Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Hope you had a nice Easter and are ready for the Tax Man. Over the Easter holiday weekend I decided to give old Betsy [my 2004 Honda] some much needed and deserved rest, and rented a car to make sure all of my holiday travel was uneventful. I am not saying Betsy would not come through as she always does [I know she can hear me through the garage walls], but her engine light was on again and I wanted to get to the mechanic before I drove her…
Browsing: Commentary
Unfunded liabilities in a supplemental retirement plan for Chesterfield County Public Schools’ employees accumulated to nearly $100 million over more than two decades, according to a report recently issued by the county’s internal audit director Greg Akers. Akers, who presented his report to the county’s Audit and Finance Committee on March 12, said trustee investment services and the retirement plan were not actively managed from 1995 to 2017. A chart in the report shows that net pension liability was at $99 million in early 2016. By mid-2017, the figure had declined to just over $80 million. Akers said the Chesterfield…
I have walked alongside many people while they were caring for loved ones. I knew that it was difficult as I watched from afar. It was not until recently that I became a caregiver for three people that I am not kin to. As a pastor, you are called upon for anything. Other times you are called upon because of where you live or just who you are. However it happened, I found myself on a whirlwind journey with three people with three totally different sets of needs. I wish that I could share with you the details of these…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Let’s see… St Patrick’s Day, check. Good Friday, check. Easter, check. So what other major event is coming up? Wait…it will come to me….don’t tell me…oh yes! Tax Day! The Tax Man cometh! I am sure you are as thrilled as I am about that day, but it has to be done. I am proud to say I have already filed and received my return. Yea! It is interesting to note that identify fraud around this time of year is very high. The IRS distributes over $300 billion every…
I was reading the Daily Business Plan, a daily communication from the battalion staff to the department, stating in a one-page document the operational plan for the day. One part of the document is a listing of the “significant” calls from the past three shifts. On this day, both shifts had been very busy, with two of the department’s specialty teams being dispatched for mutual aid to neighboring jurisdictions. The on-duty technical rescue team was dispatched to Amelia for a person who had fallen into a grain silo. The on-duty hazardous material team was dispatched to Richmond to assist with…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. The year of 2018 is really rolling along. March is almost over. Easter falls on April 1, and that is followed by our friends from the IRS…and I said that last comment with a slight wink….if you get my drift. In today’s world we cannot be too careful with our media….like Facebook. I find it a bit funny to think that anyone would be surprised to know that their information is for sale to the highest bidder (or any bidder in some cases).. and we are even more complicated…
A typical day in Janine D’Elia’s science class starts off with a warmup to activate her students’ knowledge, segues into the lesson plan of the day, and wraps the day up with an activity. This allows her students to be actively engaged and always moving in the classroom, which she said she hopes is a fun place to be. “I teach through the lens of inquiry. My kids are scientists and they need to be able to figure things out, and I hope I develop those STEM skills. We do project-based learning and problem-based learning, so they have to figure…
As most of you know, I have been the lead pastor at Bermuda Baptist Church since 2005. If I were to ask you why it was named Bermuda Baptist Church, what would you say? A while back, I received an e-mail from a gentleman who stated that he wanted to come to our church when his cruise ship docked at our island. I had to let him know that cruise ships do not dock in Chester. The lack of identity in our name led our leadership to begin a conversation about rebranding, renaming, and revisioning a church that has been…
Hello and welcome back to the unsure world of the Dogpound. Right now I feel a little bit like Rex Tillerson, the former Secretary of State. I am looking through the latest edition of the Village News and I read where Mark and Linda are retiring! Say what?! No one asked me! Where was my email? What happened?! Then after that initial shock, I turn a few more pages and read that Gena Lashley of the Mixing Bowl is leaving as well! The reason, she said, is her little ones were no longer little, so she cannot write about them.…
MEANWHILE at the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office: ‘Oh look … Officer Smith is eating a cheeseburger for the third time this week!’