Ohio school shooting shakes small community; suspect in custody

» The shooting took place in the school’s cafeteria: The shooting in Chardon, a small community 30 miles outside of Cleveland, took place before classes started for the day. The 17-year-old gunman was apprehended within an hour of the shooting. Ohio Gov. John Kasich praised the district’s quick handling of the situation, which involved campus lockdowns and returning students home before they got to school: “Please join me in praying for the students who’ve been injured in this horrible crime,” Kasich said. “Praise goes to the Chardon Police and Geauga County Sheriff’s office for quickly getting this situation under control. I’ve pledged Ohio’s full support to them, the school and the local community in this difficult time.” (EDIT: Updated death toll)

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good “Issue 2,” on which a yes vote meant approval of the Ohio state GOP’s stripping of public employees’ collective bargaining rights, was resounding defeated with 63% voting no. Gov. John Kasich’s chastened reply: “The people have spoken clearly.”
bad Ohioans also passed an amendment to their state constitution, saying they can’t be forced to buy health insurance. So while a union-backed Obama looks stronger now in Ohio, the health care mandate seems to irk voters in the critical swing-state. source

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Wisconsin As anybody with an even mild interest in politics now knows, Gov. Scott Walker’s “budget” bill is not about the budget, so much as it’s a duplicitous effort to crush public unions at seemingly any political price. Police and firefighters, being somewhat harder to scapegoat than teachers, are exempt.
Ohio Don’t look now, but Gov. John Kasich is the mega-Walker. The newly elected Republican (and former Bill O’Reilly fill-in host) has an even more draconian hope for unions, stripping broad bargaining rights (like health care), and even disallowing strikes. Oh, and no free pass for police or firefighters. source

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no Newly elected governors in multiple Midwest states want to cancel in-progress high-speed rail projects they say their states can’t afford.
but … However, these newly minted Republican leaders want to keep the money already set aside for these projects to help fix the roads.
no Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the states either have to keep the projects going or forfeit the money entirely. It’s war, guys. source

» Our take: Why is it that the first thing GOP leaders look to cut are public-works projects with potential long-term implications? The two projects in question here – a high-speed link between Milwaukee and Chicago and another between four of Ohio’s largest cities – would have a long-term positive effect on the state economies. Yet canceling them halfway through is a great idea. Have these guys even looked at the rising popularity of the Acela trains in the Northeast Corridor? Or how much these would help commuters? Milwaukee to Chicago, for example, is a very common Amtrak trip, and faster trains would make it easier for people who want to skip the traffic to make the trek. It’s not always about slimming down now, but planning for tomorrow.

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27 Feb 2012 10:30