It’s Michigan week; quite an amusing time around here. I refer to tomorrow’s Ohio State-Michigan game (which, if I worked in my home state, would be written “Michigan-Ohio State”).



In my 22 years in Ohio, I have become a Buckeye fan. Not a rabid Buckeye fan, mind you, but more of an OSU fan than a U of M fan. I really started heading in that direction when Jim Tressel was hired to coach the Buckeyes. When I first anchored news for our Youngstown station, 570 WKBN, I had regular stories about how well Tressel’s Youngstown State teams performed. He’s a class act, and if there’s one thing he understands, it’s the rivalry with that school “up north.”

That being said, I pass along the following item (with apologies to my friends at the Associated Press):

Traverse City, MI (AP) - A seven-year old boy was at the center of a Grand Traverse County courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the Child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the University of Michigan Football Team whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

By the way, that was sent to me by friends in Michigan.  Not much faith up there that they'll beat the Buckeyes this year.

This has been a very interesting past week in the news business.

* Voters made historic change by legalizing casinos in Ohio, and approving a total revamp of Cuyahoga County government.

* The Browns started making big changes by sending GM George Kokinis packing.

* Just last night, the U.S. House of Representatives approved its version of health care reform.

* Saddest of all are the tragedies. One person was killed, and six others were shot and wounded in an Orlando office tower. 13 were shot dead and 29 wounded at Fort Hood. And of course, the tragedy that hits close to home: the discovery of 11 bodies at 12205 Imperial Avenue in Cleveland’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood. They were in various states of decomposition, and it appears most of them had been strangled.


12205 Imperial Avenue, Cleveland

As of the time I wrote this, seven of the 11 bodies found in and around Anthony Sowell’s home have been identified.

Say what you want about the women who Sowell is accused of befriending and then killing, but none of them deserved to die a horrific death, and then have their remains left to rot. Hopefully some good will come of this. Hopefully, families will start to care more about troubled relatives (so many of these families had never reported the women as missing). Hopefully, police will figure out why all these women fell through the cracks. Hopefully, this may lead to changes in how society and the law deal with sex offenders. Hopefully, the house of horrors at 12205 Imperial Avenue will eventually be gone, and be replaced with something good.

Years ago, I covered the mass murder of the Avery family in a barn in Kirtland. I witnessed the execution of Jeffrey Lundgren, who saw himself as a messiah, and who felt the Averys were not true believers. (If this link doesn't take you to the page containing "Witness to an execution", then just click at the top where it says "previous 9 entries").  After Lundgren was put to death, the barn and adjoining farmhouse were demolished. That land on US 6 is now the site of a church. That’s what I mean by replacing bad with something good. 


Dennis and Cheryl Avery and their daughters
 
This is the first blog entry to be written and posted from my new laptop computer. On Saturday, I did something that I had never done before in my 50-plus years on this earth. I got up at 5:30 a.m. and joined a line of people at the local branch of a certain mega-retailer (the one that some call the “Satan of Retail” for how it dominates retailing) for an electronics sale. Some people were there for TVs, some for the Xbox 360, some for $29 DVD players. Me, I was there for the $298 laptop. I was something like sixth in line, so I had a feeling that I’d be walking out with the laptop, and at 8:15 a.m., I walked out of that huge store with a box containing a new gadget.


My new toy.

Yes, it has a slower Celeron processor. Yes, it doesn’t have a webcam. Yes, it’s not a Mac. It does what I want it to do, and it cost me only $298 plus tax. Of course, that doesn’t include the cost of the wireless router for internet connection, and the fact that I may buy a mouse, as I’m still getting used to the touchpad. I call it the “touchy pad” as its version of a scroll wheel gets antsy anytime I start typing near it, moving my hands ever so furiously (thank you, Mr. Gregory, my 10th grade typing teacher, for teaching me too well on those IBM Selectric typewriters).

Am I bragging by writing about buying a laptop?  No.  To the contrary.  I'm far behind many of my communications bretheren.  Yes, I know there are many people who don't own computers.  Just ask Plain Dealer editor Susan Goldberg, who conceded on Friday that they made a mistake by not putting all the election results in Wednesday's paper, directing people instead to cleveland.com.

As I sit in my living room, typing with this gizmo on my lap, watching “CBS Sunday Morning,” I’m reminded of a story in this morning’s Plain Dealer – yes, the “ink and dead tree” version you don’t have to recharge, and the one that it's still okay to take into the bathroom – about cursive writing being eliminated by typing and texting.   The article originally appeared in Canton's daily paper, The Repository.

I’m taken back to when I learned how to write in cursive, back in second grade. I dreaded going into second grade. But, I and all the other kids in Miss Page’s class at Washington school learned how to write in cursive that year. And, I survived.

I kept writing in cursive until high school. In 10th grade, I took typing class. Remember that this was in the early 70s. There was no such thing as a personal computer at the time. We learned to type on typewriters. At home, my parents had a manual Royal typewriter. In school, we were high tech; we had those IBMs that I referenced above. When I was a senior in high school, my parents gave me a Smith-Corona Coronamatic portable. This was very high tech, as it had cartridge ribbons that you could pop out with the push of a button (easy to change from standard ribbon, to correction ribbon, to carbon ribbon for higher quality copy).


Yes, I still own the typewriter that my parents gave me 36 years ago.  And guess what; it still works!

The other class I took in high school that got me away from cursive, was my drafting class in 11th grade. I was thinking of an engineering career at the time, so I felt that drafting would be a good class (again, remember, this was back when blueprints were drawn by hand. There was no such thing as CAD software). If there’s one thing that teacher “Bud” Stafford taught us in that class, it was how to print, and print neatly.

So, all my papers through the rest of high school and college were typed. Anything that had to be done by hand, I printed. Cursive is something I reserve solely for my signature, and over the years, that signature is turning into more and more of a scribble. Of course, on those touch-sensitive pads on which we sign for purchases at stores, you might as well do only a scribble.

Am I saying we should forget about teaching kids cursive? Not at all. After all, even though I can sit in my living room and type faster than I can write by hand, I’m not going to be carrying my laptop everywhere. I still don’t take notes on my BlackBerry. I find a scrap of paper and write on it. And, I carry in my pocket, a little collapsible pen that I found for sale at Staples. I’m a reporter. You’ll never know when you need the humble pen and paper.

It was almost surreal. After the circus surrounding the election (especially related to Issue 3) was over, we segue right into another news circus. This time, however, it’s a tragic media circus. As of the time I write this, the remains of eleven bodies have been found in and around Anthony Sowell’s house on Imperial Avenue.


Anthony Sowell

I was about ready to type “home,” but a house filled with the stench of eleven decaying bodies is no home.

Anyway, we have a story that is attracting world attention. Our reporters are doing interviews for CNN and MSNBC, as well as for radio around the world, including the BBC. Cleveland is one of the lead stories in national news. And it’s all because a very sick man took advantage of some very weak women.

While the drama related to the serial murders on Imperial Avenue are still playing out, the drama related to the election has moved into a new phase.

We Ohio voters have approved Issue 3, so Dan Gilbert gets his Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos, and Penn National get theirs in Columbus and Toledo. The TruthPAC folks – who weren’t really against casinos, just against the Gilbert/Penn National plan – will regroup, and attempt to re-work what voters approved yesterday.
 
We, the voters of Cuyahoga County also approved Issue 6. Over the next year, Cuyahoga County Commissioners Tim Hagan, Peter Lawson Jones and Jimmy Dimora, along with the county’s Sheriff, Treasurer, Engineer, Coroner, Auditor and Recorder will all be transitioning out of their offices. The commissioners will be history. The various department heads I mentioned will cease to have elected positions, and some will be merged.

The opponents of Issue 6 (who put up the competing Issue 5) are not happy campers. This morning, Hagan told our Bill Wills that Plain Dealer editor Susan Goldberg was responsible for Issue 6 passing. This afternoon, I saw an interview with Dimora on Channel 19. He was a tad more blunt. He says the media – especially the PD – lied to the public.


Jimmy Dimora

There’s something I hate to tell Mr. Dimora. It’s the job of The Plain Dealer, and Channel 19, and Channels 3, 5 and 8, and WCPN, and Cleveland Scene, and the Sun newspapers, and many more news media than I can name here (and don’t forget good old Newsradio WTAM 1100) to put out BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY. And, if one side of that story irritates people on the other side of the story, THAT’S TOO BAD!

It’s our job to find the truth and report it. I feel that we presented the truth. Issue 6, even with its flaws, will give Cuyahoga County a form of government similar to those at the city, state and federal levels. Issue 5 was nothing more than something concocted by county leaders and Democrats running the county, who are worried about their way of life. Well folks, the party’s over. There’s a new sheriff in town, so to speak (unless if current sheriff Frank Reid is appointed by the new county executive).

The message on Issue 3 seems to be, either you vote for casinos in Ohio, or you vote against them. But, when we go to the polls November 3, we’ll really be deciding:

**Do we want Dan Gilbert and Penn National’s casino plan
**Do we want to hold out yet another casino plan

In case you haven’t figured it out by now (and the campaign finance records prove it), Truthpac, which is the anti-Issue 3 campaign, is being bankrolled by Jeff Jacobs. Jacobs pretty much owns the entertainment area of The Flats. Jacobs, through his companies, has a stake in casinos in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, both of which attract Clevelanders.



If Issue 3 passes, Jacobs is shut out from the casino business in Ohio, as we’d be amending the state Constitution to give that business to Gilbert and Penn National exclusively. Mountaineer and Presque Isle casinos would have new competition.

If Issue 3 fails, there’s no new competition for casinos just a few miles outside of Ohio. It also opens up the possibility of yet another casino plan going before the voters. Or…will it?

Over the weekend, I saw a portion of an interview with Jacobs done by Channel 3’s Tom Beres. In that interview, Jacobs said he’ll go to the legislature, not to the voters, to find a way to legalize casinos in Ohio. This, after voters will have said numerous times in the last 20 years, “no” to casinos.

I truly believe that Ohio will eventually have casinos. I believe Ohio came too late to the game to be a player in bringing gamblers from out of state. Do I believe Issue 3 is perfect? Not at all.

Here’s one more thing to muddy the water. Jacobs makes money off casinos, yet Truthpac is putting out messages about how casinos hurt communities. What’s the deal with that? Well, I guess the anti-casino message will attract more votes than a “don’t vote for this casino plan, wait for the next one” message.

I hate to say, Issue 3 may be a bad deal, as Truthpac says, but Truthpac isn’t telling all the truth, either.

For some reason, a big gap is in the previous blog entry.  Here's a link to the video.

I’ve been on vacation this week, but that hasn’t stopped me from having an opinion or two.

Might as well start with Balloon Boy. Six-year-old Falcon Heene and his family were no strangers to television viewers (okay, they were to me) because they had been on ABC’s “Wife Swap.”



I think it’s safe to say this isn’t your typical Ozzie and Harriet family. Yesterday, when the world was hearing that Falcon might have climbed into a balloon that was drifting all over Colorado, I wasn’t listening to radio or TV, or was on the wed. I joined into the whole saga of young Falcon when the balloon had been found, and just before he was found hiding in the attic. This, yes, this, tied up programming on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC all afternoon. A partially inflated weather balloon that could have had a kid inside, but didn’t. The TV folks were falling all over themselves to stay up with what became a non-story. And today, everyone’s falling all over themselves, thanks to the fact that this six-year-old kid seemingly vomited on cue, when he and dad were asked in separate interviews about a comment Falcon had made to Larry King Live that the whole thing was done “for a show.”



I guess if there’s one thing about all the media scrutiny about Balloon Boy, I wonder why the media isn’t putting this much scrutiny on the health care plans coming from Capitol Hill. I guess the spending of our tax dollars isn’t as sexy as a wack family in Colorado.

Speaking of TV, did you see Thursday night’s bit on the Jay Leno Show featuring local members of Congress Dennis Kucinich and Steve LaTourette? Given the Leno show’s anemic ratings, chances are you didn’t. They agreed to be in a bit with comedian D.L. Hughley on his desire to see Democrats and Republicans get along better. So, in the last couple of minutes, you’ll see Dennis and Steve playing nice.



In the last two minutes of the bit, you'll see them on some playground equipment. They’re singing “Kumbaya.” They ride a tandem bicycle. They’re wearing Snuggies while watching Jay. I have to admit both men do have senses of humor. Steve LaTourette once invited humorist Dave Barry to be on his staff for a week. There are references to it in Dave’s book “Dave Barry Hits Below The Beltway.” Dennis Kucinich has a sense of humor. When you’re Dennis Kucinich, you know the world is laughing at you, so you might as well join in.

At Giant Eagle in Rocky River today, I saw a man wearing a surgical mask. I wasn’t about to go up to him to ask if he had fallen for the H1N1 media hype, as there was a good possibility he has emphysema, or a compromised immune system. Still, it made me think we may see more of that come this winter.

In this week’s issue of Cleveland Scene, I found an ad for a bar in Lakewood where you could watch Saturday’s “OSU vs. Perdue” game.



I guess this means the school has moved from West Lafayette, Indiana to Salisbury, Maryland, and the teams are now called the “Broilermakers.” The fight song apparently now has references to “tough men” and “tender chickens.”

As for me, I’ll be following the Central Michigan-Western Michigan game this Saturday. Last weekend, I traveled to Mount Pleasant, Michigan (which is, according to a local joke, neither) to see my CMU Chippewas go to 5-1 with a 56-8 shellacking of Eastern Michigan (and sat on the 50!).



It would be so nice to see them go to 6-1! To my fellow alumni, I say,

FIRE UP CHIPS!!!!

(To alumni and fans of OSU, I say, watch out for those chickens, as they peck at your ankles.)

I’m back from a whirlwind trip to Michigan to see old friends at Central Michigan University homecoming. Ten years ago, the group of friends you see in the photo below came up with an idea.


Top, L-R: Michael Patten, Class of '78, Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, Detroit; Gary Wise, '78, Voice of America (retired); Kenny Hazlett, '78, WHAM-TV, Rochester NY; Todd Overbeek, '77, Eagle Radio, Baraga MI.  Bottom, L-R: Bill Thompson, '78, Michigan Radio Network; Me, '77.

The marching band at CMU has been inviting alumni back for years to take part in the halftime show at homecoming. We thought, “why can’t we do something similar for Broadcast and Cinematic Arts alumni?” That’s how the Alumni Takeover of campus radio station WMHW came to be. For 42 straight hours (with the exception of a sponsored commitment for a high school football game), alumni kick the students off the station and take over, playing whatever music we darn well please. It’s a load of fun, and a fundraiser for a scholarship fund set up by the BCA alumni.

Many of my colleagues here in Ohio are insufferable when it comes to The Ohio State University. They overshadow the Mid-American Conference programs at Kent State, Akron, Bowling Green, Ohio University and Miami University. But, I have something to be proud of, thanks to my alma mater’s football team. The CMU Chippewas received six votes in this week’s AP College Football Poll. Not enough to crack the top 25, but enough for a mention, and, one more vote than the University of Michigan received. I guess we can say, without a doubt, that my Chips are the top college team in Michigan (don’t forget we beat Michigan State 29-27 a few weeks back). I loved it yesterday when I saw, in person, the Chips beat cross-state rival Michigan by a score of 56-8!

I say that as I watch the Browns and Buffalo in a totally pathetic game. The Browns are our local NFL team, and I wish I could get into the games, but I can’t. I hate to admit, I was never much of an NFL fan. I grew up in Michigan when the Lions stunk. I moved to the Philadelphia area when the Eagles stunk. I moved to Maryland just after the Colts packed up the moving trucks for Indianapolis. So much for the concept of following local teams. When I moved to Cleveland, I did attend a few games, but I was around for The Drive and The Fumble. Since then, the Browns have been an afterthought to me, and they will continue to be. My loyalties lie with my college football team, mainly because of my history at CMU, and the fact that CMU has a winning tradition, going back to when I was a freshman, and the 1974 team won the national Division II championship.

Finally, sympathies go out to a former colleague.


Mike Partin

Former WTAM overnight news anchor Mike Partin passed away suddenly Friday. Mike was only 42 years old. He was most recently an assignment editor with 10TV and the Ohio News Network in Columbus. We last worked together something like twelve years ago. Mike’s career took him to Cambridge, Ohio, where he was news director of a group of radio stations, then to a reporter’s job with WHIZ-TV in Zanesville. He started at 10TV and ONN about a year ago. Mike and I were on the Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters board together, and in fact, he succeeded me as president for 2008-09. All my sympathies and prayers go out to his widow, Tammy, and to his children.

Remember the old adage, "Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"? Guilty as charged. 

In my last blog entry, I wrote about a local fire department's news release in which it seemed to indicate that the fire inspectors were responsible for a fire. Today, while delivering a newscast, I caught myself in a similar twist of the English language. It was in the 7:30 a.m. newscast, in a story about Ohio's child booster seat law. I wrote, and said on the air:

BRIAN NEWBACHER OF TRIPLE-A SAYS FOR THE FIRST SIX MONTHS, POLICE WILL JUST ISSUE WARNINGS, BUT NEXT SPRING, YOU'LL GET A TICKET IF A DRIVER IS CAUGHT WITHOUT A CHILD IN A BOOSTER SEAT.

I guess that means all Ohio motorists will have to have a child in their car from now on. At least make sure the kid's in the back seat.

I hate to make anyone sound bad, but this was just too funny to be true.

In the newsroom today, we received an e-mail from a local fire department. The e-mail had attached to it a one-sentence news release from a local fire department. It made all of us laugh because of the improper sentence structure, making it unintentially very funny.

So as to protect the innocent, here is the release, with pertinent details removed (don't want to embarass these folks too much):

"The cause of the early morning fire at (LOCATION) has been determined to be food left unattended on the stove by (CITY) Fire Inspectors."

The moral of the story: you'd think those fire inspectors would know better than to leave food on a stove.