 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
The Creston area received some more rain and the Little Kanawha is now up some and quite muddy. Lightning struck a tree along W. Va. 5 on the Creston Flats. Some second cutting hay "got washed". Under the new EPA rules that should cut down "illegal farm dust" if one put it up wet.
There is a good crop of elderberries this year. They make excellent jelly and pies. Many have noted that there has been a bumper crop of butterflies & periodical cicadas (the two year kind) this year. Apparently the weather conditions have been ideal. Also the dragonflies were out in force the other day. Apparently they are migratory insects.
Local governments are now dealing with the consequences of the Big Eared One's economic downturn and the resultant drop in taxes, especially those generated from the sale of oil and gas. Such is apparently part of "the change one can believe in".
Allegheny Power announced that most of Wirt County, including part of Creston will be without power on August 18 (with a rain date of August 19). It is understood that some switches will be installed to minimize future outages when trees fall on lines, automobiles hit electric poles, etc.
Luvenia Grace Maze, age 95, passed away in Thornville Ohio. The daughter of Ebby & Luvenia Smith Maze, she was the widow of William Glen Maze. Many local residents will remember her sister, the late Frankie Davis of Annamoriah. Her half sister Ethel Rader still lives below the mouth of Annamoriah Creek & her daughter-in-law Linda was the long-time Ritchie County Clerk. Ebby Maze & his family lived in the neck of the Sixteen Bend. Burial was in the Maze cemetery situate in the Maze bend. Genealogy buffs will note that old Henry dePue's wife was a Maze.
Raber Logging, a Buckeye outfit, has been hauling full-length logs from a staging area at Annamoriah.
Carl Kelley Paving put a new surface on the Munday road from the Wirt County line to W. Va. 5 at the big bend. The 'hooving' culverts were not addressed & it was reported that the state did not have an inspector on the job.
The West Virginia Department of Highways has announced that henceforth drillers, especially those drilling Marcellus Shale wells will have to post bonds to repair highways damaged during drilling operations. For blacktop roads (secondary) the bond will be $100,000/mile with $50,000 bonds/mile for surface treated (tar & chip) and gravel roads. Neighboring states have had similar requirements in place for years. Travelers in Doddridge, Harrison & Wetzel Counties report that roadways have been destroyed in the heavy drilling precincts.
The State Tax Commissioner stated that there was a lot of mineable deep coal in Calhoun County and that it should be taxed. While there is no doubt that there is a good coal seam located 1500 feet down in certain sections, the feasibility of mining would likely be equal to the chances of the unfortunate Chinaman trying to carry snowballs through the lake of fire. Professor Chu, the big eared one's energy secretary, has made very clear his disdain for coal (in America). Apparently coal fired power plants with open stacks are just fine in India and communist China.
Our "leaders" in Washington said that we should sacrifice for the benefit of the nation. Michelle, my belle, gave a good example by flying with her entourage of advisors & friends & 70 secret service agents to a posh, five star resort in Spain. Some now refer to her as a modern day Marie Antoinette.
A Buckeye contractor is building a new bridge across Spring Creek on the Monroe Ridge road just before it intersects the Sanoma Road at Hill Grove. There is an old iron truss bridge there now. The old bridge is, of course, "not modern".
Joe O'Ferrell continues to have problems with the well he drilled on the Warburton place. When trying to fix the pole on the service rig they broke out the windshield of the truck and now they have pulled the rods using another & bigger rig. Visitors to the site note that there are no names on any of the vehicles.
Early voting for the special election will start on August 20th and end on August 25th with the senatorial election set for Saturday, August 28th, the same day as The Restore Honor in America event at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.
Local residents have been having problems with the DNR's venison. Now some of the state owned critters have decided that green peaches are tasty. If they liked ripe peaches one could, perhaps, keep ahead of Bambi but one cannot pick & eat green peaches. One can only eat so much deer meat.
A rotary rig along with the dog house & a tub are parked at the Annamoriah bridge.
Johnny Staats, the famous musician and UPS man, said he was grateful when a local resident informed him, when making a delivery, that the local wasn't packing a rifle. He was off the day that the Michigan native who lived on Deaver's Fork commandeered the UPS truck and was driven to the DPS barracks in Elizabeth where the shooting occured.
A spokesperson for Chesapeake, the Oklahoma City based outfit that purchased the old United Fuel/Columbia Gas leases and wells, announced that they are planning Marcellus shale wells for Kanawha County. Previously they had said that the Marcellus was 'of no consequence' in Roane, Calhoun and counties to the south.
The price of local Pennsylvania grade crude oil dropped to $69.50/bbl.
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