Caught Up

Well, I think I got caught up on stuff that I been putting off or missed while we were out of town. Here's some things that caught my eye.

The new, enhanced additions to the Election Board's web site is a handy tool. You can double check to see if you're registered to vote and where you go to vote plus a lot of other information that you might want to check on. It even tells you when the last time you voted.

Last council meeting was mostly about getting a good grip on handling finances in the village. That is an absolute must if we're going to keep out of the red. Running the village is not any different than running a business.

Coming September 6 is the fifth annual village yard sale to raise money for the Fix Up - Clean Up Committee. It has been growing steadily and they expect it to be even bigger this year. There are only two more work days scheduled for this year - Sept. 6 & 20.

Could someone explain to me what a "then & now" purchase order is for? It's a new term to me for business matters and no explanation was given in the newspapers. Council approved a "then & now" contract for Pusateri Excavating.

ODOT was suppose to start fixing the land slide this past Monday on the Route 45 hill just out of the ville's limits. This has been a continuous problem over the years in different spots on that hill. Ain't a whole lot there to stop the erosion of the hillside. The increase usage with the "coal bucket" trucks over the last several years has probably added to the instability of that hillside. Maybe ODOT should be thinking about weight restrictions on the portion between the ville and Hillcrest. Between Mother Nature & the trucks the problem with land slides isn't going to go away.

Did you see Tom Giambroni's story that the state is offering financial incentive to the county health board to reconsider their dropping out of the smoking band enforcement? Guess the state is finding they can't handle it either. The incentive package is for $4,200 max at $70 a pop. That's not much considering the number of complaints filed since the law went into effect. They got to do better than that if they want to put some teeth into that law.

There was an AP story in the MJ the other day saying that doctors are accusing health insurance companies of endangering patient care with their pre-approval requirements. The insurance companies are saying that doctors are driving them out of business with ordering excessive tests and medical procedures that are unnecessary among other things. In the middle of all this is the poor patient that just wants to find out what is ailing them and what they have to do to get better. I get the impression that there is a serious greed factor in all this.

Speaking of greed, they are telling us heating bills for this coming winter are going to sharply rise over what we paid last heating season. According to a story in the ER it doesn't matter what type of heat you have you're going to have to dig deeper to stay warm.

Kudos to Todd Lynch & his team from Wellsville's Stevenson foundry on the volunteer job they did repairing the 100 year old vase in the cemetery at the Longs Run Church out in Calcutta. The vase was destroyed by vandals and the guys at Stevenson took it upon themselves to restore it back to its original splendor. Stevenson foundry is the ville's oldest manufacturing plant that dates back to the 1800s and has been in the same location since it started.

While handing out plaudits thanks should also go out to the folks at Tommy Mackall VFW Post 5467 for donating to the ville's police and fire departments. Every little bit helps and the money is going to good use. The money to WFD is going to be used for a new chain for their ventilating saw. The money to the WPD is going to be put toward funds to start a juvenile fire-bug counseling program that Marsha Eisenhart is trying to get going.

The handicap ramp at the flood wall has been made usable. They used asphalt to build it up to the concrete portion and it looks like they cleaned up the gravel around the area. Was it something we said?

The county's 911 system is still looking good to get up and running on 9/11 this year according to reports in yesterday's newspapers.

Tomorrow night at the Tiger's home opener they are suppose to induct this years class into the WHS Athlete Hall-of-Fame. It's scheduled for half time and then they are going to have a brunch Saturday morning at the high school. Prior to that the Alleycat Brigade will be holding a fund raiser at Dalonzo's. Stop in and get a bite to eat before you go down to the game.

Ok, that catches me up...

ole nib