June 2025

Gary Kinzel posing with one of his barns

“Sunshine is free.” Solar panel sales companies hammer the point over and over; they know it’s an idea that resonates with potential customers. 

“The first company made it sound like we would have instant savings, that we would have no electric bill at all,” Kathryn says. “It sounded good to start with, but when we really started digging in, we realized maybe it wasn’t right for us.”

Before they pulled the trigger, the Reeds reached out to Kyle Hurles, an energy advisor at South Central Power. Hurles met with them to review their goals and go over the results they could realistically expect.

People paddle boarding and kayaking on a river

When we were young boys, my brother and I sometimes paddled a battered aluminum canoe on the Mohican River in north-central Ohio.

One of those streams is the Mohican, and today’s paddlers can view the Mohican River Water Trail at the ODNR website or download a brochure to find information about access points (including Greer Landing), picnic areas, and points of interest, as well as  low-head dams and other hazards along the way.

The Skeans family posing with their rideshare van

Taxi cabs, like dense traffic, honking horns, and skyscrapers, usually are synonymous with big-city life. But the taxi business is different for Bobby and Natasha Skeans, members of Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative.

While the Skeanses live in a home tucked away down a gravel lane in a quiet, peaceful, wooded area of the island, other spots on Kelleys — especially on those busy weekends — have an altogether different vibe, and the island’s roads can feature some chaotic twists and turns.

“[Riders] can be very happy and like to sing songs,” Natasha says. “One time I had a football team. They were like 55 years old, and they decided to share all the songs they used to sing back in the day.”

Josh and Jen Bixler

Josh Bixler and his team once got a 3D printer to fly — while it was printing.

Aviation has been a lifelong passion for Bixler, who grew up in the Alliance area on a farm with a grass airstrip. His father was a general aviation pilot who taught him to fly (“I soloed in a single-engine Taylorcraft monoplane,” he says proudly). Bixler also learned the basic principles of aircraft design and construction while he and his father built numerous RC model airplanes.  

A sunset shining on solar panels

June is that glorious month when we enjoy the longest days of the year. In fact, Ohioans get more than 15 hours of sunlight on several days surrounding the summer solstice later this month. In recent years, it’s also been a time when solar power draws significant attention as something that seems like an obvious solution to America’s ever-growing electricity needs.

But even as more electricity is added to the grid from solar resources, it’s important to understand that solar power alone cannot meet our nation’s electricity needs.

Muskingum River Parkway signage

“No colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at the Muskingum.

When Ohio gained statehood in 1803, leadership recognized the potential of the Muskingum to facilitate the opening of Ohio and the entire Midwest for increased trade and development. As a result, in 1837, the legislature began funding construction of a series of 11 locks and dams on the river, spending $1.6 million over the next four years (roughly the equivalent of $1.4 billion today) for what was one of the most extensive — and expensive — public works projects of its kind in America at the time.  

Korey and Abby Wimbiscus Black sitting on their front porch

They start showing up on West Lincoln Avenue in Delaware — folding chairs, blankets, and snacks in tow — around dinnertime on Fridays during the summer, setting up on both sides of the street near No.

“I was so frustrated that I couldn’t play,” he says. So he started calling up a few musician friends and they did some socially distanced sets in his backyard for a few neighbors who would “sit and be kind,” he says. Soon enough, the neighbors encouraged them to move the show to the front yard.