April 25, 2008

Big Stone Gap, Virginia, is getting 2.6 million dollars in a combination of grants and loans to improve the town’s wastewater system. The Coalfield Progress reports that the money will pay for replacement of about 22,000 feet of old collection lines, which have been allowing leakage of surface and storm water. Mayor Barbara Orndorff said – quote – Now we are moving forward and making progress. These are the first steps in a long journey – end quote.

Close to 250 Oxycontin pills were seized after Kentucky State Police troopers observed a man who appeared to be intoxicated getting out of a car last week at a gas station in Millard, at the intersection of US 460 and Chloe (Clo-ey) Road. According to the Appalachian News-Express, during a consented search, officers found a package wrapped in black electrical tape in the breather compartment in the engine. The package contained the drugs. During the investigation, one of the men in the car told officers he had taken 40 pills, and he was taken to the hospital, where a nurse overheard him telling his mother that he did not take the pills and wanted to avoid going to jail. Arrested were a man from Shelbiana and a man and woman from Oakwood, Virginia.

A recent drug roundup in Dickenson County, Virginia, targeted 43 people who had been indicted on various drug-related charges. The arrests are being carried out by the county sheriff’s office, Virginia State Police and Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force, according to the Coalfield Progress.

West Virginia governor Joe Manchin said there’ll soon be no excuse for Logan County residents to be unhealthy. Manchin made the remark during groundbreaking ceremonies for a new recreation center at Chief Logan State Park. The new center will have tennis courts, walking tracks, a competition-size swimming pool and other exercise options, according to the Logan Banner.

Folks in Johnson County, Kentucky, will begin paying a dollar more a month for garbage pickup in May. The fiscal court recently approved the increase, which takes the monthly cost to 12 dollars and 17 cents, according to the Big Sandy News. Apple Valley Sanitation, which contracts the garbage pickup, had requested the increase to offset company expenses.

Authorities have discovered thousands of dollars worth of stolen equipment in Buchanan County, Virginia. Among items recovered from a site in the town of Hurley were a dump truck, a backhoe, a trailer, a road tractor and a skid steer loader. According to the Virginia Mountaineer, the equipment came originally from Tazewell, Patrick and Henry counties.

Students from around the region who attend state community and technical colleges will see a tuition increase, if the Council on Postsecondary Education approves a recommendation from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. An article in the Appalachian News-Express indicates that KCTCS wants a hike of 15 dollars per credit hour, taking the cost per credit hour to 130 dollars. That comes out to more than 1,500 dollars for 12 hours, which is considered full-time. The system includes Big Sandy CTC, Southeast Kentucky CTC, and Hazard CTC.

Some folks just know how to turn a phrase in the midst of tragedy. The Coalfield Progress reports of a recent fire in the community of Cadet (kay’-det), Virginia, which destroyed the home of Margie Underwood and her adult son Harold, both of whom escaped injury. The fire was apparently so hot it melted the siding on a house across the road. A neighbor is quoted as saying – The way that heat was coming up here, if that’s any sign of how hell is going to be, I’m going to New York to see the Pope.