The Star Beacon; Ashtabula, Ohio--Reality Check http://www.starbeacon.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:43:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_070165259.html Why are we hurting so? http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_070165259.html It’s time for a reality check.: Main story, Day one Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:43:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_069194803.html What it is, how it’s calculated http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_069194803.html Determining per capita income is a complex exercise that — at best — is a mathematical expression of a moving target.In its simplest terms, per capita income is, according to the Ohio Department of Development, “the income of a given area divided by the resident population of that area.” Sounds simple enough, but arriving at the figure is not. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:43:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_069193419.html Beyond wineries and covered bridges … http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_069193419.html An introduction to reality check Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:42:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_069195956.html County part of Team NEO marketing efforts http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_069195956.html Ashtabula County is part of a 16-county alliance aimed at marketing the Northeast Ohio region to employers and business investors, many of have never heard of Ashtabula, let alone Mentor, Akron or Youngstown. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:42:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_070210800.html Finding work after prison nearly impossible http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_070210800.html A portion of Ashtabula County’s unemployed can’t find a job because of their prior address – a prison cell. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:42:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_069195048.html Bad vibes: Lack of opportunities, progress make for sour attitudes http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_069195048.html Eavesdrop on conversations at the lunch counter, in the aisles of Wal-Mart on a Friday evening or around the sports bar on a Sunday afternoon, and you’re likely to hear some pretty disparaging remarks about the old hometown. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:41:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_070212255.html POOR BUT WORKING http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_070212255.html A winter wind blew across the parking lot of the Neighbor to Neighbor Food Pantry next to St. Joseph’s Church in Ashtabula; the six adults lined up at the door turned their faces from the wind, toward the metaphoric concrete wall of the building. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:41:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_070211114.html Some people just don’t want a job http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_070211114.html Ashtabula County Commissioner Deborah Newcomb talks to a lot of employers, and they all express the same concern: finding people reliable people with basic skills is a problem. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:40:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_071222536.html Crime and Drugs Inc. always hiring http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_071222536.html Some “unemployed” residents find crime to be their best source of steady income. Judge Richard Stevens of Western County Court says he noticed a 50-percent increase in the number of criminal cases handled by his court between 2005 and last year. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:40:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_071213511.html County's largest hospital feels the Medicaid pain http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_071213511.html Perhaps no one in Ashtabula County feels the pinch of subsidizing unemployed or underemployed individuals more than Philip E. Pawlowski. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:40:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_071223608.html Taxpayers bearing the brunt http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_071223608.html When payday came for Ashtabula County’s 102,703 residents in 2005, taxpayers wrote 25.5 percent of the total. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:39:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_072184000.html Payday loan shops find fertile ground in county’s low per capita income landscape http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_072184000.html One of the fastest growing industries in Ashtabula County is payday or cash advance loan stores, which are popping up in strip malls and shopping plazas all over the county. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:39:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_072183655.html Doing the math: Tourism’s paychecks are small but written with ‘fresh’ money http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_072183655.html Tourism is touted as the new up-and-coming industry in Ashtabula County, a quadripartite savior with wineries, the lodge, Lake Erie and covered bridges for legs. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:38:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_072185005.html Our lost retail dollars http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_072185005.html Google these words: “Ashtabula County retail per capita.” Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:38:00 +0000 http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_071222931.html Ashtabula County: A comfortable place to be poor? http://www.starbeacon.com/realitycheck/local_story_071222931.html Have social service agencies and Uncle Sam done their job so well in Ashtabula County that they’ve created a haven for the disabled, indolent, drug-addicted and/or unmotivated?