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Cracking the Code: Changing thinking changes the future

One of the things I like about athletics is lessons can be learned and changes made quickly. Learning from a mistake in business and fixing it may take weeks or months. In sports, we can see results in days, hours or minutes. On Tuesday evening, our high school soccer team played our longtime rival in Huntington. They were undefeated and ranked No. 1 in AA in the state. We were 3-5-1 entering the game. But in our last five games, we outscored our opponents 14-5 and lost to the No. 1 undefeated AAA team 2-1 in a hard-fought game. On Tuesday, our rival dominated at the beginning. They ...

Guest opinion: Corporate databases targeting Ohio kids

In order to learn, kids must feel safe. I know this as an educator and a parent. Today, kids don’t feel safe. Setting aside the age-old problems caused by classroom bullies and older siblings, kids are facing challenges never seen before. Screens are everywhere, tempting children with everything from the trivial to the dangerous. Via social media, kids are encountering new pressures and dangers – and, as numerous court cases and filings are revealing, addictive features that can cause lasting harms. At a minimum, kids need to be able to trust the online offerings provided by their ...

Backyard Gardener: Fall lawn care guidance

Hello Mid-Ohio Valley farmers and gardeners! Fall is here, but you would not know it as daytime highs reached 86 degrees Fahrenheit this week. A few days without rain have allowed things to dry out and backyard gardeners to catch up on some work around the home and in the garden. Several farmers made a final cut of hay these last couple days. This week, let’s talk about lawn care. When autumn temperatures arrive, many people forget about the lawn. However, fall is a great time to fertilize, control weeds and prepare your lawn for next year. There is a lot of work that needs to be ...

Early History: The Parkersburg Resolves and West Virginia Statehood

West Virginia became a state in 1863 during the Civil War by separating from Virginia. It was a complex effort, unique in American history - due to 3 main factors: passionate motivation, slavery, and constitutional issues. Wood County leaders played a leading role. MOTIVATION: In April ...

The Way I See It: History of libraries in the area has many chapters

Today we have almost an unlimited amount of information available to us. Much of it at our fingertips and much of it for free. Libraries are important today as the keepers of volumes of information and services that are provided to citizens at no cost. The early versions of libraries in our ...

MOV Climate Corner: In Ohio, renewably sourced electricity can be an affordable choice

Most of the time I am grateful to live in Ohio. Ohio is one of only 13 states that allow consumers to choose their electricity supplier, and one of only 9 states to allow municipal energy aggregation. The city of Marietta, for example, is able to negotiate with electricity suppliers to get a good, fixed-rate deal for AEP customers within city limits. AEP owns and manages the grid in southeastern Ohio, and supplies electricity to those who don’t designate an alternative supplier. AEP’s standard service option (SSO) rate per kWh is 10.97 cents from July 1 through Sept. 30, 2026, and ...