february2009pastnews

February 2009

Feb 28 LATE LATE p Just got this in: Sunday, March 1st Clay Jr Wrestling will be hosting a tournament at Clay County High School wrestling begins at approx 9am. Everyone needs to come out and take a look at Clay Counties talent. Wrestlers are between the ages of 3 and 15, and they would really love the the local support.

Feb. 28 a Last day of the month and we're awaiting the next freezing rain and snow. 1 to 3 inches predicted.

Feb. 28 a "Liquidity" When you look at your investments and wet your pants.

Feb. 28 a Senator White and Delegate Walker's weekly update is now posted on the ADVISORY page.

Feb. 28 a In their last home game of the season the CCHS Panthers put it all over the Huskies Friday. Sectional action begins Monday evening with a home game at the Panther Pit. Come out and support the home team. Go Panthers.

Feb. 28 a Gary Wayne Simmons was born Feb. 24 at 8:44 pm. Weighing in at a strapping big 6lb.11ozs. and 20 inches long. The proud parents are Misty and Bobby Simmons. Welcome to Clayberry

Feb. 28 a Communicator comes out Tuesday morning. Deadline for submissions is Sunday evening at 6pm. Email your stuff in ASAP.

Feb. 28 a The BDA's Consignment Auction tonight will accept any of your old stuff for sale. Anything but vehicles, clothes, and firearms. See EVENTS page. Tired of the way things are, drag over your Hubby or Wife or a politician!

Feb. 27 late p Tonight the Panthers take on Herbert Hoover in the last home game of the season. Saturday night you've got a chance to make some loot for your own pocket. Head over to the BDA Consignment Auction with a trunk load of junk and walk away with a pocket full of loot.

Feb. 27 late p How about a web site dedicated to the lore of the outhouse.

Feb. 27 late p Want to be a 911 Dispatcher? See JOBS page now

Feb. 27 p Nova Triplett Young, 88, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 27 p Mabel D. Smith, 89, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 27 p Gene Brooks Gregorich, 80, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 27 p Jean Houghton Green, 71, see OBITUARY page

feb 27 p Happy 1st Birthday Eli Metheney

Feb. 27 p In Appalachia, King Coal rules, they call the shots without regard to anything but the bottom line. Approved last week, Fola Coal (now Consol/Amvest) was given $6m in tax value relief on top of $8m in reduced values.

Feb. 27 p As a reward for such actions, this morning, Fola laid off 50 hourly workers and 15 salaried employees. We have also heard of reductions in long range planning efforts.

Feb. 27 p Great big thanks to Foal for rewarding the county of black gold.

Feb. 27 p News and views on what's really going on in the land of little, that's clayberry.org. To keep this web portal up and running, once a year we come begging for $$$. If you can help us out, send your contribution to Delta; 2278 Main Street, Clay WV 25043

Feb. 27 p For those that have already donated, thank you. For those thinking about it, keep something in mind, none of the owners of this site and Communicator newspaper receive a salary, nor Christmas bonus, or even a weekly stipend. We provide this service as a way to brighten the future for our 342 square miles.

Feb. 26 a Big Coal is good for W Va

Feb. 26 a West Virginia intends to fine a trucking company $80,000 and a Massey Energy Co. subsidiary $10,000 for violations

Feb. 26 a King Coal is good for W Va

Feb. 26 a The state did not cite Consol for any violations as a result of the accident, according to the report.

Feb. 26 a Coal is King

Feb. 26 a A Massey Energy subsidiary has been cited by the state for a safety violation that state investigators say contributed to the death of a bulldozer operator last fall.

Feb. 26 a The Congressional Budget Office has found that (the stimulus) bill will lead to a real 0.1 to 0.3 percent reduction in gross domestic product by 2019. FALSE.

Feb. 26 a When the salmonella source was finally identified, FDA officials had to wait for industry approval before they could go live with the [peanut] recall. TRUE TRUE.

Feb. 26 a The president gets facts wrong about oil imports, mortgage aid and the transcontinental railroad, and more.

FEb 26 a The omnibus spending bill has 9,427 pork barrel items. Well, Yes, True

Feb. 25 p Jerri Lynn Elliott, 45 see OBITUARY page

Feb. 25 p Just noticed a Clay Housing Authority meeting agenda posted on the outside of the Courthouse door. Meeting is set for Thursday morning at 10am.

Feb. 25 p Speaking of the Housing Authority... Received this email: I have read a lot of unfavorable PR about the High Street Apartments. I am pleased to provide some positive PR for 3 of the young men who may live there. On Tues. I rushed downtown to run an errand from my job at the elementary school. When I returned and was making the turn behind the gym I hit "The Hole"! I have spent 11 years driving around that hole in the road but on Tuesday I hit it, bursting my tire and breaking my rim. I have never in my life changed a tire. As I was preparing to call my poor husband to drive from his job at Mount Olive, 3 young men asked if I needed them to change the tire. They came from the High St. Apartments parking lot. I had to get to class so I left them with my car. They would not accept any payment for their kindness. I would like to publically thank them because they didn't have to help but they chose to help an old lady trying to get back to work. Clay County is still a good place to live and work!! Darlene Cliver

Feb. 25 p This site has been giving the County Commission grief for screwing the local taxpayer to the tune of $13m. A screwing even the State Tax Dept. recommended not giving the people of Clayberry. It was a CCC vote minus Commission Fran King.

Feb. 25 p During this morning's gathering King said she has been getting telephone calls of complaint. King kept asking questions on why her fellow Commissioner took the binding vote while she was away on other county business. She asked about the affect of the huge increase on Mom and Pop landowners. She went on and on

Feb. 25 p As she kept asking questions, little veins started popping on Slinky's forehead. He tried to keep his cool as he played down the idea of screwing the citizenry. He kept his cool during the public meeting. That wasn't the case after the meeting.

Feb. 25 p After most of the people had left the meeting, except Droopy Drawers, Slinky was visibly shaking as he scolded the Franster. With his finger pointing, he was livid.

Feb. 25 p Nothing pees off the Slinkmaster more than have someone question a decision, his decision. A decision to break it off in the common citizen and give a big break to King Coal, Fola Coal.

Feb. 25 p Our guess, Fran King is on Slinky's crap list. Pieces of her hiney are now scattered about the floor in the Clay County Commission room.

Feb. 25 p Our thanks to those that have already contributed during our online "We Need Loot" fund drive. We're going to keep begging for another week or so.

Feb. 25 p If you're a fan of absolute unvarnished truth on the outrageous adventures in the Great Nation of Clay, please contribute today. Snail mail to: Delta; 2278 Main Street; Clay WV 25043

Feb. 25 a Darryl and Darryl voted to screw property owners to the tune of $13m dollars last week by voting in outrageous tax values on questionable coal reserves. Even lowly ole Calhoun County voted not to screw their own. Calhoun Commissioner Bob Weaver said, ""Accepting these numbers on unmineable coal would be irresponsible."

Feb. 25 a Obama De Bama made some humongo promises last night. If 1/4 of them are realized, it'll be a amazing. If he can cure cancer, its a miracle! Just being able to speak in complete sentences is quite an improvement from the last 8 years.

Feb. 25 a Forgot to mention something Dave Pierson said last Friday. When talking about the closed off to the public parking area beside the Courthouse, Mr Pierson said the FD may fence the area and turn it into a pig farm.

Feb. 26 a Any mention that the Fire Dept. closed the parking lot for safety reasons .. well that' s nothing but BS. FD rep Greg Fitzwater said they planned to bar Courthouse parkers as a pay back for the CCC not purchasing the place in a timely manner. That was said two weeks ago and long before any storm damage and strewn debris.

Feb. 24 p Some are confused about how Darryl and Darryl screwed us last week. On Feb. 12th the state tax dept sent a letter sying they had mis appraised coal values in the county to the tune of $13,149,905.00. In that Feb. 12th letter (FAX to CCC that day), the state tax dept recommended the CCC NOT use the bogus values and instead continue using 2008 numbers.

Feb. 24 p On Feb. 17th Commissioners Mike Pierson and Jerry Slinkinoooogggeeeerrrr read the letter and then decided to F*** the county taxpayers by approving the bogus tax values.

Feb. 24 p Who got screwed? The County Clerk has the complete 30 page list of property owners and how much the CCC broke it off in em.

Feb. 24 p County Commission meets in the morning at 10am. Sure would be a good time to start the impeachment effort.

Feb. 24 p Over the last 8 years this web site has been the only online portal for important news on Clayberry West Virginia. Each Feb. we asked our listeners for support. If you value a daily dose of what's going on, how about you and now? Send you check or money order to Delta; PO 2278 Main Street, Clay West Virgnia 25043

Feb. 24 p Thank you

Feb. 24 a Happy 19th Birthday wishes to Senator Eagle Waddell.

Feb. 24 Our weekend wrap-up exposed how Darryl and Darryl screwed the citizens of Clay by accepting bogus tax value increases. The two Commissioners voted to do so over the advice of the state tax folks who admitted $13,000,000.00 worth of errors on their part.

Feb. 24 a In fact, the CCC screwed us.

Feb. 24 a Speaking on that subject, people have been asking about the postponed trial of community leader and Business Development Authority member Jim Knotts. Mr nice guy Knotts is charged with 129 counts of sexual assault to a minor in his charge.

Feb. 24 a From the WV Supreme Court web site: James L. Knotts v. Hon. Richard Facemire, Judge - 34647 - Petitioner seeks a writ of prohibition to prevent the Respondent from conducting a criminal trial set for January 6, 2009. The indictment contains 129 counts of either sexual assault in the first degree, incest, sexual abuse by a custodian, or sexual assault in the third degree. Petitioner argues the thirteen to seventeen years between the alleged crimes and the indictment places the Petitioner deprives him any opportunity to impose the defense of alibi and violates Right to Due Process.

Feb. 24 a Translation as far as we can tell: Knotts is trying to wiggle out of a trial saying Prosecutor Davis and Sheriff Douglas knew about the charges years ago and did nothing to prosecute Knotts. In response, Davis says the parents wanted to spare the 11 year old the embarrassment of a public trial.

Feb. 24 a Here's the full petition to stop the trial as presented to the Big Robes.

Feb. 24 a Here's the response to the bologna and includes mention of not one victim but TWO!

Feb. 24 a The Supreme Court has the case on their docket for Wed March 25th 2009.

Feb. 24 a The Clay FD which owns the two empty buildings beside the Courthouse closed off the vacant parking lot last weekend. With pictures and mention posted yesterday on this web site, we received this noteworthy email: Today I went to the Courthouse to pay my property taxes. I had to circle the new courthouse twice to find an available parking spot. I noticed that many of the people parked at the courthouse are employees of the courthouse, and with some having oversized vechicles take up two parking spots. I feel as a taxpayer of Clay County that only elected officials of the courthouse should having parking next to the courthouse. I am sure if they spoke with the owners of the old IGA/Faschek parking lot the employees of the courthouse can park there. It is a shame that you have to park so far away from the courthouse house when you have a small child to get in and out of their carseat, and you are trying to take care of business. I eventually found a parking spot and when I did so I parked half onto the sidewalk because of people not parking within the lines at the courthouse. I am not going to scratch my vechile or someone elses simply trying to do a little business.

Feb. 23 p Where did you first hear of our local banker going to the slammer for stealing from local college funds? Where did you first find out County Commission was considering a zoning ordinance for the county? How did you find about a local Senator heading to the big house? How about all the behind the scenes BS that goes on? How much the Somber Super really makes?

Feb. 23 p Correct, right here at Clayberry.

Feb. 23 p Each Feb. we do an online begging campaign to raise $$$ to keep this web portal up and running. How about you? If all 1300 people that look at this site each day would cough up $1, we'd be in good shape for another year.

Feb. 23 p Send you donation to Delta; PO 2278 Main St; Clay WV 25043.

Feb. 23 p Thanks and Yes we're going to keep begging for about 10 days.

Feb. 22 p Wanda Lee Miller, 69, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 22 p Orval Kenneth “Smokey” Paxton, 82, of Wallback, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 22 p Lowell N. Cook, 85, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 22 p Senator Randy White's and Delegate Dave Perry's legislative update articles are now posted over on the ADVISORY page

Feb. 22 p Some weekend wrap ups are funny while others expose a few blemishes. This week's wrapup is a very sad affair where the people of Clayberrry got it broke off in them big time. Here's a glimpse of the last seven days.

Feb. 22 p Last week Fola Coal (now Amvest Consul) returned to the County Commission a tax break. At first they said they needed a $12m tax value break. Then they said, OK OK, we can live with a $10m discount on coal seam values. Last week Commissioners Mike Pierson and Jerry Linkinoooooooooogeerrr gave Fola $6m tax value cut. That tax cut deal was given the thumbs up via an early morning telephone call from Fola to Slinky himself.

Feb. 22 p That's a $6m break on top of another $8m in tax value reduced from last year. The $8m reduction was never questioned.

Feb. 22 p For you and me, the folks that pay the vast majority of property taxes, last week the state tax folks said they had made an error on Clay County tax values to the tune of $13 million. The state big wigs "highly recommended" using 2008 values and discarding this year's figures.

Feb. 22 p Darryl and Darryl chose NOT to follow the tax officials advice and instead, rammed it in us to the tune of $13,000.000.00.

Feb. 22 p Whenever King Coal gets a sweetheart deal, it's the people that get run over. We thought maybe an inside deal for special job deals for select individuals or a 30 acre donation of land for a new high school was the topping for the cake. Even if that turns out to be true, the county coffers would still come up short. By breaking it off into the citizens of the county to the tune of $13,000,000.00, we now know how the County Commission is going to make ends meet.

Feb. 22 p Hearing that Big Coal had received a big tax break and him none, local business man and tax payer, Dave Pierson, decided to do some Spring house cleaning. For months Pierson had been storing county owned bottled water that was to be used in case of an emergency. He was storing the wet stuff for free and as a service to the county.

Feb. 22 p Friday at 3pm Pierson loaded up a tractor trailer load of the wa wa and unloaded it out back of the Courthouse in the parking lot. Knowing paybacks are H, many in the Courthouse grinned.

Feb. 22 p With temps expected to drop into the teens Friday night, Commissioner Slinky tried to get Fran King to OK moving the water to the BDA controlled State Road garage, a place with heat. Having been one supportive of giving local do gooder Dave Pierson a tax break and one that was against giving Fola one, Fran said No to Slinky's request. Most guess, when she hung up the phone, laughter filled the wrecker office.

Feb. 22 p Slinky spent some time loading the water into a green pick up as did many others. Shortly after realizing how much water was there and ready to freeze, a sign went up at the town water plant: free water at the courthouse. Before dark, all the cans of water were gone.

Feb. 22 p Take care Mother and children, a storm came across the valley and her name was Llyn Drake.

Feb. 22 p Friday evening at 4:30pm Llyn Drake stormed into a 4pm special meeting of Town Council where a vote was to be taken to go into debt and build an unneeded $3m wa wa plant.

Feb. 22 p She wasn't in the meeting 30 seconds before letting Mayor Brown have it with both barrels. Her face turned red as a beet as she stood up, started pointing her finger, and yelling out she wanted some paperwork the Mayor had received. Mad as H himself and turning blue, Jack Brown fired her up some more when he said, well I was going to give you a copy... but now, NOPE.

Feb. 22 p Drake was livid and threw down a FOIA demand and told the Mayor she would have him in Court if he didn't comply with the formal request for information. He replied: Go ahead!

Feb. 22 p For those not daily readers to this site, Brown received a Ethics Commission opinion that told him: Of course you have to have a meeting agenda before you can meet and Yes, Council should rehold that earlier meeting (Jan 22nd).

Feb. 22p Why wouldn't Brown give Drake a peek, unofficially, he was just giving the volatile Drake some grief. Second and more on the record, he said Council person Joyce Gibson asked him to contact the Ethics folks and when he got the formal response, he gave it to the person that made the request, Joyce Gibson.

Feb. 22p Drake was fuming. It felt like she was one step from pinching Brown's head off. Around the table, Council sat quiet. Their jaws dropped. Eyebrows raised. In the peanut gallery, grins were seen. It was Clayberry at its worst.

Feb. 22 p Really can't figure out why Drake was so peed. Truth is, she had contacted the Ethics folks herself, and they told her the same thing, the Jan 22nd first reading of the water plant ordinance was bogus because they hadn't posted a meeting agenda.

Feb. 22 p Friday afternoon, Ms Llyn Drake showed her true colors in plain view for the world to see, Drake showed why she has no business in elected office of any kind.

Feb. 22 p Drake wrote in a letter that the Communicator was out to get her, that we had lambasted and made fun of her since she took office and, all we wanted to do was stop the debt laden new water plant. She's wrong. Truth is, her actions Friday afternoon are ample evidence of what's wrong in our county and what makes Clayberry such fertile ground for a newspaper. ANd, why it's so easy to make funof Town Recorder Llyn Drake.

Feb. 22 p With most of us wanting Spring to arrive in the worst way, it didn't. Instead Saturday night 6 more inches of snow fell coating the county with a beautiful white covering. Kids played. Churches cancelled services. In kitchens, beans and cornbread was cooked. With the thermostats back up on 74 degrees, many spent much of the afternoon watching TV and taking naps.

Feb. 22 p Kids are off school Monday so teachers can have a time out.

Feb. late p A week ago long time local business leader Dave Pierson asked the Commission to leave his tax burden at current managed timber land rates even though he forgot to turn in some kind of form last Sept.

Feb. 20 late p Darryl and Darryl voted to raise Pierson's taxes by $520

Feb. 20 late p this week Fola Coal said they screwed up some kind of form and asked for $12m in tax value relief. In their infinite wisdom, Darryl and Darryl voted to give Fola a $6 m reduction in coal seam value.

Feb. 20 late p Pierson comes to the aid of most every cause in the county while Fola now Consul won't even pay mandatory ambulance service fees.

Feb. 20 late p Since last summer, Pierson has been storing bottled water in one of his buildings. The wa wa was brought into the county during last year's water line breaks.

Feb. 20 late p Today at 3pm, Pierson loaded up the tons of wa wa on his tractor trailer and took it back to its rightful owners, the Clay County Commission. He left the load on the back Courthouse parking lot after telling the County Clerk he was returning their property. When asked, he said he was doing some Spring cleaning.

Feb. 20 late p Sometime later Commissioner Slinky called up Fran King inquiring about moving the water to the old State Road garage at Two Run. King said nope since that building is filled to the max each Saturday night during the BDA auctions.

Feb. 20 late p Tonight the temp is suppose to drop down to 18 degrees.

FEb 20 late p Commissioner was the lone vote to play fair with Dave Pierson and the lone vote against giving King Coal Fola the $6m tax break.

Feb. 20 p The world didn't collapse, there's not watermelons growing in every yard, and as expected, racial jokes are everywhere. Obama De Bama has been in office for a full month. After 8 years of greedy corporate leadership, it's starting to feel good again.

Feb. 20 p In our morning post we mentioned Fola Coal receiving a big tax break in addition to the one given by the County Commission during this month's Board of Review. Here's our reference from last Saturday's Charleston newspaper article on the even bigger savings.

Feb. 20 a Hear Delegate Dave Perry's Legislative Digest update this morning at 9:15am on 101.7FM

Feb. 20 a Town Council is suppose to have a special meeting of the group to redo a reading of the water plant ordinance. The only question is, will they show up and what will they decide a quorum is for this meeting.

Feb. 20 a Tonight the Panthers play in home court action beginning at 7:30

Feb. 20 a There are some topics that get hairy real quick. Separation of church and state, a woman's right to chose, and mountain top removal (MTR) come to mind quickly.

Feb. 20 a Thursday morning two of our County Commissioners voted to give Consul Coal (Fola) a healthy $6 million tax value cut on their coal reserves. That's on top of the already reduced tax burden this year.

Feb. 20 a Here's how Clayberry is getting screwed.

Feb. 20 a In 2008, 3,548,309 tons of coal were mined in Clay resulting in an average of $.14 per ton for a total of $508,363.78 in severance dollars for the county. Now look over in Nicholas County where they mined 4,370,744 tons of coal at an average of 25 cents per ton or $1,078,971.40

Feb. 20 a In the way of getting it broke off in us... In 2007 Clayberry mined 3,743,056 total tons receiving an average of 11 cents a ton or $409,337.40. One county over, in Nicholas, they mined 4,424,749 tons but received 15 cents per ton or $663,230.64.

Feb. 20 a Same coal and our county receives less per ton.

Feb. 20 a Get the Crisco! With Thursday's added discounts by the CCC, get a big can of Crisco.

Feb. 20 a We've got coal reserves to last 100s of years!!! Well, not really...

Feb. 20 a Back in 1934 and according to the WV Geological Survey, West Virginia had just 116.7 billion tons of minable coal As of three years ago, West Virginia had just 52.3 billion tons. At question, what does mineable really mean?

Feb. 20 a It just as bad in this county where we started the last century with 3.2 billion tons of supposedly mineable coal. Today we have just 1.8 billion tons and that's if we rape every mountain top, fill every valley, and clog up every other remaining stream.

Feb. 19 p If there was ever any doubt, we can document now, Coal is King in Clayberry.

Feb. 19 p Last week was minerals day for big business. It was a one day chance to for big business, coal, to get their tax burdens reduced. Fola Coal showed up and said inspite of employing high dollar CPAs and attorneys, the had made a mistake on Sept 1st mandatory filing. It was a $12m mistake. About as soon as the CCC said no way Jose, they came back with ... well... maybe it was just a $10m mistake and they would settle for a $10m reduction in tax values.

Feb. 19 p This morning, not satisfied, a suit for Fola (now Amvest/Consul) explained his further negotiations with the state tax dept folks and low and behind, it wasn't a $12m mistake nor a $10m mistake on their part, but merely a $6 m mistake they wanted corrected. Without any new certified documentation, Commissioners Mike Pierson and Slinky voted to provide the relief to King Coal. Fran King was the lone Nay vote.

Feb. 19 p Slinky said he had had a private conversation with the attorney for Fola earlier this morning and everything would work out peaches and cream if CCC voted for the $6m reduction in tax values.

Feb. 19 p Feb. 19 p Anybody else wondering what kind of deals have been made? The coffee-house crowd is.

Feb. 19 p 30 flat acres for a new high school and free? Free dozer work for a pet project? Company jobs for select individuals?

Feb. 19 p But still... a reduction in coal seam values is a reduction in coal taxes. With Slinky's allegiance to the school system, does that make any sense?

Feb. 19 p The stimulus bill signed by President Obama on Tuesday will not only pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy, it will fulfil a surprising number of the new president’s campaign promises.

Feb. 19 p Since getting elected to Town Council 19 months ago, Llyn Drake has graced the pages of The Communicator and this web portal many times. The norm is for Drake to say, do, or want to do something outlandish or down right dumb.

Feb. 19 p She managed to take up some ink in our latest edition as well. Most recently Ms Drake's wisdom rewrites the law by saying there is no legal reason for posting a public meeting agenda . Needless to say, she's wrong, dead wrong.

Feb. 19 p About as soon as that edition made the news stands, she called up the ace cub reporter giving him grief on false reporting. She said we had thrashed her about in the paper and she wanted to know why. Our response: You're such an easy target!

Feb. 19 p We have new info on why she should be trashed about. Here's an excerpt from a recent letter to Mayor Jack Brown: "I'm here for the long haul and I've already let Andy bad mouth me way too long. I know that Andy and you are big buddies and that together you have both given me a pretty hard time and I'm not whining because I feel good about everything I have done for this Council and these employees but enough is enough and I'm going to let him have it if he says one more thing. I have talked to a civil attorney in Kanawha County which is itching to take on lowlife Andy Waddell and all I have to do is give him the word ...... If this is such a bad place to live he can hit the road at anytime - the same road that brought him in will take him out of town."

Feb. 19 p Just two days ago, during a telephone conversation, the Mel Gibson look alike told Drake the reason for her media coverage, she is such an easy target. This most recent letter from Drake sure backs up what's we've been saying all along.

Feb. 19 p What Drake doesn't understand is, she is making a decision on building a water plant that will affect the municipality and county for decades. They are making that decision without ANY OF THEM EVER researching the kind of plant they are building and without analysing the cost of operating such a plant. She has not stopped to think what advantage there would be for her constituents. For going in debt for 40 years to build the new wa wa plant to serve those outside her elected jurisdiction.

Feb. 19 p Lowlife? Did she say lowlife? Did she say she's waiting for one more word?

Feb. 19 p Here goes: Llyn Drake's brain placed on the edge of a razor blade would look like a pea in the middle of a four lane highway!

Feb. 19 p Sure hope Llyn Drake doesn't sit on me. Yikes!

Feb. 18 p The Communicator made it out to the news stands Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday is our new publication date. Clay County's leader in independent news is The Communicator.

Feb. 18 p Senator Randy White's Legislative Update column is no on the ADVISORY page.

Feb. 18 p Tonight the Lady Panthers play their last home game of the season. Tip off at 7pm at the Panther Pit. Come out and support the home team. Go Lady Panthers!

Feb. 18 p Happy 11th Birthday Cullen Grose.

Feb. 18 p County Commission will decide Thursday whether morning whether to reduce tax values for Consul (Fola) by $12 million. With all their lawyers and CPA's galore, they say they just couldn't figure out how to correctly fill out the forms. They say they can't make it without the tax relief.

Feb. 18 p Commissioner King is against the reduction and has said as much. Republicrat Slinky most certainly will be in favor of giving them a break. And that's a little strange since the school system $$$ come from property values. Sometimes in Clayberry backroom deals play into votes.. maybe that 30 acres of property for a new high school?

Feb. 18 p The decision decider will be newbee Mike Pierson.

Feb. 18 p Our guess: Consul gets their way 2 to 1 and Clayberry will get by on fewer tax dollars as Consul continues their rape and pillage of our mountains.

Feb. 18 p Friday afternoon at 4pm Clay Town Council will convene a special meeting to revote their decision to go into debt for a new water plant. It's a final opportunity for the public, the debt holder, to have a say, to voice their views on untested technology and new debt load.

Feb. 18 p Lighthouse Baptist Church is hosting a free food giveaway including baby food on Thursday Feb. 19th, 10a, to 2pm.

Feb. 18 p Caretaker job opening, see JOBS page

Feb. 17 a While you're waiting for an update...

Feb. 17 a A VERY ugly man walks into the bar with a big grin on his face and orders a draft beer. "What are you so happy about?" asks the barman. "Well, I'll tell you," replies the ugly man. "You know, I live by the railroad tracks. Well, on my way home last night, I noticed a young woman tied to the tracks, like in the films. I, of course, went and cut her free and took her back to my place. Anyway, to make a long story short, I scored big time! We made love all night, all over the house. We did everything, in every position imaginable!" "Fantastic!" exclaimed the barman. "You lucky b******, was she pretty?" "Dunno...... .......Never found the head!"

Feb. 16 a With a dab of new snow on the ground, today is a holiday for many government workers. Not so our school system who is in full session. Tonight is a school board meeting at HE White Elementary. Hard to believe, but so far this year, the agenda has been posted on the school web site ahead of time. Not so the mandatory three day posting on the door of the meeting house.

Feb. 16 a We're working on The Communicator today. No new updates until we get the thang out the door sometime Tuesday afternoon.

Feb. 15 p Gertrude May Bess, 80, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 15 p We started the week off with the County Commission conducting an unlawful meeting where public business was discussed. Outside the locked glass door, they discussed the Sheriff's desire to have a key to the 911 Director's office, an office the Sheriff has no need to be in. It appears the CCC is back where it was 7 years ago when secret meetings were common practice and the notion of following the law of land, is just that, something to follow when it's convenient.

Feb. 15 p On the plus side, quietly without fanfare, an agenda was posted on the front door of Town Hall making public a meeting coming this week. The agenda was posted by Mayor Brown after checking with the WV Ethics Commission. Turns out, believe it or not, even in the Great Nation of Clay, some laws have to be followed. At issue and subject to the ethics question was a Jan 09 meeting where Council held the first reading of the go in debt and build a new water plant motion. That meeting was held without benefit of the mandatory agenda. Town Recorder Llyn Drake said back then, they didn't need to follow the law since they gave meeting notice in a local paper. The last time Brown called a Special meeting, his wayward Council (except Jerry Stover) decided NOT to attend.

Feb. 15 p On an Ethics opinion, something that's free for the asking, if Council doesn't follow the official opinion, they can be held personally responsible if the matter goes to Court.

Feb. 15 p Wednesday evening at 6pm a major wind gust hit the county leaving many without utilities. Part of the roof on the old Middle School was ripped off. Trees went down everywhere. The storm only lasted a few minutes but the damage and loss of utilities remains for many in County Clay.

Feb. 15 p After 7 months of trying, the Library Board selected interim Library Director Shelia Thorne to fill the slot.

Feb. 15 p February is the one month during the year, property owners can protest their taxes and ask for reductions. Only one private citizen showed up for the opportunity. Not so with big shot mineral owners who came out in suits and spread sheets to seek reductions. Even with high dollar CPAs, Consul said they goofed up their paperwork and wants their burden reduced on $12 m in property values.

Feb. 15 p Last week, long time community supporter and business leader Dave Pierson said he had neglected to turn in a form by the deadline date on managed timber land. He asked the Commission to allow him to pay taxes on the MTL rates. They said no. They said no even after being told by the Assessor, they could allow the change.

Feb. 15 p Won't it be sad if a guy that supports about every activity in county is forced to pay the higher tax rates and worthless Consul is giving the red carpet treatment!

Feb. 15 p There was a time when the cold winter months had people saying: There ain't nothing to do in Clay. Can't say that now. For instance, Saturday night, there was a teen activity in downtown Clay, a consignment auction, the Kitchen held a special Valentine's dinner, and there were two Sweetheart dances in the county. Quite a change from just a couple years ago.

Feb. 15 p Deadline for Tuesday's Communicator is tonight at 6pm. Email ASAP

Feb. 15 p In passing, back in Dec the ace cub reporter went under the knife to install new arteries. Now a full two months later, all restrictions have been lifted and he's ready to get back at life. Thanks for the patience.

Feb. 13 late p Wayward Chelsie, the overweight Basset Hound, was found. Thanks to the Samples family over on Hansford .

Feb. 13 p Electric and tele service remains spotty in Clayberry as repair crews continue to remove debris from overhead lines and restore service. DSL service is more off than on keeping web updates slow on this site.

Feb. 13 p Over at Clay Middle School repairs are being made to the blown off roof. 101.7 FM remains off the air due to no power at the transmitter site

Feb. 13 p Today blue skies and bright sunshine are deceiving, it's still chilly.

Feb. 13 p HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY DEREK FUNK

Feb. 13 p BOLO: Chelsie the basset hound was scared into running away during the Wed evening storm. Anybody seeing a tri colored basset in the Maysel area, please call 587-7586 evenings.

Feb. 13 p The big Saturday night Valentine's Dance is still on. See EVENTS page. For those wondering, it's being held at the Senior Center but any and all can attend, stag or drag.

Feb. 13 p For those wondering, The Communicator is printed over at Spencer Newspapers. With economic woes a plenty around the world, that organization is down to three days of printing service. For now, Clay County's award winning newspaper The Communicator will be printed on Tuesday mornings instead of Friday. Deadline for submissions for this edition will be Sunday evening at 6pm.

Feb. 13 p Retired Senator Shirly Love provided weekly Legislative Update articles and radio commentary for years. Delegate Dave Perry is now offering that service to WYAP radio and The Communicator. First instalment is now on t he ADVISORY page.

Feb. 11 9:50 pm Clayberry schools will be operating on a two hour delay Thursday morning.

Feb. 11 late p Maggie Burchett, 83, of Indore, see OBITUARY page

feb 11 late p Harold Webster Cummings Jr., 28, of Glen, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 11 A couple minutes after 6 this evening all wind blasts whipped thru the county ripping off trees limbs and snapping utility poles. Electric service went out as did tele and DSL service in many parts of the county.

Feb. 11 From scanner traffic...

Feb. 11 6:35p- trees down out Triplett Ridge.... 6:40 with a patient on board an ambulance was unable to make it out of Clay: Ain't no way for us to get out... trees down on both end of town...

Feb. 11 Firemen and other volunteers went to work cutting out the snarls.

Feb. 11 6:55 Another ambulance was at Clay High where a 16 year old was unconscious and not responding. No "motor" [skills] from the waist down. Scanner traffic revealed the girl hit her head while falling and that was around 5:30pm. An ambulance wasn't called until 6pm

Feb. 11 7:15 pm Tree limbs busted a gas line on the back street of Clay filling the area with gas fumes. One person was to be evacuated. Ted Elliot with Mountaineer Gas was called

Feb. 11 7:20p Somber Super Larry Gillespie was on the ball responding to reports of roof damage and rain damage at Clay Middle School.

Feb. 11 7:35 Reports coming in on outages all across the county.

Feb. 11 8:30 p Security alarm going off at the pharmacy in Clay Foodland.

Feb. 11 8:35p Report of a signal 6 near Bickmore with a vehicle wrecked in the creek. Turned out to be a big time bust with the driver driving revoked with 30 unpaid citations under his belt. Took out 25 to 30 guard rails before coming to a stop.

Feb. 11 Clayonians spent much of the evening in search of more candles and flashlight batteries. By 9pm the humm and whirl of electrical appliances was heard as power came back on in different parts of the county.

Feb. 11 late p Exciting night for scanner listeners.

Feb. 11 a When the boss ain't lookin', here's a link to waste some time playing with. It's a panaroma gigapan from Obama De Bama on Jan 20th. Just click on a section of the pic and see the clarity up close and personal. Click over and over too. Take a look at Justice Thomas sleeping!

Feb. 11 a This technology is available to the public. Just think what the government cameras can do.

Feb. 10 p Harold I. “Lefty” Summers of Procious , see OBITUARY page

Feb. 10 p Naoma Jean "Bobbie" VanMeter, 72 of Lizemores, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 10 p Bertha Velmer Butcher Hill, 75, of Widen, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 10 p Tonight at 7pm the LAdy Panthers are in home court action against Roane County. Come out and support the home team.

Feb. 10 p Clay County Commission meets in regular session Wed morning with a big long agenda. One issue is the lop sided wages at the Courthouse where one department has entry level employees paid much more than those in other departments that's been on the job for years. It'll be interesting to see if the CCC pays the Sheriff's $23,000 computer software from last Summer. That's the $$$ the Sheriff agreed to pay out of his own budget in a deal where the CCC agreed to purchase the puters out of their budget.

Feb. 10 p As requested by Council person Joyce Gibson, Mayor Brown called the WV Ethics Commission with this question: Does a government agency have to post a meeting agenda before holding a meeting. The answer came back , just as they were told by members of the public. Answer, Yes, of course!

Feb. 10 p With the written ethics opinion in hand, Mayor Brown posted notice of a special meeting to redo the original meeting from Jan 09 where Council made their first reading of the ordinance to put the town in debt to build a new water plant.

Feb. 10 p For those that called, emailed, mailed, in support of taking Clay Town Council to Court over busting Open Meeting Laws, hang on to your $$$$ for the next occasion of the Great Nation of Clay doing something dumb. Thanks.

Feb. 9 p This morning's County Commission meeting ended at 10:35 when Commissioner Slinky told the public, nothing more until the regular meeting of the CCC Wed morning. Those in the peanut gallery chatted for a few minutes and then left.

Feb. 9 p That's what the Commission wanted. At 10:45 this morning, with the doors locked, the public agency, all three of em met with Top Badge Holcomb. That's a quorum of the body meeting behind closed doors discussing the public's business.

Feb. 9 p How do we know that? While peering thru the glass doors of the meeting room amid the hallway noise, the talk was about Sheriff Holcomb wanting keys to the County 911 radio center. The radio center has nothing to do with the Sheriff's operation and is under the control of the CCC and the 911 Emergency Services Director, Pat Beets.

Feb. 9 p Larry Darryl and Darryl heard the Sheriff's demand for access during the last regular meeting of the group. At that time, no decision was made. This morning's unlawful meeting was a chance to discuss the public's business away from the public. That's the way they like it in Clayberry.

Feb. 9 p Our Sheriff reads the West Virginia Code as putting him in charge of the entire county and needing access to every door and operation. That's not the law

Feb. 8 late p Charlie Cottrill of Indore , Happy Birthday

Feb. 8 late p Ever gripe about your taxes? Too high? Somebody else's is much lower than yours? Being taxed on a building that ain't even standing? You say you've got 10 acres and the tax depart says you've got 30?

Feb. 8 late p Feb. is the month to do something more than gripe about taxes. Feb. is Board of Review month before Larry, Darryl and Darryl, the County Commission. Your next chance to present your case is Monday morning at 10am. Walk ins welcome.

Feb. 8 late p How about you!

Feb. 8 late p It is with much regret we note the passing of Basil White's Jerusalem donkey, Festus. The 250 pounder was well known for eating out of the palm of your hand, apples and carrots. That was before all his teeth fell out. Festus not Basil.

Feb. 8 late p Goodbye Festus.

Feb. 8 p Mae Cruikshanks, 83 , see OBITUARY page

Feb. 8 p Happy 18th Birthday Talia

Feb. 8 p Our country is in a mess. After 8 years of the Republicrat W, many in the elephant party are dead set against a different approach to restoring our economy. Cheny says our Hawaiian President's roll backs will lead to a country more vulnerable to attack. All of Washington is ready to hand out $$$ to their cronies. The only argument is, which cronies will get the handouts.

Feb. 8 p What Washington hasn't learned yet, change has already come to America. Last year marked the beginning of the new American. Instead of betting on the future and purchasing on credit, we changed. We're doing what our parents taught us: Don't buy it if you don't have the green backs to pay.

Feb. 8 p True bankruptcy filings went up 44% in Dec, but there are some real deals out there. Take mortgages for instance. Got one? Look at it. Today fixed rate mortgages are available at 4 1/2 % or better. Buy a point and your monthly payment could drop by a few hundred dollars. Long term interest payments could be reduced by $1000s.

Feb. 8 p Over the last 7 days, Clayberry went from below zero temps and more snow to sunshine and Sat thermometer readings near 70. We came out of our homes and took in the warm weather.

Feb. 8 p Town Council agreed to ask the WV Ethics Commission: Does the Great Nation of Clay have to follow Open Meeting Laws. Mayor Brown agreed to ask the Charleston folks: Does a government agency have to post a meeting agenda before conducting government business.

Feb. 8 p During a mid week Commission meeting, one resident came forth to complain about taxes on a run down, unliveable trailer on his property. He was the first person this season to make a demand during the Feb. Board of Review month. Everybody else must be happy with their taxes or too lazy to even try for fairness.

Feb. 8 p Thursday evening the Clay County Business Development Authority met. They spent another 70 minutes accomplishing nothing. There is a glimmer of hope. When a good idea came up, three of the members voted to pursue the idea. That's more than in the past. Get rid of the deadwood, and something may someday happen to improve life in the county of little.

Feb. 8 p Friday night the CCHS gym was packed for the winter homecoming festivities and ball game. We whooped up on Roane County big time!

Feb. 8 p Lots of icy roads made for lots of fender benders and serious damage too. Friday night there wasn't a Green Shirt in the county to respond to serious wrecks.

Feb. 8 p Saturday afternoon kids were seen in flip flops. We're thinking about Spring and winter is only half done.

Feb. 6 p Shentel Cable Company sent notice they were closing up shop in Clayberry with a drop dead date of March 1st. Many subscribers have already switched to satellite service. You might want to hold up.

Feb. 6 p According to a WV PSC rep, instead of closing down, Shentel has been purchased by another cable provider. Formal announcement of that change of hands is forthcoming.

Feb. 6 p Town Recorder Llyn Drake has fought to set up a Municipal Court with her as Judge. On more than one occasion, she has said: The Court would be a real money maker for the hamlet.

Feb. 6 p Money maker? Other examples of such money makers would be Summersville and Gauley Bridge.

Feb. 6 p Locally, concerns are raised on an out of control Municipal. There's good reasons for the concern.

Feb. 6 p Back in '46 Alf Bell was the Mayor of Clay. His local Badge was the oft intoxicated Cope Summers. Locals called him the Stoplight Policeman. His ploy was to sit in his cruiser near what's now Wilson Funeral Home and watch the one stoplight in Clay for those that slid thru the yellow light. The fine for such a transgression was $7.50. That was big $$$ back in those days.

Feb. 6 p Once arrested, the violator was taken to the Mayor's office in the Bell Hotel (that's where Bowan Dental is now). In front of the violator, the $7.50 was divided up between Badge and Mayor. That type of justice went on month after month.

Feb. 6 p Who purchased the stoplight? None other than Mayor W A Bell. That original stoplight was the normal red yellow green arraignment. After it was shot down by a local, either Johnny Woooooofter or Mike King, a second light was erected minus the yellow bulb.

Feb. 6 p After a couple years of the notorious pocket lining behavior, Town Council voted out the Mayor's Municipal Court. Are we ready for another Municipal Court?

Feb. 6 a Tonight the Panthers in home court action. Come out and support the home team.

Feb. 6 a Need your piano tuned? Check out our new web site sponsor on the home page.

Feb. 6 a A couple notes from last night's Business Development Authority meeting..

Feb. 6 a Back in Oct. BDA Chair Fran King got all fired up, gave our work assignments, and told the members, get the assignments done or don't come back. That was Oct. Since then nothing has happened. With each passing month, nothing. Last night King asked for assignment updates once again. As expected, zip had been done. With a burr under her saddle, the ultimatum was given, get the jobs done by March 5th or resign

Feb. 6 a Here's an example of why Clayberry is in the state its in.

Feb. 6 a BDA Boardster Mike Boggs came up with this idea: In the spring, there's a job fair in Charleston where 40 manufacturing firms will have booths. Boggs thought it would be a good idea to collect local resumes of folks wanting jobs, set up a booth at the fair and hand out the resumes. The cost of the booth :$1000.

Feb. 6 a The BDA has $150,000 in their checking account.

Feb. 6 a In their infinite wisdom, five members of the BDA shot down the idea. Those against: Fran King, Mike Evans, Jim Knotts (Yes he's still on there), Katherine Knotts, and Glada Lanham.

Feb. 6 a Trying to say something, anything, good from last night's meeting of the clueless.... Chair King has approached a Clendenin based pipe line company which may have an interest in setting up a maintenance shop at the old Filcon site near Ovapa. With several from the pipeline company residents of Clayberry, might be a good idea. Certainly better than a worm or carp farm on the site.

Feb. 6 a After years of trying, the only thing that has grown on the Filcon site is Fabion Brown's potatoes and the BDA got mad at him over that!

Feb. 5 p Ruby Keenan Grose, 93, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 5 p Happy Birthday to Ryland and Jamie Grose.

Feb. 5 a Clyde Friend, 85, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 5 a Edward Eugene Mitchell, 74, of Bomont, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 5 a at 7:30 this morning temps in Clayberry hovered around 7 degrees. Brass monkeys had a rough time last night.

Feb. 5 a All kinds of stuff going on today. This morning at 10, the CCC will hear taxpayer complaints and attempts to get their tax burdens reduced. At 5pm the BDA meets in regular session. In a some what confusing way, Clay Roane PSD meets in semi regular session this evening at the Procious Water Plant beginning at 6pm. Tonight the Lady Panthers are in home court action at CCHS, 7pm. Hey! They won last night.

Feb. 5 a The stimulus bill contains "$20 million for the removal of small to medium-sized fish passage barriers" and "$25 million to rehabilitate off-roading trails for ATVs." True or False.

Feb. 5 a "There are no earmarks" in the stimulus bill. True or False. (Actually they change the definition of an earmark!)

Feb. 5 a To give the proposed economic stimulus plan some perspective, "if you started the day Jesus Christ was born and spent $1 million every day since then, you still wouldn’t have spent $1 trillion." True or False

Feb. 5 a A lady inserted an ad in the classifieds: "Husband Wanted". Next day she received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine."

Feb. 5 a "Is it true Dad, that in some parts of Africa a man doesn't know his wife until he marries her?" Dad replied, "That happens in every country, son."

Feb. 4 9:30pm After the embarrassment of no bad weather on Tuesday, the Clay County School system waited until 9:30pm to call a two hour delay for students Thursday morning. Sleep in folks

Feb. 4 p About as fast as they closed down, Poof! Capital Resources Agency reopened for business this morning. We received an email from Connie Lupardus reading in part: CRA is up and running and they have served quite a lot of customers this morning. They are giving out commodities today. The phone number is 587-7720. Thanks for letting people know that CRA is still serving the citizens of Clay County with much needed services!

Feb. 4 p Brrrr... cold and about 2 inches of new snow on t he ground.

Feb. 4 p For all those that have pledged $$$ to bring a suit against Clay Town Council, hold up. We have some new info.

Feb. 4 p Town Council met in regular session Tuesday afternoon. During the meeting a guy from the peanut gallery asked the elected group to rethink their last meeting and all decisions made then due to possible violations of Sunshine Laws. Instead of some smart butt retort, Council person Joyce Gibson asked the Mayor to contact the WV Ethics Commission for professional advice. Mayor Brown said he would call the oversight group today.

Feb. 4 p Instead of jumping the gun, we're waiting to see what the Ethics folks have to say.

Feb. 4 p Isn't that refreshing. Elected folks using the resources available to them. Wonderful.

Feb. 4 p Maybe it was the make up of last night's group. Llyn Drake was absent from duty.

Feb. 4 a This is pretty cool. There's an Eagle Cam set up over in the eastern panhandle. The nesting pair already has one egg in the nest. This is the 4th year the pair has used the nest in the old sycamore tree.

Feb. 4 a Just the mention of snow and Clayberry goes apey. For instance, yesterday, without a drip of snow in the air, but weathercasters predicting doom and gloom, our school system got all stressed out and closed schools at 1pm. No snow came yesterday. People were laughing calling the screw up another Rockefeller storm.

Feb. 4 a This morning, the snow came. There was no two hour delay.

Feb. 4 a This year the school system began using an automated robo call system called Sarah. The female voice calls teachers and kids with the news of delays and closings among other things.

Feb. 4 a With Sarah in use so much this year, every time the phone rings, kids and teachers are yelling out, It MUST be Sarah. Or , Where's Sarah!!!!

Feb. 4 a 3 years ago a fellow came before the Commission saying he was opening a new social service provider (Capital Resource Agency) to replace the going out of business, scandal infested, Multi Cap organization. The guy said he had just left government employ and had the backing of the Smokin Joe. He promised improvements in services provided this county.

Feb. 4 a A year ago he came back to the county ready to shut down the agency and asked for local input. He heard: no one knows Capital Resource even exists, there's not even a sign in the window, he should put out weekly press releases; he should do a quarterly newsletter; he should make public a schedule of services, and he should change the lone employee.

Feb. 4 a Since that last input session, little changed. Yesterday Capital Resource Agency got rid of their lone employee and shut the place down. During last night's CAEZ meeting, Director Lupardus said Capital Resource had contacted them about keeping services in the county.

Feb. 4 a Need food? See ADVISORY page

Feb. 3 a CAEZ meets today at 4pm and again at 6pm with their Bd of Directors. Big long agenda is on the table

Feb. 3 a Clay Town Council meets at 6pm in the water plant building on Main Street.

Feb. 3 a Also tonight the Library Board meets to decide on a new Library Director.

Feb. 3 a Last night during the school board meeting discussion went back to an idea of creating a regional elementary school in the Lizemore area to serve Clay, Nicholas, and Fayette county students. The notion appears to have the support of big shots in Charleston.

Feb. 3 a If that brain fart becomes reality, think of the nightmare created. What happens when one county calls off for snow and the others don't. Which disciplinary policy will be used. Who's in charge? Who gets the Fed per student $$$ ?

Feb. 3 a And then there would be the HE White problem. Do you bus those kids over narrow winding Sycamore road or ship them 16 miles to Clay Elem? In any case, that end of the county would once again be short changed.

Feb. 3 a When school teacher Mike Pierson took his seat on the County Commission a new issue popped up. His Commission duties would be done during school time. Mr P said he would use his personal leave time for elected duties. Some of our readers chimed, that's still double dipping on the taxpayers tab.

Feb. 3 a Seems there may be some merit to those cries. Last night the School Board discussed a letter received from their attorney on that subject. Basically, the $500 letter said the local school system has the discretion to allow elected leaders off work and the discretion to pay them (double dipping) while doing other official duties.

Feb. 3 a And then there was the "easy out". After all the words, the attorney said the locals should check with the state ethics commission for an official opinion.

Feb. 3 a State ethics opinions are free. If elected officials follow the guidance of the ethics opinion, they can't be sued. Wonder why they didn't go after the free advice to begin with? Oh, I know. They have all that extra Senate Bill 541 $$$ to spend!

feb 3 a Know about Senate Bill 541? For all your entertainment value, pick up a copy of the County Commissioner Slinky recommended Communicator today.

Feb. 2 p Obama De Bama says Chicago schools never close down for snow. Here'e the truth.

Feb. 2 p Gerald D. Brown, 86, of Indore, see OBITUARY page

Feb. 2 p During this morning's property tax Board of Review, not one person showed up to contest their tax burden. The next chance to try for a reduction is Thursday morning at 10 am. Appointment not necessary.

Feb. 2 p The CCc did some time going over the process and state of taxes. When Fola Coal moved a bunch of their mining equipment out of the area, their county taxes went down $3m, Real Estate values increased $5m since last year.

Feb. 2 a Belated birthday wishes to Debra Procious and Carl Metheney

Feb. 2 a A lot of folks complain about taxes. Somebody charged less than another. Others say.. you get the picture

Feb. 2 a February is formal time to complain about your property taxes and try to get them reduced.

Feb. 2 a Today is the first day to try your luck before the County Commission.

Feb. 2 a Big coal gets their tax burden reduced, how about you.

Feb. 2 a Try now or hold your peace for another 12 months.

Feb. 2 a The Board of Education meets tonight at 6pm at the Annex on Gump Street. Their agenda is posted on the school web site. Bottom item reads: adopt a policy reflecting the ethics commission ruling. Hmmm...

Feb. 1 p Weather was the center of attention during the last seven days. Snows came one after another followed by sleet and ice. Schools closed. Events were cancelled. By mid week the thawing followed by freezy temps made most side roads and driveways, sheer ice.

Feb. 1 p The normally secret behind the scenes politics at the Courthouse became public this past week.

Feb. 1 p Commissioner Slinky decided the copier in the CCC room wasn't good enough and asked for keys to use the County Clerk's bigger newer (paid for from 911 funds) copier for after hours work. Instead of providing keys, the bigger copier was moved into the CCC room. Still not good enough. During the Wed meeting, the Commissioner didn't get his way

Feb. 1 p The fellow that thinks he rules the entire county, Top Badge Holcomb, also asked for a set of keys during the mid week meeting. His desire was to have access to the 911 Director controlled emergency radio dispatch room in the Health Dept building. Commissioner King said no way and gave reasons. Stuff like they have trained radio dispatchers ready when the need comes. For now Holcomb didn't get his way

Feb. 1 p Full details in the now on the new stands Communicator.

Feb. 1 p Doc Jamie made Charleston Gazette front page news with coverage of over billing Medicare. That's the story the Communicator aired two weeks ago. In this edition of the near excellent Communicator we published info on Doc Jamie IRS penalties for not paying taxes on stock trading in the early part of this decade.

Feb. 1 p Windjammer TV Cable Co plans to shut down April 1st leaving many in the county with little choice for reception providers. Customers on the Shentel system have been told that system is also leaving the county, shutting down.

Feb. 1 p The Kitchen restaurant opened for business under new management Thursday. As word spread, by mid day Friday, the place was packed.

Feb. 1 p Elvis was seen in Two Run Saturday afternoon.

Feb. 1 p We finished the week up with weather reports of warm temps and blue skies.

Feb. 1 p We're sick of winter.

Feb. 1 p With a new month, lots of public meetings coming this week. We'll do our best to keep you posted on all the happenings in the Great Nation of Clay.

Feb. 1 p Back on the The Kitchen reopening.... they start their breakfast menu ealr early Monday morning