WestChesterBuzz.com

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.

WestChesterBuzz.com also added a new video page last week. To view West Chester and Liberty Township related videos, visit westchesterbuzz.com/videos.

Boehner makes visit on eve of State of the Union – On the day before President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, House Speaker John Boehner of West Chester told workers at the Vinylmax LLC facility in Hamilton that the government needs to help the economy by passing a budget. Employees of the company didn’t ask many questions, but the one that drew the biggest response was when someone asked Boehner if he was going to run for President in four years.

Julie Mercer of Pike Pet Pals takes Sarge out of the flexi USA warehouse on Saturday. Sarge, who wasn’t adopted or rescued, faced an uncertain future. Photo taken Feb. 9, 2013 by Carolyn Evans of www.phodographer.com.

Saving Sarge at My Furry Valentine – Sarge, who couldn’t be adopted through a Pike County dog shelter (Ohio) since he was part pit bull, faced an uncertain future. After a final attempt to get adopted or rescued failed at My Furry Valentine in West Chester, Cincinnati area animal lovers stepped up and, officially, this past Saturday Sarge was finally adopted.

West Chester settles with bar patron for $265K – West Chester Township recently reached a settlement with a Blanchester man, paying him $265,000 for a May 2012 incident in which township police repeatedly hit him with batons at a West Chester bar. Surveillance video of the incident was released to the media in June. It showed three officers approaching Jeremy Lewis, 29, on the deck of Win, Place or Show Sports Bar & Grill in West Chester Township about 2:30 a.m. May 6.

Postseason brackets released for Ohio state tournament – Both the Lakota East and Lakota West boys’ basketball programs wrapped up the 2012-2013 regular season with road games this past Friday and now get ready to start postseason play. The girls’ basketball postseason officially tipped off this past weekend.

Posted in: Business, Crime, Events, Government, News |

Tags: Tags: Erik Niehaus, flexi, flexi West Chester, Jeremy Lewis, John Boehner, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner photos, John Boehner West Chester, My Furry Valentine, My Furry Valentine Cincinnati, My Furry Valentine Northern Kentucky, My Furry Valentine West Chester, Pet Adoption Day, pet adoption West Chester, Vinylmax, Vinylmax Hamilton, West Chester business, West Chester business news, West Chester photos, West Chester Police, West Chester Police Chief Erik Niehaus, West Chester Police Department

House Speaker John Boehner of West Chester released a statement around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night on his opinion of the State of the Union and the Republican’s official response.

“Four years after the president first addressed a joint session of Congress, Americans are still asking, ‘where are the jobs?’

“Tonight, he offered them little more than more of the same ‘stimulus’ policies that have failed to fix our economy and put Americans back to work. We cannot grow the middle class and foster job creation by growing government and raising taxes. Washington has a spending problem that threatens the prosperity of every child, every family, and every small business in America. The president had an opportunity to offer a solution tonight, and he let it slip by.

• Boehner visits Hamilton business on the eve of the State of the Union

“We are only weeks away from the devastating consequences of the president’s sequester, and he failed to offer the cuts needed to replace it. In the last election, voters chose divided government which offers a mandate only to work together to find common ground. The president, instead, appears to have chosen a go-it-alone approach to pursue his liberal agenda.

“Senator Rubio rose to the occasion tonight and presented a positive alternative to the American middle class. His vision for growth, opportunity, and prosperity is rooted in the understanding that it is our people, not our government, that continues to give us confidence in America’s future.”

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: John Boehner, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner photos, John Boehner State of the Union, John Boehner West Chester, Vinylmax, Vinylmax Hamilton

John Kiesewetter reports:

TV’s best drama on Tuesday won’t be “NCIS,” “Vegas” or “Justified.”

PBS has a terrific high-stakes cliffhanger with back-stabbing, double-crossing and naked ambition: PBS’ “Frontline” examination of last year’s fiscal cliff negotiations.

House Speaker John Boehner, the West Chester Township Republican, plays the lead role in the hour (8 p.m., Channels 48, 16) before President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

“Frontline” provides great insight into how Boehner, the “consummate political insider,” is caught in the middle between an “arrogant” president riding high after re-election and new conservative House Republicans from the 2010 midterm tea party revolution.

“He has resolute opponents on both fronts … and no one is cutting him any slack,” says Jack Farrell of the National Journal.

Boehner tells “Frontline” his December deal with Obama fell apart when the president demanded $400 billion more in revenues two days later.

“We had worked out the numbers,” Boehner said. “I had an agreement on Sunday. … But he wanted more revenues.”

When the wheels fell off at the cliff’s edge, Obama blasted Republicans by asking: “Can they say yes to anything?”

Boehner fired back at a news conference: “Dealing with the White House is like dealing with a bowl of Jell-O. They moved the goal posts.”

It’s the best TV profile I’ve seen of Boehner – and a depressing picture about the continuing fight over our fiscal problems.

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: fiscal cliff, John Boehner, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner fiscal cliff, John Boehner West Chester

On the day before President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, House Speaker John Boehner of West Chester told workers at the Vinylmax LLC facility in Hamilton that the government needs to help the economy by passing a budget.

“The economy is just limping along and I think we could be doing a lot better,” Boehner said. “It is time that the government gets back to the basics and the most basic thing we should do, is what you all do, and that is do a budget.”

Boehner told the 210 employees at Vinylmax, a window-making business, that the House has passed a budget the past few years, but the Senate hasn’t passed a budget in almost four years.

“The President has gone through this exercise, but no member of the House or the Senate, who is a Republican, voted for his budget the past few years,” Boehner said. “It is time for Washington, literally, to get back to basics. We can’t continue to spend money that we don’t have.”

Boehner also quickly addressed the government’s tax code, immigration and education in his three-minute speech on Monday.

“We educate about half of America’s students,” Boehner said. “I don’t think we can compete in a global economy in the long term, if we don’t find a way to educate more of America’s students.”

After his speech, Boehner then took questions from Vinylmax employees, but refused to answer any of the media’s questions.

One employee asked Boehner if he supported repealing the Affordable Care Act.

“I do. The idea that the federal government is going to run the healthcare insurance program for every American – I think is a great idea,” Boehner joked. “Actually it is an awful idea. Listen, we can’t even run the post office. What else have you seen the government do and do well? Not much.”

There weren’t many other questions asked, but the one that drew the biggest response was when an employee asked Boehner if he was going to run for President in four years.

“No, I am not running for President,” a shocked Boehner responded. “No. No.

“Listen to me, now, I am the most open, transparent, straight-forward guy in Washington. When I say, ‘no,’ I mean it. No.

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: John Boehner, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner photos, John Boehner West Chester, Vinylmax, Vinylmax Hamilton

Burdened with governing, speaker faces scorn of GOP firebrands

John Boehner, R-Ohio, center, enters the House of Representatives chamber after surviving a roll call vote for House Speaker on Capitol Hill. Photo taken Jan. 3, 2013, by J. Scott Applewhite of the Associated Press.

Deidre Shesgreen reports:

Soon after John Boehner arrived in Washington in 1991, he became a darling of the rising conservative movement. Nobody’s idea of a moderate Republican or a wishy-washy compromiser, Boehner made a splash by challenging GOP leaders and taking on the status quo.

Now, as he begins his second term as House speaker, the West Chester Republican is the target of withering attacks from some conservatives who say he’s a spineless sellout – quick to compromise core GOP principals and ideologically rudderless as he tries to keep his grip on power.

What has changed?

The party has tilted rightward, with the influx of tea party conservatives and upstart advocacy groups. The economic and political climate has shifted, with spiraling deficits taking center stage and hyper-partisanship making compromise nearly impossible.

Boehner himself is a different lawmaker, too, gaining a pragmatic streak as he worked his way up the leadership ladder.

How much each of these factors explains Boehner’s current predicament – in which right-wing activists are blasting nearly every move he makes and his grasp on the speaker’s gavel seems tenuous – depends on whom you ask.

A spokeswoman for Boehner said he was unavailable for an interview for this story. In a statement, Boehner said: “I have always listened to the people of the 8th District and tried to represent them in Congress effectively and with integrity. As I’ve always said: If you do things for the right reasons, good things will happen. I’ve lived my life with that outlook and have no plans to change now.”

‘Ideologically’ a tea partier

Boehner’s friends and allies say his fundamental political philosophy has not changed. They say he is essentially the same rock-ribbed conservative as when he was first elected to represent Ohio’s 8th Congressional District in 1990 on a campaign of lower taxes and less government regulation. Boehner simply faces different challenges now, supporters say, because, as the most powerful Republican in Washington, he is weighted with the competing tasks of producing legislative results and leading an increasingly fractious GOP conference.

“He was tea party before there was a tea party,” said Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, one of Boehner’s closest friends in the House. “Ideologically, he’s still there.”

His old Cincinnati friends see him as “the same John that was a township trustee” in the 1980s, said Greg Jolivette, a former Butler County Commissioner who ran against Boehner as a Democrat in the 1990 congressional election.

“He’s walking in the tall cotton now, but he is still grounded in the same core family values that molded his career,” said Jolivette, who became a Republican after that race, saying it made him realize he had the same political views as Boehner.

“I think he’s the same person he was in 1981,” said Carlos Todd, who was elected that year along with Boehner to serve as a Union Township trustee. “He had a knack for dealing with people and getting things done, and I think he’s the same way today.” (more…)

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: fiscal cliff, John Boehner, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner fiscal cliff, John Boehner West Chester

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, center, enters the House of Representatives chamber after surviving a roll call vote on Capitol Hill. Photo taken Jan. 3, 2013, by J. Scott Applewhite of the Associated Press.

John Boehner re-elected as Speaker of the House – Republican John Boehner was re-elected as Speaker of the House last week after a tense roll call vote in which a handful of GOP lawmakers voted for someone else. It was a far different scene that his first election to Speaker, when he received unanimous GOP support. It was also a clear signal of the rocky path forward for the West Chester Republican.

Rave Cinemas is selling its West Chester 18 movie theater to AMC Entertainment, which already operates cinemas in Hamilton and Newport. File photo.

AMC buys Rave Cinemas in West Chester – AMC Entertainment Inc., which owns movie theaters in Hamilton and Newport, is purchasing the Rave Cinemas in West Chester, a spokesman confirmed Friday. The theater, officially called West Chester 18, is located just off Interstate 75 at The Streets of West Chester (Union Center Boulevard exit). It will continue to be run by Rave Cinemas LLC until Jan. 17.

What was the biggest West Chester story in 2012? – WestChesterBuzz.com counted down the area’s top 12 stories of 2012 in December and posted the list last Monday, Dec. 31. What do you think should have been the top local story of the year?

Wallet stolen from Bob Evans in West Chester – Crime Stoppers released information last Wednesday that a victim had their wallet stolen from Bob Evans on Dudley Drive in West Chester on Dec. 22. The victim’s credit cards were later used at Home Depot, Walgreens and Walmart to purchase gift cards.

2010 Lakota West graduate Jordan Hicks was one of the two Texas football players who were suspended recently. His attorney says a sexual assault allegation against his client is “completely false.” Photo taken by UT Athletics Photography.

Jordan Hicks’ attorney: No sexual assault occurred – An attorney representing one of the two Texas football players suspended before the Alamo Bowl says a sexual assault allegation against his client is “completely false.” Perry Minton said in a written statement that linebacker Jordan Hicks (Lakota West graduate) “vehemently asserts” the conduct under investigation by San Antonio police was “consensual by everyone involved.”

Menchie’s sponsors food drive for Reach Out Lakota
 – Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt is sponsoring a food drive to benefit Reach Out Lakota this month, the charity announced last week. Customers can bring in food items, Jan. 7-20, which will be donated to Reach Out Lakota to help stock their food pantry during the winter months.

Liberty Township adopts 2013 budget – Declining federal and state dollars won’t deter Liberty Township officials from balancing their budget this year, Sue Kiesewetter reported last week for The Cincinnati Enquirer. With revenues estimated at $19.7 million and expenses projected at $19.8 million, officials are confident that through careful spending they won’t have to dip into reserves to balance this year’s budget.

Kentucky offers Lakota West running back Mikel Horton – Lakota West junior Mikel Horton received an offer from Kentucky on Friday, according to his high school head coach Larry Cox. Horton, who rushed for 1,003 yards and 13 touchdowns on 202 carries this past fall, also has an offer from Indiana.

Lakota East rallies late to defuse Rockets – Lakota East freshman Sam Rodgers led the Thunderhawks on a remarkable comeback to defeat McNicholas 57-53 last Thursday. Lakota East trailed 39-25 with just more than eight minutes to play before sending the game into overtime and eventually prevailing.

Posted in: Business, Crime, Fall sports, Government, News, Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: AMC Entertainment, AMC movie theater West Chester, AMC Theatres, AMC Theatres West Chester, John Boehner, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner fiscal cliff, John Boehner West Chester, Jordan Hicks, Jordan Hicks football, Jordan Hicks Lakota West, Jordan Hicks linebacker, Jordan Hicks NFL, Jordan Hicks sexual assault, Jordan Hicks Texas, Jordan Hicks Texas Longhorns, Lakota East basketball, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West football, Lakota West sports, Rave Cinemas, Rave Cinemas West Chester, Rave Cinemas West Chester 18, Rave Motion Pictures, Rave Motion Pictures West Chester, Rave West Chester 18, Sam Rodgers, Sam Rodgers Lakota East, Texas college football, Texas Longhorns, West Chester business, West Chester business news

Sheila McLaughlin reports:

House Speaker John Boehner has been taking a beating in Washington, with tea party Republicans accusing him of betraying conservative ideals and Democrats accusing him of being too partisan.

Michael Daughtery, left, and Mark Peters, both of Liberty Township, talk about House Speaker John Boehner at the Trinity Pub in West Chester. Photo taken by Tony Jones.

Here in Ohio’s 8th Congressional District, which stretches north from Butler County to Mercer County, the only people who matter for Boehner’s job are his constituents – in other words, his bosses since he was first elected in 1990.

And their opinions of Boehner? Pretty much the same as those on Capitol Hill, according to two dozen Enquirer interviews.

Local tea party activists say he caved in to President Barack Obama and shirked his Republican principles. Some say he’s too partisan. Others say he’s lost control of Congress to an outspoken minority of tea party activists.

Still, one thing is certain: Boehner’s grip on the the district looks to be secure, based on election results and his always-formidable fundraising. As with Thursday’s tense vote in which Boehner was re-elected House speaker, griping does not always mean ousting.

“He’s compromising his principles too much,” said Mark Etterling, 51, a business consultant from Liberty Township. “He should be conservative, and if you look at the fiscal cliff deal,… basically he pretty much gave away the the proverbial farm. It didn’t address our debt and deficit problem.”

But Sheila Jones, 65, of Hamilton offered a supportive view: “They want to say he’s not doing a good job. But who could under the circumstances? You have to compromise somewhere along the line. I think he probably did what he needed to do to move it on.” (more…)

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: John Boehner, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner fiscal cliff, John Boehner West Chester

After taking his licks, Boehner back in the saddle

Rep. John Boehner of West Chester was re-elected as Speaker of the House on Thursday. Photo taken by J. Scott Applewhite of the Associated Press.

Deirdre Shesgreen of the Associated Press reports:

Republican John Boehner was re-elected as Speaker of the House after a tense roll call vote in which a handful of GOP lawmakers voted for someone else.

It was a far different scene that his first election to Speaker, when he received unanimous GOP support. It was also a clear signal of the rocky path forward for the West Chester Republican.

In a stunning display of open rebellion, nine Republican House members voted for someone other than Boehner, including the four lawmakers who were stripped of key committee assignments after they regularly bucked GOP leaders.

As the clerk called the roll, the defections seemed to edge perilously close to 17 – the number needed to throw the speaker’s election to a second ballot.

There were rumbles and boos in the chamber as one GOP opponent after another cast an anti-Boehner vote. Eric Cantor, Boehner’s top lieutenant in the House – and a chief political rival – snagged three votes for speaker. Newly elected Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was among those opposing Boehner, voting for Rep. Justin Amash of Mich., another rebel and libertarian firebrand.

In the end, Boehner won with 220 votes – more than enough to keep the speaker’s gavel. But the vote offered a far different scene than his first election to speaker two years ago, when he received unanimous GOP support.

And it provided a clear signal of the rocky path forward for the West Chester Republican as Boehner tries to govern a deeply fractious caucus in the new Congress.

“I’m just trying to represent the people of my district who are frustrated,” Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., a leader of the revolt, said as he held up a manila folder that he said was filled with emails from constituents who “don’t want Boehner to be speaker.” (more…)

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: fiscal cliff, John Boehner, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner fiscal cliff, John Boehner West Chester

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, center, enters the House of Representatives chamber after surviving a roll call vote on Capitol Hill. Photo taken Jan. 3, 2013, by J. Scott Applewhite of the Associated Press.

Provided by Brittany Bramell, press secretary for John Boehner

Following is the full text of House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) address to the opening session of the 113th Congress, as prepared for delivery:

“Leader Pelosi, members of the House and Senate, dear family and friends, fellow countrymen:

“We meet again at democracy’s great port of call. Every two years, at this hour, the Constitution brings a new order to this House. It is an interlude for reflection, a glimpse of old truths.

“To our new members and their families, welcome. You are likely feeling awestruck right about now. History runs through here. And now you are among a select few to share in this privilege.

“For those who are returning, who have walked these aisles before, maybe it’s time we feel awestruck again.

“The way our founders envisioned it, the republic would be led by citizens who recognize that the blessing of governing ourselves requires that we give something of ourselves. Everything depended on this. So they made each other – and their successors – swear an oath of allegiance.

“In a few moments, I will take this oath for the twelfth time as representative of the Eighth District of Ohio. It is word for word the same oath we all take.

“Note that it makes no mention of party, faction, or title … contains no reference to agendas or platforms – only to the Constitution.

“The one addition we dare to make, as George Washington did at the first inaugural, is to invoke the assistance of our Heavenly Father.

“This covenant makes us servants of posterity. It calls us to refuse the pull of passing interests and follow the fixed star of a more perfect union.

“Put simply, we are sent here not to be something, but to do something – to do the right thing. (more…)

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: John Boehner, John Boehner 113th Congress, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner West Chester, Speaker John Boehner, Speaker of the House

Unseating a sitting Speaker almost impossible

House Speaker Rep. John Boehner of West Chester, pauses while speaking to the media about the fiscal cliff on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. Photo taken by Jacquelyn Martin of the Associated Press.

Deirdre Shesgreen reports:

“Is Boehner finished as Speaker?” blared a headline at the top of the conservative Drudge Report website on Wednesday morning.

That question got fresh traction after the West Chester Republican on Tuesday helped ensure passage of a fiscal cliff deal reviled by a majority of his GOP troops. There’s more grumbling among conservatives about Boehner’s leadership skills. There are new questions about whether Boehner’s top deputy has his eye on the speaker’s chair. And conservative reporters are writing breathless stories, like the one on Drudge, about a mini-plot to oust Boehner.

So what are the chances of a surprise coup on Thursday?

• Discuss: Do you support the fiscal cliff deal?
• Follow live: House of Representatives votes on Speaker
• Video: Christie unloads on Boehner
• Boehner takes beating over Sandy storm aid
• What you’re saying about John Boehner

“Zero,” said Charles Stewart III, a political scientist at MIT and expert on political leadership.

Despite all the grousing and discontent, it’s a virtual certainty that Boehner will sail to re-election as speaker of the House on Thursday. Stewart and others say it would be both logistically and politically tough to defeat Boehner. No sitting speaker has ever lost a House floor re-election vote, which is what happens at noon Thursday.

No one has stepped up to challenge Boehner in what will be a public vote on the House floor.

Like other speakers, Boehner has used both carrots and sticks – raising millions for GOP allies and cutting rebels from key committees. And the band of conservatives who are unhappy with him is relatively small, albeit very vocal.

“It’s hard for me to see an internal candidate who would challenge Boehner successfully,” said Norman Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, who said there was only an “outside chance” of a surprise result Thursday.

The reason? “Most of the Republicans in the House, even if they are upset with how he’s handled things, like him personally, owe him something because he’s campaigned tirelessly for many of them, and don’t have a great alternative,” said Ornstein.

Rumbles and grumbles, but no opponents
Political experts say it’s also a decent bet, barring a major scandal, that Boehner will hold on to his gavel for the duration of the 113th Congress – although his grip on it might seem pretty weak at times. (more…)

Posted in: Government, News |

Tags: Tags: fiscal cliff, John Boehner, John Boehner Cincinnati, John Boehner fiscal cliff, John Boehner West Chester