One of the things I enjoy, well, most of the time, is the morning paper after breakfast. I guess it comes from my grandfather who was a newspaper man. In his lifetime he published three newspapers, one in Fort Smith, Arkansas, another in Helena, Montana, and the last in Everett, Washington. The closest I ever got to the business was a number of years ago when I wrote a column for the Pharos-Tribune of Lafayette, Indiana. There is a big difference in writing a column and running a newspaper and I know nothing about the latter. That being said, I got a chuckle out of the front page of the Times-Reporter this morning.
The headline was a grabber. “School’s in for unemployed.” According to the article Governor Strickland has expanded unemployment benefits to out-of-work folks if they go back to school on a full time basis. The reasoning is that unemployed people will have less stress if they know that they won’t have to make a “sacrifice” to go to school. Hello. Does this really make any sense? How can having a degree which is subsidized by the state be good when there aren’t any jobs? How can spending more taxpayer money going to help Ohio when the state is more than a billion dollars in debt? Governor Strickland evidently doesn’t understand. The problem in Ohio is not too little education, but too few jobs. Wouldn’t it be better for the state to use that money to decrease business taxes which would make more money available for business expansion? I guess it’s me. I can’t figure out how a better educated out-of-work force is going to create jobs in the depression we are in.
We had another robbery in New Philadelphia. This time it was the First Federal Community Bank on West High. There is a picture on the front page, from one of the surveillance cameras in the bank, of a man with a mask, a pistol, and a bag in his hand. The caption is a classic. “A suspected robber, armed with a gun, leaves First Federal Community Bank in this image from surveillance cameras.” Hey, guys, he is the robber. No question about that. He has the gun, the teller saw him, and I’m sure she knew he robbed her. They may not know who he is but there is no doubt that guy in the picture did it. A thought to be considered. Had there been a couple of armed Concealed Carry License holders in the bank at the time, would the police be looking for this fellow today. One other thing. Paper said that he was talking on a cell phone during the robbery. Talk about being tied to the phone. This is ridiculous.
One other item on the front page. Headline says, “Authorities stepping up interstate traffic enforcement.” Good move. The article gives a warning that on this coming Friday from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday, the State Highway Patrol will be patrolling I-77 and Route 8 from Tuscarawas county north to Cleveland looking, for drunk drivers, drug users, and speeders. But, wait. I don’t know what they are going to be using as guidelines for drunks and addicts, but speeding as defined in the article is “more than 20 miles over the speed limit.” We’re talking about flying past New Philadelphia and Dover at 85 miles an hour without being liable for a ticket. I’m not sure my car can go 85 miles an hour. A spokesman for the State Police was quoted as saying, “We want to send the message of slow down and be patient.” Slow down to 85 miles and hour? How fast are they going now?
I don’t read a lot of the paper. The biggest section is sports, and I don’t follow them that much. If I want to find out what’s going on in the world, the news for that is relegated to the back pages, which is one of the reasons that people aren’t aware that terrorism is picking up again in Iraq. National news is pretty much the same, Obama pictures and quotes saying that the economy is doing fine. Do like the comics, no matter what section they appear in. In honesty, I guess I’d miss not having a local paper.
The headline was a grabber. “School’s in for unemployed.” According to the article Governor Strickland has expanded unemployment benefits to out-of-work folks if they go back to school on a full time basis. The reasoning is that unemployed people will have less stress if they know that they won’t have to make a “sacrifice” to go to school. Hello. Does this really make any sense? How can having a degree which is subsidized by the state be good when there aren’t any jobs? How can spending more taxpayer money going to help Ohio when the state is more than a billion dollars in debt? Governor Strickland evidently doesn’t understand. The problem in Ohio is not too little education, but too few jobs. Wouldn’t it be better for the state to use that money to decrease business taxes which would make more money available for business expansion? I guess it’s me. I can’t figure out how a better educated out-of-work force is going to create jobs in the depression we are in.
We had another robbery in New Philadelphia. This time it was the First Federal Community Bank on West High. There is a picture on the front page, from one of the surveillance cameras in the bank, of a man with a mask, a pistol, and a bag in his hand. The caption is a classic. “A suspected robber, armed with a gun, leaves First Federal Community Bank in this image from surveillance cameras.” Hey, guys, he is the robber. No question about that. He has the gun, the teller saw him, and I’m sure she knew he robbed her. They may not know who he is but there is no doubt that guy in the picture did it. A thought to be considered. Had there been a couple of armed Concealed Carry License holders in the bank at the time, would the police be looking for this fellow today. One other thing. Paper said that he was talking on a cell phone during the robbery. Talk about being tied to the phone. This is ridiculous.
One other item on the front page. Headline says, “Authorities stepping up interstate traffic enforcement.” Good move. The article gives a warning that on this coming Friday from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday, the State Highway Patrol will be patrolling I-77 and Route 8 from Tuscarawas county north to Cleveland looking, for drunk drivers, drug users, and speeders. But, wait. I don’t know what they are going to be using as guidelines for drunks and addicts, but speeding as defined in the article is “more than 20 miles over the speed limit.” We’re talking about flying past New Philadelphia and Dover at 85 miles an hour without being liable for a ticket. I’m not sure my car can go 85 miles an hour. A spokesman for the State Police was quoted as saying, “We want to send the message of slow down and be patient.” Slow down to 85 miles and hour? How fast are they going now?
I don’t read a lot of the paper. The biggest section is sports, and I don’t follow them that much. If I want to find out what’s going on in the world, the news for that is relegated to the back pages, which is one of the reasons that people aren’t aware that terrorism is picking up again in Iraq. National news is pretty much the same, Obama pictures and quotes saying that the economy is doing fine. Do like the comics, no matter what section they appear in. In honesty, I guess I’d miss not having a local paper.
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