Saturday, July 7, 2007

Thoughts Bouncing Off My Window III

Why?
Some may be wondering why I haven't written much on the Tonia Amato killing. Lord knows there has been plenty of material, rumors and such to get ideas from. However, my friend up the river, the author of Ohio River Life, has been all over it and I saw no need to duplicate his efforts. In fact I've been using up a lot of time reading Matt's blog and the newspapers. Being a professor he probably has a lot more free time than me.

"The Wellsville Zone"
We people of the ville have been getting some negative comments with unsolved murders that ORL has adapted the theme of Rod Sterling's old tv series The Twilight Zone when referring to us. I kind of liked it but there are probably some that take offense with it. So in defense I would like to say East Liverpool is not without their case files of unsolved murders. Three come to mind: The Tweed murders in the old used furniture store, Bernie Waters out on Dresden & Terry Weaver that was found beaten to death on the river banks. Someone wrote an article for The Review a few years ago listing them all. If they ever do an update on that I guess Wellsville could be included.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
The death of Tonia Amato has seen just about everything. Although I think it's time for a change of command at the WPD I think the Chief did a wise thing excusing himself from the investigation. We've seen statements retracted from local to state level authorities. We've seen lengthy explanations for this & that. What I would like to see is some charges filed. What are they waiting for? The Sheriff said they were looking for specific evidence and they found it.

The Mayor's Race
The County Election Board announced this week that Don Brown will not be on the ballot and that Dave Lloyd will be as an independent. Mr. Brown has a hard, uphill battle to wage if he decides to file as a write-in. The odds are against him. His best bet would be to educate the voters how to vote for a write-in candidate. I was disturbed to read that Dave Lloyd hasn't bothered to vote since 2001. What's up with that? Joe Surace would do well to concentrate on getting the WPD straightened out. Maybe it's good to hire outside lawyers to investigate and advise him how to get that task done. Let it all come out and let the chips fall where they might. The bad blood has been going on for too long.

The Fire Department
Looks like Fire Chief Smith is doing some politicking to get more men and money for the WFD. In a report of the last council meeting the chief said they have been busier so far this year than in the last two years and he needs an assistant and more full timers. In an article Mrs. Huston wrote that was published June 13th Chief Smith was quoted as saying "the volunteer fireman serves Yellow Creek Township, not the village". Is this true? Being called the Wellsville VFD I thought they fight fires in town and get paid by the village. Does Yellow Creek kick in on the expenses?

Susie Haugh's Web Page
A big "attagirl" should be given to Susie for creating and posting a web page for our fair village. It is a very professional cite and extremely well done. It is what the Chamber of Commerce should have done. At the least the Chamber should buy some advertising space on it to support Susie's efforts. You can click on the blue "web page" to view it. Thanks Susie. I was wondering who that lady with the barrel on the back of her truck was. Here I thought she was getting water out of the creek to take home! Some of you may remember Susie's pictorial of the 5th St. fire a little over a year ago.

Chester WV
Gee, Chester just turned 100 this year. I never realized how young the town is. In reality the town's history goes back farther than that but it wasn't incorporated until 1907. Happy Birthday Chester. I remember going on school picnics at Rocksprings Park. My older siblings thoroughly terrorized me on the roller coaster back then and to this day I will not even consider riding one.

New Street Signs
I like them. They are in Wellsville colors and reflect in the dark. They are eye catchers. It spruces up the place a bit.

Follow Ups
I've seen where the Port Authority is saying that the Baard Engery plant is looking more like a sure thing. They sent a wake-up call to the area business folks to get ready.
The "Paint the Town" crew did a bang up job on the house on 10th St. It looks like a new place. They are still looking for volunteers.
Did they ever find out what happened to the village truck that was stolen from Phenicie's? Rumor has it that it was stripped for parts.
Did we get the bids for the new roof on Village Hall?

Not A Job I'd Want
In a list of marriage license applications this past week the Morning Journal listed one man's job as a "boil maker". Yuck! I hope he doesn't work out of his home.

6 comments:

Password said...

I saw in the Review Legals where they were advertising for bids on the City Hall building. Yesterday's paper, I think.

Anonymous said...

You really have to wander why Dave Lloyd hasn't said where he stands on issues. He hasn't voted in years, hasn't given a plan of what he wants to do if elected. He seems lazy to me.

Anonymous said...

Ole Nib--
When the time comes, Dave Lloyd will make his positions clear. I spoke with him just last week, and believe me, he will have no trouble articulating what he stands for. If Wellsville citizens want to be crystal clear on the differences in the candidates, some village group--perhaps the Chamber of Commerce?--should organize a debate. I don't think Surace will agree to a debate, but if he doesn't, that alone should tell voters what they need to know. If he does, may the best man win.

As for Dave's voting record as a private citizen is pretty much his own business. The man served the village of Wellsville as its fire chief for decades. Now retired, he serves on the Buckeye Water District Board of Trustees, works for an East Liverpool ambulance company, and serves as a Wellsville volunteer fireman.

So calling Dave Lloyd lazy means one of two things: the person doesn't know what "lazy" means, or the Surace camp is grasping at straws to find something negative on Lloyd. If this is Surace's best shot, then the election is already over.

The Wellsville Volunteer Fire Department is a separate entity from the the Wellsville Fire Department. The two departments share equipment and a building. The volunteers operate in the township under a township levy, but when volunteers go out on a fire run in the village, they are "called-paid" men--that is, they are paid individually as called.

Wellsville residents should understand that without the VFD, the village fire department could not make a fire run.

Anonymous said...

Could someone please explain the VFD department and the "paid" department. Do the residents of Wellsville pay any taxes to the Volunteer department,or does all the funds come from those people that live outside Wellsville in Yellow Creek Township?
I remember back when Yellow Creek Township residents had to pay Wellsville $10 a year to have them answer a fire call. That would be a lot cheaper than the fire levy.
Maybe Wellsville could pay the township for all the volunteer fire runs in their town.

Anonymous said...

The Village fire chief will ruin that department.( which from what I hear, he is pretty close anyway.) Give him time and those colors will come out.

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine the chamber of commerce buying space in the new website. They are suppose to promote the village and all they really do is go to lunch.