On Thursday, October 17, members of Clay County=s various emergency services agencies met at the Health Department to coordinate their efforts to respond in the event of a biological threat such as has been experienced in other areas of the country, specifically the anthrax threat. Those present were State Trooper C.J. Ellyson from the Clay Detachment, Clay County Health Department Director Karen Dawson, Clay County Office of Emergency Services (OES) Director Barry Curry, and several members each from the Clay Volunteer Fire Department, the Big Otter Volunteer Fire Department, and the Clay Ambulance Service.
Clay County has already had an Aanthrax scare@, details of which can be found elsewhere in this issue. Karen Dawson gave the assembled a synopsis of the Saturday morning episode in Bomont., and felt that there was a need to better coordinate efforts within the county to deal with any future threats.
During the 2 2 hour meeting many good questions arose and departments shared information they had received from their state organizations. Basically, this is how Clay County will respond: If a threat is received state law enforcement will respond and make the initial investigation and determine how to proceed depending on the situation. That officer, or officers, will contact the fire department who will contain the area as directed by the officer.
The Health Department and Ambulance Service will be notified, and depending on the information provided by the officer at the scene, will proceed with whatever the situation requires.
Trooper Ellyson said that although Clay County is an unlikely target for terrorist acts, and most calls will probably be found to be no real threat, or hoaxes, all calls will be responded to as if it=s the real thing. Ellyson, ABetter to be safe than sorry.@
Meetings are planned with administrators of the schools in the county, and response plans were discussed in case one of the schools receives a threat.
Karen Dawson explained that anthrax is not passed person to person, and is treatable with antibiotics. To contract it you must come into contact with or breath the source.
Clay County, along with the rest of the United States, is responding to this terrorist threat. And it is terrorism, regardless of who is behind it. It is reassuring to know that our local emergency services are working together. Our local post offices have been closely inspecting mail they receive and know what to do and who to contact if they detect anything suspicious.
What can citizens do? If you suspect something contact 911 - they know who to call. Then cooperate with law enforcement and fire departments. TK
300 JOBS COMING
...that is, coming to our neighbor county, Fayette.
Central Appalachia Empowerment Zone (CAEZ) met in Special Session October 18 at 2:00 pm to vote on issues surrounding a $2 million plan for jobs. The hurry up meeting was called after some of the original figures on the deal changed since the idea was first introduced during a regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors last month.
According to CAEZ Chair Michael Martin, the purpose of the meeting was to approve new figures on the project at Mt. Hope Industrial site in Fayette County; to enter into a loan contract between CAEZ and Global Contact Services to build a building; and to enter into a contract with Pray Construction to do the actual construction of the structure. The CAEZ loan is from National Bank of Commerce for $1,938,403.00 at 7% interest. Monthly payments for the financially strapped CAEZ will be around $22,000.00 per month.
Here=s the deal. CAEZ will secure the 2 million dollar loan from the bank and use it to build a 24,560 square foot building. Global Contact will lease purchase the building and 4 acres of land from CAEZ. To make the deal a little easier to handle for CAEZ, Gov. Wise has agreed to give $50,000.00 toward the deal and the WV Economic Development Authority has agreed to guarantee loan payments during the first two years of the agreement if Global bails out. Here=s something interesting: the parties to the agreement will use the same attorney to save on up front costs. The attorney is Gregory Sproles.
Director Sizemore told the assembled that Global will hire 300 employees who will all be licensed insurance agents. The estimated annual payroll is 5 million dollars.
The company will provide telephone service personnel at their Mt. Hope location. Sizemore said the employees will reply to insurance consumers over the phone. Currently, over 70 people have already been hired after successfully completing 40 hours of training and passing a written test for certification.
The Mt. Hope Industrial Site was one of the first projects for the CAEZ 6 years ago. Millions have been spent to develop 18 acres into usable flat land for multi purpose development. One of the eyebrow raisers of the October 18 meeting was when Sizemore commented that the National Bank of Commercial will hold the entire property as collateral for the loan during the first part of the loan life.
CAEZ Rep. Wanda Taylor questioned why the 76 recent hires were not from the CAEZ Azone@. Mr. Sizemore replied that he didn=t know about the 76 but felt they were hired through the Summersville Employment Office. Taylor, @Summersville is not in the zone... Why hasn=t this been advertised?@ Taylor was referring to Clayonians and other folks that reside in the 5 county area comprising the CAEZ. With a little more lead in her pencil, @The Zone should qualify first....That=s the way that I feel....You are already teaching the class and we=re [the people] not aware????@ Sizemore began to explain something, Taylor, AThat=s our downfall, you don=t keep us up [to date]....The Zone [people in the zone] should have already known this!!! People say we never know what=s going on!@ It appeared that Sizemore knew Ms Taylor was correct in her statements as Chair Michael Martin ( from Fayette County) tried to steer the discussion away with,@ All this means nothing unless we get this passed today..@
Other details. At the end of the 10 year lease purchase agreement, Global Contact Services will own the building and 4 acres of property in the Industrial Park. The total payback on the loan will be around 2.6 million dollars. Global will not have to pay property taxes on the building until the end of the 10 year period. Mr. Sizemore commented to the Board that Fred Sampson and Peter Selich had reviewed the lease purchase agreement and both had given the thumbs up .
Bomont CAEZ Rep. Lynn O=Dell questioned the financial back ground of Global and their ability to pay back the debt. Sizemore said that those records are confidential but the Board may view the documents. Sizemore,@ The Bank felt like it was a good loan.@ Wanda Taylor,@ What if Global leaves in 2 years?@ Sizemore,@ The bank would foreclose and take the building.. It=s in their best interest to keep the place going.@ Later on it was revealed that if the bank takes the building they would also get the entire Mt. Hope Industrial site as well.
So what does CAEZ get out of this? According to Jerry Sizemore, the grass roots organization will receive between 300 and 400 dollars per month in administration fees. Some boardsters felt that was a very little bit to gain.
The vote by the CAEZ Board was unanimous for the loan and the project. If successful, the empty industrial site will have its first building, tenant and 300 employees to boot by winter=s end. If things go sour, just remember, the vote to go in debt nearly 2 million dollars was unanimous. AW
???DID YOU KNOW???
The average American throws away more than 4 pounds of garbage a day.
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some just know the right people.
Since the tragedy in New York, Americans have returned to movie theaters in large numbers.
Coca Cola will sell all the soda on West Virginia University Campuses for 10 years under a marketing sponsorship.
Of the 8,800 West Virginians who earned degrees from in-state public colleges in 1999, 69 percent were working in the state one year later.
The number of women who sought breast augmentation increased from 19,500 in 1992 to more than 108,000 in 2000.
Almost two-thirds of the $27 billion in farm subsidies doled out last year, went to just 10 percent of Americas farm owners.
37.6 percent of rural residents over 65 had a total loss of all their teeth in 1997 and 1998 compared with about 2.5 percent in the suburbs.
About 2,500 miles or 80 percent of a federal Appalachian highway system has been completed or is under construction.
In 1918 620,000 people in the United States perished from the Spanish Flu.
According to a brochure published by Therapy Dogs International, by petting, talking, and touching the animals blood pressure is lowered, stress is relieved and depression is eased.
West Virginia University enrolled 841 more students for the fall semester than last year.
Nationally about 2 percent of school age children have a serious developmental disability that requires supportive care.
West Virginia is scheduled to receive 9.76 million through a federal program targeted at renovating schools in counties where a high percentage of students live in poverty which includes Clay County.
X- rated videos are rented by Americans more than 700 million times a year.
A World Health Organization study estimates that air pollution will cause about 8 million deaths world wide by 2020.
A typical American history text book tips the scales at 8 ½ pounds.
Character building begins in infancy and continues until death. Eleanor Roosevelt.
In Kanawha County, magistrates dismissed nearly 80 percent of domestic battery cases in July.
Personal computer maker Gate-way is laying off 4,700 employees, trying to cope with an increasingly bleak market. LMM
CLAY/RONE PSD UPDATE
Now this gets confusing readers but here goes. Clay Roane PSD has taken over the entire operation of Procious PSD including the operation of the Procious PSD water plant. For all intents and purposes, Procious PSD is no more. Additionally, the merged PSDs have a new five member board in charge. The new board is mandated to have four members of Clay County origin and one member must be from the far land of Roane County. The Clay County PSD has appointed Gary Whaling, TG Cruickshank, Garrett Samples and Harold (Lefty) Summers to the new Board and Roane County has appointed Roy Ellis as their rep.
With all that being said, the first meeting of the new and improved Clay Roane PSD met October 4. At that meeting the group voted to hire Gary Whaling=s son, Phillip Whaling, as the field worker for the PSD for $8.00 per hour. Although Gary abstained from the vote to hire his flesh and blood, many in the county are saying, @It don=t pass the rotten fish test!@
The following are the highlights of the group=s first Alegal@ meeting. Read on for details!
Clay Roane PSD met in regular session at the Procious Water Plant with TG Cruickshank, Gary Whaling, Lefty Summers, Roy Ellis, and Garrett Samples present along with various employees and Raymond and Becky Samples in the peanut gallery. Minutes and bills oked.
Clerk Trina Neff explained to the Board that the October 4 meeting, and all the motions done at that meeting, were illegal since the new and improved PSD board had not been appointed by the County Commission at the time of the meeting. Everything has to be done over.
During discussion on paying a long overdue repair bill to Daniels Electric Co., Gary Whaling, AWe got a problem.@ Whaling explained that the old Clay Roane PSD got a $50,000.00 loan from the Clay County Bank and $35,000.00 of that loan money was for replacing water meters ( $35,000.00 worth) within the system. The group has already spent $10,000.00 of the $50,000.00 on monthly bills and if you take another $6355.14 to pay Daniels Electric, there won=t be enough left to pay for the meters. Whaling, AThe meters were never bought.@ With interest being added to the Daniels bill each month, TG Cruickshank, AWe owe almost as much now as before [in the beginning].@ Over the last 10 months, the PSD has made three payments.
After much discussion the group decided to pay just $3300.00 of the bill with $500 more to be taken from the old Procious PSD account. During the vote to approve this, another problem popped up. Although the Board has now been appointed by the County Commissions, TG Cruickshank and Roy Ellis had not been sworn in at the time of this October 11 meeting. Translation: TG and Roy cannot vote. Remember that readers, it will be important in just a few more lines! Upon finding this out, Mr. Ellis, A What am I doing here then?!@ No motion was made to pay the bill.
Here it is folks, the main feature, the revote to hire Phillip Whaling as an employee of the PSD. Mr. Whaling said he would again abstain from voting since the relationship to Phillip. From out of the peanut gallery spoke Raymond Samples. Raymond, A I thought I had the job. I came to see what happened.@ Raymond Samples had submitted a resume several weeks earlier and was interviewed after an old Clay Roane PSD meeting in August. Cruickshank explained that they had had 5 or 6 applications, they could afford to pay just $8.00 per hour, three of the applicants had prior experience and the group had made an offer to him.
Mr. Whaling,@ I talked to you.... he told me $9.00 is where you wanted to be at.... I told you not to turn in your notice.@ Whaling was referring to Raymond Samples turning in his resignation from his old job. Raymond=s wife Becky spoke up and referred to the telephone call between Raymond and Gary Whaling, Becky, A I=m Ms Samples. I was there when he called. He (Raymond) called Gary back and said he would work for $8.00 per hour.@ Whaling,@ I told you the Board had not met!@ Raymond,@ You said you had talked to other Board members.@ Both Mr. and Mrs. Samples commented that the job was given to Raymond by Whaling at that time, Becky,@ At that point, he had the job!!@ Gary,@ It=s unfortunate that we had this mix up in communications.@ TG explained that Gary Whaling had authority to Atalk@ to the applicants. During the back and forth, the Board said they would look at all three applications again but would not accept any new applications from the public. TG, AThis changes stuff.@
Lots more discussion, Whaling excerpts,@ I told every applicant the same thing... I told you not to do that...I said it has to be a Board decision..@ Raymond, A Maybe I am getting confused..@
See where we are readers? The Samples family felt that Gary Whaling had given the job to Raymond and Raymond quit his long time position in Charleston to work closer to home. In the mean time, Phillip Whaling was hired at an illegal meeting and Phillip, too, has tendered his resignation.
Now the revote to hire a maintenance man. Uh Oh.. Lets see now, TG and Roy have not been sworn in so they can=t vote.... Gary has recused himself because of conflict of interest... that leaves just Garrett Samples and Lefty Summers to vote. That=s two.... no quorum. Now with two men with tendered resignations and with two men thinking they have the one job, the PSD can not vote due to lack of quorum!
Discussion turned to the financially strapped water service provider buying a new truck. TG, AThe red truck is in bad shape...@ The PSD may look at leasing a truck to get around WV Public Service Commission=s needed approval to purchase.
As for the questions of too many hours billed by employees for the hours operated by the water plant, chief operator Jennifer Traub gave a brief explanation that some of the hours ( 32 hours charged during several 24 hour periods) was because workers that worked the night before would show up on the next day’s reports. Traub said she would be glad to take the time and go over each questionable time report. NOTE: We=ll follow up that offer in the next edition of this paper.
In light of the September 11 terrorism attack on the country, discussion turned to security of the water supply and security of the water plant. Mr. Whaling was first to brazenly say that there was no security problem there! Whaling, A The tanks are all locked... The plant and gate are locked when no one is here.@ Field worker Deems reminded Whaling that there is not a fence around the Ovapa or Camp Creek water tanks. The PSD Board was also reminded that laid off worker Ric Burdette still had his key ring with all the keys on it. Garrett Samples, AWe=re going to have to beef up security..@
Mr. Whaling informed all that they had just lost three customers ( two taps at Ric Ahart and a Linda Braley).
So, now that the two PSDs have merged, is the water moratorium lifted and can new customers be added?. ANope@, replied TG Cruickshank. According to Mr. Cruickshank, the PSD must get the OK from town of Clay Mayor, Betty Murphy, to turn on the town=s Ovapa water valve so water can flow out of the county and into Roane County to feed their new customers. TG said WV PSC engineer Jim (Mr. Spark Plug) Weimer had told him to go see Betty Murphy and work something out with her. Hmmm...
Gary Whaling commented that Clover PSD wanted to hook Clay Roane PSD onto their system and provide water to the many customers. There was some dispute in the ranks on whether it was Clover or the town of Spencer that wanted to add the customers on.
The next regular meeting of the new and improved Clay Roane PSD is scheduled for November 8 at 7 pm. But hold it!!!! A Special meeting of the PSD has been called for Thursday Oct 25 to make the decision to hire Phillip Whaling.
AW
DAWSON READINESS COMMENTS
Health Department Director Karen Dawson responded to questions from this paper Tuesday, October 16 on the subject of Clay County=s ability to handle terrorist situations now found in larger metropolitan areas of the country. Dawson was very up front and said that most of this was all new to her and for the most part, was ‘over her head’. So what if something did happen in Clay County, something with the water supply or anthrax or something else, what does the Health Department do?
Dawson said she was hesitant to answer that kind of question for fear of how it will be received. Dawson, AIt will not be a pretty sight... I hate to say this...but it=s true, if you want the truth, we don=t have a coordinated plan in Clay County. There is nothing that has pounded that home anymore than this anthrax.@ She went on say that there is a Ageneric@ county emergency plan in existence that was Adeveloped some time ago..@
Ms Dawson went on to mention she has organized a meeting of several of the emergency service providers in the county. NOTE: That meeting coverage is on the front page of this publication. Dawson=s chief reason for the meeting was to address handling of anthrax laden boxes and letters.
Could such anthrax letters reach rural Clay County or the threat of such, happen here? It already has. Read on.
Dawson, @I got a call last Saturday morning at 11:00 am. It turned out, they are pretty sure, to be nothing but ,yes, it created some concerns. I made several phone calls Saturday and throughout the day yesterday. It involved a worker from an Elkview company that lives at Bomont and there was this mysterious box that ended up at the company and nobody knew where it came from or who it belonged to and it had some unusual contents. Well,.. This guy picked it up after no one claimed it. It had an old nut cracker in it. He and his wife collect old antiques and he ended up bringing it home. His wife sees this residue all over the contents and she got concerned and contacted the Sheriff and me and we dealt with it.@
Dawson, A People=s awareness has really been heightened. And , I think if we look at dealing with this particular thing now, it can lead us on to refining a plan so that people are better protected.@
Ms Dawson would not venture into whether there is enough money in county budgets to deal with a major event.
Dawson, ABut this is a scarey thing.@ Ms Dawson candidly said that she knew a county plan was needed since the flooding emergencies in the summer of 1998 in the Bomont area. Dawson, AThe Health Department was totally left out of that loop...nobody called to tell me, hey we=ve got homes flooded, water wells flooded, we need advice or we need help, or we need tested....@
As to the need to firm up the county response plan and amend it to fit the rapidly changing face of America, Dawson,@ I don=t think we can put it off any longer. As of yesterday... I am making phone calls to stir this pot and get something.@ She went on to say she already received commitments from the State Police, Ambulance Service and Emergency Service Director Barry Curry so far. Dawson, A We need a coordinated emergency response plan so people will know who is responsible for what. This is a good place to start.@
In closing, Director Dawson said that her organization had received various faxes and emails from the Federal Government on anthrax and had concerns on what should be published for the public. She also said that information ( FAXES) is available to the public.
The anthrax scare at Bomont last Saturday is an indication that even little ole Clay County is not immune from the rest of the world and a good healthy dose of public awareness is the best posture for all Americans today.
For more information on anthrax be sure to go to the ADVISORY page of www.clayberry.org
AW
RATLIFF HEATS UP AT CLAY PSD MEETING
Clay County PSD Board of Directors met October 16, 10:00 am at their Main Street Office Complex. Boardsters Earl Long and Homer Triplett present along with Chair Keith King. Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Ratliff and Morgan Triplett in attendance as well as one frazzled looking newspaper reporter.
Financials for September: Beginning balance $1769.50; Income - $19,763.55; Expenses - $21,407.90; leaving an ending balance of $125.15
Field report: two meters set; taps set at Triplett Ridge, Hartland, and Ivydale, leak repaired for Clay Roane PSD at Hollywood; set a pole; repaired creek crossings; did repair work near Procious after the log truck took out a water line.
Charlie Ratliff has been waiting for water service for 10 years. Several years ago the CCC funded over $20,000.00 for the water line extension to serve the Adair Road area of the county where Ratliff and 10 other customers have patiently been waiting Mr. Ratliff, AWhere=s the water?@ Ratliff made mention that supplies for the water line extension, block and gravel, have been setting there on site and nothing is being done. He went on to give a back ground report on the many delays and the dragging of feet by the PSD since they got the go ahead on the project in January of this year.
Chair King was short with the future customer, King, ADid you just hear the [field] report??@ King was alluding to the hard work done over the last several weeks by the two man field crew. Ratliff disagreed completely with King. Ratliff,@ I don=t know what they do... The whole summer slid by.... Now bad weather is coming...@ Referring to the field report, again , Ratliff,@ I=ll give you one day for Procious and one day for the pole... THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. You wouldn=t run a business that a way!!@ That didn=t set well with King who asked why all those potential customers hadn=t already come in and coughed up their tap fees for the water line extension.
Ratliff, AI was promised water [by] October 1!!.. Are you going to wait >till next summer??.... The line has been ready since February 2001!!@ King, using his finely tuned public relations skills to the max, A We MIGHT, NOW LET ME TALK!@ King gave a whole list of reasons why the short segment of water line could not have been installed over the summer months and ended the conversation with Mr. Ratliff with,@ THERE IS NO USE TELLING YOU..@ NOTE: What>s the hold up? A small building has to be built and an already purchased water pump, has to be installed
Ratliff, firm and vocal, retorted that he may go around the local PSD to force them to get off their duffs and complete the job. Also responding kindly to the customer, King, AGO AHEAD ... I DON@T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE ABOUT IT!!@ Well, Mr. Ratliff wasn=t quite done yet. He reminded all three Boardsters that each of those potential customers could have been paying customers that could have helped the PSD Abottom line.@ That didn=t seem to phase Keith King either! As they realized they were getting no place fast with King and the other two Boardsters were sitting there like bumps on a pickle with duct tape across their mouths, Ms Ratliff, ALETS GO. THIS IS A WASTE OF TIME!@
After their dust settled, the PSD oked the purchase of a fire proof safe for records. Another 25 minutes of public meeting ended
Additional expenses for September: Employee Salaries -$4,466.48; Building payment - $300.22; Office expense - $287.36; Purchased water - $4,396.01; PSD Board Salaries - $225.00; Payment on Municipal bond -$3,316.72; R & R Fund -$337.50; Line Maintenance - $402.53; Vehicle payment - $420.64; Vehicle fuel - $600.00; Customer Deposit Refunds - $175.84.
AW
Magistrate Report
FELONY:
10-5-01: Delk-Justin Allen Woods warrant issued for sexual assault/abuse, abductions of child from school x2 and forgery x2. MISDEMEANOR: 10-1-01: Slack-Lawrence Vaughan for DWR/DUIA, NPOI and registration violation.
Foreman-David Wilson warrant issued for petit larceny, reckless driving and DWS.
10-3-01: Country Short Stop-William Stone warrant issued for worthless check.
1-05-01: Foreman-Cory Cottrell for contributing to the delinquency.
10-11-01: Belt-Daniel Pauley for DUI.
10-13-01: Belt-Andrew Osborne for DUI. CIVIL: 10-2-01: RB Legg Jr, DDS-Ronnie Nottingham for money due.
10-4-01: Banking & Trust-Tony Hall for money due.
10-9-01: Bentree Grocery-Jason Bennett for money due.
10-11-01: Clay Co. PSD-April Cutlip for money due. WORTHLESS CHECKS: Clay Super Market-Shari Bullard $75.02 paid 10-12-01; Angela Ann Woods $60.00; Edra D. Runion $47.66; Victoria Criner $11.67; Mitchell P Adkins $100.00; Lisa G. Lewis $26.61; Jason Miles Bennett $50.00
NAPA-Mary J. Truman $17.22 & $88.71 both paid on 10-15-01
Kings Grocery-Cathly Stutler $19.35 & $20.00 TRAFFIC CITATIONS:
9-27-01: State-Andrew J. Summers for NPOI.
9-29-01: State-Lyle Carte for NPOI
State-Roger D. Holcomb for NPOI
9-30-01: Sheriff’s-Cynthia Miller for speeding x2.
State-Connie Rogers for NPOI & no operators.
State-Dara Stephenson for no seat belt.
Sheriff’s-Ranson B. Ward for speeding.
10-01-01: State-James Rainer for registration violation.
10-02-01: State-Michael L. Runion for NPOI
State-Malena Stone for NPOI.
10-05-01: State-Jeremy Hammons for littering & underage consumption.
Sheriff’s-Janet Nichols for registration violation, DWS & NPOI.
10-06-01: Sheriff’s-John Bellassal for speeding.
Sheriff’s-Danny Chase II for speeding.
Sheriff’s-Larry A. Hagerman for speeding.
Sheriff’s-Barbara B. Sauer for DWS/R
Sheriff’s-Olga Sugzdinis for speeding.
Sheriff’s-Moses Zegeer for speeding.
10-07-01: Sheriff’s-Andrew L. Osborne for DUI.
10-08-01: State-Roger Salisbury for NPOI.
Capito Votes To Protect E-commerce From
Unfair Internet Taxes
House Approves Tax Moratorium Until 2003
WASHINGTON-Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) voted last night to further encourage the new economy by supporting the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act (H.R. 1552). Yesterday evening, the House of Representatives approved the plan, which extends the moratorium on access fees, new taxes and discriminatory taxes on the Internet until November 1, 2003.
"The tremendous growth of e-commerce has created new jobs and led to countless new choices for West Virginia consumers," said Rep. Capito. "Congress believes that the new economy should remain free from burdensome taxes and regulations to encourage continued growth and innovation in the 21st century."
Rep. Capito added, "Rural access to the Internet is a challenge by itself without slapping extra taxes on those who want and need access, we need to stop constructing needless barriers to access and e-commerce. The new economy in West Virginia should be encouraged and welcomed." Extending the Internet tax moratorium means that state and local agencies remain unable to implement taxing authority over the Internet. Internet access taxes as well as e-commerce taxes on buyers and sellers cannot be levied during this moratorium.
"Consumers and businesses need assurances that online commerce will not be burdened by tax policies," said Rep- Capito. "This plan has worked successfully for years. Now is not the time to single out the Internet for discriminatory tax treatment."
**Announcement for the Constituents of the 2nd Congressional District of
West Virginia** WASHINGTON-Due to increased security concerns, all incoming mail to congressional offices in Washington, D.C. has been indefinitely suspended for further screening by the United States Capitol Police.
Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito's (R-WV) policy is to answer each and every piece of mail from her constituents. Due to the uncertainty of delivery of each piece of mail, congresswoman Capito asks for her constituent's patience in receiving a response to letters.
Congresswoman Capito regrets this inconvenience as she values communication from all of her constituents, she encourages everyone to communicate their thoughts and ideas to her through letters, faxes, e-mails and phone calls.
KAY’S COOKING CORNER
Quick & Easy Diabetic Recipes
“Not only is this salad great tasting, but it’s great looking, too! I suggest serving it in a trifle bowl or clear glass serving bowl so everybody can see all its colorful layers.” STACKED TACO SALAD
Serving Size: 1/12 recipe, Total Servings: 12
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 package (1-1/4 ounces) dry taco seasoning mix
1 medium head iceburg lettuce, chopped (about 8 cups)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 large tomatoes, diced (about 2 cups)
1 bag (8 ounces) baked tortilla chips, crushed
1 bottle (8 ounces) sweet-and-spicy French salad dressing
1) In a medium skillet, brown the ground beef with the taco seasoning mix, stirring to break up the meat; drain and cool.
2) In a large glass trifle or other serving bowl, layer half of the lettuce, then half of the cheese, beans, ground beef, tomatoes. Repeat the layers then top with the crushed
tortilla chips. Just before serving, drizzle with the dressing and toss to coat the ingredients well. Exchanges: 2 carbohydrate..1 Lean Meat..2-1/2 Fat
Calories...324...Calories from Fat...147...Total Fat...16 g
Saturated Fat...5 g...Cholesterol...34 mg...Sodium...623 mg...
Carbohydrate...30 g...Dietary Fiber...5 g...Sugars...6 g...
Protein...15 g... “OK, is your sweet tooth screaming for something...rich and flavorful? Practically everything in here is low in fat, but not low in taste, so go ahead and calm that craving!”
ENJOY PEANUT BUTTER CUP PIE
Serving size: 1 slice, Total Servings: 8
1 package (4-serving size) sugar-free instant
vanilla pudding mix
1-1/2 cups fat-free (skim) milk
1/3 cup reduced-fat chunky peanut butter
1-1/2 cups frozen light whipped topping,
thawed and divided
1 package (1.6 ounces) peanut butter cups, chopped
1 9-inch reduced-fat graham cracker pie crust
1) In a large bowl, using a wire whisk, combine the pudding and milk until thickened. Whisk in the peanut butter and 1 cup whipped topping. Stir in the peanut butter cups
2) Pour the mixture into the pie crust, then spread the remaining 1/2 cup whipped topping over the pie.
3) Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, or until ready to serve. Exchanges: 2 Carbohydrate..2 Fat..
Calories..249..Calories from Fat..90..Total Fat..10 g..
Saturated Fat..4 g..Cholesterol..1 mg..Sodium..364 mg..
Carbohydrate..32 g..Dietary Fiber..1 g..Sugars..15 g..
Protein..6 g..
Enjoy - until next time, Kay.…
ANTHRAX INFORMATION
We sifted through various sources of information to provide the following on Anthrax. What causes anthrax?
Anthrax is caused by the organism Bacillus anthracis. In some parts of the world, this can be found in cattle or other hoofed mammals. It is infrequent in western Europe and the US, and is more likely to be found in animals in south and central America, south and east Europe, Asia and Africa. This bacteria can form spores which can either be eaten in contaminated meat, breathed in, or simply infect the skin directly through human to animal contact. What are the symptoms?
There are three types of anthrax, depending on where the infectious spore has arrived on the patient. The first, cutaneous anthrax, is the least serious of the three, and produces a skin lesion, which is rarely painful. However, if left untreated, the infection can spread and cause blood poisoning, which is fatal in one in 20 cases. The second type is intestinal anthrax, caused by the consumption of contaminated meat. This produces severe food-poisoning type symptoms, leading to fever and blood poisoning. It is frequently fatal. The third is respiratory anthrax, which happens when spores are breathed in by the patient and lodge in the lung. Symptoms of this disease start out as similar to simple flu, but respiratory symptoms rapidly worsen and the patient usually goes into some kind of shock between two and six days later. Again, this is frequently fatal. Is anthrax contagious?
No. It is an infectious disease, but not contagious. An infectious illness spreads and grows within the body, a contagious disease spreads from person to person. Because the disease is not contagious, only those directly exposed to the spores have any chance of falling ill. How deadly is it?
A 1993 report estimated that releasing a cloud of 100kg of spores upwind of Washington DC could cause between 130,000 and 3million deaths. Does exposure always mean infection?
Being exposed to anthrax spores does not necessarily mean that you will develop an infection. Many of the spores are dormant, and pose no threat. In addition, infection will only result if sufficient numbers of the spores germinate and release harmful bacteria in sufficient quantities. Small amounts of the bacteria can be killed off by the body's immune system. It is estimated that 10,000 spores are needed to cause infection. Once anthrax spores have lodged in the lung and caused an infection, nine out of 10 patients die. Can anthrax be treated?
Giving antibiotics to anthrax patients can cure the disease, particularly the cutaneous variety. The antibiotic of choice is ciprofloxacin, or Cipro. However, unless it is given swiftly after intestinal or respiratory infection, the chances of cure are greatly reduced. Is there a vaccine?
There is a vaccine against anthrax, but this is not recommended except for those at high risk, such as meat industry workers and laboratory scientists handling the disease. Is it easy to make?
Culturing large quantities of anthrax spores is a complicated task, but certainly not beyond the capacity of many nations. During the 1990s, it was suggested that at least 17 nations had some biological weapons capacity.
From Sen. Robert C. Byrd
"To be ignorant of what happened before you were born," admonished Cicero, "is to remain always a child." If Cicero were to look at history lessons for America's schoolchildren today, he might conclude that they will never grow up.
Once again, a test of young peoples' knowledge of history -- in this case, the history of our own nation -- has demonstrated a sorry ignorance. What is particularly disconcerting about this report is that it reflects the knowledge base of college seniors from some of the best colleges and universities in the nation, not younger children with many years of learning still ahead of them.
The test, sponsored by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, was given to college seniors at 55 top colleges and universities and consisted of questions from a high school-level American history test. Nearly 80 percent of those tested earned a grade of only a "D" or an "F." A mere 23 percent could identify James Madison as the principal framer of the Constitution. More than a third of those asked did not know that the Constitution established the division of powers in American government. Just 60 percent could correctly select the 50-year period in which the Civil War occurred -- not the correct years, or even the correct decade, but the correct half-century! A scant 35 percent could correctly identify Harry S. Truman as the President in office at the start of the Korean War.
In the light of such dismal knowledge of our national history, I added an amendment to an appropriations bill in December 2000 that provides $50 million in grants for schools that teach American history as a separate subject within school curricula. The U.S. Department of Education recently published the rules and regulations for this initiative, and the application process is open until July.
Too many schools today are lumping history together with other subjects and offering them as courses broadly titled "social studies." This conglomeration certainly does not provide the kind of focused study that history deserves and requires. Moreover, it shortchanges our young people who will some day be the leaders of our nation.
It is my hope that this grant initiative will encourage more schools to develop, implement, and strengthen classes in American history. If they are to have any hope of being prepared to lead in the future, America's students need a deeper understanding of our nation's past. Comments taken from Senator Robert C. Byrd’s web site
So Many Books, So Little Time...
If you saw a red and white Super Service tractor trailer in downtown Clay early Thursday morning, October 11th or if you saw all the pallets on the sidewalk in front of the Lion’s Club building for much of the day, you were lucky enough to witness a wonderful thing happening for the children and schools of Clay County.
Through a cooperative effort of CHALLENGE WEST VIRGINIA and the Christian Appalachian Project, Clay County received $250,000 worth of new books for our community. These are brand new books; textbooks, activity books, fun books for the children to take home. Superintendent of Clay County Schools, Jerry Linkinogger was asked to examine the books to be certain that they were suitable for our children and after he approved the books, he invited principals and librarians from all of the schools to come in to town and submit wish lists for their schools. After the requests of the public schools were met, books were also made available to Head Start, the daycare centers, the library, Clay Christian Academy, 4H and Clay Development. We were also able to provide books for the Calhoun County Challenge Coordinator to distribute to their students.
Volunteers sorted the books for the schools and the board provided the personnel and vans to transport the books to the schools.
Among the items provided were National Geographic textbooks “Australia”, “Lewis and Clark”, and “The Story of America”. Computer software titles included “I Love Spelling” and “I Love Math”. Barbie books, board books for preschoolers, posters for use in the classrooms and project activities such as writing programs, earth sciences, my neighborhood projects were also included.
Challenge West Virginia is committed to keeping small rural schools open and we are happy to have been able to work together with the Superintendent to get these books into the classrooms and homes of our children. We wish to thank everyone who made this possible. Our sincere thanks to the publishers who donated the books and Carol Parrett, Operation Share of the Christian Appalachian Project for providing the transportation and selecting us to be recipients. Special thanks to our truck driver who had never been in the mountains before and was in awe of the beauty of West Virginia and especially impressed by the Teaberry Curve. The Clay Lion’s Club generously allowed us to use their building on Main Street to store and distribute the books. Sarah Anderson, Clifton Bragg, Diane and Hannah Little, Andy Waddell, Terry Kerns, Lynn O’Dell, Debbie Norton, Christy Conley and Judy Vaughan rolled up their sleeves and did the hard work of sorting the 34,000 pounds of books over a four day period for no reward other than the satisfaction of doing for others. Darrell Keener, the Town of Clay, Randy Nichols (Triple N Feed) and some anonymous helpers all worked with us to make this happen.
Challenge West Virginia will continue to support small schools and work to change educational policy that has encouraged consolidation and closure of our community schools. If you want to learn more about Challenge call:
Marge Bragg 286-2655 (ijram98@hotmail.com)
From the Fitness Center
Dear current and past members of the Clay Fitness
Center:
Many of you are aware that when this facility was built we were allotted three years to become self-sufficient. The school board has been generous enough to assist us in upkeep and utilities each month for the past two and one half years. However, with the school levy about to come up on the ballot the facility’s future is at stake. Without levy funds it will be impossible for the school board to find funds to assist the fitness center.
Our three-year anniversary will be in August 2002. We are speaking out now so that many of you will have time to help us. The following is a financial report for the last two years:
August ‘1999-2000’August ‘2000-2001’
Total Income: $20,404.00 $16,556.00
Total Expenses: $1982.36 $23,039.08
Expenses:
Advertisement $234.21 *Payroll $22,000.00
Open House $314.37 Repair $200.00
*Vending Stock $1,198.28 *Vending Stock $839.00
*The first year, from August 1999-2000, we had funds for payroll from the original grant and the second year the payroll began being deducted from the income of the facility.
*Vending stock is the Poweraide and water machine upstairs. This is an expense that we do make a return on by selling the products.
So now you ask what can I do? Well you could join the facility and reap the benefits of using the equipment, vote yes on the upcoming levy, come to the facility and sign our petition, and/or write a letter to your local government representative to express what a great asset this facility is to the community.
We have contacted the following representatives to assist us in securing budget digest funds. These grant funds are allotted by the government to assist non-profit agencies in continuing their operations.
Shirley Love
PO Box 1173
Oak Hill, WV 25901
William Stemple
HC 50 Box 380-A
Arnoldsburg, WV 25234
Mark Burnette
PO Box 1775
Lewisburg, WV 24901
Thank you,
Christina Conley, Director
GETTING HIS ‘ORES’ WET @ CCEAA
Clay County Emergency Ambulance Authority met in regular session October 8 . Present: Chair- Bob Ore, members - Gene King, Fran King, and Arlie Fulks. Larry Cole absent. As was the case the last time the CCEAA met, many folks were in the peanut gallery in support of fired employee Patty Mollohan along with several looking for good cheap entertainment. They weren=t disappointed. Here we go..
Last edition mention was made of a comment made by long time employee Mary Hanshaw during a September Employee Fund Committee meeting. A letter was written by Director Jackie Pierson concerning that comment which was given to each board member present. Pierson took the Hanshaw styled comments as threatening in nature and A..I, as Director, take this statement very seriously and view it as a terrorist remark...@ Pierson sought CCEAA review of the situation.
Just as this CCEAA meeting opened, the accused, Mary Hanshaw, passed out a response letter and commented,@ This is my reply to the response you handed out.@
In its entirety, here is the Hanshaw rebuttal to the Asecret@ letter handed out by Ms Pierson.. The reason I state Asecret@ is because, to this date, I have not been called in to discuss my position on the accusations made by me by the unknown accusers. But I do know about this letter. It is full of lies. At no time did I make any statement in relations to a wooden airplane on top of the pop machine. The only statement was in reference to using it for Apple Festival decoration by Tracy Sizemore.
I will not tolerate these lies or be accused of terrorist type activities. These statements made by your Director are untrue, as my fellow workers at the same meeting are willing to testify to.
Also, if we have a chain of command, why was I not asked to prove my innocence? This type of under handedness needs to stop before we are forced into legal issues that we all know we can=t afford. Our last memo issued states we need an attitude adjustment.
Maybe this is so, but shouldn=t we work in an environment we can tolerate and not have to watch our backs and expect equal treatment?
You as an Authority may get tired of hearing this when you have much more important financial concerns, but we are getting tired of working under these conditions and no one listens.
No mention was made of the letter during the meeting but it is an indication of attitudes and conditions at our ambulance service.
On with the meeting!
Bob Ore opened things up with comments on how bad things are with the service. Ore said that he had a statement on the condition of the ambulance service. The following are excerpts.
AI am just leaning about the problems that we have.... I want folks to understand some of those financial problems... In the first of July , we borrowed $100,000.00 from the bank of Gassaway at 9 % interest and we committed to use ambulances as collateral... During the month of July and from the proceeds of this $100,000.00, we apparently paid off a loan at the Clay Bank for $36,000.00... we paid an additional $26,000.00 for existing debt....nearly $60,000.00 out of that $100,000.00 went immediately. This does not include wages and salaries, supplies and operating expenses which totaled an additional $36,000.00....@ According to Mr. Ore, at the end of July, after all the expenditures were made, there was just $3849.49 left of the $100,000.00 loan. All in the room were quiet. Ore then explained that even when you take in to account the moneys that came in through billing procedures, A We lost $3849.41 in the month of July alone.... I managed to get financial statements for preceding years and taking all the averages for all the months , we are losing somewhere about $2000.00 to $2500.00 per month. That means if we were operating as a business, we would have declared bankruptcy a year and a half ago. We are an operating business... County Commission has said that they wouldn=t help but maybe they will. We have got to do something to get money into this organization and we have to do it fast.@
You could have heard a pin drop. Someone had finally taken the time to crunch the numbers and speak out in a way that people would listen to. The Ambulance Service is ready to fold.
Ore asked that the $25.00 voluntary ambulance fee be made mandatory and done so quickly. Other suggestions surfaced to garner more money for the CCEAA. One such was the need for an excess levy. Member Fran King admitted that she wasn=t the smartest cookie in the pack but she felt that all fees should be dropped for one year , sort of a Acooling off period@ before anything new be added on. No decision made on any of it
As to the hiring of a collection agent for old bills, long past due,... that doesn=t look too promising either. According to the Ore investigation, many of the old bills are years old and most collection agents won=t even consider stuff that old. Seems the old CCEAA boards had dropped the ball for years! CCEAA voted to turn all the old accounts over to General Recovery Company who will take a healthy 30% of each dollar collected.
As to finding a replacement for retiring Director Jackie Pierson, to date the candidates were: Laura Moore, Liddia Watson, Arlene Johnson and another that Ore could not find a resume on. Interviews were to be held October 17. Discussion turned to a mix up in the advertisement for the job which stated that a college degree was needed. CCEAA changed that to now state that experience could be substituted for college time.
Now for Patty Mollohan time! That=s fired employee, Mollohan. Readers from the last edition will remember that Ore worked hard to get away from the issue by asking for it to be tabled or handled behind the scenes. Well, It=s Back!!! This time it was obvious there was a riff among the Board with Fran King and Gene King seeking Patty be put back on immediately and against the wishes of Director Pierson. Ore maintained that the policy manual must be upheld and was on the side of Pierson. Mollohan stated that she had asked to be off the schedule for two months during a recent secret disciplinary session and shortly there after, she received a termination letter. Director Pierson , who sent the letter to Mollohan, said she was Ajust going by the manual.@ Mollohan challenged that statement real quick. Ore read from the manual which reflected the Director=s opinion. Ore told Mollohan that she was terminated Awithout prejudice@, meaning she could come back at any time. Gene King,@ We need her. I want to see her back at work!@ Fran King commented that Ayou just can=t pick up the manual and start using it!!@ Ms King was referring to laxness of rules among employees.
Ms Mollohan seemed satisfied with being able to come back to work when she felt like it. Fran pushed hard to have the discipline letter removed from the file. Didn=t work, Ore refused that request. Now here=s an interesting part, it seemed that some of the employees turned on the Patty Mollohan delegation and rallied behind Pierson. Mitzi Adkins sounded hot when she yelled out at Mollohan, A WELL, ARE YOU COMING BACK???@
Is the battle over? NOT!
To top off yet another night of action packed adventure in the world of Clayberry at it=s BEST, the little stuff: $40,100 has been billed out this month to date; Joretta Gray said the CCEAA was now operating in the black; book keeper Marie Haynes reminded the group that they owed Medicare $3000.00 and interest is now being charged on the months= old overpayment.
And finally, Director Pierson mentioned that supply officer Shawn Shaffer had left paid employment there and another was needed; Gene King wants the Big Otter Ambulance Station moved down on flat land before winter.
Has the Ambulance Service ever been free of backbiting, eyeball gouging back door politics? No. Can the service ever operate as a team with fair and equal treatment for all employees? See you at the meeting October 22 to see who gets the nod to replace Jackie Pierson.
AW
CDC QUESTIONS THE PUBLIC’S NEED TO KNOW
Clay County Development Corporation (CDC) Board of Directors held their monthly meeting Oct 16. The meeting was delayed over 30 minutes waiting for enough folks to show up to make a quorum. No longer sitting around a particle board table on dumpy chairs either... No sir re bob! Brand new cherry finish conference tables and all new upholstered swivel chairs to boot.
In reply to questions over recent rumors of federal investigation of the CDC and employees, came this: How does CDC investigate itself, is it in the manual? CDC Chair Earnie Sirk, A Most of this going on, we don=t listen to...If you are referring to the >FBI is Back in Town Story=, first, I called down and they started questioning one another to see if anybody knows what=s going on.. it is more or less checks and balance between their selves...everybody has a job to be done , Betty sees that it is done. ..any time there is money to be spent, Betty adds it up and subtracts, it goes through many hands upstairs before there is a check wrote... Of course , we=ve got Board members here that come in and say >Hey what=s going on?=... if it is an in house employee scuffle, then it is taken to Betty. It is a simple little grievance procedure and they work it out....As far as I am concerned, I don=t know how it operates here.@
Mr. Sirk was referring to Director Betty Stalnaker in his remarks.
Sirk went on to make mention of a personal care worker who got caught some time back with,@ The first thing Betty done when it came to her attention... Clay Development was the last to know. She [Betty} just pulled the file and asked who was this... who was what.... then I came down to stop the lie..@
Next up, under general questions, centered on a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all salaries and compensation of all full and part time employees of CDC and the Senior Center. The sender of the FOIA request said he had received a reply denying the request that read in part A We feel that the request you have made would violate the trust of our employees and jeopardize the integrity of the Clay Development Corporation, Board of Directors, and Staff. The muscularly, trim gentlemen went on to tell the Board that the CDC is subject to a FOIA request and the fellow was asking the Board to reconsider the staff=s decision and revisit the decision made to deny.
Chair Sirk, along with employee Janet Fitzwater, replied over and over that their group was NOT subject to Open Meeting Laws, that they were instead a private non profit group away from public scrutiny. Again the gentleman reiterated that this had nothing to do with Open Meeting Laws but rather the Freedom of Information Act.
Some of the Board members questioned why this guy even wanted the information and what business of his is it to even make such a request.
Chair Sirk seemed to speak for the appointed ones with, A Where you are getting mixed up is.. different monies come in different situations. If legally we have to provide this to you, we will. If we don=t, we will cover it and hide it under a broom stack.... If the law don=t require it, you=ll not get it!@
In response to the request, Director Betty Stalnaker,@ I am not sure that is very fair...those files are confidential... You are wanting to know what I made.@ Janet Fitzwater, AYou are comparing us with a public agency which we are not a public agency... we are a private agency..@ Again the request was made to take a second look at the FOIA request. Chair Sirk and Ms Stalnaker said they would do that. Stalnaker, @I guarantee you every staff person here doesn=t make what they deserve for what we have to go through. We are all under paid.@
And finally from Mr. Sirk,@ As far as I am concerned, ain=t nobody got any business with it . Unless the law requires it or threatens us, I wouldn=t tell him the cost of the paper it=s wrote on.@ An Amen was heard in the crowd in support of Sirk.
As for the rest of the meeting, business as usual, all is well, all is good, CDC land is good and growing. Janey Patterson was added to the Board as a low income rep from the Widen area of the county. Still another seat is open and the Clay Woman=s Club needs to appoint someone for that vacancy.
AW
The Clay County Commission Meeting
The Clay County Commission (CCC) held the first of their twice monthly meetings Tuesday, October 9, 2001 at the Clay County Courthouse. All Commissioners were present - Commission President Matthew Bragg, Jimmy Sams and Tim Butcher.
Bragg called the meeting to order, offered prayer, and then scanned the room looking for McKenzie Engineering, first on the agenda to give an update on the
E-911 addressing for Clay County. McKenzie has already been paid to do the addressing, but so far, little, if anything, has been done. As there were only 10 to 12 people in the room it didn=t take long to determine McKenzie wasn=t present. The Commissioners decided to move on to other business thinking maybe McKenzie was just late.
The Commissioners approved, in short order, the probating of wills, appointments of administrators, and other matters concerning the estates of the deceased; previous meeting minutes; and, erroneous assessments, bills/purchase orders, and budget revisions as they had been presented to the Commission.
Appointments of members to the Clay Roane PSD were made due to the merger of the Procious PSD with Clay Roane PSD. One of the five members will have to come from Roane County, and the Roane County Commission will make that appointment. Harold Summers and Garrett Samples were appointed to terms expiring October 1, 2003. T.G. Cruikshank and Gary Whaling will serve until October 1, 2005. The Roane County appointee will serve until 2007.
Tim Butcher said he=d talked with Jim Weimer, from the Public Service Commission, and was told that the bankruptcy (Procious PSD) had been settled, the three phase power (problem) had been settled, but nothing was final until the law judge signs the final order lifting the moritorium.
October 30th has been designated as >trick or treat= night, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, for Clay County.
All motions passed unanimously.
Still no McKenzie. County Clerk Judy Moore said there had been no response to the letter requesting McKenzie to appear at the meeting. While waiting, there was chit chat on the redistricting going on in the state. Jimmy Sams noted that the PEIA (insurance) was going up 12%, and wondered if the county will be able to continue to pay 100% of employee premiums. Sams, A...don=t look good if it goes up that much.@ He said some counties only pay for 50% of the premiums.
The Commission decided to take a break and put in a call to McKenzie. After about 30 minutes the meeting resumed to announce that McKenzie will be at the next meeting. Meeting adjourned at 11:04 am. Next meeting Tuesday, October 23, at 10:00 am. -TK