"SECRETS" one republic

Yes, there is a lot of speculation as to the city manager's abrupt retirement. The following report might or might not shed some light on recent events. Maybe she just doesn't want to hear about electricity anymore?

The next time Ward III Councilman Mike DeLeone claims he has no idea where this 30% increase in electricity cost idea's are coming from direct him to this article.

The full report  "Promises vs. Reality can be viewed at;

www.prairiestatecoalplant.org

This will explain the whole story Painesville bought in the same amount as Galion.

Report: 12 AMP power customers in Ohio to pay $135 million extra

By Dan Gearino


The Columbus Dispatch Wednesday August 29, 2012 1:56 PM

Zbigniew Bzdak
Chicago Tribune


Miners drive down to the Lively Grove coal mine near Marissa, Ill., during a shift change. The mine is operated by Prairie State Generating Co. and provides fuel to an adjacent power plant.

A dozen Ohio communities will pay a premium totaling $135 million for electricity because of contracts with an Illinois power plant, according to a new report.

The figure is an estimate of how much money the cities – including Cleveland, Bowling Green and Galion – will pay for power in excess of market prices between now and 2025.

Residents in those places are paying for Prairie State Energy Campus in southwestern Illinois, a coal-fired power plant that began operating this summer. American Municipal Power of Columbus owns 23 percent of the plant and has sold shares to 60 of its member communities in Ohio.

“Participation in the Prairie State project has created and will continue for the long term to create significant fiscal problems and stresses for the participating communities,” said the report, issued today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a pro-environment group that looks at the finances of the coal industry.

The report’s authors say the dollar figure is a conservative estimate based on disclosures about Prairie State and forecasts of market prices. They did not specify how the costs may affect customer rates, because those decisions are based on factors that can vary considerably from city to city. As with any estimate, the actual outcome could be much different from the report’s conclusions.

Galion, in Crawford County, is the participant closest to central Ohio. It purchased 10 megawatts from Prairie State and faces an excess cost of $8 million, the report says.

“In hindsight, it is clear that municipal utilities should not be involved in risky utility speculation,” said Roberta Wade, a Galion City Council member. She made the comments in a conference call organized by the group behind the report.

AMP did not have an immediate response. Previously, the company’s executives have said they are confident that investing in Prairie State is in the best interests of its members, and that the long-term benefits will outweigh any concerns.

Environmentalists have been critical of Prairie State because it uses coal at a time when the rest of the electric power industry is moving to use more natural gas and renewable energy. The Energy Information Administration reports that Prairie State was the only new coal plant in the country to come online so far this year.

The plant was started by Peabody Energy, a coal company, which then sold nearly all of its interest to municipal-power companies in several Midwestern states. AMP, which provides power to city-owned utilities, owns the largest share.

In Ohio, the 12 communities with the largest investments in Prairie State will pay a premium of $135 million, the report says.

Bowling Green and Hamilton bought the largest shares, with 35 megawatts each. They will pay $27 million each for power in excess of market prices, according to the report.

Cleveland, which bought 20 megawatts, will pay $19 million.

In April, the Dispatch reported about how the plant was behind schedule, over budget, and would sell power for prices in excess of the cost on the market. Supporters of the plant got cities to buy into the deal by saying it would produce power as stable prices that would often be lower than the market.

dgearino@dispatch.com

@dispatchenergy

"BELIEVE IT OR NOT" joey scarsburg

Yes  we lost an American Hero today. Neil Armstrong first man to step foot on the moon. It was the summer of 69' and many thing were happening at that time that made you wonder if we would see a summer of 70'. I believe someday that day will receive its honored place in history.

If you my age your a child of the space race. The United States against the Soviet Union. President Kennedy announced soon after being elected that we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. We did. No if ands or buts about it, it was an amazing time when this country could  just about do anything it set its mind to. The computer I am using now is presently more powerful than the ones used on Apollo 11.
 Today in the time of instant celebrity, a man like Neil Armstrong was not of that persuasion even then.. Never a chain of Neil out of this world franchised food stands, or Mattel Neil action toys. Seems he never viewed himself that way.

Today I feel no sadness in his passing. Only a wish to celebrate his and this country's accomplishment and remember that summer evening again..
As his family mention next time you look up and see the moon,give a wink for Neil.

"WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN" the who

Meet the new boss same as the old boss.

Not this time. It won't be done with phone calls made to council people out of town or even in town in the middle of the night. This time for the sake of Painesville it absolutely has to be done right.

Full transparency, full, disclosure, no more old boys club way of doing this. If your going to hire a city manager and also give them the job of safety director we should make sure that person is experienced in that field.
It will be interesting to view how this process will take place? Will it only include three council members? Will a citizen committee be formed? Monday night starts the process.

Council meets in Executive Session  Monday at 7:30 pm to I believe what process will be used to find a new city manager.

As resident we should be keep informed on how this process will take place. I can only hope one person doesn't set up a committee of their choice to do that persons biding? If that's the case then just name someone and don't go through all these motions.

The new manager should also be made to go back to  a line item budget. I don't care if council believes it would be to time consuming. I for one want to see it all. Presently this seems like a good time to do a forensic audit. Let's see where and what we have.

The new manager must be able to work in good faith with surrounding communities as well as county leaders.

Most importantly the new manager must share all communications and opportunities with council.  Also no more half truths to be shared  with residents. Where all grown-ups we can deal with the truth.
Now is the time for fresh ideas and a person that doesn't just answer to two other people.

"STEP BY STEP" jackson browne

First educators remember you are professionals, and you should be act and treated as such. Many times people believe all that constitutes being a union member is paying dues and magically... things are solved for you. Not in the real world.
First, after reading many of the comments... some of you are working in a very hostile environment, why? This would not be tolerated in the private sector workplace.
Some of you are being "bullied" by students and parents and that's just plain unacceptable.
It must be pretty easy to deal with the problem at Jackson St. if you're not the one dealing with the problem in the classroom. Coddling parents is admitting failure.
The entire community (including parents) should feel welcome into all the buildings.When a conversation turns hostile it should end and the meeting is over... period. Nothing solved.. so what. If the building administrator chooses not to remove the parent and/or student from your area, call the police. Harsh... hardly!
Document all incidents on paper if your administrator or union representative fails to do their job. File a complaint with the police department, many of these complainants the police will be dealing with most of them in the near future anyway.
Make the problem publicly know at a Board of Education meeting. Let the public know what the people in charge expect you to put up with.

Some of you are going to have to grow some. I know it's easy for me to tell you this... I didn't invest any time or money in your chosen profession. Until you start standing up for yourselves this problem will only escalate.

As far as the Volleyball or any coach . The day that rules of the team are over ridden by a parent or administrator, go to Jackson St. and hand Dr. Hanlon your whistle and wish him luck.

Here's a secret: the BOE doesn't want to air dirty laundry in the public. Well then... make them responsible for cleaning the laundry.

When the SRO officer was not at Harvey last year, this blog. was telling the community how important that resource officer was. Where was the staff at Harvey? Certainly not at a BOE meeting requesting something be done.

If I was to go to a BOE meeting with the complaints that many of you have shared with me, they would tell me these are anonymous people who might not even be teachers'. You know they may be right.
You go to BOE meeting and you put a real face and person to the problem.
Believe me the community will be behind you. I know I will.

What might they tell you? That our success in education is outstanding? Look at our records, our acheivements speak for themselves.

You not only have a responsibility to your students, you also have a responsibility to your peers and yourselves.

If money is the only thing that counts to you then ignore this. Grab your bi-monthly check and count the days until you can retire. And then again, how much money does it take to buy your self respect?

"As the Opportunity so the Responsibility" It's more than words... it's how you must take charge to correct wrongs.

You can also air your grievances at a POC meeting. You will be surprised at the support you would receive.

Deep down inside I know this could be a great system to attend and work in.

On a happy note Welcome to Chestnut Elementary Ms. Kim Hoon

"GOOD BY YELLOW BRICK ROAD" elton john

A rumor presently circulating around city hall is that city manager  Rita McMahon has announced her retirement  effective November 1,2012.  That presently all that is known.

"ASK ME NO QUESTIONS I'LL TELL YOU NO LIES" lynyard skynyrd

Seem we are going to attempt to pull Tony's Subway Inn liquor license's. I understand the citys reasons, it just seems like a sad ending.. This establishment has in recent years become a problem for the city as well as the police department. O.K. we close Tony's and all of there clientele A) Stay Home B) Moves out of town or C) moves to a new location?
I and many others will miss Tony's we seem to have lost many of our good times from the past. Tony's Subway  Wine Press, Brass Rail, Towne & Campus and the Stables.

My guess it will be C). So who will it be Stadium, Nemeths or even Jackie's? Heard the moneys on McTaggerts at the shopping center, at least that won't be our problem.
As honorable as all this is it's typical Painesville. We don't solve a problem  we just move it somewhere else in Painesville. Remember North-End Bar my guess that clientele all moved to Tony's.

Also the city will file an objection with the state concerning transfer of the liquor license from the Storm Cellar to  whatever business is operating in Jalapeno Loco at the New Market Mall.

$50,000 windows for just the replacement for the Blower room windows at the  Waste Water treatment Plant .Maybe we should park that $30,000 riding lawnmower in that building?

Painesville didn't produce any electric power in April and May of this year? Neither did Prairie State and I expect to hear the same report for June and July. We are told by our finance director that it is cheaper to buy it "off the grid"? Why are we even in the electric generation business in the first place then?
I will have to watch the council meeting but I believe one councilman made a claim our electric costs have not risen in years?

The city manager named the new electric department head who will start working for the Painesville September 1, 2012. I provided council's meerkat moment when I agreed the the city manager has authority to hire department heads but according to Article II Section 4 BUT council sets the wages for department heads that drew attention from council, but as usual the city manager had an answer. Willing to bet you can't find two council members who knew what his wages are ? What do you expect with a city  budget that has 19 million dollars listed as "others"?

Marion Ave. residents complained about the flooding last month. Yes!  Last month during a drought they showed photos of water over the street curb. flooded basements ect. These are good people who believe the city has a remedy for their problem. Tiber Creek again the culprit.  Quick anyone have an idea what all this flooding have in common?

Also found out where the Self-Storage on Chestnut St. wants to expand is in a flood plain? Won't be as easy as a trip to the Zoning Commission.

During the council time Councilman Andrew Flock informed the administration and other council members he will not go to an executive session to be taken to the wood shed for his comments and statements that he makes at a council meeting, or to the press.
Mr. Flock has lost ALL confidence in the City Manager and the President of Council. Due to the rules in these executive sessions they cannot be made public. His simple request was if you disagree with me lets discuss it in the future only here in a public forum. Councilman Fodor explained that's it's not good for the public to not see us not unified. Well if being unified means to go along with the city manager and council president why even have the rest of you there? Councilman DeLeone might have shed more light on what was going on when he mentioned Councilman Flocks interview and participation on Channel 5 Prairie State investigation. The problem seemed to be Flocks mention of 2.7 million dollars which Councilmam DeLeone believes was only 1.9 million. Well Mr. DeLeone I was sitting in the audience when Marc Gerkins CEO of AMP-OHIO mentioned 2.7 million amount. Feel free to call him back to a council meeting with a revised number to be told to a public audience. Truthfully Councilman Flock and many others will be ecstatic if the 1.9 number is the true number or even a less amount. 2.7 vs.1.9  Million. Still pretty expensive for a very bad decision. Sorta like drowning in 19 feet of water instead of 27 feet?

"GOTCHA" joan jett

The one subject that garners the most look in on this blog. is when the post concerns Painesville City Schools.
First I have to assume that not only residents are concerned but also teachers and other employee's of the district.

By late Monday evening people knew about the resignation of Principal Oden on this blog. as well as his replacement. The News-Herald I believe printed the story five days later.

From some of the comments left at the News-Herald comment site. It seems everyone involved knows we have a problem in the district yet at the same time everyone seems very vague on what the solution should be.
Last week on another post someone mentioned a "Gotcha" mentality by the administration and yet no one brought forth an example.
Someone mentioned to me in passing that if someone calls in with a sick day the administration will go out and shadow that person? I'm not saying that's a lie only it seems like a stretch. At least to me.
Our community budgets over 40 million dollars on education in this community every year. Yes some is Federal, State and also Local. Tell me as residents are we getting our money's worth?

Teachers and the system must be supported by the community not just levies but as parents, and members of the community that demand a great educational experience for the young people here.
What are teachers afraid of? What exactly is this "gotcha"?
What is with the musical chairs with staff? Is this the new norm?
We as a community must stand up for the building administrators as well as teachers, being overruled by Jackson St. if they have no desire to solve the problems. Leaving the building administrator and teachers disheartened.
Parents must first be made to realize that they no one else is responsible for what little Johnny, or Susan do. except THEM.
They act up and you have to come to school. To bad, if you might lose your job if you are always running to Heritage or Harvey to bad. who's making you make those trips? The teacher or your child?
If you can't control him/her how do you expect a teacher to? This school system isn't a glorified babysitting business.
How do you expect them to make it in the real world if they are constantly late, fighting, or just disruptive? Are you going to support them forever?

Teachers PLEASE grow some Kahuies. You do have the support of your union? If you don't change the leadership and officers of the union. Believe me if the community knew as a whole what some of you have to deal with daily . They would be 100% supportive behind you. {Remember the 40 million+]
It didn't get this bad overnight and it won't get fixed as fast either.

There something very wrong here and we better fix it fast. 50% grading policies and ignoring the problem won't solve it.
"I do the best with what I am presented with" or "It is what it is" we need better answers.
Please lets be frank and explain what's wrong.

"OPPOSITES ATTRACT" paula abdul

This past week in national politics has me wondering  if we are not going to talk about specific issues what are we going to talk about. Paul Ryan first denouncing the President's stimulus bill then lied that he didn't ask for some of the money, then blaming it on a staffer and claiming it's like a constituent asking or inquiring about Social Security problem they might be having. Paul you asked for 21 million dollars! You signed the request. Then on the Democratic side you have the Vice-President claiming "wess gona put youal back in chains!" Really Joe your mouth can't fit your foot. AGAIN !
Romney with a white board that it looks like presentation took place in a prison some where and just when you bring Ryan on board to maybe give the tax issue a rest, you bring it up again?
The President in his wisdom believes that bringing up Romney's dog Shamus on the roof of the car instead of a windmill that Romney claims can't power his car.
This with the announcement that the campaigns have already spent over  500 million dollars and it's not even Labor Day.

People we are all in trouble.

Now lets pretend that Romney/Ryan were Democrats what would the likes of a Rush Limbaugh tell us?

This privileged son of an auto magnate won't release his taxes! What kind of American has secret holdings in a Swiss Bank account in the Cayman Islands. What's he hiding people? Have you noticed he never uses the word income when he mentions taxes.  So brave, he makes his angry wife explain there will be no more tax releases look what happens every time we do? You people have seen enough.

Now we have as a Vice-President candidate a fiscally conservative who while his party was in power voted for everything his Party asked for. Not even asking how any of it will be funded then tells an audience that the present President closed a GM plant in his district, later for all of us to learn the plant closed a year before Obama even became President.
This man believes and follows  the teaching of a Russian Atheists Ayn Rand who was for abortion, not believing in a God and free markets? This is the man you want a heartbeat away,people?

This fl;ip-flop candidate announces his running mate by running down the gangplank of a Historic Battleship while neither serving when they were at the age this country was in a war. Vietnam, Desert Storm.

This campaign has now become about social issues, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and what ever happened about jobs people?

You know what the Democrats need is a Rush Limbaugh. Naw the truth will always prevail.

"DIRTY WATER" the standells

Attend last night's Board of Zoning meeting. Sometimes without realizing it there are some very interesting subjects that come up. Last night the owners of the Self Storage units on Chestnut St. wanted to build two new buildings south of the present ones. If you have a memory the city just rezoned some of that property to Residential less than two years ago. The two buildings combined will cover over 20,000 sq.ft. and how much of the property will be asphalted is unknown.

If you have traveled south on Chestnut St. after a heavy rain you can already see the the sewer system cannot take the water presently trying to flow into the sewers. I have personally watched vehicles drive up on the sidewalk to get  past that area. I was assured that the water runs west from that property not east, I begged to differ but I have personally watched the water from that property flow to the east. The solution? A Detention pond west of the buildings that will only empty in the storm sewers after they can handle the flow? We have heard this before. Ask some North Ave. residents how that works, preferable while their cleaning their basements again.

Also as a Painesville resident I for one am getting tired of this Tiber Creek getting blamed for almost any flooding in Painesville. How long have we been hearing this song and dance?  Also I was told that there is a 36" pipe that runs under the  N/S tracks, [ which act almost like a dam] I am sure the residents on Chatfield will be happy to know that it has been cleaned out and another pipe the same size is/was planned there to. This plus the construction of the building east of Crossroads might make that area a permanent lake. Losing the YMCA heck it might just float out of  town.

It just seems like a lot of poor planning with some residents suffering the consequence's. The storm sewer pipes are full the water backs up on to Cedarbrook, Chatfield,Nelson St. and God knows where else?

Also during the discussion it became known that this storage facility is open 24/7 so one resident and two property owners complained about the noise including partys  at sometimes 3:00 AM in the morning? I'm just wondering if a storage facility located in a heavy residential area need to be open 24 hours a day? Who needs to retrieve their winter clothes at 3:00AM?
Oddly no one knew if any police reports had been filed.

The request was granted but the city engineer will have to sign off on the re/detention pond. Wonder what will happens to Joe Hada's beavers that live there?

"SUBSTITUTE" the who

Found a story on Galion Live and after reading it I thought if the resident's of Painesville would like to do the same thing with Painesville's Charter. Reading the story I almost get the impression that these two cities are close to a mirror image of each other.
Although I am not presently advocating this plan for Painesville I wonder how some of you view it.

Painesville will soon be reviewing the city charter . Guess who picks the reviewers?

Also it was refreshing to see that the powers to be have decided to reduce Galions electric rates.
********************************************************************************************


On Friday afternoon, GalionLive received the following update from the Galion City Charter Amendment Petition Committee. It is repeated here in its entirety and without changes of any kind.




August 3, 2012

Dear GalionLive,

Our Charter Amendment Petition Committee wants to take this opportunity to explain to the citizens of Galion, where we are at this point and what happens next.

The Amendment to abolish the Charter and return to a statutory (mayor) form of government will be on the November 6th General Election ballot. The Charter itself and the Ohio Constitution required City Council to put the Amendment on the ballot. Tuesday night (July 24), only Council Member Cathy George voted against the ballot legislation. George openly violated her oath of office, even after being informed by Council Member Wade, Council President Baldinger, and the Law Director (Reese Mills) that the Ohio Constitution required City Council to put the Amendment on the ballot.

The enthusiasm that our Charter Amendment Petition effort has received has been inspiring. We organized our group in May, started circulating Petitions in June, and now (in July) have the Charter Amendment to abolish the Charter on the November ballot. So many citizens have come forward to help with this effort. We have all received phone calls from citizens wanting to sign the Petition and others wanting to circulate a Petition. We obtained 830 signatures, and 676 of those were certified as valid. We only needed 267 valid signatures.

In November, only the Charter Amendment (i.e. abolishing the Charter) will be on the ballot, not the election of City officials. If we are successful in getting the Amendment passed, then the City government will continue in a ‘transitional phase’ while candidates circulate petitions to run for all of statutory offices (e.g. Mayor, Auditor, Treasurer, Law Director) with the election to be held next May. Instead of a City Manager as our City’s leader, a City Manager who now hires the Finance Director and the Law Director, Galion will now have a leadership team who have each been elected by the citizens and are each responsible to the citizens. And with this overlapping authority, the City will have better decisionmaking and a better ‘checks and balances’.

The statutory form of government will return the power to ‘hire and fire’ City officials to the citizens themselves; and thus, make City officials more accountable to the citizens of Galion. With the Charter, the City Manager is not elected by the citizens and it should be no surprise that the City Manager has not been responsive to the citizens of Galion. Furthermore, somehow the City Manager’s ‘you’re not my boss’ attitude concerning the citizens has also been adopted by some Council Members. Regularly, citizens with basic questions or valid complaints are treated poorly at City Council Meetings. Once a citizen has experienced that poor treatment or seen that happen to others, they recognize that their City government just does not care about its citizens. The Charter/City Manager form of government is just not a government of ‘the people’; the citizens have just lost control of their City government to a less responsive, less accountable City Manager form of government. When you approach your City government with a simple question, and you can’t get a straight answer, there is something seriously wrong; likewise, when you have a complaint, and your government leaders try to browbeat and intimidate you instead of listening to your concerns, there is something seriously wrong.

Our Charter Amendment to abolish the Charter is not a vendetta against the current City Manager. In the history of the Galion Charter, we have not had any City Manager who provided leadership for the City of Galion. Remember that goals of the Charter included providing professional leadership that would use consultants less, run the City better, and save the City money — that just never happened. And in the process a ‘good old boys club’ was created that just didn’t care about the citizens. The City Manager/Charter form of government lost sight of the fact that ‘they’ work for the citizens of Galion.

Now, we are definitely in the political back-stabbing phase. And we caution the voters not to get distracted by the personal attacks and intimidation tactics. Politics is like baseball; you need to keep your eye on the ball — in this case, keep your focus on the issue that the City Manager/Charter form of government has just been a failure for the City of Galion.

And, it is truly time for a change. This change back to a statutory (mayor) form of government puts control back in the hands of the citizens, requires City officials to live in the City of Galion, and has overlapping authority of officials (a better checks and balances). The Charter Amendment (to abolish the Charter) has been a “grass roots” effort of the citizens of Galion. As many people have said, we should have done this a long time ago.

Now that our Charter Amendment will be on the November election ballot, our Committee members are being contacted about yard signs, bumper stickers, and making donations. We want the public to know that we are in the process of setting up the required “ballot issue committee” and filing the necessary paperwork with the Board of Elections; all of that has to be done before we can accept donations and make expenditures in support of the Charter Amendment ballot issue. We will keep the public updated, as we should have all of this done very soon.

Lastly, we want to thank everyone who has helped to get the Charter Amendment on the ballot. And we look forward to working with all of the supporters on the campaign to pass the Amendment this November 6th. Be sure to mark your calendars.

Charter Amendment Committee:


Gina M. Powell

Donald P. Faulds

Shirley A. Clark

E. Roberta Wade

"SIMPLE MAN" lynyard skynyrd

Well attended the school board meeting . I see no one took up my offer to join me. Missed out on an interesting meeting.
Seems Mr. Bull would like to see every student in the district equipped with at laptop. He as well as I see this device replacing books in the near future. Starting this year I believe third as well as seventh graders will be so equipped. One board member Mr. Tackett questioned if the student home wasn't set up for wi-fi how will the student use this device? Also questions were asked who would be held responsible if it was lost or stolen?

In other news the board granted the resignation of Heritage Middle School Principal Tim Oden. Requests had to be turned in by July 10,2012 but the board released him from his contract. In his place Melissa DeAngelis will serve as Interim Middle School Principal. This along with Domenic Wlodyka to serve as Assistant Principal at Harvey High.

Simple man, that's Me at the public hearing asked Board President Reverend Kalb what amount of money would be generated by this 4mil levy in November. Right around $850,000.
I also asked where the amount asked for was arrived at. It was the lowest amount the board thought to ask for to get us to 2016,as well as in these economic times to ask residents for. Dr. Hanlons analogy was like the old oil filter commercial "pay me now or pay  me a whole lot more later".
I asked him at the last meeting as well as this one if "Step" raises were given to Administrator, Certified and Non-Classified  employees of the system. Dr.Hanlon said all wages and steps are frozen, although advancements for educational credits were given. I hope this clears up that debate. I for one believe if you payed to advance your education you should be payed for it.

Tonight was orientation night  for parents and student  it looked like a pretty good turn out.

"CENTERFIELD " john fogerty

Most people follow sports of one kind or another. Baseball, Football, Basketball, Soccer, you get the idea.
That do all sports have in common at any level.
The rules .....

How could we ever play if every county could make up it own rules? Lake County gave you three strikes, Geauga County gave you four strikes, Ashtabula County only gave you two. Same with everything from football to NASCAR all have to follow the same rules. It works.

Now lets talk politics and elections. Following the rules set down by sport leagues or bodies all rules are the same. Let's not bring up the designated hitter presently.

Shouldn't all counties in the State of Ohio have the same rules when it comes to voting?
Why do Republicans want to increase days to vote in heavily Republican counties but want to shorten voting days in Democratic counties? Doesn't seem fair but its legal.


Now, in heavily Democratic cities like Cleveland, Columbus, Akron and Toledo, early voting hours will be limited to 8 am until 5 pm on weekdays beginning on October 1, with no voting at night or during the weekend, when it’s most convenient for working people to vote. Republican election commissioners have blocked Democratic efforts to expand early voting hours in these counties, where the board of elections are split equally between Democratic and Republican members. Ohio Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted has broken the tie by intervening on behalf of his fellow Republicans.


‘I cannot create unequal access from one county board to another, and I must also keep in mind resources available to each county,” Husted said in explaining his decision to deny expanded early voting hours in heavily Democratic counties. Yet in solidly Republican counties like Warren and Butler, GOP election commissioners have approved expanded early voting hours on nights and weekends.

Maybe after rethinking my sports analogy I might be wrong. As in Baseball the big market cities are the "haves" and small market cities like Cleveland are the "have nots".

In Basketball players can manipulate the system to put together three or four future Hall of Famers to form "Super" teams with the rest of the teams viewed as calendar fillers.

But keep in mind they all have the same length of time and number of innings or miles that must be completed.

It's sad when a political party see as the only way to win elections ......is to simply cheat.
Yes, Cheat.

You have to wonder if all those proud and brave Americans who fought and died to keep this country free along with it equal rights intact must think?

I've heard a lot about voter fraud lately. I guess there are different forms of voter fraud? Right Jon Husted?

"PAINESVILLE'S TEA PARTY EVENT"

1812-2012

RIDER'S INN IS 200 YEARS OLD

Join us on August 19, 2012 to celebrate a milestone in Rider's Inn history and the Painesville Ladies who played a part.

Women earned the right to vote
with the 19th Amendment.
To celebrate, Rider's Inn is hosting
a High Tea Party to
commemorate the event.

WHEN: August 19,2012
TIME:   3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Live entertainment by the Painesville Women's Chorus

TARIFF PER PERSON:  $25.00
$10.00 of the tariff will be donated to our History Scholarship fund

For Reservations call 440-354-8200

"ROCKIN IN THE FREE WORLD" neil young

Woke up this morning to find out Romney Hood had picked Eddie Munster to be his running mate?

First I want to ask every Conservative if two Democrats who had never served in the military had run down the gangplank of a historic battleship to make this announcement? What would have been said?
I thought he served in France during the Vietnam War?  No that's where Daddy hid him.
 Remember Governor Dukakis head sticking out of a tank?
The closest these two ever came to a battleship was maybe a vacation on a Princess Cruise Ship.
The only this missing was the Mission Accomplished Banner, or Mission Impossible Banner.

Now we can have the debate I have been waiting for. More money for the rich and entitlement cuts for the rest of us. Lets have an ENTITLEMENT TAX RATE  for all  Americans. 14% or less for the Romneys and this man wants to talk about welfare cheats? Let's talk about tax cheats both group seem to be doing thing's legally? Romney only reason for this is a announcement coming out now is called Sons of Bosses. There is no way he can attempt to walk back from this story.. This is only August can you imagine what the Obama campaign has ready to release in October?

Lets the debate start, vouchers for Medicare, closing loopholes like your mortgage interest deduction on your home loan. Taxing the value on your employee payed health insurance as well as what you contribute just to name a few. If I'm wrong prove it. While your at it prove Romney paid taxes.
You seem to like to prove things?

"YOU AND ME AND A DOG NAMED BOO" lobo

A couple of months ago, I had to listen to council debate a city ordinance that some members believed  "profiled" Pit Bulls. Certain council members claimed that 'no such animal  as a pit bull exists'. Also that 'tt's unfair to declare a certain dog breed vicious until it actually harms or kills someone' . Myself I have no use for these dogs and I for one view them as a time bomb that could go off at anytime. Read this story then tell me.   If anyone you cared for or even yourself  would be comfortable around this animal?
No danger here? Just your typical normal dog.



http://connect.cleveland.com/user/pgalbinc/index.html


CLEVELAND -- A Florida woman, formerly of Parma, Ohio, was nearly mauled to death by her adopted pit bull last month when the dog suddenly attacked her after she went into a seizure.

Sarah Ziebro, 30, -- who has suffered from brain seizures (or auras, precursors to seizures) for nearly a decade -- had rescued the dog from a neglectful owner in 2011, but relatives said the animal had never shown any aggressive tendencies in the time she has owned it.

That changed on July 23, when Ziebro began to complain to her mother about numbness on one side of her body and then went into a convulsion.

"Whether this dog was startled, or something else, we'll never know," her brother, John Ziebro said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "But as Sarah seized helpless on the ground, the dog attacked her. Until this assault, the dog had never displayed any form of aggression towards Sarah, and was normally quiet and docile."

Sarah Ziebro was unconscious when the dog bit her face and neck. Her carotid artery was torn and had her mother not arrived in a timely manner, she likely would have died, John Ziebro said.

Sarah Ziebro was taken to the Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, Fla. for surgery to stem the flow of blood and piece her face back together.

View full size Photo courtesy of John ZiebroSarah Ziebro of Florida, formerly of Parma, Ohio, was attacked last month by her a pit bull that she had rescued last year. This photo shows Ziebro in a previous hospital stay before the attack.

John Ziebro said the plastic surgeon who worked on his sister, Dr. Melinda Lacerna, told him that the facial injuries were among the worst she had ever seen from a dog bite.

The surgery required over 600 sutures and four hours of surgery to repair her mangled facial features, he said.

Sarah Ziebro, who is now staying with her parents in Bradenton, also goes to Blake Medical Center in Bradenton for physical therapy. She is relearning how to control her face and lips, and how to talk because of damaged facial nerves. She was recently taken off a feeding tube after regaining the ability to swallow.

I just hope and pray that Joe, Paul,Katie, Mike and Lori  didn't vote on something that will come back and bite you on the @%&.

"SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL" rolling stones

After reading this news release from AMP-OHIO I have no idea what the purpose was?
How come we're paying so much?
Is Unit 1 at Prairie State even running now?
This release seems to be what they used to get everyone to buy into their scheme?

EXCEPT
 Columbus, Yellow Springs, Oberlin, Ohio and other's with some common sense. Explain that,Sir.

 Presently I'm thinking of getting some T-shirts printed up

        "GROW YOUR OWN DOPE
     PLANT AN AMP-OHIO PARTICIPANT"

What do you think , but first read this electric fluff. This is how they expect to turn the heat off?

Please feel free to read the article at ;

www.prairiestatecoalplant.org

This leter was sent to Channel 5 News Director Jill Manuel
 AMP-OHIO CEO
Marc Gerkens

"FOOLS RUSH IN" elvis presley

Where people with some common sense know better to tread.

If you have been reading the blog. you know AMP-OHIO was the winning bidder to supply Columbus, Ohio with power. Columbus Dispatch story on August 1,2012.
Starting in 2014 AMP-OHIO will supply Columbus Power with electricity at $42.00 MWh Columbus switched from AEP to AMP mainly because of the length of AMP-OHIO power cost guarantee.
To you who may not know Columbus said no thanks to AMPGS as well as Prairie State.
 This made me wonder why Painesville, Galion and others  will be paying close to $68.00 MWH from Prairie State. Yes before anyone asks we are obligated to purchase this power.
Yes! Painesville you own the cow, and yes you pay more for the milk.

Then I remembered ANOTHER deal AMP-OHIO presented to city council around October 2010. Seems when AMP has a fish on the line they go back and see if they can get somemore. Pay attention Galion and other AMP communities... you too might have been sucked into this AMP-OHIO deal also.

RESOLUTION 40-10

RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE EXECUTION OF A POWER PURCHASE CONTRACT WITH

AMERICAN MUNICIPAL POWER, INC. KNOWN AS AMPGS REPLACEMENT ENERGY AND
DECLARING AN EMERGENCY was given first reading.

Ms. McMahon explained as identified during the work session on the AMP projects and in a previous
memorandum to City Council, Painesville Electric has the opportunity to purchase power for a period beginning 2015 through 2020 at a fixed price. This is based load power (24 x 7) which will offset the power needs that had been anticipated to be filled by the AMPGS baseload plant that will not be constructed. The purchase price is a firm price of $62.95/MWh with no escalation. The legislation is written to purchase 6000 kWh or 6 MW of this power to meet our future needs. The price is a very good price based on future market price projections which estimate the price of power to be over $67 per MWh in 2015. Currently, the Plant cannot produce enough electricity to meet our daily demand. The plant has a maximum capacity, if all units are running of 32 MW. The system demand is approximately 42 MW in the winter and 50 MW in the summer today. Therefore we rely on purchased power to fill the gap between generated power and the actual demand. Based on our load forecasts we estimate that
in 2015 our power demand grow by 5.6%. The current power purchase contracts will expire prior to 2015. Therefore given the competitive price to market price and the need to serve the system purchasing from the AMP contract is a reasonable solution to continuing to insure that our baseload needs are met in the future at a market competitive price. The City would only pay when it gets the power.

This power agreement was voted on November 15, 2010 Notice we will be purchasing power $20.00/MWh more than Columbus and if your wondering what the total cost of this power over the five years will be it's well over the 15 million dollar range. Who voted for this?  Hach. Fountain, Fodor and of course Hada. Against this DiNallo, Werner and Flock. And we got fooled again!

AMP-OHIO got us coming and going.

Along with City Manager Rita McMahon not being Painesville's Nostrdamus.

Maybe Cleveland Public Power Commissioner Ivan Henderson who also sits on AMP-OHIO  Board of Directors could come and explain all this to us little people in Painesvilless. or at least explain it to Ron Regan at Newsnet.5

"WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE" alice cooper

Well I guess it's time for "What's Happening  Painesville" to welcome Harvey High School's new Principal Van McWreath to our little town.
I have asked numerous people both here and in Ashtabula  about him. All I can tell you is that the people I spoke with all were extremely positive about him.

Yes Harvey there's a new sheriff in town.

Former Head Football Coach, four years serving in our military. Sounds like a throwback to the good old days. Along with this not being his first rodeo. Why does it seem former football coach's make great Principals?

How our new Principal will succeed or not, really depends on the community, parents, teachers  as well as the administration and the Board of Education. I personally am tired of seeing Harvey's name dragged though the mud.
This nightmare must end now.

If we want a safe well run school where education comes first and foremost than I believe this is the right person for the job. If the administration, board member listen to few unhappy parents because Johnny or Jane are not happy with the rules at Harvey and these elected and non-elected administrator's bend to these parents wishes with threats of voting against a levy or maybe even the threat of a lawsuit. Well then the Board should just hire Barnaby.

Yes it might be a shock to students when they return to school later this month but they should look at this as an opportunity to see how life works in the real world.

To the educators in this building I believe you will have someone covering your back and will support you 100%. Please don't expect him to go to the mat over foolishness.

"FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH' buffalo springfield

Something happenin' here, what it is ain't exactly clear.

Just when I'm trying to figure out what Dan Troy is up to or isn't up to. Now Congressman LaTourette drops a bigger bomb. Didn't either of these two gentlemen give any thought to any of this before they went out to seek their parties nomination in March? Mr. Troy seems more comfortable as County Commissioner and Congressman LaTourette seems to believe he's seen enough of Washington D.C. politics to call it quit. His wisdom is needed now more than ever before. Yes, Steve it seems compromise is dead. We don't need Statesmen anymore we need cheerleaders.
That or maybe he's tired of all the games? Maybe he doesn't want to be associated with people who will cut Medicare [he more than anyone has read the Ryan Plan] along with other safety net programs to give the top 1% more tax cuts? Many people in his district will miss him.

If Dan Troy decides to not run the Democrats have many fine people to fill his spot. A candidate such as Mentor-on-the-Lake Mayor John Rogers would fill the spot perfectly. This man has forgotten more than his opponent knows about legislation.  along with more Democrats in the district than Republicans. Lori DiNallo will not have a cakewalk to Columbus. Her biggest problem will be what to do with all the photocopies of Troy with Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo. Again what are her qualifications again? Less than three years on Painesville City Council that might be more of a hindrance than a qualifier.

LaTourette absence poses a big problem for the Ohio GOP who to replace him with. Dale Fellows will have input but a higher position will decide this.A Tea Party candidate or one from the established Republican party. Either way if you run a far right guy you might alienate most moderates in the district. If you go with the establishment candidate the Tea Partiers might say THF and stay home. You already have them choking on Romney how much can they stand before it appears they don't stand for anything?
Yes Party Meeting at Harvey High School August 7, 2012 wana bet no one brings up the U.N. that nite?

***********************************************************************************
I guess AMP-OHIO is not very happy with the Investigative Report Newsnet. 5 did on  the Prairie State Energy Campus  as well as AMPGS  plant a couple of weeks ago. Maybe Marc and the rest of the Ampers  should be more concerned about the rumor the plants been shut down for the last week?  Something  happenin  here ain't exactly clear, either.