by I. B. Lyon

There is a bizarre missing person case in Valley City right now. Ruffel Fethers is considered a missing person as of yesterday morning. Fethers is a self-employed lawn care specialist. He’s known around The Valley for his provocative social media posts. He seems to thrive on stirring the pot and riling people up on social media. The interesting thing about Fethers’ case is that many feel he announced or foretold his disappearance.

The Valley City police think the genesis of Fethers’ disappearance is his Facebook post about Buc-ee’s. If you don’t know about Buc-ee’s, you’ve been living under a rock and definitely don’t get out much! Everyone loves Buc-ee’s including all the foreigners visiting the U.S. for the World Cup. Many foreigners visiting America for the first time have prioritized visiting Buc-ee’s, and they love it. Many have posted videos praising Buc-ee’s that have gone viral on social media. Well, Mr. Fethers had a much different view about Buc-ee’s than just about everyone in the U.S. and the world.

On Monday, Fethers posted on Facebook, “BUC-EE’S SUCKS! Yep, I said it.” Many of Fethers’ 2,300 followers immediately started commenting and blasting him. People started sharing his post, and it went mega viral. 99.73% of the comments did not agree with Fethers. They all heaped praise on the American institution of Buc-ee’s. As of writing this article, the post has over 1.7 million views.

Fethers made a post the following day, Tuesday, and it obviously had a cryptic message. Fethers posted, “Adios Amigos!” No one has had contact with Fethers since Tuesday, and no one knows his whereabouts. I reached out to his family, and they said they haven’t talked with him since Tuesday morning. He talked with his mom briefly, and they discussed his viral post. He told his mom he loved her. His mom said, “He’s obviously turned his phone off or he’s deleted Life360. I have no idea where he is. If anyone has any info, please reach out to the Valley City Police or Valley County Sheriff’s Dept.”

Fethers’ friend who wanted to remain anonymous said, “Ruffel can be pretty compulsive and spontaneous, so you never know what he may do. I think he’s probably fine. He’s probably in Mexico somewhere drinking a Corona or margarita. But, he obviously didn’t expect that much blow back from his dumb, un-American post. He obviously couldn’t take the heat, so he fled the kitchen.”

One Facebook commenter said, “This may be the largest self-inflicted wound in history. You DO NOT criticize or demean Buc-ee’s. Buc-ee’s is by far the best thing since sliced bread. I bet this guy went to a FBI office and begged to get put into the witness protection program. He’s probably already in Idaho in the wilderness right now hanging out with Epstein and Jimmy Hoffa. He can’t come back from this. No way!”

This is considered a missing person case now, and if you have any information about Fethers’ whereabouts, please contact the Valley County Sheriff’s Dept., Valley City Police, MBI, or the FBI. Fethers’ green Ford Fiesta is missing, so it’s assumed he’s driving it. His family is anxious to locate him, and his customers need their grass to be cut.

by Heeza de Seaver

Today, generally both mom and dad work, so many parents need a babysitter during the summer. Many parents use teenage girls to babysit their kids during the summer. Most of the time, the teenage babysitter is a relative, family friend, or fellow church member of the family needing a babysitter. Also, the babysitter is paid cash or with Venmo or Cashapp. It’s a pretty informal agreement, and it’s generally a pretty easy job for the babysitters. But, things have just gotten more complicated for some families in The Valley using babysitters.

Five teenage girls have formed the Professional Childcare Union of The Valley (PCUV) to push for higher wages and better benefits. PCUV was formed by Ariana Greadie, a 17 year old babysitter from Valley City. So far, Greadie has 4 other young ladies that have joined the union, but she plans to have many more before the end of the summer.

Greadie said, “I’ve always been an advocate for those that are oppressed and taken advantage of, and I felt it was time for us young babysitters to organize, rise up, and get what is rightfully ours. PCUV is just getting started, but we’re going to be a force pretty soon. Many people think I’m greedy and ungrateful, and they think my parents need to step in. But, I’m here to fight for the rights of young babysitters in The Valley. Hopefully, PCUV will grow beyond The Valley real soon.”

PCUV has some demands for the parents they work for. They include: minimum $20/hour pay, no more pay by the day or week, payments must be by cash, Venmo, or Cashapp, tips are strongly encouraged, wifi (withholding passwords is not allowed), free access to a pool within 2 miles of parents’ house, mandatory naps of 1 hour or longer for kids age 5 and under, no cooking, babysitting sessions of 5 hours or less must pay $25/hour. Many parents are concerned about the PCUV.

One mom said, “Our babysitter informed us a couple days ago that she had joined PCUV. She’s demanding $20/hour, access to a pool, and no more cooking. We’ve been paying her $50/day so far this summer, and she ain’t worth that. And, now you can’t cook little Ethan a grilled cheese? Really? I don’t think her parents even know she’s joined this “union.” Anyway, we’ll be looking for a non-union babysitter now.”

One dad added, “This has to be a joke right? Did this girl’s mom put her up to this? I thought we messed up when hired our babysitter, and I know we messed up now. She had blue hair and Kamala and Bernie Sanders bumper stickers, and now she told us she’s joining the PCUV. She’s got a bunch of insane demands. I informed her yesterday that it was her last day. I don’t know what we’re gonna do. All the daycares I’ve called are full. I guess Bella Grace may have to stay home by herself until we find someone. I know she’s only 8, but you gotta do what you gotta do.”

It will be interesting to see if the PCUV continues to grow this summer. It appears families are not too pleased with them. But, will they a choice but to deal with the PCUV?

by Emma Embellischer

Everyone is on social media these days. We all spend way too much time scrolling through social media wasting our lives away. But, many people are making money on social media. These so-called influencers are all over social media, and more and more people are wanting to learn how to monetize their social media profiles. The Valley Technology Institute (Valley Tech) has decided to offer a 3 week course this summer to help these folks out.

For a small community college, Valley Tech is on the cutting edge. We’ve written about an innovative course they’ve offered before. Valley Tech’s President Dr. Mark Boyce said, “We’re here to help our community, and we always try to listen to the community. We’ve gotten multiple requests to form a social media class. We’ve never offered anything like that, but I said if we got 10 people to sign up that we’d do it. Well, we got 14 people to sign up, so we’re going to offer the class- Social Media Influencer 101. The class will begin on June 15th, and it will last for 3 weeks.”

The course will cover the items below.

Week 1: Defining Your Niche, Platform Selection, Profile Optimization

Week 2: Production Basics, Editing & Aesthetics, Anatomy of a Viral Hook, Building a Content Calendar

Week 3: Algorithm Optimization, Audience Engagement, Brand Pitching, Ethics

The course will be taught by psychology instructor Benji Rush, and it will cost $150. Rush said, “I’m excited to teach this course. My cat, Obi-Wan, and I have managed to get a following on social media, and it’ll be fun to pass on the knowledge that I’ve gained on my social media journey. One thing I’ll say now is that it really helps to incorporate animals, because I’m not really that interesting. But, people love Obi-Wan and his crazy antics.”

I was able to talk with a couple of the students that signed up for the course. Mary Sue Stewart, a 68 year old grandmother said, “I can’t wait to take this course. My husband said it was retarded, but he thinks just about everything these days is retarded. I’ve told my kids and grandkids about it, and they think I’ve lost my mind. But, I think I’m a good cook, and I think I’m funny. So, why shouldn’t I be able to build a social media following? I’m gonna give it a go and see what happens.”

A young lady said, “I’m really hoping this course will help me. I’ve been trying hard to build a brand and following on social media, but it’s so hard. I only have 111 followers on my Instagram page, and I only have 126 followers on Tiktok. Do I need to cut my hair? Is it my voice? Do I need to edit by videos better? Do I need to do a BlueSky or Threads profile? I’m hoping to find the answers to these questions. I’d really like to quit my job and be a full-time influencer. We’ll see what happens.”

A young man in the corporate world said, “I’m gonna give this course a try. I’ve been an assistant manager for 3 years now, and I really want to move up the corporate ladder. I think LinkedIn could really help with that. So, I’m looking to optimize my LinkedIn profile, and hopefully find new opportunities.”

Dr. Boyce said that they may offer the course a second time in July if the demand is there. Call 1-800-530-7665 or email Mr. Rush ([email protected]) for more info.

by Ima Phibber

Summer is here, and that means Vacation Bible School (VBS) season is here as well. Many parents send their kids to multiple VBS sessions at different churches. Valley County Baptist Association (VCBA) has decided to create an award or contest for kids that attend VBS at multiple churches in Valley County. They have named it the VBS Quest Award.

VCBA Missions Director Chuck Spurgeon said, “VBS is one the most important things us Southern Baptists do. Thousands of believers have been saved over the years through VBS. We wanted to encourage the kids and parents in Valley County to attend as many VBS sessions as possible this summer, so that’s why we created the VBS Quest Award. We hope to hear multiple stories of kids coming to Jesus with this award being the catalyst for those conversion stories.”

The VBS Quest Award will be awarded to a child or children (K4- 6th grade) that attend the most days of VBS this summer. They have to attend VBS at least 8 different churches to be eligible. As of now, there are 23 churches in the VCBA that are having VBS this summer, so visiting 8 shouldn’t be that difficult. If there is a tie, the award will be given to multiple kids. VCBA will use the honor system to tally the total days and churches visited. VCBA will have an awards ceremony at their August meeting to recognize the winners with a nice dinner, trophies, and social media fame. Valley County residents have mixed feelings about the award.

One mom said, “My son wants to try to win this award, but it’s going to be impossible. There’s like 15 churches in the county that are having VBS this week and next week. All the churches want to front run it and get it over in early June now. My husband and I have to work, so we can’t drive him around. Plus, my 16 year old babysitter is a horrible driver, and I don’t really trust her to drive Timmy around the county. Maybe we can use Husl to get him around, but that’ll cost an arm and a leg. I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Another mom added, “My daughter is dead set that she’s going to win this award. But, I worry about people cheating to win it. Some parents will probably drive their kid around and hit like 10 churches in one day. They’ll probably just show up for rec, Kool-Aid and cookies, and then leave for the next church. You know there’s no way some of the busy baseball and softball kids can do this, but they like to win at all costs. I’m just worried that people are going to cheat, and my poor baby will get cheated out of the award.”

It will be interesting to see how the VBS season plays out. We’ll be at the August VCBA meeting to cover the awards ceremony. Have a great summer and VBS season.

by I. B. Lyon

Valley City residents are fed up with Canadian geese. It seems like their population in The Valley continues to grow year after year. Many Valleyans feel the birds have become a nuisance. The issue was brought up at the this month’s Valley City city board meeting on Tuesday.

Valley City resident Mark Trudeau contacted City Hall to get the geese issue put on the agenda. He contacted some other residents to be present at the meeting, and there were about 7 people there to voice their concerns about the geese. Trudeau said, “I’ve been living in Six Oaks since it was built about 3 years ago, and I love living there. But, the Canadian geese have gotten out of control; they’ve almost taken over the neighborhood. Something has to be done to get rid of them.”

Trudeau added, “Those stupid things are pooping everywhere- all over my yard, on the sidewalk, on the street, and everyfreakinwhere. Now, a couple of them have babies, and they’re very protective. My little yorkie, Coco, can’t even go outside to pee and poop, because she’s so scared of the geese. A momma goose got after her the other day, and she’s now terrified to go outside. We gotta do something.”

At first, the board of aldermen didn’t seemed too interested in the matter. However, it changed when Bubba Ledbetter said he was going to take matters into his own hands if the city didn’t act. Ledbetter said, “If y’all don’t do anything, I’m gonna take care of these dang birds. I got a few options to take care of them- my bow, my 12 guage, and my Rottweiler Bruno. Y’all better do something.”

After hearing from Trudeau, Ledbetter, and a few others, the board agreed they needed to address the matter. After some discussion, the board and mayor agreed to pass a resolution to deport the geese back to Canada.

Valley City Mayor Ronald Bush said, “I don’t know how we’re gonna deport all these geese. I guess I’ll give ICE a call to see what they can do. If they can’t help us, I guess I’ll have to get my animal control guys to round them up. They’d probably like to take a road trip to Canada. We’ll see what happens.”

You rarely see everyone agree on an issue, but it looks like just about everyone in Valley City is happy with the board’s decision. I talked with quite a few people at City Hall after the decision, and I perused social media. Everyone was happy with the decision to deport the geese.

One man said, “Gosh, I’m so glad they’re doing this. They’ve taken over the county club. They crap everywhere, even on the greens. This past weekend, I smoked one with a drive. I think I killed it, but I’m not sure. On the next hole, a mother goose got after me because I guess I got too close to her babies. That was probably karma. They’re out of control though.”

One lady said, “Yay! It’s about time they did something about those things. It seems like every freakin morning I have to wait on those things crossing the street in my neighborhood. I swear it’s everyday. Now, they have babies, so it takes even longer for them to cross the road. They’ve caused me to be late for work multiple times.”

A gentleman added, “Why are these things here now? Aren’t they supposed to go back home to Canada in the warmer months? I think they’ve gotten lazy and entitled. It may be climate change. Who knows? We’ve put them on government benefits, and now we can’t get rid of them. But, ICE is gonna take care of them! Deport them all!”

by “Stretch” DeTrooth

It seems like there is a kerfuffle at a baseball or softball tournament every weekend these days. Most of the time they’re between a coach and an umpire, but sometimes they’re between a parent and an umpire. Unfortunately, some of these kerfuffles have resulted in assaults and arrests. Because of these crazy coaches and parents, many umpires have become fearful for their safety. A local jiu jitsu gym has come to the rescue.

Valley Jiu Jitsu Academy will offer free jiu jitsu lessons for baseball and softball umpires. I was able to catch up with the gym’s owner and Professor, Gordon Gracie. Gracie said, “My son plays travel ball, and we’ve seen quite a few dust ups between coaches and umpires. It’s crazy that people act like that at sporting events for kids, but that’s the way it is these days. I’ve had a few umpires come up to me recently, and say they wanted to start taking lessons from me. So, I decided I would do some free lessons for umpires only. I appreciate what they do, and I love to help the community. We started lessons on Monday night, and I had 6 umps show up. I’ve talked to a couple since Monday that plan to come next week, so I think we’ll have even more join us.”

I was able to talk with a couple of the umpires that attended the initial training. One ump said, “Look, people are crazy these days. You’ve seen the videos on social media. I just want to be able to defend myself. I’ve never gotten into a physical altercation with a coach or parent, but I’ve had a couple close calls. I just wanna be ready, because I think it’ll probably happen sooner or later.”

Another ump said, “Look, I can throw hands. I can defend myself. Thank God I haven’t had to yet, but that time will probably come. But, I want to learn jiu jitsu so I submit a crazy coach. Wouldn’t it be crazy to see a psycho coach have to tap out on the field? I hope it never happens, but I wanna be ready.”

Gracie’s free lessons for umpires will last for 10 weeks. Every umpire that completes his program will receive a certificate and small jiu jitsu patches to wear on their uniforms. Gracie and the umpires hope that patch will deter some of the crazy aggressive behavior of the coaches and parents.

by Offe Hisczrocher

It appears that clothing manufacturers are making clothes smaller these days. Inflation might be the cause; maybe the price of cotton and other materials have increased. Therefore, clothing companies are using less material to save cost. Or, maybe people just like to wear more revealing clothing, and the clothing companies are giving their customers what they want. Regardless, everywhere you go these days you see skin- cleavage, stomachs, legs, buttocks, and guys’ thighs.

Valley City passed what many called the Dress Code in November of 2023, and it was controversial at the time. But, Valley City really never enforced it until now, and heads are turning. Four females have been cited in the past two weeks, and the latest two ladies that have been cited has created quite the buzz in Valley City and on social media.

The most controversial part of the ordinance was that any female age 45 or older that was in violation would be fined $500 and have to spend a night in jail. Again, no lady 45 or older has been cited until now. Mrs. Stacy Sweeney, the wife of Valley City’s high school principal, was cited last week. Yesterday, Mrs. London Hilton, the wife of the Valley County Hospital CEO, was cited. Both ladies were ordered to pay the fine, but neither had to spend a night in jail. But, both prominent women were humiliated by having their pictures and offenses posted on social media by the Valley City Police Dept. (VCPD).

The mayor and the police chief couldn’t be reached for comment, however I was able to get a statement from the VCPD spokesperson. He said, “This ordinance has been on the books for over 2 years now. It was well publicized when it was enacted. It hasn’t been enforced, but things have gotten out of hand. It’s understandable to occasionally see teenage girls wearing revealing clothing, so we’ve been lenient on them. But, we’ve seen way too many women 45 and over showing off their stomachs recently. Many of these women have kids in high school and college, and some of them are actually grandmothers. It was time to enforce the ordinance. The VCPD doesn’t care about your social status or who you’re married to; we’re going to enforce the ordinance going forward. Also, no one in violation has spent a night in jail, but that could change in the future. You’ve been warned.”

I was able to talk with some Valley City residents, and I perused local social media groups. The feelings in the community are mixed. Many young people think the VCPD has gone too far, and many older people are glad they’re finally enforcing it.

One young lady and mom said, “This is so crazy. What am I supposed to wear? I want to look trendy and cute. The clothes are just made this way these days. I guess I can’t wear a crop top in town anymore; I’ll just dress like my grandma. It’s so ridiculous! The police chief must be trying to get fired. They tried to make an example out of these high-profile ladies in our community. They better not actually put one of us ladies in jail for a night. It will be on then!”

An older lady commented, “It’s about time they started enforcing this! Every time I go downtown, I see skin, skin, and more skin. It’s not that hard ladies and young men. Cover yourselves up! If you’re a mom or grandma, you shouldn’t be showing off your stomach, legs, or butt. I think most reasonable people agree with that.”

Will the VCPD back down? The next city board meeting should be interesting. Many women on social media have said they will be attending the meeting to have their voices heard. The SRVO will be there to cover it.

by “Stretch” DeTrooth

Travel or select baseball and softball are very popular now. Families are packing up and traveling all over the place each weekend playing games and tournaments. They’re practicing a couple nights each week working on their crafts. A whole industry has been created around these sports. Organizations and tournament organizers are making a lot of money off these kids and families. But, the families and kids are not getting a piece of the pie. Now, they have a tool to help with expenses and possibly even make money.

The Strong River Valley Technology Initiative (SRVTI) got back in the lab this past week and created 5Tool. One of SRVTI’s members has a son that has a promising future as a baseball player, and he brought the issue of the cost of the sport up to the SRVTI board. They got to work, and created this awesome tool for young ball players.

5Tool will allow young baseball and softball players (ages 7-12) to obtain name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals just like college athletes. Parents can setup a profile for the kids on the site, and businesses and organizations can choose kids to sponsor off the site. Parents are in charge, and it’s free to join.

5TOOL APP

Parents and coaches are excited about 5Tool. One 12U baseball coach said, “I have at least 4 future college players on my team now. They’ve had no way to make money and help pay for ball expenses. 5Tool will help them build a brand, and it’ll help them market themselves to businesses and sponsors. This could really change the travel ball game.”

One softball mom said, “Lillie Ruth has had multiple teams and coaches try to poach her off her current team. They’ve promised free gear and money to help with travel, and I don’t like it. It just doesn’t seem right to be doing that to a 10 year old. 5Tool will give her an opportunity to make some money the right way, and she can get her true worth. I think it’s great.”

by Ben BeEssen

Ricky’s on the River is a Valley staple, and it’s a very popular spot this time of year. People flock there to feast on crawfish, drink beer, and enjoy the awesome Valley and river vibes. They also have a popular crawfish eating contest each year that we’ve written about before. Things were going great this Tuesday night at Ricky’s until an out-of-towner showed up.

Witnesses said an out-of-towner that no one recognized came in around 5:45 pm, and he sat at the bar alone. About 5 minutes later, Billy Brawlar, an amateur MMA fighter, and his girlfriend, Kim Swift, walked in and sat by the gentlemen. They were seen having a little small talk with the out-of-towner, and everything seemed to be going fine. Things made a turn for the worst around 6:15. Brawlar was heard raising his voice, and the out-of-towner and Brawler stood up chest-to-chest. They could be overheard using some language you wouldn’t hear in Sunday School, and things got physical.

Brawlar said, “Look, I was trying to be nice to the guy. He told us he was from New York, and he was here on business. But, he was kind of a know-it-all. He kept talking about how great the Yankees are. He heard my girlfriend say crawfish a couple times, and he started correcting her telling her that they’re pronounced cray-fish. I told him that we don’t say that here. You may say that up in New York, but we say craw-fish down here.”

I talked to some Ricky’s employees including the bartender, and they said the guy was a bit of a jerk. One said that you could tell he thought he was a little haughty, and you could tell he was looking down on people in the restaurant. They said he just couldn’t understand why we love these crayfish.

Brawlar added, “What really did it was when he started making fun of me for saying y’all. In a fake southern drawl, he said, “Y’all hicks love these crawfish.” I couldn’t take anymore of his crap after that. I stood up and told him that he needed to go back where he came from, and I told him some other things that I can’t repeat too. He was a lot bigger than me, but he didn’t scare me. He pushed me first, and then it was on! I let him know what’s up!”

The sheriff’s department was called, and a couple deputies showed up soon after. Things had settled down by the time they’d arrived. The New Yorker left with a black eye and bloody lip before the deputies arrived. No charges were filed. As the New Yorker was leaving, the diners gave Brawlar a standing ovation for his efforts.

Folks, we’re serious about our crawfish here in The Valley. It’s not advisable to make fun of us Valleyans concerning our crawfish and our language. I’ll add you may not want to make fun of our college football or baseball either.

by Ima Phibber

For a small rural area, The Strong River Valley has a ton of talent. One area of immense talent in the The Valley is our music. SRV Records is leading the way on the music scene in The Valley. They’re a small record label with 3 strong local artists- Bubba Swompz, Lily of The Valley, and Don Cartwright. Since coming onto the scene, Bubba Swompz has been prolific, and he’s released some great music. Up until now, Bubba has produced only country hip hop tracks, but Bubba has seen The Light. He will be releasing a gospel album called “A Gospel Compilation” on May 8th. He’s also releasing a single on the album called “The Good Shepherd” tomorrow. You can listen and download it on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and all the major streaming platforms.

I was able to sit down with Swompz this week on his lunch break to discuss his new album. Swompz said, “I’ve been busy lately with work and my music. I’ve gotten more active in my church the past 6 months or so, and I’ve sang in church a good bit. A couple people at church told me that I needed to do a gospel album. I’d never really thought about it. I started mulling it around, and God and I decided that I needed to do one. So, I’ve been working on it for a few months, and here we are!”

Swompz added, “I tried to base most of the songs on scripture. I think too much of contemporary Christian music is not really based on scripture. Many songs have good messages, but they’re lacking a little. I hope to point listeners to God and The Word with my album. For example, my single that I’m releasing on Friday called “The Good Shepherd” is based on John 10:11.”

Swompz said, “Valleyans have been good to me. I’m just a dude chasing my dream. I hope “A Gospel Compilation” will touch and minister to some folks. I’ve enjoyed making and producing the album. Y’all checkout “The Good Shepherd” tomorrow, and mark your calendar for May 8th when the full album is released. Also, follow SRV Records on Facebook and Instagram! God Bless!”