I’m not sure who is handling media relations for the Pacific Legal Foundation, but I think he or she might want to update the mailing list.
Last week, the group, based in Sacramento, sent a news release to:
Mr. Paul Poorman
Editor
Akron Beacon Journal
44 E. Exchange St.
Akron, OH
Well, they got the address right. But Paul Poorman retired in 1986 — 31 years ago.
Heck, the man has been dead since 1992.
It’s not as if Poorman was obscure. The big, loud, funny Beacon Journal editor was the fellow who elicited the most famous sentence that ever emerged from the mouth of former President Richard Nixon:
“I’m not a crook.”
In 1973, during the height of the Watergate scandal (and three years before coming to the Beacon), Poorman was the managing editor at the Detroit News. He was at Walt Disney World in Orlando, attending a meeting of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association.
Nixon had agreed to hold a press conference. After he was bombarded with questions about Watergate for nearly an hour, Poorman asked him about his personal finances. The answer was broadcast live across the nation.
After explaining where his money had come from — $250,000 from a book, $100,000 to $250,000 a year for his work as a lawyer, selling all of his stock for $300,000 and unloading his New York City condo for $300,000 — Nixon said this:
“I made my mistakes, but in all of my years of public life, I have never profited, never profited from public service. I’ve earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice. …
“I’ve welcomed this kind of examination, because people have gotta know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got.”
It became increasingly clear that he had indeed obstructed justice, and nine months later he became the first U.S. president to resign. If you’re old like me, you can probably still remember the pitiful, two-handed victory signs he thrust into the air just before entering the helicopter that would whisk him away from the White House.
Thanks, Pacific Legal Foundation, for triggering some memories.
Name that town
Not sure this means much of anything, but I found it interesting. And it’s my column. So there.
These are the most common names of places in the United States, compliments of the U.S. Census Bureau, via the unassailable Wikipedia.
Ohio has every one of the top 30 names.
1. Washington 88
2. Springfield, 41
3. Franklin, 35
4. Greenville, 30
T5. Bristol, 29
T5. Clinton, 29
7. Fairview, 27
8. Salem, 26
9. Madison, 24
10. Georgetown, 23
T11. Arlington, 22
T11. Ashland, 22
T11. Dover, 22
T11. Oxford, 22
T15. Jackson, 21
T15. Burlington, 21
T15. Manchester, 21
T15. Milton, 21
T19. Clayton, 20
T19. Dayton, 20
T19. Newport, 20
Cleveland and Hudson are in a four-way tie for 28th place, with 18 locations.
CSI: Akron
Akron police reported that Autumn Keene, 24, of South Thomas Road in Tallmadge, “was charged with receiving stolen property and misuse of a credit card. Keene possessed a stolen credit card and used it to purchase more than $1,000 in merchandise from Hibbett Sports, Finish Line and Target. Keene used her personal rewards card to save money at the Finish Line.”
Yep, used her own rewards card while paying with a stolen credit card.
Gosh, how did the police solve this one?
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. To find his podcast, “Dyer Necessities,” go to www.ohio.com/dyer. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31