Letters to the Editor
Make a Difference
Please warn your student re dangers of marijuana. It kills brain cells. It can be addictive. It affects driving ability.
Pot edibles are dangerous because they work slowly so they eat more.
And, it’s illegal!
Parents make a difference.
Pat and John Leech
Newbury Township
Vote for Trump
Our nation is at a crossroads.
We have only two real choices for President of the United States of America. One candidate offends our sensibilities while the other candidate has broken our faith in a fundamental principle of our country: “We are all equal under the law.”
The Democratic Party and its operatives, who appear to be the mainstream media, want you to focus on their shiny object — unsubstantiated claims of unwanted sexual advances by Donald Trump. Why? They don’t want you to focus on the unabashed dishonesty, greed and duplicity of Hillary Clinton.
The FBI’s own documents, John Podesta’s emails uncovered by Wikileaks and undercover videos by James O’Keefe offer proof of the unbelievable lengths Hillary Clinton will go to in order to earn her place in history as the “First Woman President of the United States of America.”
James Comey had to turn the law into a pretzel not to indict Hillary Clinton for using an unsecured server to discuss and disseminate highly classified information.
Hillary and Bill Clinton enriched themselves and their friends by selling their influence to foreign governments, foreign corporations and Wall Street bankers.
The Clinton Foundation bilked the Haitians out funds to help rebuild their country after a disastrous earthquake. There is proof that Hugh Rodham, Hillary’s brother, was given control of a Haitian gold mine through his relationship with the Clinton Foundation.
I know that Hillary Clinton will appoint Supreme Court Justices who will undermine the Second Amendment.
I know that Hillary Clinton wants open borders, in order to allow unvetted immigrants into our country.
I know that Hillary Clinton will say one thing in public and the complete opposite in private.
I know that Hillary Clinton will raise taxes.
I know that Hillary Clinton will fix Obamacare by instituting “single payer.”
I know that Donald Trump will appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court.
I know that Donald Trump will bring jobs back to the United States of America by removing tax penalties to corporations so they will bring their operations back into the United States.
I know that Donald Trump will replace failed Obamacare with a health care plan that offers choices, and does not penalize people for not choosing to have healthcare.
I know that Donald Trump will do right by the vets.
I know that Donald Trump will strengthen our military.
I know that Donald Trump will restore law and order to our country, and that includes the laws broken by Hillary Clinton.
I know the only way to stop Hillary Clinton from continuing her lies and deception, and to stop her from enriching herself and her cronies is to vote for Donald Trump.
Elsie Tarczy
South Russell
Make Your Judicial Vote Count
Given the amount of media coverage devoted to the presidential election this year, many Ohioans may believe that the race for the Oval Office is the only one on the ballot in November.
Not so.
In fact, I would argue that there are statewide, regional and local candidates on the ballot that will have a far greater impact on the daily lives of Ohio voters than the president will have. Those individuals are judges.
There are more than 150 seats up for election statewide this fall. Judicial candidates are running for the Ohio Supreme Court, courts of appeals, common pleas courts, and county courts. It is imperative that voters get to know these candidates in order to make an informed decision on Nov. 8.
In order to increase meaningful voter participation, I launched last year the first statewide judicial voter education website: JudicialVotesCount.org. For the first time, Ohioans have access to quality information about all candidates for judge.
In addition to candidate profiles, JudicialVotesCount.org features information about what judges do, descriptions about the duties of different courts and brief videos of former judges explaining how the court system works.
My Judicial Votes Count partners include the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, which houses the website; the Ohio State Bar Association; the League of Women Voters of Ohio; the Ohio Newspaper Association; and the Ohio Association of Broadcasters.
There are many reasons to better educate Ohioans about judges and the judiciary. One reason is judicial voter drop-off. A quarter of the electorate — or more — routinely skips voting for judges, who, by law, are listed near the bottom of the ballot.
Another impetus for creating the website came from a Bliss Institute survey of 1,067 registered Ohio voters who said the biggest reason they don’t vote for judge is because they don’t know enough about the candidates.
I believe it’s unreasonable to expect voters to be knowledgeable about judicial candidates when that information used to be difficult to find. JudicialVotesCount.org strives to give voters easy access to quality information. It is my hope that by raising awareness about the availability of this type of information, voter participation in judicial races will increase. Better still, I hope that more Ohioans become better educated about their judges and vote in a more informed way, rather than relying on a comfortable name on the ballot.
You can connect with Judicial Votes Count via a Twitter account, a Facebook page, and a YouTube channel to spread the word. Please follow, like and watch.
While there can be no doubt that presidents make important decisions every day, judges make those same kind of decisions that hit closer to home for most Ohioans.
Go to JudicialVotesCount.org and take the time to learn who’s on the ballot for your local court, their legal background and why they are running for judge.
Take that knowledge, step into the ballot box on Nov. 8 and make your judicial vote count.
Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor
Supreme Court of Ohio
