September 2011
 

Sept 30 later p  Don't forget, early voting for next week's election continues Saturday till 5pm

Sept 30 p  3:47 pm from a Green Shirt to other Badges responding, "You all can slow down, no need to hurry ."

Sept. 30p  911 call  of a man that looked like he had shot himself. Within minutes a Badge mobile was seen flying low, North on Rt. 4. Other Badges reported in route by 3:42pm

Sept. 30 p After 7 hours of behind closed doors, just before 2pm Friday, a jury of his peers found Bobby Hanshaw NOT GUILTY of murder, murder second degree, voluntary manslaughter, nor involuntary manslaughter. GUILTY OF NOTHING.

Sept. 30 p Hanshaw shot and killed Guy Dwier on May 11th of 2011.

Sept. 30 p When announced, mouths fell open. There was silence for a second and then tears were heard in the peanut gallery.

Sept. 30 p After 5 months in jail, Bobby Hanshaw put his head down and wept.

Sept. 30 p  To make doubly certain the jury was walking together, they were polled.

Sept. 30 p  With the exception of a couple that just nodded, all said Yes.

Sept. 30 p Bobby Hanshaw walked out of the Courtroom a free man and ready to restart his life.

Sept. 30 p By 3:30 Prosecutor Jim Samples was seen heading home or at least away from duty. It was a tough call to say the least.

Sept. 30 p With smiles on the defense side, bet attorneys William Murray and John Mitchell Sr have a big bottle of scotch opened by now.

Sept. 30 p It only goes to show, you never know what a jury will do!

Sept. 30 a Welcome last Friday of the month. Complete with gowns and escorts, tonight is homecoming for the CCHS Panthers over at Schoonover Bradley Field. Weathercasters are calling for a pretty good chance of the wet stuff this evening.

Sept. 30 a Come out and support the home team. For those too far away, 101.7 FM will be sportscasting the game over the internet. Long time field announcer Jerry Hubbard has switched over to the radio station (with TB Griffith in the lead chair) with Jeff Jrauklis replacing the Hubbard as stadium announcer.

Sept. 30 a The Varsity team is looking for its first win. Go Panthers!!

Sept. 30 a Not into sports? Have some fun tonight over at the Big Otter Community Center. Music Dance and Food!

Sept. 30 a Lawyers put the Bobby Hanshaw murder trial to bed Thursday just before 4pm. Jurors worked the case behind closed doors until around 6pm before being dismissed for a night of rest. They return this morning at 9am.

Sept. 30 a How about some speculation clickers. The guys and girls worked two hours. Usually a jury wants to finish up a case if they are close to a decision. With two hours under their belt and willing to call it quits instead of finishing up, there might be some strong will, doubt, reservations, concerns, among the jurors.

Sept. 30 a Jurors have about 6 choices on their plate. Could be murder with life behind bars, with mercy, involuntary murder, voluntary murder, and the get out of jail free card, self defense could also emerge.

Sept. 30 a Bobby Hanshaw testified Thursday that he headed to the murder scene to snort a line of powder. The dead fellow, Guy Dwier, was found with Robert Stutler's driver license in his pocket. ID is needed in order to purchase drug supplies like pseudoephedrine (Sudafed).

Sept. 30 a Whatever the decision, it's once a case of drugs kicking the county in the butt.

Sept. 29 a Hello Drema Pritt.

Sept. 29 a Girl's volleyball tonight over at CCHS.

Sept. 29 a That Golden Retriever that was reported lost, it ain't no more thanks to Francis and ugly ole Glen Sutton.

Sept. 29 a Most clickers know the ace cub reporter has an addiction to watermelons. Someone dropped off four canon ball melons Monday. With two of em already coming out the other end, thanks

Sept. 29 a Bobby Hanshaw murder trial update...

Sept. 29 a During Wed's testimony came some damning statements like immediately after the shooting, Hanshaw spit on victim Guy Dwier, said a few choice words and then spun gravel on the body after he sped away.

Sept. 29 a  Keep in mind, statements like that above come from the Prosecutor's side of the case. The Defense team hasn't presented their witnesses yet. That side may get into action later Thursday.

Sept. 29 a  Nice soft seats, good HVAC, and real court drama not some TV show with commercials, that's whats continuing today in Circuit Court land.

Sept. 29 Capitol Resource Agency (CRA) shut down their Clayberry operation 10 months ago and that's after a few more months of reduced staffing.

Sept. 29 a Wed morning their new Director told the County Commission (CCC) that he plans to chart a new course for the troubled agency and intends to even add services to this county. Currently they are looking for a new office space.

Sept. 29 a During question time, one handsome huggable lad in the peanut gallery told the Director : Christmas basket applications are planned for just one day in the county and are to be taken over at the community college at Wallback. With that not being enough time for such a real need and with the inconvenience of the Wallback location, the newbee seemed to nod in agreement.

Sept. 29 a When he said he would listen to suggestions, that same fellow offered the use of Courthouse.

Sept. 29 a Immediately, County Commission Prez Jerry Slinkinnoooooggggger retorted: He can't offer anything!

Sept. 29 a Seizing the moment, from the peanut gallery: I can offer anything, You all just aren't listening.

Sept. 29 a Slinky was nailed.

Sept. 29 a Seems the public's comments were taken to heart at least in part. After Wed morning's meeting, The Communicator received the latest update on CRA taking Salvation Army Christmas applications.

Sept. 29 a That notice is now over on the ADVISORY page.

Sept. 27 p 9:55 pm  Calls came in for choking child. No Clay Ambulance truck available for service.

Sept. 27 p Boy do we ever need leadership!

Sept. 27 p The first day of the State vs Bobby Hanshaw murder trial ended around 4pm today.

Sept. 27 p Some darn good info came out today including  a confession statement where Hanshaw never actually admitted to pulling the trigger, nor even intending to kill Guy Dwier, nor even thinking there was a bullet in the 30/30 rifle .

Sept. 27 p It's not going to be an easy win for either side. The trial is slated for the balance of the week.

Sept. 27 p And Yes, the courtroom air conditioning is working very well.

Sept. 26 a With cooler temps and a feeling that it's going to rain like crazy today, welcome to the final week of Sept. Mums are in their glory with marigolds coming in a strong second. Trees are just starting to show the oranges and yellers.

Sept. 26 a Over the weekend a person told us, The Communicator and this web site were just too darn mean to politicians and other dumb bunnies in the county. Also, we never say encouraging words.

Sept. 26 a As for County Commissioner Linky Poo, the most recent Communicator is just covering what happened in Court. Of course we enjoy the butt chewing put in print, but, it's just one more chapter for the Clayberry history books.

Sept. 26 a As for saying something nice... actually we often publish the county's good.

Sept. 26 a Like, how about something nice about the CCHS Football Coaching staff.

Sept. 26 a The Panthers did not lose a game Friday night.

Sept. 26 a How's that clickers.

Sept. 26 a Slated for Tuesday morning, 9am, Bobby Hanshaw is to go on trial for the murder of Guy Dwier. Often last second plea agreements are worked out. Although some think a person should get a life sentence for some dirty deed, the perp could also get off the charges completely. You never know what a jury may conclude.

Sept. 26 a Not sure if that or what will happen in the Hanshaw case but so far this term of court, we haven't seen one trial.  Considering all the crappy Badge work (and Prosecutor work) , plea deals guarantee at least some jail time.

Sept. 24 late p    Wilford Clellan “Wilkie” Mullins, 83, of Dog Run, see OBITUARY page

Sept. 24  tomato plants this year were tall, with lots of foliage but very few fruits. Problem: too much nitrogen fertilizer.

Sept. 24 p   How come egg whites whip up best in a copper bowl?   When you use a metal whisk in a copper bowl, you are creating an electrostatic force that reduces both the time and the energy needed to whip up perfectly fluffy whites. The copper helps stabilize the egg whites as well, but a pinch of cream of tartar will do the same job. If you don't have a copper bowl available, stainless steel is the next best thing.

Sept. 24 p  Is there a way to keep ants from sneaking into my home through open doors and windows?   There sure is. You can spray lemon juice (freshly squeezed or from concentrate) onto windowsills and the bottoms of doors to repel these creepy crawlers. Lemon juice is also great for eliminating the itch of insect bites.

Sept. 24 p  On this date in history:   1869: Black Friday financial crisis;  Born 1921: Jim McKay (sportscaster);   Born 1936: Jim Henson (TV producer, creator of Muppets);   1956: The world's first transatlantic telephone cable, from Clarenville, Newfoundland, to Oban, Scotland, began operation; Died 1998: Jeffrey Moss (television writer, created Cookie Monster on Sesame Street)

Sept. 19 a  It's over! Four days of nice weather and months of organization came together for the 2011 Big Apple Festival in downtown Clay. Maybe not record crowds but certainly a ton of folks came out to enjoy the annual event.

Sept. 19 a Word on the street has it that some thug cut up a section of BC&G railroad track last week. According to Jitney driver and Campground Superintendent Arley Hall, not so, didn't happen.

Sept. 19 a With the town still in clean up mode, life is getting back to normal. In Circuit Court, there's a possibility of two trials Tuesday morning. More than likely, pleas will be entered.

Sept. 19 a Trying to avoid another butt chewing by the Judge, Commissioner Slinky is trying to get temporary air conditioning units installed for the Sept. 27th murder trial.

Sept. 19 a Communicator comes out Tuesday afternoon. Email your Chatters, Classifieds, Obits, etc. before this afternoon's deadline.  We'll have a bunch of the Apple pics this time around plus all the stuff that makes this place so special.

Sept. 19  a Few updates until we get the paper to bed.

Sept. 17 a Last night Coach Frank Klemean's CCHS Panthers dropped another football contest. It's about this time of year that thunderous calls for off with his head come rolling thru the county.

Sept. 17 a Formerly called "I am an American Day" (1940) and then "Citizenship Day" (1952), this observance’s long new name (2004) is called Constitution Day for short. It marks the anniversary of the date in 1787 when the final draft of the Constitution of the United States was signed by delegates to the Constitutional Convention after months of wrangling.

Sept. 17 a  Over 30,000 British schoolchildren, some as young as three, have had their names registered on a government database and branded “racist” or “homophobic” for using playground insults like PeePee Head. Orwell's thought police state has come to be.

Sept. 17 a Today is the biggy for Apple Festival goers. The full schedule leads up to a big fireworks display tonight. Here's your chance to see Clayberry at it's best.

Sept. 17 a  Is there a way to keep ants from sneaking into my home through open doors and windows?  Yes is the correct answer. You can spray lemon juice (freshly squeezed or from concentrate) onto windowsills and the bottoms of doors to repel these creepy crawlers. Lemon juice is also great for eliminating the itch of insect bites.

Sept. 17 a What is Pluviophobia?  Answer: Fear of rain

Sept. 16 a For those not wanting to get into the Apple Fest mode this weekend... there's a great music group coming to Big Otter Community Center tonight and yard sales are in place around the county. Check out the EVENTS page for details.

Sept. 16 a  For those wanting outdoor drama, out under the stars Solomon's Secret continues tonight over at the JG Bradley Campground at Dundon.

Sept. 16 a Tonight the Panthers play Valley Fayette in away game action. For those unable to make the trip, 101.7 FM will be airing the game beginning at 7:25 pm with TG behind the mic.

Sept. 16 Complaints have come in to the non profit radio station because the football audio stops and starts every few minutes.  Their audio is sent to the transmitter site via Frontier Telephone  DSL internet s>

---

Transfer interrupted!

tle faster than a snail and overloads resulting in the dropped audio. Don't blame the station.

Sept. 16 a For the rest of the world, it's a full day of family fun during the 2011 Big Apple. Here's the link to the official schedule.

Sept. 16 a Back in early Aug we reported Green Shirt management was moving their centrally located Clay County barracks to Telford Cruickshank's white carpet laden home in Big Otter. The real estate web site showed an asking price of $450,000.00

Sept. 16 a About two weeks ago in a Charleston newspaper the Green Shirt Head Honcho reported that the state law enforcement agency was in consolidation mode in an attempt to save money. Related to this area, they planned to consolidate Clay and Calhoun County detachments and those plans are down the road.

Sept. 16 Wed morning one local yocal asked County Commission to intervene in an attempt to keep the Badge unit in a more centrally located facility. The CCC had no interest in the idea. Slinky all but said, Next!

Sept. 16 a One more pitiful example of lack of interest in the needs of the county.

Sept. 16 a We have an update, although the Top Green Shirt said any action would be down the road, Telford Crucikshank's  35 acres and large home has already been purchased by the Green Shirts for $350,000.

Sept. 16 a When open, looked for a few more Badges to be added with their duties targeted at ticket writing out on the under used I-79.

Sept. 16 a Remember that part about consolidation and saving money by closing county offices?

Sept. 16 a   The Calhoun County barracks at Grantsville will remain open and in fact, be enlarged.

Sept. 16 a  With booths and canopies  set up on both sides of Main Street for the Big Apple, traffic slows to a snarl for the next three days. Since it's the main artery thru town, big trucks, buses, emergency vehicles and such have to some how some way negotiate the five block stretch of head ache.

Sept. 16 a For years locals have asked the school system to close school on Apple Friday due to safety concerns. Those pleas also came from school bus drivers. This year the Administration worked their education schedule to include today being a day off.

Sept. 16 a Sounded like a good thing until bus drivers changed their minds. Many in the county feel the change of demand was based on the number of em that stand to increase their wallets with extra duty contracts hauling the little darlins to and from morning concerts by the kids in downtown.

Sept. 16 a Almost with tears swelling, some driver leadership tried to cover their real reasoning with: we got to have school, it's the only chance the  wittle curtain climbers get to see the Apple Festival.

Sept. 16 a Of course that's a loud of crap since those singing this morning on the Main Stage are brought to the engagement just long enough to sing and then are carted backed to school land.

Sept. 15 a The Big Apple  here again. The complete schedule is over on their web site  Looks like three of the four days of fun will be held under sunny skies. Great!

Sept. 15 a For those attending the meet and greet with David Morris, the time change update is over on our ADVISORY page.

Sept. 15 a The biggy for this evening  will be the Karaoke show where anybody can strut their stuff on stage followed by the music group, Breedlove at 8:30 or so.

Sept. 15 a We'll have the complete update on Carl Metheney in the next Communicator but for now. Feds arrested the feller on 7 counts of selling meth in 2010. The indictment had been sealed until the arrest. He's out on bond and awaits a Nov trial date. Charleston attorney Bill Forbes will represent Quick Carl as many call him.

Sept. 15 a Last month Jay Carper was fired from the Clay Health Dept. As a civil service backed employee, Carper is entitled to a grievance hearing. When we talked with Carper a couple weeks back, he said those hearings are a matter of public record, anybody can sit in during the process, and he would let us in on the date for the thang.

Sept. 15 p He didn't

Sept. 15 a  It's our understanding that the stage one hearing was held Tuesday evening at the Health Dept building on Main Street. The Arbitrator's findings will be reduced to writing in a week or so.

Sept. 15 a  County Commission met Wed morning. Nothing earth shaking to report from that gathering...

Sept. 15 a Looking for an update on when contractors will get to work on the 14 month stalled Clay Wa Wa plant. Keep waiting. No one knew nutin.

Sept. 15 a For those that think moving the Green Shirt detachment to the northern end of the county will result in slower response times for most of us, that topic was brought up Wed morning. In response, not a question or comment came from the three up front.  Nothing!

Sept. 14 p  Clyde “Butch” H. Dawson, Jr., 68, of Procious, see OBITUARY page

Sept. 14 p   Ruth Virginia Salisbury, 92, of Ivydale, see OBITUARY page

Sept. 14 p  Libby Arnold, 73 of Nebo, see OBITUARY page

Sept. 14 p  John Thomas (J.T.) Shearer, 92, of Clay, see OBITUARY page

Sept. 14 p Food give away Thursday morning. see EVENTS page now

Sept. 14 a  County Commission meets this morning at 10 am.

Sept. 14 By this time Thursday, town will be covered over with Apple Fest booths and snarls

Sept. 14 a It's always fun to see an elected leader get his butt chewed. Should have seen Linky poo squirm as Judge Ric Facemire applied a dose of, here's how it's going to be.

Sept. 14 a County Commission is responsible for Courthouse maintenance including the upstairs Courtroom where the air conditioning has been bunged up for over three weeks. Yesterday County Commission Prez Jerry Slinky was summoned to the Judge.

Sept. 14 a There Linky was reamed out on not getting the problem corrected in a timely manner. At one point Link tried to noodle back something about telephone calls being made, negotiating a warranty deal and everything will be corrected by the end of the month .

Sept. 14 a Not putting up with an excuse, Facemire said something like, quite frankly, I would have sued them by now! From then on, Linky was a Yes Sir type of guy, and What ever the court needs sir.  It was fun watching the guy squirm.

Sept. 14 a So why is air conditioned comfort so important. Glad you asked...

Sept. 14 a According to the Judge, there is a murder trial set for next week. The guy Bobby Hanshaw has demanded a speedy trial which means it has to be heard during this term of court. If it isn't tried, Hanshaw will be set free and never have to have life in prison again. The term of Court ends Oct 31st. Facemire will spend all of October working Braxton County. There he's booked solid.

Sept. 14 a According to the Senior Judge, there is case law where jury verdicts have been set aside ( the guy walks free)  when the jury is unable to work comfortably toward a decision or are distracted.

Sept. 14 a  Judge Facmire offered a work around. Since he's going to be working the Braxton County part of the circuit in Oct. if the defendant is willing, the entire week long trial could be held there.

Sept. 14 a Sounds simply enough doesn't it? Wrong!

Sept. 14 a Clay County Jurors, witnesses, expert witnesses, and all the paperwork will have to be taken to that next county. If that happens, guess who has to pay the expense... Linky was told, the County Commission will have to cover all costs including transportation and maybe even overnight lodging. He squirmed some more.

Sept. 14 a Here's another cute part.   When the Slinkmiester offered to transport all on school buses, Prosecutor Jim Samples said that ain't good enough. Samples told the Court he wanted air conditioned charter buses!!!

Sept. 14 a In a tight spot and falling fast, Link was all in agreement to whatever was demanded.

Sept. 14 a  Just lvoe a good day in Court!!!! Fun Fun Fun More coming, check back tonight.

Sept. 12 p Around town, banners are going up on the Leonard poles, the water fountain in front of the Courthouse was drained and covered over with boards, carnival workers are putting together rides in the Fas Chek parking lot. Behind the scenes, other volunteers are putting the finishing touches on floats and tweaking the schedule with new stuff.

Sept. 12 p The Big Apple Fest is coming to town beginning Thursday. A great time to come visit Clayberry. The complete schedule is in the latest Communicator.

Sept. 12 p Tuesday was suppose to be  a big morning for Circuit Court action. Other than Adam Jones taking a plea, nothing else will happen.

Sept. 12 p Judges are real particular when it comes to the court room and how things are suppose to be. The upstairs Courtroom has been without air conditioning for at least three weeks. Windows surround the room but none of em open. Without circulation, with many in the peanut gallery, and all the hot air attorneys, it gets hot real quick.

Sept. 12 p Look for trials including the Bobby Hanshaw one, to be delayed til the County Commission gets off their collective butts and gets the A/C fixed or replaced.

Sept. 12 p Carl Metheny was arrested by the Feds a couple Fridays ago. Other than being arrested, we don't know what's going on down in Charleston.

Sept. 11 a Early last week, people were asked, when did 9/11 happen. Young people didn't know the Sept. 11th date

Sept. 11 a  Older people were asked what year did 9/11 happen. Some didn't know 2001.

Sept. 11 a On that morning County Commission met. The Courthouse was in shock. There was a TV upstairs and many came and went getting the latest images and news to be brought back to the different offices.  The entire building was silent.

Sept. 11 a The lunch and beer crowd assembled early at the Henry Clay Hotel. No music played on the jukebox. The place was packed with all looking above the beer cooler where the large screen TV was perched. Even the normally talky Arthur Jarrett had frowny lines as he took orders.  There were no drunks loudly talking.

Sept. 11 a  We were in shock . We hunkered down. We didn't know what was happening or what to do.

Sept. 11 a In response to the attacks, the country has changed in the last 10 years. Much of the freedoms were took for grants, they're gone. Privacy was the first to go. Civil liberties soon followed.

Sept. 11 a Since, thousands more Americans died in Dubbya's oil war. Hundreds of thousands of innocent muslims have also perished. What Osama Bin wanted, he got.

Sept. 11 a  Conspiracy theories are common in this country. Abe Lincoln, JFK, come to mind. In poll after poll, 70% + of this country think something more happened to JFK.

Sept. 11 a 9/11 is just as troubling. There were actually three World Trace Center buildings toppled ten years ago. The third one is not talked about much.

Sept. 11 a Building seven as it was called was not struck by a plane. There was some damage from falling debris and there were some fires but a few hours after the two tallest towers toppled, building seven also imploded. It came down after locals heard loud explosions within.

Sept. 11 a  We say that heroes brought down the flight over PA before it could turn and take out the White House. Our govt says the order to shoot it down was not acted on. Still why were parts of the plane found 8 miles away from the crash site.

Sept. 11 a Today as we honor those that died we know the failings of our govt. Even with billions in their budget and tons of training /planning , and 20 minutes of opportunity, we did nothing to stop the flights.

Sept. 9 a   Samuel Moore, 85, of Lizemores. see OBITUARY page

Sept. 9 a  Hot diggity dog, the Communicator  made it out the door Thursday afternoon . Clay County's locally own and operated news rag contains all the good stuff, the stuff that makes this place so special. Open your wallets, let those moths fly  out, and find out for yourself what keeps this county of little rolling along.

Sept. 9 a  The paper has the scoop on a new event coming to next weekend's Big Apple Fest. You've probably seen the Civil War  and maybe even Revolutionary War reenactors. Have you seen the ones that dress up like hobbits and do the Lord of the Rings fights?  They're coming to Clayberry for the Big Apple and the Communicator has the first mention.

Sept. 9 Over in Libya, many the country still support Gadhafi. Wonder why?

Sept. 9 a Truth is, during his 40 year rein, things have improved greatly. Did you know every child gets a free education including college if they want it? Did you know that all of em have free health and hospital coverage. All of em.

Sept. 9 a Tonight the Panthers try again for the first win of the year. Game begins at 7:30 over at Schoonover / Bradley field. Go Panthers.

Sept. 9 a  With the rain mostly gone for the weekend, why not come visit County Clay. The first of the fall colors are just beginning to show.

Sept. 9 a Does anybody else think everyone of the Republicrat candidates for Prez are nuts? Does anyone think one could elected with a platform of cutting Social Security benefits?

Sept. 9 a Sort of puts the shine back on Obama De Bama

Sept. 9 a By the way, on the none problem of funding SS. Even with the depression conditions now in progress, it's in good shape for another 20 plus years. No other govt program enjoys such a strong perch.

Sept. 9 a  Only the first $107,000 earned each year gets the SS deduction. The wealthy pay SS for the first $107,000 and nothing on dollars earned over that amount.

Sept. 9  a  What's not being said is, if all Americans paid the same rate for each dollar they earn, the SS fund would be funded for 75 years.

Sept. 9 a Problem solved but you'll never hear that on commercial media.

Sept. 7 a Over in Magistrate Court, this afternoon, the Clay Town leaders will try and get $1800 back from Black Shirt Chris Davis who once served as their municipal Badge. When hired, Davis agreed to stay on the local job for a length of time to pay off a buy out clause from his former employer. He didn't

Sept. 7 a With gray skies, cooler temps, and a real chance for more rain, we're working on the Communicator. Stories include: Johnny Morris getting a trial pass, the wrecked beer truck, an update on the county sanatarian getting fired, and lots of meeting coverage.

Sept. 7 a Deadline for letters to the editor, classifieds, obits ( don't hurry that one), is this afternoon late. Email now

Sept. 7 a 16 years ago yesterday, the first ever Communicator was distributed. The idea then and now, be the source for factual, first hand, local information. As the only locally owned and operated newspaper, we continue that effort today.

Sept. 7 a Thanks for 16 strong years of growth and here's to 16 more!

Sept. 6 p The heavy rains and weekend storms are affecting tele and DSL service in County Clay. With that thread to the world malfunctioning, posts may be slower that normal.

Sept. 6 p With rain in the forecast all week and a flash flood watch issued, be careful out there.

Sept. 6 p There' s a lot of FOX so called news misinforming folks. Over and over comes stuff like ...

Sept. 6 p  Republicrat Prez candidate Rick Perry  spewing that Obama De Bama delivered $2 billion to Brazil to help with their offshore drilling plans. Wrong!

Sept. 6 p Like  when Demorats say big corporations pay no Federal taxes, for the campaign season, we'd like to say it's true but,  it ain't. Truth is, what Exxon paid to the Feds in taxes is not a part of the public record.

Sept. 6 p Also disputing bologna, Congressional members receive the same health care as all other Federal employees.

Sept. 6 p Some general info. About every other day you hear someone say we need to amend the US Constitution. There have been 11,372 attempts to do such. Our foundation rule of law has been amended just 27 times and that includes the 10 bill of rights.

Sept. 6 p Something not mentioned by FOX is, how poorly the American worker has been doing for the last  40 or so years. Not so with Corp. CEOs.

Sept. 6 a  Hi Ho Hi Ho it's back to work we go.

Sept. 6 a The School Board meets tonight at 6pm. Here's the agenda.

Sept. 6 a Each fall Central Appalachia Empowerment Zone (CAEZ) holds their annual dinner and brag session. The world is invited over to the Valley Fork community college for the 5pm free vittles.

Sept. 6 a Labor Day is suppose to the one time of year when working class folks celebrate accomplishments and the worth of hard work. With so few jobs around and those that do work doing so with stagnant wages for the last decade, not too much to celebrate in 2011.

Sept. 6 a Did get an on point email from one of our own. In part:  Every day I continue to log onto Clay West Virginia to see what is happening in the land of my birth. The other day, my wife and I, travelled route 36 from I-64 to Clay, and to the high school.  It is depressing to see there is no change anywhere in the county.  It seems there is great stagnation throughout the area, and I say that with the heart of someone who considers himself as an “insider” not someone from the outside being condescending....

Sept. 6 a How true how true.

Sept. 6 a From the Hurherald web portal: TRIP, A nonprofit transportation research group, says West Virginia’s rural roads are in bad shape.  The Washington, DC-based group released the report yesterday, ranking West Virginia seventh in the nation for deficient rural roads in 2008. The report says 27 percent of major rural roads are rated in poor condition. The report found that 14 percent of West Virginia’s rural bridges were rated as structurally deficient in 2010 and found an additional 21 percent to be functionally obsolete. The state has been ranked as having among the worst rated bridges in the USA. The report also found West Virginia to have the 14th highest rural traffic fatality rate in the nation, with 2.62 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles. In 2009, 221 of the state’s 356 traffic fatalities occurred on rural, non-interstate roads.

Sept. 6 a Hey we're holding up the Communicator until Thursday morning to include a little more juice. It'll be worth the wait.

Sept. 5 p When a beer trucks wrecks, it's always a free for all. This morning a tractor trailer load of Bud tried to negotiate the one lane Glenn Road. The rig ended up over the embankment and with just one wheel left on the pavement. Local beer guzzlers quickly saw the opportunity for free drinks on the house.

Sept. 5 p By 10:30 pm, the big rig was removed by King's Wrecker and the road was reopened. Most of the beer ended up being stored at King's as well.

Sept. 5 p Around 9 pm came a BOLO for a silver Jeep SUV which was involved in a shoot out at O'Dell's service station just to our North. The tall skinny driver was to be considered armed and dangerous.

Sept. 5 Holiday wishes to one and all.

Sept. 5 a If you're wondering why no updates, Saturday afternoon's big storm wiped out internet service for the ace cub reporter. With spotty service at best, something not too  loquacious ...

Sept. 5 a The radio station has been hosting summer holiday celebrations for the last seven years. This time around, bad weather squashed those festivities.

Sept. 5 a After 101 degree weather Saturday afternoon and humidity thick enough to cut with a knife, around 6pm Saturday, black clouds came from the southwest followed by a huge blast of strong wind. Within minutes, hail pelted down followed by buckets of rain. The rain continued to around midnight.

Sept. 5 a Sunday was a repeat of the balmy weather followed by a much less damaging rain.

Sept. 5 a Electric service blinked off and on both nights but surprisingly, for much of the county, power stayed available. Not so with DSL service. Problems with DSL continued as late as 6pm this morning.

Sept. 5 a Many parts of the county were completely spared the storm and reported zero rain.

Sept. 5 a Weather reports indicate the wet stuff will stay with us all week.

Sept. 5  Have a nice day of work.

Sept. 2 a Tonight the Panthers play Braxton at Schoonover Bradley/Field beginning at 7:30pm. Going to be a tough match up with the Panthers in real need of hometown support. It's time to come out support the team. Go Panthers.

Sept. 2 a Good music tonight at Big Otter Community Center. Free admission too.

Sept. 2 a Here comes the final holiday of summer. The local radio station is hosting their Small Town America Celebration featuring the Yard Dogs and ROcky Branch Bluegrass with Bill Greathouse plus $50 pay outs in Karaoke and Cornhole. See wyap.com Updates page for the complete schedule.

Sept. 2 a During Saturday morning's Farmer's Market, the greenhouse guy is bringing a bunch of mums ready to bloom. He's got a deal, by 10 at $4 each and got one free. Fall color is here.

Sept. 2 a Behind the scenes the outdoor drama volunteers continue practicing over at the campground.    By the way, if you're looking for a place to stay during the Big Apple Festival, the campground still has space for primitive camping.

Sept. 2 a Looking for work, check out the JOBS page.

Sept. 2 a There's going to be a Big Apple Golf tournament this year. Info now posted on our EVENTS page near the bottom.

Sept. 2 a Big singing group coming during Sunday's Homecoming activities at Nebo Baptist.

Sept. 2 a And never forget, County Clay is Yard Sale Central this time of the month. Deals galore on every corner.

Sept. 2 a Don't say there's nothing to do in Clayberry. Put on your flip flops and have some fun. On the bad side, for those attending downtown activities, the radio station's welcome center is closed. Actually moved off the site. They may be able to reopen the Leonard Williams' Center for sit down business, but for now, bring a clothes pin with ya.

Sept. 2 a  We caught the tail end of the Town Council meeting held last night. It's going to be another year's wait on getting renovated sidewalks, park benches, flower holders, and street lamps in the downtown area. According to the Mayor, don't look for much of any action until next Sept.

Sept. 2 If govt built the ark, .....

Sept. 2 a In a recent Consumer's Report match up of diet meals, Jenny Craig came out on top with Slim Fast and Weight Watchers coming in next.

Sept. 2 a Take a look at how much personal information is found on the label of pill bottles. When tossing, remove the label

Sept. 2 a When using an ATM, take the receipt with you. You may need the proof down the road but as important, thieves love easy sources of info.

Sept. 2 a 52% of American say they have occasionally left their car unlocked outside

Sept. 2 a 26% say they have at least occasionally left the keys in their car

Sept. 2 a 11% say they at least occasionally have left their car keys in the ignition.

Sept. 2 a How about you?

Sept. 1 a  The Clay County Business Development Authority meets this evening at 5:30 in the Commission room at the Courthouse. Free entertainment in air conditioned comfort. Don't miss it.

Sept. 1 a There's a big Marshall University football game Sunday afternoon. they are playing some whimpy little team from the northern end of the state. With warm beer being sold for $7 a cup, you might want to consider bringing in your own celebration drinks. Pappa Bert has an interesting array of ways to import suds into a stadium.

Sept. 1 a If you walk over to Papa Berts, take a look at the guy wearing the big belly. Doesn't that look a lot like Wayne King?