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(Continuing the Hinton Daily News & The Weekend Leader)
Home of "W. Water Festival"
Volume 115 No. 31
Hinton, West Virginia Tuesday, December 12, 2017
50 Cents
L-R Matt Fleshman, manager, Megan Cooper, Gavin Pivont, Kennedy Drennen, Riley Richmond, Bryleigh
Davis, Erica Merrill, Greg Rogers, Hannah Taylor, Chloey Davis, Tiffani Cline, Jaiden Dickenson, Taylor
Isaac, Lilli Plumley, Heaven Cales.
rs
Featuring a performance by Caleb Crevier @ 6:45 Friday
R. T. Rogers Oil Company and
the Summers County Lady Bobcats
Basketball Program announce the
annual Rogers Oil Classic Girls'
Basketball Tournament on Friday
and Saturday December 15 & 16 at
Summers County High School.
The Summers Co. Lady Bobcats
headline the ~rnament field.
Summers County has captured
nine AA State Championships and
placed in the final four last year.
Chapmanville, Pocahontas
County and Richwood round out
the outstanding tournament field.
Pairings for the tournament are
as follows:
Friday Dec. 1•5, 4:30 p.m.
Summers Co. J.V. vs. Pocahontas
Co. J.V.; 5:30 p.m., ChapmanviUe vs.
Pocahontas; 6:45 p.m. Performance
by Caleb Crevier, and 7:45 p.m.
Summers County vs. Richwood.
Saturday Dec. 16, 10:30 a.m.,
Summers Middle 7th Boys vs.
a.m. Summers Middle 8th Boys vs.
Western Greenbrier 8th Boys, 1:30
p.m., Summers Middle 7th Girls vs.
Western Greenbrier 7th Girls 3:00
and do interactive activities with
students.
Caleb is from Elkton, South
Dakota and is from a family of 12
On December 2nd, the City of
Hint0n's annual Christmas Bazaar
and parade filled the city with
holiday cheer.
Approximately 200 people
attended the bazaar, which was
held from 12-5 p.m. in the Freight
Depot.
p.m.
Summers Middle 8th Girls vs.
Western Greenbrier 8th Girls, talent, his family made it to the allowed for several on the outside
children. 40 vendors filled up the interior
On season 8 of America's got of the depot and nice weather
4:45 p.m. Summers Co, J.V. vs. final round.
Chapmanville " j.V., ± 6i~0- p.m.-" He ha~ performed in 49 of the 50 deck.
Vendors ranged from the Middle
Consolation Game; 7:45 p.m.
Championship Game.
The presentation of trophies
will be at the conclusion of the
championship game by Greg
Rogers, president of R.T. Rogers
Oil Co.
The tournament will also feature
a great show between varsity
games Friday night Dec.15 at
approximately 6:45.
The Summers County Fellowship
of Christian Athletes and Lifeline
Church are proud to sponsor the
appearance of Caleb Crevier.
Caleb will perform a wide
states and traveled to• over a dozen
countries around the world.
Caleb has also performed during
halftimes'at the 2015-2016 and
2016-2017 NBA finals between
the Cleveland Cavaliers and The
Golden State Warriors.
He has performed at over 300
prisons and juvenile detentions
facilities across the United States.
Caleb, along with his entertainment
brings a positive message of hope
for this generation.
The entertainment andtheRogers
Oil Tournament promise to provide
great family entertainment.
School Beta Club to local authors
and handmade crafts, there was
something for everyone!
Live music filled the space,
Western Greenbrier 7thboys; 12:00 spectrum of ball handling tricks
Manchin, Cornyn Introduce Skylar's
Santa & Mrs. Claus made a visit,
and the Spirit of Hinton award
winners were recognized.
The 2017 Snow King & Queen
were also crowned in front of the
large crowd at the bazaar.
Following the bazaar, just after
dark, the parade began to wind
through downtown Hinton.
Over 20 groups participated
in the parade itself, including the
Summers County Middle School
Band, local churches, and the City
of Hinton staff, among others.
First Baptist Church won Best
Overall award for their float that
included a nativity scene.
The parade ended at the park
on Temple & Third where The
Spirit of Hinton award winners,
the founders of the community
group Making a Difference, lit the
newly-planted Christmas Tree, the
community sang Christmas Carols
and enjoyed hot cider.
Mayor Joe Blankenship
remarked that the event "was just
like a Hallmark movie."
The Bazaar & Parade committee
would like to thank everyone that
made the day a success: vendors,
attendees, parade participants,
the City of Hinton Public Works
Department, and so many others.
Law to Save Children Like Skylar Neese
Senators Joe Manchin (D-
WV) and John Cornyn (R-TX)
today introduced "Skylar's Law,"
which will establish a national
endangered missing advisory (EMA)
communications network to enable
immediate public notification for
missing child cases that do not
meet the strict criteria for issuance
of an AMBER Alert system.
In July of 2012, sixteen-year-old"
Skylar Neese went missing from
her home in Morgantown, West
Virginia.
Even though Skylar's parents
were immediately alarmed at their
daughter's absence and insisted
that Skylar would not have left
home voluntarily, no AMBER Alert
was issued at the time of Skylar's
disappearance because her case
did not meet the strict criteria for
issuance of an AMBER alert.
Skylar was later found to
have been murdered by two of
her friends, and her case gained
national attention.
The SKYLAR Act would assist
law enforcement officers nationwide
in issuing immediate public
notifications to help locate missing
individuals like Skylar whose cases
do not meet the strict criteria for an
AMBER Alert but are still at risk of
serious injury or death.
"What Skylar went through and
what her family is dealing with is
unconscionable and it's something
that I will do whatever I can to
preverkt from happening ever
again," Senator Manchin said.
"I have been working with
Skylar's parents on "Skylar's Law"
which would establish a national
communications network to issue
immediate public notifications for
missing indiwduals like Skylar
whose cases do not meet the strict
criteria for an AMBER Alert but
are still at serious risk.
"Skylar's Law" is a no brainer
and I hope my colleagues see this
legislation and hear Skylar's story
and swiftly pass this bill."
'WVhile AMBER alerts have been
successful in bringing missing
children home, there are still
missing persons who do r~ot meet
the alerts' strict criteria but whose
cases warrant an immediate public
alert," said Sen. Cornyn.
"I am proud to join Senator
Manchin on Skylar's Law
which will create a national
communications networl~ that can
be activated immediately so our
law enforcement officers can access
timely information to help solve
these cases."
"I want to thank Senator
Manchin for his hard work and
staying on top of this.
This is not a Democrat or
Republican issue. This is about our
kids, protecting our kids.
Anytime a child goes missing,
it's the most helpless feeling in the
world and I don't want anyone to
have to go through what we went
through. With the introduction
of 'Skylar's Law," we can help
children and other parents," said
Dave Neese, Skylar's father.
The AMBER Alert system has
succeeded beyond all expectations,
and is credited with directly aiding
the safe recovery of approximately
75 children every year.
However, issuance of the AMBER
Alerts requires satisfaction of strict
criteria--including evidence of
abduction.
In most cases, such evidence is
usually not present, especially in
the critical first few hours of the
case. Immediate public notification
is critical.
More than two-thirds of all child
abduction homicides began, as a
missing child or runaway report,
and one out of five child abduction
homicide victims are already dead
before police are even notified.
Yet states are understandably
wary of issuing AMBER alerts
absent clear evidence of abduction,
in order to avoid dulling the public
response.
This bill establishes a national
Endangered Missing Advisory
(EMA) communications network,
modeled after state-wide networks
already in operation in states like
Montana and California, which can
be activated immediately to notify
the public that a child has gone
missing.
COORDINATED: Much like the
AMBER Alert network, the national
EMA network would be overseen
by a coordinator who works closely
with states, law enforcement
agencies, local governments, and
AMBER Alert professionals to
develop EMA plane and act as
the network's nationwide point of
contact.
The Coordinator would establish
voluntary minimum standards for
the issuance of alerts through the
network and ensure that state and
local law enforcement agencies
and communications personnel are
trainedoto utilize it.
VOLUNTARY: The EMA system
only works when it's voluntary for
both states and communications
network participants, and this
bill would preserve the voluntary
nature of the system.
Recent trends are positive -
in 2005, only 5 states had EMA
networks in place.
Now, 18 states have such
networks, plus another 16 who
have similar networks in place for
missing seniors.
Thirty years ago she headed to
West Virginia Univer.sity to learn
what she knew would become a life-
long passion. Upon graduation, she
returned to her first love, Hinton,
WV, to put that passion to work for
the community she loved.
Kristi Scott says it all started
with Wood and Shirley McCue
allowing her to volunteer in their
practice Moore-McCue Physical
Therapy while she was high school
and during the summers while she
was in college. '~hey encouraged
me to come back. They said, 'We
need you in our hometown."
So with her physical therapy
degree in hand, she returned,
married the hometown boy, Jack
Scott, and began serving her
community.
"I wanted to be here. Hinton is a
great place to be," said Scott.
In addition to serving her
community at Summers County
ARH as the director of the
physical therapy department, she
also participates on the Hinton
Area Fpundation and the Second
Saturday committee. In the past
she and her husband were involved
in Hinton Youth Football programs,
too.
'%Ve feel like we've made a
difference in our community," said
SCott.
#1iveleadlovewhatyoudo
#onefamily #one community #scarh
#arh
Capito Student LoanRehabilitation Bill Advances in the Senate
The ' U.S. Senate Banking,
Housing and Urban Affairs
Committee yesterday approved
a provision based on bipartisan
legislation introduced . by U.S.
Senators Shelley Moore Capito
(R-W.Va.) and Gary Peters
(D-Mich.) to help private student
loar~ borrowers rehabilitate their
credit after a default on their
loans.
Currently, federal student loan
borrowers are able to remove a
default from their credit report, yet
private student loan borrowers are
not. The provision was approved
as part of a larger package and
now heads for consideration by the
entire Senate. °
"Students invest a lot in their
education, and we need to do our
part to help them maintain a
secure financial footing as they pay
off loans.
Senator Peters and I have
• worked together on a solution to
help make this possible.
Like federal student loans,
our bipartisan legislation will
allow students with private loans
opportunities to rehabilitate their
credit following a default. I thank
the Senate Banking Committee for
advancing it out of the committee,"
Senator Capito said. The provision,
based on the Federal Adjustment
in Reporting (FAIR) Student
Credit Act, would create an equal
opportunity for private student loan
borrowers who have successfully
completed a series of on-time
payments to remove a default from
their credit report.
Under current law, federal loans
may be rehabilitated one time, and
borrowers can repair their credit by
removing a default.
However, private lenders
currently do not have the ability to
remove negative credit information
on borrowers who participate in
loan rehabilitation programs.
Instead, private lenders may only
request to delete information from
a credit report if it is inaccurate.
While 90 percent of higher
education loans are public
and therefore eligible for loan
rehabilitation, private student loans
currently total $9.9 bilhon, and
more than 850,000 private student
loans are in default, according to
the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau.
A bad credit report from a
default can negatively impact a
borrower's ability to get a job,
rent an apartment, buy a home or
purchase a car for years.
Senators Capito and Peters
previously introduced the FAIR
Student Credit Act during the
ll4th Congress, and as members of
the U.S. House of Representatives
during the ll3th Congress.
/
J
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