Odds and ends, 5/9/07

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Nick Rahall and other Democrats lambasted the Bush administration Wednesday for what they called its repeated misuse of science for partisan purposes.

I'm glad no administration before Bush ever did that, and I'm sure no Democratic administration ever will.

Tell me again why most people don't care about half of what comes out of Washington.

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NITRO, W.Va. (AP) — Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center said Wednesday it will spend $250 million to upgrade its facility if Kanawha County residents vote to allow the track to host table games.

The Nitro track plans to build a 250-room hotel and conference center, 12,000-seat event hall, parking garage and spa if voters approve the table games measure during a June 9 special election, said track general manger Cathy Brackbill. The track is owned by Michigan-based Hartman & Tyner.

If I'm not mistaken, the track needs to have the hotel to qualify to have table games. So the track really isn't offering that much. It's just doing what it has to do to get the games.

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PRATT, W.Va. (AP) — The town of Pratt is looking for a few good political candidates.The filing deadline for next month’s municipal election has already passed and the Kanawha County town doesn’t have a full slate of candidates.

Only two people signed up to run for mayor and one for council on a ballot that should elect five council members, a mayor and a town recorder.

Pratt has about 538 residents, according to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates. It is the 157th largest incorporated community in West Virginia out of 234 for which the Census Bureau provided estimates. When communities get that small, does incorporation really benefit anyone?

Back a few years ago, when the regional airport debate was going on, I remember being at a meeting or a news conference in Charleston where the county commissioners brought as many Kanawha County mayors as they could to speak against the airport. I want to think the mayor of Pratt told how no one in his community wanted to see the airport built.

It just goes to show how much influence Pratt has compared to Huntington. Pratt's 500 people didn't want the airport, but Huntington's 50,000 did. The airport wasn't built, so Pratt must have a whole lot of power somewhere.