 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
The Creston auction will be Saturday, June 2, starting at 6 P. M. at the Creston Community Building. Bobby Ray will bring the goodies he usually brings and the auction will be items donated to the building. Those who have items they no longer desire can call and have them hauled to the building for the sale.
The Creston Community Building would like to thank the folks who returned the American flag that left the premises for a time.
A big crowd was on hand for the cleanup at the building and lots of worthwhile things were accomplished.
Haymaking continues with fine curing weather.
The slip repair at the Burning Springs park was completed and the local crew laid hotmix to level up the highway.
Brandon Ferrell went camping with Mr. & Mrs. Carl Ferrell & Jeremy.
Rea Schenerlein is home after consulting her physicians in Cincinnati.
Some people were visiting the graveyards over the Decoration Day weekend while others were four wheeling, camping, fishing, etc.
The Creston Community Building business meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 5 at 7 P. M. at the building. The walking club will "meet" at 6:30.
The Wirt Oil & Gas group organized formally with Jim Lyden in charge. The idea of a large block of acreage has stirred interest and a suggested bidding frenzy which includes brokerage house Merrill Lynch.
Aubrey McClendon's Chesapeake Energy Corp. is in the news again. New York investor & casino owner Carl Ichan purchased a 7.56% share in the firm. A while back Chesapeake sold part of their Ohio holdings to the French company Total for $2.32 billion. There has been some discussion that the lease bonus for the very wet Utica can range from $25,000 to $39,000/acre. One of the super units in Ohio, said to be better than the Eagle Ford in Texas is a 177 acre unit.
The news item that a convict won't support his 30 children by 11 different women has brought to the forefront the present welfare system that rewards bad behavior at the expense of those who work and pay their bills and pay for their children. It is long past time to quit providing housing, clothing, free utilities, prepared food and other amenities for these folks. The "safety net" long ago became a hammock and now, after several generations is now a gill net from which there is no escape. Back in 1933 the columnist's mother was hired by the DPA (now called DHHR) and told to sign up every house whether they needed or not. Now the federal government advertises the various give away programs encouraging people to become dependent.
The local folks, who did as they were told and signed up with the federal program that requires building permits is now caught in a Catch 22 situation. The feds were told that their maps were wrong and now the incorrect maps are to be used to deny landowners their constitutional rights. Some years back the federal government forced out all private flood insurers and now there is "a single payer system" with no competition. This all came about because well connected wheeler dealers built vacation homes on sand spits along the ocean that no one in their right mind would insure so the taxpayers were saddled with the burden of protecting the assets of the fat cats who had homes there. It was understood that one congresscritter with local connections was involved. As the bumper sticker said, "It is time to take America back."
Over in Doddridge County EQT (Equitable) filed a flood plain permit to put 60,000 yards of fill in the flood plain on the only meadow on a 640 acre farm there and didn't tell the landowner. the 120 page permit was granted instantly and then folks started to hear about what was going on and it was said to have been determined that the plan was 'not according to Hoyle' and the county rescinded the permit and EQT threatened suit. Then the upstream landowner said he would sue as the fill would cause his place to flood and the surface landowner where the 12 horizontal Marcellus wells were to be on the pad in the raised floodplain also has threatened to sue as well. At last report the Doddridge County Commission is searching for outside counsel to advise them as to what to do.
Gasoline had been dropping but then went back to the $3.80 range. Travelers in the Old Dominion note that gasoline there is $3.30/ gallon showing that when one doesn't have to pay bribes, kickbacks and protection fees everyone does better. Those who are on the take though do not care that W. Va. remains #50.
The price of local Pennsylvania grade crude is $90.16, Marcellus drip [formerly called Appalachian light sweet] is $77.91 with Marcellus & Utica light $81.58 with medium fetching $91.66. The price of local natural gas is under $2/mcf.
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