. Once in the air,
the photographer requested the pilot to, "Fly over the valley
and make two or three low passes so I can take some pictures of the fires
on the hillsides." "Why?" asked the pilot. "Because I'm
a photographer for CNN," he responded. "And, I need to get some close-up
shots." The pilot was strangely silent for a moment, finally
he stammered, "So, you're telling me you're not the flight instructor?"
April 24 am 9 days of torture and anguish,
those curtain climbers are back in school. Spring break is over.
April 24 am Come out enjoy a CCHS baseball
game this evening beginning at 4:30, Maysel Community Park. The Panthers
play Braxton.
April 24 am With Rove demoted
to other duties and Dubbya's poll numbers in the gutter, it's time to rescue
our Prez with a new
five point plan.
April 24 am The number of soldiers
who took their own lives while serving in Iraq
and Afghanistan rose in 2005 over the previous
year, as the U.S. Army experienced its highest suicide rate since 1999,
officials
said on Friday.
April 24 am We've seen it happen
over and over again. Our government re invents itself every five years.
With each change comes promises of newer and better programs.
April 24 am Five years ago the latest
creation, Youth Advantage Program, was promoted as the greatest thang since
canned soup. They said Clayberry youth would benefit greatly and our needs
would not get short changed. The suits in their BMWs said our kids would
receive much needed, on the job training and be paid while learning. They
said the year round opportunity would be far superior to the program before
and before that and before that... the summer youth program.
April 24 am As with most government
backed newbees, the first year or so wasn't too bad. Many kids actually
found work opportunities and made some much needed $. That was four years
ago. During the last two years, funds were moved and changed resulting
in fewer kids and fewer $ earned by our CCHS students and recently out
of school folks. Last summer, kids could only work 120 hours at minimum
wage. Today there are only a handful of students working in the county.
April 24 am Friday it was announced
the contract for the Youth Advantage Program thru HRDF would NOT be renewed.
June 30th would be the last day for employees and kids alike.
April 24 am Already cut back from four
employees here in the county to one, the kids and the county are in a fix.
With the old contract expiring in early Summer, wonder how many kids will
have work this year?
April 23 am The case against
the CIA Intelligence Officer, Mary McCarthy, fired for her alleged role
in leaking information about secret prisons to the Washington Post's Dana
Priest smells a little fishy. From the inside, read
more.
April 23 am The latest USA Today/Gallup
poll, conducted April 7-9, 2006. It shows that 57% of Americans think the
United States will not win in Iraq, including 21% who think the U.S. can
win but will not.
April 23 am As of April
22, 2006, at least 223 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan
in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. Of those, the
military reports 140 were killed by hostile action.
April 23 am There have been 2,591
coalition deaths, 2,382 Americans, two Australians, 104 Britons, 13 Bulgarians,
three Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 26 Italians,
one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards,
two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of April 22, 2006, according
to a CNN count.
April 23 am What's the difference
between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War? A. George W. Bush had a plan
to get out of the Vietnam War.
April 23 am It was quiet in Clayberry
over the last 7 days. Kids and teachers had the week off. Others took time
off to spend time with the little brats. Meeting wise other than the thorny
school board meeting, nothing to report of note.
April 23 am People complained as they
filled up their gas tanks. $3 a gallon and we haven't changed abit. Maybe
$4 will be the breaking point for motorists. One Republicat over at Go
Mart, the $3 was starting to upset him.
April 23 am Mass emails often
call for boycotting gas purchases for a day. None of those boycott's have
been successful. Now they have a new approach.
April 23 am The new angle calls for
boycotting all Exxon/Mobil gas stations. Buy your gas somewhere else. A
few days of that and the big boys might just change their pricing.
April 22pm Elk
Power will be changing out some lines Sunday morning between 6:30 and 9:30am.
No electramicity during that period for downtown, Bradley Field, Two Run,
Maysel.
April 22 am Rain! for weeks all the
little kids have been practicing after school and weekends. This morning
at 9 am is Super Saturday. Opening day for the baseball season. No word
on whether the rain will cancel the events scheduled over at Dundon ball
field. Suppose to start at 9am.
April 22 am Our man Nick
Joe is in deep doodoo. With our gas prices at $3 for regular grade,
other places have
no gas.
April 22 am Chuck and Martha Keenan
have been at it for years. One gets mad at the other and then all H breaks
loose. with restraining orders on both sides, yesterday Chuck showed up
with a big black eye and identified Martha as the slugger.
April 22 am If it ain't one, it's the
other. Love!
April 21 pm Just got this in the email
bag this morning. Sorry for the late notice but that's better than none:
Individuals from at least 9 Clay County churches have joined together to
prepare the drama of "The Life of Christ". This 2 hour drama portrays
much of the life of Christ from Birth through Resurrection, with a cast
of nearly 100 members. This play is usually performed at Clay County High
School each year, but this year the school auditorium was not available;
therefore, the play is being held at The House of Prayer. The House of
Prayer is positioned 2 miles from Route 36 on Hansford Fork Road in Maysel,
WV. From I-79 turn Right onto Route 36, Hansford Fork Road is approximately
4-5 miles on your left. The House of Prayer has ample seating capacity,
and is air conditioned for your comfort. With performances
at 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 21st, Saturday, April 22nd, and Sunday,
April 23rd, we hope there is a time you can attend.
April 21 pm Ever hear of Marcia Flannery?
She's singing tonight at 7pm on WYAP-LP, 101.7FM. There's room for for
two or three inside the station and another handful on the front porch.
Come out and enjoy a great WV artist.
April 21 pmLots of good stuff going
on this weekend. Car Washes, Yard Sales, VFW BBQ dinner Saturday plus ham,
ramps and chili dinners for Sunday! Check our EVENTS page for fun stuff
and good eats.
April 21 pm More coming ASAP.
April 20 am You know Clay County PSD
is putting in for a water rate increase. They usually end each month
near $0 or worse. Over on the Classified page is a post to hire a new employee.
More expense on the way.
April 20 am Many if not all of
our government backed committees are in need of training. This Saturday
the CAEZ is hosting Board training at the Lion's Club Casino on Main Street.
Cost: $0. If you know someone on a committee, suggest they attend the day
long training session. To register, call Michelle 304 587-2034
April 20 am Tonight School Board candidate
Rick Tanner and Commission candidate Melissa Postelwait will participate
in WYAP's live on air Meet the Candidate discussion group beginning at
7pm. Listen on 101.7FM or anywhere via the net. The link to YAP is on our
home page.
April 19 am Belated Birthday Wishes
to Harold Allen. Doesn't look a day over 70!
April 19 am Primary Health workers
were finally paid on Monday, two days late and after long dollar-less,
Easter holiday weekend.
April 19 am With Justin Young succumbing
to a gunshot wound to the side of his head, we don't have an update on
his brother found unconscious after huffing gasoline.
April 19 am Often we say those
thugs get arrested and never get any time out of their crime. Others say
the bad guys (and girls) make it back to Clay before the Badges do.
April 19 am Truth is, justice prevails
it just takes a little time. Yesterday was one of those days.
April 19 am Tuesday before Judge Jack
Alsop, Richard Bryant was sentenced to 1 to 3 for not registering as a
sex offender; Richard Burnside got 1 to 3 in the pen; Robert Weese
received a 1 to 3 year sentence; and church house robber Ashley Graham
was sentenced to up to 3 years in pen but will spend her incarceration
days at Anthony Correctional Center for Young Offenders. During her sentencing,
church goers that had suffered from her and Chad Muck's exploits, spoke
out. Needless to say, they didn't appreciate the disrespect shown by the
out of control thugs.
April 19 am Rocky Legg has been
behind bars for months waiting for something to happen during a Grand Jury.
Didn't happen. Charged with being a pot head, he quietly spent his time
behind bars waiting indictment. With credit given for time incarcerated,
Mr Legg will be a free man once paperwork is signed.
April 19 am For some time bus driver
Glenwood Nichols has been working to change the way bus drivers are called
out on special duty runs. He's being doing that by talking to small groups
of drivers, in parking lots, side rooms, and away from the driver's
union meetings. Nichols does not belong to that group.
April 19 am Last night
during the School Board meeting, Nichols and buddies were ready to ask
for the policy change. Instead of bringing the matter to the attention
of the Board in public, Nichols asked for secret time and got it.
April 19 am Here's the problem.
You can't do that! Sunshine Laws do not allow such secrecy. Following
the law didn't seem to matter to much to Prez RB or the Linkster. Heck,
if they don't even post a meeting agenda ahead of time, who cares about
some other part of the law. Aaaa..... Dave Mullins does. Mullins spent
several years as the Union stewardess,, I mean Union steward. Mullins worked
years to strengthen rules governing the operation and treatment of the
drivers.
April 19 am Mullins brought the illegal
secret meeting thang to the Board's attention post haste. At one
point, the fired up Mullins called Nichols a "scab". During the secret
time, Dave was excluded.
April 19 am A rule here. A rule there,
what's a little rule breaking matter in this country?
April 18 am Just got this in last night:
This is a little late notice but we just decided to have a yard sale on
White Road at Wallback tomorrow 4/18/06. We will have lots of boys
clothing age 2-7 along with toys. Some household items and hunting
items will also be in the sale. We hope to have the Sale all day
long until around 5-6 tomorrow evening. If you could post this I would
really appreciate it.
April 18 am It's been a while so here
goes... Email you classifieds, events, and meeting notices well ahead of
the event date. We leave classifieds on for 30 days unless you notify us
before then.
April 18 am Don't forget, tonight is
the School Board meeting.
April 17 pm Normally School Board meetings
are held Monday nights. Not so this week. The Clay County Board of Education
meeting will be held Tuesday April 18, 2006. Agenda items include: Approve
the transfer of Kenneth Tanner from Administrative Assistant to Assistant
Superintendent of Schools (Larry Gillespie's former job); Approve the transfer
of Shirley Reedy from Classroom Aide to Personal Care Aide at CCHS;
Approve the employment of Gina Thomas as Math Teacher at CMS;
Approve the transfer of Robin Litton from Transportation/Title I Secretary
to Special Education Secretary at the Board Office;
Approve the employment of Grithel Holcomb as Extended Year Preschool Teacher
at Clay Elementary School; Approve the transfer
of Frank Kleman from Assistant Football Coach to Head Football Coach at
CCHS; Approve the out of state/overnight trip for Joyce Legg and two students
to the National FBLA Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tenn;
Approve the purchase of 3.4 additional acres at the new Big Otter Elementary
School site; Accept the resignation of Melody Reed as Track Coach
at CCHS, effective immediately.
April 17 pm For those wondering about
the future of Clay Primary Health, the past is often a good indicator.
Although the county's only medical provider insists on being unaccountable
to the public, not everything is secret. As an IRS non profit, they are
required to make some financials public. For the last year available, the
agency grossed $2,291,000+ including $692,000 in government grants. They
also finished the year over $299,000.00 in the red. Those tell tale IRS
mandated financials are available online from Guide Star. You have to become
a member but is free. Here's the link to
the Guide Star site. Take a look at the last several years. If you
look long enough, you're notice a second non profit out of that same PO
Box 147, Clay WV. That second group is Primary Care/Home Health. No financials
are available for that group.
April 17 Sure seems like when you don't
pay your employees on time and show a pattern of budgetary indebtedness,
you aught not be expanding with new buildings and a pharmacy building next
door.
April 17 am From the email bag:
Hello to Justin & Crystal Vaughan in Hawaii. We Love You
Dad, Mom, & Matthew
April 17 am Did you have a nice Easter?
Lots of little kids in new Sunday clothes... big easter baskets... all
the family over and a great big ham? Not everyone did.
April 17 am Raise your hands clickers,
how many of you live paycheck to paycheck? How many have written a check
the night before payday knowing the check was coming and you could cover
it by noon?
April 17 am Friday was payday for Clay
Primary Health employees. They're still waiting. The checks were never
handed out. One of our majot county employeers sent their employees home
for Easter holiday weekend without the $ they had earned.
April 17 am Primary Health is
a non profit organization funded by taxpayer dollars. Their mortgage is
even paid by Budget Digest dollars. But yet, they refuse to allow the public
attend Board meetings. For that matter, they don't allow their Board of
Directors to know much. They've even got an internal law that forbids employees
from talking to Board members about important issues.
April 17 am Often secret back room
dealings leads to distrust. Such is the case with Clay Primary Health where
they often finish the budget year in the red. We're not sure the reason
for not paying employees. But, if it is lack of bucks, there is a problem.
April 17 am Across from the Two
Run location they purchased two homes. Last year they added on to their
Two Run location with a modular. Now they plan to buy Arthur Jarrett's
garage building and turn it into a pharmacy.
April 17 am Whatever the reason
for not paying, the county's health care provider insured a miserable holiday
weekend for what's left of their dedicated staff.
April 17 am The Legislature is working
on a series of 23 stand alone clinics to provide medical facilities for
rural WV counties. That legislation can come none too soon for Clay County.
April 17 am No word on the 18 year
old Justin Young shot in the head over on Boyd Mountain Friday. Also no
new word on the relative of Young found near unconscious Saturday
evening. Word on the street has it the youngster had been huffing gasoline.
At the price of gas, meth might be cheaper.
April 17 am Lots of new pictures
have ben added over on our PHOTO page including pre election shots, late
winter items, and even some later Christmas images.
April 16 am Hazel Mae Gray, 68,
of Wallback, see OBITUARIES
April 16 am The plan was to take
today off with no web postings. That changed when we got this dirty rotten
story sure to spoil any Holiday
April 16 am Chuck Drake is a
long timer over at Frontier Phone Company. Friday, around noon, service
went down in the Lizemores area. Drake hauled over there a trailer mounted
generator to power the phone "slick", those road side boxes , where all
the switches are located.
April 16 am With the generator hooked
up and 160 people back in phone service, Drake took off on another detail.
April 16 am Around 1:15 Friday, the
alarm sounded that the power was back off at the switch box in Lizemores.
April 16 am He expected to see
the generator out of fuel or something. When he returned, guess what. some
dirty rotten puke stole the generator! Gone and tele service was down again.
April 16 am Talk about a chicken shirt
stealing!!!!!!!!!!!!! Without phone service many seniors in the area go
without contact with family. In case of emergencies, you see the problem.
April 16 am On this day of miracles,
little is changing in Clayberry and ain't that a shame.
April 16 am If someone sees that generator,
call the Badges and then shoot the %%!!## that stole it!
April 16 am No wrap up this week.
April 15 pm The Communicator is now
on the news stands. We have a new distributor over at Birch River. For
those clickers out Dille, Widen, Harrision and beyond, head over the Sunoco
station at Birch River for a heavy duty dose of life in Clayberry.
April 15 pm How often do you read about
Murder Mountain? Often is the right answer.
April 15 pm Yesterday afternoon 18
year old Justin Young ended up with a bullet hole in the head. By 3:45
Friday about every Badge in the county was in the Ovapa section of the
county. Over the scanner came word that the injury was self inflicted.
Sheriff Holcomb commented this morning that the gunshot was "suspicious".
April 15 pm The HealthNet chopper flew
Young to CAMC shortly after 4pm Friday. 11 o'clock TV news said the
18 year old was alive and on life support. No other word as of 1pm today.
April 15 pm Calling the place Murder
Mountain is prejudicial to say the least. Yesterday, over the scanner,
law enforcement referred to the mountain top as Boyd Mountain. It
is believed that Justin Young lives near Cleveland OH and frequents Clay
on a weekly basis.
April 15 pm With the paper out and
a holiday weekend, we're going to take some time off from the web update
business. Might just eat a belly full of ramps and nap.
April 15 pm ENjoy your Easter Day.
See you Monday.
April 14 am Welcome to Good Friday
in the county of Clay. With the schools closed for Spring break and government
offices locked up tight, we're all but shut down. About all you can hear
is the raising of gas prices.
April 14 am We're putting the finishing
touches on today's Communicator. No new posts until we get it out the door.
April 14 am Tonight at 6:30, the Coal
Mountain Coon hunters will be doing a live show, albeit inside, at
the radio station.
April 14 am Check our EVENTS page for
stuff to do this weekend.
April 14 am Ex Senator Randy Schoonover
was suppose to have been arraigned Thursday. Didn't happen. The judge called
in with the flu.
April 14 am Wednesday the 911 Advisory
committee listened to alarming pandemic predictions which may hit this
country some day soon. In response, an email sent over a cutey and bet
we wouldn't post it.
April 14 am From the email bag: I read
your communicator today, you told about gloom and doom bird flu, They have
had bird flu in Wv. for years When I drive through the state of Wv. I see
a lot of Bird Blv, Bird roads. Bird buildings. All of this Bird pork comes
our taxes, our of the big white house. When the Bird droppings start I
bet a lot of people of Wv will be getting sick. I bet you don't put this
in your paper.
April 13 am Today is the last day of
school for Clay County curtain climbers. Spring break is here!
April 13 am This morning at 10
am a Judge from the WV Public Service Commission will be at the Courthouse
to hear the Town of Clay water rate increase case. This evening at 7pm
Clay Roane PSD will meet in the Commission room. Both meetings should be
interesting.
April 13 am Tonight at 7pm on 101.7FM,
Senator White will be interviewed during a live discussion group moderated
by Fred Sampson. Candidate Greg Tucker is planned for next Thursday evening.
All candidates have been invited. If they ain't talkin now, how will they
be if elected?
April 13 am Yesterday, Delegate
Dave Perry attended the CCC meeting and delivered the official paperwork
for the 2005 Budget Digest grants. The Sheriff's Dept, Lizemores FD, and
WYAP benefited from this round of help.
April 13 am Yesterday at noon, lots
of politicos attended the Meet the Candidate lunch featuring Greg Tucker.
Tucker is running for Sen Randy White's 11th Senatorial seat. It was very
obvious, locals are pushing hard for Tucker.
April 13 am Then we had a scary meeting.
April 13 am Last night the 911
Advisory Board met at the Courthouse. Yes they did the usual we need this
or that thang but..... discussion turned to "when" not "if" the bird flu
pandemic hits this country. Official guesstimates call for 40% of the population
to be stricken and 1/2 of those to die. What happens when half the bank
workers, garbage truck drivers, water plant operators, police, hospital
workers can't show up for work. Then follow that up with those that aren't
stricken, staying home to care for those ill.
April 13 am In a nutshell, doom and
gloom. Reference was given to the 1918 flu which killed 40 million people
and this pandemic being worse! One guy said he just planned to take
a deep breath and be done with it!.
April 13 am Concensus from the 911
Advisory Board: Time to make plans ASAP.
April 13 am A buddy of Iron Mike as
he likes to call himself, Michael Lanham, came in and made bond Wednesday
before lunch.
April 13 am We keep hearing about
internet TV. Yesterday ABC did something about it. Free
Desperate Houswives and more.
April 12 am County Commission meets
at 10 am this morning. Last week Senator Love and David Perry said they
would be in attendance.
April 12 am Both the Town of Clay and
the Clay PSD Boil Water Orders were lifted Tuesday afternoon around 2pm.
Drink Drink Drink. The Communicator comes
out Friday. Get your notices, events, classifieds in ASAP. Deadline is
Thursday morning early.
April 12 am Today at noon, meet 11th
District Senate candidate Greg Tucker over at the CDC building on Main
Street. Spaghetti dinner is also available
April 12 am Last night the Clay Co
PSD voted to go after a water rate increase.
April 12 am All new furniture comes
today for the Magistrates, Asst Magistrates, and Magistrate Clerk offices.
All mahogany desks, chairs, tables, and file cabinets.
April 12 am Here's a cutey. Last Thursday,
Michael Lanham was all peed at Communicator coverage of his recent arrest.
So mad, he punched and kicked that ace cub reporter on Main Street. Already
under five bonds for other charges, Lanham was in Magistrate Court Tuesday
for a bond revocations hearing. Since 2000, Lanham has had 40 charges against
him including 14 for battery.
April 12 am After the dust
settled yesterday, Lanham will be out of the can after posting a $5000
cash bond and a $6000 property bond. One fellow in attendance said
he could arrange bond sometime today.
April 12 am As the hearing ended,
Lanham commented how bad it was that such a thing could happen. Go figure!
Details in Friday's paper.
April 11 pm Early this morning all
telephone service in and out of the county went dead. Usually that means
the lone line into the county from Nicholas County was severed. With the
line down, Clayberry was also without internet service.
April 11 pm At 10 am this morning our
humble little county was reconnected with the world. We're back.
April 11 pm The Boil Water Order for
all of Clay County PSD, Maysel, and Two Run continues. Boil it first.
April 11 pm Our Southern border Clendenin
made local TV coverage last night. In recent weeks lay offs were made followed
by the Chief of Police resigning for personal reasons. Last night the contentious
issue was whether to let the voters decide on selling the municipal water
plant to WV American Water in Charleston.
April 11 am Don't forget to check out
our home page advertisers. Like, is it time for some new outdoor power
tools? Try Mr. Johnson out Harrison way. How about it world wide clickers,
ready to come back to Clayberry? We've got two realty teams ready to serve
you. Sick of reruns on the boob tube? Check out Kat Communications
for a DISH TV deal
April 11 am Today at 5pm Clay County
PSD meets in regular session. On the Agenda is "water rate increase". Don't
bring any guns. The meeting will be held in the PSD office across from
the Courthouse on Main Street.
April 11 am Wednesday morning at 10
am, the Clay County Commission meets in regular session.
April 11 am Last night 35 folks from
the Big Otter area attended the Big Otter Fire Dept. meeting. It was a
stormy meeting to say the least. At issue is a strip of land about 30'
wide on the Northern end of the FD building. One side says Woodrow Boggs
never intended to donate that 30 feet even though the deed says just that.
Bd Chair George Jones asked that original owner his intentions, and Yelp,
Woody Boggs intended to give the FD exactly the 150' which includes the
in dispute, 30 feet.
April 11 am With passions running high,
Chair Jones unloaded the first clinker. He had gone to an attorney and
had a legal opinion on the matter. Oh man!!! Nothing we hate more than
to get an attorney involved!!
April 11 am According to state code,
a non profit organization can NOT give away any holdings to a private individual
who could make a profit on it. A non profit could give to another
profit but not to an individual. Jones told the assembled, if the Board
intentionally does something they know is illegal, they could be held personally
liable. Translation: If the Board votes to give the land away, the
Board could be taken to court. Then the second clinker....
April 11 am Chair Jones told
those in attendance, the entire group could not vote on the matter. According
to the By Laws, only the Board can vote. Oh Boy!! Jones won no popularity
contests last night. The crowd became more vocal. Then the
third lunker in the punch bowel.
April 11 am Aging Woody Boggs
gave his remaining land holdings, including the property around the firehouse,
to Jeff Boggs, that's Magistrate Jeff Boggs. Jeff Boggs is pushing hard
to get that disputed 30' of valuable road frontage added to his holdings.
During an earlier meeting , Jeff Boggs threatened to take the BOFD to Court
to get the property.
April 11 am With lots of
finger pointing and calls for the outsider Chair to resign, the 1 1/2 hour
long meeting ended with grumbles and groans.
April 10 Late PM Boil Water Order
issued for all Clay County PSD water customers. The BWO was actually issued
Sunday we just neglected to retrieve messages on the answering machine.
Our bad. Sorry. BOIL WATER ORDER for all of Clay County PSD
April 10 pm Goldie E. Hamrick
of Clay, see OBITUARY page.
April 10 pm It looks like the leak
in front of the town water plant has been fixed. Many in the Two Run service
area went without wa wa Sunday afternoon with intermittent service followed
by white foamy water afterwards. The Boil Water Order for Two Run and Maysel
remains in place. Boil it first!
April 10 am Word came around
6 am, Clay County Schools will be closed today.
Snow couldn't do it, sleet couldn't do it, cold cold temps couldn't do
it, but water did.
April 10 am Yesterday afternoon the
Town of Clay issued a Boil Water Order for Maysel Two Run. Crews spent
much of Sunday digging up a water line in front of the water plant in downtown
Clay. With the entire county feeding off the town's water plant and the
Ivydale storage tank about ready to go dry, school was called off.
APril 10 am Kids and teachers cried.
They so wanted to go to school on another sunshine filled 70 degree Spring
day.
April 10 am Don't look for the school
closing info on the Clay
school system web site or the state
education official web site. Ain't there as of 6:37 am this morning.
April 10 am With the water off since
yesterday afternoon and buses on the road long before 6 am, many are scratching
their heads, why wait until 6 to call off school.
April 10 am For those wanting anything
more than massaged bragging, forget the school web site. Try clicking on
any school page to see ANY info, even its location. Nothing.
April 10 am Lots of pictures
from Saturday's Health Fair are now uploaded over on the PHOTO page. If
you like pics of little, wet, touchy, feely, curtain climbers, they're
there
April 9 pm Town of Clay, Two Run, and
Maysel went under a Boil Water Order as of 4:45 Sunday afternoon. Be Safe,
Boil It First!
April 9 pm Here's our look back
over the last seven days.
April 9 pm The norm is to start out
giving Dubbya double H in our wrap up. With 64% now voicing disapproval
of his performance and almost that number calling for the immediate pull
out of Iraq, we'll just note: There have been 2,553 coalition deaths,
2,346 Americans, one Australian, 103 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, three Danes,
two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 26 Italians, one Kazakh,
one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two
Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of April 7, 2006, according
to a CNN count.
April 9 pm How much worse can it get?
April 9 pm As last week opened up,
the firing of the Clay High Track Coach became public. Lots of folks attended
the Monday Board meeting including several supportive of keeping the program
just not the Coach. Those same sentiments were expressed by the entire
Board. Seems with Springtime juices flowing, the zest for Springtime desires
unzipped the passions of youth while the Coach was off picking up pizzas.
Incidents under the stewardship of male coaches have not resulted in such
harsh penalty. Of course, in Clayberry, those with hangy downs are
always given special treatment.
April 9 pm With May 9th just
around the corner, politicians and political hopefuls spent time in our
county for photo ops and fund raiser activities. It became apparent real
quick that Clayberry blue bloods are supporting 11th Senatorial candidate
Greg Tucker over incumbent Randy White. Seems the blue bloods are not supportive
of the guy that thinks new laws should be based on the principals
of the Constitution.
April 9 pm Clay Town Council voted
a historic decision Tuesday evening. With Jerry Stover absent, there were
three votes for and one abstaining (Betty Murphy) to organize a Municipal
Court and hire Henry Bear as the town's first Judge. To abstain is the
same thing as a Yes vote and the record will reflect that. Unanimous!
April 9 pm Our senior Council
person Murphy asked questions about where the money would come from for
the Judge and additional salaries for a Municipal Clerk and Prosecutor.
Her concerns brought little response. Most alarming was the hiring process
itself. There was no mention of a background check, credit check, criminal
record check.. no nothing on our newbee Judge. Either during before or
after the morning, can't remember which, sorry, Mayor Jarrett said
he had known Bear for a long time.
April 9 pm Judge Bear is
a Native American, served in the Coast Guard, earned a law degree in Canada,
and has operated a fishing operation in Maine most recently. Bear and wife
Violet ( a CCHS graduate from the ealry 70s) are caring for a relative
in the Bomont area and have taken up residence there.
April 9 pm Remember when Manfred Kuentzler
of Filcon fame came to Town? Kuentzler was nicely dressed, well spoken,
and came across as a great guy. Not wanting to cast any aspirtion on Hank
Bear, but it just seems like, standard fair would have been to do at least
a fingerprint check before the hire.
April 9 pm Iron Mike went to work on
the face of that Mel Gibson look alike Thursday afternoon. Four punches
to the face put the Ouch on the rotund one as Michael Lanham was arrested
and carted off to jail. Lanham was out walking the streets of Clay while
on five bonds before this incident. Seems Mikey didn't like The Communicator
reporting on his last arrest in the FasCheck parking lot.
April 9 pm Thursday evening the Business
Development Authority behaved well and did something they haven't done
in years. Fran King assigned several members of the economic development
group tasks. Yelp, instead of just the inner circle club working behind
the scenes, now, a bunch of em have stuff to do. After years of just sitting
meeting after meeting, it may be a new day in Clay. Senator White
showed up and told em: If you organize and work together, you can accomplish
a lot for the county.
April 9 pm Bunches of kids showed up
for Saturday morning's Kids Fair at the Courthouse. Face painting, gift
give aways, shooting hoops, and finger printing kept the kids occupied
in spite of the cold rain.
April 9 pm Sunday afternoon lawn mowers
and weed whackers were heard around the county. Little flowers popped up.
Fruit trees showed their first blossoms. Although chilly, short pants and
tee shirts were seen. The first smell of ramps was in the air. Old timers
were out looking for molly moochers.
April 9 pm Spring in Clayberry! Gotta
love it!
April 8 late pm Too darn sleepy
to do the weekend wrap up. Will post around noon Sunday. In the mean time
April 8 pm How many perverts
does it take to put in a light bulb? Just one, but it takes
the entire emergency room to get it out!
April 8 pm What is every Amish
woman's private fantasy? Two Mennonite.
April 8 pm How do you make 5
pounds of fat look good? Put a nipple on it.
April 8 pm Define Transvestite:
A guy who likes to eat, drink and be Mary!
April 7 pm The weather report folks
have been predicting rain and gloom all day. We've had plenty of sunshine
and blue skies instead. Reaal nice! Spring time is a great time to visit
the county of Clay. How about you?
April 7 pm Did anybody know about a
Special Clay County Bd of Health meeting last night? Not us either. Doc
Boggs made mention of the meeting today. He said RN/Sanitarian Jay Carper
was selected to become a Clinical Nurse Director. According to Medical
Director Boggs, RN Sandra Graham will now oversee the Womens, Infants,
and Children's (WIC) program.
April 7 pm Thursday evening the Business
Development Authority met in regular session. Here's a couple of notes
from that gathering
April 7 pm Senator Randy White attended
last night's meeting and provided words of encouragement to our lead economic
development group. White said nothing happens overnight, the only way to
grow the county of Clay is with teamwork, partnering with other agencies,
and for the BDA to use the Legislative Delegation to their advantage. White
compared Clay to his rural home of Webster County with both having
major obstacles to overcome. White made good sense and it felt
like his words were taken to heart. Of course, time will tell.
April 7 pm Remember that $6000 forgivable
(give away) loan to move power lines and help with building a concrete
plant in the Northern end of the county? With the plant officially "on
hold", the loan was taken back.
April 7 pm BDA boardster Fran
King went to work last night assigning projects to many of the board members.
Everything from improving the BDA web site to completing work to turn the
county into a certified business community. Kind said additional tasks
would be assigned in the future.
April 7 pm Michael Lanham has been
in the Communicator time and time again. Mostly petty stuff but a bunch
of em. Seems the Lanham lad is a pretty nice guy until he gets under
the influence.
April 7 pm Most recently, Michael and
his brother were arrested in the FasCheck parking lot while fighting over
drugs.
April 7 pm When we heard that scanner
traffic in late winter, we went over and watched one with his shirt ripped
off and two Badges making the arrest. Either on the scanner or while listening
in the parking lot, we heard they were fighting over one of them that had
taken to many hits on a joint. Seems Michael has a good rememory
April 7 pm Thursday afternoon before
4pm, Michael spotted that ace cub reporter walking down the sidewalk and
laid in with four pretty good punches to the face. He said he didn't want
people thinking he smoked pot. Fortunately for that little fat guy,
Badges responded poste haste and Lanham was arrested before he damaged
anything important. Except for a bum lip, jaw, and crunched glasses, the
Mel Gibson look alike looks little different.
April 7 pm Already out on five bonds,
Lanham spent the night in the can and was arraigned around noon. Sheriff
Holcomb said he was working to have the bonds rescinded after the Thursday
incident. As of 2pm Friday, Lanham was still listed as being a resident
at Central Regional Jail.
April 7 pm That ace cub reporter commented
this morning, he use to hate getting those late night nasty telephone calls
and nastygrams via emails. After thought, he said those may not be so bad
after all!
April 7 pm While we're talking thugery....
April 7 pm Jonathan Sizemore is another
Clayonian that regularly makes the news cycle mostly in the Magistrate
Report. Yesterday the young Sizemore had his day in court before a jury.
His peers found him not guilty of pointing a rifle at Starlett Miller last
year.
April 7 pm His next trip to Court will
be over allegations that he swiped $$ from Go Mart by diverting the worker's
attention before running off with around $100. Always innocent until proven
otherwise clickers.
April 6 am Happy 25th Birthday
Wishes to Randi Jo Neal.
April 6 am May Day May Day.. we've
got a young lady searching for her lost dog. From her email: Yorkshire
terrier last seen between Foodland and Ginos. His name is Trevor. Please
call me at 587-1168
April 6 am Jonathan Sizemore has been
in and out of the Magistrate Report many times. This morning at 9, Sizemore
goes to trial on charges he pointed a gun at a Miller subject.
Today at 5pm the Clay County Business Development Authority meets in regular
session in the County Commission room. Both should be interesting to watch.
April 6 am At 6pm tonight the Clay
Middle School Band is holding their Spring Concert with awards following.
They're debuting a world premeire of a new tune New River Overture. Room
for many in the CMS gym!
April 6 am Tonight at 7pm WYAP-LP,
101.7 FM will hold their first live discussion group with candidates for
public office. Tonight Shawn Krajeski and Margaret Staggers will do the
question and answer thang. The link to WYAP is on our home page. For those
wanting to watch, there's a live cam button over there. You can also
listen by going to that site and clicking the "ON AIR" button.
April 6 am With the election year here,
those in office like to show they've been working for the electorate. Photo
op's are the rule of thumb. Yesterday we posted the cancellation
of a photo session slated for Wednesday morning. Well something happened.
A photo op!
April 6 am Tuesday night was the fund
raiser for Delegate Dave Perry who's running for re election. Senator Love
was there as was Greg Tucker who's running to oust Senator Randy White,
our other rep in the WV Senate. Lots of fun and good food was had by all
in attendance.
April 6 am As the get together
was finishing up Senator Shirley Love with Delegate Perry at his side told
that ace cub reporter, the Wednesday photo op was being rescheduled for
the following Wednesday. We posted that on the web.
April 6 am Behind the scenes, all the
County Clerk employees were busy gathering and cooking for the Wednesday
banquet. Late night Tuesday,after all the food chores were done, they heard
the event was off. All that work for nothing. Ahhhh,
they weren't too happy.
April 6 am Wednesday morning Delegate
John Pino and Senator White showed up to present Budget Digest grants.
Delegate Pino said he planned that days event way back in March and didn't
know a thing about Senator Love's comments about the Wednesday event being
rescheduled.
April 6 am Putting 2 and 6 together
and coming up with 9, it sure sounds like a communications rift among
our Legislative delegation. By the way, White and Pino brought $20,000
to the Commission and a $6500 Lead Economic Assistance grant.
April 6 am Election year, always interesting
to watch.
April 5 am Get well wishes extended
to Cary Smith
April 5 am Yesterday we posted about
a big photo op at the Courthouse this morning at 10 am. That's been rescheduled
for next week. The change notice came last night during Delegate Dave Perry's
Fundraiser held at the Lion's Club building. Bet there will be some peed
off Courthouse employees who spent a bunch of time and $ preparing
today's now postponed luncheon.
April 5 am Ditto for the people that
were invited.
April 5 am Near the end of last Summer,
Sheriff Holcomb and Commissioner Fran King demanded Clay Town Council to
hire a police department and set up a municipal court. As most would do,
Council and Mayor King Arthur thumbed their noses at the threat of the
trump card, a lawsuit.
April 5 am At their own speed, last
night Council set up a Municipal Court and hired a Judge. Over the objections
of long time member Betty Murphy, Council hired Henry Hank Bear to take
charge of setting up the Court and be the first ever Municipal Judge.
April 5 am Bear is a Native American
from Maine with ties to Clayberry through his wife Violet, Vicky. Remember
Vicky Dodson? Her Mom is Bonnie Dodson from down Bomont way. Hank
as some call him is an attorney, lobster boat owner in Maine and has spent
time in Alaska and Canada.
April 5 am They mentioned having a
Judge may reduce some of the late evening thugery and raise revenue for
the town. Sounds more like a need for additional police work instead of
judgemanship. Mayor Jarrett , also the only law enforcement officer, said
he intended to continue serving as the volunteer Badge for now. He said
there was no $ to hire anybody.
April 5 am That raising revenue can
be troubling. Summersville and Clendenin are well
known speed traps. Many think fines are suppose to make you change
your ways not raise funds for government.
April 5 am Asst Prosecutor Carson Bryan
quit his post last Friday.
April 5 am Newbee Green Shirt
Wickline is out of here. The only question is: was he fired of quit?
April 5 am Going back to Monday night's
School Board meeting and the firing of the track coach, it may be a case
of the goose and gander here. It's not like incidents haven't happened
with male coaches. The difference being, the male coaches didn't
get fired or in the grease.
April 4 pm Sunshine galore! Happy Tuesday
April 4 pm This afternoon at 4, the
CAEZ economic development committee meets at the CAEZ office on Main Street.
At 6pm the full Board does their thang there as well.
April 4 pm Clay Town Council meets
this evening at 6pm. Agenda items include meeting with their
attorney in secret plus "water violations" and municipal court. That
last one may be a big Hmmmmmmmmmm.
April 4pm Also at 6pm tonight , in
the Lion's Club Casino on Main Street, Delegate Dave Perry will be holding
a fundraiser. The event is sponsored by Clinton Nichols, Cindy Willis,
Jim Dawson and Senator Shirley Love.
April 4 pm In the morning at 10 am,
several from our Legislative delegation will convene at the Courthouse
for pictures and handing out Budget Digest grants from last year's cycle.
April 4 pm Lets talk about a
dirty trick clickers. Our sheltered workshop makes wooden items for
sale. Proceeds from the sells goes toward the workshop operation and paying
disabled workers a small pitance.. With the election close, the workers
have been cutting out wooden stakes used to erect campaign signs in yards.
April 4 pm Last night some low down
!!*** turd stole several dozen of the finished product from a side storage
area.
April 4 pm What a dirty trick. There's
special place in Hell for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
April 4 pm There were a gob of folks
in attendance during last night's School Board meeting. Last weekend
the state TSA Conference was held at Cedar Lakes, 8 high schoolers and
12 middle school kids did well enough in competition to advance to the
National Conference held in June in Dallas. There were a total of 10 high
schools participating on the state level. Lots of students dressed in TSA
blazer were in attendance last night
April 4 pm The juicy part of the School
Board meeting came during a last minute discussion item. According to parents,
the Clay High Track Coach was fired last week after "indecent" incidents
during a recent track activity. Moms and athletes spoke out in favor of
finding another Coach ASAP and keeping the program alive at CCHS.
April 4 pm The Board immediately
raced into secret time but not before Boardster Gene King get his two cents
worth made known. King wanted the world to know he supported keeping the
program but was terribly against what the Coach allowed to happen. Board
Chair RB Legg wanted Gene to shut up real quick. He didn't. They finally
got behind closed doors with CCHS Principal Phil Dobbins.
April 4 pm After secret time RB said
they had just found out about the problem, would find a temp Coach, and
bid the job for a permanent replacement.
April 4 pm From day one we tell
kids to sit down and shut up for the most part. Last night one High School
senior stood and spoke like a man. He said he'd been in the track program
for a long time and he wanted to continue this, his senior year. He said
the Board would be hypocritical with anything less. You could see the hackles
stand up when he used the hypocritical word.
April 4 pm How refreshing! A
young man standing, talking, making sense and nailing the Board. America
may have a future after all.
April 3 pm The Communicator made
it to the news stands around 6pm today. 20 pages and worth every penny!
April 3 am With the new month here,
there's lots of public meetings going on.
April 3 am Tonight the School Board
meets. Agenda items include: Approve contract with Carolyn Rogers as Contract
Bus Driver for Route #15C, successful bid with agreed upon tiebreaker;
Approve budget for the Clay County Extension Office - 4H; Approve the transfer
of Steve Stanley from Math Teacher to Guidance Counselor at Clay Middle
School; Approve the employment of Garrett Samples as substitute teacher;
Approve the employment of teachers for Summer School at Clay Middle School;
Approve the employment of Camp Mustang Director, teachers, parent coordinator,
student counselors, and secretary; Approve the overnight trip for
H.E. White Elementary 5th Grade Class to "Travel WV," - May 19, 2006;
Conduct a hearing to determine the status of a student at Clay Middle School;
Conduct a hearing to determine the status of a student at Clay County High
School. Discussions: Carey Sadowski with Education Alliance to present
grant awards; Warren Mullins and TSA Students to appear
before the Board with competition results
April 3 am The first Tuesday
of the month brings together Clay Town Council followed by the CAEZ at
6pm. Also Tuesday night at 6, Delegate Dave Perry is holding a photo op
over at the Lion's Club Casino on Main Street
April 3 am Our Business Development
Authority meets on Thursday. Don't say there's nothing to do in Clayberry.
April 3 am This is also Health Fair
week over at the NH Dyer building on Main Street. See EVENTS page for more
info.
April 3 am Clay County's sheltered
workshop is selling wooden stacks for campaign signs. See ADVISORY page
for details and contact info.
April 3 am If all goes well, The Communicator
will be on the news stands around 5pm.
April 3 am Let us know if you hear
something of interest.
April 2 am Interested in boxing?
Tonight over at the Fitness Center, the Panther's Den Boxing Club opens
up. See ADVISORY page for details
April 2 am Get well wishes extended
to Bill Dunn.
April 2 am Spring finally came to our
county in the last 7 days. With Spring came problems. Here's our week in
review.
April 2 am Clay PSD announced they
planned to raise interest rates. In addition to the 23% additional needed
to deal with increased wholesale rates from the Town of Clay, the PSD can't
make ends meet. Office Manager Bev Duffield said they're having trouble
making payroll. When Sam Taylor left the PSD, he took with him all his
personal tools used at the PSD. The PSD doesn't even own a wrench!
April 2 am Judge Facemire heard all
from all those indicted by the Grand Jury. Yelp everyone of em said not
guilty. Indicted Ex Senator Randy Schoonover also showed up. His plea will
come later in front of a Special Judge and with a different Prosecutor.
April 2 am Remember the BDA backed
concrete plant that was suppose to go on Clinic Road in t he far end of
the county. It's off.
April 2 am Badges headed back to Murder
Mountain Thursday and hauled out a bunch more stolen goods including trailers
and tools. Neighbors say, there's a bunch more up there hid under limbs
ands branches. It seems about as fast as law enforcement discovers and
removes 10 items, more is swiped and pulled to the Ovapa Outback
April 2 am The Town of Clay's water
system upgrade continued this past week. All the work so far is to provide
additional wa wa to residents across the line in Roane County. Elk Power
began setting new utility poles away from the construction site of the
new Dundon bridge.
April 2 am Friday afternoon a
pit bull nearly made mince meat out of Lizemores Elem School children.
Fortunately, and according to one parent, no serious injuries.
April 2 am We saw a new face in Clayberry
this week. Englishman Lee Chapman walked the streets of Clay meeting and
greeting. Chapman is a world traveler with a background in engineering.
He's considering a business adventure in this county in the near future.
April 2 am With warm dry weather Saturday,
out came the motorcycles. Saturday afternoon emergency services went to
work attending to victims of two motorcycle vs vehicles wrecks. One
was sent to the hospital via HealthNet. Messy
April 2 am 8 high school and
12 middle school TSA students did well enough in state competition held
at Cedar Lakes to qualify for a try at national competition in Dallas TX.
April 2 am With the election just 4
weeks away, politicians are in high gear. Signs are going up everywhere.
They're out shaking babies and kissing hands. Behind the scenes, the politicos
remember elections past are working the deals. Support for one in exchange
for another's choice. America at it's finest.
April 1 am We'd like to start today
with some April Fools Day story of a politician growing a brain or something.
Not so this year.
April 1 am Here's a night mare for
any parent.
April 1 am On about the first nice
warm day of Spring, Friday afternoon, Mary Kincaid's school bus loaded
up and headed out from Lizemores Elem. As soon as that first bus pulls
away the kids get to play, school's done for the day.
April 1 am With kids all about, a pit
bull dog made it's way down the hillside and into onto the school grounds.
Before teachers could get the students back into the building, three had
been bitten. The parent we talked to said the bites were not real serious
but bites just the same.
April 1 am With law enforcement
running hard, blue lights and all, school officials were seen with brooms
and about anything they could find.
April 1 am To get kids home, they stayed
inside the building until the bus had it's door open and under watchful
eyes, no further incidents reported. One parent went out looking
for the dog and found it tied up not far from the school.
April 1 am Scanner listeners heard
calls for Badges and then the animal control officer. No further
details for now. Just thinking about what could have happened brings those
cold chills.
April 1 am Already this year, one child
is going thru rabies shots after being bit by a racoon.
April 1 am We held up the
Communicator Friday. It will come out sometime Monday afternoon late. Full
details coming.