Glass City Jungle

Looking back from December of last year to this year, here are the top ten posts as far as visitor numbers for 2008, number ten was a tie:
Karyn McConnell-Hancock reported missing…
Have more to say on the Karyn McConnell-Hancock saga?
Why was Jessica Utovich wearing p.j.’s in the condo in the first place?
Guest Post by Councilman [...]

This week it was my turn to do the honors in putting together the Carnival of Ohio Politics Last Carnival of 2008 which was a great year for many of us; we saw some friends quit blogging and made some new ones. I hope you head over to enjoy this week’s submissions from [...]

Fox Toledo has a story up about the new plan that starts January 1st. Evidently some Toledo residents are not happy about the new system that relies on a color coding one as opposed to keeping the same date a majority of the year with a few facing later collection due to holidays. [...]

The announcement was made today at the ceremony at the Main Library to present the Library system with copies of the music compilation, “Legacy: Songs in the Key of Toledo” earlier today. The two set CD collection will be available for your listening pleasure in approximately two weeks. More information on what happened [...]

Fox Toledo reported this earlier today, stating:
TOLEDO – The Finkbeiner administration announced late Tuesday that a week-long furlough for all non-safety service employees will go into effect Friday, Feb. 13.
Jason Webber, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner’s spokesman, said all layoff and recall procedures relating to the Glass City’s union contracts “will be scrupulously followed.”

This in via email from the office of District 6 Councilwoman Lindsay Webb:
Webb Proposes Budget Amendment to Continue Programming at Friendship Park Senior Center
For several years, the Friendship Park Senior Center, 2930 131st Street, has been under the jurisdiction of the City of Toledo, Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry. Since 1994, Greg Holewinski, [...]

It appears there is some agreement from those in both parties when you read the full article, Even in bad times, Ohioans to get tax cut.
Democrats had argued that the across-the-board income tax cut would disproportionately benefit the wealthy, but they haven’t said much on the subject since Mr. Strickland’s election. In fact, a letter [...]

I received this information via email:
Palestine Vigil Today, 12/30 Tuesday 5-7 pm at Secor and Central Rd sponsored by NWOPC (Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition).
There is no additional information on the Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition webpage but this vigil as well as several others in Ohio and other parts of the nation are listed on the [...]

Last night after 2:00 a.m. in the morning a 15 year old was shot and killed, he was shot by a 17 year old. Both boys lived approximately .2 miles from each other, both boys were out past the curfew that exists in the City of Toledo. The 17 year old had a [...]

I heard about it this weekend and it is on the Calendar from the City website – District 3 Townhall Budget meeting:
East Toledo Family Center, 1020 Varland Ave.
6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Sometimes, I get the chance to become involved in projects that I would never have been able to be even a small part of had I not started blogging, this edition of the Toledo Free Press is one of those times. As you can see by the cover that has a picture of Randy [...]

Media release sent to the Toledo Free Press, that in part says:
Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop has released the following statement:
“This morning I will vote No on the $140 million, taxpayer-funded 2009 budget presented to me last week. My decision is based on proposals in this budget to potentially eliminate some road patrols by the [...]

If you read the Blade, it doesn’t list any of the names beyond Tom Noe:
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Federal Elections Commission has imposed $65,500 in fines on seven people involved in a former Republican fundraiser’s scheme to funnel illegal contributions to President Bush’s re-election campaign.

Not long ago I tried a new template and things did not work out well for a few of you, there were some coding issues that prevented a few of you with different versions of IE from being able to see the blog or to have the spacing not be the way it was supposed [...]

Last night about 8:15 p.m. I got a phone call telling me about what at the time was thought to be one lone Toledo City Garbage truck, who was not running what appeared to be a regular route but went to one specific house on Ketner Street. At the time that seemed rather odd, [...]

This week’s Conklin and Company on WTVG was the final show for the year which took a look back at the last year in politics. Interviews with President-elect Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain and the interview with Charles Gibson were replayed. Then a video interview with one of the lead designers for [...]

The teaser headline at the Washington Post states, “Ohio Begs for Federal Lifeline”, the actual article is titled, Like Many States, Ohio Reaches for A Lifeline. I recommend reading the article in full, but the part referenced in the title:
“We’re not crying wolf. This is real,” Strickland said in an interview in his statehouse [...]

This in from the office of Governor Ted Strickland via email, names of the two from the Toledo area are in bold:
Governor Announces Appointments
Columbus, Ohio – Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today announced appointments to the following state boards and commissions.

While this week’s This Strikes Us in the Sojourner’s Truth makes it clear they don’t agree with all of the positions taken by Rev. Rick Warren; the editorial shares their reasons why they applaud it:
Nevertheless, we applaud the future president for the selection of Warren, even as we hope the good reverend will keep [...]

I’ve had the opportunity to participate in Food for Thought in the past during the Friday nights when the lunches are being put together and the Saturday when the bagged lunches are being given out. If you haven’t read the Blade article, More than a meal is offered through Food For Thought, I hope [...]

Christmas Eve night as I headed off to the airport with my one daughter to pick up my other daughter who was flying in, the puddles of water on the street earlier in the day were frozen so her car became stuck on what has become “National Skating Rink,” I got out and gave [...]

If you read the Blade’s article this morning, Debt collector drowns Lucas County court with tax-lien foreclosures you get the impression that the county clerk of courts, Bernie Quilter has some concerns:
“We weren’t counting on this,” said Bernie Quilter, the county clerk of courts, of the mountain of paperwork. “Here we are: The county is [...]

I ventured out to Fallen Timbers today, it was actually the first time I’d ever been there to get two specific gifts I needed and I decided to go there rather than face Franklin Park (okay Westfield Shopping Center). I was surprised it really wasn’t that busy, there was no parking in front of [...]

The unemployment rates for Toledo and Lucas County have been released, Toledo is at 10.3% and Lucas County is at 9.5%. As a city we have the highest unemployment rate in the State, as a County, there are several who are higher. These numbers do not include all of those who will be [...]

We’re over due for a video fun thread, and with tomorrow being Christmas Eve, I decided it’d be cool to do a post on what is your favorite Christmas movie. One of my holiday traditions as some of you know is to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” but my second favorite is, “The Year [...]

The Blade quotes from the report this morning in About 20% of jobs in area tied to Detroit 3 but I recommend reading the full report from Brookings, it’s not that long it’s only 6 pages and can be found in pdf format here.
While the Blade article points out:
Brookings’ report found that [...]

The Toledo Free Press cover gives a story of it’s own, “Toledo Media: Resurrection or RIP” with the companion story, Changing media landscape causing problems, new opportunities in Toledo and nationwide that discussed some of the recent changes to the media in the Toledo area.

The Mayor had a press conference earlier today, I was told this was announced then:
Fox Toledo, WTOL and the Blade had coverage:
Arbitrator Robert Stein said collective bargaining agreements with American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Locals 7 and 2058 and Teamsters Local 20 prohibit the mayor from imposing mandatory furloughs.

Black Swamp Conservancy Matches Toledo Community Foundation Challenge Grant
Perrysburg, Ohio (December 22, 2008 ) – Black Swamp Conservancy, a Perrysburg, Ohio-based land conservation organization, has announced that it has matched a challenge grant the conservancy received from Toledo Community Foundation.
The conservancy was awarded a $50,000 grant from Toledo Community Foundation earlier this year. The grant [...]

Ninety-one couples have taken advantage of the Domestic Partner Registry passed by City Council last year that went into affect a year ago today as reported in the Blade article, Dozens sign Toledo’s domestic partner registry.
Two terminated their registry which is allowed under the legislation that created the registry. The story [...]