Smart Couples; Scratcher Tickets

THUMBS UP TO:

Quick-thinking law enforcement couple

A Washington County dispatcher and her deputy husband get a big thumbs up for working together to nab a burglary suspect when the dispatcher realized a break-in was occurring near their home.

Brenda Lloyd was on duty in the Washington County Central Dispatch center last week and contacted her husband, Marty, when she realized the location of the break-in was her neighborhood.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever had a situation occur where I’ve had a husband and wife team work together to do something like this,” Sheriff Fred Newman said. “You’re a police officer 24-7 and deputy Lloyd and his wife worked together to do their jobs efficiently and resourcefully.”

As a result, Steven Tanner Yates, 23, of Abingdon was arrested and charged with several burglaries. Police also recovered $20,000 in property, including jewelry, firearms and electronic equipment.
Nice teamwork.

BVU’s quick response to power outage

Bristol Virginia Utilities worked quickly Wednesday to restore service to about 7,000 customers who lost power for about an hour in 15-degree cold. Power was out along Euclid Avenue and a large portion of Lee Highway around 6:30 p.m. BVU President and Chief Executive Officer Wes Rosenbaum said the outage occurred at the substation in North Bristol. Electricity was restored within an hour; and that was good news for affected customers who did not have to face subzero temperatures overnight without electricity.

Scratcher thrill, sensible plans

A Pound, Va., woman won $100,000 in a Virginia Lottery scratch ticket game this week, a winning streak that grew with each of three tickets she bought. Lecia Morgan bought three Money, Money, Money scratcher tickets at Wildcat 76, at Main Street and State Route 671 in Pound, after getting off work from her job there as a cashier. The first was a $50 winner; the second was for $100; the third was the big prize: $100,000.

“I thought I was going to die!” Morgan later told Lottery officials. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”

Morgan said she intends to use her winnings to pay off her mortgage and buy a new car. Kudos to Morgan for thinking somewhat sensibly – everyone would love a new set of wheels, but pay off your house so you have that security. Good luck and congratulations!

THUMBS DOWN TO:

Salmonella believed found much earlier

The salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 529 people and believed to have killed eight nationwide is now the focus of a federal criminal investigation. The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it did not know that the Georgia peanut processing plant under suspicion found salmonella in its own testing. A criminal investigation will be performed by the FDA’s criminal division and the Department of Justice.

Locally, a Kingsport, Tenn., woman who died in November might have been a victim of the salmonella outbreak. Hattie C. Fields, 78, died at a nursing home in Weber City, Va., after having a high fever and diarrhea for more than a week.

The federal investigation came after a new report surfaced about bad peanuts coming out of the Georgia plant before the health scare erupted. On Wednesday, the FDA said it wasn’t until that shipment was rejected that the FDA knew the plant was in the peanut butter business.

The FDA also said for the first time that some peanut butter on store shelves might not be safe to eat. Health officials repeated assurances that major national brands were considered safe, but said some specialty brands could be suspect.

If you have any doubt about the safety of the peanut butter on your shelf, throw it out. And if you have questions at the store, ask the store manager. This scare was originally contained to peanut butter distributed in institutional settings – hospitals, schools, nursing homes – but it is not clear how far the contamination might have spread. The federal investigation will, hopefully, provide some answers and accountability.

Octuplet mom already had six children

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she didn’t know what to do.

News accounts of Nadya Suleman, the southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets in January say she isn’t old (she’s 33) and that she has been living in a three-bedroom home with her six other children, all younger than 10. But we do think she has enough children to qualify for not knowing what to do.

Medical ethicists are debating her case, which is glaringly suspect. The single woman had fertility treatments with each of her pregnancies, including a previous set of twins. No doctor is required to give fertility treatments and no doctor with any real ethical standing would implant eight embryos into a woman he knew already had six young children at home. More than likely, this case will be discovered to be one of deceit or profit or both.

Now, 14 young children need care and attention from a woman who cannot possibly afford it. She will have to sell her story, or marry a billionaire, to cover the costs. And so far no big gifts have gone to the babies; the woman seems like a public relations nightmare. We’re not advocating rewarding the mother for her irresponsible behavior, but these babies are going to need lots of help, financial and material. The mother will need counseling and support. Get ready, because society is going to pay for this one, one way or another.