If I had to cover that event in Troy and had shown up in blue jeans, they'd all be in suits. And if I'd shown up in my best suit (the one Craig will probably bury me in after he cuts out the back), with my luck, they'd be in blue jeans. How do these politicians coordinate this?

If I had to cover that event in Troy and had shown up in blue jeans, they'd all be in suits. And if I'd shown up in my best suit (the one Craig will probably bury me in after he cuts out the back), with my luck, they'd be in blue jeans. How do these politicians coordinate this?

"Tom Browning explained the secret of his pitching success: 'Hitters,' he said, 'are stupid.'" So are a lot of corporate-controlled newspaper companies. Which may explain their admitted infatuations with select politicians and certain other special interests. (At least some of them do admit the obvious without false pretensions.) The industry needs less of them and more Tim Sullivans.

Here's a novel approach for all public officials involved in this fiscal debate: show up at the June 19 Veterans Service Board meeting and state your opinions on the record. Voters and taxpayers deserve nothing less. And America's veterans deserve a lot more than to be at the center of this confrontation.

I may have to wait another 105 years for this phenomenon. If I oversleep, overwork, overindulge or simply forget about it, I'll have to wait until the year 2117 in order to witness the next transit of Venus across the face of the Earth's sun. Now, I am a patient man. But 105 years is a bit much, even for this guy.

Let's stop the name-calling, stop the Facebook postings and sit down and work together. If the county commissioners cannot agree to that, the Veterans Services Commission can always cite the Gallia County litigation. As of this morning, the state of Ohio says it's gospel.

I had the opportunity to speak with Sen. Rob Portman and Dr. Brad Wenstrup on a Friday morning at the historic Wayside Inn in West Union. What I did not know at that time was that the district "whistle-stop" tour was Senator Portman's idea. That says a lot about the generosity of Rob Portman. And, perhaps, it says even more about the character of Dr. Brad Wenstrup.

Jack Preston was there. Jack is a World War II veteran. He knows more about Dec. 7, 1941 and Pearl Harbor than most of us want to know. He's been there. In uniform. His was not a pleasant assignment. His wife, Alberta, was at the Memorial Day service. She asked about my family. Jack and Alberta were our neighbors in Fairfax back in the 1960s and '70s. Even today, we're no more than six or seven miles apart as the crow flies.

Last year, the city auditor summed up this negotiating process by saying the city should look at it as a "shared cost of labor" and if it did, $27 per resident would be reasonable. The townships have offered $30. The city should take it and lock it in for three years. Townships should agree to 10-percent annual increases in the ensuing five years. That puts the cost at just under $49 per resident in eight years, which is more than a 200-percent increase over where things stand today.

Each day is a special gift. I have a first cousin on my mother's side who's a far better person than I could hope to be. What she and her husband lived with – and will always live with – regarding the loss of their young son is as heart-breaking as anything I've ever seen. It's also as inspirational as anything I've ever seen. They are heroes to their friends and family.

May 9, 2012 was the 23rd anniversary of my dad's death. May 9, 2012 was also the end of my six-year term as a member of the Southern State Community College Board of Trustees. If that's not enough ironic coincidence, consider this: My first meeting as an SSCC trustee was in November. My dad was born in November. I shared this with SSCC President Dr. Kevin Boys prior to the May 9 board meeting.

This past Saturday, on Mother's Day weekend no less, Pam, Colin and I spent a fun day at River Downs. It was my first trip back to the place where I had so many good memories of my youth in at least 20 years.

If the city of Hillsboro continues to seek more outside legal representation, it does have the appearance of a lack of trust in its law director and deputy law director. When any administration argument is to add lawyers and reduce firefighters, most reasonable minds would prefer firefighters.

It's good to see that Highland County's two state lawmakers understand that they cannot legislate against stupidity. Thank you, Senator Peterson and Representative Rosenberger for being voices of reason in an otherwise din of inequity.

Goober died today. Rafe Hollister, Otis Campbell and Ernest T. Bass miss him. So do I. He was a good man.