Gina White dodges Florida winds again

BJ Composing retiree Gina White, who lives in Venice, Florida, dodged a bullet when the tornados slapped the Gulf Coast this week.

Gina, widow of former Composing foreman Dave White, wrote:

“No problems here. Lots of wind and rain and a tornado on U.S. 41 about a mile from here.”

A tornado landed on Siesta Key, where I’ve been winterizing for two decades on the world’s #1 beach adjacent to Sarasota, 15 miles from Gina’s house.

Two were killed in Duette, which is 40 miles from Venice.

Gina is used to dodging Florida’s scary weather. Her and Dave one year had Hurricane Charley hit to the west of their home and Hurricane Frances to the east of their home in the same hurricane season.

Dave passed away in December 2012. He was the one who filed the first healthcare lawsuit against the BJ that led to the 2012 victory by 45 retired printers and 5 Guild retirees, restoring them to their retirement-day coverage.

The settlement came four month before Dave died, but was implemented Jan. 1, 2013, a few weeks after Dave passed away. However, Gina and others, including myself ($16,001 check) received reimbursements for health care overpayments going back to 2005.

Gina explained in a BJ Alums article a few years back how Dave got to writing the $2,500 check that got the ball rolling:

Dave met Lou Smith at the Island House Condominium in the early 90's where he was working as grounds manager. Lou was a condo owner and every year when he would come down, he and Dave would mess around together.

So now, every year at Christmas, we send Lou several bottles of 1905 salad dressing from the Columbia Restaurant at St. Armand's and he sends a pointsettia.

When we needed an attorney's advice and help on the lawsuit, we called Lou to see if anything could be done. He referred us to his "labor law" expert, Allen Anderson. This was in 2005 when the BJ first started messing with us. Of course, there was nothing that we could do then.

Then 4 years ago, in another conversation with Allen, he informed us that there had been some judgments in these type of cases that might be favorable to us.

And, then you know the rest of the story.

45 former BJ printers and 6 newsroom folks, including me, owe Dave White a major debt of gratitude.  I know from my own experience that it is saving me about $3,000 a year in improved coverage, on top of the hefty reimbursement for my prescription costs.

 

BJ’s Kim Veverka passes away

Kim Veverka, a BJ Finance Department supervisor that Ol' Blue Walls swept away in one of its mass dismissals, passed away Friday, January 15.

Cheryl Scott Sheinin, wife of former BJ staffer Neil Sheinin, and herself retired from the Finance Department after 45 years, wrote:

Kim Veverka

”R.I.P. Kim Veverka. You were a great supervisor at the BJ. We had many good talks. Oh how you loved your sons, golf and the Browns.”

When I asked for more details, Cheryl replied:

He was a supervisor in Finance. Oversaw Cash Processing. He was only there about 2 years and was let go the "Black Thursday" of all those layoffs. There were 8 let go in Finance. He was an avid golfer, Browns, Cavs and Indians fan. Had 2 sons. He was only 59 at his passing on Friday. His obit was in the paper yesterday.

Kim’s obituary:

Kim D. Veverka

WADSWORTH -- Kim D. Veverka, 59, of Wadsworth, passed away Friday, January 15, 2016.

He was born on April 8, 1956 in Wadsworth to the late Otto J. and Mary G. Veverka.

Mr. Veverka was a graduate of Wadsworth High School Class of 1974, and continued his education at Bluffton University from where he received his Bachelors Degree. He was retired from Medicus Golf, was an avid golfer and fan of the Cleveland Browns, Indians, Cavaliers and The Ohio State Buckeyes. He was also a very proud father and grandfather.

Kim is survived by his sons, Douglas Veverka of Indianapolis, Ind., Darin (Amber) Veverka of Wadsworth; his beloved grandson, Otto; brother, Jeff (Kathy) Veverka; and sister, Jenny Veverka, all of Wadsworth. He is also survived by his nephews, Mike (Erin) Veverka and their son Jake, Eric Veverka and his son Larson, along with many friends and extended family members.

A memorial service will be held 8 p.m. Thursday at the Hilliard-Rospert Funeral Home, 174 N. Lyman St., Wadsworth, where the family will receive friends 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

The family requests that those attending calling hours or the memorial service dress in golf attire or wear clothing representing Kim's favorite sports teams, the Browns, Indians, Cavaliers or Buckeyes.

Hilliard-Rospert

330-334-1501 www.HilliardRospert.com

Published in Akron Beacon Journal from Jan. 19 to Jan. 20, 2016

 

Glenn Frey taking it easy in Hotel Heaven

Glenn Frey, 67, singer, songwriter, guitarist and a founding member of the Eagles, died Monday.

He succumbed to complications from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Acute Ulcerative Colitis and Pneumonia.

Frey wrote and provided vocals for many of the Eagles’ biggest hits hits, including “Heartache Tonight,” “Lyin’ Eyes,” “Tequila Sunrise” and “Take It Easy.”

The musician, with Don Henley, also co-wrote “Hotel California” and “Desperado.”

 

 

Pushing Portage Lakes project

BJ retiree Carol Eubank is rounding up old photos to add to the Preserving Portage Lakes history project.

Carol’s post:

Preserving Portage Lakes history one photograph at a time sponsored by the Portage Lakes Historical Society and the Portage Lakes Branch library. Do you have interesting old photos (pre-1980) in your family photo albums? Don't let those photos or slides be lost forever, let us preseve a digital copy and share your photos with the public. Call the library 330-644-7050 to make an appointment for either Friday, Feb, 5, Friday, March 4 or Friday, April 1 from 1-4 p.m. The 170 plus photos scanned at previous Photo days can be viewed at summitmemory.org . Then type in Portage Lakes project. This service is an ongoing project to the Portage Lakes community.

I am sad to post this

People just don’t trust newspapers any more.

36% percent think they get the facts straight, down from 54% in mid-1989.

23% find factual errors at least once a week.

35% see spelling or grammar errors more than once a week. That one really hurts, but I see it in today’s BJ. People like Hal Fry and Art Cullison were gatekeepers for those areas during my time at Ol’ Blue Walls.

Another sad sign: Among those who witnessed a story, but were not a part of it, 51% said the article was inaccurate. Which makes them question stories they didn’t witness.

Reporters and editors blame the “rush to deadline,” which always has been there; overworked and overstaffed, which makes sense when the BJ went from 250 in my time there to 60 today; and inattention, carelessness, inexperience, poor knowledge and bad editing and reporting.

Slashing newsroom staffs contributed mightily to the final reason. I feel most for those who were there when JSK was in his corner office, because they know best the difference between then and now.

This is not an attack on the current staff, who struggle mightily against tremendous odds dumped on them by a management that didn’t see the Internet impact coming until it was too late.

As usual, the privates pay for the generals’ mistakes.

John Olesky with 1932 Ford yellow deuce coupe in The Villages

Paul Le Mat as cool hot-rodder Milner in 'American Graffitti'

1932 Ford yellow deuce coupe deja vue

Paula and I visited the monthly car show in The Villages at Spanish Springs.

I was drawn to a 1932 yellow deuce car. It reminded me of the hot-rod that cool John Milner, played by Paul Le Mat, cruised in during the 1973 “American Graffitti” movie.

No wonder. It was a 1932 Ford yellow deuce coupe. Not the one in the movie, of course.

But it was autographed on the dashboard by Paula Le Mat.

Rick Figari of San Francisco owns the 1932 Ford yellow deuce coupe that was in “American Graffitti.”

The "THX 138" plates were custom-made for the movie. George Lucas' first movie was "THX 1138", a sci-fi film.

Osgood bowing out

Charles Osgood’s bow tie will disappear from "CBS Sunday Morning" this year. Jane Pauley probably will replace Osgood as anchor, where Charlie reigned for two decades.

Pauley occasionally substitutes as host for Osgood, who is 83.

Osgood will have knee-replacement surgery in a few weeks and will be off the air while he recovers.

My personal experience is that you need at least 4 weeks before you can play golf again.

Osgood took over the telecast from Charles Kuralt.

Osgood is expected to continue “The Osgood File” on CBS Radio. He’s been doing that since 1971.

 “CBS Sunday Morning” is the top rated Sunday morning news program, easily surpassing  “Good Morning America” and “Today.”

Plagiarism pays well

Arizona State University professor Matthew Whitaker, accused of plagiarism multiple times, will be paid more than $200,000 in salary over the next 16 months and $25,000 in attorney fees to resign.

He gets $153,530 a year from ASU. He is co-director of the Center of Race and Democracy.

Whitaker passed off Chicago police material as his own for his $268,800 contract with Phoenix police over race and policing. 52 of the 84 slides were Chicago police slides.

Non-plussed, Whitaker posted: “I will be devoting my full efforts to teaching and working on behalf of racial healing, harmony, diversity and inclusion.”

He is an author and well-paid speaker about race in America.

Palagarism means “kidnapping” someone else’s work and passing it off as your own. The origin of plagiarism is early 17th century, from Latin plagiarius 'kidnapper' (from plagium 'a kidnapping,' from Greek plagion) + ism.

Newspaper management ‘paralyzed’

“People aren't stupid. They won't buy stuff they can get anywhere else. They will only buy stuff they can't get for free elsewhere.”

But newspapers don’t give readers what they want to read and even what they hand out is staler than week-old bread. It’s been all over the Internet and the cable news channels for 12 or more hours.

Many of the smaller newspapers are run by third and fourth generations of the family that owns the newspapers, and they are clueless and “paralyzed.”

So says Steve Brill, who founded Press Plus, designed to get newspapers to think outside the envelope instead of being boxed in by the Internet.

To read the entire article, click on http://www.poynter.org/2016/newspaper-bosses-paralyzed-by-change-clueless-about-paid-content-says-steve-brill/391102/  

 

In 75 years, the newspapers slide

The number of daily newspapers in America is 1,331 (2014 figures). In 1940, there were 1,878 newspapers.

Total newspaper circulation is LESS than it was in 1940, when America had 132 million people and not the current 300 million.

Nearly three times as many people buying 72% as many papers as in 1940.

It’s a tired, old, sad story, but here are the numbers.

 

 

					Newspaper  Circulation
Number of Daily Newspapers					Daily Circulation				Sunday
Year	Morning	Evening	Total Daily Newspapers		Morning (000)	Evening (000)	Total (000)		Sunday Newspapers	Sunday Circulation (000)
2014	953	402	1,331		36,765	3,655	40,420		923	42,751
2013	980	444	1,395		36,975	3,737	40,712		934	43,292
2012	985	442	1,427		38,723	4,710	43,433		981	44,821
2011*	931	451	1,382		40,321	4,100	44,421		900	48,510
2010	NA	NA	NA		NA	NA	44,100		NA	NA
2009	862	525	1,387		40,269	5,383	45,653		911	46,164
2008	872	546	1,408		42,757	5,840	48,597		902	49,115
2007	867	565	1,422		44,548	6,194	50,742		907	51,246
2006	833	614	1,437		45,441	6,888	52,329		907	53,179
2005	817	645	1,452		46,122	7,222	53,345		914	55,270
2004	814	653	1,457		46,887	7,738	54,626		915	57,754
2003	787	680	1,456		46,930	8,255	55,185		917	58,495
2002	777	692	1,457		46,617	8,568	55,186		913	58,780
2001	776	704	1,468		46,821	8,756	55,578		913	59,090
2000	766	727	1,480		46,772	9,000	55,773		917	59,421
1999	736	760	1,483		45,997	9,982	55,979		905	59,894
1998	721	781	1,489		45,643	10,539	56,182		898	60,066
1997	705	816	1,509		45,434	11,290	56,728		903	60,486
1996	686	846	1,520		44,785	12,198	56,983		890	60,798
1995	656	891	1,533		44,310	13,883	58,193		888	61,229
1994	635	935	1,548		43,382	15,924	59,305		886	62,295
1993	623	954	1,556		43,094	16,718	59,812		884	62,566
1992	596	996	1,570		42,388	17,777	60,164		891	62,160
1991	571	1,042	1,586		41,470	19,217	60,687		875	62,068
1990	559	1,084	1,611		41,311	21,017	62,328		863	62,635
1989	530	1,125	1,626		40,759	21,890	62,649		847	62,008
1988	529	1,141	1,642		40,453	22,242	62,695		840	61,474
1987	511	1,166	1,645		39,124	23,702	62,826		820	60,112
1986	499	1,188	1,657		37,441	25,061	62,502		802	58,925
1985	482	1,220	1,676		36,362	26,405	62,766		798	58,826
1984	458	1,257	1,688		35,683	27,657	63,340		783	57,574
1983	446	1,284	1,701		33,842	28,802	62,645		772	56,747
1982	434	1,310	1,711		33,174	29,313	62,487		768	56,261
1981	408	1,352	1,730		30,552	30,878	61,431		755	55,180
1980	387	1,388	1,745		29,414	32,787	62,202		736	54,676
1979	382	1,405	1,763		28,575	33,648	62,223		720	54,380
1978	355	1,419	1,756		27,657	34,333	61,990		696	53,990
1977	352	1,435	1,753		26,742	34,753	61,495		668	52,429
1976	346	1,435	1,762		25,858	35,119	60,977		650	51,565
1975	339	1,436	1,756		25,490	35,165	60,655		639	51,096
1974	340	1,449	1,768		26,145	35,732	61,877		641	51,679
1973	343	1,451	1,774		26,524	36,623	63,147		634	51,717
1972	337	1,441	1,761		26,078	36,432	62,510		605	50,001
1971	339	1,425	1,749		26,116	36,115	62,231		590	49,665
1970	334	1,429	1,748		25,934	36,174	62,108		586	49,217
1969	333	1,443	1,758		25,812	36,248	62,060		585	49,675
1968	328	1,443	1,752		25,838	36,697	62,535		578	49,693
1967	327	1,438	1,749		25,282	36,279	61,561		573	49,224
1966	324	1,444	1,754		24,806	36,592	61,397		578	49,282
1965	320	1,444	1,751		24,107	36,251	60,358		562	48,600
1964	323	1,452	1,763		24,365	36,048	60,412		561	48,383
1963	311	1,453	1,754		23,459	35,446	58,905		550	46,830
1962	318	1,451	1,760		24,563	35,286	59,849		558	48,888
1961	312	1,458	1,761		24,094	35,167	59,261		558	48,216
1960	312	1,459	1,763		24,029	34,853	58,882		563	47,699
1959	306	1,455	1,755		23,547	34,753	58,300		564	47,848
1958	307	1,456	1,751		23,161	34,258	57,418		556	46,955
1957	309	1,453	1,755		23,171	34,635	57,805		544	47,044
1956	314	1,454	1,761		22,492	34,610	57,102		546	47,162
1955	316	1,454	1,760		22,183	33,964	56,147		541	46,448
1954	317	1,448	1,765		21,705	33,367	55,072		544	46,176
1953	327	1,458	1,785		21,412	33,060	54,472		544	45,949
1952	327	1,459	1,786		21,160	32,791	53,951		545	46,210
1951	319	1,454	1,773		21,223	32,795	54,018		543	46,279
1950	322	1,450	1,772		21,266	32,563	53,829		549	46,582
1949	329	1,451	1,780		21,005	31,841	52,846		546	46,399
1948	328	1,453	1,781		21,082	31,203	52,285		530	46,308
1947	328	1,441	1,769		20,762	30,911	51,673		511	45,151
1946	334	1,429	1,763		20,546	30,382	50,928		497	43,665
1945	330	1,419	1,749		19,240	29,144	48,384		485	39,860
1940	380	1,498	1,878		16,114	25,018	41,132		525	32,371