HT Lucianne:

The Hamilton County “Voting with Feet” Trend Continues

The latest Census Bureau population estimates reveal the following for Hamilton County’s population (link is to a page containing spreadsheets by state containing each individual county):

845,303 — April 1, 2000 Census
838,663 — July 1, 2001 Estimate
830,036 — July 1, 2002 Estimate
822,318 — July 1, 2003 Estimate
813,639 — July 1, 2004 Estimate
806,652 — July 1, 2005 Estimate

The easy answer would be to claim that all of the reduction is due to the population decline in the City of Cincinnati. That would be wrong — Here are city figures for 2000 through 2004 (link is to a page containing spreadsheets for major cities; 2005 is apparently not available yet):

331,285 — April 1, 2000 Census
327,356 — July 1, 2001 Estimate
322,278 — July 1, 2002 Estimate
318,185 — July 1, 2003 Estimate
314,154 — July 1, 2004 Estimate

So in fact, the city’s population loss during the comparable period of 2000-2004 (17,131) is only a bit more than half of the total countywide loss (31, 664).

Meanwhile, 5-year population increases in three counties surrounding Hamilton County in Southwest Ohio are:

Warren — + 38,239
Clermont — + 12,612
Butler — + 17,605

Warren County’s population now exceeds Clermont’s.

So the region as a whole is growing, just not Hamilton County, and for four primary reasons (we can debate the order, but not the existence): Crime, Schools, Taxes, and Open Space. It’s all too easy to place the blame on Open Space. The fact is that Hamilton County’s (and Cincinnati’s) taxes are worse than ever, most of the school systems are poor performers, and crime (even in some areas outside the City of Cincinnati) is an oppressive presence.

When are Cincinnati city and Hamilton County leaders going to take the ongoing “voting with their feet” effect seriously?

I for one hope that Michael Steele isn’t blowing smoke, and that the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee doesn’t try to talk him out of this (HT Michelle Malkin):

Democrat Pleads Guilty in Steele Case
Researcher Falsely Got Credit Report; Charge Could Be Dropped in Year

By John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 25, 2006; Page B02

A Democratic researcher pleaded guilty yesterday to misrepresenting herself on a Web site as Michael S. Steele, Maryland’s lieutenant governor and a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, and fraudulently obtaining his credit report last summer.

Under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, the misdemeanor charge against Lauren B. Weiner, a former staff member of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), could be dropped in a year if she completes 150 hours of community service and commits no other offenses.

….. An attorney for Steele said the lieutenant governor is considering a civil suit against Weiner, 25, and the Democratic committee to learn more about what he called “a dirty trick.”

E. Mark Braden, who attended the hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, said a “statement of the offense” released yesterday contains several troubling details about the episode, including Weiner’s use of a committee credit card to access Steele’s report over the Internet.

The discovery process of a civil suit would allow Steele to learn more about what happened, Braden said. “I don’t think the story is necessarily over,” he said.

Prosecutors appear to have done a pre-emptive sentence reduction. This would be appropriate if the woman had cooperated and told all. I see no indication that this occurred; it should have.

So that leaves the civil route. Let’s find out what Chuck Schumer and other higher-ups at the DSCC knew, and when they knew it.

And be on the lookout in mid-October for information about Michael Steele that could only be known by someone with knowledge of his personal financial situation — say, someone who “somehow” managed to see or copy what was in that supposedly destroyed credit report.
_________________________

Original Post: September 22, 2005 — One of the Potentially Dirtiest of Political Tricks Deserves Major Jail Time

His first day on the job:

Rescued worker thought he would die
Monday Mar 20 07:29 AEDT

A man trapped for four hours under more than 50 tonnes of soil at a Sydney building site thought he was going to die as mud piled on top of him and pushed him against a concrete wall.

Construction worker Bosko Kojic was on his first day on the job when he became pinned against a wall when a mound of soil gave way at an excavation site in Castlereagh Street at Liverpool on Saturday morning.

Trapped from his waist down, and suffering extensive leg injuries, he watched as emergency workers scrambled to contain a further collapse - and then began the slow process of digging him out.

The rescue workers used shovels and picks rather than heavy machinery to dig the man out to avoid upsetting the soil for a second time.

After four long hours Mr Kojic was finally freed and taken to Liverpool Hospital in a serious but stable condition with extensive leg and lower body injuries.

On Sunday, the emotional 26-year-old said he thought he was going to die before the rescue team arrived.

“I just remember the mud sliding on top of me and pushing me against the wall, the concrete wall,” Mr Kojic told Network Ten from his hospital bed where he is recovering from surgery to his left leg.

“I thought I was going to die, I was praying.”

He praised the efforts by rescue workers in their attempts to save him.

“I want to say thanks to them. They saved my life at that moment,” Mr Kojic said.

Despite the nightmare start to the job, he said he was thinking about returning to work once he had recovered.

“If I get healed mate, if everything goes alright, then why not?” he said.