 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
While the Creston auction, as well as many other events including church services were cancelled because of Saturday's snow, the Creston Christmas party will happen, no matter what, on Saturday, December 13 at the community building.
While snow and bad roads stopped Bobby Ray, Wilma & Carol Starcher north of Akron, the main visitor to Creston on the 13th lives in the polar region and has a sleigh so snow and cold will be a natural thing & travel will be no problem at Creston (but see below). All good little boys & girls, as well as big boys & girls are urged to come spend the evening, eat, sit on Santa's lap, etc.
While Santa will have no problems around Creston such might not be the case elsewhere as the DOT has cracked down on interstate travel, not to mention that Santa's sleigh is an articulated rig with a gross vehicular rating of more than 10,000 lb and is well over 150 air miles from home. To become compliant with new rules, Santa will have to get a physical exam and carry a medical card. There is a concern he will not pass being that he is overweight & may suffer from sugar diabetes due to large consumption of cookies. Another problem is the W. Va. DNR; they will not allow any transportation of deer into the state due to concerns over chronic wasting disease.
Santa has to completely skip the Eastern Panhandle because of a lack of a Nutrient Management plan which is required there when exceeding 8 animal units. PETA is threatening suit on the undue stress to reindeer because of excessive load and Homeland Security has also questioned much of the available air space that Santa traditionally travels.
Calhoun County had a first Friday afternoon with a heist at the Arnoldsburg branch of the Calhoun County Bank. For the geographically impaired, Arnoldsburg is up the West Fork some miles from Creston situate at the junction of Routes 16 & U. S. 33/119. One Creston family that has a van similar to the "getaway car" had visitors from the DPS early Friday evening who checked to see if the engine was warm. It turned out that the vehicle actually used in the robbery was recovered in/near Arnoldsburg.
Speaking of banking news, the reorganization at the First Neighborhood Bank (formerly called First National Bank of Spencer) raised several eyebrows. The new man was being groomed for the future but the changed time frame was a surprise.
Robert Rodeheaver from the Veterans Administration was calling on Charles & Euell Russell.
Carl Ferrell is home after being a patient at the Minnie Hamilton Health Care Center. He is to undergo additional tests to analyze his heart, gall bladder & gizzard.
Higgins Towing went up the Richardsonville Road Sunday afternoon to rescue someone.
While record cold continues around the globe the worshipers of the "Church of Manmade Global Warming" continue to try to make life difficult and expensive for ordinary people. One of the new twists is a "pollution tax" on livestock suggested by lefties infesting the EPA. The fee would be $175/year for each dairy cow, $87.50 each for beef cattle and $20/hog. It was noted that chickens, turkeys & other farm animals could also be taxed at a later date. PETA said this would be a good way to cut down on meat consumption & one of the tax enthusiasts gushed that "It would force farms & ranches to switch to healthier crops." Does anyone know what food crop can be "raised" on pasture and range land?
Speaking of "healthier foods" some of Obama's friends are unhappy with him and his buddy, the governor of Illinois, because they, being beholden to Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), converted the prison rations in Illinois to soya protein from beef. It was noted that consumption of soya beans reduces sperm count and may cause feminization because of the high concentration of phytoestrogens in the beans.
With Her Thighness and associates moving into the State Department, many are now talking about the "Clinton 3rd Term" as the Big Eared one seems more concerned about a big Islamic conference in Indonesia and a new "make work" program like the "new deal" when men were paid to paint tree trunks and rocks to "keep busy".
Those who made the financial mess continue to tell us how to solve it and some in the Messiah's administration keep saying things will get much worse while others on his payroll (funded by us) say they intend to maximize the opportunities presented by the problems which is very frightening, to say the least. The automakers have been regulated by do gooder government types for years now & now all that has come home to roost. They, like American Express which only recently "became a bank" and thus "entitled" to taxpayer bailout money, are asking for alms. Why should any bureaucrat have any say what a private company makes to sell? The market will dictate what kind of cars & what features people want and don't want.
While some retailers have had slow times (Wally World & Micky Doos excepted) some other folks are doing a big business as there is a genuine fear that the new folks in Dee Cee (those praised by the SDS, former weathermen & various other enemies of America) plan to make firearms and ammunition impossible to purchase. It has been noted that tyrants do not like free speech and a populace that can defend themselves. Using Orwellian language, the "fairness doctrine" is proposed to stop speaking that is not approved by the "powers that be".
Not so long back the "chattering class" was talking about a windfall profits tax on crude oil but now the price has fallen to $34.50/bbl. When Carter and his wizards implemented the tax last time domestic production plunged and imports of crude soared. No doubt "our betters" will have to think about this change some. There is now talk of a return to $1 gasolene. Unfortunately this will allow for a large tax on motor fuel to "feed the fat cats". Using "global warming" as a ruse they can say the new tax is a good thing to discourage driving and "save the planet".
Francis Cain reported that his new well on the Knight bend tested 600 MCF/day with 72 bbl/oil per day with 1500 lb rock pressure in the Riley, Benson, Alexander, Elk & Hamilton shales.
James L. Stephens of Hard Rock reported that their well near Spencer (Betty Boggs) had an IP of 325 MCF with 1320 rock pressure in the Marcellus shale. Stephens said the Marcellus was 116 feet thick and that the Lower Huron was 800 feet thick.
Texas Keystone permitted 22 new wells in Preston County while Equitable, Chesapeake & XTO all permitted new horizontal wells in various sections of the state.
The unintended consequences of "ethanol to save the earth" had another casualty with the bankruptcy filing of Pilgrim's Pride poultry which means that the chicken and turkey growers in eastern W. Va. are now really in a bind. Back during the earlier Clinton terms Tyson (which had ties to Bubba) tried to use the feds to shut down the W. Va. chicken operations claiming pollution from chicken droppings in the Potomac but tests showed the coliforms didn't come from poultry but were from humans.
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