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The simple joys of just being like a kid

Sometimes I wish w all could enjoy the simple things in life the way children often do. I had the chance to spend some time with several young relatives last week, and I had a lot of fun doing almost nothing at all. We didn’t need to go anywhere special — the home of my brother and sister-in-law, Larry and Marie Compston was the perfect setting for little cousins to play with one another, eat some yummy snacks and just be kids. Our group consisted of myself, Larry and Marie, my nephew Zach and his son Simon, nephew Jim, his wife Jordan and their girls Zadie and Tessa, as well as ...

People make the difference for any business

Last week we were in Florida for the Plastic News Executive Forum. While we were here I wanted to see my friend, Al, who is fighting cancer. We spent an afternoon with him and his wife in January. Unfortunately he was in the hospital and we couldn’t visit. I’m glad we spent the time in January. We’re not giving up on him. We can pray. We can send a card. We will call when he can talk. He needs our encouragement. Al, like all people, needs to be reminded he is important and others care about him. The Plastics News Executive Forum is attended by the executives, owners and ...

Looking at our progress and those behind it

Today we launch our annual progress edition — six special sections published over the course of three days that take a look at various aspects of life in the Ohio Valley. This effort is a joint project that we worked on with our sister publications The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register. It is something I have had the opportunity to do about 20 times, yet each time I am still amazed by the people I encounter as part of this big-picture look at how things in our region are changing. This year was no exception. I was happy to help out as part of the pool of people reporting ...

Making Black history on and off the field

Super Bowl LVII made history in several ways. One of them is Autumn Lockwood. At only 29, she made Black history this year by becoming the first Black woman to coach in the Super Bowl. Not only that, she has a connection to the Ohio Valley. She is one of the Philadelphia Eagles’ coaching team by being a part of the Sports Conditioning Coaching team. She has been with the Eagles since August 2022. Before her present position she was the sports performance coach at the University of Houston. She has a master’s degree in sports management from East Tennessee State University, Johnson ...

The ‘Butterfly Effect’ or why you matter

The Butterfly Effect is a hypothesis presented to the New York Academy of Science in 1963 by Edward Lorenz. His theory simply stated is: A butterfly could flap its wings and set molecules of air in motion, which would move other molecules of air, in turn moving more molecules of air—eventually capable of starting a hurricane on the other side of the planet. He was laughed out of the conference. What he had proposed was ridiculous. But his idea fascinated some scientists. Over forty years later scientists concluded the Butterfly Effect is real. This doesn’t mean a butterfly ...

A visit with some local business leaders

I was honored this past week to have the chance to speak to the Barnesville Rotary Club. Dr. Douglas Huff, my eye doctor, extended the invitation and told me I could talk about any topic of my choosing. While I pondered leading a discussion about Ohio history and the township system that was celebrated on Feb. 1, I ultimately decided to share what I knew about the train derailment and chemical release that occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, beginning on Feb. 3. I think I made the right choice. While I am certainly no expert on the subject, I probably do know a bit more than others ...