Kate Evans

Teachers in a dozen West Virginia counties stayed away from work last Wednesday during a one-day teacher strike for bigger pay raises.

Berkeley and Jefferson county teachers participated in the strike. Teachers in Morgan County voted not to join in the walkout and reported to work as usual on Wednesday, March 7.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a massive pet food recall in North America on March 17 due to some cases of kidney failure. The pet products were sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Menu Foods, Inc., a private-label pet food manufacturer in Ontario, Canada, is recalling all of its "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food that was produced at its Emporia, Kansas facility between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. The recall includes specific canned and small foil pouch wet pet foods.

St. Charles Catholic Church in Paw Paw was sold last October to Paw Paw Mayor Julie Kidwell. Kidwell wanted to preserve the historic landmark. She plans to turn the church building into a small wedding chapel and a photo and crafts gallery.

The church has stood vacant since its last service on Father's Day in June, 1995. According to the book "Morgan County and Its People," St. Charles Catholic Church was dedicated in August, 1877 by Reverend Charles VanQuckelberge, said Kidwell. Reverend Joseph Frieli attended the church in 1876 before its dedication, she said.

Around 10 local building contractors asked the Morgan County Commissioners to establish a building inspection process in Morgan County. The request was made at a recent County Commission meeting.

Contractors had talked amongst themselves and informally as a group about the need to have building codes enforced, said Mike McKechnie of Mountain View Builders.

Additional peanut butter products have been recalled due to possible Salmonella contamination, according to an updated Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report.

The latest recall includes products that contain various peanut butter toppings made at a ConAgra plant in Humboldt, Tennessee. FDA officials learned that the Tennessee plant received bulk shipments of Peter Pan peanut butter from the Salmonella-contaminated ConAgra plant in Sylvester, Georgia.

Coal River Mountain Watch activists Judy Bonds and Patty Sebok spoke on mountaintop removal coal mining and the effects of modern coal practices at an area home last Saturday.

They talked with The Morgan Messenger before their Power Point presentation and appealed for people to get involved.

Former Morgan County Commissioner Marjorie Ours was the first woman to be elected County Commissioner.

Ours was originally appointed as County Commissioner in February, 1980 to finish the unexpired term of County Commissioner William Clark (not the current county administrator). She ran for the seat in the regular election on November 10, 1980 and won.

At their Thursday, February 22 meeting, the Morgan County Commission scheduled a public hearing on a possible noise/nuisance ordinance for Friday, March 23 at 2 p.m.

The County Commissioners reviewed two noise/nuisance ordinances from neighboring counties and discussed how to address the issue. They decided to ask the public to evaluate the two ordinances to see whether they could be adapted for use in our county.

The land purchase for the future Morgan County War Memorial Hospital is now complete. The property closing took place on Monday, February 26. Morgan County War Memorial Hospital is a county-owned facility.

The Morgan County Commission purchased the Edmonds/Christaldi land on Fairview Drive at a total cost of $1,458,600. Since the County Commission can't technically own land, the deed will be transferred to the Morgan County Building Commission within 30 days, said hospital administrator John Borg.

The County Commissioners will look at noise and nuisance laws in neighboring counties and talk amongst themselves about whether to move forward on drafting such an ordinance. They will not be open to public discussion on the issue at this time. A public hearing would be held before any such ordinance would be approved.

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