Trees and shrubs in landscapes provide several benefits: shade, habitat for wildlife, increased property value, and beauty. An eight-foot-tall tree you proudly planted may now be 30 feet tall and more difficult to care for. This is where a Certified Arborist can mean the difference between a well-managed tree and a tree that just manages to survive. I sat down recently with Jason Anderson, Board Certified Master Arborist and co-owner of Arborscapes in Midlothian. I have known Jason for a number of years through the volunteer work he does for the Chesterfield County Cooperative Extension Service and I am also…
Browsing: Commentary
I recently spoke at a Christian school, to the junior high and senior high class. One of the questions that I got asked was, what was the most rewarding call that I ran during my career? Believe it or not, I do not remember which call that I told them about. We ran a lot of calls when I was in Chester, when I was in Manchester, when I was at the airport station, and even when I was in Matoaca and Ettrick. There were calls that went well and there were calls that did not go so well. We…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. The Super Bowl is over and I am very happy about the outcome. I am a big Manning fan and I hope he takes this opportunity to retire while he is at the top of the mountain. He has nothing else left to prove; he can now go off to being a coach or a TV analyst like Terry Bradshaw. Anyway, not all went well during the Super Bowl game. I was at a Super Bowl party, sort of, the other couple that was to come got delayed by…
To the Editor: My name is Karl Johnson. I am a Chesterfield resident and a business owner. I am a commercial developer. I would like to see the Board of Supervisors make some changes in the way Chesterfield County approves which Commercial Developers get on the Fast Track approval process. In my experience dealing with my County, it seems that the large corporations get all the attention (such as Kroger. Martins and Amazon). I know these projects bring a lot of attention and jobs but the real economic mover is small businesses. The ratio of large businesses to small business…
My precious flower just celebrated her sixth birthday, it is truly hard to believe. I feel like time is marching on so quickly, and my darling girl is growing up too fast. For her birthday this year, she requested horseback riding lessons; of course we started this past Saturday. My girl is the happiest person I know, and she generates warmth and love. She makes everyone she is around feel special, and I adore that about her. Because of this, she usually just has to ask sweetly, and it is done – thus the horseback riding lessons. I was nervous…
Electricity is something that we pay for and expect it to be there every time that we need it. As a firefighter, we responded to the problems caused by electricity. Last night, while watching the news, I saw where Richmond Fire Department had responded to an apartment fire, caused by a faulty electrical system. Again, electricity is a vital part of our lives until, for some reason, we lose it. Some of you may have read that my wife and I had an electrical problem in our home after the snowstorm. We came home one evening to find that everything…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Well, Mattel has come out with their new line of Barbie dolls hoping to boost sales that have been on a decline since 2012. Interestingly after being introduced in 1959 (57-years-old and still looking good), the Barbie line still contributes 27 percent of their total revenue. This year (available sometime in March) they have introduced three new body types in an attempt to present a more “normal/realistic” body to all the little girls who buy and play with these dolls. Now girls can get Barbie in curvy, tall and…
Zika virus infection has quickly become a hot topic in the news this week. As of this writing, nearly forty cases have been identified here in the U.S. These individuals had recently traveled to a country where the infection has been known to be ongoing. Fortunately, health officials have confirmed that other residents of the states are not at risk of catching the virus from the infected persons. Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys. The first human infection was identified in 1952 in Uganda. Outbreaks of Zika virus…
With well over a foot of snow on the ground recently, most folks are not thinking about spring planting. Remember, it is February and local garden centers will have new plant stock available soon. One garden topic that is gathering more interest is the use of native plants. Virginia native plants are plants here at the time of the settlers at Jamestown. Many plants in Virginia are also naturalized from other parts of the world that have similar climate and growing conditions. According to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) there are nearly 3,200 native or naturalized plants…
We had plenty of advanced warning about this most recent snowstorm. Whatever snow total you listen to, we got more this time than we usually get. I thought that I would talk about things that I observed during this snow event, with the hope that each of us will be more prepared the next time. I will have to say that storms like this one make me miss firefighting. Whether it was a winter storm, a hurricane or just a passing line of thunderstorms, it always made for an interesting day in the fire station. We were fortunate that most…