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“Good Government” (my eye!)
, By Kate Burch
The so-called “liberals” who are outraged by the Citizens United
Supreme Court decision have received a major smackdown in the Wisconsin
Supreme Court. These same people insist that there is no
problem
with heavy governmental regulation on political speech; that free
speech in general is not thereby imperiled; that they only seek “good
government.” They also were…
read
more.
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Travel
around D.C., By Susan Olling
If you’ve visited the greater D.C. environs, you are well aware of the
transportation options available: your vehicle or
Metro. I
suppose you could take a cab, but why? Tour buses don’t
count. As
you get to your hotel, you will have had the privilege of driving in
some of the worst traffic congestion in the country with drivers who,
for starters, don’t always…
read
more.
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Broke
Wife, Big City… August?
What do you mean it’s almost August?
By Aprill Brandon
Things I planned to do this summer: Go to the beach as much as
possible. Take my toddler to the Tiny Tot summer reading program at the
library every Monday. Take a weekend trip to Maine. Sign my kid up for
swimming lessons. Go camping. Go to the free sunrise yoga in the park.
Wear sundresses and flowers in my hair. Drink a glass of wine on the
back porch with my husband…
read
more.
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Ohio
Republican Party… Special
Report – Kasich & More
History was made in Columbus on Tuesday as Governor John Kasich
announced his candidacy for President of the United States.
Addressing a crowd of thousands of supporters at his alma mater, The
Ohio State University, Kasich talked about his record of accomplishment
at the state and federal level - something no other candidate
in
the field can boast of - and his own…
read
more.
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State
Representative Jim Buchy… It Takes a Team to Help a Person
Suffering
from Addiction
Over the past year local leaders have been meeting to discuss our areas
drug problem under the leadership of the Darke County Chamber of
Commerce. As a result of those discussions Ohio law has been
updated to ensure medical professionals and mental health professionals
are able to communicate regarding a patient suffering from drug
addiction. Local leaders know it takes a team to help…
read
more.
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The
White House… A
New Blue Marble
From President Obama: Just got this new blue marble photo from NASA. A
beautiful reminder that we need to protect the only planet we have…
Earth. Not mounted on a stand, with color-coded state and national
boundaries, as schoolroom globes are prone to display. Instead, we see
our world as only a cosmic perspective can provide: blue oceans, dry
land, white clouds, polar ice…
read
more.
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U.S.
Senator Sherrod Brown… Fixing
Errors on Ohioans’ Credit Reports
Too many Ohioans are still feeling the effects of the 2008 financial
crisis — particularly on their credit scores. More than 50 million
consumers saw their credit scores plunge more than 20 points during the
worst days of the crisis, from 2008 to 2009. Many still haven’t fully
recovered. To make matters worse, one-in-five consumers has an error on
his or her credit report. These errors can have serious…
read
more.
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Silence
Is Not Golden, By Kate
Burch
This past week I viewed an unspeakable horror, and I cannot banish it
from my mind. It was video of a female physician, of some
rank at
Planned Parenthood, casually discussing, while eating salad and sipping
wine, the use of ultrasound to guide the forceps as she performed an
abortion so that the more valuable parts of the baby’s body would…
read
more.
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State
Representative Jim Buchy… Working
to Keep Avian Influenza Out of Ohio
Ohio’s $2.3 billion poultry industry relies on the health of the
animals. As the second largest producer of eggs in the country, and
home to over 40 million chickens and turkeys, Ohio needs to do its best
to protect these crucial assets to our poultry industry. Avian
influenza presents a serious threat to our agricultural sector, and we
must go to every extent…
read
more.
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Senator Sherrod Brown… Senate
Passes Grant Program for Community Schools
Too many students face challenges outside of the classroom including
hunger, homelessness, and a lack of access to health care. These
challenges at home can undermine classroom performance and leave
students struggling to keep up. Community schools help students and
their families overcome the barriers to accessing these urgent…
read
more.
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Broke
Wife, Big City… Voted
Most
Likely to Write an Awkward Blog, By Aprill
Brandon
Dear fellow high school classmates, ‘Sup? Or…I don’t know. Greetings!
Or however the hell we’re supposed to address each other now that we’re
all in our 30s. Hi? Hello? Salutations my brothers-and sisters-in-arms
in the war known as the Public Education System? You’ll all be glad to
know, as per your multiple requests in my yearbook, that I did, in
fact, stay cool but didn’t freeze…
read
more.
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The
White House… The
Iran Deal
Today, after two years of negotiations, the United States -- together
with our international partners -- has achieved what decades of
animosity has not: A comprehensive, long-term deal that will verifiably
prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This deal shows the real
and meaningful change that American leadership and diplomacy…
read
more.
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Fair
Season,
By Susan
Olling
Fair season’s starting here in the Free State. It would be
unfair
to compare county fairs here with some of those in Ohio (the one in
Greenville comes to mind) or Indiana (land of Mr. History).
The
first MoCo fair was in 1949. Yeah, yeah, not as long as the
Great
Darke County Fair, but who’s counting? We started
volunteering at
the MoCo fair twenty-one years ago, thanks to one of our…
read
more.
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Broke
Wife, Big City… Spongebrain
NoPants (or How to Make Your Kid Wicked Smart),
By Aprill Brandon - I’d always heard the phrase “a child’s brain is
like a sponge, soaking up everything.” But it wasn’t until I had a kid
of my own that I began to truly understand just what that meant. Their
brains are, indeed, little sponges. Little, tiny, thirsty sponges that
soak up any and all knowledge. In particular, any knowledge that may be
left in…
read
more.
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Judge
Not…
By Kate Burch
The ongoing frenzy to remove every symbol, every artistic
representation, of the Confederacy from public view provides yet
another example of what fallen creatures we humans are.
Fallen
creatures and, too often, fools as well. Politicians and
pundits
of the Left, especially—you know, the ones who tell us that we should
have a “nuanced view”—are pronouncing the Confederate…
read
more.
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State
Representative Jim Buchy… A Road
Map for State Spending
The state operating budget began as a proposal by Governor Kasich,
submitted to the General Assembly back in February. Now that the bill
has passed through the General Assembly and been signed into law by the
Governor, we have a road map for state spending for the next two years.
There are two main things we should note. First, we saw many
compromises between the Governor…
read
more.
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State
Rep.
Steve Huffman… House
Bill 80:
Supporting Ohio’s Number One Industry
As Ohio’s number one industry, agriculture is incredibly important to
the well-being of our state. I am pleased to report that the Ohio House
of Representatives recently passed House Bill 80, a piece of
legislation designed to protect the budding agritourism industry.
Agritourism is any agriculturally related educational, entertainment,
historical, cultural, or recreational activity conducted on a farm…
read
more.
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Some Thoughts on Obergefell v.
Hodges,
By Kate Burch
Listening to Rush Limbaugh yesterday as I was doing some scutwork in
the house, I heard him ask why there was no public outrage, no flurry
of demonstrations in the streets, following the Supreme Court rulings
last week, particularly the one requiring all states to license and
recognize same-sex “marriage.” For a fact, there is plenty of outrage,
but I think there is also plenty of resigned hopelessness…
read
more.
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U.S.
Senator Sherrod Brown… Paying
Ohioans the Overtime They’ve Earned
Too many Ohioans are still struggling in today’s economy. They work
hard, but still have trouble getting by. For many workers, it feels as
though the harder and longer they work, the less they have to show for
it. They aren’t imagining things. Over the past three decades, wages
for American workers have stagnated, while the number of hours workers
spend on the job has gone up…
read
more.
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Broke
Wife, Big City… I’m
happy… and
it’s just the worst, By Aprill Brandon
Writer’s block. Block o’ the writer. Le bloc de scribe. Blockity block
block. Block is a funny word. Block. Block. Block. And the word has
lost all meaning to me. Block. It doesn’t even sound like a real word.
Blockblockblockblockblockblock. I want cheese. I don’t know if you can
tell or not, but I’ve been having a touch of the writer’s block lately.
So please…
read
more.
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U.S.
Senator Sherrod Brown… Big
Tobacco’s New Assault on Our Children
Protecting our children from the dangers of tobacco products has always
been a challenge — and now Big Tobacco has a new product it is actively
peddling to children and teens. E-cigarettes are the new frontier in
tobacco companies’ quest to get kids addicted while they are young.
After just a few years on the market, minors’ use of e-cigarettes has
now surpassed their use of traditional cigarettes…
read
more.
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Ohio
Department of Transportation… Ringing
in Fiscal Year 2016
Last night, Governor John R. Kasich signed into law the $72 billion,
two-year state budget bill. The legislation continues the momentum of
economic growth in Ohio. At the Ohio Department of Transportation, we
are innovating and identifying creative ways to pay for our growing
transportation system. The governor’s transportation budget enacted
earlier this year supports jobs, economic growth, safety, and continues…
read
more.
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State Representative Jim Buchy… Marijuana,
Monopoly, FOLLOW THE MONEY
It appears Ohioans will be determining the fate of the marijuana
legalization debate in the near future. I am interested to
see
how direct democracy will work in this situation. I am
excited
about the freedom of Ohioans to cast a vote regarding their wishes, but
remain concerned about recent trends in the use of the initiative. All
too often these citizen-driven…
read
more.
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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown… Happy
Fourth of July
Two hundred and thirty-nine years ago a group of patriots began a grand
new nation founded on a radical principle: that all men are created
equal. More than two centuries later, we are still working to form the
more perfect union our forefathers envisioned, based on that
fundamental value. As recent as last week with the Obergefell v. Hodges…
read
more.
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