Paint Creek fire district 'gets it'

Folks, as I get out and about every so often I run into something that needs to be shared. Last week I attended the formal opening of the new Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District. I say formal because it has actually been operating since Jan. 1 of this year. In my leadership classes, I try to instill in my students the idea that it is the leader’s job to make sure the goals are achieved. In other words, it is the leader’s job to “Make it happen.”  Thursday, September 02, 2010

Put politics aside and fix the problems

Folks, I am becoming very tired of politicians throwing verbal stones of blame at each other. Comments like: “Bush was the first president to leave office with fewer people working than when he entered office;” or “Obama hasn’t done anything to bring our jobs back." It is all about blame. (7 comments) Friday, August 27, 2010

Workplace safety no longer a concern?

Folks, we are expendable. There is no better way to word this. During 2008, the most recent year that numbers are available, 5,214 American workers were killed on the job. Another four and a half million were seriously injured, and this number is far below the real number because of the way injuries are reported. (3 comments) Thursday, August 19, 2010

Old-fashioned family fun in Sabina

Folks, “if you build it, they will come.” This is a line from the movie “Field of Dreams.” In Sabina this past weekend, good people did something. They took an idea and made it happen. “Old-Fashioned Family Fun Night” was an outstanding success. Hopefully, this will become an annual event. (1 comments) Thursday, August 12, 2010

We treat criminals better than veterans

Folks, a couple of times a year we honor our veterans, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. There are, however, some areas of concern that deserve our constant concern. The care and hospitalization of veterans and the Veterans that are homeless need our continual awareness. (2 comments) Thursday, August 05, 2010

Communities, families pull together

Maybe if this recession continues for another four or five years, as some are predicting, helping our families will spread to helping friends and then to neighbors and then to the whole community and the 80/20 rule can be turned around and become the 20/80 rule. (2 comments) Thursday, July 29, 2010

The vanishing American middle class

Folks, we usually can tell when someone is feeding us a line. For example, we are told that U.S. corporations suffer under the second highest tax rate in the industrialized world, and yep that is correct. And, this is the rate they give us when we are told that our tax rate is driving American companies off shore and to Third World countries. (3 comments) Thursday, July 22, 2010

Stop the hiring of illegal immigrants

Our immigration laws are written in such a way that they mean nothing and solve nothing. Our super-large corporations, the ones that control our government, want cheap labor to unload the hundreds of containers arriving from communist China every day. (11 comments) Friday, July 16, 2010

Tax breaks for rich haven't added jobs

Folks, this is not about conservative or liberal economics; it is about what President Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address, “…Government of the people, by the people, for the people…” We, the people, need to get involved, and not just on Election Day, but every day. (24 comments) Thursday, July 08, 2010

Learning to read and reading to learn

Folks, I recently asked a class of 38 students – all but one of whom were Post Secondary Enrollment Option students, which means that they are high school students taking college courses – how many have read a book other than school textbooks during the past year? The response was one student had read one book. Friday, July 02, 2010

TEA Party forum cordial, interesting

Folks, from time to time I am asked to speak to different groups and events in our area. Last week, I was invited to speak to the Clinton County TEA Party. I have to admit that the only things that I knew about the TEA Party movement were what I have read and heard from the major media. Thursday, June 24, 2010