The Athens News - Wearing Thin

Festering fests; down, down deep; and the Golden Rule

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 CDT

It's one of those days when I'm champing at the bit to pop off about a variety of topics, but they have nothing to do with one another. So that means it's time for a three-way…

Pills defeated relative when no other drugs could do it

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 CDT

Who'd have thought that a simple prescription for Vicodin to treat my relative's carpal tunnel syndrome would light a fuse that would ultimately ruin his life and hurt his family members as well?

More ruminations on the city and OU's festering problem

Wed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 CDT

The raw video footage that we posted on our website Saturday night, showing masses of drunken Palmer Fest celebrants shouting and chanting at police and firefighters responding to a house fire, rubbed a raw nerve among many alumni.

State’s not willing to stop oil & gas over-reaching

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT

Can anyone name for me another type of industry besides oil and gas that gets so many special deals and privileges from the state of Ohio?

OU tuition 96th costliest of 663 public 4-year colleges

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT

As expected, the Ohio University Board of Trustees approved a 3.5 percent tuition and general fee increase in its spring meeting on Friday. This raises full-time undergraduate tuition at OU from $9,870 to $10,215 per year. Room and board is also going up, to make the full annual cost of attending the university for a non-commuting undergraduate something on the order of $20,200 (not counting books and other various peripheral costs).

Vicious McCarthyism now part of GOP mainstream

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT

Each time I think that right-wing America has arrived at the extreme edges of stupidity and malice, something happens and I have to redraw the lines further to the right.

Editor Smith is beside himself on Athens fracking ban

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT

Athens City Council's vote last week to introduce a fracking ban in the city's wellhead protection area had me arguing with myself all week.

Drunk Homecoming brings out the worst in some folks

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 CDT

Aw, Homecoming, the annual fall campus celebration when wholesome, earnest college students mingle with thousands of successful alumni who return for the pageantry and fun.

While oil & gas boom doubtful here, it could still happen

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 CDT

So what's the upshot of our story last week that a state geology report does NOT place Athens County inside the "core productive area" for Utica shale development in Ohio?

Yes, I’m sure oil-gas industry will shun Ohio if taxes raised

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 00:00:00 CDT

I heard a really funny joke the other day. First let me set it up for you. On Wednesday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich unveiled a new bundle of policy proposals, with perhaps the most newsworthy one being a plan to fund a state income tax cut with higher taxes on shale drilling (aka, fracking).

Geological & business factors to drive local fracking activity

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00:00 CDT

While the environmental and social issues raised by the new-fangled oil and gas boom hitting Ohio are obviously important, the business and science aspects of the story are just as interesting, and for Athens County, could be even more consequential.

Post-election relief: Boy, am I glad that election’s over

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:00:00 CST

Some primary election thoughts (some written on Tuesday and some on Wednesday)… This local election season was a lot more intense than I thought it would be.

And you thought you’d heard the last about fracking

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 CST

It's been two or three weeks since I've weighed in on fracking so here's a few disparate points to consider:

Term limits: protecting us from our own poor choices

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 CST

Discussion about rolling back legislative term limits in Ohio is starting to percolate among leaders from both side of the partisan aisle. It's about damn time, since term limits reflect a profoundly undemocratic reflex among the American voting public.

With Stimson project, zoning, not history, is the main issue

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 CST

The Athens Planning Commission's Jan. 11 ruling on a proposal to build student apartments on the site of the old One-Stop Carryout building on Stimson Avenue had me twisting one way and then another.

Too much dorm security means too few tales from college

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 CST

We recently published two letters to the editor from Ohio University students debating the merits of security cameras in dorm common areas. This apparently is happening in some limited fashion on campus (and a story we publish in today's issue should fill in the details).

My New Year’s wishes are not all about fracking

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 CST

Here's my annual backhanded and front-handed New Year's wishes, a few days late and a few dollars short...

No holiday is complete without a mess of fracking news

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 CST

It's housekeeping time in the zany world of fracking.

Over the past few weeks, I've been collecting articles and information about the shale oil and natural gas boom that is poised to strike our little corner of the world… unless it doesn't, which is entirely possible.

Big money can be illusory during an oil & gas stampede

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 00:00:00 CST

I'll confess, one of the most rewarding aspects of covering our local installment of the national controversy over the ongoing oil and gas boom (aka, fracking) is that I'm carrying on a family tradition. My great grandfather on my mother's side, Don H. Biggers, was a muckraking journalist and political player in Texas during the oil boom of the 1920s, aggressively attacking shady oil promotion schemes.

Don't bad-talk Bobcats' bowl destination; Idaho's the best

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 CST

A lot of Ohio University Bobcat fans have been grousing about the football team having to play this year's bowl game in Boise, Idaho. Complaints have been aired about the distance, climate, the football field and the destination in general.