Kevin DeWine was unanimously elected to the chairmanship of the Ohio Republican Party at a party meeting outside Columbus Friday.
Voter Turnout
Greene County registered voters can stand tall and proud this election season. Their patriotism out- shined the rest of the state 70% to 67.5%. That was the level of voter turnout this presidential election. Ohioans exceeded the historic high of 65% of voter turnout by 2.5% and Greene County voters by 5%.
Presidential Race
In Greene County, McCain and Palin were the winners with 58.8% of the vote. That means only 39.7 voted for the Obama/Biden socialist ticket. Other parties voting received only 1.5% of the total number of votes, which means Democrats had no chance of winning in Greene County, Ohio. We can all be thankful that Greene County voters continue to uphold original liberal principles. We can look forward to another season when more Americans across the nation return to honoring those same principles.
Do you remember the battle between Ohio Democrats and Republicans over giving new registered voters the immediate right to early voting and the issue over voter record discrepancies? If I remember correctly, the number of questionable voters was around 250,000. Isn’t it an interesting coincidence that Obama won Ohio by a little over 200,000 votes? If I were McCain Republicans, I would make certain those 204,156 popular votes were legitimate. Who knows maybe McCain actually won a slight majority of Ohioans hearts and votes, but I suspect many of those votes were for Sarah Palin too.
I also suspect conservative feminists are just getting started.
US House of Reps Plus State Legislative, Executive & Judicial Races
Greene County voters were delighted with the campaigns over one Congressional race and many races for legislative, executive, and judicial offices.
Republicans running for seats in Congress and in both Ohio houses won by similar margins. Steve Austria took over Dave Hobson’s seat in the US House of Representatives. Austria beat Democrat and millionaire Sharen Neuhart 65.3% to 34.7%. Rep. Chris Widener is moving into the Ohio Senate because he won 66.3% of the vote to poor Roger Tackett’s 33.7%. Young Jarrod Martin also did well as demonstrated his gaining 59.8% of Green County votes. The more seasoned Bill Conner earned 40.2%. Was it the Republican version of yes we can change or something else? I’m not sure. Whatever it was. Martin now represents the 70th District taxpayers. Running for the 84th District was Republican Robert Hackett and Democrat Connie Crockett. Hackett hacked off Crockett when he won 62.1% of the votes to her 39%.
Woe, tears, and agony on ….
In the race to win the top law enforcement spot, Republican Mike Crites took 53.8% of the votes for Attorney General to Democrat Richard Cordray’s 41.6%. It’s too bad that Crites did win all of Ohio. A bright spot in the race was the fact that independent Robert Owens earned 4.8% of Ohio votes. I for one hope Owens keeps coming back to eventual win a place in Ohio government.
Let’s not forget how political public education actually is. The winner of the race for a seat on Ohio’s Board of Education for our district was Jane Sonenshein. She won 38.6% of the Ohio vote. Runner-ups were Jeff Hardin with 35.8% and John McHenry with 25.6%. If you know any of those candidates who will make many decisions effecting education in Greene County, you are either an educator, a friend of an educator, or a politician. No one does, but all should.
It would be a crime to forget the races for the judiciary. Given their reputation for activism and making law, it might have been a crime you didn’t. Being serious, Ohioans elected two Supreme Court justices. The lucky women were Maureen O’Conner and Evelyn Stratton, both Republicans thank God.
Wait a minute! Am I still allowed to use the G—word in the public domain. Those pesky ACLU and ASCS troublemakers are always stalking and lurking.
Anyway, O’Conner stole Russo’s thunder by winning by a whopping 67.3% of the Ohio vote to Joseph Russo’s 32.7%. Ohioans overruled Democrat Peter Sikora attempt to gain a place on the Court. The Ohio verdict was in favor of Straton 63.1% to Sikora’s 36.9%.
Unfortunately, Judge George Reynolds (R) got benched (sports term) being outperformed by Jeffrey Froelich (D), who won by a small margin of 52.6% to Reynolds’ 47.4%. I have to admit that my disappointment was not only the result of voting for Reynolds but because one of my grandparents last name was Reynolds.
Ohio Constitutional Amendment Issues
Possibly more important than who were elected to office were the six Constitutional amendment issues this election cycle. Amendments one through three and five won by nearly a 3:1 margin or approximately 70% to 30% while amendment six lost by the same margin. Amendment 4 was removed from the ballot.
Amendment 1 requires earlier deadlines for statewide ballot initiatives. Amendment 2 gives the state the ability to create funds for environmental preservation through bond issues and consequently through higher taxes. Amendment 3 redundantly adds to state law protection to private property owns and adjacent water use rights, but with the same exceptions as before. Amendment 5 places long overdue restrictions on payday lenders who have been bilking the poor to make themselves rich for years. This practice was sanctified by bipartisan politics until the terrible reign of GW Bush. Nevertheless, I still image that even the world’s Supreme Judge is pleased. Issue 6, the last Constitution amendment, was soundly defeated by Ohio voters. Casino gambling, its harm to communities and families, was once again rejected by 63.8% of Ohio voters. Only 37.2% favored it. Ohioans thus gave Providence reason to smile a little more.
Races for Greene County Government Offices
Greene County government is still the provenance rock-solid Republicanism. During This election cycle, most of the incumbents retained their titles and paychecks. Rick Perales defeated newcomer and Democrat Eddie Baumann, otherwise known to some young adults as professor. Perales earned 64.3% of Greene County votes to Baumann’s impressive 35.7%. Sorry, Eddie we like your religion but not your party. Like George Patton, I’ll be back Marilyn Reid is indeed back in office. She won a smiling 54.7% to Democrat Jerry Sutton’s respectful 45.3%. It’s good to have someone who cares about the common good back in county government–not that the one she replaces was not. After all of the trouble, Republican Eric Sears still won the County Recorder position by 19.6 points. After the party was over, Sears was showered with 59.8% of the votes and Democrat Mary Taylor received 40.2%. Then there was race for County Treasurer. It’s true. It is all about the money and incumbent James Schmidt gets to keep counting it. Schmidt defeated Democrat Corrina Grooms to the County gold by count of 65.3% to 34.7%. What amazes me is how Republicans can win even without any competition. I won’t name names, but you can read about them by going to the Greene County Board of Election website.
Greene County Levies & Bond Issues
Three out of four countywide issues passed. Greene County Children Services Board Operating (Issue 21) levy increase was passed by 51.6% of voters to 48.5%. Greene Memorial Hospital Operating (Issue 22) renewal was favored by 58.4% of Greene County voters to 41.6%. Greene County MRDD Operating (Issue 23) renewal was approved by 61.3% to 38.7% of voters. The last issue was the Greene County Mental Health and Recovery Board Operating (Issue 24) levy increase that was opposed by 56.4% to 43.6 of Greene County voters.
Local School Levies & Bond Issues
Almost all schools in the county had either a levy or a bond issue on the ballot. Beavercreek’s bond issue was approved by 53% of the voters. Seventy-one percent of Cedarville voters passed their school improvement levy. Jamestown voters once again rejected efforts of their school district to increase funding. About 50.1% of voters said no to an income tax proposal. So did Bellbrook voters. Sugar Creek School District’s proposed income tax was rejected by 58.8% of their voters. Wayne Local Schools current operating levy was opposed by almost 73% of voters. Last but not least was the Xenia Community City Schools Income Tax & Bond Issue (Issue 20). Fifty-eight percent of Xenia voters turned the opportunity to increase taxes on two fronts.
Booze Wins Big In Greene County : A Puritan Perspective
I’m not certain about this but it appears that the boozers won big throughout Greene County. All but one business seeking approval to sell liquor was favored by their local patrons—I mean voters. I almost wrote saints. I refrained, however, for one simple but profound reason. Saint Paul encourage boozing for health purposes—like Tylenol or Nyquil, but not for pagan partying nor for mixing drinks with tears of self-pity. I recently read that Puritans, who were also Paul’s disciples, liked rum. They liked fermented molasses a lot. This sheds some light on the debate about whether the early church disciples consumed real wine like Lutherans and Catholics believe. Just keep in mind though that back in those ancient times people didn’t have cars and trucks. No, they were lucky to have a donkey. Only the rich had real horses or chariots to loose control of and to harm themselves and others.
Remember that the next time you are tempted to mix your blue tears with some modern liquid painkiller after another partisan election.
Posted in Beavercreek, Bellbrook, business, Cedarville, election 2008, Greene County, health, House of Representatives, issues, Jamestown, news, politics, schools, Senate, Xenia
Tagged alcohol sales, county bond issues, County Commissioners, county levies, County Recorder, County Treasurer, Ohio, Ohio Attorney General, Ohio Court of Appeals, Ohio Supreme Court, president, school bond issue, school levy, US House of Representatives, voter turnout
The following is a YouTube presentation on the importance of this election. It was produced by the APRoundtable (a.k.a. Ohio Roundtable).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz4vNybKSfc&hl=en&fs=1]
Democrats in public office have a problem with abiding by our laws. When they cannot get laws passed (that is if they even try to get laws passed) by consent of the governed by means of their representatives, they seek the court’s assistance in making them by judicial fiat. This is what Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is doing ion behalf of Gov. Strickland and the Democratic Party.
The Plain Dealer reported that Brunner is attempting to make it possible for citizens to vote and the same time of their registration. Ohio law requires a 30-day period must pass before new registrants may vote. The reason is to give county and state officials time to verify registrant information like their driver’s license or identification card. She and her Democrat backers are seeking to discard the law through the courts.
“On Tuesday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati sided with the Ohio Republican Party and ordered Brunner to set up a system that provides names of newly registered voters whose driver’s license numbers or Social Security numbers on voter registration forms don’t match records in other government databases.”
Why did the Court of Appeals agree with the Republicans? The Court found the current means of screening eligible voter insufficient to prevent voter fraud.
Ohio’s Democrat officials do not have a problem with the likelihood of voter fraud. They are more concerned about 200,000 registrants whose driver’s license and social security records do not match government’s records. I have had my social security information not match the government’s records. It took a few days to get the problem resolved. But, Democrats wants all of us to feel tolerant towards those people and let them vote anyway. We should not disenfranchise those who might vote for Obama. Who cares about the possibility that they maybe among those enlisted by ACORN to get out and vote.
Democrats do not care about voter disenfranchisement. If that were the case, they would have attempted to pass legislation that changed voter law. Instead, Democrats seek to employ their famous Roe v Wade tactic–making law by law breaking judges. Obama agrees with those judges that saw the right of women to kill their babies in public places like clinics and hospitals as a fundamental privacy right guaranteed by Constitutional law. The problem is the privacy rights stated in the Constitution has nothing to do with sex or killing the unborn. The same principle applies here. The laws exist to prevent fraud and injustice. The laws were not meant to be violated by public officials, political vote seekers, or anyone else. They exist because some people have in the past and will likely do so in the future, especially if they believe they can get away with it. Ohio Democrats continue their practice of creating tolerance and unconstitutional rights for breaking laws in order to achieve their goals. In this case, their effort is to give Obama a better chance of winning the election.
I can hear some Democrats saying something like this: Well, so do Republicans. Do you remember Blackwell? Yes. I also remember Republicans creating redistricting law that gave their candidates a more favorable chance at winning elections in some districts. They did not blatantly seek to break the law by using the courts. They simply remade legitimate law. They actually did something Democrats often do not: They honored the rule of law, and representative of Ohioans not courts makes our laws.
Source: The Plain Dealer October 16, 2008
Posted in election 2008, news, politics
Tagged Democrats, fraud, Jennifer Brunner, Ohio, Secretary of State, Supreme Court, voter registration
According to a report by the Washington Post, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled late Tuesday to deny the Ohio Republican Party’s emergency motion for an injunction limiting same-day early voter registration and voting. Under the direction of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, county boards of election are allowing voters to register and vote on the same day, during a one-week window from Sept. 30 through Oct. 6.
Republicans argue that because state law requires voters to be registered for 30 days before casting a ballot, the procedure should be banned. Brunner said the process should continue because the votes will not be counted until Election Day. The Supreme Court of Ohio and a federal district court in Cleveland on Monday agreed with Brunner.
Politicians making it easier to register and vote is good policy. Shredding current law with the blessing of the Courts is another, which what SS Brunner and her blacked robed supporters sitting on high did.
Is it really to reduce long lines or to enfranchise more voters? Not really. Violating current law can never be justified by great political schemes. Scheming democrats know leftist activists are in the hoods convincing people to register and vote. The hint is that if they do their brotha’ will help them become more middle class through better community welfare programs. This is standard policy of get-out of poverty by voting for their Democrat (read it quick and cough a few times) benefactors.
This practice has been going for a long time and the poor are still poor. They still have the same issues with blighted neighborhoods, poor city services, low-income, crime on every street corner, little good health care, poor diets, and on and on. Unless they are true believing dependents on sugar daddy uncle Sam, they still have the same problems they have had for decades.
Some of advocates like ACORN, and others are seeking to help the poor. Sometimes they do. They helped them get loans and mortgages that they cannot not pay. They often have had to pay 3-4 times more to get payday loans for quick cash. Some inner-city poor actually work hard but still have little hope to achieve the American Dream. Many are single parenting moms, who should vote.
The problems is–and I have worked for ACORN while living in another state–multimillion dollar activist organizations like ACORN do not help people move beyond poverty they maintain. It’s true they make being poor a little better. With the cooperation of Washington politicians and rich elites, many poor are enabled to enjoy much of the good life, meaning having a decent place to live, cars, cell phones, computers, nice clothes, good food, and other stuff. It must be wonderful to have all that stuff only for the price of human dignity, much dependency, and little freedom.
Leading Ohio Dems desire to continue their paternal role over their poor benefactors. They also want the blessing of the superiors in party and on Capitol Hill. I’m sure Obama and company will shower may blessing on them and their grateful children.
I think the poor would show less prejudice by voting for McCain and Palin. They would be better off if while doing so they speak with one voice their demand for serious investment in their community, more justice economic policies to assist all willing to work to move out of poverty in order pay their own way. And just think, real prosperity and productivity would increase the local tax revenues and circulation of earned money, more consumerism, more employer-employee purchased health care insurance, paid more genuinely qualified loans, and the economic and political elites would still see the wealth trickle up into their coffers.
Wouldn’t that make a better world in which to live?
All of the jubilation over gas prices declining may soon be over. The bad news is not that gasoline is going to rise again; that is inevitable. The bad news is that your property taxes and natural gas bill may be increasing shortly.
Property taxes are going up because our government reassessed property values upward. If local voters approve the various November tax levies, you will be paying an additional $202 in 2009. Three levies that will increase you property taxes are Xenia Community School bond issue, Greene County Children Services and Community Mental Health operational issues.
According to the Office of the Ohio Consumer’s Council (OCC), Vectren asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio for permission to raise its natural gas delivery rates. Vectren wants to raise the $7 customer charge listed on your monthly natural gas bill to $16.75 beginning this November and ending in April 2009. From the low usage period beginning in May and ending in October, Vectren proposes to decrease the rate to $10 per month. Vectren’s ultimate goal is a winter monthly rate of $20.04 and summer rate of $11.96. The customer charge covers the property and facilities, metering, meter reading, billing, and other administrative costs.
At the same time, Vectren proposes to reduce its delivery service rate. This is a charge based on the volume of natural gas delivered to your home. The current rate is $0.1199 per CCF (100 cubic foot) for up to 50 CCF. Above 50 CCF, the rate decreases to $0.1044. Vectren wants to reduce further the rate beginning this November to $0.10937 and to $0.01397 in May 2009. In November 2009, Vectren proposes to reduce the delivery rate further to $0.08754 during the winter months and $0.07534 during the summer season. Vectren probably hopes consumers will think they are balancing the cost of natural gas delivery by further reducing this rate, but you will see later that it is not the case.
Using US Department of Energy data, the average Ohio residents used about 834 CCF in 2007 of natural gas in 2007. Extrapolating this data to Vectren’s 318,000 customers, natural gas customers in the Miami Valley used about 265,076,177 CCF and paid Vectren around $29.7 million in delivery costs. Applying Vectren’s proposed new rates, local customers will pay $29.6 million from November 2008 to October 2009. During the next 12 month period, local customers will pay a measly $21.7 million.
By comparison, Miami Valley customers paid about $26.7 million in customer charges. Applying Vectren’s proposed increases, local customers will pay $51 million during the period from November 2008 through April 2009. Vectren’s ultimately wants Miami Valley customers to pay $61.1 million a year beginning November 2009.
The total first year increase to Miami Valley natural gas users is $24 million and addition $2 plus million the second year, which is a total increase of $26 million.
Vectren’s proposed delivery rate increase does not include the cost of natural gas. It does not include a pipeline replacement cost recovery rider that will be added to every customer’s bill. It does not include the other half-dozen cost and lost revenue recovery riders also billed to all Vectren customers. It is not reflect the increasing profits made from commercial customers. It does not reflect increasing profits from fees charge to other gas companies for delivering their gas to your home.
Vectren’s CEO has about $202 million reasons for increasing your natural gas rates in order to continue growing Vectren’s investor dividends. I image most of the board of director are similarly motivated. And that is not all; they also intend on owning all public pipelines paid for by all member of our communities. As wrong as that is, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) collusion with Vectren’s plans is unconscionable.
That is why all natural gas customers have an opportunity to oppose Vectren’s proposed plans. You can write PUCO at the address listed below:
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
Attn: Docketing Division
180 E. Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
The Greene Trails Cycling Classic is a fun, family-oriented getaway that is easy on your wallet and friendly to the environment and your health! It is a multi-day event centered in Greene County, Ohio, and is designed to showcase the nationally recognized rail-to-trail system that exists there – and beyond, as well as the communities along the trails. All rides begin and end at the GTCC campground located at the Fairgrounds Recreation Center beside the Greene County Fairgrounds. Each day features and utilizes a different section of the trail with route(s) supported for rider convenience and safety. Routes include on-trail, out-and-back trips, as well as extended rides on rural roads for designated days. The broad network of trails provides an exceptional cycling experience for those families and individuals who want to take part in a bicycle or skating tour, but prefer the safety and comfort of staying on the trails. Alternate routes offer a choice for the more adventurous.
This year, participants will have the opportunity to visit some of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s old stomping grounds near Dayton, Ohio, including the Wright Brothers Memorial and Huffman Prairie Flying Field, the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center & Aviation Trail Visitor Center, Inc., the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, and other local sites of interest. Nowhere else in the country will you be able to experience this type of adventure with your friends and family.
For more information, visit the Greene Trails Cycling Classic website.
Posted in business, events, news, Xenia
Tagged cycling, Greene County, national rail-trails, Ohio, Wilber Wright Aviation
|
The proof that industrial farming is hazardous to our health may not be in the puddling but it is in the beef and tomatoes.” There are two national epidemics occurring in America. One is the result of eating tomatoes infected with salmonella. The second is the result of hamburger infected with E. coli O157:H7. According to the CDC, 552 people in 32 states have been infected with salmonella by eating tomatoes. At least 53 persons have been hospitalized. The specific type and source of tomatoes is under investigation; however, the data suggest that illnesses are linked to consumption of raw red plum, red Roma, or round red tomatoes, or any combination of these types of tomatoes, and to products containing these raw tomatoes. At least 53 persons were hospitalized. |
The Center of Disease Control claims the following:
Approximately 75% of recently emerging infectious diseases affecting humans are diseases of animal origin; approximately 60% of all human pathogens are zoonotic. Each year, food borne pathogens cause an estimated 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States. There have been 1.5 million West Nile virus infections since 1999. 2.5 billion people are at risk for dengue in more than 100 endemic countries with 50 million cases of dengue fever each year. |
|
|
New Scientist columnist Ewen Callaway interviewed Keith Warriner, a food microbiologist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Warriner said that the source of the salmonella bacteria probably comes from groundwater contaminated with animal feces. Once the bacteria get on or into a tomato, the fruit acts like an incubator. Bacteria divide even in the cool temperatures of packing houses. It takes a lot of manure to contaminate ground water. The only sources producing large amounts of infected manure are either meat processing plants or industrial animal farms. Regulations regulating meat processing plants are usually not adequately enforced and industrial animal farms should never been allow to exist. There is nothing good about those types of farms except the profits of their owners. There has been an average of three salmonella outbreaks involving fruit or vegetables each year since 1996. Five of the 33 have involved tomatoes, according to Callaway.
All of these outbreaks were the result of either industrial meat processing plant contamination or industrial farm operations. All were cause by diseased cow manure either contaminating meat processed at the plants or contaminating ground water by industrial farms. |
||
Early in May, I reported on Ohio School Board Association endorse an automated emergency messaging system. The technology is probably great; it is human error that can cause the real problems–problems like inducing mass panic. That is what happened in Mason, Ohio.
Local 12-WKRC-TV made the following report on May 27:
Last week parents were notified by mail, e-mail and notices sent home with students that there would be a mock disaster drill at a Mason City School this week. But they did not know in advance the exact location or time of the drill, which is standard procedure.
The mock disaster drill was at Mason Heights Elementary School. The situation was a boiler had exploded, and everyone needed to evacuate the building. The drill is a test to make sure in a real emergency, everything goes smoothly but that didn’t happen.
It may have only been a drill but…
almost 100 parents rushed to a local school after they were notified there was an explosion.
If the school officials had forewarned all parents, why did the drill cause such mass confusion and panic?
The Public Information Officer used the emergency call system to send a message about the explosion to all Mason Heights parents. However, she forgot to mention it was a drill. Hundreds of frantic parents rushed to the school to check on their students, only to find there was no emergency.
Human error sank the Titanic and human error momentarily sank the heart of many of Mason Heights Elementary School parents.
