Fairfield Republicans

I am maintaining this blog page in an effort to provide information on activities and events to conservatives in Fairfield, Ohio and surrounding areas. This page will feature items of interest and links to information from the Butler County Republican Party and from the City of Fairfield. It is my hope that by utilizing this forum, we will be able to share ideas and information that will make our Party, our City, and our Neighborhoods better than ever!

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Drive It Like You Stole It - Marc Dann (Democrat Attorney General) had ex-con for driver

from the Journal-News
http://www.journal-news.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/31/ddn053107dannweb.html

COLUMBUS — For the last three months, an ex-con has been driving Attorney General Marc Dann around the state and attending to his security details.

Dann's office fired David L. Nelson, 57, last week when a national criminal background check turned up a misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter conviction from 1976 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

Nelson, a retired steel worker from Girard near Youngstown, passed an Ohio criminal background check when he was hired Feb. 20 as a $12-an-hour, part-time driver for Dann, said Jennifer Brindisi, a spokeswoman for the attorney general. Nelson's title was deputy security director.

When Nelson was expected to transfer to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation to work transporting evidence, a national background check was ordered.

Pennsylvania records show Nelson was originally charged with murder and voluntary manslaughter in the Sept. 6, 1975, shooting death of John M. Smith. Those charges were dropped when Nelson agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, according to court records. He was sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison but served most of that time in a half-way house and later on probation.

Nelson worked as a driver on Dann's campaign as well, transporting him for thousands of miles, and contributed to Dann's campaign coffers, according to state records. But Dann was unaware of Nelson's criminal background, Brindisi said.

Nelson did not return telephone messages Thursday.

In April, Dann fired Rick Alli, his "top cop," and asked the Ohio Ethics Commission to investigate him for possible ethics law violations. Alli failed to resign from his post with the Youngstown Police Department once he began his $112,000-a-year job as Dann's Director of Law Enforcement Operations.

Dann, a Democrat, won the attorney general's seat in November after aggressively campaigning against corruption in state government.

Movies in the Park: Friday, June 1st - Hoodwinked

Tomorrow night (Friday, June 1st), Fairfield's Movies in the Park series will feature "Hoodwinked". My kids absolutely loved this movie (so did my wife & I)! You can read more about the movie at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443536/

About Movies in the Park
A different movie will be featured throughout the summer on the first Friday of the month through October 5.
Pre-show activities will include fun, educational activities thanks to the Fairfield Fire Department.

Movies begin at dusk. Admission is free.

Where:Village Green Park301 Wessel DriveFairfield, OH 45014 View map

Contact:Parks and Recreation513-867-5348

Groovin' on the Green

If you've got a couple hours free on a Thursday evening, I highly recommend the Groovin' on the Green concert series. There's a nice mix of music in a family friendly atmosphere.

Tonight's show features Second Wind (classic rock)

Upcoming Concerts include ...
Robin Lacy & Dezydeco (Cajun/Zydeco) Presented by the Fairfield Community FoundationThursday, June 7, 7 p.m.
Thunderbay (Pop/Rock)Thursday, June 14, 7 p.m.
The Bromwell-Diehl Band (Contemporary)Thursday, June 21, 7 p.m.
Leroy Ellington & the E-Funk Band (Funk/R&B)Thursday, June 28, 7 p.m.
Blast from the Past (Oldies Revue)Thursday, July 12, 7 p.m.
Miami University Steel Band (Steel Drum)Thursday, July 19, 7 p.m.
The Muleskinner Band (Bluegrass)Thursday, July 26, 7 p.m.
The Menus (Rock)Thursday, August 2, 7 p.m.
Ft. Hamilton Jazz Band (Dixieland)Thursday, August 9, 7 p.m.
The Klaberheads (German Buffett)Thursday, August 16, 7 p.m.
Blue Stone Ivory (Classic Rock)Thursday, August 23, 7 p.m.
The Danny Adler Band (Rock/R&B)Thursday, August 30, 7 p.m.

for more information, see the following link
http://www.fairfield-city.org/ParksRecreation/specialevents/Groovin_on_the_Green_1792.cfm

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The Reality of Agenda Driven Liberal Journalism

The following article from Opinion Journal illustrates how agenda driven embedded reporters in Iraq and Afghanistan are more concerned with writing misleading and sensationalistic headlines, than they are in reporting what's actually happening on the battlefield.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010138

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Group of Illegal Immigrants found working for Federal Government



from KTVB news
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-may2307-illegal_immigrants.33e1b10.html

IDAHO CITY -- Fourteen illegal immigrants were arrested and face deportation after being picked up at an Idaho City hotel.

It happened late Tuesday night and now they're in the Ada County Jail.

The men were working for a contracted employee of the U.S. Forest Service.
They had been working for about 10 days, with one week left.

According to the Forest Service, the contracted employer is Cutting Edge Forestry Inc. out of Talent, Oregon.

The contractor is required to turn over paperwork regarding their employees and then the Forest Service sends that paperwork to the immigration office.

It’s there that officials realized the men were in the country illegally.

Fourteen of Cutting Edge's 16 employees on the job site were arrested at the Idaho City hotel for not having proper documentation.

The men were planting 500 acres of the forest, a portion of the 11,000 acres that burned in the Hot Creek Fire back in July 2003.

As spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement says they are focusing efforts on contracted employees since they tend to travel from job site to job site.

The Ada County Jail recently contracted with the immigration office to detain illegal immigrants while they wait for deportation.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Boehner: Immigration Bill Is "Piece Of Shit"


from the hotline

House Minority Leader John Boehner, speaking to a private gathering of Republican activists last night, called the Senate's immigration compromise bill a "piece of shit" but said that he had promised President Bush earlier in the day that he would let his teeth be a barrier to such thoughts in public.

Boehner spoke last night at a small reception for the Republican Rapid Responders on Capitol Hill.

"I promised the President today that I wouldn't say anything bad about ... this piece of shit bill," he said, according to two attendees.

Earlier in the day, Boehner released a statement saying that "The Senate agreement appears to recognize that additional border security measures and more effective immigration law enforcement must come before any other issues are addressed, but I have significant concerns about parts of the Senate proposal -- particularly provisions that would reward illegal immigrants who have consistently broken our laws."

A senior Republican official said yesterday that while the chances of the bill, which opens pathways to citizenship for most of the U.S.'s 12 million illegal immigrants, are "50/50" in the House and that the White House would spend its time lobbying Democrats, rather than Republicans, to achieve a majority.

Yesterday, the Senate beat back an amendment by Sen. Byron Dorgan that would have scrapped the bill's new guest worker program. The defeat of that effort was interpreted as a sign that a solid majority of Senators are prepared to support the bill's main tenets, for now.
What happens when they hear from constituents over Memorial Day is unknown and unknowable.

A Boehner spokesman was not able to comment.

Boehner's tendency towards candor occasionally irks his staff, a fact that Boehner brought up with last night's audience. In 2006, Boehner called an idea put forth by then. Sen. Maj. Leader Bill Frist to provide Americans with a $100 rebate on gasoline "stupid."

Treasurer Candidate Drops Out, Rips County GOP


Hamilton attorney criticizes removal of 12 members of the party's Central Committee.

from the journal-news

HAMILTON — Hours before he was set to be screened for the vacant Butler County treasurer post, Hamilton attorney Dave Davidson announced Tuesday that he dropped out the race.

Though screening interviews were planned Tuesday night, at 4 p.m. Davidson announced that he couldn't trust the Republican Party's appointment process because of "backroom deals and suspicious leadership decisions." He's now considering running in the March primary for the $66,000-a-year job.

"I have lost faith in the leadership through the whole process," the former Hamilton City Councilman said.

His concern, he said, centers on the February removal of 12 members from the GOP's Central Committee without his knowledge or consultation as the Central Committee parliamentarian at that time. He didn't learn of the action until Monday, he said.

Those members, a "few" of them Davidson's supporters, would and may still vote June 12 with more than 200 other members on a replacement for Treasurer Carole Mosketti. Mosketti is leaving her position May 31 after being convicted last week of a misdemeanor ethics violation for hiring her granddaughter.

"They've been removed, put back on and now in limbo," he said. "That's illegal. You can't do that. They've been elected to these positions."

County GOP Chairman Tom Ellis said the members were removed because they are not Republicans under the leadership's interpretation of its bylaws. All are registered independents who didn't vote in the last primary in which they were elected and some had not voted as far back as 1992, Ellis said.

"As chairman of the party, that goes directly to the very integrity and structure of the political party," Ellis said.

The ousted members were not told about the action and still receive party event notices, he said.

The issue has emerged with three remaining candidates seeking the treasurer appointment and three others trying to fill the Butler County Commission seat Michael Fox left empty May 14, Ellis said. To be fair and determine if the removed members can vote on the appointments, Ellis said he is "aggressively" seeking an opinion from the Ohio secretary of state for a second time.

In February, the state's opinion was that it was a party issue, not an elections issue, Ellis said.
Central Committee Chairwoman Judy Shelton said the party also expects several legal opinions on the matter by Friday.

Three others — GOP Executive Secretary Donna Defazio; U.S. Bank executive and former Middletown Vice Mayor Nancy Nix; and Don Spurlock, owner of Spurlock Insurance in West Chester Twp. — are vying to fill Mosketti's role.

Another three — former West Chester Twp. Trustee José Alvarez, developer and former County Commissioner Don Dixon of Fairfield Twp. and state Rep. Shawn Webster of Hanover Twp. — are seeking the county commission seat.

The county Republican Central Committee votes June 5 for a commissioner, who will fill Fox's unexpired term until January 2009. A new treasurer could be selected June 12 to hold office until September 2009.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Fairfield rejects superintendent finalists, hires 2 for interim positions

FAIRFIELD — Two interim superintendents were picked this afternoon by the Fairfield City School District Board of Education as the district rejected both finalists.

The board voted 4-1 to hire Cathy Milligan, who will begin her interim post in July.
Until Milligan begins, Butler County Educational Service Center Superintendent Dan Hare will serve in the interim post following a unanimous vote by the board.

The Fairfield board had narrowed the list of finalists to replace retiring Superintendent Robert Farrell to two in recent weeks. The board was expected to pick either Fairfield interim assistant superintendent Rob Amodio and Thomas Maher, an administrator from Florida.

from the journal-news
http://www.journal-news.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/22/hjn052307superwebupdate.html

Butler GOP Region 1 Meeting


To: Butler County GOP Region 1 Central & Executive Committee Members

From: Scott Lepsky, Butler County GOP Region 1 Chairman

RE: Regional Meeting


There will be a regional meeting on Thursday, May 31st in the meeting room at Symmes Tavern (500 Wessell Drive, Fairfield, OH). The meeting will begin at 5:30 PM and should last approximately one hour.

We are honored to have our Fairfield Municipal Court Judge, Joyce Campbell as our guest speaker. Judge Campbell will share insight and experiences pertaining to her service on the bench. She will also give an update on her re-election campaign.

There are several additional items to discuss, including upcoming vacancies in county offices and working to fill central committee vacancies.

I look forward to seeing you on Thursday, May 31st.

Thanks again for all that you do for our Party and for our community!

Sincerely,

Scott Lepsky,
Butler County GOP Region 1 Chairman

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Democrats seek legal opinion on Fox's interest in Children Services post

from the Journal-News
http://www.journal-news.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/20/mj052107wardrupletter.html

HAMILTON — The Butler County Democratic Party is seeking the local prosecutor's opinion on whether former county Commissioner Michael Fox can be considered to lead Children Services in the area.

The local Democratic leadership is asking Prosecutor Robin Piper, a Republican, for an opinion on the following issues, according to a letter dated Thursday by party Chair Ronnie Wardrup:

• Whether Fox can apply for an appointment for employment by the county commissioners

• Whether Fox can apply for a position that he was "directly responsible for hiring and firing the immediate previous appointee."

"If you do not believe it is in the public interest for you to issue an opinion no the above issues," according to Wardrup's letter to Piper, "I alternatively ask that you submit these issues to Attorney General Marc Dann for consideration."

Republican Fox's resignation from the county commission took effect last week. Fox said he plans to seek the county Children Services executive director position following the termination of Jann Heffner.

Commissioners voted last week to disband the governing board of the county Children Services following the August death of Marcus Fiesel.

With the move, Children Services' administration — including Interim Executive Director Jeff Centers — will report directly to the commissioners and County Administrator Derek Conklin "to have a clearer line of communication," said Commission President Gregory Jolivette.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Treasurer Guilty on Ethics Charge

from the Cincinnati Enquirer
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070517/NEWS01/305170028/-1/all

HAMILTON - Butler County Treasurer Carole Mosketti, who quit abruptly last week amid a state ethics probe, pleaded guilty this morning to a misdemeanor ethics violation.

She was convicted in Butler County Common Pleas Court of conflict of interest in the 2004 hiring of her granddaughter as a part-time deputy clerk in her office.

Mosketti, 68, who was elected in 2000 and earns $66,415 annually, paid the maximum $1,000 fine. She also will pay court costs and costs of prosecution. Her resignation is effective May 31.
By pleading guilty to the misdemeanor and quitting her job, she avoids serving jail time, probation and possible indictment on a felony ethics charge, said special prosecutor Lynn Grimshaw.

Mosketti already has repaid the county about $3,800 that her granddaughter was paid while employed in the summers from 2004 to 2006.Mosketti has not responded to repeated interview requests about the matter since it emerged last year.

She did not speak in court today other than entering the plea and responding "Yes, sir" and No, sir," to Judge Matt Crehan. She showed no emotion and quietly left the courtroom with her husband, Bob, a former director of Butler County Board of Elections.

Her lawyer, Jack Garretson, said she made a "good-faith mistake" that she regrets.Last summer, prosecutor Robin Piper asked the Ohio Ethics Commission to investigate after learning that Mosketti hired her granddaughter, Heather Maus.

Elected officials are prohibited from hiring family members.The issue came to light when Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers wrote Mosketti on May 31, 2006, to notify her that the hiring violated Ohio's ethics law.

As a result, Mosketti's granddaughter quit in June 2006.Rogers and Paul Nick, chief investigative attorney for the Ohio Ethics Commission, said Mosketti should have known what the rules are.

The Butler County Republican Party is in the process of finding a candidate to serve the rest of Mosketti's term. The application deadline is Friday.Four people have applied: Butler County GOP secretary Donna Defazio, US Bank Executive Nancy Nix, West Chester insurance agent Don Spurlock and attorney Dave Davidson.The new treasurer should be named June 12.

Auditor Sues Local Newspaper!

Butler County Auditor Kay Rogers has filed suit against a local newspaper, her opponent in last year's election and others.

Read more about it at the links below!

Cincinnati Enquirer link
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070519/NEWS01/705190380/1056/COL02

Journal-News link
http://www.journal-news.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/18/hjn051907kay.html

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Pelosi attempts rules change to silence Republicans


Looks to change a Congressional Rule that is almost 200 Years Old

After losing a string of embarrassing votes on the House floor because of procedural maneuvering, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has decided to change the current House Rules to completely shut down the floor to the minority.

The Democratic Leadership is threatening to change the current House Rules regarding the Republican right to the Motion to Recommit or the test of germaneness on the motion to recommit. This would be the first change to the germaneness rule since 1822.

In protest, the House Republicans are going to call procedural motions every half hour.

Developing...

from the Drudge Report

Monday, May 14, 2007

Fox resigns, Children Services Board abolished

HAMILTON — The governing board of Butler County Children Services is no more as the county commissioners voted today to make the county Department of Job and Family Services the county's child protection agency instead.

The move is a result of the fallout from the August murder of foster child Marcus Fiesel. At the time of his death, the developmentally disabled boy from Middletown was in the legal custody of Children Services, which approved his placement in the Clermont County home where he was slain.

The six-member governing board didn't provide aggressive oversight and new leadership is needed to restore the public's confidence in the agency, Commission President Gregory Jolivette said. Fired Executive Director Jann Heffner left the agency May 5.

"It was a circle-the-wagons type mentality with the board and we don't need that," Jolivette said.

The reorganization places Children Services' 200-plus employees, $25 million annual budget, and services to more than 600 children in foster care and kinship care under the county Department of Job and Family Services. However, Children Services' administration, including Interim Executive Director Jeff Centers, will report directly to the county commissioners and County Administrator Derek Conklin.

Former Commissioner Michael Fox plans to seek the $125,000-a-year executive director position now that his resignation took effect today. The search opened today and applications will be accepted for about three weeks. A new director should be in place in six to eight weeks, Jolivette said.

In the coming weeks, county officials plan to decide when and how much they will ask voters to pay before an existing 2-mill levy expires Dec. 31, 2008. The levy generates about 62 percent — more than $15 million — of the agency's budget. The commissioners also plan to schedule work sessions to define roles and develop guiding principles for the agency's reform.

from the Journal-News

http://www.journal-news.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/05/14/hjn051407csbmergeweb.html

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Commissioner Mike Fox to resign Wednesday




HAMILTON — County Commissioner Michael Fox plans to resign Wednesday to try his chances at being the next executive director of Butler County Children Services.

Fox has been grappling with the decision for months, but said he knew he has to resign from his post as commissioner to even be considered for the job by his fellow two commissioners.

"It's like being in an airplane and jumping out with a parachute you're not sure will work," Fox said about his decision. "It's an act of faith. It comes down to where can I do the most good."

Fox will be leaving behind a 32-year political career as a county commissioners and state representative.

The county commissioners are scheduled to vote Monday to disband the governing board of Children Services and merge the agency with the county Department of Job and Family Services.

The plan is a result of the fallout from the August death of foster child Marcus Fiesel.
Without Fox, the commissioners also plan to pass a resolution to open the search to replace fired Executive Director Jann Heffner, who left the position Friday.

from the journal-news

Sunday, May 06, 2007

An Actor for President? - It'll Never Happen!


Who'd have thought that you could order t-shirts and bumper sticker for a candidate who hasn't announced his candidacy?

Ohio's Democrat Attorney General is Wasting Your Money!


Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann (D) bought a 2007 Chevy Suburban from a campaign contributor for $40,374 when he could have purchased a full-size SUV through the state's fleet management system for $25,899. Can you imagine how much ink the Liberals in the Press would have given this story if Dann had been a Republican?

Butler County Coroner's mix-up unacceptable

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070504/EDIT01/705040344/-1/all

The headline was right out of Edgar Allen Poe - "Morgue mixes up bodies for burial" - but the reality was a basic government service that failed to meet its obligation to the public.

Butler County Coroner Richard Burkhardt admitted to The Enquirer that earlier this week his office had released the wrong body to the grieving family of Deborah Reed, a 52-year-old grandmother who died in an apartment fire last Friday.

The body of Paula Webb, 23, was sent to the James Zettler Funeral Home, which buried her Tuesday in Greenwood Cemetery as Reed's family looked on. The mistake was not realized until Webb's family tried to claim her body from the morgue and coroner's employees couldn't find her.

Reed was exhumed later Tuesday and the switch was corrected, but the damage, to the nerves and grief of the families and public faith in the coroner's office, had been done.

This incident and the pain it caused could have been avoided had a morgue attendant or an employee at the funeral home simply double-checked the body against the paperwork before it was released. One look would have revealed that the 28-year-old woman was not a 59-year-old burn victim. But no one looked.

The function of the coroner is something most of us accept without question, but few want to dwell on the job's details. The living want the dead handled with care, with gentleness and, most of all, with respect. Treating the bodies as objects and mixing them up like parcel post deliveries is just not acceptable.

In 2001 employees of the Hamilton County coroner were accused of allowing a free-lance photographer to take pictures of bodies in the morgue there for use in an art book. The resulting scandal included criminal prosecution of the photographer, civil suits against the county and coroner, and ultimately a change in coroner at the next election.

In Butler County, Burkhardt has accepted responsibility and promised that the unnamed employee who mixed up the bodies will be disciplined.

Unlike the Hamilton County case, this incident clearly appears to have been a mistake rather than a crime.

Nevertheless, we urge Burkhardt to thoroughly and quickly investigate what happened and take whatever corrective action is necessary to make sure there are procedures in place to prevent it from ever happening again.

And you wondered why gas prices were so high?!




BP CEO John Browne resigns amid furor

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070501/ap_on_bi_ge/britain_bp_ceo

LONDON - BP PLC's Chief Executive John Browne resigned Tuesday, hours after a judge allowed a newspaper to publish allegations from a former boyfriend that the executive misused company resources.

Browne, who had already moved up his departure by more than a year after a deadly refinery blast in Texas and a giant oil spill in Alaska, denied any improper conduct relating to BP. But he acknowledged that he had lied to a judge about how he met his former partner, with whom he had a four-year relationship.

The Mail on Sunday, the newspaper that had sought to publish the claims, immediately called for Browne to be prosecuted for perjury.

Browne said he regretted the lie, saying he was in shock at his private life being exposed, and was stepping down voluntarily "to avoid unnecessary embarrassment and distraction to the company."

"For the past 41 years of my career at BP I have kept my private life separate from my business life," he said.

Browne's designated successor, exploration and production head Tony Hayward, will take over as CEO immediately, the company said. He will have to repair BP's tarnished reputation after the series of high-profile operational and regulatory mishaps.

BP said Browne's decision meant he would lose a bonus of up to 1.3 times his annual salary, worth more than 3.5 million pounds ($6.9 million). He would also forgo inclusion in a share plan with a potential value of 12 million pounds ($23.9 million).

Browne, 59, had been fighting since January to keep the Mail on Sunday from publishing details from the interview with Jeff Chevalier. He acknowledged the relationship in the statement Tuesday and apologized for lying to the judge.

"My initial witness statements ... contained an untruthful account about how I first met Jeff," he said. "This account, prompted by my embarrassment and shock at the revelations, is a matter of deep regret."

The Mail on Sunday said it would provide evidence of Browne's deception to the attorney general's office.

"That Lord Browne should have felt free to lie deliberately and repeatedly raises deeply worrying questions about the system of secret court hearing which is increasingly being used by the rich and powerful to prevent the public knowing the truth about their activities," the newspaper said in a statement.

Browne was accused of using BP computers and staff to help Chevalier, of using support staff to set up and then wind down a company Browne created for him to run, and sending a senior BP employee on a personal errand to deliver cash to him.

Browne rejected the allegations, calling them "full of misleading and erroneous claims. I deny categorically any allegations of improper conduct relating to BP."

BP said an internal investigation determined that those allegations were unfounded.
"The board of BP has accepted John's resignation with the deepest regret," Chairman Peter Sutherland said. He called it "a tragedy that he should be compelled by his sense of honor to resign in these painful circumstances."

Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago, said he thought the allegations against Browne were serious enough that, if proved true, the CEO would have been forced to resign even if BP had not faced other problems.

"If that's proven, then that in and of itself might be enough," Flynn said. "But, obviously, John Browne's reputation was already tainted."

Shares in BP edged lower after the announcement, closing down 0.4 percent to 563 pence ($11.24) on the London Stock Exchange.

Browne's decision will allow Hayward to start with a clean slate, analyst Jason Kenney of ING Group told Dow Jones Newswires. He said the news shouldn't affect the company's share performance, since Hayward already was selected to become the next CEO and the company's future strategy had been laid out earlier this year.

After more than a decade at the helm of BP, Browne — a close associate of Prime Minister
Tony Blair's had announced in January that he would resign at the end of July, bringing his expected departure forward by more than a year.

Then his annual performance bonus for last year was cut almost in half as the oil spill in Alaska and the effects of the refinery explosion in Texas overshadowed record profits for the oil company.

Last month, BP reported a 17 percent drop in first-quarter earnings on lower oil prices and declining production.

Browne joined the company in 1966 as an apprentice and worked his way up to the top job in 1995. He oversaw BP's expansion into the United States, including the 1998 merger with Amoco and the subsequent acquisitions of Arco and Castrol.

Before the scandals, Browne was known as the man who turned BP around, Flynn said.
"This guy was a superstar in the oil industry," he said.
But Browne's attempts to fashion BP as an environmentally friendly oil company — he was the first major oil company CEO to acknowledge global warming and masterminded BP's logo change from a shield to a flowerlike sunburst design with the slogan "Beyond Petroleum" — were undermined by the company's recent U.S. troubles.
BP was forced to temporarily close some of its operations at the Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska because of a major pipeline spill and delayed the opening of its key Thunder Horse platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The 2005 explosion at its Texas refinery that killed 15 workers has so far cost the company around $2 billion in compensation payouts, repairs and lost profits.
Browne told shareholders at the annual meeting last month that the day of the accident was the "saddest and darkest" of his career. Sutherland said the company was making "good progress" on safety issues.
BP is set to appoint an independent safety expert this month.

Soccer stadium to be named for coach

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070505/NEWS01/305050024/

BY SUE KIESEWETTER ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR

FAIRFIELD – The soccer stadium where former Fairfield Middle School teacher Christy Rose Dennis spent the happiest days of her life will soon bear her name.

Nearly three years after her sudden death at age 31, the Fairfield High School soccer stadium where Dennis played as a teenager and coached as an adult is poised to be renamed in her honor.

A change last December in the school board’s policy on naming facilities paves the way for the honor.

“One of the reasons we revisited the policy was for Christy,’’ said Dan Murray, vice president of the school board. “I think this is long overdue.’’

Two years ago, the board of education denied a request by a group of family and friends to name the fields after Dennis, a 1991 Fairfield graduate. The board’s policy at that time stated that an individual had to have been away from the district five years before anything could be named after them.

So instead, a cupola in Dennis’ memory was built at the stadium and a memorial garden was planted at the middle school where she taught.

That naming policy has since been revised and on Thursday Superintendent Robert Farrell recommended the stadium be named after Dennis.

A vote is scheduled May 17.Dennis came back to the district after college to teach science and coach soccer. “This will celebrate her life,’’ said Pam Rose, Dennis’ mother. “She was all about kids and the community.

She was on soccer fields since she was seven.”That legacy is continuing in Dennis’ daughter, Keegan, now seven and a student at the Fairfield Kindergarten Center.“Keegan loves soccer and talks about her mother every day,’’ said Rose, with tears in her eyes. “This is wonderful.”

Fairfield to pay $25,000 profiling claim

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/NEWS01/705020360

FAIRFIELD - The city of Fairfield will pay $25,000 to a black Cincinnati couple who claimed they were racially profiled during a traffic stop in September.

Tony and Andrea Betts , of the Mount Airy/College Hill area, were pulled over at 11 p.m. Sept. 8 on Dixie Highway by Sgt. Jeff Sprague.

According to the police report, Tony Betts was driving 15 miles under the posted 50 mph speed limit and weaving. Sprague called in a drug-sniffing dog, but no drugs were found.

Tony Betts was cited for expired tags, according to police.

At a Sept. 12 Fairfield Council meeting, Betts said he and his wife were "embarrassed, humiliated" and their "most basic civil liberties violated."

An internal investigation released a few weeks after the incident cleared Sprague of the racial profiling claim, but the Betts persisted in their claim.

"The point of the settlement is that this family took a very bad experience and is trying to turn it into something that will help future travelers in that area from experiencing anything like that," said their attorney, Al Gerhardstein.

As part of the settlement, the city also agreed to hold two public forums about what drivers should do when they are stopped by the police. Police Chief Michael Dickey will write the couple a letter of apology and provide additional training for officers.

The city did not admit any wrongdoing.

The city also will contract with University of Cincinnati associate professor Robin Engel, director of the university's Policy Institute, to review police practices for a year at a cost of $35,000.

"This is nothing more than looking at the situation, trying to come up with a best practice that we can have our officers do to avoid future incidents," Dickey said.

Fairfield police officers have made about 15,000 traffic stops in three years, and fewer than 10 people stopped have claimed racial profiling, Dickey said. The Betts case was the only one that involved either a settlement or litigation.