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Aug
27
Alberto Gonzalez will resign today
Filed Under Politics | 2 Comments
NPR is reporting that Alberto Gonzalez will announce later today that he’s resigning. 8:21am.
More here on NYT’s page.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:21 pm August 27th, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Aug
27
Concern about lobbyists influencing AGs
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Guess the concern I voiced two days ago about lobbyists isn’t so off-base or out there.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:26 am August 27th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Aug
27
Yesterday or the day before, I flagged a couplet of articles about “double-dipping” (people who retire, collect benefits and also return to the same or a different job, often applied to the education field) and scores of new teacher applications for jobs.
This morning’s New York Times, above-the fold, left-hand column is titled, “Schools Scramble for Teachers Because of Heavy Turnover,” though online the article is called, “Schools Fight for Teachers of High Turnover” – guess they didn’t want that word “fight” on the front page above the fold, when you have other, global fights going on.
I don’t know why I continue to be amazed at how long it takes for stories like this to get such big press, but I do – continue to be amazed.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:14 am August 27th, 2007 in Politics | 1 Comment
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Aug
27
Watch Akron Mayoral Debate live
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The Bliss Institute of Applied Politics will be live-streaming the Democratic Akron Mayoral Debate between current Mayor, Don Plusquellic and his primary opponent, Joe Finley tomorrow starting at approximately 12:10pm. It’s the co-sponsor of the debate with the Akron Press Club.
I hear that the event is sold-out so if you don’t have a ticket, your best bet is to join me and blog it live while watching it on the Internet.
For more on the race, try here to read locals on Finley, and here for locals on Plusquellic.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:02 am August 27th, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Aug
26
Activity at Cuyahoga Democratic Women’s Caucus
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The information, as presented in the email I received from the Cuyahoga Democratic Women’s Caucus, looks much better than having to click between tabs on the group’s website, so I’m grafting it here. Hope no one minds:
What’s Up with the Cuyahoga County Dems? Find out at
the next CDWC meeting!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007,
7:00-8:45 pm
Laborers’ Local 310 Union Hall
3250 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115
Please come meet COLLEEN CORRRIGAN DAY, the new executive director of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, and learn about plans for strengthening the Party and what you can do to help during the next election cycle.
(A popular location for community meetings, Laborers’ Hall is conveniently located just East of downtown Cleveland. Although the address is Euclid Avenue, note that there is a secure, lighted parking lot accessible from Prospect Avenue.
Click here for a map.)
Aug 28 – New Head of the County Board of Elections
MEET JANE PLATTEN, the new director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections!
Come hear:
Ms. Platten’s vision for the BOE;
Update on planning for the 2008 presidential election;
The latest on electronic voting;
Her response to your concerns;
New plans of the Greater Cleveland Voter Coalition and how you can make a difference.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
5:30-7 pm
Laborers’ Local 310 Union Hall
3250 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115
(enter parking lot from Prospect)
Refreshments served 5-5:30
For more information, call 216.391.0900, ext. 13 or go to www.ClevelandVotes.org
Sept 3 – Labor Day Parade & Picnic with Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Monday, September 3, 2007. 12:00 pm
The 11th Congressional District Caucus and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones invite you to their Labor Day Parade and Picnic!
Celebrating “Healthy Communities/Caring Communities,” the parade steps off at E. 147th Street and Kinsman Avenue at 12 noon and will finish at Luke Easter Park. Join honored guest Mayor Frank G. Jackson and other elected officials for great food from local vendors, music, and entertainment.
For more information, contact Greg Groves, Executive Director, 11th Congressional District Caucus, 3645 Warrensville Center Rd., Suite 331, Shaker heights, OH 44128. Office: 216-751-9022; Fax: 216-751-8241; Email:
caucus11cd@yahoo.com
Sept 10 – Forum on Universal Health Care in Ohio
“How Can We Achieve True Universal Health Care in Ohio?”
Two Different Viewpoints:
State Representative Armond Budish (District 
State Representative Michael Skindell (District 13)
Monday, September 10, 2007 at 7 pm
Cleveland Heights Public Library
2345 Lee Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
The public is invited. Questions and comments from the floor welcome.
Admission is free.
Sponsored by the Cleveland Chapter, Single-Payer Action Network Ohio (SPAN Ohio) www.spanohio.org. For more information, call 216-736-4766 or email spanhealthcare@aol.com.
Sept 16 – CCDP 189th Birthday!
Sunday, September 16th marks the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party’s 189th birthday. More info to come!
Sept 17 – Celebrate Our Constitution
Monday, September 17, 2007
Celebrate U.S. Constitution Day
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The League of Women Voters Cuyahoga Area invites you to celebrate the 220th birthday of the U.S. Constitution in Tower City, 50 Public Square, at noon on Monday, September 17, 2007. League members will read aloud America’s principles of government. Spectators strolling the arcade will be invited to sign a copy of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, register to vote and celebrate their patriotism.
Sept 26 – Stonewall Dems Honor Governor Strickland
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
5:00-8:00 pm
The Cleveland Stonewall Democrats’ PAC will honor Governor Ted Strickland with its Freedom Award on Wednesday, September 26 at Massimo Da Milano (1400 West 25th Street, Cleveland, 44113).
For details call Jeff Zelmer at 216-281-6354 or email jzelmer@ameritech.net.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:01 pm August 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Aug
26
On altering and deleting online content
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I just read ‘em and post ‘em.
From the Online Journalism Review, we have this article called, “Rewriting history: Should editors delete or alter online content?”.
The landscape:
Easy access to online news archives is one of the Web’s amazing benefits for journalists – or anyone wanting background on people or events. But the fact that last year’s or the last decade’s news stories are just a mouse-click away means that anything one says to a reporter – perhaps in a moment of vulnerability – can be entered into a very visible long-lasting record. The visibility of this record, its effects and what to do about those, if anything, is a contentious topic among editors and ethicists across the nation, as the sense – and the reality – of new media is that stories live long past their press dates.
The credit card spokeswoman scenario was fairly easy to resolve: The reporter had kept her notes, we reviewed them against the archived story and the now 2-year-old story remains unchanged in our archive. The spokeswoman’s discomfort with the story, particularly given her profession, I concluded, did not come close to a threshold for altering the permanent record.
Case in-point that sounds vaguely familiar to Ohio blogs:
A few months earlier a colleague shared a similar scenario, albeit with a more dramatic request. In late 2005 he was asked to alter the archive of a 1999 story about same-sex couples by one of the sources profiled in the La Verne Magazine. “She said she wasn’t gay anymore,” said George Keeler, journalism professor and magazine adviser. “It was a painful thing, but I wrote her back and said I wasn’t going to erase (her past),” The story, now eight years old, come up first when the source’s name is typed into Google and Yahoo!’s engines.
“It’s not like it used to be when clippings would just molder in the morgue of the newspaper office,” said Craig Whitney, standards editor for the New York Times, who said the Times frequently fields requests to alter archives.
But can something else be done, editors ask, “…that falls short of rewriting history?”
The answer to that question seems to depend on the story, the publication and a variety of circumstances, which like the medium, are still evolving.
Suggestions include redacting a person’s name from a story (the example given is of a person who provided hearsay evidence). Also, the article implies, message boards for papers may get purged on a regular basis, automatically. However, that doesn’t mean that Google’s cache dumped it too. For that, you need to contact Google directly and request that they remove the reference.
The major downside to removing online content, according to the article, is that readers start to wonder: what else is missing? what else has been changed?
And, last but not least, the article concludes:
[Standards editor for the New York Times, Craig] Whitney believes such visibility and permanence will affect sources: “I think that the arrival of YouTube and Internet and the fact that images and text last forever means that actions have lasting consequences. It’s more important than it ever has been for people before they do something (to consider the) consequences.”
Ayup.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:57 pm August 26th, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Aug
26
Online campaign coverage that "respects voters intelligence" "serves their curiosity"
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Amy Gahran assesses PolitiFact (a collaboration of St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, both of which are owned by Poynter) in this Poynter Online item. Here’s Matt Waite, the site’s creator, writing about it.
According to Gahran, the primary feature of the site is that it “…pulls the rhetoric apart into components that can be examined, analyzed, and compared.” Later, she writes,
The site’s focus on structured information is anything but dry — in fact, it allows for a lot of fun. But what I like most about Politifact is that it respects voters’ intelligence and serves their curiosity by giving them informational “Lincoln Logs” from which they can assemble their own meaning and conclusions. This is accentuated by the way you can browse the site by data types: candidate, subject, venue, etc.
More about PolitiFact from its About page:
Journalists and researchers from the Times and CQ will fact-check the accuracy of speeches, TV ads, interviews and other campaign communications. We’ll publish new findings every day on PolitiFact.com, and list our sources for all to see.
PolitiFact (pronounced puh-lit’-eh-fact) is bolder than previous journalistic fact-checking efforts because we’ll make a call, declaring whether a claim is True, Mostly True, Half True, Barely True or False. We even have a special category for the most ridiculous claims that we call “Pants on Fire.”
It’s still a long way to November 2008. Sounds like PolitiFact has enough time to work out kinks, but will it keep up its stamina – often the biggest problem for Internet-based projects like this.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:06 pm August 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Aug
26
Bucket o’ Links
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1. Journalism That Matters – next year, Wendy, next year. Here’s some of who attended (KSU and OSU had folks there, otherwise, no one from Ohio).
2. Fordham Institute on how poorly urban schools did in Ohio. Ohio Federation of Teachers on how public schools outperformed charter schools. And so it goes.
3. Gag gifts galore – must be democracy.
4. From Stateline.org, “State election officials steer neutral” – makes you wonder, again, why they wouldn’t in the first place.
5. Attorneys general pushing for more parental control over social networking sites is fine and all – but parents still need to parent.
6. Some reasons why “highly qualified” is so hard to define.
7. Lisa Renee has a good post about funding public defenders. In a legal system that relies on innocent until proven guilty, what are we, as taxpayers, required to provide to those who are innocent until proven guilty?
8. The Cleveland Law Library Association now has podcasts. I like their blog a lot.
9. Thorough list of resources for the “what makes U.S. kids happy” survey from the AP and MTV:
-series of five articles starts with this one
-methodology of the survey
-the survey PDF (Aug. 20)
10. No question – this is something that we’ve talked about. Check out OhioWiki, elections. I used politics1.com a lot for the ’06 elections, but it’s primarily statewide offices – the OhioWiki is for ’07 municipal races (yes?).
11. The news from Murray Energy or Utah isn’t getting any better. But Jeff Hess sent me Down the Mine a few days ago. Things that make you say wow.
12. I think it’s safe to say that the juvenile involved in this story isn’t amenable to the rehab offered in the juvenile court system, hm?
13. You need to read about a legislative proposal to end double-dipping in conjunction with this story about the Columbus school district being swamped with teacher applications. The bill is HB 270.
14. I don’t really understand all this about re-regulating utilities in Ohio – but I know it’s important. Anyone care to give it a shot?
15. If Zimbabwe isn’t on your radar, it should be.
16. While most parents aim at making sure their kids have supplies, the right classes, don’t get bullied and have time and place to study and rest, the Family Research Council is most concerned about making sure parents know about homosexuality, the Internet and the Ten Commandments. I’m sorry – I know that there are well-meaning people who differ dramatically from me. But the focus of the FRC doesn’t even approach the real issues in the day to day life of a school child.
Okay – the last three items [that I have yet to post in this list] deserve their own posts. Lucky readers.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:19 pm August 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Aug
26
My conscience is better than your conscience
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David Potts of Left of Ohio dared to demonstrate why people who actually live in Ohio (as opposed to people who don’t live in Ohio and are frustrated beyond all comprehension by the fact that they can’t vote in Ohio or influence us with their every breath) should be respected for their opinion about the folks such people – Ohioans that is – elected to office. I’m referring to David’s posts about OpenLeft’s list of their so-called “Bush Dogs.”
David’s posts are here, here and here (where I left this comment:
Over, and over, and over, during the run up to the 11/06 elections, everyone – EVERYONE, Bush included, excepted Ohio and a couple of other states from being places in which Iraq was a top issue for the elections.
Jobs, the economy, education, health care, poverty. Those are the issues that voters used when they assessed who would represent their interests.
This isn’t to say that how a candidate would vote on Iraq, or has voted on Iraq, isn’t important to Ohioans. But it wasn’t the #1 issue.
Do you have numbers that show that among Ohioans, that’s changed? Because I haven’t.
And so long as that’s the case, for other folks, based outside Ohio, to try and force feed Ohioans to MAKE Iraq the number one issue? Feels as repulsive as Bush’s dictates.
I’m not from here originally, it’s a funky state – no doubt about it.
But Ohioans know what the problems are in Ohio. Are you really telling Ohio’s voters to put aside their need for jobs, a better economy, better education, a decrease in the number of residents living in poverty or health care to forget about all those day to day needs and just judge their elected officials on the single issue of Iraq?
You may say, well – Iraq impacts everything else.
Yeah, there’s value to that. But this is OHIO – jobs, the economy, education, health care and poverty have been issue for more than a decade, in some cases, more than two decades.
You all come here, live here, suffer here as some Ohioans do – regardless of Iraq – and then tell those folks to forget about jobs, economy, education, health care and poverty.
Those who espouse what you do need to stop missing the point of what David’s pointed out and supplanting it with what you see as the more nationwide issue.
Ohio is Ohio – there’s just no way around it. And Iraq is not the #1 issue for its voters. It never has been.
More debate on the value and correctness of non-residents trying to draw attention to elected officials can be read here.
Through following my local politicians interact at the state level, I’ve developed a better appreciation for the problem with crossing over and voting for a person who isn’t a member of the party with which I’ve affiliated. So the concerns raised by Open Left aren’t without merit. But the only metrics that matter to Open Left’s bloggers, from what I’ve read is Iraq.
Is that really all there is? For some folks, yes.
But when I browse my more than 100 Ohio-based blog feeds, I’m just not seeing that. Maybe OL is saying that it should be. They have a right to say that if they like.
But Ohioans also have a right to say, um, er, no.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:28 pm August 26th, 2007 in Politics | 6 Comments
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Aug
26
The comfort of learning you’re not alone
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From PostSecret.
H/t to Jeff Hess of Have Coffee Will Write.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:26 pm August 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Aug
26
You need to know Wafa Sultan
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I’m embarrassed that I’m only now learning about Wafa Sultan, thanks to Gloria Ferris who forwarded to me this video (she sent one from a different source).
I mostly got chills and a few tears listening to her, but I also got a laugh when one of the others on the show asks her if the clash of civilizations concept comes from Samuel Huntington. Oy, the number of times I read him in college.
Here’s the link from Gloria in case the one above doesn’t work for you.
Here’s a pdf transcript of the above clip.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:08 pm August 26th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Aug
26
Remains of the Days, 8-21 through 8-25
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I’ve been force-quitting down my computer every day since Tuesday just so I wouldn’t lose the 46 tabs of information I’ve been wanting to cover. I learned recently that I’m not the only blogger who does that – I’m in very good company.
But now, I’m going to totally piss off all those who hate these Remains posts by listing them here. I’m not incredibly hopeful that I’m going to get back to any of them in the detail I wanted. But I am working very hard and consciously to re-route my habits so that the time I spend blogging better represents what I really want to be writing and saying and asking. The summer is a great time for a lot of things. But getting back into the school year primes the pump for other great things – in my case, I hope, some focus and impact.
1. Can someone please tell me how to stop receiving spam for cheap auto insurance and anti-balding elixirs?
2. Speakers here, speakers there, speakers every where- talk about not being able to live in the present.
3. Looks like some well-known Republicans in what you would think might be influential roles haven’t gotten the memo about moving into the 21st Century.
4. Last night, like many people, I read about the Ohio mother and middle school assistant principal who left her toddler in her Mercedez SUV for nearly eight hours, until the little girl was found dead. Heaving sigh. If you’d like to read a good thread on reactions, check out Lisa Renee’s here. I’m still not ready to write about it.
5. Two plus two equals….? This past week, one of the WCPN Sound of Ideas shows had Darryl Dever on a panel that discussed payday lending. Dever is listed as the spokesperson for the Ohio Association of Financial Service Centers. And here we read about Dever as a lobbyist.
The Ohio Association of Financial Service Centers doesn’t appear to have any web presence at all. But according to this document, OAFSC is based in Columbus and is described as “a payday lender trade group.”
This post, on the blog Pay Day Loan Times (Ohio entries), tells us that Jamie Frauenberg is the president of the OAFSC. According to this article in the Columbus Dispatch, Mr. Frauenberg is also “the vice president of loan operations for CheckSmart, which operates 26 locations in Ohio.”
So, why didn’t the president of the group, Jamie Frauenberg, a VP at Columbus-based CheckSmart, come on the show? Why does the group need a lobbyist to be its public face?
This article about CheckSmart gives some clues.
Blue Bexley has an interesting post about why nothing is being done – he follows the money from the payday lenders to the politicians.
Anyway – I’m far afield now of where I started. But if you need a lobbyist to go on a radio show about the business you run or the organization you lead that represents the industry you’re in, you got problems.
6. Blogs for people interested in education.
7. One of my favorite blogs about citizen journalism, written by a wonderful champion of the genre is PJNet, by Professor Leonard Witt. We have a friendly dispute over the best pizza in New Haven. In this post, he tells us why, if you want a job in the media, you better think about being digitally inclined. Sounds familiar, hm?
Okay – time’s up for tonight. Still need to force quit. Rats.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:38 am August 26th, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Aug
26
[updated] Meta-post for Cuyahoga County sales tax increase Put It On The Ballot status
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I waited, watched and refreshed with great anxiety throughout the day to see what would happen with the Put It On The Ballot effort. I made a donation in between somewhere. And then I read all of the following posts:
Brewed Fresh Daily
RealNEO
Wendell Robinson
Plain Dealer Breaking News
Paindealer
Updates:
Sunday 8/26/07 Plain Dealer
Gloria Ferris
Tens of thousands of signatures were collected, but, being beholden to being responsible citizens, which was why we wanted this ballot measure to make it in the first place, Gloria, Tim et al decided that no more taxpayers resources should be spent to verify what they were already realizing: there would not be enough valid signatures to get the sales tax increase placed before the voters in next May’s election.
I asked for permission, like I often do, to post the following communication, this time, from Gloria Ferris. Sorry Gloria but I made an executive decision that I’m not the only one who wants to hear from you directly. Forgive me if I acted rashly. You know how I feel about trying to do what I can, and feel guilty about everything I can’t:
As many of you may know by now through local media outlets, we did not make our goal and decided to handle it in the following manner.
Zack Reed and Ryan Demro personally thanked Auditor Frank Russo for making his
office available for us today. (see Jeff Buster’s posting at http://realneo.us/blog/jeff
We then stood on the steps of the County Administration building and publicly thanked Auditor Russo and thanked the citizens of Cuyahoga County who gave up hundreds of hours to stand outdoors in the heat of August on the pavement to collect signatures and the thousands of citizens who drove to the petitioning locations to sign a petition.
One of you patriots was there today at the press conference, but in the confusion and heat of doing things quickly, we did not introduce Mr. Lynch although Zack recounted that Mr. Lynch, on his own time, went day after day to the libraries in Cuyahoga County and gathered signatures for this effort.
As Zack said, it was never about the Med Mart or the Convention Center, to us, it was about all of you who deserved the right to vote on tax issues.
Lakewood Councilman Ryan Demro seconded this sentiment and said that the spending of our tax dollars should be done transparently and openly with the public having a voice. He also said that the fact that we came close but did not make the goal in thirty days speaks for the need to change the law so that it is easier for a grass roots group like ours without access to $$$ to exercise our rights as citizens.
Since we did not have the number of signatures required to put this issue on the ballot, and we recognized that we should not squander the county’s resources counting and qualifying what will be an inadequate number due to need of many more beyond the 45,000 required, we made the decision to not submit the signatures.
This does not mean that the fight is finished. It does mean that it has changed course, and we will assess how and what we as citizens can do to make sure that we the public have the right to referendum that will give us the right to vote on tax issues and other issues as they may arise.
I know that you are probably tired of seeing my name at the bottom of these emails because they did become quite frequent in the last days of this campaign. But I wanted to keep each and every one of you informed.
Again thanks, and this is not “goodbye,” but “until we meet again.” The party has just begun.
Gloria Ferris
Put It on The Ballot Team
P.S. I plan to continue the party over the next few weeks, and months, at my blogsite, http://www.gloriaferris.net
Finally, Ed Morrison posted wonderful quotes from Thomas Jefferson, reminders of what we’re really supposed to be all about, the potential we possess – as individuals and when we work together, on so many levels. And then this comment in that thread reminded me of the times I’ve written about how I believe Cleveland, Ohio and this country need some serious group therapy.
The thing is, clinically – few people seek that kind of help unless they’ve become so uncomfortable that change is the only alternative. Otherwise, they’ll dig deeper into their dug in positions as long as humanly possible – and, for some humans, that can be an excruciatingly long time, especially for the rest of us for whom that time isn’t nearly as long.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:03 am August 26th, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Aug
25
GOP political consultant, former congressional aide found dead w/2 others in FL
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In Fox News. Read about the consultant, Ralph Gonzalez, here.
And, according Wonkette, yet another former president of a Young Republicans chapter is involved:
One of the other victims was a man named David Abrami — apparently Gonzalez’s roommate and a former president, naturally, of the Central Florida Young Republicans. Not much has been found about the third body, that of Robert Drake, whom cops are suggesting is the one who shot these two GOP operatives before turning the gun on himself.
You can find more stories and photos here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 8:34 pm August 25th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Aug
25
That’s my prediction based on the following:
1. Re-zoning requests were granted a year or two ago (I voted against it) for a plot on Lander, just south of the circle, next to the current Sky Bank, across from Garfield Memorial Church and they’re working on plans for business offices there.
2. According to two councilmen with whom I’ve spoken, Pepper Pike is considering asking voters to re-zone a triangular plot of land with four houses on it currently, that is located between the “spokes” of Chagrin heading east and Pinetree heading east for commercial use.
3. New Directions new construction on Chagrin, East of Lander Circle, West of the Orange Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.
4. Smith Barney/50,000 sq. feet new office building construction, called the Bridges of Landerwood on Chagrin, opposite New Directions and the Orange Branch of the library.
5. Jerry Severin’s Moreland Town Center (a “multi-million dollar retail/restaurant center”) plans for the Northwest corner of SOM and Chagrin (where Hyde Park and Ward’s Inn used to be, across from the gas station). Severin is the former owner of Metro Lexus. He’s now a partner in Stoddard Imported Cars. Part of what I don’t understand with this project, however, is that it says Severin bought the land in 10/06. But I just read these notes in the Moreland Hills minutes of May 22, 2006:
*The Moreland Town Center has gone out for bids. Bids are in. The developer will decide how to proceed.
So I guess that Moreland has wanted this all along?
Given that Pepper Pike Mayor Bruce Akers (R) lives possibly less than one mile from the future home of this Town Center, I’d be curious to know why Pepper Pike residents haven’t received any information whatsoever about the development which will now bookend the entire Orange City Schools campus with construction and more traffic – all in front of 2200 kids.
Although I have absolutely zero to do with this website I found a day or two ago and which came up during a google of Akers’ name today, it makes you wonder, especially when his own party’s members have issues with him too.
Okay – anyone – answers?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 6:30 pm August 25th, 2007 in Politics | 2 Comments
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Aug
24
Please consider doing this if you live in Cuyahoga County and want the chance to say yes or no to an increase in our county’s sales tax:
For Immediate Release
August 23, 2007
Contact: Councilman Zachary Reed
216-410-5734 or gregoryd100@hotmail.com
TAX REFERENDUM GROUP ANNOUNCES DRIVE-THRU PETITION
SIGNING
LAST CHANCE TO SIGN PETITIONS
Your last chance to put the sales tax issue on the
ballot by signing a petition will be Saturday, August
25, 2007 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Come join the putitontheballot.com volunteers at the
following drive-thru locations:
• Main Cleveland Post Office, 2400 Orange Avenue,
Cleveland, 44101
• Lakewood Post Office, 1475 Warren Road, Lakewood
44107
• Cleveland Heights Post Office, 3 Severance Circle,
Cleveland Heights 44118
• Cuyahoga County Administration Building, 1219
Ontario Street, Cleveland 44113
On July 26, a .25% sales tax increase was passed for
Cuyahoga County. The tax goes into effect October 1st
(for 20 years) unless 46,000 signatures of registered
Cuyahoga County voters are submitted by 4:30 pm
Saturday, August 25, 2007.
If the citizens of Cuyahoga County want to vote on
this issue they must turn out and sign the petition.
Tim and Gloria Ferris
Put It On The Ballot Team
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:41 pm August 24th, 2007 in Politics | 1 Comment
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Aug
24
Dan Hanson: print publications realize readers want online materials
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This issue of print markets creating digital content isn’t new – especially to those of us who are freelance writers. We’ve been working the online angle for a long time now – from the perspective of rights, of how the content and structure is different, how to pitch – pretty much everything we were doing with trying to get work in print publications, but applied and altered for trying to snag online work too.
Bill Sloat’s leaky post (just teasing, Bill, promise) from earlier this week supports Dan Hanson’s September 2007 E-Industry article in Inside Business (the issue isn’t online yet, but when it is, his article should be at that first link; what an irony, hm, in an article about print supplementing online?!) even more: the Plain Dealer is reaching out to bloggers to create new content for its audience, as well as grow its audience.
I’m not going to type out Dan’s article but the salient points:
-people are turning to the Internet more and more, and TV less and less
-print magazines are ceasing print publication and going 100% digital
-print isn’t dying but online resources are more contemporaneous
-the online world allows for interaction unlike anything print can provide
-online outlets fill in the time lag between the time when print mags are published and received
And, finally, I’m sorry Dan to reprint this one line of all the lines in your story but it’s one I used in a slightly different version this week too:
For whom the Internet tolls, print media? It tolls for thee.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 1:14 pm August 24th, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Aug
24
Just saying. Read more here in the New York Times front page article, “Hebrew Charter School Spurs Florida Church-State Dispute.”
I know the area of Florida that’s involved well.
The worst misnomer being pushed?
Opponents say that it is impossible to teach Hebrew — and aspects of Jewish culture — outside a religious context, and that Ben Gamla, billed as the nation’s first Hebrew-English charter school, violates one of its paramount legal and political boundaries.
That is absolutely, unequivocally untrue. Yes, Modern Hebrew – which is conversational Hebrew – hasn’t been around that long. But many Hebrew speakers don’t know squat about being Jewish. Please. This is such an anti-Semitic accusation. It’s like saying that it is impossible to teach Arabic and aspects of Arabic culture outside a religious context. Or Italian. Or how about English?
Honestly.
Now – if you were talking about Aramaic or Latin…but Latin’s been taught in public schools for at least several decades, probably longer, yes?
Sigh.
In any case, the fact that Hebrew is not inextricably connected to the religion and therefore provides the legal boundary for why the school fails to qualify to be a charter school has nothing to do with my lack of support for the school as a charter school. It is not a dual-language school and the supporters of the school should stop pretending that it is. What a disservice to families who really want a day school curriculum.
Which is why I don’t support such schools being paid for by taxpayer money that’s intended for public school charters: because they breach the separation of church and state and the establishment of religion by using public funds to teach a religious curriculum. That curriculum is the day school’s raison d’etre.
Additionally, under Ohio’s laws, such charters fail to meet what Ohioans need: alternative environments for niches of students not currently being served. Not being served with religion isn’t part of that “not being served” part.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 12:50 pm August 24th, 2007 in Politics | 20 Comments
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Aug
23
Searchable chart for report cards on all of Ohio’s charters
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Fantastic resource I found – maybe other folks have already seen it here.
Don’t fill in the blank and just hit “search.” Then, you can sort by whichever category you want. Check out what happens when you organize the chart by “met” versus “not met.”
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:09 pm August 23rd, 2007 in Politics | Comments Off
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Aug
23
Today’s postings demonstrate why George Nemeth’s blog, Brewed Fresh Daily (and I’m saying George’s blog because all the posts today are based on the ones he flagged, though there is fantastic content from many other contributors) is the first one and on some days, the only one I check. It has the #1 spot on my quicklinks toolbar for precisely that reason.
Thanks, George.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:25 pm August 23rd, 2007 in Politics | 1 Comment
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