Thoughts Bouncing Off the Window

Now that the tax season has come to an end for this year I can give more thought to ideas for you fine folks to mull over. With April 15th falling on a Sunday and yesterday being Emancipation Day we got a couple of extra days for the filing deadline. I'm one of those procrastinators that wait until the last to do mine. Even though I usually get a refund it's still a pain. I do mine on-line with one of the computer programs that grill you on maximizing your deductions. We got ours done this past Saturday and Monday I mailed my token donation to the State of Ohio. Even RITA, Wellsville's out sourced tax agent, allows you to file on-line. That's new this year. I found it easier than trying to decipher their printed form.

What's Emancipation Day you say? I never heard of it until one of the talking heads on t.v. said something about it. After doing a few minutes of research I found out Emancipation Day is a Washington, D.C. holiday signed by Mayor Anthony Williams in 2005 celebrating the freeing of some 3100 slaves when the Compensated Emancipation Act was signed into law on April 16, 1862. D.C. was the first major community to free the slaves before that act became a national law the following January. We, of course, learned of it by the name Emancipation Proclamation. Evidently it is now a national holiday and that is why the IRS gave us an extra day.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday. Twenty-three year old Cho Seung-Hui used two hand guns and shot down 32 fellow students and a couple of profs before turning the gun on himself. Seung-Hui was an immigrant from South Korea. He was eight years old when his family came to our country. He was a senior English major with some evident serious issues. His room mates described him as an antisocial loner saying they really didn't know him that well. He had written a couple of plays, one titled "Richard McBeef", that scared his teacher into limiting her remarks. They were afraid that he might go off the deep end. Our condolences and prayers go out to the families and friends of all the victims. Also, keep in your prayers the victims that are still hospitalized. Two of them are in critical condition.

After they are done hanging the president of VTI, I imagine gun control will come to the forefront at least in the Commonwealth of Virginia. There is no waiting period in VA when one purchases a gun. Show some ID and your plastic money you can make the purchase. Unless you're an obviously deranged individual you got yourself a weapon. The waiting period allows for an investigation of the buyer. Seung-Hui had a pending court appearance in May for a speeding violation . Would this have prevented him from buying a gun? I don't know. However I do think we need more stringent gun control legislation in this country. It won't stop the bootleggers but it would possibly put a dent into the chances of someone unstable to get a weapon so easily. The NRA can go pound salt.

In perusing my news sources WTOV had a story about a 16 year old kid arrested at the Steubenville Wal-Mart after flashing a gun and trying to shop lift something. The kid sounds like a drug dealer. He had a large amount of cash and drugs in his possession. They'll nail that kid to the wall but they should concentrate on how and who got him a gun. Yea, we absolutely need tougher gun control laws.

I was sadden to learn of the death of Wellsville's Bob Grimm. Say what you will about him he was an active member of our community. I'm one of his admirers. He was a devoted family man and his accomplishments in community service speak for them self. Rest in peace Grimmy. We need more people like you.

Saw in the Morning Journal the Viet Nam Moving Wall is coming to Firestone Park in Columbiana April 26th through the 30th. I visited it a couple of times when it was in Thompson Park a few years ago. I've also been to see the real thing in D.C. If you've never seen it you should try to make it up there. The Moving Wall is a smaller realistic version of the permanent one in our nation's capitol. Wellsville's Medal of Honor recipient Melvin Newlin's name is on there. I never knew Mr. Newlin but I did know two fellows from East Liverpool that are listed on there. They were both named Steve and in the same class at ELHS. To me all three visits were a moving experience. We weren't greeted as heroes when we came home from Nam and to see the crowds of people visiting the exhibitions is sort of reaffirming to me that, although an unpopular war, we were doing some good while we were across the pond.

Finally I would like to register a bitch about the $2.7 million dollars in renovations that are being done on the Columbiana County Courthouse. We just got slapped with another sales tax increase because the county couldn't operate with the income they had. I understand that maintenance has to be done on a building. However, I've also learned that we have to live within our means. Even though the expenditure on the courthouse is from grants and long term loans I think it is high time that our county officials ought to realize what living within our means is all about. Multimillion dollar renovations put a sour taste in my mouth. Like they say if it ain't broke don't fix it. When you're scratching to pay the bills you simply don't need to be signing loans to live in the splendor of what it was like 73 years ago. I appreciate history but those folks over in Lisbon got to appreciate the citizens that are footing the bill. What's coming next - a wage increase for our overpaid commissioners?