Come to Lake Erie College next Wednesday night for a candidate forum, featuring candidates for Lake County commissioner.

The event is at 7 p.m. Sept. 26 in the C.K. Rickel Theatre at the Royce Hall for the Fine and Performing Arts at Lake Erie College. Bob Aufuldish, John Hamercheck, Judy Moran and David Fiebig will be part of a discussion moderated by the League of Women Voters.

We're also getting assistance from Lake County Chambers of Commerce and Lakeland Community College, which is taping the event for later broadcast.

Read more from Laura Kessel in her blog post A little help with upcoming candidate forum?

We'd never be able to publish all of the photos of local candidates campaigning, but now we're giving them the opportunity to share those photos with readers through www.News-Herald.com.

Candidates running for office in the November election are invited to share their pictures from the campaign trail in our album "Candidates on the 2012 campaign trail," found on our community photo galleries page at yourpics.News-Herald.com.

You're free to share any photos from your campaign, whether you're at a local festival, walking in a parade or meeting members of your community.

Readers can view photos, like and comment on them, and share them on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Candidates can submit photos in several ways:

• Click the upload button in the album, which you can find at yourpics.News-Herald.com, or access directly at bit.ly/2012candidatepics.
• Email individual photos to yourpics@News-Herald.com with "campaign" and your caption in the subject line.
• Tweet photos and captions to @newsheraldinoh with the hashtag #campaign.
• Instagram photos and captions to @newsheraldinoh with the hashtag #campaign.

Photos submitted in one of these four ways will go to our moderation queue, where a News-Herald staff member will approve them before they are published online.

Photos for this album will be accepted through Nov. 3, 2012, the Saturday before Election Day.

Find the album at bit.ly/2012candidatepics, and check out all of the community photos on our gallery page at yourpics.News-Herald.com.

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

Having trouble figuring out who should get your vote for president? Check out Project Vote Smart's Vote Easy.

You can answer questions about national issues and rank the importance of each. With every question you answer, the lawn signs for the candidates will move forward or backward, depending on how much the candidate matches up with you. The signs even display nifty percentages to let you know how closely the candidates match up with your beliefs.

If you want to learn more about any of the candidates, you can click the lawn signs to where they stand on every issue. If you've already answered questions, you can see whether your responses match with theirs.

It's a pretty nice and easy way to bypass all the commercials and speeches to find out exactly what the candidates think.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

A classic childhood toy has made its way into the campaign for the Republican presidential candidate. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney this week compared it to an Etch A Sketch: "You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again."

Other politicians jumped on this remark and interpreted it in their own way, while major stores reported a jump in sales and the stock's value nearly tripled today.

My favorite part about the incident was the company's marketing director's comment: "We have a left knob and a right knob, so we neutrally speak to both parties."

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum holds
an Etch A Sketch. (Associated Press photo)

Full story from John Seewer of The Associated Press:

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Pushed to the bottom of the toy box by video games and other high-tech gadgets, Etch A Sketch is suddenly drawing lots of attention, thanks to a gaffe that has shaken up the race for the White House.
Ohio Art Co., maker of the classic baby boomer toy, is sending a big box of Etch A Sketches to the presidential campaigns to say thanks for the publicity and a boost in sales.
It all started when Mitt Romney strategist Eric Fehrnstrom was asked Wednesday about the candidate’s politics now versus next fall, and he likened the campaign to an Etch A Sketch: “You can kind of shake it up and we start all over again.”
Democrats and Republicans alike seized on the remark as evidence that Romney is a flip-flopper willing to alter his positions for political gain.
GOP rival Newt Gingrich told voters in Louisiana that “having an Etch A Sketch as your campaign model raises every doubt about where we’re going.” Rick Santorum brandished an Etch A Sketch and told voters he is a candidate who stands “firmly on the rocks of freedom, not on the sands of an Etch A Sketch toy.” Santorum’s staff also handed out miniature Etch A Sketches to reporters.
While Romney’s opponents are hoping the remark will erase his momentum and reframe the debate, the biggest winner might be Ohio Art.
Its stock, which trades over the counter, nearly tripled on Thursday, closing at $9.65, and major stores reported a jump in sales, said chairman Bill Killgallon.
“We’re proud that one of our products is shaking up the debate,” he said.
Ohio Art has sold more than 100 million Etch A Sketches worldwide since its introduction in 1960. The toy, with its familiar gray screen and bright-red frame, allows youngsters to draw things by twisting two white knobs. A quick shake erases the image and lets you start over.
Etch A Sketches were made in Ohio until 2000, when the company moved production to China because of increasing costs.
Over the years, Ohio Art and Etch A Sketch have benefited from millions of dollars in free advertising from movies and television. The company saw a big jump in sales after Etch A Sketch landed a role in “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2.”
In fact, the toy gets so much free publicity that Ohio Art spends very little on advertising it.
The company, based in Bryan, doesn’t release annual sales figures but says Etch A Sketch has a steady market. It’s most popular with grandparents and mothers who are looking for a bit of nostalgia.
How long the latest bump will last is anybody’s guess.
“I’m not sure that just because the candidates are talking about Etch A Sketch that kids are going to tell their moms to go out and buy one,” said Martin Killgallon, the company’s marketing director.
One thing the Etch a Sketch won’t do is pick sides in the presidential campaign, he said.
“We have a left knob and a right knob,” he said, “so we neutrally speak to both parties.”
———
Associated Press writer Lisa Cornwell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

The Madison-Perry Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Meet the Candidates Luncheon Forum on Oct. 7. Chamber members, guests and the public are invited to attend at DeRubertis Party Center, 6521 North Ridge Road in Madison Township.

Doors open 11 a.m., lunch is served at 11:45, and the program begins at noon.

Candidates that legislate on behalf of the business community will answer questions from the Chamber moderator in a panel format.

Candidates scheduled to participate include:

• State Representative 63rd District — Mark Schneider (D) and Ron Young (R)
• Representative to Congress 14th District — Bill O’Neil (D)
• Lake County Commissioner — Dan Troy (D) and Bob Murphy (R).

Cost is $12 per person and reservations are required no later than Sept. 30 by calling 440-428-3760 for reservations.