| By Alvin Engelke
 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
Charles White is out and about again after undergoing rupture surgery.
Rev. Paul Williams filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. church. There was a great sing at the church Saturday evening too.
The local area received some snow after having unseasonably warm weather.
The postal system has been catching a lot of flack over their recent rate increase. Since they do not like for bad things to be said about them the big poo bahs came up with the following statement. "The postal rate increase 'isn't driven by Postal Service losses & inefficiencies, it's the law'." They claimed that congress in 2003 required the postal service to build up a $3.1 billion escrow fund that is to be managed by a third party. One might wonder how much money they "save" hauling the Parkersburg area mail to Clarksburg and back and occasionally even down to the Mouth of the Elk River.
A large group of Wirt County folks attended the Annual West Virginia Association of Fairs and Festivals pageant and trade show this past weekend in Charleston, WV. Wirt County Fair Queen, Sarah Offutt, did a wonderful job representing the county at the event. She was beautiful in every sense of the word.
Jane and Nancy Engelke, Susan Myers, Danielle Burns and Kristina Snider worked the Elizabeth Michaels booth at the trade show.
The Farmer Short Course program on Chronic Wasting Disease will be held Thursday 26 at 7 P. M. at the WVU-P campus in Room 100A in the BIDS Building. Calhoun native Dr. Joe Starcher will bring the presentation along with J. R. Hill and Jim Crum from the DNR. On Thursday February 2 there will be a program on Eminent Domain brought by Bob Williams, Executive Director of the W. Va. Farm Bureau.
Euell Russell was consulting his physician at Minnie Hamilton and is scheduled for additional tests.
The Big Boss down at the Mouth of the Elk said the big increase in turnpike tolls was OK since "most of the money would be paid by rich, out of state touristers". The folks who worked the toll booths certainly were not happy and quickly told folks they did not get a big increase in their pay although they did not know about the high brass. Now it seems that the outcry was so large that the Big Boss decided something had to be done. The Parkways Authority is to now hire an out of state firm who can get educated experts to determine how to raise more money with lower rates, at least for the big rigs. Apparently an out of state company had to be hired, as it must be clear to the folks down at the Mouth of the Elk that W. Va.'s educational operation's purpose is to provide lucre for scalawags like Mezzatesta, Pork Chop Smith and McClung not to educate the state's youth for the present or even the past century.
Butch Goodnight was calling on area friends and was hauling away junk from the old Kirby place. Appliances are fetching $100/ton while automobiles and heavy junk are worth $200/ton.
The price of local Penn grade crude oil rose to $60/bbl and Equitable Gas sold some of their natural gas for $19/MCF and they purchased some natural gas for 12 cents/MCF.
The increased price as caused a number of oil well locations to be surveyed at Burning Springs while elsewhere in the state there is a drilling frenzy although not all are happy with the drilling. Nicholas C. Preservati, a Mouth of the Elk lawyer said gas well development often threatens the safety of coal miners, gas company drillers and local communities. Four big coal companies are trying to shut down Cabot's operations in McDowell County where, it was noted, Cabot "pushed spoil material into a perennial stream . . . without a permit [from the Army Corps of Engineers]". Cabot spokesman Randy Spencer said the Army Corps of Engineers have no jurisdiction over them. Cabot has the biggest drilling program since when old Godfrey himself stayed in Creston hotels and set up his natural gas and carbon black empire prior to 1920.
Some claim that gas from leaking wells caused the Sago mine disaster although it has been common practice to drill coal before mining to draw off the methane gas. Gas wells that penetrate coal seams are cemented through the seam to avoid leaks. Coal bed methane presently accounts for about 1/3rd of the natural gas produced in the United States. In the old days methane gas from coal mines was vented as is now the practice with gas from oil wells in Third World countries.
It should be noted that now is time if one wants to file for elective office, the school board or political executive committees. Individuals can really make a difference and if good men do nothing others will rule with a heavy hand. The recent attacks on Christianity should be fair warning, if the actions by some to protect the lucrative abortion industry had not already jolted folks into the 21st century and the changed political landscape.
Anna Engelke took a tour of the Moravian facilities in Bethlehem Pennsylvania. The Moravians are the followers of John Hus who was burned at the stake for heresy in 1415 for, among other things, asking pesky questions over the sale of indulgences. The Bethlehem settlement started in 1741 and is still the center for their missionary work in North America.
Margie Webster, who had been laid up with a broken leg, was able to work at the Creston post office Saturday.
When down in Darien Georgia whilst getting shrimp, the folks in the hardware store had an old freezer (without a lid) that was full of brown crickets to be used for bait. Now they claimed that they did not escape.
| 
