GROVER HILL, OH:

Linda Sue Miller, age 75, passed away on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 peacefully in her Ohio home surrounded by her loving family. 

Linda was born on January 5, 1949 in Holden, WV to the late Ernest and Lola (Workman) Farris. On November 4, 1967 she married the love of her life, Keith Miller, who survives. Linda worked for Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative for 39 years in various positions. She enjoyed watching her grandkids do what they loved and was always their #1 fan. Linda was an Ohio State Buckeyes fan and loved watching them play. For the last 14 years, Linda and Keith spent their winters at their Florida home, which brought Linda much joy. 

Along with her loving husband, Keith, Linda is survived by her son, Scott (Gina Geise) Miller, Grover Hill, OH; daughter, Rhonda (Stan Mansfield) Lee, Grover Hill, OH; brothers, Clifford (Kay) Farris, Harts, WV; Cledith (Rita) Farris, Grover Hill, OH; Ernest (Linda) Farris, Jr., Payne, OH; grandchildren: Dalton Lee, Bradley Lee, Cole Miller, Karson Miller, and Makenna Miller. 

Funeral service will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Monday, October 14, 2024 at Den Herder Funeral Home with Pastor Jeff Miller officiating. Burial will follow in Middle Creek Cemetery, Washington Township.

Visitation will be from 3:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M. on Sunday, October 13, 2024 at Den Herder Funeral Home. There will also be visitation from 10:00 A.M. until time of services on Monday. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made in Linda’s memory to Community Health Professionals Hospice. 

Online condolences may be shared at www.denherderfh.com.

If you have a place you would like to see the newspaper, please contact us or the business to see if arrangements can be made.

Like swirling leaves in autumn, such has been the last few months with many rumors about the future of a local hospital. Most are not entirely true, but all seem to have some basis in reality. A grim picture was painted, but with hope, at the Community Memorial Hospital meeting that took place with the community of Hicksville and the surrounding residents on Wednesday, December 6. The community found what was true and what was not. The current CEO, Roy Davis, was introduced by Board of Governors president, Kermit Riehle. Davis came to the struggling community-owned healthcare facility in December of 2021 only to find what appears to be past malfeasance. In February of 2022, a box was found with affidavits and other legal requests that were never presented to the board.

Employees, doctors, and community persons were there to question the actions of past executives and the board for their decisions that led the hospital to financial dereliction.

Explaining the financial position, Davis told of the current debt burdens, including fines of $25 million to an insurance company due to a scam that has shuttered numerous hospitals (47 so far) and OPERS (Ohio Public Employee Retirement funds) in the range of $17+ million. A billing system called Meditech, implemented several years ago, has cost the hospital significantly – in the range of the hospital only receiving $0.50 on every dollar billed, and has been broken on numerous occasions. There were other penalties and fines mentioned that have also hurt the hospital credit and bond holders. To be fair to the more recent past, it was stated that the last twenty years have not been “in the black”.

The hospital had reached out to see if other medical groups might be interested in acquisition and one was in the process until their attorneys recommended against because of the OPERS liability. 

The positive side of things is that the hospital board has recognized the problems and has made major cuts. Many of the fines have been paid but there are more and the hospital credit has been severely hurt. The staff made it clear they like working at the hospital and very much appreciate what Roy has been doing for the hospital by becoming more transparent to the employees and community. The Family Health Center offices in Harlan, Edgerton, and Antwerp will continue to remain open. Finally, the hospital will continue to be able to offer surgeries through Dr. Grothaus and Promedica.

There were many questions asked concerning the future of the hospital and Davis confirmed to the employees that if the hospital were to close, they are required to give a 90 day notice to the employees. 

Davis also stated that they will have letters to sign and ready for the people to send to politicians to help get support for the community hospital. He stated that the return to viability begins with becoming transparent with everything. Then, to identify and work on fixing the problems that are causing the the hospital to not get the payments due, including increasing the amounts that Medicare/medicaid and insurance will pay for prescribed procedures. Next is to pay back bonds and debts so their credit rating can increase once again. 

Community Memorial has a long history of serving Hicksville, Defiance County, and surrounding counties. Being a $30 million dollar business, which is quite large for a small town like Hicksville. It would be wise to pray for the hospital, employees and the board to help in this time where many hospitals are struggling.

The entire video of the meeting is on the West Bend News youtube channel.

The Paulding County Republican Central Committee met on Thursday, January 5, 2023 for regular business and to appoint a new County Commissioner after Roy Klopfenstein’s seat was vacated as he was elected to the OH state legislature in the 2022 election. 

Jan Commers read the secretary minutes from the last meeting and Blane Fickel gave the financial report. Jerry Zielke gave his report and an update on the appointment of Probate Judge Replacement, saying he was disappointed in how long it took to get the resignation letter after the November election. He also reported that he received the resignation of Roy Klopfenstein. The Republican Central Committee can now move forward with selecting a new Commissioner for Paulding County. Fickel asked if this is for the full term or the unexpired part of the balance of the term. The answer was not 100%, but is believed to be until the next election. Laurie Lucas gave the women’s report. The extension office has been reserved for September 23 for the banquet. There won’t be a special “meet the candidate” night because this is not an election year. The booth for the Paulding County Fair is also scheduled to take place and has been reserved.

There were four candidates presented for the open position of Commissioner, but only one was in attendance at the meeting – Lisa McClure. A question was asked, “Was five days enough for the position because there has to be a minimum of 5 days to place someone for the position?” According to Joe Burkard, County Prosecutor, the answer, was “yes”. The three candidates that were left after one was removed (Bryan Smith, due to not confirmed registered Republican), were Lisa McClure, Fred Langham, and Ray Garbaciak. 

A question was asked about the dynamic of having a person from Antwerp being a County Commissioner. Jerry stated their first priority for their approval was to look at their abilities and qualifications. After a simple majority vote, the result came up as 12 votes – 11 Lisa McClure, 1 abstain. Lisa’s term will expire in December of 2024.

The people in attendance welcomed Lisa to her new position while Jerry Zielke signed the paperwork confirming the wishes of the Central Committee. Lisa will start in her new position, possibly next week, but that wasn’t confirmed at the meeting.

Lisa has overseen the operations of the Paulding County Area Foundation for many years now, providing grants and donations to benefit the community in many ways.

The video of the meeting is at the West Bend News Youtube channel.

This is a letter addressed to the Ohio House Ways and Means Committee. Currently, there is a bill proposed that would  remove the necessity of legal notices concerning citizens to not be in newspapers. 

May 10, 2021

Dear House Ways and Means Committee,

I understand that House Bill 255 would limit the requirements that governments have to make known notices in the newspaper. I believe this would be a poorly thought out decision and would truly limit the peoples information of their government and create an environment of lack of transparency. 

Right now the newspaper is the only thing that disperses legal information between the government and the people in a manner unmatched by any other medium.

I question why this is being brought up considering the people are not asking for less information to be presented to them in these turbulent times. In particular I read the testimony of Matt Nolan, Warren County Auditor. For a county the size of Hamilton to save only $33,000 per year because of this is negligible to keeping the citizens informed. Then to mention Cuyahoga County saving only $60,000 in a county of 1.2 million people is a cost of less than $.05 per person, per year. The county probably spends more on having their rugs cleaned in their county offices. This does not even include creating new departments in each county, and a new state agency to ensure oversight that notices are out there to the public, and if not successful will bring about many new lawsuits.

What concerns me more is the people – the people you represent, and who pay taxes. Property owners may be sent notices by USPS, but many times they are not receiving them. My neighbor, Ms Kandise, had her property nearly foreclosed upon due to delinquent taxes, and the only reason she was able to find out was because of the notice in the newspaper, as she told me. The day before the Sheriff Sale she was able to get to the Auditor’s Office and pay her taxes.

The counties may not be requiring certified mail to ensure the notice is delivered to the correct person, and the post office right now is not known for their reliability. This supports the position of the newspaper in the community. The notices are not there to embarrass anyone, as stated by Nolan, but as a last ditch effort to inform them in a public setting of losing something valuable to them. Many times the government does not have the ability to reach vast numbers of local readers on their own means.

How many different websites would a person be required to visit regularly to check on notices? Imagine the burden you would be placing on each township, county, village, city, health department, hospital, school, etc., many of whom don’t have websites, or don’t have the staff to keep them updated. This is already taken care of in the private sector much better, with minimal costs to the taxpayer.

Lastly, I ask, do government officials really want to turn more power over to Silicon Valley? Facebook and other social media are not known for keeping people on their platforms that they politically disagree with in their community standards policies. Not to mention, there are many people who do not want the internet or the tech giants telling them what they must do, or not do.

If a county needs to cut spending, there are many other places to look at in the budget. Please, for the sake of the citizens of Ohio, keep notifications in the public platform of the newspapers, without having unnecessary burdens placed upon my fellow citizens.

Thank you,

Bryce Steiner, Citizen of Ohio, and 

Publisher, West Bend News, Antwerp, Ohio

By: Bryce Steiner

All of you readers from Paulding County who have had kids in any of the school sports, probably know of, or at least heard of, Jim Bowers. He’s the photographer that has been shooting sports since the early to mid 1990’s of kids from Paulding County.

In an early morning 2019 fire Bowers lost his house, many pictures, and much more. Even with losing so much, the fire happened to give Jim new ideas and perspectives. In 2020 he decided to look into an old, yet new idea for photographs – hand developing prints that he had taken with his cameras. This would include his digital prints.

Jim’s photography story starts when he was 10 years old. Hi great-grandmother in Missouri gave him and his little brother a 110 Brownie camera. Jim thought that was just great and one of the best memories of his grandma. He would take as many pictures as he could afford to buy the film. 

By the time Jim was in high school, living in the mountains of Colorado, he was taking pictures for his journalism class and high school newspaper with his new Pentax. His father, not satisfied with the economic conditions of Colorado, decided to move back to Paulding County in 1976, where he grew up, in Payne. By now Jim was out of high school and only making two dollars an hour for his job. He decided there wasn’t much to lose to come out this way. Jim married Kim in 1991 and has been living in Paulding ever since.

In Paulding County, Jim worked with radio communications, and still does today, but he got involved in photography with the Paulding Progress for the high school sports, and other feature articles, where he continues to shoot freelance. Seeing “Photo by Jim Bowers” in the newspaper is not uncommon  Shooting with a Minolta 35mm film, he has moved to Nikon cameras after the newspaper asked their photographers to move into the digital era. Changing systems can be very costly for photographers with large collections of lenses. 

Bowers is not unfamiliar with the dark room. After all, he shot on film for years and then after the games would go home and spend hours developing and making prints to be used in stories.

The new venture that has taken Jim is now making Platinum Prints right in his own home laboratory. it’s almost like taking a step back in time, yet the files are digital and still processed on the computer. The prints are simply magnificent in a monotone perspective. What makes this fine art so incredible is the life span. The developed pictures are expected to hold their detail for a 1000 years, and maybe even longer.

The process starts with a good picture, and Jim has many from all over the Continental USA! Jim and Kim both love to hike! The file is processed to a general high contrast look that allows for a dynamic reproduction. The next step is to make a negative, printed to an inkjet printer on a special transparency that embeds into the film rather than sits on the surface. The surface of the  Hahnemhle Platinum Rag 100% cotton paper is prepared brushing on three chemicals Ferric Oxalate, Sodium Platinum, and Palladium, in precisely measured amounts. The Ferric Oxalate makes the Palladium light sensitive and the Sodium Platinum brings out the contrast in the image. 

After the chemical mixture is spread out as much as possible across the paper, the sheet is dried and then ready to be placed into a frame with the negative between the glass and the paper with the emulsion side down against the paper. It is now time to expose the paper to UV light passing through the negative. Bowers has a custom built light box that will “bake” the image into the paper for four minutes using black lights. The image is subtle on the paper.

Once the exposure is finished the negative is set aside and the paper is then put in a Potassium Oxalate developer that instantly brings the print to life. The prints are quite unique as they are actually in the paper rather than sitting on the surface. Another chemical bath is then used to stop the developing and then the print is rinsed and dried on a flat surface.

The print is then signed, numbered and mounted and ready for sale. The limited number of prints make each one special on their own. When comparing side by side, the prints each have a different story.

The pictures have a limited number of prints being made – usually five. The prints, even though using the same negative, are all different. Each one has unique features, such as the borders, tint and even the mid-tone contrast due to the exposure, development, and even temperature of the chemicals and papers. 

Premium Light Images is the company that Jim uses as his trademark name. He is just beginning to travel and show his gallery prints in different art shows around the area. 2020 has been challenging with the COVID epidemic, but 2021 is looking more promising to bring about the photo art exposé made right here in Paulding County. Events coming up include a March show in Toledo, and BLOOM FEST in Leo-Cedarville, IN on August 14.

Jim Bowers has a dedicated website for his fine art prints – similar to his sports pictures but not separate – https://premiumlightimages.com. Stop in and take a look at a real visual artist collection of work!

It has taken 37 years for John Kobee to reach the top at the Antwerp Exchange Bank! John was recently named the President and CEO of the Bank and the three locations (Antwerp, Harlan, and Payne) after Ron Eschbach retired in December. 

John started at the bank as Assistant Cashier on September 21, 1983 right out of Defiance College. Along the way he earned the titles of Cashier, Vice President, Senior Vice President, CFO, CEO, and President. 

John has three children, Jodie, John I, and Beau. John lost his dear wife, Holly, last year in 2020 on her 50th birthday. John said there would be no way for him to have gotten to where he was if it was not for the love and encouragement of Holly.

Dan Shutt was the president when John began his banking career. it was because of Dan and Ron that really helped John become well rounded in the banking and loan industry. Ron was not only President but was also the senior lending officer. All of this has helped shape John in banking. John started back with consumer loans and student loans. The experience has given him the ability to see the bigger picture. 

John was also instrumental in getting the Harlan branch up and running with strategic planning and execution with Ron and the board. This is only the third location since the bank opened in 1898. 

The latest challenge has been one that many business are currently facing and that is the COVID pandemic. The opportunity has allowed the bank to expand their technology and many more employees can now work from home as a result. Another benefit has been that the bank has helped the small businesses in the community with PPP loans, which are available again until the end of March. Even during the hardest time of COVID the bank was able to stay open, with restrictions, but still able to serve customers. John said they are looking at reopening the lobbies again in all the branches in the near future.

John also wants to let people know their money and investments are safe at the Antwerp Exchange Bank and they are always ready and willing to help in the digital age. There are more scams than ever and many of the fraudsters have made their emails and mailings look nearly indistinguishable from real corporate and government contacts. If you question whether something is real, or are receiving a 1099, or a W2 for money that you did not receive, contact the bank or the local law enforcement, whom the bank works with regularly. The bank really is here to keep you, your ID, and your money protected. They can tell you if something is real or not, or if someone received money from the government using your ID. This has become a serious problem and the bank is ready be your partner in stopping crime.

The future of the bank looks bright as the board of directors with John are leading to keep the funds strong with a conservative outlook. The Harlan branch was opened two years ago and will be the “new” branch for quite some time as they work to solidify their place in the community. The Antwerp Exchange Bank has been around for over 120 years and has weathered many financial storms. They will continue to make sure you are prepared for the next storm that may come.

At this time there are 31 full time, and four part time employees across three locations to make sure their customers are taken care of. Giving is instilled at all levels. John said he was very proud of the employees that are at the bank. Each week they have “Casual Friday” and the employees donate to a cause, and every month they give the money to a local non-profit such as schools, EMS, First responders, etc. 

With John’s experience and vision, the bank is certainly in good hands for the future!

By: Bryce Steiner

It was in 2005, just a few weeks after the West Bend News opened, that I met for the first time Stan Jordan. He had retired from the US Postal Service a couple decades earlier and now was mowing the cemetery for the village of Antwerp. He was a friend of Steve and Sue Knapp, co-founders of the West Bend News, and they brought Stan in to meet me because they thought he might be a good person to write in the paper. 

I don’t want to say that Stan was an immediate hit, because he wasn’t with me. My thoughts were that he was an old nice guy, and I was busy trying to figure out how to start a new company. He was just turning 81 when we opened in June. However, It didn’t take long for Stan and his wife, Pauline, to grow on me. 

As far as I know he never learned to type and so Sue would take his hand written notes and turn them into something printable. That process was carried over by the current office manager, Crystal Rider, after Sue and Steve retired. 

No one would know more than the guys who kept Stan entertained for morning coffee at the Country Times Market (now G-Mart) of his exploits and his ideas for his next story! Rollie Clem gave him a mug that he used for several years “Old Guys Rule”. Oley McMichael would, unfortunately, give Stan another joke that, more than likely, I couldn’t reprint. And while they were there they would solve most of the world’s problems, while creating about twice as many resolved.

Over the past few months people have been stopping in to check on Stan as the articles hadn’t been ran regularly. Crystal or I would tell them he was working on trying to get better. He really did want to come back in. Even at Christmas time he called me from his new iPhone that we had him get so we could communicate if he was at home. Imagine a 96-year old who figured out how to FaceTime! He dreaded the idea of going into a care facility because he knew that with the governor’s orders people wouldn’t be able to see him. 

Between September and December we talked many times. He wanted to make sure that his truck was taken care of—he thought it might need a couple quarts of oil.

Stan could remember more than most of us ever would. Stan was born in June of 1924, and he grew up in one of the most difficult times of American History – The Great Depression. He would remind us regularly how they had absolutely nothing saying, “We were as poor as church mice”. They would go down to the river to catch fish for their dinner. 

Stan would tell us stories of his youth – so many that it would fill multiple books. I wish we would have recorded every day he was there! He would be sitting in his 1970’s, 4-wheeled, ugly blue/green chair, intensely focused at writing another part of history for people to read, and all of a sudden he would break out in a song or poem! Stan could recite poetry that he learned 85 years ago – no kidding! He might mess up a couple words, but he would end up getting it perfect. At first I thought he was making it up, because some were just incredible, some not politically correct for today. I would go and search the text on the internet and would find they were actually old songs or poems! He could even recite lines from plays that he was in. He was looking forward to playing his own part in the Reservoir War play that Jane Nice wrote and to be used for the Paulding County Bicentennial reservoir marker celebration. Unfortunately, COVID turned most of 2020’s plans upside down.

Thinking of the Paulding County Bicentennial, Stan utterly refused to go to the celebration that took place in February. He didn’t want to be a bother as his last few years had been a struggle with a cane or walker. We ended up convincing him to go and he was personally honored by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine with a standing ovation as Paulding County’s oldest living World War II Veteran.

If you kept up on Stan’s writings in the West Bend News, you would know that Stan answered the call of duty when he was 18 in 1942. His Antwerp High School football team had come off of an undefeated and unscored upon season in 1938 (team picture now in the Antwerp School) but now the world had changed drastically. He had to leave his sweetheart who he started going out with in the 7th grade, Pauline Powell, and he headed to the European front. He and his brothers, Jack and Jim, all went over to fight the tyranny taking place globally. Stan was a tank gunner in the Army. They got to Europe and found the American tanks were very much under-built compared to the German Panzer. He said they had 12” of solid steel on the front. The American tank ammunition would just bounce off. All of the American tanks that survived had to have modifications made to go back out against the Germans!

Stan was very fond of World War II. He could tell stories of how bad the food was in the mess halls, but then come back and say how much he loved the spam! 

After the war, Stan came back and was hired on for the Postal Service and started sorting mail on the steam engines that ran through from St. Louis and New York. He would go one day and be back the next. After getting married to Pauline, he needed to stay back and there was an opening for a local mail carrier. Stan took the Antwerp Route and learned where everyone lived and also had a four mile area in Indiana that was part of the Antwerp delivery.

An adventurer lived in Stan – everyday his writings were the places of mountains or fighting battles on the frontier. Flying high over Germany with the Red Baron or maybe a road trip with his son, Gale, when he was a senior in high school!

Stan retired as a rural letter carrier and had a place in Florida that he and Pauline would go to. They loved Florida! He told all kinds of fishing stories with his sister, Gracie, and brother-in-law, Ray. He and his buddies would go out early and come back when the sun got hot. It was the life! I would love to tell his friends down there, but I assume that he probably out lived them.

Nature was something Stan adored. He had been a member of the Antwerp Conservation Club and thought it was a great club. He would write about eagles, bob cats, beavers, and everything else. Chad McKeever would be in regularly to show Stan old maps, pictures, animals and much more and Stan ate up every bit of it. Stan told Pastor Rick to be sure and let him know about his latest catfish catches so he could get it in the paper. Stan believed fully in the West Bend News motto – Good News for Good Communities. He made that happen!

When Stan arrived at 9 am he was ready to write, which usually involved stories or politics he heard at the restaurant. People would generally start coming in around then and want Stan to look at an old black and white picture and see if he could identify the location. He would look at it for a little bit and start talking about how the location changed with the owners, or how it burnt down and was rebuilt into something new. An hour later he would let people know he was done by saying, “See ya”, or “you come back now.” He would leave around 11 for lunch at the Oasis and come back around 1 to start researching the questions people would have. Around 3 pm he would take off for the day to head home for a quick snooze before going to supper. In the evening it was all “Wheel” and Jeopardy, and then get in a baseball game. He was very sad several weeks ago when I told him that Alex Trebek died.

Stan had two “jobs” at the shop – Lord knows you better not do them when he wasn’t there! He would run the shredder. He loved running the shredder. I think he only burned up two of them and was on this third! His other job was to report the gas prices at the Pop N Brew on the other side of the street! “That was the old High Speed gas station” and he would put out a notice in the paper for anyone who had pictures of something he was working on. That gas station location was one of the places of which he always wanted old pictures. People responded to Stan all the time! They would bring something in, and he would tell them if that was the location for which he had been looking. Other times he would argue and say, “NOPE! That’s not around here!” 

If you read any of his later posts you would have read about his 1996 Dodge Truck with the American Eagle covering the back window. He had Jarrison Steiner put that on because he loved Eagles! He was so proud of that, and everyone knew it! He would compare it to “Old Blue” – an old grain truck that was owned by the farmer across the road from him – Kenny Hahn. 

Stan was always the gentleman. He made sure he looked trim and nice no matter what! Every three weeks he had his hair appointment scheduled with his granddaughter, Jessi. He would let me know when I needed to shave. Now you know why I look the way I do! I haven’t had Stan reminding me lately! Stan’s son Gale had three kids Mark, Jessi, and Eric, and Stan loved his grandkids very much and would mention them all the time! He made sure they were all taken care of. Stan was always generous!

Whenever we would go somewhere, and Stan loved to go anywhere, we most likely took his truck or my van. He couldn’t get in and out of cars. A year and a half ago I called Stan up on Labor Day and asked if he wanted to go the festival at Oakwood. Boy, was he excited! We got there just when the parade was starting and had people volunteering to let him sit in their golf cart so he could get closer. He loved it! I pulled out the drone to record the video so we could post it, and he would tell people all about the “boss’s little aeroplane”. He got the royal treatment at Oakwood that day – and every day he went out!

One thing that Stan loved more than anything was food! Angel Steiner or Crystal would make baked goods, banana cream pie, eggs and bacon or anything else! Stan was not afraid of food! One person that Stan always mentioned on food was Lorsi and her pies. He could never get enough! Speaking of food, he liked going to Uncle Fudd’s in Melrose too! They would have their music and he and Steve would go there before it burned down several years ago.

When Donald Trump was elected in 2016 Stan was very upset and his writings showed that. I would get phone calls telling me not to print Stan’s opinions on Donald Trump. When the politics became dangerous, Stan was not afraid to weigh in the current topic whether it was drug use, George Floyd, or anything else. Of course, I might have had to spend days on the phone or email explaining free speech, but so be it. Oley McMichael would come in and get Stan riled up about Trump, and it would get Stan’s heart rate up! We figured this was a good way for Stan to get exercise! One thing that this taught me was that no matter your political opinions are – you can always communicate even when you disagree! Most of the time if Stan disagreed with you it was relatively easy to change his mind if you brought in a piece of warm apple pie with whip cream!

Stan started writing his first book, “Billy Metzger Journal” in 2010 and it was published in 2014. It takes his adventurous mind through the west after the Civil War. It was a great project. Stan would have several weeks of articles written ahead of time or planned. He would start to complain that he had nothing to write about and get depressed, but soon we talked about something and he would say, “Yeah, I might be able to get something out of that.”

He loved going places, as stated before. This past summer Antwerp Police Chief George Clemens took Stan on a field trip around town. Stan described the history of places all over and they even went to one of the canal viaducts that are still in this county. Both George and Stan and a fantastic time!

I had an opportunity that most people never had, and that was to spend nearly every day for 15+ years with Stanley Woods Jordan. God Bless you! 

It was all of his consistent readers that really inspired Stan to come in everyday. Thank you to all of you! So much more could be written but I want to close with this: Stan loved life and life loved Stan! 

See Ya soon Stan!

Love, Bryce

I was at the Paulding County Economic Development press conference on Thursday about the Union Bank and the new coffee Shop “Grounded” announcement. While I was there Dave Burtch opened up the floor for business/economic ideas in Paulding County. One young man from Youth For Christ asked one of the top things he hears from young people just happen to be the lack of entertainment or places to hang out.

The question made me think as Burch reminisced about the “good old days” when there were bowling alleys, sock hops and theaters open in Paulding. It’s true, the small towns were happening places decades ago.

So, why did Paulding lose the entertaining places that families and young people once were able to go and have fun right in the community. Expand that out a little and you see that the entire county went through that. Now think about the entire nation – that happened everywhere. It wasn’t a bad decision fifty years ago in Paulding County that made these small entertainment businesses evacuate. 

Looking back in history there appears to be a correlation between the minimum wage and small town shrinkage. In the early part of the 20th century a majority of people lived and worked and their same town. The advent of the automobile began the change of people being able to commute from small town to metro areas if they chose. Small towns still thrived during this time as young people could get jobs in the small towns and as they gained experience and productivity, their pay would increase or it gave an opportunity to seek more advantageous work.

The minimum wage standard was put into place to help ensure that workers could get a wage to raise a family on. Those days are quite different now as the buying power has faded, and I believe due to the minimum wage. The problem is that some work is more valuable then others and to force something like that in a locale that does not have a large number of people, businesses can no longer pay the required amount, and they shutdown – hence the entertainment leaving small town america. 

The next $1400 per person stimulus bill that everyone feels they need so badly, includes a piggy-back stipulation that more than doubles the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15. Some argue that this is a long time coming. 

What happens if the minimum wage goes to $15 per hour? Will everyone suddenly be able to have all their dreams come true and pay off their debts, buy homes, and more? Imagine what you could do with $15/hr?

The increased pay sounds great! Who wouldn’t want more money? Let’s take a deeper look into this and see if it is as simple as that.

Money is nothing more than a labeled value of a person’s labor. Some have been pushing something called “equity” lately – that all should end up the same no matter where they started or the choices that were made. The US Founders had a different vision for us – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is based on equal opportunity. The difference is if “Joe” and “Bill” are both hired to pick apples in an orchard. Joe picks 25 bushels in a day and Bill picks 10 apples in a day – should they both be paid what their labor earned or should they be paid equal? Pay them both $100 for a day’s labor or pay Joe $250 and Bill $100? One gives the opportunity for advancement and better earnings based upon commitment and productivity. The other is considered more “equitable” but doesn’t reward anyone for their hard work.

If the minimum wage goes to $15 there will be consequences. 

1. Joe and Bill might end up getting paid the same because the owner can’t afford to pay both what they actually deserve based upon their production. That would harm Joe and “reward” Bill even though there was a much greater production out of Joe.

2. The business owner decides not keep Bill because it costs more to pay than what the owner is able to make off the apples that he picked.

3. The owner might just have to double his prices to cover the extra cost to increase both of Joe and Bill’s pay to meet minimum and pay Bill for the 2.5x extra productivity.

4. The owner might shutter the business because it’s no longer profitable and people can’t pay double amount for the apple than it cost. Both Joe and Bill are now out of a job and so is the owner that made the job possible.

5. The business may decide to stay in business by importing apples from China since they don’t have fair trade or the same rules on minimum wage.

6. The owner may decide that he will just forgo the legal workers and turn to automation – or maybe pay others under the table.

7. No one will want to start a business that has to hire people.

There really are lots of things that will happen to our community workers – and none are good options. Losing valuable workers is very important, would anything else happen? Unfortunately, yes. The most obvious is that pretty much every price of product made in this country will need to double. That means that your purchasing power is halved. It’s like playing monopoly and you change the rules to have Go changed to $400 per round but then Boardwalk now cost $800 to buy. 

That’s bad, but anything else? Do you have savings, 401K, HSA? The money you have saved up could also be halved because of inflation.

Couldn’t they just increase minimum wage more? Sure, with more inflation. Government mandates on money do not succeed because money is based upon actual productivity. 

In 2007 Zimbabwe had a financial crisis that sent their currency out of control by trying to mandate pricing and wages through equitability. It didn’t turn out well. The country had a crisis they were trying to outsmart economics, “However, Zimbabwe’s peak month of inflation is estimated at 79.6 billion percent month-on-month, 89.7 sextillion percent year-on-year in mid-November 2008”. By 2009 they had to stop printing money. It was worthless. People who had $200,000 saved for retirement, in one year had enough to buy a chicken sandwich. We also know that price controls have not worked in California’s housing crisis, either. Though, with nearly a million people leaving California in 2020, and the rate seems to be increasing for 2021, maybe it won’t be a problem.

Would that happen here? I sure hope not, but the more money that is printed without a GDP to back it, the possibility is there.

What is the solution? The government would be better off letting workers and employers negotiate their own wages and backing off. 

Areas around the nation are drastically different. The ground in NW Ohio is much more productive than in the Las Vegas. There is no such thing as equitability. You cannot make people equal unless you bring everyone down. But you can have equal opportunity. Those with ambition, great ideas, persistence, and just being able to show up on time, will do much better than those who don’t. It works and has worked great for many years.

After the minimum wage of $15 passed in the House of Representatives, the author, rep. Tlaib from Michigan, said they would immediately start writing the bill for $20/hr minimum wage. I’m wondering why they just didn’t go for $20 to begin with? The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently concluded that a $15 federal minimum wage could result in up to 3.7 million people becoming unemployed.

If financial problems can be solved by minimum wage regulations, why not just just make it $100 per hour. If that’s good, then a $1,000,000 per hour must be great! What we have here is people trying to make rules who have, for the most part, never owned, or operated a business. And unlike the Federal government, responsible business must actually have a balance sheet.

There can be a solution to this problem of not having local business or entertainment in our communities and that is to let the local communities decide for themselves what needs done and get rid of the federal minimum wage altogether. This will bring economic opportunities and competition back for the betterment of communities, employers and workers. It will allow young people to get a chance to earn something more valuable than money – experience., while still making money. If this minimum wage regulation goes through it will just put the nail in the coffin for our young people, their entrepreneurship and small town America as a whole. 

West Bend News writer and Antwerp resident Stan Jordan passed away yesterday evening, January 13.

Please be considerate of his family and the West Bend News family, and give time for mourning at this time.

We miss you very much! Stan gave us many years to great fun, history and friendship. 

Rest In Peace

1924-2021

Stan wrote one final, unpublished article that will be printed this next week. He wrote this piece just before he was to taken in for care.