Veteran newscaster Laura Emerson, who co-anchored FOX Toledo News from its 1996 inception through 2012, returned to Toledo news on WNWO NBC 24 on Aug. 10.

Emerson joins Jim Blue as co-anchor during the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, with Blue continuing his joint duties as managing editor.  General Manager John Nizamis said Emerson will anchor Sunday through Thursday, with Blue handling Monday through Friday, so that viewers see “a member of our A-team covering all the nights that really matter.”

Laura Emerson. Photo Courtesy NBC 24

Emerson spent the past three years in Paducah, Kentucky, with NBC affiliate WPSD, where she anchored the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts.  Paducah’s TV market size is comparable to Toledo by combining three cities in different states into one market, but Toledo is where Emerson wanted to be.

“I’m not here by accident,” Emerson said.  “I really want to be here.”

Emerson said her former station “had a good news operation,” but the opportunity to return to Toledo and work specifically at NBC 24 was too good to pass up.

“I see this as an opportunity and it’s going to take a lot of time,” Emerson said.  “We have an owner that likes to win, and has turned other stations around.  A lot of things are going in the right direction.  This station has suffered from some years of neglect.  They’ve allowed their news presence to shrink and that’s something we need to rebuild now.”

Station officials say they are thrilled to have someone of Emerson’s caliber who knows the area and who is well respected.

“When Laura came into the equation, it made so much sense,” Nizamis said.  “And it gives us a little more credibility than bringing in someone new.  How can we go wrong with that?  I could not be happier, because the level of experience and maturity, coupled with Jim — as we start to surround them with other talent — that they’ll really be role models for our younger talent.”

Having worked in Toledo before, Emerson is well aware of NBC 24’s modest position in local television ratings, which makes the task at hand all the more desirable.

“I’m in this to eventually make some gains and have some wins,” Emerson said.  “One of the reasons I’m not afraid is because I went through the same thing with FOX Toledo.  At least here there’s a news presence, and it does have some history, which is more than what we started with at FOX Toledo.”

Emerson said she never really wanted to leave Toledo in the first place.  As a result of FOX Toledo’s eventual sale to another owner, its news department was closed in 2012 and WTOL-11 assumed a shared services agreement to operate FOX Toledo News, forcing Emerson to look elsewhere for work.

Emerson was on the cover of the Jan. 1, 2012, Toledo Free Press at the time she was leaving Toledo and moving to a station in Kentucky.

Emerson described Paducah as a smaller town experience, but with some similarities.

“But I definitely missed the diversity, the shopping, the restaurants, the larger town amenities,” Emerson said.  “I miss the art community here, and we had a decent art community in Paducah.  (Toledo) has the reputation of being a Rust Belt industrial city from the outside but until people come here they have no idea.”

Emerson officially started on the job Aug. 4, and has already run into colleagues enthusiastically welcoming her back to the area.

“It’s been reunion week for me,” Emerson said.  “I have friends at the other stations.  I have an equal number of friends at 11 and 13, and feel more connected to them because of the movement of personnel (after FOX Toledo’s sale in 2012).”

NBC 24 also made significant internal moves back in April, bringing in five top level managers from a Fort Wayne station.

“I’ve met all of the people from the Fort Wayne, Indiana station, and it’s exciting to see how cohesive the group is, how they like each other,” Emerson said.  “I don’t know how we got so lucky to have a group of people that likes to work together so much.  So often in this industry there are people with different goals that don’t get along.  Here, they’re on the same page.  I think that will service us well in the future.”

NBC 24 chose not to offer nonstop daytime news coverage of the recent water crisis on the notion that there wasn’t enough material to sustain the effort.  Nizamis said their decision was appreciated by some in the public.

“We evaluated our performance on the water crisis against ourselves,” Nizamis said.  “The other guys are better equipped to do the things they do.  We just want to be better.  That’s the kind of progress we’re looking to make.  I don’t want to make any bold predictions or promises, because then you start letting people down.  We stay in the moment, acknowledge where we are and what we need to do.  Hopefully people will start to take notice in the next 60 to 90 days.”

Grammy-nominated The Alex Meixner Band will headline the 2014 German American Festival (GAF), set for Aug. 22-24 at Oregon’s Oak Shade Grove. Meixner’s program, “Fascinating Rhythms of the World,” dabbles in styles of music including Slavic folk, jazz, pop and classical styles from Latin America, Africa and other sections of Europe.

Festival Chairman Tim Pecsenye instantly knew Meixner would fit in at the festival.

“He’s a high-energy performer and an excellent musician,” Pecsenye said. “Crowds sure do enjoy him quite a bit.”

Photo Courtesy German American Festival

This will be Meixner’s first time at the festival. Returning performers include Austrian Express, The Brothers Grimm, Euro Express, Jay Fox Band and Polish-American Concert Band, performing on three stages.

The festival is celebrating its 49th year complete with bratwursts, ears of sweet corn, sauerkraut, assorted cheeses, pretzels and dinner rolls — all prepared by volunteers.

“My favorite thing about the festival is we have no outside vendors,” Pecsenye said. “All of our volunteers prepare the food.”

The festival, operated by the German-American Festival Society and sponsored by seven German-and-Swiss-American societies in Toledo, is spread across 10 acres and is intended to promote German and Swiss cultures. General admission is $8. Discount advance purchase admission tickets are available for $7 online at www.germanamericanfestival.net or www.gafsociety.org/fest.htm. Two-day admission is $10 and three-day admission is $15, both available online

Festival hours are 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. with a parade and opening ceremonies at 8 p.m. Aug. 22, 2 p.m. to 1 a.m. Aug. 23 and noon to 11 p.m. Aug. 24.

Activities and contests

Always a crowd favorite, the Hummel Look-Alike contest will take place  Sunday afternoon. Children select a an M.I. Hummel figurine to dress like and will pose for a panel of judges. First, second and third place prizes will be awarded to each age category.

“People love kids,” Pecsenye said. “You can dig up a Pavarotti to sing the National Anthem somewhere and then you put a 7-year-old kid that does it instead and people will just think the [kid’s] just wonderful.”

Another favorite is the Brezellessen, the pretzel eating competition. The fun will be in the Hofbräuhalle 9 p.m. Saturday.

Other entertainment includes a 50/50 raffle with prizes awarded each evening, rides, face painting, clowns and a free German-language worship service Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. Plenty of food will be available including potato pancakes, bratwursts, potato salad, strudels, pastries and more.

“There’s no festival that has as many different brats as we do,” Pecsenye said, who enjoys his with sauerkraut and mustard.

Designated driver program

Drinks include plenty of imported beer, including: Augustiner Bräu Maximator, Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen, Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche Doppelbock, Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock, Ayinger Oktoberfest Bier, Ayinger Weizenbock and more.

Cocktails are available as well, including the So Schmeckt Deutschland, a drink that looks like the German flag. Wines, like the Schlink Haus Auslese, Kabinett and Dornfelder, will also be available.

In order to be safe, the festival will also include the designated driver Program for anyone who is not drinking and over the age of 21. The guests services booth will distribute coupons to  those drivers to be used for three discounted 20 oz. soft drinks.

Shuttle service

GAF shuttle tickets are available for $6 and shuttles will depart from various locations in the area.

Shuttles will depart from Bar 145, 5305 Monroe St., Berger’s Old Tyme, 1742 W. Laskey Road, Mayfly Tavern, 4532 N. Summit St., Anchor Inn, 4950 Suder Ave., The Attic on Adams, 1701 Adams St., Ye Old Cock ‘n’ Bull, 9 N. Huron St., Belle Wine and Martini Lounge at Levis Commons in Perrysburg and Lucas County Rec Center, 2901 Key St. Complimentary service is available at Icons Eatery & Entertainment, 3105 Navarre St. (from 6 p.m. to close on Aug. 22, 2 p.m. to close on Aug. 23 and noon to close on Aug. 24) and Pub 51, 5110 Woodville Road, Northwood.

Shuttles will run from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Aug. 22 and 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Aug. 23. The last shuttle departs from pickup locations to the festival grounds at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. A special Sunday shuttle will depart from Bar 145 only from 2-10 p.m.

The 40th annual Birmingham Ethnic Festival will welcome home participants from Hungary, Italy and across the world.

“Everyone talks about coming home for festival, so we decided it would be a good theme” said Betsy Ujvagi, who organizes the festival.

The weekend-long celebration calls attention to the rich ethnic heritage of Consaul Street, which was nearly demolished in the 1970s.

“Forty years ago there was a proposed overpass which would’ve knocked down all the buildings on one side of the street,” Ujvagi said. “A lot of people in the neighborhood came together to stop that from happening, and they all wanted Toledo to know they’re there, so they started the festival to talk about the cultural lifestyle.”

This will be the first trip to America for several international participants. A group of these guests will tour Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.

One newcomer is folk artist Izbeki Gabriella Cseuz, who will teach traditional embroidery of the Hungary’s Southern Great Plain. Cseuz will also bring an exhibition of folk art from Algy? and Csongrad County artists.

The festival’s unofficial kickoff will be the 19th annual waiters race set for 7 p.m. Aug. 15. Teams of four are challenged to carry trays with full pitchers and glasses of beer as quickly as they can without spilling.

Ujvagi stated this event used to be on a Saturday night prior to the festival becoming a two-day event.

Guests are encouraged to sample ethnic foods offered by vendors from across the globe. A few noteworthy items are stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikas and homemade kolbasz sandwiches. Those worried about overindulging will have plenty of opportunities to burn calories.

Ujvagi estimated there will be eight different performing groups, including Hungarian dancers, a Mexican singer and some Irish bands.

The Gyanta Orchestra from New Jersey will perform again this year. This orchestra is one of the premier Hungarian folk music groups in the United States.

Modern rock music is featured later in the evenings, with headlining  Shout!’ a Beatles tribute.

“The interesting area on Saturday night is the Calvin United Church of Christ lot, where Hungarian folk dancers and musicians gather to literally sing and dance the night away,” said Imre Bertalan, an event organizer.

Bertalan has been involved with the festival since its second year, after coming to Birmingham as the community organizer and becoming pastor of Calvin United. He remembers the protests that originally overturned plans for the Consaul Street overpass.

“It was a very strong ethnic neighborhood. There were instances where people came out of St. Stephen’s Church and out of their homes to stop trucks on the street and protest,” Bertalan said.

“We’re super impressed we’ve made it 40 years, and it’s only gotten bigger and better,” Ujvagi said.

The festival runs from noon-10 p.m. Aug. 16 and noon-9 p.m. Aug. 17. Admission is free.

Toledo officials insisted at a news conference Aug. 8 that concern from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over conditions at the city’s water treatment plant are unrelated to last weekend’s water advisory.

Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins talks to media about the Collins Park Water Treatment Plant on Aug. 8. Toledo Free Press photo by Sarah Ottney

“The algal bloom caused the issue,” said Department of Public Utilities Director Ed Moore. “The plant did not cause the issue.”

The Ohio EPA has raised concerns in a series of letters to city officials, most recently on June 9. The letter to Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins from Ohio EPA Director Craig W. Butler stated that the condition of Toledo’s Collins Park Water Treatment Plant could “severely impact the City’s ability to provide adequate quantities of safe water to its citizens.”

“I cannot underscore boldly enough the precarious condition of Toledo’s drinking water system and the imminent vulnerability to failure,” Butler wrote.

The letter also noted the city did not appear to be “on a path to timely comply” with fixing “significant deficiencies,” outlined in previous letters.

On Aug. 8, officials said the city and Ohio EPA agree that repairs to the water treatment plant are needed but disagree on the design and timeline and are working together to resolve those issues. The city’s 20-year plan for repairing the plant will be accelerated to five years, to be completed by 2019, Moore said.

Officials said they realize there were issues with public communication during last weekend’s water crisis, but have learned from the experience and are working on creating improved communication and emergency response plans.

Regarding the testing of water samples, Dr. David Grossman, commissioner of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, said Toledo’s former water test involved breaking open, or “lysing,” the cells to release all the toxic microcystin inside the algae in the sample.

However, confusion came about after the Ohio EPA ordered an “unlysed” sample to be tested, which would be expected to detect lower levels of microcystin than Toledo’s lysed sample, but in fact showed similar levels.

It was discovered that chlorine in the lysed samples was artificially lowering the toxin count to the level of an unlysed sample. When chlorine was removed from the sample — called quenching — the numbers came back as expected.

Toledo’s former practice was to test “nonquenched lysed” samples, or water treated with chlorine and cells broken open to release all toxin. The new state standard — developed as a result of Toledo’s water crisis — calls for testing “quenched unlysed” samples, or water with chlorine removed and cells intact.

The estimated cost of the water crisis is $270,000, said City Finance Director George Sarantou, which includes $73,000 for Department of Public Utilities overtime pay, $52,000 for Department of Public Services overtime pay, $48,000 Toledo Police Department overtime pay, $10,000 in Sheriff’s Department overtime pay and $10,000 to fly water samples to Cincinnati, Columbus and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for testing. Sarantou said he’s not sure if Toledo will be charged for flying the samples, but for now he’s including it in the costs.

A number of new bars and restaurants have emerged in Toledo’s Downtown in recent years, but the area’s first wine bar splashed onto the scene this week.

Veritas Cork & Craft opened its doors to the public for the first time Aug. 11. The privately funded establishment is located in the first floor of the Commodore Perry Apartments on Jefferson Avenue. The watering hole’s grand opening is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 21.

Nick Kubiak, co-owner of Veritas Cork & Craft. Toledo Free Press photo by Christie Materni

“We want to have some time to get all our ducks in a row before we make things too public,” developer Franz Gilis said. “We’re trying to bring to Toledo something it didn’t have before. It’s a unique opportunity.”

Gilis is a longtime fixture in the area’s restaurant scene, having spent time as regional manager for Marco’s Pizza and vice president of Zoup! in Maumee. To open the shop, he partnered with Nick Kubiak, a 13-year veteran of the wine industry with a background in retail, wholesale and importing. Acquaintances since childhood, the pair are both 1997 graduates of St. Francis de Sales High School.

“With his restaurant and management experience and my time in the wine industry it seemed like a perfect fit,” Kubiak said.

Veritas has a room for about 80 customers in a 2,300-square-foot space. It features soft seating, tables, a granite bar and repurposed woodwork. The space is intended to have a contemporary but classic appeal.

The 19-story building in which the wine bar resides opened in 1927 as the Commodore Perry Hotel, one of Downtown Toledo’s premier locations that included small shops lining the street level. The building is between Fifth Third Field and the Huntington Center, and just down the street from the SeaGate Convention Centre. It also has a connected parking garage.

Veritas Cork & Craft at the Commodore Perry building. Toledo Free Press photo by Christie Materni

Renovated and turned into apartments in 1999, a number of bars and restaurants have come and gone since then, making the wine bar the only business in the first floor storefront of the Commodore Perry. The significance of the building and the opportunity for its revival are not lost on Gilis.

“The Commodore Perry has a lot of history,” Gilis said. “In Toledo this was the place to be seen in ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s, all the way up to the ’70s and early ’80s. I mean, my parents had their honeymoon here. It’s a great place.”

Now within the confines of the storefront are food and wine that have been carefully selected to acknowledge what various regions of the world have to offer, Kubiak said. The wine bar includes a kitchen serving small plates and appetizer-style dishes, with artisan and locally made products such as cheese, olive oil, vinegar and bread.

“There’s nothing like this concept currently in Toledo that I know of,” Kubiak said. “There are other wine bars in the area, but none that offer wines and drinks like we have.”

In addition to its bar and lounge, Veritas also features a full-service retail store with 400 wines and over 150 craft beers available for purchase.

“To me the retail store is something Downtown really needed,” Gilis said. “There’s 3,000 people that live down here and nowhere to go to buy a bottle of wine or six pack of beer if you want anything besides Bud Light or Coors Light.”

The name was inspired by the Latin phrase “In vino veritas,” meaning “There is truth in wine,” Kubiak said.

Both partners believe that while the venue has an upscale atmosphere, the environment is such that it allows for a more casual experience as well.

“If you’re in jeans and a T-shirt before or after a game or you’re in a three-piece suit after leaving work you can come in here and feel comfortable in the surroundings,” Gilis said.

Since Veritas’ opening, Kubiak said he and the staff have encountered overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers as the establishment finds its bearings. Early success has given him confidence heading into the store’s grand opening.

“There’s something for everyone,” he said. “If you want to have something you know and are comfortable with we have it and if you want to try something new, you can do that here.”

Veritas is open Monday through Saturday with the retail area opening at 11 a.m. and the lounge seating at 4 p.m.