Tariffs: When Emotion Puts Money in Motion
With the recent news on tariffs and the accompanying market sell-off, it’s understandable that there’s some concern about the economic forecast and what lies ahead. This situation highlights an important point: how you react is important. When uncertainty fills your newsfeed, remember that market volatility is a natural part of saving and investing. History has consistently shown that staying the course...
Game On!
Now that the baseball has officially started--with a few fits and starts as well as a false spring heat wave--you might notice a few things different from last season. Sure, sure, there are new players; that happens every year, more or less. No. Look at what they’re playing WITH…new bats. Not just new, as in “We bought these this...
3 ways to take charge of your health this Heart Month
More than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the United States each year. This February, during American Heart Month, the American Heart Association is calling on everyday citizens to be agents of change by stepping in as the first responder until professional help arrives. Nine out of every 10 people who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital die, in...
1031 Exchanges: Deferring Gains on the Sale of Real Property
For investors who seek to defer capital gains on the sale of investment property, one complex yet effective option is a 1031 exchange (also known as a Starker exchange). Named after Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, 1031 exchanges became more popular and accessible after a key ruling by the IRS in 2002, which for the first time allowed...
Latest Unlikely News
Ya know, you can’t make this stuff up.... The news is rife with absolutely amazing little bits—factoids, we might call them—about what’s going on “out there”, and I don’t mean outer space. Doesn’t take much more than a skimming of the news to find a fine selection of nutballs running around in front of God and everybody and coming...
Look!!! Up In The Sky!!!
Remember that one? “Look !!! Up in the sky !! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! “It’s Superman !!!” Nah, never mind, It’s not Superman, it’s a whole bunch of super people–The Fraternal Order of Eagles, to be exact. And what set me off on this tack was the sign out front of the local aerie ( That’s ornithologist talk for...
Home Sweet Home, both of ‘em
My current abode being somewhat the worse for wear, I was recently inspired to “go home” to Wellington to get one more look–maybe the last…or close to it–at the old homestead before someone new gets to call it “home.” So, anyway, it was a fine drive to Lorain County and even after all of these years, I still notice how...
It’s All About The Home
Today I had a customer in the store looking at bar stools. Before we could get to the fun stuff like style and color, we had a few “technical” issues to iron out. Issues like what size and how many were going to fit at her kitchen island. It was at this point that I realized I could turn...
Curiouser and curiouser…
Curiouser and curiouser…as Alice said during her adventures in Wonderland…. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)’s Mars Science Laboratory has just succeeded in landing the spacecraft Curiousity on Mars, the culmination of more than three decades of planning and building, theorizing and research, not to mention scrounging for money. The possibility of finding evidence of life on Mars is a motivator,...
What the Best Predictions Have in Common
Every year during March Madness, billions of dollars are wagered. A younger generation watches closely, absorbing lessons about prediction, risk, and reward that extend well beyond the brackets. Meanwhile, AI is reshaping industries, global conflicts continue shifting markets, and real questions persist about where disruption begins and opportunity is present. Somewhere in the middle of all of it, you are...
It “Bites” To Be A Former Allcare Dental And Dentures Patient
It’s been over a year since I’ve written a column for the Weekly Villager. Thankfully our practice has become very busy and I have not had time to write. But, I just can’t stand by idly and not comment on recent events that have befallen the dental community. An event occurred last week that that is outrageous, sad and unfortunate....
Air Mail Part II
Same windsock. Same beautiful weather. Bright little plane coming in from the east with a mailbag, to pick up a mailbag filled with postcards--over five hundred of them--addressed the last time we all gathered here on this sunny county airport in Middlefield, Ohio to commemorate the centennial of the transcontinental postal air mail service in 1920. Air mail service...
I don’t fear death; its being left behind that hurts!
I recently asked a friend whos wife passed several years ago; “when do the tears stop” he said I’ll let you know! I am resolved to the fact that the rain in my heart will never end; I can’t believe it is two years since I lost the love of my life! I make the best of every day...
Curses!!
Curse that groundhog! Well, it does depend on which groundhog you are going to believe. The storied Punxsutawney Phil, of Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania, according to his “handler” (like a sports agent, I guess) interrupted his long winter’s nap, peered out of his burrow and predicted six more weeks of winter. This would NOT be hard to do, given our experiences...
Play It Again, Sam!
That’s a famous line from a famous movie (Or at least one everybody thinks that they remember, whether they did or not. Casablanca?). We may have a local version with a small variation : “Play it again everyone.”...with “everyone” being our latest BIG Band, The Thrill of the ‘Ville. In case you missed it, Saturday night was the place to...
The Name Game
Speaking of winter storms.... This whole naming thing apparently started with the Weather Channel and a Latin class somewhere. This was apparently so that the on-screen prognosticators could get us all to focus on a particular weather event at a particular time and to nudge us toward acknowledging the fact that all of this weather stuff is related rather...
April Showers
April showers bring May flowers, eh? Somebody alert the providers of floral items. They’re either going to be left twiddling their thumbs because the general public is inundated by blooms of exotic sizes and descriptions springing up along every highway and by-way or their own backyards…or…there will be wholesalers of flowers lurking around corners trying to off-load cheap orchid and...
“Can you help me find a short story I read in high school? I want to read it again, but I can’t remember what it’s called or who wrote...
At the Newton Falls Public Library, we understand how discouraging it can be when you can’t find what you’re looking for. Our patron remembered that the story was about a son going through his father’s belongings to discover that he had been a prisoner of war in Vietnam. She also remembered that her high school had used the Language...
Iva’s Input: Amen to That!
Got inspired at church on Sunday( This is not an automatic occurrence, I have to confess. I get distracted…and sometimes sleepy, truth be told). Meaning, of course, that The Rev came pretty close to matching my point of view on a whole bunch of things. He also tossed out some statistics that were sobering and even scarey from some...
Where do mental health services fit in the debate over how to reduce community and school violence? Have a comment?
Since the school deaths in Connecticut, our nation has seen more school and community violence, as well as the ramping up of the debate over guns and, just as importantly, over mental health services. Portage has an array of mental health treatment services for children, teens and families supported through funding by the Mental Health & Recovery Board. The...
Messages From Mother Nature: We’re Back!
Often in nature we talk about phenology, the annual cycle of events that occur year after year on an annual basis, bird migration is one of the most spectacular of these events. One of the best descriptors of migration has been defined by Keith Bildstein , a noted ornithologist. Migration- the seasonal, directed movements organisms undertake while traveling back...
Wet enough for ya?
Well, the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers. “ Right?That being so, my yard and everybody else’s for that matter, should be resembling the Amazon rainforest. Of course, the late-season plunge down to frost warnings may have put the kibosh on that scenario, at least temporarily. All of this “El Nino” weather fluctuation may have confused some of...
Your Playbook For Uncertain Times
Labor Day marks a turning point — routines shift, backpacks return, and the first crisp hints of fall are in the air. Change can feel exciting and yet uncertain. The economy is shifting too: The Federal Reserve has suggested the possibility of an interest rate cut, a move that could ripple into borrowing costs and everyday confidence about money. Uncertainty...
Three Old Guys Walked into a Coffee Shop…
Mantua - While it may sound like the lead-in to a bad joke, it was the start of a fun and enjoyable evening held at Restoration 44 Coffee shop in Mantua. The event was held in conjunction with the Mantua Historical Society, and got its start last year at a local Christmas party when Dottie Summerlin listened in on...
Omnishambles
Omnishambles. That, declares the Oxford English Dictionary--OED, to friends and family--is the word of the year, 2012, presumably, though it seems to have got its start in 2009 on a British political satire TV show. I’m sure you’ve used it countless times since then, right? It did manage to gain some currency in Europe after Mitt Romney’s goof-prone visit there...
Flipped WHAT Bird?!?!
All of a sudden the avian population seems to be catching my attention. First it was the “sitting duck” mamma down at the Rite Aid in the landscape mulch, then it was the geese and goslings, duck and ducklings down on the creek behind the house, then it was the blue heron below the dam, which has been replaced...
A Load Off My Mind
Well, that’s a load off my mind! There was a piece in the AB-J and there have been subsequent mentions on NPR and even online about the possibility of a new “snack sensation” to be known as “lady Doritos”. Apparently, a clueless CEO at overeating icon, Pepsico, said in a podcast that women, unlike men, don’t like to lick their...
“Sometimes when I’m online, a website will ask me to type in a bunch of weird letters and numbers, or pick out all the pictures that have a car...
“Sometimes when I’m online, a website will ask me to type in a bunch of weird letters and numbers, or pick out all the pictures that have a car or a street sign, or just click box that says ‘I’m not a robot’ before it lets me go any further. Why does this happen?” These are a few different examples...
Notes From The Vineyard
It’s been a good year, actually, let me rephrase that – it’s been a GREAT year! Sure, this year has definitely put up a good fight for us... we’ve survived some bad economic times, we’ve dealt with a loss of crop from a late freeze last year, we’ve dealt with losses of loved ones this year but as I...
On The Road Again
The Road Apple Roubaix has come and gone once more, and left us with memories of probably the most “spring like” day yet. Makes one think that the Vernal Equinox might not be just a fig newton of our imaginations. Beautiful morning to be out riding, and lots of the riders seemed to be having a fine time and...
