Thursday, February 18, 2010
15 year old arrested in Connection With Church Shooting in Richmond California
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
School Cancels Dance Due to “freaking” Dancing
Click to read original Article at
Click On Detroit
BRIGHTON, Mich. -- Administrators at Brighton High School said they’re trying to stop a style of dancing they consider obscene on school grounds and recently canceled a popular winter event to make their point.
School's Winterfest Canceled Over 'Freaking' The school’s Winterfest dance had been scheduled for Feb. 6, but with concerns that students would engage in “freaking," the school required anyone interested in attending the dance to sign a contract beforehand.
Principal Ken Hamman said the pledge contract was meant to curb students from engaging in sexually suggestive movements on the dance floor.
Hamman said they came up with the idea after seeing unacceptable dancing at October’s Homecoming dance.
Students protested the contract and ticket sales for the dance plummeted.
Hamman said more than 1,500 students were expected to attend the dance, but that only 67 students signed the contract.
“I don’t think it is (sexually suggestive). I think it’s just dancing,” said senior Phil Laquinto.
“If I had started dancing that way, then I would have been punished,” added senior Mark Bellinger. “But that’s what everybody does, dance that way.”
“If you open the door for that, what else comes after?” said Lois Lenaghan, whose grandchild attends the high school. “It’s like opening a can of worms.”
Area floral businesses said the dance cancellation has affected them.
Corsages were ordered without prepayment.
“We were all, all four florists in town, stuck with product,” said Bonnie Sanberg of Four Seasons Florist.
Hamman said the school is worried about the same conflict arising for prom, which is scheduled in May, but is working with student government to come up with a new document.
Monday, February 15, 2010
3 Men Shoot 2 People During Church Service
Link To SF GATE Original Article
(02-14) 20:05 PST RICHMOND -- Three young men with black sweatshirt hoods pulled over their heads walked into a packed church service in Richmond on Sunday, where one of them opened fire and wounded two teenagers sitting in the pews, police said.
The three suspects - who may have been juveniles - fled after the brash 12:30 p.m. attack at New Gethsemane Church of God in Christ, as the singing of the choir was replaced by frightened screams, said Richmond police Sgt. Bisa French.
The two victims, a 14-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man, were hospitalized and were expected to survive. However, French said, they were not willing to help investigators try to track down their assailants.
"The key people aren't being cooperative," she said.
A church deacon who was present during the shooting, Charles Miller, said one of the victims was struck in the leg and the other in the shoulder. It was not clear, both he and French said, whether they were intended targets.
Miller said some of the more than 120 church members who witnessed the shooting told him the suspects had paced up and down an aisle - apparently looking for one or more targets - before shooting the victims near the back of the church.
Church members "were going to ask them to remove their hoods" before the shooting, he said.
"I was listening to the choir and all of a sudden there was a 'pop pop pop pop pop,' " Miller said. "Everyone hit the floor. I didn't know the shooting was inside the church at first, until I heard all of the hollering and screaming."
The shooting, at 2100 Roosevelt Ave., comes amid a violent beginning to the year in Richmond, which has already recorded seven homicides. The city is still recovering from a violent gang rape outside a high school homecoming dance last year that made national headlines.
"Obviously it was a very brazen attack - in broad daylight during a church service," French said. "It's very unusual. You'd think a church is a safe place that people can go no matter what circumstances they have in their life or where they are in their life. After today, obviously not."
French said investigators were talking to witnesses and believe some of them can identify the suspects. But French said the congregants - apparently scared to get involved - were unwilling to look at photo lineups.
"I don't understand," French said. "Where do you draw the line?"
Highlights From Radicalis 2010
Radicalis is really twelve conferences in one that makes it possible to bring your entire church team for individual learning experiences.
Radicalis is a unique hands-on, comprehensive experience that will enhance each member of your team’s role in your church and build and inspire them to serve God in your community and the world. Rick Warren, the Saddleback Team and leading national pastors will challenge, develop, and expand your vision to be moving force for God in today’s world.
They’ll help you understand the paradigm, learn the process and build relationships for expanding your ministry. They’ll enlarge your understanding of what “church” and “ministry” mean to enable you to affect positive, purposeful change for God. Imagine what would happen in your community, in your church and in our world if your church team collectively shared a Radical experience guided by the Spirit of God in which we saw His calling and His will for your ministry.
RADICALIS WEBSITE
_____________________________________
Here are some of the highlights from this year’s Radicalis 2010 via Twitter posts! #rad10
lasting ministry RT @dbeckner Being a Christian w/o a church is like being a soldier w/o a platoon. Believing w/o belonging is like being an orphan. #rad10
AlexMurashko RT @radicalsonly: Preventative Steps to Affair-proofing your marriage: #3 Maintain Your Mind - Don't Resist...ReFocus! @RickWarren #rad10
workwithyouth RT @radicalsonly: If you know the power of the sin, you will do whatever it takes to remove it from your life! #rad10
JonPfeiffer "A TRAP: something that catches you off your guard. Satan doesn't warn you when he is about to ruin your life."@RickWarren #rad10 #fb
powdertraitor RT @ReporterHaley: If you're a Pastor and are not following the people you're ministering to, then youre not a pastor but a self-proclaimed celebrity. #rad10
AlexMurashko That's just for the last 50 tweets! RT@OutreachNuMedia Tweets about #rad10 have reached 57,799 people - http://bit.ly/9yFJP4
Juventya If you're not growing TOGETHER as a couple, you're growing APART. @RickWarren #rad10
brandonacox RT @Komanapalli: The truth will set you free, but first it may make you miserable. #rad10
ANGELLARA RT @nickcarnes: Satan uses Internet & TV to lower standard of sin by (4 Ways) #3 Fail to Show Consequences #4 Get You to Laugh at It... #rad10 @RickWarren
ANGELLARA RT @nickcarnes: "Date your mate" "If more marriages courted, there would be less marriages in court" @RickWarren#rad10
jonathon_welch RT @ReporterHaley: If schools taught 'drug ed' the way they teach 'sex ed' it'd b handing out free needles & telling them 2 shoot-up. #rad10
radicalsonly You need to become your own mental police. No one else can control the thoughts going on inside your head.@rickwarren #rad10
danbrubacher "Every time you give, it breaks the grip of materialism in your life." (@RickWarren) #Radicalis #rad10
JulieP820 RT @ReporterHaley: The word "retirement" is not in the Bible. You're going to serve God for the rest of your life!@RickWarren #rad10
ReporterHaley The prupose of influence is to speak up for those who have no influence. @RickWarren #rad10
ReporterHaley Take some time to ask God, what do you want me to do with what you've put in my hand? #rad10
nickcarnes God instructs Moses to lay down his Identity, income & influence & it came alive, but if Moses picked back up, it died@RickWarren #rad10
radicalsonly RT @ReporterHaley: Your enemy is not your neighbor, brother, or sister, it's Satan. @KerryShook #rad10
RT @srivera: Instead of fantasizing the Affair, Fantasize the Consequences #rad10
joecook given the right circumstances, ANYone can fail. Don't be self-deceived. #rad10 @kaywarren
ReporterHaley If you don't talk out your feelings with your spouse, you are going to take them out the door with someone else. #rad10
andydisher RT @ReporterHaley: Whenever you fire arrows back at someone else who hurts you, you're firing arrows at Jesus@KerryShook #rad10
thomasriffey RT @edstetzer: The Church's imperfections does not discount or discourage how God can use it. #rad10
MarketerMikeE If Jesus can forgive you, why can't you forgive yourself? @PastorMark #rad10 @karlameachem
mwhyde RT @nickcarnes: 2 Thoughts from @edstetzer "You CANNOT go wrong following Christ's Mission" & "We CANNOT allow money to determine church planting" #rad10
bigmikelewis RT @ReporterHaley: #1 mistake in missions: throwing money to fix a spiritual problem. #rad10
hayleybarnard RT @leigh_barnard: Radical Mission is slaying the giants of spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease and illiteracy. #rad10
joecook Don't see church plants as "competition" see them as "compliments" to your ministry. #rad10
_______________________________
I hope you enjoyed some of the life changing quotes from Radicalis 2010!
JMC LIVE will be interviewing Alex Murashko Jr, the Co-leader for the Social Media Ministry Team at Saddleback Church.
This Tuesday at 8PM EST come hear Alex share about this outstanding ministry experience!
JMC LIVE WEBSITE
Radicalis is a unique hands-on, comprehensive experience that will enhance each member of your team’s role in your church and build and inspire them to serve God in your community and the world. Rick Warren, the Saddleback Team and leading national pastors will challenge, develop, and expand your vision to be moving force for God in today’s world.
They’ll help you understand the paradigm, learn the process and build relationships for expanding your ministry. They’ll enlarge your understanding of what “church” and “ministry” mean to enable you to affect positive, purposeful change for God. Imagine what would happen in your community, in your church and in our world if your church team collectively shared a Radical experience guided by the Spirit of God in which we saw His calling and His will for your ministry.
RADICALIS WEBSITE
_____________________________________
Here are some of the highlights from this year’s Radicalis 2010 via Twitter posts! #rad10
lasting ministry RT @dbeckner Being a Christian w/o a church is like being a soldier w/o a platoon. Believing w/o belonging is like being an orphan. #rad10
AlexMurashko RT @radicalsonly: Preventative Steps to Affair-proofing your marriage: #3 Maintain Your Mind - Don't Resist...ReFocus! @RickWarren #rad10
workwithyouth RT @radicalsonly: If you know the power of the sin, you will do whatever it takes to remove it from your life! #rad10
JonPfeiffer "A TRAP: something that catches you off your guard. Satan doesn't warn you when he is about to ruin your life."@RickWarren #rad10 #fb
powdertraitor RT @ReporterHaley: If you're a Pastor and are not following the people you're ministering to, then youre not a pastor but a self-proclaimed celebrity. #rad10
AlexMurashko That's just for the last 50 tweets! RT@OutreachNuMedia Tweets about #rad10 have reached 57,799 people - http://bit.ly/9yFJP4
Juventya If you're not growing TOGETHER as a couple, you're growing APART. @RickWarren #rad10
brandonacox RT @Komanapalli: The truth will set you free, but first it may make you miserable. #rad10
ANGELLARA RT @nickcarnes: Satan uses Internet & TV to lower standard of sin by (4 Ways) #3 Fail to Show Consequences #4 Get You to Laugh at It... #rad10 @RickWarren
ANGELLARA RT @nickcarnes: "Date your mate" "If more marriages courted, there would be less marriages in court" @RickWarren#rad10
jonathon_welch RT @ReporterHaley: If schools taught 'drug ed' the way they teach 'sex ed' it'd b handing out free needles & telling them 2 shoot-up. #rad10
radicalsonly You need to become your own mental police. No one else can control the thoughts going on inside your head.@rickwarren #rad10
danbrubacher "Every time you give, it breaks the grip of materialism in your life." (@RickWarren) #Radicalis #rad10
JulieP820 RT @ReporterHaley: The word "retirement" is not in the Bible. You're going to serve God for the rest of your life!@RickWarren #rad10
ReporterHaley The prupose of influence is to speak up for those who have no influence. @RickWarren #rad10
ReporterHaley Take some time to ask God, what do you want me to do with what you've put in my hand? #rad10
nickcarnes God instructs Moses to lay down his Identity, income & influence & it came alive, but if Moses picked back up, it died@RickWarren #rad10
radicalsonly RT @ReporterHaley: Your enemy is not your neighbor, brother, or sister, it's Satan. @KerryShook #rad10
RT @srivera: Instead of fantasizing the Affair, Fantasize the Consequences #rad10
joecook given the right circumstances, ANYone can fail. Don't be self-deceived. #rad10 @kaywarren
ReporterHaley If you don't talk out your feelings with your spouse, you are going to take them out the door with someone else. #rad10
andydisher RT @ReporterHaley: Whenever you fire arrows back at someone else who hurts you, you're firing arrows at Jesus@KerryShook #rad10
thomasriffey RT @edstetzer: The Church's imperfections does not discount or discourage how God can use it. #rad10
MarketerMikeE If Jesus can forgive you, why can't you forgive yourself? @PastorMark #rad10 @karlameachem
mwhyde RT @nickcarnes: 2 Thoughts from @edstetzer "You CANNOT go wrong following Christ's Mission" & "We CANNOT allow money to determine church planting" #rad10
bigmikelewis RT @ReporterHaley: #1 mistake in missions: throwing money to fix a spiritual problem. #rad10
hayleybarnard RT @leigh_barnard: Radical Mission is slaying the giants of spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease and illiteracy. #rad10
joecook Don't see church plants as "competition" see them as "compliments" to your ministry. #rad10
_______________________________
I hope you enjoyed some of the life changing quotes from Radicalis 2010!
JMC LIVE will be interviewing Alex Murashko Jr, the Co-leader for the Social Media Ministry Team at Saddleback Church.
This Tuesday at 8PM EST come hear Alex share about this outstanding ministry experience!
JMC LIVE WEBSITE
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Ohio Minister Fatally Shot While Shoveling Snow
Police say robbery may have been a motive for the shooting of Billy Howard.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Neighbors thought a minister found dead outside his home was hurt while shoveling snow, but police said Wednesday that he was shot.
A neighbor saw Billy Howard outside his home on Bulen Avenue on the city's east side and said he did not realize it would be the last time, 10TV's Tanisha Mallett reported.
"My oldest son saw Bill outside shoveling," neighbor Karl Thomson said. "The next thing I know, maybe 15 or 20 minutes later, he said a squad was in front of the house."
Thomson said medics worked on Howard for 20 minutes before taking him to the Ohio State University Medical Center East where police said he was pronounced dead.
Investigators said that is when they realized Howard had been shot once in the chest, Mallett reported.
Howard's death has been ruled a homicide, and investigators were still trying to determine a motive. They said robbery may have been a motive, Mallett reported.
"There is no was to make sense of it, there is no way to make sense," said friend Mary Jenkins.
Family and friends said Howard was a minister at Columbus Christian Center Church and a friend to everyone in the community.
"He was an incredible example of a good man, a good father, a good husband, a business man and all of those things," Jenkins said.
Friends said Howard was the type of person who devoted his life to helping people turn from a life of crime.
"He was definitely a God-fearing man who understood what is means to love God first and he loved his family he was truly a provider," Jenkins said.
Family and friends hope someone will come forward with information, Mallett reported.
"It is beyond sad, it's just senseless," Thomson said.
Marijuana Found inside Pictures of Jesus
"This is not the first time we have seen smugglers attempt to use religious figures and articles of faith to further their criminal enterprise," said William Molaski, port director of the agency's office in El Paso, Texas, in a statement.
"What some might find offensive or sacrilegious has unfortunately become a standard operating procedure for drug smugglers. This would include using religious symbols, children and senior citizens in their attempts to defeat the CBP inspection process."
Authorities said a 22-year-old woman in a Jeep from Juarez, Mexico, told federal border patrol officers that she had nothing to declare besides the framed art. The officers checked out the vehicle with Cesar, a federal drug-sniffing dog, who alerted them to three framed pictures of Jesus in the vehicle.
The officers pulled the backing off the pictures and found numerous bundles, authorities said. The woman was arrested.
The bust was one of three marijuana seizures made Tuesday at the El Paso point of entry. Officers said they seized 214 pounds of marijuana in the two other busts.
More Churches In East Texas Set Ablaze By Arsonists
February 11, 2010 - 10:32 AM | by: Maggie Kerkman
Fire investigators are in a desperate race against time. They’re trying to catch the arsonist, or arsonists, who are setting fire to churches in East Texas. So far, there have been nine since just the first of this year. So far, no one has been hurt, but law enforcement officials are worried that as the fires continue, it’s only a matter of time.
Today we’re live in front of the Dover Baptist Church, which is one of two churches that burned Monday night. We talked to the woman who lives right next to the church. She had no idea there was a fire until she heard the frantic knocks from two people who happened to be driving by and saw smoke.
Minutes later, she watched helplessly as flames consumed the small church her great grandfather helped build. While firefighters were trying to save Dover Baptist, another fire started, just a few miles down the road at the Clear Spring Missionary Baptist Church. Both churches are a total loss.
These two churches were not the arsonists' only target Monday night. We talked with an elder at Clearview Church, which is just a few miles from both Dover and Clear Spring. On the night of the fire, someone tried to get in to Clearview. Says Monty Nations, the elder, says “I can’t imagine someone wanting to do that.” The person or persons broke the front glass doors of the church but apparently got spooked when they realized the church had an alarm system. The church had just installed the system the week before because they worried their church might be next. Other churches are now taking similar actions, installing security systems or having members guard their churches in shifts.
Why is someone targeting churches? Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives say that’s what they’re trying to figure out. They have a national response team investigating the fires. So far, many of the churches have been located in rural areas, but not all of them. The targets aren’t racially motivated and they’re not aimed at any particular faith. In Clear Spring, the last church to be targeted, the fire was started in the pulpit, something that sends chills up the spine of Pastor Brandon.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
New Report Shows Sex trafficking in Ohio Reaches Over 1,000 Youth Last Year
The Columbus Dispatch:New report documents extent of scourge in state
Sex traffickers ensnared more than 1,000 youths in Ohio last year
New report documents extent of scourge in state
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:00 PM
By Alan Johnson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Read the report
* Click here for the full text of today's report on human trafficking (PDF).
More than 1,000 youngsters under the age of 18 were sex-trafficking victims in Ohio during the past year, according to the first-ever statewide report on the subject by the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission.
A preliminary report released this afternoon by Attorney General Richard Cordray concluded that another 2,879 youth were at risk of being trafficked.
An additional 783 foreign-born persons were trafficked for sex or forced labor in Ohio in the past year, with another 3,437 at risk, the report said.
At the same time, the research subcommittee that prepared the report acknowledged that human trafficking is a largely invisible crime, making it "virtually impossible to determine the exact number of victims in Ohio at any given time and with any degree of certainty."
Sex traffickers ensnared more than 1,000 youths in Ohio last year
New report documents extent of scourge in state
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 3:00 PM
By Alan Johnson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Read the report
* Click here for the full text of today's report on human trafficking (PDF).
More than 1,000 youngsters under the age of 18 were sex-trafficking victims in Ohio during the past year, according to the first-ever statewide report on the subject by the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission.
A preliminary report released this afternoon by Attorney General Richard Cordray concluded that another 2,879 youth were at risk of being trafficked.
An additional 783 foreign-born persons were trafficked for sex or forced labor in Ohio in the past year, with another 3,437 at risk, the report said.
At the same time, the research subcommittee that prepared the report acknowledged that human trafficking is a largely invisible crime, making it "virtually impossible to determine the exact number of victims in Ohio at any given time and with any degree of certainty."
California Man Arrested in Mall By Guard for Having Conversation About God
Man Sues California Mall After Guard Arrests Him for Having Conversation About God - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
By Diane Macedo
Justin Smith
Westfield Galleria shopping mall in Roseville, CA.
Imagine getting arrested for just striking up a conversation about religion in public.
That’s what happened to California resident Matthew Snatchko in 2006 when the youth pastor initiated a conversation about God with three shoppers at the Roseville Galleria mall.
The women gave Snatchko permission to broach the subject, but a nearby store employee said they "looked nervous," so he ordered the evangelist to leave. After Snatchko refused, mall security arrested him.
"He was put in handcuffs and hauled down to the mall’s security station and later booked at the local jail," said Snatchko’s attorney Matthew McReynolds of the Pacific Justice Institute, a legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom.
Snatchko was later released and never charged with a crime, but he and the Justice Institute decided to challenge the constitutionality of Roseville Galleria's restrictions on conversations about topics such as religion and politics.
"He wanted to make sure that neither he nor anybody else got harassed again at this mall or the 55 other malls this company owns throughout the United States," said McReynolds.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
By Diane Macedo
Justin Smith
Westfield Galleria shopping mall in Roseville, CA.
Imagine getting arrested for just striking up a conversation about religion in public.
That’s what happened to California resident Matthew Snatchko in 2006 when the youth pastor initiated a conversation about God with three shoppers at the Roseville Galleria mall.
The women gave Snatchko permission to broach the subject, but a nearby store employee said they "looked nervous," so he ordered the evangelist to leave. After Snatchko refused, mall security arrested him.
"He was put in handcuffs and hauled down to the mall’s security station and later booked at the local jail," said Snatchko’s attorney Matthew McReynolds of the Pacific Justice Institute, a legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom.
Snatchko was later released and never charged with a crime, but he and the Justice Institute decided to challenge the constitutionality of Roseville Galleria's restrictions on conversations about topics such as religion and politics.
"He wanted to make sure that neither he nor anybody else got harassed again at this mall or the 55 other malls this company owns throughout the United States," said McReynolds.
Pro-Life Teen BANNED From Receiving Honor by Ohio House Speaker
LifeSiteNews original article
COLUMBUS, Ohio, February 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In what critics are calling an unprecedented act of bias, pro-abortion Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beechwood) has denied Shelby County teen Elisabeth Trisler a routine legislative honor, evidently because he objects to Trisler's pro-life values. Budish is refusing to allow Trisler on the House floor to accept a legislative resolution, authored by Rep. John Adams (R-Sidney), which honors Trisler's accomplishment as the National Right to Life Oratory Contest winner.
Alongside local pro-life leaders, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio has criticized the move, indicating the refusal amounted to "teaching young people that the answer is to silence those who disagree with us."
Honorary resolutions such as the one given to Trisler are routinely presented at the start of Ohio House legislative sessions to constituents, including those who win athletic championships or academic contests. In this case, however, Trisler will receive the resolution in the mail, according to Ohio Right to Life.
"Surely Speaker Budish can put aside his partisanship for 10 minutes to honor the accomplishments of a talented and optimistic teenage girl," said Ohio Right to Life Executive Director Mike Gonidakis. "Perhaps his real message to Ohio's teens is that excelling in public speaking isn't worth being honored if their views are different than his."
State Rep. John Adams called the Speaker's denial "an outrage."
Trisler won the National Right to Life Oratory Contest held at the NRLC Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in June, 2009. During the second half of 2009, Rep. Adams's office worked to schedule the presentation of Trisler's proclamation on the House floor, as is typical of such awards. The presentation was scheduled for Wednesday, February 3, 2010.
However, on January 29th, the House Clerk informed Rep. Adams's office the presentation would not take place because the Speaker "had a problem with the subject matter." The clerk advised the representative's staff to take the matter up with the Speaker. Speaker Budish supports abortion.
"The Ohio House chamber is a monument to the importance of oratory and persuasion on the great issues facing our state," said Gonidakis. "Silencing someone because you disagree is a terrible lesson to teach teens. The Speaker should reconsider his unfortunately petty decision."
ACLU of Ohio Executive Director Christine Link also criticized the move, which she says created a "troubling precedent."
"Instead of teaching young people that the answer is to silence those who disagree with us, legislators should be modeling how to address difficult issues thoughtfully and listen respectfully to others," said Link.
"Ohio has a diverse political and social landscape that includes a broad spectrum of views that may be controversial to some," she continued. "If we limit whose achievements may be honored, we are only contributing to the notion that these issues are divisive and cannot reasonably be discussed."
Keary McCarthy, the communications director at Speaker Budish's office, said that the Speaker's decision was consistent with precedent that such a presentation should not be used as a platform for a specific political agenda.
"The Speaker believes it's important to avoid having political interests on either side of the aisle abuse this brief opportunity for celebration and recognition," McCarthy told LifeSiteNews.com.
However, he said, "the Speaker will gladly reconsider the request of Representative Adams if appropriate discretion is used in a way that does not contradict the history of the House" for not using the reception as a forum for advocacy.
Contact information:
Armond Budish
Speaker of the House, Ohio House of Representatives
77 S. High St
14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-5441
Fax: (614) 719-0008
Email: district08@ohr.state.oh.us
COLUMBUS, Ohio, February 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In what critics are calling an unprecedented act of bias, pro-abortion Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beechwood) has denied Shelby County teen Elisabeth Trisler a routine legislative honor, evidently because he objects to Trisler's pro-life values. Budish is refusing to allow Trisler on the House floor to accept a legislative resolution, authored by Rep. John Adams (R-Sidney), which honors Trisler's accomplishment as the National Right to Life Oratory Contest winner.
Alongside local pro-life leaders, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio has criticized the move, indicating the refusal amounted to "teaching young people that the answer is to silence those who disagree with us." Honorary resolutions such as the one given to Trisler are routinely presented at the start of Ohio House legislative sessions to constituents, including those who win athletic championships or academic contests. In this case, however, Trisler will receive the resolution in the mail, according to Ohio Right to Life.
"Surely Speaker Budish can put aside his partisanship for 10 minutes to honor the accomplishments of a talented and optimistic teenage girl," said Ohio Right to Life Executive Director Mike Gonidakis. "Perhaps his real message to Ohio's teens is that excelling in public speaking isn't worth being honored if their views are different than his."
State Rep. John Adams called the Speaker's denial "an outrage."
Trisler won the National Right to Life Oratory Contest held at the NRLC Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in June, 2009. During the second half of 2009, Rep. Adams's office worked to schedule the presentation of Trisler's proclamation on the House floor, as is typical of such awards. The presentation was scheduled for Wednesday, February 3, 2010.
However, on January 29th, the House Clerk informed Rep. Adams's office the presentation would not take place because the Speaker "had a problem with the subject matter." The clerk advised the representative's staff to take the matter up with the Speaker. Speaker Budish supports abortion.
"The Ohio House chamber is a monument to the importance of oratory and persuasion on the great issues facing our state," said Gonidakis. "Silencing someone because you disagree is a terrible lesson to teach teens. The Speaker should reconsider his unfortunately petty decision."
ACLU of Ohio Executive Director Christine Link also criticized the move, which she says created a "troubling precedent."
"Instead of teaching young people that the answer is to silence those who disagree with us, legislators should be modeling how to address difficult issues thoughtfully and listen respectfully to others," said Link.
"Ohio has a diverse political and social landscape that includes a broad spectrum of views that may be controversial to some," she continued. "If we limit whose achievements may be honored, we are only contributing to the notion that these issues are divisive and cannot reasonably be discussed."
Keary McCarthy, the communications director at Speaker Budish's office, said that the Speaker's decision was consistent with precedent that such a presentation should not be used as a platform for a specific political agenda.
"The Speaker believes it's important to avoid having political interests on either side of the aisle abuse this brief opportunity for celebration and recognition," McCarthy told LifeSiteNews.com.
However, he said, "the Speaker will gladly reconsider the request of Representative Adams if appropriate discretion is used in a way that does not contradict the history of the House" for not using the reception as a forum for advocacy.
Contact information:
Armond Budish
Speaker of the House, Ohio House of Representatives
77 S. High St
14th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Phone: (614) 466-5441
Fax: (614) 719-0008
Email: district08@ohr.state.oh.us
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