Hello and welcome back to the wonderful of the Dogpound where we are celebrating the red, white and blue. We have reached the halfway point of the year, and we have everything to celebrate. I know the news is full of this complaint and that finger pointing, but we have to put that all in perspective. We are blessed to live in the greatest country in the world, and 90 percent of the world’s population would give their eye teeth to have half of what we enjoy every day. So turn off the news, go out and celebrate our Independence…
Browsing: Commentary
If you have a child in elementary school, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumblings, excitement and complaints that revolve around their limited time outside. Many schools require teachers to stop instruction for a recess. Some allow the loss of recess to be used as a punishment for poor behavior, and others allow children to go to recess but require them to do schoolwork outside. The loss of recess often falls on an entire class, meaning the crimes of the few or the many will result in the punishment of all. This begs an interesting question: If a child is having…
June 18-19 marked the 12th anniversary of the day when nine firefighters made the ultimate sacrifice at the Sofa Super Store fire in Charleston, S.C. This fire claimed the greatest number of firefighters’ lives since Sept.11, 2001. I just took the time to listen to the first hour of dispatch audio from that horrific night. As I was listening, I was reminded about the A-shift fire at Turner’s TV next door to Fire Station 1 many years ago. I do not remember the crew on duty what was then Unit 13 except for Acting Lieutenant Bill VanGils. The initial actions…
Hello and welcome to the thrilling world of the Dogpound. I lost my Internet connection recently. It was a factor in my thrilling week. The nice folks on the other side of the phone promised me that a tech would be at my house sometime between 12:30 and 4:30 p.m. They are supposed to call when they finish up their last job, so you have time to make sure you are home to let them into the house. It was par for the course: they did not call me, and the only way I even knew they were at the…
On June 1, the hurricane season began in the Western Hemisphere. Every year, a number of named storms affect the eastern and southern coasts of the United States. My experience in public safety has taught me that there are three phases of every landfalling storm: before, during and after. I could probably write an article on each phase, but I will try to give some key points on each of these three phases. Before the Storm The fire service works in operational periods of time leading up to a landfalling storm. There are certain things that need to be checked…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. For some time now, I have wanted to start a garden. Where I used to live until recently, I had deer walking through my yard almost daily, and I figured a garden had little chance of surviving. So the best I could do was to get some big containers, plant some tomatoes in them, and keep them close to the garage in the hope that the deer would not get too adventurous. Now I have a garden space, and it looks like Fort Knox. Let me back up a…
It has been quite a while since I shared an old recipe from my firehouse days. I say “old” because in November I will have been retired from the fire service for nine years. There were some meals that were easy to prepare, but quite tasty. This meal was called “turkey melts and tater tots.” I will let you determine the amount that you buy based upon the number of people that you will be serving. You can add to or take away from this meal. Grocery list English muffins Shaved turkey breast Sliced provolone cheese Green peppers Vidalia onions…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Lest I forget, I want to give a big shout-out to all the fathers, stepdads and grandpas out there. Father’s Day is Sunday, June 16, and we at the Dogpound want to thank you for all your hard work, leadership and sacrifices that you have made and will make for your family and loved ones. This is not to slight the better half, but they had their day, and now it is your day. I know dads are supposed to be all uptight about the day. You know what…
The June 11 primary election is Tuesday. Since Virginia has “open” primaries, most voters in Chesterfield County will be able to vote for at least one race, depending on where they live. Senate District 16 voters will most likely choose their next senator on June 11, since no Republican filed, although the deadline for independent candidates to file is also June 11. Incumbent Rosalyn Dance is nearing the end of her first complete term. She was initially elected to the state Senate in 2014 to serve the remainder of former Sen. Henry Marsh’s term and followed by winning again in…
Recently, a 15-passenger van was rear-ended by a dually pickup hauling a trailer. The news reported that four were killed, three were transported to MCV via helicopter and five others were transported to area hospitals via ambulance. I am praying that the respective crash teams from Dinwiddie and Virginia State Police will determine all of the details that led to this crash. As a pastor of a church with two 15-passenger vans, I want to speak to the churches and organizations that own these vans. For a long time, 15-passenger vans carried the stigma of a higher-than-normal center of gravity,…