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

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

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

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

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

“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 ...

The Way I See It: Any vacation without a trip to the ER is a good one

People tend to do things they normally don’t do when they go on trips or vacations. For me, this sometimes requires a trip to the emergency room. After returning to work recently from a trip to the Florida Keys with my wife Lori, someone asked me what happened to my hand. “Oh,” I said. ...