Does anyone else wish that Sarah Palin and Levi Johnston would just go away already?

Well, I do. What a couple of pathetic, media seeking miscreants these two are. I'm so tired of Ms. Palin crying and whining about the media's treatment of her. Perhaps she can be the ambassador to the country of Africa in the next GOP administration. Or maybe she can simply be in charge of keeping her eye on Russia from her backyard.

As for Mr. Johnston, I would have suggested that he actually work out and get in shape if he is going to parade his body in a public venue such as Playgirl magazine. I'll be surprised if the scrawny little boy draws many "fans" to buy what must be a struggling magazine.

Please, my message to both of you is to go away for awhile and let us cleanse our national consciousness from any memory we have of you. Do us all a favor and we'll be eternally grateful.

AW Democrats to meet August 26 at 7:00pm

The next meeting of the Anthony Wayne Democratic Club will take place Wednesday, August 26 at 7:00 pm at the Waterville Branch of the Lucas County Public Library system. The library is located on Michigan Ave. in Waterville.

Anthony Wayne Democrats to meet June 24

The next meeting of the Anthony Wayne Democratic Club will take place Wednesday, June 24 at 7:00 pm at the Waterville Branch of the Lucas County Public Library system. The library is located on Michigan Ave. in Waterville. We will have a speaker from the Lucas County Prosecutor's office on hand for the occasion.



Hope to see you there!

A sad week for our family

My Dad passed away this week Wednesday after a long illness which weakened his heart and kidneys to the point where he couldn't fight the good fight any longer. He loved his wife and family fiercely and would do anything for us. He leaves behind my mother, his wife of more than 51 years, 4 children, 8 grandchildren and many friends along with cousins, nieces, nephews and other extended family.

He was a man who cared deeply about his family, his community, and the state of affairs in our state and country. I know he was deeply happy when President Obama was elected this past fall and I'm glad that he got the chance to see the first African American President elected. He supported both me and my older brother in our political aspirations, and I know he was a loyal reader of this blog. Somewhere, he will read this post and a smile will come to his face.

We laid him to rest today, and I know he is finally at peace and in a better place. Congratulations Dad for fighting the good fight and thank you for your love and commitment throughout our lives. You will be missed even as you will still be with us. Rest in peace and we love you.

Vote for Maumee Schools

Tomorrow, May 5, 2009, the citizens of Maumee, OH will be given the choice on whether to support the "Excellent with Distinction" schools in their fine city as denoted by the State of Ohio by passage of an additional 3.9 mill operating levy.

Hopefully the citizens will respond with a resounding yes and further cuts to the superlative educational system in Maumee will be forestalled. Even with passage of the levy, cuts in teaching personnel and elsewhere will be necessary due to reduced funding at the state level. Any further cuts, besides the ones already announced, will seriously continue to jeopardize the ability of the school system to operate at the high level of achievement that residents of Maumee have come to expect and enjoy.

If you are contemplating not voting for the levy to send a message to the state of Ohio regarding fixing the school funding dilemma which has plagued our state for at least the last 12 years, I would suggest the following action: Vote for the levy to keep the schools functioning at a high level of effectiveness; then, contact your locally elected state representatives to ask that they make school funding in Ohio the priority it should be. The folks to contact are State Representative Barbara Sears, and State Senator Mark Wagoner.

Ask these representatives to put aside their other priorities, whatever they may be, and focus on this groundbreaking issue at this time. It may require these elected officials to expend a little political capital and some energy, but if enough citizens contact their offices, we may see some effort from these "leaders" to make progress on this issue.

Irresponsibly pushing this issue off into the future is simply not good enough for the fine citizens in the Maumee, Anthony Wayne, Sylvania and other schools systems in the area Mr. Wagoner and Ms. Sears represent. Contact them and ask that they work on this issue at this time. The citizens of the District 46 community are counting on them to make this issue a priority this year.

Please support our schools until we can figure out another method to fund education. The education of your children and grandchildren, neighbors, and friends are hanging in the balance.

AW Democrats to meet April 22 at 7:00pm

The next meeting of the Anthony Wayne Democratic Club will take place at the Waterville branch of the Lucas County Public Library, located at 800 Michigan Ave., in Waterville. Hope to see you there!

Casino Gambling a Good Idea for Ohio?

For what it's worth, I believe that casinos and gambling would have been a good idea for Ohio to create jobs and raise some revenue, but the sad fact is that the time to make this move would have been about 20 years ago. At that time, fewer states and cities were home to gambling casinos and Ohio could have been a leader. From what I remember, groups for various religious and moral reasons fought hard to keep the gaming industry out of Ohio for fear that that type of development would lead to organized crime, prostitution, problems with addictions, and other moral misgivings. While true, we already had all those things at the time, and still do to this day, but without any of the benefits and tax dollars this industry would have brought along with it.

Now, after the horse has left the proverbial barn, we see some local politicians advocating the idea of gaming casinos in Ohio. It is my opinion that we're at least a few days late and many dollars short after more than half the country allows casino gambling on some scale with our nearest neighbors in Michigan and Indiana well established in this industry. So, time for some new ideas folks, not the recycled thoughts that may have worked 20 years ago.

In NW Ohio, we have various legislators who have made the re-designation of the "pit bull" and new "Joe Wurzelbacher protection" legislation their priorities. Elsewhere in Ohio, we have a state legislator who is interested in a bill to allow our General Assembly members the privilege to marry folks who are so inclined to enter into matrimony. All worthwhile endeavors to be sure!

I believe, on the other hand, that after we get through with all these important priorities, we may want to focus on jobs, economic development, education funding, and a tax policy which works for all Ohioans. We're not so patiently waiting for these insignificant "pet projects" to be taken care of so we can get back to the work of important policy debate and hopefully solutions. The clock is ticking and the natives are getting restless. This space intends to keep the heat on these folks who would represent us.