Thursday, March 6, 2008

Thursday Afternoon Musings



Mother Nature is being good to us. Once again we safely made it past a flood threat. According to the National Weather Service the river crested at 29.9 feet this morning at New Cumberland and the water level is slowly falling. At 1 P.M. it was 29.8 feet. With the near 70 degree high this past Monday there was a lot of snow melt and then on top of that was over 2" of rain fall the last couple of days. The missus was betting the flood wall would be going up this time for sure. Glad she lost that bet. Wellsville's flood stage is 11 feet. Fire Chief Bill Smith was quoted as saying we would crest at 9.6' around seven this morning. The first picture you see above is the train tressel over Yellow Creek. The second one is looking east toward the ville from old Route 7. At the top you can see the new crane at the Port Authority site. You can click on either picture to enlarge.

If you're following the Div. IV boys basketball tournament then you already know that Malvern knocked Shadyside out of the tournaments by a score of 75-60 this past Saturday. Shadyside was the team that sent the Tigers home last week in the first round of the Districts. In the first game of the Regionals this week Malvern put a big time whupping on Columbiana beating them 103-67. Malvern plays Bedford Chanel tomorrow and the winner of that game gets to go to Columbus. One of these days it's going to be the WHS Tigers leaving a trail of beaten teams in their wake on their way to the capitol. Huh, Bug?


The Primaries are all over for us Ohians except for the counting of the provisional ballots at the end of the month. We're all familiar with those provisional ballots. This time the Republican nomination for Sheriff hangs in the balance. Right now Perry Twp. Police Chief Ray Stone is leading that race by a mere five vote edge over former deputy Jerry Herbert. I was kind of pulling for Skip MacLean. It would have been interesting to see two Wellsville boys facing off in the November election.

I have to agree with "Read-My-Lips" . I think the majority of the voters sent a loud and clear message to all concerned that any new levies are going to find it increasingly difficult to get them passed. The proposed new JFS levy for the care of foster children was voted down nearly two to one and the levy for the JVS operations fund was worse than that. When it comes to something for the children we Columbiana County voters are usually generous with our hearts and our wallets. Maybe the County Commissioners, all those school boards and council members all over should step back and take a hard look at the way they do budgets before asking for more money and threatening us with deprivation of services. On a rainy day the voter turn-out was nearly 46%. Voting down those two levies and John Soldano getting over 15,000 complimentary votes for sheriff should be telling somebody something. Can you say times, they are a changing, boys and girls?

The Buckeye Water District at their last meeting February 21st voted to appeal Judge Pike's decision to award East Liverpool $9.7 million in their contract dispute. Late this past Tuesday they filed that appeal in the 7th District Court of Appeals. I wonder what genius up there in East Liverpool decided to ask for prejudgement interest from BWD? Talk about a waste of time. Ain't no way the water district would even consider paying that. Wouldn't that be like an admission of guilt? Helloooo...

For the life of me I've been trying to figure out what County Health Commissioner Bob Morehead has up his sleeve. Last week he announced his retirement effective the last day of February and then turned around saying he would be would be back on the job Monday morning on a voluntary basis. Huh? The timing is right? Come on... For a fellow accused of allegedly buying gas on the company credit card and then filing an expense report to be reimbursed for the cost of that gas I find it extremely difficult to believe that altruism is the motive here. With over 30 years in public service he's entitled to his P.E.R.S. pension. Is he setting himself up to be a double dipper if he clears his name in August. With the generous County Health Board behind him that is very possible. Maybe it's just me but I can't get that nagging feeling out of my head that something is amiss here. It's a feeling I get when we haven't been told the whole story.

The Baard people came to town last week for the Chamber dinner. From all accounts is was SRO by the time everyone got inside the door. ER reported Jeremy Lydic likened the attendees to a who's who in Columbiana County. Of course Mayor Joe was there and one commentor told us he witnessed three of our council people present. Even the company's name sake, John Baardson, was there. Key note speaker Steve Dopuch explained the process they will be using and encourgaged everyone to write our congressmen asking for their support of the Ohio River Clean Fuels project. Baard Industries are currently in the process of obtaining EPA approvals. They got one permit application filed and I believe they got two more to go. The first OEPA public hearing is scheduled for April 17th at the Wellsville High School. Mayor Joe Surace was quoted as saying "why would you protest 4000 construction jobs and 400 on-site jobs?" Joe might not have been around when the WTI circus was in full swing. They even brought in Hollywood personalities for that one. It was quite a show. Maybe I'm being overly negative but I foresee much of same. We'll see.


Don't forget to "spring ahead" sometime Sunday. We go to Daylight Savings Time on Sunday. For those of you that have Sunday off the adjustment should be a little smoother. However, from an article in the USA Today, experts in chronobiology say it takes most of us several days to adjust to losing that hour. You may be able to change the clock with a twist of the dial but our bodies take a little longer to catch up to the change. So, next week be aware of those of us that are groggy especially on the highways. Especially vulnerable are people who are sleep deprived anyway, like new mothers. So spring ahead and try to stay awake...


ole nib


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

change your clocks, and your smoke detector batteries!

Anonymous said...

I heard the keynote speaker was sooooo boring! But then I've heard that Mr. Baardson is very personable and likeable. Perhaps he should have given the keynote speech.

As for the primaries . . . sadly, I knew Ohio Democrats would give it to Hillary. At least that's a step in the right direction for women. However, as I heard many times when I was in town, the guys just couldn't vote a n***** into office. Sad, sad, sad. If there is an upside to the way in which the Ohio primaries turned out, it's that women, who have always been regarded as second-class citizens, and who actually gained the right to vote after blacks, finally are being regarded as worthy contenders. I, as a woman, voted for Obama instead of Hillary, and I think it a very upsetting thing that Ohioans have not changed their viewpoints regarding race, but at least they are changing for the better regarding gender. I'm not feeling very good writing this, as I know racism still runs rampant in the midwest, but at least their seems to be a shift in viewpoint regarding women in power.

Anonymous said...

Go Johnny go, go go, go Johnny go. Time for a Democrat Sheriff, who will be there for all the people.

Anonymous said...

Nice to see another Wellsville boy Skip MacLean, did well also.

************* said...

It was with some trepidation that I allowed "outsider's" comment. She is bringing up the subject of race & gender in the Democratic presidential contest. I really didn't want to get into that but as I thought it over I came to the conclusion that it is a factor to be considered in the why and why nots. To ignore it would be hiding my head in the sand. Sadly some will or have voted with that in mind. I hope those people are in the minority. I can't help but think of Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech when in 1963 he said that some day he dreams of when a man can be judged by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin. I pray that when people consider whether to vote or not to vote for Barack Obama that they are voting for the content of his character. From what little I've read on his candidacy big labor has some serious issues with the good senator from Ill. Admittedly I haven't studied the presidential candidates in much detail just yet. It was too crowded and just recently is starting to narrow down. Hopefully Obama's loss in the Ohio primary had more to do with his policies than the color of his skin. I prefer to think his losses where more policy related rather race related as "outsider" seems to think.

ole nib

Anonymous said...

Old Nib: Could not resist a comment of your statement...."I pray that when people consider whether to vote or not to vote for Barack Obama that they are voting for the content of his character."

Although character is a part in the total picture, I believe the issue of experience and a viable plan is worth much, much more! To date, Obama has shown a lack in each area.

To "Outsider" when you made the comment about the Keynote Speaker being soooo boring you were probably the one who had too many helpings of the food. His speech was thoughtful, concise and left nothing unanswered from what I heard. In addition, I am sure if you ask the other 423 people that attended, they would agree.

Anonymous said...

I wouldnt agree with Wiz. I agree with outsider. It was a great dinner and affair. However, the speaker went on and on, and had a very flat speaking voice that did not hold you attention. He was interesting and thorough, but, he was to long winded. Many people were tired and wanted out of the uncomfortable seat they were in. It was all in all a great night. To Wiz: My prayers are with you and your family at the loss of Wizzie Jane.

Anonymous said...

It makes me as fearful to hear someone say voting for Hillary "is a step in the right direction for women" as to hear someone say they didn't vote for Obama because he's black.
We should be voting for a "person" not a gender or a color.
Personally, I could never support a "woman" who looked the other way at the indiscretions of her husband the way Hillary did. That tells me there is some kind of weakness in her character. I would feel the same way about a man who overlooked such scandalous behavior on the part of his wife.