The Traveler for Sept. 11, 2019   Sept. 7, 2019: My brother, the former area "Shadow," often took long summer vacations. Mine was longer than usual, so I'll try to catch all of you up on some news notes that my trusty steed "Calypso" and I have come across in recent weeks. I must admit that although I've been riding my horse across all of western Virginia these past four and one-half decades, I've never heard of anybody being banned from a city hall or town hall. Perhaps it has happened before, but when the August 29th notice was recently sent to a Clifton Forge citizen, it did not surprise me. Among other items, citizen John Moser in one recent appearance before the town council accused a city official of, in effect, being a drunk without providing any evidence of it. On numerous other occasions, he's slammed other town personnel for various actions of which he didn't approve. That said, barring anybody from a town government building and thus, town council meetings, is a pretty serious matter. It has freedom implications for all of us, indeed, and only should be done as a last resort. Perhaps it was Mr. Moser's fleeting reference to the city of Dayton, Ohio that concerned some town officials. Dayton being the scene of a recent mass shooting, Mr. Moser's words might have caused more than a bit of alarm. I'd be surprised if he didn't attempt some kind of legal action with reference to first amendment rights with respect to this "ban." * * * * * The Covington Parks and Recreation Department will be bringing back country music singer Tim Elliott and his band for a unique event set for October 19th called "Mountain Magic Fall In Our Town" which will begin at 3:30 at the Jackson River Sports Complex. There will be a pumpkin carving contest (please carve yours at home!) and a "chili cookoff" (bring your crockpot with your best effort). If you want to register for the pumpkin carving contest, call 540-965-6360. Me? I just want to hear Tim Elliott again, who always provides his audience with a top quality performance. * * * * * Covington resident Kathy Downey is one determined person. She's had enough of mosquitoes allegedly coming from some nearby CSX property and despite her efforts, has yet to get the situation under control. Kathy came to the Covington City Council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3 and showed that group some items she's recently purchased to spray near her property to put a stop to the problem. She added that the "fix" was expensive and she'd hoped for some city action to assist her. Alas, the city has no right to trespass on CSX property, but did recently ask a health department official to examine the situation. Perhaps a solution may come about if some drain lines nearby were not in such bad repair. Kathy's grandkids were getting eaten alive this summer from the pesky insects. I predict she'll get a solution to this situation, one way or the other. * * * * * The Covington City Council also got an update on its police department's progress on accreditation. It also learned that once state accreditation was achieved - which appears to be coming soon - the department will move forward to achieve a nationally recongized standard. Although all of this might seem simple, apparently there are hundreds of details involved from how evidence is managed to how a department keeps its various records as well as a slew of "industry standard" procedures are enacted and maintained. Interim police chief Chris Smith and his team seem dedicated to getting this job done. All this is going on at the same time that the department soon will be installing a new CAD system. * * * * * I can't wait to see the state police report about the accident on Rte. 220 involving a log truck which overturned on a bridge near Eagle Rock. That driver was charged with reckless driving after it was obvious that while making a turn on the bridge his momentum caused his cab to overturn and a huge load of logs spilled across both lanes. It's easy to get going too fast on Rte. 220 coming down the hill from Roanoke for sure. That's NOT where I've always thought me and Calypso would get scrunched by a log truck accident however. No, that place is on Alleghany Ave. close to WestRock where a turn is combined with a big dip in the roadway and literally hundreds of trucks bring monster loads of either chips or huge logs travel every month. City Councilman Raymond Hunter repeatedly asks what progress has been made on the paving of Alleghany Ave. and each time he does so, he's informed that "the issue is on somebody's desk in Richmond." The two issues may, in fact, be separate. But will a log truck get going too fast on Alleghany Ave. one of these days and overturn? It is only a matter of time, believe me. It just so happened that nobody got hurt in the recent Rte. 220 crash and perhaps that same amount of luck will be present in the future on Alleghany Ave. I hope so. * * * * * And speaking of road concerns, Fred Holley recounted to the Alleghany County Board of Supervisors a recent experience he had trying to negotiate the bridge over I-64 at the Low Moor exit. He apparently spent about 16 minutes at the scene, something which he suggested was probably longer than at any place in Virginia. Fred: perhaps the best way to deal with this subject would be to "sentence" a VDOT traffic engineer to make ten peak time attempts to deal with that which you just reported. I predict that this fellow/gal would soon thereafter "find" a reasonable solution! * * * * * Judy, I think I'll limit it to 15 pieces...not done yet...

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