ROUTE 50 IN FREDERICK COUNTY, VA WILL HAVE MAJOR CLOSURES

ROUTE 50 IN FREDERICK COUNTY

Closures will be March 28-31 and April 18-21

STAUNTON – Motorists traveling on Route 50 near the Virginia border with West Virginia should be alert for two upcoming temporary but major traffic pattern changes.

The first closure will take place beginning at 4 p.m. on March 28 and lasting until 5 a.m. on March 31. Both eastbound lanes of Route 50 (Northwestern Pike) in the Gore area of Frederick County will be closed. This location is approximately .1 mile west of Route 752 (Knob Road) and is near the Virginia and West Virginia state line.

The closure is due to railroad work being performed by the Winchester and Western Railroad in the Gore area. All work is weather permitting.

The detour for the Route 50 eastbound closure from March 28 to 31 is as follows:

Traffic traveling east on Route 50 from any point west of the Gore area, including West Virginia, should head west on Route 50 into West Virginia and turn right onto Route 29 north to Route 127 east and continue to Route 522 south. Motorists should stay on Route 522 south until they reach Route 37. To get back on to Route 50 travelers should head south on Route 37 to the next interchange, which is Route 50.

Passenger vehicles can use an alternate shorter route at Route 703 (Whitacre Road) located west of Gore. This alternate route uses several secondary roads which are not suitable for tractor trailer traffic.

The second closure will be from April 18 to 21 at the same location. Both westbound Route 50 lanes will be closed beginning at 7 p.m. on April 18 and lasting until 5 a.m. on April 21. VDOT will send out detour information at the beginning of April.

Traffic alerts and traveler information can be obtained by dialing 511. In areas where 511 is unavailable, dial 1-800-578-4111. (TTY/TDD users, call 711). Traffic alerts and traveler information also are available at 511Virginia.org.

Highway safety is everyone’s responsibility. Virginia’s highway safety partnership — the Virginia Department of Transportation, Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and Virginia State Police — challenges you to help prevent highway fatalities. Buckle up. Avoid distractions. Share the road. Drive drug- and alcohol-free. Obey speed limits. For more information on the Highway Safety Challenge and things you can do to avoid becoming Virginia’s next traffic fatality, visit www.safeVAhighways.org.

The Energy Answer is Under Our Feet

Of all the states, West Virginia’s economy ranks at the bottom while we sit on mountains filled with energy in the middle of an energy crunch. Our economy should be booming, yet it is not. One reason is that we have a tendency to look to government for solutions and not to ourselves. Ronald Reagan once said, “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” His words hold true today. Everyday as we fuel up our vehicles paying close to $4 or more per gallon we are reminded government has not solved the problem, nor will it.

Government officials hold meetings and conferences, form committees and coalitions, but then all that happens is they talk about the problem and get their pictures in the media. One conference referred to the “New Technology of Coal Liquefaction.” For the record Friedrich Bergius developed one of the first processes for turning coal into gasoline almost 100 years ago.

Government doesn’t even know how old the processes are; are we sure we want it in charge?
One of the ideas being floated is a Private-Public Partnership, where government becomes a partner in the construction and operation of a coal liquefaction plant. The problem is government becomes the dominating partner in these ventures; the project becomes bloated, inefficient, and politically influenced to the detriment of the private business partner, the taxpayer and the consumer. History also reveals that the term “corporatism” was coined by Benito Mussolini to describe Private-Public Partnerships, which were used as a way to maintain government control. This is not a road we want to go down.

So what should be government’s role? Government’s first and most important goal should be to make as level and competitive playing field as possible. We must give West Virginia’s businesses a competitive advantage through business friendly tax and legal reforms. Half measures like eliminating the franchise tax by 2015 is not going to give us a competitive advantage anytime soon. It is like getting in a swimming pool one toe at a time instead of jumping in all at one time, getting wet and starting to swim. We must enact the needed tax and legal reforms wholly and fully now — get the initial shock out of the way and then begin to swim in increased jobs and tax revenue as our economy expands because West Virginia will be economically competitive.

So if government’s job should be to provide a level playing field for the competitors, then how do we move forward? The free market will always seek the lowest price and if fuel made from coal is cheaper, then the market will purchase fuel made from coal instead of oil. While we know we can currently make fuel cheaper from coal than oil, the problem is in regard to the cost and time of building the coal liquefaction plant. That cost is estimated at around $2 billion with about 2 years of construction. Some company has to be willing to risk the investment in the plant and take the chance that oil prices will remain high long enough for the plant to pay them back with interest.

Sometimes the only nudge the free market needs is the spark of an idea. Consider that CSX Corporation in 2006 purchased $1.2 billion dollars worth of fuel and you know from your own visits to the pump its 2008 numbers are substantially higher. What if the West Virginia coal Industry sits down with CSX Corp and says, since CSX already services 130 active coal mines and purchases billions of dollars worth of fuel, together we can build a profitable coal liquefaction plant. The plant could provide CSX with lower cost fuel, provide West Virginia coal producers with a new market outlet, provide high paying jobs across the board, give the state increased tax revenues and pump billions of dollars into the West Virginia economy.

As a state loaded with natural resources we have an opportunity, but only if we are willing to make the necessary political changes to make it happen. If we are not held back by Charleston’s bad economic policies, then West Virginia has an answer to the nation’s energy challenges. That answer is under our feet.

Teachers

I have held this post for a while, but recently read an article about how Preston County teachers are concerned about low wages compared to their counterparts in neighboring states. The solution from the Education department is always pay more, spend more, vote for our $15 million levy. Unfortunately we are a low income state that needs a better solution. Our teachers are not underpaid because they are undervalued, they work in a low income, low cost of living state. If your customers can't afford to pay for your product, it's time to adjust the product. When you lack the money you think you need, it is time to adjust your strategy. Is more money the solution to this problem? I would be tempted to entertain that notion if someone could tell me a) how much is being spent on education today and b) how much more to achieve the goals set forth.

The National Education Association reports that WV teachers have an average salary of $40,531 which is $10,000 less than the national average. What does the statistic leave off? A little math. This isn't meant to be a criticism of what teachers get paid or the status of our schools, just to ask the question, how much more is needed? After all, levies are constantly being proposed and denied, surely there is a solution out there.

The average WV primary earner brings in around $36,000 per year. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/medincearnersandstate.html I like this listing by number of earners in the family because it better reflects what the average family is living with. I have heard numbers as low as $20K for the average WV income. As you become a two and three earner family the statistics get a little skewed by part time workers, kids living at home and working, etc.

Most people are more familiar with what they are paid per hour. I ran these numbers past a friend who teaches and they already knew this to be true. The school year runs 180 days, most people with 2 weeks of vacation work 250 days. The school day runs about 8-3, with a lunch and at least one planning period, let's call that 6 hours per day. That comes to 180days x 6 hours = 1080 hours per year. To be overly fair, let's add in some bonus hours for in service and general planning, what the heck, lets add 120 hours of "extra" work time. That gives a work year of 1200 hours. Now, $40, 531/1200 = $33.63 per hour. That's 7x the current minimum wage. This doesn't include benefits and pension, and assumes no sick days or snow days that don't get made up for. The national average is over $50,000 per year which means the national hourly rate for teachers is $41.66 per hour. Compared to a non-teacher counterpart in 52 week per year work force with the same annual salary we see that they work 9-5 or 7 hours per day, 50 weeks per year (allowing 2 weeks for vacation) and thus make $40.531/1750 hours = $23.16/ hour. The average WV earner making $36K brings in about $20.51 per hour of work. Roughly $13 per hour less than our teachers.

Think a little about these numbers the next time you see a pending strike from teachers or hear complaints about how underpaid our teachers are. Then try to put this math to the salaries of college professors...just for fun. You might discover the major reason that the cost of higher education is skyrocketing.

Compared to the nation our teachers are underpaid. But isn't that true of everyone in WV? Compared to their fellow WVs they are some of the highest earners in the state. Most of us make less than our counterparts in the rest of the country.

Today the US Supreme Court Heard a 2nd Amendment Case

While we will not know the outcome from some time, the fundamental question is whether or not the right to bear arms is a collective right or an individual right.

The 2nd Amendment states, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." To any student of history it is clear that the 2nd Amendment is an individual right, but some believe it is not.

Over 200 years ago the people of the American Colonies petitioned the Crown and their calls fell on deaf ears. In the Declaration of Independence it states, "The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States." Our forefathers understood what Tyranny was, they lived under it, most of us have not.

When they wrote the Bill of Rights, these men understood what was necessary to preserve freedom. First they understood that a free people needed the ability to speak openly about government and more importantly the ability to disagree with government. That is why the first amendment is the Guarantee of Freedom of Speech.

These men had also knew what happened Freedom of Speech is taken away and they got it back my force of arms. Without the Right to Bear Arms, there would be no United States. My ancestor John Moore was one of those men that took up arms against the crown and helped form this nation. These men that formed our nation understood the true cost of freedom.

Many of us understand that the 2nd Amendment is to protect both the 1st Amendment and to allow individuals to protect themselves when government can't. Should government try to take away freedom of speech from the people, the people have the ability to keep it as long as the right to bare arms is not infringed. A free people should never fear its government, government should aways fear its people.

Those that wish to give up the Right to Bear Arms will ultimately give up the right to free speech. The 2nd Amendment is an individual right.

WV GOP out of debt

State Party Chairman Doug McKinney proudly announced that the WV GOP is out of debt, at the Winter meeting held in South Charleston Saturday.

Many in the state party worked hard to pay of the debt lead by Larry Pack and Jim Reed. Bob Fish and the crew of the state Presidential Convention also deserve credit from bringing positive cash flow.

Many candidates were on hand for the event including US Senate Candidate Jay Wolfe, Gubernatorial Candidate Russ Weeks, Attorney General candidate Dan Greear, Secretary of State candidate Charles Minimah, and Agriculture Commissioner candidates Lawrence Beckerle and Michael Teets. The party is upbeat and ready to take on the Democrats in November.

The PHC Celerbrates its first birthday

One year ago today a group of us decided that a voice was needed to get out the correct information that often goes unreported in the Potomac Highlands, and sometime around the state. With a year under our belt and over 10 contributors providing content we have successfully gotten much needed and accurate information out the people of the state.

One of the success stories was the exposing of the myth that Mineral County is low on water resources in the article "Scare Tactics Used Against Mineral County Residents."

Another was Christy Barnett's story "Does Mineral County Want Economic Development?"

I would like to take this time to thank all those who have contributed to the blog and to our loyal readers that stretch from the Potomac Highlands to Charleston to Washington. Without your support we could not have been the success that we have become.