April 17, 2007 by gpstevens.

In light of the recent massacre at Virginia Tech University I wanted to send out my thoughts and prayers for the victims and their family and friends. It seems that day after day and year after year we hear about these things or read about them in the paper and it’s almost trivia. Hey did you hear about this or did you read about that? Whats the new scoop on Anna Nicole or what about this scandal or that, and somehow it all gets lumped into this big wad we call “The News.” It’s just another story, a picture in the paper, something to talk about over dinner or a beer at the bar or club. Water cooler talk I think they call it now. Just something to talk about with strangers when you don’t really want to talk to that person at all. How cold we have become.

Do we really feel their pain? Do we really feel the tragedy in our hearts? Do we really stop to think that on one Monday morning and afternoon literally thousands of lives have been changed as the result of one lone killers actions? As of now we have 33 people dead including the shooter, over 20 people wounded. Right now as it stands we have at least 50 people shot. Now how many wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, friends and various other relatives have been affected? Just using simple math that translates into the thousands.

I guess all I want to say is this.

None of us ever really know when the s**t is gonna hit the fan. In America we seem to take life and liberty and freedom so for granted. Then one day everything we loved so much is gone, sometimes it’s gone within minutes if not seconds. Yesterday a bunch of college kids went to class. In a couple of days they will be lowering alot of kids into the ground. They will never come home again. The school year for them is over. They will never get that dream job. They will never be what they wanted to be. They will never see mom and dad again. And mom and dad will have to live with the memory of seeing their child not outlive them.

What can we do about this? Not much. The best we can do is love our friends, treat them with respect. Love our children and our family and never let a day go buy without doing something or saying something that lets them know we love them. “Love thy neighbor as you love thyself” Jesus said. The country is in pain tonight and eventually the wounds will heal over time but let us not dismiss the pain of today. Today we were wounded but not killed, we will live on to fight another day, but in the meantime let’s pause and think and remember that sometimes when a loved one walks out the door to do what we consider their everyday routine, we may never see them again. Every good-bye could be our last.

May God bless and comfort those victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre and to all my friends, family, and everyone else, I love you.

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March 28, 2007 by gpstevens.

OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Proposal would ease smoke ban
Clubs whose workers are members may be exempt
WHAT HAPPENED?
• The Ohio Department of
Health proposed revised rules
that would exempt clubs whose
employees are members from
Ohio’s public smoking ban.

• The move marks a turnaround for the health department, whose attorney previously stated such an exemption would be inconsistent with the voter-approved law.

• If the Joint Committee on
Agency Rule Review does not
interfere, the smoking-ban rules
could take effect in late April.
 
 

By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU
COLUMBUS — Private clubs whose employees are also members may have won a reprieve from the state’s new ban on smoking in public places.

The Ohio Department of Health yesterday proposed revised rules that, if accepted by a legislative review panel, would carve out the exemption such clubs have sought since the day voters approved the law on Nov. 7.

The move has clubs such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars rejoicing but has placed health organizations like the American Cancer Society in an unlikely alliance with bars, restaurants, and bowling alleys that consider the clubs as their competition.

“I can now see some of these organizations changing their membership requirements to allow servers, who are not currently eligible, to become members,” said David Corey, lobbyist for the Bowling Centers Association of Ohio. “The Moose, Elks, Eagles, and all of those. Look out, Nellie!”

The move was an abrupt turnaround for the department, whose attorney previously stated such an exemption would be inconsistent with the voter-approved law. In fact, the department proposed something similar in an early draft but then removed it.

“Private club representatives have consistently asked ODH to fashion rules that reflect the exemption they believed they had under the law passed in November,” said the department’s acting director, Anne R. Harnish. “Changes made after a thorough review by our lawyers allow us to do that.”

Gov. Ted Strickland “consulted” with the health department on the change and supports the language, said spokesman Keith Dailey.

“He believes this is a reasonable rule that enforces the ban and also honors the exemption established in the law for certain private clubs, including veterans’ clubs,” he said.

The text of the law approved on Nov. 7 provides for an exemption for private clubs as long as “the club has no employees; the club is organized as a not-for-profit entity; only members of the club are present in the club’s building; no persons under the age of 18 are present in the club’s building; the club is located in a free-standing structure occupied solely by the club; smoke from the club does not migrate into an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this chapter, and, if the club serves alcohol, it holds a valid D4 liquor permit [for non-profits].”

The law defines “employee” as “a person who is employed by an employer, or who contracts with an employer or third person to perform services for an employer, or who otherwise performs services for an employer for compensation or no compensation.”

The revised rules, however, added a provision stating that private club members are not considered “employees.” A department press release accompanying the new rules states this would be true regardless of whether the member is paid.

Staff of the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, a bipartisan committee consisting of House and Senate members, opened the door to changes when it questioned the first set of rules.

“It’s a matter of economics for us,” said Bill Seagraves, commander of the Ohio Department of Veterans of Foreign Wars. “We can’t afford to lose business. We have to struggle now with maintaining our membership.”

He said he interprets the proposed new exemption as allowing qualifying clubs to go nonsmoking part of the time when events are held with the general public present while allowing smoking when the public isn’t there.

“The purpose behind Issue 5 was to protect all workers in every public workplace in Ohio,” said Tracy Sabetta, spokesman for the cancer society. “If a private club has employees, all businesses should be on a level playing field. They all must be covered.”

Jacob Evans, lobbyist for the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, said the exemption adds to the list of objections bars and restaurants have raised to the ban since they failed to defeat it at the polls.

“Creating an exemption for private clubs that compete directly with private businesses gives them a leg up,” he said. “That is very much a concern.”

The rules are subject to a hearing before the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review on April 16. If that panel does not interfere, they could take effect as early as April 30.

The law went into effect on Dec. 7, but enforcement has been placed on hold under court agreement while the rules filling gaps in the law are completed. Many have complied with what has so far been a toothless law, but others have ignored it, knowing no fines could be imposed during this period.

The department also proposed another change in the rules to state that an anonymous complaint alone could not justify a finding that a violation indeed occurred.

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496

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December 30, 2006 by gpstevens.

   

 AP

This video image released by the Biladi TV stations appears to show the body of Saddam Hussein.

This video image released by the Biladi TV stations appears to show the body of Saddam Hussein.

BAGHDAD, Iraq —  Saddam Hussein, among the world’s most brutal dictators, struggled briefly after American military guards handed him over to Iraqi executioners. But as his final moments approached, he grew calm. Dressed in a black coat and trousers, he clutched a Koran as he was led to the gallows, and in one final moment of defiance, refused to have a hood pulled over his head.• Purported Video of Saddam’s Hanging in Entirety SurfacesAfter a quarter-century of remorseless brutality that killed countless thousands and led Iraq into disastrous wars against the United States and Iran, Saddam was executed before sunrise Saturday.

Within hours of his death, at least 68 Iraqis died in bombings. In northwest Baghdad, two parked cars exploded killing 37 civilians and wounding 76. Another 31 people died and 58 were hurt south of the capital.

Media outlets reported Saturday that Saddam would be buried near his hometown.

 

 

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