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MOV Climate Corner: Ban the brine

On the increasingly rare occasions when this old lady has to drive in the winter, I try to wait until after the road-clearing crews and salt trucks have done their work. Since moving to Ohio more than forty years ago, I have developed a true appreciation for these winter warriors who do so much to make the roads safer for the rest of us. Unfortunately, in Ohio, some of those road-clearing trucks may well be spraying oilfield brine. Plain brine, of course, is salt water, and we are all familiar with salt’s ice-melting properties. Oilfield brine, unfortunately, is not just salt and ...

Muskingum River watershed reservoirs protect all of us

The history of our area is punctuated by floods that have ravished the area from time to time. The worst of them being the flood of 1913 that struck the area 112 years ago this month when the area was hit with eight inches of rain. Marietta, at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers ...

Pi or pie: Celebrate March 14th your way

On Thursday, we will observe the first of the two spring geek holidays. Yes, I said geek, not Greek. Pi day will be here before we know it. Pi day is celebrated every March 14 to celebrate the mathematical constant that is pi. Pi is the number that is the ratio of the diameter of a circle in relationship to the circumference. In its shortest form, Pi equals roughly 3.14. If you have a pie (see what I did there) that is 12 inches across, you will have a little more than three feet of crust to munch on, give or take a few crumbs. Here is the formula C = 2 x pi x r. Or you can just use a ...

The Constitution: The Rule of Law

The Rule of Law is the fundamental principle of our Constitution. The Framers wanted to ensure the country would be governed by the Rule of Law and not by the whims of a king or strongman. The Rule of Law is about making sure the laws apply to everyone equally and that no one is above the law. Article 1 of the Constitution empowers Congress with making laws and describes the process it must follow. A federal law begins as a bill and must be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Bills, such as for raising revenue, must begin in the House. “The House has power ...

Road Show results

A few years ago, Lynnda and I were part of a trade mission to Japan. We were on our own until we connected with the rest of the group. On the train from Narita Airport to Tokyo Station, all announcements were in Japanese only. I noticed, “All the signs are in Japanese!” Lynnda commented, “We ARE in Japan.” “Yes, and I have no idea how to find our hotel.” Lynnda disappeared and returned in 10 minutes. “I found a lady who speaks English. Her husband is meeting her at the station. He can help us.” The woman’s husband took us from the fifth basement level of the ...

MOV Climate Corner: No movies on a dead planet

This weekend marks the occasion of the 97th annual Academy Awards. This year’s Oscars come on the heels of the January wildfires that devastated much of Los Angeles, scorching nearly 57,000 acres of Southern California. Among the untold victims of these deadly conflagrations, which were made an estimated 35% more likely due to climate change, was the widely acclaimed and visionary filmmaker David Lynch. Lynch, a lifelong smoker from the age of eight, announced in August of last year that he’d been diagnosed with emphysema and had become largely housebound, requiring supplemental ...