Glass City Jungle

Construction is finally starting for the ferry and cruise-ship terminal on the Maumee River that has been discussed for years. It does not appear there are any firm promises by any of the Great Lake Cruise companies out there to come to Toledo, but, James Hartung as quoted in today’s Toledo Blade:
“We’ve dealt with interests [...]

It appears that with the increased price per bushel of corn, in part due to ethanol production that farmers in NWO as well as other parts of the country will be growing more corn. According to this Toledo Blade article:
The Agriculture Department reported yesterday that U.S. corn growers intend to plant 90.5 million acres [...]

The budget was passed by Toledo City Council with a trash fee of $5.50 if you don’t recycle and $3.00 a month if you do recycle.
It’s listed as breaking news on the Toledo Blade and more links will be added as they come online…
WTOL, WTVG, WNWO so far…WSPD updated…
Additional UPDATES 3/31:
The Toledo Blade [...]

This just in via email from the office of Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop:
Commissioner Ben Konop to distribute first 9-1-1 Cell Phones for Seniors
Distribution event provides donated Cell Phones to first group of seniors.
(Toledo, OH) Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop will distribute first group of donated cell phones to Lucas County senior citizens on [...]

UPDATE: A second release in via email from the Shanahan for District 2 campaign:
SHANAHAN, COUNCIL CANDIDATE, DISTRICT 2
BALANCE THE CITY BUDGET, DON’T BUDGET OUR FAMILY BALANCE
How should Council balance the budget?
We’re told there has not been a tax increase since the ¾% increase was passed in 1982.
Incomes have increase 8 [...]

Fox Toledo (WUPW) may be thrilled to once again be the sponsor of the Toledo Zoo Summer Concert Series but, I know I was really thrilled, as in chair dancing happy thrilled, when I saw who was coming…
Thursday, May 17th, 7:30PM – THE TRAGICALLY HIP
Tuesday, June 5th, 7:30PM – STEELY DAN
Tuesday, July 24th, 7:30PM – [...]

Recently the news has had coverage on the murder of Alicia Castillon and John C. Mitchell. The man believed to be responsible for these murders was identified by the ten year old daughter of Alicia Castillion, as her step father, Craig Daniels, Jr. He has still not been apprehended, though breaking news by the [...]

I agree with Toledo City Councilman Mark Sobczak as quoted by WTOL
“For 75 years, we’ve had a relationship with Toledo, Spain, and I don’t think you can just take a particular piece of this overall budget and eliminate it and just say we no longer have it,” said council member Mark Sobczak. “We’ve dismantled [...]

In jaunting about the net reading what was being said by different people in the media bout the budget, this one made me wonder, on WUPW:
Some have said city employees like firefighters should pay for their health insurance but union leaders say citizens get their money’s worth from a firefighter’s service.
“There’s a better chance we’re [...]

For those of you waiting for details? Looks like we are still on a holding pattern until City Council meets again tomorrow.
More details as links are out there but no accord yet on the budget and the Mayor stated earlier he will veto if:
council rejects his proposal — an $8 fee monthly, with [...]

Smoking will no longer be allowed on the grounds of St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee, which means employees that smoke will have to either quit smoking or go off into their cars in the parking lot to smoke rather than to smoke in the outdoor area that is near the Emergency Room entrance that’s been [...]

As posted earlier:
Toledo – Dr. Louise Chawla, renowned children’s advocate, researcher and author, will share her international experiences related to creating child-friendly cities and children’s participation in community development at two events Monday, April 9, 2007.
As previously stated it is not necessary to RSVP for the evening session but RSVP’s are being asked for the [...]

This media release just in from the Lucas County Young Democrats:
The Lucas County Young Democrats will be sponsoring a Campaign 101 Training on Saturday, April 21st from 9 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. at the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 50 Hall, 7570 Caple Blvd in Northwood, Ohio.
The event is FREE. For lunch, you can [...]

Even before Ellen Grachek decided she was not going to run again for District 5 with one of the main reasons being the campaign financing aspect and the survey that Dave Schulz has over on his COBRA site the topic of what is the main issue when it comes to the increasing amount of money [...]

I just caught this over on WTOL:
TOLEDO — A day after Toledo City Council rejected a monthly garbage fee measure, Mayor Finkbeiner is urging council to approve an even higher monthly fee than what was originally proposed.
This is setting up what could become a very charged council meeting that’s scheduled for Thursday. The mayor [...]

The former Mayor skips around a bit in covering topics this week in his column My View in the Sojourner’s Truth. I recommend the whole article but two parts I found especially interesting:
I was deeply disappointed that some ministers felt that they had to negotiate with the mayor over the affirmative action issue. Since [...]

Listed as breaking news from the Toledo Blade. The direct link from the Ohio Supreme Court is here.

So, the trash fee is temporarily off of the table – probably because at the time Councilman Joe McNamara called the vote with Councilwoman Wilma Brown not being there and Councilman Mark Sobczak abstaining it would have not passed anyway. According to this morning’s Toledo Blade:
Mr. Ludeman’s plan includes $2.6 million in new revenue [...]

Wow, some great guests this morning on local AM talk radio. Over on WTOD Tom Watkins had on as a part of his show Michael Miller then Luann Sharp of the Toledo Blade. At the same time over on WSPD, Fred LeFebvre had Larry Dillin on this morning, Fred did ask [...]

This just in via email from the office of Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop:
Commissioner Konop to “Build Bridges” on a Tour of East Toledo and Oregon
Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop will host a series of pubic meetings and events to continue “building bridges” with East Toledo and Oregon, Wednesday, March 28, 2007, throughout the [...]

This just in via email from the Governor’s office:
Judicial Panel Accepting Applications to Fill Vacancy in Lucas County Court
Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio Judicial Appointments Recommendation Panel is currently accepting applications to fill a vacant seat on the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division.
Applicants for the Juvenile Court position must be a resident [...]

I watched the news last night, I read the Toledo Blade article…twice even…I don’t understand why this is necessary. If as a developer Larry Dillin has the ability to do this project why does there have to be an additional offer of a 65 acre piece of land in what appears to be some [...]

Sometimes I think that Toledo’s biggest problem is Toledoans, and the way information is presented to the residents by our government. Instead of doing something that would have been progressive, fair and actually increase recycling? It appears a reporting mess of hunting down people who “pledged” to recycle to save two bucks a [...]

Just a few miles from where I live in South Toledo, WUPW-TV is reporting this took place tonight:
Shots rang out on a South Toledo street Monday night as police say gang members with a rifle and shot gun took aim at each other.
Some people living on Eastern Avenue say gangs and drugs have become [...]

This just in via email from the Lucas County Democratic Party:
Lucas County Democratic Party Endorsement Process Begins for City Council Seats
The Lucas County Democratic Party has received applications from eleven names of those who are interested in the City Council District Races. The deadline to return the applications for party endorsement was today March [...]

After the second budget hearing at the Dana Center, when I was walking out I had the chance to have a brief discussion with Toledo City Council President Rob Ludeman. The topic on our way to our vehicles was trash collection, encouraging more recycling and the filling landfill. I felt and I still [...]

If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend reading Kaptur says devotion to district drives her Capitol Hill efforts in today’s Toledo Blade. It is in response to an earlier Blade editorial entitled, Marcy a back-bencher?.

This in via email from Toledo Councilman Joe McNamara who stated today’s door to door went well:
Activists Go Door-to-Door in North End To Get New Blockwatch Group Off The Ground
Toledo, OH – Toledo City Councilman Joe McNamara and Michael Dearth, the Chairman of the City-wide Toledo Neighborhood Block Watch Program will hold a press conference [...]

Some great local blogs and a group that needs your help in collecting data on bottled water is the focus of this week’s Blog it! Toledo written by yours truly. Next week will be number 60!
Two stories focus on the Storm, first the Cover Story that was breaking news earlier in the week by [...]

Back in January I wrote a post entitled, Wishing Lucas County would follow Hamilton County’s lead… based on reading an entry at the Cincinnati Beacon. Hamilton County had taken the step of creating a wiki style directory. The Dean had stated that he hoped that now that the wiki had been [...]