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Learning from God’s design of His creation

Ever hear someone say, “I wish I could start over again, knowing what I know now”? An understandable desire, but that’s not how it works. We all start “young and dumb.” We make our mistakes and we grow wiser in the process; experience is a great teacher! That’s the sad reality of how life works: One has to be little before he can grow big. After Job’s life came apart – when his wealth was gone and his kids were dead and Job’s body was covered in boils – Job was frustrated because he didn’t understand why God allowed all the tragedy and suffering. Job felt like God ...

Cracking the code: Follow a leader not a follower

This week we had a video call with a company from Europe we met at SelectUSA. They are looking for a site in the USA for a major project that will create several hundred jobs. The CEO said they wrote off Texas but were impressed with Alabama. The discussion turned to state economic incentives. When the CEO mentioned Alabama, the state EDO person with me on the call looked like someone ran over his dog. He competed with Alabama before. We learned how aggressive Alabama is with incentives when the CEO added, “Alabama said they would beat any incentive package by any state.” In ...

The Way I See It: Museum has been part of the riverbank for a half century

A large, new Ohio River Museum is slowly taking shape along the banks of the Muskingum River on Front Street, near the Washington Street Bridge. Museum exhibits have celebrated the river since it was a part of Campus Martius, operating for a time at the museum at Second and Washington ...

Living Democracy: How the latest Supreme Court ruling on voting has changed the Voting Rights Act

On April 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s 2024 congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, in Louisiana v. Callais. In its decision, the Court made null the Louisiana Bill SB 8, that provided two majority-Black districts in 2024. Section 2 was considered the crown jewel of the Civil Rights Movement by earlier Supreme Court decisions and is the provision that allowed (and sometimes required) the creation of majority-minority districts, which is a main factor in how Black and Latino representatives have been elected to Congress. The statute, ...

Early Marietta: Griffin Greene, a Man in Perpetual Motion

What else could a Marietta pioneer possibly accomplish who (a) built a perpetual motion machine, (b) Raised the sunken British frigate FLORA, (c) designed a unique floating water-powered mill in the Ohio River, and (d) helped build the Farmers Castle enclosure at Belpre? A LOT more, as ...

Some gave all. Can we give a little?

December 1967, our family was watching TV when the phone rang. It was Uncle Joe, Dad’s older brother. Mom handed Dad the phone. Dad’s eyes got wet. Looking down, in a whisper he announced, “Austin (our cousin, Dad’s nephew) was killed in Vietnam.” I was in high school; death was no stranger. Austin’s mother (our Aunt Caty) passed two years prior. I went to my grandparents' funerals. A close childhood friend died in a gun accident when he snuck out of school before the end of the day to go bird hunting. We all boarded the school bus that morning. It was surreal. My parents ...