By Katie Black

Sorry the article you are about to read has nothing to do with actual drinkable tea, though I do love a nice glass of sweet tea and on occasion, green tea. Oops…better get back on track. Everyone who filed taxes and even those naughty ones who didn’t know that April 15th is the dreaded (I emphasize dreaded) TAX DAY! So, try to stay with me. What does delicious tea and not so delicious or edible tax day have to do with each other? Well I never pass up the chance to go back through history.

Let’s pick the date December 16, 1773. To those of you who are not smarter than a fifth grader this was the day of the Boston Tea Party. Again what is the correlation between tax and tea? Don’t worry I will brush up your history. Back in the days of the New World, America was colonized and controlled by the British. No big deal except the British got the bright idea to pass an act in 1721 that said, and I will summarize, colonist can’t buy tea from anywhere else but Britain. Yes the British allowed the East India Trading Company to become a monopoly on tea and many other goods, our focus is tea though. To make a long story short, in 1773 the King passed a Tea Act on the American colonists. Ugh, more money the colonists didn’t have or didn’t want to spend. Well the Tea Act actually reduced the cost of tea but just the tea not other goods. Basically ridiculous amounts of taxes were being forced on the colonists because it was thought they wouldn’t do anything about it and because Britain had accumulated a bulky amount of debt, and who better to push it off on then the people across the sea. Well the monarchy was wrong. The colonist did do something. On December 16th men boarded three British ships and threw the tea overboard into the Boston Harbor, sending the message “no taxation without representation”. The Boston Tea Party along with other events led to the Revolutionary War and American freedom.

History aside, the question now is what is the point of this article?!? On April 15th 2009 “tea parties” were held all across the United States supporting smaller government, supporting free markets, taking on fiscal responsibility, and respecting the constitution. I along with Jack, Patti, and Pete Berbach attended the Tea Party in Dayton. Some of you I know are rolling your eyes saying, “This is another political event”. I want to inform you that it is a political event but it is not held by a parties or politicians. It is held by the people, republican, democrat, independent, libertarian or whatever you call yourself. For once there were no party lines, just people upset with the stimulus package, hard working citizens paying tax dollars for individuals who don’t work at all, supporters of the fair tax, and so many other issues. It was a respectable protest of our government today bailing out car companies, banks, etc, increasing our taxes when the government should not be involved in any of the companies. Our country is founded on capitalism, small government, and an open market. Strangling us with a tax rope will not help the economy, and most important it will not help the citizens. Like the Boston Tea Party we want “no taxation without representation”. Spending trillions of dollars might help in the short-run but what happens in the long-run? I guess it will be another Presidents problem, another Congress’s issue, but it certainly will stick with us working class citizens for generations.

If you are interested in who spoke, what issues were discussed, or just curious you can visit www.daytonohioteaparty.com.

On Saturday March 28th at approximately 7:45 pm, the Tipp City High School Baseball team left the high school headed for Fort Walton Beach, Florida for a spring baseball tournament they participate in every year. The team arrived Sunday morning at the Holiday Inn Sunspree on Okaloosa Island which is located in southern Okaloosa County, Florida. The team was accompanied by 4 coaches and several parent chaperones. The team occupied 7 different rooms with 4 boys to a room. Over the next several days the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams played in games at several local high schools.

On Wednesday April 1st while conducting curfew checks of the boys’ rooms, Assistant Varsity Coach Jim Johnson reported to Head Coach Bruce Cahill that he believed he smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from one of the rooms. After discussion with the other coaches it was decided that they would do a room inspection the following morning.

At approximately 11:30 the next morning, while the students were out, a search of the room was conducted and several rolled marijuana cigarettes and partially burnt “roaches” were discovered in a Listerine travel bottle. When the students arrived back at the hotel, the coaches questioned them about what they had found and their involvement. At the direction of Athletic Director Matt Shomper, local law enforcement was called to investigate.

At 13:08, Officer Arnold of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department arrived and completed interviews with the boys and determined they where all being truthful as to what happened, so he decided not to make any arrests. He then spoke with Assistant High School Principal Brian Honeycutt and informed him of the decision and advised that the evidence, 3 grams of marijuana, would be collected and maintained for future use if necessary. Honeycutt informed Officer Brown that the school was going to take administrative action against the students.

The students were sent home at their own expense as soon as arrangements with their parents could be made. I spoke with Dr. Kronour about the incident and he said that the school was taking the appropriate administrative steps with regards to the discipline of the four students involved.

On a more positive note, the varsity team did finish the tournament 2 & 3. Coach Cahill said that typically they play against ranking Kentucky teams. This is the 11th year of the trip in which the team has participated in tournaments in Cocoa Beach, Orlando, and Tennessee. This is their second year back at Ft. Walton Beach, FL. Cahill said the trip helps to bond the team by participating in activities, team dinners, practice and to build experience against high ranked teams.

For their first game on Monday March 30th the team played 8th ranked Lexington Dunbar HS at Niceville HS and finished with a 6-5 loss.

On Tuesday March 1st the team came out strong for game 2 when they played at Ocaloosa Walton Community College against Todd County HS. Ryan Koopman pitched a perfect game for the first 5 innings with T.J. Smith finishing up for a Tipp City win of 10-0. Later that day they played 16th ranked Louisville Dupont Manual High School at Ft. Walton Beach HS and was up 4-0 until a rain delay. After the delay they finished with an 8-5 loss.

The team had Wednesday off from games and Thursday was a complete rainout, but they were back at it on Friday against #3 ranked Louisville Eastern HS at Ft. Walton Beach HS in which they ended up with a 20-6 loss.

The team finished up on Saturday, April 4th against Crestview High School coming from behind 3-1 in the 7th inning and finishing up with a win of 8-7 in ten innings.

For more information on the Tipp City High School baseball teams such as schedule, scores, players and coaches please visit www.tippecanoebaseball.com.

COLUMBUS – Former State Representative Fred Strahorn returned to Ohio’s General Assembly today when he was sworn into office as the State Senator for District 5, representing Miami County and parts of Montgomery and Darke counties. Senator Strahorn replaces Tom Roberts who retired in February to accept an appointment to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

“I’m excited to get back to work as a member of the General Assembly,” said Senator Strahorn. “There’s a lot I hope to accomplish on behalf of the people of the 5th District. Education will be one of my priority issues, especially getting parents more involved.”

The Senate Democratic Caucus voted unanimously to appoint Strahorn to fill the remainder of Senator Robert’s term, which expires in 2010. “I would like to express my thanks to the Democratic Caucus for my appointment to the Senate and my gratitude to my friends and family for their support,” said Senator Strahorn.
Senator Strahorn spent eight years in the Ohio House of Representatives before he left office in 2008 because of term limits. While in the Ohio House he served as Minority Whip and Democratic Caucus Policy Chairman. Senator Strahorn most recently worked as Vice President for Governmental Affairs for the Ohio United Way.