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Friday, August 7, 2009
“Final Four” vie for vacant Senate seat
Four candidates will be interviewed on Monday, Aug. 10, for the 7th District state Senate seat that became vacant with the death of Sen. Robert Schuler, R-Sycamore Twp.
Senate Republicans are to vote for the replacement on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
The candidate, all Republicans, are:
Former state Rep. Tom Brinkman of Cincinnati
Former state Rep. Michelle Schneider of Madeira
State Rep. Shannon Jones of Springboro
Patrick McQuiddy of Lebanon, a pilot
The district includes Warren County and the eastern portion of Hamilton County.
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Strickland joins “Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus”
Gov. Ted Strickland, whose hunting trip with fellow Democrat John Kerry failed to flush out many votes for Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, has joined the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus.
“Sportsmen activities generate billions of dollars for our economy and provide employment opportunities for thousands of people,” Strickland said in a press release on Friday, Aug. 7.
The group plans to support policies and regulations that promote hunting, fishing and wildlife management, the press release said.
Strickland’s sportsmen activities in Ohio include hosting the Governor’s Annual Youth-Celebrity Spring Turkey Hunt, the release said.
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Garrison opposition organizes on Facebook
Outlook Weekly publisher Michael Daniels of Columbus started “Oppose Jennifer Garrison for Secretary of State” on Facebook this week and in less than 24 hours had nearly 100 members.
Daniels, a self-described progressive Democrat, said Garrison, a state representative from Marietta, is anti-gay, anti-union, and pro-guns and is unsuitable for statewide office.
“It’s unacceptable and somebody had to take a stand on this,” Daniels said. “She’s on the wrong side of all the issues.”
But Garrison campaign spokesman Greg Beswick said Garrison’s opponents are off the mark and that Garrison supports a bill to prohibit housing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.
“They’ll see she is a lot more progressive than they were first told,” Beswick said.
Garrison is running against Franklin County Commissioner Marilyn Brown for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state in May 2010.
Garrison beat Republican Nancy Hollister for state representative, in part by criticizing Hollister’s opposition to an anti-gay marriage bill.
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Highway patrol criticized
Flying above Interstate 70 just east of Columbus on a Sunday afternoon, state troopers clocked two motorcycles roaring along at 147 and 149 miles per hour - so fast that the pilot radioed troopers on the ground that the bikes “look like bullets coming at ya.’ “
But Trooper Bryan Lee decided against writing speeding tickets when he found out that the motorcyclists he pulled over were off duty cops, Gahanna Police Officer Christopher Thomas and state Trooper Jason Highsmith.
A 21-page report by state Inspector General Tom Charles on Friday Aug. 7 criticized Lee’s decision as well as “over analysis of the situation” by Ohio Highway Patrol managers who failed to take action for several days after the traffic stop.
Lee’s decision crawled up six levels of patrol command before the trooper was told to issue a ticket to Highsmith; Gahanna police supervisors had to insist that Thomas be ticketed as well, the report said.
The tickets were filed in Licking County Municipal Court on July 6, eight days after the June 28 traffic stop. That triggered media attention and a public outcry.
Charles found that the patrol did not try to cover up the traffic stop and the media scrutiny came only after the tickets had been issued.
Thomas, who is on medical disability leave, appeared in court this week and lost his license for six months. Highsmith, who pleaded not guilty to the traffic violation, is due in court on Monday.
The patrol wrote 23 tickets during the enforcement effort that snagged Highsmith and Thomas but no one else was traveling close to 150 miles per hour that day, the inspector general’s report said.
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