Opinion

As a TV news anchor, I try to avoid cliches, because they turn up on the news (local and national) a lot. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard, “The investigation is continuing,” I’d have some serious cash. I mean, that should be obvious. We all know that cops aren’t going to leave the scene and say, “You know what? I’m stumped. Let’s just go to Wendy’s and hope the whole thing blows over.”

I was a morning radio host before I got into TV news.

Spring is a popular time for decluttering. A big reason many older people resist is that after years or decades of acquiring stuff — some of which has emotional value — the task just seems daunting. According to Matt Paxton, one of the top downsizing experts in the country, his best advice is to take it one room at a time, one decision at a time. Make it manageable. In 30 days, he notes, your house won’t be perfect, but it will feel better: less heavy, less frustrating. You’ll spend less time managing stuff and more time actually living in the space. He says once you get moving, it gets easier since progress is contagious, while creating the confidence and momentum you need.

About this time every year, the same question comes up: Please tell me how I can rid my yard of all these pesky moles? You can run down to the farm store or big box store and find all kinds of traps and poisons for eliminating our subterranean terrorists … some may work — sometimes.

Let’s explore the origin of some common sayings. After writing several columns about sayings like, “Not my cup of tea” and “The straw that broke the camel’s back,” many of you suggested a few others. How many times have you threatened to read someone “The Riot Act?” What is that act, and why is there a riot involved? I’m pretty sure I “read the riot act” to my sons when they were teenagers, and I’m equally certain they rolled their eyes when I did.

Like many of the great cities of the world, Petersburg is located by a life-giving stream of water. London is on the Thames; Paris is on the Seine and Petersburg is eternally bonded with and blessed by the creek called Cane. Cane Creek is Petersburg’s primary waterway but where did it get its name? IDK means “I don’t know” and that applies here, but I do know that there is plenty of wild cane growing up and down the Cane Creek. I’m going to take a wild guess that the Cane Creek was named after our own small species of bamboo, sometimes called creek cane, river cane or switch cane.

Well, Family, I just couldn’t get enough of those Fishing Fords. We had North and Old last time, and now we pop over to the southside