By Nancy Drumheller Central Va. Waste Management Authority We must clean up our act! Recycling containers are for recyclable items only. Placing items, such as plastic bags or food-contaminated containers, that are not accepted in your curbside recycling cart/bin or the drop-off recycling containers cause contamination issues and add additional processing and disposal costs. Do not bag your recycling in plastic bags. Anything in a plastic bag will not be recycled! The authority’s recycling vendors will no longer pick up unwanted items like plastic bags and other non-recyclables, including food-contaminated containers. To avoid this, visit cvwma.com and make sure you…
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Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. My oldest daughter, Tina, and her husband, Jacob, plus two dogs and a number of cats, have been riding out the tropical storm, Florence, down in North Carolina. They got a lot of water and wind, but were very fortunate the storm turned south. A tad wet, but overall in good shape. Speaking of my daughter, I am planning a mini-vacation to visit them in a few months, which requires me to buy a plane ticket, which I for one, clearly dread. It only took me two hours to…
Over the last few months, several fires in vacant or abandoned buildings have been intentionally set in Petersburg. It is as if this is an arsonist with a conscience, considering the type of buildings that he or she is choosing to light off. Wikipedia says arson is “a crime of intentionally, deliberately and maliciously setting fire to buildings, wildland areas, abandoned homes, vehicles or other property with the intent to cause damage or enjoy the act.” Another important term is pyromaniac, defined by Webster’s as “an irresistible impulse to start fires.” An arsonist sets fires for many reasons, including: to…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. I am typing this on my new laptop, not by choice; I was forced to because my laptop started doing these unscheduled “dumps.” I would be typing along, and suddenly I am looking at a blue screen saying that my system went into an emergency “dump” and was going into a recovery mode. Fortunately, at least so far, it was no harm no foul, just a delay while the system went through a five-minute reboot, but there was always that chance that it would not be successful the next…
Just two days ago, we were standing on the shore of the Cape Fear River, looking at one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The mandatory evacuation notice for vacationers came Monday afternoon, Sept. 10. For residents, it was Sept. 11-12. A canceled vacation only matters to those whose vacation was canceled. We left with a light breeze blowing and the sun shining brightly. A low-pressure system came off the west coast of Africa, met favorable conditions for formation of a hurricane and threatened the East Coast of the United States. Part of living in a coastal…
I thank him and could not agree more with Jim Daniels’ letter to the Village News editor regarding the loss of Chester’s “Village Oak.” I also applaud his and Joe Hillier’s offer to pay for a professional arborist’s evaluation of this beloved tree in a valiant effort to save it. Such a certified expert would have advised that hollow trees can and do survive, even with ants. My wife and I proudly reside in “historic” Chester in front of this church, so it was just more of the same to us. We have witnessed the Methodist church’s developer-like approach to…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound Hope you had a nice long Labor Day weekend. Mine was special. I was able to attend the first game of the season for the Ohio State Buckeyes. We played Oregon State University, also OSU. Go figure! Anyway, the weather was great. We were winning big time, and that 30-percent chance of rain decided to appear over the stadium walls, and we were instructed to leave our seats and seek shelter. We just got inside when the skies opened up, and it rained and rained. A 30-minute delay extended…
Public schools are now back in session after a quick summer has led to the 2018-2019 school year. Young children are going to kindergarten for the first time. Sixth-graders are experiencing middle school, while ninth-graders are adapting to high school. What does all of this mean for you and me? If you have a child in a school, then you are invested. For everyone else must be aware. When traveling roadways, we must expect increased school bus traffic. If there is any doubt about whether you should stop for a bus with its red lights flashing, stop! Give bus drivers…
ABOVE: Caleb M. Soptelean, editor; Baby mountain goat on Mount Evans. The mountains are calling, and I must go. With those words, the naturalist John Muir described my situation recently. Since I was named after the Old Testament character Caleb – who said, “Give me this mountain,” – I believe a love for them is in my blood. I was afforded the chance to reconnect with several friends whom I hadn’t seen in 17 to 25 years. So … off to Denver it was with a relatively cheap flight I found from Charlottesville through Charlotte on American…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Hope you had a nice long Labor Day weekend. I am writing this in advance so I have not enjoyed my three-day weekend, but I do have plans. I am going to Ohio to watch my Buckeyes start their new football season against Oregon State, less their head coach (who has been suspended for three games due to his failure to report alleged spousal abuse by one of his coaches that happened several years ago). As of this writing, I am eight days away from that big weekend. However,…