David Abner

As a follow up to the Sub-Prime lending story in the August 22 issue of The Morgan Messenger, Thomas Rokisky, president of CNB, and Denise Bergen, vice president of BB&T, were asked what advice they have for borrowers who are in danger of missing mortgage payments or have already fallen behind.

Christopher Strovel, the Eastern Panhandle representative for Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, came to Bath Town Hall on August 21 to introduce himself to town officials.

Town of Bath Council had the first reading of two new ordinances that would add stiff fines for violators and give police the power to impound dogs and confiscate bicycles.

Faced with the prospect of buying a new garbage truck at the cost of $100,000, Bath Town Council held a lively debate on whether to continue providing trash pickup service to town residents.

Both print and on-air media have given a lot of attention lately to the woes of subprime mortgage lenders and borrowers. The crisis is blamed for the bottom dropping out of the stock market as the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen sharply in the last two weeks, and credit markets have tightened worldwide.

Holders of mutual funds have seen their share value decrease appreciably and the housing sales slump continues across the country. Predictions estimate it will take another year before the housing market starts to recover.

Town of Bath Council passed Ordinance 2007-05, Creation of the Streetscape Committee as a Separate Entity, at the August 7 meeting.

The ordinance empowers the Streetscape committee to make financial decisions pertaining to the streetscape project. The committee will report monthly to town council and account for all expenditures.

Saturday, August 25 will be a busy day in the Town of Bath. Council approved both a block party to be held in the gravel driveway between North Washington Street and The Old Factory Antique Mall, and a chicken barbeque by the Hancock Lions Club on the west side of Fairfax Street next to the park.

Block party

The new owner of Potomac Airpark has listed the airport for sale on eBay, with a selling price of $1.4 million.

The high voltage power transmission line that American Electric Power (AEP) of Ohio is proposing to build that may cross through south Morgan County has received approval from PJM Interconnection. PJM is the region's largest power wholesaler, supplying power to 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Living near Cacapon State Park, I usually drive into Berkeley Springs from the south. For me and many others, the old courthouse was the main landmark in town.