Friday, June 05, 2009

Butler County Update

Intrepid Reporter Josh and Friends sure have been busy covering Butler County. Here are just a few of the stories that I wanted to shed some light on...

Burer’s Garage: Lindsey Hilty reports that Butler County Auditor and All-Around Good Guy -- Roger Reynolds -- has cleared up some confusion caused by Fairfield Board of Education member Arnold Engel. Using COAST tactics, Arnold managed to stick his foot in his mouth and fired off baseless charges that Robert Burer wasn't paying his taxes...or something. Turns out, Burer has paid all of his taxes and the family land is properly designated. What got Engel's panties in a twist? Engel wants Burer's business to bid for a bus maintenance contract that his company has held with the Fairfield School district for 70 years.

Furmon's Neighbor: I'm really not sure why this news at all, but Richard Wilson reports that Commission Chuck Furmon's neighbor had a fender bender. There is a stolen newspaper involved...somehow...but that really isn't explained in any kind of detail even though that is how Furmon's name appears in what shouldn't have been a story anyway. Slow news day???

Jones' Jails: Sheriff "Spotlight" Jones closed some jails yesterday. Ordinarily this also would not be news...except that the most dangerous place in Butler County is between the Sheriff and a news crew... Jones chose not to notify county commissioners ahead of time and instead made a cryptic announcement on Twitter. Intrepid Reporter Josh has the details on all of that...

Jones vs. Jolivette: Intrepid Reporter Josh has a very interesting item that also involves Spotlight Jones. Apparently, Jones has "trust issues" with Butler County Commissioner Greg Jolivette:
“I don’t have much trust for him,” Jones said of Jolivette.
We can debate whether or not Jones should have notified county commissioners prior to the jail closing...I'm pretty neutral on that actually. But it inexcusable to debrief only the commissioners you like. I'd like to hear more specifics on what exactly it is that Jollivette is said to have done that warrants the Sheriff having "trust issues" with a fellow elected official.