Remember the "Catcher" controversy?

The death of "The Catcher in the Rye" author, J.D. Salinger, has brought the controversial book back to the forefront.

Two years ago, controversy over whether high school students should read the book erupted when a minister publicly questioned whether it should be part of Dover's curriculum.

I wrote about the issue in a commentary, which attracted more than 80 comments from readers. You can revisit that column here.

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U.S. Rep. Zack Space of Dover says he's against the Senate version of the health care reform bill and wrote a letter to House leadership, decrying the favors afforded to states such as Nebraska.

That letter is available here.

To reiterate, I think the issue should be shelved and revisited later after the economy recovers. The debate, I believe, has forced many companies to put hiring plans on hold because they are uncertain of new and additional costs.

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People who believe there are simple new uses for old facilities in our region are naive.

Take, for example, Atwood Lake Resort and Conference Center or the county home.
The resort does fine in the warm weather months. But take a drive to the lake now and count the cars. There won't be many.

If they have money for getaways, vacationers want warm weather and/or trendy cold weather spots. Sorry, folks, east-central Ohio doesn't make the cut in January.
The county home? No matter what alternative use you'd pick for it, you'd have to have deep pockets to get the project done. And in this uncertain economy, no one is quite willing to pull the trigger.

The county commissioners have decided to reject a much-lower-than-expected bid on the project and sit on the facility until economic conditions improve. I can't argue with that strategy at least in the short term.

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See you next time.