Dramatic changes are on the way: it is going to get a lot hotter, and Hampton Roads residents will eventually have big problems. This is according to Stephen Nash, a visiting Senior Research Scholar at the University of Richmond, from his book, “Virginia Climate Fever.” This slim volume is filled with startling information, but Nash is not trying to dumbfound his readers; his actual goal is to foster an understanding of the ways in which global warming will transform our local cities, shorelines and forests from today to the end of this century. Carbon dioxide is invisible and odorless, so it is…
Browsing: Commentary
To the editor: Should the confederate flag appear on the WELCOME sign for Chester? Is it a symbol of welcome? I have nothing against the sons or daughters of the Confederacy. Put their names on the welcome sign. But not that symbol. It is perceived by millions of people as a symbol of something else. Lisa Stanfield
I am going to attempt to use information from three fires to glean learning points that will hopefully prepare you, in the event of a future fire. The fires that I will use are as follows: the wind-driven fire in Corolla, NC, that destroyed three buildings; a single-family dwelling fire in eastern Henrico that claimed the life of one and critically injured another and an Indiana house fire, where the homeowners were trapped because they could not escape through the narrow windows in their home. I could write an article on each of these fires, but my hope is to…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. I am pretty proud of myself right now; I have managed to lose some weight and keep it off …at least till winter comes back around. For now, I will enjoy my slimmer looks. Along with the thinner lines I have been able to find some clothes in my closet that I can wear again without feeling like I have a boa constrictor around my middle. However, despite the new wardrobe, I discovered that there can be some drawbacks to losing weight. The other day I grabbed a pair…
The kids are out of school and vacation season has official begun. Pack the minivan, start your engines, and see who owns the checkered flag at the Wright Memorial Bridge. Over the weekend, as we experienced scorching temperatures, I was thinking about how ocean breezes would cut the “feels like” temperatures to bearable. Just think walks on the beach, watching the ocean, snoozing under an umbrella (no sunburns for me) and breakfast at Nags Head Pier Restaurant. No worries about tourism at any of the barrier islands. Seriously, do you know anyone who does not like the beach? The only…
As my family gears up for our annual pilgrimage to the beach, I am frightened to see these stories about the shark attacks occurring off of the Carolina coast. The two that occurred on Sunday are only 30 miles south of our little slice of heaven, Kure Beach. I am not sure what I will do, but I do know that I detest the fearful feeling I will have now when approaching the water. As you may remember, I grew up going to my grandparent’s house in the summers, and they happened to live at the beach. My cousin, brother,…
Normally I try to write proactive articles about things that may have happened in the past, but had not happened prior to the writing of my article, hoping to prevent something from occurring. This article is completely reactive to something that happened to my wife and I. My wife had a benign tumor removed from her parotid gland, on the right side of her neck. After a long time in recovery, I was able to bring her home. She did pretty well during the night, other than having to sleep in my recliner. We had to go to the West…
Hello and welcome back to the wonderful world of the Dogpound. We are still working with Max; he has his good days and he has his bad days. Of late he has been a bit more irritating. He does not want to take his medicine. I know they tell you to pry his mouth open and throw the pill down his throat, but I prefer that he takes it voluntarily, and that it is done by hiding it inside a treat. I have been using peanut butter on a cracker. It is sticky and makes it harder to spit out…
“We have a deep interest in education, like religion and money. Education is what will take us into the future,” says Ken Robinson: author of Creative Schools. “We all agree on what extraordinary capacity that children have. All kids have a tremendous capacity for creativity,” he said on the most popular TED Talk. Creativity now is as important as literacy and we should treat it with the same status. Robinson told a cute story that took place in a classroom. “A little girl was sitting in the back of the class drawing, and the teacher came back to her and…
Springtime means yard work and other outdoor activities. It also means exposure to plants and plant chemicals that can cause allergic reactions, such as respiratory allergies and contact dermatitis. Allergy to poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac is estimated to occur in close to 70 percent of all individuals. The chemical that is responsible for the skin reaction is found in the sap of these plants and is called urushiol. Exposure can occur with direct contact with the plant leaves or indirectly from touching something that has the chemical on it (pets, garden tools, and clothing). Airborne exposure can…