Dec 16, 2013 5 min read

A look at some of the headlines gracing the pages of the Observer-Reporter and Waynesburg Republican this week in Greene County history:

No appeal in ruling

on Monon Center value

The nonprofit corporation that owns the historic Monon Center in Greensboro has decided not to appeal a court order regarding the building’s value, making it possible for Greensboro Borough to take possession of the property.

Monon Center Inc. had until Thursday to appeal a judge’s order that established the amount the borough has to pay to gain ownership of the property through eminent domain.

No appeal was filed Thursday with the Greene County court. Asked Thursday morning whether an appeal would be filed, James Minor, president of the Monon Center board, would only say “probably not.”

The borough has been attempting to gain possession of the 104-year-old stone building which it hopes to use for borough offices and a community center. The building, which houses a museum, has been closed for many years

In August 2007, the borough filed condemnation proceedings seeking to gain ownership of the building, claiming the property was deteriorating because of a lack of maintenance.

The corporation agreed not to contest the condemnation while both sides attempted to negotiate a purchase price.

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A large display of

Christmas spirit

WAYNESBURG – It started as a small village of a half-dozen houses placed under the family Christmas tree.

But over the past 20 years, Ronald Cox has built quite a miniature metropolis that fills a good portion of the basement of his home in Waynesburg.

He spends at least two to three days making the “city” every year. He starts about a month or so before Christmas, and he dismantles it after the holidays. Last month, Cox took a few days off from his job to get the display up and running.

“It does put me into the Christmas spirit,” Cox said. “I have to take it down every year, because if I leave it up, it won’t change, and I want to stay away from that.”

The display has become an attraction for his neighbors in East View, a small neighborhood just outside Waynesburg. He invites children and anyone else to visit his house and check out his collection of tiny buildings, people and vehicles.

“I do it mainly for the kids, because the kids just go nuts over it. A lot of them like to see what has changed (in the miniature village) this year,” Cox said.

The village has 86 houses and businesses as well as numerous smaller figurines. It takes up most of Cox’s game room at 13 feet by 16 feet. Water spouts from two fountains and a large waterfall.

Wreck knocks Jefferson

woman out of power, home

JEFFERSON – A car accident Sunday on Route 21 in Khedive has forced a Jefferson woman and her 7-year-old son to find a temporary home at a Waynesburg motel, and she wasn’t involved in the accident.

Tina Pitcock, 37, of 1455 E. Roy Furman Highway, will be spending at least three nights at the Super 8 Motel because her mobile home is without power.

The Red Cross made the arrangements after Allegheny Power disconnected her electric meter from the service pole that was pulled over in a 2 p.m. accident across the street from where she lives.

State police have yet to release a report on the incident, but Pitcock said a car struck an ALLTELL utility pole, severing the phone line to her home. The impact that knocked down the ALLTELL pole apparently stressed the phone line enough that the service pole holding her power line was pulled over, causing the wires to fall onto her driveway.

“Around 8 p.m., Allegheny Power came out and disconnected my meter, which meant I had no electricity and no heat,” Pitcock said. “Allegheny Power said it was not their problem – it was mine,” she said.

275 W. Greene pupils

enroll elsewhere

ROGERSVILLE – More than 21 percent of the students in the West Greene School District have enrolled in other districts, according to acting superintendent Frank Blount.

Blount said that 275 students have now left the district for schools in West Virginia and neighboring districts as the result of a teachers’ strike that began in September.

Of the 90 senior students in the district, more than 25 have transferred to other districts. Winter sports have been canceled during the strike.

The Marshall County, W.Va., school district stopped taking West Greene students Nov. 30. Wetzel and Monongalia counties in West Virginia continue to accept them, as does Central Greene School District.

Toothman refuses

hearing into school site suit

Judge Glenn R. Toothman refused a rehearing into the case of Barbara Conners of Graysville against the West Greene School Board over the selection of the site for the new elementary school at Graysville.

In arguments heard in Greene County Court, Attorney R. Wallace Maxwell, acting in behalf of Mrs. Conners, took exceptions to a ruling by Judge Toothman on an appeal to his original findings in the case.

The action, originally instituted in June 1967 was to seek an injunction against the board acquiring the Graysville site.

Since this injunction was refused Mrs. Conners has appealed on several points relating to the site.