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Be careful who you trust

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When the government was ready to send out COVID checks, scammers sent out emails asking for account numbers and login information so that checks could be deposited electronically into bank accounts. Those who provided information to the scammers didn’t see any deposits, but they saw their accounts empty quickly. I know 2 lonely women who were caught up in online dating scams. They met someone online, messaged back and forth, and wanted to meet in person. Unfortunately, the man they wanted to meet lived several states away and was having a problem with some fraud on his bank account, ...

1749: The French Expedition and First Catholic Mass

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Perhaps you’ve heard of the so-called “Celoron Lead Plates.” Or, maybe not. It’s a fascinating, if not well known, story. Pierre Joseph Celoron De Blainville, a French military leader, led an expedition down the Ohio River Valley in 1749. They buried lead plates at major ...

Rutabaga: Forgotten root crop

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Hello Mid-Ohio Valley gardeners and farmers! The heat continues in August as we continue to experience dry conditions with little rain. The extreme hot and dry weather is affecting crops and gardens here in the Valley. Even for those backyard gardeners who irrigate, many plants will suffer from the extreme heat. In some cases, plants will wilt during midday simply because the leaves are losing moisture faster than the root system can take up water. Drought stress has the most severe effects at or near the time of flowering or pollination of most fruiting vegetable crops such as sweet ...

We are all in the dreaded middle seat

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Sometimes flying for pleasure is such a pain that you need a vacation when you get to your destination. Case in point, a recent cross-country trip with my family. It seemed easy enough, catch an early morning flight in Columbus, change planes in Phoenix, and fly on to our destination. All was going well until the dreaded announcement that there was a problem with one of the radios on the plane and we would be delayed for a little bit. I knew that our layover was short. I headed to the counter to see what was up just as the gate agent made the dreaded announcement that the flight was ...

Attendance in church

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On any given Sunday, less than 4 out of every 10 people in our region attend church services. Some who don’t attend were regular attendees in the past, but stopped attending because they were hurt or disappointed. Some say they are still connected to the church, but can’t attend regularly because of their busy schedule. Others, of course, have never attended and have no intention of doing so. They’re sure the church has nothing to contribute to their quality of life. Interestingly, Jesus could have made those same arguments. He was constantly busy, pressed by crowds hungry for ...

Ghost ads and celery mist

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Sometimes history awareness happens in a chain reaction. A travel writer observed that Marietta’s charm was not from a single defining attribute, but rather many fascinating “details.” I hadn’t thought about it that way. One such detail mentioned was faded “ghost ads” on old ...