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Congressman Steve "Who?" Austria to retire
01/03/2012

Steve "Who?" Austria (Oh-07) is one of Ohio's gang of faceless rubber-stamp Republican congressmen. And, realizing that there was no feasible way to shrink the number of Democratic districts to a mere three in redistricting other than moving a couple of hundred thousand Democrats to another state, the Republicans drawing the new map bowed to the inevitable and put two sitting Republicans in the same district: Austria and Mike "Who?" Turner in the new 10th district.

Austria has now dropped out, giving Turner a clear field in this overwhelmingly Republican district.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/david-catanese/2011/12/austria-to-retire-1...

I'm sure the GOP is lining up a cushy lobbying job as a little parting gift to Austria.

With Austria standing down, the withdrawal of Nina Turner from the 11th district primary (and yes, she did wisely withdraw) becomes even more significant. With Turner's challenge, it would have left the GOP with 12 clear primaries and the Democrats with battles in three of their four safe districts, something that would have eaten up resources — which we now know was part of the GOP calculation in cutting the map the way they did. Turner was playing into their hands, and apparently she must have realized this.

Democrats are still left with two primary battles not of their own making — the Marcy Kaptur-Dennis Kucinich primary in Oh-09 and the wide-open race for the new third district in Columbus. (You can't really fault anyone for going after a wide-open, newly created seat). After that, the competitive races will be few and far between. Time to change the congressional map-drawing system.

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What you won't want to do with that extra Christmas money
01/03/2012

I'm sure that you, like me, have been bombarded with the end-of-year fundraising emails from organizations and candidates breathlessly telling you how important it is that they have your $10 or $15 or $25 before midnight tomorrow. I think I deleted about 200 over the holidays.

Here's one plea you definitely will not want to respond to:

Anastasia,

It’s the end of the year and hopefully you had a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

Many of you have sent us emails asking how you can be helpful to our efforts to get the message out about Ohio’s 82,785 created or saved jobs since we took office this year. [That's an email I don't remember sending]

We wanted to make sure that you know about the dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $50 for an individual and up to $100 for married couples filing jointly for making a contribution to a candidate for state office. Learn more here. http://www.kasichforohio.com/site/c.hpIJKWOCJqG/b.7913785/k.84F5/Tax_Cre...

What does that mean? Basically, Ohio law says if you contribute $50 as an individual or $100 as a couple right now, you can use the credit on your 2011 State taxes. So, by making a $50 contribution right now, you can help support our costs to send these emails and get our message out.

Times are tough now. [Tougher thanks to you!] There’s no doubt about it. But Ohio is beginning to win and we need your help to fuel the momentum and send a strong message to the rest of the country that Ohio is coming back and we mean business!

Thanks for your support.[???]

John

John Kasich
Governor of Ohio

P.S. You can click here to watch my short video message about all that we've accomplished together in 2011. http://blog.kasichforohio.com/?p=4392&msource=JK122911EM1

[That must be one very brief video but I'm not going to click to find out].

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Really? These are your presidential candidates, GOP? Really?
01/03/2012

Before setting out for home Wednesday morning, I made myself a cup of tea and cracked open the Chicago Tribune (a paper my father refused to have in the house when I was a kid because he said it was too right-wing).

And I read this article about the Republican presidential primary in Iowa:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-pn-gingrich-fights-pos...

"I think Ron Paul's views are totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent American," Gingrich said.

Well, that's nasty and negative, although many would agree.

But that quote was only a few paragraphs from another in which Gingrich said he pledged to run a "totally positive campaign."

And

"You can fight in a positive way. It's good for America to see someone fight in a positive way and not degenerate into the kind of junk you've seen on TV recently."

Wow. Talk about deluded!

But yesterday I saw another article revolving around the same quotes and Gingrich's "positive" campaign on Huffington Post that accepted at face value Gingrich's claim that he was running a positive campaign and speculated on whether he would be able to "remain" positive. Sometimes I feel like the mainstream media is viewing campaign through about 100 layers of gauze and is barely able to hear or see what is going on.

It's become clear even to hardcore Republican voters what a nasty, scary hypocrite Gingrich is. Almost as quickly as he leapt into poll leads, after being virtually ignored, they realized what a joke he was and his lead vanished. But the mainstream media is still playing little games with his image, allowing him to spin and airbrush, to make him seem like a credible presidential candidate. No doubt they'll continue this to the bitter end because there's nothing the mainstream media likes as much as a down-to-the-wire race.

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NIna Turner dropping primary challenge to Marcia Fudge?
01/03/2012

I got an email a little while ago from someone I trust saying that state Senator Nina Turner has ended her primary challenge to congresswoman Marcia Fudge in Ohio's 11th district.

If it's true — and I'm assuming it is — I am glad to hear it. This was the most positive course of action Turner could have taken. There's nothing wrong with being ambitious, and certainly the Ohio state senate isn't a happy or productive place to be right now. But nothing good could have come from this challenge — including a boost to Turner's career, even in the unlikely event that she won the primary.

It's still not clear to me what case she could have made for replacing Fudge, who has been a strong, outspoken progressive voice. If her district were more conservative, it's possible Turner could have made the case that she was too liberal and not willing to "compromise" enough. But given Turner's own progressive record — to say nothing of the fact that disgruntled Democrats are upset about too much compromising not too little — that would have been difficult. And the district is in fact one of the most Democratic in the country — a district that needs to elect a strong progressive to represent its views.

After draining resources from other races, like Sherrod Brown's, and causing division in the district (I heard from someone that a Turner supporter acknowledged to a local Democratic club that the primary campaign would get ugly, although Fudge promised that it wouldn't on her end), Turner would have been politically damaged. By withdrawing, she's not — and she can take her time and consider other options for her political future.

I'm glad she made this choice.

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Jim Renacci: ultra-wealthy and out of touch?
01/03/2012

Jim Renacci, the congressman from Ohio's 16th district, has drawn a formidable challenger: congresswoman Betty Sutton, currently serving the 13th district which no longer exists in the same form. (Well, actually few districts do, thanks to GOP trickery). The 16th is a Republican-favoring district, but if anyone can make a race of it, Betty Sutton can.

And here's something she can use, and most likely will: Renacci made the Top 10 list of "ultra-rich congresspeople who represent some of the most financially troubled districts."

http://www.truth-out.org/ten-ultra-rich-congresspeople-who-represent-som...

It probably won't surprise you that nine of the ten are Republicans. The tenth, Jay Rockefeller, is credited with working on progressive measures that would actually help the very poor residents of his West Virginia district.

Not Jim Renacci though!

According to this article,

With his average net worth of $42,060,709, [Renacci] became the 20th richest lawmaker. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, his fortune comes from nursing homes, real estate investments, car and motorcycle dealerships, a bar and grill, an arena football team and a minor-league baseball team. The Plain Dealer also reported that he sold 40 cars worth $754,167 under the Cash for Clunkers [Sutton's idea] program, and that he had to pay $1.3 million in back taxes in 2006 to make up for misreporting on his 2000 form.

Meanwhile, in Renacci's district, unemployment is 11 percent, 83,518 people (or 13 percent) live in poverty, which includes 22 percent of the children and 39 percent of African Americans. Only 2.2 percent make over $200,000 a year, while 6.5 percent make less than $10,000 a year and the median household income is around $46,000.

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Vote! How was Governor Kasich's first year?
01/03/2012

In my last post, I mentioned that our gov. is sending out emails patting himself on the back for the great first year he had in office and asking you to send money to help him continue his outstanding work. Do you agree with his assessment of his accomplishments? The Ohio News Network gives you a chance to vote!

http://www.onntv.com/content/stories/2011/12/19/story-kasich-yearend-rev...

You can read more blah blah blah about what a fine job HE thinks he's doing, then vote whether YOU think he's done an "excellent," "good," "fair" or "poor" job. One choice is swamping the others right now. Hint: "excellent" and "good" combined barely crack single digits.

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Happy New Year everyone!
01/03/2012

So we didn't get a white Christmas. My sister from San Francisco was very disappointed that Chicago was apparently the only part of the region that didn't get even a dusting of snow over the holidays. (Just like surf in Cleveland, there's no snow in San Francisco).

But it looks like we have an "exciting" political year ahead — for better and worse. Please make plans to help out a worthy progressive candidate, especially if you are in a "swingy" state House district, because it sure would be nice to take back that state House and block some of the gov.'s most destructive initiatives. You know, things like wrecking Ohio's schools or turning women into brood mares (well, their own constitutional amendment may have taken care of that!) We plan to bring you information on as many Democratic candidates for the state legislature and for Congress as we can. Heck, we'll even bring you news of the Republicans if they do or say anything particularly egregious.

Meanwhile, have a fun and safe New Year's Eve and plan to be with us in 2012.

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Protesting fracking in Youngstown
01/03/2012

This happened in late November but I wanted to get this out there before I take a brief holiday hiatus.

On November 30, a small group of protestors gathered outside D&L Energy in Youngstown to try to block trucks carrying brine water, a byproduct of fracking, that many believe could endanger the water supply for millions of people. Seven of the protestors were arrested in an act of deliberate civil disobedience when they refused to move. They included five Oberlin students (never let it be said that Oberlin students don't stand behind their strong left-wing beliefs!), Oberlin graduate Ben Shapiro who has been active in Cleveland Occupy and the local sustainable farming movement, and a 61-year-old veteran from nearby Warren, Sean O'Toole.

Here's video of the protest:

"Fracking attracted my attention, because it represents a terrifying future for Ohio and the rest of the world," says Annie Lukins, one of the Oberlin students. "What really made me decide to get arrested is when I found out there have been no arrests of individuals taking direct action at fracking sites in the United States. It seems protests against it have been pretty low key. That’s disastrous considering how important this issue is for the future of energy in the United States.

It's interesting how matter-of-factly the Youngstown Vindicator reports,

There have been seven earthquakes with epicenters near the D&L well this year — the first earthquakes recorded with epicenters in the Valley, prompting protesters to visit the site.

Geologists have said earthquakes can be a result of injection wells.

http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/dec/01/staff-report/

Seriously? And they don't find that even a little alarming?

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Last-ditch PUMAs — or something else?
01/03/2012

Well, this is interesting. I got home today to find a robocall voice message that said,

"America would be better off today if Hillary Clinton was our President. The Wall Street robber barons would be jailed, young people could afford college and find jobs, and six million homeowners wouldn’t face foreclosure [and the streets would be paved with gold and every child would get a pony for Christmas.] We need to change course. Please sign our petition to draft Hillary Clinton for president. Visit runhillary2012.net. In 2012 we can elect Hillary Clinton President of the United States.

I visited the site and got a message that said, "The site you are looking for has not been published." So I was not able to find any indication if this money is being squandered by diehard Hillary supporters or maybe some right-wing billionaires trying to sow discontentment with Obama (as if the Republicans in Congress would have greeted President Hillary with open arms and pledged to cooperate with her on everything).

Politico took note of this today — these calls are apparently being reported all over, BIG money being spent on this mission of futility — but they're scratching their heads too.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2011/12/robocalling-hillary...

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Late-afternoon Dancin’ brings crowds, donations
12/29/2011

By Anthony Glassman source: http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories11/august/0812112.htm Cleveland–The 27th annual Dancin’ in the Streets benefit for the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland featured a later start time, a voluntary donation at the gate and surging attendance, bringing the event back to the fore as a major summer party in Cleveland. “I’m going to say we had an [...]

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SIR ELTON JOHN AND BILLIE JEAN KING BRINGING WTT SMASH HITS CHARITY TENNIS EVENT TO CLEVELAND ON OCTOBER 27
12/29/2011

SIR ELTON JOHN AND BILLIE JEAN KING BRINGING WTT SMASH HITS CHARITY TENNIS EVENT TO CLEVELAND ON OCTOBER 27 Andy Roddick, Martina Navratilova, Amelie Mauresmo first to sign on New York, N.Y. (August 16, 2011) — Longtime friends Sir Elton John and Billie Jean King are bringing their annual World TeamTennis Smash Hits charity night [...]

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Last Call! Volunteer for the HRC Cleveland Gala Dinner & Auction!
12/29/2011

Dear HRC Cleveland Volunteers: It’s still not too late to volunteer for the 18th Annual HRC Cleveland Gala Dinner & Auction on Saturday, August 27 but this is your last chance! If you’re interested, read on and email us today!  The deadline is Saturday, August 20.  If you’ve already expressed an interest AND received a [...]

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Jan Cline leaves LGBT Center helm: He returns to Virginia food bank
12/29/2011

by Anthony Glassman source: http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stories11/august/0812111.htm Cleveland–After 16 months, Cleveland LGBT Center executive director Jan Cline is stepping down to return to the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia. His last day is August 12. The center’s board of directors was unable to reach consensus on an interim replacement for Cline at their meeting on August 9. They [...]

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The CKG’s 7th Annual HALLOWEEN SPECTACULAR… IN BOUNCE NIGHTCLUB on Wednesday, October 26th at 10:30pm – 2:00am
12/29/2011

Time: Wednesday at 10:30pm – October 27 at 2:00am Location: Bounce Night Club Created By: Donnie Waste Our biggest show of the year is NEXT WEDNESDAY @ BOUNCE NIGHTCLUB! Check out our 7th Annual HALLOWEEN SPECTACULAR to benefit The AIDS TASKFORCE OF GREATER CLEVELAND! Yes…. IT’S INSIDE BOUNCE and sponsored by BACARDI! Join Show Hosts [...]

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COLORS OF CLEVELAND PRIDE OFFERS: Entrepreneur Training Series – Non-Profit Start-Up Workshop
12/29/2011

Entrepreneur Training Series NON-PROFIT START-UP WORKSHOP Have you always wanted to start your own nonprofit organization, or you’ve started a nonprofit organization and need some direction?  Whatever your reasons, plan on attending our workshop and learning Nonprofit Business 101.  Our workshops will provide you a world of education in the startup phase of your nonprofit organization and [...]

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Plexus Wins National Award from NGLCC
12/29/2011

SOURCE:EMAIL DISTRIBUTION From: Plexus Message Center [mailto:messagecenter@thinkplexus.org]; Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 10:15 AM Each year, the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) hosts a business and leadership conference, which is highlighted by an awards ceremony to recognize the local affiliate chambers for excellence in programming, economic impact, and community service. Plexus was [...]

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Worlds AIDS Day will be celebrated on Thursday, December 1st, 2011
12/29/2011

SOURCE: WWW.WORLDAIDSDAY.ORG What’s it about Every year World AIDS Day events take place across the country to raise awareness and show support for people living with HIV. Why not pop along to a local event, or better still, why not host your own? You can search for events or add your own event at: WWW.WORLDAIDSDAY.ORG [...]

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The Biggest Load 2011 Food Challenge for the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland
12/29/2011

TO BENEFIT AIDS TASK FORCE FOOD BANK * Application and information: 2011foodchallenge@gmail.com or another recognized food bank • Thank you again to the teams that produced poundage last year. We generated approx 6000 lbs in food, and paid cash 1 week in advance for 4500. Lbs of frozen turkeys. This goal we would expect to [...]

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Plexus 2011 Supplier Diversity Summit held on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
12/29/2011

source: http://www.thinkplexus.org/events.cfm?eventKey=154 I N V I T A T I O N Tuesday, September 27, 2011 The Plexus Supplier Diversity Summit brings together business owners and procurement officers from across the region and nation. G O A L S Advance your business goals and expand your network at this all-day summit. > Learn what procurement [...]

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NGLCC Honors Local Affiliate Chambers at National Conference
12/29/2011

SOURCE: http://www.nglcc.org/2011+Chamber+Awards 8/11/2011 Washington, D.C. (08/11/2011) – The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) recently honored excellence in local affiliate chambers at the 2011 Out For Business Conference in Las Vegas, NV. In addition to naming the best NGLCC affiliated LGBT business organizations in the nation, the NGLCC recognized chambers for innovative leadership [...]

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Arrests of repeat DUI offenders increasing
12/28/2011

SPRINGFIELD - More people are being arrested for driving under the influence, including more with multiple convictions for impaired driving.

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Centerville christmas tree collection planned
12/28/2011

Christmas trees will be collected through Jan. 6. Place your tree at the curb and Centerville city crews will collect it with a separate truck. Christmas trees are chipped and turned into mulch for use on city properties.

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Man who died in Miami County crash identified
12/28/2011

PIQUA - A man died in a two-vehicle accident around 4 p.m. Christmas Day when the car he was driving attempted to turn left into a driveway and was struck by a pick-up truck traveling in the same direction that apparently tried to pass his vehicle as it was turning.

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Mom’s Restaurant will move to new location
12/28/2011

FRANKLIN - There was a time recently when Hilda Ratliff thought she was going to close her restaurant in Red Lion and finally retire.

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Clearcreek trustees named in suits
12/28/2011

CLEARCREEK TWP., Warren County - Trustees of this Warren County township are among a growing list of government leaders in Ohio named in lawsuits brought by lawyers known for their work on behalf of conservative efforts to limit local government and cut taxes.

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