Pot - The Largest Crop In West Virginia

Of all the crops produced in West Virginia, marijuana has already exceeded crops such as corn and hay. In fact, West Virginia ranks in the top 10 of marijuana-producing states in the nation. Pot producers have been raking in around $494 million per year while hay producers only took in $68 million and corn producers barely scraped by with $10.7 million.

$494 million! That's a heck of a lot of money for a single crop in the great state of West Virginia. It averages out to an pot income of around $21,000 a square mile. With Hampshire County being just over 2,600 square miles, and all other things being equal, it's share of the overall production is $54 million.

This money sure could be put to good use in this county as well as the other counties across the state. If only half were to be confiscated, perhaps it could be used to provide better roads, better schools, and other needs in our communities.

Just food for thought.

Just Another Boil Water Advisory

Green Spring Valley PSD has once again been hit with a boil water advisory. This one lasted for seven days. The reason for the advisory was due to "no disinfectant residual in the distribution system". In the past year alone, there have been seven public boil water notices issued by the WV Office of Environmental Health Services for areas in the Green Spring Valley PSD with reasons ranging from losing water in the storage tanks to leaking service lines to this latest, no disinfectant residual in distribution system. The longest was eighteen days and was due to losing water in both storage tanks leaving 70 customers out of water. This was in February. The leak was located with help from Central Hampshire PSD and was fixed.

We all know the Green Spring Valley PSD has had more than it's fair share of issues, but to have "no disinfectant residual in the distribution system" is not acceptable. The operator was off due to an injury, but shouldn't someone have been doing his job? Is there no backup operator who can ensure the safety of the water? What will it take before the problems with this PSD are corrected? The safety of the water supplied to the customers should be the highest priority for the PSD. Mark Puffinburger, Roger Whisner and Gary Bradfield should at least take action to obtain a backup operator when Ernie Crouse is unable to do his job. If they can steer clear of squabbling and mismanaging the PSD long enough and to accomplish this small task, then perhaps they can begin to work on the PSD's other issues which have been looming over their heads for so long.

Military Deserter Captured

Army deserter, Matthew Joseph Herycyk, has been captured. The Hampshire County Sheriff's Office with the assistance of WV State Police found Herycyk hiding in his mother's home near Yellow Springs.

Herycyk, who has been AWOL from the Army for several months now, may be charged with desertion, the most serious of the two offenses. According to Article 85 of the Punitive Articles of the UCMJ, "Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.”

Glad I'm not in his shoes!