Best of luck to Middies, Indians

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1:15 PM Friday, November 13, 2009

Here are this week’s “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” selections:

Thumbs up to Warren County Common Pleas Judge James Flannery for the way he deals with so-called “deadbeat” fathers and mothers — the ones who neglect to pay their child support. Judge Flannery says he sentences almost all felony non-support defendants to jail on Father’s Day or Mother’s Day — depending on the culprit’s gender. Recently, the judge sentenced a father who owes more than $17,000 in delinquent child support payments to spend the next five Father’s Day holidays in jail. The father was also placed on probation and ordered to pay up. Flannery told staff writer Denise Callahan that he’s taken this novel approach because jail overcrowding has limited his ability to send delinquent parents to jail. If the idea catches on, perhaps Hallmark can come out with a new line of “deadbeat dad” greeting cards to mark the occasion.

Obviously the football teams from Middletown and Carlisle high schools deserve “thumbs up” for their state playoff victories last weekend — especially the Middies’ 45-10 drubbing of the once-feared Moeller Crusaders — but we want to wish both teams the best of luck going into today’s games. The Mighty Middies will be taking on undefeated Anderson at 2:30 p.m. at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati in a Division I game, while the Carlisle Indians will be taking on Alter, the undefeated defending Division IV state champions, at Monroe High’s field. If you can’t make it to the game, check our Web site, www.middletownjournal.com, for live score updates.

If you like to walk, jog or ride a bicycle down at the Great Miami River, you probably already know that Middletown’s paved river path has been extended another two miles this fall — beyond its previous end point near the Germantown Road bridge. The city of Middletown is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. Nov. 20 to mark its completion. The event will be three-quarters of a mile east of Carmody Boulevard on Ohio 73. Thumbs up to the city, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Middletown Community Foundation, the Arthur Harvey Foundation, the Barnitz Fund and Miami Conservancy District for taking the next big step in linking Middletown to bike paths throughout the state.

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