Celebration marks Reedy’s wireless Broadband service By JIM COOPER Editor - Reedy hasn’t moved, but the small community in northern Roane County is suddenly a lot closer to everything else. “Larger companies sometimes overlook rural areas,” Maryann Rhodes, an official with WV WISP, said. “This way we can live where we want and still have access to the rest of the world.” Rhodes made the comments during a celebration Thursday to mark the completion of the company’s project to bring wireless broadband service to Reedy. Nearly 30 people, including local and state government officials, attended the invitation-only event at the Reedy Community Center. The room included 10 laptop computers provided free . . . [Click for Full story] INSIDE NEWS STORIES Changes coming in online editions Starting soon, some stories published on The Times Record and Roane County Reporter Web site will not include the full version of each story. While some stories will continue to . . . [ Full story ] Races set for school board, courthouse After a flurry of last minute filing before Saturday’s deadline, races are set for three positions on the Roane Board of Education and a like number of courthouse offices. ν . . . [ Full story ] Priest indicted on sex charges A Catholic priest from Cincinnati was indicted by a Roane grand jury last week on charges he molested a 10-year-old who traveled with him to Spencer almost 20 years ago. . . . [ Full story ] [media file] Murder case sent on to circuit court A magistrate found probable cause to send a murder charge against a Mason County man to circuit court for consideration by a grand jury after a preliminary hearing in magistrate . . . [ Full story ] Grand jury hands up 22 indictments Twenty-two persons were named in indictments returned by a Roane Grand Jury last week, including a firefighter charged with multiple counts of arson and attempted murder for setting fire to . . . [ Full story ]

Reedy residents Robert Bauer (seated) and Mike Burgess surf the Web at the community center. Photo by Jim Cooper Vote on the Issues! Should the Black Walnut Festival return to having a concert featuring a headline act? Click here and add your vote to our On-Line Poll SPORTS PAGE Fisher bounces back after first career loss Roane County standout Josh Fisher followed up the first loss of his high school career with an impressive win. Fisher wrestled a couple of key matches for the Raiders as . . . [ Full story ] Local Obituaries Published Feb. 4, 2010 Virgil Ray Beckett Virgil Ray Beckett, 54, of Millstone, died Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010 at Minnie Hamilton Health Care Systems, Grantsville. He was born in Braxton County, a son of . . . [ Full story ] News Archive Sports Archive Local Obituaries Archive

Reedy wireless Vikkie Hart (above) says her daughter Christian Starcher Seabolt, shown at left in a photo from elementary school, had dreams of becoming a singer and performer. Photo by Jim Cooper

The 2009 West Virginia Kids Count survey examined 11 indicators for the county covering the period from 2000 to 2007. Roane fared better in five of those categories and worse in six.

Overall, Roane dropped from 24th to 25th among the state’s 55 counties when compared to last year’s survey.

The county was second in the state in one indicator – the infant mortality rate – showing a 76 percent improvement since 2000. The rate for the state was 7.5 percent as compared to 1.2 percent for Roane.

The largest area of decline for the county remained the teen injury death rate (ages 15-19). The category reflected a 41.1 percent increase in such deaths since 2000 and placed Roane 53rd in the rankings, the lowest for any indicator.

Roane’s next lowest rank was in percent of children approved for free and reduced-price school meals. At 63.9 percent, the figure was above the state’s rate of 53.6 percent and earned a ranking of 49th. The county’s numbers represented a 1.3 percent decline since 2000.

Other areas of decline for Roane were in percent of low birth-weight babies (11.1 percent, rank of 8th), teen birth rate (0.4 percent, 21st), percent of births to unmarried teens (11.6 percent, 4th) and percent of births to mothers with less than a 12th grade education (0.8 percent, 44th).

Roane showed significant improvement in four other areas. The child death rate (ages 1-14) improved by 49.6 percent to rank 14th, percent of eligible children served by Head Start (ages 3-4) improved by 40.1 percent to rank 39th, the percent of high school dropouts improved by 17.4 percent to rank 32nd and the juvenile delinquency case rate (ages 10-17) improved by 20.8 percent to rank 16th.

Roane’s overall ranking of 25th placed it ahead of neighboring counties Clay (39th), Calhoun (41st) and Kanawha (50th). Jackson (5th) and Wirt (10th) earned higher rankings.

Pendleton County maintained the state’s top ranking, while Lincoln was again in last place.

In a similar ranking of states, West Virginia was 38th, up from 44th a year ago.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation launched Kids Count as a nationwide project in 1989. It was founded on the idea that the more the public and policymakers know about the status and needs of children, the greater the chance those needs would be addressed.

This year’s Kids Count is the 17th annual profile of the condition of West Virginia children. More information is available on the Web at wvkidscountfund.org.