Browsing: From the Editor

Some think it is a good idea, some think oh my God, someone is going to get killed. Some say, I would not ride on that thing if you paid me. These someones are speaking of the new bike lanes on West Hundred Road through Chester. The concept was bandied about some four-and-a-half years ago. The idea was not actually conceived at that time but was included in the Board of Supervisors approved Chester Village Plan some 12 years ago. The idea of a pedestrian/bicycle friendly Village was a major item in the plan. Fast forward from 2004 and the…

Everyone has a dream: a dream of how they want to move though life and where they will be at their end. Maybe it is a lifelong bucket list. When I was young and left the first rock ‘n roll concert I had attended, (the Doors and Janis Joplin) I wanted to be a rock star or at least a rock ‘n roll guitar player. I also dreamed of having a great wife. When I was married to her and Linda and I had our children, my dream was for their success, for them to reach adulthood as someone better…

By now you have heard about Uber and Lyft services that allow you to get a taxi-type ride with an individual by using your smart phone to order a ride. You can also participate by offering a ride to others and making a few bucks yourself. If you are a driver for Uber or Lyft you never touch or carry money with you; money changes hands through credit card payments authorized by way of your phone. On Sunday, I used the Uber app on my phone and saw that there were four individuals offering rides in the area with only…

Memory – what a fantastic part of us. Whether you believe it is a result of God’s best work or an element of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, it remains one of the most important parts of our consciousness. For the most part, memory is stored in the temporal lobe and hippo campus of the brain and stores not only recent memory (short-term) but also long-term memory. Remember the first edition of the Village News in 1998? I can only remember the cover and some of that particular article, but that first issue is ingrained in my memory because it…

In the movie “Big,” Tom Hank’s character, during a meeting at a toy company where he worked, says, “I don’t get it,” about a proposed toy that does not make sense for kids. Sometimes, that is how I feel. I don’t get it. While we, as a county, are working to promote ourselves as either a sports tourism or even historic tourism location, how can we leave the entrances to the county not very well-marked, welcoming people into the county or allowing them to be such a mess in some cases. I just read in the Progress-Index about a project…

Confederate events and philosophies are covered in several areas of the paper this week. Some columns, letters and articles revolve around agreement or disagreement about how history should be remembered today. Sunday was a great day for a car ride in the country so my daughter Marly, her husband and toddler, Linda and I rode Route 6 in Goochland with a particular destination. We traveled to the nice little town of Goochland to see a historic house on the river. The house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is for sale and Marly, Brandon and O’siris…

Nowadays, honeymoons do not always start at the foot of the church steps with rice raining on the happy couple as they hop into the in-law’s convertible and drive away to Niagara Falls. In fact many couples are not married in a church at all. My favorite trend is the destination wedding. If Linda and I were to start our married life all over again, I think the right destination for us, would be somewhere on the Mediterranean. Linda and I did not have a proper honeymoon. Because of work, it was a year after our wedding when we took…

How many calories do you burn if you drive to work? Not many, even if you drive while listening to your favorite exercise CD and find the closest parking space to your building before you sit on your butt all day. Physical jobs are much better for you. Just check you Fitbit. How many steps does it take to burn 100 calories? According to doctor internet, the average 150 pound person burns about 75 calories walking for 10 minutes. Add to that those 25 calories burned, when you are wearing comfy shoes and clothes, and you have just cut 100…

Bike and walking trails were part of a sales pitch for Hallsley, an upscale development with homes starting at $400,000. With a number of Chesterfield residents lining up to make comments at the planning commission last week, there were enough stating there were concerns with the trail running near their property. Crime and devaluation of their property was a common comment, while others endorsed the draft plan with enthusiasm. With real estate companies and developers touting biking and walking trails, as communities work to put in place bike lanes, it’s obvious that these amenities actually increase the value of homes.…

The kids are out of school and vacation season has official begun. Pack the minivan, start your engines, and see who owns the checkered flag at the Wright Memorial Bridge. Over the weekend, as we experienced scorching temperatures, I was thinking about how ocean breezes would cut the “feels like” temperatures to bearable. Just think walks on the beach, watching the ocean, snoozing under an umbrella (no sunburns for me) and breakfast at Nags Head Pier Restaurant. No worries about tourism at any of the barrier islands. Seriously, do you know anyone who does not like the beach? The only…