Thursday, April 24, 2014
Winfield Middle Archery, Page 9
Business owners oppose annexation l
50 Cents Volume 145
The county’s special lamb program is celebrating 25 years. A total of 18 youth are signed up to work with lambs.
By Chris Stadelman
chris@theputnamstandard.com
Special Lamb celebrates 25 years By Amanda White For The Putnam Standard
The Annual Putnam County 4H Special Lamb program is underway with nine paired partners preparing to get their lamb, a Putnam County tradition now celebrating its 25th year. "This program is to help youth learn valuable life lessons, they are accountable for another living creature and they are producing a food good for the community," said Elizabeth Baldwin, facilitator of the program and employee of the West Virginia University Extension. "Not only that, but they are also breaking barriers of working with a peer that they may not necessarily work with on a regular basis and learning from each other in ways such as communication and building trust." There are a total of 18 youth signed up this year, which means there will be nine pairs with nine lambs. "The children are to be the ones (with the parental supervision) to raise and care for the lamb," Baldwin said. "This would include feeding, cleaning out the SEE LAMB ON PAGE 10
HOW TO REACH US PHONE: (304) 743-6731 FAX: (304) 562-6214
More than a dozen residents and business owners from just outside the Winfield city limits attended the Putnam County Commission meeting to oppose annexation, a move the mayor said was premature. John Perry and Penny Summers Fisher both dropped off letters to commissioners, and Lynne Fruth of Fruth Pharmacy spoke at Tuesday’s meeting and submitted
a petition signed by property owners and customers of Fruth and the Winfield Quick Stop. “I understand that the concept of creating revenue is very attractive to the city of Winfield, however they haven’t really demonstrated to the business community any benefit that is going to come with that tax,” Fruth said, noting a business and occupation tax on gross revenue could cost $10,000 to $20,000 a year for some businesses. “In the 1980s Fruth Pharmacy came to
Winfield and made a deal (on property) well outside the city limits. We invested money in a community that had no drug store, that had very little business. “I do not want our business to be annexed because there is not any benefit for us and there is significant cost.” Winfield Mayor Randy Barrett apologized to county commissioners, noting that any annexation proposal was months away from being presented to them. “We got the map late Thursday
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night, so we’re months away from even coming to you all,” he said. “It’s a long process. If I hadn’t been up front with everybody you all wouldn’t be getting the calls now. I’m sorry for the stuff that you all are getting because it should land on me.” Barrett said Winfield council has voted to pursue the annexation, but a map identifying the area was received just Thursday evening. He said he would proSEE OWNERS ON PAGE 5
Candidates in 2014 election share views By Matt Gajtka and Kelly Stadelman The Putnam Standard
Thirteen candidates vying to represent Putnam County residents at the state and county level responded to questions from business leaders in the community. The Putnam County Chamber of Commerce sponsored a candidate forum on Tuesday at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club. All the state and local candidates were invited to attend. Each candidate gave a oneminute opening statement before Moderator Kennie Bass of WCHSTV opened the floor and accepted questions from the audience. Candidates attending the forum included: Family Court: Jeanie Nibert and Richard Witt Putnam County Commission: Steve Andes Putnam County School Board: Craig Spicer and Rob Cunningham State Senate – 8th District: Ed Gaunch House of Delegates – 13th District: Josh McGrath, Josh Martin and Scott Cadle House of Delegates – 14th District: Jim Butler House of Delegates – 15th District: Geoff Foster and Duke Jordan House of Delegates – 22nd District: Michel Moffatt
A good crowd turned out to hear political candidates answer questions Tuesday afternoon at Sleepy Hollow. House of Delegates The first question went to the House of Delegate candidates. Bass asked candidates how they would manage the state’s budget shortfall and how they would fill in the holes. Moffatt, a Republican, led the conversation by condemning the state government for digging into the Rainy Day Fund to cover any budgetary shortfalls. Moffatt said the needed revenue is available if the state can find a way to cut back on certain projects, programs and grants. He also said West Virginia needs to adjust its taxation plan to become “more job-friendly and less lawsuit-friendly,” but he reiterated that it’s “not going to happen overnight.” Foster, a Republican, said that
West Virginia does have a budget problem. He also noted that the state spends more per person than any other state and said that with more jobs the state would be better position. “West Virginia spends $11,444 per person, more than double than other state on each citizen,” he said. “We aren’t getting the jobs in the area we need to move our state forward.” Jordan, a Republican, agreed with Foster. He said that just yesterday he spoke with the Department of Health and Human Resources about their budget and needs. “Why are we sending children out of state to get treatment, why can’t they get treatment them here?” he asked. “Basically we need to look at the whole system.
The money is there, we just need to look at it. Once I get there I’ll take a look and figure it out.” Cadle, a Republican incumbent, said he wanted to do things differently. “We should have never signed into Obamacare,” he said. “We could have put the people who didn’t have health insurance in a pool and gave them insurance.” McGrath, a Democrat, said the basic of budgeting is to make sure you aren’t spending more money than you are bringing in and allocating it properly. He also wants to see the state do more to encourage business development to help with the shortfall. “We need to bring business to our state and market what we have to offer,” he said. Martin, a Democrat, said he spoke from experience. He worked with a state agency on its budget. “We are actually paying more money for the same service,” he said. “If there was accountability for these entities this wouldn’t occur. We have to get new ideas that will work for our economy.” Butler, a Republican incumbent, said that even though the natural gas industry is making its way to the region, the state “can’t give up on coal” for revenue. He said there are proposed bills in the Legislature that allow coal mined in the state to be burned in SEE ELECTION ON PAGE 4
Inside This Week: BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING - PAGE 3 HIGH SCHOOL TRACK - PAGE 6
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