Fairborn commencement
Badin graduation
Division I regional track finals
Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2009 > June > 24
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
UPDATED: Turner, placed on porker list, defends project as worthy
It appears U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, has filled the shoes of retired U.S. Rep. David Hobson in at least one respect: The anti-pork groups that once bashed Hobson for his earmarks now have Turner in their sights.
Take the June 24 release from Citizens Against Government Waste, the watchdog that looks out for so-called “pork” projects in authorization and appropriations projects. The group previously bashed Hobson for a gas station he sought an earmark for near Wilberforce and Central State Universities, as well as a handicapped-accessible bathroom at a park in Springfield.
This year, they tagged Turner for a $4 million earmark he sought in the House version of the Defense Authorizations Act. The earmark is for “Open Source Research Centers” for Radiance Technologies in Fairborn.
Say what?
According to Turner’s description, posted on his web-site the program will establish 75 living wage jobs in Ohio. The center’s primary focus will provide relief for federal and state government analysts currently over-burdened with dual research requirements on classified and open source information.
This program is aimed at helping the intelligence community collect information vital to national security while expanding job training and employment in Dayton.
Turner says the project is aimed at helping GM and Delphi workers who’ve lost their job find new jobs supporting Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
“This is important for our community to recover from job loss and to support Wright-Patterson Air Force Base expansion,” he said.
Turner’s earmark was lumped in with requests to build a chapel complext at Fort Campbell in Kentucky; $7 million for Marine Mammal Awareness, Alert and Response Systems and $2.5 million for whale and dolphin hearing and echolocation projects in Hawaii.
The release also lauds the fact that the Joint Strike Fighter’s alternative engine program, which received $465 million in earmarks in fiscal year 2009, received nothing this year. That may be good news for Citizens Against Government Waste, but it’s not great for GE in Evendale, Ohio: That’s where the second engine is being developed.
UPDATE: Rick Tincher, CAP chair for the Dayton Metropolitan CAP Council and a United Auto Workers official with Local 696, said the project will help a community that is struggling for jobs. He’s supportive of the project, and has worked with Turner and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in hopes of seeing the Open Source Research Center become a reality.
“This is not a Bridge to Nowhere,” he said. “This is not just finding out the breeding habits of fish. This establishes jobs from day one and training at the same time.”
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment |
Senate passes DNA testing bill
The Ohio Senate voted 31-1 on Wednesday, June 24, in favor of a bill that would expand convicted felons’ access to DNA tests, encourage police to video or audio tape interrogations, and establish statewide standards for how long police and prosecutors should keep biological evidence in the most serious felony cases.
The bill would also require blind administration of suspect line ups, to avoid police giving subtle hints to witnesses about who the suspect is. Roughly three-quarters of wrongful convictions are attributed to mistakes by eyewitness identifications.
Three men who spent a combined 111 years behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit sat in the Senate chambers and applauded the bill. State Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, called the men living proof that the criminal justice system doesn’t always work. Seitz said the bill will help improve the system.
It now moves to the Ohio House for consideration.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Casino backers to turn in ballot signatures on Thursday
Backers of a ballot proposal to put casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo are “very confident” they’ll have more than the required 402,275 valid signatures needed to get the issue on the Nov. 3 ballot, Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for the group, said on Wednesday, June 24.
The casino backers plan to turn the petitions with the signatures in to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner on Thursday, June 25, ahead of the July 1 deadline. Tenenbaum said they will have far more than the required numbers. Challenges to signatures frequently occur.
The Ohio Jobs & Growth Plan, backed by Penn National Gaming of Wyomissing, Pa. and Dan Gilbert, Cleveland Cavaliers’ principal owner, say the plan would create 20,000 new jobs and additional revenue for the state, all 88 counties, the eight largest cities and all school districts.
The group is continuing its efforts despite a proposal by Gov. Ted Strickland to put video slot machines at Ohio’s seven racetracks.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
Ohio voters (barely) OK with Obama; Sens. Voinovich, Brown slump
Ohio voters are OK with President Barack Obama’s job performance but aren’t as happy with their two senators - Republican George Voinovich an Democrat Sherrod Brown.
Public Policy Polling of Raleigh, N.C. on Wednesday, June 24, released a poll that showed 51 percent of voters approved of Obama’s performance and 40 percent disapproved.
Approval ratings for Voinovich and Brown were below 40 percent. Brown registered 38 percent approval and 36 percent disapproval. Voinovich did slightly worse, with 44 percent disapproving and 37 percent approving.
The poll was taken from Wednesday, June 17 to Friday, June 19 with 619 voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment |
Advocates rally to restore budget cuts
Advocates, patients and recovering addicts gathered outside the Statehouse on a sunny Wednesday, June 24, to protest cuts in the proposed state budget and even implored lawmakers and Gov. Ted Strickland to raise taxes - an option Strickland and lawmakers say is off the table.
Donna Thielman, 80, of Dayton, told the crowd of about 300 that she recently was diagnosed with cancer and is worried about her son, 47, who lives in a group home. Funding for the program supporting the home would be cut.
“I don’t want him to become a street person,” Thielman said.
Hope Manley, 33, of Troy, a recovering heroin addict and rape victim who suffers from post-traumatic stress, said she would be lost without the help she receives at the SafeHaven Mental Health Support Center in Piqua.
Asked what she’d do if she couldn’t go there for counseling, she said:
“I’d cut myself.”
The rally was one of several events staged in an effort to influence Strickland and lawmakers as they try to fill a $3.2 billion hole in the proposed budget. Strickland wants to sign the new budget before Wednesday, July 1, start of the new fiscal year.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
How to fill state budget hole: cuts, slots, taxes?
Gov. Ted Strickland and state legislators are racing toward a Tuesday, June 30, deadline to come up with a new two-year state budget.
Their biggest problem is filling a $3.2 billion hole in the projected budget. Here’s a chance to join the debate.
