| By Alvin Engelke
 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
There will be an auction Saturday, February 3, starting at 6 P. M. at the Creston Community building. As usual there will be all sorts of good goodies. It will also be a good time to get out and visit with other folks, talk about the snow and whatever else.
Rev. Juanita Lockhart filled her regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. church.
The home of Frank, Pat & Frances Smith caught fire and burned to the ground Friday evening. The Wirt road crew had to cinder the driveway so that the fire trucks could get on location. Both Wirt & Calhoun Counties responded.
An immense rock fell out of the cut down at the end of the dePue (Creston) straight at about 6. A. M. Thursday morning, blocking the entire road. Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Poling who live across the road were, very likely, shaken. The Wirt road crew spent quite some time breaking up the rock and clearing the highway.
Grantsville attorney John Oshaway lost control of his chariot at the lodge hall in Burning Springs as a result of trying to dodge one of the DNR's deer. His arm was badly injured and he was life flighted to Columbus where he remains hospitalized.
Mrs. Jerry Poling's chariot got away from her and wrecked near the Eddie Roberts place. She is still recovering from an accident she had quite some time back.
Juanita Bell, age 88, of Sanoma passed away at a rest home in Marietta. She and her husband, Bruce Bell ran a dairy farm for many years and she was the long time secretary of the Burning Springs M. E. church as well as a Sunday School teacher.
Euell Russell is much improved and is able to be out and about.
Fat Pat the Oilfield Rat reported that his chariot apparently was thirsty as it jumped out of gear, rolled over the hill into the meadow and then went down into Spring Creek with only the headache rack showing. The chariot missed the mailbox and all the trees, rocks & stumps.
Gary Buchanan has been named 911 director for Calhoun County. Gary is a hard worker and he should make things happen.
The biggest news in the area likely is the fact that the jury in the class action suit in Roane County against Columbia & Chesapeake returned a $405 million judgment against the companies for wrongful acts against royalty owners.
Last week there was an error in the Creston news. The folks that rented the McIntosh mansion are the legal team representing the plaintiffs in the Columbia suit. Columbia's lawyers have been based in rooms at the First National Bank (now First Neighborhood Bank) building across from the Roane County Court House.
The local area has been receiving snow but, of course, it is January.
Artex, the California based company that has been drilling wells on the Edith Roberts tracts did a 4,000 bbl water frac on the Marcellus shale in a well drilled on the top of Naylor Hill. On some of their wells they had 7" in the hole but ran 4 ½" to frac and then pulled the 4 ½".
It was reported that Eastern American Energy Corp. is working on getting a large acreage position in Webster County for coal bed methane so that they can justify laying a pipeline. Scott Harper who formerly looked after production in the Creston area currently supervises a very lucrative CBM operation in Indiana.
The price of local Penn grade crude rose $1.25/bbl over the weekend to $51.
It was reported that the crew that took over the Buffalo Properties wells in Roane County tried to pull one of the wells that had been unattended for many years and they pulled and pulled and pulled. Finally the pulleys at the top of the service rig mast broke off and fell to the ground. Luckily, no one was injured. After that they decided to go on to the next well. It was reported that the group wants to purchase Harry C. Boggs' production
Anna Engelke and coworkers Heather & Erica are spending a week at a national travel convention at Grapevine Texas which is a Dallas suburb.
Carlos Padilla who came to the area from Texas two weeks ago was in Creston looking for oil and gas leases.
Local folks who have been down at the Mouth of the Elk report that buildings are being demolished to make room for the new posh downtown offices of Brick Street Insurance which formerly was known at W. Va. Workmen's Compensation Commission. Apparently their digs out in Kanawha City are not good enough but, then again, the big boss with the 12 flat screen tee vees in his residence has set the standard for state agencies that are taxpayer funded. "Only the best."
Suellen Butcher and Bessie Arthur were attending to business in Elizabeth.
Two local damsels were invited to a party but they first consulted with their parents who advised them to stay home. Their friend who invited them now has a new address as the law raided the party which featured illegal substances and under aged girls.
While on their trip to the Farm Bureau convention in Salt Lake City, Alvin & Nancy Engelke visited in Arizona. While visiting at their friends in the Phoenix area they noticed a flyer that was mailed to all the residents noting that a sex offender had moved into the area. The letter was complete with picture, description, age, etc. Also the Arizona legislature, being led by liberals, passed a minimum wage hike that was so inclusive that the local sheltered workshops are going to have to close as they cannot comply. One of the interstates there does not have signs in miles but in kilometers just like in "progressive" countries like Russia, Cuba, Albania, etc.
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