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The views
expressed on
this page are soley those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views
of County
News Online
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Darke
County
Commissioner Mike Stegall… Is
Now the Time?
Several months ago at my “Coffee with the Commissioner” gathering at
New Madison, I mentioned that someday I thought Darke County would have
to
take a look at going to a joint Fire district, and then maybe a joint
EMS district, or both. This was me just thinking out loud in light of
the current
and future economic conditions. Believe it or not, we elected officials
do think once in a while! I indicated that I would like to put a
committee together
to... read
more
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Commissioner’s
Corner… Record
crowds at the fair; great weather
The Great Darke County Fair is underway and with the cooler
temperatures and perfect weather, it seems as if the Fair could be in
for record crowds. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves,
and
as of this writing, there have been very few incidents to report, and
so far, nothing major. It seems as though we have a lot more
visitors from in state and out of state this year... read
more
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Drought
Continues to
Affect Agriculture in Western Ohio, By Sam
Custer
OSU Extension, Darke County - While visiting with area farmers and
agriculture businesspersons at the great Darke County Fair this week it
is clear that we are looking at many surprises this fall.
Reported silage yields ranged from 7 to 19 tons per acre ranging from
35% to 90% of normal yields. These variations in yields can
be
found within a couple of miles of each other. For those of you who are
trying to determine your possible soybean yield this fall I share with
you this piece of information... read
more
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How
would the City
pay for Medics? By Bob Rhoades
Comparing Apples to Apples, Part 2 - In the August 23 edition of the
County News Online I wrote an article concerning Rod Hale’s suggestion
that city council visit other cities with comparable fire departments
citing Sidney and Celina. I actually found out since then that although
it was attributed to him, it wasn’t his idea. I related that was an
excellent idea as we finally would be able to compare Apples... read
more
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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown... Ensuring
Ohio Workers Can Compete
More than 200 days ago, the Senate passed a bipartisan jobs bill that
could create or save two million jobs at no cost to taxpayers. Yet, the
House of Representatives has refused to consider this common-sense
legislation. Now is the time for the House of Representatives to act.
The bill addresses one of the biggest challenges facing Ohio
manufacturers – unfair competition from Chinese products that are
flooding our... read
more
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Representative Richard Adams… State’s
Job-Search Website is a Valuable Resource
If you have been actively looking for a job recently, you may have
heard of the website OhioMeansJobs.com. If not, then I encourage you to
check it out. The site is a great resource for employers and jobseekers
alike to find what they are looking for in the jobs market. This
service has been introduced in other states as well, the Ohio version
has existed for a couple years. It is becoming especially relevant now
that the... read
more
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Republican National Convention… Living
my Dream, Part 2, By Lyn Bliss
Email. What did we ever do without it?? Wish I would have
started
keeping track of all the emails I have received and sent regarding the
Republican National Convention. Well, maybe I don’t want to know…
Things are progressing. No, let me make that ‘they are flying’! The
date of departure seems to be coming toward me like a speeding bullet.
The list of things to do seems to grow and apprehension has set in... read
more
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Apples
to Apples: A firmly entrenched EMS system,
By Bob
Rhoades
Rod
Hale’s admonishment to compare Greenville to Sidney and Celina in the
recent Daily Advocate article is a welcome thought. Finally we’re
comparing apples to apples, well almost! Like always if we hang around
long enough, a good idea pops up. If and when the committee goes to
Sidney, the first thing they’ll see is one of the firefighters that
Greenville hired first. He left and went to Sidney because he said...
read
more
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Volunteer Fire
Departments…corrections and verifications By
Bob Robinson
Last week I posted an opinion from a reader on the City of Greenville /
Greenville Fire Department issue. Due to the individual’s
name recognition in the community, he requested I not use it. I checked
a couple of the items he sent; was satisfied; and published.
Big mistake. It seems there were errors. They were quickly pointed out
to me. I made the decision to publish the opinion… my responsibility.
I accept it. Since then, the individual has....
read
more
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Volunteer Fire Departments…
really? By Bob Rhoades
A
faithful CNO Reader’s article on Volunteer Fire Departments was very
good, not real accurate, but good. I actually sat down and researched
the departments he listed. Here is what I found and the citation for
each. 1. Pasadena, TX - It is the largest Volunteer Dept. 2.
Alexandria, VA - Key sentence on the first page of their webpage:
Today, the department employs more than 250 professional personnel...
read
more
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A Second look at the Vicious Cycle, By
Bob Rhoades
Vicious
Cycle Part 2
The possible Greenville City layoffs
The
announcement last week of possible layoffs in the city employee ranks
has stirred the ire of a few people. Others who can remember back
longer than six months have pushed a couple of questions...
read
more
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And the Vicious Cycle begins, By
Bob Rhoades
The
city of Greenville’s ill-advised decision to lay off fire department
personnel and cripple the ability of the Fire Department to defend the
city from fire is just the beginning of a vicious cycle that, once
started, will be hard to stop. Total
proposed reductions in the fire department budget are $382,896. This
includes the elimination of the Asst. Chief Position, 4 firefighters
and the Secretary...
read
more
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The
other side of the story... A different perspective on the
Greenville Fire Department issue
Editing
and Comments by Bob Robinson -
One
of the things I love about an online news and information service is it
is not limited to a regimented format. I received a letter from a
reader regarding the City of Greenville Fire Department issue. After
reading it I felt it deserved more prominence than that of a letter to
the editor. It
was sent prior to Bob Rhoades’ column being posted, so it was not in
response to his... read
more
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U.S.
Senator Sherrod Brown… Connecting Veterans with New
Employment Opportunities
Ohio
is home to more than 890,000 veterans, making our state the nation’s
sixth-largest population of veterans. Despite
their service, an unacceptably high number of veterans struggle to find
work. Just as we invest in our servicemembers while they’re on the
battlefield, we should do the same when they return home. That’s
why it’s imperative that we do a better job of connecting veterans with
the support...
read
more
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Obama's great quest,
By Bob Robinson
Well,
it was bound to happen. It took nearly 19 months of online publication
seven days a week, but my poor old computer finally rebelled. She will
be getting an internal face lift today. It will take a couple days to
get back to normal, but we'll be back on track shortly. That, however,
is not the reason for this opinion piece. Romney's pick of Paul Ryan as
his V.P. running mate is. Talk about an energized base... Read
More.
More Opinion.
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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown... Fighting
for Ohio’s Farms
There’s a lot that farmers can plan for: the type of crops to grow, how
much acreage those crops will cover, and when to pick those crops. But
this year, a widespread drought has left many Ohio farmers with an
unplanned disaster: fields dry as a bone and minimal yields. According
to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research
Service, Ohio and most of the U.S. are in the midst of the most... read
more
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Mitt Romney Press... Memorandum:
Obama For America Ohio Lawsuit
August 5, 2012 - On July 17, 2012, Obama for America and the Democratic
National Committee filed suit against the Attorney General and
Secretary of State of Ohio. In their lawsuit, the Obama
campaign
and the DNC argue it is “arbitrary” and unconstitutional to provide
three extra days of early, in-person voting to military voters and
their families. At least 20 times in their legal papers, they
argue that there is no good... read
more
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New GTI facility in Winchester… Exploring
outside the fort… am I missing something?
By Bob Rhoades - Bill LaFramboise, the executive vice president of GTI
in Greenville, in a recent press release by Indiana Governor Mitch
Daniels said “This new plant is needed (in Anderson, Ind.) due to
capacity limitations and a tight labor market in Greenville,
Ohio,” If you look on CityData.com, it says Greenville has an
unemployment rate of around 10%. The loss of 325 jobs to
Anderson... read
more
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Congressman John Boehner… On
July Unemployment: “Private Sector still isn’t ‘doing fine’”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) released
the following statement regarding the Department of Labor’s
unemployment report for July 2012: “Two years after the Obama
administration declared, ‘welcome to the recovery,’ this much is clear:
with 42 consecutive months of unemployment above eight percent, the
private sector still isn’t ‘doing fine’ and President Obama’s economic
plan... read
more
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What’s
Not to Like?
That’s My Opinion, By Bob Robinson
As the final comments, commentary and opinion filter in from Annie
Oakley Days and the community begins to prep for The Great Darke County
Fair, I thought about the trials, tribulations and successes of past
Annie Oakley celebrations and how they relate to seemingly similar
concerns today. I find it fascinating that people are still talking
about the demise of the Annie Oakley Days Festival... read
more
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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown... Addressing
Wrongful Foreclosures
If you’re one of the thousands of Ohio families who has experienced the
pain of losing your home to a wrongful foreclosure, help could finally
be on the way. But you must act quickly. Before the reports of
widespread foreclosure fraud two years ago, Ohio had 14 consecutive
years of increased foreclosures. Then, we discovered that many of the
biggest banks in the country simply didn’t follow the law and give
people... read
more
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Senator Bill Beagle... Online
Employment Tool a Winner for Job Seekers and Employers
With unemployment at a four-year low and the addition of 111,300 new
jobs since January of last year, Ohio’s economic outlook is much
brighter now than in recent years. A cornerstone to this
progress
has been the attraction of outside businesses to our state and the new
opportunities that they bring. However, even with numerous
new
avenues for employment, searching for a job can prove to be a
daunting... read
more
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Commissioners Corner… County
to
get $46K, first check from casinos
It is hard to believe that as this is written, Annie Oakley Days, The
Gathering at Garst, and the Great Darke County Fair are just around the
corner. On Sunday, July 22nd, the Elected Officials attended
the
North Star parade, and then later, competed in a “Family Feud”
contest. The “Politicians,” (as we were called) consisted of
Scott Zumbrink, Jim Surber... read
more
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