Local News: Clarksburg, WV

 2020: A Year We Want to Forget but is it a Barometer for the Future?

  Jan. 3, 2021

  Philip Kane

  2020- what a year.  A year of lockdowns, disaster prepping and...bike stealing?

  Yes, bike stealing.  I'm sure many little kids finally got the bike of their dreams this Christmas, shiny and new, promising the freedom to race around the neighborhood, and killing the time when they should be attending school, closed due to COVID and politics.

   Little did they know, but their Christmas joy was about to turn into the awareness of the grim reality of a world where things aren't fair.

  The shiny ride that was on the porch wasn't there when they woke up, and our future- our kids, learned a terrible life lesson.. the lesson that there are many people out there who have no respect for others' property....stealing a little kid's bike to fuel their burgeoning drug habit.

  And frankly, they don't care about that little kid's feelings and work under the belief that whatever they can grab is theirs.

  And absolutely nothing is done about it. Grown men pedaling around town on a 9 year old little girl's bike is a common sight around Clarksburg, WV. 

  Normally, this would be a hilarious sight, until the realization that law and order can't or won't do anything about it. If taken to jail, the meth heads are released mere hours later to steal another bike; or worse.

  A call to 911 is a joke around here, they have no longer even tried to get a handle on the meth heads that steal, assault and terrorize the citizens of our town. 

  Ironically, the local police are now sporting new rides, sleek and shiny that WE all paid for with our taxes.  That's rich huh?  I wonder what would be done if one of THEIR brand new cruisers disappeared?

  Our kids are learning the heartbreaking lesson that no one cares about their stolen bike, or really even care about them or how their loss will affect their future.

  This is unacceptable, and perhaps we need to vote in a whole new city government that actually care about us and our children.  Officials that actually GIVE to the community rather than constantly TAKING, profiting off of everything possible to line their own pockets.

  Because this isn't just about a stolen bike, this is about our community's future. 

 We pay exorbitant taxes, and for what?  Speed traps for those headed to work and monetization of policing, instead of getting these people off the street?

  This is a much bigger issue than a little kid's bike, it's about the crumbling of our community and it's surrender to crime.  And no one seems to care about that little kid, who soon will be an adult. 

  And we wonder why our young people flee WV at the rate of around 23 people a day, just to get away from the hellhole drug addicts have made out of our neighborhoods.

  So, maybe we need to take over the policing of our city, and run these 'backpackers' out of town.  Or here is an idea...invest in some rehab centers instead of using our jails and prisons to 'rehabilitate' these thieves. 

  The problems will only get worse, and we need to come up with a solution quickly.  Our future depends on it.