UP: To the alert night watchman who spotted - in the apt description of Marietta police Capt. Jeff Waite - two "yahoos" attempting to make off with a large piece of metal from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently. The watchman noticed something on a motion detector and saw two men attempting to make off with a large piece of bronze and aluminum worth $10,000. Police were called and later arrested Alex Handschumacher, 34, of 10 Browns Road, and Michael Hollingsworth, 33, of 2255 Blue Knob Hill Road, on charges of misdemeanor criminal trespassing and felony theft.
UP: To the annual Volcano Days celebration being held today and Sunday at Mountwood Park, off U.S. 50 east of Parkersburg. The weekend - a combination of history and fun - celebrates the oil and gas boom in the late 19th century that put the small community of Volcano on the map.
UP: To the free admission being offered today at both the Campus Martius and Ohio River museums in Marietta. The free admission is being offered in conjunction with the Smithsonian Museum's National Museum Day. This is an opportunity for residents to visit the special exhibits on display at Campus Martius including "Touched by Conflict: Southeastern Ohio and the Civil War" and the "William G. Smith Geology Collection."
UP: To Monday's opening of the new Division of Motor Vehicles regional office. The opening of the new office, located on Lubeck Avenue, was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but DMV officials say work over the weekend would allow the office to open two days earlier. Hopefully, this will end a long ordeal that began when the DMV closed, without notice, the former facility on Dudley Avenue in March 2011.
DOWN: To the continued mess at Emerson Avenue and 36th Street that has seen the intersection a traffic disaster for months as it supposedly is being improved and widened. Motorists continue to take their chances at the intersection as asphalt breaks off into the deep trenches beside the road. The project has taken far longer than acceptable.
