At 22, Henrie is a disc jockey, a Web designer and an artist. He sells his drawings on his Web site (need address)
He also has cerebral palsy and suffered head trauma when he was young that caused brain damage. At 22, he recently moved out on his own after growing up in Butler County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
“My thought was it was time for me to be with guys the same functioning as I am,” he said of his new roommates, also MRDD clients.
It is the final part of a three-part series on the relationship between Butler County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities clients and caregivers.
The first part ran Sunday, when we introduced the Butler County Quality Cooperative and Gloria Silas, who puts the “care” in caregiver.
In this story, we take readers to the Hamilton group home where Silas works. We meet clients with plenty of heart, such as Becky Hughes and Natasha Simpson. And we meet Seneca Botos on her first day of work.
On day two, we introduce readers to two caregivers with plenty of differences but one important shared a trait: a love of what they do. But why would someone love a job that is so demanding and pays little more than minimum wage? Read that story here.
The seat of Butler County’s government was shaken more than once in 2008, with several public officials toppled among scandal.
First was Kay Rogers, who had served as county auditor since 1994. Rogers resigned in March after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and mail fraud.
The charges are punishable by up to 30 years in prison. But nearly one year after her guilty plea, she still has not been scheduled a sentencing date.
The charges stem from Rogers’ role in allegedly helping Dynus Corp. secure a $4 million loan in 2005 in the county’s name without commissioners’ approval.
Rogers’ alleged co-conspirators were named in May in an 11-count federal indictment against former Dynus owner Orlando Carter, and unsealed guilty pleas of bank fraud from Dynus President Jim Smith and employee Karin Verbruggen.
Also in May, this paper unveiled an apparent FBI investigation of former county commissioner and current Children Services Director Michael Fox. FBI officials won’t confirm the nature, or even the existence, of the probe. But county officials say the bureau has gathered several different types of records involving Fox.
Another exit this year was Derek Conklin. After serving as county administrator for more than two decades, Conklin resigned in April amid questions from commissioners about whether he played a role in pay raises for his wife, Karen Conklin, a county employee.
This followed a proposed early retirement incentive package crafted in part by Conklin that would cost the county $3.8 million to buy time to retirement for 56 employees. Karen Conklin was one of these employees. She resigned, and the early retirement package was kiboshed, when Derek Conklin stepped down.
At the urging of Democratic party chairman Ron Wardrup — who later resigned after an OVI arrest — the Ohio Ethics Commission launched an investigation.
Wardrup also questioned pay increases given to county Commission President Charles Furmon’s former son-in-law, James Hamblin, a county employee. Hamblin then resigned, though he and Furmon both denied any wrongdoing.
The ethics investigation is ongoing.
What do you think of these developments? Any that I forgot?
Meet Deshawn. He is 12 years old, and his grades have slipped. He can’t do homework because the electricity was turned off at home.
“I told Mom, but she was really high,” he said.
Meet Josh. He is 9 years old and was sent to the school nurse because of bruises on his back. They turned out to be shoe prints.
“I made too much noise, and Joe whupped me with his work boots,” Josh told Children Services. Joe is his mother’s live-in boyfriend.
Butler County Children Services introduced the county to Deshawn, Josh and others in the agency’s annual report, which appeared in this newspaper Sunday.
In addition to updated statistics on child abuse and neglect, and useful information on how the community can help confront it, the report includes some shocking images of real abuse.
Did you read the report? What impact, if any, did it have on you.
This is an interesting read. Read the whole thing, then here’s the question: how long can Boehner hold on as leader of a party searching for a new identity? Or is he the one that can provide what the party needs to get back on top?
With President Bush leaving office, House Minority Leader John Boehner is competing with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to be the most powerful Republican in the country.
To get there, Boehner is trying to polish the GOP’s tarnished image.
Last week he removed Rep. Don Young from his position as the leading Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee. The Feds have scrutinized Young for years and Boehner wanted his Alaska colleague out.
Boehner has also appealed to conservatives by standing foursquare against any sort of rescue package for the auto industry.
The next two years are sure to create even bigger challenges for Boehner. The nine-term Ohio lawmaker has to walk a fine line between maintaining the confidence of restless conservatives and outlining a pragmatic roadmap for Republicans to regain the majority.
After consecutive bloodbaths for Republicans in the last two election cycles, if he fails, Boehner could meet his political end.
But such predictions are folly for those who have tracked the 59-year-old minority leader.
I’m not making this up. I just heard this on the police scanners, I think it was from Butler County dispatch:
Santa Claus has been spotted and is en route to Ross Twp.
I don’t know why just Ross Twp. was mentioned. Presumably, he’ll be making other local rounds while he is in the area. Or maybe the rest of the county has been naughty.
Who in Butler County do you think Santa should visit with a big ribbon-adorned gift this year? And who deserves coal in their stocking?
After receiving full support from his agency’s governing board and unanimous criticism from local police chiefs, Butler County Emergency Management Director William Turner is offering to resign Feb. 28.
In a Monday, Dec. 22, letter to EMA board president Dennis Conrad, Turner asks the EMA board and county commissioners for extended health insurance benefits and full reimbursement of his vacation and sick leave.
Turner said Monday night he would not give a reason for his offer until county leaders have responded. “I don’t want to stir up any fights or say anything.”
The EMA board did not ask Turner to resign, Conrad said. But he said they’ll respect his decision and accept his health insurance and pay requests.
“I have no problem with it,” Conrad said. “Bill has done a good job for the county as far as I’ve seen. I know there’s been controversy, but he’s brought an awful amount of money to Butler County.”
I don’t normally get these, but our editorial staff sent it over as an idea for a story - Shared Harvest food bank applauds the work of the Hamilton BMV.
From Shared Harvest:
We thought it might be nice if the Journal News could mention the Hamilton West License Bureau on Brookwood Avenue in one of its Saturday “Thumbs Up” editorials for the effort they made to help Shared Harvest Foodbank these last three months.
The License Bureau, operated by the Butler County Auditor’s office, responded to a suggestion from Ohio Deputy Registrar Mike Rankin that local BMV’s ask their customers to make a donation to their local food bank while purchasing license plates or driver’s licenses. In a span of about two months, customers at the west Hamilton BMV donated nearly $6,000 to Shared Harvest Foodbank.
Manager Penny Gibson says her staff heard many wonderful stories from generous people, such as woman who had cancer and only had a short time to live but still made a $20 donation. She also tells of a man who had just learned he was losing his job. He came in to buy two sets of license plates but still made a donation to Shared Harvest despite his uncertain future.
Employees at the west Hamilton BMV really went out of their way to ask people to make donations, so we hope you can recognize them for a job well done.
Call me if you have any questions Mike. Thanks for your consideration.
Josh Sweigart reports about Butler County, Ohio, politics, county government, countywide issues and Butler County people just like you for Cox Ohio Publishing (including the Hamilton JournalNews, Middletown Journal and several weekly papers in Butler County). He wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment for him here or e-mail Josh at jsweigart@coxohio.com.
Josh Sweigart
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