Glass City Jungle

I recommend reading the report in full from the Center for Community Solutions – (link). For those of you looking for a summary of what the report covered, I recommend John Michael Spinelli’s article on the report – (link). He does an excellent job in summation so there’s no need for me to [...]

When I sat down last Wednesday to decide what I was going to focus on the “Shredding the Curtain” column I write for the Toledo Free Press each week, I had few different topics I could have focused on. The Maywood Project caught my attention since it’s been something I’d been following when [...]

Last night I watched the FOX Toledo story on the increase in arson in Toledo, 27 in the past month, (link). As reported by several media outlets, WTOL as an example, last night three more fires took place, (link). Most of the fires are taking place on the East Side and in the [...]

The following guest post was written by Dr. Edmund B. Lingan to share with readers of the Jungle. I welcome him to the blogosphere and hope you support what he is trying to accomplish:
I would like to introduce my new blog, Midwest Theatre Review midwesttheatre.wordpress.com. I am a professor in [...]

Precise numbers and vote counts have not been released but it has been reported that of the more than 2,100 members of TFT, those who attended the vote today, June 26, overwhelmingly approved the concessionary deal that was negotiated between TPS and TFT.
Full details at this point as far as what the exact concession [...]

Earlier today a ground breaking ceremony was held at Ohio State University for ProjectONE, a medical center expansion stated to cost 1 billion dollars and is estimated to create 10,000 jobs by the year 2015. An earlier release by OSU stated this “represents one of the largest job-generating initiatives in Ohio’s history and will [...]

Several of you sent me links yesterday concerning the death of Ohio Congressman “Lud” Ashley, there is a variety of media coverage concerning his death the Washington Post, Blade and the Toledo Free Press are some of the print media examples.
For those of you who wanted to comment on the contributions Ashely made [...]

This is not political, but I think it’s definitely worth pointing out to readers of the blog:
150 Fire Instructors Trained in 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives®
(COLUMBUS) – The Ohio Division of Emergency Medical Services, Office of Fire Services, in cooperation with the Everyone Goes Home® program, hosted train-the-trainer classes for the 16 Firefighter [...]

This in via e-mail from Jodie Tienvieri, Communications Manager for the American Red Cross Greater Toledo Area Chapter:
Costs of Response Essentially Met, but Donations Still Needed to Prepare for Future Disasters in Northwest Ohio
Toledo, OH, June 10, 2010 — The American Red Cross today announced that it has met the expected costs of the [...]

In via e-mail from Jodie Tienvieri, Communications Manager for American Red Cross Greater Toledo Area Chapter:
Late on the evening of Saturday, June 5, a string of tornadoes ripped through Northwest Ohio producing damage in Fulton, Lucas Ottawa and Wood Counties. The most serious damage was in Wood County, in the communities of Take Township, [...]

The American Red Cross will have a donation center set up today after 10:00AM at the MacAlear Center at All Saints Catholic Church in Rossford (628 Lime City Road) for those families affected by the tornadoes early this morning. Donations will be accepted for household items, clothing and monetary donations.
Updated information:
A Red Cross client assistance [...]

I learned earlier today that Justice Judith Lanzinger has created a blog, Justice Judy. It is now listed on the sidebar links of “Local Blogs of NWO” and there was a release put out on June 2, on the Supreme Court website.
Justice Lanzinger’s blog is the first of it’s kind, according to [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Governor Ted Strickland:
Governor, Adjutant General Announce 140 Jobs for Ohio National Guard through Homeland Response Force
Columbus, OH – Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today announced that the Ohio National Guard has been authorized to field a Homeland Response Force (HRF) by the U.S. Department of Defense and [...]

After we got back from the rally in Ottawa Hills, my youngest daughter and her boyfriend interceded in a situation on our street. A dog that they said was a husky that lives just down the street from us was allowed to roam free. It chased and caught a baby squirrel, they scared [...]

This in via e-mail from Amanda Aldrich, Marketing Director for Food For Thought:
Local Mobile Food Pantry Wins Non-Profit Excellence Award
Honored by Senator Fedor and the OANO
TOLEDO, Ohio–May 11, 2010–Food For Thought, a local provider of food to the area’s impoverished, has been granted the Ohio Non-Profit Excellence Award. The honor was given [...]

This in via e-mail from Valerie Moffitt of ONE Village:
Independent Advocates leads effort to engage youth in anti-violence activism:
Purple Ribbon Campaign comes to ONE Village
ONE Village, Toledo, OH – On Thursday, May 6th, Independent Advocates, a private agency leading the cause to provide comprehensive court advocacy to victims of domestic violence in criminal and [...]

I focus quite often on the lack of transparency and communication issues between the City administration and City Council. Today however was a bit different, the Bell administration and members of Council who attended a joint Neighborhoods & Economic Development meeting met to discuss the possibility of a Section 108 loan that would use [...]

I saw this referenced on Facebook the other day and meant to check it out further, but didn’t – then I saw it reported on NBC24’s website, (link) so, I stopped by and visited, mygodmadesex.com. I watched the videos – I really recommend watching Sex – You vs Your Parents. As the parent [...]

This in via e-mail earlier today:
Statuary Committee & Partners Release Educational Materials to Encourage Ohioans to Learn More about Ohio’s 10 Finalists for Statuary Hall…and Vote
Columbus – The National Statuary Collection Study Committee and its partners today unveiled lesson plans for Ohio teachers and biographical podcasts about each of the finalists in an effort [...]

This release in via e-mail from Toledo Sister Cities regarding the partnership with Qinhuangdao, China and the exchange between Toledo Hospital and Qinhuangdao First Hospital.
One of the successful collaborative projects organized by the Toledo Sister Cities International (TSCI) is a recent development and implementation of the partnership between Qinhuangdao First Hospital, China and the Toledo [...]

This in via e-mail from Food for Thought:
Anonymous Donor Gives SUV to Local Mobile Food Pantry
Organization Can Continue Providing Food to Needy Families
TOLEDO, Ohio–April 6, 2010–Food For Thought, a local nonprofit group that helps feed the area’s less fortunate, received an anonymous donation of a vehicle to tow the organization’s mobile food [...]

The Blade has an article about Danny Brown (link) that details some of the story related to the saga Brown has gone through to try to get that final vindication he seeks, having the charges against him formally dropped. His story has been one that has been out there for well over 6 years, [...]

Some additional information as promised from the recent meeting of the Northwest Ohio Aviation Council:
Who we are – aviation professionals, businesses, and aviation enthusiasts in Northwest Ohio.
Our mission – to promote and encourage aviation in Toledo and the surrounding communities. This includes, but is not limited to: assisting the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority [...]

It’s time to Light it up Blue for the 2nd annual Hope Floats event that will be held this Friday, April 2 in the parking lot by the playground at Wildwood Metropark, at 4:00 p.m. You are asked to bring any color of blue balloon, to draw attention to World Autism Awareness Day. [...]

Earlier in March the Toledo Lucas County Housing Fund released their annual report. You can read the report in full here in pdf format. I recommend reading the report in full for those of you interested in the topic, below are a few highlights from the report.
TLCHF HISTORY
The Toledo-Lucas County Housing Fund (TLCHF) [...]

This in via e-mail from Warren Woodbury, Public Relations BCR:
TOLEDO BOARD OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS IS HOLDING A PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS HONORING THE LATE DR. ROBERT BRUNDAGE
Toledo, Ohio February 28, 2010
The executives and members of the Board of Community Relations (BCR) voted unanimously to begin talks with organizations and friends of the late [...]

It’s been the focus of some media, read the 76 page report for yourself, link to pdf.
I’m interested in your thoughts from those of you read it…
I found the focus on a global economy interesting as well as the focus on the federal government. Some examples from the report:
Second, this report understands Ohio in [...]

This in via e-mail earlier today:
The Center for Nonprofit Resources awards Capacity Building Grants totaling $250,180 to 19 area nonprofits
TOLEDO, Ohio – February 18, 2010 – During these tough economic times, social services are in high demand yet nonprofit organizations are struggling to do more and serve more with less funding than ever before. [...]

This in via e-mail from the Ohio Department of Health, for Lucas County’s rankings, click here. A map of the health factors in Ohio is included after the fold.
HEALTH RANKINGS REPORT GIVES OHIOANS A COUNTY-BY-COUNTY SNAPSHOT OF HOW MULTIPLE FACTORS INFLUENCE THEIR HEALTH
ODH to Engage State and Local Partners to Seek Creative [...]

This in via e-mail from the office of Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak:
TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION EFFORTS SEE SUCCESS IN LUCAS COUNTY
Commissioner Wozniak, Toledo Public Schools, YWCA, Family Council Share Results of Two-Year Evaluation, Teen Birth Numbers
With new numbers showing a drop in teen birth rates for the first time in many years, Lucas [...]