Leap Day

Today is February 29th and that happens only every four years. I wasn't going to post anything today. It's a good day to stay in and catch up on some reading. However, I got curious about how Leap Year came about and thought if I don't write anything today I will have to wait another four years for Leap Day to come back around.

So, I went to Wikipedia and found some interesting facts. There's a lot of mind boggling facts and I could bore you to death with a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo. Fact is I got bored with it myself and decided to keep this simple. Keeping simple is easy for me. It comes naturally.

Quite simply an extra day was added to the Gregorian calendar once every four years so we can match up to the solar year. The solar year is six hours longer than our normal 365 days. It was decided that the date would be February 29th and that date is called Leap Day. Leap Year is any year that can be evenly divided by the number four. The next Leap Year will be 2012.

A person born on February 29th is called a "leapling". The newspapers commemorated a few leaplings in today's editions. For instance Virgil Marelli of ELO was pictured in the ER and has been around for 84 years but today is only his 21st birthday. I surely hope he feels 21. Go buy yourself a drink Virgil. You're legal now. Have a great one.

Some folk traditions that go along with this year is that in most English speaking parts of the world it is permissible for a woman to propose marriage to her man in a Leap Year. In old England it was punishable by law if the man refused. However, in Greece it is considered unlucky to get married in a Leap Year. Go figure. Evidently Sadie Hawkins wasn't Greek.

So fellows if your reluctant to pop the question to your gal watch out. You're fair game to have the tables turned on you this year. Question: if a woman proposes to her man does she have to buy the engagement ring?

Found the picture of the post card above on Wikipedia. It's a hundred years old and they noted it was public domain. You can click on it to enlarge.

So Happy Birthday to all you leaplings. Hope to see you again in another four years.

Now back to the book...

ole nib

Great Job Tigers

It was a disappointing ending but there was absolutely nothing for Coach Thompson and the Wellsville Boys Basketball Team to be ashamed of. They played a heck of a game last night and fought to the end. They just ran out of clock. Also, it's my humble opinion that they were a baby step away from being 23-0 if it wasn't for illness and injury. Their only regular season lost was when Zane Carter was playing with a neck injury and last night D.J. Douglas was playing while suffering with a case of the flu. It things like that that can take away from a team's effectiveness. Basketball is a team sport and if one of your starters is hurting it's usually going to cost ya.

Last night the Shadyside Tigers came out with the hot hand and there were times when the Wellsville Tigers couldn't buy a basket. Those 3 pointers can change a score in a hurry. Also there were hints from the wkmxlive announcers that WHS was being victimized with some "home cookin" with the referees. Who is Mike Coin? Or is it Coyne? At any rate he wasn't being praised for his objectiveness for being impartial.

Before wrapping this up I want to thank Terry Brown and his team at wkmxlive for being there. I really enjoyed listening to all the games they did and I normally don't follow roundball. Because of them I really got into it this year. You guys "came a long way baby!" I saw 57 viewers on last night.

To the seniors on this year's team we want to wish you the best of luck in whatever the future holds in store for you. To the rest of the guys we just want to let you know we're looking forward to next year. To all of you and the coaches we thank you for the exciting times. Stand tall. We're proud of you.

Man! What a ride...

ole nib

Sheriff's Trial Continued

From the headlines in today's Morning Journal we read that Columbiana County Sheriff Dave Smith's defense team yesterday filed motions to withdraw their demand for a jury trial and to withdraw their motion to suppress/dismissal of evidence. That motion to suppress evidence was for the urine test results. It came back showing Smith was way over the legal limit.

According to Tom Giambroni yesterday's court filings caught the Cambridge Law Director by surprise. Today a continuance was granted and there will be a "coordinated change of plea" hearing on April 18.

This should come as no great surprise. There was certainly a hint of some legal wrangling going on when Smith pulled out of the primary seeking re-election. Plea bargaining is a very common practice especially for a first time offense and it is also a money saver for all concerned.

Exactly what they are bargaining for is any body's guess and probably won't be public knowledge until the April hearing. Smith refers all questions to his attorney and his attorney apparently isn't taking calls. It will be interesting to see what comes about in April. Right now we don't know the reasons behind any of it and we can only speculate with Smith's reluctance to let us know.

What I don't understand is if they are plea bargaining why wasn't the Cambridge Law Director involved? Surely he has a fax machine. Isn't he part of the legal process down there?

We'll just have to wait and see...

ole nib

Busy Week For Newshounds & Bloggers

This week is going to be busy for us. With basketball games, dinners and court hearings there will a lot of fodder for the print media and old fools like me.

Starting off Wednesday evening the WHS Boys Basketball team travel to Byesville to take on Shadyside in the first game of the Districts. Byesville is just south of Cambridge off I-77 in case you were wondering. I had to refresh my memory. I know the guys are going to go down there and put on a clinic on how the game is played. The game is scheduled for 7 P.M. and barring any technical difficulties wkmxlive said they will be there. Good luck to all.

Thursday is going to be doubly busy with the Ohio Elections Commission holding a probable cause hearing on McClellands complaint filed against Mayor Joe Surace. That's suppose to be in the morning in Columbus. Then Thursday evening is the Chamber of Commerce dinner at the high school. A V.P. from Baard Industries is to be the keynote speaker and the last I heard there were fewer than 10 tickets available. I think I read that the max capacity is 400.

Then on Friday the focus will be in Cambridge, OH, for Sheriff Dave Smith's pre-trial hearing for his OVI citation. The last news I remember is that his defense was trying to get the urine test results thrown out.

J.C. Amato's arraignment was suppose to have been on Thursday but I read in one of the papers that it was pushed back to March 28th. There was no reason given for the delay in the papers.

Not wanting to look ahead I won't mention what's coming up next Saturday. I don't want to get anywhere close to putting a jinx on anyone.

Yes indeed there will be a lot of food for thought offered up this week as we see the various issues unfold. Stay tuned...

ole nib

Whatta Game !!!

Congratulations to the Wellsville Tigers Boys basketball team on their winning the Sectional last night. For most of the game my heart was in my stomach. The Tigers didn't take a lead until late in the fourth quarter and then they traded that back and forth. It was nearly in the last two minutes of the game that they finally put it away. The final score was 57-50.

The guys from wkmxlive said they were playing nervous and that may be true. I know I sure as the devil was. With the regulars and great play off the bench they came through. Now their record is back to 0 - 0 as they move on to the District in Byesville at Meadowbrook High School. In spite of what a couple of the players were quoted as saying there is a lot of us that did give them credit to win and I just know they will be able to do it against Shadyside this week. I just hope they don't wait until late in the game to prove it.

Congratulations are also in order for all the people who made the AP All-East District teams. You know who you are. The Tigers were well mentioned in not only the boys but the girls too in Division IV.

Good luck this coming week. Don't let the distractions take away your focus. Play your game. I know you can do it. I just hope my heart can take it.

ole nib

303 Wells Avenue

When I wrote about Wellsville's council meeting last week I was wondering where this property was located. I found it. It's on the river side of the street. Most of the east-west streets in the village have even numbered addresses on the river side of the streets and the odd numbered ones on the hill side. Not true on Wells. I never realized that. Was it always that way? Back before they made Route 7 a four lane there use to be houses on the hill side.

This is the property that was given to the village. It was announced that they intend to tear it down and make a small play ground or something that can be enjoyed by the public.

Learn something new everyday...

old nib

Old East Liverpool Train Depot

"john doe smith" came through for us again. Thanks "john".

Above is a picture of the EL train depot that their auditor mentioned last week and by gosh, I do remember it. In his post on ORL I asked Matt Stewart if he had a picture of the old depot. I didn't remember it and thought if I could see a picture it might shake off some of the cob webs. Mr. Smith picked up on that and sent us one. It did the trick. I don't know who took the picture or where it is from but I wanted to share it with you all.

For some reason when I first looked at the picture the late Hans Hacker popped in mind. This is the kind of subject he was noted for painting. He may have. That's something else I can't remember.

ole nib