Chamber-of-Commerce February Luncheon

Thursday - February 25: The Wellsville Chamber-of-Commerce February luncheon was held this past Thursday at Kat's Kitchen on Main Street. The meeting portion was called to order by Chamber President Randy Allmon and Paul Blevins offered invocation.

Condolences were sent out to Charter Chamber Member Marge Dysert and all her family on the passing of her youngest daughter, Becky Dysert Watson. Please keep Marge and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Allmon announced that the All Class Reunion brochure is now sold out for ad space. The brochure will have a schedule of events for the four day reunion plus much more handy information. There will be 1,000 copies printed and will be offered to the public free of charge. This has been a Chamber project for quite a few of the 5-Year Reunions. Allmon commended Sheryl Gibson and Diana Spencer for their efforts with the brochure.

Allmon also announced that they attended a meeting recently with Baard Energy and asked all at the luncheon to help with a letter campaign in support of the Baard project. Allmon said "they're still coming". He quoted Baard V.P. of Business Development Steve Dopuch as saying he could not give a specific time frame but said he's almost positive the proposed plant will be coming to Wellsville.

They ask that letters be sent to the President, the Governor, our U.S. Senators & Congressmen plus the U.S. Secretary of Energy asking for "support of your administration desperately needed in our economically distressed county in Ohio". It goes on to say the Sierra Club "disparages" the Ohio EPA for issuing permits that didn't address CO2" although Baard has guaranteed to capture at least 80% of the CO2 it produces. The letter also asks for support in obtaining DOE loan guarantees. This is an apparent reversal of Baard's financing strategy. Sometime ago they announced they would go it alone without the DOE guarantees because of the environmental groups objections. Copies of the letter and a list of addresses can be obtained by contacting Allmon.

Business of The Month is Mills Insurance Agency. See our post below.

This month's guest speaker was Columbiana County Assistant Prosecutor Tim McNicol, pictured above. McNicol is a Wellsville native, an alumni of WHS and along with his family, a Wellsville resident. Tim and wife Maria have two young daughters. Normally we would have cropped the picture to have Tim centered. However, seeing a McNicol on "Shamrock Alley" with a "Happy St. Patrick's Day" shamrock over his shoulder seemed like a natural to us.

According to Paul Blevins, McNicol was valedictorian of his high school class, went on to become a Buckeye, graduating from Ohio State with a bachelor's degree and got his law degree from Capital University in Columbus. McNicol started practicing law in 1990 as an intern in the County Prosecutor's office. He became an Assistant Prosecutor in 1991 and for about 15 years now is the main prosecutor of all sexual assault and child abuse cases.

In addition to his County job, McNicol is also an Assistant Prosecutor in East Liverpool. On that job he is the primary prosecutor in the EL Municipal Court working with another Wellsville native, Judge Melissa Byers-Emmerling. On top of that he is the Mayor's Court Magistrate in both Wellsville & Salineville.

Wellsville's Magistrate Court got started in 2002 under Joe LaScola who was Mayor at the time. They hear non-jury cases for basic traffic offenses, first time under the influence cases and some theft cases. Wellsville Magistrate Court is held the second and fourth Thursday evening of the month. Since beginning in 2002 there have been over 6,500 cases heard in Wellsville.

McNicol gave a very interesting talk on the County Prosecutor's office, his duties and how they do things over there. He explained the theory behind plea bargains in abuse cases stating that only about 25% of them ever go to trial. Many of the cases settled, and never see the court room, save the victim of more trauma from having to testify. Stating there is hardly ever any witnesses and most of them have no physical evidence to prosecute with.

McNicol wrapped up his talk with a favorite topic of his, the dumbest criminals in the County. Out of the three examples he shared there is the one about the "lady" from East Liverpool that hired a cab to take her to shop in Calcutta, wait on her and then to take her on to Midland. The "lady" paid a $40 fare in advance for this. While shopping in Calcutta she got busted for shop lifting and was hauled off to the County Jail. She bailed out the next day and later showed up in McNicol's EL office wanting to file charges against the cab company. They wouldn't refund her cab fare. McNicol indicated she was shown the door.

Announcements were made by Chamber member Mary Beth Morse reminding everyone of the Potter Players Community Theater production of the comedy The Kitchen Witches this week-end and next. Chamber Correspondence Secretary Linda Surace was collecting e-mail addresses for the Chamber's news letter and announcements. Erin Orr was drawn as the 50/50 winner and donated it back for charity.

According the the Chamber web site the next luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, March 25, at noon, at Tonda's Place on the Square.

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