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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > July > 30
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Dayton leaders praise Bush for signing homeowners act
Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin and city leaders issued a statement Wednesday in response to President Bush signing the Hope for Homeowners Act of 2008, which promises mortgage relief to hundreds of thousands of homeowners across the country.
“On behalf of the entire Dayton Commission, we are very happy that President Bush today signed long-overdue legislation to provide relief to homeowners who have become victims of the mortgage crisis in America,” McLin said in the statement.
“Studies have shown Ohio to be among the hardest-hit by the mortgage crisis. Dayton and the surrounding region have certainly not been immune to the affects of predatory lending practices and the related impact to the housing industry at large.
“This new federal legislation will provide much-needed assistance in the form of aid for homeowners, a permanent housing fund, and neighborhood grants. These measures will certainly provide welcome relief for the residents of our community.”
McLin also encourages anyone who has been affected by the mortgage crisis to contact the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center at 223-6035 for more information on how they can take advantage of the new federal legislation.
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TweetLauterbach to testify Thursday
Mary Lauterbach, the mother of Maria Lauterbach, will testify before a House subcommittee Thursday, July 31, to talk about her daughter’s experience in the military leading up to her murder in December.
Mary Lauterbach will testify before the National Security and Foreign Affairs subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Thursday morning. She said she wants to talk about her daughter’s experiences after she accused a colleague of sexual assault last year.
Lauterbach, a 20-year-old Vandalia native, was discovered Jan. 11, buried beneath the fire pit in fellow Marine Cpl. Cesar Armando Laurean’s backyard near Camp Lejeune. Lauterbach, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, had accused Laurean of raping her in April 2007. Laurean has been charged with Lauterbach’s murder.
Turner and a colleague, Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., earlier this week introduced a bill listing issues regarding rape in the military that they would like to see the Department of Defense investigate. The bill is expected to be a first step to further action on how to better address sexual assault in the military.
Turner, a member of the subcommittee, credited a visit to Capitol Hill by Mary Lauterbach earlier this year with spurring Harman’s interest in the bill. Harman, also, is scheduled to testify before the subcommittee on Thursday.
Among the ideas Mary Lauterbach would like to push: making it easier for victims of sexual assault to transfer to another base. In the aftermath of her allegations, Maria Lauterbach often expressed a desire to transfer to another base. “Maria would be alive today if that option were available,” Mary Lauterbach said.
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TweetFirst trailer for Oliver Stone’s ‘W.’ released
First it was J.F.K and then Nixon, now director Oliver Stone is turning to President George W. Bush. The first movie trailer for Stone’s controversial movie “W.”, about the life of President Bush, was released earlier this week. The movie will open in U.S. and Ohio theaters in October, just in time for Election Day.
Josh Brolin portrays President Bush, James Cromwell is President George H.W. Bush and Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush.
There is no question the movie will be controversial. Let us know what you think of the trailer and if you plan to see the movie when it hits Dayton-area theaters later this year.
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TweetDann wants public records
When Democrat Marc Dann started his career as a state official, he often used the Open Records laws to pry information from the hands of opponents. Then as attorney general, he delivered records to the media that sometimes damned his administration.
Now out of office, Dann is once again using the Open Records law.
Dann sent a records request to the Attorney General’s office asking for his personal schedules, e-mails and expense records that have been given to others through records requests. He also wants the names and contact information of anyone who asked for public records about him. And he’s looking for copies of talking points and speeches he delivered, news stories about him or the office accomplishments, and drafts of the office annual report that was being prepared before May 15.
Ted Hart, spokesman for Attorney General Nancy Hardin Rogers, said it’s a lot of records.
“It’ll take a little bit of time (to fulfill the records request) but it’s not as large as some of the ones we’ve received,” Hart said. The office already gave Dann the news stories and a spreadsheet of all the records requests, he said.
Dann and former members of his administration are the subject of investigations by the Ohio Ethics Commission, state Inspector General, Ohio Highway Patrol, state Auditor, and others.
Dann resigned in May after admitting he had an affair with his scheduler, that he was ill-prepared to be attorney general, and that his behavior may have sent a message to his friends about how they could treat colleagues in the office.
Dann said in a recent e-mail to the Dayton Daily News that he is spending time with his family and working to rebuild his law office.
He said he has not been notified of any disciplinary investigation of him by the Ohio Supreme Court or the local bar association. Such investigations - conducted when there are complaints of ethics or professional standards violations - are confidential until probable cause is found.
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TweetForbes faces discipline
Former Cleveland City Councilman George Forbes will defend his law license before a disciplinary panel of the Ohio Supreme Court later this month.
The disciplinary panel rejected a proposed public reprimand for Forbes and opted instead to hold a public hearing on Aug. 14.
Forbes was convicted in Franklin County Municipal Court on six misdemeanor charges in July 2007 that he violated state ethics laws. Forbes, a Democrat who served 26 years on the Cleveland City Council and 10 years on the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Oversight Commission, took fancy meals, charter flights, limo rides and other gifts from businesses seeking a slice of the BWC’s enormous investment portfolio.
Forbes was one of 20 people criminally charged in an investment and ethics scandal that broke in April 2005. Eventually, the scandal tainted Republicans running for statewide offices, setting up a Democratic comeback in 2006.
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