of Jefferson Farmer's Advocate
, No. 10 Thursday, March 10, 2005
"No government ought to be without censors: and where the press is free, no~ne ever will." - Thomas Jefferson
20 pages - 50 cents per copy
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late Dr. Konrad Nau, Director of Medical Staff Services; John Sherwood, CEO; Katherine
County Red Cross Executive Director; Angie Francart, RN, representing the Surgi-
and Dr. Vikram Dayal presenting an $800 donation to the Jefferson County
Employees, Physicians Give
$ to Tsunami Relief Efforts
Memo- what they could do tion that the relief JMH medical staff
era- to help," said Tina organizations could donated $1,000 to
and Stayer. Director of utilize to purchase the relief effort,
over Community Rela- needed items." $500 to the Amer-
) help aid in tions and Marketing The Jefferson Me- ican Red Cross
Relief at Jefferson Memo- morial staff was and $500 to Shri
rial. "Our employ- particularly inter- Laka Association
days fol- ees and physicians ested in assisting of Greater Wash-
the tsu- considered giving with efforts because ington. Employees
Southern medical supplies, several hospital made donations to
employ- but instead chose to physicians are from various organiza-
asking make a cash dana- Southern Asia. The tions.
Musical Chairs
Being Played
In Courthouse
ByNew Clerk
But There's No Music
By Toni Milboume
Those entering the county
courthouse on Monday were
met with an array of furni-
ture and boxes in the hallway
and confusion on where de-
partments had moved. Over
the weekend, the courthouse
underwent a reorganization
at the hands of new Coun-
ty Clerk Jennifer Maghan in
an effort to update the coun-
ty's offices. "We have 20 years
worth of updating to do in this
office," Maghan said.
The reorganization involved
moving three employees who
had been housed down the
street into the courthouse.
Those employees work in the
county finance departmept
and, according to Maghan,
they need to be "under the
house of the county clerk." Ac-
cording to West Virginia State
Code, the finance office re-
ports to Maghan and she felt
the need to have them under
the same roof.
According to Deputy Clerk
Lana Mallow, who oversees
the finance offices, the group
was located in the Hunter
House under the leadership of
past Clerk John Ott as a space
consideration issue. Mallow
said that many of the finance
office records are housed in
the courthouse, so it is con-
venient to be in that location.
She went on to add that "I can
-Introduced in Legishture toAllow
Local Referendums onTable Games
of the West Vir-
Associatiort
state legislators
announced the
that
in Jeffer-
other counties
table gam-
permitted at the
for lo-
in the four
Where the state's
and gaming facili-
Besides Jef-
counties include
Ohio.
the racetrack
industry gener-
than $323 million
and $14 rail-
taxes to local
making it the
revenug produc-
The industry
4,600 pea-
pie and attracts more than 10
million out-of-state visitors to
West Virginia.
"'tax dollars and jobs are
now being threatened," said
• John Cavacini, W~R_& presi-
dent. 'There is increasing com-
petition from our neighboring
states• Pennsylvania has au-
thorized61,000 slot machines
to compete with West Virgin-;~ year. "We're not
ia's 11,000 slot machines. If "~lit convenience game,
we don't give the people in the these tracks are major ~r-
four counties where the race-
tracks are located the oppor-
tunity to vote on table games,
West Virginia will lose mil-
lions of dollars in revenue. We
simply can't afford to allow
that to happen."
A recent statewide poll re-
leased by the WVRA shows
an overwhelming majority of
West V'trginians prefer allow-
ing table games instead of
paying higher taxes.
'1~he poll also shows that additional 2,000 people (500
the majority of West Virgin- in each county) for high-pay-
ians were unaware of the cam- ing jobs with benefits. That's
petition from our neighboring ~: i~ ~ddition to protecting the
states and the effect it would ~4;600 jobs the industry cur-
have on West Virginia's rev~ renfiy provides."
nue," Cava~i'said. ~arles To*wn Races & Slots
According to the ~the in .Jefferson County recently
racetracks attract approxi- announced an expansion pro-
mately i0.2 million visitors *gram that will provide two
ism destinations," Cavacini
continued. "The overwhelm-
Lug majority of those visits are
from those living outside West
Virginia. With slot machines
so readily available in Penn-
sylvania, table games will give
those people the incentive to
continue traveling to West
Virginia."
"This is also about jobs. Al-
lowing table games will en-
able the industry to employ an
Show Funds Presented to S, IS
, funds from a fashion show sponsored by the Shepherdsown High School Alum-
was by the show's organizers, Roseann Tennent, left, and Joyce Thornton
School faculty members Pam Hilliard and Rabbis Brown for repair of dam-
school foyer. More on this story in today's Shepherdstown column. (Photo by Diane
new hotels on the company's
property. One would be located
in the field in front of the track
just offRoute 340 (Washington
Street). This is a stand-alone
facility, while the sedond ho-
tel would be built in the future
and connected to the current
gaming facilities alongside the
thoroughbred race track. The
two facilities would be tour-
ist destinations for gaming en-
thusiasts.
This expansion by Penn Na-
tional Gaming, Inc. (PNGI)
the parent company of Charles
Town Races & Slots, will bring
the company's investment in
the local facility to over $400
million when" completed.
PNGI officials noted that
they would like to start the
stand-alone hotel (which will
have some 150 rooms) this
summer, but delays due to
lack of sewer service are pos-
sible. Local track officia~ said
that there is a possibility they
will ask the Jefferson County
Planning Commission for per-
mission to start construction
of the hotel while awaiting ap-
proval of sewer service.
Attending last Thursday's
press conference in Charles.
ton and introduction of the
Senate bill authorizing the ta-
ble games referendum were
track officials John Finamore,
Jim Buchanan, Dickie Moore
and Roger Ramey, along with
Sam Huff, president of the
West Virginia Breeders Clas-
sics, Randy Hilton, mayor of
Charles Town, Frank Fargo,
president of the local Chamber
of Commerce, Mary Vim, exec-
utive director of the Chamber,
Dr. Henry Christie, president
of the Jefferson County Fire
and Rescue Association, and
Edward "Pat" Dockeney, pub-
lisher of The Spirit of Jeffer-
son-Advocate.
The legislation is being spon-
sored by five Senate members
and seven House members.
The bill was introduced in
both houses of the Legislature
last Thursday.
Sarah Fowler, who works in the county's Probate Office, sits in
new quarters in the County Courthouse. The Probate Office was
one of many that were switched around during a reorganization
by the county clerk.
do my job anywhere."
That sentiment was echoed
by one of her assistants, Nan-
cy Dopson, whose chief concern
over the move was that she
does not have as much space,
especially desk space, as she
had in the Hunter House Ioca.
tion. She said that she was as-
sured that new furniture will
be purchased to help make the
space more conducive to pro-
ductivity.
The office in which the fi-
nance department is now lo-
cated was the site of the Pro.
bate Oi_me before the move.
That office has been relocated
to the back of the courthouse
where Voter Registration pre-
viously resided. Maghan said
that the move of the Probate
Office was to give more priva-
cy to a sensitive part of county
government. In the previous
location, record books stored
in that office were a constant
source of interruption for the
probate clerks. Those books,
however, are now housed
the smaller probate offme.
Robin Gaynor, Deputy Clerk
for probate said that the office
she previously occupied pro-
vided privacy for those need-
ing probate services. "Now
there is no privacy, nor enough
space for the amount of peo.
pie we see," she said. The two
clerks went from two offices to
one smaller office that offers
no separation from each oth-
er should the two need to meet
with clients at the same time.
Sarah Fowler, assistant clerk,
said "I don't see the benefits to
this move."
Several other departments
were relocated #throughout the
building. Employees voiced
that they were not consulted
about the moves, simply told
where they would be going.
There was not an overall posi-
tive or negative reaction to the
move at present; many were
waiting to adjust to their new
surroundings.
The move is just one of the
many changes being incorpo-
rated by Maghan. She is mak-
ing an effort to "clean house."
She sees the courthouse as the
heart of Jefferson County and
said, "If you see your house is
dirty, cluttered and disorga-
nized, you would clean it to
function." That is what she is
doing in the courthouse by up-
Bodybuilder
Gives Message
Of Inspiration
The world's strongest man,
Anthony Clark, gave a mes-
sage of inspiration and moti.
vation to a group at the Harp-
ers Ferry Pentecostal Church
last week. Clark, who holds
the world title for bench press-
ing~. spoke about his child,
hood and how his belief in God
helped him overcome many
dit~-~dt situations.
Clark, born in the P~p.
pines, moved to the United
States at age seven. In the Tex-
as town his parents chose to
relocate to, Clark was picked
on because he was "different."
He was bullied~ by other chil-
dren, and, being small for his
age, he was not able to fight
back.
Clark, speaking in particu.
lar to the youth present, told
of his desire to please his par-
ents, his father most of all.
While he had a good relation-
ship with his father early on,
something changed the man,
Clark said, and his father be.
gan beating him, Things got so
bad that at one point in time,
,, , ,,, ,,i,
purchasing
and making
information accessible to the
public.
Maghan has approached the
county commission for bud-
get allocations for computer
equipment updates. She asked
for approximately $300,000;
however nothing has not been
approved. Other requests by
Maghan not in her current
budget, have included mon-
ey to hire an additional voter
registration employee which
was approved by the commis-
sion as was spending on scan-
ning of courthouse documents
which were not done during
previous scanning. Funds for
new furniture was also ap-
proved.
Maghan insists that all mon-
ey she is spending is also sav-
ing money. Her goal, she said
is to make information acces-
sible to the public. While the
information has always been
physically accessible, her idea
is to make it more-easily avail-
able via internet access and
computerized scans. "I want to
make sure we serve all of our
public," she said, indicating
that in the near future trans-
lations in Spanish will also be
made available. "A lot of peo-
ple would rather go online
than visit the office," she said.
In her budget requests for
the next fiscal year, she has
asked for an increase in per-
sonnel salaries of $134,499
which include a new assis-
tant clerk and an administra-
tive assistant as well as sal-
ary increases for current em-
ployees. Also on the horizon
is new furniture for the en-
tire courthouse and a website
for the county clerk's exclusive
use. The administrative assis-
tant ~ be responsible for the
website, administrative duties
and taking minutes at county
commission meetings, Maghan
said. Currently th.at job is done
by commission employees, but
Maghan says she is adhering
to the State Code that says the
minutes should be housed in
the County Clerk's office.
• Other changes have not
been outlined, but Maghan did
say that everything she has
planned for six years will not
be done this year. She consid-
ers her actions so far as "stan-
dard upgrades."
Anthony Clark, the world's
%trongest man," meets indi-
vidually with children at the
Harpers Ferry Pentecostal
Church following his speaking
engagement last Wednesday
evening.
Clark s father bound has hands
and hung him from the rafters
of their living room and beat
him with an extension cord.
Clark wondered, he said, how
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