 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
Rev. Carlos Nutter filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. church.
Mr. & Mrs. Carl Ferrell were visiting Mary Reno over at Ravenswood.
There will be a clothing giveaway on Saturday, May 17, starting at 9 A. M. at the Creston Community Building. Donations of nice clean clothing, clean working small appliances and baked goods will be appreciated. For details call Tammy at 927-6164, Donna Sue at 25-3202, Jim at 275-3387 or Jerry at 275-1028. The event is sponsored by the Creston Area Neighborhood Watch.
Mr. & Mrs. Roy Copen, Mr. & Mrs. Robert Lowe, Sr. & Jr., Logan Lowe, Virgil Maze, Casper Shuman, Garold McKown were among those at the Creston auction Saturday evening. Also present was the baker of pineapple upside down cake; too bad about those who missed out.
Local residents are among those who have been finding lots and lots of morel mushrooms. However, not very many legal turkeys have been harvested as the season was too late and the coyotes have been extremely busy. Others have been feasting on deep fried locust blossoms. It seems that it should be a bumper year for them which is always said to be a sign that it will be a good corn year.
Because of the environmental mandates caused by pseudoscience, the price of corn is now in new record territory and those who want to assure food for critters and people would do best to raise their own, in spite of record high fertilize prices.
Mr. Tanner, the great white hunter, called up Mr. Gobbler but Wily Coyote came along to harvest the bird. The great white hunter must have had a case of buck fever as he ended up with neither turkey nor coyote. As they say, "Better luck next time."
The wood boring bumblebees have been having a great time of it lately. In addition ticks have been thick and some hay on the fertile bottoms along the Little Kanawha has orchard grass beginning to head.
Mr. & Mrs. Bobby Ray Starcher and daughter spent some time at their cabin at Cremo.
W. Harrison Schenerlein IV was visiting family in Creston over the weekend.
Van and Nancy Putnam were calling on friends in Creston Saturday. Nancy noted that she is to undergo shoulder surgery.
Fred Bish is getting along well after surgery. He was on crutches but he has put them up in the corner.
Eva G. Pennington is scheduled to start cancer treatments this week.
Audra Runner, age 83, widow of J. B. Runner, passed away after a protracted battle with the complications of diabetes. The daughter of Jesse James and Sarah Ellen Cain Merrill, she was, among other things a poet. Her family formerly lived on the hill along Mile Run. During the spring when the flowers were blooming her daughter & son-in-law, Carole and Larry Menefee visited the Grant Merrill home site.
Several folks with Creston connections got to visit with the magistrates. Some may get to vacation elsewhere.
There has been quite some talk up Burning Springs Run about Russell Lee Cline's having sold his Cow Run wells to a fellow.
The big university up at Morgantown continues to have public relations (PR) problems even with all the spin-doctors they have on the payroll. After it was found out that the governor's daughter got an MBA degree that she didn't earn, it was announced that two of the school honchos were sacked. Turned out that was not the case either as both were only returned back to being "perfessers". The one gent had his salary cut to $200,000/year while the other feller will have to get by on 'only' $175,000. One can imagine the problems the little wife will have keeping things together now. She'll have to learn how to soak beans, peel potatoes, shop for threads at yard sales and Goodwill Industries and cut out vacations to the Riviera, Cancun and the Greenbrier. Many feel that the political hack university president should be sacked and then his boss (and good buddy) could get retired in November.
Chesapeake has been running ads and renting billboards telling folks what good guys they are and how much good they are doing for West Virginia. A recent press report indicated that they got upset when a landowner got an injunction to keep them from tearing up his land. The company, whose boss is a friend of the big boss down at the Mouth of the Elk, made it clear that they would use the state's judicial system to put the lowly taxpayer in his place to make sure that he and the rest of the state's peasants know their place.
Menis Ketchum who is running to be one of the "Supremes" has been saying that he will represent "common people" but then he went to a meeting and told Chesapeake that the "Supremes" should set aside the Tawney suit, a fraud case that was brought in Roane County and is pending before the high court. He must have read Animal Farm and realized that some, especially the hogs, were more equal than the others.
A settlement has been reached in a class action suit against Cabot Oil & Gas over their taking improper deductions from oil and gas royalty checks. The amount was $11.6 million with one third going to the lawyers. Cabot agreed to cease using division orders in order to try to modify leases and allow the deduction of taxes and other improper deductions from royalty amounts. One area businessman who has Cabot royalties was unaware of the lawsuit as his checks were deposited in his bank and papers were served on the bankers who, apparently, threw them in the trash and didn't advise their long time banking customer.
One upper West Fork Cabot royalty owner was sent a check for less than $4. He wrote a friend that he had taken his family on a trip to the beach with all the money. Someone else noted that wouldn't pay for a trip to Munday beach which is also known as a party location.
The price of local Penn grade crude jumped $3.75/bbl to $110/bbl on Friday. The price has been jumping up and down reflecting uncertainties elsewhere in the world and the value of the dollar.
Paul Goodrich and Scott Sterling were in Creston hauling oil. Scott came down from Frazeysburg, Ohio to give the local folks training on determining oil/water interfaces. It seems that he didn't really care much for some of the steep lease roads that local oil trucks haul as a matter of routine.
Significant numbers of folks have taken advantage of early voting. In local counties there are significant contests over county offices as well as the "uncivil war" between B. Hussein Obama & Madame Hillary.
A report from England noted that "global warming" would take a break until at least 2015 which would seem to indicate that those running the scam realize that real numbers do not back up their claims. The founder of the Weather Channel said Al Gore should be sued for fraud as he, like other snake oil salesmen before him, have become rich dealing in "carbon credits" and the cost to citizens and taxpayers is already out of sight. In addition the nation's children are being taught propaganda that is not based on solid science. It is clear why the powers that be do not want an educated population.
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