Not only are they illegal to set off here in Ohio but…they could be dangerous:

This week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a report saying it found that nearly half of the shipments they inspected coming from China do not meet Federal safety guidelines. That’s especially worrying since, according the American Pyrotechnic Association, 98 percent of fireworks used in backyards and front lawns across America are manufactured in China. NEWSWEEK’s Caitlin McDevitt spoke with Scott Wolfson, a chief spokesman for the Commission about its findings and why this Independence Day could be more volatile than in previous years.

More tips from the American Pyrotechnic Association.

Huge sigh.

First, less than two weeks ago, I came across a local news item in which a clergyperson stated the belief that Ohio State Rep. Josh Mandel (R, Lyndhurst, 17th), had succeeded in passing legislation that would force certain Ohio pension plans to divest from investments in companies with ties to Iran or Sudan.

No such legislation passed, no such law exists. The pensions signed a voluntary agreement and, from what we know, continue to work on plans that would be in compliance with that written agreement.  However, no Ohio law was ever passed requiring them to divest.

I contacted Rep. Mandel and I contacted the news outlet.  The news outlet issued a correction (it had previously reported on the fact that the bill was getting tabled) and Josh and I had a lengthy conversation about the situation.

Then, over the last few days, items started to pop up in my mail about Mandel’s speech in California.  I wrote about his presentation here.

Here is why I’m writing further about that presentation:

There is a first-hand report of that event that is making its way to the public via Powerline, Townhall, The American Thinker and the Jewish community via outlets such as Jewish Current Issues (aka JCI, aka JPundit.com).  After the recitation of the impressions Mandel left with the attendees, the post at JCI, in addition to asking people to contribute to Mandel, had a four minute video of his speech in California posted last night that has since been removed.  They used a program called DropShots which, according to the website, “does not allow your page to be indexed or available to search engines” and so I’ve not had any luck finding that video for you to watch.

Okay - so that’s really not upsetting - what’s got me distressed? First, from Powerline:

Given that he’s a Republican in a two-to-one Democrat district in the Cleveland area, Mandel will need to give a lot more sterling speeches — and raise another $400,000 — to stay in his current job.

While Mandel could give almost any speaker a run for his money, the secret to his winning a state representative seat two years ago was knocking on almost 20,000 doors — wearing through three pairs of shoes in the process. But with the GOP having a razor-thin four seat majority in the Ohio House, Mandel will be facing a tidal wave of cash from his opponent, the state Democratic party, and independent political groups, including so-called “527s.”

If Mandel survives this November, expect to hear a lot more about him. Not only does he give a “world-class” speech, but he already has an impressive legislative track record. In his first (and only) term, he introduced Iran divestment legislation, and he successfully led the effort to force Ohio’s massive pension funds to stop investing in companies that do business in
Iran.

Are they talking about the same Ohio House District 17 that I live in?

Two to one Democrats? 

Candidates who need $400,000 to win a seat (that’s been a GOP seat for years)? 

Facing a “tidal wave of cash from his opponent” et al?  Where??? Where is that tidal wave coming into the 17th race from the Dems?

“If” he “survives”?

Evidence of any of these, anyone? Numbers, anecdotes - anything?

Okay. So that’s Upsetting Thing #1 (which is really Upsetting Thing #2 after the thing with the “successfully passed” Ohio law that doesn’t exist).

Here’s Upsetting Thing #2 (or 3, depending on how you count), from The American Thinker piece:

Mandel faces tough odds-but then again he always has and he has always risen to the challenge. We hope he continues to do so.

“Faces tough odds”

“he always has”? (more…)

I have yet to hear those magic words from the Senator concerning FISA, and no - they have nothing to do with prosecuting the telcos per se (where the hell did that come from?) - but he cannot be blamed for that.

Although any suggestions that he - or anyone else - will prosecute the previous occupants or enablers of the Executive Branch for criminal violations of the Fourth Amendment is sheer fantasy.

And yes, I'm afraid it's once again obvious there have been violations that the Bush Administration wants hidden. Which still begs the questions - why the hell did Democrats cave on this issue - and why the hell would Senator Obama?

I also appreciate (in some sense) the Heller decision. Yes, I really do appreciate it - as the most hilarious non-strict-constructionist opinion from a strict constructionist Court in the history of the Republic!

Nevermind that Pandora's Box - once opened - can never be closed to every courthouse in the land for a long time (way to go conservatism!).

Nevermind that - contrary to belief - the people you should really be worried about aren't necessarily in possession of guns illegally (ergo, licensing is also not the answer).


Otherwise, my particular brand of pissed is entirely due to someone making an ass of himself by seemingly (and truthfully) pandering to the wrong groups out a lack of ability to - or a near total disinterest in - engaging the people he really needs to help him win the election and move this country forwards.

[I'm sorry, but your call to the parishioners of Parsley's mega-church cannot be completed as dialed, please try again...]

And by "people he really needs", I sure as hell don't mean the liberal blogosphere or the hyper-conservative evangelical set. Sure, some of us on the left helped pay his bills during the Spring, but it's going to be everyone else (minus Dobson and Co.) who will be counted upon to get him over that last hump in the Fall.

Those same people are not necessarily inclined to buy into the globalization argument that came spewing forth about two weeks ago (not without a compelling explanation citing - for example - how massive trade barriers led in large part to the Great Depression).

I don't see much of an argument to be made for mentioning an expansion of the military as the rationale for a greater presence by the United States on the global stage, when a) we can barely take care of our own needs and b) the overwhelming mood of the country is to disengage from the latest fiasco caused by a nation-building mindset.

[A mindset I seem to remember we were led to believe was not going to be a part of the future during an Obama Administration.]

I have no problem with consensus building, but when your opponent is tied at the right hip to the most unpopular President in history, what in God's name compels you to tie yourself to the left hip of that same lead balloon? Especially when you were already pulling even with some of the most conservative voters of a particular religion?

Meanwhile, stretching outwards into this territory was merely another signpost on the already well traveled path to the problem (and it was more than 5 days ago), the end of the problem is a much larger problem overall - because there is no end in sight.

Then again, when you see the totality of his opinions, you realise he's not really selling you out. He may not entirely believe (or understand) everything he says, but he's sure as hell not selling you out.

And his speech in Colorado Springs yesterday was almost pure Obama gold. Almost...

But one or two examples of high-minded discourse don't encourage me to be giddy about the results of all this rather pointless maneuvering. Nor give me any reason to continue standing idly by and/or defending it in any manner.

Granted, I wouldn't entirely mind seeing St. John wreck the Republican Party for not only my lifetime, but for the next seven generations. But when my favoured candidate goes to the far right of an already falsely crowned "moderate maverick", I have to wonder, should I really mind the certain damage inherent in one-term of mumbling dementia?

I could just have a piping hot cup of shut the fuck up - and you could just watch St. John waddle his way into the Oval Office...

Your choice.

Here’s a small sampling of events this extended weekend:

Guilford Lake has a boat parade at noon on July 4th. Decorate your boat, take part and win a prize. Call 330-222-1712 for more info.

Portage Lakes State Park has a “Friendly Gathering featuring a sandcastle contest and early fireworks at dusk.

Take in the 3 Rivers Regatta in Pittsburgh and reserve a spot for a leisurely paddle by 5pm Thursday with  Venture Outdoors for a snack and the best seat in Pittsburgh  for the Fireworks show: Right on the water at Point State Park with their Fourth of July Paddle. . It’s a little pricy, but worth it.

Also, they are sponsoring Urban Bike Tours and a tour though the Great Allegheny Passage as part of Bike Fest. Check out Venture Outdoors for more information.

Closer to home, Lake Newport hosts a Firecracker Paddle July 5th, 10am to noon.

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Remember not long ago when Toledo dreamed of free wi-fi and then it was decided that for a variety reasons one of which was cost, that it wasn’t going to work out? Well down in Akron, Ben on The Point shares, The (Akron) City Council voted Monday to spend about $800,000 over the next five years to provide free wireless Internet service in and around downtown Akron.

They are going with a company called OneCommunity, and it’s interesting to follow the discussion since some of the same questions raised here are being raised there as to who will actually benefit from the services and what if any draw it would have on businesses.

Did you that Bono wrote an introduction for The Book of Psalms? Yes, that Bono. Well don’t just sit there furrowing your brow, go check it out at The Carnival of Ohio Politics #124.And after you check that out, be sure to read all the submissions this week from new contributors, on new topics and with new ways of thinking about old ideas that could appeal or incite anyone.And have a great, safe July 4 on behalf of all the co-editors at the Carnival. 

As this Blade article points out it’s not just the actual worker who is temporarily laid off that has an affect on the economy:

Last week, Chrysler LLC announced that it was shutting down the factory making Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro through Aug. 25 at the Toledo Jeep Assembly complex.

The move idled over 2,200 Chrysler workers and will affect thousands of others in local parts manufacturing, analysts said.

“It’s not going to be pretty,” said Joseph Phillippi, an industry analyst with AutoTrends Consulting in Short Hills, N.J. Production cuts at Chrysler, General Motors Corp., and Ford Motor Co. will have a “nasty effect” on the automotive supplier industry, Mr. Phillippi said.
(more…)

The E-Check program was extended through the end of June 2009 for seven Greater Cleveland counties. Ohio will pay for the program through general revenue funds, and not the tobacco settlement money that was previously used.

They may play an important role, but to get over the threshold of what will interest me enough to open the stuff in my inbox that comes from the campaigns? There are several tips I would give.

First, the research, from the Center for Media Research:

a new PEW study reported by Aaron Smith and Lee Rainie, “The Internet and the 2008 Election,” shows that a record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others.

In addition, says the memo report, three online activities have become especially prominent as the presidential primary campaigns have progressed:

• 35% of Americans say they have watched online political videos, triple that in the 2004 race
• 10% say they have used social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace to gather information or become involved. Two-thirds of internet users under the age of 30 have a social networking profile, and half of these use social networking sites to get or share information about politics or the campaigns
• 6% of Americans have made political contributions online, compared with 2% who did that during the entire 2004 campaign [emphasis mine]
  

Here’s the Pew study.  But the Center for Media Research post has some good graphs and other info (I’m playing beat the clock between shlepping, finishing up the Carnival and my first workout session to get my back back to…something better than it is).

Let me remind you of something Ohio Democratic Party Chair Chris Redfern said to my in early 2006:

…we spoke about many topics, including blogs, bloggers and blogging.

If he were in a position akin to that of a media placement advisor for a corporation, but doing so for a politician, what percentage of a budget did he think blogs would get?

Zero. Unequivocally.

Did he think Paul Hackett or Howard Dean would say the same?

No direct answer, but we talked about how Hackett’s juggernaut experience in the Ohio 2nd race and Dean’s fundraising successes aren’t really parallel to the question I asked, but do represent the burgeoning use of a media that Redfern agreed was in its infancy and as such, not really a known quantity yet.

He stated at least a couple of times his belief that in 4-6-8 years, the story re: blogs may very well be entirely different.

So, we’re now two years from that time, not 4, 6 or 8.  But I still feel ready to ask Chairman Redfern: are we beyond the “Zero. Unequivocally” stage yet?

Well, what is 6% of all political contributions?  If candidates raise $200 million total between them, that’s $12 million? And how much ad money from the campaigns did it take to raise that $12 million? What was the ROI?

Certainly doesn’t sound like nothing, especially if you don’t have the $12 million.

I haven’t looked yet but if anyone has ideas of what have campaigns spent to get money, let me know.  I think I read a couple of months ago that the proportion is still miniscule for online advertising, but is that including this notion of e-mail communication?

And what if anything has the ODP spent to raise more? I know I get an awful lot of e-mails asking me for money, including from the ODP.  That must cost someone something.

Yeah, I think we’re past the unequivocal zero.

Well, it’s technically not in Toledo, but in the Toledo area - this in via email:

We are very excited to announce the 2008 Strickland for Governor Cornhole Tournament Tour. Cornhole is a rapidly growing activity enjoyed by people of all ages and backgrounds. Unlike a golf tournament, our cornhole tournament will not require any equipment nor require any skill. It will be open and accessible to people of all ages and abilities.

There are two brackets of play for the tour: $50.00 per tournament for Singles play and $100.00 per tournament for Doubles play.
(more…)

The Fourth of July holiday kicks off a little early in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Cleveland Orchestra Star Spangled Spectacular takes place tomorrow (July 2, 2008) at Public Square. The Cleveland Orchestra will be giving a free concert at 9 PM with other free events starting at 4 PM.

Weather permitting, there will be a fireworks display at 10:30 PM.

The Star Spangled Spectacular not only celebrates Independence Day, it celebrates 200 years of Cuyahoga County.

The orchestra will be conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero and will feature soprano Indra Thomas. nearby streets will be closed, so you might want to consider using the Rapid to avoid parking problems.

The dreadful economy is taking its toll on a Northeastern Ohio pastime. The Soap Box Derby Struggling For Funds Because of Lack of Sponsorship, held in Akron yearly, failed to achieve any national corporate sponsorship for only the sixth time in its history and is struggling desperately for cash. The group that runs the famous race says they need $2 Million dollars in proceeds from the race in order to break even this year. Last year, the number was $200k short of that marker.

"We need a nice infusion of money that would enable us not to live hand-to-mouth and would let us implement some of our business strategies," derby president Jim Huntsman said.

This year the race is expected to draw over 600 racers and will be held July 26th.

The Blade published a series on the downtowns of Ohio's major cities and how they have changed. It included an article about downtown Cleveland.

(via Economic News from Ohio's Regions)

Usually the request for submissions goes out through e-mail, and I’ve done that already.  But I also figured that since that list seems to have remained more or less the same number for a while, maybe there are blog readers who aren’t aware of the Carnival and might consider contributing.

You can read past editions of the carnival here if you’re not familiar with them.

The righthand sidebar at the site shows you how something like 70 different blogs, from literally everywhere along the political spectrum, have participated in the carnival over the last 12 months and we’re always hoping more new bloggers will participate.

If you are interested in being a part of the carnival, you can send up to three links, each week, to the carnival address (OhioPolCarnival[at]Gmail[dot]com) by 9pm that Tuesday evening (unless the editor of the week notifies you otherwise - like for a holiday or other exception).

The co-editors include me, Ben Keeler of Keeler Political Report, Lisa Renee Ward of Glass City Jungle and Scott Piepho of Pho’s Akron Pages.

If you have any questions, or suggestions, please feel free to e-mail me, any of the editors, or the e-mail for the carnival.

And thanks - feel free to spread the word.

This situation brings up memories for me of when several years ago one of my daughters who was not yet an adult became sucked into the whole PETA marketing machine, she believed she could not drink milk because it contained pus, and she knew this had to be true because it said so on the PETA website. This made me become a mini-expert on the topic of Milk to be able to refute part of what was being stated to her…

According to the Blade, today:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two trade groups have filed lawsuits challenging a new Ohio rule on how labels inform consumers whether milk was made from cows that were given a synthetic hormone.

The Organic Trade Association says recent changes in the regulations violate free speech.

The group says it filed a federal lawsuit Monday and says the International Dairy Foods Association has taken similar action.
(more…)

Podcast of the forum held on June 20th 2008 - William H. Neukom will speak on the World Justice Project, a multidisciplinary, multinational movement to advance the rule of law worldwide, ensuring justice for everyone.

From NBC4i:

An editorial in the Wall Street Journal Weekend Special Edition [written by Dayton resident and president of the pro-charter school Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Chester E. Finn, Jr.] painted a grim picture of Ohio’s economy.

…

The article started, “Once known as the Mother of Presidents, Ohio is now getting poorer, older and dumber –- and making all the wrong moves to reverse the situation.”

Governor Ted Strickland’s office was drafting a response Monday, NBC 4’s Mikaela Hunt reported.

The office will ask the paper to write a follow-up, too.

A spokesperson for Strickland called the op-ed piece a “very hard-edge partisan political attack” and cited the state is creating a job atmosphere that has a lot of potential, Hunt reported.

You can leave a comment to the question NBC4i asks, “Do you agree with the op-ed piece or with Gov. Strickland’s office?” the only problem being that there is no “piece” from the Strickland office yet, but you know what they mean, I think.

Ah, yes, the Fourth of July is approaching, that holiday where we are supposed to celebrate our freedom and independence and where many seem to show that by breaking the law when it comes to shooting off fireworks. As part of the Blade article that focuses on the price increase because of a market shortage in fireworks, it does mention:

Ohio’s stringent laws governing the use of explosives require customers to sign a waiver assuring that they will remove fireworks from the state before detonating them. Only trick and novelty fireworks can be legally used within Ohio’s borders. In Michigan, only sparklers with less than 2 ounces of pyrotechnic composition are legal, and all other consumer fireworks are prohibited. Both states require customers to take explosives out of their own state before discharging them.

What are “trick and novelty fireworks?” For this we turn to State of Ohio Fire Marshall Michael P. Bell:

The only type of fireworks that can be legally purchased and discharged in Ohio are trick and novelty fireworks. These include items that smoke, sparkle, snap and snake. For those who choose to have a family fireworks display using these legal fireworks, Marshal Bell encourages people to follow some important safety tips:
(more…)

On Friday, Governor Strickland signed the bill ratifying the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. Legislators in Michigan also passed the agreement, and Governor Granholm is expected to sign it, leaving Pennsylvania as the only state that has yet to approve the Compact.

On Saturday we woke up early to try the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

After Several Weekends of Sick kids and Rain, We really didn’t feel like hanging around the house waiting for the weather to clear up. So On Thursday we went to the CVSR Website and ordered tickets. We wanted to see the whole route so we purchased the Scenic Explorer, starting from Rockside station at 9:00. Couple of Points:

• This was early. So early there were few people on the train. Since the cars were comfortably air-conditioned and each had their own bathroom, It was really comfortable and pleasant
• The Northside Akron Station is a lot closer and the train leaves at 10:30. However, the train did fill up quickly here and with bikers along the trail. We overheard the Conductor’s talking about the ticket agents overselling tickets for later in the day. Get there early.
• The Bikers: CVSR is running a special this year. The train will stop at any station along the trail and you and your Bike can get on for $2. We saw lots of families taking advantage of this.

Photos:

The View Out the Window:

The Cuyahoga:

The Great Heron Nests:

Bikers and Hikers on the Towpath Trail:

One of the Bike Stations waiting to load:

Boston Mills Ski Resort. They had an Arts Fest this weekend. The Bike Station is just off to the right:

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Here’s the letter and here’s the pdf that details the changes. What I notice:

1. When I looked at the one page overview of “numbers,” my first thought was: oh, no - you do not want to do this (i.e., show all these numbers that will make people think about/see how much gas is used and how much paper is consumed rather than any information about how the paper is trying to go green or greenify its operations at any level, not to mention using/maximizing its online capabilities) (to wit, the paper won another award, this time from the APME, for its multi-platform presentation of the Johanna Orozco story - “ONLINE CONVERGENCE, Over 150,000: The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, for deep reporting on the grueling recovery of an 18-year-old girl shot in the face; you can read about a different award they won for the coverage here).

2. The Page Two WakeUpCall: Did anyone from the PD check with James Pindell of Politicker.com, where one of the features is called Wake-Up Call? The PD’s version is described as,

…your guide to what’s new online at cleveland.com. If you only have a few minutes, this page is your watercooler study guide, led by its “Five Smart Things You Should Know Today” summary.

3. Moving the Opinion page to the back of the first section reminds me of how the New York Times in print is organized. Now, unless I’m reading it incorrectly, which is possible, it sounds like there will no longer be a dedicated op-ed page but rather just one page that will be, “…a lively one-page mix of editorials, columns and your letters.” Hmm. But the Sunday Forum will go to six pages.

4.  Thursday will have a feature in the back of the Inside & Out section called “New on the Net.” There doesn’t appear to be a visual preview of what the section will include or look like.

5. The Business section appears to have the most changes that interplay with cleveland.com: there will be no section at all on Mondays, but rather will be represented by changes at its place on cleveland.com, including the provision of “online-only features.”  Now, the thing here, in describing this change? Is that, if, you know, the section won’t be anywhere in print on Mondays, and it will all be online on Mondays, then isn’t the entire section, on Mondays, an online-only feature?

And that’s the bulk of the summary. Now, whether it results in the rumored 35 page per week cut addressed by Roldo Bartimole in early June, I can’t really visualize.  I might have to buy it for a week just to see.

Areas that aren’t mentioned at all: politics, women, education, jobs, real estate, crime. May or may not be relevant but to me, as a reader, especially after reading Rocky Mountain News‘ publisher/editor John Temple’s column about individualizing newspapers, well - if I had an individualized newspaper, those are some of the topics I’d want to know will be covered in an organized and well-displayed way. (As an aside, I e-mailed Temple about one observation I had regarding the idea of individualizing print papers and he responds to it here in his blog.)

I’m also curious to know the price of the revamp. Would I buy a smaller paper, that had more essential info to me in it, at the same price it’s now charging?  This is an interesting question.  One reason I stopped buying it was because I felt that the editorials were poorly reasoned and failed to serve the community in a way commensurate with the brain resources and talent that exists at the PD. That doesn’t mean the conclusions had to be the same as mine, but at least solid reasoning needed to be provided.  It’s hard to believe, but it’s been more than 18 months since I received it regularly.

The revamp doesn’t say much about the guts of the stories themselves or how the editorial process may change (but there is this pdf that goes over the process of producing the paper). Will we see more wire reports or fewer?  Will the brief items be so brief that even someone who spends a minimal amount of time online will already know those stories? Will we see more narrative, or no?

The Business re-do indicates that there will be some front-paging of news about local business and I know that there have been some changes to the front page as well re: local highlights.

I am kind of a news junkie - I have to say - so I might just talk myself into getting the paper again.  Just so I can, you know, trash it. Right? For the record, I’ve sent a link to this post to the changes AT plaind DOT com e-mai, as an FYI.

When Justin Kalmes of the Toledo Free Press contacted me last week to ask me if after reading the AP piece ” Everything seemingly is spinning out of control,” would I like to comment I didn’t realize it was going to be the cover story of this week’s Toledo Free Press. Not all of what I shared was included, but the main jist of my point was shared except I think the reason why we are more focused on negativity is because decades ago our primary source of news was the nightly news and one or two newspapers. With the internet and the birth of the 24/7 cable news channels not everything has changed for the worst, it’s that we now have access to much more information about what’s happening in other parts of our world that before unless you knew someone who lived there? Chances are you didn’t hear about it.
(more…)

Sure, this article in the Plain Dealer today is intended to focus on the cronyism and nepotism among Cuyahoga County Recorder Frank Russo-related individuals at the county’s recorder’s office.

But when I opened this pdf to check out who was who, the main thing I noticed was how many women with the title of “office assistant” or “senior office assistant” make less than even the lowest paid male counterpart who was listed as an office assistant. I also thought, how many office assistants does an office usually have?

Chester Finn wrote: Ohio ranks 41st in the percentage of adults with bachelor’s degrees. Though it has many fine colleges, their young graduates don’t stick around. They head for the coasts or for “happening places” in between, none of which (with the partial exception of Columbus) happens to be in the Buckeye State. Bright Ohio kids aren’t [...]

While I don’t like to jump to assumptions, it seems clear from the reporting in the Blade that the 54 year old woman was living in the shed:

The body was covered with a blanket and lying on its side in an eight-foot shed with a missing door behind a business at 5225 Southwyck Blvd., near Reynolds Road. It was discovered about 8 p.m. by a local artist who was considering renting the building. Bags with women’s clothing and personal paperwork also were found in the shed.

Debra Pioterek once had a home, something happened where she ended up not only living in a shed behind an empty retail spot on Southwyck but dying alone of yet to be determined causes. Hopefully her death while alone was a much more peaceful one than happened to Anthony Waters in Cleveland who was beaten to death as cars slowed down to watch…
(more…)

Greater Ohio Co-Director Gene Krebs is touring the state to promote the organization's Restoring Our Prosperity initiative. He was in Hamilton last week and met with Ashtabula leaders on Wednesday. The effort is part of the Brookings Institution's Restoring Prosperity initiative, which provides an agenda for revitalizing the nation's older industrial cities.

(via Restoring Prosperity and Advance Northeast Ohio)

Free Hey everyone, If you haven't heard about it, you will soon. http://finalscoretrivia.com is a live trivia game that was started in Maryland and is now spreading throughout Ohio. The rest of the country will get to experience it soon. You get a team of up to 10 people and play at a restaurant. The trivia is all different subjects so the more people know on your team the better. If there

He converts the moderates and libs (cuz he used to be one):

Check out the 62nd district challenger to Lorraine Fende, Mike Gutierrez

Check out his site.

Full disclosure: I went to his fundraiser and contributed the cover charge.

UPDATE 1: Mike has a blog

UPDATE 2: As most of you know, I write on a pen name.

If you haven’t headed over yet to see who’s blogging about what in this week’s Carnival of Ohio Politics? No better time than the present to make a click over with this week it being Ben of the Keeler Political Report and The Point taking his turn at putting out the hits. One post I really think deserves an extra recommend is by Tim Higgins on political ethics.

From the Wall Street Journal blogs:

Some newspapers have attempted to reduce their reliance on the AP. This past spring, prompted by unhappiness with the AP’s fees and reduced coverage of state and local news, the eight largest newspapers in Ohio created a cooperative called the Ohio News Organization, or OHNO, which allows its members to sidestep the AP by sharing stories. Five Montana newspapers owned by the newspaper concern Lee Enterprises Inc. have also begun sharing more content. And editors in Texas, Pennsylvania and Indiana have quietly inquired about how the Ohio cooperative works.

…

Ohio is ground zero for the widening rift between the AP and its member newspapers. Ben Marrison, editor of the Columbus Dispatch, says a recent trial in Akron involving the theft of state money epitomizes members’ frustrations. Before the trial Mr. Marrison placed a call to the AP Ohio bureau to find out if it would be sending a reporter.

In the past, Mr. Marrison says, he could usually count on the AP to cover such a trial if he wanted to commit more reporters to a bigger story. When he was told the AP wouldn’t have a reporter there, he sent one of his own to Akron. Shortly after the story was posted on the Dispatch’s Web site, an AP staffer rewrote it for a broader audience and put the new version on the state wire. “So it was important enough for them to move, but not important enough for them to cover,” Mr. Marrison said. “What has happened is we’ve become the wire service for the wire service.”

The portion in bold echoes AP’s own displeasure with blogs that do, well, somewhat what the AP did with that story.

What a surprise.

What do you think of OHNO so far?

Hattip to Romensko.

Times are tight, fuel prices are up and I think we all can understand that at times when companies consolidate services that jobs can be lost. That said, there is a huge amount of concern that the recent decision by DHL to consolidate services with UPS will eliminate 8,000 jobs directly in Wilmington, Ohio with a total number of up to 30,000 possibly being affected according to this press release from Senator Sherrod Brown.

Just four years ago, there was cause for celebration when DHL announced it was not only not leaving Wilmington but expanding. In 2005 DHL announced they introduced a new landing system at its U.S. hub airport facility in Wilmington, Ohio.
(more…)

A Plain Dealer editorial says that "Ohio has done the right thing" in reviving the Historic Preservation Tax Credit program.