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Lakemore police say man killed his wife in standoff
Suspect in Lakemore standoff expected to recover
Police raid Akron gaming parlor
Storm could bring heavy snow tonight, Saturday; Parking bans in effect
Palin says she's been exploited by Couric and Fey
Suspected meth lab busted in Cuyahoga Falls
Akron bridge closed for emergency
Browns' Mangini brings experience
Blogs:
Akron Law Café:
College Football is Un-American
The Heldenfiles:
Cheryl Holdridge, R.I.P.
Tribe Matters:
Shapiro puts Indians in position to win
Patrick McManamon:
Cavs vs. Celtics — live as it happens
Browns Bulletin:
Browns may interview ex-Broncos GM
Cleveland Browns:
Mangini takes command
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Celtics
CavsHQ: A Fan's View:
The Countdown Begins - Cavs v. Celtics
Akron Zips:
Five things you should know about Miami
Varsity Letters:
Ignatius’ Kyle has busy offseason
Kent State Sports:
Volleyball players earn All-Academic honors
Car Chase:
January is auction time
See Jane Style:
Chicago Chic?
All Da King's Men:
Obama's Economic News Conference
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Why Israeli Leaders Terrorize Palestinians
HRLite House:
The Psychology Channel, Interesting Videos, Jobs in I-O, and Happy Birthday Elvis
Akron Gamer:
Games in '09: Resident Evil 5
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Does Ohio have an Andy Warhol Museum?
Sound Check:
Axl Rose speaks on Guns & Rose(s)
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 Extended
Published on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008
Health care for children
The editorial page's Oct. 22 endorsement of U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette mentioned that he was one of 48 Republicans to support reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This fact highlights an essential point: Among Ohio leaders, support for children's health coverage is strong and bipartisan.
There's good reason for Republicans and Democrats to support full SCHIP reauthorization. SCHIP is an efficient, affordable program that, together with Medicaid, provides health coverage to over 1 million Ohio children. Here in Summit County, more than a third of our children receive coverage through Medicaid and SCHIP.
SCHIP helps Ohio kids grow up healthy and strong, and it's also good for our economy. Federal funds provide 72 percent of the money for Ohio's SCHIP program, meaning that the program not only provides essential health coverage for Ohio's children, but also makes best use of state funds by maximizing the federal dollars coming into Ohio.
Today, however, SCHIP is in jeopardy. Despite bipartisan support from Rep. LaTourette and Democratic Reps. Tim Ryan and Betty Sutton and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, legislation to reauthorize SCHIP for five years and cover an additional 4 million children has not become law.
There's a great deal that elected officials in America cannot agree on today. But regardless of who won the presidency and control of Congress, our leaders can work together to protect children's health. Congress must reauthorize SCHIP during its first 100 days, and the new president must move swiftly to sign the bill into law.
Amy Nicholls Swanson
Executive director
Voices for Ohio's Children
Wadsworth
Did we elect
the right man?
Well, it's finally over.
Did we elect the right candidate to the presidency? A president who will actually care about the Americans who need the most help with jobs, health care, education, Social Security?
A president who will tell Iraq to govern itself and bring our troops home? A president who will really stop government corruption? A president without a big ego? A president to be proud of?
Did we elect the right person? Time will tell.
Dorathy Koopmeiners
Akron
The wrong choice
Many years ago, I heard a comment made by the great Joe Namath that so many people have never been so wrong.
After the results of this election, within one year, similar words will be repeated once again, not by one man but by millions.
Woody Singleton
Cuyahoga Falls
Dyer's column on bikes
way off the mark
Bob Dyer's recent (and second) piece (''Riding bike in the city is a puzzler,'' Nov. 7) on bicycle ''sharrows'' is inspiring in its pessimism. It may be to his advantage to report both sides of an issue rather than just what he sees as the negative — unless it is just attention and reader comments that he strives for, in which case he should seek a new profession.
I recently moved back to Akron after four years in Portland, Ore., the friendliest bike city in the nation. I was prepared for an unwelcoming response from the streets and citizens of Akron when I showed up ready to ride anywhere and everywhere. Imagine my excitement to learn that Akron actually has a bicycle initiative.
The motoring public has been surprisingly polite. Of course, there are incidents when folks get upset when they have to wait a second or two to pass me, but you'll have that anywhere.
As for Dyer's friends who are afraid to ride on Akron city streets, I have to question his characterization of them as experienced. If a cyclist knows the rules of the road and how to properly operate in traffic, he or she should feel completely comfortable riding anywhere in this city.
So maybe instead of questioning why the city has spent a fraction of a percent of taxpayers' money to raise awareness of cycling laws, Dyer should focus his efforts on informing his readers about those laws.
His attempt to bring humor to the confusion regarding the current lack of knowledge of said laws is offensive. Perhaps Dyer should have performed some actual research and investigation prior to publishing his article.
Anyone can make light of something they're ignorant of, but a journalist should strive for truth in reporting.
It is the responsibility of everyone on the road to know what's right and wrong. Granted, there are very few cyclists commuting in Akron at present. But Dyer will have to open his eyes to the fact that there will be many more in the future.
Tim Hollister
Akron
Job-killers
among us
I wonder how long it will be before the people in Ohio who voted for Sen. John McCain start their sour grapes whining: ''See, we told you so, Obama and the Democrats haven't done a thing for our unemployment problems.''
How many of them and those who take the attitude of ''I don't do it, so no one else can, because I say it's wrong'' voted for Issue 5 and against Issue 6?
They're the ones who cost Ohio 16,000 jobs.
I also don't want to hear these people talk about Big Brother taking over our government. They gave Big Brother a whole lot more power when they approved Issue 5.
Incidentally, I do not gamble and I do not work for or patronize payday lenders.
Marian Short
Akron
About that separation
of church and state
There are people of varied backgrounds (American Civil Liberties Union members and others who belong to similar organizations) who believe that by stating a lie often enough and loudly enough, those who hear the lie will come to believe it as truth.
A recent letter in the Beacon Journal (''Religion has no place in voting booth,'' Oct. 8) read in part: ''This nation was founded upon the principle of separation of church and state in the hope that all people who live in this country would have the freedom to choose and practice their religion.''
No. This nation was not founded upon the principle of separation of church and state.
It was the 1936 Constitution of the U.S.S.R., Article 124, which stated, ''In order to ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in the U.S.S.R. is separated from the state, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of antireligious propaganda is recognized for all citizens.''
Please note that the Constitution of the United States was drafted so as to allay the fears of the reformers who fled Europe to practice their faith without fear of consequence.
Our First Amendment states: ''Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.''
Our nation was founded upon Judeo-Christian principles.
Our judicial system is based upon the same.
Read the preambles to many of our state constitutions.
Tom Hough
Hartville
Don't drive
while you're drowsy
This week, friends don't let friends drive drowsy. Nov. 10-16 is the National Sleep Foundation's Drowsy Driving Prevention Week.
The National Sleep Foundation reports that drowsy driving is as dangerous as drunken driving because, like alcohol, sleepiness slows reaction time, decreases awareness, impairs judgment and increases the risk of crashing.
But even though sleep deprivation impairs a driver as much as being legally drunk (0.08 blood alcohol concentration), three out of every five adult drivers have driven while drowsy, according to a 2005 poll.
More than a third reported actually falling asleep at the wheel.
Thanks to widespread public education campaigns and law enforcement efforts over the past 20 years, the rate of drunken driving fatalities has dropped.
But we need renewed focus on the many other dangerous driving behaviors which should also be avoided — especially speeding, talking on a cell phone and driving drowsy.
Readers can visit www.negligent driving.com to learn about these increasingly dangerous behaviors.
Sarah Longwell
Managing director
American Beverage Institute
Washington, D.C.
Let's give vets
the day off, too
Our leaders sure are quick to say they are all for our veterans. Every politician worth his or her weight makes this claim. Then why is it that city workers, mail carriers, county and state workers get the day off whether or not they served in the armed forces?
Our returning vets, on the other hand, have to work or else they won't get paid. This is very unfair since President Bush used and abused veterans in the Iraq war, and his friends got rich from vets' blood.
How about members of Congress pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to give our heroes the day off on Veterans' Day before a security guard shows them the door in January?
Dave Harvey
Akron
Health care for children
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Posted 05:03 AM, 11/12/2008
Grassroots Sense
On the 4th of November 2008 Obama was voted in office. I believe that was the worst mistake this nation ever made. Here are some of the reasons. This is only my opinion.
His campaign was run on a racial platform. Obama doesn’t realize that he is the president of America. The Democrats said that if we voted against him we were racist. I also wonder what happened to good character.
I believe that Obama is anti American and anti family. Sharing the wealth, abortion, same sex marriage; is nowhere in the Bible or the U.S. Constitution. Neither does God or the Constitution gives us the right or permission to do any of these things. The change that Obama is promising is to change the Constitution. If I understand it right the Democrats wants to apply the fairness doctrine. Which is to say that the liberals have equal time on talk shows? Well I think that most of the media is liberal. Even Oprah wouldn’t have Sarah Palin on her show. Where is the fairness in that?
The sharing of wealth is wrong. This is the reason why. How do we mandate charity? Faith charity, love are gifts of God. God determines what measure you receive. In life there are many things that you have to practice to get the increase. Charity should be practiced in the private sector not the government. Nothing Obama ever said is correct or in line with the bible.
The bail out of AIG will snowball and get out of control, now GM and Chrysler want another 50 billion dollar bail out. Obama is asking Bush for this bailout and it will destroy this economy. Stock shares are falling in the auto industry.
Radio stations shares may be losing value based on what Obama and the left says on the fairness doctrine. Air America went under mainly because of liberal views. I say 70% of America does not agree with the democrats.