David Abner

At their Monday, April 2 meeting, Mayor Susan Webster read the Bath Town Council a letter that she received from State Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox replying to her letter requesting that the resurfacing of Wilkes Street remain on the state's schedule.

Mattox wrote that the Wilkes Street project was scheduled to start July 2007 and continue through the end of the year. This is the project to resurface the portion of Wilkes Street from Fairfax Street to Rt. 9 West.

The Morgan County Commissioners unanimously passed a noise nuisance ordinance at their Friday, April 6 meeting. The ordinance takes effect on May 1.

Before the vote, Commission President Glen Stotler suggested several minor changes to the proposed county law, and asked Commissioners Tommy Swaim and Brenda Hutchinson for their comments.

An old scam perpetrated by con artists — commonly known as "Blacktop Gypsies" — has hit the area once again.

Both the West Virginia State Police and Morgan County Sheriff's Department report that they have fielded several complaints recently.

A Rhode Island man was arrested on Friday for assaulting a local man with cerebral palsy. But that was just the end of a complex story.

David K. Junkins, 36, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, was arraigned in Magistrate Court on March 23 on misdemeanor charges of battery and destruction of property.

A plan to ease downtown parking problems for customers of local businesses and generate more revenue for the town was submitted to Bath Town Council at their March 19 meeting.

The proposal was authored by Parking Enforcement Officer Gene Kilduff and presented to council by Police Chief James Minton.

An ordinance amending the current town snow removal law was passed unanimously by Bath Town Council at the March 19 meeting.

Ordinance 2007-02 amends the town code by adding set fees for violations.

Town of Bath police chief James Minton said the town's new K-9 team had a busy, successful first week. The team consists of Corporal Craig Pearrell and Butch, the German Shepherd K-9 dog.

"Officer Butch" officially joined the police department in a ceremony on March 6 when Mayor Susan Webster presented him with a badge that is worn on the dog's collar.

The Town of Bath Police Department has a new addition, a German Shepherd named Butch, a work dog imported directly from Germany.

Butch and his handler, Corporal Craig Pearrell, have been training during the past month at Battle Ridge K-9 and Kennel Services in Madison. Together they compose the new K-9 Unit of the Bath Police Department.

The Bath Town Council voted unanimously to reject a proposed ordinance to abandon a portion of Liberty Street at their Monday, March 5 meeting.

Town Clerk Margie Allgyer reported that she had received a telephone call from Attorney Bill Harmison before the meeting. Harmison told her that St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church would only be interested in the land if the council passed the ordinance as originally written.

Living in a rural area has many advantages and some disadvantages, compared to living in a metropolitan area. We all know and love the clean air, beautiful scenery, light traffic and low crime rate in Morgan County.

Disadvantages are that some services, which are second nature in urban areas, are not available. One service so far denied to many Morgan County residents is affordable High Speed Internet.