Glass City Jungle

I debated if I was going to include Michael Miller’s column in this week’s Toledo Free Press entitled, Recall to Arms as a part of the weekly summary I do on what’s in the Toledo Free Press or post about it as a stand alone post. (Yes, the weekly review is still coming, just [...]

This in via e-mail from District 5 Toledo City Councilman Tom Waniewski:
Toledo City Council
Tom Waniewski
February 15, 2009
District 5 Toledo City Councilman Tom Waniewski today announced a plan to keep the ladder truck #25 right where it belongs — stationed at the Central Avenue location.

This week on Conklin & Company on WTVG first up was Toledo Council President Mark Sobczak on the Budget, second section was advice to home owners related to foreclosure, Elizabeth Kollar, Fifth Third senior vice president and Keith Foster from the Fair Housing Center were on the program. Take Three saw the return of [...]

Allll during the Presidential campaign the word “socialist” and “socialism” was tossed about trying to create the same type of fear factor that would make Joseph McCarthy proud. It’s the classic definition of the herd mentality at work:
Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as [...]

This in via e-mail:
Mayor Finkbeiner Responds to Restraining Order
Today, Mayor Finkbeiner released the following statement in response to the temporary restraining order filed by Toledo Firefighters Local 92 against the City of Toledo:
“In a major effort to address very serious and immediate fiscal challenges, the City of Toledo has taken steps to save money, [...]

The saga of the Senate Minority Leader Ray Miller’s campaign finance reports has been one covered here several times in the past, from media releases from Senator Teresa Fedor back in March of 2008 urging Miller to be audited to questions about hotel bills for me raised questions as to the judgment of the Democrats [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of District 6 Toledo Councilwoman Lindsay Webb:
Statement Issued by Councilwoman Webb calls for Charter Changes
If we want to restore the balance of power in Toledo City Government, some changes to the structure of government are necessary. “It is time that serious Charter discussions take place and [...]

There at times when I sit here, dumbfounded at the total lack of logic demonstrated by our government. Reading, Lawmakers skeptical of ‘Three C’s’ passenger rail was one of those moments.
Let’s look at the map shall we?

Today is the day that Connecting Point employees should have received their paychecks. Earlier in the week it was stated they would not be paid, then there was some discussion that they would be paid. Letters were sent out to employees on February 10th, some of them received them yesterday, some might not [...]

This was shared in the comments of the blog, but I wanted to point it out in it’s own post so that it got more attention. There is a meeting today, 2/13/09 at 10 a.m. at Erie Street Market.
This meeting is for consumers and parents of Connecting Point and what will be done with [...]

Not long ago we had the And then there were three but according to the Blade, now there are Two.
Sean T. Connaughton, the former maritime administrator in Washington for the U.S. Department of Transportation, notified the port authority’s recruiter this week that he accepted a job with the American Bureau of Shipping, said authority Spokesman [...]

First we start off with some questions earlier in the day as to why didn’t the Mayor share the news with City Council first. The the coverage on the Mayoral presentation.
Fox Toledo which also has the pdf of the presentation notes from today. NBC24, WTVG, WTOL which also has the full text [...]

Maybe Andrew Z should see if he could get Lucas County Commisioner Ben Konop and Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken on “Talk Back” for a real Konop vs Gerken moment until then? This will have to do:

Recommended post over on Whalertly where you can find out who’s waiting until July and which Toledo station has decided to make the switch on February 17th…Anyone want to guess which one before heading over to read Barga’s post?

A reader sent in these pictures via email of how things look in South Toledo, over on Edna Street where there has been some flooding, these were from yesterday.

There were a few items that created a large amount of discussion, in the Agenda Review for Toledo City Council on February 10th, one is a topic that was blogged about here, the Health Care REIT tax credit/incentive package.
84-09 Approve Municipal Job Creation Tax Credit for Health Care REIT, 7 years at 40% [...]

There has been no word on if the deficit amount will be higher than 8.1 million dollars given the news that the State of Ohio recently announced their projections were off and the deficit for the State was going to be higher. That said, tomorrow, the Mayor Finkbeiner and City Leaders will be at [...]

If you check out the new Lucas County Website you might notice that LCIC is no longer linked there. Using google cache, it’s still out there to show the “good old days”. Back on January 23, 2009 a press release was sent out of all of the “new” board members, but the only [...]

I normally do a review what’s covered in the Sojourner Truth over the weekend, but given the huge amount of discussion and the time frame factor, when I saw this article on the Connecting Point, Connecting Point: One Stop Shop Service Agency Closes Its Doors I wanted to point it out now. It does [...]

This in via e-mail from Audubon Ohio:
Ohio Birds’ Movements Reveal Global Warming Threat, Says New Report Species Wintering Farther North Show Need for Policy Change
(Ohio) The northward and inland movement of North American birds, confirmed by thousands of citizen-observations, provides new and powerful evidence that global warming is having a serious impact on natural [...]

Ignazio Messina of the Blade reports Robert Reinbolt, the mayor’s chief of staff stated:
He said the number would include none of the employees in the 800-member American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 7, the largest city of Toledo union, because they accepted concessions in a new contract.
Fireman can’t be laid off [...]

District 5 Councilman Tom Waniewski also released his newsletter today via e-mail, some selected portions of it follow:
Budget Challenges Continue
Just when I thought I had discovered about a million dollars for a police and/or fire class in 2009, I learned the 2008 budget is $8 million in the hole. I have long advocated a reduction [...]

This video link was sent in via e-mail from a reader, not directly from the Jim Moody for Mayor campaign. In it Moody raises the idea that he has expressed in the past related to wanting the city of Toledo to purchase garbage trucks that use natural gas as opposed to diesel. He [...]

This in via e-mail from the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce:
Recession Proofing Your Business: Local Resources to the Rescue
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Main Library Branch Downtown
9:15 am – 1:00 pm
NO COST TO ATTEND
Learn How To Overcome Your Business Challenges and Survive 2009
Small business owners could be facing the toughest challenges of their careers in 2009. ALL [...]

This in via email from the office of District 2 Councilman D. Michael Collins, you can read the entire newsletter in a pdf format by clicking here. What is especially interesting about this newsletter is Councilman Collins has included how he has voted on legislation/resolutions, so I recommend reading it in full. Some [...]

Those of you who read the blog found out about this over the weekend, but this release from the Lucas County Commissioners makes it official:
Lucas County Launches Cutting-Edge New Website
Site Will Ease Navigation, Help Connect Public to Important Services
Toledo, OH – Lucas County today launched a cutting-edge new website which will greatly increase public [...]

This will actually make it 10,418 posts.
I don’t make a huge deal about blog anniversaries, but it dawned on me earlier today that I passed the five year blogging mark in January as well as the third year anniversary for two of my blogs, including this one. I added up all of [...]

Two Blade columnists covering the same basic theme but from a different perspective, Jack Kelly calling some of the problems with the recent Obama attempted appointments and appointments, Culture of Corruption II a continuation of what appears to be the Blade allowing one token conservative to have print space. Marilou Johanek on the other [...]

This in from the office of State Representative Peter Ujvagi
Rep. Peter Ujvagi Announces State Grants for Local Institutions
$807,699 Will Help Projects at UT, Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare
COLUMBUS – State Representative Peter Ujvagi (D-Toledo) today announced that the State Controlling Board has approved 3 grants for area projects. The votes mean that nearly $808,000 will be [...]

Hold on to your hats Toledo! If the State once again is stating they are bringing in less, as reported by the Toledo Free Press in this Associated Press Piece:
New estimates released by the Ohio Office of Management and Budget showed the state took in $60.5 million less than expected in total taxes last [...]