FCIV Community Center

Return To Roots welcomes partner who finds meaning in coming home.

RADFORD, Va., March 28, 2008- It might have been the long way home, but Robert Weeks' journey brought him back to Floyd, and he's forever grateful. After attending Bridgewater College he left the region to find a job in his field of graphic design. After twelve years of living in Northern Virginia, upstate New York and elsewhere, the Floyd native returned to his roots. Why?

"I made a conscious decision to be a part of my community."

And boy, has he ever.

The list of Weeks' community efforts is humbling. It's hard to believe he works a fulltime job at Citizens' as business development manager, a fulltime-part time job at Slaughter's Tree Farm as a Christmas tree trimmer, and has the time to:
" Keep the clock at the local high school football games
" Help video tape the athletic events for the local television stations
" Work with Community Economic Development Organizations to bring businesses into the New River Valley
" Be treasurer, deacon, and trustee at Laurel Branch Church of the Brethren.
. . . and a host of other efforts.

And now he has a new role as a strategic partner with Return To Roots, a program managed by Virginia Economic Bridge whose mission is to help bring home Southwest Virginia's native sons and daughters (www.ReturnToRoots.org).

"I truly believe Return to Roots is a great organization and opportunity for people wanting to locate back to SWVA. I am intrigued by its mission to entice people to return to Southwest Virginia. After I graduated from college and began my working career in Northern VA, I soon realized that the big city wasn't for me."

Robert spent twelve years trying to return home to Floyd County so that he and his wife Dawn could raise their family and experience community engagement. "It's nice to be a part of something bigger than yourself," says Weeks. "I longed for this. It's hard to understand if you haven't experienced it."

Citizens', whose parent company is Citizens' Telephone Cooperative, Inc., in Floyd is more than a job to Weeks. His employment represents the attainment of a goal and the continuance of a legacy becoming the 3rd generation of a Weeks being employed at Citizens'. "I basically grew up with Citizens'", Robert chuckled. "My Dad was one of the first employees of the cooperative. He was an outside installer, and in those days they did everything. I use to ride in the line truck, and boy I'll tell you-that was a thrill for a little boy." His brother Paul also works for Citizens' in the outside plant construction.

One reason Weeks returned home was to be with his ailing father. "Citizens' is a great company. I set a goal. I knew I was going to work with them one way or the other. When I first came back, they didn't have any openings, so I worked a variety of jobs. But I kept at it. One day I cornered the general manager on the 1st tee. He told me at the time Citizens wasn't hiring. But not long after, the company called the copier business I had at the time, bought four copiers from me. Two weeks later they called and offered me a position as sales and marketing manager."

The day he started his long-awaited job at Citizens' was the day his father died.
"He was waiting for me to get a good job", Weeks joked warmly.

What does he tell his friends who are thinking about returning to their roots? "You just have to do it. You come back home because of the life-style. Here, I don't have to go through thirty stop lights to get where I'm going. Fifteen minutes is fifteen minutes in Floyd County. Fifteen minutes is two minutes in Northern Virginia. I'm a people person. For instance, I like to wave. That's what you do in Southwest Virginia! You wave on the road here because you know people, right? In Northern Virginia, I started to do that, and it was like, man, I can't do this for thirty million cars!"

Weeks has a daughter in college studying to be a meteorologist. His other daughter, a senior at Floyd High School wants to be a lawyer. He worries that they could face the same issues of finding jobs in their industry that he did. "That's why the Return to Roots initiative is so important", says Weeks.

He admits, "It can be hard to give up the money you can make in Northern Virginia. But it's all relative. Here, you don't spend half your life in traffic. There's always something to do. Here, there's more possibility of doing what you want to on your own terms."

And here, when you wave, you get a wave back.

Return to Roots, a unique program funded by a Special Projects grant from the Tobacco Commission, finds Southwest Virginia native sons & daughters and Returns them to their Roots for career opportunities. The program reaches out to former residents of the area through the website www.ReturnToRoots.org, direct mail and the news media to inform them about employment opportunities available in Southwest Virginia. The site links these potential employees to regional companies with job openings.

The program is managed by Virginia Economic Bridge (www.VirginiaEconomicBridge.org), a non-profit organization focused on creating an environment for economic growth in today's technologically advanced society. Virginia Economic Bridge promotes the economic vitality and external competitiveness of the Commonwealth by fostering business, industry and educational relationships between Southwest Virginia, Northern Virginia, as well as other areas of the Commonwealth.

CONTACT: Carl Mitchell, CEO & President, (540) 731-6810cmitchell@vebinc.org
Virginia Economic Bridge, Inc.
www.VirginiaEconomicBridge.org
Return to Roots
www.ReturnToRoots.org

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".

Fake Environmentalist?
Rick Boucher

9th District State Representative Rick Boucher has long won the voting support of many regional environmentalists. But in looking at his record and especially at his most recent activity, Boucher may be deceiving those voters.
He currently is working hard to gather enough support to DEFEAT a bill brought up by a North Carolina Congressman to establish parts of the New River in N. Carolina and Grayson County Va. as Wilderness areas and to be protected.
Boucher is seeking to defeat this bill in Virginia because, as he says, "It won't permit development along the banks of the New River".

- Steve Colley - Allisonia

Wind Power Primer

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.

NOW

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