Injustice shown to Toledo cops
10/2/2009I want to express the anger I am feeling over the verdict against three of the seven men who assaulted two of our police officers.
Officers respond to emergencies and criminal activities, but they also work proactively to deter crime, as was the case with the two detectives who were assaulted on Jan. 25 while working undercover.
The detectives were doing their jobs, working on an ongoing investigation, when they were called names by these attackers. The detectives identified themselves as police officers. These men not only physically attacked the detectives, but attempted to steal their guns and badges. Out of the seven men who attacked our officers, only three were tried, and only one was convicted of misdemeanor assault. This is tragic.
My husband was a Toledo police detective. He was murdered while doing his job working undercover. Like the injustice imposed on the two detectives on Jan. 25, the murderer of my husband received a light sentence. I wonder how our officers continue to do the best job they can while knowing that when they are attacked or assaulted, our citizens don't protect our officers as our officers protect them.
To the two detectives who were assaulted and let down by the jurors, I am sorry that you are faced with this huge injustice but please know you are supported and loved by many others, including myself. Thank you for what you do and for putting your life on the line every day. Please be assured that Keith would be very proud of you.
Danielle Dressel
Willcrest Drive
I guess it wasn't surprising that The Blade would follow its vitriolic editorial against Issue 2 with an equally shrill diatribe against its backers after the election.
I thought the sentiment might be the same as the warm wishes imparted on the also-rans of the mayor and council races; hoping that they would run again and show off their talents to the public another day. Silly me.
The screed against me and the two councilmen was wrong on so many levels. This was no guerrilla campaign designed for a low-voter turnout election. The election date was targeted out of fairness to the candidates and to comply with Ohio law.
Does any breathing soul think that council would have put this on the ballot? The Blade points out that the mayor once proposed a council reduction to the Charter Review Commission. I attended all of those meetings and that's where I first met Tom Waniewski. He offered the Nine-is-Fine plan to the commission and it was one of three plans that were supposed to have been taken to the community. Of course, like with most government committees, no follow-through occurred. Therefore, action took place through the people. The power of amending a city charter is reserved to the people in the Ohio Constitution.
While you attack these councilmen, I for one am glad they had the courage to act - a trait you have been saying is lacking of our current council for the past year. After getting to know Mr. Waniewski, I know our city would be in much better shape if we had about five to six more like him on council.
I am sorry Issue 2 didn't pass but it was David vs. Goliath. Falling less than 2,000 votes short was a moral victory and a warning shot. If only Republicans and Democrats on council could unite like they did against this issue to balance our budget or face other serious issues facing Toledo.
Oh, I guess I am also sorry we didn't go ahead and buy the case of lip balm needed to kiss the many rings and other body parts of the political establishment in Toledo.
Dave Schulz
303rd Street
Did anyone else notice that the woman who will carry the Savages' "right embryo" was referred to as a "gestational carrier"? Sounds like a Tupperware container or a Ziplock bag.
This situation has shown us that everyone involved in arrangements like these feels very deep human emotions of love, joy, pain, loss, and fear, and that all are entitled names that recognize their humanity. Calling a surrogate mother (or a mother of any circumstance) a "gestational carrier" leads too easily to the belief that the life she is carrying is equivalent to something carried in a plastic container or a sandwich bag.
There wouldn't be a story here, a very sad story, if that were the case.
Christine A. Holliday
Claudia Drive
Watching some of the negative ads on TV about state Issue 3 (casino gambling) is a joke, especially the one about hiring.
The claims are that no one from Ohio will be working at any of the casinos, and there will be no guaranteed jobs for Ohioans.
Makes you wonder how many jobs in Ohio are actually held by Ohioans. With Toledo so close to the Michigan border, how many are working at places like Jeep or GM? How many from Michigan are actually working for the city, the county, and even the state?
Those ads seem to suggest that only Ohioans should hold jobs in Ohio. Maybe Ohio needs to put up a giant wall around the state. Keep out those pesky foreigners from places like Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and any other state in the union. Maybe Ohio needs to set up border patrol and charge a yearly fee, like that of a passport, to enter Ohio.
I am making light of the ads because they make no sense. Issue 3 will help Ohio, and maybe it will ease the tax burden on its residents.
As a resident of Toledo and Ohio, I'd rather see more of our money stay here and, who knows, maybe those across the border may come spend their money here.
Bruce Whalen
Fredonia Avenue
Many groups across the state, including the Ohio Young Democrats, celebrated the passage of House Bill 176, which prohibits employment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation.
While OYD and other groups that promote equal rights for all Ohioans believe the bill brings the Buckeye state a step closer to ensuring justice for all, some Republicans have allowed their outmoded thinking to blind them to the bill's true merits. Reps. Jeff Wagner and Lynn Wachtmann both expressed their disappointment in the bill during debate. They said that it forces a lifestyle choice and a set of immoral beliefs onto unwilling Ohioans. Those claims are patently false and deeply troubling.
The bill forces nothing on anyone; rather, it protects the rights of all Ohioans. Approval of the bill in the Senate would bring Ohio in line with 20 other states that have passed similar measures. More importantly, though, passing the bill into law would demonstrate that Ohio is committed to ensuring liberty and fairness for all. Such an aim is the highest moral calling government can pursue.
Christopher Kromer
Communications Director
Ohio Young Democrats
Oxford
I'm not saying I'm for or against the death penalty, but I am against that phrase “cruel and unusual punishment.”
That phrase should be reserved for the families of murder victims, like the family of the girl tortured and raped by Romell Broom, and my mother, Florence Mollie Newbirth, who was hit in the face and head 15 times with a claw hammer in 1994 — all for a TV. She lived 30 days in intensive care at the former Medical College Hospital.
Those who are against the death penalty, let them come up with a different phrase.
Rosalyn Nagel
Maumee