From cleveland.com

Northeast Ohio school districts have paid about $41 million for lawyers over the past three years, despite a state law that says they can have the work done for free.

The money spent each year is enough to buy 175,000 textbooks or pay the salaries and benefits of 275 entry-level teachers.

A mostly ignored state law that has been on the books for decades requires either the city law director or county prosecutor -- depending on the community -- to be the lawyer for most school boards, without compensation.

So maybe the 65% Solution wouldn't be so hard to achieve.

From cleveland.com

In a rare move, leaders of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party on Saturday rejected a recommendation from its platform committee to endorse slot machine gambling in Ohio.

Instead, the leaders voted to oppose state Issue 3, which would amend the state constitution to permit slot machines at two sites in Cleveland and at Ohio's seven horse racetracks.

Ohioans will vote on the measure Nov. 7.

This is Day 21 of the No "Strickland calls Ohio 'Backwards State'" Headline watch. Joe Hallett, sophomore, at Ohio's best high school newspaper-- The Dispatch-- came close, but turned it around in an attempt to slam Ken Blackwell-- again. Per Hallett:

Blackwell said that Democratic nominee Ted Strickland favors the status quo on taxes and blames the abortion and samesex marriage issues for keeping businesses from locating in Ohio.

He later quoted Blackwell:

"He thinks that our taxes are all right and our values are all wrong, and I think our values are right and our taxes are wrong, and we’re going to wage a campaign for the next month based on that distinction, and I think Ohioans will vote for the fellow who’s willing to stand up for their values and change their economy now for the better."

These are direct references to Strickland's idiotic statement blaming Ohio's economic woes on restrictions on abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Of course, he didn't mention that KB was relating Stricklands true and documented position-- something that the legacy Media refuses to do:

When the candidates were asked what they would do on taking office to improve the economic climate in Ohio, Strickland blamed Blackwell for promoting an "anti-science" agenda, citing the Republican's opposition to stem cell research, and an extremist stand on abortion rights. “All of these things paint a picture of Ohio nationally and internationally as a backwards state," he charged.

 

Hallett, without referencing Strickland's original offensive statements to which Blackwell was referring-- as usual-- misleadingly chose to mischaracterize Blackwell's statements as:

...plans to wage the rest of the campaign on tax cuts and his stands against abortion rights and same-sex marriage.

Then today, if this wasn't disingenuous enough, Hallett, in his Sunday editorial, chooses to attribute his words to Blackwell:

Next, J. Kenneth Blackwell, the GOP gubernatorial nominee, said that the rest of his campaign would be focused on tax cuts and values, namely outlawing abortion and protecting marriage...

Again, here's the real Blackwell quote:

"He thinks that our taxes are all right and our values are all wrong, and I think our values are right and our taxes are wrong, and we’re going to wage a campaign for the next month based on that distinction, and I think Ohioans will vote for the fellow who’s willing to stand up for their values and change their economy now for the better."

Apparently, from Hallett's ivory tower, values only have to do with abortion and gay marriage; and being against them-- i.e. representing the views of the vast majority of Ohioans-- disqualifies one from public office. Other "minor" values such as honesty and transparency in government, self-reliance, independence, and eschewing income redistribution schemes and indoctrinal public education aren't worthy of debate.

So The Dispatch came close to reporting the truth, but it couldn't quite pull the trigger. Personally, I think Hallett's writing talents come closer to horseshoes and handgrenades than journalism. This is how a real pro hack practices agenda journalism: he covers up his boy's offense by laundering it through two columns over several days, then attributes a fake statement to his target while ignoring the actual point of the real quote, which would blow Strickland's media-created "moderate" persona.

I expect an explaination to the readers of The Dispatch about Hallett's dishonest "reporting" and their admission that they have withheld and not pursued the Strickland freakonomics story for 3 weeks will be forthcoming soon-- Nov. 8, I imagine.

From Buckeye State Blog and DailyKos:

I am sad to report to this community the reality of the ground situation in a northwestern bellwether county, Wood County Ohio. Despite our enthusiasm for recent polls and excitement in general it appears the republican early voting effort is far superior to ours.

Absentee Ballots have been going out for one week, and the Republican early voting turnout machine has proven superior to our best efforts. To date nearly 3,500 absentee ballots have been mailed out. 40% of which have been mailed to Republicans, 40% to undeclared and only 20% to Democrats.

Republicans have mailed multiple absentee registrations to all of their registered voters and have followed up with multiple robo-calls and human calls to ensure that their voters have turned in their early voting applications. Additionally there is evidence that they have reached beyond their republican base, and have targeted independents in a number of important swing precincts in Wood County.

Wood County has gone twice for Clinton and twice for Bush. Bush won Wood County by 3% points over Kerry. Wood County is a suburban to rural county south of Toledo Ohio and is an indicator of how well candidates will perform in very close races. Obviously Sherrod Brown is in a very tight race.

I'm a little worried. Okay a lot worried.

This must be why Karl Rove and President Bush are so upbeat about the Republican prospects in November.

The Democrats are getting smoked by the Republicans on the get out the vote efforts.

Last week, long-time Republican Gary Suhadolnik was censured by the Cuyahoga County Republican Party.

Why?

Because Gary supports Ted Strickland for Governor.

You may know Gary Suhadolnik as the one time prominent Ohio state legislator from Strongsville. Gary was known as a firebrand conservative, who, according to The Plain Dealer, “made his mark in Columbus by introducing bills that would, for example, ban adoption by ‘an individual who practices homosexuality’…"

But after his distinguished time in office, Gary was reduced to being a lonely bureaucrat in the Bob Taft administration. And with the end of his career in sight, Gary is using his final gasps to attack the very party he has spent a lifetime with.

Is it because Gary, a gray-haired elder of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, suddenly became a supporter of higher taxes? No.

Is it because Gary suddenly supports taxpayer funded abortion on demand? No.

Instead, it is simply Gary, trying to keep his comfortable job at a bloated state bureaucracy, once run by Tom Noe.

And now, at a meeting of the Cuyahoga County GOP central and executive committee, GARY SUHADOLNIK WAS CENSURED for supporting Ted Strickland.

Gary was given the chance to defend himself, and he defiantly stood in front of his peers to defend his support of Ted Strickland. And on that day, his Republican peers saw Gary Suhadolnik for what he really is: a sell-out.

Gary Suhadolnik, in the December of his life, has abandoned his long-held principles, betrayed the party he loved and became a money grubbing bureaucrat.

Now, Gary Suhadolnik's career ends on a quiet note, in shame.