While we have yet to confirm the information, we heard yesterday that the Yadkin Valley Chamber of Commerce took an official stance on the Fibrowatt issue and decided to withdraw its support of the proposed poultry litter incinerator.

This is another blow for the company that has developed the technology to generate electricity by burning chicken poop.

The Surry County Board of County Commissioners has already suspended its support of the project until company representatives do more to convince them and the local folks it’s the right thing to do and the right place to do it.

Again, we’re a bit surprised there has been no pushback by the Fibrowatt people; not one “peep” from them. Until the company officially announces to suspend its effort to build the incinerator here, we must assume their plans haven’t changed.

However, public sentiment has, and boy has it ever, and when and if they decide to push back they will have a lot of plucking to do to see the project through.

• On a good note, early reports from the census effort has Surry and Wilkes County leading the state in mail-in returns. The wackos threatening to not participate in the constitutionally-mandated national head count don’t seem to be getting much traction here, thankfully.

• We want to applaud the efforts of the Surry County Commissioners in having the vision to improve the energy efficiency of the county-owned buildings. This week they approved the contract that will allow the installation of a solar thermal water heating system at the Surry County Judicial Center, upgrade or replace over 4,000 light fixtures, convert buildings using fuel oil for heating to natural gas, and installing an energy management system to allow better regulation of building temperatures.

Going “green” is not only does right by our planet, but it also lighten the county taxpayer burden. It was estimated the increased energy efficiency will save the county over $2.2 million over 15 years and reduce carbon emissions by 380 tons annually.

• The North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research has released its annual “effectiveness” rankings for the state’s legislators. Surry’s Republican Rep. Sarah Stevens placed 108 out of 120 members of the N.C. House of Representatives. Yadkin’s Republican Rep. Darrell G. McCormick was 113 on the list. Surry’s Republican Senator Don East, who represents Surry, Yadkin, Stokes and Allegheny, ranked 44th out of 50 on the list.

Stevens, however, was tied for first for attendance. She didn’t miss one session. McCormick was tied for 22nd. East was tied for 31st.

• It was over in just a few moments yesterday, but just as it started to rain, every stream of water running through the streets was yellow as the pollen dust was, thankfully, washed away.

Have a great weekend.

CC