It is past time to put an end to $100,000 a year wages and $65,000 a year pensions for public servants in a community with 16 percent unemployment and a per-capita income of less than $20,000 (U.S. Census). Taxpayers deserve better. But if they want anything to change, it is time to speak up. Otherwise, get ready for yet another tax hike in 2011.

The taxman cometh. Like it or not, there are two Simple Truths in this Great American Life: Death and Taxes. There are even Taxes after Death.

What ought to be making headlines, though, are the job-killing actions of this administration and its accomplices in the Reid-Pelosi 111th Congress. For example, on Jan. 1, 2011, the tax rates facing small businesses are set to increase. This will result in more lost jobs and lower wages, as employers will be forced to send more of their hard-earned dollars to Washington.

Thanks to our very loyal advertisers, the month of June was the busiest one, to date, for The Highland County Press under its current management. Since we are approaching our one-year anniversary in a few weeks, we’ll touch on this later. Suffice it to say that we are planning something special for those advertisers who were with us last year and who have remained loyal, week after week. We are truly grateful and we are proud to recommend your respective business(es) to everyone we meet.

Until city council, the mayor and the safety/service director make spending cuts comparable to those made in county offices, taxpayers would be foolish to approve an increase in taxes.

The Hillsboro and Greenfield Eagles aeries are among the largest annual contributors to the Highland County Society for Children and Adults Telethon each spring. And their charity does not stop there. They have contributed to local law enforcement and fire departments and have provided academic scholarships and countless donations for those in need.

There's open discussion that incumbent Mayor Dick Zink may not seek a third term. (I haven't asked him.) And there’s open discussion that local comedian and buyer of uptown landmarks Drew Hastings has some interest in becoming mayor. Or, perhaps more accurately, there are people who have interest in Mr. Hastings becoming mayor. (I haven’t asked him.)

Someone in the local business community asked me last week to name one thing that would help stimulate economic development. (Just one?!) For the record, this person does not – to the best of my knowledge – own or operate any independent business. Maybe that’s why I found the question a bit confounding. My immediate answer was to take the Rob Portman approach (and accelerate it by a speed not even the Ohio Supreme Court or its newly empowered cops can accurately estimate).

With the passing of Frank Collins and Homer Webster, South High Street in Hillsboro will never be the same for those of us who grew up knowing they kept a watchful eye on the historic uptown area. Others are now called upon to continue such traditions.

My connection to pop culture is akin to Winston Churchill's connection to the temperance movement. In fact, my connection to pop culture is akin to MY connection with the temperance movement. Thus, it was no surprise that I was perhaps the Last Man on the Planet to learn there's a new television show called "('Stuff') My Dad Says.

The state auditor has recently instructed the Scioto County commissioners to cut $1.4 million in spending. The county is in a fiscal emergency with a budget deficit of more than $3 million. Locally, the city of Hillsboro auditor projects a pending budget deficit of more than half a million dollars. If no action is taken, that number will surely inch closer to the $1 million mark – and soon. It ain’t politics; it’s arithmetics.

Two down, one to go. That was my first comment after Meghan joined 335 other graduates and walked through the 134th commencement ceremony at Wilmington College on Saturday, May 8.

There’s a saying that a mother is a person who, seeing that there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. The quote has been widely attributed to Tenneva Jordan, whoever that is. (You can look it up.) The essence of the quote is simply this: Mothers often do without so their children might have the things they need.

This should come as no surprise to those of you who know me: I was born in an “upside-up” year; that is, one in which the digits that form the year are the same as when they are rotated upside down. In another words, a rotationally symmetric or reflective inverse year. This happened in 1881 (not the year of my arrival). It happened again in 1961 (Helloooo, World!); and, according to many dime-store mathematicians and a county engineer or two, it might not happen again for almost 4,000 years (6009).

With apologies to Lewis Carroll, the news gets curiouser and curiouser. Since our last conversation, the following news stories have been brought to my attention by one source or another. Let's take a look, shall we?