Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Ohio News of Interest

An impeachment vote came before the Oberlin City Council. Dispatch:
In front of more than a dozen residents wearing peach "Impeach Bush and Cheney" buttons, the Oberlin City Council voted unanimously to ask the House of Representatives to do just that.

Last night's vote backs a petition signed by 648 Oberlin residents and makes Oberlin the first city in Ohio to formally support impeaching the president and vice president. Fifty-seven other cities and Vermont's legislature have passed similar measures....

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has restored some protection that Republican Gov. Taft had taken away. Bucyrus Telegraph:

Discriminating against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity is wrong. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland's signing of an executive order banning such discrimination at state agencies is a good thing.

Strickland signed the order Thursday to protect state workers who are gay, lesbian and transgender or who may appear to be. According to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, there have been 60 cases of such discrimination filed against the state in the last three years.

The rule specific to sexual orientation had been in effect since Democratic Gov. Richard Celeste was in office in the 1980s, remained in place during Republican George Voinovich's administration and was removed in the early months of Gov. Bob Taft's administration.

The order prohibits the consideration of sexual orientation and gender identity among state workers when it comes to hiring, layoffs, termination, transfer, promotion, demotion, compensation and eligibility for training.

For other people to be protected and this group to be removed from protection was wrong in the first place. It never should have happened. Strickland's signature to this order Thursday was righting a wrong the residents of this state never should have let happen....

The NBA draft lottery is tonight and Greg Oden is probably a little anxious about where he'll go. See the Dispatch.

The Lantern has a story about how there was a blood drive near Ohio State for soldiers in Iraq:

In honor of Memorial Day, soldiers in Iraq will receive the ultimate care package - 300 pints of blood, courtesy of a local church.

On Sunday, members and volunteers at the Newman Center on Lane Avenue hosted a blood drive to help wounded soldiers being treated in Baghdad hospitals. The large room in the center was filled with 27 beds and a steady stream of volunteers ready to roll up their sleeves and help.

"With the shortages of blood in the hospitals, I knew we needed to do something to help," said Hank Bobulski, the blood drive coordinator for the center.

Bobulski said he was inspired by a segment on "60 Minutes" about the shortage of blood in Iraqi hospitals and immediately contacted the Armed Services Blood Program, the only organization that collects blood specifically for the Army, Navy and Air Force, and started organizing the event....