January 2006


  • Jan 31 am For the most part we don't think about our electric service unless it goes off for a few hours.
  • Jan 31 am Last Wednesday Clayberry customers lost power for several hours. The coffeehouse crowd said Appalachian Electric Power (AEP) had a problem. Seems it's Elk Power and like companies with the problem.
  • Jan 31 am Here's the ever so brief , once over, from TV-8: The state Public Service Commission is taking action to place seven privately owned utilities into receivership. The agency says the move follows their failure to pay more than one-and-a-half million dollars in refunds to customers and make payments on purchased power.  The seven companies provide either electrical or water and electrical service to residents in Clay, McDowell, Raleigh and Wyoming counties. American Electric Power stopped supplying electrical service to the seven last week after saying it was owed more than a million dollars for purchased power. A P-S-C spokeswoman says customers did not lose service because power was then purchased directly from the P-J-M grid. A P-S-C hearing on the matter is set for tomorrow. The agency also is set to appear in Kanawha County Circuit Court Wednesday to ask that the seven utilities be placed under the control of an agency-approved receiver.
  • Jan 31 am Now.... wonder who they're talking about?  Wonder no more!
  • Jan 31 am  Those ready to be taken over include: BLACK DIAMOND POWER COMPANY, ELK POWER COMPANY, ELKHORN PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY, KIMBALL LIGHT AND WATER COMPANY, UNION POWER COMPANY, UNITED LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY, AND WAR LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY.
  • Jan 31 am  Those little companies including those in Clay County haven't been paying their wholesale purchase bill to AEP. AEP shut them off from buying power last week. Since then, the juice has been coming from another power source. how much is owed? A tiny $1,088,473.06 .
  • Jan 31 am  According to the WV Public Service Commission web posting, the companies owned by a Mr David W Musser are heading to ALJ Court this morning for receivership proceedings.
  • Jan 31 am About three years ago, some lady sent us a Chatter over pee poor power service in Clayberry. Local Elk Power Co Supervisor Leonerd "My Good Buddy" Williams got his shorts all bunched up over the letter to the editor.
  • Jan 31 am  Although getting hacked off is nothing new for Mr Killowatt, maybe he wasn't so mad at the lady writer or The Communicator, maybe he was mad at his own company. Again from the WV PSC document concerning Elk Power and Associates:   Furthermore, the filings indicate that the management of the Companies is grossly and willfully inefficient, irresponsible, and/or unresponsive to the needs of its customers in its operation of the Companies.
  • Jan 31 am Shortly after that, Elk Power put in for and received another rate increase. When we bad mouthed that increase.. yelp  My Good Buddy went ballistic again. He said all they were doing was passing thru increased wholesale price costs from Appalachian Electric Power (AEP). While that might be true, seems the Musser companies forgot to give us our refunds when AEP lowered prices. Here's what the WV PSC mentions: In and around 1999, these utility operations received cash refunds from Appalachian Power Company which should have been passed through to the customers of the utility operations.  The books and records of these utility operations currently show that federally mandated refunds in the approximate amount of $1,604,816 have yet to be paid to the utility operations' customers.
  • Jan 31 am  For the complete PSC work up in the take over of our local power company, click they're in trouble now.
  • Jan 31 am     From the PSC investigation, this: During my review of the Companies' books and records, I discovered that West Virginia Engineering and Glem, two affiliated companies have borrowed, or otherwise obtained funds, from the utility operations.
  • Jan 31 am That amount of comingling amounts to $2,583,451.00. Why mention that?
  • Jan 31 am Just a couple weeks ago, a short little fat guy spoke up during the Town of Clay water rate increase hearing. The portly guy mentioned that water plant dollars were being used to finance the entire town operation. He mentioned the word: co mingling of funds. No one listened back then. Maybe they should now!
  • Jab 31 am Oh by the way, Elk Power is asking for another rate increase. 2006 is starting out just grand!
  • Jan 31 am  In other news..... Police in Oakland, CA spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them in the police line, shouting, "Please come out and give yourself up."
  • Jan 31 am  A man spoke frantically into the phone: "My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart". "Is this her first child?" the doctor asked. "No!" the man shouted, "This is her husband!"
  • Jan 30 am  Tressie Tanner, 89,of Duck, WV, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 30 am  Clara Ann Johnson, 67, of Ivydale, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 30 am  Lisa Diane (Lipscomb) Allen, 35, of Bomont , see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 30 am  Net income was $1.1 billion, or $2.08 a share, including a gain of $540 million or $1.02 a share... We're talking Halliburton.
  • Jan 30 am Decades have passed but questions remain on JFK's assassination. Now: Experts contend that books and articles by members and associates have established that the World Trade Center was almost certainly brought down by controlled demolitions and that the available relevant evidence casts grave doubt on the official story about the attack on the Pentagon. To read more, Society9/11.
  • Jan 30 am Instead of long cold spells and frozen conditions, we've had a very warm winter. Almost no snow and many days of 50 and 60 degree temps. Instead of the normal mid winter dash to cut more firewood, we're hauling creek rocks to fill in the tank traps once called driveways and rights of ways. Clay County is up to its eyeballs with mud and ruts.
  • Jan 30 am Our latest edition of the Communicator includes the very troubling story of 79 year old Ruth Brown losing her income. Since the web postings and the article in the paper, Janet Fitzwater and the Clay Development Corp crew have a penned a scathing letter of denial. It's now posted on the ADVISORY page.
  • Jan 30 am Lots of pictures from the Bob Stover Wrestling Classic have been added over on our PHOTO page.
  • Jan 30 am  We're starting off slow this week. Check back often for all the latest on everything of importance and some that ain't. We'll keep you posted.
  • Jan 29 am From the last seven days....
  • Jan 29 am In Clayberry we felt and saw weather extremes during the past seven days. The beginning and end of the week brought record temps. Mid week, Wednesday morning, we received a good dose of winter with a heavy, slick, snow fall. Tow trucks were busy all morning long. At one point, over the scanner, Sheriff Holcomb sounded all bummed out with not being able to get to accident locations. For about three hours, roads were too slick for even four wheel drive travel.
  • Jan 29 am There have been 2,438 coalition deaths, 2,238 Americans, one Australian, 98 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, two Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 26 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of January 26, 2006, according to a CNN count.
  • Jan 29 am 2438 and who's counting? Not Washington
  • Jan 29 am We saw a change this week. After years of breaking Open Meeting Law, Clay County PSD Chair Keith King resigned Jan 25th. 5 days earlier he said he wasn't about to resign, that if someone wanted him out of office, they'll have to bring a suit.
  • Jan 29 am How flagrant was his Sunshine Law attitude? A few years back, PSD attorney Gordon Billheimer cautioned King during a public meeting on such violations and how such antics could jeopardize efforts to improve wa wa. The next day Gordon was fired.
  • Jan 29 am At 80 years of age, Keith Mr Happy King deserves and has earned some free time.
  • Jan 29 am Other groups in the county deliberately violate Sunshine Laws. Take School Superintendent Linkinoooooooger and School Bd Prez RB Legg. School Board agendas are posted less than 2 hours before meetings (sometimes not at all).  When asked about this practice a few years ago, Link said he was advised to post three days in advance but doing so would be a problem for them even tho Board members get their agendas mailed out five days early.
  • Jan 29 am What's breaking a law here and there. Who cares anyway? The public doesn't need to know in advance what their elected officials are up to!
  • Jan 29 am The last day to file for public office was Saturday. Late entries could arrive via snail mail if postmarked by midnight Saturday. Using that method of filing, we could have more candidates for county office but not likely clickers.
  • Jan 29 am  Looks like we might have a pretty dandy campaign season this Spring.
  • Jan 29 am  In the County Commission race incumbent Commissioner Jimmy Sams has his work cut out for himself. Challengers include  Link and Melissa Postelwait of Clay Roane PSD fame. What more could a newspaper ask for?
  • Jan 29 am In the unexpired term race for County Clerk, candidates include in office Connie Workman, Shawn Krajeski, Cathy Butcher, and TG Cruckshank.
  • Jan 29 am Over in School Board land where there are three slots up for public vote, incumbents Beth Cercone, Dave Pierson and Kim Sams filed for office  PLUS Rick Tanner in District A and Dave Grigsby from District C. This time around, the max we can elect from District C is one, District B  is one, and we could elect TWO from District  A.
  • Jan 29 am With two community schools being closed and five candidates for just three slots, the ballot box may be the place where locals voice their opinion on consolidating schools in 2006.
  • Jan 28 am Could there be a more fertile place to operates a news service? Nope.
  • Jan 28 am Yesterday our favorite public person, Melissa Postelwait filed to run for Commissioner Jimmy Sams seat.
  • Jan 28 am It just doesn't get any better than that.
  • Jan 28 am Today at 5pm is the deadline for filing for public office at the Courthouse. Don't wait till the last second either! Make a difference, run for office in Clayberry.
  • Jan 28 am Rick Tanner filed for school board Friday.  Complete post later this evening.
  • Jan 28 am Lots of stuff going on this weekend, See EVENTS page for details
  • Jan 27 pm The Charleston Gazette has front page info on Bob Graham the infamous guy who paid himself right at $500,000 in salary at Wyoming County's Senior Citizen program. After the Gazette made his salary (and others) public, all H broke loose. Two years ago during an interview, Graham said his quasi government agency earned the Fed dollars. He said the fees for services arrangement was no different than when hospitals, doctors and others earned $ for services. Once earned, you can do anything with the bucks.
  • Jan 27 pm  Fees for Service...  Heard that before? That's the same philosophy our own Clay Development Corp uses.. CDC says they can do as they please with the Fed dollars under the fees for services scenario. Once it comes in the door, spend it as they see fit.
  • Jan 27 pm The main thread from the Gazette article was Bob Graham being indicted. 21 indictments to be exact. Those  federal dollars were used to buy everything from wide screen TVs to fancy cars.
  • Jan 27 pm Seems that fees for service notion about spending $ any way they want may be bogus.
  • Jan 27 pm Need a job? Clay Roane PSD is hiring another maintenance person. See CLASSIFIED page now
  • Jan 27 am Tonight the CCHS Panthers take on Valley Fayette in home court action. Tip off is 7:30pm
  • Jan 27 am     Saturday is a big time wrestling tourney over at CCHS. Check out the EVENTS page for all the stuff going on this weekend.
  • Jan 27 am Just when you think it's going to be a quiet week....
  • Jan 27 am A week ago today, Clay County PSD Chair Keith King told the public he was not about to resign from office. He said it would take a lawsuit to get him out of there. Mr. Happy, as some have called him, was under pressure for violating Sunshine Laws on a continuing basis.
  • Jan 27 am Mr. Happy tendered his resignation to the County Clerk's office  yesterday. In his typed letter, he said he had accomplished about all he wanted to do and he had his health to think about. Tuesday Jan 25th was his last day on the job.
  • Jan 27 am We've got some excitement for Election 2006. Incumbent County Clerk Connie Workman has some competition. Yesterday, TG Cruickshanks signed up to run for that slot as well as Shawn Krajeski. With four in the race and another (maybe) expected to file, the Clerk's race could be interesting to watch.
  • Jan 27 am The last day to file for office is Saturday Jan 28th at 5 pm. That's 5 pm not midnight!
  • Jan 27 am   For years, politicos would come over to the Courthouse near midnight on the last day of filing to watch the last minute hopefuls sign their names to run. Not so this year. All the fun will be over by 5pm Saturday.
  • Jan 27 am  The County Commission race still needs some runners. As of 4pm Thursday only Sams and that other guy have thrown their hats in the ring.
  • Jan 27 am County Commission is the highest office in the county. It was once called the County Court and still has subpoena powers.    How about it clickers.. think you can offer something for the future of Clay? Surely to goodness there's somebody with leadership skills and a desire to see our county grow. Do it! Make the step!
  • Jan 27 am  Impeachment is the buzz word in DC now. Here's what one group is doing to promote the idea of giving W an early retirement.
  • Jan 27 am  Are you a vegetarian? Ever protest anything? The FBI may have a file on you. Now those nasty filthy ACLUers are suing the government to force such surveillance to stop.  Ohhhh those commny ACLU people are killing this country.
  • Jan 27 am   You may not have noticed how nightly news coverage has changed from serious reporting to barely scratching the surface. Some of us have seen the change.  "Truth no longer matters in the context of politics and, sadly, in the context of cable news," said Aaron Brown. Here's the complete story.
  • Jan 27 am  And some Hipster facts:   A pork chop will dissolve if left to sit in a bowl of Coca-Cola.   A rat is able to live longer without water than a camel.   Moths aren't really attracted to light. They're attracted to the black spot behind it.   A lightning bolt is up to 4 times as hot as the sun.   Romans invented the first popsicle.   A cheetah does not roar, it purrs.
  • Jan 27 am And finally, The dot above the letter i is called a tittle.
  • Jan 26 am Margaret “Peggy” Ann King, 64, of Procious, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 26 am  Let's do a little web surfing first...
  • Jan 26 am  A little Librarian told the FBI they have to follow the Constitution and provide a warrant before she could turn over library records. Hurraaaaayyyy!!!!!!!  Finally someone grew some back bone.
  • Jan 26 am   Among the nearly 10,000 service members expelled under the Pentagon's anti gay "don't ask, don't tell" policy over a 10 year period, hundreds have been medical specialists and officers.
  • Jan 26 am  Rummy continues to say our military has plenty of personnel and nothing is broken over in Iraq.
  • Jan 26 am  This may be the best one of all. Sadamn has filed a suit against Dubbya for damages to Iraq.
  • jan 26 am  For our bloggin buddies, we haven't heard much from Melissa P of late. Here's an Italian dirty movie with a Melissa P.
  • Jan 26 am Filing for elected office ends Saturday. Wednesday Cathy Butcher put her name in the hat for the County Clerk's spot now held by Connie Workman. Clay County PSD's David Grigsby signed up to run for School Board.
  • Jan 26 am Give it a whirl clickers. Here's your chance to make a difference.
  • Jan 26 am Last week. Clay Roane PSD announced the hiring of Michael Childress as their new maintenance man. Young Mr Childress has some water line experience.
  • Jan 26 am    Last August Michael Childress and Chris Underwood were doing the water pressure checks with the Big Otter Fire Dept. While turning the water off and on, a main line blew causing several days of no wa wa service.
  • Jan 26 am  Just when it feels like our county of challenged leaders is trying to do better, all H breaks loose.
  • Jan 26 am Clay County PSD has been on a  rampage to violate Sunshine Laws for two months.
  • Jan 26 am Now we understand Clay Roane PSD held a Special meeting Monday down at the water plant. They sure don't have to tell ANY media outlet about a meeting. They just need to post the meeting agenda several days ahead of time. Last week, Clay Roane emailed out agenda copies to Board members except one... Melissa Postelwait. Nor did they let the media know about the gathering.  Oddly enough, they held their Special meeting at 5pm Monday , the exact same time as the County Commission meeting. Since last Summer,  Clay Roane PSD has held their meetings in the CCC room at the Courthouse. Does moving the meeting to the Procious Plant, not emailing notices to the entire Board and not telling the media raise a red flag to anybody else?
  • Jan 26 am Tuesday evening, law enforcement went after a Timothy Joshua Beard. The guy had tried to pass a stolen check at the Bank of Gassaway earlier in the day. When caught, Beard was driving a car with stolen plates and with suspended license. Beard admitted to cashing three other stolen checks totaling over $300.00 (stolen from a Ralph Harrison) at Go Mart,  and Foodland.
  • Jan 26 am Beard is in deep doo doo with 12 charges against him. You might remember Mr Beard as a guy Town Badge Buckshot Butcher nabbed last year for much of the same kind of stuff.
  • Jan 25 pm  Thomas M. Mahan, 74, of Ivydale, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 25 pm We've been living a dream this last three months. Clayberry has had record warm temps on days normally associated with ice snow and zero  temps.
  • Jan 25 pm That changed this morning when we were greeted with 2 to 5 inches of snow and very slick road conditions. The State Road crews couldn't keep up with the big white snowflakes.   Car wrecks and fender benders were reported on many hillside roads. It was as if we had never seen the white stuff before.
  • Jan 25 pm By noon the salt treatments were working. Snow turned to just as dangerous, slush.
  • Jan 25 pm We've got an online fundraiser coming next month and we don't want to lose any clickers. Be careful out there.
  • Jan 25 am Great big Howdy to an ole Bickmore boy done good, Billy Williams in Cortland NY.
  • Jan 25 am WYAP is looking for someone that supports Dubbya and willing to discuss his goodness on 101.7FM. They're hosting a Thurday night on air discussion group. Any volunteers? email wyap@frontiernet.net
  • Jan 25 am We're down to just a few days left to run for office. How about? We gripe and moan about dismal leadership but refuse to step up to the plate and do something. Look around, maybe your neighbor, brother, sister.... 2006 can be the year we actually make a change. How about it? Saturday is the last day to file for office
  • Jan 25 am  Yesterday afternoon. over the scanner, local Badges made a bust out Dundon way. Sounded like a man tried to cash a stolen check at the Bank of Gassaway and was later caught in a stolen vehicle or at least a vehicle with stolen plates. Small town America but with big time thugs.
  • Jan 25 am Members of VFW Post 4419 extend a special thank you to David Pierson and  Pierson Lumber, Fran King and Kings Wrecker Service and the Clay County Sheriffs Dept. for their help in moving the artillery piece from the old courthouse to its new site at the VFW Hall.
  • Jan 25 am  Our Federal Government pays for reports and then when the reasearch turns up something opposite the official US stance, they bury the report. Here's an unburied report on troop strength and getting out of Iraq before it's too late.
  • Jan 25 am Here's an update on that new annoyance law. Good reading.
  • Jan 25 am A couple is lying in bed. The man says, "I am going to make you the happiest woman in the world." The woman replies, "I'll miss you..."
  • Jan 25 am Q: What does it mean when a man is in your bed gasping for breath and calling your name?   A: You did not hold the pillow down long enough
  • Jan 25 am  Q: Why do men whistle when they are sitting on the toilet?  A: It helps them remember which end they need to wipe.
  • Jan 25 am And for the men....
  • Jan 25 am  Why do women have smaller feet than men?  It's one of those "evolutionary things" that allows them to stand closer to the kitchen sink.
  • Jan 25 am Why do men die before their wives?            They want to.
  • Jan 25 am When I die, I want to die like my grandfather--who died  peacefully in his sleep.  Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.
  • Jan 25 am Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you  get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle:  "Take two aspirin" and "Keep away from children."
  • Jan 25 am
  • Jan 24 pm  James H. Morton, 62, of Adonijah, see Obituary page
  • Jan 24 pm The newest bestest yet Communicator made it to the news stand Monday afternoon around 4pm. 24 pages of all the goings ons in beautiful Clayberry.
  • Jan 24 pm Sorry for the slow post. We worked all Sunday and Monday getting the paper out. A short 30 minute nap turned into 2 hours of nodding off. We even missed last night's 5pm County Commission meeting. Man 'hate that!
  • Jan 24 pm Just was we started work to update this site... The power went off around 9:55pm Monday.
  • Jan 24 pm  Most likely, as you read this, the Senate will have already voted to recommend Sam Alito to the high court. Some hard core Demorats are crying the blues over the loss to women's rights and Alito's leanings to pro business. Cry all you want, it was Demorats that crossed over and put Dubbya into office.
  • Jan 24 pm   Tonight at 7:30pm  the Lady Panthers take on  Braxton County in home court action. Come out and support our athletes. WYAP is broadcasting the action with pre game at 7:20. Go Claaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!
  • Jan 24 pm We've got the latest on CCHS Wrestling over on the ADVISORY page.
  • Jan 24 pm  At the historic swearing-in of John Roberts as the 17th chief justice of the United States last September, every member of the Supreme Court, except Antonin Scalia, was in attendance. ABC News has learned that Scalia instead was on the tennis court at one of the country's top resorts, the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Bachelor Gulch, Colo.
  • Jan 24 pm   Want to protest a war? How about speaking out against something?  Our FEd Govt can label you a terrorist and then infiltrate your efforts. True True True. Already happened too.
  • Jan 24 pm Do you kids go online and search for info on Sadamn info? How about searching for pics of the Sear Tower or other famous building? That's enough to send the government knocking on your door. Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft have already rolled over and gave up your search records. Only Google feels your privacy is worth something. Here's the background on W digging deeper into your bedroom.
  • Jan 24 pm Want to have some fun? Bring up Yahoo or AOL or Micrsoft and type in bomb or Iraq, or Porn or anything else nasty like Dubbya. If everybody would do that at once, I bet the Feds would blow a gasket.
  • Jan 23 am We spent all Sunday working on today's Communicator. Sorry for no weekend wrap up. Clay County's near award winning rag should be out around 4pm today. 24 pages too!
  • Jan 23 am Dorothy M. Duffield, 88, of Ivydale, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 23 am Happy 30th Birthday wishes to Josh Kerns of Two Run.
  • Jan 23 am  Happy Birthday to Sheila Stone from your sister in Ohio.
  • Jan 23 am  The Buffalo Creek and Gauley RR is looking for people wanting to invest in rental cabins at their Dundon based track side campground. Anyone interested contact Roger Nutter at 304 872-1757
  • Jan 23 am Lady Panther Basketball action returns Tuesday evening when they take on Braxton County. Home game action too.
  • Jan 23 am Boys play Valley Fayette in home game action Jan 27th.

    • Jan 23 am  For you knowledge base: The history of the finger:  Giving the finger - Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers.  Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous weapon was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew" (or "pluck yew"). Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! "PLUCK YEW!" Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually hanged to a labiodental fricative 'F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute!  It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as "giving the bird."
  • Jan 23 am  Always something new to learn!
  • Jan 23 am What does it mean to you when your web search browser turns over your records to the Federal government?
  • Jan 23 am Ohhh I don't care. I have nothing to hide.   We're not talking doin' porn at work or home. We're not talking about gambling sites during company time...
  • Jan 23 am Ever spent time at work looking for a vacation deal? Best airline rates? Ever try to find the best deal on a camera on line? Or has your kid searched for background on Iraq? Looked up the history of the atomic bomb? Maybe looked at a bio of Sadamn? You may have the Feds knocking at your door and wiretapping your phone lines. It is 1984 and it's here now.
  • Jan 23 am Here's what it means when Yahoo, America Online, and MicroSoft toss your right to privacy for the all mighty buck!
  • Jan 23 am Google is the only company to say no busting your right to privacy. You might want to consider that the next time you get on line.
  • Jan 23 am More as we get it clickers.
  • Jan 22 am Our thoughts and prayers extended to the families of Don I. Bragg, 33, and Ellery Hatfield, 47.
  • Jan 21 pm  Happy Birthday to Jordan Metheney a 4th grade student at Ivydale Elementary!
  • Jan 21 pm Senator Love's Legislative Digest report is now posted on the ADVISORY page.
  • Jan 21 pm  David Stone is heading to the big house after getting his probation revoked Friday. Judge Facemire presented Mr Stone the 1 to 5 year extended stay.
  • Jan 21 pm Tommy Young Jr was put on home confinement just a day before Christmas. Yesterday he got his home confinement leg bracelet cut loose after making probation. Young has to keep his nose clean until he reaches 21 years of age.
  • Jan 21 pm Before Friday's Special Clay County PSD meeting, our appointed leaders had to hold yet another secret time. Chaired by Keith King, Ted Underwood and Simpson Neal were right in there shuffling the papers and handling the public's business in secret. Harold Allen was picked to replace Sam Taylor in the field worker position. Keith King's housekeeper, Felicia Cummings got the nod to be the next PSD book keeper/secretary. Nope, no public advertising of the openings. Mr HAppy said they just didn't have the time to do things above board.
  • Jan 21 pm  At week's end, only incumbent Jimmy Sams and challenger Link have filed for the County Commission opening. Connie Workman remains the only person to sign up for the County Clerk's race. We have a newcomer in the House of Delegates race. Michael Martin, Mayor of Mt Hope and CAEZ Chair, threw his name in the hat this week. Last day to register for 2006 openings is Jan 28 at midnight.
  • Jan 20 pm  Joseph Elwood McKinney, 47, of Clay, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 20 pm  Don't go running to the store readers of the Communicator. Hold Up! We've delayed Clayberry's newspaper until Monday. Why?  Well, that ace cub reporter had a case of lazy butt for sure BUT.
  • Jan 20 pm  We wanted to get one more little nugget in this edition. That nugget is from today's noon time Special Meeting of the Clay County PSD. Without benefit of advertising the job to the public, the PSD hired two employees to replace resigned Sam Taylor and Cindy Schoolcraft. Nope, nothing in the paper, just personal picks and Boom Hired. The PSD is required to have a Class I operator on staff. NEither of the two new recruits have that certifications.
  • Jan 20 pm When asked what it would take for him to follow Open Meeting Laws and operate above board, Mr. Happy said he needed no training, didn't need  a copy of Sunshine Laws to go by, didn't need anything. When asked if yelling, or cussing would get him to comply or resign, he said that wouldn't help. He said he had no intention of resigning his post.
  • Jan 20 pm What's it take for Clay County PSD to operate above board and within the law of the land, a costly lawsuit. When that was mentioned during today's meeting, King gave the thumbs up for filing a suit.  Needless to say, the full write up of broken meeting laws, illegal changes in policy and procedures manual, and illegal hires will grace the pages of Monday's edition of the newspaper.
  • Jan 20 pm While we hate to delay publication of the Clayberry's Independent newspaper, sometimes ....
  • Jan 20 pm  Yesterday one time volunteer Chief of Police Buckshot Butcher filed a lawsuit against the County Commission and the Town of Clay. Butcher says in the paperwork, while on duty, he slipped on a pine cone at the old Courthouse and the resulting injuries have caused him a loss of consortium with his wife. With summons already filed, Butcher is asking for $5 million to cover the loss of consortium.
  • Jan 20 pm Is consortium what we think it is? The horizontal bop? Someone let us know.
  • Jan 20 pm We have another update for the paper this time, Clay Development Corp secretary Janet Fitzwater says that CDC did NOT fire Ruth Brown 9 days ago. According to Ms Fitzwater, they love Ruth and no one, NO ONE  in that organization fired Ruth Brown. Calls are into Putnam Aging now. Full details in Monday's paper.
  • Jan 20 pm  Not a correction but a clarification.... Mike King , the guy suing the County Commission is Michael King not Magistrate Mitchell (Mike) King.
  • Jan 20 pm Stop back in  over the weekend and find out about the fresh water, clean fresh water source out Widen way. Last Friday the Business Development Authority took a look see and found 900 gallons per minute flowing from the hillside. That's 900 gallons per minute of completely drinkable, clean, potable wa wa just running down a hill into a creek. Currently Widen does not have a municipal water supply. Health Dept reports show contaminated water wells  overrun with septic tank waste. One Health Dept report made public raw sewage flowing in the streets of Widen.
  • Jan 19 am We're going into typing mode in order to get The Communicator out the door Friday afternoon around 4pm. No new posts unless some official does something stupid.
  • Jan 19 am Better act quick. Just got this in the email bag:    Anyone lose a Male Siberian Husky looks to be young has blue eyes. Came to my place today the 18th Jan. I will be taking him to the courthouse tomorrow morning to turn over to the dog catcher. If he is yours come get him as he was killing my livestock. Call before 9 A.M. as I will be taking him shortly afterwards......587-2638
  • Jan 19 am W says we're winning the war. Rice says it's lookin good, Cheney and Rummy, ditto, things are lookin good. Here's another official version of the civil war the USA created in Iraq.
  • Jan 19 am With Iraq in shambles, what's next for our country? Answer: Iran.
  • Jan 19 am At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. Big breaths," I instructed.   "Yes, they used to be," remorsefully replied the patient.
  • Jan 19 am  Guess who's having a birthday today?  Kathy Taylor over at Kate's Florist and Gift Shop. Make it a point to stop over and say, Happy Naval Day to Kathy.
  • Jan 19 am Randy Schoonver got himself in some doo doo last night. Around 11:36 pm, Badges were called to a Vicky Walker's address because Schoony was hanging around there. Walker is Schoony's ex and claims to have a life time restraining order on our former Senator. Schoony Schoony Schoony, when will you ever learn.
  • Jan 18 pm  We've got some weird weather this winter. Last week we had temps in the upper 60s. Tomorrow the temps are once again predicted to reach the mid 60s. At 2 pm today the snow was swirling like a tornado. Little accumulation on the ground and little expected but man, it's a blizzard right now.
  • Jan 18 pm The School system likes their meetings quick and with little public discussion. Last night a parent of a kid ready to be expelled asked for the hearing to be done in public.  The School system hates that!
  • Jan 18 pm We'll have full write up in Friday's Communicator but for now.... It was real interesting to listen in. Fellow students at CCHS reported the 17 year old boy as snorting some kind of orange power substance using a hollow white pen. Four kids were called to the office and asked about the incident. Yelp Yelp Yelp came after the questioning from the administration. That was enough to get the boy out of school and before the Board for a hearing. After hearing the particulars, the kid will be placed in ALC, alternative school thru next Dec.
  • Jan 18 pm Although the kid had a good attendance record and was passing all subjects but English, the school system mentioned one prior incident on a school bus where the CCHS VP saw the 17 year old push something down the seat. Jim Haynie found a joint and lighter under the front seat where the kid was seated.
  • Jan 18 pm An interesting part came from the Mother who advised the elected folks, Badges arrested her son and got him in  the juvy court system. There, charges were dropped.
  • Jan 18 pm Oh how the snitch line works in Clayberry.
  • Jan 18 pm  We had a second chance to talk to fired from the Clay Development Corp employee, Ruth Brown. Ms Brown was fired from her duties last Tuesday and since then has been given no reason for the CDC actions. During our first interview Ms Brown said,  fellow CDC employees passed a rumor of her having too much sex after hours and allowing males to stay at her home. According to Brown, the  "family clan" employees passed the rumor on. Ms Brown is 79 years old.
  • Jan 18 pm   Brown wanted us to clear something up. She said it was the CDC that told her she was fired. Brown's paycheck comes from Putnam County Aging , a Title V provider.  Brown said that several people had phoned Putnam Aging on her behalf. She seemed proud of the community support.
  • Jan 18 pm   Full details in this Friday's Communicator.
  • Jan 18 pm As for Teresa Rock, the Queen of Israel, as of Tuesday afternoon, the ladies over at Go Mart had not heard any update on her. Saturday morning, Mayor Jarrett took ROck to CAMC Charleston for medical help. In the process, she took off on the streets of Charleston.
  • Jan 18 pm   The French Government announced today that it is imposing a ban on the use of fireworks at Euro Disney. The decision comes the day after a nightly fireworks display at the park, located just 30 miles outside of Paris, caused the soldiers at a nearby French Army garrison to surrender to a group of Czech tourists.
  • Jan 18 pm Over the last 7 months, during County Commission meetings, an occasional reference has come on a lawsuit filed by a former Ambulance Service employee. The case, Michael King vs the CCC may have some very interesting findings.
  • Jan 18 pm 42 year old, Father of five kids, Mike King is alleging, he HAD to quit his EMT job. In the court documents, King alleges the ambulance service was asking him to doctor up run sheets in an attempt to inflate pay backs from Medicaid. Yesterday, the Court denied a motion to change the venue. The case is slated for a June 2006 trial here in Clayberry. Oh boy!
  • Jan 18 pm
  • Jan 18 am  Complete update later this morning. Until then...
  • Jan 18 am Communicator comes out Friday. Deadline for community events, classifieds, meeting notices, etc. is Thursday morning 9 am.
  • Jan 18 am Last night The Lady Panthers blew Calhoun County away 78 to 52.
  • Jan 18 am No big surprise but Clay County PSD gave notice of a Special Board meeting for this Friday at noon. On the agenda is policy and procedures manual and replacing employees.
  • Jan 18 am  Black shirts and Green Shirts worked it yesterday. Five arrests. Pics coming tonight. Names include: Okey Hodge, Larry Taylor, Bobby Woods, William Lanham, and Alvin Hardway got themsleves in deep doo doo.
  • Jan 18 am  The doctor that had been seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally retired. At her next checkup, the new doctor told her to bring a list of all the medicines that had been prescribed for her. As the young doctor was looking through these, his eyes grew wide as he realized she had a prescription for birth control pills. "Mrs. Smith, do you realize these are BIRTH CONTROL pills? "Yes, they help me sleep at night."  "Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely NOTHING in these that  could possibly help you sleep!"   She reached out and patted the young Doctor's knee.

    •      "Yes, dear, I know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in the glass of orange juice that my 16 year old grand daughter drinks..........  And believe me; it helps me sleep at night."
  • Jan 17 am  Happy 3rd Anniversary to Tony and Connie Myers in Butler PA.
  • Jan 17 am Tonight at 7:30 the Lady Panthers take on Calhoun County in home court action. Come out and support our athletes.
  • Jan 17 am  We got another blog open for business, this one, Hope for Clay  is a moderated site. Bookmark it.
  • Jan 17 am  For those are wondering, private citizens raised well over $100 on the street for Teresa Rock last Friday morning. Salute!  And no we don't have an update on her yet.
  • Jan 17 am  For those that haven't called Putnam Aging in support of keeping Ruth Brown on the job she loves, here's the info once again. 304 755-2385 and FAX 304 755-2389 and ask for Karen Edwards. Tell her to take a close look at CDC. Tell her to ask questions and get answers.
  • Jan 17 am  Didn't hear much about the Westboro Baptist Church Hate Group during the Sunday Sago Memorial. They were there working their Christian principles it's just main stream media played down their presence. Bob Weaver over the HurHerald site has a good write up and pictures.
  • Jan 17 am   "the absence of state control and an effective police force" have let "criminal elements within Iraqi society have almost free rein," Here's some truth on Iraq.
  • Jan 17 am  Thinking of buying a TV for the bedroom? Think again -- it could ruin your sex life.
  • Jan 17 am  Town of Clay rates suspended until the WV PSC can hear from you. Have you sent in your complaint?
  • Jan 17 am How many times have you been at work goofing off on the puter and the boss nearly catches you? Here's a program to help you out. Web Fire Escape.
  • Jan 17 am Remember Green Shirt  T. F. "Tommy" Yanero? Use to be located here in Clayberry? His legend continues but in Calhoun and Gilmer Counties compliments of the HurHerald web site. Glad he's over there!
  • Jan 17 am  With the Courthouse reopening this morning after a three day weekend, it shouldn't take long to find new stuff to post.
  • Jan 17 am Have you thought about running for office? Why not? Clock is ticking down.
  • Jan 16 am   James “Dennis” Pringle, 55, of Indore, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 16 am With just a touch of Saturday's snow on the ground, today is a holiday for government, school and bank workers.
  • Jan 16 am We're taking a day off as well. If something interesting happens, we'll hop back on the web with a post. Otherwise, no posts until Tuesday am.
  • Jan 16 am  Until Tuesday, some web info..
  • Jan 16 am   Teachers' salaries in elementary and high schools vary greatly from state to state. Do the states that pay their teachers the most result in higher test scores?
  • Jan 16 am The Government Performance Project conducted a comprehensive study which analyzed and graded the 50 states. How did West Virginia do? Not well.
  • Jan 16 am  Red states, blue states, since the election, the maps of the election results, both by state and by county, have been all over the media, whether it's on television, in newspapers and magazines, or on the internet. See the real map here.
  • Jan 16 am   Here in West Virginia, we're told, our taxes are much cheaper than anywhere else. What crock of BS.
  • Jan 15 am Get a cup of coffee or Dr Pepper. This is going to take a while.
  • Jan 15 am  Adrian H. (Punch) Legg, 82, of Bickmore, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 15 am Senator Shirley Love's Legislative update column is now posted on the ADVISORY page.
  • Jan 15 am Today is a big day for Clay County's elder statesman , RT Sizemore. See EVENTS page.
  • Jan 15 am  After numerous rounds of "We don't know if Osama is still alive", Osama himself decided to send George Bush a letter in his own handwriting to let him know he was still in the game. Bush opened the letter and it appeared to contain a single line of coded message:   370HSSV-0773H     Bush was baffled, so he e-mailed it to Condi Rice. Condi and her aides had no clue either, so they sent it to the FBI. No one could solve it at the FBI so it went to the CIA, then to the NSA.  With no clue as to its meaning they eventually asked Britain's MI-6 for help. Within a minute MI-6 cabled the White House with this reply: "Tell the President he's holding the message upside down."
  • Jan 15 am  After a 30 day court ordered mental evaluation, Teresa Rock ended up at Go MArt at Clay on Thursday. She was penniless, without her meds, and homeless. She spent the night at Go Mart. On Friday, the kindness of the community kept her alive. Go Mart workers managed to come up with $700 worth of meds. Around Town, people donated $ so Ms Rock would have a few bucks for food. Commissioners King and Triplett as well as Lucy Crucikshanks went to work trying to find her a place to stay.  One lady with two small children worked three hours Friday night to get her into a safe house. Losing control and calling herself the Queen of Israel, Rock declined offers.
  • Jan 15 am Late late Friday night, she came unglued. After being told she could not smoke inside the building, she became threatening to the night shift workers. Green shirts were called into duty. After chasing her around the parking lot and getting her back under control, Mayor Arthur Jarrett got the troubled Ms Rock into a room over at the Henry Clay Hotel.
  • Jan 15 am Saturday morning Jarrett was under the impression CAMC had a place for the Queen in their Psych Dept. After driving her to Charleston and while waiting for the accommodations, Rock got away from Jarrett.
  • Jan 15 am As of late Saturday, Rock was on the streets of Charleston without money or meds and most likely in peril.
  • Jan 15 am Two things emerged from this appalling disaster. First, the kindness of Clayonians showed abundant. Badges did their best not to jail the mental patient. Second, while we spend $1 billion  a day on an oil war, NO social service provider stepped up to the plate and handled the situation. Pitiful!
  • Jan 15 am  Tuesday afternoon 79 year old Ruth Brown was fired from her position at Clay Development Corp. Putnam Aging supplied the money to CDC for the position.  After 20 years of quality service to the seniors in this county, Ms Brown was told to hit the road, her services would not be needed. She was beside herself. Tears came.
  • Jan 15 am  Ms Brown told that ace cub reporter, CDC workers spread a rumor to Putnam Aging that she was immoral, she had been sleeping around. Believing the rumor, Putnam Aging let her go. According to Ruth, Karen Edwards at Putnam Aging had always been a good person to her, a friend, Edwards had extended kindness and compassion over the years, and now, well, she just didn't know what to think.
  • Jan 15 am While most of thought to ourselves, 79 years old and still having sex, YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!!!! There was more.
  • Jan 15 am  We know the troubling background, the past practices of CDC. We know how asking too many questions can get you out the door real quick. We know with budget crunches, how important it is for the clan run CDC to replace Brown and hire one of their own.
  • Jan 15 am On the plus side, once again the community came together in support of the well thought of, Ruth Brown. Phone calls were made to Karen Edwards, head honcho of Putnam Aging. One caller told us, Ms Edwards was already conducting an investigation into CDC and would report the results to the county of Clay. In the mean time, 79 year old, widow, Ruth Brown remains without the needed income.  While the CDC inspired rumor was just that, a mean spirited rumor, what ever Ms Brown does in her own home, is her own business. Ruth ... if you can get a little action, You Go Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Jan 15 am How about a phone call or FAX to Putnam Aging? Maybe your telephone "nudge" could make a difference. Title V Project Director Karen Edwards can be reached at  304 755-2385 and FAXED at 304 755-2389. Tell her to take a close look at CDC. Tell her to ask questions and get answers.
  • Jan 15 am  If you think all this is bad, there's plenty more from last week. Here goes.  Tuesday afternoon the Clay County PSD Board of Directors broke about every Open Meeting Law in the book.
  • Jan 15 am After voting a motion without the contents of the motion made public and after going into a secret time for "internal" reasons, Chair Keith "Mr Happy" King, Boardsters Ted Underwood and Simpson Neal held a staff meeting. During the meeting they showed employees Cindy Schoolcraft, Sam Taylor, Bev Duffield, and illegally hired Bill Dunn, the just voted on changes in the policy and procedures manual. Before the public was told to high tail it from the secret time dealings, King told the assembled, the public has no business knowing about the top secret, policy and procedures manual.
  • Jan 15 am After months of turmoil, the changes were the last straw. Taylor went ballistic. He threatened to open up a can of whoop butt and invited Underwood and King out back for more than an ice cream social. The hour long encounter ended with Taylor turning in his resignation. One policy change eliminated a lunch break during the 8 hour shift for one full time employee. The new policy reduced  end of the year, carry over benefits.
  • Jan 15 am By the next day, the "voted on" policy changes had been altered. Over night, additional wording was added to the policies to take away all residual benefits for an employee that quits or is fired.
  • Jan 15 am Seeing the dirty underhanded changes added by the Chair, on Friday, Office Manager Cindy Schoolcraft tendered her resignation.As of Friday afternoon, only Bev Duffield remained. With Taylor and Schoolcraft departing, both are Class I water operators, the PSD is in danger of shutting its doors by month's end. No Class I operator, no operation. That's a short term problem. Long term wise, trust and respect for the appointed body is at an all time low or none existent.
  • Jan 15 am Already, at other government water providers in the county, some are saying, Good! Get rid of them! What they don't understand is, if this is allowed to happen at Clay County PSD, it can happen ANYWHERE else. Dicktator King is a threat to the entire county.
  • Jan 15 am What happens next? Standard practice is for Team King to hire family members without advertising the positions in local newspapers. Oh.. maybe that's already happening. Friday afternoon, a close relative of Mr Happy came in and picked up a hand full of job applications.  What happens then?
  • Jan 15 am  In Clayberry, those hell bent on operating a public agency away from the public will hold a hastily called secret meeting, hire their families, and the stigma of down and dirty Clayberry politicos will continue to yet another generation. Unless someone files suit, Clay County PSD, under the Dicktatorship of Keith King will continue down the path of out of control arrogance and deceit. Stability at the PSD is out the window. Thank you Keith King for all you've done for our county.
  • Jan 15 am  In our current edition of The Communicator we noted improvements in the county. We noted a new attitude among some appointed leaders, improved law enforcement, a new direction at the Prosecutor's office. We reported a rebirth of local residents trying to grow our county of little. Between the insults to humanity with Ms Brown and in the Teresa Rock saga, we apologize to our readers and clickers on this site. We were wrong.
  • Jan 15 am It looks like Clayberry is right back to square one and reminiscent to what the old timers have said for years, there ain't nothing you can do with em or about it!
  • Jan 15 am Sorry for sounding optimistic. My bad, AW
  • Jan 15 am  An 80 year old woman was arrested for shop lifting.  When she went before the judge he asked her, "What did you steal?"  She replied: a can of peaches.  The judge asked her why she had stolen them and she replied that she was hungry.   The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can.  She replied 6.  The judge then said, "I will give you 6 days in jail." Before the judge could actually pronounce the punishment the woman's husband spoke up and asked the judge if he could say something.  He said, " What is it? "  The husband said  "She also stole a can of peas."
  • Jan 14 am We'll provide an update on CDC working behind the scenes to get Ruth Brown fired on trumped up falsehoods later today but for now.....
  • Jan 14 am As of 10pm Friday night, Teresa Rock, the Queen of Israel remained at Go Mart without professional supervision.
  • Jan 14 am On Tuesday  Clay County PSD held their monthly meeting then an illegal meeting. Behind the scenes, the employees have been peed for several months. After nearly getting in a fight with the Board, Wednesday morning, long time field man and Class 1 water operator Sam Taylor turned in his resignation. On Friday, Office Manager (also a Class 1 operator) Cindy Schoolcraft tendered her resignation. That leaves just Bev Duffield employed at the county's largest water provider.
  • Jan 14 am  So what happens when a back door operation gets the chance? Think nepotism. It's coming!
  • Jan 14 am Clay County PSD Board voted and passed a policy and procedures manual  change Tuesday. That change modified work hours, completely eliminated a lunch break for one employee, and reduced accrued benefits for all employees.  Was that the final straw? Nope. The P&P changes passed during the meeting were ever so quietly altered by the Chair, Mr Happy after the meeting. The altered document was then presented to the employees as what was earlier passed by the Board. When employees smelled the rat, that was  the final straw.
  • Jan 14 am As bait to get you to come back.... the PSD is required to have a class 1 operator on the job to keep the doors open and the wa wa flowing. With Taylor and Schoolcraft leaving, you see the problem.
  • Jan 14 am Full details later today.
  • Jan 13 2pm  How about some help clickers. Teresa Rock has serious mental conditions. Over the last 12 months, Ms Rock AKA the Queen of Israel has been in and out of criminal court. She's not a criminal but instead, someone in need of mental health services and oversight.
  • Jan 13 2pm Last night she was released from court mandated mental health evaluations ( 30days at Sharp's Hospital). She ended up at GO Mart in Clay. Penniless and without medications, she spent the night there. Go Mart employees went to bat and secured her meds this morning.  With a holiday weekend upon us, Commission Prez Pete Triplett got on the phone around 1pm today in search of some kind of homeless shelter, mental center, or some kind of housing facility. Without some kind of shelter, Ms Rock will end up back in jail in short order.
  • Jan 13 2pm Here's where you come in clickers, We're raising a little money for the Queen. First up was Toby Taylor followed by the Assessor's office, Terry Traub, Teddy Murphy and Kelly Fulkerson. Each donating a couple books or so.  How about it clickers, not $1000s but just a couple bucks to see that Rock gets a little food. Take it over to the girls ( Lo's handling the do good deed) at Go Mart. Do something nice for someone that will never say Thanks.
  • Jan 13 pm Happy Birthday wishes extended to County Commission Fran "FABIO" King and Business Development Authority Chair Leonard "My Good buddy" Williams.
  • Jan 13 pm Clay County Development Corp (CDC) is often in the news. Usually they're tangled in some legal battle. Last May a Circuit Judge ordered the social service provider to stop acting like some little social club and restore full general membership privileges to those tossed from the committee.. Year before that was another court battle and before that and before .... and so forth. CDC spends a great deal of time and federal $ defending their family clan based empire.
  • Jan 13 pm  During courthouse testimony, one thing has shown there clear as a bell. If you speak out against the family, if you ask too many questions, or  dare to challenge practices of the CDC, out the door you go! That seems to be what happened to long time worker Ruth Brown.
  • Jan 13 pm Tuesday afternoon 79 year old Ruth Brown was fired from her position at CDC. That position is funded by Putnam County Aging program. After nearly 20 years on the job, Ms Brown was told, her services would no longer be needed. Tuesday was her last day.
  • Jan 13 pm As her social outlet, her place to be Monday thru Friday, and a source of income, Ms Brown was beside herself Tuesday and Wednesday. Tears came easy. So what happened? Why would a seasoned worker of good character and strong work ethics be fired without reason?   Ms Brown provided the background Thursday afternoon.
  • Jan 13 pm Brown says a CDC worker went to Putnam Aging and told stories of sex escapades and Brown was sleeping around! The reason for the falsehoods of course was to get her fired and a job opening for a family member of the clan.
  • Jan 13 pm Brown explained that relatives of her late husband needed a place to stay during hard times and she allowed them shelter at her house. Another guy needed similar help during a rough period in life. A hoe? Nope. There's always more in Clayberry.
  • Jan 13 pm 79 year old Ruth Brown lost her job at CDC for asking questions. Other have been tossed from CDC roles for such questioning. The list is long. During one Courtroom appearance a few years ago, CDC secretary Janet Fitzwater explained to Judge Alsop that a Board President was causing problems by looking at forms and asking questions. The guy was Earnie Sirk and was said to be causing problems and they wanted rid of him. Sarcastically, Judge Alsop replied, isn't that always the case!  Sirk won his case against CDC back then and was put back on the Board.
  • Jan 13 pm The long history questionable practices and operation (at one of their workers was indicted and convicted on Federal welfare fraud) just continued. This time, long time worker Ruth Brown lost her job and reputation to advance the goals of the family empire at CDC.
  • Jan 13 pm It's a shame that Putnam Aging has been drawn into this quagmire of caustic bitter struggle of social services in our small county. Bad for Putnam Aging but devastating for Ms Brown.
  • Jan 13 pm Need a good employee? We know one. Give us a call and we'll put you in touch with Ruth.
  • Jan 12 LATE pm After working at Clay Development Corp on Main Street and Putnam County Aging (funder) for nearly 20 years, 79 year old Ruth Brown was fired from her duties Tuesday afternoon. Why?  According to Ms Brown, she was fired after the rumor riddled clan, CDC, passed stories of her sleeping around and having too many boy friends.  Did we mention Ms Brown is 79 years old?
  • Jan 12 LATE pm   What is really going on at CDC? There is one sure fire way to get fired at CDC. Which is? Asking questions about the county's most troubled social service provider!  Full details in the Friday post.
  • Jan 12 LATE pm On Tuesday of this week, Clay County PSD Chair Keith "Mr Happy" King held another illegal meeting. During that secret time, King passed out new policy and procedure rules. Within seconds of  viewing the Board inspired changes, field worker Sam Taylor went ballastic. The meeting got stormy. Tempers flared. Taylor was ready to open up a can of whop butt. For nearly an hour, the secret meeting went on.
  • Jan 12 LATE pm What happens when Government goes secret and violates the trust of the taxpayer? First, employees get hurt and on down the line... you the customer feels the fall out of dismal government dealings. Prepare to feel it soon clickers.
  • Jan 12 LATE pm  9 year veteran of the PSD, Sam Taylor turned in his resignation yesterday. Look for other resignations to come shortly. Full details on Friday.
  • Jan 12 pm  Dorma Beatrice Deems, 86, see OBITUARY page.
  • Jan 12 am Alexandria “Allie” Nicole Moore, 9, of Clay, see OBITUARIES page
  • Jan 12 am The HurHerald web site has a nice write up on the loss of Allie Moore.
  • Jan 12 am Today at noon:30, Clay High's Lady Panthers take on Wirt County on the home court. The game will be broadcast on WYAP around the world and locally on 101.7FM.
  • Jan 12 am  Olivia Brooke Morehead arrived on Jan 10, 2005.   She weighed 7 lbs 11oz.  Olivia's proud parents are Billy and Kelly (Jett) Morehead of Vineyard Ridge in Roane County.   Billy is the son of Linda Morehead and grandson of Ruth Simmons of Clay. Kelly is the daughter of Blake and Shirley Jett of  Vineyard Ridge.  Welcome, Olivia.
  • Jan 12 am Today at 1pm Clay County Commission will hold a rescheduled meeting at the Courthouse. Tonight at 7pm, Clay Roane PSD will hold their monthly meeting in the CCC room. Come out and enjoy watching our elected and appointed leaders in action.
  • Jan 12 am While you're over on the Hurherald site take a look at the many civil liberties already removed from you and me. Who cares? What's a little freedom when we're out to  win an oil war for Dubbya!
  • Jan 12 am Ten years ago, during one of the first Business Development Authority meetings, the need for a county web site was discussed. The web site would have included items like: available commercial space, tourism events, availability of housing, low cost loans, and other stuff related to growing the county. Over the objections of some BDA members, a site was set   up (ClayToday.com). That site was later taken down after membership on the BDA changed.
  • Jan 12 am Last Fall, BDA member and County Commissioner Fran King set up a a very plain and simple web site. Fran "FABIO" King has a request. She wants to include available commercial and building properties on that site. If you have property you'd like exposed to the world market, dial 304-587-7200 now.
  • Jan 12 am 1 1/2 years ago a McDaniels man was found dead after reported missing for several days. The vehicle driven by Mr McDaniels was retrieved by the Green Shirts, towed to their Crime Lab in South Charleston and later towed back to Clayberry. The tow company for both trips was King's Wrecker of Clay. The tow bill to South Charleston was paid by the state. The $502 tow bill back to Clay was paid by Mr McDaniels' son, Joe. King's Wrecker is regulated by the WV Public Service Commission.
  • Jan 12 am  Joe McDaniels filed a complaint against King Wrecker  and owner Fran King. Type the case number: 05-1731-MC-FC. Since the initial filing, McDaniels has received a PSC opinion on the matter.
  • Jan 12 am According to Joe McDaniels, on Jan 9 2006,  the PSC found: the rates charged by King Wrecker are well above ( double) the WV PSC approved tariff; and, the operation was never properly changed over to Ms King's name after the death of her husband, Craig. The PSC recommended Ms King refund $281.40 of the original $502 invoice.
  • Jan 12 am We talked to Ms King Wednesday. She said she has her canceled checks where she changed ownership plus, the tariff increases were OKed by the PSC as well. After additional telephone calls with the WV PSC, Ms King  provided us: the government records are all screwed up and a trip to Charleston will be made to get everything straightened up.
  • Jan 12 am In the mean time, Joe McDaniels is right.
  • Jan 12 am How expensive is water service in Clayberry? Answer: terribly expensive. Here's the list of ALL wa wa providers in WV. To find the PSD's in this county, go to the very very bottom of the list where the HIGHEST rates are located. Guess what happens when the Town of Clay adds their 23% increase to the PSD wholesale prices? Thank you Clay County leadership.
  • Jan 12 am For those wanting to file a complaint against the Town of Clay and raising water rates, here's the PSC page to download the form.
  • Jan 11 pm County Commission did not meet this morning. Commissioners Sams and Triplett were in Charleston doin preliminary legal stuff in the Mike King vs CCC lawsuit. King was an employee of the Ambulance Service and has brought a suit over employment from full time to part time.
  • Jan 11 pm The Commission meeting has been changed to Thursday at 1pm.
  • Jan 11 pm On the first day to file for office CCC contender Linkinooooooooger mailed out letters via bulk rate mail and set up a campaign web site. We reported Monday afternoon around 1:30pm " If you look at the online web info, it's plainly visible, he used his taxpayer paid for email address as the contact address. Using such an email address means all correspondence for renewals, updates, stat counters, revisions and such will come thru the email address paid for by the county of Clay.
  • Jan 9 pm What a way to start a campaign."
  • Jan 11pm Many people say they don't read this site or The Communicator but.....
  • Jan 11pm  Later Monday afternoon Link's side kick and  "go to" guy Kenneth Tanner commented on the often common practice of mixing taxpayer paid for equipment (email address) for campaigning. Tanner said the goof up was his, that he had done the setting up of Link's web site and just forgot to change the email to a non government address.
  • Jan 11 pm Assurances were given by Tanner, as soon as the public became aware, he made the appropriate change.
  • Jan 11 pm County blogs jumped on the issue as an election year opening day volley between Link and that ace cub reporter. Such mixing of government dollars in a campaign can lead to serious consequences. Even in WVa, politicians have gotten bit big time for such transgressions.
  • Jan 11 pm Let the games begin!
  • Jan 11 pm Yesterday's Clay County PSD was most interesting. Yesterday Chair Keith "Mr Happy" King  asked his board to vote in a motion to change the policy and procedures manual. When making the motion, Boardster Simpson Neal asked for details on the changes, he got none. When the public asked what the change was about, our long time always above board leader, Mr Happy refused any explanation.
  • Jan 11 pm As the PSD meeting was ending, Happy asked to go into secret time. They did. When a guy asked the reason for the closed door meeting, our favorite public servant said just one word, "internal". Upon hearing that, King was reminded that Open Meeting Law allows several reasons to go into executive session but "internal" wasn't one of them.  With the grace and charm of a moldy ole rotten log, King said the official reason for denying the public access to a public meeting was simply, "internal."
  • Jan 11 pm So when did a government agency's policy and procedures manual become top secret? When did saying internal become a legal reason for going into a secret executive session. The answer to both: Neither are legal.
  • Jan 11 pm Keith King is an out of control appointee to public office risking everything accomplished in the last 10 years with actions  of turning a government agency turned into his personal  little fiefdom. King is a sad example of a public leader. And to think we almost elected him to the County Commission a few years back. Pitiful
  • Jan 11 pm Tonight, the latest on the WV PSC complaint on Fran King and high towing rates at King Wrecker company.
  • Jan 11 am Clay County Commission (Kookle, Fran, and Ollie) meet this morning beginning at 10am.
  • Jan 11 am Tuesday afternoon was a horrible day in Clay County West Virginia. After getting off the bus yesterday, a 9 year old girl crossed the creek crossing bridge heading for home. Moments later she turned back toward Route 4 and headed for the road side mail box. A North bound truck struck the Clay Elem student.
  • Jan 11 am Scanner listeners knew the injuries were severe when HealthNet refused to fly. The practice of HealthNet is, no pulse, no fly. The youngster was pronounced dead at CAMC.
  • Jan 11 am Word spread quickly thru the county. Clayberry slowed down a  little. It was quieter over at Go Mart and other haunts of the coffeehouse crowd.
  • Jan 11 am Our condolences extended to the Moore family.
  • Jan 11 am We'll hold posts until Wed afternoon.
  • Jan 10 pm  Geneva “Ginny” Neeley, 83, of Clay, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 10 am Today at noon, Clay County PSD meets in regular session. Tonight at 7:30, the Clay Panthers take on Sissonville in home court action.  Last night both the 9th grade team and Varsity won over Gilmer County.
  • Jan 10 am Happy 21st Birthday to Travis Woods
  • Jan 10 am  Congratulations to Leslie and Dusty Taylor of Indore on the arrival of Abagale Brooke Taylor weighing in at 6 pds 12 ozs on 1-6-06 she is the granddaughter of  the very proud Beverly Duffield who works at the Clay County PSD.
  • Jan 10 am  How about doing something nice today clickers. Bessie Ruth Butcher of Two Run will be 91 on January 14th. How about mailing her a Birthday card? What's 39 cents? She is a patient at CAMC General,  room 311 south, in Charleston, WV.
  • Jan 10 am  If you would like to send online condolences to the families of the Sago Miners, use this link.
  • Jan 10 am The last platform for free speech just got its foundation knocked out.  Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity. Here's the full report clickers.
  • Jan 10 am Thinking about running for office. To file for County Commission, the filing is $203.50. Shell out $396 for a shot at the County Clerk's spot.  With three spots open, the price to file for the Board of Education is just $25. Don't just sit there complaining, get involved.
  • Jan 10 am For those wanting to fight the Town of Clay water rate increase, now's the time to file those complaint letters with the WV Public Service Commission.
  • Jan 10 am For a more indepth look at the lost miners, click on CNN Profiles.
  • Jan 10 am Here's the link to the ICG Mining company.
  • Jan 10 am From the US Dept of Labor, the Sago mine disaster information page.
  • Jan 10 am Here's a list of serious mine disasters since the 1800's.
  • Jan 10 am  And finally for this morning, some coal mining in West Virginia facts.
  • Jan 10 am Good reading. Be back later today.
  • Jan 9 pm Man Oh Man, We've got a beautiful day in Clayberry. Temps in the upper 70s and blue skies. Not bad a Jan in the Appalachian mountains.
  • Jan 9 pm  Today is the first day to file for  office in the 2006 Election cycle.    As of 1:30pm today only Jerry Linknoooooger has signed up for the County Commission race. Incumbent Jimmy Sams is expected to file Wednesday when the CCC meets in regular session.There's a lot of speculation on who will or won't run this time. Around noon today Clay Roane PSD Boardster Rose Cantrell went to the County Clerk's office and asked about filing applications, fees and time table. Wouldn't that make for an interesting race.
  • Jan 9 pm  For those without the financial means to pay the filing fee, there is a pauper process to get on the ballot. Melissa Postelwait has yet to file.
  • Jan 9 pm Just after filing for office, Linkinooooger set up a campaign web site. For web site ownership you have to set up the name ( called a URL) with a registrar service. By checking www.allwhois.com you can find that background info about the site.
  • Jan 9 pm If you look at the online web info, it's plainly visible, he used his taxpayer paid for email address as the contact address. Using such an email addres means all correspondence for renewals, updates, stat counters, revisions and such will come thru the email address paid for by the county of Clay.
  • Jan 9 pm What a way to start a campaign.
  • Jan 9 am Good morning. Today's the first day to file for public office in West Virginia. Wonder who will be first, Link or Jimmy?
  • Jan 9 am For those complain about our county leadership, here's your chance. Step up to the plate and see what happens.You might be pleasantly surpirsed!
  • Jan 9 am Happy Birthday to Betty Fisher down at Betty's Place restaurant in Procious. Keep those fired bologna sandwiches coming!
  • Jan 9 am  Somebody tell Donnie Friend Happy Birthday too!
  • Jan 9 am On our LINKS page are a bunch of blogs. The one called George's has included some beautiful Buffalo Creek and Gauley railroad shots in the past few weeks. We swiped them and posted over on our PHOTO page. If anybody knows who took the pictures, let us know and we'll give credit where credit is due. For some of us, they're first time ever images.
  • Jan 9 am Clay County PSD meets at noon Tuesday. Clay County Commission gathers at 10 am Wednesday morning. And, Clay County PSD comes together Thursday night. Time to get out and enjoy a good public meeting clickers.
  • Jan 9 am  Tonight at 7:30 the CCHS Panthers take on Gilmer. 9th graders play at 4. Come out and support our local athletes. Go Claaaaaaay!
  • Jan 9 am We don't have a complete list of the deceased miners from the Sago mine disaster. If anybody can come up with one, please email over. We'd love to post names, ages, photos if possible. Thanks
  • Jan 9 am  Each Feb we do an online fund drive to help support this web offering. Our homepage sponsors help out a lot too. Don't forget to support the people that help keep this source of info up and running.
  • Jan 8 am This is our first weekend wrap up in the new year. 2006 has not got off to a good start and that's a big understatement to say the least
  • Jan 8 am  There have been 2,392 coalition deaths, 2,193 Americans, one Australian, 98 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, two Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 26 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of January 7, 2006, according to a CNN count.
  • Jan 8 am    From the NY Times: A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.
  • Jan 8 am Paul Bremer was the guy in charge of the military operation in 2003. This week he finally admitted, W didn't expect so many in Iraq to hate us. W and Bremer, what a team.
  • Jan 8 am  Still thinking about that 80% figure?.... And America still thinks Dubbya is doing a good job. Our George says he's staying the course. With Abramoff ratting out dirty Senators and Reps left and right, there may be light at the end of the tunnel during the May primary election.
  • Jan 8 am Closer to home, Sago remains our discussion topic of choice. ICG, how pitiful. Government regulators not regulating. Even worse. Once again the grunt down in the hole is paying the price. Our prayers go out the families.
  • Jan 8 am   If you are wondering how long the 11 miners lasted after the explosion, wonder no more. 10 hours is the answer.
  • Jan 8 am Tuesday night School Superintendent Linkinooooooooger resigned. During that same meeting, a plan was brought out to do some PR work on TV-3. They  a re considering commercials to show how well Link has administered the county while Superintendent. Wonder if math test scores (some of the lowest, if not the lowest in the state) will be included in those commercials. Bet they tell the world about the serious drug problems and busts at CCHS and CMS, dismal college attendance percentages, and the number of CCHS graduates having to take bonehead college courses before core class work can begin.
  • Jan 8 am   Our new year in Clayberry opened with our elected leaders continuing the tradition of back door dealings and the complete destruction of any confidence in their abilities to lead. Friday evening Clay Town Council gave the OK to a 23% water rate increase after locking the public out during an illegal closed door, pre meeting meeting, after providing faulty notice of the public hearing; and a faulty ordinance document. Their actions Friday show we need new leadership in the municipality and need it now!
  • Jan 8 am During that same Friday meeting, Glenwood Nichols was appointed to replace Council person Phil Morris who has moved out of town and is ineligible to sit on Council. Nichols was once an appointed Mayor and was the guy that worked hard to give away the town's water plant not so long ago. Fortunately, he was unsuccessful back then. According to Phil Morris and Arthur Jarrett, Nichols asked to be back on Council.
  • Jan 8 am According to Plato, anyone that wants to be in power should be taken out and shot.
  • Jan 8 am It wasn't just Town Council operating behind closed doors this week.
  • Jan 8 am  Kukla, Fran, and Alle, the County Commission, were at it too. During Wednesday's CCC meeting, without giving an Open Meeting Law mandated reason for going secret, they did. Their secret meeting was with Sheriff Holcomb to discuss the current practice of carrying over vacation time to a new year. After the secret time, Commission Prez Triplett was asked what part of Sunshine Laws allowed them to go behind closed door? He answer: I don't know. Just pick one!
  • Jan 8 am There isn't an answer. Discussion of current policies is NOT an allowed reason for keeping the public from the business of government.
  • Jan 8 am Saturday afternoon a group of hard working volunteers moved the ugly old cannon from the Memorial area on Main Street. Those pictures are now over on the PHOTO page. The implement of destruction now resides over at the VFW hall at Schoonover/Bradly Field.
  • Jan 8 am Tomorrow is the first day to sign up to run for office in the May 2006 primary. Doors open around 8:30am. Many of us in Clayberry hope to see a mile long line waiting to sign up. How about clickers, why not give it a twirl?
  • Jan 7 am The Communicator made it to the news stands Friday afternoon around 4pm. 20 pages of the best news and views on dysfunctional Clay County West Virginia. This edition includes our annual year in review of 2005 and Clay County's Person of the Year. Also the latest on the Thomas death at Maysel on Dec 26th.
  • Jan 7 am Last night Clay Town Council met for a public hearing followed by a Council meeting
  • Jan 7 am Since being built seven years ago, the town's poop plant has operated in the red. The behemoth is way too large and there are way to few customers. What do you do when you have 25 more years of debt load and your sewer plant sucks every penny from town coffers? You raise water rates for the entire county. How do you do that? First, you hold an illegal meeting
  • Jan 7 am With the front door locked, yesterday, before the 5:30 public hearing , Clay Town Council met with their attorney and CPA for over 1/2 hour. Every one of them. Even Frank Childress, the guy that said he couldn't get to meetings before 6pm. They held an illegal meeting. They had to get to their heads together before conducting public business. Clayberry began 2006 as we have all the others, illegally and guilty of violating the trust of those that elected them.
  • Jan 7 am When the public was allowed in the building, Clay County PSD and one customer spoke out against raising water rates. The presentations did little to change the brittle minds of the elected ones. After conducting an illegal meeting, without proper notice of the hearing, and with faulty paperwork, Council went ahead and voted in a 23% water rate increase.
  • Jan 7 am Clay County PSD vowed to protest the increase as did the short little fat guy.
  • Jan 7 am Last year Clay County saw some improvements. It looked like we were just beginning to get our heads out of our arss and move into the 20 century albeit 100 years late. Appearances are deceiving. Our county and the only municipality in the county can move nowhere until our elected leadership grow a brain. Last night was an indication of the inept non deserving of any trust or support.
  • Jan 7 am Mayor Arthur Jarrett, Recorder Dwana Murphy, and Council persons Jerry Stover, Betty Murphy, Frank Childers, and Phil Morris are perfect examples of what's wrong with Clayberry. They need to resign from elected office.
  • Jan 6 am  We're still working on the Communicator but here's something important. This edition has the very latest information on the Thelma Thomas death and investigation from Green Shirt Sgt. Cox. We're also announcing the 2006 Clay County Person of the Year.
  • Jan 6 am  Today at 5:30, at the Clay Water Plant on Main Street, Town Council is holding a Public Hearing. They want everybody that is in favor of raising water rates 23% to show up and rave about how nice it would be to pay more $ for wa wa. Leave your guns at the door please, only clubs, rocks and knives will be allowed.
  • Jan 6 am Since everybody wants to pay more for water and see all the PSDs in the county increase their rates too, should be a big crowd for the hearing. See you there clickers!
  • Jan 6 am Tonight 7:30, the Clay High Panthers take on mean ole Braxton County. The home game action will be broadcast on WYAP-LP. Take your portable radio with you and hear play by play with Aaron and Brian.
  • Jan 6 am Does anybody remember what Nixon was impeached on? One of the charges was illegal wire taps and fibbing about them. Now our man Dubbya has admitted to doing the exact same thing but on a much much broader scale. Can anybody say impeachement time George? Thanks KL for the link
  • Jan 6 am Saturday night, Lizemores FD is hosting a fundraiser. See details over on our EVENTS page.
  • Jan 6 am   A man and his wife were sitting in the living room when he said to her, "Just so you know, I never want to live in  a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."  His wife got up, unplugged the TV and threw out all of his beer.
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  • Jan 5 pm  Yesterday we posted the Town of Clay's removal of the Boil Water Order. We should have also listed Clay County PSD removal of their Ivydale BWO. Drink Drink Drink
  • Jan 5 am Today at 5pm, the Clay County Business Development Authority meets at 5 in the CCC room at the new Courthouse.
  • Jan 5 am the Town of Clay is requesting everybody in favor of raising water rates 23% to attend Friday's Public Hearing. The hearing will be held in the water plant on Main Street and begins at 5pm. So far, according to Town Recorder Dwana Murphy, only Clay County PSD plans to object to the increase.
  • Jan 5 am Yelp it's true. During Tuesday night's School Board meeting, Linkinooooger resigned from his School Superintendent spot (last day to be this summer). Jenny Sirk also resigned from the central office heading toward retirement.
  • Jan 5 am  Sign up for elected office begins Monday. So far, LInk, incumbent Jimmy Sams and Melissa Postelwait are seeking the $23,000 a year (plus benefits) County Commission position.
  • Jan 5 am All but about 20 minutes of Wed's County Commission meeting was conducted behind closed doors. At issue was Sheriff Holcomb's demand for his deputies to be paid cash for unused vacation time. No they didn't go without a vacation, all of em got at least 2 weeks off with pay according to CCC Prez Triplett. What was the decision after over an hour of secret time? None, the issue will be turned over to the legal beagles.
  • Jan 5 am So what part of Open meeting law allows them to go secret to discuss a public policy issue? There ain't one!
  • Jan 5 am Be reaal careful out there clickers. there's a couple of new viruses. The George Bush Virus - Causes your computer to keep looking for viruses of mass destruction; and,  The Ellen Degeneres Virus - Disks can no longer be inserted.
  • Jan 5 am Is mooning someone in public illegal? Not according to one Judge.
  • Jan 5 am Noticed 18 year old Dennis Koch has been sentenced to CRJ. Happened today. No further details.
  • Jan 5 am The Communicator comes out Friday around 4 pm. Email your meeting notices, events, classifieds, chatters etc NOW. Deadline is noon today.
  • Jan 5 am  A couple new blogs have been added to our LINK page.  No new posts until we get the paper to bed.
  • Jan 4 pm  The Boil Water Order for the Maysel Two Run area of the municipal wa wa system was lifted around 1:30 today.
  • Jan 4 mid am For three hours last night, Sago Company officials held their tongues. For three hours, families rejoiced. Miracle! Praise the Lord! TV media ran with the happiness. Families were told their miners would meet them at the small white Baptist community church.
  • Jan 4 mid am  As this ace cub reporter dozed off into sleepy time around 2 am, it was a happy time.
  • Jan 4 mid am  This morning, it was all different. During those hours of euphoria, Coal bosses kept their mouths shut. They allowed the steamroller action to continue. This morning, people were rightly, madder than H. The families and America had been duped. By keeping their mouths shut, once again, Coal Bosses had lied to us.  Did they think the men would suddenly come back to life? What were they thinking????????
  • Jan 4 mid am  Our condolences extended to the families and friends of the 12 miners.
  • Jan 4 mid am On national news, one fellow blamed the explosion, poor roof conditions, and numerous safety violations on non union mines and the demise of the UMWA.
  • Jan 4 mid am We couldn't agree more!
  • Jan 4 am We planned to post the resignation of School Superintendent Linkinoooger, the wins by the Panthers, 9th Grad Panthers, Lady Panthers, and social security checks not arriving Tuesday..... but all of a sudden none of that mattered.
  • Jan 4 am The major news outlets went none stop. For 40 hours they repeated the same over and over, bad mine air, no noise from 260 feet below... although prayers were still being made, many of us felt, those 12 miners are gone. Then the news came of a body retrieved and no sign of the rest of men. We knew......
  • Jan 4 am But then  But then, around midnight, word came, 12 miners had been found and ALIVE and healthy
  • Jan 4 am We'll hold off all the silly little Clayberry crap and savor the moment.
  • Jan 3 pm  Letting the people think they have some say in government is always a plus. The most artful politicians hone this razor sharp. Take for instance the school system's top dog. Tonight's agenda over in School Board land includes: approve the process of naming the new school.
  • Jan 3 pm The process? It's already done! According to 911 records, the name of the new school is Valley Dale Elem. at 59 Ossia Road. With ground excavation work in progress today, they've got a big white sign on site listing the school's name as Valley Dale Elem. So what's left to name?
  • Jan 3 pm It's the politics of smoozing the people into thinking they have any say in the location, building, naming  and educational process.
  • Jan 3 am BOIL WATER ORDER continues for Two Run, Maysel, and Ivydale. Don't drink it without boiling it first.
  • Jan 3 am  We're ready to get back at it. With the holidays behind us, it's time to get back to life in West Virginia. Last night all eyes were on the TV. Not just the Bowl game but 13 miners trapped two miles deep underground in the North Central part of the state. As of this posting time, no word on their fate. Here's a BBC account from about 10:30 last night. The Associated Press is reporting Sago Mining received 208 safety violations in 2005.
  • Jan 3 am  Our prayers go out to the men trapped and their families.
  • Jan 3 am Here in Clayberry we have tons of important meetings this week. Tonight at 6pm the School board meets in the Standard Bryant Annex on Gump Street. Agenda items include: Approve the Charleston Catholic Outreach Project in Clay County for  2006; Approve the process of naming the new elementary school at Big Otter; Update on site development at Big Otter; Channel 3 News media coverage for upcoming year;  School cancellations and delay.
  • Jan 3 am Also Tuesday, Central Appalachia Empowerment Zone (CAEZ) meets in regular session. First the Eco/Dev committee meets at 4 pm. At 6pm, the Board meets. This is the first meeting with Connie Lupardus the Director.
  • Jan 3 am Normally, Clay Town Council meets the first Tuesday of the month. That meeting has been changed until Friday where the public is encouraged to tell elected leaders how much they want a water rate increase. Most expect Council person Phil Morris to tender his resignation. The hard worker Morris will be missed.
  • Jan 3 am County Commission meets Wed morning at 10. With last week's standoff with the Sheriff, Wednesday's meeting could be a dandy.
  • Jan 3 am  Tuesday afternoon CCHS Panthers will take on Wirt County beginning at 12:30pm. Tuesday evening at 7:30pm, the Lady Panthers take on Gilmer County in home court action. Come out and support our local athletes. WYAP will be broadcasting the play by play.
  • Jan 3 am  The big news from the last week of 2005 was Sheriff Holcomb unwilling to sign payroll checks until three deputies received pay for vacation time not used. Late late Friday, Top Badge Holcomb resigned to the obvious, employees had to be paid. Truth is, Holcomb told that ace cub reporter earlier in the week, he would not let employees go without getting paid. Still, Clayberry made front page Charleston Gazette front page news Dec 31st.
  • Jan 3 am Last Thursday the Shriff said he had already put his signature stamp in his coat pocket and planned to head out to "the ball game" and wasn't coming back until Tuesday. Sometimes the Sheriff speaks a little quick....
  • Jan 3 am Over on the ADVISORY page is the section of the state code forbiding the high Sheriff from removing the stamp from the Courthouse under penalty of jail time.
  • Jan 3 am  Many of us felt Holcomb would have the county in a lawsuit within months after taking office 12 months ago. He surprised many. With the vacation pay issue ripe for a court challenge, things always take a little longer in Clayberry.
  • Jan 3 am  During Dubbya's Oil war, soldier blogs have provided a glimpse of what life's like in the land of oil and sand. The Government is now shutting them down about as fast as they spring up. Seems America isn't ready for something more than a John Wayne movie image.
  • Jan 3 am  And something encouraging. Newest military polls show W's approval ratings have sunk.
  • Jan 1 pm John Bargar, 56, of Wallback, see OBITUARY page
  • Jan 1 am HAPPY NEW YEAR. Updates coming Monday.
  • Jan 1 am BOIL WATER ORDER in place for Two Run, Maysel, and the Ivydale section of Clay County PSD. Be Safe, Boil it First.
  • Jan 1 am  A main line broke in the Two Run area Friday. With a patch in place, water service was restored fairly quick. But!

    • Jan 1 am The water was reaaaaaaaal bad, brown and full of rocks. Over at Go Mart the sediments plugged up the ice machine, hot water tank, and shut down the men's toilet. Ask Zella Williams out the hill from Whiskey Hollow how the water break affected her home. As of midnight Saturday, no water.