April
07 News
April 30 pm The Communicator
made it to the news stands around 4pm Monday. The lead story contains the
findings of the Community Design Team. 24 pages of news and views
on Clayberry West Virginia
April 30 pm This is a big week
for public meetings. Clay Town Council convenes at 6pm at the Water Plant.
CAEZ's Eco/Dev Committee meets at 4pm followed by the full Board meeting
at 6pm. CAEZ meetings are held in their Main Street Clay office near
the DHHR building.
April 30 pm Thursday evening
the Business Development Authority holds their monthly meeting in the CCC
room beginning at 5pm
April 30 pm From the email
bag this: Fisherman fishing Laurel Creek there is a slimy snake steeling
stuff from the cars and trucks parked there , see they don't work for a
living they have all the time in the world to steal off of honest hard
working people, So lock up your stuff or better take it out before you
go fishing there , They stole a new tool box full of tools and an
open faced fishing pole out of the back of our pickup truck it was in our
topper with the door closed, so to the ones that stole these tools sell
them and buy you some crack cause you sure are not going to work with them
!!! you know who you are!!! that is if you can READ , please pass the word
along it could keep these thugs from new found income ,So if you see some
shady looking creep trying to sell a new black and diamond plated tool
box full of tools and a open faced fishing pole call the sheriff's
office he will know what to do, also my husband was fishing with you and
he has a good idea who you are !!!
April 30 pm Sounds like somebody ain't
too happy.
April 30 pm from the email
bag .... TICK WARNING: I hate it when people forward bogus warnings, and
I have even done it myself a couple times unintentionally... but this one
is real, and it's important. So please send this warning to everyone on
your e- mail list. If someone comes to your front door saying they are
checking for ticks due to the warm weather and asks you to take your clothes
off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT!!
THIS IS A SCAM!! They only want to see you naked. I wish I'd
gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid.
April 30 pm
A circus owner walked into a bar to find everyone crowded about a
table watching a little show. On the table was an upside-down pot and a
duck tap dancing on it. The circus owner was so impressed that he offered
to buy the duck from its owner. After some wheeling and dealing they settled
for $10,000 for the duck and the pot. Three days later the circus
owner runs back to the bar in anger, "Your duck is a rip-off! I put him
on the pot before a whole audience and he didn't dance a single step!"
"That's strange" said the duck's former owner, "did you remember to light
the candle under the pot?"
April 30 pm All pooped out tonight,
better post on Tuesday.
April 29 pm Harold J. Woods,
82, see OBITUARY page
April 29 pm From the last seven days...
April 29 pm Remember when out leaders
told us that Iraq was an immanent threat? Now Condi
has stepped back from those claims.
April 29 pm Remember when the Courts
said that those prisoners at Guantamo had to be released? There
still there.
April 29 pm Despite their parliament
building getting blown up four weeks, John McCain says Baghdad is doing
much better. This week American forces lobbed artillery
rounds into that safe part killing untold numbers of civilians. Now
that's the way to make friends!
April 29 pm Not some pee ant,
a big
cheese from the intelligence community says all the new killing is
revenge for the hanging of Sadamn.
April 29 pm In early Jan Dubbya
said his new plan of attack, a surge, actually an escalation, would do
the trick. Now 90 days into it, maybe it's time for the next plan for victory.
Surge
assessments being held up.
April 29 pm According Mr Murtha, there
have been 53% more American deaths in the last four months. The last election
should have told Washington we want out. They're still not listening.
April 29 pm There have been 3,604 coalition
deaths -- 3,334 Americans, two Australians, 145 Britons, 13 Bulgarians,
six Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 32 Italians,
one Kazakh, three Latvian, 19 Poles, two Romanians, five Salvadoran, four
Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war in Iraq
as of April 26, 2007, according to a CNN count
April 29 pm Closer to home it was a
big week as well. Badges arrested Tracy Sizemore for her part for phoning
in fake prescriptions to Rite Aid. Considered a star and from a good family,
it only goes to show how prevalent the drug trade is in Clayberry.
April 29 pm Wednesday morning during
the County Commission meeting, more concrete plans were made public to
build a 23 mile road from the Hartland bridge over to Rt 19 in Nicholas
County. The road would also provide a minimum of 1500 flat to rolling acres
for development. More business, more homes. Already the near sighted are
poo pooing the idea.
April 29 pm With Commissioner Prez
Triplett out of action with a virus, Fran and Jolly made it official with
a no vote for a proposed Flood Planning Ordinance. Zoning is dead for now.
April 29 pm Badges arrested Tommy Young
Jr and Jeremy Salisbury on grand larceny charges. Their target was a bulldozer.
April 29 pm Thursday evening
a WVU group called the Community Design Team moved into Clay for three
days. Their goal was to determine what's good and bad with downtown Clay
and provide answers. We put on a great dog and pony show with few snags.
Those folks were pretty darn good. After just a few days, they were able
to scope out many real issues behind our third world status. The complete
run down will be Monday's Communicator, but., in a nutshell, there was
no mention of growing smoke stacks, and pollution belchers. The 12 person
group keyed in on our potential as a tourist spot. Hmmmm..,
have we heard that before? They said to develop and grow existing resources.
Stuff like, the new ball park, the BC&G RR, the new campground, the
Elk River, side roads for biking, and make downtown Clay "quaint" with
arts and craft stores.
April 29 pm They mentioned the lack
of co-operation between different committees, elected boards, and authorities,
the need for a PR person to put our best foot forward, a person to coordinate
grant writing efforts, and the obvious, redo the sidewalks, put up period
streetlights, either use the parking meters or take them out, road signs
in and around Clay are missing or less than informative, etc.
April 29 pm This makes about
the third such group coming in here explaining the obvious. Maybe this
time it will take
April 29 pm Friday night over at Clay
County Park, all the Little Leaguers showed up for a Lighting the Ball
Park. it was great seeing all the kids out on the field as the new $76,000
lights were told on. The weather cooperated and the lights even worked.
April 29 pm Telford's Chevy made
it thru another week. Word on the street had them shutting down Friday.
Didn't happen. We talked to Rick Tanner Friday evening and he said he still
had a job there and was reporting for duty Saturday. Back in Jan, TG Cruickshanks
told The Communicator that a deal for a company to buy them out would
be completed by March. Now almost May, the guess, the deal with General
Truck Sales is off. There still open but with hardly any inventory, what's
up. Maybe a locally owned partnership is in the works.
April 29 pm This weekend, people planted
the last of the cabbage, dug more ramps, washed their cars, and cooked
out. With all the problems, Clayberry is still a great place to call
home.
April 29 am Did you put
on an extra cover last night? Chilly and wet in Clay with today predicted
to be sun filled. Just perfect for molly moochers to pop up again. Nothing
says Spring like mushrooms and ramps. Yum Yum
April 29 am Weekend wrap up coming.
Just too seepy at 1 in the morning. Should be posted by noon Sunday
April 28 am Charles Brooks Tanner,
67, of Nebo, see OBITUARY page
April 28 am Clyde C. Cook,
age 78, see OBITUARY page
April 28 am From the email bag:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARL HUDNALL JR, YOU ARE GONE, BUT YOU WILL NEVER BE
FORGOTTEN!! WE LOVE AND MISS
YOU VERY MUCH, FROM ALL OF YOUR FAMILY
April 28 am At three minutes
and four seconds after 2 o'clock on the 6th of May this year, the time
and date will be 02:03:04 05:06:07.
April 28 am The biggy for the
today will be preliminary findings for the Community Design Team. That
comes tonight at 7pm in the Lion's Club building. 12 folks from the WVU
community have been in town giving the place a once over. A formal report
comes later.
April 28 am Friday morning the Team
heard from various business leaders. Friday afternoon they toured Lake
Sampson, the old Courthouse, the JG Bradley Campground, and the Swinging
bridge on Elkhurst. Friday night they attended the lighting ceremony at
Clay Park near Maysel.
April 28 am We had a chance to talk
to Teflord Chevy's Ric "Nebo Warrior" Tanner Friday evening. He said he
still had a job when he left and planned to show up for duty Saturday.
April 28 am Two cars on the lot....
more pick up trucks gone.... employees being laid off... and not a peep
on General Truck Sales taking over. Something ain't smelling right. Maybe
there's something else brewing.
April 28 am We held up the Communicator
until Monday so as to include the Design Team findings and Mikey stuff.
April 27 am We're holding up the Communicator
until Monday afternoon. Sorry for the delay but it will be worth the wait.
Deadline for notices, classifieds, etc., is Saturday at noon.
April 27 am So how do you go about
stealing from the tenants of Maysel Manor/Anderson Heights Apartments?
Here's one way. Mark the apartment as vacant while occupied. Makes things
much easier when tenants are told to pay in cash too. Both happened.
April 27 am Here's another way, tell
tenants to pay their security deposits in cash and then don't write down
that the deposit had been paid.
April 27 am If it hadn't been for those
pesky tenants that insisted on a written receipt, no one would have ever
known. As for how much was actually swiped, we may never know exactly,
but as more and more tenants are speaking up, the dollar amount is growing
growing daily.
April 27 am In a written correspondence
with Encore, the USDA folks want the management firm to turn in the
loss (minus the missing equipment) into their insurance provider instead
of prosecuting the former site supervisor. It makes it much less public
that way. Keep everything quiet!
April 27 am Full details Monday in
the Communicator
April 27 am Tommy Young Jr was arrested
Thursday afternoon. Stolen goods seems to be the charge. More as
we get it
April 27 am Mikey Lanham went
before Magistrate Boggs Thursday. Boggs said Yelp, sure looks like Lanham
violated the terms of his suspended sentence from punching out that little
tubby reporter last April 5th. After Mr. Boogs, Iron Mikey went across
the hall to Magistrate King where he was locked up until his attorney can
come up with some way to defend the out of control fight prone Mikey.
April 27 am Here's a parcel listing
of Lanham's adult criminal history: 11 felony charges; 9 battery
convictions, and a total of 66 misdemeanors. even after all that,
the little feller doesn't seem to learn . During the Thursday's court room
appearances, he made threatening remarks to the Sheriff, Prosecutor, and
others.
April 27 am The Community
Design team is in town today and Saturday. Remember , be on your best behavior.
April 27 am Free ball game tonight
at Clay County Park. CCHS takes on Roane County. Go Clay!
April 27 am She was in
the kitchen preparing to boil eggs for breakfast. He walked
in; She turned and said, Joe You've got to make love to me
this very moment." His eyes lit up and he thought, "This is my lucky
day." Not wanting to lose the moment, he embraced her and then gave it
his all ...... right there on the kitchen table. Afterwards she said, "Thanks,"
and returned to the stove. More than a little puzzled, he asked,
"What was that all about?" She explained, "The
egg timer's broken."
April 27 am With the lights blinking
off and on, storm suppose to be coming... that's all for now.
April 26 pm Shirlene Brashears,
60, of Bomont, see OBITUARY page
April 26 pm Eugene “Pops” Duffield,
see OBITUARY page
April 26 am The Flood Plain Zoning
Ordinance is dead... for now. During Wednesday's County Commission meeting,
Fran and Slinky voted no. Peter Triplett was absent with the flu.
April 26 am More interesting
was a presentation by Fola Coal on a new 22+ mile two lane road connecting
Clayberry to Rt. 19 in Nicholas County. In addition to easy access, the
plan calls for a minimum of 1500 "rolling" acres of developable land along
the roadbed, in Clay County. Water sewer, and power easements are
also called for in the plan.
April 26 am Already there are several
opposed to the road mentioning that everybody would head over the hill
to Summersville and downtown Clay would turn into a dust ball. Of course
the other way of looking at it is, with 1500 acres to develop, a bunch
of new business would certainly help what's left of downtown. Additional
tax base, additional families, additional everything.
April 26 am If the road plan
is not a way to get around cleaning up the environmental mess on the old
Vandala strip mine site, it's a no brainer. Build it, they will come.
April 26 am In the way of an
update on the Maysel Manor/Anderson Heights Apartments mess, Commissioner
King answered some questions Wednesday. According to Franny, the Housing
Authority is getting NO support from the USDA; and if something doesn't
change by Friday noon, she plans to call up TV, radio, and newspaper
outlets and spill her guts on the many many problems with the county's
two public housing projects.
April 26 am When she promised that
same action back in Feb ( the gas crisis), government agencies got their
thumbs out of their butts and actually did something. Stay tuned
clickers, Friday afternoon may get interesting.
April 26 am A memorial service was
held outside the Courthouse yesterday. The stats provided by the speakers
were alarming...
April 26 am Since Jan 1 07, there
have been 29 child abuse and neglect "actions" in the county
April 26 am Clay has the third
highest percentage of cases in the state
April 26 am There have been 42
cases of Domestic Violence in Clay so far in 07
April 26 am In 2005, 20 out of
100 West Virginia kids were victims of neglect or abuse. Those are the
convictions, not cases. Many more instances are thought to have gone
undetected.
April 26 am Little Mikey Lanham
is back in custody after a several days of looking by the Badges.
April 26 am Why is "bra" singular
and "panties" plural?
April 26 am Why do toasters always
have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp
April 26 am If a deaf person
has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?
April 26 am Can you cry under
water?
April 25 am County Commission meets
this morning at 10 am. In addition to the Flood Plain Ordinance vote, they
have appointments to various committees to make. They also have to do with
personnel issues at the Ambulance Service. With the phone call to Rite
Aid made during a work shift, this stuff is serious business.
April 25 am Last year we lost a major
grocery store. A year before that we lost a furniture store.
April 25 am The future of the local
car dealership, Telford's Chevy, is in limbo. Most employees have been
laid off including the salesman.
April 25 am Try buying a new
pair of dress shoes in Clay, dress slacks, suit, or get clothes dry cleaned.
You can't. The number of business licenses have been going
down for decades. Much of Main Street Clay is filled with low budget non
profits and government offices.
April 25 am Beginning Thursday evening
and extending the next three days, a group of WVU folks will be in town
having a look see on what needs improved to make Clayberry a viable community.
April 25 am After talking with the
taxpayers and businesses, the Community Design Team will preset their findings
to the public Saturday night, 7pm in the Lion's Club Casino.
They are also asking the public to come out Friday evening, 7pm for a Community
meeting. While neither meeting is a dress up affair, please put in
your teeth and wear shoes.
April 25 am Having been studied to
death for 30 years, their findings should show little different from all
those in the past. Stuff like: the sidewalks need replaced; we need wheelchair
accessibility, road signs are missing in many places, store fronts need
to be upgraded, store signs are atrocious, the Elk River banks on both
sides are filthy, we need trees on Main Street, period lighting, benches,
flower pots, a small park, and more just to compete with other third world
nations.
April 25 am It's all about getting
grants and local support to improve the place. Both are in short supply
in Clayberry.
April 25 am Here's the link to the
WVU
press release.
April 24 pm Motorcyclists, see ADVISORY
page
April 24 am Arley "Fip" Gray,
84, see OBITUARY page
April 24 am Spencer Markle, 46,
see OBITUARY page
April 24 am From the email bag:
Megan Workman, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! Remember your goals!!!!!! Hang in there,
I am here if you need me. Love and miss u Aunt Sharon
April 24 am From the email bag:
Stephanie Young has successfully passed the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy
Technician Licensing Exam. Stephanie is employed by Rite-Aid Pharmacy
in Clay. Congratulations to Stephanie from her co-workers at Rite-Aid
April 24 am On April 20th, 30 year
old Christopher Coulter walked into Rite Aid to pick up Clonazephan phoned
in earlier in the day. With the call in a fake, Black Shirts arrested
the lad as soon as he paid for the drugs. He stands charged with
two felonies.
April 24 am That's the old news.
April 24 am Monday afternoon, Tracy
Sizemore was arrested for her part in the drug deal. Ms Sizemore, an employee
of the Clay Ambulance Service and formerly with Clay Primary Care, phoned
in the prescription saying she was someone else who worked at Primary.
According to the police report, Tracy confessed to the felony.
April 24 am With Sizemore saying
her income was zero and receiving a free attorney, the guess is, the County
Commission (operators of the ambulance service) fired her on the spot.
April 24 am County Commission's Wednesday
morning agenda calls for a secret time to discuss ambulance personnel .
Guess we know what that's about this time.
April 24 am Anybody seen Mikey
Lanham? Police are looking for him concerning his return visit to Johnny
Bowman's home at Wallback. Tell Mikey to report to the Sheriff's office.
April 24 am Wayne King lost his attorney
license Feb 16th for ethics violations. His suspension was for two months.
A quick look at the State
Bar web site last night reveals, Mr King is still without a license
to practice law.
April 23 am Pauline Irene Keener
Hardway, 87, see OBITUARY page
April 23 am James Scott, Happy
Birthday
April 23 am Also , Birthday wishes
extended to Donnie Peck Jr
April 23 am Belated Birthday
wishes to Harold "The Water Man" Allen
April 23 am We stink in Clay.
Half the county was at the Big Otter Ramp feed Sunday. The other half of
the county has been frying ramps at home. If in the county, don't stand
upwind of anyone!
April 23 am County Commission
meets this Wednesday at 10 am. During the last Flood Plain Ordinance, all
three promised to veto any vote to implement the proposed zoning law.
Might want to be there just in case.
April 23 am Mikey Lanham doesn't learn
easy. After making bond, he was back at his most recent victims residence.
April 23 am A life sentence wouldn't
be long enough for that guy.
April 22 am Connie Moore, 51,
of Clay, see OBITUARY page
April 22 am Randall Koch, 60,
see OBITUARY page
April 22 am From the email bag:
Do you know anyone that might have any extra ramps that they would be willing
to give to me. I always have been able to get my own until I have
been ill this past year unable to gather them myself. I also love
to have fresh poke greens but I am afraid that I won't have any of them
either. If you know of anyone that is willing to let me have a good mess
to cook myself I would be grateful. Thank you Nancy Collins 587-4993
April 22 am MARK LACHER AND TONYA
DELARWELLE(FORMERLY OF PROCIOUS WV) OF APPLE VALLEY CALIFORNIA are proud
to announce the birth of their son Isaiah Joseph Lacher. Isaiah was born
at Victorville community hospital on April 10,2007 weighin 9 lb 1 0z n
21 1/4 inches long. Isaiah would like to send some special lovin to his
big sister Kayla Cummings of Procious . his grandma Kathy Runion and grandpa
Frankie Runion of Procious and his aunt Christina of Clay and his
Uncle Chris of Procious and his cousins jess and krisitin. .. we thank
god for our bundle of joy with god all things are possible..
April 22 am Looking back...
April 22 am Monday afternoon the big
robes in Washington decided women aren't smart enough to think for themselves.
The Supreme Court said they knew better than doctors, what's best for a
women, when they tossed an important life saving technique commonly known
as partial birth.
April 22 am Over at Virginia
Tech a nut killed 32 absolutely innocent fellow students and instructors.
Instead of zeroing in on the dismal performance of mental professionals,
media jumped on the need to eliminate gun rights and ownership from law
abiding citizens.
April 22 am On that same day 180 people
were killed in Iraq without a peep, making April the deadliest month in
5.
April 22 am In Washington, during
a fourth attempt to re invent the oil war, back room discussions center
around making someone other than the Shrub, head of the war effort.
Hot potato Hot potato, Pass the buck!
April 22 am Locally, during the Tuesday
night during the School Board meeting, artfully crafted wordsmithing made
public the need to come up with an additional $1/2 million for a poop factory
at the new Valley Dale Elementary School near Big Otter.
April 22 am Word came that Elk
Power would remain under the Musser Company umbrella while 6 other divisions
were mandated to be given/sold to more responsible corporations.
Additional rate increases were provided Elk Power to reward less than honorable
leadership in the Musser Empire.
April 22 am David Pierson is
a local businessman and community leader and giver. With his hat now in
the ring to run for County Commission, Commissioner Peter Triplett now
has his hands full during the May 2008 Primary Election. Look for several
others to enter the contest this Summer.
April 22 am Friday morning business
leaders met at a local restaurant to get their heads together on issues
facing the county. Although mostly a brag session and free meal, good may
come from such elbow rubbing.
April 22 am The week was filled with
more info on the sorely lacking management at High Street and Maysel
Manor apartments. The finger pointed at the for profit group, Encore Management
Company from Charleston. Instead of growing to the task of correcting serious
problems under their watch, they reverted to the time honored tradition
of lets keep this stuff secret and it's the messenger's fault, not
ours.
April 22 am In addition to Encore,
this site pointed the finger at the other professional group charged with
making sure our local assets are properly cared for, the USDA. A planned
meeting of the local oversight group, Clay Housing Authority, was not held
Tuesday.
April 22 am It's been a full
week without a local Manager or repair man. Both apartment complexes remain
without smoke detectors, fire alarms, and with poop dripping into lower
level apartments, windows busted out and locks that don't lock. Pitiful!
April 22 am On the plus side, Saturday
morning, kids from all over the county gathered at Dundon field for the
first day of baseball season. They ran, they climbed fences, stuffed sand
down other's pants, drank pop, and ate hot dogs. Our future leaders had
a great day under blue skies and bright sunshine. America at its best!
April 22 am And. it's ramp season in
Clay. The Appalachian tradition got into full swing with the first ramp
feeds held. With green residue in their smile and breaking wind worse than
a busted sewer plant, we're crapping green once again and darn proud of
it!
April 22 am Be real quiet, don't
tell Encore... they've probably stopped reading by now....
April 22 am Behind the scenes and away
from public scrutiny, low levels from the company did come into town to
discuss stuff. Details coming. Here's our prediction: Nothing, absolutely
nothing will change after the media hype dies down. Those in need of low
cost public housing will continue to live in an unhealthy environment devoid
of standards most of consider "the basics." As for the Feds, USDA, response:
How can we make this go away. As for the local Housing Authority:
More foot stomping but with little more than lip service provided.
The quaqmire will continue.
April 22 am Hope that prediction has
to be eaten!
April 21 am Randall Koch, 60,
see OBITUARY page
April 21 am From the email bag:
tell anita ferrebee that she is not forgotten, and that she is very much
missed. Rich
April 21 am Today is opening
day for Little League Baseball in Clay. Fun starts at 9am with Opening
Ceremonies followed by lots of baseball.
April 21 am The 2008 County Commission
election is now underway. During a Clay Fire Department meeting, local
business man and School Board member Dave Pierson made it official, he's
running for County Commission. Incumbent CCC President Peter Triplett plans
to seek reelection next May as well.
April 21 am If Pierson is elected
to the Commission, the make up will consist of two former school board
member and a former school superintendent.
April 21 am Last night around
11:40 came a 911 Dispatch. Be on the Look Out for a silver Cadillac driven
by Allan Painter.... coming from Fayette County and related to a domestic
complaint near Jody.
April 20 am Greetings Lake Wales,
Lakeland, Zellwood, Inverness, and The Villages Florida
clickers. Glad to have you along.
April 20 am For those clickers far
from home: The Elk RIver is high and brown, thick enough to plow; yesterday
was quiet in Clay with many folks just leaning against parking meters and
chatting.
April 20 am Harold Allen is the service
guy at Clay County PSD. He's also a blues musician second to few. Tonight
at 9:30 pm on WV Public Radio, Mr Blues and Terri Lively will be featured
on Joe Dobbs' Music from the Mountains show. Tune in!
April 20 am What happens when
people get caught doing little to earn their keep. Almost always
they say it's all a lie; you don't know what you're talking about; and,
I'll sue the B**##!!!ds.
April 20 am After five days in the
spotlight, of course we're talking about Encore Management. Instead of
stomping their feets, wouldn't it be refreshing for the for-profit company
to come out from under their veil of secrecy and say: We've screwed up,
we can and will do better, Yes we'll provide the financials we've been
hiding for years from the owners, the citizens of Clay County, and lets
get started today.
April 20 am Makes too much sense doesn't
it?
April 19 pm Clay Primary Health
is known for being tight lipped. Word on the street has it the place
was closed down today after a wall mounted blood pressure "cuff" spilled
mercury on a floor.
April 19 pm Phone calls revealed
little more than 'We opened at 1pm today." Any questions call Ric Simons
545-0571
April 19 pm All Board meetings
of the group are closed to the public as are minutes and anything related
to the operation. Sadly this has been allowed to go on for years even with
the whole darn placed funded by tax dollars. The mortgage is still paid
from Legislative funds.
April 19 am 17 year old Anthony
Bishop has been missing since Sunday. When you see Mr. Bishop, kick
his hind end and tell him to go home. His Mother is worried to death. You
can reach her at 587-9937
April 19 am Here's something left out
of the current edition of The Communicator. William Miller brought around
notice of a Friday evening, April 20th, Community Emergency Response Team
(CERT) meeting in the CCC room beginning at 6pm.
April 19 am What's a CERT? From the
brochure: it's a training program that prepares the community in
the event of a disaster and backs up first responders. The public
is encouraged to attend.
April 19 am We have an update on little
Mikey Lanham. He's still in jail waiting on someone to go his $8800 bail.
He's charged with battery, obstructing, trespassing, and public intox.
April 19 am We had a chance to talk
to Lanham's latest victim Johnny Bowman yesterday. Sounds like Iron Mikey,
as he likes to call himself, crashed a picnic, was asked to leave, an altercation
between Lanham and Bowman got underway in Bowman's yard. Bowman got in
some good blows (was a Golden Gloves Boxer) but ended up tripping over
some logs in his yard. While down, Lanham did a goal post style kick (maybe
more than one) to Bowman's temple. Mr Bowman was released from the hospital
with a a broken jaw, busted teeth, a concussion, and swelling in the head.
April 19 am A kick in the temple can
kill. Sure seems like battery isn't a strong enough charge. Time will tell.
April 19 am Although the jail web site
heading said sentenced, ain't true. According to Magistrate Boggs, before
probation can be yanked, a hearing has to be held.
April 19 am We haven't talked
about Elk Power Co in a while.... Last report was the horribly mismanaged
utilities being forced into receivership.
April 19 am Elk Power and it's sister
companies of the Musser Empire have made a deal where four of the electric
companies and two water PSD's will be spun off to new ownership. Elk, Black
Diamond, and Union Power Companies are the only units left under Musser
Co control.
April 19 am The Empire's foundation
started to crumbled right after they asked for a rate increase and WV Public
Service Commission started poking around the books. That was Nov 2004.
On April 27 2005, the rate increase request turned into a full blown, investigation
into purchasing practices. Somewhere in there Elk Power's supplier, AEP
cut them off for huge past due bills. During a public session of the PSC,
it came to light, Musser was skimming off utility dollars to private ventures.
Uhhhh.. that's a real no no.
April 19 am As for Elk Power and them
owing the customers over $500,000 in refunds, Elk Power was given a rate
increase. From $5.23 to $5.75 per kilowatt something or other. As for local
customers seeing any of the refund in the form of a check... You won't.
April 19 am Back in January we heard
Telford's Chevy was to be sold off to General Truck Sales. When we talked
to TG, he said something should be finalized in March or April. A quick
look at the lot reveals just two new cars left in inventory. It's common
to run the inventory down prior to a sale.
April 19 am Or, maybe there's more
to the story
April 19 am A Federal tax lien
was filed March 19, 2007. Total amount of the lien against Telford Chevrolet
is $219,682 dating back to the last quarter of 2005.
April 18 Late pm May Day May
Day Be on the Look Out: 4 month old basset hound pup. Answers
to the name Leon. Oddly colored like a blue tick dog. Was a
Christmas gift for a 5 year old little boy. Last seen near
his home in Ovapa on Thursday. Please call 587-2595 with any information.
April 18 pm If you really want to pee
off a Judge, don't show up, show up late, or come unprepared for the hearing.
A couple weeks back, Kevin Duffy was one of those folks that showed up
late for a juvy hearing.
April 18 pm Judge Alsop waited on Duffy
a few minutes and then told the Sheriff, take Duffy into custody. When
Duffy finally made it to the Courthouse, Randy Holcomb did just that. The
Bean Pole was taken to the holding cell. After the hearing was finished
and as everyone was leaving, Judge Alsop told Duffy to stay until after
the Court room was cleared.
April 18 pm Our guess is, the Judge
provide Duffy with words of encouragement on showing up on time. Something
stronger than a "time out" in the holding cell.
April 18 pm Today a rep
from Encore Management is suppose to come to town and discuss the long
standing problems at Maysel Manor and High Street Apartments. Yesterday's
Clay Housing Authority meeting was not held. Or at least, if they did,
no agenda was posted.
April 18 pm THe School Board
artfully words a bunch of stuff. During last night's Board meeting, they
mentioned the need to spend another 1/2 million on the packaged sewer plant.
So far there is no funding for that addition. Although worded to reduce
the impact, it sounded like they were busy trying to relocate the poop
factory. They didn't say where the plant was going but it seemed to be
an unexpected set back.
April 18 pm The main event was
the Clay Roane PSD meeting at the Courthouse. Normally before their meetings,
people chit chat tell stories and joke around. Not so last night. As the
parties were assembling, there were frowns and quiet. In hushed tones
there was mention of "micro managing" by the Board.
April 18 pm Within 10 minutes of opening
and during discussion on employee mileage expenses, the group abruptly
went into secret time. During secret time hand gestures and finger pointing
was seen thru the glass meeting room door. At one point, after huddling
around Chair Dave Grigsby, Casto left the room in a rush and in tears.
After regaining composure, she went back in for round two.
April 18 pm Later , during a public
portion of the meeting, during strong strong discussion on who gets paid
for travel time and call out mileage, more tears came and dried up. In
between votes, it looked like Casto was depending on fellow Boardster Shayne
Sams for support. Instead of voting likewise, the most Casto could
get out of Ms Sams was an abstention.
April 18 pm Boardster can abstain but
that's usually reserved for a conflict if interest situation.
April 18 pm Something happened around
9:21 pm. Casto hurriedly penned some kind of note, told Jonathan Dobbins
to "Pass that over to the Chair", gathered her stuff , and left the room
once again madder than a wet hen.
April 18 pm Dawn Casto resigned on
the spot and left the building.
April 18 pm The Chair stopped
the meeting and tried to catch CAsto before she left the parking lot but
without luck.
April 18 pm No not as good as a Postelwait
moment like when she was ready to smack a commissioner, but something is
wrong deep in the bowels of Clay Roane Public Service District.
APril 18 am Hello Shonnie B in Barboursville
WV. Thanks for the email.
April 18 am When you see Clara Cadle,
wish her a Happy Happy Birthday.
April 18 am Last night's Clay Roane
PSD meeting went for 3 solid hours. Within ten minutes of opening
, they went secret. Half way thru the gathering and in tears, newbee Boardster
Dawn Casto quit. She stood, gathered her stuff, tossed a handwritten note
toward the Chair and left in tears.
April 18 am Thru out the meeting, Casto
pointed out financial and lack of oversight problems.
April 18 am Once during the secret
time Casto left the room looking madder than H.
April 18 am Little Mikey Lanham looked
like he was ready to fight Monday afternoon in downtown Clay.
April 18 am Late Tuesday afternoon
at Hunt's Trailer Park at Wallback, Iron Mikey TKO'd Johnny Bowman. This
time an ambulance had to be called and the guy was taken to the hospital.
Green Shirts arrested Lanham some time later and he's back in jail where
he should be! The 33 year old was on probation from an April 5th
2006 incident where he attacked the ace cub repoter.
April 18 am Full post later today
April 17 pm This Encore
Management/Federal Govt. boondoggle goes ways back. From back
in 2002, we wrote: During the course of the
article and after speaking with Ms Vickers, this paper can comment in a
first hand way on the rude action, less than professional attitude, and
arrogance of Wanda Vickers as well as that of her employer, Encore Management.
April 17 pm The full article on neglect
at Maysel Manor and Anderson Heights (from 2001) can be found on our ADVISORY
page as well as the follow note from Jan 2002. It is
our understanding that the same Wanda Vickers remains in management at
Encore Management Co in Charleston.
April 17 pm In addition
to the Federal Government doing nothing in the way of oversight..... Encore
has been in Court over the neglectful ways. Just a few years ago
a lady won over $90,000 from Encore after suing over no night lights and
debris laying around. Another guy was successful in his suit against Encore
for equally deplorable management practice. What does it take for the Feds
to step in and remove Encore for accepting $ under false pretenses?
April 17 am The latest edition of Clay
County's source for news and views, the Communicator, made it to
the news stands around 3pm Monday. Our lead story covers the many many
problems at Maysel and High Street Apartments.
April 17 am What hacks off people
more than anything? You got it, the spotlight. Such may be case with
Encore management, the folks paid to manage and maintain the county's two
housing projects. Today's meeting of the Clay Housing Authority has been
canceled. Seems the Encore folks are upset with the postings on this web
site. Gosh, if they're mad about that, what till they see the Communicator!
April 17 am Stomp their
feet Stomp their feet!!
April 17 am Of course Encore and the
Federal Govt. are actually mad at themselves. Encore for years of dismal
unacceptable performance. The Federal Govt for being asleep at the wheel
for years and offering No, Zero, Ninguno oversight.
April 17 am Tonight Clay Roane PSD
meets in the County Commission room at the Courthouse. The full Agenda
is posted on the ADVISORY page.
April 15.. mid month and snow is still
in the forecast. !!@@***
April 15 am Hears our look back..
April 15 am Washington is nothing more
than a distraction from the real world. Everyone understands Imus is a
racist. There's a lot of em out there and there's nothing illegal about
being a racist. No one has won the 2008 Prez nomination, everything is
just talk and speculation
April 15 am While attention is
drawn to those subjects, American soldiers continue to die. Dubbya is reportedly
coming up with another reinvention of his oil war. Supposedly, W will come
up with a new position, War
Czar as many are naming it. New names, same waste
April 15 am There have been 3,562
coalition deaths -- 3,298 Americans, two Australians, 140 Britons, 13 Bulgarians,
six Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 32 Italians,
one Kazakh, three Latvian, 19 Poles, two Romanians, five Salvadoran, four
Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war in Iraq
as of April 13, 2007, according to a CNN count.
April 15 am Here at home, there's been
some ups and downs
April 15 am During Tuesday's Clay Town
Council meeting, they agreed to seek yet another water rate increase. With
the town supplying water to Clay Roane and Clay Co PSDs, we can all expect
to pay much more in t he near future for wa wa.
April 15 am For those living in Town
and on the Rapid Cable TV system, your rates are going up 5%. Rapid is
the cable system that came into the county 12 months ago with promises
to support local functions and provide a good cable service. By the way,
Rapid's satellite dishes and towers are located on Linda Rhodes property.
Rapid has not paid one penny to Rhodes!
April 15 am Tom Auxier has been
fighting the Truman family for years over a right of way dispute. During
a 2005 court battle, Auxier was absent and the Judge fined him for
being a no show. Auxier said he had not received notice of the hearing.
Last week, the WV Supreme Court big robes agreed with Auxier and overturned
the Circuit Court decision.
April 15 am Tuesday the county
went dark. Am early morning house fire burnt the tele lines and shut down
telephone and internet service through out Clay and parts of Roane and
Calhoun County. The county shut down.
April 15 am Sadly the fire claimed
the life of 62 year old Rosalie Keen. Most of us would see Ms Keen sitting
on her front porch swing almost year round. Unofficially, smoking
in bed may be the cause of the fire.
April 15 am Wednesday mornings
County Commission meeting fired up when the Commission asked Ambulance
Director Bev King to explain additional expenses. Director King's responses
revealed a long standing rift between the Ambulance Service and the CCC.
At times, it sounded like Bev King was not willing to take orders from
her boss, the County Commission.
April 15 am By mid week, rumors were
swirling about the fate of Maysel Manor and High Street apartments Manager
Sherry Brown.
April 15 am A Thursday mid day Emergency
Meeting of the Clay Housing Authority revealed that Brown was ordered to
clean out her office space and hit the road. Meeting discussion brought
out the words fraud, thievery and absolute zero maintenance at the two
facilities.
April 15 am The finger is pointing
at the Federal government in one more instance where the big boys were
asleep at the wheel even after serious breaches in management were
reported to them months ago, actually years ago.... or ever since the Fed's
appointed management company, Encore took charge of operating and repairing
the two county owned facilities.
April 15 am Thursday night the second
Flood Plain Ordinance (FPO) Forum was held at the Courthouse. Well over
100 came out to tell the CCC, we don't want ANYTHING to do with a much
easier to enforce FPO. This time around the crowd got Kookla Fran
and Jolly to say publicly how they were going to vote on the matter.
All three were in agreement, we ain't touching this hot potato. By jove,
I think they've got it this time clickers!
April 15 am Friday's mail informed
customers of the Clay Water plant of problems with the wa wa. Always good
to know when there is a problem, unfortunately, the notice was referencing
problems from TWO YEARS AGO!
April 15 am On the plus side, Saturday
morning a bunch of kids showed up for a Fishing Tournament held (for the
first time) at Lake Sampson. It rained and was cold cold cold but the kids
didn't seem to even notice. There were 500 pounds of trout to be caught
and prizes to be won.
April 15 am Once again, a volunteer
effort and community/business support brought out the good side of living
in Clayberry.
April 15 am It's tax time. Most people
don't know that return isn't due until the 17th. Those two extra days won't
help procrastinators one bit! Most of us filed
electronically this year.
April 15 am With trees
a blooming and grass a growing, snow was in the forecast for Saturday night.
Yuck!
April 15 am Chelsea Clinton returns
from a date, and Hillary asks her if she had a good time, etc.
Chelsea says she had a wonderful time and says she thinks she's in love.
Hillary says, "You didn't have sex, did you, dear?" Chelsea
says, "Not according to Dad."
April 15 am We're in shut down mode
until we get The Communicator out the door Monday afternoon around 4pm
April 14 LATE pm Rosalie Keen,
62, of Clay, see OBITUARY page
April 14 am Bobby Darius Morton,
infant son, see OBITUARY page
April 13 am Doyle Wayne Rodgers,
72, of Bickmore, seee OBITUARY page.
April 13 am We don't have an
obituary yet on Rosalie Keen who passed died two days ago from burns sustained
in a Main Street Clay house fire. The Hurherald
has a better update. Details in Monday's Communicator.
APril 13 am Be reeaaaal careful
today clickers
April 13 am Last night's Flood Plain
Ordinance (FPO) hearing went to nearly 10 pm. Over 100 people were in attendance.
Full update coming later today.
April 13 am In a nutshell after
hearing comments from many, each Commissioner stood and said, not
me folks, wasn't my idea to begin with, and Nope, I ain't voting for it!
April 13 am It appears the "we
got to have it now" flood plain ordinance will be tossed for a while. The
CCC intends to vote the idea down during the next meeting of the
group.
April 13 am Hurraaaaay!
And, Hurraaaay for all the folks that showed up for the meeting!
April 13 am We're holding up the Communicator
until Monday so we can include the hearing and the latest developments
with the Clay Housing Authority vs Encore Management
April 13 am Deadline for all notices,
events, classifieds etc is today at 6pm. Email em in now
April 12 pm Sherry Brown has been a
long time employee of a local pizza company here in Clay. She's the big
lady that also handles the Christmas party and even hands out the gifts.
Always with a smile even after a long shift, Sherry is the model employee.
That's true at the pizza place but not so at her part time job as Resident
Director of High Street and Maysel Manor Apartments.
April 12 pm Ms Brown was employed by
Encore Management Co. several years ago. Encore contracts with the Fed
Govt (USDA, loan funder) and the local housing authority to make sure everything
runs properly and assets ( the buildings are owned by the county) are taken
care of.
April 12 pm Today at 11 am, the Clay
County Housing Authority held an Emergency Meeting where the following
was made known by Boardsters Fan King and Jay Carper.....
april 12 pm Sherry Brown left
Maysel Manor yesterday with all her personal belongings. Fan King would
only confirm publicly that Brown and the maintenance man no longer
worked for Encore.
April 12 pm At issue is potentially
$1000's and equipment missing. Records indicate that tenants are reported
to have NOT paid rent for months. When those same tenants were asked, some
reported that in addition to paying rent, the rent had been paid it early
on many occasions.
April 12 pm During the meeting discussion
came on the need for an audit of the books and maybe a criminal investigation
of the matter. Carper reported that the Authority was not allowed ANY records
of the day to day operations at the two subsidized housing projects. Carper
did have copies of the 06, 07 annual budget estimates.
April 12 pm The authority made public
they had been working on many complaints from tenants for over a year when
these discoveries were uncovered.
April 12 pm With the county
owning the property, King and Carper were concerned about the buildings
too. Issues include: no smoke alarms present, raw sewage dripping from
upstairs apartments unto lower apartments, ceiling tiles missing, broken
windows, and little or no maintenance (including painting) for 6
years.
April 12 pm During the meeting
King reported that Ms Brown admitted to sticky fingerhood and agreed to
repay the money.
April 12 pm During the meeting Fran
King briefly mentioned prior convictions on Ms Brown. We think King was
talking about more than a dozen convictions on Ms Brown in Kanawha County
relating to a 2005 case.
April 12 am Tonight at 6pm the Clay
County Commission will be hosting a public forum on the Flood Plain Ordinance.
This will be the second hearing on the topic. Last time, about a month
ago, well over 100 tax payers were in attendance.
April 12 am If voted into law,
the new Flood Plain Ordinance (FPO) would drastically affect all future
development in the county including the tearing down or moving of existing
structures located in or near the flood plain.
April 12 am We say new FPO because
an existing FPO has been on t he books since 1975. Why a new FPO? Under
the new law, enforcement actions can come much easier.
April 12 am Here's an example: You
built a structure 10 years ago with your own money on your own property
which lies in or near the 100 year flood plain. Before you can make any
significant addition to your structure, it has too be raised up out of
the flood plain, torn down, or moved.
April 12 am While there's only 54 structures
in the county with flood insurance, the new FPO affects the entire county.
April 12 am Suppose you have a motor
home you want to set up on your property for use during return visits to
Clayberry, you can't. The new FPO says you can't make permanent electric,
water or sewer connections to the motor home if it's in the flood plain.
April 12 am Tuesday night the suit
from Charleston told Town Council, the new FPO would have no affect on
the municipality EXCEPT, they needed to hire their own Flood Plain Co-ordinator
to do the permitting process. In lieu of hiring the high dollar co-ordinator,
the town could band together with other municipalities and split the cost
of the new salary.
April 12 am In reality, NOT ONE FLOOD
PERMIT has been sold in the town for years. Not one.
April 12 am Any way you look at it,
the FPO is zoning. Zoning works fine where's there's plenty of flat land
to develop. In Clay County where we have narrow mountain valleys and flat
land is in short supply, stepped up zoning mandates could be the kiss of
death.
April 12 am During the first FPO forum,
it was apparent, no one in the crowded room was in support of the new more
enforceable FPO requirements except the government rep from Charleston.
Most felt and expressed: Keep the existing law, ditch the new one,
and leave us alone! When was the last time the government came up with
something that makes sense and doable?
April 12 am How often does the government
provide and opportunity for you to voice your sentiments.
April 12 am One thing is for sure,
Kookla Fran and Jolly can easily deduce, if fewer people show up tonight,
maybe no one really cares and it's OK to go ahead and vote in the boiler
plate, one size fits all Flood Plain Ordinance. Maybe if fewer people show
up, they don't care too much about property owner rights.
April 12 am
April 11 pm Hold it clickers!!
April 11 pm Tonight's Clay Roane
PSD meeting has been canceled for now.
April 11 pm Seems there is a little
discrepancy in who agreed to the special meeting date, tonight. Hmmmmmmmmmmm....
April 11 am We may have spoken a little
too early Tuesday. We said that internet and tele service was restored
in the county Tuesday afternoon.
April 11 am Wrong! Downtown Clay had
local telephone and internet service by mid afternoon. Not so the rest
of the county. Both came back on late last night in the Maysel area. Not
sure about the rest of outlying areas.
April 11 am CCC meets this morning
at 10 am. Big long agenda sure to be fun
April 11 am Tonight Clay Roane PSD
meets at 7pm. The group normally meets on Thursday. There is no mention
of the meeting being a Special meeting.
April 11 am Town of Clay Water customers
have been pretty snug about their water bills. The Town has the lowest
water rates in the county, less than half what Clay Roane, Clay Co, and
Queen Shoals PSDs charge.
April 11 am Last night Town Council
voted to go after another Rule 42 water rate increase. They never called
it a water rate increase but that's what it is, a request for the WV PSC
to raise em as high as possible.
April 11 am If anyone wanted to challenge
the decision.... it nor any other vote was posted on their agenda.
April 11 am The town supplies water
to Clay Co and Clay Roane PSDs. When the Town raises rates, guess what
the PSDs have to do.
April 11 am Town elections are in June.
April 11 am From the email bag:
I moved away from WV back in 1977. Went to the Army, then moved to Arizona.
I always meant to move back but found my "knight" is shining armor here
in AZ & He was born here. You guys got snow-it is 90 degrees outside
right now. Have my fan blowing under my desk. Work for Scottsdale Healthcare
hospitals in the Cancer Registry department. I really enjoy reading about
home & looking at the pictures. Thanks. Formerly: Rose (Rogers)now
(Knight)
April 10 pm A fire broke out in Rosalee
Keen's Main Street Clay home this morning around 2:30am
April 10 pm Senior citizen Keen had
just returned to her home after surgery.
April 10 pm Shortly after 5 am the
town was rocked from an explosion at the home.
April 10 pm Ms Keen was flown to the
burn center in Pittsburgh with 1st and second degree burns on her extremities.
April 10 pm By day break Ms Keen's
home was a total loss. Bill Dennis' home next door was also damaged.
April 10 pm The flames wiped out all
telephone and internet service in the county. Telephone was restored around
noon with internet service back in operation around 3pm.
April 10 pm Most in the county know
Rosey as the lady always on her front porch rocking in the swing.
April 10 pm No official cause has been
made know. Speculation is Ms Keen was smoking in bed. The loud explosion
was from a large oxygen tank exploding.
April 10 pm No other injuries
were reported.
April 10 am Dolly D Thomas, see
OBITUARY page
April 10 am It's not often you hear
of a new business opening in Clay. From the email bag: Grand Opening
of New Business! Dawn's Beauty Boutique Located
at 319 Center Street Two Run - across from the old State Road Garage.
Hours Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9:00a.m. to
5:00p.m. Men, Women, Children and Walk-ins Welcome 587-7771
- call if you need a later appointment.
April 10 am Can you share for a couple
days? There's a group of college students coming to Clayberry April 26th
and 27th to do a planning and design study of the downtown. Those folks
need places to sleep (close to town) those two nights. Six rooms
are needed. If you can put up one or more in a spare bedroom give
Linda Klotzbach at the Health Dept a call ASAP.
April 10 am The countdown begins for
deadbeat tax filers. Have you even started your tax forms?
April 10 am Tom Auxier and Billy
Truman have been feuding over a right of way for decades. Court cases have
come one after another.
April 10 am Back in 05 Auxier
was fined and ordered to pay court costs for a hearing he didn't attend.
All along he's maintained he didn't get notice of the trial. He appealed
that decision to the WV Supreme Court a few weeks back. We have an update
April 10 am He won. The big robes reversed
the Circuit Court decision. Full details this Friday in the Communicator.
April 10 am Today Town Council
and Clay County PSD meet
April 10 am We forgot to mention Clay
Roane PSD meets this week. This week that PSD will meet Wednesday evening
, 7pm, at the Courthouse. They're meeting Wed evening instead of the normal
Thursday slot because the CCC is hosting a FLood Plain Ordinance
Forum Thursday evening, 6 pm, at the Courthouse.
April 10 am For those in attendance
Thursday, look for the CCC to offer changes in the already discussed and
hated, one size fits all, Zoning ordinance
April 9 am Odd thing about those Easter
bonnets this year, ear muffs were attached!
April 9 am We've got a big week in
the land of Clay.
April 9 am Clay County PSD meets
Thursday at 5pm followed by t he rescheduled Town Council meeting
at 6pm.
April 9 am Wednesday morning Clay County
Commission meets in regular session. Already posted on their agenda is
a Thursday evening forum on the controversial new and improved Flood Plain
Ordinance. If there's not a good showing Thursday evening, our elected
folks may think, they've lost interest. Last time we predicted 19 people
would show up. We were wrong. Hope that's the case this time around.
April 9 am If you were in the
mess John Habjan Sr is in, wouldn't you want to keep in contact with your
attorney? He hasn't. Last week Habjan's attorney filed paperwork to that
affect. Wonder what the truth is, Habjan Sr ain't been paying him?
April 9 am Are you suffering
from a slow dial up connection? Jimmy Miller lives way out Wilson Ridge
to far for ANY telephone company DSL service. Last week he came in and
said a satellite internet provider named Sky Blue had just hooked him up.
April 9 am Compared to his slow dial
connection, Mr Miller said Sky Blue was fast as greased lightening! Price
$50 per month
April 9 sm Over the Easter break,
the ARCHIVES page was updated to include all the 2006 Communicators. We're
working on the 06 pictures now.
April 8 am Harry Glen West, 66,
of Clay, see OBITUARY page
April 8 am No updates, taking the day
off...
April 8 am Three
blondes died and found themselves standing before St. Peter. He told them
that before they could enter the Kingdom, they had to tell him what Easter
was. The first blonde said, "Easter is a holiday where they have a big
feast and we give thanks and eat turkey." St. Peter said, " WRONG!" and
went on to the second one. The second blonde said, "Easter is when
we celebrate Jesus' birth and exchange gifts."
St. Peter said, "Wrong!!" and went to the third blonde. The third blonde
said she knew what Easter was and St. Peter said, "So,
tell me." She said, "Easter is
a Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover.
Jesus was having Passover feast with His disciples when he was betrayed
by Judas, and the Romans arrested him. The Romans hung Him on the
cross and He died. Then they buried Him in a tomb behind a very large boulder.
St. Peter said, "Finally! Verrrrry good!" The blonde continued, "Now every
year the Jews roll away the boulder and Jesus comes out. If he sees his
shadow, we have six more weeks of basketball."
April 8 am Happy Easter
April 7 am We're taking a couple days
off for the Easter holiday.. No posts unless something dumb happens.
APril 7 am Friday night it snowed
like crazy in Clayberry. The place was covered with around an inch of snow.
April 7 am We're ready for Spring,
what happened?
April 7 am From the email bag:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOES OUT TO OUR MOTHER KATHY RUNION ON APRIL 7,2007.WHO
WILL BE 52 YRS OLD.WE WISH MANY MORE BIRTHDAYS TO YOU MOTHER
April 6 pm Mable J Squire, 44,
of Duck, see OBITUARY page
April 6 pm Jim Bill “JB”
Gray, 79, of Indore, see OBITUARY page
April 6 pm William Edmond
Eagle, 85, of Ivydale, see OBITUARY page
April 6 pm Way to many
obituaries this week!
April 6 pm From the email bag
referencing Forday's front page pictures: Dangit AW, would you please
quit showing pictures like the "Bad Friday: one.. Makes me so Homesick
for Clay County, I can't take it any more.. reckon I'll head on out to
Pensacola Beach today and "bask" in the Florida Sunshine.. CSS
April 6 pm Last night the Clay
County Business Development Authority met at the Courthouse.
April 6 pm Long time Boadster
Morgan Gibson resigned from his post. BDA Secretary Fran King commented
that they had invested two years of training into Gibson and asked, What
happened? Other than the Chair saying Gibson wanted to spend more time
on personal interests, nothing else was said.
April 6 pm During the meeting
CAEZ Director Connie Lupardus informed the BDA of a project the CAEZ has
been working on. According to Lupardus, progress is being made on adding
single family housing units in the county. She said the Frank Murphy property
near the Wallback exit is being looked at by several contractors. The housing
units would be "upper class" units and would meet the needs of professionals
wanting to locate away from the crowded Cross Lanes, Putnam County areas.
April 6 pm The response from our lead
economic development committee wasn't too good. With some of the Murphy
property located in Roane County, several on the BDA questioned any worth
since the tax base would go to Roane County. Lupardus came back with the
good created by more people buying groceries, buying gas, more kids in
the school system... not sure the BDA was listening.
April 6 pm the BDA response was no
better to Lupardus' update on a proposed two lane highway thru Fola coal
property over to Rt 19. Almost as soon as she started that update, one
guy yelled out, That'll suck the rest of it [Clay business] out! Others
seemed to agree.
April 6 pm The BDA meeting was adjourned
before Lupardus could finish her updates.
April 6 pm It sounded like members
of the BDA are happy to keep Clayberry the way it's been for 40 years,
no new jobs, no new businesses, and no future for the youth other than
the highway to Charlotte.
April 6 pm Most of us know Keith Lahti
for his great pottery. He's also a good musician. His group, Holy Cow,
will be performing at Taylor Books on Capitol Street in Charleston Sat
April 7th from 7:30 to 9:30 pm. Free Show!!
April 5 pm Thomas Junior Richardson,
82, of Dille, see OBITUARY page
April 5 pm For those afar, it's snowing
in Clay this morning. All the pansy's are shivering. Those over achievers
that went ahead and planted tomatoes last week, that's what you get!
April 5 pm Here's a couple notes
from Tuesday's CAEZ meeting
April 5 pm The CAEZ has been
a strong backer of the BC&G RR Co-Op since the beginning. During Tuesday's
meeting, Roger Nutter from the Co-Op stood and made a plea. Nutter said
the group is in need of some real help. He said they had done many fund
raisers like raffles but big big dollars are needed to make excursion
train trips and a public camp ground a reality. In response the CAEZ sounded
like they were 100% behind the effort. One Boardster suggested that they
provide the funding via tax credits for the metal roof on the Welcome Center
at the campground. No decision made with more info needed from the BC&G
before a decision could be made.
April 5 pm The truth is, that
excursion train business is the future for our county. If the BC&G
gets going, the campground business will also grow. For Clay County
that means new, much needed, out of county dollars being spent at
area businesses. Growing the county with new $ is what it takes.
April 5 pm Also from Tuesday..... since
last Fall the CAEZ has been working on a plan to grow a new road from Clay
to Rt 19 in Nicholas County. A little more was made known during Tuesday's
meeting. According to CAEZ Director Connie Lupardus: when completed the
road will be a two lane but with several three lane turn off sections;
already a FL based company has expressed an interest in some kind of "pellet"
plant along the highway; when completed, the roadway will tie into Peach
Orchard Rd on the Nicholas County side; the total length will be 23.4 miles;
and, instead of this developing in 20 or 30 years as earlier reported,
the first part of the road (on the Clay side) may be ready to develop in
7 years or so.
April 5 pm One last note from
CAEZ, interest is growing on developing housing units near the Wallback
exit on Frank Murphy's property. No not the flood prone flat section at
the exit but the hillside on the right as you head back toward Clay. Lupardus
said a couple developers have already contacted her about the idea.
With Cross Lanes and Putnam County areas already bumper to bumper in traffic,
and Wallback just 30 minutes from Charleston, the proposed higher income
housing units may just happen.
April 5 pm Think what 50 new families
with disposable income could do for Clayberry's economy.
April 5 am Roy C. Fields, 88,
of Big Otter, see OBITUARY page
April 4 am Rumors on top of rumors
are circulating around the county since Ray James death early Sunday morning.
April 4 am In today's Charleston Gazette
article there are scant few details. From Tuesday's Gazette: Clay County
man dead MAYSEL — Clay County sheriffs deputies are investigating
a man’s death, Sheriff Randy Holcomb said. Ray James was found dead
Sunday, but Holcomb refused to release any other details about his death
or the investigation. No other agencies are involved in the investigation,
he said.
April 4 am From the email bag:
Around 1 am April 1st two vehicles parked in front of valley gas had their
passenger side windows busted with a brick by a would be thief. Just
like something out of the wild west the young man was wearing a bandanna
around his face as well as dark jeans and a T-shirt. When approached by
the owner he fled through the middle of town through the Rite Aid parking
lot and behind the adjacent buildings. This was a young man between
5'7" and 5'9" tall short dark hair. Clay police responded but could
not locate the man
April 4 am Monday night's School
Board meeting had an interesting nugget..
April 4 am A Clay County school service
employee was given a five day suspension without pay effective Tuesday.
With the employee no where to be seen Monday night, the guy's name was
never mentioned but since Clay Elem Principal Danny Brown doing the talking,
we can guess the offender worked at the that school.
April Brown said the guy had been on
two improvement plans and had had two reprimands.
April 4 am The Somber Super added,
"There have been previous situations."
April 4 am Discussions turned to other
janitors that will not come out for work when called. School Board Gene
King offered a solution. According to King, Tell em to get on SSI
April 4 am Special Edster Bev Nichols
wanted dead beat aides to be added to the list of no show janitors. Look
for the School Board to come up with a new call out policy in the next
few weeks.
April 4 am Clay Town Council
was suppose to meet last night at 6pm according to their Agenda. And Yes,
we did check it twice this time.
April 4 am About the only other person
that showed up was Robert Perry... the guy who's fronting the proposed
Flood Plain Ordinance. Both stood around in the parking lot until
well after 6pm. No elected leaders, narry a one!
April 3 pm A lot of people have been
asking, just noticed this on the Wilson,
Shamblin, Smith Funeral Home page.
April 3 pm Wilbert Ray James,
61, of Maysel, WV, see OBITUARY page
April 3 pm On a lighter note, go to
Google, click images, and then type in Avis Rose.
April 3 am Badges ran every which
a ma way last night.
April 3 am 911 Dispatch reported a
reckless driver only to come back with one Ford chasing another and shots
fired.
april 3 am Moments later down at a
junk yard came reports of shots fired.
April 3 am That one came back as guys
banging stuff together trying scare horses to move from one field to another.
April 3 am Ahhh Life in the outback
April 3 am Bush says one thing and
the Supreme
Court says another on green house gas emissions and regulation.
April 3 am The whole idea on moving
daylight
savings time up a month was to reduce electricity use. Besides not
working, little kids are standing out in the dark waiting for school buses
even longer!
April 3 am Now don't get too excited,
Sheriff Holcomb has a news release over on the ADVISORY page
April 3 am One morning a husband
took a pair of underwear out of the drawer. "What the ? ? ?" he said
to himself as a little "dust" cloud appeared when he shook them out.
"April," he hollered into the bathroom, "why did you put talcum powder
in my underwear?" She shot back: "It's not talcum powder. It's 'Miracle
Grow'."
April 3 am Two really old guys decided
they would go out and try to play a round of golf together. They
get on the first tee and the first old guy says to the second,
"My eyesight isn't what it used to be. Can you watch my ball for
me?". The second guy says, "Sure! I see fine. Go ahead and hit."
So the first old man steps up to the tee and really hits it. He turns to
his buddy and says, "Did you see it?". "Sure!", says his buddy.
"Where did it go?", the first guy asks. The second old man
thinks for a minute and says, "I can't remember."
April 2 am Ray James is dead
April 2 am Details are murky at best
as of late Sunday evening. The body was found near his dog pen behind his
house up on the hill.
April 2 am Street talk has everything
from a note left behind to a 12 gauge shotgun blast.
April 2 am Mr. James was a teacher,
administrator, dad, grandfather, coon hunter and outdoors man.
April 2 am Details as we get them
April 2 am Toby Brown, see OBITUARY
page
April 2 am Tonight the School
Board meets at the Standard Bryant annex beginning at 6pm. Tuesday the
CAEZ meets at 4 and again at 6pm in their Main Street Clay digs right beside
the DHHR office. Town Council gathers at the water plant beginning at 6pm.
BDA meets on Thursday at 5pm in the CCC room. It's a full week for public
meetings.
April 2 am The Communicator is out.
We forgot to include the Heart to Heart article. Our bad and Sorry.
It's now posted over on the ADVISORY page.
April 2 am The radio station is looking
for a small TV antenna for use as a receiver at the station. If you have
a used one in good shape that you can donate, call the station 587-8353
or just leave it on the porch. thanks
April 1 2:00pm
When they want to, Badges use cell phones to get around scanner listeners.
I think that's what happened before noon today when calls were placed
by Deputy Miles Slack. The only thing listeners heard was the call
for a coroner for a Two Run residence.
April 1 2:00pm
We have to confirm before posting, but a suicide or accidental shooting,
which ever, real sad.
April 1 pm Phillip Wayne Pyatt,
see OBITUARY page
April 1 pm Carl Wayne Hudnall Jr.,
30, of Indore, see OBITUARY page
April 1 am The Swiss Spaghetti
Harvest has been wiped out. The dreaded spaghetti weevil went wild this
year. With t he huge crop gone, expect spaghetti prices to rise
April 1 am And, isn't it awful
that the Taco Bell Corp purchased the rights to the Liberty Bell!! From
now on it has to be referred to as the Liberty Taco Bell.
April 1 am Gotcha April Fools
Day. Watch out clickers today's the day for such
April 1 am We've got a couple new postings
over on the ADVISORY page including one from Sen Jay on more $ coming to
Clay for internet connections. It's hard to get fired up over more $ coming
to the school system after their blowing of a high million dollars for
wireless service just a couple years back.
April 1 am From the last seven days..
April 1 am Most often we bad
mouth the Shrub during our weekly wrap up. Don't have to this time, the
facts speak for themselves
April 1 am From Reuters: The Iraqi
government raised the death toll on Saturday from a truck bomb in the town
of Tal Afar to 152, making it the deadliest single bombing of the four-year-old
war. Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Abdul Kareem Khalaf said 347
people were wounded in Tuesday's attack on a Shi'ite area. There was another
truck bomb in the mixed northwestern town on Tuesday, but it was small.
Khalaf said 100 homes had been destroyed in the main blast, which officials
have blamed on al Qaeda. The explosion left a 23-meter (75-ft)-wide crater.
April 1 am In Baghdad, a car
bomb outside a hospital in a Shi'ite stronghold killed five people and
wounded 22, police said. Four people were killed and 20 wounded by a car
bomb in the Shi'ite city of Hilla, south of Baghdad
April 1 am Gunmen ambushed
a vehicle carrying civilian workers employed at an Iraqi military base
near Hawija, 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, killing eight and wounding
two, police said. Four brothers were among the dead.
April 1 am And that's just in the last
three days. The past week has been the bloodiest in Iraq since the
government launched a security crackdown in Baghdad in February aimed at
halting the country's slide toward civil war
April 1 am The chronology
from Reuters.
April 1 am There have been 3,504
coalition deaths -- 3,246 Americans, two Australians, 134 Britons, 13 Bulgarians,
six Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 32 Italians,
one Kazakh, three Latvian, 19 Poles, two Romanians, five Salvadoran, four
Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians -- in the war in Iraq
as of March 30, 2007, according to a CNN count.
April 1 am Closer to home , County
Commission met for their last meeting of the month March 28th, Lunch
and Munch. Great food and bunch of people but. The idea was
to get department heads to come together once a month and discuss issues
facing the county. Didn't happen. Great food but no discussion.
April 1 am We saw something happen
in Washington. Both the House and Senate voted to end the Oil War next
by Fall 08. Our soldiers will be coming home after four years of loss of
life in the wrong country. Dubbya says he'll veto the bill.
April 1 am The Clay Middle and Clay
High kids attended state competition where they brought him awards big
time.
April 1 am While those were away, one
kid was crapping on a school bus while another was busted for having pot
at school.
April 1 am Neighbors in the Upper Sycamore
neighborhood say that father of two, Carl Hudnal Jr was found dead in a
white Chevy pickup truck Thursday morning. Some say he had been dead a
couple days.
April 1 am In other county news
from last week. Some Stoned doo doo ran a stolen Tracker into the
Christian Church of Lizemores where it caught fire and nearly burnt the
vinyl clad addition to the ground. Fortunately those nearby hooked a chain
to the burning SUV and pulled it away from the building before everything
went up in smoke.
April 1 am LJ is one of
those guys that bleeds Bush blood. Every once in a while on this site,
we sorta give the Shrub double H. Such posts make LJ grit his teeth.
April 1 am Proudly we report,
Mr LJ has renewed his Rx to the Communicator another time.
April 1 am Now that we've got his $,
here's an excellent
site for Bush Heads. Just makes you cry reading thru his
quotes.
April 1 am Two little kids are
in a hospital, lying on gurneys next to each other outside the operating
room. The first kid leans over and asks, "What are you in here for?"
The second kid says, "I'm in here to get my tonsils out, and I'm a little
nervous." The first kid says, "You've got nothing to worry about. I had
that done when I was 4. They put you to sleep, and when you wake up, they
give you lots of Jell-O and ice cream. It's a breeze." The second kid then
asks, "What are you here for?" The first kid says, "A circumcision."
The second kid says, "Whoa, good luck buddy! I had that done when I was
born. Couldn't walk for a year.
April 1 am We're starting a new month
and lots of public meetings. Make it a point to take in the best entertainment
in the county of Clay.
April 1 am Monday night the
School Board meets. The agenda
is posted here.