×

Forgive me, my mind has turned to mush

Well, it’s another Sunday and I pretty much drew a blank when it came to jotting down my thoughts for this week’s column. So, I apologize now that I’ll be jumping around to some different topics.

There was a lot of news to cover, and I tried to do a little something for myself which doesn’t happen much. When it was all said and done, there weren’t many cohesive thoughts left in my brain to string together any kind of solid opinion.

I don’t think it’s a secret I often wait until Saturday to write this column. Most of the time, it’s because I spend the week focusing on gathering and writing news articles, attending whatever local events I can get to and planning out content in this publication.

Expressing my opinion on some topic often is the last thing on my mind. Plus, it gives me more of an opportunity to look around and try to find some news item to discuss. I’ve tried to occasionally compile a list as ideas come to me, but I’ll misplace it or not feel inspired enough by the time I sit down to write.

I try not to discuss family or my home life in an attempt to keep some separation between work and personal. That doesn’t keep family members from jokingly asking whether I wrote about them.

After getting home from the office last weekend, my sister asked what I had written about her. I told her I hadn’t written anything about her. There was nothing for me to write about her. Besides, this weekend would have made more sense as today is her birthday.

Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. I have some shopping finished, but not all of it and while I’ve compiled a list I have yet to send out any cards. I did, however, sit down and watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” the other night.

With Christmas in mind, I’m hoping many of you took some time to read through an article we had in Saturday’s edition discussing the status of holiday collections at the Salvation Army.

Our local Salvation Army collects food and clothing throughout the year, of course, but there is extra effort for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They also have the Angel Tree, where residents have an opportunity to brighten the holiday for some of our local youth. As of Thursday, there were still 75 Angels in need of adoption, meaning no one had picked up the cards for these children from the local Angel Trees.

I know it’s not always easy to give anything extra, especially when many more of us are finding ourselves scrimping to make it through our weeks. If you are able, though, I would encourage you to find a way to help.

Our community continues to go through changes as it finds it new path. I’m reminded of this just about every time I drive through town.

I was able to hear a little bit about efforts to plan for the revitalization of former steel-making property in the city this past week. Two days later, I drove through north Weirton and saw the continuing work to dismantle the basic oxygen plant.

Our landscape is changing. Our community’s environment is changing. The feel of the community is different from what I’ve seen in years. There is still a struggle, but there is also more hope as we see businesses looking at possibly coming here.

It’s not going to be large industries employing several thousand people at a time. It will be smaller operations, hiring a few hundred each. If five companies start up in Weirton, and each hire 100 people, that’s 500 jobs that weren’t here before. That’s 500 families who can put food on the table, who can spend in our community, who can help us continue to grow.

Well, that’s all the rambling I have for now. Hopefully I’ll do a better job next week.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today