Living Democracy: A history of US student rights

July 18, 2026

In early American history, children were widely viewed as the property of their fathers. Over the past two centuries, the U.S. has evolved to recognize children as legal persons with their own independent rights; however, Supreme Court decisions concerning children’s rights over the years have frequently contradicted prior decisions. It wasn’t until the 19th Century that the need to protect children was acknowledged. The establishment of the first laws to prevent cruelty to children began in 1875 and in 1881 to ban employment of any children under 14. The Equal Protection Clause ...

MOV Climate Corner: Greed (not need) behind ridiculous data center expansions

July 18, 2026

I recently did a presentation at the Dover Public Library about the environmental issues associated with data centers. These issues include: noise, water usage, hundreds of acres of land transformed into industrial developments, exposure to air pollution from power generation, light pollution from the facilities, high voltage transmission lines cutting through communities and farmlands, probable increases in utility bills due to the increases in power consumption, surface water contamination from plant cooling systems, and high-volume gas pipelines for onsite megawatt power ...

WCSWCD: Get rich fast! Soil rich, that is

July 18, 2026

What happens to your left-over food scraps from the kitchen? Thrown in the trash bin maybe? What about the grass clipping from your yard? Any of the clippings make their way to the street or road, then maybe down the stormdrain? What if these items could help you become rich? Soil rich! The answer? Composting! The compost pile loves all those food scraps, yard waste and more. A compost pile can literally be a pile on the ground or stored in a bin. When the items start to break down, smell can be a factor so keep in mind when determining pile or bin and where it's placed. The compost ...

The Way I See It: Fire has reshaped downtown Marietta

July 18, 2026

As Marietta grew, so did the risk of fire. By 1900 downtown Marietta was a dense collection of buildings that share walls with their neighbors. The arrangement was perfect for the shoppers that mainly used the sidewalks, not the roads, to go from merchant to merchant. The problem with a ...

Cracking the Code: More Scotland impressions and wisdom

July 18, 2026

When Lynnda and I returned from Scotland we learned there had been an accident in our neighborhood over July 4th weekend. "According to Kanawha County Dispatchers, the Pinch VFD, Kanawha County Sheriff's Office and ambulance crews responded to an ATV rollover. Two people were reportedly injured. Neither were wearing helmets.” Our next door neighbor told us, the grandson of another neighbor, a good kid and his friend — both 12-years-old — were on the ATV. The grandson comes over with friends to play basketball with me in my driveway. The media reported they had “minor injuries." ...

Early Marietta: Ephraim Cutler and the One Vote Story

July 18, 2026

“One Vote! The Musical” is a play written about Marietta's founding and its place in Ohio and American history. It's being performed this weekend and next as part of the America 250 celebration. The title comes from the story of Ephraim's Cutler's iconic effort which kept slavery out of ...