| By Alvin Engelke
Jacques Frost paid a professional call in Creston over the weekend killing the castor bean and pepper plants.
Local residents have been following the various Jessica Lynch stories. After a significant amount of work was done in the Wirt County community, Parade magazine made it a point to find a building with peeling paint so they could portray the area in the worst possible light.
What was really sad about the building is that it is the old American Legion facility and that the old vets have been unable to maintain the structure. This was the same trick that was used by the Kennedy family to show what could happen "in a bigoted backwater" when sufficient lubrication was given to key, venal officials.
And, of course, that's why these same folks work to keep the area poor and poorly educated. Not so long back the state lowered the standards on the tests and some local counties still rated 51 out of 55.
Now one of the big things, let by wannabe candidate Dean, is to obtain the votes from "redneck voters" which were defined as "southern guys who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals on them". It was said in such a way that it is unlikely that Gov. Dean is going to share a rub of Copenhagen with Buford, Junior and Bubba who don't quite rate up with the eastern sophisticates.
U. S. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV who represents W. Va. in Washington is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. One of his employees, former Clinton appointee Christopher Mellon, wrote a recent report about how to use classified data and other information gathered by the senate committee to "pull the trigger on an independent investigation of the administration's use of intelligence".
Democratic Sen. Zell Miller compared the memo to treasonous writings. Those who give comfort to the enemy in America embolden our enemies around the world with the result that more Americans are killed in combat and elsewhere. It would seem that the wealthy scion looks at fighting terrorism as just politics as usual; after all who would try to bomb his home town, New York City?
Euell Russell, Nancy & Alvin Engelke, Bill McFee, Paul and Amber Somerville represented Wirt County at the 84th annual meeting of the W. Va. Farm Bureau at Flatwoods. Amber Somerville participated in the Young Farmer discussion meet which was won by former Wirt vo-ag teacher Ben Cummings who will go to the national meet in Honolulu. Amber who is just 18 did well in the debate & it is hoped she will be back next year to win.
Several topics were discussed at the meeting including the new ways of tracking beef animals by microchip implants. It was noted that with the closure of the Canadian border because of disease and the Adkins diet, along with beef promotions, the price of good animals is the highest it has been for some time. Issues of food safety in a world infested with terrorist types was also discussed. There are still many on the national political scene who want our food and fiber produced in third world countries where labor & land is cheap. Albert Gore, Jr., the fellow who invented the internet and helped clean out his dad's hog house (when he wasn't living in daddy's pent house in Washington, D. C.), was among those who said our food should be produced elsewhere ["to protect the environment"].
There was a big discussion involving Mr. Dexterity, The Sassy Storekeeper and some others. Someone brought up the number 14 which, apparently, is significant. No doubt individuals wanting to know the particulars can contact those in the know & information will be shared.
Bobby Swisher went out to the Colorado mountains to hunt Elk for two weeks. He recently qualified for permanent disability.
It was reported that Dominion is working on repairs to the Hastings Station extraction plant in Wetzel County. All natural gas produced in this area goes there so Dominion can remove "the goodies" before the gas is resold. A severe explosion there may cause a six months shut down.
Tom Fluharty's mother Cora Mae Fluharty passed away in Florida. She was buried in the Fluharty cemetery on Leading Creek. In her youth she had been a nurse in the U. S. military.
Thomas Wright from the Americans for Fair Taxation was at the Farm Bureau meeting. The group is calling for repeal of the income tax and the establishment of a national sales tax. Presently, many avoid paying taxes leaving the burden to, mainly, those who work.
Some area natives and residents saw the lunar eclipse Saturday evening.
The Wirt County Farm Bureau will hold its regular monthly meeting Tuesday, November 18 at 7 P. M. at the road garage in Elizabeth. A report from the annual meeting will be made. A comely speaker is scheduled for the December meeting. Details will be provided in due time.
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