Small Things

31Mar09

This morning’s air was full of the barely visible.  Clouds of infinitesimal gnats hovered above the lawn.  Puzzling threads of rainbow drifted past, shimmering in the early sun.  At last I saw the tiny spiders hanging at the end of each one.

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The Vision Thing

29Mar09

This is my response to a post on New Geography to “Take the funding decisions out of the hands of elected officials and policy makers, and place it unfettered in the hands of a blue-ribbon panel of experts from a broad range of disciplines.”
The transcontinental railroad did not come from a presidential vision or from [...]

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Mountaintop Removal – A Major Step Forward

24Mar09

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued letters to the Army Corps of Engineers recommending denial of permits for two mountaintop removal mines in Pike County, Kentucky and Logan County, West Virginia and calling for further mitigation plans and environmental review.  The letter for the West Virginia application emphasizes that the EPA has “the authority to [...]

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Juncos

20Mar09

Today was cool, but bright and sunny.  The yard was full of juncos, the first we’ve seen. In my childhood they were winter birds at the feeder with the titmice and chickadees.  The first daffodils are blooming, down over the hill in the far corner of the yard.  I think I spotted the groundhog, and [...]

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Almost Heaven (7)

20Mar09

Pleasants County, West Virginia, was recently ranked as the 6th best county to raise a family in the Southeast by the Progressive Farmer.

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Almost Heaven (6)

17Mar09

While discussing public records and identity theft with a friend, I discovered that West Virginia has one of the lowest identity theft rates in the country.  In 2006, the top five states were:

Rank

State

Victims/100,000
Population

Total Victims

1
Arizona
1427.8
9,113

2
Nevada
120.0
2,994

3
California
113.5
41,396

4
Texas
110.6
26,006

5
Florida
98.3
17,780

The bottom five were:

46
West Virginia
30.3
715

47
Iowa
34.9
1,041

48
South Dakota
30.2
236

49
North Dakota
29.7
189

50
Vermont
28.5
178

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Mountaintop Removal

16Mar09

The New York Times today has an editorial calling on President Obama to suspend mountaintop removal until the regulations are revised to end it.
It points out that the coal companies (and Senator Bobby Byrd) insist that “there is no other cost-effective way to dispose of the waste.”
That depends on your definition of “cost-effective.”  I am [...]

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Almost Heaven (5)

15Mar09

West Virginia is second only to Texas in the number of active oil and gas wells in the country.

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Almost Heaven (4)

12Mar09

Housing costs in West Virginia are among the lowest in the country.  Since at least 1980, a higher proportion of people in West Virginia have owned their own homes than in any other state.  Three-quarters of West Virginia families own their home, compared to only two-thirds nationwide.

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Almost Heaven

06Mar09

The third in a series of posts of good things about West Virginia.
Unemployment in West Virginia remains among the lowest in the nation.  In December, we were tied for 8th place.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and selected area, seasonally adjusted

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