Blogweek

Here’s another BlogWeek, the local blog and news highlights from the last week.

Probably the biggest political news was Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann firing his “top cop” Rick Alli. From the Dispatch:

Attorney General Marc Dann fired his top law-enforcement adviser yesterday after learning that the “top cop” continued to draw a salary from his former employer in violation of his employment contract and possibly state law.

Elrico “Rick” Alli lost his $112,000-per-year position heading the attorney general’s law-enforcement operations after Dann learned that he still was being paid by the Youngstown Police Department. Dann’s office referred the matter to the Ohio Ethics Commission for further investigation and possibly criminal charges.

Alli’s firing is a black eye for Dann, who knew Alli from their years in the Mahoning Valley and hailed him as a man of “impeccable reputation” when he tapped the Youngstown police sergeant as one of his first hires in January.

Right Angle Blog had a number of posts about this, including this one recalling Alli’s hiring:

As David Skolnick opined in in the Youngstown Vindicator back in January, Alli worked in mostly a PR role for Youngstown police department, and was vastly under-qualified to be Ohio’s top cop. Alli may have gone to Denison University, but he never graduated- Instead, he graduated from the International School for Jewelers in Juniper, Florida- So he is obviously a brainiac. Skolonick called the hire of Alli “puzzling at best.”

In other stupid news, the Ohio Senate passed SB 16, that pointless bill setting statewide standards for strip clubs, since local governments, what- can’t be trusted? The Other Paper had a really good article featuring several Senators, Republicans and Democrats, complaining about the bill.

The vote [in the full Senate] would have never occurred had Mumper and three of his fellow members of the State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee voted their consciences on the bill.

Five senators on the nine-member panel—Mumper, Niehaus, Boccieri, and Democrats Capri Cafaro and Shirley Smith—made it clear they disagreed with the bill. But only Smith voted against recommending it to the Senate.

Your tax dollars at work, people. (Via Progess Ohio.)

The Democratic loser in the last 15th Congressional District election, Mary Jo Kilroy, has written an open letter, concluding that, surprise! she’s simply got to run again in ‘08.

After 2006, my opponent [Deborah Pryce] is no longer one of the Republican congressional leaders and no longer in the majority. Now is time to send her home. This is even more critical – and possible – in a Presidential election year. No one has come as close we did to defeating a member of the Republican leadership than in Ohio ’s 15th District. We were only 1,000 votes short, even though Pryce raised and spent $4.6 million. Now that she is out of leadership, she will not be able to raise that kind of money from K Street . But I will!

OK, she totally didn’t say that last sentence.

Lots of local blog talk on the big study. The big inquiry. The big marketing push being cobbled together by consultative professionals. ColumbusING started us off:

So the long wait is over! Rebecca Ryan of Next Generation Consulting gave eager Columbus citizens a sample of her highly anticipated report to help the city figure out how to attract and retain young talent. It was unveiled only the way Columbus knows how! First there is an orgy of introductions from civic leaders reminding their constituents that it is them (not just the Mayor) who helped facilitate this brilliant project. Then the almighty savior of Columbus’ Young Professionals enters stage right….

I weighed in, and there was more on the Columbus Underground boards, and Lisa Renee at Glass City Jungle had more. A brand new Columbus bog- why columbus?- also had a post on it. That last one though- I can’t tell if he’s witty and discerning or totally deranged. You make the call.

In a related matter, Cap City Savvy asks what exactly people mean when they say “affordable downtown housing.” I think the answer usually has the phrase “government subsidized” in there somewhere.

And finally, local blogger and dad Dave is teaching his offspring about the fine art of flower torturing. I can hear the dandelions screaming, Dave.

And there it is, your week in local blogs.