November weather has been up and down

More than half of November is over and Ohio has yet to feel that winter chill. There hasn’t been any measurable snow yet either. Temperatures have averaged above normal for most of the month so far. November has brought five days in the 60’s and five days in the 50’s. The average high for the middle of November is around 48. On November 6, the high was only 39 and that was the coldest day of the month thus far.

Most areas have experienced a good frost which has slowed the growth of the grass and dropped most of the leaves off the trees. Temperatures have been swinging back and forth from time to time with highs in the 60’s one day and back into the 40’s the next.

Heading into the week of Thanksgiving, the weather looks to remain warm before colder air slides in to most areas on Thanksgiving Day. Temperatures are expected to be below average with snow for the end of the month and for the entire month of December.

What does turning 20 mean?

20 years old. What does it mean? I asked myself the same question when I woke up on the day of my 20th birthday. 20 is not really the most exciting age, but 20 marks the end of your teenage years. Now I am officially a tweenager. Wait, I don’t think tweenager is a word, but it sounded good. In a sense 20 is just another year before turning 21.

November 9th my birthday fell on a Tuesday this year. It started out just like a normal day, but it had that special feel to it. I spent the day doing some outside work which is something I enjoy doing. Later in the afternoon I had a chance to play some basketball with some friends. The games of basketball were very enjoyable and it was nice to spend some time with my friends. It figures I turn 20 years old and now I cannot beat the kids who are younger than me in basketball. Older age didn’t work in my favor in the game of basketball.

The day also consisted of going out to eat at Lembo’s Italian Restaurant with my parents. I had a great meal and it was nice to spend some time with my parents. I also got a chance to talk to all three of my uncles on the phone. Along with the calls I had close to 150 people on Facebook wish me a happy birthday. It really was a special day and I would like to thank everyone who made it special for me. Sure turning 20 may not be the most exciting thing in the world, but I sure enjoyed turning 20.

Another failed levy for Green

5,331 people made it clear that they don’t want higher property taxes by voting down the Green Local School Levy. The levy was defeated by a 53 to 46 percentage on Tuesday. The percentage may not sound that close, but the difference in votes was only 627. This failed levy marks the 12 year in a row that Green has failed to approve new funding. Now Green is forced to cut up to 75 teaching positions and enforce pay to play for sports.

So why can’t Green get a levy to pass? The answer to that is simple as the economy is horrible and property owners don’t want to have to pay higher property taxes. Everything is expensive right now and the last thing most people want is to have to pay more when it is time to pay their property taxes. Can you blame people for not wanting to pay higher property taxes? Not really, but schools are important places that we should stand behind and support. Consider the 5,331 people who voted the levy down were most likely property owners that don’t have any children in the schools. In my opinion everyone should always support the schools no matter what because schools put children on the right path for the future.

The future doesn’t look very bright for Green as more teachers will lose their jobs and fewer classes will be offered. It seems that Green Schools are slowly going to turn into other districts such as Akron who offer only basic classes and no real extras. Green will still remain to be a great district, but not as many elective classes will be offered at the middle and high school. I do give Green credit for being smart and putting pay to play right into place because sports deserves to be cut before teachers do. Having to let go of teachers is not going to be an easy task because Green has many great staff members.

Overall I am very disappointed with Green residents who voted this levy down. They failed to support a very important aspect of the community. Another failed levy means Green has to figure out a better way to get a levy to pass in the future.

Another terrific Halloween

Another Halloween season is over and I have to say it was a big success. Many hours of hard work went into putting together Eric’s Haunted Crib which had 36 guests in Akron this year. The crowd was just right and it was nice to have 13 people attend that had never seen the haunted house before. I really enjoyed spending the night with family and taking groups through the haunted basement. Guests were really pleased with how awesome and different the basement looked this year. Eric Lough and I worked hard to make some new rooms and displays to make the basement look different.

It was great to have my haunted house featured on three local radio stations and on AkronNewsNow. Ryan Haidet, who works for AkronNewsNow did a great job of conducting a video interview about my haunted crib. Little did I know that my small story on AkronNewsNow would explode into a front page story on Yahoo.

The story was a surprise as on Friday October 29 someone told me that my haunted crib was on Yahoo News. I thought to myself that there was no way my haunted crib was on the front of Yahoo as a featured story. I quickly went to Yahoo’s homepage and there was the Eric’s Haunted Crib sign staring back at me. I was shocked and couldn’t even believe that my little haunted house made a national news website. Ends up Yahoo reprinted the AkronNewsNow story on their website. Still I was really amazed that little old Eric Poston from Green, Ohio was on Yahoo. Being on Yahoo really made this Halloween a terrific one because so many people got a chance to see how much time and effort I put into Halloween each year.

Haunted Crib Time

It is truly hard to believe that it is time for Halloween and Eric’s Haunted Crib again. It seems like I just finished putting the decorations away from last year. This year marks the 11th year for Eric’s Haunted Crib. I have put a lot of work into the haunted crib this year, but I personally think things went really smooth. It seems like just yesterday I was starting to plan for the haunted crib and now here it is. Time sure does go fast doesn’t it?
I am excited about the big Halloween gathering this Saturday night. It is always fun to have all my family and friends come and visit and check out the haunted crib. It was truly a joy this year to have Ryan Haidet come and do a story on the haunted crib for AkronNewsNow.com. For years I have tried to get the Akron Beacon Journal to come and do a story, but they always seem busy and had other events to cover. So this year I thought I would contact Ryan and see if he was interested. Sure enough he was more than happy to come out and shoot some video and do a story. I was lucky enough to have my interview with Ryan run on three local radio stations in the Akron area also. I always felt like my haunted crib was a fun event and it deserved some media attention. I didn’t want the media attention to draw a bigger crowd to the event; I just wanted others to know what I was doing for my family and the neighborhood kids.
This weekend will be a busy one, but not as busy as some years. There have been years where I have had Eric’s Haunted Crib in Akron on Saturday and then have to move everything to Green for Sunday night. This year I get an entire week to get everything moved and setup in Green. It should be another great year as the tradition of Eric’s Haunted Crib continues.

Support Green School Levy this November

As Green voters head to the polls on November 2 they will have Issue 5 staring back at them. Issue 5 is a 6.71 mill levy that would raise $4.8 million per year for the schools. The levy comes as the Green Local School District tries to approve new funding which is something they have failed to approve for 11 years now. If the levy were to fail, the district would face a $3.8 million deficit in 2012. A failed levy would result in larger class sizes and the loss of as many as 75 teaching positions. Also students would be required to pay to play sports. Regardless of the cuts, a failed levy would not be a good thing for the school district.
It is extremely important that everyone gets out and supports this levy because our students deserve to have a good education. I have always stressed the fact that there would be no community if it wasn’t for the schools. The schools are a very important part of our community and you hate to see them have to make cuts because new funding cannot be approved. When you support a school levy you support more than just a school, you support an entire community. 
As voters head to the polls they will have to stop and think, do I really want to pay higher property taxes? That is going to be a tough question for many families to answer because of the poor economy. Voters must remember that every penny given to the schools is put to good use. There is no doubt in my mind that the schools are worth the extra money because they are building the future for our children.
The Green Local School District needs our help this November. Please get out and support Issue 5 because I would hate to see the district have to make more cuts. Green is such an excellent district that has many terrific teachers and staff members that are doing a lot of good for students.

ENDORSEMENT: Ted Strickland for Governor

When Ted Strickland was elected four years ago he pledged to turn Ohio around. Little did he know he would be governor during some of the toughest economic times. The truth is Strickland has made progress and is worthy of a second term. Strickland has worked hard on moving towards a constitutional way of funding public schools in Ohio. While Republican candidate John Kasich would do nothing but undo all the work Strickland has done for working to better fund the schools. This will only allow for the state to move backwards instead of forwards when it comes to education.
Strickland has also worked towards alternate forms of energy and worked towards bringing green jobs to the state. In Akron, Goodyear created 125 jobs and retained nearly 3,000 jobs with support from a Clean Ohio Grant thanks to Ted Strickland. Plus in Youngstown, V&M Star is building a new steel mill that is creating 400 construction jobs and 350 manufacturing jobs. It is a slow process but jobs are slowly being created and Governor Ted Strickland is on the right path.
As for John Kasich his plans for Ohio are not so bright. Keep in mind Kasich worked for Lehman Brothers and got a million dollar bonus right as the company was becoming bankrupt. He was making millions while people lost their jobs and homes. Many are still waiting to hear what Kasich can do for the state because he hasn’t announced many plans. All Kasich has done is bash Ted Strickland over and over. How about some ideas of your own Mr. Kasich?
We recommend you vote for Ted Strickland for the governor of Ohio. The choice is simple if you want the state to keep heading in the right direction. Or there is always John Kasich who plans to run Ohio like Wall Street and drive our education system into the ground. Keep Ohio a strong state by voting for Ted Strickland on November 2.

Green looks to jumpstart levy campaign

With less than a month left until the November election Green Local Schools must get the ball rolling on their levy campaign. Last year the district waited until October 15 to start passing out yard signs for the renewal levy that was on the ballot. Thankfully the renewal issue did pass despite the late start by the levy campaign. This November Green Local Schools is asking for the passage of an operating levy that would raise $4.8 million per year.
Now hopefully this year Green will do a better job of getting information out to the public about the levy. Up until Monday October 4th I hadn’t heard any information about the levy at all. At the September school board meeting they had stated that a levy would be on the ballot, but never got into the details. So on Monday I decided to see if I could find any information about the upcoming levy online. I went to the district website and there was nothing to be found. Next I decided to check out the Green Students for Green Schools Facebook Page. That page was helpful last November, so I figured I may find some information about the new levy. Sure enough there was a link to http://gson.greenforkids.org/ , which was loaded with information about the levy. It is great that the district has launched this site for the levy, but I shouldn’t have to go on Facebook to find the link. Information needs to be posted at the top of the district’s website where more people will see it.
The fact that Green hasn’t approved new funding in 11 years is a clear sign that this new levy is going to be a tough one to pass. The tough economy is also going to play a big role in the way people vote this November. This levy would raise your property taxes slightly if it was approved. It is important that the levy campaign gets the word out about the levy before it is too late.

September weather has been nice

Normally it is hard to tell how the weather is going to be in September and October. So far the weather has been decent across Ohio with lots of sunshine and highs in the middle and upper 70′s. The month of September started off on a warm note as the first two days were in the 90′s. There have been three 90-degree-days so far in the month of September. It appears as though we will not hit 90 degrees again, but anything is possible. September has brought us a few days with temperatures in the 60′s, but for the most part it has been in the 70′s.
I personally love this time of the year because it is not too hot, but yet it is not too cold either. I think temperatures in the 70′s are comfortable and just right. It is interesting because fall brings us a wide range of what people wear. Some people are already wearing long pants and coats like it is the middle of winter compared to other people who are still wearing shorts and t-shirts.
Hopefully the rest of September brings us nice weather like we have had. I would really hate to see it get cold fast. Try and get out and enjoy the nice weather because before you know it the snow will be flying.

Accident shows the dangers of drinking and driving

To some drinking and driving may seem like no big deal, but students and residents in Green got a loud wakeup call this past weekend. On Friday evening three freshmen girls and a Green graduate from 2010 were involved in a horrible car accident near Dayton, Ohio. The girls were hit head on by a drunk driver who was driving on the wrong side of the road. Paige Sands, the driver was able to walk away from the accident, but the three freshmen girls weren’t so lucky. Thankfully all are expected to recover, but it will take time.
The moment I heard about this story I thought to myself what a horrible occurrence. I personally don’t know any of the girls, but still my thoughts and prayers go out to them and their families. I really feel bad for these students’ parents who got that horrible call at 2 AM. Those are the kind of phone calls no one ever wants to receive. Paige deserves a lot of credit as she did her best to try to avoid the oncoming car. This was one of those things where you see the car coming and the next thing you know it is over. There really is no time to react in a situation like this. Thankfully an Army private who was in front of them stopped and helped pull the girls out of the car before it exploded. This shows that heroes are out there.
This accident really shows how dangerous it can be to drink and drive. It seem as though the woman who was drunk that hit the girls didn’t take into consideration the danger. Maybe she didn’t even think about it considering this is her fourth DUI incident. If you have been drinking, don’t even attempt to drive no matter the distance. There is no point of putting others in danger just because you think you can make it home safely. Over the next few weeks keep these girls and their families in your thoughts and prayers because they have been through a horrible experience.