P, age 2 CLINCH VALLEY TIMES, St. Paul, VA, Thursday, May 3, 2007
;hoes and ships and sealing WaX by Young Gregory
Almost two years
If bureaucracies didn't get bogged down, if
priorities were properly set and then addressed, if
greed weren't at the heart of some of those who are
occasionally in charge, then we wouldn't still be
talking about any of this. However, bureaucracies DO
get bogged down, priorities aren't always properly
assigned and addressed, and greed does run rampant,
so we are still discussing Hurricane Katrina, which hit
the Gulf coast on August 29, 2005, and we're still
tryfi' ng to figure out just exactly what went wrong.
Obviously, Katrina, the third-strongest hurricane
on record to make landfall in the United States, is
what happened. Also classified as the sixth strongest
Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, Katrina brought
about such catastrophic destruction that at the request
of the United States, the name has been retired so no
other hurricane will ever again be called "Katrina."
Over 1,800 people lost their lives during the hurricane
and in subsequent flooding and related disasters. Only
the Okeechobee Hurricane in 1928 was responsible
for more deaths. With damages originally estimated at
$81.2 billion, Katrina was also the costliest natural
disaster in U.S. history.
While most of us, complacent in our ignorance,
assumed that the appropriate structure was in place to
help with the evacuation of New Orleans, eighty
percent of which was under water, and take care of its
people who had nowhere else to go, as well as provide
help to all of the other affected areas While we tend
to think of New Orleans as Katrina's primary victim,
the devastating storm caused severe and catastrophic
dmnage along the entire Gulf coast, including Florida,
Mississippi and Alabama as well as Louisiana. The
storm actually made landfall in southern Florida on
August 25, went back out over the Gulf of Mexico,
strengthened, and headed for the Gulf coast.
But it's what happened afterwards that has kept
our attention for the year and eight months since the
hurricane wreaked its havoc on the United States and
on our sensibilities. Federal agencies which would
normally have leaped into action said they were
available to support agencies of the local and state
governments. New Orleans authorities, however, were
understandably in the midst of chaos as many
policemen had quit their posts, and there were no
police headquarters in many areas of the city. To add
to the chaos, there was no electricity, communications
systems were non-functioning; and there were few
vehicles which worked. Many employees of the eity
were dead or missing.
The state, however, sent in 3,500 members of the
Louisiana National Guard, and announced that it,
would house evacuees in the Superdome, although it,
too, had been badly damaged. Over 7,000 National
Guard members from the four affected states were
reported to be on duty the day after the hurricane hit.
Supplies arrived'at the Superdorne on September
1--and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management
Agency) director Michael Brown, who later resigned,
said he had not been aware that the thousands of
displaced persons in the New Orleans Convention
Center had been without food and water for three to
four days. More food, water and supplies arrived on
September 2, four days after the storm made landfall.
And the story goes on--gets worse, even. A
number of hospital patients, trapped in their beds
without food, water, electricity or personnel to
provide assistance, were later found dead. The
Department of Homeland Security, of which FEMA is
an agency, issued a report five days after the disaster
saying that 11,500 lives had been saved, 25,000
citizens evacuated, and so on. News reports indicate
that U.S. taxpayers have already spent $125 million
during the aftermath of Katrina, but I believe that
some areas of New Orleans still have no electricity,
and some streets are still piled with the rubbish left by
the storm. What do you suppose happened to all that
money?
Changing gears just a bit, consider another
premise: we in the United States know that whenever
disasters--earthquakes, tsunamis, catastrophic storms-
-hit other countries, the U.S. is almost always first in
line with money, food, clothing, volunteers and other
needed goods. We don't--at least I don't--tend to
think of the same kind of response being offered to us
when WE have a disaster. Nevertheless, and I don't
remember reading or hearing a word about this
anyplace at the time, the outpouring of help from
around the globe was astonishing. Countries
acknowledged by the State Department as offering aid
of many kinds include a list: of 70-plus countries
from Afghanistan to Venezuela, plus agencies like the
International-Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies, NATO, The International Energy
Agency, The United Nations, Organization of
American States and the World Health Organization!
Offers included money, manpower, ships, planes,
helicopters, water storage tanks, water purification
tablets, high-energy biscuits, generators, tents, oil and
many other supplies which were needed.
According to several news stories which were
released over the weekend just past, a total of $854
million just in cash and oil was offered by the various
countries, to be delivered, evidently, when they were
told we were ready. At this point, only $40 million
has been used. Some aid has been redirected to
agencies such as the Red Cross; some offers, having
gone unclaimed, have been withdrawn; and some
items, such as cellphone systems and medicines, went
unused because the government (federal, local and/or
state) was unable to allocate them appropriately.
Some contributions were spoiled, and therefore
wasted. Criminal! The organizational skills of the
U.S. government are evidently non-existent.
There was a note--a comment in a page of blogs--
on the Internet the other day about this very subject. I
can't quote him--I don't remember word-for-word
what the young man wi, ote, but he was certainly
perceptive. The bottom line of his reasoning was tO.
question how in the world we can spend billions andr
billions to wage a war in a place that doesn't want us
and where our best and brightest are being killed, yet
although we spend money, we still can't manage to
take care of our own people in our own country when
they are in desperate need of help--even now, almost
two years after Katrina.
Don't you agree that he has a point!
Letters to the editor
Readers are invited to write
letters on matters of general
interest to the public. Letters do
not necessarily reflect the
philosophy or editorial policy of
this newspaper, which reserves
the right to edit letters. The
Clinch Valley Times will not
print unsigned letters.
To the Editor:.
Recently I had the privilege
of chaperoning three senior St.
Paul Team Estonoa students to
Radford University for a sym-
posium on wetlands.
Haley Kiser, Virginia Burton
and Candace Castle represented
their school with an impressive
power point presentation and
display board. Each presentation
was full of striking pictures of
the wetlands, projects complet-
ed, awards earned and goals
accomplished.
Radford University construc-
ted a similar wetlands project
and is most impressed with
Estonoa's student involvement.
As a parent, I was blown away
by the poise, expertise and
passion exemplified in these stu-
dents. Not only was the pre-
sentation educational but inspi-
rational.
Kudos to Mrs. Vencil! Her
dedication to the school's wet-
lands and students is a rousing
tribute to excellence in St. Paul
High School.
Amanda Castle
Castlewood
May 15 -deadline to pay real
estate taxes
: May 15 is the deadline to pay
the first half of 2007 Real Estate
for Wise County.
Taxes can be paid on or
before May 15 at the following
banks: All Miners Exchange
Banks, First Community Bank in
Pound, Powell Valley National
Bank in Wise and Big Stone
Gap, and New Peoples Bank in
Pound, Esserville and Big Stone
Gap. You may also mail your
payment to the Wise County
Treasurer, PO Box 1308, Wise,
VA 24293.
For your convenience you
can pay your taxes by credit card
via touch tone phone from your
home using the toll free number
1-888-272-9829. Information is
entered and a verbal receipt
number given. Another option is
payment online. By logging onto
officialpayments.com you can
pay by via interact access. By
usmg either method you must
enter the jurisdiction code 1009
and the requested information
from the tax bill. A convenience
fee will be charged.
If you have a question on the
taxed item, please call the
Commissioner of Revenue's
Office at 328-3556.
Penalty will be added to
taxes that have not been paid by
May 15. The penalty is 10% of
the original tax or $2.00,
whichever is greater. However,
the penalty shall in no case
exceed the amount of the
original tax. An additional 8%
interest per year will be added
beginning June 1, 2007.
For more information, call
the Treasurer's Office at (276)
328-3666, Monday-Friday, 8:30
am to 5:00 pm.
Stop for Pedestrians
in the Library Crosswalk--
It's the law*.
6,
2~: i<~'
Capitol
Commentary
URGING STROKE AWAi(ENESS
May is Stroke Awareness Month
Stroke is the third leading should occur. Stroke is a type of, i:-i,
cause of death in the United cardiovascular disease. It affects,-
States, and a leading cause of the arteries leading to and within.
serious, long-term disability in the brain. A stroke occurs when:5
our nation. Every forty-five
seconds, someone in America
has a stroke, and every three
minutes, someone dies from one.
This year an estimated 700,000
people have a new or recurrent
stroke, and approximately 60%
of those victims will be women.
Despite these striking stat-
istics, many stroke victims are
unaware that they have suffered
a stroke, and many Americans
are unaware of a stroke's sym-
ptoms, causes and effects.
To help raise stroke aware-
ness and to combat this dev-
astating disease, the U.S. House
of Representatives recently
passed the Stroke Treatment and
On-Going Prevention (STOP)
Act, legislation which I co-
authored. This legislation raises
public awareness by authorizing
funding for a national public
information campaign to educate
the public about stroke,
including how to prevent it,
recognize the warning signs, and
seek emergency treatment as
soon as symptoms occur.
To help states fight stroke the
bill establishes a grant program
to ensure that stroke patients
have access to quality care, and
also provides opportunities to
train appropriate medical
personnel in newly developed
approaches for preventing and
treating stroke.
While this legislation takes
several important steps in
limiting stroke, it is essential to
educate yourself about stroke
and to know what to do if one
a blood vessel that carries,:
oxygen and nutrients to the brai )
is either blocked by a clot or
bursts. When that happens, part:2,
of the brain cannot get the bloocl
(and
oxygen) it needs, so it starts ,)
to die.
When part of the brain starts
to die from lack of blood flow, .
the part of the body it controls is/
affected. Strokes can cause para
lysis, affect language and vision,
and cause other problems.
Treatments are available to
minimize the potentially
devastating effects of stroke, but?
to receive them, one must
recognize the warning signs, and
act quickly.
The most common warning
signs of stroke are:
Sudden numbness
weakness of the face, arm,=
or leg, especially on
side of the body
Sudden confusion, trou-
ble speaking or undeF- -"
standing
Sudden trouble seeing
one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking,
dizziness, loss of balanczf
or coordination =z
Sudden severe headaclm
with no cause
With its devastating an&.
long-term effects, stroke, is
condition that must not
ignored. Please take the time this.
month to become more educategt
about stroke and ways to preve
it. To learn more about stroke;,
please visit.
www.strokeassociation.or .
Wise County Sheriffs Report
The Wise County Sheriff's
Office reports the following
activities for the period of
04/23/2007 through 04/29/2007.
Wise Central Dispatch received a
total of 1,517 calls for this seven-
day period. Of the total calls
received 495 were dispatched to
the Sheriff's Office. Total num-
of Court Room Security for the
three courts.
The Sheriff's Office tran~-
sported 2 adults in state, 2 adults
out of state, 7 mental patient ,
and 8 juveniles for a total of 19
transports, involving 81.5 man
hours.
The Sheriff's Office unlocked
ber-of Domestic calls for this 6 vehicles and .escorted
period was 22. Criminal Proce funerals duriiag this seven'd y
for the same .period served. 35 Pefi0d. . i : I--r~ ~" " m r ~
Felony Warranis, 73 Misdemean
or Warrants. issued 37 Traffic
Summons and worked 4 Traffic
Accidents. Civil process for this
period served 580 Civil Papers.
During this seven-day period 24
additional Criminal Investiga-
tions were initiated and 85 were
cleared by arrest. The Sheriff's
Office provided 275 man-hours
JR MISS CHS 2007 Ariel Tompa was crowned at the Jr Miss CHS Pageant on
Friday, April 27 at 7:00 pm in the Castlewood High School Auditorium. The
winners are, left to right, Kristin Johnson (Jr Miss Sponsor), Kesha Crabtree
2nd
(4th runner up), Suzanne Fields ( runner up), And Tompa (Jr. Miss CHS
2007), Cherita Peterson (Jr. Miss CHS 2006), Courtney Clifton (1st runner up, Jr
Miss Photogenic), Leslie Collins (3rd runner up, Jr Miss Director's Award, Jr
Miss m Sarah Hileman (Jr Miss People's Choice).
SPHS STATE FBLA PARTICIPANTS This picture includes all SPHS
students who were participants at the FBLA State Leadership Conference in
Reston on March 31. The picture published last week did not include all
students. These students participated in competitive events, campaigned for AJ's
bid for state president, and served as ushers at the general session. Left to right,
front row Justin Kennedy, Lindsey Dickenson, AJ Delauder, Dezarae Ritchie,
back row, Chris Porter, Ethan Fields, Drew Mullins, Amy Hoibrook and Dale
Merlette.
Junior 4-H
Camp
A week of fun and adventure
awaits 4-H'ers at the 2007
nior 4-I-1 Camp at the Southwest
, Virginia 4-H Education Center
AbingdOn.
This year's camp for Wi :
and Buchanan counties will be
held June 11-15. The vamp i$
for all 4-H members, ages 9-1
inclusive. Cost for the camp is
$110 per person, and the
registration deadline is May 25.
For more information, or to
request a 4-H camp application,
call Lucy Robinson, 4-H Pror
gram Assistant, at the Wise
County Extension Office, 276,
328-6194. i
.| VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION
Published weekly in St. Panl
VA 24283, by the CLINCI-[
VALLEY PUBLISHING.
CO INC.
The Clinch Valley Times
serves the four-county area of
Wise, Russell, Dickenson and
Scott, with offices and plant;
located in the CLINCH
VALLEY TIMES building;
16541 Russell Street.
dicals postage is paid at
Post Office in St. Paul, V A
24283.
Ann Young Gregory Edito
Allen Gregory Advertising
Susan Trent Adv./Graphics-
Michael Robinson r xluction
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS:
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POSTMASTER: send address
changes to: Clinch Valley Times,
P.O. Box 817, St. Paul, VA
24283
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