David Friedman's column on Friday, April 16 (Israel offers hope for human rights), contained several errors that must be corrected. I do not have enough room to deconstruct Friedman's entire column, which was filled with misinformation, so I have picked the most serious and pertinent mistakes to address.
After falling into a quick eight-run deficit, the Ohio baseball team was forced to play catch up all day, and never recovered, dropping an 11-3 decision to Cincinnati yesterday at Bob Wren Stadium.
(U-WIRE) - Assault weapons such as high-powered and fully or semi-automatic rifles are weapons of war. Why any group would want weapons of war on the streets of America is beyond me. Why a president who has so heavily supported organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security would want to relax or even do away with the assault weapons ban is counterlogical. However, the National Rifle Association has a friend in the White House in the form of President Bush, and he is not pushing for a renewal of the assault weapons ban.
In honor of National Crime Victims Rights Week, the Clothesline Project, a series of T-shirts made by victims of sexual and domestic violence, will be displayed at the Ping Center through Thursday.
Athens City Council postponed discussing a new ordinance aimed at controlling the pet population Monday night, but before you decide to buy a puppy for entertainment in Spring weather, you should understand the ordinance it will consider. As it stood, the law would have made it mandatory for all pets to be spayed and neutered, except in special circumstances, and all animals to be fitted with tracking microchips. A name, address and telephone number would be included in the surgically implanted chip that, when scanned, gives animal rescuers information needed to contact the rightful owner. Council was correct in sending the ordinance back to committee for discussion. Before they decide to implant a microchip in the beloved family pet, council members need to focus on the first part of the ordinance, enforcing mandatory sterilization.
Athens Sewer and Water Department workers install a new water line underneath Court Street yesterday afternoon. Court Street will be closed until tonight as city workers put a new water line near the Hocking Valley Bank on Court Street, said Bob Thompson, a worker with the Water and Sewer Department. A dispatcher with the Athens Police Department said police received some complaints about the traffic back-ups.
An Ohio University graduate is under investigation by the Athens County Prosecutor's Office and the Ohio Election Commission for taking money from his election account. The money, however, has been paid back to the account.
Ohio pitcher Dan O'Rourke was named Mid-American Conference East Division Pitcher of the Week after pitching a complete game against Marshall Sunday.
Ohio University President Robert Glidden said new funding will be devoted to athletics, technology, diversity, air travel, out-of-state student recruiting, Alden library and reserve funds in fiscal year 2005. Glidden outlined budget resources and expenditures in an open meeting for students last night.
COLUMBUS - A police homicide sergeant claimed in a recent memo that a prosecutor's investigator is interfering with police work on an arson that killed five college students last year.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Guerrillas fired a barrage of mortar rounds at Baghdad's largest prison yesterday, killing 22 prisoners in an attack a U.S. general said may have been an attempt to spark an uprising against their American guards.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Disgraced Oklahoma City police chemist Joyce Gilchrist doctored trial evidence and may have destroyed hair samples that could have exonerated a man now on death row, according to a confidential police memo.
During yesterday's Athens County Commissioners meeting, the commissioners agreed to pay $750 for the cremation of Louis Principe. Principe passed away on March 8, 2004 at the Sunset Motel, and no one has claimed him. His deceased wife's ashes are buried in Morgantown, W. Va. The $750 will pay for his cremation and transportation to the cemetery.
Peter Bratt, director and writer of Follow Me Home
WASHINGTON - Federal regulators reached a $4 billion settlement yesterday with NextWave Telecom Inc., ending years of legal wrangling over lucrative wireless licenses.
As politicians and religious officials have heated debates about gay marriage, often pitting Jewish and Christian faiths against homosexual lifestyles, members of Christian, Jewish and LGBT communities met last night in Baker University Center to dispel the myths of ideological conflict. Instead, courage and hope were the prevailing messages for queers who seek to simultaneously embrace their faith and their sexual identity.
Lisa Ling, former co-host of ABC's The View
After an information session last night, candidates for the Ohio University Student Senate now will begin campaigning.
CHICAGO - Sammy Sosa is the Cubs' career home run leader. Greg Maddux is still looking for his first win since returning to Chicago.
Solutions by The State News