Josh "Heavy" Hendricks, shown with his Ultimate Fighting Championship belts, is heading to Las Vegas for UFC 91, a huge pay-per-view event being aired on Nov. 15. Hendricks, who now lives in the Medina, Ohio area, is a former local resident who at one time helped coach the Harrison Central Huskies wrestling team - and who first hit the mat at a Cadiz High School wrestling event at age 6.
(This is another piece I wrote for the Harrison News Herald. I also took the photograph. No reproductions without written permission, please.)

No place like home Josh "Heavy" Hendricks may be heading for the bright lights of Las Vegas - but he hasn't forgotten that the path that took him there led him through Harrison County first.
On Nov. 15, Hendricks will be at center stage at the Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 91 - being billed as the largest pay-per-view in the sport, to date.
Hendricks is one tough guy. He's 6 ft. 2 and weighs in at 246 pounds of solid muscle, and he's gaining a reputation as a strong competitor in a sport that combines boxing, martial arts and wrestling.
In the Nov. 15 fight, he's going up against another tough competitor in Gabriel Gonzaga. Their numbers match up. Gonzaga is 6 ft 1 and weighs 242. He has a record of 9-3, while Hendricks' record is 15-4.
It's a big match - not just for the sizes of the men, but in the importance in the sport - and Hendricks has come a long, long way from the times as a child, when he first wrestled at a Cadiz event.
"My first wrestling match was at Cadiz High School, when I was six years old," Hendricks recalled. "I've wrestled for my whole life."
Until his parents' divorce, Hendricks lived in the Jewett-Scio area, but eventually graduated from Wadworth High School in 1995. Most of his family remains in this area.
He went to Oklahoma State College and then to Ashland College, where he was a championship wrestler whose travels took him to Seoul, South Korea as a member of the University World Team. In college, Hendricks roomed with Olympian Eric Guerrero, a member of the 2004 U.S. Wrestling Team.
Henricks also returned to Cadiz for a period of time, where he helped coach the Harrison Central Huskies wrestling team.
All that changed in 2002, when he "got dared" to do his first fight.
"From there, I've been all over the place," Hendricks said.
One memorable fight took him to Moscow, where he fought to a third-round loss against an extremely tough Russian fighter.
"I thought he broke my jaw," Hendricks said of the Russian challenger.
His career as an ultimate fighter has made leaps and bounds since then.
"The last three years have been good," he said. "Out of 10 wins, 9 were first round and one was unanimous," he said.
Hendricks isn't an athlete who rests on his laurels, and even after the Nov. 15 fight, he'll continue, win or lose.
"Success isn't a goal; it's a journey," he maintains.
Hendricks, at 32, says he's at the point in which most ultimate fighters are in their peak physical condition for the sport, and he's been training hard for the Nov. 15 fight.
"I've spent two weeks out in Vegas with (UFC® Heavyweight Champ) Randy Couture. I'll be flying back out there on Nov. 2, and the fight is on the 15th. I'll take time off after that."
Couture is headlining the Nov. 15 pay-per-view, putting his title on the line against wrestler Brock Lesnar.
That's not all the training Hendricks is doing, however. Every day, for a minimum of five to six hours, he trains at the Medina area gym he calls home. He spars in wrestling, kick boxing, martial arts and does hours of cardiac workouts.
"I do two or three sessions a day," said Hendricks.
Hendricks' life isn't all about his fighting career, however. He has a wife, Allison; an infant son, Caden and two step children, Ryler and Rogan, ages 9 and 6. He clearly dotes.
He also loves to come back to Harrison County to visit his many uncles, aunts and grandparents.
Hendricks gives his wife, Allison, a great deal of credit for keeping him motivated and going.
"She's a fight fan," Hendricks said. "She realizes how important this is to me. She is quick to get me out of bed and out for training. I'm very thankful to her, because she takes care of home and she makes sure my sole responsibility is preparing for this."
Despite his size and his toughness, and the successes he has achieved, Hendricks is a humble man. He knows who his true supporters have been for all of these years.
In addition to his wife and children, Hendricks said his inspiration has always come from the family members he loves to visit back home in Harrison County.
His father, Dale Hendricks and his uncles, Bob and Jim, along with his grandfather, Harry, were strong men who encouraged Hendricks in his physical activities.
"But my grandmother, Nancy, we get our toughness from her," Hendricks said.
While Hendricks is nearing the top of his fighting career, he knows it won't last forever.
"I'm blessed to be in the position I'm in, and I encourage people to take care of themselves for health and physical preparedness. People should take care of their health more seriously," Hendricks maintains.
He said he'll do "anything I can to help give back" and that he wants to stay in the business, even after the fighting ends.
"I want to stay in the business and train people and share my knowledge," Hendricks said.
There may be a great call for the skills Hendricks has learned. In the past five years, since ESPN began covering the sport, Hendricks said ticket sales have continued to climb.
"UFC 91 will be the largest pay-per-view of any sport," he said.
The sport, however, Hendricks said, is already drawing people in who are not its true stars.
"Kimbo Slice became a big star because of YouTube," said Hendricks. "He just would get out a truck and hit some bum. One thing he needed to realize that some people swing back. I never want to be disrespectful, but he lost to a mediocre fighter."

My brush with history

Photos/ SANDY FITZGERALD

"Hey, doesn't that lady know that we're watching her, too?" I'm not sure that it was altogether proper of me to take photos of the Secret Service agents in the hillsides of Jefferson County with a telephoto lens ­ but it was fun. And of course, at the top left is Barack Obama, visiting the hills of Jefferson County. Who would have thought it?

THIS PAST Wednesday afternoon, I did something new - I saw a presidential candidate up close.
And since my co-workers and family are getting pretty tired of me talking so much about it, I'll tell all of you.
I was one of the hoards of media who flocked out to Ray Piergallini's farm outside Smithfield to see Barack Obama and hear what he had to say.
While what he said was pretty close to his Democratic National Convention speech - in other words, really nothing new or locally connected, the five or so hours I spent in the hills of Jefferson County were hours I wouldn't trade for anything else.
That's because I saw, up close, just what goes on behind the scenes of those events most people just watch on television.
The first thing I observed was the presence of Secret Service agents.
Now, this isn't the first famous person I've been around. While I'm still relatively new here in Cadiz, I've worked at several area newspapers. I've been around famous people - including politicians.
I interviewed Janet Reno in Wheeling; my brother's best high school friend is Sen. Jay Rockefeller's aide.
I've seen the Secret Service.
But in this case, while I knew they would be present, I guess I was a little taken aback.
The men around Sen. Obama were, as you would expect, larger men who could probably kill a person with one swift move.
However, there were younger people as well, and you could tell them by their dark suits, great sunglasses and the earphones.
And even the tiny little one standing by where the local press was cordoned off - I have no doubt she could take me down without even breaking a sweat.
There were agents in the hills, on the perimeter, and where there were no agents, there were local sheriff's deputies, on foot, on horseback.
The Franklin County Bomb Squad was there as well.
The security started when you first walked to the site. Once I got my press badge and visited with some of my local press colleagues, we were let in.
It looked like a regular sign-in table. But it wasn't.
People like me, with a camera and big lens, were told to turn on the camera, put it down on the table, and shoot a couple of shots.
Cell phones were also checked out, and then everyone got waved down with a metal detectorand then let in.
For awhile, the media was allowed to mingle freely, like normal people. Then, when the invited guests started arriving, we were cordoned into a roped-off area.
Hey! I'm not the paparazzi! Let me out!
(Oops, a little left over claustraphobia there.)
It took a while before Sen. Obama arrived, but the people there were more than happy to chat about their hopes for the future and their excitement over the event.
Kind of made me wonder if some committee somewhere told them to talk to anyone with a press badge - but that was okay. I'm a local girl.
Which brings me to the national media. I'm sure there are some nice people who work for the big guys - but I've never really met one. I don't think you can be nice and be on that level.
So, therefore, I had a real sense of mean glee when I heard them grumbling about not being able to get a cell phone signal.
Hey, guys, welcome to our world!
Overall, despite your political beliefs (and I'm not telling mine, because that's between me and the poll booth) everyone who has the opportunity to see and hear a presidential candidate in person should take every opportunity to do so.
It's history in the making and something to tell your grandchildren, whether that candidate wins or loses.
And if John McCain comes to Scio or New Athens, or maybe even to Cadiz - I'll be there to take a lot of pictures and listen to him too.
I just hope that the promises these men are making are kept. This country and its people sure could use a break.

Editorial, Harrison News Herald, 8-11-08

Please note: This editorial was written by me for the Harrison News Herald in Cadiz Ohio. It may not be used in any way without permission, because it is copyrighted.

Keeping their plans alive

Delayed - not dead.

That was the word coming from officials with Harrison Ethanol LLC concerning the progress of the huge facility to be located outside Cadiz. For the past few months, as deadlines came and went concerning the plant, many in the county came to fear that Harrison Ethanol was not going to be built at all.

Not so fast, the company said last week.

Private investors are being sought, and company officials insist that there is no way they are going to abandon their plans for Harrison County.

That's very welcome news for the people of this county.

After all, a facility of the magnitude of Harrison Ethanol, once built, will bring jobs to the county and add money to its struggling tax base. Too often, young people are leaving this area in search of work that they can't find here - jobs that will allow them to marry and raise a family.
Additionally, the United States is in dire need of facilities that can produce alternative fuels that can help ease this country's dependence on foreign oil. Like anyone, we wish Harrison Ethanol was already open and operating.

It has been a long time since the earlier part of this decade, when plans for the plant were first announced.

It's easy to become impatient - and impatience breeds skepticism and doubt.

After all, Harrison County has been burned in the past by out-of-town companies and their promises of riches, and it's easy to fear the unknown. We encourage the owners of Harrison Ethanol to continue with their work to bring their company to this county.

We're looking forward to being there when they cut that opening-day ribbon.

Harrison Ethanol plant progress slow, but sure

I wrote this article and the following one for the Harrison News-Herald in Cadiz, OH for the Aug. 11, 2008 edition. If you wish to use any part of these articles, you must contact me at the newspaper for permission, because they are copyrighted.

Main Story:

Throughout the United States, plans to construct ethanol plants have crashed one-by-one after falling victim to spiraling corn prices and a suddenly hostile economic environment.
That isn't happening with Harrison Ethanol LLC, company officials maintain.
A great deal of construction work has not been going on at the Dickinson Church Road facility in recent months. However, behind-the-scenes financial wrangling is continuing for the unique facility that will combine beef and dairy cattle production with an ethanol facility that will create millions of gallons of the biodiesel fuel per year, said Marion Gilliland, corporate communications director and managing member for Harrison Ethanol.
"Because we are using private funding, we must continue to observe the required 'quiet period,'" Gilliland said. "The progress has been far slower than we or anyone else hoped for or expected, but we do continue to move forward."
Gilliland said that the company has not sought local funding for the massive project, but is seeking most of its financing from the private sector -- and that takes time and education to achieve.
Meanwhile, Gilliland said that Harrison County officials have been hugely supportive of the plans to open the ethanol plant. The company, in return, wants to build a facility that will be in the business for many years.
"There have been other ethanol plants that have started and closed down," she said. "When we get up and start building, we don't want to be in that category."
In May, Gilliland said, a meeting was held with OMEGA (the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association) and several Harrison County officials, including Mayor Ken Zitko, County Engineer Rob Sterling and the county commissioners were all there, and all voiced their support for the project.
While the project isn't a building phase, that by no means indicates that Harrison Ethanol and its plans are in limbo, she insisted.
"We want to make sure it's exactly right," Gilliland said.
The local area has been burned by companies coming into town with large promises in the past. For example, huge loans were granted to Pastamatic International Inc., which had promised to bring several jobs into the area -- which never happened.
Gilliland said Harrison Ethanol has never asked the area for local funds.
"We're developing them on our own," she said, noting that the company understands that there are lingering trust issues concerning outside companies that say they want to locate in the county.
Seeking the outside funding is a slow process, and she knows there are some in the area who are disappointed.
Harrison Ethanol is being built on reclaimed strip mine territory once owned by Consolidation Coal. As such, site preparation has brought about its own set of challenges, Gilliland said.
"When we started cleaning it up, it is all reclaimed coal ground," she said. "We found all kinds of things when we started to dig down. We found a large concrete bunker and a railroad trestle 18 feet down."
The work is all necessary -- albeit slow -- Gilliland said, because "we have to make something people will be proud to have."
She said that Harrison Ethanol will be a facility that is around for many years to come, and will bring a huge, much-needed cash flow into the county.
"This will be really amazing for the area," Gilliland said.
Farmer's Ethanol has plans for three plants, with Harrison County's to be the first of its kind.
The facility will include raising beef and dairy cattle as part of the overall project. Gilliland said there is one other facility in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has beef cattle with its ethanol plant, and one in Kansas that combines ethanol and dairy production, but no plants that have all three factors.
According to plans for Harrison Ethanol, the cattle at the facility will be fed about half of the distillers grain that is produced as a byproduct of making ethanol, selling the rest of the distillers grain.
The cattle will be housed in a 294,440 square-foot cattle barn and a 77,700 square-foot dairy barn.
Manure from the cattle will be processed through an anaerobic digester to produce methane, which will in turn be used to produce "green electricity" that will be sold or used to run the plant.
The plant also plans to sell carbon dioxide, another byproduct of ethanol production and liquid fertilizer from the digester.
Gilliland noted that there are no other ethanol facilities that include the anaerobic digester.
"When you put the three together, we are a very green (facility)," Gilliland said.
Over all, she concluded, owners and operators of the Harrison Ethanol plant are still working very hard to bring the operation to the county.
"We are still working hard and we are still moving along," she said. "It's going to be a good plant. We are using high quality materials, and we are making it right. We are doing it very carefully and we're doing it the right way."

Sidebar:

Opening and construction dates for the Harrison Ethanol facility have been pushed back -- and as a result, so have key grants and agreements concerning the company.
The Ohio Rail Commission has amended grant and loan agreements totaling $700,000 to allow an extension until June 2009. The Ohio Department of Agriculture has also renewed its permit to install for Harrison Ethanol until June 2009.
Both items were to have expired this past June, but were extended because it has taken longer than expected to construct the rural plant and cattle operation.
Bill Schwaderer, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Agriculture's livestock environmental permitting program, said companies can request extensions if they can show where plans are continuing for construction.
However, the extensions might not continue to come from the Department of Agriculture, Schwaderer said.
"This may be the last time we extend it," he said.
The original request for a permit extension went into effect on June 7, 2007, and was to have expired this June 12. The new expiration date is June 15, 2009.
The decision was made following discussion with the "lead engineer" at Harrison Ethanol, said Schwaderer. The Department of Agriculture only deals with the cattle section of Harrison Ethanol, not the ethanol production facility.
Once online, Harrison Ethanol's cattle operations will have 2,000 dairy cattle and 10,000 head of beef cattle at the site. The cattle will be fed byproduct from the ethanol production.
Meanwhile, Schwaderer said, other ethanol facilities across the state are coming along, and the state's farmers are ready to sell their corn.
Corn prices are at about $6 per bushel.
"When corn's that high, they hate to feed it to the livestock," he said. "If they've got grain, they think it's better to sell it."
The Ohio Rail Commission money would be used for rehabilitation of railroad ties, line rails and to reactivate crossings in connection with the construction project, said Stu Nicholson, public information officer for the ORC.
The finance package was requested in 2006 to help offset an "estimated $1 million in off-site rail costs," according to a project briefing description supplied by the ORC to the News-Herald.
The money would finance the "rehabilitation for the southern 7.2 miles of the Georgetown Branch on the state of Ohio-owned Panhandle Rail Line."
The ORC's executive director at that time was authorized to finalize the terms and conditions for the loan, provided that it not exceed seven years in duration.
It was noted that the facility will need rail service for inbound corn shipments and animal feed, and to send out outbound ethanol and other products.
"Harrison Ethanol estimates that about 2,800 carloads of inbound traffic and 1,000 carloads of outbound traffic will be generated annually," the project briefing description said.
The on-site infrastructure would require a new 6,400 lineal foot lead track, 1,500 lineal foot side track and the rehabilitation and realignment of 1,000 feet of existing track left over from coal mining operations.
The last 7.2 miles of the Georgetown Branch have been out of service for several years, since before 1992, the ORC reported.
Total grants and loans so far on the project include a $500,000 United States Department of Agriculture grant, $600,000 in Appalachian Regional Commission grants, $40,000 in training funds from the Ohio Department of Development, $400,000 in 629 Roadwork Development funds from ODOD, $7 million in Ohio Water Development Authority loans, a $600,000 Rural Pioneer loan and $36,261,024 in Ohio Air Quality Development Authority Revenue Bonds, the report revealed.
Beyond the grant extensions, the Harrison Ethanol property was last week released from a mechanic's lien filed by one of the contractors.
Jeffrey Sidwell, owner of Sidwell Materials Inc. of White Cottage, Ohio, put a hold on the entire site following work that was done there.
Between Sept. 12, and Dec. 29, 2006, the concrete company performed work at the facility for a sum totaling $372,898.63.
Mechanics' liens are often filed by contractor in order to collect money from a company. In this case, Sidwell filed the lien in March and it was released in July.
Marion Gilliland of Harrison Ethanol said that the lien and it's discharge were a routine business matter.
"We got into a slow spot, and he didn't know us well enough yet," said Gilliland. However, she said, the matter has been settled and Sidwell will continue as a contractor on the project.
"We are on good terms with him," Gilliland said.

Hospital oddballs

"I'm really sick. I think I need a pain pill."

The first time you hear those words come from the young woman in the bed next to yours while you're in the hospital, you feel sorry for that person.

Especially when she's only her early 30s and seems pretty sick.

I was in the hospital a few weeks ago, after going to the emergency room for what I thought was a routine kidney stone passage. I have those every few months, and they land me in the emergency room for a shot of strong pain killers and a reminder to drink more water.

This time, though, it wasn't a kidney stone. At least that's not all that was wrong. I was a hotbed of infection that went through my bladder and kidneys and into my blood, and was complicated by an ecoli illness.

I was a pretty sick lady.

But with all my ailments, I didn't feel all that poorly, once the doctors started pumping the antibiotics in. I felt pretty good, as a matter of fact, even if my medical team (and I'm still laughing at THAT!) kept me there five days.

But I felt even better when my roommate told me she had been there for two and a half weeks, and that she had surgery and that the doctors still didn't know what was wrong with her.

Two and a half weeks! Could it be cancer? The poor girl.

My pity lasted about an hour or so, until I realized that the pains she was suffering were, shall we say, selective.

She was in intense pain as long as there was a nurse there to check my blood pressure or IV. When the nurse left, the pain left. Amazing.

My suspicions climbed more when I overheard her asking a young man on the phone if he'd like her better if she gave up the "stuff."

Then nightfall came on that first night. She wanted pain pills every hour; she wanted a snack or something for her nausea. The food was bad so she sent it back to the kitchen. She rang the nurses every 10 minutes or so.

"I need a pillow...a drink...my slippers...a magazine..."

I still had no inkling, just annoyance that this girl was sick and whiny and I wanted to sleep in a position that wouldn't cause me to rip my IV out.

I finally fell asleep, despite her moaning and groaning.

Then day two came. She was supposed to leave, but since she had had surgery, of course you have to urinate and have a bowel movement before they will let you out of the hospital.

She couldn't. Plus her "pain" was at an all-time high.

There is no privacy in a hospital room. Those curtains don't hide anything.

So I laid there on my side of the curtain and turned up the television while they gave her an enema.

She couldn't go.

They gave her another one.

She still couldn't go.

They gave her another one.

She still couldn't shit.

So they took her for an x-ray. When she came back, she told me, in a self-satisfied way, "they'll probably have to open me up."

In a few minutes, the verdict of the x-rays came back.

She was doing it to herself. Somehow, some way, she was holding all that in. Plus she was not urinating...that's right, she was holding all that in, too.

By this point, her aunt came to visit. They sat there and complained to each other about how this girl's children had been taken away and how the hospital wasn't helping her and how she was not being treated fairly and how she should call the AMA and sue everyone.

By then, I needed headphones. My kids couldn't find any to bring me. So I got up frequently, took my IV cart and walked the hallways to get away from her. By then, I was about to give this bitch a reason to whine.

And that's when one of the nurses told me.

This girl was a jail inmate. A JAIL INMATE! And she had been there for two weeks and she was bring all the ailments on herself so she wouldn't have to go back!

All I wanted to do from the time I got there was to go home. I have a dear friend who has battled cancer not once, but twice and won this past year.

When I was wandering the halls, I heard children crying in some of the rooms. I heard others puking. I saw elderly ladies who smiled at me despite their illnesses and one poor fellow who couldn't stand up straight because he had had an operation.

And my stupid cow of a roommate was faking to stay out of jail!

So that night, I laid on my side of the room and listened to her moan and groan. I enjoyed the extra attention of the nurses, who sneaked me in extra Sprites and ice cream just to spite Miss Illness.

It was a bravura performance she put on. And she did shit, eventually. I heard her...and ratted her out.

I also heard her stick her finger down her throat during the night to get sick.

The next morning, her doctor was there very early, right after the nurses woke her up at 6 a.m. and made her urinate. He was short with her and told her she was fine. I found his bedside manner very odd.

Then, during breakfast, one of the nurses called me out to the hall. She asked me to be out of the room at 8:45 a.m., because sheriff's deputies were coming to collect the actress.

I wanted to stay...I'm a news person and I've been there when they arrested murderers and drug dealers, for the love of God. But I left...because they didn't want me to get hurt if she resisted arrest.

The deputies came and got her and she gave up without a struggle or a noise that I could hear.

I assume she's still in jail, and I hope she stays there a long time. I learned after she left that her other acts included smacking her head on the bathroom wall and acting like she had fallen and holding her pillow over her head to induce illness.

But she's back in jail, and I hope she doesn't get sick again. I'd like to say it was the humanitarian part of me, but...after all, I have my own medical bills to worry about...and now my tax dollars have to go to paying this woman's, too.

I still don't know why the hospital thought it would be perfectly okay to put a normal person in a room with a jail inmate...but I did enjoy the peace the following day.

And I learned that nurses really are saints.

I would have smacked her around with a bedpan. A really dirty one.

Editorials

Katrina: A turning point

It’s hard to believe two years have gone by.

Two years ago today, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast near Buras, La.

More than 1,800 people in the region died after the resulting floods devastated the beautiful, historic city of New Orleans.

The hurricane and its flooding did more than claim the lives of those victims, however. It marked the end of the innocence for many Americans, not only those in the path of the storm.

Before Katrina, Americans retained much of their faith in the government to protect them from harm.

Sept. 11 rocked that faith, but Americans united in their grief and made it through those dark days, and most believed that steps would always be taken to protect them.

Katrina, however, was different.

All across the United States, viewers watched as the giant storm made its way to the Gulf Coast. Even people who didn’t know much about radar and weather forecasting knew that this storm was different.

The questions are still out there, and it’s still horrible to watch the film footage from the days after the storm.

Nobody thought that they would ever see fellow Americans lined up like refugees. Stranded on roofs. Babies and old people dying in the streets because there was no water or food.

But there they were.

The arguments will continue for decades about who was to blame for those people losing their lives.

The debate over whether taking items from stores was a matter of survival if food was being stolen, or whether it was looting when televisions and such were being carted away will go on.

So will the ugly accusations of racism in the United States — for many of those stranded and who died in the days after Hurricane Katrina were New Orleans’ poorest residents. And they were black.

There were stories of heroism that came from New Orleans. The National Guardsmen and Coast Guard, who came in and plucked survivors from the rooftops, will always be heroes.

However, what will always stand out in minds will be the utter failure of the United States government to help in a real way, when help was most needed.

When President Bush, who had appointed former FEMA Director Michael Brown in 2003, praised Brown shortly after the storm hit, saying "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," everyone knew better.

It was obvious by then that Brownie — or the government — wasn’t doing a heck of a job. People were dying by the hundreds.

The hurricane not only destroyed New Orleans, but was the turning point in the Bush presidency.

After Sept. 11, Americans looked to Bush for hope. After Katrina, many looked at him, rightly or not, as the person who was to blame for the lives lost in New Orleans.

And now, two years later, the tragedy of Katrina continues.

Many of New Orleans’ historic neighborhoods are destroyed, and will not be rebuilt. Others are being snapped up by wealthy developers.

The birthplace of jazz will never be the same again, and many of those people who made New Orleans what it was — a center of unique cultural traditions —are now gone.

And all of that began on Aug. 29, 2005 — just two years ago today.

Section: Editorials Posted: 8/29/2007

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U.S. Sen. John McCain, perhaps this country's most famous former prisoner of war, knows what it's like to be tortured.
The Republican senator, who was captured and tortured by the North Vietnamese while serving in the Vietnam War, is the leading supporter of a provision banning inhumane treatment and torture of prisoners in U.S. custody.
Terrorists are "the quintessence of evil," he said on a weekend news program. "But it's not about them; it's about us. This battle we're in is about the things we stand for and believe in and practice. And that is an observance of human rights, no matter how terrible our adversaries may be."
Republicans in Washington D.C. have embraced McCain's stance against the sanctioned use of torture, in a clear stand against the Bush White House.
According to officials, Bush plans to veto any bill that comes through that does not allow the use of torture against detainees, because of concerns that failure to get information from the detainees might lead to a terror attack.
While capturing a few of those people involved in the 9-11 attacks and pulling out their fingernails one by one until they turned in the slime that attacked our country might sound pretty good -- this is still America.
None of us are naive enough to believe that there is not strong handling of prisoners on any level, it should not be sanctioned by our government.
This is the land of the free and the home of the brave, a place where all are innocent until proven guilty.
How do we expect people in other countries to obey international humanitarian law, when the strongest nation in the world just flaunts it?
McCain's right. The sanctioned use of torture is not something that should come from the country for which he nearly died. This is the United States. We should be above that kind of thing.
Terrorists gain ground and power mainly by taking away our freedoms, one by one.
Keep up the good fight, Sen. McCain. This bill is vital to the image of the United States and the ongoing international efforts.
Democrat, Republican, the party lines don't matter here. What matters is what's right.
We're encouraging our government to follow McCain's lead and do the right thing.

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Mr. Barack, tear down that bridge
THERE'S A bridge to nowhere in Bellaire, and pretty much anyone you ask on the streets of that village -- and in Belmont County -- has the same opinion about it.
To roughly quote the late President Ronald Reagan, "Mr. Barack, tear down that bridge."
The Bellaire Bridge was not always the hulking chunk of rust that looms over Bellaire and Benwood. For many years, especially before the I-470 bridge was built, it was the nearest link for shoppers, steelworkers and anyone who wanted to get from Ohio to West Virginia and back.
IT was a toll bridge, so if you paid a quarter or so, you earned the right to easily travel back and forth.
I'm not so old that I forget that bridge. Besides, I grew up in New Martinsville, where we also had a toll bridge over the Ohio River. That bridge is still there, but no tolls are collected anymore.
For several years, the Bellaire Bridge was a viable, important part of the community.
However, time moves on, and progress is made. In Bellaire, that progress came in the form of a modern four-lane highway.
The highway took several decades to complete, taking out many beautiful Victorian-era homes with its growth. It also took out any chance for a new ramp to the Bellaire Bridge.
The Ohio Department of Transportation came to an agreement with shareholders for the bridge, and not long after that, the shareholders came to an agreement with Roger Barack, a Bellaire businessman.
For reasons none of us are too clear about, Barack took over responsibility for the bridge. While at one point ideas for building a ramp to the bridge were bantered about, the ramp never came. The bridge, once a proud link between two communities, began to rot.
It's now going on 15 years later. The bridge is still rotting -- and it's going to keep rotting.
We all know now the news that while U.S. Rep. Bob Ney had requested funding for the bridge to be placed on the Federal Transportation Bill, he's pulled back on that idea.
He blamed the pulling on a malicious local media intent on reporting vicious, incorrect news. The transportation bill was already several millions of dollars beyond where it should be, according to President Bush, so the $1.2 million earmarked is now gone.
I'm thinking the outcry from residents who did not want their tax dollars used to finance the obligations of a private citizen had a lot to do with the decision.
So I'm asking, just what happens now?
Do we wait for the bridge to just keep rotting away? Maybe a barge will come through and knock it off its pillars. Or maybe a good strong wind _ or someone spitting on it _ will be the straw that broke the bridge's back.
I had a great idea the other day. People travel for miles around to see movie memorabilia.
The Bellaire Bridge was the bridge used in Silence of the Lambs. I thought maybe we could market the bridge as a national landmark and make it a tourism destination.
The only maintenance it would need then would be a nice sign and maybe a snack shop. Fava beans, anyone? People will travel from anywhere to see something from their favorite movie. Send those people up to Big Reds field for a ball game, or over to the Imperial Plaza for a little shopping, and you've got a nice money maker.
Then the money it makes can be used to -- you guessed it -- tear down that bridge.
All kidding aside, it's about as good an idea as anyone else has had lately.
I'd just like to know _ what do you think, Mr. Barack?
I've had reporters trying hard to reach you to ask you about that -- and we're waiting for your anwswer. What are you going to do next? Anything? Nothing?
The people of Bellaire -- and the Ohio Valley -- are waiting to hear your thoughts and plans.
We're guessing you'd just like to be well rid of that bridge yourself.
Hey, they moved the London Bridge to Arizona, didn't they? Maybe you can move the Bellaire Bridge out to Neffs.

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WHEN ALL else fails, kill the messenger.
Ever since the politicians from the ancient days, it seems to be a policy that's served well -- and continues to do so.
We just got a fine sample of it this past week, when U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Heath, announced his intentions to run again for office.
For those of you who have been living in a cave for the past year or so, or those who just really don't care about the whole way of life that makes up our politicial system, Ney's once-good name has been tarnished through his associations with lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Abramoff pleaded guilty in recent months to meeting the financial dreams of politicians throughout Capitol Hill by spreading money, luxury trips, skybox fundraisers, campaign contributions, jobs for politicians' spouses, and meals at Signatures, his upscale restaurant in exchange for a lighter prison sentence.
He's singing like a canary, naming names and performing for his captors. And the one name that's been at the top of his hit list has been Ney's.
The charges have been wide and varied -- and I'm sure we're just hearing the tip of the iceberg on them.
The main thing that Abramoff has claimed against Ney is that he's placed comments in the Congressional Record backing Abramoff's efforts to gain control of a Florida gambling company, Sun Cruz Casinos, and also offered language to reopen a American Indian tribe's casino in Texas.
Abramoff said he and his associate, Michael Scanlon, showered Ney with many "favors," including a 2002 golf trip to Scotland, free dinners and events and campaign donations.
Ney hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing so far. However, the black clouds are gathering over his head, and his protestations that he was "duped" by Abramoff, who he says he considered as a friend, are being looked at with skepticism.
While the investigations are going on, Ney has stepped down from his House Administration Committee chairmanship, but still remains a powerful force in Congress.
Meanwhile, Ney's not the only one who was on Abramoff's gift list. Lots of politicians, Democrats and Republicans and all the way up to President Bush, received campaign contributions. Some have given the money back; some have not.
It's a far-reaching scandal that threatens to rival the Watergate break-ins that brought down President Richard Nixon. It's complicated and confusing to say the least, but it is a serious matter.
Despite the scandals, this past week, Ney announced his intentions to run for another term in Congress.
He's still a popular candidate throughout the local area, and many voters haven't forgotten the good he has done for the area.
His list of good deeds are many, even his detractors admit. He's gone against his party's line often when it came to legislation backing steelworkers and industry and when it could keep our workers at their jobs.
He's a staunch believer in the military and its service and a passionate voice for the "working poor."
Ney has literally steered millions of dollars in road construction to this area, not to mention millions of dollars that has helped many a local community with projects that are too numerous to mention.
There's many people around these parts who will tell you that when all else failed, they called Ney and he helped them with their problems.
Whether you like him or not, you have to admit that Ney has helped the local area with its needs.
WIthout the Abramoff matter hanging over his head, Ney would be a shoe-in for Congress.
However, what is leaving a sour taste in voters' mouths is his ongoing refusal to admit that anything is wrong with his accepting anything from Abramoff.
Even when he was announcing his campaign, Ney blamed the whole Abramoff scandal on "the national media."
"I have seen my name savaged by the national media. . . But I am here to make several things clear. Fiction will soon be separated from fact. My name will be cleared. I will be vindicated at the end of the day."
This isn't the first time Ney -- or any other Congressman -- has blamed the media for problems and controversy.
Last year, Ney had added $1.7 million into the Federal Transportation Bill for the demolition of the Bellaire Bridge. However, the addition was withdrawn after many complaints were voiced from people who opposed using federal money to demolish a structure that is privately owned.
Ney complained that "misleading" news stories in local newspapers and a local television statement brought about his decision.
To hear Ney talk, you'd think members of the media meet in their little secret chambers every day, wringing their hands and devising ways to ruin his life.
And since many people get their impressions of life within the media from cheesy movies filled with dramatic people yelling things like "stop the presses," they tend to believe him.
Here's a little inside secret -- it's not like that at all. I don't know about the folks at places like the Washington Post, but there's a lot more that goes on at even smaller papers like ours than constant plots to ruin politicians' lives. We don't meet in little back rooms and form our plots.
In fact, sometimes the most important topic of the day is where we're getting our lunch.
But when a politician is included in a scandal or investigation, yes, we will report it. It doesn't have to be a congressman. If a township trustee is dipping into the creek dredging funds, we'll tell you about that too.
We'll run the headline big and a picture of the person so nobody will forget what that man or woman looks like. We'll present it as fairly as we can, and when we call the politician to get his side of the story and he refuses to return our calls, we'll tell everyone that too.
We're the ones that try to get voters the answers that they need to make their decisions. It's a job we take seriously, and our desk drawers filled with heartburn and headache remedies prove it.
And when we make a mistake, as humans can do, we'll tell you that we did -- and we'll take it to heart and do all we can to make things right again.
Sometimes it's just tough to be the messenger. Most of the time, though, I can't imagine anything else I'd rather be.

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AMERICANS ARE often accused of having short memories, but I'm still often amazed by just how little we remember.
After all, it's been less than five years since terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Less than five years since the brave passengers of Flight 93 forced yet another terrorist-held airplane into crashing before it could wreak even more havoc in Washington D.C.
It's been less than five years since we all sat in horror and tears as we watched our nation's capital and its largest city, held in the grip of fear, even if it does seem like a lifetime ago.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, there's the beautiful city of Dubai.
It's part of the United Arab Emirates, and according to travel guides, it's quite a progressive place. Its oil money is spent in modernization and it's a beautiful tourism destination, complete with discos and beaches and low crime rates and every thing anyone could want. It's open and modern and amazing, the tour guides say.
Those same qualities, other experts believe, are ones that lead Al Qaeda operatives to come and play and plot.
Here in 2006, why do I have so much concern about a city that's part of a country that by all accounts that has admittedly taken steps to fight terrorism?
Well, Dubai was also the last stopover in the Middle East for the terrorists who headed to America to sacrifice themselves in the name of a bloody Jihad.
Citizens of places such as Saudi Arabia can come to Dubai without visas. The Saudis involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, according to U.S. government experts, came through Dubai during the time between April and June, 2001 on their way to the United States and flight school.
According to a government report, quoted in USA Today back in Sept. 2004, the hijackers traveled in groups of two or three, leaving from Dubai and arriving at airports in Miami, Orlando or New York City.
It's also been determined that the money used to finance the Sept. 11 terror attacks was funneled through Dubai.
Now let's fast forward five years, to 2006. In a small article by The Associated Press this past week, it was reported that a deal has been brokered that will turn over control of the London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to the Dubai Ports World.
And yes, Dubai Ports World is owned by the government of Dubai.
The London company owns ports throughout several parts of the world, or at least it did until Monday, when British shareholders approved its sale to Dubai Ports World -- which goes by DP World in official communications.
Here's what's really shocking. The London company, which until the sale was described as the world's fourth-largest operator of ports, ran commercial operations all over the world -- including shipping terminals in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.
That's right. Dubai, the same country that allows terrorists to come on in and fly out of its airports, without so much as a security check first, is now in charge of port terminals in six of the United States' most prominent metropolitan locations.
Let me repeat those places again. New York. New Jersey. Baltimore. New Orleans. Miami. Philadelphia.
According to The Associated Press, U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he spoke to senior White House officials, whom he declined to identify, and urged them to review national security concerns about the purchase.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States reviewed the transaction and did not object, The Associated Press reported. The committee, run by the Treasury Department, also includes officials from the departments of Defense, Justice, Commerce, State and Homeland Security.
"The White House can stop this deal ultimately, and I've asked them to go very slow and look at it very carefully," King told The Associated Press.
Let's just hope that President Bush does just that, and ends this madness now.
Because, since terrorists can apparently get through the airports of Dubai so easily, who's to say they can't get through port terminals owned by Dubai just as easily?
Ports, again, that lead to our largest metropolitan areas.
I know that money talks, and often speaks more loudly than reason. It's said the Dubai company paid nearly $6 billion to buy the British company. That doesn't matter. No amount of money should have been enough.
Let's just pray that the United States doesn't pay for this sale with the blood of our citizens.

An introduction

Hello.
I have been a writer and editor for several years. Since I want to have a freelance career, I decided that creating a blog and putting some of my writing on it would be the easiest way to get the word out there -- I think I'm pretty good!
Most of these writings are from when I was at various newspapers throughout the Ohio Valley, and they are all copyrighted by those papers. Therefore, you cannot use them without permission from that newspaper. Not at all! If you like what you see, contact me and I'll tell you how to get that permission. Remember, nobody likes plagiarists. Not even their moms.
I'll also be adding writing to this blog. Some may be a little personal; some will probably be reflections of what I'm going through at various times in my life. If you want to comment, please do, but remember, if you're mean or swear a lot, I'll probably remove your comment. I can do that. This is my blog!