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Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Ashland's Juneteenth celebration brings history to life with local stories
The Ashland County Historical Society will host its second annual Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom 4-7 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at 420 Center St., Ashland. This year marks the 160th anniversary of Juneteenth, which commemorates the abolition of slavery in the United States. The celebration aims to educate attendees about Ashland County's role during the American Civil War and the fight for freedom, according to an announcement. The event will feature living historians sharing firsthand accounts from mid-19th century residents who contributed to the understanding of liberty. Attendees can learn about the Underground Railroad, Union recruitment by Colonel James Garfield, and stories of local figures like Seth Barber and Gilbert Locke, a freedman who settled in Hayesville. A free community picnic will be offered. The Ashland Public Library bookmobile will be present, providing books related to the celebration and activities for children. Living history walking tours will be available at 4:15, 5:15 and 6:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, with free parking available onsite. For more information, visit or call 419-289-3111 during regular business hours. The celebration is a collaboration between the Ashland County Historical Society, Ashland Main Street, the Ashland County Juneteenth Committee and the Ashland Public Library. This story was created by Jane Imbody, jimbody@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team. This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Free Juneteenth event in Ashland features food, tours and history
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - The ‘big, beautiful bill' would secretly dismantle the civil service
The House-passed budget reconciliation bill contains a troubling provision so dangerous and corrosive to the integrity of the federal government that it demands immediate scrutiny and swift rejection by the Senate. Buried in more than 1,000 pages of legislative text is Section 90002, a provision that strikes at the heart of the professional, nonpartisan civil service. It proposes a 9.4 percent salary surcharge on newly hired federal employees who wish to retain their civil service protections, ostensibly to pay for their retirement benefits. Those who cannot afford this effective tax on the rights that federal employees currently enjoy would be forced into permanent at-will employment. Although they would then qualify for a lower retirement deduction of 4.4 percent, as purely at-will employees they could be fired at any time, for any reason — or for no reason at all — with no legal recourse. This is not just bad policy — it is a direct attack on more than 140 years of bipartisan civil service tradition. Our professional civil service was born out of the rampant corruption of the 19th-century 'spoils system,' in which federal jobs were handed out as political favors by victorious candidates. That system came to a halt with the Pendleton Act of 1883, passed after President James Garfield was assassinated by a disgruntled office-seeker who believed he had been improperly denied a patronage job. The Pendleton Act established a competitive, merit-based hiring system and laid the foundation for the modern professional civil service that serves the nation — not the party in power. This commitment was reaffirmed and modernized by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, signed by President Jimmy Carter. That law improved efficiency and accountability and codified labor rights while protecting employees from arbitrary or politically motivated firings. It also created federal bodies — the Office of Personnel Management, the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the Merit Systems Protection Board — to safeguard merit principles and the integrity of public service. Now, with a single provision rolled out with little debate and no hearing record, the House reconciliation bill threatens to undo all this hard-won progress. If enacted, it would create a two-tier federal workforce: one class protected by civil service laws, and another completely vulnerable to the whims of political appointees. Worse still, the measure is designed to coerce new hires into giving up their rights for the rest of their careers. Faced with a 9.4 percent pay cut, most new federal employees — already earning salaries that are an estimated 25 percent lower than their private-sector counterparts — will feel they have no real choice. Many early-career workers live paycheck to paycheck; this surcharge would be an impossible burden. According to the Congressional Budget Office, three-quarters of new hires would likely be driven into at-will status. Among the 800,000 federal workers I represent as president of the American Federation of Government Employees, few if any could afford to pay the surcharge. That inability to pay is one reason why the provision raises so little money — less than $500 million annually according to the CBO — or just 0.1 percent of the cost of the bill's accompanying tax cuts. Clearly, revenue is not the point. The point is to erode labor rights and weaken the civil service. This provision is also a political time bomb. If passed, it sets a precedent that could be exploited by any future administration. Imagine a newly inaugurated Democratic president firing every at-will federal employee hired during the previous Republican administration — no hearings, no cause, no appeal. If Republicans are willing to set this precedent, they must be prepared to live under it. But the real danger is institutional. How can federal scientists, doctors, safety inspectors or law enforcement officers operate with independence and integrity if they can be dismissed on a whim? These protections are what enable civil servants to speak truth to power — even when that truth is inconvenient. This proposal is also a direct attack on organized labor. Without civil service protections, unions are hamstrung in their ability to represent their members. Workers afraid of being summarily fired are unlikely to file grievances, assert their rights or even speak candidly in meetings. Only those who can afford the surcharge would retain access to effective representation. Section 90002 isn't just misguided — it's union-busting by design. Imagine the outcry if a Democratic Congress imposed a 5 percent income tax on corporations to preserve their rights to challenge unions under the National Labor Relations Act. Republicans would rightly decry this as the weaponization of tax policy. Yet that's precisely what this bill does to federal workers — using financial coercion to undermine their legal protections. The civil service exists to provide stability, expertise and continuity regardless of the party holding office. It is one of the bedrock institutions that has sustained American democracy through wars, crises and peaceful transitions of power. The Trump administration may not like the idea of a government that can resist political manipulation — but that is exactly what democracy requires. Section 90002 is not reform. It is sabotage. Congress must reject it and reaffirm its commitment to the principles that have guided our civil service since 1883. Our institutions — and the American people they serve — deserve no less. Dr. Everett B. Kelley is national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
6 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
The ‘big, beautiful bill' would secretly dismantle the civil service
The House-passed budget reconciliation bill contains a troubling provision so dangerous and corrosive to the integrity of the federal government that it demands immediate scrutiny and swift rejection by the Senate. Buried in more than 1,000 pages of legislative text is Section 90002, a provision that strikes at the heart of the professional, nonpartisan civil service. It proposes a 9.4 percent salary surcharge on newly hired federal employees who wish to retain their civil service protections, ostensibly to pay for their retirement benefits. Those who cannot afford this effective tax on the rights that federal employees currently enjoy would be forced into permanent at-will employment. Although they would then qualify for a lower retirement deduction of 4.4 percent, as purely at-will employees they could be fired at any time, for any reason — or for no reason at all — with no legal recourse. This is not just bad policy — it is a direct attack on more than 140 years of bipartisan civil service tradition. Our professional civil service was born out of the rampant corruption of the 19th-century 'spoils system,' in which federal jobs were handed out as political favors by victorious candidates. That system came to a halt with the Pendleton Act of 1883, passed after President James Garfield was assassinated by a disgruntled office-seeker who believed he had been improperly denied a patronage job. The Pendleton Act established a competitive, merit-based hiring system and laid the foundation for the modern professional civil service that serves the nation — not the party in power. This commitment was reaffirmed and modernized by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, signed by President Jimmy Carter. That law improved efficiency and accountability and codified labor rights while protecting employees from arbitrary or politically motivated firings. It also created federal bodies — the Office of Personnel Management, the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the Merit Systems Protection Board — to safeguard merit principles and the integrity of public service. Now, with a single provision rolled out with little debate and no hearing record, the House reconciliation bill threatens to undo all this hard-won progress. If enacted, it would create a two-tier federal workforce: one class protected by civil service laws, and another completely vulnerable to the whims of political appointees. Worse still, the measure is designed to coerce new hires into giving up their rights for the rest of their careers. Faced with a 9.4 percent pay cut, most new federal employees — already earning salaries that are an estimated 25 percent lower than their private-sector counterparts — will feel they have no real choice. Many early-career workers live paycheck to paycheck; this surcharge would be an impossible burden. According to the Congressional Budget Office, three-quarters of new hires would likely be driven into at-will status. Among the 800,000 federal workers I represent as president of the American Federation of Government Employees, few if any could afford to pay the surcharge. That inability to pay is one reason why the provision raises so little money — less than $500 million annually according to the CBO — or just 0.1 percent of the cost of the bill's accompanying tax cuts. Clearly, revenue is not the point. The point is to erode labor rights and weaken the civil service. This provision is also a political time bomb. If passed, it sets a precedent that could be exploited by any future administration. Imagine a newly inaugurated Democratic president firing every at-will federal employee hired during the previous Republican administration — no hearings, no cause, no appeal. If Republicans are willing to set this precedent, they must be prepared to live under it. But the real danger is institutional. How can federal scientists, doctors, safety inspectors or law enforcement officers operate with independence and integrity if they can be dismissed on a whim? These protections are what enable civil servants to speak truth to power — even when that truth is inconvenient. This proposal is also a direct attack on organized labor. Without civil service protections, unions are hamstrung in their ability to represent their members. Workers afraid of being summarily fired are unlikely to file grievances, assert their rights or even speak candidly in meetings. Only those who can afford the surcharge would retain access to effective representation. Section 90002 isn't just misguided — it's union-busting by design. Imagine the outcry if a Democratic Congress imposed a 5 percent income tax on corporations to preserve their rights to challenge unions under the National Labor Relations Act. Republicans would rightly decry this as the weaponization of tax policy. Yet that's precisely what this bill does to federal workers — using financial coercion to undermine their legal protections. The civil service exists to provide stability, expertise and continuity regardless of the party holding office. It is one of the bedrock institutions that has sustained American democracy through wars, crises and peaceful transitions of power. The Trump administration may not like the idea of a government that can resist political manipulation — but that is exactly what democracy requires. Section 90002 is not reform. It is sabotage. Congress must reject it and reaffirm its commitment to the principles that have guided our civil service since 1883. Our institutions — and the American people they serve — deserve no less. Dr. Everett B. Kelley is national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Grief shouldn't be a campaign stop
Holidays — our 'holy days' — are meant to meet the moment. Be joyful when it's a day for celebration. Be solemn when it's a day for mourning. Some are made for celebration, like Holi or Thanksgiving, with full plates and full hearts. Others ask us to reflect: Yom Kippur, Ramadan, Ash Wednesday. And some, like Christmas or Passover, mix both to honor the sacred while gathering together. Memorial Day was never meant to be cheery. Originally called Decoration Day, it was created in 1868 by Union Gen. John A. Logan as a nationwide day of mourning. May 30 was chosen because it didn't mark a specific Civil War battle, just the idea of loss itself. That first observance included a speech by future President James Garfield at Arlington National Cemetery, where 5,000 people decorated the graves of 20,000 fallen soldiers. For decades, Memorial Day honored only those lost in the Civil War. But as American wars stacked up — World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan — the day expanded. What began as flowers on graves became a national pause to remember every soldier who didn't make it home. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, moving Memorial Day to the last Monday in May. It became an official federal holiday in 1971. And it's not 'happy.' We take the day off. We barbecue. We shop a little. But we also try — just a little — to remember. Because that's the point. These holy days only work when we respect their meaning. Someone should remind President Trump. This morning, he attended a ceremony at Arlington, joined by Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Flags hung like ceremonial drapes. Soldiers stood in formal tribute. It was, for a moment, appropriately somber. And then he got online. On Truth Social, unlike any former president, Trump shouted his Memorial Day message in all caps. He sent 'HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY' greetings to the "SCUM TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY" and others he believes are persecuting him. Because grief, apparently, is no excuse to stay off the internet. Holy days deserve reverence. This one, especially, asks for quiet. For reflection. For gratitude. But for this White House, even remembrance is a performance. Even mourning is a stage.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What's the Real Meaning of Memorial Day?
Many celebrate the long Memorial Day weekend with barbecues and family get-togethers, but Memorial Day is so much more than a chance to kick off the summer months. At its heart, Memorial Day is a time to solemnly honor all men and women who have died in U.S. military service. Read on to learn more about the true meaning of Memorial Day, as well as some interesting Memorial Day facts and Memorial Day This year, Memorial Day falls on May 26, 2025. Memorial Day is always the last Monday in May. No. Memorial Day always falls on the last Monday of May. As a result, the date varies each year. Memorial Day commemorates all men and women who have died in U.S. military service. It's not to be confused with Veterans Day, which celebrates the service of U.S. military veterans, or with Armed Forces Day, which honors men and women currently in service. Yes, Memorial Day honors the sacrifice of those who died in U.S. military service. Memorial Day began a few years after the Civil War, in 1868. An organization of Union veterans established the holiday, then known as Decoration Day, as a time to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers. From then until the present day, the solemn holiday has been formally observed at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. In 2000, Congress passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act, which encourages Americans to observe a moment of silence at 3 p.m. local time to remember those who have died in service. "I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion," then-Congressman James Garfield said in an 1868 Decoration Day address at Arlington, which still captures the true meaning of Memorial Day today. "If silence is ever golden, it must be here beside the graves of fifteen thousand men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem, the music of which can never be sung."Related: Memorial Day Freebies for Veterans Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. The holiday began as a way to honor soldiers who died in the Civil War, but the day now honors all U.S. veterans who have sacrificed their lives. There's a specific way to display the American flag on Memorial Day. According to the U.S. Flag Code: hoist the flag quickly up to full staff at sunrise, then lower to half-staff until noon, and then return to the top of the staff. Many veterans, as well as friends and family of veterans, make a pilgrimage to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., over Memorial Day weekend. In 1971, Memorial Day was established as a federal holiday taking place on the last Monday in May. Poppies have become a symbol of Memorial Day because they are mentioned in a 1915 poem by Canadian soldier John McCrae, "In Flanders Fields." Many Americans mark Memorial Day with an official moment of remembrance at 3 p.m. local time. During the 3 p.m. moment of remembrance on Memorial Day, Amtrak conductors sound one long whistle in honor of those who have died in service. Traditionally, American presidents give a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. New York was the first state to recognize Memorial Day as an official holiday. Some Southern states celebrate a Confederate Memorial Day, or Confederate Heroes Day, in late April, remembering the Confederate soldiers who died during the Civil War. The first Indianapolis 500 race took place on Memorial Day in 1911. The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated by then-Chief Justice William Taft on Memorial Day in 1922. Up Next:
