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The Bad calls? Clay goes down
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RESS June 2, 2014
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Veterans voice concerns By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com
Garden tour
Bob and Sharon Supinski, of Oregon, along with their Golden Retriever Ben, are preparing to welcome visitors during the upcoming Lawn and Garden Tour presented by the Oregon-Jerusalem Historical Society June 21. See story on page 12. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
About 20 veterans Tuesday attended what was billed as a listening session for U.S. Representative Bob Latta, R- Bowling Green, to hear their concerns about receiving care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. The congressman told those attending the meeting at American Legion Post 28 in Perrysburg that the House the prior week had passed a bill, the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act, which will make it easier for the secretary of the department to remove or demote senior employees. The bill was introduced in the House in February, but recent revelations about the deaths of veterans while awaiting care at a VA hospital in Arizona expedited its passage, Latta said, adding it appears administrators in Arizona were keeping more than one set of records to mask delays in treatment times. “It’s hard to believe we had to do this,” he said of the bill. Richard Elbridge, Perrysburg, an Air Force veteran, said he faced several diversions in trying to get basic eye care and has since opted to receive medical service in the private sector. Earl Moeller, a Navy veteran, said he’s generally had positive experiences at the VA clinic in Toledo but has been frustrated by “administrative decisions” while seeking screenings for possible asbestos exposure and tinnitus. He said the doctors and nurses who’ve treated him “have been very good” but many decisions made in regional offices can take years. He said he was told to expect a wait of five to 10 years for a hearing to appeal his disability application. Another veteran expressed frustration with getting an appointment for an eye exam, saying his call to a clinic in March wasn’t returned until the end of April, and one veteran complained of the bureaucracy he faced trying to get treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Latta has written to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, asking for clarification of regulations that cover when veterans can be sent to private health care providers. There are about 70,000 veterans in the 5th Congressional District, Latta said, Gary Nordahl, Rep. Bob Latta commander of Post 28, urged veterans to avail themselves of the services offered by American Legion and Veterans of Foreign War posts. He said his post offers transportation service to area VA clinics and lodging for veterans from out of town. “Here at Post 28 we do have men who need help,” he said. In testimony May 15 before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Richard Griffin, acting inspector general of the VA department, said a report of his office’s investigation of the deaths in Arizona should be complete in August. At his request, Secretary Shinseki placed the director and associate director of the Phoenix Health Care System on administrative leave while the investigation was being conducted. Latta also held sessions in Findlay and Defiance.
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There are two justice systems in our nation — one for average people, who can go to prison, and a separate one for bank executives. Fran Teplitz See page 11
Animal clinic, fertilizer plant on commission agenda By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com Requests for zoning changes to properties in Lake and Freedom townships are on the agenda of the Wood County Planning Commission meeting scheduled for June 3. In Lake Township, an application to rezone about 3 acres from an R-2 residential classification to a B-1 neighborhood business classification has been submitted on behalf of the East Suburban Animal Clinic, 5032 Walbridge Rd. A new animal clinic is planned for the parcel, which is located on the southwest corner of Woodville and Pemberville roads. The parcel sits about one-half mile to the east of Owen Road.
The plan commission staff is recommending the commission submit a recommendation for the change to the Lake Township trustees. “The proposed end use and desired zoning classification do fit in with what is existing in the immediate area,” the staff recommendation says. “There is an existing animal clinic directly to the west of the subject parcel, which has operated as a legal non-conforming use for quite some time.” As with all commercial parcels that abut residentially zoned areas in the township, the parcel would be subject to screening and buffering requirements, the recommendation says. In the surrounding area, there is B-1 neighborhood business to the north, B-2
general commercial to the east and R-2 residential to the south and west. Fertilizer plant planned In Freedom Township, the Countyline Co-Op, E. Front Street, Pemberville, has filed an application to rezone about 10.3 acres from the A-1 agricultural classification to M-1 industrial zoning. The cooperative would like to construct a fertilizer manufacturing facility on the parcel that is on the east side of Pemberville Road and is adjacent to the northern corporation line of the Village of Pemberville. The commission staff is also recommending a thumbs up for this project be submitted by the commission to the township trustees.
“Given the parcel’s location to other areas zoned M-1 industrial and B-1 neighborhood commercial, as well as its proximity to the Village of Pemberville and utilities, the desired zoning does fit,” the recommendation says. The cooperative would have to meet the township’s requirements for setbacks, parking, screening and buffering. The commission Tuesday will also review applications for the 2014 Community Development Block Grant program and prepare a list for approval by the county commissioners. A total of $181,000 in funding has been allocated to Wood County, which is expected to be used for four projects. The board meeting starts at 5:30 p.m.