Jim Krumel: Car talk, anniversaries, quotes and more

THIS AND THAT —

Honda's announcement last week that it plans to build a new factory in Marysville to produce a “super sports car” comes with a dash of irony.

It was 30 years ago when Honda made Marysville the site for the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the United States. In many ways, 1982 was similar to where we find ourselves heading today. The United States was fighting its way out of a major recession back then with joblessness hitting 10.1 percent nationwide and 13.3 percent in the Buckeye state. How to stimulate the economy was the talk of every politician from Washington to Columbus.

Landing the Honda plant was a great impetus for Ohio to climb out of the 1980s recession. Honda would go on to expand in Ohio with three other plants being built in Anna, East Liberty and Russells Point. More than 10,000 people are employed at those four plants today.

However, not everyone in Ohio was happy with Honda in 1982.

Organized labor suffered a big blow when the United Auto Workers failed to entice Honda workers to join. That was unheard of back then, just as agreeing to a tiered wage system in auto plants was unheard of until recent negotiations.

Ohio has since seen its hold on Honda slip. In 2008, Honda selected a site in Indiana for a new manufacturing plant instead of a location in Van Wert. That made landing the new plant in Marysville a bigger deal.

ALSO IN 2012:

Honda's 30th anniversary is on a long list of anniversaries in 2012. Among others:

•Fenway Park in Boston turns 100 on April 20.

•Fox Broadcasting Co. celebrated the launching its first prime-time TV schedule 25 years ago.

•We were introduced to Homer, Bart, Marge and Lisa when “The Simpsons” aired for the first time 25 years ago. Let's not forget Ned Flanders, either.

•The world's largest McDonald's fast-food restaurant opened in Beijing 20 years ago.

QUOTE MACHINE:

Here are some notable quotations found last week in The Lima News:

•“Nobody can use dirty words or nudity except Steven Spielberg.” — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, describing the inconsistent standards of monitoring television programs by the Federal Communication Commission.

•“I'll have to raise money for Poland now.” — Ohio State president Gordon Gee, whose joke about the “Polish Army” drew similar scorn to comments he made about the Little Sisters of the Poor, to whom he later sent a monetary donation.

•“We will have school open.” — Wapakoneta City School District Superintendent Keith Horner, concerning a possible teachers strike.

GO FIGURE:

Some numbers in the news last week:

•About 57 percent of all jobs in Ohio will require some training beyond high school by 2018, according to a study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. That same study noted manufacturing is expected to decline by about 18 percent in Ohio by 2018, while private education services and the health care industries will account for more than one out of every three new jobs in the state.

•New-car dealers earn an average of $2,206 gross profit on the sale of used vehicles compared to $1,404 on a new one, according to the National Automobile Dealers Associations.

BACK TO 1982:

Among other things that happened in 1982 besides Honda:

•A dentist by the name of Barney Clark received the first artificial heart.

•We flocked to the movies to see “E.T.” and “Tootsie.”

•Joe Paterno was a hero for winning a national championship at Penn State.

•The Cleveland Browns … well, they had a losing record, but did make it to the playoffs in a strike-shortened season.

•And a certain editor became a married man.

ROSES AND THORNS: A few this week.

Rose: To Evelyn Smith, of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, for her tireless effort in putting together today's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast.

Rose: To Jessica Pero, of Lima. When her youngest daughter, Evie, developed diaper rash, Jennifer developed a special cream she now sells called “Booty Butter.”

Thorn: A series of bad decisions saw Kenny J. Thierjung, 49, end up in the Putnam County Jail. He was wanted by police for stealing a car that belonged to one of his relatives. When he tried to swipe a pack of cigarettes from the Circle K in Delphos, an employee recognized him as the car thief. Thierjung took off and led police on a chase that reached speeds of 80 to 100 mph before stopping and surrendering, the only sensible thing he had done in days.

Thorn: To the Lima City Schools Board of Education, which allowed for no public input or even interviews of other candidates before it hired Jill Ackerman as the school district's next superintendent.

Thorn: As many as six burglary attempts have taken place in Bath Township during the last two weeks, with four of them occurring during daylight hours.

PARTING SHOT: “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” — The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Jim Krumel is the editor of The Lima News. To suggest a rose or thorn, contact him at jkrumel@limanews.com or The Lima News, 3515 Elida Road, Lima, Ohio 45807.