Letters: Gov. Mike DeWine active in energy bailout; Medal of Honor winners from Ohio

Akron Beacon Journal
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DeWine's role in bailout emerges

"Texts, calendars, emails link DeWine to FirstEnergy’s bribery scandal" reads the headline on a recent bombshell report in the Ohio Capital Journal. The article states that Gov. Mike DeWine and his administration "played a hands-on role," including the appointment of an industry-friendly regulator who is accused of accepting a bribe of more than $4 million for the $1.3 billion bailout. The texts and calendar records indicate that DeWine met repeatedly with FirstEnergy officials, while his lieutenant governor worked directly with FirstEnergy executives on the bailouts.

DeWine stood by his corrupt appointees even when the FBI began making arrests in connection with the scandal. He also hired a lobbyist for a nonprofit that took millions from FirstEnergy as his legislative director. The companies at the center of the FirstEnergy bribery scandal spent over $1 million to help get DeWine elected. They certainly got their money’s worth!

DeWine and the Ohio GOP value their corrupt donors more than ordinary Ohioans. Clearly, it’s time for a change in the governor’s office and in every GOP-occupied seat in the Statehouse.

Charlotte Onderick, Stow

Early Medal of Honor recipients from Ohio

The Stow Ohio National Guard Armory was named in honor of First Sgt. Robert Alexander Pinn (1843-1911), U.S. Colored Troops 5th Regiment Infantry, at the May 5, 1973, groundbreaking ceremony. Pinn, a native of the Massillon area, earned the Medal of Honor during the Battle of New Market Heights, Virginia, on Sept. 29, 1864. He was the first Black soldier to have an armory named after him. (Sources: www.ong.ohio.gov and Akron Beacon Journal, March 27, 1989.). He was also one of the earliest, if not THE earliest, Black soldier to earn the Medal of Honor.

The first Medals of Honor, as noted on page 2PE of the Medal of Honor special section, were presented to six members of the Andrews' Raiders, all of whom were members of Ohio Civil War Infantry units. (Source: Russell S. Bonds, Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor.) I highly recommend this book as a fine telling of an historical event.

Robert A. Dill, Stow

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Critical of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine for energy bailout