Truth, justice and the American way

I'm feeling like I did something important today. In the grand scheme of things, all I did was cause a headache for some people who were going to circumvent the Ohio Open Meetings Act. But I still feel like I did something that mattered. I'll paste my story since it's not on our Web site quite yet.

BREAKOUT:
ON THE WEB
To read about the Ohio Sunshine Laws, go to http://www.ag.state.oh.us/online_publications/2004_yellow_book.pdf. Find valid reasons for executive sessions under the Open Meetings Act in “Seven Different Types of Executive Sessions.”

Headline: CIC members decline discussion in open meeting

By DAVID TRINKO
dtrinko@limanews.com
419-993-2098

OTTAWA — Board members for the Putnam County Community Improvement Corp. came to the commissioners’ office to chat Wednesday.
They weren’t so eager to have the public hear what they had to say, though.
“If we can’t keep it out of the newspaper, I’ll say we need to cancel the meeting,” CIC President Stan Schneck said.
Schneck, Edna Michel and Jim Russell walked out of a scheduled meeting Wednesday after the commissioners declined to go into executive session to discuss the county’s issues with the CIC, which it dropped as the county’s economic coordinator last summer.
Executive sessions legally exclude the public from proceedings, but the situation must meet one of seven specific standards. The Public Records Act and found in Attorney General Jim Petro’s “An Ohio Sunshine Laws Update 2004 Edition” describes its proper use.
The CIC has two pending lawsuits against the county commissioners, both scheduled for their first court appearances in early March.
In the past month, the commissioners met to discuss CIC-related topics eight different times with members of the business community or the CIC itself, according to the commissioners’ meeting calendar. They entered into executive session four times, using the topic “conference with attorney for public body to discuss pending or imminent court action.”
In each of those executive sessions, the commissioners’ attorney, Prosecutor Gary Lammers, joined the group in executive session. Lammers was out of the county Wednesday.
“We’d need Gary to discuss pending or imminent lawsuits,” Commissioner Vincent Schroeder said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t still speak like we’ve been doing though.”
Schneck said he worried about derailing the discussion by conducting it in an open meeting.
“I’m not prepared to discuss anything then,” he said. “I don’t think we’re to the point I want it in the newspapers. Until we work out some things, it’s all just discussion.”
The penalty for an illegal executive session includes invalidating the decisions made in a session or even removal of an officeholder.
“If you read through these, there’s nothing that really applies with negotiations with an organization outside of this office,” Schroeder said.
Commissioner Tom Price added, “We just don’t want to do anything wrong.”
Discussions between the county government and the CIC appear to be moving along well.
During a meeting Tuesday night, CIC Director Martin Kuhlman and new Putnam County Economic Development Coordinator Lee Schroeder expressed optimism they could find “middle ground” in developing a new standard form for enterprise zone agreements. Leipsic officials voiced concerns about some of the language.
Schneck expressed disappointment while commending the recent steps toward resolving the sides’ differences.
“We made so many gigantic steps forward,” Schneck said. “This is going to cause us to go backwards. Time is of an essence. Because of this glitch, it’s delaying things.”

Ugh

I don't do "sick" very well. I've never been one to take a day off from school, or from work, or from life, or from anyplace, really. I generally like to keep doing whatever I should be doing, no matter how miserable I might feel.

That's been difficult the last two days, though, as I suffer through this same rotten cold everyone else in Ohio seems to have right now. Just 10 or 15 minutes of walking around at a time leaves me feeling genuinely exhausted. I took nearly six hours' worth of naps today after sleeping for nearly 11 hours last night. Even for a man who admits he likes sleep, that's a lot.

The hardest part is admitting some microscopic organism can get the best of you. It's hard 'fessing up that clogged sinuses can wipe out you balance and leave you weak in the knees. It stinks admitting you're not up to full capacity.

It does make you appreciate your body more, though. Feeling so achy and sore and stiff reminds me that I should take better advantage of my flexibility and balance when I'ma ble. I should enjoy the ability to run around and have fun. I should enjoy the ability to run up and down the stairs without getting completely exhausted.

All that having been said, it's been nearly an hour since my most recent nap attempt, and I'm exhausted. Time to hit the hay again, in hopes of health when I revive.

You were right

Valentine's Day left me with a number of ideas running through my head, looking for the right way to say them. Somehow this two-year-old idea kept coming forth...
---
You were right. About almost everything, really.

You were right. I do look better in solid-colored shirts.

You were right. I probably should look into dental surgery some day.

You were right. I do tend to find the humor in things, even when they're not truly funny.

You were right. I do hate to be alone.

You were right. I will try to get the last word into every conversation.

You were right. Some day I will want to move closer to my family. I did, and I'm better off for it.

You were right about so much. But you were wrong about me.

You were really wrong when you once said I'd never admit when I was wrong.

I'm not going to swap opinions on things that truly matter to me. I'm not going to forgive and forget where religion's concerned. I'm not going to stick my tail between my legs and come running back to you.

I wish I could stop thinking about you and the things you said. We had a great time together, no doubt. But it ended nearly two years ago. And some days, without warning, it'll just start haunting me... making me wonder what I did wrong... making me reconsider if going separate ways was such a good idea.

But most of all, you were right when you said maybe we were too different to stay together. I miss you all the time, but I know deep down we're both better off apart.

Exhausting and tiring

I haven't been able to update this thing as much as I might like. I've had an exhausting couple days at work.

I just lost a fairly in-depth discussion of the week and what made it tough. Then the window crashed. I don't think I'll try to recreate it. I'll just share links to the finished products. Maybe some other day I'll explain what made them hard.

On Tuesday, I had two fairly time-consuming and emotionally draining stories:

Family in Putnam County mourns soldier's death
Continental voters approve levy; board cuts six teachers

On Sunday, I dealt with FOUR breaking news stories:

Train derails near Cridersville
Montgomery praises students' help
Pearl Harbor activist dies
And a fourth one about a hostage situation in Lima that somehow didn't make the Web.

So you'll forgive me if I feel a little "written out." I have a refreshing weekend in Georgia planned which mixes all the things I like: Friends, ocean and fresh seafood. That should liven me up again...

State of the Man Address

My fellow Americans, we live in a nation of unparalleled liberties. American men today have more options to act like men than in any generation to this point.

I'd like to take this moment to recognize men like David Trinko, of Ottawa, Ohio. On this very evening, he redefined the term "multitasking" for all men everywhere. While sitting on his couch and gnawing on the hard end of a summer sausage, he flipped back and forth between the State of the Union Address and the basketball games on ESPN every time a standing ovation began.

He understood the world sometimes must laugh at itself. During a touching moment in which an Iraqi woman hugged the mother of a slain Marine, he noticed the dogtags of the deceaded freedom-fighter. He thought to himself, "She'd better be careful not to get that caught on the Iraqi woman." Sure enough, once the embrace ended, the two were still united, with that dogtag literally bonding them together.

He also thought about how mocking the State of the Union Address could be fun in everyday life. Tomorrow he'll join his coworkers at a meeting in the newspaper's newsroom. He intends to incite his coworkers to stand up to interrupt the editor's speech occasionally.

It's with great pride that I present to you the State of the Man Address for 2005. May man continue to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of a significant other.