After 11 years of operation in the Warehouse District, Downtown Latté, 44 S. St. Clair St., is closing its doors.

The announcement was made April 19 on its Facebook page. The post reads:

“To Our Friends, Supporters & Others Too: Who would have thought a little unpretentious coffee shop would help revitalize a street, let alone a neighborhood? Who would have thought 11 years later, this shop would still flourish? Who would have thought others would try to duplicate this success in other parts of the city? We are proud of our accomplishments and contributions to the Warehouse District and greater Downtown area. We have met so many wonderful people over the years. We have shared stories, advice and smiles. We have felt your joys and sorrows. But after countless hours of hard work, sacrifice and two pairs of owners, it is time for Downtown Latté to say ‘goodbye.’ It is time for us to re-evaluate our lives and re-think our priorities. It is time for us to devote more time to our loved ones and community.

“So this will be the last week of the Latté. Our final day will be next Saturday, April 25. There is one more week to experience the Fair Trade coffee that started it all. Or a frappe, breakfast sandwich, panini. We will continue to live here and have carefully considered the implications for St. Clair Village. Exciting details for our space are forthcoming.

“We wish we could personally thank each of you for your love and support. It means so much to us. We hope to see you this week. Thank you for having an impact on our lives.
— Ron & Jason”

The owners declined to comment further about the closing. On its website, downtownlatte.com, it states the coffeehouse opened in April 2004.

From cleanups to cookoffs, mural dedications to music, art to activism, groups across the city made sure Toledoans had  diversions April 18.

That’s the day a National Socialist Movement (NSM) group held a rally Downtown, drawing about 150 observers and counter-demonstrators. The event prompted heated verbal exchanges from both sides, but only one arrest and no other incidents, Toledo Police spokesman Lt. Joe Heffernan said.

That’s a marked difference from 10 years ago, when rioting in the wake of the last NSM rally led to 100 arrests, a burned business and national media coverage.

“It went as best as could be expected,” Heffernan said. “There were very minimal, minor incidents. There was a low turnout, both with NSM and the public, which is exactly what we wanted. We appreciate the citizens of Toledo for doing what we suggested and staying away.”

A heavy police presence — which a city spokeswoman said will cost taxpayers nearly $76,000 — was part of the reason. But another reason was the concerted effort of Toledoans like Willys Park block watch leader Tina Scott.

Community Peace Day

Scott was one of the first to suggest alternate programming after the NSM rally was announced last month.

“Community Peace Day was set up to be proactive, to reach out to all the organizations out there to host an event in their neighborhood to deter people from going Downtown [for the rally],” Scott said. “The whole idea was to show we have pride in our neighborhoods and in ourselves, to move forward doing our own thing while they were doing their thing.”

Held at Willys Park, the event drew about 400 people and featured a family movie, obstacle course, chili cookoff, DJ, scavenger hunt and more.

“It turned out great,” Scott said. “It’s really nice that everybody pulled together and showed that every time something negative comes, we can bring something positive.”

#BlackLivesMatterDay418

#BlackLivesMatterDay418 was another event organized as an alternative to the NSM rally. The Community Solidarity Response Network (CSRN) of Toledo has organized other events in the area, but the April 18 event was the group’s biggest yet, drawing more than 300 people, said member Julian Mack.

Mack said many people associate the Black Lives Matter movement with violence and black supremacy, but Toledo’s chapter wants to dispel those misconceptions. The event, held at the Frederick Douglass Community Association, featured a cookoff, dancing, songs, speakers and more.

“We wanted to show you can talk about serious issues, but do it in a positive way,” Mack said. “There’s nothing wrong with yelling on a street corner, but sometimes you have to change the narrative to get people to listen.

“Some people ask, ‘Why not say All Lives Matter?’ Of course all lives matter. But in order for all lives to matter, black lives must matter. You fix the worst part of the problem and the rest of the problem will improve.”

Although CSRN encouraged people to stay away from the rally, Mack said he understood why some people chose to go.

“There’s nothing wrong with someone having an issue with [NSM] coming to their city,” Mack said. “Just like those people have a right to speak their hateful message, people have a right to show their discontent with that message.”

Mack said he was happy with the turnout at #BlackLivesMatterDay418.

“At one point, I looked around at all the energy and the atmosphere and was like, ‘We did it! We beat them.’ I really think so. We beat them at their own game. Our group did, but also the city collectively. That’s something we should be proud of.”

Global Youth Service Day

After learning of the NSM rally, United Way of Greater Toledo decided to continue with plans to host its annual Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) on April 18.

More than 5,000 volunteers, including 4,171 youth age 5-25, participated, said Emily Avery, director of community engagement. More than 130 groups served at 84 different sites, providing more than 15,000 hours of service.

Because of the rally, organizers decided to cancel a planned celebration at Fifth Third Field. Instead, a team of volunteers brought the celebration to each group around the city, delivering T-shirts, certificates and more, Avery said.

Among those participating were about 60 students from Scott High School. On April 17, they volunteered at MLK Kitchen for the Poor and on April 18 they cleaned up the neighborhood around Scott, including planting flowers in a vacant lot nearby.

For some students, serving at MLK Kitchen hit close to home, said Shannon McIntyre, an AmeriCorps member with United Way of Greater Toledo who serves as a graduation coach at Scott, his alma mater.

“We had a couple of kids who actually ate there when they were kids,” he said. “Once they got older and their parents were a little more well off, they didn’t have to go there anymore. But some kids wanted to serve there just from prior experience.

“We ended up cleaning up the park across from the kitchen just on a whim. So you know you’re having fun if the kids say, ‘Let’s clean up the park as well!’” he said. “It felt good knowing there were others doing great projects all throughout the city of Toledo. We were really just about trying to work as much as we could but have fun as well.”

Fair Housing March

Toledo Fair Housing Center also decided to go ahead with its previously planned march April 18 to kick off its 40th anniversary celebration.

“It went incredibly well,” said President and CEO Michael Marsh. “We couldn’t have asked for a better day.”

“We know Toledo is not a hate-filled city,” Marsh said. “We know the majority of people who live here are compassionate individuals. We wanted to give them a place where they could come and express themselves and share their values. I think a lot of people were looking for a way to express themselves and an outlet that was positive and to keep away from [the rally].”

The march through the Old West End, led by the Scott High School band, culminated with the dedication of a new mural at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Collingwood Boulevard, painted by Toledo artist Yusef Lateef. The mural features the Martin Luther King Jr. quote, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

“The quote is so perfect when you are talking about creating inclusive communities of opportunity,” Marsh said. “There are some people who like to believe discrimination doesn’t happen anymore, but we see it all the time. It might not be as blatant — we don’t see signs that say ‘Whites only’; it might be more subtle, more sophisticated, but it still happens.

“Discrimination still happens every day and people’s pursuit of the American Dream and home ownership [is still denied], so we still have work to do.”

Artomatic 419!

Attendance at the April 18 Artomatic 419! was down from the previous Saturday, partially due to concerns about road closures and parking, said event coordinator Maureen Brogan of The Arts Commission. But she said she didn’t think fear was an issue.

“Everyone that joined us talked about celebrating art and love rather than hate,” Brogan said. “I love that there was positivity used to ‘combat’ the rally. We really were through with our planning stages when we heard about the rally but were happy to be a force of positivity in a day that could have turned dark.

“Assuring our patrons that the show would be safe was on our minds but that ended up being an easy thing to offer. Our city did so much to make sure that peace was kept and it made me feel truly comfortable Downtown.”

At the rally

Some people chose to bring positivity to the rally itself. Deonte Moss of Toledo brought a sign reading, “U hate me, I [heart] U.”

“We have a lot of people who work full time to hate, so people who love have to work even harder,” he said.

Lifeline Toledo pastor Steve North  attended several of the alternative events and applauded the efforts.

“All were important, because they helped us to highlight what we really care about in the city, and what many of us are committed to do,” North said. “I posted on Facebook there were some who thought the day would be difficult, but I believed it could be our finest hour. From reports I heard from other sites, and those at which I was present, I believe it was. And because of that, I believe there are even finer moments, days and years ahead.”

Making a pledge to move into the 21^st century, Toledo officials announced details April 20 of online billing options for its department of public utilities.

At a launch for the service at the Kent Branch Library, 3101 Collingwood Blvd., Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson said online billing, which had been sought by utility customers for years, allows the department to move into the 21^st century.

“We’re so happy because it brings us into competition with other utility companies in which a customer is able to have modern, environmental and convenient means to communicate and conduct transactions with the city’s public utilities department,” she said. “We are creating a new way for customers and especially non-property owners — tenants, renters — to be able to get information and to be able to pay the bills.”

The online billing service, which is already in operation at http://toledo.oh.gov/services/public-utilities/online-billing, offers two payment options: QuickPay, which is accessible to anyone with an account number or street address; and online billing, which is for account holders to view and make payments on their utility account. Customers may also select an automatic bank plan to draw funds from a bank account.

The QuickPay option was designed primarily for renters and landlords to access accounts, letting them see amounts due and paid on the account, according to Abby Arnold, commissioner of utilities administration.

Edward Moore, director of public utilities, said the move to online billing is part of a larger movement to better serve customers.

“This is just one of many items that we’re working on to improve the department of public utilities,” Moore said. “For years, some of our customers, our stakeholders, indicated that we weren’t accessible enough and that we didn’t listen to the concerns of our customers. Well, I’m here to say that day and age has definitely passed us. We’re moving into the 21^st century as the mayor said. We’re listening to our customers and we’re going to rebrand the department of public utilities to be a forward-thinking utility and respond to the needs of our customers.”

Moore said in a news release that online billing was among 34 recommendations made in an independent performance audit of the department in 2014.

To assist customers with online billing, the department of public utilities is hosting training sessions from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday this week at the walk-in center, 420 Madison Ave.

The following branches of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system will also conduct training sessions: Kent, 3101 Collingwood Blvd., 5-7 p.m. April 28; Reynolds Corners, 4833 Dorr St., 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 29; South, 1736 Broadway Ave., 5-7 p.m. May 5; Sanger, 3030 W. Central Ave., 5-7:30 p.m. May 11; Point Place, 2727 117^th St., 5-7 p.m. May 12; and Heatherdowns, 3265 Glanzman Road, 5-8 p.m. May 13.

The trainings are conducted at public libraries because of their popularity as a destination for Internet services.

For more information, visit the department of public utilities at toledo.oh.gov/services/public-utilities/

All Lucas County Sheriff’s Office deputy interactions with the public will now be recorded via body cameras, according to Sheriff John Tharp.

Tharp, flanked by Lucas County Commissioners, deputies and community officials, announced the implementation of the cameras April 21 at One Government Center.  He first introduced the cameras in December and deputies have been using them since then as part of a trial period.

The commissioners have approved about $24,000 from their 2015 budget to be used for 17 cameras, which Tharp said will be turned on each time a deputy leaves his vehicle to interact with the public.

“All of the deputies are certainly excited about using the body cameras,” Tharp said. “It can be a win-win for the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office and for the community. … It does put everybody on their best behavior.”

The office’s body camera policy states cameras “shall be used to record all pedestrian and vehicle stops, pursuits, field interviews, calls for service and all other citizen contacts of an investigative nature.” At the end of the deputy’s shift, they will plug the camera into the evidence transfer manager, a docking station that simultaneously recharges the camera and downloads footage to evidence.com, a virtual warehouse storing digitally encrypted data. Fully charged cameras will be taken out on patrol by the next shift of deputies.

“As soon as they step out of the car, they will turn the camera on,” Tharp said. When asked what will happen if an officer forgets to do so, the sheriff said, “We will be turning them on. We’re not going to be covering up anything. We don’t need to be covering up anything.”

Tharp said nothing unusual turned up in video obtained by deputies during the office’s trial period of the cameras.

Commissioner Pete Gerken commended Tharp for taking a proactive step to protect the community and his deputies.

“Look, it’s a political and public policy concern,” Gerken said. “With the recent events in Baltimore (Freddie Gray, 25, died after suffering a severe spinal cord injury April 12 while in police custody), it’s just another chapter on how transparency has to be documented. This is a great tool. Transparency between the public and law enforcement is best documented by a body camera. We’ve seen citizens with cell phones participate in the process of recording officers, but I think the best view of any crime or incident between law enforcement and the public is best taken from the perspective of the law enforcement officer in the middle of the situation.”

Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak compared the cameras to the police cruiser dashboard cameras that became prominent in the 1990s, saying body cameras will likely become an industry standard as well.

“The bottom line is this will create transparency and an objective record. At the end of the day, it will be very clear cut what occurred,” she said.

Rev. Donald L. Perryman, of United Pastors for Social Empowerment, stood by Tharp at the conference, as he did in December when the cameras were first announced.

“I approached Sheriff Tharp a few months ago, concerned about the increasing number of unarmed black men and women around the nation who were dying at the hands of law enforcement, and he said that he wanted to make a difference,” Perryman said.  “[The camera] brings public trust and a cultural accountability in law enforcement to the forefront. Although these body cameras are not a panacea, they do serve as a strong deterrent to officer misconduct and excessive force, and they are a major step towards police reform in our area.”

Lt. Matt Luettke of the sheriff’s office does not typically go on patrol duty, but tried the cameras recently to become familiar with the technology his officers will be utilizing.

“I don’t see a downside to it from anyone’s perspective,” he said. “It will be good for evidence collection. We can use this video to prove things in court. … At crime scenes, it will be a lot less likely that things will be missed.

“Human interaction is never perfect,” Luettke said. “Everybody’s human, so there’s a lot of imperfect interaction, but this way we’ll be able to say ‘This took place and this didn’t.’”