Bus Service, Broadband, Election Notes, Radio System & More
The Alleghany Traveler |
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Nov. 27, 2016 -
I hope all of you were able to get out and spend your hard-earned money this past Friday after getting all that hot direct mail urging you to do so! I saw some awesome bargains for tools, TVs and even vehicles by area and regional businesses.
Nothing like the holiday season to get you quickly separated from your cash!
And, from the many, many Facebook postings I've seen lately, it's looks like the Thanksgiving holiday was a very successful one indeed.
There's plenty of additional notes I need to make:
• Here's a hat tip to Jon Lanford, county administrator and the good folks at the hospital auxiliary as well as WestRock for making extraordinary efforts to keep the RADAR bus service running until all the details and financial arrangements can be worked out to keep it around. Many people have come to rely on this source of transportation and for some, it's their only way to get to many key places. Nice work! I'm sure that some compromise may be found to keep RADAR running permanently. There may be higher rider fees and some service times cut back, but keeping the system going was a smart move.
• In the news over the weekend is a formal request to recount presidential election ballots in Wisconsin and perhaps two other states as well, courtesy of the Green Party candidate. The Clinton campaign apparently has joined in the effort as well. As an added bit of irony, the Green Party's candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, got enough votes to deny a Clinton victory in Wisconsin. And, in the Dept. of Weird comes the fact that the great state of Michigan STILL has not yet reported its official results, although most news sources are reporting a Trump lead of about 10,000 votes.
And we all thought the election was over?
Well, not really. The Electoral College voting totals won't be known until the tallies are made on December 16th. There are reports that there may be some "rogue" electors refusing to vote the way their particular states voted. That has happened before, but it still remains odd. Some of us were hoping that after months and months of election type news, the nation could move on to some other topic!
• If you drive down Rte. 220 near Gala, check out all the construction work on the right side of the road. Alleghany Construction is getting quite a lot of work done lately, as part of the multi-million dollar effort to get some key areas of that dangerous stretch of road more safe and some bridges widened. Hardly a month goes by when some bad accident doesn't occur on Rte. 220. There will be another public hearing at the Eagle Rock Elementary School soon by VDOT to help the public understand what is going on, when and why - important details of this huge project. As soon as that date is announced, I'll make it well-known. Public comments on such matters often are taken into account and YOURS may be one of those!
• AECOM Technology Solutions of Lynchburg provided Alleghany County with a highly detailed report entitled "Alleghany County, Virginia Public Safety and Local Government Radio Communications System" last December. The document shows potentials costs and all sorts of additional details some of you may be interested in. When constructed, there is no doubt that the system will cost from $6-8 million to construct (and perhaps yearly maintenance costs of about $350.000), but will allow for communications amongst area (and perhaps even regional) emergency personnel to be greatly enhanced. Look for more announcements on this system as both Alleghany County and Covington work to implement a concept which has long been needed, but only now entering a phase that will result in real action. If you wish to view that report as a pdf file, just click here.
• There was a recent meeting held on Broadband issues at DSLCC with the few present getting a detailed slideshow of facts and figures. I have a copy of the study, but at the bottom of the document it says "Draft -- Do Not Distribute." The report was produced by Design Nine of Blacksburg and I'm very thankful for the out-of-county source who supplied it to me. I'm trying to figure out what part of that study shouldn't be distributed, according to its source. Maybe all the information isn't accurate or needs modification. But don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of this - especially since some area officials want to create an "Authority" to help coordinate measures promoting broadband extension in the area. Virginia "Authorities" are municipal-type corporations, and as such, virtually act independently in many cases from nearby governing bodies. So, who gets appointed to these organizations, how, for what terms and why is potentially very important.
Having a Broadband Authority may be a great way through which big grants may be received. There will be other questions on this matter as well. Stay tuned for the latest as this effort proceeds. A recommendation in the study includes the suggestion for at least one paid staff member.
• Perhaps you'll have a chance to thank two groups for their service this season: 1) any member of our military (here or abroad) and 2) all those guys who efficiently pick up our trash no matter what the conditions. It takes just a moment, but you know, a nice word is often very much appreciated by great people who do very necessary jobs often under some of the toughest circumstances.
• The AlleghanyJournal.com's editor told me to thank each and every one of you for the huge number of views our company's videos are receiving both on Facebook, our website and on YouTube.com. The audience has been truly huge. After all, our (and my) job is to get the most public information "out there" as possible, unfettered, unexpurgated and just the hard, plain truth!
See ya right back here again soon!
Don't drink and drive, safe your relatives and loved ones a huge amount of heartache.
"The Traveler" is back, make no mistake about it!
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