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History in the Hills: The power of objects

I love how these articles develop. Sometimes I think about a topic for days and nothing comes together and finally in the course of a conversation, a word or phrase will hit me, and I have a topic just like that. For instance, this week’s piece came together in a similar way. I spoke to someone about something and wham — topic. In this case, the topic was discovered while talking about one of my favorite things — antiques. I love antiques, and the more the merrier, as far as I am concerned. Sometimes though, practicality and space is a concern, not to mention money. With that ...

Guest column/Consumers shouldn’t subsidize needs of data centers

Driven by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence and data centers, U.S. electricity demand and electricity prices are rising rapidly. Dozens of new data centers — each with the electricity needs of a small city — are gobbling up the nation’s power supply. Forecasters see U.S. electricity demand growing 25 percent by 2030 — and nearly 80 percent by 2050. In some regions of the country, it will be far more and even faster. The nation’s largest regional electricity grid, PJM Interconnection — which stretches from Virginia to Illinois — expects that, by 2030, new ...

To Whom it May Concern … Happy Father’s Day

To Whom it May Concern … I would like to wish you a Happy Father’s Day. I want to thank you for all of the years you awoke before dawn — before the sun even thought about rising in the morning sky … if only for the sake of your family. For the years that somehow became decades doing a job you didn’t much care for. One that was not only physically tolling — but mentally exhausting. Yet, you never complained. Never thought about quitting, despite the fact it took you away from the people you loved the most in this world. I thank you for being the kind of father who ...

Sometimes we need to do more than donate

There aren’t too many things that make my heart happy. And no, I’m really not that hard of a person to please. Too much sadness in the world, I suppose. However, something that I absolutely love to do, whenever the opportunity arises, is to write an article about the Jefferson County Humane Society. Especially the stories that revolve around donations. As was the case this week. I love the fact that some people in this area still possess such compassion toward animals that they want to contribute some of their hard-earned money just to help keep this nonprofit agency ...

History in the Hills: Weirton’s lost treasure revisited

I have been doing these articles for a while now — almost six years to be exact — and I have really enjoyed it. Spending time researching stories in our area and finding out little-known facts has been a blast. This article this weekend will be the 150th article in my little series, and I thought it would be fun to reprise an article that so many have complimented over the years. It is one of my favorites. Most children are excited by buried treasure, and my son, Paulie, is no exception. There is something exciting about hearing a story, finding a treasure map and following it to ...

Somehow I forgot to mention my Mother’s Day

So, I failed to mention that on Mother’s Day, my children once again remembered me. And I didn’t even have to tell them what day of the year Mother’s Day fell on. Somehow they just knew. For that, I am thankful. For them, I am thankful. My oldest son, Dylan, shipped me a box of Starbucks coffee, just as he does on my birthday and for other occasions. He knows it is my favorite and something I can’t always afford to buy myself. I appreciate his thoughtfulness. He truly is a special man. My second child, Caleb, who is the father of my grandson, little Layne, gave ...