Good morning sports fans! Whoot! Whoot! Whoot! The Crosstown Shootout is 7 p.m. tonight, which leaves only about 8 hours for you to secure tickets and get your face painted all red and black. (Just kidding – you can paint it blue if ya want.)—-
Did you know that John Boehner is “the son of a Reading barkeeper?” You would if you'd read any story The Enquirer has written about him since November. The latest update from our friends in the big building is that yesterday Boehner, “the son of a Reading barkeeper who has risen to the highest level of Congressional power, was elected 61st Speaker of the House.” The Enquirer's celebration of our little Johnny Barback's rise to third in line for the presidency (sounds even worse if you say it out loud) includes this piece about how normal his family is.
Once again the powerful (some would say too powerful) collection of Bowling Alley owners has gotten its way, as Campbell County (that's in Kentucky) is taking the initial steps to repeal its recently approved smoking ban. The story includes a couple of quotes from residents whose opinions are too hilarious not to republish:
"Tobacco is what Kentucky is made of," argued Arlene Johnson, whose family has run Green Acres Tavern. "Why are we worrying about a cigarette?" She added: "Leave my rights alone." Resident Lee Hanna urged officials to stop "trying to be our nanny and parent."
Oh snap! Elizabeth Edwards left her estranged, campaign-worker-impregnating husband out of her will. Was he rich on his own? OK, good.
When considering how to regulate business, why not ask businesses what works? GOP! GOP! GOP!
Apparently Channel 12 forgot to remove a scheduled program called “Bengals Playoff Schedule” from this weekend's TV listings. For those unaware, the “playoffs” are the end-of-season football games that determine the winner of the league's championship, called the “Super Bowl.” Only the top 12 teams in the league get to participate, so the assumption of the Bengals' inclusion is quite bold on the part of the network.
Guess how the EPA feels about landfills that accept accept construction and demolition waste? (Hint: the EPA is in charge of “environmental protection.”) Guess who doesn't like the idea of adding liners to the landfills? Landfill owners and the Construction and Demolition Association of Ohio. Who's to say, really?
A 30-year fixed mortgage rate dipped to 4.77 percent last week. Buy! Buy! Buy! Sell! No, buy! UPDATE: Local mortgages rose to 5.08 percent. Still worth it?
Isn't it fun when the national media finds someone it generally treats like a freak but then begins to believe that the freak is kind of neat? That's what the beginning of this week was like until the news networks began looking for information on their cool-voiced homeless man, who apparently (some would say shockingly) has a past history of crack addiction and family problems. Stupid reality. Now we're back to watching videos of this kid while we're supposed to be working.
Huck Finn without the N-word? Debate over whether to read the book as it was written or adhere to Mark Twain's openness to 21st century editors here.
The British Medical Journal says you can go back to giving kids medicine: Autism study linking vaccines to the disease was a fraud.
AT&T reduces the price of its iPhone 3G to $49 since Verizon is about to get all up in its business. (Plus that's the old one.)
DAYS TURN INTO WEEKS AND BLOGS TURN INTO ARTICLES: WORST WEEK EVER!
