Odds and ends, 1/17/08

So far I have received two letters to the editor from people about Huntington Mayor David Felinton's weight-loss surgery. They ask why he went to a hospital in Ashland, Ky., to have the surgery done when we have two perfectly fine hospitals here in Huntington.

Neither letter writer had a Huntington address. One was from eastern Cabell County, and one was from Lawrence County, Ohio.

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Regarding the Spike Maynard-Don Blankenship vacation, in which a justice of the state Supreme Court vacationed in Europe with a coal executive who had a multimillion dollar case pending before that court:

What is it about West Virginia that the words "ethics," "propriety" and "common sense" are removed from the dictionaries owned by public officials?

Jerry Mezzatesta. Mingo County in the 1980s. Arch Moore. Wally Barron. And still to be decided is the validity of an MBA "earned" by the governor's daughter 10 years ago when there were not records from the time that she earned the credits she needed.

At least people in Ohio voted out the Republican Party when it engaged in similar shenanigans. In West Virginia, you punish such corruption by re-electing it.

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The Reds begin spring training in 30 days and a few hours. I like the spring training time of year. I would love to go to Florida and watch a few games. Not because of the baseball. By the time February gets here, I am really tired of cold weather, gray skies and leafless trees. And I like spring training games a lot better than regular season games. I don't know why unless it's because it's more fun following games that are meaningless. No emotional investment or anything.