Law

This in via email from Tom Obst:

Are the recent actions of Amy Bishop and Andrew Slack a sign of the times or are they an aberration and no cause for alarm?

The life situations of both individuals were markedly similar. One was unemployed and one was scheduled for unemployment in the very near future. Both felt persecuted and took out their anger on innocent people. One shot and killed three colleagues and injuring more, the other flew his airplane into a building killing an employee and himself while injuring scores of others.

~An investigation into how campaign cash is corrupting America's courts~
February 19, 2010
(VIDEO)
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02192010/watch.html

"Robert P. Watson, Ph.D. Coordinator of American Studies
Lynn University"
Email: rwatson@lynn.edu

On Friday February 12, 2010, 7:03 pm EST
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/State-Budget-Woes-A-Drag-On-ibd-483598023....
As Washington works to rev up the economy and spur hiring with yet another dose of stimulus, state and local governments are busily applying the fiscal brakes.

Tax hikes, spending cuts and layoffs top the agenda as states continue to wrestle with severe budget crises that largely can't be deferred by borrowing.

It is always interesting that Jon wants to enforce the law in court, but when it comes to his own issues like with the fire marshal, petition deadlines, and campaign finance, he is never in a rush to follow the law. But this is Jon we are talking about. Jon is arguing that the Central Committee meeting was delayed because of another court order in 2008 and that is why he is the only recognized chair. But what the judge said was both factions did not meet in the scheduled time in 2008 so even if he wins it, it will still be in Columbus. Jon for some reason wants to avoid the unavoidable.

13abc has this story on the City plowing clean a mayor's street. Bell is the current mayor, but the story covers previous mayors. If I was Bell I would put a stop to this asap. It sounds snotty.
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But no other government employees received preferential treatment.

Want your side street plowed first? Move next to the mayor! 13abc's Greg Bilazarian checked in how Mayor Mike Bell's Old Orchard street looked.

Like Central Avenue, the mayor's street was cleaned down to the pavement and the city admits that it's no accident. When the snow falls, the plows head for Hopewell.

Mayor Michael P. Bell today sent to members of Toledo City Council and the City's union leadership an updated forecast for 2010 revenue and the current state of the anticipated deficit. That information is attached electronically to this release. To date the administration has identified $25.6 million in deficit reduction measures.

The Mayor met on Wednesday with the union leaders to present them with the potential cost savings to be achieved through employee concessions, which would affect all employees in all funds and agencies. The concessions and deficit reduction measures, coupled with the ballot initiatives the administration has proposed for council action would remediate the 2010 deficit without seriously affecting the level of service provided to Toledo residents. All measures would nevertheless pursue a long-term improvement in the efficiency of internal operations for the City of Toledo.

On Thursday the administration will meet with representatives from the State Auditors office and on Friday there will be a budget working meeting with members of the administration, city council, department directors and union leaders. Public input sessions are also being scheduled to allow citizens the opportunity to offer suggestions and weigh in on the service priorities they feel need to be addressed.

The Mayor has committed to providing multiple draft budget scenarios to City Council by March 1 to allow them time for discussion and action before the March 31 deadline.

Mayor Bell wants to increase taxes. TPS wants more taxes. Ohio wants to raise taxes.
You can't park downtown without getting a parking ticket. I don't know what the attraction is
going downtown anyway. I can't fit in the seats in the Lucas County Arena. You better pay your red light tickets, though I don't know what Toledo will do when they will have to refund everyones money after the Supreme Court rules on the cameras. Did I miss anything?

Zachary Roth | February 3, 2010
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/mcconnell_raised_big_b...
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02052010/watch2.html

Toledo Public Schools and Lucas County appear to wanted to try to dismiss a request to lower property values of Michaelmas Manor by 1 million on a technicality. Ohio Supreme Court says not so fast.
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In the video below Kate talks about being laid off by the Blade during the show and starting her Web site http://rustwire.com/ . Kate's story is talked about in the new book "The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again" by Robert McChesney and John Nichols

I can't say who but it is a major employer in Downtown Toledo. This is so sad. I remember back in the 50's when downtown was booming. But times change and I agree with management it is time to make the move.

WASHINGTON- Congressman Bob Latta (R- Bowling Green) made the following statement regarding President Obama’s State of the Union Address this evening.

“Instead of focusing on creating jobs and putting Americans back to work in 2009, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid chose to focus their attention on a $1 trillion dollar health care bill, cap and trade legislation, which would be the largest energy tax levied against American families and business alike, a $1 trillion dollar “Stimulus Package,” and billions of dollars in bailouts.

I find it interesting in the public sector when an employee is promoted or given extra duties
they are given a raise. While in the private sector we are told to do the extra work and be thankful we have a job. Something is wrong with this picture.

House Republicans fill in the blanks of the governor’s State of the State address

Columbus—Following Gov. Strickland’s State of the State address, Rep. Barbara Sears (R-Sylvania) delivered the following remarks:

NEW MEMBERS NAMED TO LCCS BOARD

Lynn B. Jacobs and the Rev. Martin Otto Zimmann join Lucas County
Children Services Board

(TOLEDO, OH — January 26, 2010) The Lucas County Commissioners have
appointed Lynn B. Jacobs and the Rev. Martin Otto Zimmann to the Lucas
County Children Services (LCCS) Board of Trustees.

Ms. Jacobs is retired from the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office Civil
and Juvenile Division, where she served as an assistant prosecutor. She
is a member of the Toledo Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar
Association, and is a past-president of the Toledo Women’s Bar

Foreign Money in American Politics?
Some Say Supreme Court's Decision in Citizens United Case Has Opened New Path
By MATTHEW MOSK
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/foreign-money-american-politics/story?id=9...
Jan. 24, 2010 —
Some election lawyers believe that last week's landmark U.S. Supreme Court opinion may have opened a new avenue for foreign money to enter the American political system, and that the justices are inviting a repeat of the 1996 Chinese money scandal that bloodied the Clinton administration.

This interview happened last month and caused a controversy when Shepard Smith said he would burn down the Detroit Public Schools if he was a parent there. Watch the whole segment and you will see where Shepard Smith's outrage is justified, yet this situation occurs here in Toledo. There are still some schools which are failures and continue to be so, yet we have administration and board members who never want to hold these schools accountable. And you know TPS does not want to do anything about problems, the Dan Burns situation indicates they have no clue problems exists and contrary to board members and administration officials wanting to put this behind their back saying things are fixed, they are not and won't be without creating a new proactive system to identify and deal with problems as they come up whether it is academic performance or employees stealing money. Urban schools suffer from a serious case of accountability. If TPS wanted to prove they are going to be proactive in dealing with problems, quickly addressing problem schools is a great place to start because at least they are well documented and known. Our community cannot wait one week more for schools to continually fail.
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Increased unemployment and business exodus plagues state

Columbus—With Ohio’s unemployment at 10.9 percent, Governor Strickland and House Democrats have had more than a year to demonstrate how little their majority has accomplished. Since Governor Strickland took office in 2007, more than 330,000 jobs were lost and 25 major employers abandoned Ohio for better business environments. Among these businesses are DHL of Wilmington, which took 8,000 jobs out of state, and NCR of Dayton, which accounted for 1,200 job losses.