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Life in the early 1800s through the lens of newspaper notices

Local Columns

Newspapers were THE media in the early America. Advertisements and notices offer a fascinating glimpse of life at the time. Here are a few such items from local papers in the early 1800s, compiled by Debbie Noland Nitsche from Andrews' History of Marietta and Washington County. Your author's notes are in parentheses. From the OHIO GAZETTE and VIRGINIA HERALD October 24, 1803: --List of letters uncalled for by Griffin Greene, Postmaster, for persons living at "Belleprie, Little Kenhawa, Kenhaway, Gallipolis, Guiandot and Big Sandy." --John Cline and Enos Atwater will apply "for a right ...

MOV Climate Corner: Need for air monitoring effort only grows

Local Columns

Communities throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley woke up Sunday morning, July 5, to an ominous black plume overhead as the Peoples Cartage building off Camden Avenue was engulfed in flame. It was a tragic, yet familiar, sight that we witnessed for the second time in less than nine years; its origins on the same stretch of road outside city limits, yet right in the middle of town geographically and very close to the Little Kanawha River. I slept in a bit after having a few beers the evening before for the 4th of July (drinking is a lot different at 40 than it was at 20 or 30). By the time I ...

Backyard Gardener: Summer squash

Local Columns

Hello Mid-Ohio Valley farmers and gardeners! Hard to imagine Independence Day was last weekend. We experienced the hottest weather of the summer and now are receiving plenty of rain here in the valley. Compared to the historic drought of 2024 and the extremely dry fall of 2025, I am not complaining about the rain. Now is a great time to plant a crop of summer squash. Summer squash is the edible young fruit of Cucurbita pepo, a highly diverse, easy-to-grow and short-season group of vegetables. It is a great vegetable for backyard gardeners here in the valley. There are many great ...

Don't leave unclaimed funds in hands of state

Editorials

Perhaps not enough Ohioans have been trying to reclaim their money, as the state Department of Commerce Division of Unclaimed Funds has recruited Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel for a campaign to encourage them to search for and claim some of the approximately $4.8 billion in state coffers that does not actually belong to the state. The money could be from dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, stocks and bonds, utility deposits, unclaimed wages and more. Because of a new law that introduces a 10-year deadline on claiming those funds, some people are running out of time before their money really ...

Ohio BWC still helping employers keep more money

Editorials

It is rare for a state agency to consistently work to collect less money from its constituents, but Ohio’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has turned it into an art. Back in February, the bureau’s board of directors authorized a 1% rate cut for private employers, which took effect at the beginning of this month. It came on the heels of an earlier 1% rate cut for public employers, which was effective Jan. 1. Even before those changes went into effect, the bureau said the state’s approximately 245,000 employers (public and private) were paying the lowest average workers’ ...

School system works year-round for students

Editorials

Though there is a misconception that those who go into education do so because they want to continue having summers off for the rest of their careers, a quick look at how many moving parts ground to a halt earlier this week for Wood County Schools gives a reminder that these folks work for our kids year-round. As crews battled a blaze just outside Parkersburg on Camden Avenue, buses had to be moved, facilities in the area had to be monitored, and decisions had to be made. Martin Elementary School, Edison Middle School, Franklin Elementary Center, the district’s MIS computer and IT ...