Tom Z Touts Tea Party Wins, Calls for Senate Vote on VA

Reaction to the scandal embroiling the Department of Veterans Affairs has been strong and bipartisan.  Tom Zawistowski, Executive Director of the Portage County Tea Party, knows how slowly the federal bureaucracy reacts to allegations of wrongdoing: he was among the first to complain about the IRS targeting Tea Party groups, a year before Lois Lerner pleaded the fifth.

Zawistowski slams Democrats in the Senate for blocking a vote on a bill to give the Secretary of the VA more authority.

In this wide-ranging interview, Zawistowski also extols the victories of Tea Party-backed candidates in the primaries, including long-time Cleveland Republican Richard May, who will face incumbent 9th District Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur in November. And he explains why progress was made even though State Representative Matt Lynch lost to incumbent 14th District Congressman Dave Joyce.

Will We Ever Get Our Energy From Thorium?

Mike Goldstein, Governmental Affairs Coordinator for the Energy from Thorium Foundation makes his case for the use of the naturally occurring, virtually inexhaustible element in liquid flouride thorium reactors as a major source of energy.

Worker's Comp Case Could Mean Millions for Small Businesses

Used with permission/Dworken and Bernstein Co., L. P. A.

What will Governor Kasich do?

An Appeals Court has upheld a lower court ruling that the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation overcharged hundreds of thousands of small business owners, and must pay them back.

Patrick Perotti, has been working on this case for about five years as a partner in the law firm Dworken and Bernstein Co L.P.A,  one of the two main law firms litigating the case.  He explains how Workers' Comp cheated small businesses, and that the state has the money to refund them in a surplus fund.

Perotti explains that Governor Kasich has the final say when it comes to paying the money back, or continuing to fight the ruling that two courts have now made, at an additional cost to the taxpayers of the State of Ohio.  He says small business owners in Ohio can log onto the Pay Us Now! website to determine whether the state owes them money, and how much.

Vietnam Veterans are Not "Condemned Property"

The reported mistreatment of our nation's veterans at VA hospitals across the country makes Dusty Trimmer's book more vital for the tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans who seek medical help through the Veteran's Administration.  He tells of his own experience at the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center at Wade Park in Cleveland, and of the experiences of some of his Vietnam brothers in this interview.

Dusty Trimmer's book is titled Condemned Property? and subtitled Our Most Unpopular War Continues for Americans Who Fought in Vietnam...Why?  It was featured, along with a picture of the author, on the front page of a recent edition of The Plain Dealer.

How Toddlers Thrive: An Owners Manual For Parents

Dr. Tovah Klein, an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Toddler Development at Barnard College has written an instruction manual for raising children through the terrible twos or terrorizing threes or fours or fives.  In How Toddlers Thrive, Dr. Klein explains the importance of understanding children during these years based on what we know scientifically about their brains. 

In this interview, Dr. Klein, a Cleveland Heights native offers her opinion of helicopter parents and tiger moms, and says having a sense of humor is most important for the parents of toddlers.

Trapper Jack's Blind Faith Live Lives

Trapper Jack/Photo credit: Jim McIntyre

What ever happened to Trapper Jack?  That's the question most often asked of Jim. Understandable, considering he and Trapper worked together for 17 years.

While Jim has found a home at AM 1420 The Answer and 955 The Fish, Trapper, using his given name Philip Keller, is producing a podcast he calls Blind Faith Live, based on the miracle works and witness of Dr. Issam Nemeh.

David Barton to Comment on Common Core in Cleveland

Christian Educators Association International based in Westlake is bringing renown evangelist David Barton of Wallbuilders to Cleveland, for a discussion about the Common Core standards adopted in 2010 by the state of Ohio.

Finn Laursen, Executive Director of CEAI explains the mission of the organization, and the objections many Christian educators have to Common Core.

David Barton, author of The Founder's Bible, will be joined by others at Grace Church, 7393 Pearl Road in Middleburg Heights on Thursday, May 29th to describe Common Core from a biblical point of view.  The event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested.

The Lord Leads the Miletis To Leave The Winchester

The Winchester Music Hall is for sale.  Jim and Rebecca Mileti walked away from the Lakewood concert venue last week, when after six years of praying they determined it was the Lord's will.  Why?  "I don't want to cause people to stumble through booze and selling them alcohol...95% of the people would be able to handle it, but I'm responsible for how I affect 100% of the people."

Jim and Rebecca were saved, separately, and were born again in 2008.  Why did it take so long to come to the decision to close?  Why not keep the club open, and present the shows that were already on the books until they could sell the place?  The Miletis answer those questions, and talk about their faith in this interview.

While he ran The Winchester as a Christian, Jim says he witnessed to everyone he could, including the artists who were there to play.  He and Rebecca are also performers in the band The Sunrise, featuring guitar legend Phil Keaggy and drummer Joe Vitale of Joe Walsh fame.

Sweet Adelines Invade Downtown Cleveland

Greater Cleveland Chorus/Photo provided by Deb Ferenc

More than 700 Sweet Adelines will be in Cleveland this weekend for Acappella Rocks, the regional competition being held at the Renaissance Cleveland hotel.  Deb Ferenc,  a member of the Greater Cleveland Chorus and Convention Committee Public Relations and Charity Chairperson talks about female barbershop singing, and explains how the event benefits the Breast Cancer Fund of Ohio.

Alzheimer's Creates "A New Normal" For The Beckers

Bob Becker has early onset Alzheimer's disease.  The Emmy award-winning documentary producer, television and radio personality has been forced into early retirement by the disease.

Alzheimer's creates many challenges, and they are compounded when the disease affects patients in their prime income-producing years.

Bob's wife Luanne Bole-Becker is now his primary caregiver, and says the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association has been a big help. She is also volunteering to help patients at Eliza Jennings with Saido Learning. Luanne tells Bob's story, and discusses her own struggles in dealing with his disease.

Learning to Treat Insomnia With a "Novel" Approach

Dr. Jose Colon treats sleep disorders without drugs, but with behavior modification.  And he gets his point across in the short novel, The Sleep Diet.  He explains the idea behind this method of conveying his approach, and he talks about  The Magic Ice Cream Palace, a children's book he has written to help young ones develop healthy sleep practices.

Dr. Colons books are published by Halo Publishing, the international publisher begun by Northeast Ohio native Lisa Umina.  Several Halo authors have been featured on the 11th Hour, including Denise Zarrella of 19 Action News, who writes about her daughter Gianna, and JJ DiGeronimo, founder of purposefulwoman.com.

From Anesthesiology to Gastronomy: Local Doc With Arthritis Retires, Helps Plan Silver Spoon Awards Party

Jim McIntyre, Kelly Donahue, Dr. Lee Shepard

The Cleveland Magazine Silver Spoon Awards Party this week gets a big assist from Dr. Lee Shepard, formerly of Metrohealth.  If it wasn't for his psoriatic arthritis, he may never have contacted the Arthritis Foundation.  As it is, he is a dedicated volunteer, able to lend his expertise in a variety of ways...including taste-testing the culinary offerings of Cleveland's best chefs.

Kelly Donahue of the Arthritis Foundation joins Dr. Shepard in this interview to explain how proceeds from the Silver Spoon Awards Party benefit the local chapter.

Rowing Teaches Students True Teamwork, For a Price

Crowd source funding is being requested for Cleveland Youth Rowing, and the 60 or so students of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District who take part in CMSD Rows, the free rowing program for the city's students.

Executive Director Russell Eckles explains how expensive rowing is, and how effective it can be for teaching teamwork.  The Dicks Sporting Goods Sports Matter Foundation will match the money raised, if $38,166 are donated by May 23rd.

Donate today (May 6) and Dick's will add another $5 to the donation, in addition to matching the donation, dollar for dollar.

Faceless Mannequins Highlight Homeless Teen Problem

Hundreds of teens are missing or homeless in Cuyahoga County, a problem made more poignant on this first anniversary of the rescue of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry And Gina DeJesus.  Amanda and Gina were both in their teens when they disappeared, snatched and imprisoned for nearly 10 years on Seymour Avenue by Ariel Castro.

Bellefaire JCB, a child welfare agency has partnered with Doner Advertising to place mannequins, hooded, faceless and the size of a teenage boy or girl strategically throughout the area to make us aware of the number of youth in crisis, and to encourage us to "Take a Closer Look."

Karen McHenry, Program Manager for Missing and Homeless Youth at Bellefaire and Kevin Floyd, Associate Creative Director at Doner discuss the provocative public service campaign.

The hotline for homeless and missing youth is 216-570-8010.

Walk To End Hunger and Help Hunger Network

Photo provided by Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland with permission

Saturday May 10 is the day to Walk for Hunger. You can preregister Wednesday, May 7 at Burke Lakefront Airport.  On-site registration begins at 8:45 on the day of the event.  Executive Director Dana Irribarren and Angela Dudek discuss the work of the Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland, and how participation in the 26th annual Walk for Hunger helps.

Charles Ramsey's Book Pokes Readers In The Eye

Co-author Randy Nyerges, Jim McIntyre, Charles Ramsey

He calls himself a true Tea Party Republican, calls the term "African American" stupid and loathsome (he prefers only "American,") and says things have gotten worse with Barack Obama as president.  Charles Ramsey also helped kick in the door through which Amanda Berry and her daughter crawled on May 6, 2013, and helped her call the police, who then freed Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus from Ariel Castro's House on Seymour Avenue.

Ramsey's book, written with author Randy Nyerges,  and published by Cleveland-based Gray and Company, Publishers is supremely profane but surprisingly compelling. It is the first on the sordid Seymour Avenue story to be published, coinciding with the first anniversary of the rescue.  During this interview, you will hear for the first time Charles Ramsey read a passage about the event that led to his infamy, from the book Dead Giveaway.

Former Browns Receiver Runs A Training Camp For Life

Steve Sanders is helping Cleveland area youth and adults with his new book, Training Camp for Life, Developing Champions in Sports and In Life.  In this interview, Steve explains how he walked away from his football career to follow God's call.