Published: November 20, 2009 09:59 pm      

Thumbs

Thumbs up ... to Carl Harris of Fayette County, honored as Outstanding Democrat of the Year. Harris was lauded at the recent Jefferson-Jackson Celebration in Charleston by Gov. Joe Manchin, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Congressmen Nick Rahall and Alan Mollohan and others.



Thumbs down ... to whoever is responsible for a spate of vandalism in southern West Virginia. Some 20 acts of vandalism have occurred since Oct. 6 that left nearly 5,000 customers without electricity. Trees have been cut onto power lines, wires have been cut and meters stolen. Replacing a transformer in Dingess that was shot cost the power utility nearly $1 million.



Thumbs up ... to Raleigh General Hospital for its hospital-wide initiative to go green as part of America Recycles Day. RGH has provided 53 stations for its patients, visitors and employees to recycle.



Thumbs down ... to whoever was responsible for taking religious statues from a church chapel. The two statues, Mary Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, were taken from the always-open St. Colman Catholic Chapel on Irish Mountain.



Thumbs up ... to the anonymous donor who replaced two statues stolen from St. Colman Chapel. The new statues of Mary Blessed Mother and St. Joseph were quietly left within the chapel.



Thumbs up ... to Sen. Robert C. Byrd, honored at the state Capitol in Charleston for a one-of-a-kind achievement. Byrd has broken the record to become the longest-serving member of Congress. He already is the senator with the most tenure.



Thumbs up ... to everyone who participated in The Register-Herald’s recent Newspapers in Education book sale. The event raised more than $10,000 and placed some 20,000 books in the hands of readers. All of that money will be used to put more than 40,000 newspapers into the classrooms in southern West Virginia.



Thumbs up ... to Kirk, Pam and Shae West, owners of a 114-acre Greenbrier County farm. The farm was chosen as this year’s West Virginia Conservation Farm of the Year. West Farm is a grassland/sheep production farm that also raises fresh cut and dried flowers, mushrooms, berries and vegetables.