Teacher Walkout ‘Indefinite’
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Page 8 Est. 1845 Wednesday, March 7, 2018 | VOLUME 127 • NUMBER 10 TWO SECTIONS • 16 PAGES • 94¢ USPS 362-300 Set Your Clocks Forward One Hour Moorefield Girls Finish Season | Page 1B Moorefield Snaps Streak/Cougars | Page 1B Teacher Walkout ‘Indefinite’ By Jean A. Flanagan Moorefield Examiner Teachers in all of West Virginia’s 55 counties con- tinued their walkout this week, refusing to go back to the classroom until the 5 percent pay raise promised by Governor Jim Justice was codified by the West Virginia legislature. The job action began on Feb. 22 Grant Sager, 27, of Wardensville, was It took a 6th-grader to explain to Governor Justice sentenced to 21 months incarceration for that education was an investment in West Virginia’s fu- making methamphetamine. U.S. Attorney ture. That’s when the impasse between the state’s teach- Bill Powell announced the sentence last ers and the governor began to fall apart. week. After a 7-day work stoppage, West Virginia’s teach- In March 2017, Sager was indicted on one ers have yet to return to the classroom, despite efforts count of unlawful possession of a firearm of the Governor and House of Delegates. and the possession of an unlawful firearm During a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 27, Jus- as well as the methamphetamine charge. tice described a conversation between himself and a He was convicted of a felony in 2012 and 6th-grader named Gideon Titus-Glover. During that was found in possession of a Stevens, Model conversation, Justice said he started to look at the 15 .22 caliber rifle. In addition, the rifle had teacher’s demands in a totally different way. a barrel less than 18 inches long and was not “I started to think I was looking at this maybe not cor- registered to Sager. Continued on page 8 Sager pleaded guilty to one count of Continued on page 4 Photo by Jean Flanagan Potomac Edison to Upgrade Poultry farmer Joshua Frye “There’s 22 billion pounds of danger to nearby streams. Af- of Wardensville is the win- chicken litter like mine pro- ter years of study and with the ner of the 2018 West Vir- duced in the U.S. each year,” advice of Tom Basden of the Moorefield ginia Vanguard Agriculture he said. Chicken littler in- West Virginia University Ex- Competition sponsored by cludes bird excrement and tension Service, Frye modified the Robert C. Byrd Institute bedding such as wood shav- a gasifier to turn poultry litter Substation (RCBI). Frye was honored ings, sawdust, straw and even into fixed black carbon. Friday during a ceremony peanut hulls. Working with Isabel Lima, at the annual West Virginia In 2005-2006, Frye and a renowned researcher with By Jean A. Flanagan Small Farm Conference in friend Matt Harper were talk- the U.S. Department of Agri- Moorefield Examiner Morgantown. ing about the issue of bio- culture, Frye discovered that He captured the statewide waste on farms when they his biochar is not only rich in As part of a $156 million project to im- award for his eco-friendly decided to take a road trip to soil nutrients but it curtails prove distribution and transmission, Po- method of turning chicken Illinois to examine a turkey runoff and neutralizes heavy tomac Edison will install a new transformer litter into renewable energy litter gasification project that metals in soil. at a Moorefield substation. According to while producing fixed black produced energy. That project “This is a value-added prod- spokesperson Todd Meyers, the new trans- carbon (biochar), a product got Frye thinking. uct,” Frye said. “It keeps nu- former will provide redundancy for the ex- that safely provides soil nu- At first he began burn- trients in the soil so you don’t isting equipment. trients as well as captures and ing chicken litter to generate have to keep applying fertil- Also included in the total improvement neutralizes heavy metals at heat for his chicken houses, izer. And it can be used for re- project is the completion of the $5 million contaminated sites and can fil- helping to offset the $50,000 mediation. This has the ability project to increase reliability to customers ter air and water. to $60,000 a year he spent on to be used at power plants to in the Baker and Mathias area. A new sub- Frye operates Frye Poultry, propane. The process also absorb mercury and make it station was constructed to improve service a 700,000 to 800,000 broiler- produced nutrient-rich ash, inert. At this point we’re not Bill Woodrum (left), director of Agricultural Innovations at the Robert to the Columbia Gas compressor station per-year operation in Hardy but plants cannot effectively sure exactly why but think it C. Byrd Institute, presents the 2018 Vanguard Agriculture Award to in Mathias and enabled service to be en- County, so he knows a thing absorb these nutrients and the might have something to do Hardy County farmer Joshua Frye of Frye Poultry during the annual West Virginia Small Farm Conference in Morgantown. Continued on page 4 or two about chicken litter. ash, through runoff, poses a Continued on page 4 Days of High Winds Cause Damage Throughout the Area Near-hurricane force winds downed trees and caused pow- er outages throughout the coun- ty on Thursday and Friday. Ac- cording to a spokesperson from Potomac Edison, at the height of the storm, almost 3,000 resi- dents were without power. Most of those were on the east side of the county. West Virginia Di- vision of Highways crews were busy clearing debris from coun- ty roadways. Photos by Jean Flanagan CONNECT www.HardyLive.com WEATHER Source: National Weather Service On Facebook On Twitter @MoorefieldExaminer News: @MoorefieldEx @HardyCountyWV Sports: @HardyCoSports 2 - MOOREFIELD (WV) EXAMINER, Wednesday, March 7, 2018 Do We Really Dear Editor, drinks, money, car beeps, thumbs dents, and work toward a level of stoppage ends. The teachers and support per- up, and other offers of encourage- benefits and pay that would attract To become more involved, you sonnel of Hardy County Schools ment were and are overwhelming- and keep highly qualified public may contact our State Delegates would like to offer a heartfelt ly appreciated. employees in West Virginia, we and Senators. Remember when thank you to all the community As we continue our efforts to ask for your support as we remain voting in May and November to Need A Law? members and businesses who sup- fix PEIA, eliminate legislative bills 55 United. It is our hope that the be attentive to all the aspects of a As someone who has been politically active long be- ported our efforts during the re- that would lessen the quality of level of participation in our pro- candidate. We need to elect rep- fore we were old enough to vote, we are sometimes cent work stoppage. The food, the education deserved by all stu- cesses will not stop when the work Continued on page 3 amazed at the absolute absurdity of some proposed legislation and equally baffled that a law is “neces- sary” to accomplish what most of us would consider at the swamp. Safe moss clump Weed” which is hard to separate just plain common sense. steps interspersed with dark mat- out and ruins good cress flavor. ted wet leaves. Step on the leaves Finger tip incidents occur when BY The latest of these is a bill proposed in the West Vir- and again I can be in sloppy mud the grasping fingers of one hand ginia legislature this term. HB4478 is called the West First full week of March. Al- DAVID O. over shoe tops instantly. Moss meet the slashing knife blade in Virginia Feed to Achieve Act. most Water Cress time. Time to HEISHMAN clumps and fallen branches par- the other. This problem is most cut cress from cold spring water tially buried usually safe to put often, but not always, encountered It amends state code to authorize public schools to weight on. Problem there is that and I still can’t get my boots on. by novice cutters. older I get, the shorter my stride, “distribute excess food to students and others who suf- Swollen right leg, left over from Cutting without pulling lets blood clot I had in my thigh March with less spring in my legs with fer from food insecurity.” enough to the bank so I can bend roots remain to regrow. I once 2014. The Coumadin I take for which to jump from clump to From what I’m told “food insecurity” is a politically and reach it from firmer drier foot- heard a woman threatened with blood thinner fights with Vitamin clump. A tree trunk makes a fine ing. Maybe I won’t be able to cut death (I didn’t think he was seri- correct way to say “hungry.” K in water cress anyway. Not sup- bridge if I can walk it. Last time I the bread sacks full I used to get, ous) if she didn’t cut cress proper- posed to eat it even if I could com- tried, old and decrepit, I lost bal- The legislation, as written, says one in four children but just a good sized chomp and fortably cut it. ance, had to jump off right into a ly. Her method, a garden rake to in West Virginia suffer from “food insecurity.” That’s swallow will be enough to add a I do plan to try walking to my mud hole. Took a messy while to drag cress out of the water, roots brief moment of zing to my life.