 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
Rev. Keith Belt filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. Church.
Some Creston folks attended the Valentine dinner at the Brooksville Baptist Church.
There was all sorts of excitement in Creston Friday evening when Albert Miller, said to be from the Otto area, wrecked his chariot in front of Ricky Tucker's house (for those who have been gone from the area for a long time the Tom Boice house just up from the Little Creek bridge). He went in the ditch, hit the rock wall, wiped out the mail box and stopped just a little ways short of the guard rail on the bridge. The passengers, an 18 year of female and a 32 year old male ran to the Tucker residence and the gendarmes, the ambulance, the fire truck and the wrecker were all called. Those at the scene noted bottles on the road with liquid spilling out and an obvious indication of a "high altitude". After a field test the driver was cuffed & taken away. No one knows why these folks were in the area but a lady who lives over in the Munday country had two hoodlums break in her house apparently looking for painkillers her late husband might have had. Gunshots were said to be involved as they fled the scene.
Uncle Ken Belt was attending to business in Grantsville.
Gay Park has been on the puny list and her great granddaughter who has the leg problem is recovering after an infection.
On Monday the ice went out of the West Fork with a lot of noise and now one can see where the bark was peeled off trees by the rapidly moving ice. Local roads were closed for a time. The weekend brought more snow and slippery roads.
Charles Russell was calling on brother Euell, Ray Gumm and Mr. & Mrs. Parris Parsons at Miletree. The Parsons couple, good West Fork folks, will be married 71 years on Feb. 18.
Ottie Brumfield got to make an unscheduled visit to the emergency room the other day.
Mrs. Dean (Sue) Miller has been having medical problems that, so far, have not been solved.
Local folks thought that the potholes in the Creston bridge were bad [the worst ones have been filled] until they had occasion to motor to Parkersburg where the main streets (state routes all) had potholes that must be two feet (2') deep. They could bend rims on 18 wheelers and knock a tank out of line. Apparently Tommy must have run out of cold mix or else the state road is trying to get more money. If what they had now was used wisely there would be no problem, but . . .
Tuesday will be Agriculture & Forestry day at the legislature. Folks should gather at the "well" under the golden dome by 10 A. M. and then talk with legislators, attend sessions and committee meetings. In the evening there will be a legislative reception, known as the "Taste of West Virginia" at the Marriot Hotel. All who have interests in forestry and farming should come and talk with those who write the laws, etc.
The folks down at the Mouth of the Elk have always held that they are the wise ones, know best, have the best & whatever. Folks from elsewhere, including local people now bring their drinking water with them when visiting the Capitol City as the water there obviously still isn't safe regardless of what the hack from the EPA said. Those watching the Olympics have seen how public water systems are in third world countries now. One can be sure that the "civic leaders" down at the Mouth of the Elk like to be compared to the Russian dictator who is a member of the dreaded "secret police". Bet all that makes Earl Ray feel proud!
Not so long back Crosstex, a Texas firm purchased the former W. Va. Oil Gathering, Ohio Oil Gathering, Clearfield Appalachia oil gathering system which included the old Eureka station at Brooksville. Now Crosstex has been bought out by Devon, an Oklahoma firm, and has been renamed EnLink.
While there is talk of additional postal cutbacks locally the Postal system, along with the social security administration, is purchasing hollow point ammunition for, as they say, target practice.
Those who watched the Superbowl in New Jersey saw a spectacular flyover of military aircraft. Piloting the 3rd plane was Chief Warrant Officer 3 Russell Juart who is the grandson of Wanda Grim Juart Tucker who grew up in Creston. The team are members of the 1st Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, "No Mercy" AH-64-D Apache Pilots. The crew has helped several muslin terrorists get to find their 72 virgins in both Iraq & Afghanistan. It is always good when a local boy "makes good".
The Congressional Budget Office reported that Obamacare will eliminate 2.3 million jobs and the Big Eared One said that such was good as folks would be relieved of the necessity to work. It becomes more clear that all the problems were well planned in advance as part of the "fundamental transformation". Now, it is learned that part of the software of the $600 million failed Obamacare computer system was done by the government of Belarus in Minsk which likely explains why it is so vulnerable to hacking and why no one should but any personal information on the site.
The Mork family who have Energy Corporation of America and operate locally announced that they have partnered with a Chinese coal company to develop the Marcellus shale in Greene County Pennsylvania.
Antero announced that they would be moving west and south of Ritchie County where one of their new wells made just under $2 million in one month which included more than $700,000 in plant product or the gas liquids. Many of their leases allow them to not pay royalties or taxes on this significant part of the production. Antero is backed by Warburg Pincus LLC and now has a capitalization in excess of $11 billion. Last week one of their folks threatened a local fellow if he didn't do what they demanded. There is a statement about the land beyond the River Styx freezing over.
Chesapeake announced that they are going to drill a horizontal Utica well in Wetzel County which in not in what the company calls their "core Utica area". Both Triad Hunter & Noble are active in the Utica in Tyler County and the wet Utica goes all the way south to the Virginia line.
The price of local Pennsylvania grade crude rose to $98.88/bbl. with Appalachian Light Sweet (drip) fetching $78.79, Marcellus & Utica light $87.60 and medium $97.81/bbl.
The Creston Community Building meeting was rescheduled to Tuesday February 11 at 7 P. M. because of a possible sleet storm last week. Membership dues of $1 each are due and payable. There is talk about doing another cook book.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Hur Herald. | 
