Rev. Kevin Gillespie filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. Church.
Some local folks took in the Pioneer Day celebration in Elizabeth & the FFA Beef Barbecue Sunday at the high school there. The Hurricane Ian cold rain put a real damper on the proposed Saturday events.
Nancy Wright whose sister and sister-in-law both live in Creston lost her home & all contents in Florida as a result of the storm. She was with friends so she was not hurt.
The underground gasolene storage tanks at the former Stutler store at Annamoriah were removed recently. They both looked to be in good shape.
The famous Creston Halloween party is back this year. This is the event where just anyone can dress up and “be somebody”. Those who wish to donate candy and help should contact Linda, Heather or Donna. Goblins, witches, warlocks, politicians, necromancers, soothsayers, beautiful young princesses, insects and celebrities will all gather at Creston on October 29. One year the Kardashians even showed up [and were they ever trashy] as have presidents and famous folks.
Bill Duskey reported that his first treatment went well.
A number of Creston & Brooksville residents attended the SOOGA [South East Ohio Oil & Gas Association] meeting at Marietta.
Baldy Blair who is the president of the W. Va. State Senate took offence that the governor would dare come out & oppose his constitutional amendment #2 that exempts business ‘machinery and equipment’ from county ad valorem taxes. This would be a saving of $billions in taxes for the out of state boys that fund some elected officials. Of course, the “selling point” is “Oh, you won’t have to pay tax on your car!” The con men do not say that but we will have to raise the assessments for tax purposes from the present 60% to 100% to make up the difference. In Pleasants County the big power plant could end up with a tax bill of $0 as it is all equipment. Baldy had the state put out a slick booklet that, it would seem, is full of errors. For example, in Marshall County there are at least four fractionation plants and one, Blue Racer, based on published figures, is worth $6 billion. The booklet says that the total machinery & equipment value for the county is just over $25 million. Calhoun County is said to have only $67,532.92 in business equipment which means that the new compressor station was not counted. Wirt County was said to have $62,925.17 in business equipment & inventory while Wirt County has 10 miles of the new pipeline that cost $10 million/mile. Baldy’s booklet said Wood County had $7.7 million in machinery & equipment but duPont’s personal property tax bill is $5 million. These records are all public and one can look them all up, many of them on line. Bottom line is that folks need to get out and vote.
The green weenies have been screaming like banshees about natural gas leaks and cow burps & how the environment is being ruined although new coal fired power plants in China seem to be just fine, but folks, likely associated with the green new deal, blew up some major natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that sent huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Does not Putin’s natural gas have the same molecular nature as gas produced in Creston? Now, out in the esoteric zone there is big talk about hydrogen replacing natural gas as a fuel. It only costs twice as much so, great and one has to use methane to make the hydrogen. The green new deal legislation was to make four hydrogen hubs with $2 billion in tax dollars for each. Now Mrs. Grandholm has said that there might be more & it would be just a paltry $1 billion for each. Royal Dutch Shell is pushing for the hub to be in Pennsylvania while EQT & the Rockefeller based firms are pushing for W. Va. One keen observer noted that natural gas is not a ‘bridge fuel’ it is the destination. Of course out in the land of fruits & nuts there are plans to ban gas furnaces, cook stoves, etc. How does one cook when there are rolling blackouts? Of course, if cash is banned the benevolent government may not give you $$ to buy anything to cook during blackouts.
The storm in Florida and South Carolina showed the absurd idea of going to all electric cars. One can have a couple of spare gas cans for an emergency but how does one carry around a bucket of electricity when the power grid is down? Harrison & Rea Schenerlein had no power but the home was not damaged. They had propane so food could be cooked and there was some gasolene for a generator. Locals have not heard from Joan Buskirk who lives in St. Petersburg.
Michael Bloomberg who once tried to run for president now has a personal goal. He is spending $85 million to stop the construction of new petro chemical plants in what is known as the Shale Crescent which runs from Pittsburgh down to Huntington. Even the Pittsburgh newspaper, not known as a “right wing rag” told him to “butt out”. Wealth is generated when things are made from raw materials. We are in the center of the largest oil & gas field on the planet and the raw materials should be made into finished products here, not in the orient or other far away places. Of course there are those, including some nitwits in the legislature who think that West Virginia should be an energy colony & give our resources to their highest bidders.
From 2007 until 2021 natural gas production in the US has grown by 80% with a resultant decrease in imported LNG [liquified natural gas]. To stress the importance of the local world class oil & gas field right here, 31% of the natural gas produced in America is from the Utica and Marcellus shales. In Wirt & Calhoun counties, the Utica is 1100 feet thick. LNG imports continue to Boston as Fauxcohantas does not want American natural gas heating her wigwam. That gas comes from Russia & Trinidad & Tobago.
The price of local Pennsylvania grade crude oil dipped to $78.49/bbl. with condensate bringing just $64.49/bbl. and Marcellus & Utica light $69.49 & medium $78.49/bbl. Natural gas [Henry Hub] was $6.77/mmbtu.
