PDA

View Full Version : Local and long


VenusElaine
02-12-2008, 10:43 PM
Since this sub-forum is "local news and gossip", I thought I would fill everyone in on the latest happenings in beautiful downtown Morgantown, WV.
We are the home of WVU, and some of you may have heard that we lost our head football coach at the end of 2007. Rich Rodriguez and his (looks like a bimbo to me) wife Rita suddenly hightailed it to Michigan and now there is a civil suit to determine if he must honor his contract and pay the $4 million buy out. Excuse me, we also have a law school, I think they know how to write a contract.
Our city and county, suddenly realizing that growth and traffic has exceeded our infrastructure, came up with a "service fee" (read: taxation without representation) that would be imposed on every person working in the county, but could only be voted on by persons registered in the county. The proposed road improvements to be financed centered on Morgantown and WVU, totally ignoring the rural areas of the county. They were also focused on areas developed by "the good old boy network". The "service fee" was to be imposed on EVERY working person (full-time, part-time, minimum wage, self-employed, minor age paper carrier?) deducted by the employer. IT WAS RESOUNDLY DEFEATED! I love my home, but I have lived in suburban DC, and they cannot have the metro privileges without the metro concerns. Sitting in traffic for fifteen to thirty minutes is NOTHING compared to DC. I knew people who had a one to three hour commute one way. Grow up!
We had about three inches of snow this morning. So much for global warming. Sunday it was 16 degrees.
We are also fighting the TRAIL project of Allegheny Power. Basically, they want to run a huge power line through our state (from southern Pennsylvania to northern Virginia) to provide power to the DC, Northern Virginia area. Allegheny wants to use the right of eminent domain to run this line, destroying property values, farms and homesteads of many generations to provide power to another state, because they do not want a plant in their area ( can you say NIMBY?) They need power, but they do not want a power plant. We have plenty of power, power plants, and coal to burn. They could follow Interstate 68, but it runs through Maryland, and they don't want it, though they they would benefit. Allegheny tells us we need it to avoid blackouts, but we don't have them. DC, northern Virginia and Maryland do. Who needs the power? Why should we suffer for it?
We are a town trying to be a city and many of our residents want the best of both, but are not willing to compromise. After having lived in both, I choose here.

VenusElaine

NOTKT
02-12-2008, 11:07 PM
Wow. Good info. Morgantown, WVa is definitely a place I would love to call home.

VenusElaine
04-02-2008, 12:51 AM
So here is the latest in beautiful downtown Motown:

Local Board of Health (an appointed, not elected, body) has proposed a new smoking ordinance.
Currently, smoking is prohibited in any public area (government, retail, etc).

Restaurants may have separate smoking areas providing they are totally separate (including heating and cooling) so as not to pass smoke through ventilation. Smoking is currently allowed in these totally separate areas, plus bars.

The new ordinance would totally prohibit smoking in restaraunts (voiding the extreme expense already expended by the businesses to separate their systems), but also including bars under the defintion of restaurants.

They want to "protect" the public health. I'm sorry, but I have seen few people in bars pursuing a healthy lifestyle. Yes. some people drink and do not smoke. However, we have had several non-smoking bars start up in Morgantown, and fail due to lack of patronage. Non-smoking drinkers will go to smoking bars with their friends before smoking drinkers will go to non-smoking bars. It is a fact of life. (And if I had one "do-over", I would not start smoking!)

The Health Dept. asked for public comment over a forty-five day period, was unable to properly tabulate and record the results (approximatel 2/3 against to 1/3 for the ordinance) before the vote, and it had to be delayed. Several members of the board made their decisions (for the ordinance prohibiting smoking) known without input from the public comments.

All I can say is the only bumper sticker I ever put on my car said:

AT LEAST I CAN STILL SMOKE IN MY CAR

Someone stole it less than a month after it was on my bumper.

VenusElaine

NOTKT
04-04-2008, 12:16 AM
That sucks, but I'm not a smoker. *shrugs

VenusElaine
06-07-2008, 09:35 PM
I haven't posted on this thread for a while (It is "Bridal season" guys), but the headline of today's paper was "MIKE QUITS".
For those of you who have no idea what that means, the Cliff notes are:

WVU awarded an Executive MBA to Heather Bresch (the governor's daughter) that she did not earn. They claimed there was a "clerical error" in the records. This was in response to inquiry from a newspaper in PA as to her qualifications as an executive at Mylan Pharmaceuticals. Mike Garrison, the very new pres of WVU, disavowed resonsibility, claiming he delegated the decision to his staff. Many have resigned their posts, but will remain, at a lowered salary, as professors. I have a real ethics problem with this. So does my brother, who has removed his (rightfully earned) MBA from his wall because he is ashamed to look at it.

Making the national news as the #1 party school was not attractive, but this really SUCKS. A class action suit is already in the making for the devaluation of rightfully earned degrees. Personally, I think the governor needs to go, too. I am sure this degree was awarded by pressure, real or anticipated, from his office.

VenusElaine

P.S. Under pressure from local merchants, and a very ill-timed ethics challenge from the Smoke-free community, the Board of Health has tabled the new smoking ordinance until July.

NOTKT
06-11-2008, 10:53 PM
Wow! I'm really surprised on these actions!