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Mike Watson brought joy to Valley children

DEAR EDITOR: For over 40 years there was a very selfless, kind and very merry Santa, who has left us with heavy hearts. We lost Mike Watson, who has been Santa Claus in our Valley every Christmas season, listening to over 2,000 children’s requests for Santa’s presents every year. Naturally, 100,000 children over the years were delighted to hear the ”Ho-Ho-Ho” of a Santa gone way too early — who made children’s hearts light up and whose presence felt so special as he shared their secret requests. A gentle man who has heard the requests of kids — who would hear a ...

To drink or not to drink: Wrong question

For anyone aiming to cut back drinking, January’s arrival times perfectly. Some may have simply overdone it through the long holiday stretch, when alcohol seemed piped into any vaguely celebratory event. Some may worry that they’re beginning to forget the last drink they accepted. Recovering alcoholics or others who don’t drink at all have it easier, in one small way. Their intimates get to know that they do not imbibe — not beer, not wine, not liquor — and so don’t push alcohol in their direction. Those who want a drink now and then — in some cases, every night ...

Give Venezuela’s Maduro the Noriega treatment

DEAR EDITOR: To those who think the U.S. military should take out Venezuelan leader Maduro, accused of stealing the election by military force — know the history. Manuel Noriega, the dictator of Panama, who was trafficking in drugs and racketeering, took refuge in the Vatican Embassy on Dec. 24, 1989, and eventually surrendered. He was captured by U.S. forces and special operations units. Navy Seals and Delta Forces, on Jan. 3, 1990, (I love this part) pressured Noriega with loud music for 10 days. The songs they played were “Voodoo Child,” “You’re No Good” and “I ...

Taking Christmas seriously

We all know that God works in mysterious ways. Recently, I was deeply moved at a theatrical production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” This is the famous and popular tale of the transformation and redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge from a rasping, grasping old miser into a lovable, generous old man who, late in life, becomes determined to make amends for all his extreme selfishness and his public denunciations of charity. After tossing and turning in bed on Christmas Eve night, during which he has dreams showing self-imposed loneliness in his youth and present-day ...

Five ways to make more than a billion dollars

One of the most notable characteristics of 2025 has been the shamelessness of the billionaire class and the conspicuousness of its corruption. For many years, whenever I’ve warned that an increasing portion of the nation’s wealth is falling into the hands of an ever-smaller number of people, the moneyed interests have responded: “But that’s just the free market,” or “the free market has decided they deserve it.” Rubbish. There’s no such thing as a “free market” to begin with. Today’s so-called “free market” is the outcome of political decisions over ...

Will Ohio EPA allow data centers to dump wastewater into state’s waterways?

Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency has extended the public comment period to Jan. 16 as it considers fast-tracking a general wastewater permit for new data centers in the Buckeye State. Right now, the state EPA’s draft permit includes “a lowering of water quality of various waters of the state associated with granting coverage under this permit necessary to accommodate important social and economic development in the state of Ohio.” But among the questions such a statement raises are WHY it is necessary. WCMH-TV spoke to water quality advocate Amy Swank, of Dublin, Ohio, ...