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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 Monday, Dec 01, 2008
Foreclosures and blight
Beacon Journal reporter Rick Armon's report of Nov. 16 (''Task force to fight urban blight'') was only surprising to me by its timing.
Not to be outdone, the Summit County Council approved the task force at its Nov. 3 meeting, the day before Election Day.
Anyone following my campaign for Summit County fiscal officer would have been acutely aware of these grim facts facing areas of Summit County.
On its Web site, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland states that for communities facing foreclosure issues, ''foreclosed and vacant properties can reduce the value of nearby homes, draining a community's investments in neighborhood revitalization and eroding local governments' tax bases.''
As a lifelong resident, businessman and property owner in Summit County, I only hope that our elected officials will move forward with realistic budgets based upon accurate property valuation.
This will be critical in attracting businesses and families to a vibrant area with an overall low-tax environment, not one based on political expediency.
As for these issues, I had repeatedly sounded warnings to those listening during my campaign.
There is an old saying in politics: If you want to direct attention away from bad news, release it under the cover of even bigger news.
Bill Conte
Norton
noweb
Editor's note: The writer, a Republican, was defeated by Democrat John Donofrio.
Mayor deserves recall
Warner Mendenhall is spearheading a recall of Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic. I, for one, applaud Medenhall's fortitude and willingness to engage in our democratic process.
Thankfully, there is a recourse for dealing with an elected official who has ceased to serve his constituents and has chosen instead to show contempt.
Those in support of Plusquellic can point to his many accomplishments and justify their opposition to a recall.
Sadly, Plusquellic has given Mendenhall and those who support a recall plenty of ammunition. The best way to avoid a recall is for an elected official to behave in a manner that would prevent recall as a consideration.
Our mayor does not behave in that manner.
Lee Beaty
Akron
DTV is a bust
I just hooked up my digital television converter box. If this is the best reception we're going to get, then most viewers will be referring to the change to DTV as Disappointing Tele Vision.
While Channel 49 came in clear as a bell, most of the others either didn't come in at all or were constantly breaking up. I have four Channel 17s, and they all constantly break up, as do channels 43 and 55. Channel 25 is nowhere to be found.
Fortunately, with an antenna splitter I will still be able to watch Channel 29. And in order to use my VCR and DVD player, I'll need some antenna splitters, as there's only one antenna lead to my TV.
I have an antenna in my attic with a signal booster. If this is as good as it's going to get, then it will definitely be disappointing television for most of us viewers.
I, and many others, will be pushed into forsaking network TV for DVDs. This is supposed to be a big improvement?
Horsepucky! Way to go, President Bush.
Ray Crim
Akron
Why reward Lieberman?
That didn't take long. Barely two weeks after the election, Senate Democrats rewarded all the voters who had cast ballots for change with a cold slap in the face by allowing turncoat warmonger Joe Lieberman to retain his committee leadership positions.
This is after Sen. Lieberman campaigned for John McCain and practically accused Barack Obama of being a terrorist.
Lieberman is certainly allowed to support whomever he chooses, but to allow him to keep his chairmanships after this stunt is incredible.
What would happen in private industry if a member of a corporate board publicly trashed his own brand and made statements about the CEO on national television that were borderline libelous?
Lieberman never saw a war he didn't like, especially when it benefits his beloved Israel. Maybe Lieberman should move to Israel and take Harry Reid and the rest of the gutless Senate Democrats with him. They certainly aren't representing the voters here.
Larry Marek
Mantua
Fairness Doctrine, anything but fair
Scott Dotson, in his letter (''Bring back the Fairness Doctrine,'' Nov. 23) is promoting a move that is anything but fair and is in direct violation of our First Amendment rights. As far as I know, we still have a guarantee of free speech in this country.
Who would be the determiner of what is fair? Who would decide what persons would be permitted to speak? Would enforcement require still another federal bureaucracy?
Would there be a need for professional listeners to interpret, measure and judge the words of the various speakers Dotson seeks to silence?
Or, will those persons deemed not to be operating ''for the common good of everyday Americans'' simply be removed from the airwaves?
Who will decide? Why can't this be left to the American people to decide?
As long as radio and TV sets have an on/off button, there is no need for more government oversight.
If the programs have no one listening or watching, the advertisers will discontinue their support. The talk-show hosts whom Dotson decries will then disappear from the airwaves.
Dotson actually demeans the intelligence of the American people in seeking to have a mechanism that limits their ability to hear thoughts and ideas dissimilar to his, or their own.
We have to believe that Americans are capable of hearing opposing points of view and making their own judgments about the truth and validity of those statements.
Our country has always supported the rights of citizens to express conflicting points of view.
We cannot afford to silence those who hold opinions different from our own. Our strength is in our diversity, including that of political discourse.
Norma Hudson Blank
Cuyahoga Falls
Foreclosures and blight
Beacon Journal reporter Rick Armon's report of Nov. 16 (''Task force to fight urban blight'') was only surprising to me by its timing.
Not to be outdone, the Summit County Council approved the task force at its Nov. 3 meeting, the day before Election Day.
Anyone following my campaign for Summit County fiscal officer would have been acutely aware of these grim facts facing areas of Summit County.
On its Web site, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland states that for communities facing foreclosure issues, ''foreclosed and vacant properties can reduce the value of nearby homes, draining a community's investments in neighborhood revitalization and eroding local governments' tax bases.''
As a lifelong resident, businessman and property owner in Summit County, I only hope that our elected officials will move forward with realistic budgets based upon accurate property valuation.
This will be critical in attracting businesses and families to a vibrant area with an overall low-tax environment, not one based on political expediency.
As for these issues, I had repeatedly sounded warnings to those listening during my campaign.
There is an old saying in politics: If you want to direct attention away from bad news, release it under the cover of even bigger news.
Bill Conte
Norton
noweb
Editor's note: The writer, a Republican, was defeated by Democrat John Donofrio.
Mayor deserves recall
Warner Mendenhall is spearheading a recall of Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic. I, for one, applaud Medenhall's fortitude and willingness to engage in our democratic process.
Thankfully, there is a recourse for dealing with an elected official who has ceased to serve his constituents and has chosen instead to show contempt.
Those in support of Plusquellic can point to his many accomplishments and justify their opposition to a recall.
Sadly, Plusquellic has given Mendenhall and those who support a recall plenty of ammunition. The best way to avoid a recall is for an elected official to behave in a manner that would prevent recall as a consideration.
Our mayor does not behave in that manner.
Lee Beaty
Akron
DTV is a bust
I just hooked up my digital television converter box. If this is the best reception we're going to get, then most viewers will be referring to the change to DTV as Disappointing Tele Vision.
While Channel 49 came in clear as a bell, most of the others either didn't come in at all or were constantly breaking up. I have four Channel 17s, and they all constantly break up, as do channels 43 and 55. Channel 25 is nowhere to be found.
Fortunately, with an antenna splitter I will still be able to watch Channel 29. And in order to use my VCR and DVD player, I'll need some antenna splitters, as there's only one antenna lead to my TV.
I have an antenna in my attic with a signal booster. If this is as good as it's going to get, then it will definitely be disappointing television for most of us viewers.
I, and many others, will be pushed into forsaking network TV for DVDs. This is supposed to be a big improvement?
Horsepucky! Way to go, President Bush.
Ray Crim
Akron
Why reward Lieberman?
That didn't take long. Barely two weeks after the election, Senate Democrats rewarded all the voters who had cast ballots for change with a cold slap in the face by allowing turncoat warmonger Joe Lieberman to retain his committee leadership positions.
This is after Sen. Lieberman campaigned for John McCain and practically accused Barack Obama of being a terrorist.
Lieberman is certainly allowed to support whomever he chooses, but to allow him to keep his chairmanships after this stunt is incredible.
What would happen in private industry if a member of a corporate board publicly trashed his own brand and made statements about the CEO on national television that were borderline libelous?
Lieberman never saw a war he didn't like, especially when it benefits his beloved Israel. Maybe Lieberman should move to Israel and take Harry Reid and the rest of the gutless Senate Democrats with him. They certainly aren't representing the voters here.
Larry Marek
Mantua
Fairness Doctrine, anything but fair
Scott Dotson, in his letter (''Bring back the Fairness Doctrine,'' Nov. 23) is promoting a move that is anything but fair and is in direct violation of our First Amendment rights. As far as I know, we still have a guarantee of free speech in this country.
Who would be the determiner of what is fair? Who would decide what persons would be permitted to speak? Would enforcement require still another federal bureaucracy?
Would there be a need for professional listeners to interpret, measure and judge the words of the various speakers Dotson seeks to silence?
Or, will those persons deemed not to be operating ''for the common good of everyday Americans'' simply be removed from the airwaves?
Who will decide? Why can't this be left to the American people to decide?
As long as radio and TV sets have an on/off button, there is no need for more government oversight.
If the programs have no one listening or watching, the advertisers will discontinue their support. The talk-show hosts whom Dotson decries will then disappear from the airwaves.
Dotson actually demeans the intelligence of the American people in seeking to have a mechanism that limits their ability to hear thoughts and ideas dissimilar to his, or their own.
We have to believe that Americans are capable of hearing opposing points of view and making their own judgments about the truth and validity of those statements.
Our country has always supported the rights of citizens to express conflicting points of view.
We cannot afford to silence those who hold opinions different from our own. Our strength is in our diversity, including that of political discourse.
Norma Hudson Blank
Cuyahoga Falls
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