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Guest column/All athletics are intuitively individual sports

Recently, I had a conversation with a highly respected, elite Valley coach who stated that members who compete in team sports have a different mentality than athletes competing in individual sports. After thinking about what he said, I had my doubts. In my opinion, I believe that the thought processes of all outstanding athletes are basically the same. To begin with, all dedicated athletes want to prove they are the best player in their position. The individual mentality is the same in all athletic competitions because even in team sports, each player must perform his particular ...

This time of year is always a look at the past

It’s hard to believe it has already been an entire year since I wrote a column about my oldest son, Dylan, turning 32. I blinked. And this week, he turns 33. Still a good age, although it reminds me of how quickly time passes. It also shows me how I am really no further ahead than I was more than three decades ago. And it can hurt terribly. It truly does sadden me at times to realize I didn’t use the life I was given here wisely. But then again, how many of us really do? How many of us take advantage of the life God gave us and use it to our fullest potential? I ...

Be aware when walking

There are plenty of benefits to be had from walking more. That simple exercise can help you lose weight, while improving your cardiovascular health. It can help you sleep better and improve your body’s strength. A brisk walk can help reduce joint pains and has been found to help the survival of those who have been stricken with cancer. But with all those benefits comes risk — so much so, in fact, that it can be deadly. That was the case for the 7,148 people in the United States who were struck and killed in 2024, according to preliminary numbers released by the Governors ...

Guest column/October presentation will remember witch’s Halloween

I am not sure how many families in the Upper Ohio Valley can claim documented proof of a witch’s spell being cast. This Halloween Thursday, Oct. 30, between astronomical twilight and midnight, the veils between the spirit world are thin in the darkness. The apparitions that make their way into your home can be found in stories told in front of ancestors’ hearths that date back centuries. I will be presenting a program at 5 p.m. in the Vincent Room of the Brooke County Library in Wellsburg. I am under a generational witch’s spell cast under the celestial clock of the late ...

Guest column/The Fred Abdalla I knew was a stalwart member of our community

Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla was many things to many people — a lawman, a community figure, sometimes a controversial one. But to me, he was something simpler: A guardian. There’s a painting of him in the Jefferson County Courthouse, standing beside a child, and I can’t think of a more honest picture of who he truly was. The nation once saw headlines and chose to turn the sheriff into a caricature, a villain to fit an outsider’s narrative. But those of us who lived here saw the truth. We saw the man who came into classrooms for D.A.R.E., who fingerprinted children ...

Guest column/Here’s why companies should start from the inside out

I recently received a call from the vice president of sales at a publicly traded, multi-billion-dollar corporation headquartered in Houston. He was calling on behalf of the CEO requesting advice on their current public relations strategy and business development efforts. Before the discovery call, I was given a quick rundown: Contracts were slipping, customers were pulling back and the company’s reputation was beginning to erode. It didn’t take long before I knew exactly what was going on. This wasn’t a surface-level messaging issue. It was a full-blown culture crisis and what ...