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Take part in this "Joe the Plumber" poll from the NY Daily News!

Federal authorities have told a high-profile Arizona sheriff that they will investigate his department over allegations of discriminatory practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures. The U.S. Justice Department said in a letter delivered Tuesday to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio that the investigation will focus on alleged patterns of discrimination based on a person's national origin. Arpaio told The Associated Press that he will cooperate with the Justice Department. Arpaio, who describes himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff" and is best known for feeding jail inmates green bologna sandwiches, clothing them in pink underwear, and making them work on chain gangs,...

Ladies and Gentleman in this corner wearing the business tie and suit is CNN "Reporter" John Roberts, in the other corner we have accidental news story Joe the Plumber. This morning on CNN the reporter and the plumber had some words about journalistic integrity. John the reporter defended his and indicated that Joe the Plumber deserved the unfair treatment he got from the media because he entered the political field by campaigning for McCain. Of course Roberts forgot to mention that the nastiness preceded Joe's participation in the campaign. And while Roberts defended his integrity, Joe wasn't armed with the...

The Obama campaign and Strickland administration both deny involvement in the "Joe the Plumber" background check, but Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien still is examining Helen Jones-Kelley's phone records to see who she spoke with around the time when her office accessed confidential state records. Jones-Kelley resigned Wednesday as director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. However, she still could face criminal charges for authorizing the improper search of computer databases. The probe into a private citizen's confidential records ignited a furor across the country when it was revealed by The Dispatch. O'Brien said he is reviewing...

Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, resigned last night near the end of a monthlong, unpaid suspension for mining state computers for confidential information on "Joe the Plumber." Two senior managers suspended for their roles in the scandal that spiced this year's presidential campaign also are leaving, The Dispatch has learned. The administration fired Doug Thompson, deputy director of child support. Fred Williams, assistant agency director, resigned effective Jan. 31. The action came soon after the Republican-controlled General Assembly approved a measure cracking down on state workers who improperly conduct checks involving Ohioans' personal...

State official resigns over 'Joe the Plumber' affair Wednesday, December 17, 2008 6:54 PM Updated: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 07:38 PM By Catherine Candisky THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Helen Jones-Kelley, the state official placed on unpaid leave for improperly accessing confidential information from state databases on "Joe the Plumber," has resigned. Two senior managers involved in the incident also are leaving, The Dispatch has learned.. Jones-Kelley was scheduled to return to work as director of the Department of Job and Family Services on Monday following a one-month suspension without pay. Today's action comes just hours after the Senate approved a measure...

The state worker who unwittingly ran an improper child-support check on the man known as Joe the Plumber told lawmakers yesterday that a deputy director later "dictated" how she was supposed to cover it up. Vanessa Niekamp, an administrator for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' Office of Child Support and a 15-year state employee, said that when Deputy Director Doug Thompson came into her office, "He appeared very upset, his neck was bright red, and he was shaking. He closed my door." Thompson told her she must write an e-mail to the agency's information-security officer, and then...

Joe the Plumber case still dripping -- Half-dozen agencies access records of Ohio man By Dennis J. Willard, Akron Beacon Journal staff writer Published on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 The election is over, but the Joe the Plumber case is not. Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles said his office is now looking at a half-dozen agencies that accessed state records on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher. The Beacon Journal has learned that, in addition to the Department of Job and Family Services, two other state offices — the Ohio Department of Taxation and Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers — conducted database searches...

Joe the Plumber case still dripping Half-dozen agencies access records of Ohio man By Dennis J. Willard Beacon Journal staff writer Published on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 The election is over, but the Joe the Plumber case is not. Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles said his office is now looking at a half-dozen agencies that accessed state records on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher. The Beacon Journal has learned that, in addition to the Department of Job and Family Services, two other state offices — the Ohio Department of Taxation and Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers — conducted database searches of Joe...

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has no records to support the assertion of its now-suspended director that computer checks often are run on people "thrust quickly into the public spotlight." In response to a public-records request, the state agency said today that it had no records involving prior checks of the type that Director Helen Jones-Kelley authorized on "Joe the Plumber." Ohio's inspector general is investigating the legality of inquiries in agency computer systems for personal information on Toledo-area resident Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who was popularized by Republican John McCain. Gov. Ted Strickland placed Jones-Kelley on paid...

State employee says she was ordered to check out Joe the Plumber Friday, October 31, 2008 8:21 PM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch Vanessa Niekamp said that when was asked to run a child-support check on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher on Oct. 16, she thought it routine. A supervisor told her the man had contacted the state agency about his case. Niekamp didn't know she just had checked on "Joe the Plumber," who was elevated the night before to presidential politics prominence as Republican John McCain's example in a debate of an average American. The senior manager would not learn...

If Joe the Plumber were Jawad the Suspected Terrorist, civil-liberties activists would stampede the halls of Congress on his behalf. Liberal columnists would hyperventilate over the outrageous invasions of his privacy by Ohio state and local employees. The ACLU would demand the Big Brother snoopers’ heads. And Democratic leaders would convene immediate hearings and parade him around the Beltway as the new poster boy/victim of unlawful domestic spying. But because peaceful American citizen Joe Wurzelbacher is an outspoken enemy of socialism, rather than an enemy of America, the defenders of privacy have responded to his plight with an impenetrable cone...

A state agency has revealed that its checks of computer systems for potential information on "Joe the Plumber" were more extensive than it first acknowledged. Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, disclosed today that computer inquiries on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher were not restricted to a child-support system. The agency also checked Wurzelbacher in its computer systems to determine whether he was receiving welfare assistance or owed unemployment compensation taxes, she wrote. Jones-Kelley made the revelations in a letter to Ohio Senate President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, who demanded answers on why state officials checked...

Just in: The Toledo Police Department confirms that one of its records clerks has been charged with performing an unlawful search of Joe The Plumber’s records. That makes two Ohio government employees identified in the snooping case. (Obama donor Helen Jones-Kelly, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, approved a separate search. More are being investigated.) snip...

Clerk Charged with Misconduct for Unlawfully Accessing Information on 'Joe the Plumber' A records clerk in Ohio has come under fire for accessing information on "Joe the Plumber" through a statewide database. Cristina Corbin FOXNews.com A records clerk in Ohio has been charged with gross misconduct after she allegedly used a state database to access information on the man famously known as "Joe the Plumber," the Toledo police department confirmed to FOXNews.com. Julie McConnell, a long-time records clerk with the department's investigative services bureau, allegedly used the database -- called the Law Enforcement Automated Data System or LEADS -- to...

Clerk charged for Joe the Plumber records search An Oct. 28 Toledo Police Department news release stated Toledo Police Records Clerk Julie McConnell, has been charged with “Gross Misconduct” for allegedly making an improper inquiry into a state database in search of information pertaining to Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher on Oct. 16. The record inquiry was made for a non-law enforcement purpose, which is a violation of both department policy and state policy governing the use of the Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS) database, according to the news release. McConnell was hired by the Toledo Police Department in...

Toledo police clerk charged in Joe The Plumber snooping case; Update: Snooper was doing a favor for a reporter; Joe may sue By Michelle Malkin • October 28, 2008 04:49 PM Scroll for updates… Just in: The Toledo Police Department confirms that one of its records clerks has been charged with performing an unlawful search of Joe The Plumber’s records. That makes two Ohio government employees identified in the snooping case. (Obama donor Helen Jones-Kelly, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, approved a separate search. More are being investigated.) WNWO reports: Toledo Police have confirmed that...

Ohio's Head of Job and Family Services Approved a Child-Support Search on Joe Wurzelbacher Immediately After Third Debate; Her Excuse? "Oh, We Always Do That" Confirmed: Max Donor to Obama Helen Jones-Kelley (two e's in Kelley) just happens to be a maximum $2300 contributor to Barack Obama.

This is what happened to Joe Wurzelbacher, the average Joe, who had a politician show up at his door and whose answer gave a glimpse into the politicians plan to redistribute wealth. The AP and other news agencies in the tank for Barack Obama immediately attempted to distract from Obama's answer by demonizing the person who asked the question. Joe's birth records, court records and tax records were pulled and every detail of Joe's life came to the surface for the entire world to see. Last night, the Columbus Dispatch printed a story in which the Ohio Attorney General's office...

Government computers used to find information on Joe the Plumber Investigators trying to determine whether access was illegal Friday, October 24, 2008 8:41 PM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch "State and local officials are investigating if state and law-enforcement computer systems were illegally accessed when they were tapped for personal information about "Joe the Plumber." Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher became part of the national political lexicon Oct. 15 when Republican presidential candidate John McCain mentioned him frequently during his final debate with Democrat Barack Obama. The 34-year-old from the Toledo suburb of Holland is held out by McCain as an...