FLOYD COUNTY IN
VIEW®
THE FLOYD HEARSAY NEWS®
LAND
TRUST
BASICS
Are you interested in protecting your
unspoiled land for the future?
Do you desire to keep it natural and undeveloped?
Thinking about the possibility of a Land Trust or Conservancy group
overseeing your beautiful property?
Please know not all "Land Trusts" or Conservancy groups are the same
nor do they all have altruistic environmental concerns nor
preservationist yearnings at heart.
If you are not sure what a land trust is, please click here for a basic
description:
Land Trust Basics
If you are considering a Land Trust, please look
into it closely.
Look into who is on their board of directors, their planning committee,
their long range motives and how they receive pay for their roles in
the Land Trust and
what each of these people actually does for a living.
Any conflicts of interests here?
Sadly, for some..a Land Trust is just another personal
income base and your property is just
another stock option.
|
Floyd County In View supports the
PRESERVATION and ENCOURAGES APPRECIATION of our diminishing natural
resources, beautiful countryside and common sense values.
Va. legislation
passed and failed
The outcome of key legislation in the 2010 General Assembly: |
BILLS ENACTED -
Increases the speed limit to
70 miles per hour on interstates,
divided highways and some high-
occupancy vehicle lanes.
Allow concealed guns in bars as
long as the carrier does not drink
alcohol.
Allow those without a
concealed handgun permit to lock
guns in car or boat glove boxes.
Prohibit Virginians from being
required to purchase health
insurance coverage or pay any
fines for not obtaining coverage
that maybe enacted by the federal
government.
Give the state more of a role in
the establishment of charter, virtual and laboratory schools.
Allow those who kill on-duty
auxiliary police officers or fire
marshals to be eligible for the
death penalty.
Require all car title lenders be
licensed, and limit how much they
could lend and charge borrowers.
Establish an abortion-rights
"Trust Women/Respect Choice"
license plate, with some of the
proceeds directed to Planned
Parenthood.
Suspend rate increases for
Appalachian Power Co. customers
while regulators evaluate the
company's rate increase request.
Allow anyone who lives in a
neighborhood governed by a
homeowners association to display the American flag, but allows the
associations to create restrictions on the size and
placement of the flag.
|
BILLS
ENACTED - continued
Charge
$10 for every felony or
misdemeanor conviction, with the money going to the state's two
Internet Crimes Against Children task forces.
Direct royalties from possible
future drilling for oil and gas off the Virginia coast to
transportation and other services.
Allow the Virginia Board of
Education to grant local divisions waivers to the state requirement
that public schools open after
Labor Day.
Grants state recognition for the
Patawomeck Indians, the Nottoway 1ndian tribe and the
Cheroenhaka
(Nottoway) Indian tribe of
Southampton County.
Allow wine and liquor tastings
at government-run ABC stores.
Allow concealed handgun
permits to be renewed by mail.
Require anyone under 18 to wear a seat belt in a vehicle.
Require student-athletes who
suffer concussions to be held out of games or practice.
Require the work of paJ1els
investigating possible ethics
violations of legislators be made public and allow them to continue
even if a lawmaker resigns.
Require the state Department
of Corrections to develop a policy to assist victims of crime with
meeting with their offenders.
Allow police officers to
question those suspected of
driving under the influence as to where they consumed their last
alcoholic beverage.
|
BILLS FAILED
Repeal Virginia's ban on buying
more than one handgun per month.
Ban job discrimination against
gay state employees.
Exempt from federal law any
firearm manufactured or sold in
Virginia.
Shielding from public record
information on concealed handgun permit holders.
Direct the Virginia State Police
to come up with a plan to issue
lifetime concealed handgun
permits ihstead of requiring
renewal every five years.
Allow murder accomplices to be
charged with capital murder.
Require many Virginia
employee health care plans to
cover a specialized treatment for
autistic children.
Require private sellers at gun
shows to perform background
checks on buyers.
Ban coal companies that
perform mountaintop removal
mining from dumping the rock
and rubble they blast off the tops
of mountains into nearby streams.
|
BILLS FAILED-continued
Require
online stores to start
collecting and paying Virginia sales
taxes.
Ban the forced implantation
of tracking devices in people as a condition of employment or by
insurers.
Ban talking on a hand-held
cellphone while driving and make talking on a cellphone while driving
with a provisional. license a primary
offense.
Make not wearing a seat belt a
primaryoffense.
Prohibit homeowners associations from banning
clotheslines.
Allow no-excuse absentee voting.
Create a bipartisan commission
to redraw the state's legislative and congressional boundaries.
Require licensure and inspection of abortion clinics
.
Repeal a ban on radar detectors being used in vehicles.
Lower the punishment for
possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana from a criminal offense to
a civil one,punishable by a $500
fine and broaden the medical use of marijuana.
|
LEGISLATION
SCORECARD
By
The Associated Press
The
outcome
of
key
legislation
in
the
2011
General
Assembly:
BILLS
PASSED
|
.
Require
clinics
that
pro-
vide
more
than
five
first-
term
abortions
per
month
to
be
regulated
as
hospitals.
.
Gov. Bob McDonnell's
$4
billion
transportation-
financing
proposal,
which
includes using nearly
$3
billion
in
debt
to
begin
highway
projects.
.
Expand
protective
orders
for
those
in
dating
relation
ships and anyone who feels
threatened.
.
Extend
the amount of
time
child
sex
assault
vic-
tims
have
to
file
civil
law
suits
from
two
years
to
20
years.
.
Expand
the
right
of
liquor
manufacturers
to
advertise
on
Virginia
billboards.
.
Allow
inmates
to
help
maintain Virginia's rest
stops.
.
Require
some
employer
health
care
plans
to
cover
a treatment for autistic
children.
.
Require
elementary
and
middle
schools
to
offer
at
least
150
minutes
per
week
of
physical
education.
.Allow
car
title
lenders
to
make loans to vehicle own
ers in other states.
|
.
Ban
synthetic marijuanaand
bath
salts
used
to
get
high.
.
Ban computer-based
sweepstakes games that
offer points for Inter
net,
phone
time
or
other
items
purchased
that
can
be
played
on
games
in
an
attempt
to
win
money.
.
Require anyone
who
assaults
an
emergency
room
worker
to
spend
at
least
two
days
in
jail.
.
Name
the
striped
bass
as
Virginia's
official
saltwater
fish.
.
Allow
the
use
of
BB
guns,
paintball
guns
and
other
air-propelled
weapons
at
homes
by
preventing
locali-
ties
from
banning
their
use
on
private
property.
.
Ban
the
sale
of
fertilizer
containing phosphorus,
a
major
Chesapeake
Bay
pollutant,
for
use
on
estab
lished
lawns.
|
BILLS
FAILED
|
.
Privatize
liquor
retailing
to
generate
money
for
high
way
improvements.
.
Prohibit
discrimination
based on
sexual orientation
in state hiring.
.
Ask
Congress
for
a
con-
stitutional amendment
allowing
two-thirds
of
state
legislatures
to
void
federal
laws
they
oppose.
.
Exempt
goods
made
and
sold
within
Virginia
from
federal
laws
and
regulation.
.
Prohibit
state
agencies,
including
colleges and uni-
versities, from enacting
gun laws more
stringent
than those
passed by
the
legislature.
.
Expand
the
death
penalty
to
include
those
who
par
ticipate
in
a
rape
and
mur-
der
but
don't
do
the
actual
killing.
.
Establish an alterna-
tive
currency
for
Virginia
should the
Federal Reserve
collapse.
.
Eliminate the require
ment
to
get
a
permit
to
carry
a
concealed handgun.
.
Allow
concealed
handgun
permits
issued
in
any
state
to
be
good
in
Virginia.
.
Require background
checks
from
all
buyers
at
gun
shows.
.
Allow
darker
window
tint
on
vehicles.
.
Anti-immigrant mea-
sures,
including
bills
that
would prohibit undocu-
mented students from
enrolling
in
public
colleges,
bar
illegal
immigrants
from
receiving
public assistance,
keep track of the number of
schoolchildren who take
English as a Second Lan-
guage and require law
enforcement officers
to
check
immigration
status.
. Eliminate Virginia's
unique
requirement that
sixth-grade
girls
receive a
vaccination
against
a
sexually
transmitted virus that can
cause cervical
cancer.
|
.
Allow parimutuel-style
betting
on
past
horse
races
with
some
of
the
proceeds
going
to
transportation.
.
Require new, two-year
state
budgets
to
be
written
in
odd-numbered
years,
not
in
even-numbered
years
as
they
are
now.
.
Protect prayers made
in
public
forums
such
as
classrooms
and
school
ath
letic
events.
.
Allow
drivers
to
be
pulled
over
and
ticketed
for
talking
on
cellphones or texting.
.
Require drug screening for
those receiving some welfare
benefits.
.
Allow
claims
of
sovereign
immunity
to
be
heard
by
the
state
Supreme
Court
before
a
trial.
.
Reduce
prison
sentenc
es
for
inmates
with
good
behavior.
.
Require
a
prescription
for
cold
medicines
often
used
in
the manufacture of metham-
phetamines.
.
Impose
a
5-cent
tax
on
paper
bags
and
disposable
plastic
bags.
.
Cap
the
amount
of
inter
est
on
payday
and
car
title
loans
at
36
percent.
.
Shift
the
management
of
menhaden
from
the
Virginia
General
Assembly
to
a
state
regulatory
agency.
.
Create
a
tax-break
pro-
gram
that
would
award
up
to
$25
million
in
annual
credits
to
companies
that
donate
to
foundations
that
provide
private-school
scholarships
to needy students.
.
Require
those
who
elude
police
to
forfeit
their
vehicle.
.
Require
the
Virginia
State
Crime
Commission
to
study
using physical castration for
violent
sex
offenders.
|
 FIND OUT ABOUT VIRGINIA'S
ELECTRIC DEREGULATION
POINTS OF VIEW -
EDITORIALS - COMMENTARIES - OPINIONS:
Shareholder
seeks
sale of Bank of Floyd
By Wanda Combs
Published: June 10, 2011
by Wanda Combs
Editor - Floyd Press
This article was published in the Floyd Press(floydpress.com)
Early Tuesday morning Cardinal
Bankshares/Bank of Floyd Chairman, President and CEO Leon Moore sent an
email to all employees. Responding to news that the largest shareholder
of Cardinal Bankshares Corp., the holding company for Bank of Floyd,
was seeking to force a sale of the Bank, Moore wrote that the Bank's
board fully believes that the Bank of Floyd and Cardinal Bankshares can
move forward as an independent community bank.
In a letter written to Moore Monday and filed with a Schedule 13D with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Douglas E. Schaller of
Schaller Equity Partners in North Carolina wrote that he was
disappointed to hear of the resignation of Henry Logue as President and
CEO of the Bank.
Logue, who had joined the Bank last fall, had been expected to
transition into leadership of the Bank upon Moore's retirement. Moore,
who has over 50 years of experience in banking, has been with Bank of
Floyd since 1988.
Schaller wrote this week he believed shareowners would best be served
by a sale of the Bank to a larger institution. He referred to new
regulations that have made it increasingly difficult and costly to
operate a small community bank and that place an onerous burden and
distraction on management's time and resources.
He added that because of the Bank's small size, without economies of
scale, it will not generate enough revenue to cover the added
regulatory expenses plus the day-to-day operating cost of the bank and
deliver an adequate investment return for shareowners.
Moore and Dr. Howard Conduff of the Board of Directors of Cardinal
Bankshares/Bank of Floyd told the (Floyd)Press Tuesday that other
factors must be considered any time there is an opportunity for a sale
and they didn't believe Schaller had the Bank's best interest at heart.
We have to consider the employees, the community and most importantly
the shareholders," remarked Conduff.
Moore explained that any proposal has to come before the Board of
Directors and then voted on by the shareholders. Sixty-six and
two-thirds percent would be needed to approve a sale.
Schaller has 132,124 shares, representing an 8.7 percent stake, of the
Bank's 1,535,000.
Bank stock was most recently $18.50 per share.
"Bank of Floyd and Cardinal Bankshares is still strong and viable and
still has interest in the community we serve," Moore said.
"It has a strong interest with a strong capital base", Conduff added.
Conduff, whose family involvement in Bank leadership goes back to the
formation of the Bank of Floyd, also represents the largest family of
shareholders. Several other families with ties to the county also have
large shares, and other shareholders have local roots.
"Local shareholders like a community bank," Moore commented, and when
local banks are merged, there's always a vacuum left in the community.
Local shareholders are well aware of it.
"When local banks are not run by local people you've lost control or
autonomy over the local situation," Conduff said.
Bank of Floyd is one of the top five employers in the county.
Moore pointed out that the Bank contributes much revenue to the county
in addition to salaries, donations, and services. Along with the main
office, the Bank now has six branches, located in Cave Spring, Salem,
Christiansburg, Fairlawn, Hillsville, and Willis.
Bank of Floyd formed the holding company Cardinal Bankshares Corp. in
July 1996, Moore explained, for the potential opportunity to access
different products and services such as brokerage services, investment
houses, insurance, and others - that a conventional bank charter will
not permit.
Moore added, Bank of Floyd has been here since 1951, and its roots go
back much further than that.
(It has) local board members, local employees, and we want to serve
this community that much longer for the right reasons.
|
***************************************
FCIV Supports Melissa Keith for
this office:
Melissa. M. Keith announces
her intention to seek the Republican nomination for Treasurer of Floyd
County.
 Melissa Keith says, "I
have served Floyd County citizens since my graduation from college,
and it is my desire to continue doing so as our county's
Treasurer."
"During my career of 15 years working in the Treasurer's office,
I have acquired the necessary knowledge to help me successfully
perform the duties of the Treasurer.
I humbly promise to faithfully serve each of you with the honesty,
fairness, courtesy and respect that all deserve. I will bring
my loyalty and pride in living in Floyd directly to the position
of Treasurer."
Keith adds, "I was born and raised
in Floyd County, as were generations of my family before me."
Her husband, Kevin L. Keith, is a lifelong, seventh-generation
farmer in Floyd County.
He is also currently employed at C.W. Harman & Son. They live
on their farm with their two children, Kolten and Mikayla.
NOTE: this content was also published in the Floyd
Press.
********************** |
**********************************************************************
"You are
making a difference...TM"
* If every
household in the U.S. replaced just one 4-pack of 400 sheet
virgin fiber bathroom tissue with 100% recycled ones, we could save:
* 1,450,000 trees
* 3.7 million cubic feet of landfill space,equal to over 5,500 full
garbage trucks
* 523 million gallons of water, a year's supply for over 4,100 families
of four
* and avoid 89,000 pounds of pollution
- Seventh Generation
Senator Reynolds Speaks against
new, extreme, AEP Power Rate Increases
MARTINSVILLE
-
October,
2007
- Senator Roscoe Reynolds is alerting consumers that
Appalachian Power Company has filed three separate rate increase cases
with the State Corporation Commission seekingthe right to raise charges
to consumers in excess of $100 million.
The first rate increase requests a $44.5 million increase over a
sixteen month period from September 1, 2007 through December31, 2008.
The second rate increase Appalachian Power asked the SCC to approve a
proposed 629 megawatt coal plant in West Virginia.
Appalachian further asked the Commission to rule that the company is
entitled to a 14% return on the investment that it makes in this
facility.
The third increase Appalachian has asked the SCC to approve an increase
of $64.8 million in its rates in order to recover what it describes as
incremental expenses for environmental and reliability expenses
incurred during the period between October1, 2005 and September 30,
2006.
"These three proposed increases, if granted, will amount to
an increase significantly larger than $100 million. I will appear
before the SCC to speak for consumers in the 20th Senatorial District,"
Senator Reynolds stated.
Senator Reynolds set up a website to collect signatures to take to the
SCC hearing on November 8th. The website is: http://www.
petitiononline.com/AEPRates/petition.html persons wanting to sign
the petition can also go to his website at http://www.rosocereynolds.com.
In 2006 when Appalachian Power Company sought an increase of over 25%
from their customers, Senator Reynolds was the only member of the
General Assembly to go to the SCC hearings in December 2006 to voice
concerns about the effect that this increase would have on customers of
Appalachian.
Senator Reynolds continued, "I will let the State Corporation
Commission know of consumer concerns about these proposed rate
increases when the SCC holds hearings on these requests in November".
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Local Libraries are
"Hot-spots"
for Wireless Access
All three branches of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library System now
offer free wireless Internet access for the public.
The Blacksburg Library, Christiansburg Library, and Jessie Peterman
Memorial Library in Floyd all are wireless hot-spots.
In the mid-1990's, Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library System
collaborated with the Blacksburg Electronic Village, and was one of the
first public libraries in the country to offer free Internet access for
the public.
At that time, when becoming a "wired" community was the goal, the
library did a considerable amount of teaching to introduce the Internet
to the public. Today, ten years later, the Internet is an integral part
of our culture, and wireless technology is the standard.
The Meadowbrook Public Library in Shawsville will also be a wireless
hot-spot when it opens. The Public Library @ CRC offers wireless access
through the Corporate Research Center.
Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library System continues to offer Internet
access and other computer access using the library's public computers.
We have simply added wireless access for those who wish to bring their
own wireless devices and computers into the comfort of the library.
Library computers have Microsoft Word, Excel, Publisher, Access,
FrontPage, PowerPoint, and MapPoint available.
Also, games and stories for children and reference tools such as the
Encarta Thesaurus, Dictionary, Almanac, and Quotations are available
for the public to use on each computer. The library computers are
networked to a printer in each building.
The library's catalog and databases are available from inside the
library using either a library computer or a patron's wireless
computer. The library's catalog and databases are available at
www.mfrl.org from any computer connected to the Internet anywhere. A
library card number must be typed in to gain access to the databases
from outside the library.
|
Use the FCIV
Classified Ads
(click on logo above)
under "carpooling" or
Use
the
FCIV
Car-Pooling
Message Board
to offer or seek a ride
When you drive alone to work every day, you foot the
bill for gas. If you share the ride, you share the expenses
Sharing a ride regularly with just one other person and you'll spend
half of what you used to. Even once a week will help. You'll not only
save on gas, you'll also put fewer miles on your car, limit wear and
tear, and possibly get a break on insurance costs.
Good Carpooling Info
Carpooling
is the number one way to conserve on fossil fuels used in
transportation. |
TO CONTACT US CLICK HERE:
 |
Click
on
Buttons
for
much more information on "Light Pollution" and how to
cure it!
|
 |
Looking for a Party? Because of media coverage,
you probably think there's only two..or three..well,check this out..
Community
Comments
CITIZEN'S OPINION
Free Speech/Tolerance
America-Style
Professor Fired over
Demonstration/Comments
The five-minute demonstration at Emmanuel
College on Wednesday(April 2007), two days after a student killed 32
people on the Virginia Tech campus, included a discussion of gun
control, whether to respond to violence with violence, and the public's
"celebration of victimhood," said the
professor, Nicholas Winset.
During the demonstration, Winset pretended
to shoot some students. Then one student pretended to shoot Winset to
illustrate his point that the gunman might have been stopped had
another student or faculty member been armed.
"A classroom is supposed to be a place for
academic exploration," Winset, who taught financial accounting, told
the Boston Herald.
He said administrators had asked the
faculty to engage students on the issue. But on Friday, he got a letter
saying he was fired and ordering him to stay off campus.
Winset, 37, argued that the Catholic
liberal arts school was stifling free discussion by firing him, and he
said the move would have a "chilling effect" on open debate. He posted
an 18-minute video on the online site YouTube defending his action.
The college issued a statement saying:
"Emmanuel College has clear standards of classroom and campus conduct,
and does not in any way condone the use of discriminatory or obscene
language."
Student Junny Lee, 19, told The Boston
Globe that most students didn't appear to find Winset's demonstration
offensive.
|
blank |
Can't you smell the bacon frying in
Floyd?
Government low interest
loans, taxes, and town revitalization grants are all pretty much the
same. ..our tax dollars at work or being wasted.
I really think the citizens of Floyd County deserve better than to even
consider use of our local, state, or federal tax revenue to develop a
long time privately held venue.
I am specifically talking about the Floyd Country Store and surrounding
properties where the Friday night Jamboree is held, but it can apply to
any situation where government gets in to administration of services,
which they are just not as efficient in providing as private business.
Continued>>>>>
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Floyd
County's recent reassessment values of our properties has doubled and
even tripled the taxable values of our properties as compared with the
last appraisal only five years ago.
This
reassessment considers you will be selling your property, and
that's the value you are taxed at.
This
reassessment only favors investment speculators, not onsite
home-owners.
Who
benefits? Realtors, investment speculators and developers and they
who they advertise to in urban areas!(After all, the reassessment
appraisers are realtors, aren't they?) With MLS listings divvying up
the profits, each involved realtor now reaps more from another's
listing being sold. And they,developers and the wealthy looking for
investment property will be the only ones who can afford to buy up our
land.
And
where's this extra income to our county going? My cell &
land-line phone bills charge me for 911..rescue service sends a bill
now..haven't had gravel or roadwork done on my road in over a year..no
one picks up my trash..where's the money going?
But
are you selling? Floyd County's residents are not nomadic by
nature.
Why
are we being assessed and taxed off of our own land by the
assumptive reasoning we all plan to sell rather than continue to live
out our days where we are?
-
Sarah Moles
|
Send
your
"comment"
as
an email attachment or in an email to
floydcountyinview@yahoo.com or
Submit Your Comment Here:
|
Water, water everywhere??..
 Recently a local real estate firm
celebrated their record sales of Floyd property.
Keep them in mind when you find your water level in your well or spring
has dropped so much you need to re-drill or drill anew to try to recoup
enough potable water for you and your family.
As Floyd is perched precariously at the top/source of a fragile water
shed (remember, no surface water runs into Floyd, it all runs out..),
and with the diminished rain/snow accumulation per year that has
reduced liquid return into our aquifers, each new well drilled into the
earth from all of these record sales' properties will begin lowering
the available water table.
Of course, it isn't just the the wells alone that could create the
problem, but new wells for households with families as large as small
villages or baseball teams..
At some point, if development and new wells and expansive usage
continue unchecked and precipitation does not keep up with it, there is
the most definite possibility that Floydians will one day find
themselves facing water shortages or restrictions.
You might pay attention to wasteful water usage in Floyd.
One thing more, please be aware that large corporations, including
gas/oil corporations, have begun BUYING water tables/aquifers! (They
are already doing this throughout Texas.)
Can you imagine one day having to pay Exxon for the glass of water from
your kitchen tap?
Prevent private/corporate or government ownership of our ultimate
essential natural resource.
The Hidden Agenda behind the Bush
Administration's Bio-Fuel Plan:
Buy Feed Corn:They're about to stop making
it…
by F. William Engdahl
Global Research, July 25, 2007
|
That bowl of Kellogg's
Cornflakes on the breakfast table, or the portion of pasta or corn
tortillas, cheese or meat on the table is going to rise in price over
the coming months as sure as the sun rises in the East. Welcome ladies
and gentlemen to the new world food price shock, conveniently timed to
accompany our current world oil price shock......Continued
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Suggestions
for a better life:
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk
ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just
pretty much leave me the heck alone.
2. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to
steal your neighbors' newspaper, that's the time to do it.
3. Sex is like air -- it's not important unless you aren't
getting any.
4. No one is listening until you fart.
5. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a
car payment.
6. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in
their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away, and
you have their shoes.
7. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
8. Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach him
how to fish, he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
9. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again,
it may have been well worth it.
10. Don't worry. It only seems kinky the first time.
11. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of
that comes from bad judgment.
12. There are two theories about arguing with women. Neither
one works.
13. Experience is something you don't get until just after
you need it.
14.Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and
a laxative at the same time!
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If you have a comment
or response about any of the public comments published on FCIV, please
send your email to floydcountyinview@yahoo.com, and please list
"response to_____ or comment about______" in the subject line.
You must include your full name and place of residence even though FCIV
will not publish your last name and specific address unless asked to in
your email.
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"
Immigration
should
first
and foremost serve the need of the receiving
nation and its existing population. It should never be used by the
sending nation as an excuse to avoid making living conditions inside
its own borders better for its inhabitants. It certainly should not be
used to make living conditions for the citizens of the receiving nation
worse."
-Deena Flinchum |
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Public Opinion Column
Why FCIV does not support the Freecycle
Network
Since its inception as a loosely
structured grass roots method of encouraging people to keep reusable
goods from filling our landfills, The Freecycle Network appears to have
become a corporate organization that is determined to make any
independent recycling group either join their ranks are lose their own
group existence on places like Yahoo Groups.
Without positing too much of an opinion on why The Freecycle Network
has been using strongarm tactics to make small community recycling
groups and owners/moderators succumb to their organization's whim and
will, we can only guess that money must be involved in what would seem
to be a money free organization.
We also want to mention a quick "google" of freecycle reveiled a host
of complaints against the Freecycle Network.
We have, over time, also received a litany of other negative comments
and complaints about The Freecycle Network from people in our area and
elsewhere who either are or have been owner/moderators of their own
branch Freecycle group.
We've included, with permission from the person who received it, a
letter sent to an independent reuse-recycle group that states this
independent group is infringing on the copyright of freecycle.
You be the judge:
This Yahoo group is located at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/monroecountywvasharecycle/
and this is the letter the owner/moderators of this group received:
Editorial Staff
Editor's update: After Yahoo notified
the group owner their group would be removed from Yahoo Groups, the
owner of the group pleaded with Yahoo to closely examine the situation
and make a determination based on the actual group information in
contrast with what the freecycle network claimed.
To Yahoo's credit they determined the freecycle network was wrong and
did not have a case for this group or other Sharecycle groups to be
closed down!
Read what others are saying, pro &
con, about their freecycle experiences:
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The Bank of Floyd Makes the News
Feb. 12
By The Associated Press -
When lawmakers set out to protect investors from another Enron,
they probably never imagined a company -- or a controversy -- like the
one stirring inside this one-stoplight town's namesake bank.
The Bank of Floyd's board of directors amounts to a Who's Who of local
farmers. Many days, not a single share of its stock changes hands.
There are no corridors of power -- bank president Leon Moore's office
is just down from the tellers' windows.
Continued>>>
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FROM: The
Roanoke Times, Sunday, February 10,2002
Clarke County to
consider buying development rights.
BERRYVILLE,Va.
-Clarke County is the latest local government in Virginia to consider
buying development rights to keep farms from turning into subdivisions.
The county Board of
Supervisors will hold a public hearing Tuesday(Feb.12,2002)on the
program that allows localities to purchase development rights and
conservation easements.
The land is still owned
by the private individual and can be sold, but it cannot be developed.
Nearly three dozen
similar programs are in effect in localities across the country.In
Virginia, programs have been established in Virginia Beach, Albemarle
and Loudon counties. A plan is being considered in Fauquier County.
Of Clarke County's
111,000 acres, about 71,000 are used for agriculture, a piedmont
Environmental Council report said." -ASSOCIATED PRESS |
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and
support
community businesses
Click on banner to visit website
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Click on FTD banner to visit site
Click on above banner to visit website
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Guest Essay
By From PBS -NOW - with Bill Moyers
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Transcript - From Now on PBS
with Bill Moyers
According to the International Energy Agency, as of the year 2001,
renewable energy sources (water, solar, geothermal, combustible and
waste renewables, and wind) comprised 13.8 percent of the world's
primary energy supply and 19 percent of all electricity production. Of
that 13.8 percent, wind power accounted for only .0026 percent.
That doesn't seem like much, but wind
power is one of the fastest-growing sources of energy in both the
United States and abroad. While the use of renewable energy sources as
a whole has annually by 2 percent since 1971, wind-power generation has
increased at an average of 52.1 percent every year between 1971 and
2000.
The American Wind Energy Association
estimates that an additional 6,500 megawatts of wind-energy generating
capacity were added worldwide in 2001, accounting for about $7 billion
in electricity sales. The U.S. alone added 1,700 megawatts worth of
generating equipment.
Wind Power Plus and Minus
Advantages
- Wind energy is free.
- It is a renewable energy resource.
- There are no dangerous emissions.
- Wind power can be used in remote areas.
- Wind power can be used in conjunction
with other renewable energy resources such as solar energy.
Disadvantages
- Wind turbines are site dependent i.e.
they need to be built in areas where there is a reliable source of
wind.
- Wind speed can fluctuate. The wind
speed can be too fast or slow which means that electricity is not
produced.
- Also the wind does not blow all the
time.
- Wind farms can be a visual eyesore and
may create excess noise.
- Wind turbines can be expensive to
maintain.
- Energy storage devices, e.g. batteries,
are sometimes necessary.
Wind-generated power has a long history. The earliest known
archeological evidence dates back to Persia in the 6th century B.C.,
where windmills were used to grind corn. By the 12th century, windmills
could be found throughout Europe. The environmental movement and the
energy crisis of the late 1970s led to a renewed interest in wind
power. The United States Department of Energy now has a research office
dedicated to perfecting new wind-power technologies.
Wind Turbines
"People always ask, 'Well, how do you make
electricity? Where does electricity come from?' They think it comes
from the electric outlet. And it's really actually not very
complicated. You just need to spin a turbine. Make a turbine turn.
That's how electricity's made. So, you can turn a turbine with
hydropower. And you can make that steam by burning coal, or burning
natural gas, or-splitting atoms. But you can also turn a turbine by
putting it up on a tower in a windy place. It's a pretty simply way to
make electricity."-- David Noble, Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient
Economy, ME3.
A wind turbine works the opposite of a
fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind
turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which
spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and makes electricity.
Utility-scale turbines range in size from 50 to 750 kilowatts. Single,
small turbines, below 50 kilowatts, are used for homes,
telecommunications dishes, or water pumping.
--Used with permission. For more detail please see U.S.
Department of Energy, Wind Energy Program
U.S. Wind Potential Map
The potential for wind power varies
throughout the United States, from region to region. However, wind
potential doesn't only exist in areas like the Great Plains. The U.S.
government's National Wind Technology Center shows in this map that
moderate- to high-wind potential is actually dispersed throughout the
lower 48 states.
Wind power ranges from Class 1 to Class 7,
with each class representing wind-power density or mean wind-speed.
Areas designated Class 4 or greater are suitable for advanced
wind-turbine technology under development today. Class 3 areas, while
generally not used for production, may be suitable for wind-power
technologies in the future.
Power Class 1 — Purple
Power Class 2 — Blue
Power Class 3 — Light Blue
Power Class 4 — Green
Power Class 5 — Gold
Power Class 6 — Orange
Power Class 7 — Red
--Information courtesy of the National
Wind
Technology
Center
Wind Power Now
Consumption of energy grew in the 1990s,
with great disparities in usage between the developed and developing
world. If global energy use continues at its present rate, consumption
will be double the 1998 rate by 2035, and will triple it by 2055.
Electricity's share of this total will increase to 38 percent. However,
even with rapid growth in wind energy production rates, by 2020
electricity production from renewable energy sources other than
hydropower is projected to provide only 2.3 percent of total
electricity needs. The biggest producers of wind energy are Germany,
the United States, Spain, Denmark and India.
Wind farms in the United States generate
almost 10 billion kilowatt hours each year. That is enough to power one
million average American households. The biggest wind farms in the U.S.
are located in West Texas, on the Washington-Oregon border, in Kansas,
and in Minnesota.
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© Public Affairs Television. All rights reserved. |
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Thanks to PBS.org & the Program NOW
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Light Pollution
"Light pollution" a
topic which many floydians have been considering of importance,
especially in recent years, is one that I've found to be of particular
interest.
One of the many natural abundances we enjoy in Floyd county are the
dark night skies.
Before I saw an episode of PBS about amateur astronomy, I never knew
what on earth light pollution might be. To those who make a hobby of
star gazing, the darker the night sky, the better and clearer are the
images viewed in the telescope.
Many interesting observations, of merit to the scientific community,
have been made by amateur astronomers. Citizen contributions have
helped make progress in the field of the 'extra terrestrial' studies,
and more on this topic can be found on www.pbs.org, on a particular
special called 'seeing in the dark'.
Personally, I have not yet wandered into a hobby involving a telescope,
however, as many would agree with me on this, I enjoy a view of the
stars in a dark rural sky the same as I would enjoy many of nature's
bounties.
Myself, living in the city of Lynchburg currently, where the stadium
and the city lights contribute to a pinkish haze over our horizon at
night, I have grown to appreciate the deep darkness of the nights I
spend in Floyd.
I enjoy what feels like taking a step back into time, looking out into
a mysterious abyss of pure, ancestral darkness, awakens my spirit.
For these reasons, I would like to share with the Floyd community, and
encourage Floydians to share with their neighbors, lighting
alternatives (lighting that utilizes not only movement sensors but also
a stream that points down and sideways) which can serve their purpose
as well as preventing light pollution.
Dark Sky
and for some more information on light pollution (through the years and
on a bigger scale) you can visit http://www.elights.com/starrysky.html.
happy
star
gazing
!
- Noelle T.
States May Reject New Driver's License Rules
WASHINGTON —
States are threatening to challenge in court and even disobey new
orders from Congress to start issuing more uniform driver's licenses
and verify the citizenship or legal status of people getting them.
There is concern among some states that
they'll get stuck with a large tab to pay for implementing the new
rules and that getting a driver's license will become a bigger headache
for law-abiding residents.
"Governors are looking at all their options.
If more than half of the governors agree we're not going down without a
fight on this, Congress will have to consider changing this unfunded
federal mandate," said Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, vice chairman of
the National Governors Association A Huckabee aide said the
options include court action.
States fear the new rules may force applicants
to make more than one trip to motor vehicle departments, once to
provide documents such as birth certificates that states must verify
and a second time to pick up the license, state officials said.
"What passed is something that will be an
enormous amount of work and it's questionable what it's going to
yield," said Democrat Matt Dunlap, Maine's secretary of state.
"Is it going to yield national security or is it going to be hassle for
people already complying with the law?"
The immigration requirements were attached to
an $82 billion spending package for military operations and
construction in Iraq and Afghanistan that the House
passed last week. The Senate is expected to vote this week and send the
bill to President Bush.
"We'd like to work with people to implement
the needed reform and will be very disappointed if these groups thwart
these important rules," said Jeff Lungren, spokesman for Wisconsin
Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner, who wrote the new
requirements.
Sensenbrenner said last week that waiting a
little longer in line is "a small price to pay" to prevent future
terrorism.
All but one of the 19 hijackers in the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks had some form of U.S. identification, some of it
fraudulent, the Sept. 11 commissionfound. The commission
recommended the federal government set standards for birth certificates
and other identification documents, including driver's licenses.
Some states already have been increasing their
license requirements, but their work may not be enough.
Maine's motor vehicle department is upgrading
its computer system. But the upgrade doesn't include computer coding to
comply with at least one of the new rules: ensure driver's licenses
issued to temporary legal residents expire when the resident's
authorized time in the U.S. is up.
"That adds to the cost and throws everything
into the woods," Dunlap said.
Virginia's motor vehicle department estimated
it would have to spend $237 million to comply with the bill passed by
the House if it maintains its current level of customer service. Some
changes to the final legislation could alter the estimate, a
spokeswoman said.
The bill allows the Homeland Security
secretary to offer grants to help states to comply, but doesn't provide
money.
States will have three years after the
president signs the bill to obey the rules. If they don't, their
residents won't be able to board planes or enter federally protected
buildings.
States also question how they will verify
birth certificates, whose appearance vary widely by state and county.
Dunlap said his state has only a portion of birth certificates online.
Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia
verify Social Security numbers online with the federal government or by
another method, said Mark Lassiter, spokesman.
In fiscal 2004, which ended Sept. 30, Social
Security handled 18 million verification requests, rejecting 2 million
numbers, Lassiter said. But the system isn't foolproof.
California found many numbers were rejected
for women who failed to change their name with when they married, said
Bill Branch, motor vehicle department spokesman.
Another concern for states is preventing
identity theft if licenses carry more information, said Michael
Balboni, a Republican New York state senator. Balboni and Dunlap
represented the National Conference of State Legislatures on a now
defunct panel Congress created in December to design new driver's
license rules. The conference opposes the new rules.
"What's so ironic about this bill is everybody
agrees with the concept, one person, one driver's license," Balboni
said. "How you get there is really the tough issue."
The bill is HR 1268
___
On the Net:
National Governors Association:
National Conference of State Legislatures:
Rep. James Sensenbrenner:
www.nga.org
www.ncsl.org
www.house.gov/sensenbrenner/
News item selected by
FCIV - Editors
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Chief Seattle Speaks:
A Consideration
The War Prayer By Mark Twain
| "You
can
preach
a
better sermon with your life than with your lips"-
Goldsmith |
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FLOYD COMMUNITY
NOTES:
IMPORTANT PUBLIC NOTICES:
If and when there are any...
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Local
Phototography
This photo
was submitted by Floyd County resident
Laura Rumfeldt
Looking toward Will's Ridge from her property
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FACILITY
SPACE
AVAILABLE
Bent Mountain Lodge Bed and Breakfast, Inc.
15,000 sq. ft. has excellent facilities, space, location and grounds
for
- weddings
- wedding receptions
- reunions
or any other type of celebration
you may have.
Space inside in case of rain.
Perfect for setting up bands, caterer, inside and out.
Public restrooms, 10 suites all with private baths available for
guests.
Contact Bonnie and Jesse Lawrence,
Bent Mountain Lodge Bed and Breakfast,
9039 Mountain View Drive,
Copper Hill, Va. 24079
bentmountainlodgebedandbreakfast.com
540-651-2525
Qmscmom74@swva.net(remove "Q" if emailing)
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YARD SALES UPDATED EACH FRIDAY - during yard sale season
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