From the WSJ

As college students begin a new academic year, many parents are reeling from tuition fees. This fall’s probable average 8% increase at public universities, added onto double-digit hikes in the two previous years, means tuition at a typical state university is up 36% over 2002-at a time when consumer prices in general rose less than 9%. In inflation-adjusted terms, tuition today is roughly triple what it was when parents of today’s college students attended school in the 1970s. Read the rest HERE.

They sum it up nicely at the end…”Change is coming: it is just a question of when, and in what form.” It can’t come soon enough.

I smell a nice fundraiser coming up…

Former Democrat Georgia Governor and U.S. Senator Zell Miller endorsed Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell for governor in a speech to Columbus pastors and church leaders yesterday, saying Blackwell has the courage to stick to his principles. Miller joins governors Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Rick Perry of Texas in endorsing Blackwell in the last five days.

‘Ken is my kind of Republican,’ said Miller. ‘He knows what is right, wants to accomplish great things for Ohio and has the courage to stick to his principles.’

‘Ken and I have often locked horns with our party leadership. For example, Ken championed Ohio’s marriage amendment (Issue 1) last year and has always fought for lower taxes, even when he was the only Republican to do so,’ Miller concluded.

This article is a nice overview about the Republicans and Democrats running in 2006…

Republicans who are considering running for secretary of state include state Rep. Jim Trakas, R-Independence; Ann Womer Benjamin, director of Ohio’s department of insurance; and Greg Hartmann, the Hamilton County clerk of courts.
Democrats considering running are Jennifer Brunner, a Franklin County Common Pleas judge; Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy; and Peggy Zone Fisher of the Cleveland area, wife of former attorney general Lee Fisher.
For attorney general, Republican contenders being discussed include state Sen. Tim Grendell, R-Chesterland, and Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien. The former law director for the city of Cleveland, Subodh Chandra, is seeking the job as a Democrat.
For treasurer, state Treasurer Jennette Bradley, a Republican, is seeking to retain her office. Quill and Franklin County Treasurer Richard Cordray are running on the Democratic side.
For state auditor state Rep. Mary Taylor, R-Uniontown, is a possible candidate, as are Democrats John Reardon, the Mahoning County auditor; and House Minority Leader Chris Redfern of Catawba Island. Read the rest HERE.

Sounds like Joe Deters….

Four of every five dollars requested by Attorney General Jim Petro for special counsel contracts for this fiscal year will go to law firms that have given money to his political campaigns.

By a 4-to-2 vote along party lines, the State Controlling Board on Monday approved Petro’s request for $19.1 million for 123 unbid contracts.

The contracts include a $375,000 deal for Bailey Cavalieri law firm to handle a Bureau of Workers’ Compensation lawsuit against MDL Capital Management, accused of losing $215 million in BWC money through risky investments. Read the rest HERE.

The state approved $750,000 in legal fees Monday for efforts to recover money lost in Ohio’s ongoing investment scandal.
The State Controlling Board approved this year’s budget for Attorney General Jim Petro to hire outside law firms to represent the state’s insurance fund for injured workers as it sues to recover money lost from a hedge fund and an investment into rare coins. Read the rest HERE.

Cuyahoga County Poverty Rate

Current ~ 13.0
-1 year ~ 15.0
-2 years ~ 13.2
-3 years ~ 13.6
-4 years ~ 14.2

Source: US Census Bureau Press Conference, August 30 2005, 10AM.

Some statements made by US Census Bureau officials during their press conference announcing the new income, earnings and poverty figures.

The United States currently has 37 million people classified as ”�“in poverty”?, or a poverty rate of 12.7. When the bureau first started collecting this information in 1960, there were 39 million Americans classified as in poverty and the rate was 22.4. In those forty years the American poverty rate has drastically decreased.

This year the rate of poverty grew among white Americans, and remained the same among Black and Hispanic Americans. The only demographic to see a reduction in their rate of poverty was Asian Americans.

The Midwest had the largest poverty rate increase, which has been a trend. In the last four years of figures, the poverty rate of the Midwest has been up for two of those years, and the median income has been down for three of those years. Local or regional economists will need to elaborate their theories on the causes of that.
All the information presented today was gathered in mid 2004, so these figures do not necessarily represent any positive economic situation that may have happened so far this year / 2005.

Source: US Census Bureau Press Conference, August 30 2005, 10AM and Q&A 11AM

Cleveland dropped from the #1 poorest bigger city in America to number 12. Detroit has taken over the ranking of poorest city in America. Cleveland’s poverty rate dropped from last year’s figure of 31.4 to the current figure of 23.2.

Source: US Census Bureau Press Conference, August 30 2005, 10AM and Q&A 11AM

Among counties with 250+k population, which ones have the highest poverty rates?

Hidalgo, TX ~ 43.6
Cameron, TX ~ 35.8
El Paso, TX ~ 32.3
Bronx, NY ~ 30.6
Philadelphia, PA ~ 24.9
Baltimore, MD ~ 23.9
Orleans Parish, LA ~ 23.2
Kings, NY ~ 22.6
Caddo Parish, LA ~ 21.7
St. Louis, MO ~ 21.6

…. Cuyahoga County’s Poverty rate is 13.0 ….

Source: US Census Bureau Press Conference, August 30 2005, 10AM.

Which bigger cities (250+k population) have the lowest median household incomes?

1) Miami, FL ~ $24,000
2) Newark, NJ ~ $26,300
3) Cleveland, OH ~ $27,700
4) Detroit, MI ~ $27,900
5) Buffalo, NY ~ $28,500

Source: US Census Bureau Press Conference, August 30 2005, 10AM.

US Census Bureau to release the new community income, poverty and health insurance figures today. Will Cleveland be the poorest bigger city in America again? Stay tuned, our RAB reporters will be covering the press conference and reporting back as it happens.

If you live in Ohio one constantly hears about Ohio’s failing public school system, well this writer seems to be optimistic about the future of Ohio’s schools, all because of school choice…

“This year school choice got a jumpstart. With Ohio leading the way, reformers are finally taking choice to the suburbs. Governor Bob Taft signed a budget this summer authorizing 14,000 new school vouchers. This more than triples the size of Ohio’s voucher student cadre, currently 5,675 Clevelanders in grades K-10. But numbers don’t capture the importance of the Ohio legislation. The new program matters because it takes choice statewide….” Read the rest of the article HERE.

TEL supporter State Rep. Tom Brinkman Jr. (R-Cincinnati) said he was “very disappointed to learn [Blackwell] decided to wait until 2006. We need it now. By delaying this until 2006, he gives opponents time to rally opposition. I don’t think they’d have had time to do that if he had gone for November.

“This was a huge political error on his part. He would be a shoo-in for governor if he put it on now. He got people all psyched up for this. It’s one of the reasons I am not a supporter of his, even though we probably agree on 99.9 percent of everything. He doesn’t get the ball over the goal line.” Brinkman said he supports Attorney General Jim Petro for governor. Read the rest of the article HERE.

This sounds like a Petro theme this spring….

Another article about Taft not hiding…this is his only shot at getting to the 30s….

Ohio Governor Bob Taft, seeking to repair his image and perhaps save his job, didn’t shy from the spotlight after becoming the first Ohio governor convicted of a crime….

As always NEO Babble gives a nice recap regarding the Mayor’s race in Cleveland. Personally we think it will be Draper, unless Lynch can rally all the Republicans around his race. If he can turn out 70-80% of the GOP in Cleveland he will get in the run off (but this will be very tough to do). The only problem is there are many Republicans who have already committed to either Draper or Triozzi or even Campbell; if Lynch would have announced a few months ago things might have been different.

“Dayton native Colin Beach has announced his candidacy for Ohio Secretary of State. ”

“The Republican graduated from Capital University Law School in Columbus in May and had a kickoff for his campaign Monday morning at the Schuster Performing Arts Center.”

“…others that have announced their candidacy include Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat from Franklin County, Greg Hartmann, a Republican from Hamilton County, and Jim Trakas, a Republican from Cuyahoga County. ” Read the rest HERE.

I still have a feeling it will be Hartmann v. Trakas, unless someone can tell me more information on this Beach guy.

The only way Taft has a shot to increase his numbers is to be visible and talk to as many Ohioans as possible and that looks to be what he is doing. Read about it HERE.

There’s no shortage of sibling rivalry among Ohio’s public colleges and universities, elbowing for attention, enrollment and a bigger allowance from the state.

As in most families, there also is evidence of accord - chores tackled in tandem when a common purpose transcends the irresistible urge to trade jabs.

Yet as college presidents tout the value of growing collaboration, state leaders and others question whether Ohio could reap more from its more than $2 billion yearly investment. Read the rest of the story HERE.

If they are to survive some major changes must be implemented, this a good read.

“The governor has never governed by polls,” Rickel said.

And if he had….?

From a speech last year, thanks to the Toledo Blade…

Remarks by Gov. Bob Taft at the Aug. 24, 2004, 50th birthday roast for Tom Noe at Holland Gardens banquet hall. The roast doubled as a fund-raiser for the Lucas County Republican Party.First of all, I want to say that I am not here to embarrass Tom Noe. He’s been a good friend for a long time.

So I’m not going to tell you about the other life that he leads when he’s down there in Columbus. For example, I could tell you there’s a reason Tom chis companympany Vintage Coins & Collectibles the wine stewards in Columbus know him as Magnum Tom. And I’m not going to talk about the time he got up in a Columbus restaurant and sang Oh, Canada to the entire Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.

No, tonight I’m going to stick to Tom’s important official duties,like the Turnpike Commission.His friends at the turnpike helped him celebrate his 50th by putting a sign on the lawn in front of their building: Tom Noe: 50 Older than the turnpike! And when you think about it there are a lot of similarities between Tom and the turnpike:He’s always taking our $, he’s as dense as concrete, he’s as slick as asphalt, and he’s adding a third lane around his middle.

You may not know that when Tom drove over to Cleveland to attend his first turnpike meeting, he got stopped for speeding. It’s no wonder the guy’s trying to raise the speed limit on the turnpike! Seriously though, Tom’s been a great member and chair of the Ohio Turnpike Commission, and in honor of his leadership, I’m pleased to announce that the Toll Booth at mile 5 will henceforth be known as the Thomas W. Noe Toll Booth. By the way, can’t you just imagine Tom Noe out there in that booth collecting tolls scrutinizing each coin to determine its actual value and cutting deals for drivers who buy some of his rare coins.

Jerry already commented on. I know you all appreciate the irony of Tom, who never graduated from college, chairing the Ohio Board of Regents.Actually, we are going to feature Tom in our new ad to promote college enrollment and completion in Ohio.

Scene #1 shows Tom relaat thisin his lawn chair down athis 100-room mansion in the Florida Keys, while the camera pans over to the foreclosure sign in the front yard.
Scene #2 features Bernadette, Tom’s beautiful, talented, intelligent wife who explains how she has to practice law to support Tom’s lifestyle.
Scene #3 is fi lmed out at Inverness and shows Tom playing golf with the governor of Ohio, but he’s forced to drive with a 3 iron, because he can’t afford to buy a set of woods.
The final scene has Tom in his offi ce at Vintage Coins surrounded by 10-year-old Beanie Babies. As the camera zooms in, Tom says, For God’s sake, finish college. You don’t want to end up like me. To get rich, I had to corner the Beanie Baby market in Toledo!

This is actually somewhat funny.