Browsing: Commentary

I doubt that it has changed much since I left the job; firefighters love to eat. I can remember some of the best meals that I have ever eaten were in a fire station. There is nothing worse than to sit down for a meal and have the “heartsaver” tones go off. Thirty-seven percent of all responses will be to a single-family or multi-family dwelling for a kitchen fire. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where cooking is a big part of the celebration. Will you have uninvited guests coming to your home? Cooking related fires happen every day, sometimes…

Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. As of this writing the election is still a few days away…and like Christmas…when you read this you will know what Santa put under the Christmas tree. Some of you will be high fiving, some of you will be crying in your beer, and a few of you will be packing your bags for Canada. In either case, we are still one nation under God, the greatest country on this earth, and standing together we will get through the next four years regardless of who is at the helm.…

It’s the middle of fall, and the weather certainly has not been typical. To say that this year’s weather has been different for gardeners may be an understatement. Summer annuals and even some perennials are still blooming even though cool-season annuals such as pansies have been planted for weeks. Regardless of the current or short-term weather, winter will be here soon and it is time to prepare the landscape. Here are some suggestions that will help the landscape transition be a little smoother: • Plants in beds should have a sufficient mulch cover. Mulch is critical to retain heat and…

O n November 1, 2010, I retired from a great organization, Chesterfield Fire & EMS. While I still serve as a fire department chaplain and a member of the peer support team, I no longer climb on an engine or ladder truck every third day. Many have asked, do you miss it? In all honesty, I knew that it was time to leave when I left. I worked right up to the day that I retired because I truly enjoyed what God had blessed me to do for 34 total years. My final assignment was Truck 12, A-shift, in Ettrick.…

Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Unfortunately, due to time-limits set down by my Master,this article has to be written before the biggest soap opera of them all comes to its final conclusion. Only thing lacking in this race, as far as I can tell, is the sudden appearance of the evil twin, or the resurrection of someone who died in a previous episode. Even without those surprises, I am still sure they will be writing a ton of books, and maybe throw in a few television documentaries for good measure, covering the only presidential…

Though bow season has been in since the beginning of October, black powder season begins on Saturday. It is a requirement of our club that anyone using a black powder gun or a rifle must shoot from an elevated stand. In other words, many of us will climb tree stands. You may not remember, but in 2002 the ladder of a wooden tree stand broke away from the ground, dropping me about eight feet. I hit a stump with my left arm, breaking my collarbone. Though there are still a few wooden stands left, most of our stands are privately…

Thank you for remembering To the Editors: In several of your recently issues, you have run articles regarding our local military members. I just wanted to thank you for printing articles that are well-written and very respectful of these deceased military and their families. Hope to see more of them. (Mrs.) Chris Watson My peaceful emotional response To the Editor: This presidential campaign has become very emotional, as attested to by Gena Lashley’s article last week. I have heard people I know to be good and intelligent spout venom about Mr. Trump because of something they heard on the news.…

Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. Due to timelines I need to write this before the presidential election is completed…so I will need to find other filler. Let’s see…I was in the basement the other day and I noticed a strange smell. It kind of smelled like a dead mouse…probably comatose on the poison I have set out..but I did not need that smell. After some investigation I did not locate the source but I did find a small pile of straw and other nesting material behind a trash can. I was kind of intrigued…

T here are not many times when I am outside that I do not hear the siren and air horn of a piece of fire apparatus, an ambulance, or a police car, responding to a call for help somewhere in Chesterfield County. For fire and EMS, the large majority of calls for help are medical in nature, but fire departments still run a fair amount of fire-related incidents. The bread and butter of the fire service is the single-family dwelling, with the number one cause still being unattended cooking. There may be days when a certain fire cause, such as…

Our area experienced strong wind gusts, thunderstorms, and a hurricane this year. Some landscapes suffered tree damage or even a total tree loss as a result of nature. Although there is no single way to prevent this type of damage, here are some suggestions that can increase the likelihood that your trees will remain standing tall. Have the soil tested. I know many of you are saying, “He says that all the time.” You are correct; a soils test is the least expensive but best practice for plants. Healthy, well developed feeder and structural roots of trees require healthy soil…

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