Monday, June 01, 2009
From Mountain Lake to the Mississippi and beyond
Tom Angleberger
The New River Valley-based reporter answers your questions Mondays in his column, What's on Your Mind?
Recent columns
Q: Does Mountain Lake empty into the New River?
-- Anne West, Botetourt County
A: Er, actually we try not to use the word "empty" when talking about Mountain Lake. With all this rain, we are looking forward to the day when it is full again.
Buzz Scanlon, the manager of Mountain Lake Hotel, has seen many summers when the lake was full and the water spilled over at the far end, near the boathouse. He told me about the course the water takes from there.
The water first enters Pond Drain. The name suggests some sort of rusty pipe, but it is in fact a mountain stream.
This connects with another stream known as Little Stony. Many readers have splashed about in Little Stony, no doubt, below the point where it tumbles over a cliff, forming The Cascades.
From there it's on to the New River, which meets up with the Kanawha, which joins the Ohio, which feeds the mighty Mississippi, which takes our lake water all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Q: What happens to the money the Virginia Lottery collects each year? I think I have read that it goes to the schools, but how do we know who gets what? And how much?
-- Ellie Lerz, Daleville
A: It's been several years since I last listed the money that local schools receive from the lottery. So, let's take another look. Last year -- last fiscal year, that is, ending June 30 -- was a record year for the lottery, so there was a record amount of money to divvy up.
The Virginia Lottery pulled in nearly $1.4 billion last year. More than half went to prize winners. Small percentages went for promotion and, of course, to the stores that sell the tickets. About one-third was left for the schools, more than $455 million.
To find out "who" and "how much," anyone can download the Virginia Lottery's financial report at www.virginialottery.com/money.
Some money is put into a statewide fund and some money is sent straight to local schools. Roanoke, for example, received about $17 million; Roanoke County nearly $19 million.
A few others, in millions: Montgomery County, $12.8; Bedford County, $13.4, Bedford city, $1.4; Salem, $5.2; Botetourt County, $6.2; Rockbridge County, $3.5; Martinsville, $4.1 and Henry County, $13.
After 10 years of giving money to the schools, the Virginia Lottery is approaching the $4 billion mark.
Grammar grumblings
My husband and I went into a feed store on Saturday, and found what we were looking for: "Seed's." Seed's what? Misunderstanding and subsequent misuse of possessives and plurals pervade the English language. I hate it. Do something about it, please.
-- Katherine R. Hix, Boones Mill
Alas, if only we could do something about it. People have tried. (Check out www.apostropheabuse.com to see an effort to document the sheer scope of the mess.)
But all the Grammar Guru and I can do this week is sadly shake our head's.
"The apostrophe is misused so often that some sensibilities have been numbed," wrote retired English professor Virgil Cook. We were all taught the correct rule, he notes, so these mistakes are just carelessness.
In case you've simply forgotten the correct rule, Cook reminds us: "Use the apostrophe to show possession." (You may also use an apostrophe to indicate a missing letter or letters, i.e., o'clock.)
Got a question? Got an answer? Call Tom Angleberger at 777-6476 or send an e-mail to tomangleberger@yahoo.com. Don't forget to provide your full name, its proper spelling and your hometown.
Look for Tom Angleberger's column on Mondays.
