Published: July 22, 2008 05:11 pm            

Hope Foundation gets high honor

The Governor's Service Awards honor outstanding individuals and groups involved in solving social issues through volunteer service. The Jonathan Powell Hope Foundation, comprised entirely of volunteers, “helps make life a little less stressful for the families of children battling cancer by helping with expenses incurred while transporting children to and from treatment.

Since its inception, the foundation has raised more than $400,000 and has provided food cards, gas cards, and gift cards to hundreds of families in West Virginia.”

Tim and Melissa Powell received the award for the foundation on July 8 at the Civic Center in Charleston from Gov. Joe Manchin. Melissa has also turned her compassion for caring for people in another direction. She is now with Hospice of the Virginias.

The Wade Center in Bluefield also received a nomination for an award.

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Mercer County Delegates Marshall Long and Thomas “Mike” Porter introduced a bill in the legislative session last January to remove fuel taxes from home heating oil. HB 3043 was co-sponsored by delegates Long, Porter, Mahan, Williams, Shaver, Tabb and Schadler.

The purpose of the bill was to specifically exempt heating oil used for residential purposes from the Motor Fuel Excise Tax. The State Tax Department argued that the passage of the bill would result in a loss to the State Road Fund of up to $5 million per year and that all sales of special fuel used for heating any public or private dwelling are allowed a refundable exemption from the flat rate component of the Motor Fuel Tax code.

They further argued that the bill was very broad in scope since it did not define “private dwelling” making it unclear whether fuel used to heat a commercial apartment dwelling would be exempt.

The Tax Department estimated that the additional administrative costs to the Tax Department would be $40,800 during the current fiscal year to notify taxpayers of the additional exemption, additional personnel and a $5 million loss in revenue had the bill passed.

How many people could the department hire for $40,800 minus paper, postage and printing costs?

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U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall has made some comments on the legislation he supported to extend and enhance the programs of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), including a new program — the “Economic and Energy Development Initiative.

According to Rahall the passage would “boost development of an environmentally advanced coal-to-liquids (CTL) industry in West Virginia and throughout the region.” Rahall pointed out in his address to Congress that weeks has been spent hearing about the need to increase domestic energy supplies by becoming even more beholden to big oil and that we have an opportunity to provide a better solution.

Rahall stated that “a study by Princeton University found that by combining 30 percent biomass with coal in the conversion process and capturing and sequestering the carbon dioxide, CTL fuel can be made cleaner than other conventional liquid fuels in use today.”

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Marty Gearhart, Republican candidate for the U.S. Congress, also has some comments concerning Rahall's position on domestic energy. Gearhart states that “rather than deal with his (Rahall's) anti-energy voting record and the current need for additional production he (Rahall) has tried to divert attention to oil leases that are currently not producing. In other words, he (Rahall) wants you to forget about his record and rhetoric and focus on something unrelated to the issue at hand. In my opinion, opposing additional drilling and energy production in ANWAR (Artic National Wildlife Refuge) and the OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) makes our country weaker both on a security and economic front.”

Gearhart also mentioned that the Mercer County Republican Executive Committee will discuss and hopefully make a decision on a candidate for County Clerk at the regular meeting this Thursday.

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Beth Walker, Supreme Court Candidate, will be in Mercer County today. She will be at the News and Brew Coffee Shop in downtown Bluefield between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and at Sisters Coffee Shop in Princeton between 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. A reception for Walker is also planned at the Sugar Shack in Princeton starting at 6 p.m.

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There you have it, a few words on items of interest to the area. I hope you have blue skies above you today. And one more thing …

I will always miss my little pal Jonathan and be watching for a little pink in the blue skies this evening.

Wilson Butt, a Bluefield resident, is a retired Department of Highways official.

        

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