 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
Rev. Keith Belt filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. Church & served Holy Communion. He had indicated that he had hurt is ribs but didn't say how or where.
Bobby Ray Starcher's crew called from Oil City Pennsylvania and were not able to make it to Creston for the auction.
Charles Russell was calling on brother Euell, Ray Gumm, Mrs. Tanner & Parris Parsons over at the Miletree center.
A number of Creston area residents attended Freddie Bush's pig roast. Freddie was in Creston hauling hay the other day.
The gendarmes were called to Creston when Clyde Capps decided to show what a macho man he was by beating on his wife. Her cousin stopped the action and Clyde got to contemplate matters over in Doddridge County.
A former local fellow got into a fracas over in Lewis County and now finds himself residing at the hotel in Flatwoods with bail set at $71,000.
There was big news down at the Mouth of the Elk when a woman ran over a state trooper. Turns out he is Aaron Nichols who formerly was stationed in Wirt County. One his more "famous" actions was shooting a woman who is a cousin of a former U. S. Senator from W. Va.
The high cost of health care has been a problem for years now & the usual blame is "insurance companies" even though such never really was the case. A recent example makes it clear why the costs are so high. A highly prescribed back brace actually costs $90 but Medicare, a federal agency, set the price at $900. Of course the entire system was set up so that many of "the elect" could get rich from fraud while leaving ordinary citizens 'out in the cold."
A number of Brooksville, Annamoriah, Creston & Chestnut Run residents attended the Farm Bureau & Forestry meeting with area legislators Thursday evening at the Wood County 4-H Camp. It was noted there that EQT (Equitable) still wants to have the legislature enact forced pooling [now called fair pooling] to take mineral rights away from those who will not go along with the bad terms EQT has offered. In addition to having State Treasurer John Perdue's brother as a lobbyist the big boys now have one of the Manchin family twisting arms to feather the out of state birds' nests. Of course other Manchin family members are in the legislature, state government, education and, of course, the U. S. Senate. Of course one should never forget about all the funds that went away when Uncle Anthony [A. J.] was "Treasurer of State". In Texas forced pooled property gets a 25% royalty plus a carried working interest.
Some fellow from Greenbrier County is trying to get Sunday hunting approved for Calhoun County. Perhaps he should just ask and get permission to deer hunt on the grounds of the Greenbrier resort; he might fit in better there. For certain at times along the West Fork it is nice to have one day during deer season when one can go check on fences, animals, etc. and not have to worry about someone taking "sound shots" at something that moved.
A number of buzzards were seen over at Spencer. Either they never headed south or else they came back early. Some appeared to be the noxious black buzzards. Hopefully civic minded folks there will resolve that problem.
Some local folks decided to watch the "Buck Wild" tee vee show that Sen. Manchin promoted. A small dose was enough to determine that there are better ways to spend time. Those who had never seen M-TV were appalled at the advertisements on the network which obviously gives new meaning to the term "lowest common denominator". It is no wonder so many of the younger set, such as some well heralded psychopaths & killers, have such warped views and live in an "alternate universe".
Those who have connections and are involved in the oil and gas business continue to talk about the big gas line explosion that happened along I-77 just south of Sissonville. A well known Ohio oilman and his wife had driven down by the site 2 or 3 days before and noted a strong smell of gas and it seems that Columbia Gas, a division of Nisource had not checked to see that the pipe was very thin. Little Johnny D. Rockefeller IV who is obviously running for reelection came out with a statement condemning the company and "demanding answers". Apparently his speech writers reckoned that "the rubes" in West Virginia would never figure out that the company is part of his family's business empire & has been for over a century.
Albert Gore, Jr., the fellow who invented the internet and whose love life was said to be the basis of a tee vee show, sold his TV network to Al Jazeera, a Moslem outfit that routinely gives PR to the terrorists. The big environmentalist got $100 million for his share and the deal was done before the tax increases hit. While taxes on working folks and most others have kicked in, Hollywierd, rum makers, wind mill promoters, electric motorcycle companies, hedge fund types and the owners of Star Kist Tuna were all exempted as they are big political donors, etc. Business as usual among the elites who use both parties.
Some while back the EPA accused the Alt family who raises chickens near Moorefield of pollution because of dust and chicken feathers that might get in the stream. [There was no runoff from their operation.] The W. Va. Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation joined the suit against EPA and now the government agency wants the case dropped. The obvious intent was to stop anyone from farming so, the quote Al Gore Jr., "We could get all our food from third world countries." One has to read label very closely now. The State of Virginia whipped the EPA when the overreaching agency wanted to label rainwater as "a pollutant" since a new road would cause more water to go into a stream and [of course there is lots of sediment from concrete roadways.] EPA wanted Virginia to tear down the houses along the proposed roadway and make grassy areas and retaining ponds.
Most of the old Annamoriah bridge has been hauled away now and it was noted that there were no obvious problems with the steel. One former highway official noted that a similarly designed bridge had failed somewhere in the northeast and he thought perhaps this is why the bridge was torn down and a new one built in a curve. Of course it could be that the taxpayers had excess money to spend. Uh huh.
The long awaited New York State study of the "dangers of hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells" finally came out with the result that there was no obvious health danger. However, since George Soros wants to sell his Russian gas and stop domestic production the study was kept secret and the green weenies demanded more studies be done. New York, obviously like West Virginia has the best politicians money can buy.
The price of local Pennsylvania grade crude rose to $93.49/bbl with Appalachian light sweet (drip) fetching $81.98 with Marcellus & Utica light bringing $87.39 and medium $94.99.
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