David Caldwell's weekly roundup
of news affecting Blacklick Valley

Snakes, bats and construction

While Nanty Glo continues to deal with road construction delays, dirt, and rough roads, Jackson Township prepares to deal with its own set of problems. Of course, Jackson shares the delays along Route 271 but the upcoming project to widen and straighten Route 22 from the Ford's Corner Road site to the Indiana County line promises to be a much greater source of problems. At a meeting with Penn Dot officials and engineers from L. Robert Kimball & Associates Thursday evening, interested motorists and concerned Jackson residents aired complaints about the highway design and prices offered for property needed to complete the project. Several were upset that no overpasses are planned so school buses will have to cross the busy four-lane highway. Some especially lamented the lack of an overpass on Chickoree Mountain, where large trucks carrying waste have to access the road. The engineers countered that none of the side roads carried enough traffic to warrant the expense of an overpass. They also felt that school officials would arrange bus routes to avoid crossing the four-lane highway. Penn Dot officials said that property owners dissatisfied with the money offered have the option of getting an independent appraisal and entering an appeal to the state.

Connectiv Energy has learned that rattlesnakes and bats are going to delay their Rager Mountain power plant construction. A state study of the 4000-acre site in Jackson Township found two nests of timber rattlesnakes and has found the area to be a potential habitat for Indiana bats, an endangered species. A spokesman for Connectiv said that the project will go forward on a previously stripped site away from the more pristine areas. Nevertheless, the company will have to redesign an access road to avoid the rattlesnake nests.

West Nile virus

In an August 8 article, the Tribune Democrat gave notice of the spread of the West Nile Virus. At that time, Centre County was the closest of 11 counties in Pennsylvania were dead birds infected with the virus were found. Now, in less than three weeks, the virus has spread to nearly 20 counties and the closest finding to us was in New Florence, Westmoreland County. Although the mosquito-spread virus is rarely fatal, the fear of it has put a damper on evening outings. Perhaps the dry summer, meaning fewer breeding areas for mosquitoes, has been a blessing. That too has ended as of Thursday and Friday evenings, when nearly an inch of rain fell.

Roadside flares

An Alexander County, Missouri, deputy pulled a car over on I-57 about two miles north of the Missouri-Arkansas state line. When the Deputy asked the driver why he was speeding, the driver answered that he was a magician and a juggler and he was on his way to Branson to do a show that evening and didn't want to be late. The deputy told the driver he was fascinated by juggling, and if the driver would do a little juggling for him he wouldn't give him a ticket. The driver told the deputy that he had sent all of his equipment on ahead and didn't have anything to juggle. The deputy told him that he had some flares in the trunk of his squad car and asked if he could juggle them. The juggler said he could. So the deputy got three flares, lit them, and handed them to the juggler. While the man was doing his juggling act, a car pulled in behind the squad car, a drunk got out and watched the performance briefly, then went over to the squad car, opened the rear door and got in. The deputy observed him doing this and went over to his squad car, opened the door, and asked the drunk what he thought he was doing. The drunk replied, "Might as well take my butt on to jail; there's no way I can pass that test." .

—Sent by Mike Harrison

Thought for the day

If you want to light a fire, you are troubled at first by smoke, and your eyes water. But in the end you achieve your aim. Now it is written, "Our God is a consuming fire." So we must light the divine fire in us with tears ans struggle.

— Amma Syncletica, Sayings of the Desert Fathers

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