One day in Cleveland

These are all stories that appeared in the Plain Dealer on November 14. All items are about Ohio.

New inmate denied Xanax prescription, dies in custody
41 people charged in child porn sting
10 year old shoots and kills 11 year old sister using their 15 year old brother`s gun
85 year old man kills wife
250,000 car-related jobs endangered in Ohio
Ohio Department of Transportation contemplates closing major Cleveland bridge for two years
National City (a Cleveland bank) sold on the cheap; job losses expected
Mayor plans to balance 2009 budget
Paramedic sentenced for stealing patient credit cards
30 year old man sentenced for six rapes
Bus driver exits bus to get gas; bus careens down hill and hurts 13 kids
Hinge salesman ex-Marine pilot recalls kamikaze attack in WWII
34% increase in Ohio unemployment applications over one year; benefits shrink
Forest City Enterprises continues plan for Brooklyn Nets stadium
Kosher beef shortage caused by immigration sting in beef plants
One in 417 Ohio homes in foreclosure; this is a drop of 30% from last year
CEO of A. Schulman (a plastics company) makes $2.3 million
Cavs win six in a row
OSU women`s basketball expected to be good this year
All Things Cleveland exhibit opens in a Tremont gallery. Polka, kielbasa, sauerkraut, and the song "Bernie, Bernie" at opening; refers to the long-extinct POC beer, "Pride of Cleveland," a nickname for Pilsener Brewing Company beer, whose brewery closed in 1984
Indians logo in an obituary (in lieu of a photograph)
Names in obits: Alma, Rose, Shirley, Josephine, Mattie Pearl, Loie, Brindusa, Flora, Ginger, Virginia, Dorothy, Delphine, Maxine

On second thought

Fuck it. Squirrel picture.

Here's a squirrel dressed as Ohio's newest has-been, Joe the Plumber.




For more, including a creepy Squirrel Palin, look at Sugar Bush Squirrel. Don't say I never did nothin' for ya.

Winter

They said it would happen.

Yesterday it snowed pretty heavily, although it all mysteriously vanished by the afternoon. Last week we had days in the 70s. This week, 30s.

The sky is getting grayer and grayer. I've heard that in Cleveland you won't see the sun for five months in a row. I think that's starting.

Plus it's getting dark early.

There are still some leaves and red berries on a few trees. The squirrels here are reddish. (I think they're fox squirrels, not eastern gray squirrels.) They're digging all over the place, hiding the berries and buckeyes. So there'll still be some color--albeit rodenty--when all the leaves are gone.

I'd include pictures, but I'm kind of creeped out by rodents in general.

!!

CNN just called Ohio for Obama.

A plea

Ohio, please. Please. PLEASE. Do not fuck this one up.

The toilet lama and I both voted early. On two separate occasions, we each waited an hour and a half to vote at the board of elections. Turnout was huge even weeks ago.

Now the sun is setting, it's after five, and the nailbiting gets more extreme.

If you buckeyes are voting for McCain, I do not forgive.

PS. Did you know a buckeye is a tree? It drops a kind of false chestnut, sometimes called a horse chestnut. Horses can eat 'em but people can't.

PPS. AAAAAAAH!