 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
The big Creston ATV Poker Run is scheduled for Saturday, July 30th, rain or shine. The planned route should be a fun one for everyone.
The Wirt Methodist Parish picnic, which was erroneously advertised for July 17th will actually be held on Sunday, July 24, starting at 10 A. M. at the Sportsman's Park in Elizabeth. A certain unnamed minister of the gospel got his calendar mixed up. For certain there will be no church and Sunday School at Burning Springs on August 24, 2011.
Ottie Brumfield attended a family reunion in Lincoln County.
The DPS was in Creston gathering evidence and taking statements concerning oil field thievery.
Nancy Engelke & Susan Myers were among those who attended the "sprinkle" [not a shower] for Rea Schenerlein who is due to arrive very, very soon.
Rev. Keith Belt filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. Church. Both he and his mother have been having medical issues.
There is now Sunday School at the Creston church which had been closed for some time.
Charles Russell and some folks from the Calhoun senior citizens were calling on Euell Russell & Ray Gum at Miletree Center in Spencer.
The crows have been harvesting local apples (before they are even near ripe) and bears have been feasting on the blackberries. Local residents have been picking berries, making cobblers and other tasty items.
Ted Menefee and Dickie Sampson were calling in the area.
Travelers in Calhoun County noted that large numbers of "agricultural workers" were busy following up leads from helicopter searches of the cash crop that the anti-tobacco folks want to replace nicotine cravings.
Of course one is always reminded of the reports of oil & gas companies that want to hire locally but have problems finding men who can pass the "tinkle test". Presently, welfare payments do not require a test so DHHR continues to remain the big enabler. Many are afraid to criticize for fear of being called names like cruel, hard hearted and much worse.
The proposal of California based Willow Grove Carbon Solutions to pump the Oriskany sand full of carbon dioxide in parts of Wirt, Wood, Ritchie & Pleasants Counties has caused concern with many local residents. In Wirt County the impacted area runs from Creston [within a few hundred feet of the Calhoun line] all the way to Wood & Ritchie Counties on Goose Creek. One senior resident of Calhoun County noted that while CO2 isn't poisonous one cannot live in a carbon dioxide environment (there being no oxygen, what humans need to breathe) and that CO2 is heavier than air. If there were to be a leak folks could die before they could reach higher ground, etc. and, in fact, elsewhere in the nation such has happened. On the positive side, at least for local folks, AEP [American Electric Power], the company with the plants in Mason County that had been operating the pilot CO2 sequestration project has announced that "being politically correct may not be feasible in the down economy and that the PSC would not likely allow them to recoup the costs" of such wildhairs from their residential customers.
A faithful reader of the Creston news noted that there are now mandatory new history courses to be taught in California and he suggested that the scholars there learn why Lot & his family had to flee the city in which they resided and where he was a civic leader.
Local residents were among those who attended the hearings at the Mouth of the Elk during legislative interim on the proposed new Marcellus Shale bill. After Bill Maloney came out with a statement calling for leadership, acting governor Earl Ray, the puppy track man issued emergency rules for Marcellus drilling. While one company threatened suit over the new rules a reading of them would make one conclude that they are rather innocuous. They do have some requirements concerning the use of large volumes of water, special rules for large locations and an accounting of the chemicals used in fracturing the formations. Amendments to SB 424 will be taken up during the next legislative interim August 1, 2 & 3. Interested parties should plan their schedules accordingly.
The Big Eared One said that if his opposition to more spending and borrowing didn't cave, the social security checks that are due on August 3 might not be sent. This statement is very interesting inasmuch as the party line has always been that the SS money was "in a trust fund" and there would never be any problem about paying out the old age checks. Of course for decades now the FICA tax (the social security contribution) has gone into the general fund and payments come from taxes that are currently collected and this year the SS payments are several $billion more than the collected FICA taxes. This situation sometimes is referred to as a Ponzi scheme as some who paid in early drew out lots more than they paid, etc.
Katydids have been singing and some say that means that it is 6 weeks until frost although Albert Gore, Jr. the high priest of the church of global warming is going to have a big extravaganza soon promoting his global warming hoax since he had to lay off some of his people because of "problems with the data, etc." The current heat wave which is said to be a result of the cooling of the Pacific Ocean should give him "Proof" of something.
The price of local Pennsylvania grade crude oil rose $1.75/bbl to $92.50.
Readers are reminded that the Wirt County Fair is the first week in August that is from the 3rd to the 6th.
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