Sam Adams Beer Expanding Brewery In Cincinnati: Ohio Asked For $3 Million Grant To Clean City Site

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Boston Beer Co. (NYSE:SAM) is planning an expansion at its inner city brewery in Cincinnati, the hometown of company founder Jim Koch. With Anheuser-Busch's merger into Europe's InBev, Boston Beer is the largest remaining American-owned brewer. About two-thirds of the company's beer production reportedly is in Cincinnati. City officials now are moving to seek financial aid from the state's Clean Ohio Fund, a voter-approved money pot that is used for brownfield redevelopment, demolition of buildings, and the clean up of environmental contamination. Boston Brewing makes Sam Adams beer, and it purchased the old Hudepohl-Schoenling brewery in 2005. Koch's grandfather apprenticed as a brew master there, and his company has been bottling and growing at the site over the past three years.

City officials said property near the brewery was slated for a $750,000 clean up, but that the remediation costs have turned out to be far more expensive than original estimates:

"This emergency ordinance authorizes the City Manager to apply for and accept a CORF (Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund) grant from the State of Ohio for up to $3 million to pay for environmental remediation to the groundwater at 1654 Central Avenue and 1660 Central Avenue. This remediation would facilitate the acquisition of these properties by the Boston Beer Company for the expansion of the Sam Adams Brewery operation in the West End."

Documents about Cincinnati's plan to seek the brewery expansion grant are available here.

Ohio Education Association Endorses Cordray For Attorney General: Union Didn't Wait To Learn Who GOP Picks

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- Democrat Richard Cordray will have the backing of the 130,000-member OEA, the state's biggest teacher's union. The Ohio Education Association said its endorsement panel "carefully screens candidates based on their voting records as well as their support of public education and the OEA's priority issues." But the union's description of a careful screening process seems to have a bit of a flaw. As yet, there is no Republican candidate for Ohio attorney general to screen for the Nov. 4 statewide ballot. Cordray -- the sole major party candidate in the race -- was the unanimous pick. Some critics see a rush to judgment. Ohio's Republicans still haven't slated a candidate to run for the job that Marc Dann, a Democrat elected in November 2006, quit after confessing an extra-marital affair with a female member of his staff. The teacher's union announced Friday that it is satisfied Cordray, currently Ohio's state treasurer, "truly supports" public schools. Thus, it saw no need to wait to learn the views of the GOP candidate.

The press release announcing the Cordray endorsement is available here. OEA President Patricia Frost-Brooks said:

"Richard Cordray has demonstrated that he truly supports public education through his initiatives working with teachers and public school students. He is a person of great integrity and is committed to fairness and justice. We believe he will support our effort to create great public schools in Ohio."

OH-02 GOP Jean Schmidt: She Gives House Speech Praising May 19 National Holiday In Turkey; Turkish Lobby Gives $15,600

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Is there a connection between campaign contributions and access to a Cincinnati-area Ohio congresswoman and the U.S. House of Representatives? The text of Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt's May 22 remarks about the celebration of a national holiday in Turkey, which she called a "very significant day," are as follows:

"SPEECH OF HON. JEAN SCHMIDT OF OHIO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2008
Mrs. SCHMIDT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate May 19 as a very significant day in the history of our dear friend the Republic of Turkey. In Turkey, May 19 is celebrated as the commemoration of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Founder of the Republic of Turkey.

It was May 19 in the year 1919 when Mustafa Kemal landed in the Black Sea port of Samsun and the war of independence began. Under his leadership less than a year later the Turkish Grand National Assembly was established and a few years later the Republic of Turkey was born a new nation. Ataturk had a vision for Turkey and he set about reforming her. His vision of a pro-western, secular, and democratic state under the rule of law quickly became reality.

President John F. Kennedy said, 'The name Ataturk reminds mankind of the historical accomplishments of one of the greatest men of this century. His leadership gave inspiration to the Turkish nation, farsightedness in the understanding of the modern world, and courage and power as a military leader.'

It was in 1934 that Ataturk demonstrated his commitment to the rights of women by giving them full political rights. He understood that a country can only flourish when it's people are truly free. My hero, General Douglas MacArthur described Ataturk better than most could ever attempt. 'He was a soldier-statesman, one of the greatest leaders of our era. He ensured that Turkey got its rightful place among the most advanced nations of the world.' May 19 is a very important day when it all began. On this day a great leader began his journey, a vision became reality and a great nation was born. We should all learn a lesson from this man's life. A leader with a vision coupled with determination can lay the roots for a great future. Turkey's neighbors who today wrestle with their own beginnings should take note."

If you follow this link from Matt Hurley's Weapons of Mass Discussion blog you will see Schmidt's latest report of campaign contributions filed with the Federal Elections Commission. Hurley says of the OH-02 Republican, "Schmidt has done a pretty good job of fundraising in what has been a difficult climate." The data in the Federal Election Commission report reveals these contributions from the Turkish lobby:

"Turkish American Heritage PAC613 Rancho Bauer Dr. Houston, Texas 770796821
06/11/2008
1500.00
2500.00
Receipt
Turkish Coalition USA-PAC1025 Connecticut Ave. NW Ste 1000 Washington, DC 20036
06/11/2008
1500.00
5700.00
Receipt
Turkish Coalition USA-PAC1025 Connecticut Ave. NW Ste 1000 Washington, DC 20036
06/22/2008
1700.00
7400.00
Receipt"

Schmidt is getting praise from Turkish groups for her speech. And there is this in the Turkish Daily News, and this in the Turkish Journal. Census data from 2000 (the most recent count)shows there are 3,159 Ohioans of Turkish ancestry in the entire state. There were 136,498 Turkish-Americans in the U.S. Meanwhile, Ohio was preparing to honor Lima Company on May 23. Lima Company included U.S. Marines from the state who died in Iraq.

Obama Urban Legends: At The Moment, He Tops The List At Urban Legend Website

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- By now, everybody seems to have an opinion about the New Yorker's satirical magazine cover. Meanwhile, Snopes.com -- a much-visited Web site that tracks urban legends and separates fact from fiction -- is reporting Internet-hyped rumors about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama this week (July 16) are atop its list of the Hottest 25 Urban Legends. Mostly, the rumors are untrue, though they are widely spread by e-mail.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune's Randy Salas noticed last January that Obama led the Snopes' list that month. Clearly, things on the urban legend front haven't changed since the thaw, summer's arrival and Obama's victory in the Democratic presidential primaries. Back then, Salas said:

"While noting that Obama's pre-political life has been unusual and interesting, Snopes adds: 'Much of the information presented . . . about his background is distorted and exaggerated, however, and no evidence supports a claim that Obama is currently, or ever has been, a Muslim (radical or otherwise).'"

Salas report from seven months ago is here. And the Snopes list of the current Hottest 25 Urban Legends is here. There is concern in some quarters that The New Yorker's satirical cover might backfire and convince some rubes that Obama is indeed the Muslim radical portrayed in the cartoon. But that might be overblown. Americans have been hearing exaggerated tales about Obama for a long stretch. And he's been able to win at the polls. He even defeated a prohibitive favorite, Hillary Clinton.

Ohio State Sen. John Carey's Newspaper Guest Column Today: GOP Lawmaker Caught Plagiarizing From Colorado?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Ohio State Sen. John Carey -- who hails from Coal Country in Southeast Ohio -- is in today's Cincinnati Enquirer with a "Guest Column" talking up John McCain's energy policy. But much of what Carey writes today also appears under the name of Colorado State Rep. Kevin Lundberg, whose "Guest Editorial" happens to be on the on the same topic for the Craig Daily Press in that state. Coincidence or political coordination? Both officials -- one in Appalachia the other in the Rocky Mountains -- somehow have claimed authorship of articles that use mirror-like phrasing.

Here's a sample of Carey today in the Cincinnati Enquirer:

"Obama and Washington extremists believe coal is a 'dirty energy' that ought to be taxed. Obama has said "what we need to tax is dirty energy, like coal, and to a lesser extent, natural gas," and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has echoed that sentiment in saying 'coal makes us sick. Oil makes us sick.' This 'dirty energy' that 'makes us sick' also happens to put food on the tables and roofs over the heads of many hard-working Ohio families. Not to mention that coal provides 90 percent of our state's electricity."

And here's a chunk of Lundberg's guest editorial from the Colorado publication:

"Obama and his Congres­sional Democrat supporters believe coal is a 'dirty energy' that ought to be taxed. Obama has said 'what we need to tax is dirty energy, like coal, and to a lesser extent, natural gas,' and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has echoed that sentiment in saying 'coal makes us sick. Oil makes us sick.' What Harry Reid calls 'dirty energy' that 'makes us sick' also happens to put food on the tables and roofs over the heads of many hardworking Colorado families. Not to mention that coal provides seven-tenths of our state’s electricity. In 2006, Colorado produced 36,000 short tons of coal and consumed 19,707 to generate electricity."

Here's Carey in Ohio:

"With half of our country's electricity produced from coal, our energy portfolio moving forward must include coal as a large component. The U.S. Department of Energy says our 267 billion short tons of coal reserves comprise 27 percent of the world total. We depend on this resource, especially here in Ohio, and we need a president who understands that."

Here's Lundberg in Colorado:

"Considering half our country’s electricity is coal-produced, moving forward with our energy portfolio must include a large component of coal. The U.S. Department of Energy says our 267 billion short tons of coal reserves comprise 27 percent of the world total. We depend on this resource, especially here in Colorado, and we need a president who will work for our best interests."

DailyKos Beating Big Ohio Newspaper Websites: Liberal Political Blog's Traffic Trendline Climbing

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The green line on the chart is for DailyKos. Cleveland.com (Plain Dealer) is blue; Cincinnati.com (Cincinnati Enquirer) is orange; Ohio.com (Akron Beacon Journal) is red. The data is from Google Trends, which analyzes and estimates Web searches by topic. The programming is still being perfected, but Google says the data can be "interesting and entertaining" if not quite completely nailed down. Here's what Google says:

"Google Trends is a Google Labs product, which means it's still in its early stages of development. The data Trends produces may contain inaccuracies for a number of reasons, including data-sampling issues and a variety of approximations that are used to compute results. We hope you find this service interesting and entertaining, but you probably wouldn't want to write your Ph.D. dissertation based on the information provided by Trends."

There is more about Google Trends here. The Cleveland.com Website had a significant uptick in February and March -- according to this data -- when the Ohio presidential primary loomed large on the national political calendar. From then 'til now, the trendlines for all the Ohio sites have been descending slowly, which doesn't bode well for the newspapers' efforts to morph from print to online. Of course, Google's data could be off. But it seems as if you are a one or two person blog getting 500 to 1,000 visits a day, you are doing pretty well compared to the big newpaper portals. In mid-June, the data shows the Cincinnati.com site was getting around 25,000 daily unique visitors. And that's with a large staff, access to the wire services, along with advertising and branding campaigns, a corporate marketing effort, a sales force and promotions online.

Volkswagen To Build New Auto Plant In Tennessee: Ohio Sucks Dust

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The German automaker says it will invest $1 billion in a new plant to build cars in North America. The factory is going up near Chattanooga. Meanwhile, Ohio is losing auto plants and jobs. GM said it will shutter its Moraine SUV factory ahead of the announced 2010 schedule, and Ford closed a transmission plant near Cincinnati last month.