Community victory

The PATH electric line hasn't been a hot local topic since last fall when Allegheny Power announced the route wouldn't be coming through Morgan County. PATH, if you recall, stands for Potomac-Appalachian Transmission Highline and is proposed as a 224-mile high voltage line running northeast across West Virginia from Putnam County in the southwest corner to New Market, near Frederick, Md.

In Hampshire, Jefferson and a dozen other counties, the debate and protest aren't over yet. The State Public Service Commission has set a July 13 deadline for interested parties to announce that they want to intervene and participate in the PATH case.

While Morgan County may now be out of the picture, PATH loomed large in residents' minds last summer. It was one of those rare times when a real cross-section of citizens came out in big numbers to oppose the route, local government got the message fast and resolved against a project, and the powers-that-be seem to have actually heard the shout.

That's how it's supposed to work, isn't it?