Do you not wish you had bought stock in the orange and white construction barrels and cones?

Just between Williamson and Charleston on Corridor G, there always seems to be ongoing roadwork and plenty of barrels to redirect traffic.

Now, if you drive from Williamson on U.S. 119 to Pikeville, you will see many of the same round orange barrels where some kind of road construction, I assume, will start this week.

If you own the company that supplies them, you probably are a billionaire just from distributing them in West Virginia and Kentucky — let alone across the entire United States.

… Speaking of road construction, I travel U.S. 52 every day going back and forth toward Williamson. The potholes have been patched—again—and the road looks like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces missing. One person said it looked like a patchwork quilt.

It has to be one of the roughest sections of U.S. 52 anywhere around. It has been this way for several years now. The drainage in this area after heavy rain is not the best, so I think that has contributed to the deterioration of the road.

This two- or three-mile section of the road needs to be completely milled up and repaved. The continued patching of potholes just will not get it.

… When I went to school (many years ago), we did not always wear blue jeans to school. Some of the pants were probably made of polyester or double knit.

But my point is, you would not have worn jeans to school with holes and tears in them. You would have been embarrassed to have holes in your jeans back in the day and wear them to school.

If your jeans had holes or tears, they would have been considered work or play clothes.

Now the younger generation buys brand-new jeans that already have holes and tears in them.

I am not sure, but I bet these “newer” jeans cost even more since I assume it is a fashion statement.

But things sure have changed when it comes to jeans.

I am sure the jeans with built-in tears are much more expensive than the Wrangler or Lee jeans we bought back in the day.

… I have written about this many times in the past, but it still baffles me that gas prices can vary so much with only a few miles between towns.

Gas as of late has been $3.99 in the Williamson/South Williamson area. But if you drive to Pikeville, it can be 40 cents cheaper per gallon at certain locations. Even driving a shorter distance to Naugatuck, Kermit or Warfield, gas prices are about 20 cents cheaper than in the Williamson vicinity.

That just does not make sense. I know they say the price has a lot to do with transporting the gas to the convenience stores. But considering the short distances between Williamson and the other locations, that is just not a logical explanation.

… The debate on data centers is ongoing, not only in this region, but on a national level.

I am still riding the fence on this issue. The experts say we need the huge data centers and cannot let countries like China dominate the future and AI (artificial intelligence).

On the other hand, I have heard concerns about water usage, strain on the electric grid and even noise for people who live close to one of the data centers.

It has become a political football.

There are two proposed data centers for Mingo County. One is at the Harless Industrial Park and the other is at the former Twisted Gun Golf Course location at Wharncliffe.

I have been trying to get an update on where construction and approval of the two Mingo County projects stand. But I have not been successful at this point.

Stay tuned.

… It was sad to hear of the passing of legendary Logan basketball coach Willie Akers. Williamson Wolfpack fans remember the great rivalry with the Wildcats. Those games packed the local Fieldhouse and the one at Logan with thousands of diehard, screaming fans. It was standing room only.

Willie was from nearby Mullens, West Virginia, and played college basketball at West Virginia University with his best friend, WVU and NBA legend Jerry West. The two were Mountaineer co-captains their senior year during one of the best eras ever for WVU hoops.

I was privileged to get to know Willie well through my job in media over the years. He was always cordial and loved talking about the great games between his Wildcats and the Wolfpack. He and former Williamson coach, the late George Ritchie, were both class acts.

Akers led Logan to four Class AAA state titles.

Those are some fond memories from that era of high school basketball in this region.

Until next time …Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.