Abortion, Cross-Voting & Alzheimer's: Listening to Local Voices

1. Let's start with the big one.

Patrick Giusto . (Obviously, pro-choice is a code word, as is pro-life. Not everyone who supports abortion is against the concept of life; and not everyone who doesn't support abortion is against choice.)

Some people agreed with Giusto. Some people were angry with him. Thus far, more than 70 people have commented on his post.

. You'll have an opinion -- one way or another. Feel free to share that opinion but please do it without insulting Giusto or the other people who are sharing their opinions.

2. Do you know what cross-voting is? It's when someone self-identifies as one party but votes in another's primary.

And malicious cross-voting is when someone does that specifically to undermine the other party.

Dennis Spirgen has written a thoughtful blog .

"Ohio technically has a “closed” primary system, meaning that you cannot vote in a party’s primary election unless you are a registered member of that party. However, this requirement is virtually meaningless, since you can change your registration at the polling place on the day of the election by simply requesting the ballot of your new party," he writes.

3. We are fortunate to have Steffani Baker, the Education and Outreach Specialist for the Alzheimer's Association, blogging on Patch.

She wrote her introductory post this week.

What her association does can be summarized in two words: .

4. Let's end on a happy note.

, courtesy of job search den mother Kelly Blazek