Kate Evans

A group of Morgan County residents have petitioned the County Commission to allow citizens to vote on the plans to build a $12.7 million County Courthouse complex.

The residents felt that the building was far beyond anything that the county could afford. They suggested other options such as using space at War Memorial Hospital for county offices once the new hospital was built. That might not be until two or three years from now, noted County Commissioner Glen Stotler.

The Morgan County Commission took no action on their plans to redistrict the county magisterial districts. The redistricting issue was on the agenda for discussion and action at their Friday, May 4 meeting.

Commissioner Glen Stotler said that they needed to look at the polls, census maps and block maps before making any decision. They couldn't split a block or have more than 10% deviation between the smallest and largest district, he said.

A Town of Bath delegation asked the Morgan County Commission to revisit the possibility of combined county and municipal facilities in the future Morgan County Courthouse complex.

Town of Bath Mayor Susan Webster, Town Councilman and Finance Committee chairperson David Crosby, Town Councilwoman Nancy Harvey and Town Recorder and Finance Committee member Garnet Marsh were there to present the town's case for combined facilities.

Community Alternatives To Violence of the Common Purpose of the Panhandle maintains that programs for batterers are a critical part of the solution to ending domestic violence. Women are the most common victims of domestic violence. The majority of batterers are men. Domestic violence is a crime.

Community Alternatives To Violence provides licensed intervention programs for area men and women who are batterers. The agency's vision is a violence-free community. Their mission is "to provide healthy alternatives to violent behavior by educating the community about family violence." The program's primary goal is victim safety, said executive director Carolyn Zdziera.

The Morgan County Commission will address plans to redistrict the county magisterial districts. The issue is on the agenda for discussion and action at their Friday, May 4 meeting.

The redistricting question arose when County Commissioner Tommy Swaim unknowingly moved out of Magisterial District 3, which he represents, and into Magisterial District 2 when he built a new home a few miles south of where he had previously lived. Swaim's new home is around 200 yards from his original district, he said.

The Jessee family from Great Cacapon lost their home in a pre-Christmas fire. Christy Terp, a friend of the Jessee

family, has started an online petition for the family to be considered by the Extreme Makeover TV show for a

The Morgan County Commission proclaimed the fourth Friday of April as Children's Memorial Flag Day. The memorial flag will be flown each year "in remembrance of those young lives lost in senseless acts of violence," according to their proclamation.

Members of a community partnership presented the County Commission with a Children's Memorial Flag. Starting Points director Audrey Morris gave the Commissioners and others pinwheels from the West Virginia Children's Trust Fund and their Prevent Child Abuse campaign to remind people of ways that they could help ensure that children in our community grow up healthy, safe and loved.

The former Paw Paw homestead of Irvin and Zora Bailey was scheduled for demolition last fall. The home was located on the former Hollow Road, now called Orchard Lane, about three miles outside of Paw Paw. The family hadn't owned it for years and it was in a state of disrepair, said their daughter Anita Bailey Courtney.

Courtney asked the home's new owner Carl Hill if she and her family could say goodbye to her parents' home. She got a few pieces of wood and a door knob and piece of wallpaper from the room in which she was born as keepsakes.

At their April 17 meeting, the Morgan County Commission approved the new tax rates for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

Class 1 properties will be taxed at the rate of 13.68 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The Morgan County Commission is waiting for final word from Governor Joe Manchin as to whether state funds are available for rebuilding the Morgan County Courthouse. The courthouse was destroyed in an August 8 fire.

The County Commissioners hope to set up a meeting with the Governor within the next seven to 10 days, said Morgan County Commission President Glen Stotler at their April 20 meeting.