The city of Lorain has a new Republican Mayor.

Ohio Senate Bill 117, which is now law and puts sensible limitations on non-economic damages from lawsuits and gets rid of frivolous lead paint lawsuits, can be put before voters as a ballot referendum as of 8/1/07, according to today’s decision by the Ohio Supreme Court. The clarification was requested by Secretary of State Brunner.

Click here to download the opinion. From what I have read of it, it is perfectly reasonable, as the law wasn’t in effect until after the Supreme Court overruled Gov. Strickland’s illegal veto- And even though Strickland’s and Brunner’s actions were improper, petitioners would have nothing to file a referendum on until after the court published it’s opinion.

And according to a source, even though a brief in opposition from Jon Husted and Bill Harris wouldn’t have mattered much, the fact that they didn’t file one is a legal faux pas.

How much do you think the trial lawyer lobby is willing to spend to get rid of this law?

Here is a local puff piece for Senator Brown from the Star Beacon (Ashland, OH):

ASHTABULA — As a junior high school student, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown admired former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King.

“They saw life idealistically and practically,” he said. “They saw something bigger than themselves.”

Today, Brown sits at the late Kennedy’s desk in the U.S. Senate.

“When you open the drawer, everyone who ever sat at the desk carved his initials in the drawer,” he said. “His initials are there.

Sherrod Brown, like most congressional Democrats, has been a long-time opponent of the PATRIOT Act and other measures which give law enforcement the necessary tools to trace and listen into conversations between terrorists.

It is ironic that Brown would mention Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King as two people he admires. Robert Kennedy, along with his brother President John Kennedy, authorized wire taps and harassment against Martin Luther King because of his ties to communism, which included King’s close friendship with Stanley Levison.

Does Sherrod Brown believe that MLK was more of a threat then than Al-Qaeda is today? Or is Sherrod just taking part in a selective reading of recent American history?

From the AP:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Three prominent Ohio Democrats are giving away contributions associated with a New York apparel executive who skipped his 1991 sentencing on charges he defrauded investors in California.

Governor Ted Strickland, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and US Senator Sherrod Brown are donating to charity money given to them by Norman Hsu, or those reportedly associated with him. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton announced earlier this week that it would return $23,000 that Hsu made to her present and past campaigns and political action committee.

Strickland is donating $10,000 he received from Hsu. Brunner is donating the 3,000 she received from Hsu. And Brown is donating $1,500 he received from donors reportedly associated with Hsu.

According to Mark Niquette’s report in The Dispatch, Ted Strickland’s memory is suspiciously fuzzy and Brunner spoke at the criminal’s house:

Records show that Hsu gave $10,000 to Strickland as part of events or meetings in New York on May 19, 2006, that raised nearly $98,000 for the governor’s campaign.

Strickland doesn’t recall meeting with Hsu, but it’s possible he did, said Randy Borntrager, an Ohio Democratic Party spokesman responding on behalf of the governor.

Brunner isn’t certain whether the $3,000 she got from Hsu on Nov. 9, 2006, came from a campaign fundraising letter or through a Democratic National Committee appeal, spokesman Jeff Ortega said.

But Brunner did speak at Hsu’s New York home on June 27 this year at the request of the Twenty-First Century Democrats, which held a fundraiser there, he said.

Brunner had “minimal conversation” with Hsu at the event, but he has had no other interaction with her or the office, Ortega said.

This is just another example of the Democrat’s new culture of corruption.

And as Mark said in the comments, Strickland needs to give back $98,000, not $10,000.

From The Toledo Blade:

Democrats on Toledo City Council “inappropriately” elected Michael Ashford council president after they neglected to first remove his Republican predecessor and then failed to administer an oath of office, according to a ruling by the city law department.

The City Charter states the council only can elect a new president midyear after the “death, removal, or resignation of the President of Council.” Last week, the Democratic majority took nominations and elected a new president without voting to first dismiss its then-president, Councilman Rob Ludeman, a term-limited Republican.

“The opening of nominations for President of City Council [on] August 21, 2007, was inappropriate since the presiding President had not died, resigned, or been removed,” according to an opinion by John Madigan, the city law director. “There was no vacancy to fill.”

This is hilarious:

I’m still annoyed that BSB’s “Chucklehead” Jerid claimed that he was the first to report that Former Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka was possibly going to run. And Joe Hallett certainly didn’t have to cite a blog on that issue, since Lashutka’s name was all over Republican circles and anyone in the party he would have talked to would have mentioned him. I hinted about Greg on RAB about a day before Jerid did, but I suppose the point is meaningless that Lashutka is definitely not running. And frankly, with Republican issues, Jerid doesn’t know what the hell he is talking about any faster than the MSM publishes articles.

But now that much of the obvious A-listers aren’t going to be running, Republicans are also seriously looking at three more candidates today:

1) Chris Spielman- a great former OSU football player who went on to play for the Lions, Bills, and Browns. He is active in the conservative Christian community, and he now hosts his own radio show.

And not even Krazy Kilroy could make more mountain-out-of-a-molehill attack ads out of this “criticism” of Chris from his wikipedia page:

Spielman occasionally comes under criticism for his overly intense nature and occasionally sexist comments on the air. On a recent show Spielman reluctantly admitted that he told his young son whose back was hurting after a practice to “take some tough pills,” it was later determined that Speilman had made his son continue playing when his son had a stress fracture in his back (note: Spielman did not make his son play after he found out about the fracture although he admitted he was proud his son played through the pain). In past radio shows he has explained his desire for women to learn early in life that their role in sports is to root for the boys, a comment some listeners find disturbing considering that Chris and Stephanie have three daughters.

HAHA- That isn’t exactly coingate quality, and I suppose as long as he also didn’t send his son over to Mark Foley’s house for gay sex, I think this issue is too silly, even for Wikipedia standards.

2) Bob Connors, 610 WTVN radio host. He is well spoken and, from my years of listening to his show, I would say that Bob has that same type of folksy, traditionalist approach to issues that John Kasich does. Bob fits the 15th district perfectly, and would be an excellent candidate.

3) Dave Kaylor, former 10TV news anchor. He was a reporter for 26 years, and is active with Columbus Children’s Hospital.

But it is still possible to have Judge Julie Lynch or Judge Dana Preisse run. And I don’t think anyone right now should rule out State Rep Jim Hughes, State Senator Steve Stivers, or Franklin County Commissioner Dewey Stokes.

And now that Jim Petro has promised not to run, I will join him and officially withdraw my candidacy. I’m sure you are all very disappointed, but I don’t think my “stop the stigma against nuclear arms” campaign theme would have gone over well.

Patrick Poole provides the fascinating details here.

I would think that if Coleman was a Republican, this would be a slightly bigger deal in The Columbus Dispatch.

Fairfield, Ohio is a great place to poop. In fact, it has a better public bathroom than could be found at Fandangles’ in FLUSHING, Michigan.

From the PD

Cleveland City Council President Martin J. Sweeney favors shrinking the City Council from 21 to 17 members to reflect the city’s dramatic population loss in the past 20 years.

Sweeney said in an interview this week that the move is prudent because the U.S. Census Bureau shows the city’s population dropped by 100,000 between 1980 and 2000. With fewer people to represent, fewer council members are needed, he said.

His goal is to have wards of about 25,000 residents. Using the 2000 census population of 478,000, each of 17 council members would represent a little more than 28,000 residents.

But the city’s population is projected to fall to 400,000 by 2015, which would mean one council representative for every 23,500 residents under Sweeney’s proposal.

Early next year, Sweeney will appoint a 15-member committee to review the city’s charter and propose changes, including possibly eliminating council seats. The committee’s recommendations will go to the council for a vote.

If approved by council, a proposal to eliminate council seats then would go on the November 2008 general election ballot.

Council members earn about $68,000 a year. Reducing their numbers by four would save the city more than a quarter of a million dollars a year.

They really should cut it in half, but this is a start.

Please vote below!

From Ken Blackwell’s latest column on Townhall.com, “Obama’s Attack”:

In light of recent polls, pundits have speculated that Sen. Barack Obama will need a miracle to win his party’s presidential nomination. After offending many of the nation’s ministers, priests and rabbis in a speech this summer, he’d better have a direct line to the Almighty.

Mr. Obama accused conservative Christian leaders of “hijacking” religion several weeks ago. While seeking to impose his own secular agenda through houses of worship, the senator condemns any pastor or priest who disagrees with it.

Speaking to one of the nation’s most liberal protestant denominations, the United Church of Christ, Mr. Obama said, “Faith got hijacked, partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, all too eager to exploit what divides us.”

Read the rest of Ken’s column here.

First, Petro said this yesterday about his decision to defend rapist who was convited twice:

“My heart goes out to him. It really does,” said Petro, now an attorney with Cincinnati-based Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley. “Sixteen years (in prison) _ oh, my god. I get choked up when I think about it.”

Actually, my heart goes out to Roger Dean Gillispie’s victims, and not to Roger Dean Gillispie- But maybe I’m just weird like that.

And today, Petro is lecturing is about history and the Seneca County courthouse. What the $#%@! does Jim Petro have to do with the Seneca County courthouse? Well his wife was born in Tiffin, of course!

From The Toledo Blade:

A day after preservationists lost a lawsuit to stop the demolition of the Seneca County Courthouse, Jim Petro, the former Ohio attorney general, said destruction of the building would be a mistake.

“We’ve seen a great number of changes in recent years, but one of the changes we shouldn’t pursue is to forget our history,” Mr. Petro said. “If you’re going to make a public investment, always keep an eye on history.”

The 1884 courthouse was designed by Elijah Myers, a prominent architect who drew the blueprints for the state capitols of Colorado, Michigan, and Texas.

Preservationists fighting to keep the neoclassical structure from the wrecking ball argued that the Seneca County Board of Commissioners violated the state’s open meetings law by voting to destroy the courthouse without any discussion.

Visiting Judge Charles Wittenberg, who is retired from Lucas County, ruled that the absence of any conversation before the vote does not prove the commissioners held private deliberations and broke the law.

Mr. Petro, a Republican who ran for governor last year, has a personal connection to Seneca County. His wife hails from Tiffin, the county seat. He described his extended family as “heartsick” about the building’s fate.[…]

The commissioners should do all they can to put together a capital improvement plan to allow for the restoration of the courthouse,” Mr. Petro said.

“It also would be wise to replace the clock tower,” he said. “It’s Art Deco and it just doesn’t really fit.”

The Art Deco doesn’t fit? Wow- Maybe Jim Petro’s real calling is as an interior designer on the Home & Garden & Courthouse channel.

Jim Petro has been busy. Yesterday, Jim was getting choked up about rapists. And today, Jim Petro informed us all that we MUST keep an eye on history and he put on on quite an effusive display in today’s Toledo Blade.

If I was Dan Williamson of The (Columbus) Other Paper, I’d probably use this opportunity to make fun of what other types of random buildings throughout Ohio Petro would preserve and get emotional about. The jokes almost write themselves.

But what do you think about all of this recent press for Petro? I think it’s obvious that Jim is doing all of this to kick off his 2010 campaign for the Ohio Supreme Court. And he is off to an irritating start.

The Dispatch reports on Ohio’s dire economic situation and the poverty that has taken place in urban areas under the leadership of Democrats.

When does Ted Strickland’s “turn around Ohio” plan officially kick in? Or is the real plan to make Ohio’s economy look more like Strickland’s former congressional district? If so, we’re getting closer!

I missed this story from two days ago, in a defeat for Ohio Grocers Association and you (the consumer) a judge ruled friday that Ohio’s Commerical Activities Tax (CAT) as a levy on the privledge of doing business- not an unconstitutional fee on the sale or purchase of food. Read the court decision here.

Here is § 12.13 of the Ohio Constitution:

No sales or other excise taxes shall be levied or collected (1) upon any wholesale sale or wholesale purchase of food for human consumption, its ingredients or its packaging; (2) upon any sale or purchase of such items sold to or purchased by a manufacturer, processor, packager, distributor or reseller of food for human consumption, or its ingredients, for use in its trade or business; or (3) in any retail transaction, on any packaging that contains food for human consumption on or off the premises where sold. For purposes of this section, food for human consumption shall include non-alcoholic beverages. This section shall not affect the extent to which the levy or collection of sales or other excise taxes on the retail sale or retail purchase of food for human consumption is permitted or prohibited by Section 3(C) of this Article.

A CAT tax is a tax paid on commercial activity, which is directly linked to the sale of food, and the cost of the CAT is passed onto consumers. In terms of economics, there is no difference between the CAT tax applying to food and a sales tax applying to food- But apparently, Ohio’s laws are so screwed up that this fact doesn’t matter.

Thank you former Gov. Bob Taft, former Lt. Governor Bruce Johnson, and the Republicans in the Ohio legislature who voted for the CAT.

Dr. Lawson of Capital University has more here at his blog, Division of Labour.

If you want to see Ann Coulter at the Xaiver University Cintas Center on Thursday, September 6 at 7pm, click here to buy tickets.

This event is sponsored by the good folks of the Xaiver University College Republicans. Ann is a hilarious speaker and brilliant lawyer who, in her book High Crimes and Misdemeanors, explained the Clinton’s convoluted land deal scandals better than I’ve ever seen anyone do it. Her speakers fees, via Young America’s Foundation, are $20,000 and up, so I highly recommend taking advantage of this great opportunity to hear one of the leaders of the modern conservative movement.

Now that Jim Petro and and former Columbus Mayor Gregory Lashutka have ruled out running for Congresswoman Pryce’s seat, two new names have been floating around with insiders that I haven’t heard until today…

The first one is Judge Julie Lynch and Judge Dana Preisse (sister of Franklin County GOP Chairman, Doug Preisse.) Reportedly, they are both in the mold of Pryce, which would include her moderate-to-liberal tendencies, but would be still be superior choices compared to the Progress Ohio-connected kook Mary Jo Kilroy.

And speaking of crazy Mary Jo, a RAB reader spotted Kilroy recently at a at the Northstar Cafe in the short north area of Columbus. She was reading The American Prospect magazine, and just by skimming through that rag online that you can see how devout of a hard core lefty Mary Jo is. This should be a reminder to Mary Jo that she can not hide.

Here is the article from the Akron Beacon Journal.

Word on the street is, Mark Weaver, the most quotableist Republican in all of Ohio on topics ranging from Marc Dann’s shady campaign contributions to creative ways of curing athlete’s foot, is working for Jeanette Moll, candidate for Ohio’s 18th congressional district.

Since Mark Weaver works for Green Mountain Energy, a looney-lefty organization which opposes coal production and is part of selling carbon indulgences offsets, and Moll worked for the Ohio EPA (a redundant state bureaucracy which causes regulatory confusion for businesses and should be totally eliminated), Mark and Jeanette are certainly on the same page about coal production. But what will voters think, since coal mining is one of the largest industries in the 18th district? And if Moll ends up being the Republican candidate, couldn’t this be a huge issue that Zack Space could throw at her to distract his conservative district from his far-left record?

And on an unrelated topic, Mark Weaver’s favorite music, according to his biography, is Bebo Norman. Who???

Details are here.