2010 Celebration of Internet Expansion !
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We have come a long way from dial-up, since I first approached the Patrick County Board of supervisors 13 years ago to sell them on the idea to extend Internet service to all Patrick County, not just to Stuart.
Was a hard sell, taking 6 years of convincing Elected Officials and politicians that, High-Speed Internet Service was as beneficial to the Rural Virginians as Electricity.High-Speed Internet is a necessity; simply where one chooses to live, be it City, Urban or Rural America, they deserve the same opportunity to technology.
2017 marks the 7th Anniversary of High-Speed Internet Service into the Dan River District and Patrick County.
October 11 th 2010 Congressman Boucher joined us at the Red Bank Community Building in Claudville, Va. For a celebration of Century Link extending HSI coverage to Claudville, Ararat, Willis Gap, Woolwine, Wards Gap and to Henry County line areas.
Since the initial expansion of HSI, Century Link has continued upgrades to improve speed and service.
In 2016 we secured 2.2 million dollar grant funded by a Federal Connect America program. A competitive grant that only 251 and 694 exchanges meet the criteria of eligibility.
These funds along with Century Link funding upgraded service and Internet speeds within the 251 and 694 exchanges.
Now, depending on one's area in Patrick County, HSI speeds of up to 40 meg are available from Century Link.
High-Speed Internet service is providing a tool for the many Patrick County Citizens that are taking advantage of to work from home and start-up home-based Business.
Thanks to Rick Boucher, Century Link, Mid Atlantic Broad Band, Citizens Telephone companies, Telecommunications Development Foundation, Spectrum Bridge, US Rural Development and the Virginia Tobacco Commission, we have made great strides in our endeavor to advance Patrick County's technology. Roger T Hayden, Oct 14 2017
Was a hard sell, taking 6 years of convincing Elected Officials and politicians that, High-Speed Internet Service was as beneficial to the Rural Virginians as Electricity.High-Speed Internet is a necessity; simply where one chooses to live, be it City, Urban or Rural America, they deserve the same opportunity to technology.
2017 marks the 7th Anniversary of High-Speed Internet Service into the Dan River District and Patrick County.
October 11 th 2010 Congressman Boucher joined us at the Red Bank Community Building in Claudville, Va. For a celebration of Century Link extending HSI coverage to Claudville, Ararat, Willis Gap, Woolwine, Wards Gap and to Henry County line areas.
Since the initial expansion of HSI, Century Link has continued upgrades to improve speed and service.
In 2016 we secured 2.2 million dollar grant funded by a Federal Connect America program. A competitive grant that only 251 and 694 exchanges meet the criteria of eligibility.
These funds along with Century Link funding upgraded service and Internet speeds within the 251 and 694 exchanges.
Now, depending on one's area in Patrick County, HSI speeds of up to 40 meg are available from Century Link.
High-Speed Internet service is providing a tool for the many Patrick County Citizens that are taking advantage of to work from home and start-up home-based Business.
Thanks to Rick Boucher, Century Link, Mid Atlantic Broad Band, Citizens Telephone companies, Telecommunications Development Foundation, Spectrum Bridge, US Rural Development and the Virginia Tobacco Commission, we have made great strides in our endeavor to advance Patrick County's technology. Roger T Hayden, Oct 14 2017
School Board speech 9/14/17
Thank you to the School Board for allowing me to speak tonight. As you know, I e-mailed each of you a letter a month ago yesterday highlighting some of my concerns about the pay inequalities in the school system. I reminded you, Mr. Terry, that you promised that actions such as mine would not be retaliated against…and thus far you have kept your word…and I thank you. However, I ended my letter with “Your timely response is appreciated” and to this day I still have not received a response from any of you – not even an acknowledgement of my letter. To say that I was extremely disappointed would be an understatement.
Out of frustration from not hearing from any of you after the first eight days, I sent my letter to the Board of Supervisors. Not only was my letter immediately acknowledged, but Dr. Boyce promised to request a joint meeting between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board to discuss my assertions at their upcoming meeting. I attended that Board of Supervisors meeting on Aug. 28th during which Dr. Boyce requested that meeting and Tom Rose was directed to schedule the meeting promptly.
I was absolutely shocked to read Dr. Sroufe’s response to that proposed meeting in the Aug 30th copy of The Enterprise. I quote Dr. Sroufe’s response, “My board right now is not interested in a dual meeting.” With all due respect, Dr. Sroufe, I have two serious problems with your response. First, and most importantly, this school board is not YOUR board. This school board is OUR board because we elected them to represent us. They hired you to serve at their direction; it’s not the other way around. And second, they are not your board because you didn’t vote for a single one of them because you don’t even live in our county! Furthermore, you are not a taxpayer in this county…and you don’t even have children attending any of schools now…or ever in the past!
So again, I am directing my comments tonight to the five elected School Board members. I have seven specific points to make:
I am expecting a response to all of the concerns outlined in my Aug. 13th letter from my School Board member, or Chairman Terry – not a paragraph attached to Dr. Sroufe’s e-mail that may, or may not, have even been written by Mr. Terry. (Sept. 5th) I am expecting to learn what criteria were used to award the 36.5%, 21%, 11.9%, and 5.7% raises. I hope the answer is not that Dr. Sroufe decided himself that these people deserved raises. I also hope the answer is not that the raises were a result of new titles and/or responsibilities. If that last point is true, I hereby request that teachers and staff receive title changes immediately so that Dr. Sroufe can “right a wrong” and give us 30+% raises!
Was each School Board member made aware of each raise, and if so, did each School Board member approve of each of these raises? Just last week, Ms. Annie Hylton told Ms. Susan Carlin - and Ms. Michelle Day told Mr. Warren Hawks that they didn’t know a thing about these raises. This is also in direct conflict with the paragraph that Dr. Sroufe attached to his e-mail to me on Sept 5th in which Mr. Terry allegedly said, “I can assure you that the School Board is well aware of the salaries paid to these individuals” (meaning the central office employees). It’s also strange to me that Ms. Day and Ms. Hylton both referred to Mr. Gilbert as the Director of Finance…just last week!
How can the School Board justify giving huge raises to central office employees with significantly less formal education than teachers? Not only do central office employees get huge raises while teachers receive 1% raises beginning in January, but some central office employees make significantly more money than teachers and have significantly less education! How can you look teachers in the eye…particularly those who struggle to repay student loans! And speaking of these increases, it was amazing to me how some tried to argue that the salaries and raises in my letter were incorrect when I used the data provided to me by the central office themselves! I formally requested the salary and stipend information via the Freedom of Information Act last June and paid $130 for the information. (Although I did realize that I attached Cindy William’s $12,964 stipend to the 2016/2017 school year instead of the 2015/2016 school year so her total salary would have been ONLY $92,796 instead of the $102,303.)
Is it true that some employees at the central office have their 5% retirement paid for them while all the other school employees pay their own retirement? If this is true, for which central office employees are taxpayers paying for…and at what cost? Why is there a double standard?
What does the School Board regard as its roles and responsibilities because I can’t find this information on the school or county website? Specifically, how carefully do you manage and oversee the over $30 million school budget? How is it that Dr. Sroufe seems to have a pot of money at his disposal that he uses to give raises to employees at his whim? How much money does he have at his disposal? It’s interesting that he stated in The Enterprise last week that he thought it necessary to “CENTRALIZE OUR WAY OF THINKING” …because HE “WANTED SOME ACCOUNTABLILITY” and therefore was requiring three signatures for expenditures – even for my hypothetical $5 worth of supplies. So Dr. Sroufe, I am telling you that I, TOO, WANT ACCOUNTABILITY….and I want to know how you can give huge raises to people you choose without the knowledge of all school board members! School Board members: Where is the accountability to us, THE TAXPAYERS!!!
Why is there no published organizational chart of the employees at the central office that shows the roles and responsibilities of each employee? Also, why is the central office so top-heavy? Since we moved to Patrick County in 1998, the school system has declined yet the central office continues to grow exponentially? I actually have a handout for each of the School Board members that shows exactly how top heavy our central office is. (Distribute) According to the information shown, which was obtained from the DOE website, if you look at surrounding counties with comparable student populations, our central office has FAR GREATER NUMBERS OF PERSONNEL! We have 21 personnel compared to Rockbridge with more students and 7 less people at central office. Look at Floyd with only 7 personnel at the central office. We actually have 22 central office personnel if we include the new “instructional coach”, Sara Vernon. And also note that we are the ONLY school division with an Instructional Administrator – Shannon Brown, at over $69,000/year; we are the ONLY school division with an Instructional Coordinator – Andrea Cassell- at over $78,000/year; and we are the ONLY school division with two Assistant Superintendents (Dean Gilbert & Cindy Williams) that costs $182,517/year. And have you wondered what all these central office personnel costs us taxpayers - $898,196/year …then add Sara Vernon as central office employee #22 and the total tops $900,000 per year! And Mr. Terry recently stated in yesterday’s Enterprise that our budget is extremely tight??? Well, start slashing positions in the central office and I think there will be plenty of money to start paying cafeteria workers more than a pitiful $12,000 a year or substitute bus drivers more than 25 cents above minimum wage!
Why don’t the School Board members ever ask teachers our opinions about how our educational system can be improved? Or, why don’t you ask the central office to ask teachers (in a blind survey) about how we think things can be improved? Or better yet, why can’t you or the central office ever ask us whether all the added responsibilities that they dictate down to us help us better teach our students? For example, do the laborious lesson plans that teachers are required to develop each week…for which there is a central office “spy” who apparently spends all her time (at over $69,000 a year) checking to make sure they are written in a proper format … help us better teach our students or is it a waste of time (for over $69,000 a year)? ASK TEACHERS! Here’s another example, on a personal level, I don’t need an “instructional coach” who is a former elementary math teacher trying to tell me how to better teach my high school history students. Apparently elementary teachers are NOT ready to jump on that bandwagon either. If the School Board asked Patrick Springs about their recent experiences regarding the instructional coach, I think you’ll find that her services were not highly sought after, to say the least. After all, why would they want a former math teacher trying to “coach” them on how to teach kids to read? Again, does anyone care if these new ideas actually help us better teach our children … or is it just a way to justify these high-paid positions at the central office? Again, what is the cost to the taxpayers?
In conclusion, as a teacher I am outraged by the pay inequalities throughout the school system that the School Board seemingly condones. As a taxpayer I am livid that my tax dollars are being wasted in so many ways throughout the school system…particularly in the central office. Where is the oversight? Who is conducting the financial audit? Is the audit a line-by-line audit? If not, why not? How can I receive a detailed copy of the latest audit? One thing I want to find out, for example, is whether taxpayers have paid for advanced degrees for people at the central office.
And finally, if there is any School Board member who is not up to the task of rectifying these problems, I encourage you to resign tonight so that we can elect people who are up to the job. It is often quoted that our children are our future, so if Patrick County truly wants to have a bright future, we had better take immediate steps to improve the education of our children by ensuring that they have qualified and fairly paid teachers or we will only accelerate the already high teacher turnover rate.
Thank you.
Nancy M. Carlson
Thank you to the School Board for allowing me to speak tonight. As you know, I e-mailed each of you a letter a month ago yesterday highlighting some of my concerns about the pay inequalities in the school system. I reminded you, Mr. Terry, that you promised that actions such as mine would not be retaliated against…and thus far you have kept your word…and I thank you. However, I ended my letter with “Your timely response is appreciated” and to this day I still have not received a response from any of you – not even an acknowledgement of my letter. To say that I was extremely disappointed would be an understatement.
Out of frustration from not hearing from any of you after the first eight days, I sent my letter to the Board of Supervisors. Not only was my letter immediately acknowledged, but Dr. Boyce promised to request a joint meeting between the Board of Supervisors and the School Board to discuss my assertions at their upcoming meeting. I attended that Board of Supervisors meeting on Aug. 28th during which Dr. Boyce requested that meeting and Tom Rose was directed to schedule the meeting promptly.
I was absolutely shocked to read Dr. Sroufe’s response to that proposed meeting in the Aug 30th copy of The Enterprise. I quote Dr. Sroufe’s response, “My board right now is not interested in a dual meeting.” With all due respect, Dr. Sroufe, I have two serious problems with your response. First, and most importantly, this school board is not YOUR board. This school board is OUR board because we elected them to represent us. They hired you to serve at their direction; it’s not the other way around. And second, they are not your board because you didn’t vote for a single one of them because you don’t even live in our county! Furthermore, you are not a taxpayer in this county…and you don’t even have children attending any of schools now…or ever in the past!
So again, I am directing my comments tonight to the five elected School Board members. I have seven specific points to make:
I am expecting a response to all of the concerns outlined in my Aug. 13th letter from my School Board member, or Chairman Terry – not a paragraph attached to Dr. Sroufe’s e-mail that may, or may not, have even been written by Mr. Terry. (Sept. 5th) I am expecting to learn what criteria were used to award the 36.5%, 21%, 11.9%, and 5.7% raises. I hope the answer is not that Dr. Sroufe decided himself that these people deserved raises. I also hope the answer is not that the raises were a result of new titles and/or responsibilities. If that last point is true, I hereby request that teachers and staff receive title changes immediately so that Dr. Sroufe can “right a wrong” and give us 30+% raises!
Was each School Board member made aware of each raise, and if so, did each School Board member approve of each of these raises? Just last week, Ms. Annie Hylton told Ms. Susan Carlin - and Ms. Michelle Day told Mr. Warren Hawks that they didn’t know a thing about these raises. This is also in direct conflict with the paragraph that Dr. Sroufe attached to his e-mail to me on Sept 5th in which Mr. Terry allegedly said, “I can assure you that the School Board is well aware of the salaries paid to these individuals” (meaning the central office employees). It’s also strange to me that Ms. Day and Ms. Hylton both referred to Mr. Gilbert as the Director of Finance…just last week!
How can the School Board justify giving huge raises to central office employees with significantly less formal education than teachers? Not only do central office employees get huge raises while teachers receive 1% raises beginning in January, but some central office employees make significantly more money than teachers and have significantly less education! How can you look teachers in the eye…particularly those who struggle to repay student loans! And speaking of these increases, it was amazing to me how some tried to argue that the salaries and raises in my letter were incorrect when I used the data provided to me by the central office themselves! I formally requested the salary and stipend information via the Freedom of Information Act last June and paid $130 for the information. (Although I did realize that I attached Cindy William’s $12,964 stipend to the 2016/2017 school year instead of the 2015/2016 school year so her total salary would have been ONLY $92,796 instead of the $102,303.)
Is it true that some employees at the central office have their 5% retirement paid for them while all the other school employees pay their own retirement? If this is true, for which central office employees are taxpayers paying for…and at what cost? Why is there a double standard?
What does the School Board regard as its roles and responsibilities because I can’t find this information on the school or county website? Specifically, how carefully do you manage and oversee the over $30 million school budget? How is it that Dr. Sroufe seems to have a pot of money at his disposal that he uses to give raises to employees at his whim? How much money does he have at his disposal? It’s interesting that he stated in The Enterprise last week that he thought it necessary to “CENTRALIZE OUR WAY OF THINKING” …because HE “WANTED SOME ACCOUNTABLILITY” and therefore was requiring three signatures for expenditures – even for my hypothetical $5 worth of supplies. So Dr. Sroufe, I am telling you that I, TOO, WANT ACCOUNTABILITY….and I want to know how you can give huge raises to people you choose without the knowledge of all school board members! School Board members: Where is the accountability to us, THE TAXPAYERS!!!
Why is there no published organizational chart of the employees at the central office that shows the roles and responsibilities of each employee? Also, why is the central office so top-heavy? Since we moved to Patrick County in 1998, the school system has declined yet the central office continues to grow exponentially? I actually have a handout for each of the School Board members that shows exactly how top heavy our central office is. (Distribute) According to the information shown, which was obtained from the DOE website, if you look at surrounding counties with comparable student populations, our central office has FAR GREATER NUMBERS OF PERSONNEL! We have 21 personnel compared to Rockbridge with more students and 7 less people at central office. Look at Floyd with only 7 personnel at the central office. We actually have 22 central office personnel if we include the new “instructional coach”, Sara Vernon. And also note that we are the ONLY school division with an Instructional Administrator – Shannon Brown, at over $69,000/year; we are the ONLY school division with an Instructional Coordinator – Andrea Cassell- at over $78,000/year; and we are the ONLY school division with two Assistant Superintendents (Dean Gilbert & Cindy Williams) that costs $182,517/year. And have you wondered what all these central office personnel costs us taxpayers - $898,196/year …then add Sara Vernon as central office employee #22 and the total tops $900,000 per year! And Mr. Terry recently stated in yesterday’s Enterprise that our budget is extremely tight??? Well, start slashing positions in the central office and I think there will be plenty of money to start paying cafeteria workers more than a pitiful $12,000 a year or substitute bus drivers more than 25 cents above minimum wage!
Why don’t the School Board members ever ask teachers our opinions about how our educational system can be improved? Or, why don’t you ask the central office to ask teachers (in a blind survey) about how we think things can be improved? Or better yet, why can’t you or the central office ever ask us whether all the added responsibilities that they dictate down to us help us better teach our students? For example, do the laborious lesson plans that teachers are required to develop each week…for which there is a central office “spy” who apparently spends all her time (at over $69,000 a year) checking to make sure they are written in a proper format … help us better teach our students or is it a waste of time (for over $69,000 a year)? ASK TEACHERS! Here’s another example, on a personal level, I don’t need an “instructional coach” who is a former elementary math teacher trying to tell me how to better teach my high school history students. Apparently elementary teachers are NOT ready to jump on that bandwagon either. If the School Board asked Patrick Springs about their recent experiences regarding the instructional coach, I think you’ll find that her services were not highly sought after, to say the least. After all, why would they want a former math teacher trying to “coach” them on how to teach kids to read? Again, does anyone care if these new ideas actually help us better teach our children … or is it just a way to justify these high-paid positions at the central office? Again, what is the cost to the taxpayers?
In conclusion, as a teacher I am outraged by the pay inequalities throughout the school system that the School Board seemingly condones. As a taxpayer I am livid that my tax dollars are being wasted in so many ways throughout the school system…particularly in the central office. Where is the oversight? Who is conducting the financial audit? Is the audit a line-by-line audit? If not, why not? How can I receive a detailed copy of the latest audit? One thing I want to find out, for example, is whether taxpayers have paid for advanced degrees for people at the central office.
And finally, if there is any School Board member who is not up to the task of rectifying these problems, I encourage you to resign tonight so that we can elect people who are up to the job. It is often quoted that our children are our future, so if Patrick County truly wants to have a bright future, we had better take immediate steps to improve the education of our children by ensuring that they have qualified and fairly paid teachers or we will only accelerate the already high teacher turnover rate.
Thank you.
Nancy M. Carlson
A couple of articles written lately brought up the so called Climate change Is it real or fake or just Political?
I remember back in '92 when the United Nations meet in Rio and wrote Agenda 21" Sustainable Development" and signed off by several countries." https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pd"
At that time we the people were told that United States Congress must ratify the agenda before implementing. Do not recollect Congress doing so. However, do see the effects of implementing by Executive Order. Sustainable Development is basically a plan to control and rule all aspects of our life including public education, Environment, where one lives,(Furthering Fair Housing) ,Freedoms, Values, Religion, migration and more.
After several revisions it is now Agenda 21/30 Paris Accord as it was yet again rewritten. President pulled Federal Government out of Paris accord, However, some States, Counties and Cities are pushing the Paris agenda including Virginia!.
Socialist agenda to rule our lives, Our Rights, Freedoms , Privileges, and way of life has slowly eroded since '92. Our Jobs, Manufacturing Businesses are virtual gone.
Remember NAFTA? Kinda odd how NAFTA happened at the same time Agenda 21 was written?
North American Free Trade Agreement was, according to the media and politicians, provide more US jobs? How that work out for you?
Reverse effect, siphoned off our jobs and lively-hood to Foreign soil!
Paris Agreement is just more of the same, all about control,power money, making many politicians rich, while making more people poor!
We must start at the Local Level and not allow this in Patrick!
December 4, 2009Claudville, VA -A new project could bring high-speed Internet to rural areas -- and souped-up service to urban dwellers. From Blue Ridge Business Journal. Nov. 30, 2009
Notes under Picture: Roger Hayden (right) supervisor-elect of Patrick County's Dan River district and director of the Claudville Computer Center, and Johnny Marion (left) take advantage of the free Internet access at the Claudville Cafe. The cafe is one of a handful of Claudville businesses participating in a project that could bring high-speed access to the rural community -- and souped-up broadband to urban areasBuried amid the hoopla surrounding the transition to digital television is what could become a nugget of rural broadband gold. Photo credit:Brett Winter Lemon It’s called white space, industry lingo for the unused TV spectrum left after the switch from analog to digital. And now that the transition is almost complete, technology companies are hoping to use the freed space to transmit high-speed broadband signals to some of the most isolated parts of the country — while concurrently entertaining visions of a “WiFi on steroids� for the rest of America. The first on the list: Claudville, Va., population 913. (This is the first white-space test in America. Claudville Computer Center is hosted by the Red Bank Ruritan Club. The center, which offers high-speed Internet service and five computers, was launched in September thanks to a grant from the TDF Foundation) “It’s not an extravagant, expensive project,� said U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon. “It just involves some transmitting equipment that is placed in a Ruritan building.� The pilot project, headed by Florida-based technology firm Spectrum Bridge, could bring high-speed Internet access to a population that currently has little, a phenomenon that Patrick County officials claim has exacerbated the problems of industries and schools. “We have waited and have fallen far behind communities that have many choices for high-speed connectivity which keep or bring new jobs to their people,� said county supervisor Jonathan Large in testimony before Congress in April. Roger Hayden, supervisor-elect of the Dan River district, added at a press conference last month that in 2004 he called every Internet carrier he could find, but no one was willing to offer high-speed Internet access to Claudville. Claudville-area officials also previously applied for grants through the Agriculture Department’s Rural Community Connect Program but were denied, most recently in 2007, because a single house in the community had an Internet connection, Large said. In September 2009, the TDF Foundation funded construction of a computer center, which offered limited high-speed Internet access in a building on the outskirts of town. That effort created a domino effect and culminated in the Spectrum pilot project, Large said. The general lack of interest from Internet providers is commonly driven by economics, said Charles Bostian, a professor of computer and electrical engineering at Virginia Tech. “It’s about the same reason that there’s not airline service to Claudville,� he said. Bridging the last mile The white space initiative, the first of its kind in the nation, arises from a controversial decision last year by the Federal Communications Commission to allow the use of white space without a license. The amount of usable white space, which is determined by the number of broadcasters in a region, could provide a unique way to offer broadband to geographically isolated towns because of the signal’s ability to penetrate walls, trees and other objects. Traditionally, TV signals are stronger and broadcast a greater distance than traditional WiFi. “Opening the white spaces will allow for the creation of a WiFi on steroids. It has the potential to improve wireless broadband connectivity and inspire an ever-widening array of new Internet based products and services for consumers,� former FCC chairman Kevin Martin said after the 2008 decision. “Consumers across the country will have access to devices and services that they may have only dreamed about before.� On a smaller scale, white space is just one of a slew of options to bring what industry officials call the “last mile� of broadband connectivity to rural areas. In most cases a “middle mile� extends fiber optic cable or microwaves from the boundaries of wireless providers to the edge of a town. Other last mile technologies include WiFi, WiMax or a more expensive expansion of existing fiber optics by a cable or phone company. For now, consumers in places like Claudville connect to the Internet through a slow dial-up connection or pricey satellite service. White space technology could be a popular low-cost alternative, Boucher said. A September study estimated that white space could generate billions of dollars in economic benefits to the United States over the next 15 years. That study, commissioned by Microsoft, estimated that a best-case scenario could result in almost $15 billion of annual economic value. The study also found that the addition of white spaces could increase between 9 percent and 22 percent the amount of unlicensed WiFi spectrum available for a typical U.S. location. Concerns about interference A handful of groups oppose use of white space, including broadcasters who fear interference and sports leagues and megachurch pastors who rely on wireless microphones that use the same airwaves. “Our concern as broadcasters is that our business model is based on the ability for our station to serve a crystal-clear� signal, said Kris Jones, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters. “If interference is coming from some unlicensed device, that poses a problem for us.� Spectrum Bridge claims the project won’t cause interference with local TV signals because of an “intelligent white spaces design,� which allows white space transmitters to adapt almost immediately to new TV broadcasts. Others oppose white space as a broadband alternative for reasons related to property-based use of the airwaves. The controversy is whether those airwaves are held by a private group, spectrum manager or the public. “Traditionally, TV broadcasters have had property rights in their spectrum,� Bostian said. “If nobody has any property rights I guess nobody owns it.� The risk there, Bostian said, is that anyone could use the spectrum and there would be no guarantee their system wouldn’t interfere with similar systems. Spectrum officials said the Claudville system cost about $40,000 to set up and install but estimate that the technology would be much cheaper to consumers if it were manufactured and sold in mass volumes. During the 18-month pilot project, a local cafe, a school and a handful of home-based businesses will have high-speed Internet access. Michelle Lawson, owner of the Claudville Cafe, said she has seen an increase in foot traffic from people coming in to use the Internet, including job seekers and high school students doing their homework. “We are getting reports of rock-solid connections even in heavy rain,� said Rick Rotondo, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Spectrum Bridge. Rotondo added that people have reported a connection five times stronger and more reliable than satellite connections. Changing perceptions of the Internet That strong signal, if reliable, could propel white space Internet technology well beyond rural Patrick County and into the homes and businesses of urbanites, Rotondo said. Cities could use the unused spectrum for broadband that penetrates large buildings, office and industrial facilities. Some have gone as far to say that white space technology could change the way Americans think of the Internet. Shelly Palmer, a national technology consultant and commentator, said successful white space technology could result in “a world where there would be no concept of Internet and broadband but of connected and not connected devices.� It could, for example, allow a user to turn on the lights in her home and open the garage door before she leaves work. Or to purchase a PDA or cellphone and not have to worry about what supplementary wireless plan is needed to make the device work, he said. But that world is a long way off. White space technology used in large cities could face roadblocks in the form of transmitters hidden behind skyscrapers and ongoing battles about who owns the airwaves, Bostian said. Additionally, the technology has not been tested beyond Claudville. “Ninety percent of what this thing needs to do, you haven’t built,� Palmer said. For more information about the white space project, visit www.rogerthayden.com or spectrumbridge.com Here is the link to the Blue Ridge Business Journal, November 2009 edition: http://view.vcab.com/showvcab.aspx?vcabID=cllSpaclSgjhcl
I remember back in '92 when the United Nations meet in Rio and wrote Agenda 21" Sustainable Development" and signed off by several countries." https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pd"
At that time we the people were told that United States Congress must ratify the agenda before implementing. Do not recollect Congress doing so. However, do see the effects of implementing by Executive Order. Sustainable Development is basically a plan to control and rule all aspects of our life including public education, Environment, where one lives,(Furthering Fair Housing) ,Freedoms, Values, Religion, migration and more.
After several revisions it is now Agenda 21/30 Paris Accord as it was yet again rewritten. President pulled Federal Government out of Paris accord, However, some States, Counties and Cities are pushing the Paris agenda including Virginia!.
Socialist agenda to rule our lives, Our Rights, Freedoms , Privileges, and way of life has slowly eroded since '92. Our Jobs, Manufacturing Businesses are virtual gone.
Remember NAFTA? Kinda odd how NAFTA happened at the same time Agenda 21 was written?
North American Free Trade Agreement was, according to the media and politicians, provide more US jobs? How that work out for you?
Reverse effect, siphoned off our jobs and lively-hood to Foreign soil!
Paris Agreement is just more of the same, all about control,power money, making many politicians rich, while making more people poor!
We must start at the Local Level and not allow this in Patrick!
- WiFi on steroids: Delivering broadband to rural Virginia
December 4, 2009Claudville, VA -A new project could bring high-speed Internet to rural areas -- and souped-up service to urban dwellers. From Blue Ridge Business Journal. Nov. 30, 2009
Notes under Picture: Roger Hayden (right) supervisor-elect of Patrick County's Dan River district and director of the Claudville Computer Center, and Johnny Marion (left) take advantage of the free Internet access at the Claudville Cafe. The cafe is one of a handful of Claudville businesses participating in a project that could bring high-speed access to the rural community -- and souped-up broadband to urban areasBuried amid the hoopla surrounding the transition to digital television is what could become a nugget of rural broadband gold. Photo credit:Brett Winter Lemon It’s called white space, industry lingo for the unused TV spectrum left after the switch from analog to digital. And now that the transition is almost complete, technology companies are hoping to use the freed space to transmit high-speed broadband signals to some of the most isolated parts of the country — while concurrently entertaining visions of a “WiFi on steroids� for the rest of America. The first on the list: Claudville, Va., population 913. (This is the first white-space test in America. Claudville Computer Center is hosted by the Red Bank Ruritan Club. The center, which offers high-speed Internet service and five computers, was launched in September thanks to a grant from the TDF Foundation) “It’s not an extravagant, expensive project,� said U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon. “It just involves some transmitting equipment that is placed in a Ruritan building.� The pilot project, headed by Florida-based technology firm Spectrum Bridge, could bring high-speed Internet access to a population that currently has little, a phenomenon that Patrick County officials claim has exacerbated the problems of industries and schools. “We have waited and have fallen far behind communities that have many choices for high-speed connectivity which keep or bring new jobs to their people,� said county supervisor Jonathan Large in testimony before Congress in April. Roger Hayden, supervisor-elect of the Dan River district, added at a press conference last month that in 2004 he called every Internet carrier he could find, but no one was willing to offer high-speed Internet access to Claudville. Claudville-area officials also previously applied for grants through the Agriculture Department’s Rural Community Connect Program but were denied, most recently in 2007, because a single house in the community had an Internet connection, Large said. In September 2009, the TDF Foundation funded construction of a computer center, which offered limited high-speed Internet access in a building on the outskirts of town. That effort created a domino effect and culminated in the Spectrum pilot project, Large said. The general lack of interest from Internet providers is commonly driven by economics, said Charles Bostian, a professor of computer and electrical engineering at Virginia Tech. “It’s about the same reason that there’s not airline service to Claudville,� he said. Bridging the last mile The white space initiative, the first of its kind in the nation, arises from a controversial decision last year by the Federal Communications Commission to allow the use of white space without a license. The amount of usable white space, which is determined by the number of broadcasters in a region, could provide a unique way to offer broadband to geographically isolated towns because of the signal’s ability to penetrate walls, trees and other objects. Traditionally, TV signals are stronger and broadcast a greater distance than traditional WiFi. “Opening the white spaces will allow for the creation of a WiFi on steroids. It has the potential to improve wireless broadband connectivity and inspire an ever-widening array of new Internet based products and services for consumers,� former FCC chairman Kevin Martin said after the 2008 decision. “Consumers across the country will have access to devices and services that they may have only dreamed about before.� On a smaller scale, white space is just one of a slew of options to bring what industry officials call the “last mile� of broadband connectivity to rural areas. In most cases a “middle mile� extends fiber optic cable or microwaves from the boundaries of wireless providers to the edge of a town. Other last mile technologies include WiFi, WiMax or a more expensive expansion of existing fiber optics by a cable or phone company. For now, consumers in places like Claudville connect to the Internet through a slow dial-up connection or pricey satellite service. White space technology could be a popular low-cost alternative, Boucher said. A September study estimated that white space could generate billions of dollars in economic benefits to the United States over the next 15 years. That study, commissioned by Microsoft, estimated that a best-case scenario could result in almost $15 billion of annual economic value. The study also found that the addition of white spaces could increase between 9 percent and 22 percent the amount of unlicensed WiFi spectrum available for a typical U.S. location. Concerns about interference A handful of groups oppose use of white space, including broadcasters who fear interference and sports leagues and megachurch pastors who rely on wireless microphones that use the same airwaves. “Our concern as broadcasters is that our business model is based on the ability for our station to serve a crystal-clear� signal, said Kris Jones, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters. “If interference is coming from some unlicensed device, that poses a problem for us.� Spectrum Bridge claims the project won’t cause interference with local TV signals because of an “intelligent white spaces design,� which allows white space transmitters to adapt almost immediately to new TV broadcasts. Others oppose white space as a broadband alternative for reasons related to property-based use of the airwaves. The controversy is whether those airwaves are held by a private group, spectrum manager or the public. “Traditionally, TV broadcasters have had property rights in their spectrum,� Bostian said. “If nobody has any property rights I guess nobody owns it.� The risk there, Bostian said, is that anyone could use the spectrum and there would be no guarantee their system wouldn’t interfere with similar systems. Spectrum officials said the Claudville system cost about $40,000 to set up and install but estimate that the technology would be much cheaper to consumers if it were manufactured and sold in mass volumes. During the 18-month pilot project, a local cafe, a school and a handful of home-based businesses will have high-speed Internet access. Michelle Lawson, owner of the Claudville Cafe, said she has seen an increase in foot traffic from people coming in to use the Internet, including job seekers and high school students doing their homework. “We are getting reports of rock-solid connections even in heavy rain,� said Rick Rotondo, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Spectrum Bridge. Rotondo added that people have reported a connection five times stronger and more reliable than satellite connections. Changing perceptions of the Internet That strong signal, if reliable, could propel white space Internet technology well beyond rural Patrick County and into the homes and businesses of urbanites, Rotondo said. Cities could use the unused spectrum for broadband that penetrates large buildings, office and industrial facilities. Some have gone as far to say that white space technology could change the way Americans think of the Internet. Shelly Palmer, a national technology consultant and commentator, said successful white space technology could result in “a world where there would be no concept of Internet and broadband but of connected and not connected devices.� It could, for example, allow a user to turn on the lights in her home and open the garage door before she leaves work. Or to purchase a PDA or cellphone and not have to worry about what supplementary wireless plan is needed to make the device work, he said. But that world is a long way off. White space technology used in large cities could face roadblocks in the form of transmitters hidden behind skyscrapers and ongoing battles about who owns the airwaves, Bostian said. Additionally, the technology has not been tested beyond Claudville. “Ninety percent of what this thing needs to do, you haven’t built,� Palmer said. For more information about the white space project, visit www.rogerthayden.com or spectrumbridge.com Here is the link to the Blue Ridge Business Journal, November 2009 edition: http://view.vcab.com/showvcab.aspx?vcabID=cllSpaclSgjhcl
News to Use |
Patrick County Board of Supervisors meeting, Monday June12 217
-- I Ask for discussion of EMS! and made the statement statement;" We BOS have kicked around EMS problems long enough, Time has come, as July fast approaching" then I introduced a motion ;" BOS subsidize EMS Fire/Rescue$40.00 per call divided by the responders.", Boyce second the motion, there was no discussion other than myself, at which time I said that, you all have been wanting to help volunteers, they deserve better than a pat on the back! This is your chance. No response, I and Boyce voted for the motion,the Stuart Supervisors Weise,Harris, Fulcher voted against the motion. Motion Failed Then I introduced a second motion ,{ BOS subsidize EMS Fire/Rescue $40.00 per cal divided between the responders"start up the back up Ambulance in Stuart run during day hours 5 days a week to back up Volunteers"}. Thad did not even get a second, nor no debate from the Stuart Representatives. I then ask the the Board to amend the motion if they desired, no one spoke up, Motion failed. I thought they wanted to HELP KEEP OUR VOLUNTEER SYSTEM, seems like they want to run off all the volunteers! Their silence speaks volumes. Would not be surprised if these 3 come back in July and initiate a fully paid 24/7 service for Stuart that our Tax Payer can not afford. At a projected cost of $500,000 for one Ambulance to operate one year. It is not all about Stuart Area, it is about Patrick County and maintaining and supporting our Volunteer system! Why should Volunteers work for free and other EMS get paid? Disgusted with the outcome. Regards, Roger |
By STEPHEN MOORE If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government. click here
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704050204576219073867182108.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUu98UWWBbU
We were honored here in Claudville to have the first site Developed and constructed by Spectrum Bridge, Site uses new equipment manufactured and engineered by Spectrum Bridge, to test and prove to the FCC that White Space Technology will be an asset to deliver High Speed Internet.
Thursday, January 27, 2011 Spectrum Bridge Selected as TV Bands Device Database Administrator Yesterday, an order was released by the Federal Communications Commission and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) conditionally appointing Spectrum Bridge as a TV White Spaces Database Administrator. This follows the FCC’s unanimous approval of the white spaces rules from September 23rd, allowing for the use of unused TV spectrum by new broadband networks and devices. Click here for the rest of the Story....... use the back button to return.
Thursday, January 27, 2011 Spectrum Bridge Selected as TV Bands Device Database Administrator Yesterday, an order was released by the Federal Communications Commission and the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) conditionally appointing Spectrum Bridge as a TV White Spaces Database Administrator. This follows the FCC’s unanimous approval of the white spaces rules from September 23rd, allowing for the use of unused TV spectrum by new broadband networks and devices. Click here for the rest of the Story....... use the back button to return.
Local News links for Patrick County:
http://www.theenterprise.net/index.htm
http://www.wheo.info/News.htm To enlarge pic and read caption, pan over pic and click.
http://www.theenterprise.net/index.htm
http://www.wheo.info/News.htm To enlarge pic and read caption, pan over pic and click.
Primland is featured in 2011 Southern Living, Clink Link Below..........
Wish You Were Here: Primland Resort Hit the links or get the star treatment in the spa at this secluded Virginia mountaintop resort.
