Sunday, June 8, 2014

LET THE 'RIP-OFFS' END!



08 JUNE 2014, Vol.1, No.58 > LET THE ‘RIP-OFFS’ END!

The POCAHONTAS CRIER
‘When the Righteous succeed the people rejoice,
But when the bad govern, men groan!’ – Proverbs 29:2
[New Email address: pocahontascrier88@gmail.com]


LET THE ‘RIP-OFFS’ END!

As many of you may know, because Pocahontas County has a small & continuing shrinking population – as a community WE HAVE BEEN ‘RIPPED-OFF’ by the monopoly telephone company, insurance companies, local agencies like the solid waste authority, and the utility companies – and  just about  every other type of business within this county – certain banks most of all!

Thanks to the likes of Reta Griffith when she was a county commissioner, Frontier Communications was granted a ten (10) year monopoly over the telephone & Internet services of this county whereby Frontier has charged each telephone in each household & business TWICE the monthly rate it charges in other parts of the state!  So instead of paying $15 - $20 per/month to have a ‘landline’ in our residencies – we are forced to pay $30 - $40+ for the same services found in other counties in West Virginia!  WHY?  Because without charging us TWICE as much, they could not provide communication services to this county – so they say!  ‘BULL….’!  If this county had access to CELL PHONE service – countywide – then we would not need any ‘landlines’ as most folks are finding out nationwide!  And CELL PHONES also eliminate the need for ‘pay-phones’ that rarely work anyway!

What’s holding this county up from becoming part of the 21st Century?  Some say it’s the NRAO (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) in Green Bank since they claim that CELL PHONES may disrupt their static-noise-level’ – but that too is a load of ‘BULL….’!  WHY?  Because the NRAO has the technology to sort-out ‘white noise’ and bloc,  any frequencies it wishes in order to continue its ‘listening’ to the stars scenario!  If anyone has seen the recent Hollywood Movie, BATTLESHIP, then you know why the SETI-PROGRAM (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) was abandoned decades ago for fear that WHAT IF we did make contact with something or someone ‘out-there’?  WHAT THEN?  So now the NRAO is supposed to be listening to the ‘noise’ coming from star bursts & such – BUT in all the times since the NRAO has been in Green Bank – if all the noise were ever collected – it would amount to the SOUND OF A PIN DROPPING IN A ROOM!  So you have to ask yourself: (1) Is it any wonder that there are folks inside the Beltway that want to shut-it-down and leave it as a tourist-attraction?  And, (2) Is having the NRAO worth paying the price of the Frontier Monopoly over us – and NOT BEING ABLE TO HAVE CELL PHONES for emergency purposes in a rural area – as provided throughout the rest of America?   

Someone falls & gets injured!  Either crawl to a ‘landline’, or wait for someone to visit, or die for lack of medical assistance!  How about a vehicle running out of fuel or hitting a deer or other animal that disables your vehicle – at night – on in the snow?  The scary possibilities are endless but REAL all the less!  Meanwhile Frontier puts broadband into Snowshoe and leaves the rest of the county in the DARK AGES!

Look around at the insurance companies doing business in rural areas!  Nine of ten vehicle insurance policies INSURE THE VEHICLE regardless of who is driving the vehicle in case of an accident – yet listening to the ‘insurance-agent’, they will tell you that EACH DRIVER has to be insured in the same household to drive the family car!  WHY?  Because this is a rural area and that’s the only way they can make money is by ‘insuring-people’ instead of ‘insuring-vehicles’ – read your insurance policy!  Then compare a local-insurance company’s prices to an insurance policy that can be purchased on the Internet from the major companies!  All anyone needs is the BASIC LIMIT of what is required under State Law – anything above the basic-limit is just your money in the pocket of an insurance agent to pay his mortgage and expenses instead of your own!

Then here in Pocahontas County we have to also contend with a corrupt & incompetent solid waste authority whereby someone like Ed Riley has been in control of ALL THE PCSWA FUNDS FOR 25 YEARS – WITH NO ACCOUNTABLIITY – no oversight by the County Commission or the Office of the Sheriff which is supposed to be the ‘treasurer’ of all county funds – and simply file a financial report to the commission each month!   BUT once again the people of this county are being ‘RIPPED-OFF’  when the PCSWA fails to provide the EXEMPTIONS it is supposed to provide under State Law!  WHY?  Because the thieves on the PCSWA claim they need the forced assessment-fee to cover their expenses – when Riley sits on in excess of $2.5 MILLION in Certificate of Deposits (CD) in various banks around the State.  IF the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia does not straighten things out via the lawsuit before them right now – then a NEW & WORSE LAWSUIT will be forthcoming in FEDERAL COURT and the Feds will surely require a FULL-ACCOUNTING for the past 25 years of every penny Riley & his cronies have handled…. & then some! 

Then as you may have seen in the local & state news, the PSC has ordered MONTHLY METER READINGS and an end to the ‘RIP-OFF’ of ‘estimating monthly usage’ as has been occurring for the past who knows how many years!  But if you have checked your MONTHLY METER READING invoice against the past ESTIMATED MONTHLY USAGE you will find that you have been paying TWO – THREE TIMES MORE under the estimated-usage-system as compared to the actual monthly-meter-readings!  Now will the PSC force a REFUND for all the months that each of us have been ‘ripped-off’ – probably not – but the PCS should estimate the OVERPAYMENTS and force either a refund or reduced rate-amount for all the months estimated to each user!  Better yet, the State should take over the utilities as they once did and make it affordable for everyone as once done as a national policy in America!

And last but not least by a long shot, compare the prices of gasoline & food charged here to what is charged in Lewisburg or Elkins or in VIRGINIA!  The cost of gasoline here is .50¢ - .60¢ MORE PER/GALLON than fueling up in Virginia BEFORE coming here to visit Cass or Snowshoe or NRAO, etc.  Meanwhile ‘we locals’ are being ‘RIPPED-OFF’ everyday by the local grocery & gas-station convenience stores – simply because those businesses are trying to ‘rip-off’ the TOURISTS who come here.  Is that what some folks mean when they tell us ‘tourism’ is good for Pocahontas County?  The local businesses want to pick-the-pockets of tourists before the tourists get to Snowshoe where Snowshoe wants the tourists to EMPTY THEIR POCKETS!  Ha, just wait until Jim Justice of The Greenbrier Inn takes over the casino Donald Trump plans to build & sell to Justice once Trump becomes ‘King of the Hill’ after getting his ‘Resort Area District’ (RAD)!  The county will never be the same once ALL THE GRAVY goes to ‘the mountain’!  IF you think the scraps & ‘rip-offs’ are bad now – you ain’t seen nothing yet!

THAT’S WHY…

On 04 NOVEMBER…there’s no excuse…
 IT’S YOUR CHOICE…
TO CHANGE THINGS FOR THE BETTER!

Just say ‘NO’ to those who want to keep this county in Poverty & Pauperism
– and –
Just say ‘YES’ to real Progress & Prosperity for the future!

On Primary Day – YOU have a chance to elect two persons that will always put YOU first!  They know that:

THE GREATER COMMON GOOD ALWAYS COMES BEFORE SELF OR ANY SELF-SERVING SPECIAL INTERESTS!

Keep up to Date – Stay tuned to these Websites:




   On 04 NOVEMBER it doesn’t matter how you are registered – YOU CAN VOTE for:

CHARLES WILFONG – ND
&
NORMAN LEE ALDERMAN - SD

The Pocahontas Crier is an independent Internet News Service that has now endorsed
two candidates for County Commission
      CHARLES WILFONG & NORMAN LEE ALDERMAN  
in addition to providing in depth news reporting on important issues directly affecting the Citizens of Pocahontas County!

Email comments & suggestions to: pocahontascrier88@gmail.com  

The Pocahontas Crier is a free, non-subscription, Internet News Service meant for entertainment in the true ‘muckraking’ tradition of questioning authority, challenging corruption, and offering Common Sense Alternatives for The Greater Common Good before Self or any Special Interests!  We struggle for Social Justice on all levels and are part of The Crier Coalition of Internet News Services comprised of The Pocahontas Commentator, The Pocahontas Crier, Signal Fires of WV, Rolling Thunder &  Echoes from the Holl’r.


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