Ronald McDonald House

    The Ronald McDonald House in Huntington has continued to show strong financial numbers in these tough economic times.

    Tanyia Oakley, executive director for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Tri-State, said that while the country has been facing tough times, by the way of charity, it has had one of its best years ever fundraising.

            According to mchouse.org, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Tri-State Web site, the mission for the Huntington chapter “is a home-away-from-home for families who must travel hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles outside of their own community to seek medical treatment for a child.”

            The Huntington area organization is the only one that serves the Tri-State area.

            The organization plays hosts to a golf tournament along with a dinner dance at the beginning of June. Even with talk of a recession, both events sold out, which surprised Oakley.

            “We are really blessed,” Oakley said, “Our golf tournament and our sponsors stuck with us, and surprisingly we picked new ones up. We had our best (tournament) ever.”

            Oakley said the organization has been lucky to keep its fundraising totals from dropping, and she believes people have faith in what they do.

               “I think it is our brand recognition,” Oakley said. “We’re a children’s charity and even though these are tough economic times, unfortunately kids still get sick.”

            According to the charity’s 2008 annual report, while contributions were down 19 percent in 2007, the organization brought in over $220,000 in special events, which is up from the previous year’s total of more than $63,000.

            Overall total revenues were up from $659,385 in 2006 to $664,640, a total of $5,255 dollars. Oakley said that while fundraising and contributions from the public help keep the charity going, the charity finds ways to earn and save money.

            The charity collects donations of objects such as food, laundry detergent, toiletries, office supplies and soda can tabs. Tabs, after being recycled, Oakley said the money is used to pay their electric bill.

            However the most important resource for the charity is people who actually volunteer at the house.

            While the Ronald McDonald House of the Tri-State is the largest member of the organization in West Virginia, it also has the smallest paid staff of the charities.

            The staff has four full-time employees along with three part-time employees, but the charity has more than 80 volunteers. Oakley said the paid staff is only half of what other staffs at other organizations the size of Huntington’s are.

 She said that the volunteers are what keep the House open and make it possible for them to help families.

            “We are volunteer driven, I could not do what we do without these volunteers,” Oakley said. “I have better employee retention (volunteers being employees) than most businesses. They never miss and are so loyal.”

Louise Fyler, who has been volunteering for four years, said the volunteers are there to help with the organization because they all believe in what the charity is doing.

“It is a wonderful agency,” Fyler said. “The staff needs more help to relieve them from such a heavy load, but volunteers do a very good job to help.”

            Fyler, who is from New York, is retired. She said most of those people who volunteer are retired and only work part-time at other jobs.

            “It’s a pleasant environment we work in,” Fyler said. “And it lets us offer some sort of service to the community.”

            With economic experts suggesting that tougher economic times are coming, Oakley said she is not worried about raising money for the children.

            “I think economic times are going to get tougher, but I do believe in the generosity of individuals,” Oakley said. “Even though it’s tough there is always going to be a spot in people’s hearts. They are always going to give.”

Little Dennis' Big Money Woes

  He is one of the poorest men in the House of Representatives, but Rep. Dennis Kucinich from Ohio’s 10^th district has taken a hit to his assets in the past year.

            According to Kucinich’s financial disclosure from the year of 2008, he had member asset in a company called Digital News Reel which is owned by Hana Holding LLC., which Kucinich is a partner of.

The range of this asset had no value. But according to the 2007 financial disclosure, the asset had the value in the range of $100,001—$250,000.

In 2008 while his assets for the American Croatian Lodge, a social club for the Croatian community of Cleveland, and Congressional Federal Credit had the same value from 2007 at $1—$1,000, his Third Federal Savings Accounts assets had risen to a value of $50,001—$100,000.

 So with the loss of the Digital News Reel stock, his total assets from 2008 are in the range $50,003—$102,000.

His other assets in 2007, one from the American Croatian Lodge and the Congressional Federal Credit were the same as 2008, assets in Third Federal Savings and Loan ranging from $1.001—$15,000, Kucinich’s total assets in 2007 were in the range of  $101,003—$267,000.

According to the financial disclosure Kucinich may have lost over $100,000 in the past year.  The maximum amount he had in his assets from the two years has dropped 62 percent.

            When going into detail about Digital News Reel, when trying to get in contact with the corporation, its phone number listed on the Web site leads to a message that said the number was disconnected.

            Information about whether Kucinich sold his stock or the company went out of business could not be found, but the loss of the Digital News Reel asset affected his net worth.

             While his assets have changed, the amount of income has not been affected. In both 2007 and 2008 the American Croatian Lodge gave him an amount in the range of $1—$200, Third Federal Savings Accounts gave him an amount in the range of $201-$1,000 and Congressional Federal Credit gave him an amount of $1—$200.

            Along with these sources of income, Kucinich had his salary for working in The House, which has increased from 2007 to 2008. According to a report from the Senate Web site, in 2007 representatives made a salary of $165,200. In 2008 the salary was raised to $169,300 a 2.5 percent increase.

            Along with  income staying the same, his liabilities stayed the same in the two years.  In both 2007 and 2008 he had three different liabilities in the range of $15,000—$50,000. He had credit card payments due to American Express and loans from both the Congressional Credit Union and Thrift Savings Program. 

            Kucinich has campaigned for the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 2004 and in 2008.

             

             

           

              

Little Dennis Kucinich's big ole money problems

Dennis Kucinich is the representative for the 10^th district in Ohio, which represents those in the Cleveland area. In 2007-2008 fiscal disclosure of Kucinich, who is a member of a company in Cleveland named Digital News Reel. He has an asset in the company worth in the range of $100,000­—200,000. Yet in the fiscal disclosure for 2008-2009 his asset for the same company is worth nothing because the company went inactive. What I want to look at is what happened to this company in the year to make it inactive and how it affects Kucinich and how he is making an earning now, with all his income now coming from Federal Income Accounts. With him being one of the least wealthy representatives in the house, how is he facing the recent recession?

Can First Sentry Bank handle the 21st Century

First Sentry Bank is a local bank in the Huntington Area. It is one of the main companies in the area. But like all banks in America it is facing tough times. How will the bank deal with the tough times? Will local residents be willing to keep their money with a smaller bank and go to the larger banks? Do people truest the small town banks more than the large time Big Cities banks? Can First Sentry handle the 21^st century?

The Tri-State Commute

 As gasoline prices continue to rise, people who commute to work in the Tri-State continue to be the ones who suffer.

            According to a report by the Charlotte Observer, gasoline prices have risen for fifty straight days across the United States, with prices in the Tri-State reaching as high as $2.80 in most areas.

            While gasoline prices affect all of America, the Tri-State seems to be affected a little more, as many people in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia commute to their places of work.

            Sunoco Chemicals Plant, located in Haverhill Ohio, has people commuting from as far away as Huntington (30 miles), McDermott, Ohio (32 miles) and Grayson Ky. (37 miles).

            Steve Arnett, General Foreman of Instrumentation at Sunoco, who lives 29 miles away in McDermott, Ohio, said when he received gas money for work it has increased throughout the weeks.

            “When I got money from my wife for gas it started at just $20 a week,” Arnett said, “but then she had to add $10.  Now it takes $50 to fill up my tank so I can make it to work each week.”

            Along with driving to and from work everyday, most employees of Sunoco have to drive throughout the plant, which sometimes can be as small a trip as one or two miles, and sometimes can reach as high as 10 miles a day.

            As the month has gone by, gas prices have seen a significant increase. According to AAA, gas prices in Huntington have risen by 33 cents, and prices in Ironton, Ohio and Ashland, Ky, have risen by over 46 cents.

            Bevi Powell, director of communications for AAA East Central, said that demand for gasoline will have prices remain high for most of the summer.

            “We usually don’t see prices fall until after Labor Day.” Johnson said. “The demand for gasoline is so high during this time period with people taking vacations that usually oil prices don’t tend to fall until after that time.”

            But one thing that bothers many Sunoco Chemicals workers is when they take trips to other places for deliveries or meetings, they see lower gas prices in the different areas.

            Larry Quillen, shift supervisor at the plant from Raceland Ky., said that when taking trips to another Sunoco owned plant in Kenova, W.Va, he was upset that gas was cheaper there that in the area near the plant. The price in Kenova was $2.65 while the price in Raceland was $2.84.

            I don’t understand why there is such a difference in these places that aren’t that far apart from each other.” Quillen said, “it makes no sense for the 20 cent difference when we are right near each other.”

            While most people don’t understand why gasoline prices are so different in areas so close, Johnson said that there is an explanation for the price increase.

            “The different areas in the Tri-State require different blends of gasoline.” Johnson said. “They have to meet EPA standards for that region, which sometimes makes it more expensive to manufacture.”

            Johnson also pointed out how oil has increased in price over the past months. In December crude oil was selling for around $30 to $40 dollars a barrel.  Now according to CNNMoney.com a barrel of crude oil has increased above $71.

            With gas prices rising, people are looking for alternatives to finding a way to work.  The most well known idea, carpooling, seems like a good idea, but schedules and living locations kind of make that idea obsolete.

            “Everyone who lives near someone who works at the plant has a different schedule than one another.” Arnett said about the notion of carpooling. “That and most people don’t live by one another so carpooling is almost impossible.”

            According to Johnson, AAA has some ideas that will save gas for everyone without having to make big sacrifices.

            “Keep your car light. The heavier your car is the more gas it will use,” Johnson said. “Routine car maintenance is also very important as well as keeping a steady speed. The faster you go the more gas you use. “

            While the plant doesn’t involve carpooling or have ideas for ways to save gas, Quillen said they can still do something to help out its employees.

            “They can give us gas cards. We are Sunoco, it wouldn’t hurt to have a way to give us some money for gas,” Quillen said. “Maybe instead of driving our cars through the plant we can have golf carts to help us get around.”

            As gas prices continue to rise, Tri-State employees will still have to continue finding ways for commuting to work, causing a pain at the pump for all. 

            

Investigative Journalism Studying

In class we discussed Investigative reporting. We had two different case studies that looked into how reporters dealt with stories that involved actually doing investigation to find the story and report facts that are hidden from the public and find out facts that affect the public. 

In the first case study from chapter one, the story is about a reporter who is very well-liked on his police beat. Two officers approach him anonymously about reporting a story that the Sheriff was hiring people for campaign donations. The reporter gave the story to an investigative reporter, who in turn found out through documents that this was true. The story was taking place during election season. Some information the reporter could not get before the election, so he decided it was his public duty to run the story before the election. He then gave the Sheriff the opportunity to respond to the allegations, but he refused the interview. This added to the story and resulted in the Sheriff losing the election. 

The second case study is about a reporter who was very good at finding information from public records. It also discusses the ethics of withholding sources. She finds information on the Mayor using city workers for free, private enterprise work. She has a hard time though finding concrete evidence, thanks to a former reporter who works for the mayor. The mayor declined an interview, and the story was ran with just a pre-written statement from the mayor. While there was calls for his resignation, the mayor continued in office. 

Along with the case studies, we had to find an example of investigative reporting ourselves. I chose one written for the Charleston Gazette by Eric Eyre, written in the April 21 2005 edition. A link to the original story can be found here; http://wvgazette.com/News/WebofDeceit/200504210003.

The story is about how former House of Delegates Education Committee Chairman Jerry Mezzatesta was indicted on the charge lying to an Ethics Commission during an investigation about him soliciting grants for Hampshire County schools. 

He originally was cleared of this, but the Gazette found a letter actually soliciting money for the school.  He also cleared his computers and sent fake letters to Erye that showed him not soliciting money, but investigation done by Erye showed the letterhead from the letter was actually ordered after he supposedly wrote the letter. 

Some people might ask why this is and investigative report.  According to the book Investigative Journalism, an investigative report has to have one or more of four guidelines in a story. 

1. Reveal information that someone is trying to hide or that otherwise would not have been known.

2. Are a matter of importance to the public well-being. 

3. Are the work product of the reporter rather than a leak from a government agency investigation.

4. Expose a waste of tax money caused by mismanagement or corruption in government, dangerous conditions posing safety hazards or fraudulent conduct in the private sector that preys on the consumer. 

This report follows the first guideline because Mezzatesta tried to hide the fact that he was soliciting money for the schools by wiping out his computer and sending fake letters to the reporter and the government. 

It follows the second one because it should be known that a trusted elected official is using dishonesty to gain money for the school. The money could have went to something more important that what the school system was going to use it for. 

The reporter was the one originally to break the story which led to an investigation by Federal government, so that adds to the third point of investigative journalism. 

When asked if the reporter gave the subject a fair chance, he did, but Mezzatesta used his lawyer to give a statement on the subject. In the story the quote appears in the sixth paragraph of the story. Mezzatesta was given the chance but Eyre said he did not talk to him, but went on public radio and called Eyre a liar. 

The reporter does point to a key document. The document in question is an actual letter from Mezzatesta to the Hampshire county schools' Superintendent David Stewart. The letter was soliciting department grant money for Hampshire schools. While graphics and pictures do not accompany the story, a graph on the money spent by the school would have helped. 

The public of West Virginia would be interested in the story because of one the trusted elected officials was caught breaking the law. This would be passed around by a lot of people wanting to know what the government was doing about it. A lot of people would be affected by the story because if affects the whole state of West Virginia. It really makes people look at how they look at the government officials they hire. 

There was a follow up story, it was mainly what happened in the court case. Mezzatesta was found not guilty, but his reputation was given serious damage.

The headlines were very straight forward and featured no harsh words. It was just a straight news lead headline that gave the information and did not put too much judgement into the story. The headline was very unbiased. 

You can determine where the reporter got his information from because he said where he got it from in the story. When the reporter downright tells where he got the information from it's easy to trust what he is saying and believe the sources from the story. 

Erye in an interview about the story said he originally got the idea from a tipster inside the house of delegates. After the tip he looked into the subject finding letters and documents supporting the claim of the tipster. This investigative report was very well done because it used actual documents in finding the true story.   

HURA MEETING

The Huntington Urban Renewal Authority is thinking of taking its money and running, to a new bank.

            Right now HURA holds its' account at Chase bank, whose home office is located in New York.  Member Diane Mufson, who has been on the committee for two years, suggested moving the account to a bank with local ties.

            Mufson said that moving to a bank like First Sentry, which is a community bank based in Huntington, would be “more supportive than a bank not based in the area.” With the account at Chase, Mufson said that the the committee was being charged a fee for little or no actions. 

            While originally the motion was to outright move the finances, committee member and director of administration and finance for the city, Brandi Jacobs-Jones, suggested to get a proposal from the local banks before moving funds.

            The committee agreed that moving the account would seem like a way to help local economy, but local banks could still be able to charge the same service fees as national banks. 

            Also HURA voted on to try to acquire the position of Land Bank Authority. As Land Bank Authority the board would able to have first rights on delinquent tax properties and after 18 months of owning the property, it could resell the properties to gain a profit. 

  HURA though was not the only city backed commission interested in landing the Land Bank authority, as the Huntington Municipal Development Authority has expressed interest to City Council for it to be given the authority account.

            HURA member  Philip Carter, a professor in Marshall’s social worker department, said that leadership sets them apart for acquiring the Land Bank deal.

“We have the ability and savvy to deal with big business and the Federal Government.” Carter said, “We have the experience with HURA as the protector and growth advocate of the neighborhoods.”    

Carter also suggested that the committee use a study to see if it can invite Land Bank administrators from cities similar to Huntington. Examples used were Lexington, Columbus and Pittsburgh, to come and share experiences with the board in hopes of sharing ideas in making Huntington a better city.      

            According to HURA member, and new president of the committee architect Nate Randolph, this is a pilot project from the state of West Virginia, in which there is a home rule of “Doing something in your own community.

            Randolph also mentioned a project that the committee has already have had great success with, the Artisan Avenue project in the area by using new streets, new housing and new roads. Also mentioned was Pullman Square, which the Authority was instrumental in planning.            

            Along with planning the many ventures to help the city, the committee decided on their officers for the fiscal 2009 years.

            In what was seemed to be a shock to him, long time chairperson Carter was replaced by Randolph. After the election, members of the committee tried to nominate Carter for other positions, but he declined nomination every time.

            Filling out the rest of the cabinet positions for the committee, Jacobs Jones was named vice president, Mufson was named secretary and new member Herb Stanley was named treasurer.

            Elections were finally held after enough members were there to have a full meeting. The last time a real meeting was held was in January.

            While many important issues were introduced in the meeting, one of the more light-hearted moments involved a look at the committee’s Federal Reserve bank account.

            According to Randolph the committee was sent a letter that said the committee’s old account had an excess of over $1 million.  While they didn’t believe they had the money, they decided they would investigate into the claim.

            As the committee thought, the claim was too good to be true and it was just an insurance policy that was left over after the committee moved its' account.

            The committee meets every third Monday of the month in the city council chambers.