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OPINIONS
On W.Va. 2, deer herds and the Main Street economy
Bonnie Adkins shared this photo of a deer near Beech Fork Lake Road in East Lynn.
Purchase this photoA ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday marks the completion of the first section of an upgraded U.S. 35 from Interstate 64 to Point Pleasant, W.Va. The first section to open is in Putnam County near Winfield.
When finished many years from now, the entire 35-mile section from I-64 to Point Pleasant will replace a two-lane road that is heavily traveled by truck traffic. U.S. 35 from the Point Pleasant area to Winfield has been the site of several fatal accidents.
So it's good that the road is being replaced piece by piece. But some people in the Tri-State with long memories remember that W.Va. 2 from Huntington to Point Pleasant was supposed to have been replaced, too. But those plans died in the late 1990s, and no one has championed reviving them. The road crosses the boundary between two House of Delegates districts, two state Senate districts and two Congressional districts.
Sooner or later, Route 2 will need improvements, especially if other businesses follow Alcon Inc. to northern Cabell County. That area will need a better connection to Interstate 64 via the Merritts Creek connector. The question now: Who in state government will be the advocate for those improvements?
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The annual urban bow deer hunt in Barboursville has begun. It began Oct. 4 and runs through Oct. 18. A second hunt is scheduled for Dec. 20-31. The season now under way allows hunters to hunt within the village limits in the Barboursville Park area.
Mayor Paul Turman Sr. said the village has offered the two-week hunt prior to the regular season every year for the past several years in an effort to reduce the deer population in Barboursville.
Charleston also has an urban deer hunt. It began this past Saturday and runs through the end of December.
Deer are pests in municipal and suburban areas, and they can be dangerous in rural areas when they collide with cars. According to Erie Insurance, claims for deer-vehicle collisions in West Virginia increased 11 percent in 2007 compared with 2006.
From most indications, the deer herd in West Virginia continues to increase. For example, 947 bucks were killed by hunters in Cabell County last year, compared with 683 the year before. The number of antlerless deer killed in 2007 was double the number in 2006.
When they become too numerous, deer feed on lawns, shrubbery and trees in residential areas. They pose a hazard to vehicle traffic. West Virginia has too many deer. The state Division of Natural Resources should do what it can to thin the herd.
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Wall Street's troubles have been well-documented the past couple of weeks. Now the Main Street economy is showing signs of a slowdown.
The Associated Press says American retailers reported less-than-robust sales for September, leading to concerns that this Christmas shopping season could be unusually slow. Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of all economic activity.
Target Corp. reported a bigger-than-expected sales drop and cut its earnings outlook as it grapples with a surge of customers defaulting on the company's store credit card payments.
Those credit card defaults could be a sign that working class and middle class families are being overwhelmed by their monthly bills. The next few months should tell us how much Wall Street's problems will affect those of us who spend our time on Main Street.
