A/V: Romney Hosts Kettering Relief Rally

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney addresses supporters gathered for a "storm relief event" in Kettering, Ohio on Tuesday

KETTERING, OH -- In a move to dampen down politics in the immediate wake of Hurricane Sandy's historic damage to portions of the country's eastern seaboard, former Massachusetts governor and current Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney turned an originally scheduled political rally into a "storm relief event" in Ohio on Tuesday afternoon.  Kettering's Trent Arena hosted the gathering that was originally billed as a "victory rally" and was supposed to have Arizona senator John McCain and NASCAR racing legend Richard Petty in introductory speaking roles.  Randy Owen, country music performer and former lead singer of the group Alabama, performed several songs and provided personal testimony about disaster relief after tornadoes ripped deadly swaths through several Southern states back in April 2011.

MSNBC Gives Dayton No Respect

MSNBC host Chuck Todd hosted "The Daily Rundown" from Cincinnati on Thursday morning...and Dayton is nowhere to be seen behind him

I often wonder to myself (and now, thanks to this blog, publicly) if I take some things that I observe in my daily life a little too seriously for my own good.  I have a wide variety of roles that occupy the majority of my waking hours but I have been known to fixate on things that do not directly impact them from time to time.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you would have seen an item that I recently posted about how Dayton, Ohio was being incorrectly positioned on graphics displayed on the cable news channel MSNBC back in late September.  Since this is my main source for television news, I was forced to endure repeated airings of this error and, as the post documented, I 'tweeted' my dissatisfaction.  It finally took a venue change for the event they were using that graphic for (an appearance by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Dayton was being moved to the city's airport in nearby Vandalia and had become a joint appearance with his running mate, Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan).  At the end of that piece, I selflessly credited my actions in perhaps playing a minor role in that on-screen revision and I privately hoped that such a recurrence would not happen.  Almost a month to the day later, that hope was, regrettably, extinguished.

A/V: President Obama Flies in for Dayton Rally

President Obama greets well-wishers upon his arrival at Dayton International Airport on Tuesday afternoon

VANDALIA, OH -- Fresh off of his final debate performance against Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Monday night and a rally in Florida earlier that morning, President Barack Obama flew to Ohio on Tuesday afternoon for his 17th trip to "the Buckeye State" this year to hold a joint appearance with Vice President Joe Biden at Dayton's Triangle Park.  Air Force One arrived at Wright Brothers Aero, on the grounds of the city airport, at approximately 2:30PM where the president was transferred to a waiting motorcade for the 10-mile drive to the rally venue.  During that short stay at the airport, Obama met with a small private crowd of supporters and Secret Service family members who waited up to three hours for him to arrive.  Biden, who was already campaigning in the state, flew in on Air Force Two from an event in Toledo shortly after Obama departed and was separately shuttled to the park to introduce the president. 

BTS: Biden Fairborn Rally

I was getting into that event by any means available

Much like the character in the 5th century poem Psychomachia, patience is a virtue that triumphs over anger in the end.  If you read my last political event blog posting, you would know that there was a slight misunderstanding about my credentials at the Obama campaign kickoff rally in Columbus back in May.  In my 'BTS' about that event, I described how I did not get in as a credentialed journalist but attended anyway in the general seating area.  While I was not happy about how that day turned out, there was one 'silver lining' that made that trip worthwhile.  When discussing my press status with the staff, I was able to talk directly with a campaign media representative and we exchanged contact information.  She apologized for not letting me in for that event but said that I should keep in touch for future Ohio events.  That opportunity finally surfaced early last month just a few miles from my house.

A/V: Base Reclaims Road to Bolster Security Posture

Concrete barriers block off the former southbound lanes of Ohio State Route 444 that, until yesterday, ran between portions of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base's Area A

FAIRBORN, OH -- On Tuesday, workers began the task of permanently closing off  a 1.5 mile span of Ohio State Route 444, a major commuter artery for Fairborn, a city of over 32,000 residents east of Dayton situated in Greene County.  The decision to close the portion of this 8.4 mile thoroughfare that ran through the base was first announced in March 2010 in response to neighboring Wright-Patterson Air Force Base's need to meet Department of Defense installation anti-terrorism/force protection standards.  The now-shutdown stretch of this route, which sits on federal land originally leased to the state back in 1932 for the purpose of building the road, provided easy driving access to patrons of the base's Kittyhawk retail area as well as to the Wright-Patterson Medical Center.  This closure now consolidates all parts of the base's Area A into one contiguous region and users of those facilities will now have to use alternative routes within the military perimeter to get to their destinations.

SNL: MSNBC Debate Fallout

This past weekend, Saturday Night Live caught my attention (in regards to this blog) with a scathing skit that portrayed several of the NBC's own news channel's on-air personalities in a prolonged  "funk" over President Barack Obama's lackluster performance during a debate with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney last Wednesday.  Here's the clip from the highly politicized show (courtesy of Hulu):

Guest Papers: At the Supermarket

Normally attracting only a cursory glance at the check-out counter, this newscaster-featuring edition of the National Examiner piqued my curiosity

 In the United States, there are over 36,000 supermarkets (defined as having $2+ million in annual sales) and many more other retail and convenience outlets that share one common trait:  newspaper racks.  They could be of a modern metal variety or crafted out of wood.  They might hold several editions from all around the local area or just display the town's daily or weekly offering for purchase.  They can be free standing all by themselves or integrated into the structure of the cash register and optical scanner at  the check-out counter.  However your favorite location is configured/stocked, I will openly predict that there is at least one (or perhaps both) of the papers I am featuring in this post available to you to thumb through--and perhaps even purchase.