Butler County has worst foreclosure rate in Ohio

| January 13, 2012

Although I know the employment and housing market has been bad in Ohio, I didn’t realize it was as bad as it was in our county until noticing the foreclosure numbers for 2011. Butler County had 3,330 foreclosure filings in 2011, which was about the same as 2010. Only 2009 saw higher filings with 4,000, [...]

Congestion on I-75 some of worst in U.S.

| November 28, 2011

No wonder I instinctively avoid I-75 downtown Cincinnati during rush hour. Two stretches of I-75 in the Cincinnati area have been identified as being among the 328 most seriously congested in the country in a recent report by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University.

The Ides of March opens in theaters this weekend

| October 7, 2011

Southwestern Ohio movie goers are anxious for the opening of George Cloney’s “The Ides of March” since the Cincinnati and the small college town of Oxford Ohio are notable in the film. The political drama starring Ryan Gosling used Miami University’s Hall Auditorium and the Farmer School of Business in the film, particularly in the [...]

Couldn’t be happening to a nicer guy (sarcasm)

| June 14, 2011

A story that might make more than a couple people I know smile when they go to bed tonight. (I’m thinking of my hard working brother-in-law). The hearing to determine if Cincinnati attorney Stan Chesley will be able to keep his law license to practice in Kentucky and possibly in Ohio ended in Lexington Tuesday [...]

Ryan Riddell is 2/3s through is ‘30 days homeless’ project

| January 22, 2011

The husband of a close friend of ours is in the middle of a community awareness and missions project that has been both eye opening for him and a chance to bring community attention to the homeless. Ryan Riddell, a pastor and real estate agent , is spending the month of January ‘homeless’ rather than [...]

A slew of negative news dominates the headlines

| November 30, 2010

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88 points, or 0.8% to 10964 in early trading.” A glance at the headlines of the Wall Street Journal this morning leaves me even more sour than does the gloomy and rainy day … although the at least the rain we need. It seems no matter where one looks [...]

Polling locations, private property, free speech and lawsuits

| October 19, 2010

I’ve often wondered what is and isn’t permitted at local polling locations since many are private properties except for opening their doors on election day. In our suburban township we use schools, churches and building such as union halls, the later generating a lawsuit from a local community group of the Cincinnati Tea Party. Some [...]

Superstreets are a growing trend as Ohio roadways expand

| September 28, 2010

So far I’m not convinced drivers are big fans of the new complex intersections being constructed on many of today roads and highways – referred to as Superstreets. The handful of completed projects that I’ve traveled on recently seem overly complex and tailored to create accidents. A couple of examples that come to mind would [...]

Another Walgreens: Liberty Township continues to grow

| September 25, 2010

We live in a changing area, not as much in 2009 or 2010 as a few years ago, pre-recession, but growth is still happening. I’ve been pondering the idea of including an occasional archived photo or two from the West Chester/Liberty Township Ohio area. The thinking is that it might be nice to have a [...]

Beware of funny money showing up in Butler County Ohio

| September 22, 2010

Having worked with ink and paper for most of my working life, I pay attention to counterfeiting with a bit more interest than most. An article in the local Pulse Journal reported on businesses finding “washed” small denomination bills being counterfeited and passed as larger bills. These fake bills are often used in drug deals [...]

Police chase: Will the judge go easy on this driver?

| July 30, 2010

There is a part of me feeling sorry for this driver and for her regard for safety in stopping at lights, but since we once had our car hit by an uninsured driver with a suspended license and had to pay 100% of the repairs, I don’t want them getting off easy either; the judge [...]

A semi-pet peeve: Restaurant cleanliness

| July 25, 2010

Although I’m not a germ-a-phobe or a neat-nik by any stretch of the imagination, I’m often repulsed by the cleanliness of some local area restaurants. Being the one who is responsible for the health certificate for my EAA chapters annual Fly-in and Pancake Breakfast, I know how challenging it is to pass health inspections (Warren [...]

West Chester Ohio recognized Money Magazine as #32

| July 23, 2010

Nice to know the area we live in is recognized nationally in the “Best Places to Live” section of Money Magazine. Top 100 rank: 32 Population: 60,000 Compare West Chester to Top 10 Best Places What do dogs, kites, and beer have in common? West Chester holds festivals celebrating all three. It has an active [...]

Replaced Goodyear Integrity with Michelin LTX MX2 tires

| July 20, 2010

The stock OEM Goodyear Integrity tires on my Honda Pilot have giving me a good 109,000 miles of wear and I replaced them today since an ugly split started to show up. They have always driven well on everything but wet roads, especially heavy rain. Their flaw is that they seem to be unable to [...]

Prominent King of Kings – Touchdown Jesus statue destroyed

| June 15, 2010

The strong storms which passed through southwestern Ohio Monday evening dumped heavy rain and lightning all around our home (see video clip from Palm Pre at bottom). The pool is full to overflowing and the water retention area  overflowed the driveway and patio areas. Thankfully our two sump pumps worked well to keep our basement [...]

Appreciating the flowers that beautify our home

| May 16, 2010

I enjoyed the day working in the yard and found myself appreciating Brenda’s gardening talents. As the landscaping around our yard continues to mature and the varieties of different flowers bloom one after another all spring, all the hard work to plan, plant and tend is beginning to pay off. Today’s overweight Peony blooms were [...]

Good news, bad news …

| April 30, 2010

With a new El Rancho Grande Mexican restaurant opening close to home, I won’t have to drive as far to get my chips and salsa ‘fix.’ Unfortunately being so close is going to be a real temptation. Posted via email from richc’s posterous

Oil Pressure problem causes emergency landing

| March 20, 2010

Waiting for details on this … (article below) EDIT 3/21/2010: The plane was built by Kevin Kinney. It was a Zenith 601XL with a Jabiru 3300 engine. It received it Airworthiness certificate August 28, 2009. Kevin is a member of EAA Chapter 174 in Cincinnati.

Bad timing: Lakota Schools are asking too much from voters

| February 18, 2010

It looks like the Lakota Board of Education has decided to place a new levy on May 4th’s primary ballot in our area – LINK – not a well timed request, in my opinion. I’ve been mostly supportive and relatively pleased with the education my kids have received in our local public schools, but from [...]

Breaking February snowfall records in SW Ohio

| February 16, 2010

Now that the worst of the couple of days of winter snow are over, I noticed that Clinton County (a county to the east) has just now declared a LEVEL 3 Snow Emergency (the one that closes roadways to non-emergency personnel – see below). I had thought that road crews were getting on top of [...]

Nearing February snowfall records in SW Ohio

| February 15, 2010

The El Niño as certainly brought it share of precipitation this year, although I’m not sure where the warmer weather is? Here in Cincinnati we’re surpassing our February snowfall averages and nearing records, so I have been hearing – WCPOWeather Tweet. We’ve already past last year for snow for this time of year (21.5”) by [...]

Record Ohio whitetail buck to be officially measured on Saturday

| January 30, 2010

On Saturday, Clayton, Ohio hunter Brian Stephens will know “officially” if the buck he shot with a muzzleloader on November 30th 2009 is one for the record books. (photo above is Brian, the buck and a coyote) Without question the “green” scored 232 5/8 non-typical whitetail deer taken in Highland County Ohio is one big [...]

Ohio to get $400M for high-speed rail

| January 28, 2010

Hmm … I don’t want to be negative just because I dislike big government and excessive borrowing … but will a high speed rail service really be the best investment for our state? I drive from Cincinnati to NE Ohio every week, but unless I could park safely and cheaply on this end and rent [...]

Continued Liberty Twp Ohio Coyote problems

| January 16, 2010

I received a phone call from my neighbor a few minutes ago concerning a wounded and limping coyote on her back porch (previous post). By the time I retrieved my voicemail it was too late to do anything as the county sheriff arrived and the critter headed off into the ravine. A brief search with [...]

Trapping coyotes in Butler County Ohio

| December 8, 2009

The Ohio News Channel produced a short news story on trapping coyotes in the suburban areas of  West Chester in Butler County, Ohio (see previous post).  Neighbor in the area have grown concerned enough as to hire a professional trapper (video below). Perhaps they’ll at least remove the boldest coyotes … although I wonder  just [...]

Just a light snow but a traffic nightmare

| December 7, 2009

Who would have thunk it … the first dusting of snow across the Cincinnati area that looks so harmless and traffic nightmare ensues. Good news for automotive body shops and tow truck operators … and probably far better than the “cash for clunkers” boondoggle forced on taxpayers by Washington this year? I went out to [...]

Gotta love landing a helicopter in your backyard

| November 22, 2009

Relatively new EFE Gazebo – replaced after Hurricane Ike in 2008 While enjoying a calm and warm November afternoon, I visited with my neighbors and envied watching the helicopter land and takeoff in their backyard. He mentioned (and chuckled) that since he saw the life-flight land and take off a few days ago that it [...]

The Ohio Bucks are having a heyday

| November 15, 2009

No I’m not talking about the Ohio State Buckeyes win over the Iowa Hawkeyes this weekend OR the “whodey” Bengals defensive triumph over their rival the Pittsburgh Steelers (for a 5-0 record in their division and 7-2 overall – but who am I to boast) … although both were local football wins and worthly bloggable [...]

A teen car accident is one of a parent’s worse nightmares

| November 8, 2009

As I watched the paramedics and emergency workers waiting for the life-flight helicopter and cutting apart the car that a young man was driving on Bethany Road behind our house on Sunday morning, I couldn’t help but feel for the boys’ parents who stood looking on helplessly. From preliminary reports, he was heading home from [...]

NPR news story on remembering Capt. David “Seth” Mitchell

| November 2, 2009

Although most of my conservative friends would be appalled I listed to National Public Radio, they produced an appreciated story reflecting on the life of Capt. David “Seth” Mitchell, 1 of 14 Marines killed on October 27th and played the story nationally (MP3 Link). It was good to hear how the community of Loveland (NE [...]

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.