APCO's business practices NEED TO BE AUDITED and looked into in detail in the fairness of protecting the public from this giant that is clearly taking advantage of its customers.

Share your story with the SCC here: 
http://scc.virginia.gov/case/PublicComments.aspx

I submitted the below case comments online Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 11:25:31 PM

Case Number: PUE-2009-00030

Comments:
I pray that these rate increases are DENIED - it is highway robbery when my electric bill increases in the gross amount that it has.

I own a 1400 square foot 3BR ranch home.

Here are the exact figures of my bills from APCO:
November Bill $167.63
December Bill $232.40
January Bill LITERALLY $532.04
- - - Almost exactly a $300 INCREASE! - - -
This is a Lot more than a 12.5% increase (and January weather was Not any colder than December weather).
February Bill: $478.99

So aside from the 12.5% increase across the board, I believe that APCO's business practices NEED TO BE AUDITED and looked into in detail in the fairness of protecting the public from this giant that is clearly taking advantage of its customers.

Please Help!


We only have until MARCH 3rd to publicly speak out to the SCC about the injustices with APCO overcharging us!  Please make your comments to the SCC...maybe they really will help us!

http://scc.virginia.gov/case/PublicComments.aspx

PUE-2009-00030 - Application of Appalachian Power Company for a statutory review of the rates, terms and conditions for the provision of generation, distribution and transmission services
Order for Notice and Hearing
Comment deadline: 3/3/2010

Those girls hair look like Darth Vaders helmet. They just look so silly.

Please help a family in Radford. They have 4 children and their son Watt has been diagnose with a rare staff infection. This infection has affected the bone in his leg. They are foreclosing on the home and the water and power is been cut off this week. As of right now they can not afford housing for a handicap child and social service say they could not help them. The doctors have giving them three thing that could possible happen. 1. Bone graffing, bone lenthing or amputate. We are talking about a boy that is only two years old. Please check out her story on face book it’s under Tori Willis. After you read her blog about her son, if you are not touched by this story then how can you call your self human. She can be reached at this e-mail address

charmedmom0467@yahoo.com. Please just read her blog on face book. Thanks Sharon Womack

I read about the blogger in Virginia who took his kids to Hooters and snapped photographs of them with a waitress there.  Look, I've seen young children and teenagers in Hooters here in Saint Louis and its really no big deal.  Neo conservatives in this country need to lighten up and worry about their own souls instead of everyone else's.

Hey I was watching TV this morning and saw an advertisement for a different kind of auto salvage yard.  You come in with your own tools - pay two dollars - tell them what you're looking for - they point you in the right direction - find what you need and you are on your way.  Awesome huh!  Well one problem.... I can NOT remember the name of this new concept auto salvage yard.   Can anyone please help me out??? 

I feel the tax payers money should be spent on real crimes. Nothing was done to the Police officer who killed a family pet that weight about ten pounds so why so much concern about a Oppossum. I know why to get the heat off from the shooting of the dog a fews back. These is a matter that should be taken care by the police department. The Oppossum is a nasty rodent that carry many diseases. A child could have been biten by this Oppossum. They kill chickens in a way that is unspeakable. I'm not so concerned about this Oppossum incident but when a family pet that has had all it's shots is killed I'm concerned. I have dogs and I love them and so does my children. When the President hit a fly that was a big deal. Who cares about a fly or a oppossum. Get real there are more serious things to worry about like drug crimes, child abuse and real animal cruelty. I not saying that killing the Oppossum was alright but making it a big deal is just costly. Don't tie our court rooms up fly and oppossum killing. What's next if we see a rat run accross the grocery store don't kill it ? Will I get in trouble the next time I see a snake crossing the road and I don't slow down for it to cross?

i was watching the segment on the news where a woman got arrested in downtown roanoke for what i think was public disturbance...well...i usually dont side w/ the police on many things but i think she needed to be taken away...she was acting crazy..and stupid...i mean you cant just refuse to move when a cop tells you too and then pull away when they try to escort you off the property. on the other hand if he would have damaged her tv, she could have sued him or something...anyway...i have seen people show themselves around a cop just to get attention..including in my neighborhood--and its worse when alcohol is involved. that woman should be lucky she wasnt drunk!!

On one of the New Year's Eve specials, they were asking members of Congress what their goals were for 2009.  I was very surprised with how few of them mentioned the economy in any fashion.  I think they need to work on fixing the economy first.  I think it is clearly the biggest issue facing our country right now, and that seems to be reflected in the vast majority of polls.  But Congress just doesn't seem to get it.

Unfortunately, with the many band-aid bailouts that were passed in 2008, Congress seemed unwilling to even consider the long-term effects of what they were doing.  They didn't provide adequate methods for oversight or regulation of how the bailout money was spent.  And since the money was handed out, there have been a lot of news stories about how some of that money was wasted.  It doesn't seem logical to me that wasting additional taxpayer money will create long-term growth for the economy.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate, has been one of the few Congressional representatives who is talking about fixing the economy every chance he gets.  He is making two key points.  The first is that we don't waste any additional tax dollars.  The second point is that any economic stimulus/recovery plan needs to be well thought out.  I strongly agree with both of those points.  We need to make sure that any short-term fix doesn't have major negative long-term consequences.

One of the areas I am most concerned about is the power that President-elect Obama and the large Democratic majority in Congress will have to repay political favors.  Repaying those favors may come at the expense of truly fixing the economy.  For instance, labor unions spent well over $300 million to help elect Obama and strengthen the Democratic majority in Congress.  Now it seems the unions expect to get repaid for their support by having Congress quickly pass the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as the "Card Check" bill.

This bill would take away secret ballot elections in businesses where unions want to organize.  I have no problems with unions when the workers decide on their own to form one.  Especially in business sectors involving dangerous materials or processes, unions can serve a great purpose to protect worker safety.  But it doesn't seem to make any sense to take away the workers' right to decide whether to unionize in a secret ballot election.  Just as people were intimidated and coerced to vote certain ways in political elections in the early days of this country, the same thing would happen to workers who weren't able to keep their votes secret.  It would effectively stifle a lot of the debate because people with dissenting viewpoints would be opening themselves up to retaliation.

Plus, the fear of harassment could lead to "push-button" unions in a lot of businesses that really don't require them - like very small businesses.  Small businesses have always been the driving force of job growth and this bill could stifle them under excessive regulations.  And that would really hurt the long-term prospects for the economy.  I saw that the Friends of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is working to make sure everyone knows about the potential negative effects of this bill.  I encourage the other readers to sign their petition or directly contact their Congressional representative and ask them to protect worker privacy, fix the economy first, and fix the economy in the right way to ensure long-term growth.  Here's a link to the petition and some more information about the bill - friendsoftheuschamber.com/email/email4.cfm?id=178

We've all seen amazing stories about lawsuit abuse.  People suing businesses because they spilled a hot drink on themselves, or because they were overweight, or because they didn't exercise common sense when using the products made by the business.  But this week I heard about an example of lawsuit abuse that beats all the rest.  It is one of the most incredible stories I've seen all year.

A couple of Canada geese took up residence outside a small pool maintenance store in Maryland.  The owners of the store tried to get the geese to leave, but their options were limited because of the Migratory Species Act.  The Act makes it illegal to disturb migratory birds, even when they aren't migrating.  So, it was illegal for the store owners to disturb the geese.  And because they weren't being disturbed, the geese stuck around.  Eventually, one of the geese honked at a shopper entering a DIFFERENT store.  The shopper was startled and fell down.  She decided to sue the pool maintenance store for damages, claiming the geese were the responsibility of the store owners.  The lawsuit was for $750,000.

I can't believe that something like that was even accepted by an attorney, much less actually go to trial.  What an incredible waste of the justice system.  Not only did it hurt the pool maintenance store, it wasted everyone's time who had to be involved with the case.  I'm sure that a lot of other cases could have benefited from having a shorter wait for a trial or more access to legal professionals who had to spend their time on this case.  You can see the entire story about the geese here - www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/email/email4.cfm?id=185 . There's even a video where the owners of the pool maintenance store talk about their experiences.  It is such an incredible story, I don't feel like I've done it justice in words - check out the video to see it for yourself.

It seems like there is more negative economic news every day.  In a recession like this, employers may cut jobs, consolidate offices, not give raises, or ask people to cut their hours/take a voluntary pay cut.  But I was recently reminded that other organizations are trying to use the economic conditions to their benefit.  Labor unions in particular are trying to strengthen their position now because they know that many people are just happy to have a job, so the individuals won't stand up to the unions.

For instance, I've been reading about the "Card Check" plan that some unions are proposing.  Basically, those unions want to take away workers' ability to choose whether or not to join a union through secret ballot elections.  In other words, the union can persuade the workers through unethical means to approve the union's wishes and they will know exactly who votes with them and who votes against them.  That just seems scary to me.  I think unions should be truly optional.  If workers decide that they want one, that's fine.  But if they decide they DON'T want one, that should be fine, too.  And the ballots should be filled out in private, with no way to identify individual votes.  Otherwise, I think workers would have to fear reprisals - like losing their job or harassment - if they don't vote the "right" way.

Unions are gathering a lot of signatures on a petition to get Congress to pass "Card Check".  Unfortunately, Congress seems so preoccupied that they appear to be passing everything, without regard to the long term effects.  I hope "Card Check" doesn't get put in the same category.  That would be disastrous.  Not only for the potential to make workers do what they don't want to do, but this could cause more unwanted unions to form in small businesses.  If that happens, any economic recovery will be slowed or stopped because the small businesses would have less flexibility to react to new opportunities because of restrictive union regulations.  If you are against the "Card Check" initiative like I am, make sure you let Congress know how you feel.  I found a petition online set up by the Friends of the United States Chamber of Commerce that we can sign.  You can go here to make your voice heard, too:
http://www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/takeaction/index.c
fm?ID=78

WILL FOX 21/27 BE THERE, FIRST AT PM?

Former Arkansas Governor and Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is coming to Lynchburg and Roanoke on December 4th.

Governor Huckabee will be promoting his new book, Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America, in Virginia this week.

Please, show your support for this critical FairTax proponent by ordering a copy of Do the Right Thing now, or attending a book signing if Governor Huckabee is going to be near you. And remember, the local media will be watching these signings, so let's turn out the FairTax supporters, and make these into Huck FairTax events nationally.

City Date and Time Location Lynchburg December 4
5:30-6:30 PM Barnes & Noble
Wards Crossing
4024-C Wards Rd
(434) 239-8688 Roanoke December 4
8:00-9:00 PM Books a Million
Cross Roads Mall
1515 Hershberger Rd
(540) 366-6682 Bristol December 5
12:00-1:00 PM Books a Million
16700 Highlands Center Blvd
(276) 669-2115

You can find all the details about the book and the author tour at
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?Page=BookTour.

 

With Thanksgiving over and Christmas less than a month away, how has the economy directly affected you this year?  What did you do differently and what are you planning on doing differently?

There seem to be a lot of news stories about consumers in general, but I'm interested in individual perspectives.  The news stories have suggested that holiday travel is down for the first time in years, that people are buying fewer gifts for their family, that they are giving gifts to fewer people, that people are not using credit cards to buy gifts, and that they are being more selective about which stores they shop at.  Are any of those things true for you?  Also, it seemed like the parking lots of the restaurants open Thanksgiving day were fairly empty and the crowds out shopping the day after Thanksgiving were quite a bit less than previous years.  Did anyone else notice similar things or were your experiences different?  What other changes have you noticed?

One of the things that got me thinking about this was the Friends of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website.  They have a poll up about the holidays and they are asking for personal videos about the economic slowdown affecting holiday choices.  The videos will help them know where to focus their efforts.  If you'd like to get your voice heard too, you can vote in the poll on their website and submit your video story on the page page that comes up after you vote.  Here's the link - http://www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/email/email4.cfm?i
d=175

I absolutely love the colors in the fall.

The other day, I was taking our dogs, Brinks and Floyd for a walk. It looked like paint cans spilled out onto the sidewalks throughout the neighborhood. Reds, oranges, yellows, and browns formed one circle after the next all the way down the street.

Of course, no paint was spilled or I would have very colorful paw prints all over the house. Apparently, nothing is more fun for a 3-month-old puppy than to chase down leaves as if it's his duty to keep the neighborhood safe from this alien life form covering the sidewalks and filling the curbs.

That reminds me, we raked all our leaves to the curb a week or so ago, but our city pick-up date isn't until December. I'm thinking that tidy leaf pile will be strewn half way down the street by then. And I can't say I'm contributing to the beauty of the neighborhood. There are no yellows, bright reds or oranges in our pile ... pretty much just a dried-out shade of brown.

I've been told this area gets mainly ice. So, while I can get it, I'll enjoy the colors. In the meantime, I best start digging around for those ice skates ... hope Floyd doesn't find any flying leaves to chase then.

I’ve decided in my short 6 months here in Roanoke, that I need to stay off the Blue Ridge Parkway for fear my house may end up looking like the local pound.

 

 

 

I start with asking … how can someone dump a dog along side the road and drive off with that face staring at you in the rearview mirror wondering when you’ll be back?

 

 

 

I’m on the way to shoot a story with my co-worker, Josh.  We just exited the Blue Ridge Parkway when we see this little guy sitting underneath the guard rail.  He looks like that yellow lab puppy from that commercial with the jingle “Ain’t no bugs on me.”  Adorable!  As we drive by, he looks me right in the eye and starts chasing our news truck.

 

 

 

Really?   What?  Does he have radar for complete saps like me?  Apparently, that would be a yes.

 

 

 

We drive along, hoping he’ll stop, that he clearly belongs to some nearby farm.

 

 

 

Then … 20 yards down the road, I witness something I’ve never seen – a big ‘ol black bear!  Right there on the road!  I’ve seen deer.  I’ve seen raccoon.  I’ve seen skunks.  I’ve seen dogs, but never a bear.  Wait!  The dog!  He’s still running down the street and will cross the path of this puppy-eating bear at any moment!  That, my friends, sealed the deal.

 

 

 

I yell for Josh to stop.  Poor guy, he thought he was on the way to a news story.  I give him strict instructions to be on high-alert for the bear, which has since run into the woods, while I jump out of the car and scoop up the puppy.

 

 

 

Whew.  Mission accomplished.  Puppy saved.  Bear happily back in the woods eating, I don’t know, leaves?  Either way, it does not involve puppies.

 

 

 

So, now we have a puppy, and a story still to shoot.  We shoot the story – give the little guy some water and sit him down to let him head home.  He follows us.

 

 

 

We knock on doors of homes in the area and leave our information just in case he belongs to some sobbing 8-year-old little girl who has lost her dog. 

 

 

 

Mind you, my husband and I already have a chocolate lab, Brinks, who loves her space and has no desire to share it with any other furry canines.

 

 

 

Here we are more than a month later, and the little guy is still with us, named for his homeland, Floyd.  He continues to bother Brinks who has kindly not eaten him yet.

After weeks of not travelling along the Parkway, I head up to see the colors with my mom and her friend who are on a trip throughout the southeast.   What do we see, but a beautiful black lab.  This one with a collar and a ball he drops at anyone’s feet who is willing to play.

 

 

 

It appears he might not belong to anyone in particular, but certainly he belongs to someone in the area.  Right?

 

 

 

Next day, my mom heads out of town, taking the same path down the parkway, and who does she see in the exact same location?  The black lab.  He’s all by himself, with no people to be seen.  He’s lying in the grass along the Parkway, the ball right next to him.

 

 

 

I have not gone back.

 

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy watching Becky Freemal anchor the 10 p.m. newscast.