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Ripley reviews village traffic |
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Written by Brett A. Roller
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Wednesday, 01 July 2009 |
 Engineer Ron Roberts discusses the stoplights on Second Street at the June 23 council meeting.
Council had a second reading on two ordinances, one that prevents parking on Cherry Street and one that authorizes a four way stop at the intersection of Cherry Street and Third Street. After the readings Council members Scott Eagan and Daniel Dragoo suggested passing the ordinances by waiving the three reading rule and passing them as an emergency in order to put them in place immediately.
Council member Karen Spires, whose vote prevented the ordinances from being passed at the previous council meeting, questioned the motivation behind making the ordinances an emergency.
“We’re hoping that children use the park and this Saturday (June 27) we’re expecting hopefully a large number of people in the village park (for a Tea Party rally) so what will it hurt if we add a second and a half to two seconds to someone’s drive to keep those people in the park safe,” Eagan said.
“You are not giving the residents of this village a chance to speak,” Spires said. “If you give it three readings, then they can come here and speak. If you are passing it as an emergency, you’re’ not giving anybody a chance to speak.”
Spires said if the ordinance is passed as an emergency it is enacted immediately and residents do not have the regular 30 days to file a referendum against the ordinance. Village Solicitor Jay Cutrell said that while a referendum could not be filed, a resident who opposed the ordinance could put the ordinance on the ballot similar to the ballot initiative that kept the street open last November.
“I want to know why you want to put a four-way stop there for a park that you use four months out of the year,” Spires said. “It’s not that crowded. There is not that much traffic there. It has not had a four-way stop for years.”
Spires asked how the legislation came up in the first place. Eagan said one person had suggested that the traffic on Cherry Street was a major safety concern and that after further investigation the ordinance was drawn up.
“The thousand people in this village have a right to decide on this,” Spires said. “One person’s voice should not matter.”
“I do not appreciate you accusing me of having an ulterior motive when I’m trying to look out for the safety of the village,” Dragoo said. “The residents did have a chance to voice their opinion when they voted us into office. I think the safest thing here is a four way stop.”
“I think you’re talking about a segregated group of people and not the whole village,” Council member Roberta Sidwell told Spires. “I think you have an agenda.”
Both ordinances passed with a vote of five to one and will go into effect immediately. |
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16 indicted by Grand Jury |
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Written by Staff report
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Wednesday, 01 July 2009 |
The Brown County Grand Jury recently met in Georgetown and handed down 16 indictments to area residents. Among those indicted was Darrell Mootispaw Jr., 28, of Georgetown, for one count of aggravated burglary, one count of assault, one count of theft, and one count of criminal damaging.
According to the indictment, between June 11 and June 17, Mootispaw broke into an occupied structure, assaulted the resident, and stole some of the resident’s property. Mootispaw also allegedly caused damage to the structure as well during the incident.
Aggravated burglary is a first degree felony, assault is a first degree misdemeanor, and criminal damaging is a fourth degree misdemeanor. Mootispaw was ordered on arraignment to pay a $50,000 bond.
Also indicted by the Grand Jury were:
• Fatina Fussnecker, 30, of Georgetown, for one count of receiving stolen property and one count of misuse of a credit card.
• J.C. Kerr, 46, of Cincinnati, and Justin Fladung, 26, of Batavia, each for one count of grand theft of a motor vehicle. According to the indictment information, Kerr and Fladung stole a green craftsman riding mower between March 6 and March 9 from Sherrie Singleton. Grand theft of a motor vehicle is a fourth degree felony.
• Jeremy Thompson, 31; Lindsay Powell, 21; and David Couch, 28, all of Mt. Orab, for one count of breaking and entering and one count of theft. According to the indictments, Thompson, Powell, and Couch allegedly broke into a Homes R Us store and stole up to $500 from the business. Breaking and entering and theft are both fifth degree felonies.
• Carrie McKenzie, 24, of Hamersville, for one count of burglary, one count of grand theft, and one count of theft of drugs.
• Roy Wilham, 44, of Mt. Orab, for one count of burglary and one count of theft.
• John L. Bean III, 37, of Russellville, for two counts of rape, one count of domestic violence and one count of unlawful restraint.
• Richard Dickerson, 25, of Hamersville, for one count of aggravated burglary.
• Treva Ann Mosher, 30, of Mt. Orab for one count of open dumping/open dumping.
• Kristy Tompkins, 35, of Hillsboro, for one count of open dumping/open dumping.
• Gilbert Jester, 62, of Williamsburg, for one count of open dumping/open burning.
• Jeremy Thompson, 31, of Mt. Orab, for one count of open burning/open dumping.
• Ron Heller, 51, of Sardinia, for one count of open dumping/open burning. |
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Calling for a responsible government |
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Written by Brett A. Roller
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Wednesday, 01 July 2009 |
 From left, Harald Zieger, Sr. strategist with the Cincinnati Tea Party; Bill Flax, local attorney; Danny Bubp, state Representative; and Bob McEwen, former U.S. Congressman were the main speakers at the Ripley Tea Party rally.
The two-hour long event featured four speakers including State Representative Danny Bubp, former Congressman Bob McEwen, local attorney Bill Flax, and former East German resident Harald Zieger.
Zieger, who was born in Austria, gave his unique perspective on socialism and government control. He said he has become very concerned with the direction our government is heading and drew several parallels between current government policies and the formation of the East German socialist government.
“When I saw the Homeland Security memo listing dangerous people it made me recall my experience with the East German Stasi (secret police) because they had the same paper,” Zieger said. “When I read it I was worried maybe some of the former Stasi members had infiltrated the DHS because they sounded so similar.”
Zieger said he was raised a communist in East Germany because that was all the schools taught. After marrying his wife and becoming a Christian he left East Germany and returned to Austria in 1985.
“But Austria had a socialist government and they were not free either,” Zieger said. “I knew then that we had to get to the only free country on Earth, the United States.”
The Austrian immigrant warned of what he called the dangers of socialism. He said the recent government bailout of Chrysler and General Motors was against the U.S. Constitution and warned that it may only be the beginning.
“In the 1970s the communists of East Germany erased more than 5,000 small companies,” Zieger said. “They didn’t want to have them because they couldn’t control them. Now our government has only taken over giants, but who says it stops there.”
Zieger said the silent majority has sat back for too long and allowed progressives to defy the U.S. Constitution. He said too few have stood against them before now because of the “irresistible desire for the absence of pain.” It is easier to be complacent, he explained.
“To understand the Constitutional principals the President is ignoring you need to understand history,” Attorney Bill Flax said. “The original colonists were self-reliant, adventuresome, and intelligent. What they learned by building their communities from the ground up was priceless.”
Flax said local government has a greater understanding of the needs of the people in their community and therefore the Federal government should limit itself to only doing what is absolutely necessary for the survival of the country.
“Government is a compact among men to exercise their God given rights,” Flax said. “It’s not some mystical power you turn to whenever you’re in need.” |
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