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Black History Month: The Freedom Train, Part 2

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Enslaved fugitives referred to the Ohio River as the River Jordan. It was a metaphor for freedom like the Israelites’ flight from slavery in Egypt through the parted waters of the Red Sea. Except the River Ohio waters did not part for the slaves. They had to cross. Underground Railroad helpers were often ready to assist. A black woman called “Aunt Jenny” worked on a Parkersburg boat dock tracking boat arrivals and summoning slaves to service the boats. With her network of contacts, she could monitor law enforcement activities. Jenny signaled station master John Stone in Belpre ...

The Preamble

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“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Way back in junior high school Mr. Murray, my social studies teacher, had us memorize the Preamble to the constitution. He must have thought it was important. And all these decades later I remember Mr. Murray and the Preamble. It’s fascinating the things ...

Fellowship, what it means to belong

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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 ...

MOV Climate Corner: The right path forward

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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 ...

Black History Month: The Freedom Train, Part 1

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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

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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 ...