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Clintons had a habit of swinging through the area

In the not-so-distant past, Ohio was more of a swing state, and we seemed to get visited more frequently by presidents and people trying to become presidents. It’s been a little while now since anyone with a Secret Service detail has stopped by the area. One particular power couple passed through the area multiple times on their way up and down the political ladder. Former Democratic nominee, Secretary of State, Senator, and First Lady Hillary Clinton was the first of the Clintons to visit the area when she came here on Nov. 12, 1993, to promote the Clintons’ version of the ...

MOV Climate Corner: Tough times in Margaritaville

National Margarita Day - Feb. 22, 2025 If you are planning to celebrate National Margarita Day on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, here is something to think about as you make your plans: The margarita — triple sec, tequila, and lime juice — created in 1938 in Mexico, is facing a sustainability crisis. The delicious concoction’s main ingredient is threatened by changing weather patterns. Beyond the lime wedges and salt lies a complex ecological story involving the blue agave plant – the cactus-like plant which forms the base ingredient of tequila – and bats, which are both under ...

Fellowship, what it means to belong

In her book, Up With Worship, Anne Ortlund compares the average church to a bag of marbles, rubbing together and making a little bit of noise, but not really connecting to one another. Ortlund says the Bible’s image of fellowship is actually a lot more like a bunch of grapes being mashed together to make a great-tasting wine. Modern society often resists connection. Americans have moved from front porch swings and visiting neighbors to back decks and privacy fences. Digital communication often replaces face-to-face encounters. Several years ago, I walked through a youth classroom on ...

Black History Month: The Freedom Train, Part 1

The ferry operator pulled his large flatboat to the edge of the Virginia shore of the Ohio River. He watched and listened carefully for signs of other activity. He waited for his passengers. A mist danced around in the slight breeze. It was past midnight in the 1830’s. This was a special ...

Street names have been confusing for decades

Somehow as Marietta grew, duplicate street names became an issue. The city council set out to fix things in 1941 when they went on a name-changing binge across the city. The confusion likely started as the city grew. What may have started as a single road may have gotten chopped up as the streets were realigned. Some of the suggestions outlined in a Jan. 5, 1941, front page article in The Marietta Times would go into effect, while others seem to have been cast aside. The council of the time wanted to honor presidents and military personnel of the city. They proposed changes to ...

MOV Climate Corner: The right path forward

An AP newswire piece in the Parkersburg News and Sentinel last weekend contained a section that jumped out at me. The piece read, in part, “…a Chinese upstart, DeepSeek, said it developed a large language model capable of competing with the world’s best, without having to use top-flight chips. The disruption raised questions about whether all the investments expected for AI chips, data centers and electricity is really needed.” Intriguing. While politicians from both parties used news of DeepSeek to generate another hair-on-fire panic about China and the national security ...