Published: July 03, 2009 09:08 pm      

Thumbs, Saturday, July 3, 2009

Thumbs up ... to the Boy Scouts of America which has announced a purchase and sales agreement with the Meadow Creek Coal Corporation for more than 10,000 acres of land in the Glen Jean-Mount Hope area to locate a National Scouting Center, which will include a new high-adventure base.



Thumbs up ... to Aspen Corp. for its service to the community. The Daniels-based company maintains the landscaping at the Raleigh County Animal Shelter, Beckley gateways, Thornhill Courts and other areas, donating the services of its crews at no charge.



Thumbs up ... to schools and libraries in West Virginia for getting $568,481 to help students and community residents gain Internet access. Nicholas County received $237,473.



Thumbs down ... to West Virginia’s overdose rate. The state Health Statistics Center says more West Virginians died of drug overdoses and other poisoning than in traffic accidents. There were 478 overdoses compared to 431 fatal traffic accidents.



Thumbs up ... to Fayetteville Elementary kindergarten and first grade students that took part in a penny war for Relay for Life. The winning class was kindergarten students for Amy White’s room who collected $268.25. All told, the students collected $1,035.68.



Thumbs up ... to the release of $15.4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration. The city will use the money for BIG, the Beckley Intermodal Gateway project, the key anchor in the revitalization of the downtown area.



Thumbs down ... to a new national study that calls West Virginia the third-fattest state in the country. That decrease isn’t because the Mountain State is slimming down so much as it is that Alabama, the nation’s second-fattest state, has bulked up quicker. The Trust for America’s Health report says 31.1 percent of adults in West Virginia are obese, and almost 68 percent are either obese or overweight.