June
2006 Past News
June 30 am Don't say there's nothing
to do in Clayberry. This weekend is packed with tons of good stuff to do.
June 30 am The Clay Library has an
upright piano they want to give away. Needs some repairs but would make
a great starter unit for someone or group. Easy basement access too.
First come, first served. One only.
June 30 am Have an old car? Saturday's
Small Town America Independence Celebration in downtown Clay still needs
some antique cars, trucks, tractors, dancing girls, and about anything
else except live animals for the 5:30 parade. Come out and have some fun.
Good music at 6pm too.The parade and Summer Jam will be broadcast on 101.7FM
and on the web.
June 30 am Last night the new
walking trail at Clay County Park was dedicated. Don Jarvis and his band
of volunteers worked their butts off to cut, scrape, doze, and gravel the
path around the border of the public facility.
June 30 am There's another good reason
why ole Bushy eyebrows was named the 2006 Person of the Year!
June 30 am Charleston newspapers covered
the Wednesday Federal indictment of Sam Murphy. The indictment stems from
Murphy allegedly making bombs intended for Sheriff Holcomb. Murphy has
been held in custody since the last August blasts.
June 30 am Just a couple days
earlier, Murphy flunked a pee test after getting caught using a fake "we
we" known as a whiz-a-nator".
June 30 am Some stories have
legs... In the last edition of The Communicator came a chatter from Sandra
Samples and her Jack Russell Terrier. Here's a blog entry on another Clayberry
allegation. Click Southern
end of the county for the blogosphere write up.
June 29 am From the email bag:
Swimming lessons start July 3. 6:00 No lessons on the 4th. End July 14
Call 587-7440 for info or to sign up. Registration is limited.
June 29 am This Saturday is the Small
Town America Independence Celebration in downtown Clay. See our EVENTS
page for details. As part of the event, there is a town wide
yard sale. Clean out that basement, attic, outbuilding and set up on Main
Street July 1. Always nice to make a little extra jingle.
June 29 am As we near month's end,
there are no public meetings. Fun doesn't start again until next
week.
June 29 am For those living in
the Town of Clay and use the local cable TV service.... Instead of rubber
stamping an agreement with the new provider, Rapid, they're negotiating
each item to be included in the franchise agreement. The first sit down
meeting with the Colorado based group is next week. If you have a suggestion
on a service or package that ought to be included in the new deal,
contact Town Hall or any of the elected folks.
June 29 am Over the years many
have said, Clay never gets anything!! Look at all the other counties, they
get tons of government money! All that's true. the other counties learned
a long time ago to stay in touch with the elected folks on a regular basis.
Here's in the land of little, we often contact our Legislative Delegation
just before the close of the session and ask for $ at the last minute.
June 29 am We're learning clickers....
During a beginning of the month CAEZ meeting mention was made of
two June huddles with Fola coal reps. The group held their second meeting
yesterday. Based on the first meeting, it sounds like we're asking Fola
to deed thousands of acres of stripped out mine lands (flat) for economic
development use. Items made public include: a major highway connecting
us to Rt. 19 in Nicholas County, an airport, a correctional center, an
ATV trail, and industrial parks.
June 29 am Now don't get all excited,
the plan won't happen over night, they're laying the ground work now for
stuff that benefit our grand children.
June 29 am Also in the business of
wising up, our Business Development Authority commented they planned to
meet with the Governor soon seeking additional $ for a building out Ovapa
way at the old Filcon site. We think they're doing that right now but mums
the word on those efforts.
June 29 am Ever hear of of using
depleted uranium for missiles? Here's a web
site that contends our nation is doing just that and has been for a
number of years. Caution this site is very graphic.
June 28 am Update coming later
today.
June 28 am Yesterday we posted
an email comment under a front page picture. The comment gave the state
road H for not removing a leaning tree dangling from overhead utility
lines.
June 28 am We received an email from
a state roader telling us that the utility company has to cut the tree
away if it's entangled in tele or electric lines. Thanks B
June 28 am I have been thinking
that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends, that if they
will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth
about them. - Adlai Stevenson
June 28 am Community radio
WYAP is upgrading the antenna service this afternoon around 4:30pm. The
idea is to for more people to listen in on 101.7 FM. Station should be
off the air until around 9 pm more or less.
June 27 am How many of you have received
the call to action email to get your cell phone name and number on a national
do not call list. It's a hoax Here's
the truth.
June 27 am How many received
the email on a college girl using #77 to avert a rapist dressed as a police
officer? Here's the real story on #77
and what to do.
June 27 am Last night Commissioner
Sams was a no show during the CCC meeting. Triplett and King handled the
duties with Commish elect Link in attendance but in the peanut gallery.
On the issue of Sunday hunting, they said no to calling a referendum
ballot issue. Translation: Clay County's economic incentive and property
rights issue on using private property to hunt on Sunday will not change.
We can continue to hunt on Sundays on our own private holdings.
June 27 am With few in attendance,
Norma Johnson, the lady wanting wa wa was back before the CCC wanting answers
as was a delegation upset with the Clay Human Association. As for the Human
Assoc right to pick up stray dogs without tags, the Commission said they
never gave that permission.
June 27 am read the latest Communicator
to get the back ground readers.
June 27 am During the last School Board
meeting, the Board OKed a letter to the W V School Board Authority without
comment. We guessed the letter was a request for additional funding for
the proposed Ivydale Elem.
June 27 am Proposed no more.... yesterday
the SBA awarded another $2.2 million for the consolidated school. That's
a 33% increase in funding and still the question remains, what will have
to be cut from the original plans to fit the budget.
June 27 am More coming.
June 26 am From the email bag albeit
a little late: A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CHRIS IN FLORIDA GET YOUR GLASSES SO
YOU CAN READ THIS AND PUT IN THE AIDS SO YOU CAN HEAR THIS , HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TO YOU , HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU AND YOUR OLD SOCKS, HAHA; LOVE YOUR SIS
June 26 am Normally the last week of
the month is a quiet one for public meetings. Not so today with the County
Commission meeting at 5pm.
June 26 am This evening's agenda is
a big long rascal with re-appointments to about every Board, Committee,
and Authority in the county. Also on the agenda is a Jimmy Sams election
year campaign promise to garner votes (didn't work) to get the CCC to vote
on Sunday Hunting. Currently Clayberry is one of about 15 counties in the
state that allow private property owners to ban or allow hunting on their
own
land on Sundays.
June 26 am In years past, Sams has
been strong on allowing private property owners the right to do as they
want on their taxed lands. At one point a few years back, Sams even
said how important it is for property owners that work during the week
to have both weekend days available for hunting. Guess that's all changed
now for Commissioner Sams. And heck, with all the low food prices in the
area, who needs the meat in the freezer!
June 26 am The latest edition of The
Communicator has Sandy Samples' comments on her dog getting picked up,
whacked, and then adopted out by the Human Assoc.
June 26 am As with any story, there's
another side. There is state code requiring dog owners to pay
taxes on their poop factories. There is another section of code that gives
the CCC the power to delegate dog warden duties to a dog catcher and human
association. Both parts of the state code are now posted over on the ADVISORY
page. Might want to walk over there and take a look if you own a pooch.
June 26 am The question is, did
the CCC give the Human Assoc. the power to pick up dogs. Anybody remember
such a vote?
June 26 am The Clay High
TSA kids are returning from National Competition down in Dallas Texas this
afternoon. How did they do? One kid, Dayton Waddell , took a second place
in the nation with his balsa wood ATV in performance and design. Not too
shabby for a 9th grader.
June 26 am The county was under a flash
flood watch last night. After listening to the scanner until late, didn't
hear any reports of flooding around these parts. Good.
June 26 am Check back often we update
at least once a day. As of last night at 11pm there have been over 98,000
page loads by over 33,000 visitors this month. Thanks for checking out
Clayberry and all its quirks.
June 25 am From the last seven days....
June 25 am Sure things are going well
in our Oil War. Dubbya had to sneak into Iraq under the cloak of darkness.
The world's most powerful military force remained sheltered in the green
zone as rag tags rule the streets. The new Iraq government declared a state
of emergency. They asked the US to get out. W and supporters said no way
to leaving as more American blood soaked into the sand.
June 25 am There have been 2,735 coalition
deaths, 2,510 Americans, two Australians, 113 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, three
Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 31 Italians,
one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, two Salvadoran, three
Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as
of June 22, 2006, according to a CNN count.
June 25 am Summer finally came to Clayberry.
Temps made it into the 90s. The value of shady spaces increased. Gardens
grew. Kids were seen walking along the road to the Swimming Pool. Others
played in the Elk. Motorcycles roared around the county. Down on Main Street,
businesses decorated with American flags, set out flowers and park benches.
Little Leaguers readied for tournament action. Small Town America never
looked better.
June 25 am On the down side,
thugs broke into homes around the county and swiped stuff for quick sales.
On Main Street Clay, thugs did heavy damage to a nice lookin red Chevy
pick up as they stole a CD player from the dash. Once again, a quick sale
for a quick drug deal.
June 25 am New school Superintendent
Larry Gillespie made it clear, when hiring, they were going to play by
the rules. The discussion came during the Monday night Board meeting where
teacher Justin Holcomb replaced civilian CCHS Volleyball Coach Gail Simon.
Rules say teachers get dibs on extra duty contracts. They also say that
seniority counts when non teachers are awarded extra duty contracts. With
that in mind, Ms Simon might just have the right to do some bumping of
her own. Watch this one to develop clickers.
June 25 am By mid week, word spread
of a $50,000 court settlement between a former Ambulance Service employee
and the County Commission. The guy said his Supervisors asked him to doctor
up Medicaid/Medicare/Insurance sheets so the agency could garner more $.
Instead of committing fraud, the guy quit. Operating away from the preying
eye of a public setting, the county's only emergency service agency has
another black eye.
June 25 am This past week a GrandMother
drove to PA to retrieve her dog. Her side of the story goes that our local
Human Assoc. picked up her dog, neutered it, and then adopted it out up
North. Many are scratching their heads.. when did the Human people get
into the dog catching business?
June 25 am Thursday night the Business
Development Authority finished up a three part session where they gathered
their thoughts and came up with a mission statement and goals for
the next 3 1/2 years. The guy up front, a Rob Godbey, reminded all how
important it is to work as a team, use assets already in place, and grow
the county from within. The ideas came and all was going well until soon
to be in office Jerry Linkinoooooger offered the group a way to improve
the county, his idea: Get Andy out of the County by midnight.
June 25 am Guess we have our answer
on how well the Linkster is going to do in office. Poorly would be the
correct answer. AS has been the case before, Link should keep things zipped
up.
June 25 am The Communicator made it
out on time Friday. That pesky little paper that reports on government
dealings and mis dealings appears alive and well. The link to a prosperous
future is the public knowing what's going on. That link to the future is
not spelled with a capital L.
June 25 am The county's largest private
employer, Pierson Lumber Co came close to burning down Friday evening.
Quick work by Clay FD kept things from escalating into a repeat of
April 10th 2002.
June 23 pm The Communicator made
it out the door Friday afternoon. 24 pages of news and views on everything
from GO Devils to political commentary. Complete commentary from this week's
School Board meeting where CCHS Volleyball Coach Gail Simon was replaced
by Justin Holcomb. That story may have legs.
June 23 pm Around 9:30 pm tonight Clay
FD responded to smoke at Pierson Sawmill. Lots of smoke and the smell of
smoldering saw dust in the air. One guy said it looked like the big electric
supply line coming into the control panel had shorted out. Lots of charred
mounting board behind the panel.
June 23 pm One of the onlookers, Johnny
Woofter got whacked by passing motorist's side mirror who never stopped.
Woooofter is OK and the fire crews gave the all clear around 10:15pm this
evening.
June 23 pm Back on April 10th 2002,
the sawmill operation was consumed in flames after some welding repairs
set off nearby sawdust.
June 23 pm Jesse Sizemore reported
seeing a big Momma Coyote on the back street of Clay early this morning.
June 23 11:44pm Over the scanner
came a report of a Pit Bull killing chickens on Church Street.
June 23 pm If you haven't noticed,
someone with all thumbs goofed up the CLASSIFIED page postings. If you
emailed new stuff in the last five days, I lost it. Please send again.
Thanks
June 23 am TGIF TGIF
TGIF
June 23 am How come Gene King was so
miffed over replacing Gail Simon as Volleyball Coach? Hear about
the CCC settling with that disgruntled Ambulance Service fellow for $50,000?
What about a new Go Devil story from Pisgah?
June 23 am Find out this afternoon
when the Communicator makes it to the news stands. Clay County's best source
for news and views on our 342 square miles we call home.
June 23 am No new posts until we get
the rascal out the door.
june 22 am Tonight at 5pm the BDA will
host the third and final Strategic Planning meeting at the Senior Center
at Two Run. the idea is to come up with with a business plan for the future.
What a novel idea. Who would have ever thunk that for Clayberry.
June 22am Yesterday's dog story
has drawn some attention from as far away as Nashville via the email bag.
Not so for the Go Devil story. If you have knowledge or experience of that
strange creature lurking around Pisgah, email over. We'll get it in Friday's
Communicator. Deadline is Thursday afternoon for Go Devil info.
June 22 am The Young family on
Oil Field Road often make the news cycle. A couple months back we interviewed
Renee Boyd who said ther family just wanted to lead a normal life and be
out of the lime light.
June 22 am Wasn't long after that ,
the wind blew in more stolen goods and the law was back up Murder Mountain.
June 22 am Tommy Young Jr was arrested
for the theft of a backhoe owned by Triad Energy.
June 22am According to Tommy Young
Sr, all charges from that incident against Jr. were dropped by the Prosecutor
late last week
June 22 am More recently, Sr and Jr
were picked up in OH on old outstanding charges. Sr was turned loose
but Jr was extradicted to NY. When we spoke to the 18 year olds Dad Wednesday,
he said he didn't know where his son was being held, that Badges would
not tell him where.
June 21 pm What catches interest
in Clayberry? Dog stories. This morning we posted a brief blurb on
the local human association picking up a little dog, neutering it and then
giving it away. Here's our update
June 21 pm Sandy Samples is one the
people real mad at the group. The little Jack Russell Terrier belongs to
her grandson. The animal was used for stud service. Not so now. Ms Samples
says her dog was picked up very close to her property line a little over
a week ago.
June 21pm Ms Samples said
this morning she planned to file a criminal complaint against the Assoc.
and had already talked with law enforcement.
June 21 pm After doing a bunch
of web surfing, and with help from friends and Commissioner Fran King,
Samples drove to PA where she retrieved the now stud less dog at a shelter
there and brought it home. The round trip mileage was over 1000 miles.
June 21 pm A second person has now
come forward with a similar story of dog catching by the non profit group.
Developing....
June 21 pm Pictures coming Thursday.
June 21 am When you see Rose Cantrell,
remind her about her birthday coming up Thursday. 'will surely make her
day.
June 21 am Just got this in the email
bag: I have been to Widen (as well as Swandale and Dundon) for the last
four years with my son and we ride ATVs. I would like to find someone
there who could explain to me where some of the coal company structures
were located and also much of the housing stock is "gone" so to speak.
I have many photos (Lady Slipper volume) of Widen and the BC&G Railroad
there as well of streets of houses that do not seem to exist any more (which
is not too surprising since the mine closed nearly 42 years ago!).
I would like to be able to contact someone there and make arrangements
if they could show me where some of the ELRICO structures were located.
We plan to come to WV and Widen during the week of August 28.
I enjoy your newspaper on line. I first came to Clay County in 1964
to see the last steam operation of the BC&G Railroad. I like
coming back every year to a different warp in time! Thank
you. Kevin Horn 10378 Willow Hill Road Delaplane, Virginia
20144 540-364-0369 (office) khorn86238@aol.com
June 21 am How about it somebody..
can you help Mr. Horn out a bit?
June 21 am We've got a couple stories
this morning. One is about Go Devils. Ever hear of em? Over the years stories
have grown over some kind of hairy creature lurking around Pisgah. Two
people from Cove Hollow swear the thing or things exist. One guy says he
shot at the creature, knew he hit it, but the thing got away.
June 21 am A lady in town said over
the weekend while camping out that way, she heard something go thumping
passed her campsite followed by a bone chilling scream . She said the scream
was unlike anything he she had ever heard. Skeered the bejeebees out of
her too!
June 21 am If you've got any Go Devil
stories as locals call em, email over ASAP.
June 21 am here's another animal story.
June 21 am There's some people reaaaal
mad at the Clay Human Society. According to one family, reps from the Human
society picked up their Jack Russell terrier, carted it off, had it neutered,
and then adopted it out to a family in PA.
June 2 am Since when did the Human
Society get into the dog catcher business?
June 20 pm Happy 143rd Birthday West
Virginia. With the Courthouse closed and summer school classes shut down
today, downtown Clay is much quieter. Many are heading to the river for
some summer time fun.
June 20 pm A couple notes from
last night's School Board meeting
June 20 pm A couple weeks back soon
to be on the Board Rick Tanner mentioned to the Board a new bio diesel
deal where school systems could save money. Bus Czar Larry Legg quickly
picked up the idea and last night, the Board gave the OK on switching to
bio diesel for all the school buses. The bio is 20 % corn oil.
June 20 pm With some quick foot work
and adding a few gallons of bio diesel to the Bradley Field storage
tank before June 30th, the school folks can realize a $30,000 advantage
this fiscal year. Ditto for next year. Other than switching out fuel filters
more often, Czar Legg said to expect no problems running the mixture even
in winter weather.
June 20 pm The Boardster quietly OKed
a letter to the School Board authority without discussion. The guess is,
the request letter was for $2.2 million more to start construction of the
new Valley Dale Elem School near Big Otter. The 33% increase should assure
most of the bells and whistles in the $6 m structure.
June 20 pm And then there was retired
from duty Coach Ron Sirk discussion. Nope, not listed as an agenda item,
it was Beth Cercone and Dave Pierson that lead the group into the thorny
issue.
June 20 pm Sirk was part of a
sweetheart deal where he would receive high dollars in his retirement years
for maintaining the Athletic Director's perch at CCHS. Word on the
street has it the part time sweetheart package started at $30,000 per year.
When the info became public a month ago, Boardsters met between meetings
and said no way! During the first June gathering, the elected folks went
into an illegal secret meeting to vent their issues. Our guess is, the
Sirk deal bit the dust and the Linkster was told to come down to earth
and quit wasting Levy $ for such waste.
June 20 pm The norm is for such sticky
deals to be kept behind closed doors. Last night Link's Agenda was devoid
of any mention of the hot button issue. With the meeting ending, Cercone
asked about it. After questions from Cercone and Dave Pierson, we now know,
Sirk will keep the Athletic Director's position but at the current contract
rate of $1500 per year.
June 20 pm Don't worry about ole Droopy
Drawers going hungry this year. With his pension (75% of pay), doing substitute
teaching in the system, the AD $, and a shot at being a county planner
after Jan 1st, Droopy should be just fine.
June 20 pm Also from last night's meeting,
the school system OKed the purchase of three new school buses and a new
van.
June 20 pm WYAP community radio is
trying to increase their reception area on 101.7FM. With upgrades to the
antenna coming, expect outages over the new few days. The internet webcast
should be unaffected.
June 20 pm Communicator comes out this
Friday. Deadline for events, classified, meeting notices, and such is Wednesday
night at 6pm. Email em in ASAP.
June 19 later pm Nina Samples,
90, of Procious, see OBITUARY page
June 19 later pm Donald “PaPa”
Richard Blankenship Sr see OBITUARY page
June 19 later pm Waitman "Bud"
Samples see OBITUARY page
June 19 later pm From the email
bag: I would just like to say, Hi and I love you to mom and dad (Jack
and Pauline Deems) in procious, from Malisa in Virginia.
June 19 pm Welcome to a sticky muggy
humid Monday in the Appalachian Mountains of Clayberry
Junr 19 pm Tonight the School Board
meets in regular session beginning at 6pm. Boardster Beth Cercone allows
the public to have a look see at the public agenda on her web site. From
that site, some items being voted on tonight including: Approve the transfer
of Loretta Triplett from 1/2 Cook at H.E. White Elementary School to Cook
II at Clay Middle School, successful bid (Robin Belt's former job).
Approve the employment of a Social Studies Teacher at CCHS (Anita Stephenson's
former job). Approve the employment of a 2nd Grade Teacher
at Ivydale Elementary School (Jok Schoonover's current job).
Approve the transfer of Justin Holcomb from Special Education Teacher at
CCHS to Physical Education/Health Teacher at Clay Middle School (Evelyn
Ellison's former job). Approve the employment of an LD/MI
(half-time) and Elementary Education Resource (half-time) Teacher at H.E.
White Elementary School (Sherry Ramsey's former job). Approve the
employment of a Multi-Categorical Resource Room Teacher at CCHS (Justin
Holcomb's former job). Approve the employment of
a Multiple Disabilities Summer School Resource Teacher at Clay Elementary
(new position due to enrollment). Approve the employment of
a 1/2 Cook at H.E. White (Loretta Triplett's former job).
Approve the employment of a Head Baseball Coach at CCHS.
Approve the employment of an Assistant Boys' Basketball Coach at CCHS.
Approve the employment of an Athletic Training at CCHS
Approve the employment of a Head Wrestling Coach at Clay Middle School.
Approve the employment of an Assistant Boys' Basketball Coach at Clay Middle
School. Approve the employment of an Athletic Director
at Clay Middle School. Approve the employment of
a Cheer leading Coach at Clay Middle School. Approve
the employment of a Head Volley Ball Coach at CCHS. Approve
the employment of an Assistant Girls' Basketball Coach at Clay Middle School.
Approve the overnight trip for the CCHS FFA to Cedar Lakes for the State
FFA Convention, July 12 - 15, 2006. Request for $1,270.00.
Approve the letter to the School Building Authority.
Approve the purchase of a van for maintenance department to replace current
1991 model.
Jube 19 pm Still no mention of what
the elected folks plan to do with the Ron Sirk sweetheart deal for the
CCHS Athletic Director job.
June 19pm Cleverly words near the end
of the agenda is mention of a letter to the School Building
Authority. Guess is, the school system is begging for another $2 million
to build theValey Dale school at Big Otter. Even if the new funds are approved,
look for the new facility to be a scaled down version of the originial
Link dream.
June 19 pm Tonight is the final Board
meeting for the retired Superintendent , Jerry Linkinooooooooooooooger.
His retriement years will be greatly appreciated within the system. Ditto
for Boardster Kim Sams.
June 18 am 2500 could be a happy
number for many things. 2500 dead in a war based on lies and distortions
is a sad number. Last week we met that benchmark. Add two more servicemen
this morning to Dubbya's record of achievement.
June 18 am This past week, the lead
puppeteer Carl Rove got off the hook. Grinning ear to ear, he is free to
continue hobbling America with his twisted message of deceit and corruption
of ideals long thought to the be the bedrock of this country.
June 18 am Last Wednesday the CCC gave
the green light to building a skate board and inline skate park at Clay
County Park. A small group of volunteers have banded together to come up
with $100,000 for the bumps and jumps tourism draw for the county of obese
and diabetic couch potatoes.
June 18 am Last week, Tom Dawson almost
succeeded in Town Urban Renewal as he drove his truckload of burning hay
down Main Street. Other than singed hair and fingerprints embedded
in the steering wheel, the town and Tom survived.
June 18 am The school system remained
mum on the need for $2.2 m in additional funding for Link's school sit
folly at Big Otter. Ever so quiet was what to do with working a sweetheart
deal for retired Coach, Ron Sirk.
June 18 am Around town, the American
flags went back up. Thinking business owners set out flower pots and park
benches. With heat of summer upon us, shady spots became prized areas for
gossip and fun.
June 18 am By Friday morning, the Solid
Waste Authority had collected over 40 tons of recycled metal goods. That's
40 tons of stuff that didn't end up along side the road, in a creek, or
over a hill side. Another successful assault on keeping our county clean
and green.
June 18 am Marian Asbury remained in
his apartment behind a locked door.
June 18 am With bright sunshine
and high temps, the newly repaired Clay County pool opened. Saturday was
a free day at the pool and kids from near and far packed the place.
June 18 am And today is Dad's day.
A meal out, a new tie, and slower moving day. A day for smiles.
June 18 am It's Summer time when the
living was easy...
June 17 am Today is the last day to
get rid of your old metal junk. Haul your metal , aluminum, tin junk over
to Pierson's Sawmill Today before 4pm. Free too!
June 17 am Hot temps and cold clear
water. What could make heading to the Clay Swimming Poll any better? Today
it is all free!. Enjoy.
June 17 am We mentioned Marian Asbury
yesterday as being afraid to go outside after taking a thumping from Mike
Lanham a month ago. Maybe he has good reason to be worried..
June 17 am Thursday night and again
Friday morning, Lanham was in Asbury's apartment building banging on doors
and yelling around.
June 17 am WYAP's Summer Jam series
doesn't start up until July 1. For those seeking great local entertainment,
head over to the Newton Community Center to hear Country Line. Music
starts at 6:30 pm.
June 16 am Woodrow D. Rider,
87, of Maysel, see OBITUARY page
June 16 am Metal Recycling Days continue
thru 4pm Saturday afternoon. Here's the deal. This is the once a year opportunity
to legally get rid of that metal junk in the yard, on the porch, and the
stuff you tossed in the neighbor's yard.
June 16 am Another note, come Saturday
evening, when they close down, if you are caught dumping more stuff at
Pierson's sawmill, you're in deep doo doo. Just got this email from the
big cheese: as of the end of the day on Saturday, the 17, the further
dropping off of any waste materials at the metals recycle operation is
officially over. Any individuals caught dropping materials off after
that time will be considered in violation of Chapter 22, Article
15, Section 10(a) of the Code of West Virginia, by contributing to an open
dump. This is to prevent the site from developing into a continual
future problem for both Clay County, and Dave Pierson's, since he has been
nice enough to let the SWA utilize his property for this worth while project.
Feel free to quote me as advising you of this. Thanks, Kevin Lilly
WVDEP-Environmental Enforcement Inspector.
June 16 am Four weeks ago, Mike Lanham
put a thumping on 65 year old Marian Asbury. Asbury was just sitting on
a park bench when the kicking shaking attack took place on a Saturday afternoon.
Asbury was too scared to press charges against Lanham. Since the attack
neighbors and family have been checking on the hobbled Asbury. One of those
is Bonnie Jarrett from the Hotel.
June 16 am After not seeing Asbury
on the streets as is the norm, Bonnie asked Marian, Why?
June 16 am According to Bonnie, Asbury
said he was too scared. He was scared that Mike Lanham would beat him up
a second time.
June 16 am In our latest edition
of The Communicator, we have the whole run down on Henry Bear getting the
boot as Municipal Judge last week. Yesterday we received an email from
Mr Bear reading in part: I read your June 13th, 2006, "clayberry.org"
web posting about the recent council vote today and am very, very dissappointed
that you have characterized my resignation as municipal court judge as
council having given me the "boot". My resignation precluded, by definition,
my getting the "boot" from anyone. Please correct your posting as it is
inaccurate and defamatory.
June 16 am After the vote to
boot Bear, Mayor Arthur Jarrett said he had not received a written resignation
nor a phone call resignation from Henry Bear. We stand by our web posting
as accurate and defamatory as it should be!
june 15 am Anybody else think
Frontier DSL was particularly slow last night? Post coming later today.
Maybe things will speed up.
June 15 am For those that think
we never say anything good about Dubbya.. his popularity
has risen to 38%.
June 15 am Down in Guantanamo Bay,
reporters broke the story of detainees committing suicide. What ta do What
ta do.. Rummy tossed
all the reporters from the base. Problem solved.
June 14 pm Another belated birthday
wish, this one to Amanda Brook Fitzwater . Salute!
June 14 pm Look out your window...
out your front door.. out back.... down the road. See a bunch of junk?
This is metal recycling days in Clayberry. Full details on our EVENTS page
now. Here's your once a year chance to legally get rid of about
anything made out of metal. Don't throw it in a creek or the neighbors
yard, recycle!
June 14 pm
They ordered one hamburger, one order of French fries and one drink. The
old man unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half.
He placed one half in front of his wife. He then carefully counted out
the French fries, dividing them into two piles and neatly placed one pile
in front of his wife. He took a sip of the drink, his wife
took a sip and then set the cup down between them. As he began to eat his
few bites of hamburger, the people around them kept looking over and whispering.
You could tell they were thinking, "That poor old couple - all they can
afford is one meal for the two of them."
As the man began to eat his fries a young man came to the table. He politely
offered to buy another meal for the old couple. The old man said they were
just fine - They were used to sharing everything. The surrounding
people noticed the little old lady hadn't eaten a bite. She sat there watching
her husband eat and occasionally taking turns sipping the drink.
Again the young man came over and begged them to let him buy another meal
for them. This time the old woman said "No, thank you, we are used to sharing
everything." As the old man finished and was wiping his face
neatly with the napkin, the young man again came over to the little old
lady who had yet to eat a single bite of food and asked "What is it you
are waiting for?"
She answered "THE TEETH."
June 14 pm A lot of people are talking
about Andy Hayne's wireless internet system now up and running in downtown
Clay. Keep in mind, for now, the system only works from Telfords
up to about the old gas station. Last week he said as soon as a back ordered
piece of equipment arrives, the system will work from Telfords well
past FasChek. Haynes numbers are: office: 587-7513 and Cell 767-5630
June 14 am From the email bag:
Would
Like for everyone that knows Randy Abner Samples to wish him a Happy Birthday,
Tuesday the 13th is his B-day, Oh by the way he is 45.... Oh goodness he
is getting old isn't he?
June 14 am Clay County Commission
faces 2 pages worth of agenda items this morning beginning at 10 am.
June 14 am When you drive thru
Clay today look at all the black spots in the road. Up near the old car
wash at Two Run is a great big burn spot where Tom Dawson stopped his burning
truck and trailer load of hay.
June 14 am Dawson will take a hard
ribbing from the coffee house crowd for weeks to come.
June 14 am Don't forget the swimming
pool at Bradley Field is open for business. Ditch those little curtain
climbers for a few hours of peace and quiet.
June 14 am Saturday is a free day at
the pool.
June 14 am The Apple
Festival folks have a new web site. Click here for the new site. Their
link on our LINKS page now works again.
June 13 pm Those little snot lickers
in your hair? Got some news. The Clay County Swimming Pool is now open
for business. For a few bucks, you get a full day of peace and quiet.
June 13 pm In small town America we
had some excitement around lunch time. Tom Dawson had a truck and trailer
load of round bailed hay. As it entered town limits, people started pointing
and yelling fire. By the time he got in front of the Henry Clay Hotel,
the fire was so intense, one of the belts holding the hay on the trailer
burned thru and fell off.
June 13 pm Top Badge Holcomb
went into action and told Dawson to get that thing out of town before he
burned the town down.
June 13 pm As Tom roared down Main
Street hunks of burning hay flew left and right leaving a wake of blaze
everywhere.
June 13 pm Fire crews were called to
duty as homeowners worked to put out the spot fires. Those watching the
action felt intense heat as Dawson zoomed out of town.
June 13 pm In front of Town Hall, Dawson
was leaning way forward in his seat with white knuckles buried deep into
the steering wheel. One Town worker said the truck and trailer looked like
a giant marshmallow being roasted with flames going every which a may way.
June 13 pm Pictures this evening late.
June 13 pm Last winter Jonathan Sizemore
pulled a late night caper at Go Mart in Two Run. With the attendant's back
turned, he swiped a $100 from the convenience store and shagged out. This
morning at 9am Mr Sizemore plead no contest to the charges. Magistrate
Jeff Boggs fined him $2500, gave him a year in the slammer, he has to pay
restitution, and court costs. Look for an appeal to Circuit Court.
June 13 am Clay County PSD meets
today at 5pm. On the agenda is the hiring of an employee. Of course Mr.
Holcomb went to work last week at the financially challenged water service
provider.
June 13 am Clay County Commission
meets Wednesday morning at 10 am in the Courthouse.
June 13 am The Communicator made
it to the news stands around 4pm yesterday. 20 pages of Life in Clayberry.
Yes it costs a little more but boy, is it ever chocked full of good reading.
Stuff found no other place.
June 13 am Big Otter Fire Dept. has
been involved in a land battle for 8 months. The dispute stems from 9 years
ago when Woody Boggs donated land to build the fire house. One side of
the battle, the majority of the Board, says they have to go by the meets
and bounds on the deed. The vast majority feel Boggs intended to give a
smaller portion of road frontage to the group and heck with what the deeds
says, give his heir (Jeff Boggs) the disputed area.
June 13 am many BOFD meetings have
been very stormy. Passions ran high will calls for tossing the Board mixing
in with LIAR! and THIEVES!
June 13 am Last night the Board meet
again. With 30 people in attendance, after passionate discussions, and
tears from one Boardster, on a three to two vote, the Board said, the deed
stands. Many of those in attendance ain't real happy. Speculation is that
a court challenge is coming soon.
June 13 am Long time Boardster Darris
Arnold resigned from the position stating that he couldn't handle the controversy.
he left the meeting room. Just after the vote to keep the disputed
holdings, two outspoken ladies left the room.
June 13 am Stay tuned, more coming.
June 12 am No updates until
we get The Communicator out the door this afternoon.
June 12 am Here's the code for
that new Sudafed law: §60A-10-4. Purchase, receipt, acquisition and
possession of substances to be used as precursor to manufacture of methamphetamine
or another controlled substance; offenses; exceptions; penalties.
(a) Any person who within any thirty-day period knowingly purchases, receives
or otherwise possesses more than three packages of a drug product containing
as its single active ingredient ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine
or more than nine grams of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine
in any form shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall
be confined in a jail for not more than one year, fined not more than one
thousand dollars, or both.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, any
person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of the provisions
of said subsection or a statute or ordinance of the United States or another
state which contains the same essential elements shall be guilty of a felony
and, upon conviction, shall be confined in a state correctional facility
for not less than one nor more than five years, fined not more than twenty-five
thousand dollars, or both.
June 11 LATE LATE pm From the
mail bag: This is Justin and Crystal Vaughan in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
We would like to wish my mom, Tina Goode, a very happy birthday today.
Also a belated happy birthday to Elva Vaughan and Debbie Looney. Also thank
you for keeping your website up to date. It's nice to read about what's
going on back home everyday. Thank you very much! Justin and Crystal
Vaughan
June 11 Late pm Bobby Kermit
Dorsey, 72, of Lizemores, see Obituary page
June 11 pm Here goes with the
week that was.... With the first week of the month, public
meetings were everywhere. Monday night the School Board and said little
about the construction bids for the new Northern school coming in
$2m high. Even less was said about a back room deal to hire retired Coach
Ron Sirk as Athletic Director nor the county wide outrage on who was selected
for this year's National Honor Society. As is the norm, whenever possible,
the School Board ducked behind closed doors without a motion or reason
for secret times. Full details in Monday's Communicator
June 11 pm Tuesday evening Clay Town
Council met and gave the boot to their first ever pick for a Municipal
Judge, Henry Bear. The lone hold out in the original vote to hire, Betty
Murphy ( she abstained from the vote), grinned as others made the
vote to take away the Judgeship from Bear. With egg on their faces, they
said nothing about another candidate or starting over.
June 11 pm Town leaders gave the thumbs
up for support of a small park (green space) across from the Courthouse
and beside Clay PSD. During their Tuesday meeting they discussed the need
to negotiate a better cable TV franchise with Rapid Cable Co from Colorado.
June 11 pm Mid week came reports of
a secret meeting at Clay County PSD. We called Friday and the office staff
said, not so, No secret meeting was held. As a means to help justify their
next rate increase, the water provider hired Justin Holcomb. By adding
debt, the PSD can ask for higher water rates. Worked before and will work
again.
June 11 pm Wednesday morning after
a domestic petition was filed, folks around Primary Health and a few minutes
later at the Courthouse saw one guy hanging on to a white Cavalier as the
wife/girlfriend tried to shake him loose by hitting the brakes. Acting
quickly, Green Shirt Sgt. Cox defused the situation without bullets, pepper
spray or strong language.
June 11 pm Thursday evening Clay Roane
PSD said they had no intention of raising their water rates. Boardster
Rose Cantrell said before hand, she would NOT vote to raise their already
outrageous (5th highest in the state right now) water rates. With additional
customers coming on their system, Board Chair Grigsby said he felt they
could "absorb" higher wholesale water rates.
June 11pm Thursday morning reports
came of US Marshalls working the area around Ivydale. Later Thursday, plain
clothes were seen at the Courthouse. Thursday evening Sheriff Holcomb would
not comment other than to confirm the Feds in the county.
June 11 pm Friday morning Green Shirts,
Black Shirts from Clay and Nicholas Counties plus Brown Shirts from the
DNR divided up 20 arrest warrants and went to work. First arrest was Snapper
Johnson. They were at it all day and into the night. By 4pm Friday, 7 were
in custody and/or in route to Central Regional Jail. Those picked up are
alleged to have broken a new law which prevents individuals from
purchasing more then small amounts of over the counter drugs like Sudafed.
As late as noon:15 Sunday, Holcomb was still at it, on the scanner to Unit
3: Meet me in the patrol office, I've got one...
June 11 pm Front page story coming
Monday on the arrests in Clay County's only source for news and views,
The Communicator.
June 11 pm By week's end, temps dropped.
Instead of wanting to head over to the Clay County Pool, we put on sweaters.
June 11 pm just another week in small
Town America.
June 9 pm Those already picked
up in today's Sudafed Raid include: Sandra Sears, Michael Short, Steven
Lee Robinson, William Snapper Johnson, Cristian Stuber, Homer Williams
and Christopher Graham. 10 warrants remain outstanding. Badges felt those
would be executed later today.
June 9 pm Only Snapper Johnson
has made the $10,000 cash or Surety Bond. According to the Magistrate's
Office, no one knew the raids were coming as of yesterday. The arrest warrants
came from Nicholas County from over the counter purchases of sudafed products.
June 9 pm New State Code 60-A-10-4a
limits the amount of meth ingredients like suda to 9 grams a month
or in possession.
June 9 am Penalty for violating the
new law is up to 1 year in the slammer, a $1000 fine or both. Second offense
is a Felony.
June 9 pm Top Badge Holcomb is
calling it the Sudafed Round Up.
June 9 pm Beginning this morning when
the Nicholas County Crime Scene Trailer came rolling off Dundon Hill,
Badges have been executing arrests all day long.
June 9 pm As of 2:15 today, 11 arrests
have been made. Sheriff Holcomb commented that more arrests were coming
today. Officers from Nicholas County and DNR are involved in the action.
June 9 pm At the Courthouse, the place
is a mad house. Friends and family from all over the county have
assembled in hopes of making bond for the accused.
June 9 pm The first arrest came this
morning at 10:10 when shirtless William "Scooter" Johnson was brought in
the back door.
June 9 pm Check back or hit the
refresh button for the latest.
June 9 pm The Biggest and Happiest
of 50th Anniversary Wishes to Homer and Phyllis Morton of Lizemores. Want
to do something nice? GIve em a call and say Happy Anniversary.
June 9 pm from the email bag:
Happy Anniversary to my husband Johnnie Hurst - I love you as much today
as the day we met. Thank you, Kristie Hurst
June 9 pm During a public meeting several
months ago, residents were complaining about the number of druggies operating
in our little county. Sheriff Holcomb explained that it takes a while to
gather the needed info to make arrests. He added that he was now getting
"help". When asked why the FBI wasn't involved, Holcomb replied, they are.
He said no more.
June 9 pm There is a certain
air today around the Courthouse. No not the smell of rotten politicians,
something is up.
June 9 pm Ruth Legg, 93, of Duck,
see OBITUARY page
June 9 pm In other matters....
June 9 pm Bob Ore has been an Elk River
Rat all his life. Since retiring from the engineering profession, he built
a home on Elkherst and settled down. Ore ran for County Commission and
came up short against Jimmy Sams. Last June he ran and won the Clendenin
Mayor slot ousting a long time political insider. Since then, the old guard
Councilmen have thrown up every road block they could think of to stop
any Ore initiative.
June 9 pm Council meetings went wild.
People were removed from the public gatherings. One Councilman escorted
his yelling wife from another meeting. Meeting attendance often topped
75 people.
June 9 pm Lawsuits became common in
Clendenin on both sides of the table as well as from municipal residents
backing opposing sides of the table. Some wanted Ore removed from office
while others sought to have 4 of the 5 members of Council removed from
office.
June 9 pm Ore and his Clay County connected
Police Officer Burkhammer made front page Charleston Gazette news Monday,
Tuesday and again today. Ore says he and he alone can hire and fire police
officers. After a late night "harassment style" arrest warrant was
served against the Mayor's wishes, Ore fired Burkhammer.
June 9 pm Immediately, more court papers
were filed, this time by Councilman Tim Hopkins. Hopkins, one of the old
guard on the far side of the table from Ore demanded Burkhammer be put
back on the police department. Hopkins thinks penny inny town rules take
precedence over state code law.
June 9 pm Hopkins and his band on the
other side are wrong. Judge Todd Kaufman said so yesterday. Kaufman ruled
in the injunction, Mayors have the absolute right to hire, fire, and maintain
law enforcement in West Virginia municipalities.
June 9 pm Sound like the Clendenin
war is over. Sound like a court order would make the dimly lit behave?
June 9 pm NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Watch
for the those still trying to hang on to the old regime to come up with
some narrow minded "angle" and continue their assault on the Democracy
where Ore was elected to office by a huge margin.
June 9 pm Small town America at its
worst.
June 9 am Ever have a hunch about
something? Not quite sure but ... still it felt like something was up?
June 9 am We're holding up The Communicator
until Monday.
June 9 am Yesterday, Federal
Badges were in the Ivydale section of the county. Talking here and then
talking around the corner.
June 9 am By mid day the plain
clothes were at the Courthouse.
June 9 am We honestly don't have a
clue of what's going on (maybe nothing) but something just doesn't smell
right.
June 9 am With the hopes of a nice
big juicy story, the paper will be delayed until Monday mid day.
June 9 am Just got this in, cam
you help: The Clay County Landmarks Commission & Historical society
is seeking information on the Mt. Zion Elementary School located on Blue
Knob in Maysel. We are especially interested in hearing from students
and teachers who attended the school as well as neighbors who lived near
by. While photographs, books, class rosters, and other memorabilia would
be most welcome, we are mostly looking for stories about the life and time
when the school was in use. Any one with information about
the school can write to the Clay County Landmarks Commission & Historical
Society at PO Box 670, Clay, WV 25043 or call Miriam Hopkins
after 5 pm at (304) 587-7553.
June 9 am If you're looking for
good stuff to do, check out our EVENTS page and don't forget, O'Brion International
Dirt Track up at Duck will be racing this Saturday beginning at 1pm.
June 9 am Each Friday night over at
Freda's Restaurant at Lizemores, the community center is open with Gospel
tunes until about 9 and then it's Karoke fun until late. Good food, music
and dancing. Get out and cut the rug!
June 8 pm Della Marie Rider,
90, of Lizemores, see OBITUARY page
June 8 pm Homer E Falls of Procious,
see OBITUARY page
June 8 am Traditionally, cutting the
head off a snake kills the snake. In Iraq, we'll see if traditional wisdom
works.
June 8 am Here in Clayberry.....
June 8 am From the email bag:
Just wanted to drop a note and thank you for keeping the Communicator online.
We read it 4-5 times a week. Although I'm not a resident of Clay County,
some of my family originated from there. Again... thanks. If
you have space online.... Please wish Della Butcher of Widen, WV, a Happy
Birthday on June 11. Thanks again, Janet Hodge Smithville,
WV
June 8 am The Red Cross is holding
a blood drive at the Health Dept. Give the gift of life. Vampires at work
11 am to 5pm
June 8 am This is evening at
5 there is a Strategic Planning meeting hosted by the BDA. The 3 hour gathering
will be held at the Clay County Senior Center/Nutrition site at Two Run.
This will be the first of three to map out the direction for becoming
a Certified Business Community. All surrounding counties and most in the
state already have that status. Those interested in growing business in
the county are encouraged to attend.
June 8 am Doesn't sound too interesting?
Free food!
June 8 am Tonight at 7 Clay Roane PSD
holds their monthly get together in the County Commission room in the Courthouse.
The agenda is posted over on the ADVISORY page. For years the Board has
wanted to operate without the likes of Boardster Melissa Postelwait. This
will be the first outing without the troublesome prone MP who resigned
from office right after the May 9th Primary election.
June 8 am The radio station still
has tickets to give away for Monday June 12th's WV Power baseball game
down in Charleston. Yesterday they had 9 left to hand out.
June 8 am We're going into typing
mode until we get the Communicator to bed Friday. No posts unless important
stuff.
June 7 pm a Couple afternoon posts...
June 7 pm Last call, if you want your
event's classifieds, etc. added to Friday's edition of The Communicator,
email them over by 9 am Thursday morning.
June 7 pm Tommy Young and Tommy Young
Jr. were arrested during a routine traffic stop in Ohio.. The two were
in their gray dually pick em up truck. The arrests were made on unanswered
Ohio warrants from a couple years back. Sr was released on bond while Jr.
was held and is being extradited to New York.
June 7 pm Sheriff Holcomb said Wednesday
afternoon Feds had been calling him all day seeking more info. When asked
if the arrests had anything to do with the Genesse County New York murder
case, the Top Badge said he didn't have any more info and anything added
would be just speculation on his part.
June 7 pm Around the county rumors
are rampant. In the last edition of the Communicator was the story of
Bill Fickle gunned down in his own driveway Nov 11th 2005. In that report
was mention of a possible Clay County West Virginia connection to the shooting.
Also mentioned was a flatbed dually pick up truck as the get away vehicle.
We tried to get the Sheriff out on a limb but it didn't work.
June 7 pm Our plan is to get back with
the Sheriff Thursday afternoon for any updates available.
June 7 pm Speaking of law enforcement....
June 7 pm Our little warrior Mike Lanham
was seen plastered at Bullard's last night. Nope, no arrests made.
June 7 pm Family Law day is held each
Wednesday in Clayberry. Divorces, settlements, property and child custody
battles often heat up into dangerous situations for Badges and those involved.
June 7 pm This morning around
9am the Courthouse crew saw some action up close. Before 9:30 am
a couple guys were out back and later inside the Courthouse going at it
tooth and nail. One guy carried a small kid into the Sheriff's office for
safe keeping. A second dude followed him in there and the two were at it
again.
June 7 pm Outside at 9:35 am
A big guy wearing a faded red cap was seen hanging on to a windshield wiper
arm as the female driver tried to make it out of the Courthouse driveway.
Small kid (or kids, not sure), were in the back seat. Even hitting the
brakes and the nose diving down didn't shake the guy from the vehicle.
As the white Cavalier made the end of the driveway and with the guy still
hanging on and yelling "HELP ME, SOME ONE HELP ME!!"
Green Shirt Sgt Cox made it to the scene, blocked the driveway, and
the lady's vehicle came to a halt. Immediately Cox separated the
warring parties ordering the male away and over to the Courthouse
pavilion. The lady yelled out, "HE DOES NOT HAVE CUSTODY OF OUR CHILDREN!!"
Back ups were called.
June 7 pm Moments later Sheriff
Holcomb roared up. After a brief exchange with Sgt Cox, Holcomb high tailed
it inside the Courthouse presumably to the office action.
June 7pm Maybe experience
or training... we saw something with Cox, with blue lights flashing, he
defused the situation without raising his voice, no gun drawn, without
pepper spray, just words. A dangerous, potentially deadly domestic situation
was handled without escalation.
June 7 pm Nice job.
June 7 am First an ooops.. Yesterday
we posted: Youth Advantage Committee recommends
the contract be awarded to Ross IES...beginning July 1 2006 thru June 30
2007... Out of school contract amount not to exceed $370,000 to serve 125..
In school contract not to exceed $391,000 to serve 100 participants...
motion carried. Those dollar figures are not for just Clayberry young
people but for the entire multi county service area, IE the state.
June 7 am Those 225 slots will be divided
among the 9 county district including Clayberry and not the entire
state as we reported. Thanks DL for keeping us straight.
June 7 am Andy Haynes is
operating a new wireless internet service in downtown Clay. For now, the
system works from Telford Chevrolet up to the Fas Chek store. Haynes said
an amplifier will be added real soon allowing for wireless connectivity
from the Dundon bridge to the turn just past Telfords.
June 7 am Do you have a wireless card
in your computer? If so, try it out, no charge for now. Haynes is asking
everyone to try out the new system and report weak spots in the system
for "tweaking". Put your laptop in your car, turn it on, drive up and down
Main Street while surfing the net! Did you ever think that would happen
in Clay?
June 7 am The school system invested
$1000s and $1000s in a wireless system and well.... nothing.
June 7 am Also in the way of miracles
and stuff never expected in our humble little hamlet...
June 7 am Last night during the Clay
Town Council meeting, concensus/support was given to establishing a small
"greenspace" across from the Courthouse. A greenspace is a mini park with
trees, park benches, and grass. Across America, municipalities are trying
to establish such areas to enhance life and provide locals and visitors
a place to just sit and enjoy.
June 7 am During that meeting, the
Town Improvement Council (TIC) asked Council for their support for
such an effort and get this, sit down, Council said Yes to the notion.
June 6 pm Here's something nice
from the mail bag: My Name is Miriam Cliver, I live in Indore and am a
2004 Graduate of Clay County High School... I was wondering if you
could tell My Mother, Darlene Cliver Hello on your web site.. I am Studying
Abroad in England for a month and I can only communicate through email
with her. I think it would brighten her day to see that I went a
little further to show her that I love and miss her and send her greetings
from England. Thank you so much for your time ~Miriam Cliver
June 6 pm For any water or sewer
project to receive government funding, agencies have to got thru many hoops
including permission from the WV Infrastructure Council in Charleston.
That groups meets Wed morning at 9:30am. One their agenda is giving the
green light to OKing outside funding for Queen Shoals PSD and notation
that Clay Roane PSD re applied for Punkin Ridge funding (2002W-686).
June 6 pm A lady was talking
the other day about that little empty lot just across the street from the
new Courthouse. She felt that town could use a little park, a green
space. A place with a couple trees, benches, a pavilion and green grass.
A place to sit if nothing else.
June 6 pm What a great idea.
June 6 pm Towns across America have
discovered the importance of those little green places which add so much
to the livability.
June 6 pm Over the years our county
has been studied to death. Now we're into studying the old studies and
rehashing the hash. In each of those studies, comment is always given to
the need for green space. Will we get one? It's time to get started. The
lot is setting this vacant and perfect.
June 6 am Big day for those interested
in the goins on in Clay. Central Appalachia Empowerment Zone meets at 4
and 6 pm today in their Main Street Clay digs near the DHHR building.
June 6 am Clay Town Council meet at
6pm today in the water plant building. On the agenda is mention of Judge
Henry Bear who resigned his appointed position last week after being absent
from duty for 6 weeks. King Arthur recommended the Maine resident
and Council voted unanimously to hire the guy.
June 6 am By month's end the Youth
Advantage Program as we know it, will be all gone. From the Workforce Investment
Board April 26 meeting minutes: Youth Advantage Committee recommends the
contract be awarded to Ross IES...beginning July 1 2006 thru June 30 2007...
Out of school contract amount not to exceed $370,000 to serve 125.. In
school contract not to exceed $391,000 to serve 100 participants... motion
carried.
June 6 am Those dollar figures are
not for just Clayberry young people but for the entire multi county service
area, IE the state.
June 6 am When government reinvents
itself, our county usually comes up on the short end of the stick.
Happening again even as we type. Lots of $ and most of it stays at the
top. Don't expect any of our kids to be making money in the program this
summer.. this year for that matter.
June 6 am Clay Roane PSD meets
this Thursday evening. Their meeting agenda is posted on our ADVISORY page.
June 6 am If you look at the bottom
of our home page, you'll notice the number of hits on that page since May
2, 2006.
June 6 am The average clicker
comes to this site and checks out three pages each trip.
June 6 am Cindy Schoolcraft resigned
from Clay Co PSD a couple months back. Yesterday she started to work at
Greenlee Properties on Main Street as a sales person.
June 6 am Mark your calendars for July
1. The Town Improvement Council (TIC) is organizing an Independence Weekend
celebration including: town wide yard sale, food booths, pageant, parade
and music show. Contact Town Hall for details. Small town America at its
best.
June 5 pm Almost forgot another birthday
girl today. Under the radar but not forgotten, Sue Whitely, Happy Navel
Day Magistrate Clerk Sue Whitely
June 5 am Happy Birthday to Teresa
Kerns of Two Run.
June 5 am The new Supermarket
near our house has an automatic mister to keep the produce fresh. Just
before it goes on, you hear the sound of a thunderstorm. When you approach
the milk cases, you hear cows mooing. When you approach the egg case, you
hear hens cackle. So far, I have been too afraid to go down the toilet
paper aisle.
June 5 am Tonight the School
Board at 6pm in the Board office on Gump Street. Although they refuse to
follow Open Meeting Laws and post the meeting agenda, School Boardster
does on her web site. From Ms Cercone's site, some of the items to be covered:
Approve the transfer of Joe Paxton from Assistant Principal to Principal
at Clay Middle School, successful bid; Approve the transfer of Eric
Cole from teacher at HE. White Elementary to Kindergarten Teacher at Clay
Elementary School, successful bid (Elaine Reed's former job); Approve
the transfer of Evelyn Ellison from Health Teacher to Social Studies Teacher
at Clay Middle School, successful bid (Dawn Mullins' former job);
Approve the transfer of Sherry Ramsey from Special Education/Resource Teacher
to 1st Grade Teacher at H.E. White Elementary, successful bid (Eric Cole's
former job); Approve the transfer of Kemellia Boggs from Kindergarten
Aide at Ivydale Elementary to Secretary III at the Board of Education Office,
successful bid (Mary K. King's former job); Approve the transfer
of Jo Carver from Cook II at Clay Elementary to Cook III @ CCHS, successful
bid (Linda Truman's former job); Approve the transfer of Robin Belt
from Cook II at Clay Middle to Cook II at Clay Elementary, successful bid
(Jo Carver's former job); Approve the employment of an Assistant
Principal at Clay Middle School, (pending interviews of applicants);
Approve the employment of a Kindergarten Aide at Ivydale Elementary job
posted through June 5, 2006 (Kemellia Boggs' former job); Approve
the employment of a Special Education Personal Care Aide at Clay Elementary
School, job posted through June 5, 2006 (new job); Approve the employment
of a Pre-School Teacher Aide at Lizemore Elementary and H.E. White Elementary,
job posted through June 5, 2006 (Kim Childers' present job); Approve
the employment of a Special Education Personal Care Aide at Clay Middle,
job posted through June 5, 2006 (Brenda Holcomb's present job); Approve
the employment of Gail Simons as Special Education Summer School 1/2 time
Transportation/ 1/2 time Classroom Aide at CCHS, successful bid;
Approve the employment of Dian Fields as Special Education Summer School
1/2 time Transportation/ 1/2 time Classroom Aide at Clay Elementary,
successful bid; Approve the award of $500.00 for Austin Cole to participate
in the People to People Student Ambassador Program in San Francisco, California;
Accept the resignation/retirement of Mary Stanley as Teacher at Clay Elementary
effective June 30, 2006; Conduct a hearing to determine the status
of a student at Clay Middle School; Conduct a hearing to determine
the status of a second student at Clay Middle School.
June 5 am No mention of retired Ron
Sirk getting the nod to continue as Athletic Director for high dollar.
June 5 am Only fine people were
born on this day.
June 4 am From the email bag: Get well
wishes go out to our daddy Tim Casto from Hannah, Colton and Noah we love
you..
June 4 am America sets the standard?
Do we? First they do something un-American, gun down women, children,
and old people. Next comes the quick cover up. When the media picks up
the story denials come first followed by the red faced White House covering
after a quickie investigation. How many times in history have you seen
the enlisted soldier take the brunt for decisions made by top leaders.
Happening again with dog handlers and Marines ready for jail time and worse
as top Brass stand clear of all responsibility..
June 4 am 25 years ago this week, a
new disease was found. At first it sounded like some new strand of pneumonia.
65 million deaths ago and counting, AIDS made front page news for the first
time. At first we didn't care.. it just gets "those" people, you
know, them.... Today we know different.
June 4 am Now with bird flu transmitted
from human to human, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, maybe next
Tuesday, 6-6-06, may have renewed meaning.
June 4 am There have been 2,697
coalition deaths, 2,473 Americans, two Australians, 113 Britons, 13 Bulgarians,
three Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 30 Italians,
one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Romanians, two Salvadoran, three
Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as
of June 2, 2006, according to a CNN count.
June 4 am Here in Clayberry, the thirty
day cycle came again. Government checks arrived. The poorest of the poor
received a pittance to live on. They paid bills, bought gas, trinkets
for the kids, and purchased lottery tickets.
June 4 am Gardens grew. The first
little green tomato buds were seen. Fresh lettuce and onions were turned
into salads. Gardeners waited for deer to wipe out their efforts. We saw
the first 100 degree day of summer. With more age lines and gray hair,
teachers called it quits for ten weeks. Education ended weeks ago.
June 4 am Marian Asbury recovered from
an unprovoked thrashing by Mike Lanham. Little ole ladies called each other
and said they weren't coming to Clay to shop until something is done with
Iron Mike.
June 4 am 106 year old Mary Triplett
was buried this week. With her goes much of our history. The history not
written in text books. The real Clay.
June 4 am The BDA met Thursday. With
$13,000 already spent on the Filcon site for excavation work, the small
group of economic developers met without incident. It was quiet.
June 4 am Saturday night a rainbow
filled the sky. It appeared to start in Charleston and go right over Clayberry
into Braxton County. How appropriate, bypassed again.
June 4 am Every day, a male co-worker
walks up very close to a lady standing at the coffee machine, inhales a
deep breath of air and tells her that her hair smells nice. After a week
of this, she can't stand it anymore, takes her complaint to a supervisor
in the personnel department and asks to file a sexual harassment grievance
against him. The Human Resources supervisor is puzzled and asks, "What's
sexually threatening about a co-worker telling you your hair smells nice?"
The woman
replies, "It's Dave...............the midget."
June 3 pm Wilma Marie Duffield Beasley,
see OBITUARY page
June 3 pm New pics over on the PHOTO
page
June 3 am Albert Pritt. 77, of
Clay, see OBITUARY page
June 3 am Commissioner elect Link still
has his campaign web site up and running. The June 1st post reads: The
Clay Pool is getting a new liner that will save thousands of dollars. Last
summer we lost approximately 6,000 gallons of water each day. The addition
of this new liner will pay for itself in a short period of time. Thanks
to the efforts of Don Jarvis, Cindy Willis, John Romano and many others.
Also the cooperation of the Board of Education and Parks and Recreation
made this grant possible. Working Together Makes a Bettter Clay County!
June 3 am Seems the good Commish
Elect neglected to mention the $10,000 the County Commission donated to
the pool upgrade and the cooperation from the CCC to get her did.
June 3 am People give us double H over
spelling and typos on this site. That "bettter" in Link's last line is
his typing not ours. Give credit where credit is due, or doo, or do.
June 2 pm Some postings
are harder to do than others.
June 2 pm Donald R. “Firpo”
Jones of Clay, see OBITUARY page
June 2 pm With an 80% of heavy
rain and thunder boomers this afternoon, Clay is a bustling. the "checks"
arrived yesterday. Citizenry went about paying bills and buying for the
next 30 day period. Main Street Clay is packed. Around the county yard
sales are the hot ticket item.
June 2 pm Be sure to check out
our EVENTS page for lots of stuff to do this weekend.
June 2 pm Last night the Business
Development Authority met and voted to continue work at the old Filcon
plant site now called the Valley Fork Industrial Park. The plan is to raise
6 to 8 acres around 3 to 4 feet out of the flood plane and erect
a building there. They have spent over $13,000 on the excavation work so
far.
June 2 pm A man in WV had a flat
tire, pulled off on the side of the road, and proceeded to put a bouquet
of flowers in front of the car and one behind it. Then he got back in the
car to wait.
A passerby studied
the scene as! he drove by and was so curious he turned around and went
back. He ask ed the fellow what the problem was. The man replied, "I have
a flat tire." The passerby asked, "But what's with the flowers?"
The man responded, "When you break down they tell you to put flares in
the front and flares in the back! I never did understand it either"
June 2 pm Clay County's worst air disaster
occurred when a small two-seater Cessna 150 plane, piloted by two local
politicians, crashed into a cemetery earlier today. Search and Rescue workers
have recovered 300 bodies so far and expect the number to climb as digging
continues into the evening.! The pilot and copilot survived and are
helping in the recovery efforts
June 2 am Happy 3rd Birthday wishes
to Noah Tanner from his Grandparents, Charles and Keyota Braley and Uncles
Aric & Briar and Aunt Autumn.
June 2 am Just got this in the
email bag: Mary Workman says "Howdy" from sunny San Diego.
Mary went to San Diego to attend Sharon's graduation. Sharon
graduated from Cuyamaca College with a degree in Computer Information System.
The weather is great, no humidity. Mary does miss her friends and her co-workers
at Heart to Heart. See you all next week.
June 2 am Lets do some catching
up....
June 2 am Back in April Henry Bear
was appointed Municipal Judge. Right after the appointment and after requesting
$100 for work performed, he skid addled. During the last 8 weeks, Bear
has emailed and phoned stating his eminent return to his duty of setting
up a municipal court for the Town . The idea was to hold Court and generate
revenues for the town. Bear and others felt that enough money could be
made from tickets to fill town coffers.
June 2 am During those discussions,
no mention was made of law and order and the need for a court system for
anything other than making money.
June 2 am Yesterday afternoon
Henry Bear resigned his position. A portion of his email reads: Jeff
Davis would have already informed you that Violet and I have returned to
our property in Maine. Our plan is to spend the summer enjoying our four
grown children and seven grandchildren on the coast. Our thoughts and
prayers are, however, still with you and the citizens of Clay. Keep up
the great work Andy and keep giving 'em hell. Many, many thanks to
the leadership of Clay for the honor of having been appointed Clay's
first Municipal Judge.
June 2 am We have an update on
Marian Asbury who was attacked Saturday afternoon on Main Street by Mike
Lanham. Marian is able to hobble around his apartment now with damage to
his hip, and scars on his shoulder & chest. Bonnie Jarrett from the
Hotel has been feeding him in his upstairs apartment.
June 2 am As for the attack, Marian
says that he was sitting on the park bench in front of the flower shop
when Lanham started yelling out "I'm Iron Mike" and acting like Hulk Hogan.
After picking up Asbury and shaking the S*** out of him, Lanham, " Have
you had enough!!!!!" Asbury, " Yes, I didn't want any of it to begin with!!"
June 2 am Asbury high tailed it around
the corner and headed up the stairs to his apartment. But not before Lanham
grabbed him again and slung him to the ground.
June 2 am Asbury says he didn't do
anything to provoke Lanham and tried to get away.
June 2 am Think of it this way clickers.
With out of control Mike Lanham walking the streets of Clay seven days
a week, who's next? Maybe the little ole lady getting her hair done? How
about those buying at the grocery store? Just pop into the local water
, electric, or gas company office to pay a bill? Yelp, you could be the
next victim and maybe not as lucky as Marian Asbury.
June 2 am For safety sake, maybe shopping
in downtown Clay should be avoided all together.
June 2 am Some cities provide
traffic reports. Maybe Clayberry should provide Mikey reports.
June 2 am A couple weeks ago
the new massage therapy business opened in Clay. Last week wireless internet
became a reality for downtown Clay. Now, another new business for the county:
INTRODUCING- OUTSIDE SERVICES UNLIMITED TREE TRIMMING & REMOVAL
LAWN SERVICES-MOWING AND WEED EATING WE OFFER QUALITY
WORK AT A QUALITY PRICE FREE ESTIMATES
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED HOURS OF OPERATION MONDAY- SATURDAY
7AM-6PM REFERENCES AVAILAIBLE UPON REQUEST 304-552-5867
June 2 am Over on our homepage
we've added Linda's Upper Cut Styling Salon. Take a look at the services
offerd.
June 2 am Need outdoor power equipment?
Need to buy or sell property? How about better TV reception? Office supplies?
June 2 am Easy shopping right
on our homepage. Just a click away.
June 1 pm John Herald lives on Reed
Fork Road. He is a retired maintenance man for the Dept. of Public Safety.
June 1 pm A couple weeks ago John,
a buddy and a little kid hitched up the john boat and headed to Charles
Fork Lake near Spencer in Roane County for some Saturday afternoon
fishing fun. At the lake lots of people were fishing including one guy
out in the middle with a big Ranger brand power boat with gas motor affixed
but not in the wa wa. John put in, fired up the little motor and headed
to the far end of the pond. His first visit to the lake was going well
when a shore line fisherman yelled out that the Badges were ready to arrest
him!
June 1 pm Arrest?
June 1 pm Heading for the boat ramp,
John noticed two DNR officers with shotguns and another equally formidable
crew of Badges with a big power boat readying to make the water assault
on the Clay County fishing crew.
June 1 pm Yelp, John Herald got a ticket
($173.50) for using a gas motor on a boat in Charles Fork Lake. Charles
Fork Lake is without ANY signs warning people about using gas motors on
water craft. NONE. Not one!
June 1 pm As for the riot ready "Possum
Cops" as many call them, John asked, " You guys look like you're ready
to go after Osama?" They didn't laugh. Instead they said the regulations
are in the handbook and just because there aren't any signs, doesn't make
any difference.
June 1 pm Mr. Herald also received
a warning ticket for having an adult size life vest on the kid. Herald
said the Cabbala's vest was cinched up tight and fit the kid well.
June 1 pm A quick look at the cover
of the 2006 Fishing regulations handbook shows two kids in a boat
with much too big life jackets being worn. For laws to work , they have
to be fair. Having signs up indicating any restrictions is also a plus
for travelers.
June 1 pm According to
Mr. Herald, that first trip to Roane County will be his last. He said he
was never goin' back. Now that's the way to grow tourism in Roane
County!
June 1 am From the email bag:
Mika and Savanna Cadle of Bomont, would like to wish their Daddy, Michael
“David” Cadle of Procious a Very Happy Birthday for June 1, 2006.
June 1 am Today at 5pm the Clay
County Business Development Authority meets in regular session at the Courthouse.
Out at the Valley Fork Industrial site, more dirt is being moved around.
June 1 am If you like yard sales
and deals, be sure to check out our EVENTS page. Warm weather and the beginning
of a new month, perfect timing for yard sale fun.
June 1 am Company towns, like Widen
for instance, often resulted in one way of the highway. Today a handful
of news outlets can say what will be and won't be made public. The FCC
is now considering letting one company own TV, Radio and Newspaper outlets.
One
person, one voice, limited alternative views, that's the way they like
it.
June 1 am Independent news and
local content, almost a thang of the past.