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Penny pinching in parking lots

Penny pinching in parking lots “If you see a penny pick it up – then all day you’ll have good luck.” Every time my mother bent over to pick up a penny, she said exactly that. Without fail. And she picked up every penny she saw. In her later years, her balance was not so hot. If I was walking with her and she spotted a coin, I was the bender and picker-upper. It was never an inconvenience. Mom trained me early. We did not go around staring at the ground for lost coins. But honestly, just having eagle eyes meant we found more than our share over the years. And not just ...

Finding common ground in a political minefield

By ADAM J. MENEO In the United States today, politics feels more like a war than a system of governance. Every election cycle, every news headline, and every social media post seems to hammer home the same idea: Democrats and Republicans are sworn enemies locked in an eternal struggle for power. Hyper-partisanship has poisoned not only Washington but also family dinners, workplace conversations, and even friendships. But if our political system is going to sustain itself in its current two-party format - and let’s be honest, for the foreseeable future it will — then we, as ...

Samantha the spider is in our residence

Ian has a spider. My son-in-law doesn’t actually refer to her as a pet, but he spends a lot of time checking on her well-being and reporting her progress. She hasn’t bitten him. Yet. When I visited recently, the family was discussing names. The woodchuck who often visits their deck is named Winston. No such luck for the spider – she wasn’t christened before I left. I’ll just call her Ian’s spider. Ian, my daughter Alix, and my grandchildren have been following the day-to-day activities of this arachnid. They have discovered the same lesson that I learned this summer: ...

Rounding Third: Traveling or friendship

How many miles do we travel for friendship? I had to ask myself that when the happy invitation arrived in the mail. For dear old friends, my thought is that no amount of miles is too far. In my heart, I certainly would take three flights to Patagonia, a 9-stop train ride, and walk the last five rocky miles. Uphill. Then, as I dream about a steadfast friendship, reality sets in. My pocketbook and my lower back hear that any invitation involves taking a trip, and they’re hoping the distance isn’t much beyond Jamestown. On a quiet, sunny day. This particular invite was for dear ...

Rounding Third: Late summer’s bounty ­­- a corny story

This summer the corn has been especially yummy – worth waiting for. As I write those words, I realize that I have written a fair amount about our favorite golden vegetable in the last 21 years. Let’s just say I’m biased about the buttery, yummy stuff. My mother loved corn on the cob and she taught me how to eat it – old-fashioned typewriter style: Bite into 3 or 4 rows, work that stripe to the end, before returning to the beginning and another 4-row stripping of the luscious niblets. We joked about waiting for the bell to ring at the end of the cob before going back to the ...

County reassessment ‘necessary’ for schools

On behalf of the Warren County School District Board of Directors, I want to take a moment to address the important issue of the countywide tax reassessment. First, I want to be clear: many members of today’s board had no role in the push for reassessment. However, as current board members, it is our responsibility to provide context and clarity for our community. The reassessment was not pursued lightly — it was a necessary step brought on by forces outside the control of both the county and the district due to a 36-year period since the last reassessment. The reason the ...