VIEWPOINTS 6A • NORTHEAST SUBURBAN LIFE • JUNE 1, 2016
Editor: Richard Maloney, rmaloney@communitypress.com, 248-7134
EDITORIALS | LETTERS | COLUMNS | CH@TROOM
NORTHEAST SUBURBAN LIFE
Cincinnati.com/communities
Symmes property maintenance code is unclear I read the draft “Property Maintence Code” proposed by Symmes Township, and spoke at the public hearing April 7. I’ve investigated further, and have additional comments for the trustees and township residents. I understand the board’s “intent” is to develop the code as a tool to assist residents with deteriorating or poorly maintained properties near them, and identify property owners needing help in maintaining their homes. Trustees advised (at the April 7 hearing) that at any one time there are approximately 12 properties with maintenance issues before the board. Through Public Records request I received the Nuisance Complaint Log dating from
2001 and found this statement is not true. 1. For 2016 the log shows three nuisance complaints, five in 2015, Karen Diehl and zero in COMMUNITY PRESS 2014. That’s a GUEST COLUMNIST total of eight complaints within three years - when the board claimed they deal with 12 problem properties at a time. The scope of nuisance properties has been greatly overstated. 2. The proposed code states that gravel driveways must be upgraded to a solid surface. Since 2001 there has been zero, nada, zip complaints about
Even if they make it legal, does that make it right? A bill has been introduced in the Ohio Senate allowing the alcohol content of beer to be raised from 12 percent to 21 percent. “We just thought the limit was archaic and unnecessary,” Senate President Keith Faber said. Brewers and retailers claim the cap hampers creativity and Jules Freedman sends beer COMMUNITY PRESS drinkers outside Ohio GUEST COLUMNIST to buy highalcohol - and high-priced beers. “It’s an artistic expression so why are we limiting artistic expression, especially today when everyone knows how hot it is?” said the co-owner of the Lizardville Beer Store & Whiskey Bars. “Extreme beers are the results of breweries across the world trying to one-up each other in experimenting with exotic ingredients and new brewing tactics. By adding more malts and hops to the mix, brewers can up the alcohol content of beers, making them impossibly strong while trying to maintain some flavor (emphasis added). Casual drinkers may not be able to stomach these new concoctions, but beer buffs and hopheads love them for the tantalizing taste - and killer buzz they bring.” Alcohol-by-volume (ABV) of extreme beers ranges from 10-15 percent (Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine) to 67.5 percent (Brewmeister Snake Venom). In 12 ounces, a 15 percent ABV beer would contain 1.8 ounces of alcohol, a 21 percent ABV beer would contain 2.5 ounces, while a 67.5 percent ABV beer contains 8 ounces. For comparison, a six-ounce glass of wine (10-12 percent ABV) contains about 0.7 ounces of
alcohol and three ounces of gin (45 percent ABV) provides 1.35 ounces of alcohol. How many drinks does it usually take to reach the legal limit of the bloodalcohol percentage for driving? Many factors come into play, but, in general, to achieve a blood-alcohol level of 0.08, it takes one serving for a 100-pounder and three servings (within a relatively limited time period) for a 160-pounder. A serving of alcohol is considered to be one ounce of 100proof liquor, 12 ounces of beer, or four to five ounces of table wine (www.brad21.org/ bac_charts.html). This means that, for a 160-pounder, the legal limit, or a significant decrease in driving skills, can be reached with consumption of 3.5 bottles of beer with a 5 percent ABV - or just one 12ounce bottle of beer with a 21 percent ABV. In 2012, Molson Coors stated it was going to “stop selling one of its products (10 percent ABV) in Alberta, Canada for the good of the community.” The U.K. has instituted higher taxes on such beers with a concomitant reduction in street-drinking problems. Potential dangers associated with high-alcohol beers will therefore depend on the nature of their consumption. A responsible consumption time for such beers is obviously more critical than with ordinary beer (one bottle of 21 percent ABV beer is like one martini). Parenthetically, a recent report stated that following the “wild success” of an alcoholic root beer (5.9 percent ABV), hard soda (alcopop) will be “taken to the next level” with an 8 percent ABV product this summer. It appears that, here too, there is no constraining creativity and artistic expression. Jules Freedman is a resident of Montgomery.
NORTHEAST
SUBURBAN LIFE
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gravel driveways. Why is this prohibition included in the code? 3. The proposed code includes a list of “noxious weeds” which seems pulled from thin air. Included is milk weed - promoted by the gardening industry as beneficial to Monarch Butterflies. Plants on the national and state noxious weeds list are not included in the Symmes list. So, according to the township I can plant kudzu, but not milk weed. Complaints filed since 2001 have zero mentions of any specific plant. Vegetation complaints are limited to “tall grass and weeds.” Simplifying the code to require that grass and vegetation be maintained seems like a smarter requirement
than listing specific plants. 4. The code states that “foundations must support the building at all points.” In 15 years there were zero complaints about buildings with open foundations. (just general complaints about building disrepair.) There are many buildings in the township with open foundations including garden/tool sheds on block and sand foundations, mobile homes and properties built on stilts or pilings along the Little Miami River to comply with flood zone building rules. A productive code would state that foundations must be in good repair - allowing both solid and open foundation types in the township. Many other areas of the
code are unclear, undefined or unnecessary. How did we get this code? Township trustees took an outdated, over reaching document from another township and threw it out to the public without considering that the proposed code could create more problems than it solves. To properly address real problems in Symmes, a better process would be to study actual complaints received over the past ten years, identify problem areas, and develop a code targeted and limited to solving those issues. Until that real work happens I will continue to oppose this ill devised code. Karen Diehl is a resident of Camp Dennison.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Pipeline a deadly accident waiting to happen. The Duke Energy pipeline poses a potentially deadly hazard to everyone who lives near it, drives near it, works near it, use services near it, shops near it, eats at restaurants near it, sends their children to school or a day care center near it, attends a place of worship near it, or gets medical attention near it. The history of these pipelines exploding, causing as much as 44 acres of carnage instantly, should be enough to scrap this idea. According to the 2014 Report by the US Office of Inspector General, state pipeline safety programs lack effective management and oversight. High transmission gas pipelines are usually built in rural areas, but Duke Energy proposes to put one in the middle of our highly populated communities. Gas companies reported 35 explosions and 32 ignitions at their transmission pipelines since 2010, according to federal records. During that same time period, 17 people died and 86 were injured in incidents involving pipelines, including a September 2010 explosion in San Bruno, California, that killed eight, injured 51, and destroyed 38 homes. Last month a high transmission pipeline exploded in a rural farm area
south of Pittsburgh, creating a crater 1,500 square feet, 12 feet deep and burned 44 acres. A man was burned from the intense heat as he ran out of his house to get away from the inferno a quarter mile away from the explosion. Call Duke Energy. Tell them to stop this plan. Central Corridor Pipeline Hotline 513-2872130. Most importantly, write the Ohio Power Siting Board at www.opsb.ohio.gov/opsb/ to express your opinion and concerns. Be sure to refer to the Case ID number 16-0253-GABTX For more information including maps of danger zones around the proposed pipelines go to nopecincy.org/ Joanne Gerson Montgomery
Views that move America backward The actor Bill Murray once said, “It’s hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it’s damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person.” Nonetheless, I will try. There is no doubt that parts of the world are in turmoil and that we live in uncertain times. But, is guest columnist Ted Day actually equating our country’s interment of Japanese Americans during WWII with some kind of nebulous solution to what he sees as “open borders” that “allow our enemies to infil-
trate through mass migration”? If so, that’s beyond disturbing. Day will have his readers believe that casting a wide net that captures anyone who is different is worth the cost of capturing those who are no threat and worth the cost of damages to our country’s core beliefs and values. “Enemies of America” are what Day calls Americans who champion the values of inclusiveness and intelligence over segregation and ignorance. As an example of a false dichotomy, it’s one of the best. His fearmongering column exemplifies much that is wrong with the misguided backlash social progress is receiving in this country. Further, his “political correctness” is linguistic code for a threat to his white, male, middle class and-presumably-heterosexual privilege. Equality, another American value, is one, it seems, that is either lost on Day or one he only wants on his terms. Let’s resolve to discuss and reflect upon the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII - one of a handful of dark times in our country’s otherwise remarkable history. Let’s not do it in this context, however. Let’s not do it in this way. For to do so only moves our country backwards. Then again, maybe that’s exactly what Mr. Day wants. Eric Weiss Blue Ash
CH@TROOM May 25 question What is your all-time favorite movie - the one that you will always watch if you come across it while channel-surfing? Why do you like it?
“Really tough call. For spectacular scenery and weak acting, it’s ‘The Eiger Sanction.’ For the most intensity, ‘Argo.’ Best portrayal of Jack Nicholson by Jack Nicholson, ‘As Good As It Gets.’ Reasons are all personal. Wife and I engaged on the Eiger Glacier while skiing. I took many trips to Tehran before the Ayatholla and as the unrest grew to gunfire in the alley where I was staying. Jack Nicholson has played so many ‘Jack Nicholson’ roles, he has become my favorite. Yet, I despised ‘Anger Management’ and ‘Chinatown.’ ‘You can’t handle the truth!’ is more iconic than even ‘Heeere’s Johnnnie.’” D.B.
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION Describe your “brush with greatness.” Every week we ask readers a question they can reply to via email. Send your answers to rmaloney@communitypress.com with Ch@troom in the subject line.
“My favorite, all-time, No. 1, most awesome, incredibly meaningful, deep and amazing movie is the ‘70s classic ‘Harold and Maude,’ which tells the quirky story of a love affair (but mostly relationship) between an 18-year-old over-privileged young man with a death obsession (not what you may think) and a 79-year-old concentration camp survivor with a spunk for life. If you have never seen this powerful movie you must. If you have seen it over 100 times, as someone I
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know, it’s past due time to immerse one’s self in it yet again. This movie is quirky, no doubt, but it holds so many deeper philosophical insights and positions on life that have been permanently woven into the fabric of my life. “Although not asked, you must be wondering what other movies round out my all-time Top 5 and they are: ‘Pay It Forward,’ ‘Out Of Time,’ ‘My Cousin Vinny’ and ‘The Shawshank Redemption.’ Rush out to Netflix or the library and enjoy all of these gems soon.” M.J.F.
“My all time favorite movie is ‘Step Brothers’ with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. It is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. I find myself laughing just thinking about the interactions of the two step brothers in the film.”
Loveland Herald Editor Richard Maloney rmaloney@communitypress.com, 248-7134 Office hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday See page A2 for additional contact information.
C.S.