Who will be Dayton’s next mayor? These 3 men are making plans.
Nan Whaley’s surprise announcement this week that she will not seek reelection means Dayton in 2022 will have a new mayor for the first time in eight years.
Political hopefuls have until March 5 to file petitions, but several people have confirmed they are running or are considering throwing their hat into the ring, including a current city commissioner, a former mayor and a political newcomer who is a boxing promoter.
The list of potential candidates includes Commissioner Jeff Mims, former Mayor Gary Leitzell and businessman Tony Shultz.
Polar vortex may bring arctic air to southwest Ohio
Credit: NOAA
Credit: NOAA
A disruption in the polar vortex may bring frigid, arctic air to southwestern Ohio late in the month, and it could last for a couple of weeks.
The last time extremely cold air arrived in the region was in 2014. That brought actual temperatures of minus 15 degrees to minus 19 degrees for parts of the area. Wind chills plunged to as low as minus 49 in parts of the region.
The extreme cold, with subzero temperatures and dangerous wind chills, could remain into the first couple weeks of February, according to some weather models.
Dayton LGBT advocate, founder of Rainbow Elder Care dies
Jerry Mallicoat, co-founder and board chair of Rainbow Elder Care of Greater Dayton, died Friday, the organization reported Saturday.
Mallicoat founded Rainbow Elder Care in 2013 after watching the documentary “Gen Silence” and reflecting on his experience caring for his aging parents. The organization’s goal is to provide advocacy, educational resources, support and referral services to the elder LGBT community and straight allies in the Greater Dayton area in ways that affirmatively address their unique needs and enhance their quality of life, its Facebook page says.
Rodriguez said that Mallicoat was a servant leader who provided leadership and mentorship and led by example.
Local Trump supporters condemn violence, vandalism at U.S. Capitol
Local supporters of President Donald Trump say there should be a greater emphasis on political unity going forward and an earnest effort to bring justice against those responsible for the damage following the violence and vandalism at the U.S. Capitol this week.
Kevin Burch, the past chairman of the board for the American Trucking Association and past president of Jet Express, attended Trump’s inauguration in 2017, sitting in a spot where Wednesday’s melee injured Capitol police.
The Republican, who also met with Trump during his presidency to discuss jobs and infrastructure, said he was appalled at the takeover of the Capitol and “distraught” as a result of the president’s subsequent “We love you; you’re very special” message to extremists, which he said set the wrong tone.
Area residents who went to DC rally draw the line at vandalizing US Capitol
Dayton area residents who traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in Wednesday’s rally-turned-riot said vandalism of the historic U.S. Capitol took things “way too far.”
Greg Dulin of Miamisburg said he and his wife, Rhonda, planned about a week ago to drive there “because of the election fraud.” Although they did not attend President Donald Trump’s scheduled “Save America” rally, the couple spent time socializing with others outside the Capitol building.
“Everybody’s hanging out, talking, being nice and everything and then this big mob came up from the street is basically what happened,” he said. “They just started pushing barriers over (and) just swamping the Capitol building.”
John Moore, ‘quiet leader’ who solved problems in Dayton community, dies
John E. Moore Sr., a leader in the Dayton community, died last week. His 98th birthday would have been on Jan. 11.
He was a World War II veteran and former chief of civilian personnel at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, involved with his church and his community his entire life.
“Wherever he saw a problem, he went about trying to create an organization or a group of folks to come together to solve whatever problems he saw in the community,” said William Gillispie, former Dayton deputy city manager. Moore was his mentor for more than 40 years, he said.
According to the Dayton Foundation’s website, Moore gave more than 50 years to various corporate, nonprofit, local government and grassroots organizations.
Coronavirus vaccine distribution slow: Thousands of shots in Dayton-area sit on shelves for weeks
Credit: Ted S. Warren/AP
Credit: Ted S. Warren/AP
Weeks after delivery, thousands of coronavirus vaccine doses locally and millions of doses nationwide are sitting on shelves instead of getting into arms.
Between 5 million and 6 million Americans have received the first dose of a two-shot regimen according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, far from the federal government’s goal to give the first shot to 20 million people before the end of 2020.
As o Friday, 576,000 doses had been sent to Ohio in the nearly four weeks since the first shipment arrived on Dec. 14, according to the CDC. But less than half of those doses have been administered according to Ohio Department of Health numbers. And Ohio is doing better than about 30 other states.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has said he is not satisfied with the rate at which the vaccine is being distributed in the state and has urged providers to move faster, even setting a goal for hospitals to administer doses within 24 hours of receipt.
“(The vaccine) does no good sitting on a shelf,” he said. “Waiting two or three days, five days, whatever, someone could have been vaccinated and been protected during that period of time.
Conspiracy theories, divisions, security changes: The fallout from the Capitol riots
The violent assault on the U.S. Capitol last week by supporters of President Donald Trump could spark a pivotal moment of reckoning over the nation’s bitter political divide, but it will take work by everyone to battle dangerous conspiracy theories and heal the divisions, according to local experts in politics and history.
“It’s going to take a collective effort. Everyone needs to be thinking about their role: clergy, educators, parents, community leaders, etc.,” said Lee Hannah, associate professor of political science at Wright State University.
People need to leave their social media and news echo-chambers, get to know others they might not agree with and intervene when loved ones fall into conspiratorial “wormholes,” Hannah said.
The immediate impact is playing out now, with calls for Trump’s impeachment, removal using the 25th Amendment or resignation before Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
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