News Updates & Commentary By Josh

I'd like to take a moment to hock one of my friend's blogs.  Kevin is a great guy working towards a goal that is distant yet, immensely important.  If you have any interest at all in working for an international NGO, in the agricultural policy arena, believe in food security OR just want to see what it's like to make the most out of limited resources and see the impact that your work has on the day to day lives of the people you're striving to assist.

Take a read through.  Follow him.  It's good, meaningful work that's flying under the radar of a lot of us who forget that there's parts of the world where you still have to work for a meal and having sufficient food is not always a given.

So, we all know that I just can't say enough good stuff about all the positive development going on downtown.  While perusing ColumbusUnderground this morning, I came across this article and the following promising quote by Cheryl Huffman:

Recent market studies presented by Capital Crossroads have indicated spending potential in River South equates to eighty million dollars per year. With an influx of visitors, current residents, and day time employees merchandizing potentials include conveniences, as well as, dining and entertainment options for more than three hundred thousand area users per day.

Justifiably so, Mayor Coleman is pretty excited about all the developments downtown, not the least of which include the recently opened Columbus Commons & The Scioto Mile (opening Thursday July 7th) and wanted to take an opportunity to highlight all that's occurring in the 43215.

However, Columbus is more than just the downtown within a pair of miles from High & Broad (US23 & US40).  Mr. Coleman briefly touches on the plans for Weinland Park, OSUMC East, Franklinton and an array of strategic partnerships with regional agencies.

Last year when COTA placed an order with Hayward, California bus manufacturer Gillig, they included 6 Hybrid (diesel / electric) buses in the order.  Now that the buses have been running for about a year, COTA has released some operating numbers.

From the Dispatch article linked above: some of the highlights (numbers from diesel only engines in parenthesis after hybrid numbers)

Average Miles / Month:     3,917 (3,941)

MPG:                                 5.5 (4.1)

Gallons Fuel / Month:        710 (910)

Operating Cost / Mile:      $0.57 ($0.72)

So - looking at these numbers: does it justify the additional $232,479 per bus cost for the hybrid? 

The jury's still out.  But, based on the numbers above, these hybrids are costing approximately $1,787 / month less to operate (based on fuel and cost per mile savings - respectively, $1,200 and $587 / month).  If these numbers hold constant, COTA should break even at approximately 130 months.  Now, the agency will need to continue evaluating these hybrids against the diesel only buses that were purchased at the same time to see if these savings hold constant or end up costing more/less per mile to operate as they age.

COTA President & CEO Bill Lhota indicated that the agency is going to continue tracking the long-term maintenance costs and look at the environmental impacts before making the decision whether or not to order more during their next buying cycle.  This purchase and continuing evaluation are made possible, in part, to a federal grant giving the agency $2.1M to purchase more fuel efficient vehicles.

Representative Anthony Weiner (D - NY 9th District) has recently come under scrutiny for his cyber-sexcapades with a number of young women.  In politics there's a saying: "nothing you did is as bad as trying to cover it up"... 

I applaud Rep. Weiner's refusal to step down & resign.  Mr. Weiner did not break any laws by engaging in this behavior - some may think it's unethical, but that's another matter entirely.  My only issue is that the Representative from New York didn't just own it from the get go and tried laying down the "my account was hacked" line... (which we all know how well that worked for Hayley Williams)

Throughout the past week, the one thing that I've heard far too often is "Oh, he's a Representative, he shouldn't be posing without his shirt on! We expect a certain level of decorum from a Member of The House!"

Really??? For sake of comparison:

Representative Weiner: photo.

Vladamir Putin (While President of Russia): photo / CBC article.

U.S. Representative Aaron Schock (R - Ill): Men's Health Cover Photo.

While the I-71 / US36/SR37 interchange lies 12mi above the Outerbelt, this project has potential to impact the (614). Another reason I bring up this article is because I know & worked with the Delaware County (DelCo) Director of Economic Development when he and I were both with the City of Delaware, Ohio. 

I think many of us support development and the jobs it brings through construction and permanent jobs, but I have a number of concerns:

1) The capacity of the interchange - anyone who has driven north from the city up to 36/37 knows how backed up the interchange can become, especially during the evening rush hour.

2) The Northstar Development is already in place up there and as far as I could tell when I was up at the golf club last year, hasn't been terribly successful in this current market.  There are some businesses that have succeeded around that interchange - most notably two truck stops and A.D. Farrow Harley-Davidson - but otherwise, I'm not sure that the area can handle two Polaris-style developments within 10miles of each other in DelCo.

3) This is being pitched as a mixed use development, but as Xing Columbus points out - it will just barely be mixed use.  John (from Xing Columbus) says: 

I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I’m imagining another shopping mall, huge offices, and big box retail separated by wide, high-speed roads with no sidewalks and giant parking lots.  Except now there will be a token residential component (800 housing units) to be “more diverse.”

I can't shake the feeling that he's probably right on this one.

4) In the event that this succeeds, it could hurt Polaris.  While both would be situated in DelCo, this is unlikely to hurt their tax revenues, but it could be troublesome for the neighboring areas that lie in Franklin County.

When I think of development in an area, I often ask if we really need to bring in more giant heat-sinks in the form of parking lots, soon to be empty big-box store skeletons, and national retail operations.  The proposed plan for the downtown mixed-use development Columbus Commons is the model that I would actively endorse.

With 7.14" of rain, April 2011 set the all time record for wettest April in Columbus and thus far,  the wet stuff is falling at an above average rate. In addition to the high rivers and flooding we've been reading about, various local construction projects have also been impacted.  As an employee of THE ohio state university, I have seen the Olentangy River jump its banks numerous times and flood the construction occurring just south of the Drake Union north of the John Herrick Bridge.

Another major impact of the rain has been on the Franklin County MetroParks System.  The new Walnut Woods MetroPark in southeast Columbus, near Groveport, is looking at another delay in its opening thanks to the wet weather hampering construction crews' ability to build trails and erect the necessary buildings on the site.

Westerville based construction corporation Kokosing and Columbus designer CH2M came in at $41M under the State's original estimate and anticipates finishing Phase I of the project 1yr ahead of ODOT's original plan.  The total project will take place over a number of years in 3 phases and is anticipated to cost north of $550M.

In the summer of 1936, about 3 years before Germany invaded Poland to start World War II, a battle of ideology took place during the Berlin Olympiad.  In Berlin, the Third Reich was comfortably in power and Chancellor Hitler believed that this was the venue to prove to the world the superiority of the Aryan race.  However, the Alabama born "Buckeye Bullet" had other plans for how the Berlin Olympiad would go...

Jesse Owens had a spectacular year in 1935.  As a Junior at THE Ohio State University competing in the Big 10 Championships in Ann Arbor, MI, JO set 3 world records and tied a 4th - all in the course of 45 minutes.  Including these events, JO won all 42 events he competed in during that year (in addition to the Big 10, these included the NCAA Championships and the Olympic Trials).

In Berlin, Owens followed up his spectacular success from the previous year and won 4 Gold Medals (a feat not to be repeated by an American athlete until Los Angeles in 1984).  Of these medals, 1 tied an Olympic Record; 2 set Olympic Records; and the 4th set both Olympic and World Records.

Those of you who have been to THE Ohio State University will know that OSU is proud to have Mr. Owens as an alumni and proud of his accomplishments.  In addition to 3 Rec Sports Facilities (JO North, JO South & JO West) the Varsity Track and Field Complex and home pitch to Ohio State Soccer is named in his honor (Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium).

And, in celebration of this, the 75th anniversary of JO's success in Berlin, THE Ohio State University is planning a series of events to honor the spirit of competition incarnate in Mr. Owens and to support Ohio State's Track and Field Programs. 

Thursday 21 April: Diversity Lecture @ 4:30p @ Drinko Hall.  Celebration Dinner @ 7:00p @ The Ohio Union.

Saturday 23 April: Ohio State Spring Game @ 1:30p @ Ohio Stadium.  Jesse Owens Track Classic @ 6:00p @ Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Sunday 24 April: Jesse Owens Track Classic @ 10:30a @ Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Additionally, from 12 April - 04 May 2011, there is a display of JO memorabilia in the Thompson Library (First Floor Gallery).

Wow!  I can't believe the things I've seen in my 31 years here on Terra.  I remember being immensely fascinated with astronomy as a wee little tyke.  My mother let me stay home from school in January of 1986 and I excitedly, then with horror, watched the televised launch of Challenger.  At this point, space flight was becoming routine.  NASA had put multiple men on the moon decades prior.  The Space Shuttle program had 24 prior flights under its belt.  Man in space was something I just accepted.

But that January morning, my young mind was blown apart.  Challenger did not make it into orbit.  Catastrophically, it was later found out, an O-ring failed and destroyed the orbiter and killed the 7 astronauts on board.  This grounded the shuttle program for nearly 3 years when once again, in 1988, I anxiously watched the taped recording of that September morning's lift off of Discovery (my mother wouldn't let me stay home for this one), and humans once again entered orbit.

The United States has reached some impressive heights in space exploration, however, tonight, we remember the man who was the first.  On 12 April 1961, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, became the first human to leave Terra and enter space on Vostok 1.  Tonight, people from around the world celebrate Yuri's Night - a tribute to the legend of space flight on this, the 50th anniversary of his historic flight and manned exploration of outer space.

It is also noteworthy to point out that 12 April 2011 is the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle program as Columbia took to the skies on STS-1 on this day in 1981.

So, today, we celebrate Yuri's accomplishment; amazing though it may be, I can hear you ask "but this site is dedicated to Central Ohio issues - where's the connection?"

Ohio, in addition to being the Mother of Presidents, is also home to more astronauts than any other state in the nation.  This fact has not escaped the stat trackers at NASA, and they have a page dedicated to those 24 astronauts to hail from the Buckeye State.

I, of course, must make special mention of Senator John Glenn.  At the time, a Colonel in the USMC, Glenn became the first American to fly in space.  The Senator also has the distinction of becoming the oldest person (to date) to fly to space in 1998 aboard Discovery STS-95.

Other notable Ohio Astronauts include: Neil Armstrong (1st human to land a craft on the moon and 1st to step on the moon's surface), Judith Resnik (one of the deceased from the Challenger disaster), Nancy Currie (4 Shuttle flights and over 1,000 hrs in space) and James Lovell (Commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission).

Space flight is something I can barely comprehend at times, what it must be like to look down, hundreds of miles below you and see Terra, distant through the blackness of space. 

NetJets - the global leader in fractional jet ownership (with a long history in, and ties to, Central Ohio), has broken ground on a new $21Million operations headquarters adjacent to its flight operations headquarters located just north of runway 10L/28R at Port Columbus International Airport.  This project is far more modest than the $200M project the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary was planning prior to its economic troubles that began a couple of years ago.  Difficulties that, according to a Columbus Dispatch article, lead previous CEO David Sokol - who stepped down from his position as CEO and other posts within Berkshire at the end of March this year -  to furlough 500 pilots and lay off 800 employees globally.

While I was researching this article, I became very interested in the history of the corporation based on my familiarity with some of the men who founded it.  I had the opportunity to work at The Cartoon Research Library on the Milton Caniff Collection.  Mr. Caniff was a widely known cartoonist (and alumnus of The Ohio State University) with immense ties to the United States Air Force, and as such, had extensive personal correspondence with the men listed below.  I had the opportunity to read this correspondence while I processed it, and feel that, in a manner, I know these men and have an interest in them and their Central Ohio ties.  

As such, I'd like to diverge here for an extremely brief history lesson compiled from NetJets' and Executive Jet Management's websites (and Wikipedia to fill in some details). 

Founded in 1964 by General Dick Lassiter, Ret. USAF (along with a few others, most notably fellow Retired USAF Generals Curtis LeMay and Paul Tibbetts) as Executive Jet Aviation Corporation (EJA), NetJets has maintained a strong Central Ohio presence for most of its existence.  At present, NetJets is a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway corporation and is the largest jet fractional ownership organization in the world.  It is reported that NetJets has a fleet of 340 jets of varying age and model from most of the major business jet class manufacturers (Fleet index).  As with many companies these days, the NetJets reported some financial issues over the past couple of years, but things appear to be turning around.

Flight operations are largely based out of Port Columbus International Airport (CMH) and many employees in the daily operations are based in a leased facility at the nearby Easton subdivision of Columbus, Ohio.  For a time, the corporate offices were in New Jersey, but Sokol brought the company back home to Central Ohio some years ago.   WOSU reports that this new facility will save the fractional jet ownership company somewhere in the order of $900,000 per year in leasing expenses.  This cost, combined with the physical separation from flight operations, has prompted NetJets to invest in a new operations center, adjacent to flight ops to boost productivity and generate a cost savings.

While this new 140,000 sq ft facility will serve the company's purposes, at $21 Million, it represents the hardships endured by the company over the past few years, as NetJets originally envisioned a $200 Million complex.  Either way, this new facility keeps 1,300 employees in the City of Columbus - and this is immensely beneficial in terms of keeping income tax revenue flowing into the city coffers. 

SB5 passed by the narrowest of margins - 1 vote: 17yea / 16nay - last night and already my inbox is pinging to life with emails from the Ohio Democratic Party begging for support to repeal this gutting of collective bargaining rights.  I do think the bill (law once Gov. Kasich signs it) is an even bigger abomination than the one initially presented a few short weeks ago, and I do not want to see it in effect.  Apparently, the only way to get rid of it once Mr. Kasich signs it is to put it to a referendum, and herein lies my issue. 

I've long been opposed to putting issues to the voters.  This nation is a representative democracy for a number of reasons --- one reason that I often give for that is because the average voter is ignorant on many issues and does not have the time to properly research or understand them; hence the reason we select professional lawmakers to do so on our behalf.  Ballot issues circumvent this process and give us disasters like allowing casinos in Ohio and taking away the choices of a municipality to not have one in its borders thanks to a constitutional amendment.