WAYNE COUNTY - The Wayne County Commissioners' meeting on Tuesday quickly switched over to the Board of Assessments and Revision of Taxes to hear an assessment appeal from the Waymart Wind Farm, L.P. for their 2006 taxes.

"Pennsylvania is developing and supporting homegrown solutions through the Energy Harvest program to lessen our dependence on foreign oil," Governor Rendell said. "We can't wait for the federal government to establish a policy that gives us back our energy independence. Instead, we are acting."

Ottaway News Service

HARRISBURG -- The Kittatinny Ridge, a 185-mile forested highland linking the Delaware Water Gap, Susquehanna Water Gap and the Mason-Dixon line, is the focus of a new conservation effort.

A campaign by Pennsylvania Audubon seeks to place Kittatinny Ridge, also known as Blue Mountain, in the public consciousness as the largest uninterrupted forest area in eastern and central Pennsylvania. Kittatinny Ridge faces multiple threats from ill-planned development as well as an overabundance of deer, insect pests and illegal dumping by humans, the environmental group says.

BEDFORD - Wind turbines tentatively in the works for Brumbaugh Mountain could be directly in the flight path of the Bedford County Airport, officials said Tuesday.

THOMAS, W.Va. — Towering up to 228 feet above the Appalachian Mountain ridge — far above the treeline — are windmills lined up like marching aliens from War of the Worlds.

Up close, they emit a high-pitched hum. From a few hundred yards away, their blades — extending 115 feet from center — cause a steady whooshing sound as they cut through the air at up to 140 mph at the tips.

The first glimpse of the turbines from state Route 6 presents a surreal image like something from a Road Warrior movie.