April is a month that naturally invites reflection. As seasons begin to shift and routines change, it gives us an opportunity to pause and recognize the people whose work often goes unnoticed, but whose impact is felt every single day. For electric cooperatives, April 13 holds special significance because it’s Lineworker Appreciation Day — a time to recognize those who keep our electric systems running through every challenge.
Even with more than 11 million people living within its borders — some 282 folks per square mile — our state is still known nationally for its excellent sport hunting and fishing opportunities, particularly for wild turkeys, Lake Erie walleyes, and white-tailed deer.
Just as amazing, however, are the staggering odds that individual wild animals face to survive to adulthood in our modern environment. Take the wild turkey, for example. Joe Hutto, author of the 1995 book Illumination in the Flatwoods (which was made into a PBS TV special, My Life as a Turkey), put it this way:
When we moved into our house nearly three decades ago, there was a small pond in the backyard garden, its shape fixed by a hard plastic liner. The pond was choked with excess vegetation that hid, somewhere in the depths, a small pump that did not pump.
Even a small pond adds beauty and interest to a backyard, says Justin Miller, general manager of Aquarium Adventure in Columbus, and for the homeowner, an added value is “stress relief.”
“You sit out there with the sound and the movement of the water and it just relaxes you,” he says.
Brandie Hale never imagined that she ever would be any kind of an activist. As a self-described introvert who doesn’t like to talk — especially to large groups — it’s just not the kind of thing she’d put her energy into.
“Safety is everything, something that can affect our lives every single day,” she told the crowd. “I definitely don’t like to do this kind of thing, but I will do it forever if it can keep one other family, one other person, from having to live what we live now.”
Pride and joy
Brandie’s oldest child, Blake Rodgers, was born March 25, 2000, and even before his first birthday, he had learned to climb steps and could even climb up onto furniture. As he grew up, he excelled at football and baseball and at being a big brother.
Imagine taking a statewide road trip only to find every highway restaurant, hotel, and gas station closed. For a traveler, being tired, hungry, and in danger of running out of gas makes the journey difficult, if not impossible.
One way humans can help is by planting a pollinator pathway, creating an environment where those farm and garden helpers don’t have to work so hard just to get by.
A pollinator pathway is a grouping of native, diverse plants that help beneficial insects and birds survive in developed areas. Made up of plants that bloom in succession, they provide corridors of food and shelter from spring to fall. Typically located along roads, sidewalks, and yards, these pathways provide different landscapes needed to create bridges between habitat areas that might be too far apart otherwise.
The early hours of February 22 were typical for a Sunday morning in rural Highland County.
“Over long periods of time, small changes in stress in the earth can tip a fault over the edge,” Brudzinski says. “How many cocked guns are left and how many faults are really primed? There is no way to know; we really can’t anticipate when and where they will occur. Our ability to forecast earthquakes is not great.”
While Hillsboro may have been the site of the most recent shaker, Brudzinski says that Anna, a town of 1,500 people between Dayton and Lima, is the earthquake epicenter of the Buckeye State.
Jason White still works every day to manage the symptoms and struggles that came home with him from Operation Desert Storm in 1993. Difficult as it can be, though, he knows that the love of his family makes him one of the lucky ones.
White has long done what he could to help fellow vets — for years, he donated modest proceeds from his YouTube channel to veteran-related causes.
In 2022, he told his wife, Angela, “I want to do something big for veterans.” Nearly four years later (their efforts were delayed temporarily when Jason had a heart attack shortly after his inspiration), the couple is an organizing powerhouse as the full-time volunteer operators of Riding 22 in 22 VSA, a 501(c)(3) organization that marries their desire to help veterans with their love of motorcycle road-tripping.
Imagine taking a statewide road trip only to find every highway restaurant, hotel, and gas station closed. For a traveler, being tired, hungry, and in danger of running out of gas makes the journey difficult, if not impossible.
One way humans can help is by planting a pollinator pathway, creating an environment where those farm and garden helpers don’t have to work so hard just to get by.
A pollinator pathway is a grouping of native, diverse plants that help beneficial insects and birds survive in developed areas. Made up of plants that bloom in succession, they provide corridors of food and shelter from spring to fall. Typically located along roads, sidewalks, and yards, these pathways provide different landscapes needed to create bridges between habitat areas that might be too far apart otherwise.
