Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink. At least that was the case Saturday morning for residents of West Grahm in Bluefield, Virginia.
According to Pete Sleeman, Superintendent of Bluefield Virginia’s Public Works Department, an 8” water main broke on Hockman Pike just below Pine Hill Park at about 6AM Saturday morning.
PETE SLEEMAN
“The weather and then the high water lately seems to have given us a fair amount of problems. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of these main breaks here in the future. If not in Bluefield, Virginia,than in the surrounding communities.”
The main was fixed and water restored at about 2:30 Saturday afternoon but that same day the Beckley Water Company issued a Boil Water Advisory for the Entire System. According to tests there is a good possibility that the water was contaminated. Let water come to a full boil before drinking.
RAIN CLOSES ROADS
BECKLEY/FALLS MILLS 3-13-10
Rain came hard and fast Friday night into Saturday morning resulting in flooding, some road closures in our listening area. Ritter Drive in Bradley and Airport Road in Beckley were closed Saturday due to excessive water on the roadways.
The Bluestone River jumped its banks in and around Falls Mills. The Abbs Valley Volunteer Fire Department turned drivers back on Route 102 between Falls Mills and Pocahontas Virginia because the Bluestone River submerged a section of roadway near Route 696 which leads to Abbs Valley.
According to Captain Chad Bailey, the Princeton Fire Department closed Brickstreet Friday night and 2 Blocks of Stafford Drive as well but that’s not unusual after heavy to moderate rainfall.
CHAD BAILEY
“We’ve had flooding issues in the B Street section of Stafford Drive for several years, yes.”
CABBY KILLER SENTENCED TO LIFE WITH MERCY
PRINCETON WV 3-11-10
This week in Mercer County Court, twenty two year old Dennis Sampson Jr. of Bluefield pleaded guilty to a charge of first degree murder in exchange for a life sentence with the recommendation of mercy. On a Sunday afternoon in May of 2009, Sampson jumped into the Cimmerron cab driven by 30 year old Kerry Lynn Hager at the intersection of Carolina Avenue and Beech Streets in Bluefield, West Virginia and shot her four times before stealing less than $100 and fleeing the scene. Kerri Lynn Hager died while attempting to drive to Bluefield Regional Medical Center which was only a couple of blocks away.
Sampson, is eligible for parole in 15 years. Hager is survived by her husband and four children.
Also this week, a judge in Tazewell County Circuit court, sentenced 39 year old Shaine Claude Collins of to life imprisonment plus 50 years the January 3, 2009 armed robbery of the Doran Grocery Store. Collins wore a mask during the crime but was still identified by the store’s clerk as he was said to be a regular customer.
WAR HERO, COMMUNITARIAN, RETAILER DIES
BLUEFIELD WV 3-9-10
One of Bluefield’s leading citizens, 89 year old Max Kammer, died Monday morning at BRMC from a heart related ailment. Kammer began working for his father at Kammer Furnture on Bland Street just after returning from World War Two as an Army Captain with 2 Bronze Stars and 1 Purple Heart. In the year’s since, Max Kammer oversaw construction of Bluefield National Guard Unit as a Lieutenant Colonel while acting as American Legion Post Commander for Riley Vest Post Number 9.
Max Kammer was named furniture Retailer of the year from the National Home Furnishing Association and received a distinguished Citizen Award from both the Boy Scouts and the American legion. But it was his war experience that perhaps most shaped Max Kammer’s character as his son Harry Kammer explains.
HARRY KAMMER
“He never talked much about the war at all William. But he did tell me something one day. I said I was stressed out because this lady wanted to take her furniture back. He’d heard my generation say ‘I’m stressed out and he said, let me tell you about stress, son. Stress is being 20 something and being a Captain, behind enemy lines in the Battle of the Bulge. Stress is caught behind enemy lines with no water resistant clothes in freezing weather, not knowing if left, right, straight or behind was the right way to go, with a Dog Tag that said Jewish, knowing that if he’s caught, he’d be shot. He said now that’s stress. We can always make Mrs. Jones happy and that made me feel that as bad as something might seem, it’s not really severe enough to stress about when compared to the life or death challenges he had to go through.”
Captain Max Kammer was with General Patton when the 3rd army liberated emaciated , mostly Jewish captives at concentration camps.
CITY ANNOUNCES 20 WINNERS FOR THE ‘PAINT THE TRAIN’ ART PROJECT
BLUFIELD WV 3-9-10
Bluefield West Virginians embarked on a citywide art project this week when Mayor Linda Whalen drew the names of 20 organizations who won the right to Paint the Trains. With Coal Heritage Trail grant funds left over from renovations of Chickory Square and the surrounding sidewalks, the city bought several 3 X 5 foot resin cast model trains which will soon be painted and then mounted along Bluefield and Princeton Avenues and in the city’s historic district.
Bluefield Mayor Linda Whalen is the project’s highest profile supporter.
LINDA WHALEN
“It’s a branding opportunity for Bluefield but also it’s a project that will draw more tourists into our area. This is a great art project for our area and hopefully one that’s going to keep evolving into other projects. So we’re real excited. We have lots of excited people here today.”
According to the plan, at some point in 2011, the city will auction these painted model trains to the highest bidder at which point the new owner can mount them anywhere in town, as long as they remain in public view.
BOARD VOTES TO LENGTHEN SCHOOL DAY
TAZEWELL VA 3-9-10
At this week’s meeting, the Tazewell County School Board unanimously voted to lengthen the school day by 35 minutes beginning on Monday March 15th. The school year ends on June 10th in Tazewell County, as previously planned and will again begin in the third week of August on Thursday the 19th. These measures were taken in large part because of numerous missed instructional days due to this winter’s record snowfall.
West Virginia schools do not yet have flexibility to significantly extend the year but will request that students attend school until Tuesday June 8th which is longer than expected. The teacher work day of Monday April 2nd will also likely be transformed into a normal instructional day.
According to Kellan Sarles of the Mercer County Board of Education, Mercer County school’s already exceed the state’s minimum instructional time requirements by keeping High Schoolers in class till 3:30.
Legislation passed in West Virginia just this last month will allow public schools to begin earlier and though it’s not yet set, look for Mercer County schools to begin as early as the third week in August with a schedule similar to that of Virginia schools.
These school dates will be set in the near future.
The Tazewell County school Board recessed their session until March 23rd when the school year budget will be addressed.
ADVENTURE RADIO WINS BIG AT WVBA BANQUET
MORGANTOWN WV 3-8-10
Broadcasting awards were dispensed again this year at this week’s annual meeting of the West Virginia Broadcasters Association. At the end of the night’s ceremony Bluefield based Adventure Radio came away with five broadcasting awards including: Station of the year won by J104.5, Doug Dillon of Kicks Country won The Best Morning Show award. Adventure Radio news won for Best News Coverage and Adventure Radio Sports won the award for the Best Sportscast. J104.5 won the night’s most prestigious award for Legendary Station which is bestowed to only one West Virginia radio station each year.
I asked Vice President Danny Clemons how Adventure Radio managed to garner so many awards this year.
DANNY CLEMONS
“It’s total teamwork. From the programming department all the way down to engineering, sales and administrative in order for an award of this magnitude to be received. Our original mission statement was provide a product for the community and service the community we live in and that’s what we do.”
Bluefield based WVVA won the award for best TV station in West Virginia.
FEDERAL FUNDS WILL BUY BUSSES FOR STATE TRANSIT
CHARLESTON WV 3-8-10
With remaining funds from last year’s Recovery Act the West Virginia Department of Transportation will receive nearly $4.5 million to support its Transit Capital and Assistance Projects throughout the state. A little over a million dollars of that money will go to southern West Virginia Transit systems to purchase and maintain vehicles.
Bluefield Area Transit which serves Mercer and McDowell County can purchase two ADA accessible vans, a mini van and support vehicle with the funds. Transit Authorities in Greenbrier, Wayne and Logan, Boone and Fayette Counties will also buy vans with the funds.
West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin’s mother 87 year old Mary Manchin had a stroke last Friday and was recovering at Ruby Memorial Hospital.
TRAINING ON BIG WALKER TOWER
BIG WALKER MOUNTAIN 3-4-10
Drivers traveling on Route 52 over Big Walker Mountain witnessed an unusual sight Thursday as several individuals repelled from the 100 foot high lookout tower.
Bland County based ABB Wind manufactures transformers for wind turbines which stretch hundreds of feet in the air. Servicing these transformers can be dangerous and ABB Wind contracted Washington State based Gravitech to deal with this challenge. Gravitech’s Kevin Denis on what happened this week at Big Walker Mountain.
KEVIN DENNIS
“The course involves all these guys climbing up to the top of the tower to learn how to use all this safety equipment and how to rescue and lower each other off a 200 foot structure if an accident ever did occur.
We specialize in fall protection and rescue. We want to protect the worker from the fall and if an accident did occur and somebody’s hanging from the equipment, the rescue side.
Think of the five o’clock news whenever you see the window cleaner hanging from the rope on the outside of the building. We gave him the rope. We gave him the harness, we showed him how to use it. We successfully arrested the fall and and now we’re going to show you how to get the guy down.”
LEGISLATORS OF THE TWO VIRGINIAS ASK FOR DELAY AT E.P.A.
WASHINGTON D.C. 3-4-10
On Thursday, Senator Jay Rockefeller and Congressmen Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan of West Virginia and Rick Boucher of Virginia introduced legislation in their respective legislative bodies to delay the Environmental Protection Agency’s impending regulation of Greenhouse Gas emissions.
This legislation, called the Stationary Source Regulations Delay Act, pushes the timeline of the E.P.A.’s most stringent regulations on Carbon Dioxide and Methane emissions for two years.
This legislation applies only to stationary sources of these greenhouse gasses. Regulation of motor vehicles should go forward as planned.
Last year, Congressman Boucher was the only one of these three Congressmen to vote in favor of Cap and Trade legislation which imposes costly penalties on coal fired power plants which emit large amounts of Carbon Dioxide during the electricity generating process.
Boucher amended Cap and Trade legislation to include 10’s of billions of dollars for the development of carbon capture technology.
Cap and Trade is stalled in the Senate but unless this Delay Act passes, EPA regulations penalizing carbon dioxide emitters, like coal fired power plants, will take effect in the coming months.
MERCER COUNTY STUDENTS CAN FORGO SPRING BREAK
PRINCETON WV 3-4-10
This winter’s record snowfall has resulted in schoolchildren in Southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia missing several weeks worth of instruction as a result of weather related closures.
In response to this, schools throughout Mercer County will remain open from Monday April 5th to Friday April 9th in what is normally a Spring Break period.
Mercer County School officials are calling this voluntary program offered to student from Kindergarten through 12th grade the Spring Break Academy.
Elementary through Middle school student who want to attend will be taught reading, writing and arithmetic and are expected to attend the full day.
High School students, with their own transportation, may opt to attend specific courses offered throughout the day.
Questionnaires are being sent out this week to parents to find out how many students are interested in Mercer County School’s Spring Break Academy.
COLD PATCH IS TEMPORARY FIX
CHARLESTON WV 3-4-10
Motorists throughout the region have seen and felt the impact of this winter’s severe weather on area roadways. Potholes are appearing everywhere everyday on major and minor roadways and in response to this, West Virginia’s Department of Highways announces a $12 million Winter Damage Repair Program, starting in the Spring.
These funds will be needed because money normally used for Spring repairs is being used to patch roads now before they become impassable as the DOH’s Brent Walker explains.
BRENT WALKER (DOH)
“We will continue to be out there providing a cold mix patch whenever we get some consistently dry days. It’s a band aid approach. It’s a cold type mix that doesn’t require the heat that regular asphalt does and it truly is a temporary fix because you have vehicles that will ride right over it and pick it up with their tires. It’s just something we can do in cold weather.”
APPALACHIAN RAISES RATES BASED ON PRICE OF COAL
CHARLESTON WV 3-2-10
Appalachian Power submitted a request to West Virginia’s Public Service Commission for an 8.2% rate increase earlier this week primarily to cover the cost of fuel in their coal fired power plants.
This is part of a four year phased in 43% rate increase request that the PSC approved last year. Appalachian Power’s Phil Moye explains.
“We had to buy a bunch of coal during that time when prices were just tremendously high. But the amount built into our customers rate was really low. WE had maybe $40 a ton built into customers rate but we were paying say $65 a ton on average. Well that’s $25 a ton difference. So those are costs that we incurred but never recovered.”
The PSC allowed Appalachian Power to raise rates by more than 12% late last year and the company planned to ask for a similar increase this year.
“At this point last year, were expecting the increase to be around 12% or so and as it turns out it’s 8%. If the cost of coal remains low as it is today then the future increases may be at the low end of the scale like we’re seeing.”
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