Carnival of Ohio Politics #81

This week's 81st Carnival of Ohio Politics is dedicated to the 81st county in Ohio - Van Wert. Or at least 81st out of 88 in alphabetical order, which means all cars registered in Van Wert County have one of those "81" stickers on the left corner of their license plates. For those that don't know, Van Wert is right along the western border of our state with Indiana. Some of the fine cities in Van Wert County include Convoy, Delphos, Middle Point, Ohio City, Van Wert, and Willshire. I personally don't know anyone from there, but from what I hear it is a bunch of good people. Pictured is the courthouse from our 81st county. Yes, finding something for edition #81 was difficult. I don't know how this picture corresponding with the number tradition started, but I wasn't going to be the one to break it.

Anyways, here is what we all collectively came up with this week:

Bizzy Blog had been meaning to comment regarding the ODP situation - firing their newly hired blogger over a past editorial in the Ohio State newspaper, The Lantern. The opinion of Bizzy Blog is that what this woman expressed at age 18 was quite valid, and certainly not a fireable offense. Tom also thinks, in a very detailed piece, that University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher is somehow escaping all blame for all that is going wrong at UC (a lot in his opinion) - and is even getting rewarded.

Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted thinks all of us bloggers are dangerous, Weapons of Mass Discussion reports. This potentially dangerous blog passes on an update from Clermont County where a school employee left her two year old in the car for 8 hours in scorching heat. She is not going to be charged in her daughter's death, which doesn't go over well at WMD. A local note of interest is also passed along; Eric Minamyer will have some competition this fall at the ballot box for one of his elected positions.

Glass City Jungle chimes in with three offerings. First, LisaRenee was at a debate on Wednesday night covering the action that included 6 of the 10 candidates for Toledo City Council, District 2. What is behind municipal wi-fi failures? GCJ says that maybe it is a good thing after all that Toledo did not go through with plans to spend money on it after all. And LisaRenee was lucky enough to see one of my favorite performers, Eddie Money, at Riverfest. Complete with pictures.

Ohio Daily Blog fills us in that Ohio Auditor Richard Cordray was not impressed with President Bush's recent mortgage borrower proposal. Fred Thompson: Too Little, Too Late? That is what ODB thinks in a recent post; that Thompson will shake up the race but not be the nominee in the end. Lastly, a look at the troop fatality situation in Iraq.

Progress Ohio informs us that the gender pay gap is now the smallest in Ohio history. However, the gap is still nearly $3. The report was released by Policy Matters Ohio. What is Rudy's biggest mistake? Now you can help answer that. Dave also tells Ohioans about a new campaign being launched by the AFL-CIO as it relates to health care.

Three entries from Word of Mouth this week. First up, a report on obesity in our state. A new report says 25% of us Buckeye Staters are. With a myriad of problems in Lorain, WOM has a piece that says parents need to get more involved, at that might include showing some "tough love" to their kids and becoming more involved in general. Lastly, make sure to check out these pictures sent in and see how a local tree was transformed.

Roland Hansen Commentary sends "A Total Makeover of Public Education" our way. A couple of interesting points made: Ohio has 655 more school districts than Florida, and the author thinks the countywide system used in Florida is more efficient. But first things first, Roland adds, people need to get over their feudal school turf protection mindset which he thinks is hindering the management of Ohio schools.

New participant Inside the Northwest Territory (Description: "an independent effort at stream of consciousness. I hope to not be limited to any one subject but let my thoughts go where they wish"). This post takes issue with the post of another Ohio blogger regarding parallels he reaches between Iraq and Vietnam.

Scott over at The Pullins Report weighs in on the sudden death of Ohio Congressman Paul Gillmor. Scott once worked on a Gillmor campaign way back when.

Jill at Writes Like She Talks says the PD is on to something she covered a while ago - Cedar Point and Geauga Lake want to push back the start of the school year to increase business. Another submission discusses a situation that occurred at a local retail store where a man was not happy when asked to show his receipt upon leaving the store. She wants to know if people are bothered by being asked this question.

A very interesting piece over at Thurber's Thoughts. It is about new licensing/fees for convenience stores in Toledo. Some people are now referring to convenience stores as "nuisance" businesses. Maggie asks, a job provider and someone who is offering needed products is now a nuisance? It does not strike her as business friendly.

Conservative Culture chimes in with three entries this week. First another thought on what went down in Clermont County where the assistant principal left her daughter in the car to die. CC wants to know where the outrage from Ohioans is regarding what the site deems the "unconstitutional taxes on your food." CC places the blame for this at the feet of former Governor Taft, Bruce Johnson, and Ohio Republicans who voted for it. And on the local beat, an interesting combination of Democrats and "moderate" Republicans.

Kyle at The Chief Source is encouraging people to participate in an event in Akron on Saturday to benefit the Summit County Metroparks. Seems like it will be a good time for a good cause.

Pho's Akron Pages wants to know what happened to the website of the "Keep Summit County Republicans Strong," though it seems to be back up and running okay now. Pho also wants to know what Dennis Kucinich is going to do now that he has been challenged to a debate by his primary opponent in OH-10. Dennis has never been one to debate local opponents, and it would take time away from his run for the White House. Lastly, we are introduced to Dave Woolever, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in OH-7.

And for my part at the Keeler Report, I have an exclusive Q & A with Kevin Coughlin, who was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions relating to the developing situation within the Summit County GOP.

Note: We are trying to keep the Carnival "Ohio related," which is what it was intended to be. We (Carnival administrators) have all been letting posts go that don't relate to Ohio politics or Ohio in someway....but starting with next week we are going to try and get back to what we intended - and what we took over from Paul Miller a few months ago. I included everything this week because people sent in some great posts, and we hadn't said anything or turned posts away as of late. Our standards are pretty loose I feel - anything about Ohio in any regard from anyone in Ohio is going to be okay. Something about a Senate race in Arkansas or the upcoming elections in Bolivia maybe not so much. The fault lays with us for not laying out specific standards. Thanks in advance.