Wow, She's Huge

So the Andromeda galaxy is bigger than scientists previously thought.  Its one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way in our little universe, a mere two million light years from earth (a hop, skip, and jump in galactic terms, which makes me feel like I should actually be writing about Star Wars). 

One of the things that I’m astounded by is the way that some people throw their entire being behind what we know today.  Every day we are learning more about how our bodies work, how the earth functions, the food that we eat and whether its bad (eggs) or good (oh wait, eggs go here too) for us, and just about everything else that we study.  It is generally stated that our collective knowledge of everything has doubled in the last twenty years.  The world wide web doubles every year.  The total amount of information in the world doubles every five years now.  With all of this information flowing, we make assumptions and hypotheses about the future, and how things are today in our lives, the universe, and everything.  Some scientists put forth that the earth is warming up, leading to massive climate change that will destroy the earth.  Others defend that cell phones cause all kinds of awfulness.  Yesterday, the sun was bad for you, but today, scientists believe that it might be essential in fighting cancer.  Then there’s this whole site. 

As with everything in life, don’t believe something just because someone who looks intelligent says it.  Science, politics, religion, and everything falls into this category.  Do some searching on your own, you’ll be better for it.

Because hey, I really have no idea what I’m talking about here anyway either.

Let the blogging resume!

Tomorrow.

Nice weekend, thank you very much.  Memorial Day was even ok too, except for the rain.  And the lightning.  And the rain.

Deceptive Headlines

So you looked at the newspaper rack while down at Sparkle today?  Did you notice the big headline on the Record Courier?  Official: Dark day for public education.  What could this terrible, awful, end of the world news be?  Two hundred fifteen districts will have their state funding frozen for two years.  [cue dire music]  OH THE AWFUL HORROR!

The whole article is actually a pretty good piece on the ups and possible downs to the education side of the state budget currently being considered in the State House (which I astutely blogged about yesterday, pay attention here folks).  You can read the article here if its still available online.  I’ll be quoting from my trusty newsprint copy.  There’s nothing like the stains that ink leaves on your fingers, ahh sweet newsprint.

School advocates

democrats

say they are concerned that a version of the two-year state budget under consideration in the GOP-led Ohio Senate

evil right wing conservatives that only want to kill your children, ok, that’s enough introduction

provides no additional funds over this year for more than one-third of the school districts in the state

after a majority of districts have seen their funding cut in the last two years, this is not a bad thing at all

School advocates

democrats (sorry, I can’t help myself)

say they’re also worried that the proposed two-year, $51.2 billion spending plan that would take effect July 1 doesn’t give more money to public schools in metropolitan areas for higher business costs and doesn’t reimburse school longer for revenue they would have received from businesses taxes that would be phased out.

trust me, that might make sense later.

don’t hold your breath though.

“We’re gravely concerned,” said Fred Pausch, director of legislative affairs for the Ohio School Boards Association

democrat

which represents boards of education across the state.  “This is a dark day for public education right now,” Pausch said.

We have a headline!  Seriously though, its the end of the world because metropolitan schools won’t get a few tens of thousands of dollars because it costs more to drive there?  Have we forgotten the concept of getting a levy passed?  It seems that Mr. Pausch would like the state to make up for some districts’ inability to get a levy passed for operating funds.  That’s not entirely the state’s responsibility, the large part of the responsibility lays within the district itself.

“The bottom line is they’re not investing enough money in education,” said Tom Mooney, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, which represents about 20,000 teachers in local unions around the state.

democrat, but you likely guessed that already.  I’ve often wondered, how much money is enough money to invest in education?  No one has ever actually given a number as to how much that is.  Its always “we need more” or “its not enough”.  How much is enough?  The problem is that if someone answers that question with a definite number, someone will actually give it to them, and they’ll have nothing to complain about.

The Senate’s version of the state budget, which is pending in the Senate Finance Committee, freezes state funding for 215 school districts at this year’s levels in both budget years. 

you might want to strap yourselves in for this next statement

No school district would receive a cut from this year’s funding levels, under the Senate’s budget version.

those dirty Republicans are taking more money away…wait…what did he say?  No cuts at all?  Well they must be cutting something, being evil and all.  No?  What am I going to complain about now? 

According to documents, the Senate’s version of the budget would pump $6.2 billion into state aid to schools in the budget’s first year – a 2.2 percent increase from current funding levels.

Mind if I spew my coffee all over my keyboard in disbelief?  could it be that Republicans are actually spending money on education?  This shakes my entire world-view.  (and for you folks wondering, this is called sarcasm)

The Senate’s version of the budget would spend $6.3 billion on state aid to schools in the plan’s second year, a 1.8 percent bump over the first year, state documents show.

Feel free to pass out now.  Yes folks, that means they’re putting even more money into the system.  Don’t forget the mantra though, its not enough, its not enough, we need more, we need more, feed the beast, me hungry.

Public schools with large numbers of poor children would also get more aid.

Windham

The Senate’s version of the budget would focus resources on the most impoverished schools

Windham

by providing $896 million in poverty-based assistance over the two-year budget period, state documents show.

impressive.  Directed help, a novel concept.  Give money to the districts that really need it.  wonder where they came up with that one?

The Senate’s version fo the budget, if passed, also would implement a new method of funding schools by using a “building blocks” approach that funds specific amounts for teacher salaries, professional development, student intervention and other items instead of the current method of using statistical formulas.

Statistical formulas are a horrible way to disperse funds in a school system, because of the very nature of such systems.  Need is not always confined to one area, and the formulas cannot account for these fluctuations.  Anything would be better, and hopefully this idea will work.

“It makes it pretty clear,” said state Sen. Joy Padgett, a Coshocton Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.

Padgett, who also sits on the finance committee, said the Senate’s budget version better directs resources in student intervention.

“It makes the intervention model more targeted,” Padgett said.

And that’s the basic problem with formulas.  Students don’t always adhere to their proscribed form of conduct.  Stinking free will.

At  least one Senate Democrat, however, said the plan doesn’t go far enough for schools.

“Teachers continue to be laid off under this budget and programs continue to get slashed,” said state Sen. Charlie Wilson, a St. Clairsville Democrat who sits on the Senate Finance Committee.

Charlie’s a nice guy actually, I met him a few years back.  Voted against him though, he did have that whole Democrat thing going against him.  Its true, teacher do continue to be laid off.  Programs are continuing to be cut.  Can we expect the state (read, you and me) be expected to pay for the failure of other school districts when it comes to the passage of operating and replacement levies?  There comes a point when the shifting of wealth (and lack of it) has to stop.

School advocates

ok, one last time.  Democrats.

criticized the Senate’s budget plan, saying it eliminates the so-called “cost of doing business factor,” money provided to schools in urban areas to pay for a higher cost of labor.

Is it just me or is this really stretching for more money? 

“That was the public-policy decision made by the state legislature a while ago, now they just kind of abandoned that philosophy,” The OSBA’s Pausch said.  “There are a lot of districts out there that won’t see any growth.  They’re not going to see any growth on their state dollars.”

After seeing the local school board fight tooth and nail to get their levy passed, I feel little pity for these school districts right now.  Have them make their case to their own taxpayers and see if this kind of thing really holds water.

“The biggest problem with (the Senate version of the budget) is it plants some time bombs down the road, the most destructive being the loss of business property taxes by local districts,” the OFT’s Mooney said.

How many times have we heard that the State Supreme Court has demanded that state schools not be funded based on property taxes?  It is an unfair way to be funded (according to the Court).  That’s exactly what this budget is setting forth, a different way to be funded not based on property taxes (which are being phased out completely to help businesses supposedly).

Under the Senate version of the budget, tangible personal property taxes levied on business machinery and equipment, inventory, furniture and fixtures would be phased out over four years.

-by Jeff Ortega, Record-Courier capital bureau

Well there you have it.  The article itself is a nice little conglomerate of information, which I have kindly sifted for you.  You want real numbers for Windham?  The Record Courier has kindly provided some of them.  In the first year of the new budget (if passed, of course), Windham would receive a 6.3 percent increase in funding.  In the second year of the new budget, the increase would be a total of 6.7 percent.  Windham presently recieves $6,382 per student (this includes all kinds of funding, a list too long to put here).  In the first year, that will increase $402 per student to $6,784 per.  In the second year, there would be a bump of $122 to the tune of $6,906 per student.  On that basis alone, this is a pretty good budget for us.

 

Ohio State Tax Reform

Heard anything about it?  Neither have I.  It seems as if Governor Taft, who’s been a pretty run of the mill governor overall, and I’m even giving him marks for being Republican, has a plan.  Of course, we all know its the plan that was pretty much fed to him by his economists, because none of these folks really comes up with these things themselves.  Who is it exactly that decides that shepherds should receive a 1.7% tax break anyway?  Is there some Shepherd Control that cam be reached to divine the interests of this vital voting bloc?  Has anyone run a poll, because those things are always fun to read.

Taken from Jobs for Ohio - Tax Reform

 5.3 million Ohio taxpayers will see a personal income tax cut.

this is good

550,000 low-income Ohioans will have their income tax burden eliminated.

why isn’t this number higher?  because there’s already 5,000,000 Ohioans who don’t pay tax anyway, this puts it at around 5,550,000.  nifty

300,000 small Ohio business owners who pay taxes through the personal income tax will see their tax rate cut by 21 percent - bringing the top rate to 5.9 percent.

not exactly ideal, i’d like it at around 5.5% or less.  small business is the heart of a small community such as ours and should not be heavily burdened by the state

13,000 Ohio businesses will no longer pay the machinery and equipment tax. This tax penalizes capital investments and expansion, and particularly affects Ohio's manufacturers, who directly or indirectly employ half of all Ohioans.

a nice step, but not an incredibly huge help, sounds good on paper, but that’s just about it

40,000 Ohio businesses will no longer pay the manufacturers' and retailers' inventory tax.

ideally, this will directly lead to lower prices in stores, because the tax burden will be lower

250,000 small and emerging Ohio businesses will pay only the $100 minimum fee of the new Commercial Activity Tax.

this is a useless tax and should be done away with

$555 - The amount an average Ohio family of four will see their state personal income and sales tax burden reduced annually.

what the heck is an “average Ohio family”?  I thought I had one and I didn’t pay that much in taxes last year

Another rather cool point…

 Reduce today's sales tax rate from six percent to 5.5 percent, effective July 1, 2005.

This totally rocks, any reduction in tax is a good reduction in tax, especially across the board like this one.  perhaps the village would consider instituting a 0.5% sales tax here in town to replace it.  we as consumers would never notice the difference and I guarantee that other towns in Ohio would consider the same thing if this issue passes

And now the downside

Increase the cigarette tax by 45 cents, bringing the per-pack tax to $1.

Increase tax on other tobacco products from 17 percent to 30 percent.

Double the tax on alcoholic beverages.

I don’t drink.  I don’t smoke.  I think these three taxes are just about the most unfair things in the tax system.  The original logic of “sin taxes” was to get people to quit.  Noble cause mind you, but absolutely horrible in the follow-through.  Why don’t we take 2% milk and put a $1.00 tax on it?  More people drink milk than smoke cigarettes and we’d make a whole bunch more revenue on it.  How about Pepsi (because I’m a Coke man)?  Tax that 20 oz. bottle 35 cents.  Taste of a new generation my eye.

Ahh well, one can never be happy with a tax code I guess.  Maybe they’ll change it a bit before it hits the governor’s desk.  At least we’ll be paying less overall next year, and maybe it will help change a few things around the state.  You never know.

Scary

Blog entry leads to solving a murder.

Read it here.

When things wind down

Wow, is there anything going on in Windham lately?

Aside from the girls softball team winning the PCL

And the boys baseball team doing well in the playoffs

And Dairy Mart getting held-up

And the Pharmacy being sold

And Vi’s possibly looking for a new owner

And the whole thing about the future of the Police force

And project housing being cleared out on Community

And this freakish cold weather.

 

Nope, not much going on.

Ahh well

Seems as if the RINO’s have won the day, though not to all that much surprise from me.  Certainly I’d hoped to at least have some fun with filibuster busting or something, simply because its an awesome phrase to say, but nonetheless.

Captain's Quarters blog - "Deal Reached? (Live Blog)"

Saad and Myers have been “tossed under the bus” for no real good reason except that minority of Senators disliked them.  I don’t remember voting for that.  Weird.

Historically, Republicans have taken the high road when it came to judicial nominations of Democratic presidents, even when they were rather hard to swallow.  On the same token, Democrats have nearly always taken the low road when it came to unpalatable Republican presidents’ nominations.  Remember the notable Robert Bork?  How about Clarence Thomas?  Thomas made it through by the skin of his teeth because the Democrats couldn’t make any of the charges against him stick.  They had to vote him through just to not look like abject racists, or morons, take your pick. 

I do not expect the Republicans to take the low road if/when they are in the minority in the Senate.  (Yeah, I suppose that it could happen someday, don’t plan on it though.)  They’ve not shown that characteristic ever before.  Heck, they don’t filibuster anything, much less judicial nominees. 

In the end, its not the end of the world or anything, just a demonstration that there are still way too many people who think that “we should all just get along”.  We wouldn’t want to get our nicely polished shoes dirty now would we?

 

I never....

As a rule:

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever blindly trust any poll that you see in any media form, whether it be television, newspaper, Internet, or radio.

Ever.

Chicago Tribune article

 Transparency is crucial if the media plan to market polls as truth.

To give credit to the pollsters, many are now releasing their data as links to companion articles on the Internet. It's a step forward.

However, none of the demographic breakdowns or shifts in these polls were mentioned in the news reports, and I suspect the reason for that is because the media never questioned the data to begin with.

As a result, the opportunity for honest debate was lost.

Its a nice little article.  Nod of the head to Instapundit for the link.

Sometimes you just have to wonder

So you say you heard the fire sirens go off this afternoon around 4:30?  Want to know what those good men were being called to? 

Someone thought it would be a good idea to start a fire on the corner of Wolf and Parkman Road.  Want to know what surrounds the entire area that they were burning in?  Trees.  Want to know what happens to trees when a fire is started close to them?  They burn.  Want to know why the fire department was called out?  No, you go ahead and just guess.

Drive by sometime and see the brilliance of some people at work.

Its good to be missed

You know, I guess I never really thought about it too much, and for no real reason, but have you ever just kind of wandered away from something?  Perhaps you thought that no one would notice, or something simply took precedence at the time, and you never really went back to the things that were going on before.  It is oddly comforting, kind of like flattering, but more subdued I guess, to know that someone noticed that I was gone.  Most of you folks who read these words have no idea what I’m talking about.  If that’s the case, imagine putting puppies in blenders or something.  There’s always a baby seal that needs to be clubbed, you know that’s the favorite pasttime of all Evil Conservatives. 

Anyway, to all you from the Beach House who noticed, and the Acmericans who did the same, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Just don’t get cocky about it.

Dangerous, thrilling, and at least here....safe.

Its a hit, really!

The Carnegie Hero Fund

A friend of mine lost her father a few summers ago.  He died rescuing someone who’d been pulled away from shore by a riptide.  He was posthumously awarded the Carnegie Hero award.  He is missed.

 William Eugene Jones
Jonesboro, Georgia

William Eugene Jones died after helping to save a girl from drowning, Panama City Beach, Florida, July 2, 2003. While wading in the Gulf of Mexico, two 17-year-old girls screamed for help as a strong current pushed them farther from shore. Warning flags had been posted on the beach, as surf conditions were rough from the passage of a tropical storm two days earlier. From the beach, Jones, 54, national distribution manager, and others heard the cries and responded to the waterline. Jones and others then ran into the water and began to swim toward the girls. Jones reached one of them and pushed her toward another responding rescuer, who then started toward shore with her. A responding police officer rescued the girls, and one of the other rescuers, with the use of a personal watercraft. Jones, meanwhile, was seen floating farther from shore, and he was recovered by others. He was taken to the hospital, where he died of drowning.

Source

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission

Let's play a game!

(I posted this at Redstate.org, so I thought I’d post it here also)

Let's play....

<corny gameshow music>

WHO SAID IT?

</corny gameshow music>

According to the U.S. Constitution, the president nominates, and the Senate shall provide advice and consent. It is not the role of the Senate to obstruct the process and prevent numbers of highly qualified nominees from even being given the opportunity for a vote on the Senate floor.

That's right kids, its Barbara Boxer back on May 14, 1997.  I'm looking forward to her support of the Republicans on this issue.

Who's the longer talker?

Because that’s what filibusters are really all about.  Yeah, you’re probably sick and tired of hearing this term tossed about on various and sundry talking heads shows.  I am, and if for no other reason, I hope that the filibuster rule is ended when it comes to judicial nominees.  It really would give some of those folks more to talk about, especially when it comes to more stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with me.  Did you know that about 35 years ago, Senator Byrd of West Virginia filibustered something, can’t remember what, it was before my time don’t you know, and he simply picked up a phone book and began to read names out of it?  Its fascinating stuff really.

Anyway, the media is all up in arms because the Republicans in the Senate are likely going to vote to stop the filibuster.  The problem is that what the talking heads are saying isn’t exactly so.  The Republicans do want to stop the filibuster, but only in the specific case of “giving advice and consent” to the President’s judicial nominees.  It would still be able to be used in every other case, and to be honest, the Republicans would be foolish to eliminate it entirely.  But that’s exactly not what they are doing.

The Democrat side of the opinion is trying to skew the talk to make people believe that the Republicans are taking the whole thing away from them, and that’s simply an outright lie.  The only hope that they have at this point is turning popular opinion from “why the heck should we care” to “hey, that’s not quite right” and to do that, they are appealing to the people that just aren’t paying all that much attention.  Don’t be taken in by the deception.

Senate rules are set down by Senators to guide their day to day activities.  Some decided way back when that the President should have sixty Senators to consent in allowing a judge to take his or her place on the bench.  Its a good rule, no doubt.  The Republicans want to change that rule back to the original (and implied by the Constitution) count of a simple majority of fifty percent plus one.  The only reason to change it is to get their preferred nominees through.  The only reason to not change it is to let the minority rule, and prevent the nominees being placed on the bench.  The Constitution directs the Senate to advise and consent the President’s judicial nominees.  No where is a directive given as to the majority required for the vote.  It does specifically mention that a 2/3 majority is required in matters of impeachment and overriding a veto.  We can imply that because there is no “supermajority” mentioned in the case of advising and consenting of nominees, that the original framers considered a simple majority to be enough.  That’s what the Republicans want to return to. 

Windham Village Council Meeting - May 10, 2005 - 7:00 P.M.

The Minutes for this Council meeting have been removed temporarily. They will be restored upon approval by Village Council at the June meeting.

I think this is the first time that "there's gotta be a law against that" has worked against me. Argh!

update!

The Minutes are going back up. The Code does not specify that Minutes are not public record until they are approved by the Council. They are to be open to public inspection "promptly".

But we do have a disclaimer.


These Minutes are subject to change. They may be amended to more accurately show the Village Council's actions at the meeting of which they describe. They will be discussed, amended, and approved at the June, 2005 Village Council meeting.

Ahh, now we all feel better now.

Tip of the hat to Mark Manlove, Village Solicitor for discussing the Code and existing case law with me.

MINUTES

Mayor Starkey called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call: Present: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard

There were no minutes of the April meeting due to the illness of Shelly Craine. Shelley has been out of the office since Friday and hopes to be able to return on Thurs

Jim Moore provided the Police & Fire Reports.

Mayor Starkey counted 21 outside contractors in a five hour period. He is strongly encouraging council to enact a registration fee of $100 for each contractor working in the Village. We need to talk about how to enforce and to be sure income tax is being paid. He also shared concern that the gaming machines locations are not paying their $10.00 per machine licensing fee.

Finance Committee Chairperson, M Garrett, distributed the Finance Committee notes. She had no reconciled financial reports to distribute for approval, however, did indicate a $67,000 balance in the General Fund as of 4–30–05 and has directed our fiscal officer to deduct Jan thru Apr loan payments from the Fund. We must stay current in the new year. That still leaves us with $80,000 debt from 2004 plus our Worker’s Comp situation. Finance will be calling a special Finance Meeting to discuss recommendations to Council for cuts. All council members are encouraged to attend. A vendor printout for 2004 will be delivered to each Council Member to peruse prior to that meeting.

Marian Garrett moved to authorize Lloyd Billman to attend a seminar at Lakeland Community Collage (sic) on 5/20/05 in Kirtland with registration fee of $149.00 & mileage. Seconded by Scott Garrett. Aye votes: Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

J Moore distributed the Safety Committee minutes.

Utility Committee Chairperson, Scott Garrett, shared a letter from USDA Rural Dev. dated 4–20–05 requesting additional easements required to complete the Center St. grant. It would seem the only easement required is from Ivan & Sherry Ward. Kevin Knight will pursue getting the necessary signatures.

S Garrett asked council to suspend the rules in considering the adoption of Ord. #0–2005–9. Seconded by A Ballard. Aye votes: Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

S Garrett moved to adopt Ordinance No. 0–2005–9, An Ordinance approving the residency outside of the Village of Windham of Kevin Knight, the Village Administrator pursuant to Section 735.271 of the Ohio Revised code and repealing all other inconsistent ordinances. Seconded by F Ballard. Aye votes: Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay none. Motion carried.

S Garrett moved to suspend the Rules in consideration of Ord. #0–2005–10. J Moore seconded. Aye votes: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

S Garrett moved to adopt Ordinance No. 0–2005–10, An Ordinance establishing Section 927–06 fo the codified Ordinance of the village of Windham in order to extablish (sic) a prodecure for repairing and/or replacing defective water meters with a shut-off provision for non-compliance and repealing all prior inconsistent ordinances. Motion seconded by F Ballard. Aye votes: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donahm, J Minotti & F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

F Ballard shared concern with non-control over outisde vendors as well as several issues she and the Administrator discussed.

J Moore moved to approve submitting pre-application to the Porgate (sic) County Engineer grant for OPWC Issue 2 Infrastructure Program. It will involve approval as well as some matching funds (ususally (sic) 20 to 30 %) and will facilitate road repairs. Seconded by S Garrett. Aye votes: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti and F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

Jodi Minotti had no Bldgs & Property meeting due to being out of town. We do understand that McCauley has sold several buildings which are due for major renovations.

Planning & Zoning Chairperson, J Moore, moved to accept the resignation of Trusetta Johnson from the Committee with regret and to appoint Tom Denvir, Sr., to the committee. Seconded by F Ballard. Aye votes: J Moore, S Garrett, M Garrett, B Donham, J Minotti, F Ballard. Nay: none. Motion carried.

J Minotti, representative to the Parks & Recreation Committee reported no meeting was held. It seems the Board is in a state of disarray right now with several members having resigned. Mr. Moore indicated that the Board has a bank account with about $550.00 and it was suggested we use that to repair the Game Courts. Kevin reported that the deplorable restroom conditions have been corrected.

GUESTS: Marion Quiggle shared a brief concern. Bob Garner addressed an issue of sewer line problems on N. Main and waste being dumped in teh creek behind his home. He has taken samples and will be submitting them to the EPA.

At 8:07PM Jim Moore moved to adjourn the meeting. Francis (Angel) Ballard seconded the motion. There being no opposing voice vote the meeting adjourned.

submitted by Marian Garrett, Councilperson

These Minutes are subject to change. They may be amended to more accurately show the Village Council's actions at the meeting of which they describe. They will be discussed, amended, and approved at the June, 2005 Village Council meeting.

Gotta love that disclaimer

The game that brings people together

There's nothing like baseball

Yahoo! Maps

In another unpaid endorsement, if you're going anywhere, try Yahoo! Maps. Its quite the nifty little direction maker, even able to access road conditions and construction. As with all online maps, it is sometimes wonky, so do be careful about it.

This day in history

Every once in a while I cruise over to the History Channel’s “This Day in History” site.  Its really interesting, and usually has something I’d not heard of before.  Today it talks about Thor Heyerdahl, whom I’ve actually heard of.  He’s a noted Norwegian archaeologist and researches many lost cultures.  The odd thing is that I can recall my Physics teacher, Mr. Eisinger, talk about him.  I don’t really know how it had anything to do with physics, perhaps something about carbon dating.  Its weird how you remember the strangest things sometime.

I loved physics and chemistry in high school. I had originally intended to go into college and become a chemical engineer, but at the last minute, decided to major in music education, which I promptly dropped after the first semester, realizing that my drive to practice was not exactly what my instructors though it should have been.  I worked back into chemistry, but eventually dropped out of school a year and a half later.  I still think back to those high school days, studying elementary quantum mechanics (if there really is such a thing).  I loved it.  The idea that you can only give a best guess as to where an electron is around the nucleus of an atom is astounding to me.  Science, for all of its constants and standards, could not explain the simplest of all mater, the atom.  It could give only its best guess. 

Can I talk about Neils Bohr now, or would that be bohring?  (yeah, its a bad pun, but hey, what do you really expect here?)

Because no one reports good news

Here’s your good news of the week from Iraq!  Strap yourselves in and head on over to Winds of Change.

It won’t hurt, really!

We have new neighbors

Late last night we became neighbors of four newborn robin chicks.  They are in a nest just outside of our garage, and have a very proud (and protective) mother.  The kids have just loved getting out there and seeing the eggs lay in the nest, and now seeing one or two open beaks as we sneak a peek at the baby birds.

There’s a wonder that you can only see in the eyes of a child.  The innocence of seeing everything as pure and right is so refreshing when we look around and see how adults treat one another.  We probably all have situations we can think of where we, or someone we knew as kids, would have a fight with a friend or neighbor, swear that we’d never talk to them again, and then thirty minutes later be out playing with them again. 

My oldest daughter struggles with the passing of her grandfather a few months ago.  She understands death, and how it separates people, and really misses seeing him.  She has a rudimentary understanding of cancer and how he was in the hospital many times over his last few years of life.  She still cries over it, but at the same time, she still talks about the things that she remembers and how she might be able to see him again someday in heaven.  That’s the sincerity and innocence that I hope to maintain in my life.  A steadfast awe with life, and the hope of things so much greater than this.

A friend of mine related a story one time.  His son would talk about everything, and had a comment for just about every little event in his life.  Sometimes he would just say “wow” when he was really awestruck by something.  My friend had the opportunity to watch his son wake up in the morning and look out the window.  The boy simply whispered to himself, “Wow.”  Every day is special, and there’s no real reason to dread each new day that comes, even though we know what we may have to deal with that day.  I’m just thankful to have it. 

Survivor: Palau

Well, if you haven’t watched all season, this isn’t going to make much sense.  Tom won the million dollars tonight, winning 6–1 against Katy.  It should have been 7–0 but Coby is a bit of a moron. 

If you’ve never watched Survivor, where have you been for the last five years?  Its actually a very interesting show that reveals how people develop interpersonal relationships and how those relationships can be destroyed or created in a very short time period.  Alliance form and dissolve at the slightest breeze of bad news.  There’s always a rift between two people, and just sometimes, there’s that special person who really inspires emotion in the viewing audience.  This season that person was Stephenie, who was the last survivor of her own (pathetic) tribe. 

The next season is going to be in Guatemala, based on Mayan culture.  Maybe they’ll sacrifice a cast off or two.  That’s reason to watch in and of itself.

Someone tell me

Why doesn’t Windham have its own Garage Sale Saturday like Garrettsville?  Set it sometime in August to get clothes for kids to go back to school.  Second-hand never embarrassed me when I was younger (of course, I had good upbringin’). 

So well...umm..

Well, its been over a week since the school levy passed and the village levy failed.  Everyone has taken their rest it seems, as everything has pretty much become quiet all around.  Snarking on the Discussion Board has lowered greatly, as has most activity. 

Let us not let ourselves become lazy in this time of reflection.  There is much to do in our little town that needs to be put on the right track.  The Streets department is doing their job, today on North Main working on curb sides, cutting back the overgrown lawns and the like.  Its looking good all over the place.  Any potholes in the road have been filled with cold patch.  The places on Maple Grove where the road had been cut out for utilities have been filled.  New houses continue to spring up in the projects.  There is hope for our community if we only strive to find it.  Of course, coming out of a really cruddy winter helps greatly also.

I know that there are a few of you who read my nonsense off and on, and I’m specifically asking for your input here.  What would you like to see done around town?  I’m personally interested in developing the land by Katherine Thomas Elementary, I think it would be great for the community, and possibly attractive to the Ohio High School Athletic Association if done well.  It would be great to host a district baseball or softball tournament, and not entirely out the realm of possibility if the facility is nice enough.

I’m sure that there are other great ideas out there.  Let’s get started with these things.  Comment below.

Inconceiveable

Well not really, since its been brewing now for two years.  The Senate subcommittee for investigations that’s been looking into the United Nations Oil for Food program that was in place before the invasion of Iraq has panned out two more names of people who were likely receiving some sort of kickback.

The UN is a great concept.  Gather nations together and hope to avert war and other various and sundry problems by already having opposing nations at a diplomatic table.  On paper it sounds great, but in practice, it really has failed in the last few years.  It was a good tool from the fifties through the eighties (at least early on) because of the cold war and the mutual respect that was forced on the United States and the USSR because of detente.  (That means that we had a bunch of bombs to hurt their people, and so did we, therefore no one pushes the button.)  Because of it, the two superpowers were forced to negotiate.  Now that there is only one superpower in the world, the UN’s face needs to change somehow. 

There needs to be a recognition that drafting cleverly worded articles is not going to convince a third world dictator that he needs to change his ways.  As with the US/USSR confrontations, the driving force behind diplomatic words was the threat of serious attack.  Many people were rightly fearful during the Cuban Missile Crisis because of that very fact.  If diplomacy didn’t resolve the situation, there was a good chance that a lot of people would die.  Today, with one superpower, that same threat needs to be in place, but as always, it needs to be under control.  You can only threaten to knock someone in the mouth for so long until they totally disregard the threat.

As of late, the body has had a tendency toward corruption.  Not only in the Oil for Food scandal, but other reports of UN workers raping people in Africa, receiving kickbacks in other parts of the world, and the list continues to grow.  When a body has no clear focus, it tends toward corruption.  Nearly everyone in the world has called the death in Darfur over the last year and a half a genocide.  Thousands have been slaughtered simply because of who they are.  The UN issues a stern rebuke of the rulers in the area, but never called it a genocide.  If they had, they would have been forced to take other measures, involving sending in a group of peacekeepers, rather than just sending food.  This leads me to believe that there is not a desire to truly stand up for what is right at the UN today.  The leadership desires to look good, but not do everything possible to avert terrible situations such as Darfur and Iraq.  (In Iraq, the UN threatened for 11 years, eventually to be ignored by Hussein.)

I do think that there is hope for the body, but it is in need of reform.  We need ambassadors to the UN who have a mind to do that which needs to be done.  People who will call a spade a spade.  I don’t know if John Bolton is that man, but I think he would deserve at least a try. 

National Economics for You and Me

Rumor has it that we are in the throes of a bad economy in northeast Ohio.  Everyone talks about it.  Its one of the reasons that the Village Council gives when talking about shortfalls.  Its a reason given as to why many cannot find jobs. 

People equate “I have no money” with “the economy is bad”.  This is a fallacy.  The economy has very little to do with you or I individually.  I’d actually go so far to say it has nothing to do with us at all, unless you’re a millionaire or corporate partner, and if that is the case, would you consider an ad on my site?  Sure, I don’t have a lot of traffic, but I promise that things would get better. 

What exactly are “economic indicators” that all these talking heads on television keep referring to?  There’s the unemployment rate, which stands at 5.2% right now, but let’s look at that in the positive.  That means that 94.8% of people that want to work have jobs.  Well, that sounds incredibly good when you look at it that way.  There is this new spin on it though that keeps saying, “Well, those are the people who are still looking for a job, what about the many who have given up?”  What person in their right mind gives up looking for a job?  And if they do give up, how are they getting along with paying for food and shelter?  Do these things just magically appear out of the ether for them?  Can I tap into that, because I’m really tired of this whole idea of working for a living?

Another indicator is the trade deficit, which goes up and down, but is generally up, because China has a billion people and we only troll along at about two hundred seventy million.  I’d say a $60 billion trade deficit is pretty good considering that.  Next time you head down to Wal-Mart and buy that propeller beanie that you so desperately desire because all the kids are wearing them nowadays, remember that you’re a lowly participant in the global economy, which really means nothing, except that Sam Walton’s benefactors appreciate it, and so does Yen Schmen who put the thing together.  Its because of your blind acceptance of all things fashionable that he’s able to put food on his table, which was made of Alaskan Pine, which was transported by a ship made in Sweden, driven by oil refined in Argentina, drawn from the ground in Belize, discovered by a tiny firm in Iowa that got lost one day while on a three hour tour.  Yay for propeller beanies!

Then there’s Wall Street.  A nice little street in New York City that’s been fouled by some of the most paranoid people in the world.  If a leader of one of the OPEC nations sneezes, the price of oil rises forty-five cents. 

Ah sweet inflation.  That lovely indicator that tells us that if you put that five bucks you were going to spend at Burger King on that delicious Whopper with Cheese value meal into a mayonaisse jar for thirty years, you might then be able to head down to the local Burger Non-Gender-Specific-Head-Of-State and possibly buy a piece of cheese.  Inflation likes to hang out at right around 2%, but sometimes flirts with 3%, because he’s kind of a floosy.  You and I don’t really deal all that much with inflation, and we hardly see its effects.  Its more of a drawn out thing that changes slowly.  It sounds horrible when we hear the number, but we’ve been dealing with it for years. 

Are you still keeping up or do I have to put a picture of [insert hot babe/hunk] here?

So anyway, you blend all of these things together, add a bit of salt to taste, and voila!  You have a guess at what the economy is doing today.  Yes, its pretty much just a guess.  Tomorrow things will be different.  Its anybody’s guess as to what things are going to take place. 

As for my place in the economy, hey, Greenspan isn’t exactly knocking on my door for advice.  (He’s the guy that tells us that we rule or we suck.  You know, chairman or some such.)  I’m more than happy for him to give the talking heads something to panic about today, and go on my own merry way making a living as I always have.  He doesn’t rule my life, and he shouldn’t rule yours either.

Should I Be Worried?

Which should concern me more?

a.  That my two year old son can open links on my computer and close programs that I already have open.

b.  That it seems his favorite site is barbie.com .

Its noisy and flashy, does that change anything?

Hey You

Yeah you, the one who has so much extra time on your hands that you decided to click on over here today to read some inaninities of what is most likely an insane man.

Bored?

Allow me to suggest I Am Bored .

Or maybe even youthink.com .

It’ll be fun, really!  At least more fun than the mundane life of cleaning carpets, mowing the lawn, cleaning up dirty diapers, turning off noisy toys and the like.  Whoever came up with the noisy toy should be drug out into the street and shot.  But since they exist, I enjoy buying them for any child’s first birthday.  There’s nothing like the look of dread on a parent’s face as they help their darling little boy open up his first train, with working lights, horn, wheels, and whistle.  It just warms the heart.

But, I need more....really!

Reading Thomas Sowell’s latest article, “The Latest Liberal Crusade”, this comment pops out:

The fashionable notion of "a living wage" is a wage that will support a family of four. And, sure enough, The New York Times finds a Wal-Mart employee who complains that he is not making "a living wage."

How is he living, if he is not making a living wage?

Should people be paid according to what they "need" instead of according to what their work is worth? Should they decide how big a family they want and then put the cost of paying to support that family on somebody else?

If their work is not worth enough to pay for what they want, is it up to others to make up the difference, rather than up to them to upgrade their skills in order to earn what they want?

Quite incredible if you ask me, and Sowell’s point is spot on. I wanted a lot of things when I was younger, usually anything that had to do with X-Men or baseball. I could never get my parents to agree that those were things that I absolutely had to have and that I could not nearly live without them. Now I realize that maybe what I thought I needed wasn’t that whichI really needed. (And I grudgingly admit that terrible truth of the ages…my parents were right. *shudder*)

But some people never grow up I guess.

Hat tip to Right Wing News on the quote.

Global Warming news

Via Quinn and Rose

We've struck oil here in America! Actually it seems that Utah my help us out when it comes to some oil struggles that we have. A small oil company stumbled across a field that could produce one billion (cue Dr. Evil) barrels of oil. The only question is: How will the environmentalists stop us from getting it out of the ground?

In other news, the earth is getting brighter, meaning there's less pollution, but worry not environmentalists, there's still global warming.

Majoring in Minors

or...

Recurring Themes

It astounds me sometime to hear the things about which people complain. We have a problem with focusing upon those things which really don't matter in the long run. When I was in high school, it was absoluttely necessary for me to wear my Z Cavarricci jeans, because that was the style of the time and it would be terrible for me to go against the norm. Later, the Goth movement arose (but I did not participate) in retaliation to that exact kind of thinking. A few kids decided that they would totally reject modern culture as fed by the media and wear all black, dye their hair black, and just basically try to stay from modern society. The problem is that they didn't realize that their rejection of the mainstream would eventually become mainstream itself. Today entire clothing companies and stores cater to this demographic. We argue about the things that we wear, that we drive, that get left behind, that get in our way, and all the whiele we miss the bigger picture.

These things don't make us who we are.

Some people think that they do though. Many in the commmunity of Windham are caught up in the affairs of one man, and his perceived ability to get things to go his way (Hi Jim!). The misconception is that the people don't think that they can do anything about the situation. We've pointed out numerous times that all government figures are accountable to voters, either today or eventually. There are some that are disturbed that one team in the Hot Stove league is afforded better uniforms, because they have richer parents or whatever reason is contrived to make the person feel better about themselves.

Life isn't fair.

I never really has a lot when I was growing up. There were always things that I wanted that I didn't get. My parents overtly or otherwise let me know that we can't have everything that we want. We have to have a desire within ourselves to gain the things that we want through profitable means. I can't go around and demand things and expect people to give them to me. In an ideal world, everyone would be equal, and we'd wear those cool Star Trek uniforms and we wouldn't have to worry about how we look. And I'd be just as smooth as Captain Kirk. And all members of the opposite sex woulo look and dress like Lieutenant O'Hura or Deanna Troi. Hubba. But I digress. There are many more important things to be concerned about than what a single baseball team is going to be wearing as they play their games.

Look at the bigger picture. When whomever looks back at this team in the future, are they going to compliment them on their uniforms or on their record? And for that matter, look back about 30 years. Are you proud of the things you wore back then? What about your hairstyle?

Whoever thought up bellbottoms anyway? Yikes.

Refreshing

You know the feeling at the end of the day when you've worked just about as hard as you have in your life, but you feel great because you know what you did was incredibly worthwhile and meant the world to someone?

I feel like that right now.

What am I going to do????

Uh oh. I just realized something horrible. I think my world is coming to an end!

Election Day has passed, and everyone agreed with me. The Amazing Race is going to be over next week, Survivor soon to follow. The Apprentice is having its finale next week also.

I have nothing to live for! Alas, woe is me!

But hey, at least Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica all start up with new episodes early in the summer. And Big Brother comes on again, maybe I'll do more with the live feeds this season. Hey, maybe things aren't so bad after all.

Promises made...

A letter was sent home with some kids today which reads as such:

May 5, 2005

Dear Parents:

As you know the school levy had passed and I want to congratulate and thank everyone who has been so supportive of the schools. Without your efforts the levy would not have passed.

Since the levy has passed the district is adding the regular bus route that was cut as of January 3, 2005, along with the mid-day preschool route effective as of Monday, May 9, 2005. Please refer to the reverse side of this letter for route information. If you have any questions please contact Jim Sigman at the Bus Garage at (330) 326-2331.

Also, as a result of the levy passing, next year we will not institute "pay to participate", field trips will be reinstated, the preschool classes will be preserved, and teaching position reductions will be kept to a minimum.

Again, thank you for your support and patience.

Sincerely,

(signed)

Ronald L. Niemiec
Superintendent

RLN/lw

Its good to hear this early word that the Board of Education intends to keep the promises that they had made concerning the levy's passage. I've also heard through the grapevine that Industrial Arts (Shop Class) will return to the High School next year.

Good to hear!

Defacing a Tragedy

Perhaps you've not yet heard. Nine people who were protesting the Iraq War on May 4, 2003 in Kent, Ohio were arrested. Today, two years later, on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the tragedy, they've sued the city of Kent on grounds of unconsititutional arrest. (WKYC reports)

The nine who were arrested are individually asking for $50000 in damages. One must ask the question: Why did they wait two years to file this suit? They waited the sum total of two years to effect this suit. Not only that, but they chose a noted anniversary to file it. Do those who were personally affected by this tragedy 35 years ago feel vindicated in the filing of this suit? Has this day which has been used for years to honor those who were killed been morphed into a day when people can "get back at the man"? It used to be a badge of courage for protestors to be carted away to jail. They had sacrificed themselves to the convinction of their beliefs, and they were proud of their actions. Now, these protestors want to have it both ways. They want the badge of courage, plus financial compensation because of the pain and suffering that they endured.

One of the claims that is thrown at President Bush perpetually by some students of Kent State (and every college and university in the US) is that he is getting some sort of kickback for taking us to war in Iraq. Would it be fair to say that these lawsuits are using May 4 to get their own kickback, playing on the event for their own personal gain? Even if they lose their case, they are going to gain some level of status, perhaps even making it to the national stage if the AP picks up on the story. National tragedy + People suing = Public interest.

This ought to be a day where we remember those who have given their lives for our rights, when we remember the importance of the rights that we have, and the high price that can be paid for an error in judgment. It ought not be used in a way to gain attention for a few protestors, and forget the tragedy itself.

Pass/Fail

Well, there's really no surprise tonight, at least on my part. There was every expectation that the school levy would pass (easily) and that the village income tax levy would fail miserably. I was off in my expectation of only 25% support for the income tax levy, it did pull about 30%.

Where do things go from here? The School Board continues to be forced to make some tough calls. The Superintendent has already indicated that they've discussed eliminating more positions, even with the passing of the levy, but some of these will be due to attrition, and the slow decrease of children in each grade level. Other positions will be released as decided upon.

One positive development that has surfaced recently on the Discussion Board is the indication of a desire to do something with the land that is situated between Katherine Thomas Elementary and the Turnpike. This is a large piece of land that is just sitting unused. One has expressed a desire to develop this land into some type of sporting facility, possibly with multiple baseball/softball fields. I believe that this would be an excellent idea. With some community help, this could be nearly entirely funded through private donations, depending upon the type of facility, and the requirements for development by the various involved zoning boards.

It would be an excellent idea for the Village Council to be involved in something like this also. When we consider the beating that this Income Tax Levy just took at the polls, it cannot only be seen as a statement concerning the levy, but also as a statement of the view that the Village has of its Council. There needs to be some serious image reconditioning done by all members of the Council. It presently runs the serious risk of being seen as a totally ineffective body to lead this community. Part of the image makeover could possibly be a project that has an overt impact upon the community such as the one that has been suggested.

Firefox

Because living in a Microsoft world kind of stinks sometimes. You know...pop-ups, spam, more pop-ups, spyware, even more....yeah, you get the idea.

Take the time to download the Firefox browser. Its incredibly stable for me, very fast, and (oooh, I love this part) free free free.



There's even a link in the sidebar if you are repulsed by inline links. Hey, I've seen weirder things.

Down and out

Anyone wanna buy me a shirt? Come on, you know you want to!

T-shirt

Levy and Conscience, Part 2

Since I took the time to discuss the School Levy, I should take some time to consider the Village Tax Levy also.

I'm voting no.

While I understand the plight of the police force of our village and can see the concern of many residents of losing the only protection that the village provides, I feel that the new administrative staff that has been brought in within the last few months should be given time to recover what seems to be a great deal of lost finances to the village. At last accounting given during the Village Council meeting of April, it was reported that $20000 were recovered by the new staff. This is an excellent step. I do not believe that we will recover enough finances to cover all of our shortfall, but a step of accountability must be made. It was the Village Council that allowed these finances to go by the wayside, through allowing the oversights to take place.

Thus far, the "forward thinking" presented by the Council (taken from the Record-Courier article referenced below) has been to adjust the zoning to disallow new multi-unit homes to be built in Windham, and to plan for an industrial park. These are steps which do not help in the short-term, and may not even be a benefit in the long-term. There must be some solution found to make the "Maple Grove Park" area more solvent financially before this Village is going to be stable for the long-term. This Council either has not seen this problem, or as of yet, has not found any solution to it.

The reasoning for supporting the Tax Levy has revolved around one problem, mentioned above, the police force. I believe that the fear of many is that because the finances resulting from this levy will be placed into the general fund, they will not necessarily be used for the benefit of the Police. This is a situaton not easily fixed, because its foundation is a basic mistrust of the Village Council and how they appropriate funds. Whether is is primarily just one member of Council, or the entire Council as a whole, the problem remains insurmountable in the minds of many, as expressed privately and publicly. The solution to this problem is still at least one election cycle away, and probably is at least two cycles.

Why support the School Levy and reject the Village Levy? Because the School Board has put forth a detailed explanation of how finances are being used, what has been done in the past to attempt to avert this present situation, and what will be done in the future to hopefully keep us from being in such a situation again. It is a more detailed explanation than "you'll get your precious bussing back". The Village Council has presented only one reason to vote for the Village Levy: "We won't have to cut the police force." I am truly concerned about that taking place, but as for using this as the only reason to vote for a new tax, it just doesn't inspire a desire.

If you missed it...

Front page of the Record Courier today (Sunday) - comments inline with the article.

Windham officials hope levy will lift village
Tom Prusha

WINDHAM - Many of the village residents are perfectly happy with where they live.

“This is a delightful community. Many of us chose to live here. We have a lot of terrific people. I personally wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else,” said Councilwoman Marian Garrett.

This happiness exists in spite of the village’s deep financial problems which trace back to the early 1940s. That’s when the U.S. government built the Ravenna Army Ammunition Plant which took about a third of Windham Township, effectively stopping all development to the south.

As part of that construction, the government built apartment buildings to house arsenal workers.

“This was a good place to come and live. It had a waiting list,” said Mayor Jesse Starkey.

After World War II many ex-military people came to live in the government projects, Maple Grove Park, and attend Kent State University on the G.I. Bill. Others worked at the arsenal.

“People couldn’t find housing during the war years. People living in Windham worked in Warren, Newton Falls, Youngstown, Akron and Cleveland,” said Garrett.

Council President C. James Moore said one of the ironies is that the government brought its projects into a small rural community in the 1940s and then sold them.

“They washed their hands and never looked upon the impact of what they did for the community,” he said.

The difference is that in the 40's, there was no expectation of the government to look upon the impact of the community. Instead of worrying about the possible bad effecs, the community was more concerned about their day to day lives. Surely people recognize that the comraderie of community is lost on our village today.

The buyer was the Philnat Corporation.

And thus the true problem begins. Mismanagement of owned properties by private owners.

“Philnat allowed the projects to deteriorate and it was sold to private owners in the early to mid-1950s,” Garrett said. “There are now many individual apartment owners. The government no longer owns this.”

Is this a condemnation of the government for selling the project homes? I'd likely be complaining more if they still owned them. The government has a *stellar* record when it comes to management of anything in the private sector.

Yes, that was sarcastic.

“We all care about our community. We prefer to take positive attitudes and hope and pray that the levy will pass,” she said.

The levy, Issue 21, asks for approval of a half percent income tax increase. If approved, the measure would generate about $110,000 annually for the village, which would be used to maintain services at the current level.

“Right now we are in a pinch. Our police officers should be training. There are a lot of places this levy will help,” Starkey said. “We need a new one-ton dump truck. If we have to repair a water break, our only truck is set up for snow plow. We have to rent one.”

Umm, huh?

“You can’t spend what you don’t have,” he said.

Village services remain bogged down by Maple Grove Park.

Wait, I just realized the Maple Grove Park is the official name for the projects! See, you do learn something new every day.

“We figure we house 27 percent of Portage County’s poverty and that is ridiculous,” Garrett said. “Windham has more police calls than any other village in Portage County and 96 percent of the calls come from the projects.”

So it really seems that we don't necessarily have a village problem. We have a Maple Grove Park problem. Perhaps our solutions should be directed in that area.

The village has long-range plans and ideas which will officials hope will ease the financial crises.

Zoning has been changed to prohibit rebuilding the apartment buildings in Maple Grove Park.

“We changed the zoning from multi-family and as they come down, they can be replaced only by single-family dwellings. That’s a move to correct the situation and it will take a long time to do that,” Moore said.

Village officials are hoping that an industrial park could be built.

But there are problems. Most of the available property is individually owned and is not served with water and sewers.

“We currently have one property owner who has acreage with the services,” Moore said.

The village is in a good location for such an industrial park.

“We offer easy access to the turnpike, about 10 minutes to the east on S.R. 5, and 10 minutes to the west at S.R. 44.

The fight against the village’s poor finances is united.

“We seem to be working as a team all the way,” said Starkey.

“And we all care about our community. We prefer to take positive attitudes and hope and pray that the levy will pass,” Garrett said.