Build it and they will come:  As in the famous line from Field of Dreams, local owners of Best Western Logan Inn were also confident that if they designed and built a modern, state-of-the-art hotel and provided service excellence, visitors would indeed come. They were right.

Perhaps not since the beautiful Joanne Dru, who was born in the City of Logan and the lead actress in the movie “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon,” have the people of our area had bragging rights that a movie star actually lived amongst them.

Yet, they now have another starlet to boast about.

Our seniors have contributed to West Virginia throughout their lives, and we owe it to them to provide fair taxation options that can help them enjoy the quality of life they deserve. By providing options that allow senior citizens to choose when they can pay increases in their household property taxes – now or later – we are assisting without placing unnecessary burden on other taxpayers.

One of the greatest things about our area is the wildlife that abounds in our mountainous region. It’s been quite a few years now since I hunted in the deep woods of Logan, Lincoln or Boone County. And even when I did, I mostly hunted squirrel, whitetail deer and wild boar in the fall of the year.

As a fairly general rule, homes appreciate about five percent a year. Some years will be more, some less. The figure will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, and region to region.

Five percent may not seem like that much at first. Stocks (at times) appreciate much more, and you could earn over six percent with the safest investment of all, treasury bonds.
But take a second look…

Presumably, if you bought a $200,000 house, you did not pay cash for the home. You got a mortgage, too. Suppose you put as much as twenty percent down – that would be an investment of $40,000.

When you rent a place to live, you can certainly expect your rent to increase each year, or even more often. If you get a fixed rate mortgage when you buy a home, you have the same monthly payment amount for thirty years. Even if you get an adjustable rate mortgage, your payment will stay within a certain range for the entire life of the mortgage – and interest rates aren’t as volatile now as they were in the late seventies and early eighties.

Imagine how much rent might be ten, fifteen, or even thirty years from now? Which makes more sense?

Adding grace and beauty to the shady side of your lawn may be easier than you think. Because hostas are easy to grow and to plant and do best in nonsunny areas of the yard, even the most inexperienced gardeners may use them to add beauty to their landscaping.

Any good garden soil is appropriate for growing hostas, which remain the most popular and best perennial in existence today for shady areas. The gardening experts at Gilbert H. Wild and Son, who just received the Mastergardening.com Seal of Approval, offer these tips to get your hostas off to a good start:

It's a beautiful time in Logan, Boone and Mingo Counties. It’s also a great time for us all to spruce up our yards.

According to David Beaulieu, columnist for About.com, there are a number of variables to consider in do-it-yourself landscaping projects: budget, skills, local climate, personal design tastes, etc. Above all, your project, regardless of the size, should begin with healthy doses of passion and vision.

Beaulieu then suggests some hot tips for do-it-yourselfers that can help begin the important mission of yard beautification.