If you see the board proposed by the state of Ohio to be an added layer of bureaucracy that we don't need - fine. But don't be swayed by the campaign of fear being waged by the opponents. They are a small group of people backed by radical left wing groups out of Washington DC using misrepresentation and fear to promote their agenda. Their tactics are no different than local groups like COAST & the Cincinnati NAACP.
Opponents of Issue 2 claim it is a power grab by "Big Agri-Business".
The constitutional amendment creates a FDA type board whose powers are limited by the legislature to oversee farm animal welfare.
The Board consists of these entities:

The Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture (To be the "president")
Three family farmers
Two veterinarians (one of whom is the state veterinarian),
A food safety expert
A representative of a local humane society
Two members representing statewide farm organizations
The dean of an Ohio agriculture college
Two members representing Ohio consumers

Please explain where one finds the corporate takeover.
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Issue 2 Supporters:
County Commissioners' Association of Ohio
Ohio Association of Ag Educators
Ohio Agri Women
Ohio Association of Meat Processors
Ohio Association of RC & D Council
Ohio Association of Realtors
Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks
Ohio Boer Goat Association
Ohio Cattlemen's Association
Ohio Chamber of Commerce
Ohio Club Lamb Association
Ohio Corn Growers Association
Ohio Council of Retail Merchants & Affiliates
Ohio Dairy Producers Association
Ohio Dairy Veterinarians
Ohio Democratic Party
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation
Ohio Fish Producers Association
Ohio Grocers Association
Ohio Horseman's Benevolent and Protective Association
Ohio Horseman's Council
Ohio Livestock Coalition
Ohio Manufacturer's Association
Ohio Pork Producers Council
Ohio Poultry Association
Ohio Poultry Breeders Association
Ohio Republican Party
Ohio Restaurant Association
Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives
Ohio Sheep Improvement Association
Ohio Soybean Association
Ohio State Grange
Oho Veterinary Medical Association
Ohio Wheat Growers Association
National Federation of Independent Businesses - Ohio Chapter

Issue 2 Supporters:
National Organizations
American Humane Association
American Veterinary Medical Association
US Sportsmen Alliance
National Milk Producers

Issue 2 Supporters:
State Leaders
Governor Ted Strickland
Lt. Governor Lee Fisher
Senate President Bill Harris
President Gordon Gee, The Ohio State University
United States Senator George Voinovich
House Speaker Armond Budish
State Auditor Mary Taylor
State Treasurer Kevin Boyce

Members of Ohio's Congressional Delegation
Jean Schmidt, District 2
Jim Jordan, District 4
Robert Latta, District 5
Charles Wilson, District 6
Steve Austria, District 7
John Boehner, District 8
Pat Tiberi, District 12
John Boccieri, District 16
Tim Ryan, District 17
Zach Space, District 18

State Senators
Steve Buehrer, District 1
Mark Wagoner, District 2
Gary Cates, District 4
Fred Strahorn, District 5
Jon Husted, District 6
Shannon Jones, District 7
Bill Seitz, District 8
Eric Kearney, District 9
Keith Faber, District 12
Sue Morano, District 13
Tom Niehaus, District 14
John Carey, District 17
Timothy Grendell, District 18
Bill Harris, District 19
Jimmy Stewart, District 20
Robert Gibbs, District 22
Thomas F. Patton, District 24
Karen Gillmor, District 26
Kevin Coughlin, District 27
Kirk Schuring, District 29
Jason Wilson, District 30
Tim Schaffer, District 31
Capri Cafaro, District 32
Joe Schiavoni, District 33

State Representatives
Ron Amstutz, District 3
Gerald L. Stebelton, District 5
Randy Gardner, District 6
Kenny Yuko, District 7
Armond Budish, District 8
Denise Driehaus, District 13
W. Carlton Weddington, District 27
Robert Mecklenborg, District 30
Denise Driehaus, District 31
Barbara Sears, District 46
Timothy Derickson, District 53
Terry Boose, District 58
Mark Okey, District 61
Tom Letson, District 64
Joe Uecker, District 66
Bill Batchelder, District 69
Jarrod B. Martin, District 70
Jay Hottinger, District 71
Jay Goyal, District 73
Llynn Wachtman, District 75
Clifford Hite, District 76
Jim Zehringer, District 77
Richard Adams, District 79
Dennis Murray, District 80
Jeff Wagner, District 81
Jeff McClain, District 82
Raymond Pryor, District 85
David Daniels, District 86
Danny Bubp, District 88
Todd Book, District 89
Margaret Ann Ruhl, District 90
John Domenick, District 95
Allan Sayre, District 96
David Hall, District 97

Issue 2 Supporters:
County Humane Societies and Humane Officers
Carroll County Humane Society
Champaign County Humane Agent Connie Smith
Hancock County Humane Society
Wayne County Humane Society

Veterinarians & Veterinary Clinics
Celina Animal Hospital
Chickasaw Veterinary Center
Coldwater Animal Clinic
Countryside Veterinary Clinic
Diamond M Veterinary Clinic
Dr. Virgil Brown, DVM
Dr. Robert Collett, DVM
Dr. Natalie A. Fisher, DVM
Dr. Neal Fledderjohann, DVM
Dr. Robert Krueger, DVM
Dr. Kelly Liming, DVM
Dr. RF Maiss, DVM
Dr. Michelle Santangelo, DVM
Dr. Michael Stone, DVM
Dr. Donald A. Wattman, DVM
Dr. Charles S. Wingfield, DVM
Dr. Drew Yosick, DVM
Farmersville Vet Clinic
Finney Veterinary Service
JC Rudd Clinic
Maria Stein Animal Clinic Inc.
Minton Veterinary Clinic
PBS Animal Health
Oak Harbor Veterinary Hospital
Sugar Creek Veterinary Clinic
Westside Animal Clinic
York Animal Hospital

Issue 2 Supporters:
Local Chambers of Commerce
Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce
Carroll County Chamber of Commerce
Champaign county Chamber of Commerce
Chillicothe-Ross County Chamber of Commerce
Columbiana Area Chamber of Commerce
Coshocton Area Chamber of Commerce
Covington Chamber of Commerce
Erie County Chamber of Commerce
Fayette County Chamber of Commerce
Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce
Highland County Chamber of Commerce
Lake County Chamber of Commerce
Lancaster Fairfield Chamber of Commerce
Madison-Perry Chamber of Commerce
Mentor Chamber of Commerce
Pickaway County Chamber of Commerce
Piqua Area Chamber of Commerce
Plainville Chamber of Commerce
Sandusky Area Chamber of Commerce
Stow-Munroe Falls Chamber of Commerce
Tiffin Area Chamber of Commerce
Troy Area Chamber of Commerce
Tuscarawas County Chamber of Commerce
Twin City Chamber of Commerce
Union County Chamber of Commerce
Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce
Willoughby Area Chamber of Commerce
Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce

Issue 2 Supporters:
Boards of County Commissioners:
Brown County Board of Commissioners: William Geschwind, Ralph Jennings, Margery Paeltz

Carroll County Commissioners: Larry Garner, Doyle Hawke, Thomas Wheaton

Clinton County Commissioners: Mike Curry, Randy Riley, David Stewart

Columbiana County Board of Commissioners: Daniel Bing, Jim Hoppel, Penny Traina

Fairfield County Board of Commissioners: Jon Myers, Judith Shupe, Mike Kiger

Fayette County Commissioners: Tony Anderson, Jack DeWeese, Bob Peterson

Harrison County Commissioners: William Host, Barbara Pincola, Michael Vinka

Madison County Board of Commissions: David Dhume, Mark Forrest, Chris Snyder

Mahoning County Commissioners: David Ludt, John McNally, Anthony Traficanti

Miami County Board of Commissioners: Jack Evans, John O'Brien, Ron Widener

Monroe Country Commissioners: Carl Davis, Tim Price, John Pyles

Muskingum County Board of Commissioners: John Bates, Brian Hill, Jerry Lavy

Noble County Commissioners: Bob Nau, Gary Rossiter, Virgil Thompson

Ottawa County Board of Commissioners: Steve Arndt, James Sass, Mark Stahl

Pike County Board of Commissioners: Blaine Beekman, Harry Rider, Teddy West

Ross County Board of Commissioners: James Caldwell, Douglas Corcoran, Frank Hirsch

Seneca County Commissioners: Michael Bridinger, Ben Nutter, David Sauber

Trumbull County Board of Commissioners: Frank Fuda, Paul Heltzel, Daniel Polivka

Tuscarawas County Commissioners: Chris Abbuhl, Kerry Metzger, James Seldenright

Union County Commissioners: Charles Hall, Gary Lee, Thomas McCarthy

Van Wert County Board of Commissioners: Gary Adams, Clair Dudgeon, Harold Merkle

Wood County Board of Commissioners: Tim Brown, James Carter, Alvin Perkins

Issue 2 Supporters:
County Auditors
Karen T. Bailey, Champaign County
Robert Benroth, Putnam County
Melina A. Betz, Pickaway County
Nancy Dixon, Van Wert County
Matthew W. Gearhardt
Jackie McKee, Holmes County
Steve Neal, Ross County
Kevin Nye, Henry County
Susan Simpson, Paulding County
Roland Tkach, Huron County

County Recorders
Andrew Brenner, Delaware County
Deborah Clepper, Clermont County
My Jo Declair, Brown County
Jeanne A. Dudas, Preble County
Kathy Dunn, Ross County
Robin Edwards, Champaign County
Joyce Gifford, Pickaway County
Anita J. Hall, Holmes County
Bryan Long, Licking County
Cathy Recker, Putnam County
Charles Reed, Madison County
Linda Stachler, Darke County
Cathy Templin, Fayette County
Karen Vincent, Muskingum County
Colleen Wheatley, Guernsey County
Tracey C. Wright, Washington County

County Treasurers
Jerald A. Byers, Ross County
Susan V. Dunn, Fayette County
Ellery S. Elick, Pickaway County
Lou Ann Wannemach, Paulding County
David R. Wilson, Perry County
Joyce Yoder, Holmes County

County Sheriffs
James Beuther, Putnam County
Stephen Hannum, Noble County
Richard K. Jones, Butler County
Michael R. McCauley, Guernsey County
Stan Owens, Van Wert County
Tim Rogers, Coshocton County
James Sabin, Madison County
Michael Simpson, Preble County

County Engineers
Joe Bachman, Tuscarawas County
Doug Christian, Miami County
Steve Luebbe, Fayette County
Travis McGarvey, Paulding County
Timothy Piper, Allen County
Terrence R. Recker, Putnam County
Fereidoun Shokoyho, Champaign County
J. Stephen Simmons, Preble County
Jim Surber, Darke County

Issue 2 Supporters:
Boards of Township Trustees
Ashtabula County Township Trustees Association
Ballvile Township Trustees
Beaver Township
Bristol Township
Benton Township
Cass Township Trustees
Claibourne Township Trustees
Clearcreek Township Trustees
Fairfield County Township Association
Fowler Township
Green Township
Hambded Township Board of Trustees
Harpersfield Township Trustees
Huntsburg Township
Island Creek Township
Jackson Township Trustees
Johnston Township
Kirlewood Township
Madison County Township Association
Mantua Township
Monroe Township Trustees
Moorefield Township Trustees
Nottingham Township Board of Trustees
Oak Run Township Trustees
Oxford Township Board of Trustees
Pleasant Township
Radnor Township Board of Trustees
Range Township Trustees
Salem Township
Scott Township
Seneca County Township Association
Taylor Township
Thompson Township Board of Trustees
Townsend Townsend Trustees
Trumbull Township Association
Union County Darby Township Trustees
Waterville Township
West Township Board of Trustees
Wills Township

Individual Township Trustees
David Abbott
Mark Ballmer, Fulton County Township
Arthur J. Bowsher, Brown County
Keith Buehrer, Fulton County
Larry Burkholder, Fulton County
Lon Chambers
Ken Clark, Fulton County Township
Rick Clyborn, Salem Township
C. Bryan Cockerice, Green Township
Larry Coffing, Brown County Township
Jim Coon, Urbana Township Trustee
Doug Cron, Brown County Township
Bruce A. Davidson, Paint Township
Doug Deweese, Spring Creek Township
Gary Dover, Brown Township
Thomas Downing
Richard M. Dunkle, Paint Township
Philip C. Eades, Paint Township
Dennis J. Elchlinger, Wayne Township
Randall Fearon
Steve Harris, Harrison Township
Mike Havenar, Spring Creek Township
Tom Hill, Spring Creek Township
Ivan A. Hills, Fulton County Township
Andrew Hoffman, Pleasant Township
Wayne Holland, Oak Run Township
Tom Hudson, Stokes Township
Kenneth J. Kelly, Paint Township
David L. Kunz, Monroe Township
R.J. Lumbrezer, Royalton Township
David R. Mann, Franklin Township
John Melvin, Madison Township
Gary Miller, Marian Township
Bill Myers, Rushcreek Township
David Myers, Rushcreek Township
Howard Peters
Ed Pool, Rushcreek Township
Larry Purdin, Wayne Township
Paul Ritchey, Wayne Township
Brice Roberts
Brent Rossiter
Randy E. Ruffer, German Township
Keith Schaffer, Jackson Township
Cindy Seaton, Wayne Township
Thomas K. Smith, Salem Township
Michael Stephan, Wabash Township
Andrew D. Stickley, Mad River Twp.
James Tadlock, Wayne Township
Lewis Terry
Herb Topp
Robert Trentman, Washington Township
Melvin Tucker
Robert Turvy, Deer Creek Township
Wendell Warner,
Charles Wilson, Darby Township
Donald Wilson, Wayne Township
Tom Witheiss, Brown County Township
Township Fiscal Officers
Suzanne Holland,
Polly S. Kinsey, Benton Township
Patricia Laird, Taylor Township
Vicki Price, Claibourne Township
Ruth Rooney, Urbana Township
Cindy Seaton, Wayne Township
Mary Slevin
Bridget Sollars, Concord Township

Issue 2 Supporters:
Adams County
Cherry Fork Farm Supply
Chapparal Feed & Farm Supply
County Commissioner Brian Baldridge
County Commissioner Justin Cooper
County Commissioner Roger Rhonemus
Souder Farms
Township Trustee David Abbot
Township Trustee Thomas Downing
Township Trustee Larry Purdin
Township Trustee James Tadlock
WC Milling LLC
Wright's Country Store

Allen County
County Engineer, Timothy Piper

Ashtabula County
Cold Springs Orchards LLC
Ashtabula County Agricultural Society
Ashtabula County Grange No. 71
Ashtabula County Township Trustees Association
Harpersfield Township Trustees

Athens County
Athens County Farm Bureau

Auglaize County
Bambauer Fertilizer & Seed
Bambauer Equipment LLC
Burke Petroleum Inc.
Carquest
County Commissioner Don Regula
County Line Ag
Dr. Virgil Brown, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Harrod Insurance Agency Inc.
Hoge Lumber Company
Lininger Trailer Sales
Midway Trailer Sales
Modern Ag Supply
RRR Tire Service
S-H Farm Supply

Belmont County
Dave Merritt, Chairman of Kirlewood Township

Brown County
Brown County Board of Commissioners
Carrington Farm Supply
Brown County Cattleman's Association
Cluxton Family Cattle
County Recorder Amy Jo Declair
CR Tours & Travel
Fauth Parker LLC
American Legion Post #755
Masonic Lodge # 254

Butler County
Butler County 4-H Committee
Butler County Dairy Service
Butler County Farm Bureau
County Youth Advisor Lyn Eisele
County Sheriff Richard K. Jones
Fields Farms
Harvest Land Co-op Inc.
Minges Show Cattle
Niederman Family Farm

Carroll County
Carroll County Cattleman's Association
Carroll County Agricultural Society
Carroll County Commissioners
Carroll County Chamber of Commerce
Carroll County Dairy Board
Carroll County Farm Bureau
Carroll County Humane Society
Suburban Garden Club
The Carrollton Farmer's Exchange

Champaign County
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tina Knotts
Champaign County Soil & Water Conservation District
Clerk of Courts Penny S. Underwood
County Auditor Karen T. Bailey
County Engineer Fereidoun Shokoyho
County Humane Agent Connie Smith
County Recorder Robin Edwards
Director of Economic Development, Michael G. Morris
Dr. Charles S. Wingfield, DVM
Fiscal Officer Ruth Rooney
Township Trustee Rick Clyborn
Township Trustee Jim Coon
Township Trustee Steve Harris
Township Trustee Howard Peters
Township Trustee Keith Schaffer
Township Trustee Thomas K. Smith
Township Trustee Andrew D. Stickley
Township Trustee Lewis Terry
Township Trustee Herb Topp
Urbana City Council President Marty Hess

Clark County
Medway Motorcycle

Clermont County
Bethel Feed & Supply
Clerk of Courts Tim K. Rudd
Clermont County Agricultural Society
Clinger's Gas & Pizza
County Recorder Deborah Clepper
Dr. Kelly Liming, DVM
Fair Board Director Gerald Bridges
Fair Board Director Eric Nelson
Fairboard Director Wendell Wehrum
JC Rudd Clinic
Karen Rigdon Company
Simmons Photography
Township Trustee Dennis Elchlinger
Township Trustee David L. Kunz
Township Trustee Paul Ritchey
Township Trustee Donald Wilson

Clinton County
Clinton County Commissioners

Columbiana County
Columbiana County Board of Commissioners
Columbiana County Fair
Cope Farm Equipment

Coshocton County
Bakersville Garage Inc.
Clerk of Courts Janet S. Mosier
County Sheriff Tim Rogers
Coshocton Grain Company
Pearl Valley Cheese

Crawford County
Country Side Veterinary Clinic Inc.
Richard Taylor's Restaurant
Cuyahoga County
APACC "The Tractor Club"
Cossel Farms Inc.
LaCampagna Inc.
Wilson Feed Mill

Darke County
County Commissioner Diane Delaplane
County Commissioner Terry Haworth
County Commissioner Michael W. Rhoades
County Engineer Jim Surber
County Recorder Linda Stachler
Curtis Yount Planning & Zoning
DPA Wildlife Specialist John Kaiser
House's Custom Butchering
North Star Hardware & Implement Company
Township Trustee Michael Stephan

Delaware County
County Recorder Andrew Brenner
Radnor Township Trustees

Erie County
County Auditor Thomas J. Paul
Oxford Township Board of Trustees

Fairfield County
Fairfield County Board of Commissioners
Brian Moore Construction LLC
Fairfield County Cattleman's Association
Fairfield County Township Association
Faler Feed Store
Fiscal Officer Barbara Lamp
Township Trustee Bill Myers
Township Trustee David Myers
Township Trustee Ed Pool

Fayette County
County Engineer Steve Luebbe
County Recorder Cathy Templin
County Treasurer Susan V. Dunn
Fayette County Commissioners
Fayette County Republican Party
Fiscal Officer Bridget Sollars
Township Trustee John Melvin
Township Trustee Gary Miller
Township Grustee Cindy Seaton

Franklin County
Township Trustee Gary Dover
Township Trustee Steve Kennedy
Township Trustee Nicole Schlosser
Township Trustee Doug Stormont

Fulton County
4-H Advisor Jackie Ballmer
Fiscal Officer Suzanne Holland
Midwest Drainage
Planning Director Steven C. Brown
Township Trustee Mark Ballmer
Township Trustee Keith Buehrer
Township Trustee Ken Clark
Township Trustee Ivan A. Hills
Township Trustee R.J. Lumbrezer
Township Trustee Randy E. Ruffer
Gallia
Gallia County Farm Bureau
Geauga
Hambden Township Board of Trustees
Huntsburg Township
Thompson Township Board of Trustees
Greene County
CCC Farms

Guernsey County
Cambridge City Council President
County Recorder Colleen Wheatley
County Sheriff Michael R. McCauley
Village of Quaker City
Village of Senecaville
Wills Township

Hancock County
Hancock County Humane Society
MAS Farm
Neil Farms Inc.

Hardin County
Diamond M Veterinary Clinic
Hardin County Pork Producers

Harrison County
Barretts Alumni Association
Cadiz Village Council

Green Township
Harrison Central FFA Alumni
Harrison Central FFA Chapter
Harrison County Agricultural Society
Harrison County Commissioners
Harrison County Livestock Sale Committee
Harrison County Republican Central & Executive Committee
Lakeland Young Farmers
Moorefield Township Trustees
Nottingham Township Board of Trustees
Ohio Valley Recreation Club
Village of Hopedale

Henry County
County Auditor Kevin Nye
District 1 Agricultural Educators
Grelton Elevator
Henry County Agricultural Society
Monroe Township Trustees
Township Trustee Andrew Hoffman
Tri County Rural Electric Cooperative

Highland County
Highland County Chamber of Commerce
Highland County Economic Development Office
Highland County Soil & Water Conservation District
Roll 'n' Acres Farm
Whiteoack Valley Grange #2039

Holmes County
County Auditor Jackie McKee
County Recorder Anita J. Hall
County Treasurer Joyce Yoder
Dr. Robert Collett, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Harold's Equipment
Shearer Farm Inc.

Huron County
County Auditor Roland Tkach
County Commissioner Gary W. Baver

Jackson County
Arrowood Farms
Blackford Farm
Brookdale Farm
Cross & Sons Farm
Curt Nolan Farm
Farrar Farms
Franklin Valley Farms
JC Wood Agency Inc.
Johnson Farm
Kenny Adkins Logging
Kiefer Body Shop
Lemaster Farms
Lewis Turkey Farm
OSU Extension Agent David Samples
OULFE
Ricer Equipment Inc.
Ron Evans Enterprises
Rosey Ridge Farm
Slab Hill Farms
Strickland Sale
Tanner Farm
The Shop
Timbercreek Farm
Weber Farm
Westview Farm

Jefferson County
Buckeye Ruritan
Cross Creek Township Chairman Geno Morelli
Island Creek Township
Jefferson County Farm Bureau
Salem Township

Knox County
Knox County Cattleman's Association

Licking County
Buckeye Valley BIA
Licking County Cattleman's Association
County Recorder Bryan Long
Dr. Robert Krueger, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

Logan County
A.G. Boogher & Sons Inc.
King Feed & Supply Inc.

Lucas County
General Pro Hardware Inc.
Grayhawk
Lonnie Perry Farms LTD
Myers Farms
Providence Township Board of Trustees
Ryan Family Farm
Waterville Township
Whitehouse Seed Company

Madison County
Advantage Bank
ASE Feed & Supply LLC
Board of Madison County Commissioners
Darby Township Ttrustee Charles Wilson
County Engineer David P. Brand
County Recorder Charles Reed
County Sheriff James Sabin
Der Dutchman
Hostetler Trucking Inc.
Huntington Bank
JD Equipment
Lovejoy's Market
Madison County Republican Party
Madison County Republican Women's Club
Madison County Pleasant Township
Madison County Township Association
Madison County Soil & Water Conservation District
Monroe township Trustees
Mann's Feed & Supply
Oak Run Township Trustees
Range Township Trustees
Red Brick Tavern
Rummell Brill Insurance Agency
The Cheese House
Township Trustee Bruce A. Davison
Township Trustee Richard M. Dunkle
Township Trustee Philp C. Eades
Township Trustee Tom Hudson
Township Trustee Brice Roberts
Township Trustee Robert Turvy
Tri-Green Interstate Eq.
Vallery & Dorn Insurance
Westside Animal Clinic
Yutzy's Farm Market
Mahoning County
Mahoning County Commissioners
Mahoning County Republican Party

Medina County
C&L Shoes
Sigel Cattle Company

Mercer County
A1 Ag Services
Blue Ribbon Feed Mill LTD
Celina Animal Hospital
Chickasaw Veterinary Center
Coldwater Implement
Dr. Neal Fledderjohann
Homan Inc.
Hull Bros. Inc.
Lefeld Implement
Maria Stein Animal Clinic
Maria Stein Grain Company
Mercer Landmark
Minton Veterinary Clinic
PBS Animal Health

Miami County
Miami County Board of Commissioners
Brian Francis Excavating
Caven's Meats Inc
County Commissioner John F. Evans
County Commissioner John W. O'Brien
County Engineer Doug Christian
Double Double K Cattle
Havenar Lawn Service
Lavy Concrete Construction
Miami County Cattleman's Association
Plain View Farms
Siegel's Covington Country Store
Stebbins Farms LTD
Township Trustee & Fiscal Officer Arthur J. Bowsher
Township Trustee Larry Coffing
Township Trustee Doug Cron
Township Trustee Doug Deweese
Township Trustee Mike Havenar
Township Trustee Tom Hill
Township Trustee Tom Witheiss

Monroe County
Monroe County Board of Commissioners
Benton Township Trustees

Montgomery County
A-1 Lawn Service
Bona Vista Farms
Cattleman's Association
Dwico Farms
Farmersville Veterinary Clinic
Jackson Township Trustees
John O'Diam Jr. Farms
KSL Farms LLC
Marion Farms
McCoy Homes Inc
Ro-Lin Farm Services Inc.
Scott Industrial Systems
Thomas Farms
Township Trustee Lon Chambers
Yancik Farm Services
Morgan County
Deerfield Grange

Muskingum County
Board of Muskingum County Commissioners
Muskingum County Cattlemen's Association
County Recorder Karen Vincent

Noble County
Beaver Township
County Sheriff Stephen Hannum
Fiscal Officer Mary Slevin
Noble County Commissioners
Township Trustees President Brent Rossiter
Township Trustee Melvin Tucker
Township Trustee Wendell Warner

Ottawa County
Ottawa County Board of Commissioners
Benton Township Trustees
Oak Harbor Veterinary Hospital
Ottawa County Livestock Sale Committee
Ottawa County Republican Party

Paulding County
County Auditor Susan Simpson
County Commissioner Tony Burkley
County Commissioner Edward Straley
County Commissioner Tony Zartman
County Engineer Travis McGarvey
County Treasurer Lou Ann Wannemach
Creek View Farm LLC
Hillside Acres
Hoyings Farm
McClure Farms LLC
Northwest Ohio Wind Energy

Perry County
County Commissioner Fred Shriner
County Treasurer David R. Wilson
Noll Family Farm Inc

Pickaway County
Ashville Grain
Ashville Hardware
Circleville City Council Member Patricia Fouch
County Auditor Melina A. Betz
County Commissioner Ula Jean Metzler
County Commissioner Glenn Reeser
County Commissioner Jay Wippel
County Recorder Joyce Gifford
County Treasurer Ellery S. Elick
Imboden Farms
Noelkeiz Farms
Penlin Farms
Penlin Seeding
Pickaway County Chamber of Commerce
Unity Lodge 12
Village of Ashville

Pike County
Pike County Board of Commissioners
Carroll Farms

Portage County
Mantua Township

Preble County
Brubaker Grain & Chemical
County Commissioner Christopher Day
County Commissioner Robert G. Stoncash
County Engineer J. Stephen Simmons
County Recorder Jeanne A. Dudas
County Sheriff Michael Simpson
Preble Soil & Water Conservation District
Rowe Nutrition LLC
Steinke Tractor Sales
Twin Valley Equine

Putnam County
County Auditor Robert Benroth
County Commissioner Travis Jerwers
County Commissioner John Love
County Commissioner Vincent Schroeder
County Engineer Terrence R. Recker
County Recorder Cathy Recker
County Sheriff James Beuther
Karhoff Farm Seeds & Chemicals LLC
Schey's Turkey Farm LLC

Ross County
Ross County Board of Commissioners
Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce
County Auditor Steve Neal
County Recorder Kathy Dunn
County Treasurer Jerald A. Byer

Sandusky County
Ballvile Township Trustees
Drown's Farm Market
Gries Seed Farms Inc.
Groomer's Corner
Meggitt Sand Blasting
Ole Zim's Wagon Shed
Root's Poultry
Sandusky County Chamber of Commerce
Sandusky County Township

Scott Township
Tomorrow's Harvest
Townsend Townsend Trustees
York Animal Hospital

Scioto County
Behlen Manufacturing Company
McClure Drainage
Scioto County Soil & Water Conservation Distict

Seneca County
Ag Credit
American Sweet Bean Company
Barb & Dick's Farm Market
Kansas Grain Inc.
Martin Excavating & Trucking
Scherger Farms Inc.
Shock Precast
Seneca County Commissioners
Seneca County Township Association
Seneca Soil & Water Conservation District
Smith Family Foods
Tiffin Area Chamber of Commerce
Tiffin Farmer's Co-op

Shelby County
County Commissioner Dale Delope
County Commissioner Larry Kleinham
County Commissioner Jack Toomey
Koenig Equipment
Shelby County Agricultural Society

Stark County
Dover Brake
Leppo Rents
Ziegler Tire

Summit County
County Executive Russ Pay
Tim Crawford, Summit County Council

Trumbull County
Trumbull County Board of Commissioners
Bockelman's Landscaping
Bristol Township Trustees
Cortland Tractor Sales Company
Crowder Feed Co. Inc.
Fowler Township
Hillier Auctions & Appraisals
Home & Garden Chair Kathleen D. Ferris
Johnston Township
Mahoning Valley Landscape Nursery Association
Trumbull County Jr. Fair Livestock Sale Committee
Trumbull Food & Ag Committee
Trumbull Soil & Water Conservation District
Wilde Horse Feed & Supply

Tuscarawas County
Agland Co-op
B&H Auto
Blue Ribbon Fish Farm
Buckeye Career Center FFA
County Engineer Joe Bachman
Dandy Egg
Dover Hydraulics Inc.
Dover Memorials
Dr. Natalie A. Fisher, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Michelle Santangelo, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Donald A. Wattman, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Drew Yosick, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Gerber & Sons
Hog Heaven Restaurant
Kiwanis Club of Dover Ohio
Lawrence Township Chairman Mark W. Haueter
Napa
Owen's Implement
Sopher Insurance Agency
Stone Creek Green Technologies
Strasburg American Legion
Strasburg Savings Bank
Sugar Creek Veterinary Clinic
Sugar Valley Meats LLC
Township Trustee Randall Fearon
Trealayne Holsteins
Tuscarawas County Agricultural Society
Tuscarawas County Chamber of Commerce
Tuscarawas County Commissioners
Tuscarawas County Dairy Farmers
Tuscarawas County Farm Bureau
Tuscarawas County Pork Producers
Twin City Chamber of Commerce
Wilkshire Cleaners

Union County
Millcreek Township
Union County Commissioners
Union county Darby Township Trustees

Van Wert County
Ag Credit
Board of Commissioners
County Auditor Nancy Dixon
County Sheriff Stan Owens
Schumm Family Farm
Township Trustee Robert Trentman

Warren County
Warren County Shrine Club

Washington County
County Recorder Tracey C. Wright

Wayne County
County Commissioner Jim Carmichael
County Commissioner Ann Obrecht
Clerk of Courts Tim Neal
Crys Mar Farms
FHJ Farms
Finney Veterinary Service
Gerber Feed Service
Jentes Farms
Kidnon Auction Inc.
Oak Glen Farms
Richard Shisler & Association
Slicker Farm
Township Trustee David R. Mann
Wayne County Humane Society
Wayne County Ag. Success Team
WG Dairy Supply

Wood County
Wood County Board of Commissioners
Grand Rapids Township
Heritage Landscape & Design
S&D Application LLC
Top of the Hill

Wyandot County
County Commissioner Michael L. Wheeler
County Executive Director Vicki Orians
Custom Agri Systems
Farmers Mutual Relief Association
Keaton Welding & Machine
Wyandot Soil & Water Conservation District


People Opposing Issue 2:
Ohio Farmers Union
Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association
Ohio Sierra Club
Local Matters
Progress Ohio
Food & Water Watch
Organic Consumers Association
Cornucopia Institute
Center for Food Safety
Ohio Conference on Fair Trade
Ohio Environmental Stewardship Alliance
Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
National Family Farm Coalition
Family Farm Defenders
Wood County Citizens Opposed to Factory Farms
Western Lake Erie Water Keepers Association
Grand Lake St. Mary’s Improvement Association
Clintonville Community Market
Williams County Alliance
Working Families Win- Ohio Chapter
Mercy for Animals
The Wellness Forum
Weston A. Price Foundation

Barbara Mandrell's 2 Headed Love Child

From the National Music Museum website:
Semie Moseley’s first job at Rickenbacker ended abruptly in 1955, when he was fired for building his own guitar in their factory. The event prompted him to start his own company with Reverend Ray Boatright, an evangelical minister. They combined their names to produce that of the new company, Mosrite. At first the business consisted mostly of custom-built instruments, but after adding other business partners, particularly the rock group, The Ventures, in the 1960s.
This electric double-neck guitar was custom-made for Mandrell in 1981. It features a standard guitar neck and a short one with strings tuned an octave higher. She later modified it with Bartolini pickups and Schaller tuners.


National Music Museum entry here.

Jethro Tull 1979
For some reason I attended this concert alone. Dunno if my friends went separately or not. I had a Pontiac Bonneville I bought off my dad for $1. It was about as dependable as a crack whore. Fortunately, it had a trunk the size of Arizona, so I stuck my bicycle in the trunk & headed off to Cincinnati. Dunno where I thought I was going to ride my bike.
For some reason I stopped somewhere (Jim's bike store ?). Then I headed down Montgomery Road to Record Theater in Norwood. it was one of those grocery store sized record stores that frequently had nothing worth buying. I had a sister who lived in Oakley & I had been to Surrey Square Mall with her, so, as I looked around, I realized I kinda knew where I was & briefly considered hunting down my sister & saying hi. She had actually been to a Tull concert years before & was quite impressed with the guitarist's pretty shirt.
whatever
I headed off down Montgomery and, somehow, made it to Riverfront Coliseum.
The concert was good. Professional. I remember analyzing it and thinking this song was better this time and that song was better earlier, and - yeah - I'M A GEEK !!!
Drove home uneventfully. Never needed the bike. Glad it was there, tho. My love affair with bicycling was soon to take a turn for the insane.

The Violent Femmes 1985
As the punk/new wave movement proceeded, I kept wondering why nobody was doing acoustic punk. MTV later had a lot of success with "unplugged" concerts even tho a lot of them were plugged in but the performers were sitting, so.....
Anyway, when the Violent Femmes hit the scene, I remember thinking, "'bout time". They instantly became a hit on the college radio scene.
This was a sellout show & Bogarts in sold out mode was pretty ugly. The band had attained a bit of jaded success by this time but it was a solid show & the college kids were fun to watch.

Council Candidate Reports on Streetcar Viability

City Council candidate Laure Quinlivan produced a video report on streetcar viability. She looks at how light rail is used in other cities and countries and compares them to Cincinnati favorably. Her report, while not without flaws, is in stark contrast to opponents of rail in any form, who ignore such successes and continue to do what they can to worsen Cincinnati's business climate through apathy and obstruction.

Natural/Homemade Treats ?
When I was a kid, Trick or Treating resulted in a lot of candy but also a lot of brownies, cookies, popcorn balls, candy apples & other homemade stuff. There was an apartment building full of old people up the street & they would shuffle out of their apartments & hand out pie & apple juice to the kids & coffee for the parents. Of course, coming outside also headed of a bunch of dirty & obnoxious kids from coming into the building.
Over the years, however, homemade goodies have been frowned on as reports of poisoned and drugged foods have spread through the media like wildfire. Hospitals routinely offer X-Ray facilities for checking candies for needles & razor blades and such.
Because the media likes sex & terror so much, mixing them together with pedophilia hysteria is a natural. Some towns actually round up all the convicted pedophiles and lock 'em up for the evening on October 31. This, of course, keeps the police from watching the streets as little kids in vision impairing masks are out running around in the streets in a sugarized frenzy. The thing is, there has been less than a handful of Halloween related cases of pedophilic rapes reported.
The fact is, in about 60 years there have been less than 100 cases of Halloween treat tampering nationwide and almost 90% of those cases have found the tampering was done by a family member.
With this limited batch of numbers, you are statistically safer getting your Halloween treats from the creepy old guy down the street who likes to show kids his train set than from your dad. Of course, if your dad happens to be the creepy old guy with the train set.....
I don't like giving out candy bars on Halloween. Dunno why. It seems cheesy & over commercialized. I have given out comic books, trading cards & toys in the past. I was thinking of going retro this year & handing out apples. I don't want parents to just automatically throw the things out when the kid brings his swag home, tho. I mean, once I give it away, I don't really care, but.....
So I am asking all you parental types out there (because I know the thousands of people who read this waste of magnetism are wonderful parents), is it ok to hand out fruit & handmade treats on Halloween ? Or are we reduced to Walmart style halloweens due to MSM hysteria nowadays ?
For your convenience, I have added a poll in the top right of the page.
DISCLAIMER, I am not a pedophile & I do not have a train set but I am without a doubt, a creepy old guy down the street. Or, as one kid yelled at me one year, "FUCK YOU MAN ! YOU'RE WEIRD !"

Jethro Tull 1971
My parents drove me & my pals to the show at Dayton's Hara Arena, then went out to eat and returned to Hara to pick us up after the show.
Tull was touring Aqualung which had been released in the spring. A friend of mine who loved the band was a certified kleptomaniac. He actually paid for that album. I had never heard of the band. I remember telling my klepto friend that I didn't like country music. He hit me. Aqualung was no country album. It was also the one that catapulted the band into the American spotlight.
It was a kickass show & led to almost annual fall tours by the band eventually moving from Dayton to larger venues in Cincinnati. There was plenty of banter with Anderson & Evans' clowning. Toss in Martin Barre's sizzling Les Paul & a fine evening was had by all. My parents claimed to have had a fine evening as well.

James Gang - Wittenberg Field House 1971
For awhile there, James Gang, with Joe Walsh on guitar, was everywhere. They had a couple hits with Walk Away & Funk 49. Dunno if they were national, international or just regional hits. The band originated in Clevo but Walsh, of kansas, was not an original member. So, I don't know if they were just a midwestern band.
I don't think the band was bad but I do recall being kinda bored after a while. Another sweaty night in the Witt Field House.

yeah, another late entry.....

Election 2009
The candidates cite fiscal responsibility, safety, road improvements & recreation as top priorities. Readers cite issues of police malfeasance and label the current administration as "the worst ever". Some candidates suggest just giving up on the city altogether. Sound familiar ? If Cincinnati could only get some candidates willing to dissolve the hell hole once called Porkopolis.
But this is the politics of Tremont City. Tremont City is a town the gravediggers have to hate. It has a traffic light. It has a fire department. It also, apparently, has all the political squabbling that big hell towns full of poverty, negroes & liberals like Cincinnati has.
You can run.....

Noose Son story here.

Issue 2s & Frivolous Ballot Initiatives
State Issue 2 is meant to avoid a referendum by radical out of state activists in the future. In Cincinnati we are seeing frivolous ballot initiatives all too often. The people promoting them are always the same disgruntled, unelectable fringe elements. Their favorite strategies are posturing against scary technology and painting governments as sociopathic and byzantine. They seek to manipulate simple people with fear. It's no wonder organization like COA T would use fantastic science fiction movies like "The Matrix" in promoting their anti-technology & anti-government agendas. Similarly, the NAACP's Smitherman fear mongering is leading people to believe in a shadowy local government out to commit genocide thru the water supply.
While flipping thru the channels on TV the other night I found 3 lonely guys sitting around the Issue 9 yard signs with the bus on 'em and one of the fellas remarked that the "power of the referendum" had been kept a secret from the people by the government.
Just last year we voted on a state issue (1) concerning the rules of (statewide) ballot initiatives. It is no secret. It's no Dan Brown fantasy. Maybe the gentleman slept through civics class ? Mr Smitherman just sat there & never corrected nor educated his droogies.
From our schooldays, we all remember our classroom being punished for the ill behavior of a few. Will the abuse of the referendum process by a few in Cincinnati with questionable policies and misleading promotion result in State Issue 2 type measures to put a stop to these politically frustrated malcontents ?
It would be a shame to see that happen. I used to sign any ballot petition that came by but with the increasingly misleading promotions of them, I no longer sign anything. Now I am more cynical about citizen activists than of any government body. The us-v-them attitude portrayed by the WDaVers is more of an indictment of them than of the local elected government.

GO C GO !

AWRIGHT ! Nice start on animating that C, guys ! When using as a frame, tho, transparency with refraction would bee really cool ! Nice use of the vignetted alpha. Dunno why it's upside down, tho. I like the monochromatic blue background, too. Spin that puppy on the Y axis & move it around a bit on the Z axis now & you got a logo a guy could really get behind.
The streetcar could have used some shading & reflections but I suppose the City of Cincinnati renderfarm probably isn't in Pixarville, yet.
Anyway, I guess there's a message in there, too.
uh.....
Mallory suggests a guy might want to buy a building and put in a Starbucks, but what I find really exciting, about the OTR stretch especially, of the line is the smaller more middle class entrepreneur having a viable opportunity to start his own independent business. This will lead to a more vibrant and stable local economy and give residents a greater sense of ownership of the city.

Northside is Dying !
ok, not really. At the end of the month both Shoetopia and Ali's Boutique / Avant Garage will be closing. The good news is that both stores are having big sales to wipe out their stock.
Hopefully both the proprietors, Jessica & Leslie, will be staying in the community as they both contribute A LOT. It would be nice if every Cincinnati neighborhood had it's own 3CDC and Northside certainly has one in spirit. It would certainly not be the neighborhood it is without these guys. Northsiders should probably be carrying them around on their shoulders, but people think the neighborhood is weird enough already.

Tupelo Chain Sex - Jockey Club 1985

no image available

This band, so the story goes, was conceived at a party hosted by John Mayall's son at his dad's house in California. Don "Sugarcane" Harris was probably the "star" of the band. Another "old" guy in the band was a sax player who had an array of saxophones from a large bass/baritone sax to a teeny tiny tenor (?) sax. Tupelo Joe Altruda played guitar or bass, according to the line up and some goofy British guy handled vocals. The played a weird mix of jazz/folk/rock madness with a silly streak a mile wide.
Tupelo Chain Sex was great !
Joey Altruda is currently playing a weird (but not as weird as TCS) mix of Latin/Ska/Lounge music.

Traffic 1974
This show was at Ohio State's St John's Arena in Columbus. We had decent floor seats. Traffic was formed to be a band completely about music - commerciality be damned. This tour was promoting the album, When the Eagle Flies, that sounded a lot like a dirge and was their last real album. The songs from the album, played alongside their older music didn't sound as depressing. I remember thinking that they should scrap that album & re-record it live. Overall it was a good show with Winwood primarily on keyboards but also rocking out on guitar. I am not sure there is a live version of Dear Mr Fantasy I don't like.

Issue 9 on Noosemakers

Sunday morning, 10/18 @ 11AM on WKRC's Newsmakers program hosted by Dan Hurley, Cincinnati Issue 9 will be discussed with representatives, City Councilmember, Roxanne Qualls and Nosferatu, Tom Luken.
It hardly sounds fair.
Anyway, best keep the temperature in the studio down, Dan. Might also want to get Tom a Zomcon domestication collar.

Issue 7
First off, let me say that I am very embarrassed to learn that Hamilton County was not providing the bulk of the funding for our library system. We should have been the primary supporters of the local institution all along. This levy will still have our share in the minority but it's a start.
That being said, I believe the library needs to rethink itself for the 21st century.
I hate to agree with Tom Brinkman on things, but user fees do make sense in principle. Where it gets weird is figuring out how much it costs to account for money collected. If it costs $2 to track $1, you have kinda lost the point. Charging a dollar is also about the same as charging 60¢ 20years ago.
Brinkman suggests charging for a premium library service. This sounds nice, it lets wealthier patrons pay more to support the system, a sort of progressive tax. I don't know what you would offer, however. Seems like you would almost have to cut free services to have something "premium" to offer.
One of the great things at the library are the old newspapers on microfiche. When it comes to archiving, physical copy is incredibly important, however for convenience of distribution & search, digitizing these resources and offering them online might be a "premium service".
Some people complain about the content the library has on it's shelves. These people seem to be in the "I Hate Hollywood" camp of modern right wing neoconism. If a recent action film should be removed from the library, should Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes & Fu Manchu books also be taken off the shelves ?
Combining community resources makes a lot of sense. Does every neighborhood in the city need a rec center, a school & a library branch ? The main problem here seems to be the Cincinnati Public School System. They have refused to consolidate with the Recreation department in the past and in this interview on Newsmakers, Library reps tell us CPS was uncooperative with them as well. Why are we duplicating or triplicating (is that a word ?) building administration when we are facing budget shortfalls ?
I believe The Hamilton County Library could do a lot more online. Indeed, it seems like they could be streaming video on demand.
If you have neither fast internet nor cable TV, you can watch City Council meetings on the computers at branch libraries. Branch libraries offer after school programs for kids. While this may come off as babysitting, the fact is with single parent family & double income families becoming the norm and the school systems reluctance to adapt to the realities of society, this is a much needed service. Once again, combining Recreation, School & Library makes sense.
I support Issue 7 but think the library needs to re-evaluate it's role in modern society. Change costs money to implement, unfortunately, and the sudden budget cuts could lead to a loss of library resources that might never be recovered. Money for the Library system will likely shrink and the mantra of "cut waste" has some validity but is not the sole issue facing our libraries today.

The Jack Chop

Halloween is just around the corner & it's time to start thinking about decorations including that Jack-o-Lantern. It's not time to buy a pumpkin yet, however. If you do, it will be a mushy stinky mess by Halloween (unless your neighbor's kids put it out of it's misery).
Anyway, while scouting around for Jack-o-Lantern ideas, I found the "Jack Chop". Looks like a nifty, time saving tool & the layaway plan just makes it too good a deal to pass up !

Perception is Reality ?

On WCPO's debate, mayoral candidate, Brad Wenstrup repeatedly claimed that perception is reality. It is not. If it were, we could just spike the water supply with Paxil and go our merry way.

Debate video on WCPO

Hello ?
How in the world do you go through a 1 hour mayoral debate in Cincinnati without discussing housing ?
sheesh

Vote NO on 9

Rubbing Elbows With Ian Anderson 2002
What a weird show (But at least it was in the 21st century !).
First off, the Music Hall Ballroom is a really nice room. Anderson wanted to do a low key tour where he noodled about on guitar & singing, told stories & jokes, took questions from the audience and then played a more structured set of music with some unknown musicians. He enlisted a host/MC from each locale, generally getting local radio announcers.
Questions from the audience were mostly stupid. At the beginning Anderson played with the accompaniment of a boom box (scary). I don't listen to radio so I had no ideA who the radio personality was. Most of those guys come off like assholes & this guy did, too. Anderson seemed kind of contemptuous of the guy, but what the hell did he expect ? He's heard American radio before. If only he had lassoed Dan Hurley or, hell, Brian Patrick, an ex-DJ, probably could have done better.
Some of the stories were ok. When he brought out a band for the second part of the show it turned into a normal concert setting & Anderson's large presence filled the small room that wasn't too loud. That was pretty good.
It was a balmy Saturday night so it was nice outside afterward. Metro service, as usual, crapped out early. Yuppies stole my cab. With a bit of yelling, I finally got a cab home.
Metro needs to expand it's weekend service. There is a market there to be captured.

Racism at City Hall ?
A rambling media release from the Cincinnati NAACP charges elected officials & the City Manager with racial bias & "institutionalized racism" concerning the recent layoffs of city workers. Many of the workers were union members who, in fact, voted for unemployment over furloughs. However the media release cites that 74/78% of those laid off were people "of color" and implies an agenda of the Mayor and City Council to purge the ranks of city workers of the colored people.
With a city manager form of government, elected officials are kept out of the hiring and firing process for precisely this reason - that is, to prevent political favoritism. The city manager oversees the hiring and firing process but it is the department heads & human resource folks who do the actual one on one hiring and firing conforming to the collectively bargained rules of negotiated contracts. When grandstanding, it's better to go after names people know, however. The media release cites correctly that with the union contracts determining layoffs is essentially a decision of "last hired - first fired". This brings up a question that the NAACP seems to ignore, though. Why has recent hiring at city hall been so heavily weighted against white people ?

More on the details from Miss Jane

ray Charles 1981
In a previous post I described cajoling a sis into carting me & the old lady around SW Ohio to see The Ramones. The plan fell apart when said sis decided she didn't want to return us to the Queen City til the weekend. A long boring bus ride into Dayton alerted us to a Ray Charles concert on Saturday, so we raped Jeannie & got tix and forced the aforementioned sister into driving us to the show. The convention center was just big room with folding chairs. They didn't dim the lights for the show. Mr Charles didn't seem to mind. It was kinda like attending a show in a high school gym. It was good, as you would likely expect, I mean it was Ray Charles....
It amazes me to look back & see that I witnessed such iconic musicians in he span of a week.
Got back home Sunday.

Northside Porch Tour October 10

Northside Community Council is hosting its 7th Bi-annual Porch Tour on Saturday evening, October 10th from 6 until 9pm. A Porch Tour is similar to a house tour, except nobody goes onto anybody's porch, nor do people go into houses. It is a street celebration where the .9 mile route will be lit with a ribbon of thousands of luminaries (about 4,000), the route is open for a walking tour, or you can ride one of the two 20 person horse-drawn carriage rides that circle the route while listening to an architectural narrative of the historic porches. New this year, you can ride one of two bicycle rickshaws that will circle the route. Music will entertain all who come to the departure point at the Northside Children's Park on the corner of Chase and Fergus Avenues. While you are waiting for a carriage ride, have a great grilled hotdog or hamburger offered by the Northside Citizens on Patrol, see Happen, Inc. weave a community canvass, and hear the surprise events at the park. Numerous musicians will dot the Porch Tour Route which continues to rotate around the neighborhood every other year to spice up your experience. Carriage rides are $4, $10 for (2) to ride the rickshaw. For more information, email Tim Jeckering or call 513-542-2500 (1#).
And, no, my porch is not on the tour. snubbed again.....

X Bogarts 1985
X had been around awhile & was getting nowhere fast. They even made a movie about it later. Guitarist Billy Zoom had threatened to quit unless record sales improved. They did not. He quit. Didn't do him much good. Anyway, he was still with the band this night as they toured Ain't Love Grand. Zoom kicked ass. The whole band did. It was too loud as it was Bogart's in the 80s.

The Ramones at The She Club 1981
I had just moved to Cincinnati in the fall of '81 and had ditched my old Pontiac Bonneville since, having no job, I could hardly afford keeping the POS running. When my girlfriend & I heard the Ramones were coming to Dayton, we had to make plans. I forgt how we got up to Dayton but my sister lived in Moraine at the time & I think we bought her a ticket so she could drive us to the show & put us up for the night. She agreed to drive us home the next day.
The She Club was some kind of old disco or something. Lotsa colored lights, a mirrored ball over the dance floor....
cool

Jefferson Starship 1974
My limey friend had lived in Clevo before he was banished to Frogtown. We went to Columbus and met up with his Clevo buddy, who is now an affirmed Columbian. We started out the evening tormenting the Clevolumbian's downstairs neighbor. I don't know if there was any dinner involved The Clevolumbian lived near the campus where Mershon was located on High Street. We walked to the auditorium & saw the show, which was great. Mershon had some serious bastard security goons that shoved people through doors when evicting them. There was no smoking allowed in the auditorium & with a band like the Starship, there was plenty of smoking going on. Paul Kantner stopped the show at one point and told security they could fight him if that was what they wanted to do. The violence toned down a bit.
Afterwards, the three of us treated the town like poo. Columbus had no chance against the onslaught of the unholy triumvirate of Strongsville, Pudsey & Springfield teenagers.

Champion City Halloweenies - Chill !

A Springfield woman who has celebrated Halloween with her displays on her house has decided to expand into the vacant lot next door, which she does not own but maintains, due to an absentee owner who, apparently, ignores it. -whew-
So what does she get for her labors ? City zoning code enforcement doesn't like the temporary fence or the temporary "haunted house" the woman has constructed. The city can send out workers to demolish the offending constructs made to bring joy and happiness to the neighborhood kids but they would have to bill the owner for the work & he's off in Florida not giving a rat's rear. whatadilemma.....
Makes me think of the words from Grace Slick's Lawman:

well I've heard your line & you've heard mine
& I'm just too tired to take a side
bring your business around here in the morning
Don't you want to be easy
look there
let some of the things you see go on by
or you can burn them into your brain
go on home
Don't you see the children, they're just like you
they want everything to be fine but they let it slide
and the laughing lets you know that smiling breaks the rules

Noose Son story here.

Bicycle Master Plan Open House

The City of Cincinnati is in the process of creating a new comprehensive Bicycle Master Plan. The bike plan will provide the long-term vision for the development of a citywide bicycle network designed to allow average Cincinnatians to feel as safe and comfortable riding bicycles for their daily needs as they do today in their cars.

Thursday, October 8 from 7 to 9 PM, the city will host an open house/meeting at McKie recreation center, in Northside, at 1655 Chase Avenue.
"The purpose of the open house will be to collect feedback on existing conditions, strategic network improvements, and potential new policies and programs."
I have no idea what "strategic network improvements" means.
Just keeping the streets clean & putting drivers education back into the schools would go a long way, but I guess we need to chat.
Northside is serviced by Metro 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 27 & 39.
There is a small bike rack at the Rec Center.
On Saturday, October 10 Queen City Bike will hold a Bike & Dine that will roll through Northside but there's no need to wait, come early and visit Portofino's, Melt, Honey, The Hideaway, NYPD, Gajah Wong, The Comet, Taco Hell, White Castle or stay late & visit Northside Tavern for karaoke, Moonshine Drive and Northslice Pizza. (and White Castle again for the hardcore !)
As usual, just say NO to bike lanes.

City Bicycle Master Plan Website

Home of the Midwestern Hayride Ranks Near Bottom of Smartest Cities List
These lists are so dumb... If these guys read cincinnati.com's comments sections, the town would probably be rated at the bottom of the list. They cite the area's non-fiction book sales suck. This explains a lot about the the rampant provincialism.
Hey, Cletus, gowan'n fetch me muh bahble & muh shotgun, y'heah.

Daily Beast list Slideshow

Octoasterfest

Octoasterfest 2009 will be held in Springfield on Saturday, October 10. This is the annual convention of the Toaster Collectors Association.
Never a dull moment.

Noose Son story here.

Ever Wonder About the Lumps on Your Parents Temples ?

My favorite part is that the "masks" have glasses attached. Nevermind he's lying in bed reading a book with his costume on.....
GAH ! Is his left hand levitating ?
Superboy meets Big Baby - YOW !

Frustration & Heartache

There's other ways to deal with this sort of thing
This guy should try getting peripherals to work with Linux.
Fishwrap story, "iPhone frustration leads to arrest", here.

Issue 2

Proponents of Issue 2 have formed an organization called Ohioans for Livestock Care & have put up a website, Safe Local Ohio Food.
Issue 2 creates a board to oversee animal welfare on Ohio farms. It will consist of:

• Three family farmers
• Two veterinarians (one of whom is the state veterinarian),
• A food safety expert
• A representative of a local humane society
• Two members representing statewide farm organizations
• The dean of an Ohio agriculture college
• Two members representing Ohio consumers

Opponents have formed an organization called Ohio Against Constitutional Takeover (?) with a website, Ohio Act, where they warn of a "corporate power grab".
From the list, above, I am not seeing a corporate power grab.
The decision to create the board was a proactive move taken by the state to prevent a referendum by DC based HSUS similar to the one they got passed in California which would raise food prices, put some farmers out of business and increase the incidence of unsafe food.
HSUS President William Pacelle, a vegetarian, described the proposal as, "Big Agribusiness’ attempt to amend Ohio’s constitution by creating an industry-dominated council to oversee farm animal treatment is poor policy and an attempt to thwart meaningful reform."
Proponents of the issue include about 25 large Ohio based farming organizations and a host of Ohio legislators. link
Opponents list about 2 dozen groups, some based in Ohio, others from New York, Washington DC, California, etc. Quite a few have ties to HSUS. In Ohio there is a grocery outside Columbus and a Facebook group with 18 members. link
Some of the issue's opponents are interested in water quality and conservation. I am not seeing that addressed through Issue 2's board. Here in Cincinnati, of course, we know about meat production and water pollution with our own Mill & Deer Creeks.
One of the big issues here is animal welfare as opposed to animal rights. The Humane Society of the United States is an animal rights organization with a fairly radical agenda of vegetarianism, discouraging pet ownership and condemning animal breeding. Despite their name, they are not a humane society and have no affiliation with local humane societies in Ohio. The Ohio farmers are more inclined towards animal welfare for the animals they raise specifically to be slaughtered.
I don't know if this board is necessary and I don't know as it will do anything to prevent left wing loons from pushing more radical legislation in the future.
I can certainly see why small organic farmers are wary of big agribusinesses muscling them out of the market and I really, really believe that we should be able to decide what we put into our bodies, if it's raw milk, free range pork or Spam & Mountain Dew.
I don't see Issue 2 as a corporate power grab nor do I see it as anything necessary, but the number of opponents who are not local & have creepy agendas make me a bit leery.

Robo Call from Charlie Winburn on 9/30/09 6:40 PM
uh, Chas ? I think you need to re-record your robocall. No police officers have been laid off. Or did you mean to lie and scare citizens into voting for you ?
You might also think about turning down the volume if you re-record, too.
PS - the mayor doesn't really fit the profile of a mass murderer, either.
UPDATE:Winburn on WKRC NooseMakers warning us the mayor might try to poison us. link

College Hill - Where People Go To Die ?
College Hill is the home to at least 2 retirement/nursing home facilities, Llanfair and Twin Towers already. Now, Episcopal Retirement Homes wants to build a facility On North Bend just west of Hamilton Avenue. The College Hill Forum doesn't want the new facility. Dunno what they do want....
But can a neighborhood base itself on such businesses & their clientele ? The proposed facility is for low income seniors but, most seniors kinda are anyway just because they don't work. It is meant for independent living so the folks would be able to go out into the community and they would not be far from the business district. Twin Towers has a large independent living population that might not want to walk to the business district but could certainly drive there or use the bus. Both Twin Towers and Llanfair take their residents out on "field trips" on a regular basis.
Would a concentration of nursing homes in one neighborhood attract businesses like funeral homes, drug stores, prosthetics dealers, bingo halls & physical therapists ? Could College Hill be the place to go for steamed food ? Might Northside hipsters like the nearby location for their aging parents ? Would the city be well served with such a neighborhood that it could develop the infrastructure to cater to the elderly ? Is this a way to build a vibrant neighborhood ?
Or would it just become a ghetto of the elderly ?

Why Vote Early ?
Once again, the local NAACP president hosts a campout at the BOE so "he can cast the first vote". Maybe he is raising some awareness to the ability to vote early at the BOE & not have to worry about juggling work & poll hours, bad weather, traffic, etc., but it also serves another purpose besides self promotion.
Most of the political campaigning doesn't really get started till about now & the vast majority of the campaigning won't occur till the last couple weeks before the election. When you are promoting bad government like Isuues 3, 8 & 9, you probably don't want your voters to be too educated on the issues. If you went on Sillyman's camping trip you would likely miss this informative video that actually animates the city's new logo. It almost animates the city manager, too.

The fact Sillyman also supports every single tax levy on the ballot must thrill his pals at COA T.
Vote No On 9

Fishwrap article here.

Issue 3

I don't gamble. It bores me. I would just as soon give my money to people on the street. I realize a lot of people enjoy it, tho, and that Ohio money is going out of state without the gambling here.
Las Vegas is a fun place to visit. The casinos are a sight to see. The thing is, out there, there are slots everywhere. From the moment you arrive at the airport you hear the sound of coins tinkling everywhere ! (I can imagine Edgar Allan Poe dealing with that!) Small bars might have one slot or video poker machine. Places with no gambling have entertainment out the wazoo. There is a ton of stuff going on in Las Vegas without gambling. It is a unique and immersive experience.
This is what I don't get about Ohio & it's various plans to do gambling. We always want to have just one or two single casinos. Why don't we want to set up something that would compete with Vegas, or for that matter, Branson ? Why can't we just license machines & dealers to establishments that want them ? Why do we have to have an out of state entity run one casino without any competition ? Here in Cincinnati, I imagine someone like Jeff Ruby could do a casino just fine.
I really think the place for a gambling town would be Pomeroy. It has the Ohio River, wooded hillsides, camping. It's a pretty little town with a nice riverfront. I am sure the infusion of cash would be welcomed.
Sandusky, on the lake, would make another good location. The thing is, it should be an immersive and a uniquely Ohio experience. It should not be a single monopolized cookie cutter blob stuck into areas with a lot of voters.
I will oppose all gambling measures in the state that are concocted like Issue 3 and pretty much every other plan for gambling that's been put on the ballot.

Ever Have One of Those Days ?

Death to Graphic Designers Who Use Low Contrast Text
I was just looking at the Dollhouse Website. They use a light grey type (AAAAAA) that is very difficult to read. Pisses me off. Low contrast shit is for backgrounds not for body copy.
§ assholes §
On a bright note, however, Summer Glau will be on the show this season, however, I guess Amy Acker will be MIA most of the season. Here's hoping Alan Tudyk returns as Alpha. Man, if somebody wanted to do a sit-com about Jack the Ripper, he'd be the one for the role.

Things To Do


Ain't Nothin' To Do
Way up north outside of Dayton, World War I aviation show at the Wright Pat Air Force Museum -er- the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on Friday, Sep 25 7:30AM - 5PM

Abstract Trances: Color, Vision, Sensation at Visionaries & Voices, 3841 Spring Grove Avenue, Sep 25 from 8:30AM - 4PM

StreetScapes Street Painting Festival Saturday Sep 26/27 from 10A - 6P, Telford at Ludlow
Due to rain, the Street Painting Festival is merging with the CCAC Art Sale

Out of the Attic Art Sale on Saturday & Sunday, Sep 26/27 at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, 3711 Clifton Avenue
Info - 961-6762

Early Settlers and Freedom Fighters Tours at Wesleyan Cemetery, 4003 Colerain Avenue Sep 26 @ 1 & 3PM
info - 513-542-2909
In the event of heavy rain, the tours will be moved back to Sunday

Northside Cumminsville Walking Tour sponsored by the Cincinnati Preservation Association. Tours meet at Sidewinder Coffee & Teas so you can get all cranked up & run the tour so the CPA guide can get home. Tour starts Sep 27 at 11AM

Weekend Walkabout at Spring Grove Cemetery, 4521 Spring Grove Cemetery Sep 27 @ 1PM.

And as usual, Downtown is completely dead, so sad.....

Urbana's Roundabout - Week One

The intersection in the heart of Urbana switched from an ugly traffic light hanging over a monument to a roundabout last weekend. The first reactions are mixed. While traffic congestion is down, some folks believe it is because drivers are hurtling through side streets endangering Urbana youth. Others say it is more efficient & will work better as people learn to use it.
It's gotta look better - even if the statue is splattered in blood and bathed in the light of the burning, wrecked cars.
Here's the directions given to Urnananianites.

Noose Son story here.

Mt Adams NIMBYS Kill 3-C Train
The wealthy and connected Mt Adams NIMBYs with the wealthy and connected Arn Bortz effectively killed the 3-C train system in Cincinnati tonight.
A lady who lived on Eastern Avenue spoke up & said what I was screaming at my TV set, living around trains ain't bad.
I lived about 16 years 2 blocks from a railroad in Springfield. Upon moving to Cincinnati, I lived on the eastern side of the Mill Creek Valley and listened to the squeaks and groans of the train yards as I drifted off to sleep. Now, in Northside, I am farther from trains than I have been since a wee lad. Thankfully I can still hear the horns from the trains along the Mill Creek at night.
But, Mt Adams residents couldn't be disturbed with trains 3 times a day, however & river traffic noise be damned (and the noise the little old lady mentioned that emanated from Mt Adams) and with the aid of a wealthy benefactor sent the Cincinnati terminus of the train out to fucking Lunken Airport out in the middle of goddam nowhere. YES ! Clevelanders will flock to the little airport all socked in with fog! It has long been their dream to do so.
Mt Adams residents don't care that the economy is in the tank and that their precious parks are dead zones that are nothing but a drain on city resources. And they will be forever ruined with the 3 Trains a Day !
Did I mention these passenger trains are not the mile long freight jobs, but only a few cars long ? That they will be state of the art and not as noisy as the ones the little old Eastern Avenue lady was dealing with quite well ?
Near as I can tell, no bus currently goes to Lunken. The nearest one takes about 16 minutes to get downtown (after it shows up at the airport). From there, after a layover, another bus would take about half an hour more to get me home. After a 6 hour train ride, this is just what I would be looking forward to. You wouldn't want to run an express bus because that would just be a royal slap in the face of east siders in Oakley & Madisonville. Shouldn't the train take you to a transportation hub ? This is no better than getting dropped off at CVG.
Still, I have to say, the weirdest complaint was from the restaurant owner who didn't want a train dropping passengers off in front of his establishment.....
Cincinnatians are so fucking weird.

El Superbeasto

The Haunted World of El Superbeasto has been in the works for 3 years and now it's here. Now, where's the Suzi-X action figure ?
Go Rob Go
Go Rob Go
Go Rob Go

Northside Political Forum September 21 from 8:00 - 9:30 PM

Northside Community Council will be conducting a political forum for City Council and mayor after its regular meeting on Monday, September 21 at the McKie Recreation Center. The goal is to make the forum educational and engaging.
The candidates will be divided into three groups, and there will be a few minutes break between each group. Each candidate will get to make a 1 minute statement and after all 7 have presented, persons in the audience will be allowed to ask questions. If there is no question for a specific candidate, then a general question will be asked of that candidate. Questions are limited to 30 seconds and responses to 1 minute. After each candidate is asked a question, the process will be repeated for a second question.
Candidates will put literature on the side tables and have signs and other materials available.
All of the 19 City Council candidates and one of the mayoral candidates have accepted our invitation.
The candidates will be speaking in the following order:
8:00 - 8:30 Kevin Flynn, George Zamary, Leslie Ghiz, Roxanne Qualls, Greg Harris, Anitra Brockman, Tony Fischer
8:30 - 9:00 Chris Monzel, Amy Murray, Bernadette Watson, Cecil Thomas, Wendell Young, Jeff Berding; Brad Wenstrup
9:00 - 9:30 Laure Quinlivan, Laketa Cole, Nicholas Hollan, Chris Bortz, LaMarque Ward, Charlie Winburn
Candidates for whom the audience doesn’t have an individual question will be asked the following questions.
1. If you think that Cincinnati should develop an overall plan for what the City should look like in the future, what role do you think the citizens should play in such a "visioning" process?
2. What are some of the services that you think that the City should provide beyond the level of police and fire protection and what role do you think citizens should have in determining what is appropriate?
Questions, call Gwen Marshall at 541-6978 or gmarshal@fuse.net

In a "press release" this weekend, Chris Smitherman, a so called "financial planner", berates the city & SORTA for planning for the long term while reacting to the short term management issues. He derides them for cutting bus service while, at the same time, promoting streetcar development (something SORTA wanted to do years ago). He appears to realize that the economic downturn is not forever but he keeps talking about SORTA/Metro/The City as if it is a business. While a business might ride out a downturn & go into debt with the anticipation of generating profits in the future, government agencies can't do that, especially since they don't make a profit even in the best of times.
He notes, "Transportation is a civil rights issue in the 21st Century."
It kinda was in the 20th century, too, but nevermind. He complains that cutting bus service to the handicapped is bad.....
So why does he oppose the streetcar ? It has superior access for the disabled, the elderly and the parents of small children (who frequently aren't dripping with money), too.
Guess this goes along with his short term financial planning strategies & his mistaken belief that the government should operate like a business but still provide services for free.
He also points out "The Cincinnati NAACP Executive Committee has not been contacted for any input."
Well, Blogging Isn't Cool's Executive Committee wasn't contacted, either, AND HE ACTUALLY RIDES THE BUS.
And, essentially a lie, "Nonetheless, the Mayor and City Council are moving forward with plans to build a $200 million streetcar in downtown with no input from the community."
Government is participatory. The city has had meetings pertaining to the streetcar that were open to the public for the past 3 years. I guess this falls under the idea that the city has to ask the NAACP's Executive Committee for an exclusive audience.
Maybe his rant would make more sense with the physical performance - the Hitleresque hand gestures and facial expressions....
Dunno about that guy, but he and Tom Luken are certainly peas in a pod.

NAACP Press Release.
How come what Sillyman publishes is a "press release" but what I publish is a blog post.
hm

Ukraine's Got Talent

Do they have stuff like this on the US version ? If they have, I sure as heck missed it. All I ever see are sappy pop singers & dance groups.
Thanks to Mx for the link.

AAAAHHHHHRRRRRRRR !!!!!!!

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati

So I was thinking about going down to the Cincinnati ~er~ Zinzinnati Oktoberfest this weekend and started thinking about lines, lines, beer tickets, portapotties, potato pancakes, lines, sauerkraut balls, lines, beer, lines, lines and more lines.....
Q, the chick in the picture WILL be there !
pfah, I am old. She would probably call me sir, anyway. I think I might just stay home & have my own Oktoberfest.....
I have Newkirks recipe for sauerkraut balls. It makes about 10 friggin' pounds, so I would have to pare it down. hm Math+beer+deep frying......
oh well, if you wanna go and meet all those nice people standing in lines, it's Saturday, 11 a.m. - midnight & Sunday, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. downtown on Fifth Street from Race Street to Broadway.

Throwing the Baby Out With the Bathwater

Given Issue 9's broad language, not only would it affect light and heavy rail, but the City Solicitor believes it could affect the weird little train at the zoo.

""It may sound like a stretch, but it's not an exaggerated argument," said City Solicitor John Curp. "It's a legitimate question.""

Today, on WLW, The Cunning Ham indicated the passage of Issue 9 could be a wet dream for lawyers.
Interestingly enough, one of the arguments the We Demand a Vote Because We are Too Lame to Actually Get Elected crew had against cost-cutting red light cameras was that they would be a boon to divorce lawyers.
Vote NO on Issue 9. Do it for the children.

Fishwrap story here

Springfielders Eye Merits of Regional Rail System
At a presentation Tuesday the economic benefits of having a passenger rail station (again) in Springfield were touted by a Maine developer who claims billions of dollars were generated up there.

"I would hesitate to forecast any specific numbers for Ohio, but I can tell you in Maine, we generated $7.2 billion in additional construction with development stimulated by the train,” Martin said. “The train rail line will add another $2.4 billion of development in the state."

Of course he doesn't seem to breakdown development and the actual installation of the line.
Springfield is currently not in the plans for a first stage 3C corridor system.

Noose Son story here

yes
Jackass
move on

The city is going to hold a series of open houses to explain to people what the streetcar proposal means to them.
With any luck the WDaV crew will bus in out-of-town tea bagging hecklers to yell & holler & turn the meetings into Maury Povich shows.
Times & locations:
5-7 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut St., Downtown.
6-8 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Bond Hill Recreation Center, 1501 Elizabeth Place.
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 28 on Fountain Square, Downtown.
5-7 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, 800 Vine St., Downtown.
6-8 p.m. Oct. 13 at the Oakley Recreation Center, 3882 Paxton Ave. (in Hyde Park Plaza)
6:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at the College Hill Recreation Center, 5545 Belmont Ave.
6-8 p.m. Oct. 27 at the Corryville Recreation Center, 2823 Eden Ave.
6-8 p.m. Nov. 4 at the LeBlond Recreation Center, 2335 Riverside Drive, East End.
5-7 p.m. Nov. 10 at Cincinnati City Hall, Room 115, 801 Plum St., Downtown.
630-8:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Price Hill Recreation Center, 959 Hawthorne Ave.

Fishwrap Story here.

Cincinnatians for Progress has requested submissions for yard signs for the campaign against Issue 9.
You can send your ideas to Cincinnatians for Progress.
Bear in mind most yard signs are appealing to people speeding by in their metal and glass bubbles, so the message should be clear and bold with plenty of contrast. They don't offer any dimensions but my Ron Paul for President sign is 24" x 12".
Commence designin' ! It's fun ! It's easy ! It's cathartic !
here's some of mine

red white and blue with a slogan from somewhere, Simes ?



green, rails, progress.....



my Iomega design



ok, probably not a great design but who decided elections should be held around Halloween anyway ?

Following is my late uncle's recount (re-recount ?) of his son-in-law's recount of escaping the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Many of us from across the country and around the world were fairly desperate for information about loved ones in NYC, the Pentagon & just flying that day.

We can report at least one bit of good news about Sept. 11, 2001, another day of infamy suffered by our nation - Carol, George and family are safe.
George, however, had a harrowing experience as he escaped from the 83rd Floor of the WTC's north tower, the second one to fall. He and about 35 others in his area felt the impact of the explosion and left immediately, only to find a door to the nearest stairway jammed because the building already was askew. When they got it open, they were met by a firefall which they apparently dodged, but the stairs were ablaze. George finally found another stairway, but it led only to the lobby on the 78th Floor. No one seemed to know where the stairs continued. There was no panic, he relates, but it took some time for him to find steps leading down. On the way down he and others had to stop to let the seriously burned walk on ahead. On about the 40th Floor, they met firemen climbing up the stairs and carrying heavy firefighting equipment. They offered water and paper towels to act as masks for those descending the steps, but these firemen continued up--probably to perish.
George eventually reached the Second Floor, but no one could find an exit or other steps down. He went back to the Fifth Floor, losing another five minues, but found another set of steps leading to an exit.
Fortunately, he had a Westchester cell phone (cell phones to NYC towers did not operate), and he called Carol to say he was out of the building, but his call was soon "beeped out." He walked north through gray ash and debris to 14th Street, still not knowing exactly what had occurred, because dust blurred the area around the crumbled towers. He called Carol again and learned for the first time that his entire building had fallen.
He made his way to Grand Central Station (which I think is about five miles from the WTC site) only to find the building closed--proably for security reasons. In a moment, however, a door opened and those outside were told all trains leaving the city through tunnels were cancelled. Only trains going north over a bridge could leave. He finally got a train to White Plains and was home by late afternoon. You can imaging everyone's relief when Carol was able to report that he was safe.
To some extent--the extent that scarce and jammed phone lines would allow--Carol had kept us and his family in Akron advised throughout the day, but it was a great relief to know he had actully made it to safety. We talked with him last night. He is a little shaken by the experience, but he said he was going back to the city today to meet with the president of his company and others.
Of course we are happy to report the good news, but we are saddened by the terrible things that have happened to other families ... and our country.

Festival at Indianapolis Stadium 1972
This all day festival was supposed to bee at the Raceway. It would have been the closest I would ever come to the Indy 500, but it got moved so..... Indiana had some promoters but the various government bodies did about all they could do to thwart them at every turn.
Through the day Chuck Berry, Foghat, It's A Beautiful Day, Flash & others played. The headline act was to be Fleetwood Mac but I missed 'em again. This time they were shut down by the Naptown Heat.
Vegasant remembers a lot more about this show than I do.
I do remember that it was the first time I saw people heating up powder in a spoon & injecting it with an eyedropper type of rig.
I do remember Chuck Berry milking My Dingaling.
I do remember Foghat tearing through Maybelliene.
I do remember It's a Beautiful Day playing their 1 big hit, White Bird.
It was sunny & didn't rain. :-)

and yeah, I know I'm late.....

and even later....

thanks to vegasant for sending the scan of the flyer

The 9/8 Debate
Explore Cincinnati has posted audio of a debate on what, I guess, is now Issue 9 - the "added red tape, added costs, obstacles and socially divisive confusing rhetoric generation" amendment proposed by COA T, the Cincinnati NAACP, the south west Ohio Libertarians, the southwest Ohio Green Party and probably some other unelectables under the umbrella of We Demand a Vote (because we didn't like the way the last one turned out).
The debate can be heard here.
The debaters were Bob Maly & Mark Miller.
One of the issues raised was the cost of special elections. A special city wide election costs the taxpayers about $500,000 dollars. That's more than a dollar a person.
What neither debater mentioned was the additional cost in both time and materials for campaigning & the cost of people to take the time to study the issues & get to the polls.
Neither side mentioned that the proponents of this expensive amendment get funding from members outside of the city, the county and even the state. These people from out of town will be represented in a local issue without paying local property taxes and only paying a fraction of the income taxes paid by true city residents.
Another issue both sides fell flat on was how to find out about the issues.
CitiCable broadcasts city council meetings, committee meetings and county commissioner meetings as well as library boards, health commission & police complaint board meetings. Never a dull moment. The city archives full council meetings on their website in genuine Micro$oft Windoze Media format. If you never paid Micro$oft for the right to play their proprietary format but have paid to use Apple's proprietary OS you can still watch with the Flip4Mac plug in.
Watching the meetings on cable, I have been aware of how the streetcar plan has progressed over the last 3 years. As Mr Miller attested, these things take time and they already have. Why he feels that delaying the inevitable is somehow a good thing is odd, to say the least. On top of that, in the countless meetings discussing the topic, the WDaV cartel of unelectables has been notoriously absent from the public meetings. If they have attended, they kept their mouths shut as the overwhelming number of people discussing the subject have been supportive.
I could go on some more on the flaws of the WDaV position but I will be hammering away at that more over the next 7-8 weeks. For now I will just leave it with taking on where I believe both sides dropped the ball.
For more info on the topic:
City of Cincinnati
Cincy Streetcar
ProTransit
the Phony Coney
and over 250 pages & 3 years of discussion on the subject, click here
NO ON 9

910-23 & Budget Woes
On WLWT Judge Nadine Allen was interviewed to discuss the idea of throwing out some pointless laws in an effort to help balance the budget. (And, of course, I can't find it on their website.)
The idea is that the police won't have to spend time on minor violations and can concentrate on more serious violations. Additionally the county charges the city to incarcerate people whose actions might not be a crime in other cities in the county.
Judge Allen suggested littering ordinances but the police already don't enforce that. Cincinnati's marijuana ordinance, 910-23 immediately sprang to my fevered mind. From the beginning the law has not been what it is purported to be as council members have stated the law will be used to harass only selected social groups.
The ordinance, which increases penalties on possession of small amounts of marijuana, has been pretty much a failure, has cost Cincinnatians cash, led to jail overcrowding, hasn't achieved it's stated purpose and has screwed up lives of some of the young people in Cincinnati.
Seems like a good place to start.
For more info on this ordinance & it's effectiveness and it's waste, here's more info:
Prioritize Cincinnati
Hemprock
The Cincinnati Asylum

The Speech
Well, I gotta say, I am pretty disgusted. I had heard Baraq HUSSEIN O'Bama's speech to our precious children would be an attack on America & an attempt to soil their fragile minds with socialism, atheism, baby eating and bestiality.
Well, I watched it just to see how bad it would be. The camera was focused squarely on O'Bama so viewers could not see the inter-racial Satanic snuf-porn that was displayed to the students in attendance.
Mr O'Bama ! Last time I looked, The United States of America is NOT INdo-nesia !!
I don't know why you would demonize the American XBox and not the filthy nip Playstation except for that YOU HATE AMERICA !!!!!
and How Dare You tell my kids they can't be reality TV stars. My children can grow up to be anything they damn please because this is AMERICA, but, oh right - YOU HATE AMERICA, MR BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA !!!!
And as for that foreign satanist bitch, JK Rawlings, how dare you sight that communist devil worshipper as some kind of example for my kids. We whipped those commie British wimps for a reason, MR BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA ! But since you AREN'T EVEN AN AMERICAN yourself, you wouldn't get that, would you ?!??!?!?
So are you teaching your children witchcraft MR BARACH HUSSEIN OBAMA? Sasha & Malia sound like witch names to me, SOVIET witch names, that is !
This is it ! This is the last straw !!
WHY WON'T YOU SHOW US YOUR PENIS ?!?!?
~sigh
I gotta admit, carrying on like a crazy-ass teabagger is pretty fun. I can see why those loons do it !
But, now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.....

In Principle: The Unchecked Premise
For all you "Randians Without a Comic Book", here's a 4 page story by Steve Ditko.
Link
While I think the piece comes from a fairly paranoid, insular & impotent mindset (much like Peter Parker's (well, before he was bitten by a radioactive spider)), it is still an excellent example of the comic book format for making a political point.

Just a Reminder

E0102-72

Getting to Riverfest

Metro will not be offering their park-n-Ride express service to Riverfest this year. Metro has cited budget woes. That sucks. A friend of mine swore by that thing.
For years I went down just for the fireworks. I would ride my bicycle. I found a nice place south of Lytle Park & it was really easy to get in and out.
Because most everybody who drove was already there by the time the fireworks started and the downtown streets were closed, it was real easy riding through the downtown area & getting to the aforementioned spot at the last minute. Afterwards, since all the motorists were trying to leave at the same time and, hence, getting all locked up and, with the downtown streets closed, a cyclist could easily get a real head start on the motorists when leaving. Also, the vast majority of the people attending the event take the highways, so most of the city streets are fairly empty even when the motorist finally do get moving.
If you live within a few miles of the event, I strongly recommend this strategy.
It's green, too !

Metro routes serving popular destinations

Blogging Isn't Cool Supports Iggy Pop Mural

The Provost of Cincinnati has proposed on The Phony Coney Blog that a mural commemorating Iggy Pop & The 1970 Cincinnati Pop Festival held at Crosley Field.
Blogging Isn't Cool supports and seconds this idea. It would commemorate a musical era, an influential musician, Crosley Field, Cincinnati broadcasting & Cincinnati's peanut butter heritage.
Putting the mural somewhere visible from northbound I-75 would be doubly befitting as Mr Pop & his Stooges hail from sunny Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Yes.

Route 66

Janice Rule 1931-2003
In a previous post I gushed about my love affair with the old TV series, Route 66. It is interesting on a couple levels. For one thing, modern characters don't get much of a chance to say more than a couple lines & they tend to use a vocabulary & sentence structure dumbed down to a 6th grade level. Another thing, and this is probably because I am an old fart, is seeing so many old iconic modern actors performing so early in their careers. One of the coolest things about the show is that it was almost all filmed on location. It is just an amazing view of the world in 1960-64. And it actually was film ! ..in glorious black and white.
In one episode they bitch about these new freeways. "Whatever happened to the quaint little towns ?"
Anyway, when I see someone who intrigues me or whose name sounds vaguely familiar, I Google 'em.
To my surprise, one actress, who appeared several times, was a smokin' hot Norwood girl, Janice Rule.
Route 66 didn't have a great track record filming in Ohio. Cincinnati never made the cut. Cleveland did a few times. Kinsman made it but was called Amity & wasn't even in Ohio. Ohio 66 has some great documentation of the Route 66 episodes filmed here. Alas, nothing on Ms Rule or other actors who might have hailed from the Buckeye State.
To hell with Cruise & Hoffman, I want to see Milner & Maharis crossing the Clay Wade Bailey !
hm, maybe with computers.....

UPDATE: I didn't realize it when I posted this but Sep. 1, 1928 is George Maharis' birthday. Happy 81st, dude ! (belated but may not look like it (?).....)