It’s happening right in front of us

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, positive things are happening in Coshocton County. The Three Rivers Bridge project is on tap to be finished this summer – and I think that all of us can see that the project is starting to wrap up – in a few weeks we will be able to drive on both sides of the bridge for the first time in two years. Two years? Yep. Time does fly.

I was not aware that the skill of prognostication was one of my gifts but apparently it is. Now, to be totally transparent, my list of “gifts” is not a lengthy list. You may recall – if my memory serves – although I did not go back and research it – that a comment was made that the Stay-Puft marshmallow man would be a product of this pandemic. And what did a family member send me this week via text? You guessed it. One of those pictures with the text overlaid on the photo – and it was the marshmallow man. Yep. How could I have known?

The COVID-19 virus is still around just in case you thought it had disappeared. According to the internet, the United States has 2.06 million cases with 622,000 recovered and 115,000 deaths. What happened to the number in between is a mystery, I guess. Worldwide deaths are approaching half a million. I will leave it to you to wonder how many of these deaths are truly linked to the virus. My place is not to question just to point things out, even ponder and sometimes question.

There are several bills from the Ohio Legislature that are either on the Governor’s desk, or very close to being on his desk. Some may be signed and moved into law when you read this. One of these bills is an interesting one – it has to do with unused state land in Ohio – and that it can be conveyed to local governments to determine the best course of action for the land, which can include being sold to the public. This is rolled into a bill with multiple legs and purposes, several of which revolve around COVID-19. If you want to find out more, you can research House Bill 481.

I am sure you have read or heard about the movement to do away with “controversial figure statues” around the country – and now around the world. Who makes this determination? Who is to say that what is controversial to you is not to me, and vice versa? Here’s a tip. Remember that the history books have been written down through the centuries by the victors, not the losers. Here is an example of how troubling this movement could be in the long run – who is to say that the Japanese would consider the Iwo Jima flag raising statue by the U.S. Marines to be “controversial”? I think that sometimes cooler and more sensible heads need to prevail.

MLB owners are expected to offer a 70-75 game proposal to the players union that would pay the players 80-85 percent of their salary, which is an increase from the 70 percent previously proposed – and rejected – by the players union. This is according to ESPN before the weekend. At some point in time a decision is going to have to be made.

Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion