Abby Arnold, Toledo
commissioner of utilities
administration, discusses online
billing for utility customers. Toledo Free Press Photo by Joel Sensenig
Making a pledge to move into the 21st 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 21st 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 21st 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 117th 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/
Members of the University of Toledo Sailing Club practiced on Lake Erie shortly before they left for France. Photo courtesy Luke Gossman
Members of the University of Toledo Sailing Club practiced on Lake Erie shortly before they left for France. Photo courtesy Luke Gossman
After defeating some of the best sailing clubs in the country last fall, the University of Toledo Sailing Club headed across the sea April 22 for a global race.
The club received an invitation to the 47th EDHEC Sailing Cup in La Rochelle, France, after winning the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta (IOR) held at Larchmont Yacht Club in New York. The team prevailed over some heavy hitters in sailing at the IOR, including Harvard University, defending champion Georgetown University and the United States Coast Guard Academy.
Luke Gossman, 22, commodore of the club, said he is thrilled to participate in the race with his six teammates: Andrew Logan, 29, Hans Guentert, 22, Drew Blackburn, 20, Colin Mackay, 20, Evon DePrey, 20, and Garrett Altenberger, 19.
Gossman said their goal for the EDHEC, a six-day intercollegiate race, is to make it to the finals, which means placing in the top 20. The UT Sailing Club will compete against more than 150 other teams from across the globe.
The students raised money for their trip through fundraisers and campus events. In addition, they received support from UT’s alumni association. The alumni group is also planning to throw the team a celebration on the last night of the event.
Nicolas Degroote, who attended the IOR as a representative of the EDHEC Sailing Cup, told race organizers he was impressed by UT’s team.
“[UT’s Sailing Club] has proven to have a really good level of sailing; they defeated some varsity teams that were favorites to win the IOR,” Degroote said in a news release after the October win.
The release also described conditions during the race, noting sailors faced on the first day a “nasty short, steep chop that gave fits to some, but did not slow the Toledo team.”
“The chop was an advantage for us since we sail in those conditions all the time on western Lake Erie,” Mackay said in the release.
Gossman is a member of North Cape Yacht Club in La Salle, Michigan. Gossman’s father, Chip, is also a member of the club and sparked his son’s passion for sailing. Gossman said he is also thrilled to raise awareness of the sport. In the past year, the team expanded from three to 15 members.
“The great thing about sailing is it’s just as exciting to do well as it is to bring people into the sport,” Gossman said.
The EDHEC Sailing Cup is April 24 to May 2. Those interested can follow the club’s journey at facebook. com/sail.utoledo, where they will post videos, blog posts and photos from France.
You walk into a beautiful restaurant and are greeted with a menu and a wine list. Wine is such an important part of the meal that you are effectively opting out by not ordering because nothing elevates your dining experience like wine. Unfortunately, too many local restaurants have a very backward philosophy when it comes to their wine programs.
The best restaurants in the country employ someone called a sommelier, or beverage director. It may sound like a snooty title, but their job is to sort through thousands and thousands of wines to present you with a curated list of wine selections. This list that they put together may tell a story, it may educate, it certainly enhances the food and it challenges you to try something new. The wine list is always a reflection of what that restaurant aspires to be. This does not mean that they buy the rarest or most expensive wines. It means they find great values, great experiences and great matches for their menus and ambiance.
Many years ago, I worked as a sommelier in California. It was total wine education immersion. My favorite part of the job was turning people on to new things — that shared enthusiasm of discovery. Can you have a great wine program without a sommelier? Absolutely. While sommeliers are often either self-taught or mentored, there is a certification program that separates a wine buyer from a sommelier. Some of the best beverage programs in Ohio are run by chefs or beverage managers, however.
So, what’s my beef with (some) Toledo wine programs? Brand names. We just had a friend over for dinner last night and we were talking about restaurants. She mentioned a brand new beautiful place whose wine list she considered questionable because she recognized all of the names from a chain grocery store.
She’s right. That’s a subpar wine program. It’s bad because the beverage director decided to either hand their program over to a distributor or choose names everyone would recognize from the grocery store.
The latter may seem like an easy enough road to take. The problem with those wines is they are of the lowest common denominator. They are wines of massive production and massive availability. Giant grocery chains have no choice but to rely heavily on these types of wines due to logistical constraints. Homogenization is the enemy of quality in wine. Would that very same beautiful new restaurant buy Prego spaghetti sauce? No, they would of course make their own.
Ask questions about the wine you are about to order. If the restaurant can’t give their reason for putting that wine on their wine list, then they view it as a commodity. My hope is for all independently owned restaurants in the Toledo area to treat their wine (and beer) program as a tool to make the experience better for the consumers. There are forces with deep pockets and influence that try to keep the business homogenized. They de-emphasize individuality and education. Many local restaurants have forged their own path and created tremendous wine programs. They train their staff, research, read books and taste countless wines, all to benefit the end consumer.
If you’re going to pay a markup for restaurant wine, your money is wasted on anything you can grab at a gas station or chain grocery store.
Adam Mahler is the founder of Ampelography, a wine sales and marketing company based in Toledo (ampelographywines.com). He can be reached at adam@ampelographywines.com.
Brew your own beer — at home. This sounds like a dream come
true and it is, at least for me. I have been brewing at home for over 20 years
and it all started not with craft beer, but with the imported beers I was
drinking.
The increased flavor in the imports came at an increased
cost — something that I was not too happy about. But as luck would have it, there
was a small building in the town I was living in that sold homebrewing supplies.
After one visit to this unassuming store, I was hooked on the hobby of
homebrewing.
I had never even heard that you could brew your own beer and
was not too sure if this was something I could even do. What equipment was
needed? What skills did it take? Was this expensive? Was it even legal? The
clerk was very helpful in getting me started and I all needed was a large pot
and some basic kitchen skills. And yes, it apparently was legal. As a big
bonus, the cost to brew your own was a fraction of purchasing a similar beer in
a store.
The clerk directed me toward a single can beer kit of a
Czech Pilsner. I couldn’t believe it. Not only could I brew a great pilsner at
home but I would be saving money at the same time. Homebrewing, you had me at saving
money.
The single can was very easy to brew. Just open, pour the
contents into a large pot, heat for a bit and add yeast. After a few weeks it
was ready. I cannot imagine it was any good, but that is how I became a
homebrewer.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, of the many ways to brew
beer, the single-can method is not the best method, even for a beginner. There
are only four ingredients needed to brew beer: hops, malt, yeast and water. The
can has all four, so what is the problem? The problem is control.
There are three common brewing methods: extract,
partial-mash and all-grain. Each method gives the brewer a certain level of control
over the brewing process that you cannot get from a can. The significant
difference between the three methods is where the fermentables are derived:
extract, grains or some of each. The brewer then selects from dozens of hop varieties,
to be used in many combinations. Yeast is available in dry and liquid forms,
each having many strains. Even water has many variables to take into account. Sometimes
too much control can be confusing.
If you are a veteran homebrewer, you know how challenging it
is to brew the beer that you intended to brew by controlling as much of the
process as you can. Keep on brewing, because when you hit that perfect
combination of grain, mash temperature, hop additions, yeast strain and water
profile, you have brewed liquid magic.
If you would like learn how to homebrew, I suggest starting
with an extract kit. This kit contains all of the ingredients and full instructions.
The extract kit will contain malt extract, grains, hops and yeast suitable for
the style. After you brew a few extract kits, start to experiment by using a
different yeast. Then add additional hops and more extract for balance. The
next thing you know, you have created your own beer — a beer under your own
control.
If you are interested in learning how to get started in the
hobby of homebrewing, stop into Titgemeier’s, 701 Western Ave. The store sells
homebrewing equipment and ingredients. Its staff can answer your questions and
will be helpful in getting you started.
Upcoming homebrewing events include: The Glass City Mashers (GCM)
homebrewing club will be demonstrating how to brew at at 4 p.m. May 11 at The
Attic on Adams. Titgemeier’s will be giving 10 percent off homebrew supplies
and ingredients May 11-16. GCM meets at The Attic on Adams at 7 p.m. May 14..
The public is welcome to attend. Titgemeier’s is holding an open house
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 16, with GCM members in attendance to answer
homebrew questions.
Remember: “It is easy to brew good beer, but nearly
impossible to brew perfect beer.”
Scot Yarnell is the Glass City Masher homebrew club president. He has been homebrewing for more than 20 years, won several times in local contests and placed first in national qualifiers.
Originally a 256-room Holiday Inn, the Hotel Seagate, located at the southwest corner of Summit Street and
Jefferson Avenue, has been sold nearly a dozen times and has had seven name changes. Toledo Free Press file photo.
For
as long as I can remember, there has been a continuing effort to remake
Downtown Toledo and keep it a viable center for Lucas County and Northwest
Ohio.
The
late 1960s saw the building of the 30-story Fiberglas Tower, the 15-story
Toledo Edison Building and the 19-story, 256-room Holiday Inn located at the
southwest corner of Summit Street and Jefferson Avenue. Things were looking up
in Toledo.
In
June 1969, Charles McKelvy Jr., president of Downtown Toledo Associates,
announced that construction of a new hotel was ready to begin. The opening of
the first new Downtown hotel in 40 years was an important step in the
revitalization of the city’s Downtown and riverfront area and was an important
prerequisite for the building of a Downtown convention center.
In
July 1979, the original owners of the Holiday Inn Downtown transferred
ownership of the hotel to five local institutions that helped finance the
project from its construction to present. The hotel had financial problems for
years, due in part to the fact that the anticipated Downtown convention center
had not been built. A new management firm was named to operate the hotel.
McKelvy said the new owners considered the property economical and important to
the continued revitalization of Downtown. Plans for repairs and improvements
were made to keep the operation competitive.
After
that sale in 1979 the hotel was sold 10 more times, had seven name changes and
was last known as the Hotel Seagate. Due to burst water pipes in early 2009,
the hotel was forced to close for repairs that April and it did not reopen. The
owners failed to do the necessary maintenance, repairs and upgrades to keep the
property desirable. For three and a half years the structure was left
unattended and, already in bad shape, began to severely deteriorate.
During
his term as mayor, Mike Bell made several trips to China to encourage
investment in Toledo. Chinese firms purchased the Marina District and The Docks
restaurant properties on the east side of the Maumee River. The Downtown Park
Inn Hotel (now Park Inn by Radisson) was purchased by Chinese interests in
September 2011. Then the Hotel Seagate was sold, for the ninth time, in
November 2012 to what was reported as a Chinese investment firm unrelated to
the purchasers of the Park Inn.
With
new ownership and fresh money, it seemed the Hotel Seagate would be renovated
to operational status and would reopen for business. But who were the new
owners? The hotel was purchased through Louisville Title Agency, which acted as
trustees for the unnamed owners. Most believed they were investors from China,
but no one really knew. I like to think it was Keyser Söze (the greatest trick he ever pulled
was convincing the world he was a fictional character played by Kevin Spacey in
the 1995 movie “The Usual Suspects”).
Sadly,
the building was ignored by the new owners. No plans were announced. No repairs
were made. Maintenance was not done. No cosmetic attention was performed on the
exterior to make it less of an eyesore. The hotel remained the same neglected
building but with new owners.
Then
in 2014, the Lucas County Commissioners expressed an interest in acquiring the
hotel and attempted to enlist partners to join in this venture. The
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, City of Toledo, Regional Growth Partnership
and the Building Trades Council were among those contacted. None were willing
to commit to the deal, but the county, undeterred, ventured alone to purchase
the property. A deal was reached and the county commissioners unanimously
agreed to pay $1.38 million for the Hotel Seagate in November.
The
unknown owner made a 130 percent profit on a $600,000 investment in just two
years. The previous owners, National Republic Bank of Chicago, lost 87 percent
($4 million) of its $4.6 million investment in six and a half years. Hopefully
they are a bank too big to fail.
At the time of purchase, the county commissioners actually committed, depending on the tax breaks, between $3 million and $3.5 million of taxpayer money — not the commissioners’ money — to this transaction. Lucas County residents, this is our money. The commissioners, acting on our behalf, paid $1.38 million for 0.16 acres of land in Downtown Toledo containing a vacant structure that has no commercial value. It does have plenty of problems, including asbestos contamination. The commissioners have stated they intend to demolish the structure. It will cost an estimated $2 million for environmental cleanup, demolition and site preparation or landscaping. Not until the deed was done did the commissioners begin the quest to find partners, private and public, to help with the costs and development.
Originally a 256-room Holiday Inn, the Hotel Seagate, located at the southwest corner of Summit Street and Jefferson Avenue, has been sold nearly a dozen times and has had seven name changes. Toledo Free Press file photo.
What
is the next use for this one-sixth acre of property? Certainly, a goal and
business plan exist to justify the expenditure of precious taxpayer money,
though none have been announced.
But
commissioner Pete Gerken is not worried. It may be some time before this
property is anything more than a vacant but nicely landscaped lot that doesn’t
generate any taxes to repay the residents of Lucas County. But until that time,
Gerken assures us that it “adds green space and livability and walkability and
sustainability for our Downtown.” Who could ask for anything more?
In
1982, the commissioners voted to apply for a state loan to help fund the
construction of a riverfront marketplace (Portside, Imagination Station today).
Commissioner Ray Kest said, “It is usually not the role of the county to be
involved in economic development, particularly in the Downtown of a city.” My
how times have changed. Just say “economic development” and see how long it
takes before some local government official finds you and says, “I’m in. What
are we doin’?”
What
are the lessons to be learned from this? First, the hotel business in Downtown
Toledo is high-risk and low-return. The two other hotels on Summit Street — the
Park Inn by Radisson and the Grand Plaza Hotel — had high construction costs
and they have not held their value very well. They have high rates of name
changes, which causes identity problems. Just covering the operating expenses is
considered a successful operation. The two Downtown hotels are still making a
go of it, but there is no demonstrated need for another Downtown hotel at this
time, even though one of the stated goals of the county commissioners is to
attract a nationally branded hotel to Downtown.
The
second lesson is that when the Hotel Seagate was built, it was hailed as
important for Downtown revitalization and economic growth. When the hotel
failed and it was decided that the building should be demolished, it was said
this is important for Downtown revitalization and economic growth. The idea
that this clears the way for a new hotel, which is needed for Downtown
revitalization and economic development, really doesn’t seem to make sense.
The
third is that the more flowery and nonsensical the explanation any elected
official or bureaucrat has for their actions, the more likely it is that they
are trying to flim-flam you. If someone tells you that you can pay a nickel for
corn and feed it to a chicken that will lay eggs that you can sell for 10
cents, that makes sense and is understandable. If, on the other hand, someone
tells you that this is a quality-of-life issue that will assure peace,
prosperity and understanding within the global village and is the solution to
man-made climate instability in a zero-sum impact exercise to reduce income
inequality and gender expression, you can be pretty sure they are being
nonsensical.
After
the Hotel Seagate purchase, the commissioners realized they needed to dip into
reserves to cover the 2015 projected budget revenue shortfall. The possibility
that spending could be reduced apparently wasn’t an option. The commissioners
then chose the one and only course of action available to them to avoid this
doomsday event in the future. On Jan. 20, they voted unanimously to raise the
county sales tax rate to the maximum (1.5 percent) allowed by law. This is
three times the county sales tax rate, 0.5 percent, paid in Summit County
(Akron), which has 100,000 more residents than Lucas County. With this vote
they assured $6 million to $7 million more revenue in 2015. Next year and for
as long as people do retail business in Lucas County (which may be only another
decade or so, at the rate we are losing population), the additional tax revenue
is estimated at $14 million, adjusted for inflation and economic activity.
Commenting on the new tax rate, Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak said the move was well-thought-out and officials believe taxpayers will recognize that the county commissioners are good stewards of their money. If these are the actions of good stewards, heaven help us if a band of drunken sailors ever get their hands on the county’s coffers.
Gary Kiss can be reached at letters@toledofreepress. com.
As if having his beloved animals confiscated on Jan. 28 wasn’t bad enough, Tiger Ridge Exotics owner Ken Hetrick must now grieve the loss of Leo the lion, euthanized recently by the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA), the same entity that took him over two months ago.
Operating behind a veil of secrecy and a communication blackout, the ODA said only that the lion had stopped eating and was beginning to shut down. Refusing to take any responsibility for the lion’s declining health, the ODA conveniently left out that they changed the lion’s diet and refused to maintain the hip dysplasia supplement Hetrick had been giving the lion per his veterinarian’s order.
Indeed, not only has the ODA refused to hold itself accountable for a variety of problems with the seized animals, they destroyed the lion’s corpse by placing it in a vat of sulfuric acid. ODA will no doubt claim that this was for reasons of hygiene and public health, but it also destroys any evidence of their wrongdoing in the process.
This farce must end! Hetrick has held a federal license, and been in full federal compliance for years. ODA in their zeal have chosen to ignore that fact. If the federal government is satisfied with Hetrick’s setup, why isn’t ODA? Why does the ODA continue to act with secrecy, refusing to have any contact with Hetrick, his lawyer or his veterinarian? What, exactly, is the ODA hiding? Only an outcry from the public will change this situation. Please consider adding your voice by calling the ODA at (614) 728-6201.
—Kelly Meister-Yetter, Walbridge
ODA response: First, “vat of acid” is a gross misrepresentation of the process the lab uses: an alkaline hydrolysis digester that uses a combination of some chemicals but mostly high heat and high pressure to break down matter because of the highly contagious tissue samples it deals with.
Leo was humanely euthanized April 13 after experiencing complications from his chronic hip issues. Last week, department animal health staff began to observe signs of prolonged lateral recumbency, loss of appetite, increased rate of breathing, and decreased ability to move. State Veterinarian Dr. Tony Forshey and Assistant State Veterinarian Dr. Melissa Simmerman consulted with Dr. Richard Carstensen, Leo’s long-time veterinarian, and Dr. Randall Junge, vice president of animal health for the Columbus Zoo and The Wilds. All four veterinarians recommended to humanely euthanize the lion.
The lion, Leo, was documented to be weak in the rear end and not walking correctly on Aug. 28 by an inspector from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When the animal was transported in January, the lion had open lesions on his rear limbs due to his reduced mobility. For these reasons, Leo’s veterinarian actually had scheduled him to be euthanized on Jan. 26, though weather prevented the procedure from occurring.
—Erica Hawkins Communication Director Ohio Department of Agriculture
Actors Mark Hamill and Annie Potts, far left, came to Toledo in 1978 to promote the film ‘Corvette Summer,’ in an event hosted by Terry Michaelis, right, of proTeam Corvette, at the time located in Maumee. Photo courtesy ProTeam Corvette.
The automobile will get some long overdue star treatment as the focus of the inaugural Toledo Auto Film Festival, taking place May 8-17 in Northwest Ohio, and organizers are hoping the event will earn national recognition within five years.
“Cars, to many individuals, are not interchangeable because [people] have a passion about a particular type of vehicle,” said David Groves, a Bowling Green State University professor who specializes in the automotive and racing world in BGSU’s School of Human Movement, Sport and Leisure Studies.
Actors Mark Hamill and Annie Potts, far left, came to Toledo in 1978 to promote the film ‘Corvette Summer,’ in an event hosted by Terry Michaelis, right, of ProTeam Corvette, at the time located in Maumee. Photo courtesy ProTeam Corvette.
The festival is divided into five components, three of which are being presented at local libraries and will focus on the legendary Dixie Highway, cars of the ’40s and ’50s, and the development of windshields.
The Wood County District Public Library is situated on the famed Dixie Highway (better known as Main Street in downtown Bowling Green), and will host a talk about that road; the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and Rossford Public Library will also host events. Short films are planned at each, and a military vehicle show will be held in Downtown Toledo. An Internet film festival will be held during the summer.
The festival’s final portion is a film competition that will let youth and adult filmmakers create and submit their own short films for competition in October, with prizes to be awarded.
Groves teamed with auto racing historians Susan Weiss of Appalachian State University and Mark Howe of Northern Michigan University to bring the festival to fruition.
The trio originally thought Las Vegas would be the best location for an auto film festival, but Richard Nachazel, Destination Toledo president, convinced them otherwise.
“[He] really talked me into having it here in Toledo,” Groves said.
Autos and films in Toledo have some individual history of their own, but the two have also intersected. The peak of Toledo auto film mania may have occurred on May 28, 1978, when the former Showcase Cinemas on Secor Road played host to the premiere of the modest film “Corvette Summer.”
Mark Hamill, appearing in his first movie since “Star Wars,” would ultimately come to Toledo to promote his film. The premiere was accompanied by a Corvette parade at the Lucas County Recreation Center that set a new Guinness World Record with 10,000 Corvettes, according to event organizer Terry Michaelis, whose ProTeam Corvette Sales of Napoleon was located in Maumee at the time.
“I convinced [MGM Studios] to do their premiere in Toledo, because it was the glass capital of the world, and Owens Corning was involved with glass components with the Corvette, and they bit,” Michaelis said.
Groves said event planners are also looking for people who can offer oral histories.
President Barack Obama’s Interior Department recently released new regulations to regulate the process known as hydraulic fracking on public lands. They are the first federal well drilling rules in 30 years and were three years in the making.
.
Fracking is a technique by which rock is fractured by hydraulically pressurized liquids made of water, sand and chemicals. The liquids must pass through hundreds of feet of aquifers to reach the rocks that need to be fractured. Once fractured by the liquids, the rock starts seeping natural gas and petroleum; two crucial sources of energy.
The new rules set to take effect in 90 days will affect 90 percent of all public wells and are aimed at increasing the transparency of drilling operations. The companies that drill on public lands will now have to disclose what chemicals they use in the process, to be reported to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). For years, many environmentalists and residents of towns near fracking sites have feared that the chemicals used may affect wildlife and vegetation.
Along the same lines, companies must now cement the drill holes they use underground to protect water from damage. Contaminated drinking water has been an issue for many towns across the country because of the interaction of groundwater and fracking fluids, making water brown and undrinkable. The rules also require companies to report to the BLM the depth and geologic conditions of their wells. Advocates say this measure will help curb cross-contamination of water with chemicals and fluids.
Opponents of the regulations cite the costs and the effect it may have on job creation. The rules have already been the subject of a lawsuit by the Independent Petroleum Association of America, among others. Meeting the new requirements is expected to cost the industry approximately $32 million, roughly averaging an additional $11,000 a well.
The rules as a baseline for fracking have been met with criticism and many states already have existing fracking rules. The federal regulations will however present new challenges to drilling operations here in Ohio, which are not currently required to disclose what they inject into the ground.
There are concerns about what this will mean for the economy here as well. In the northeastern part of the state, fracking has led to an economic boom in not only energy production, but manufacturing as well. Once-depressed cities like Youngstown have seen a drop in unemployment numbers, accompanied by a revitalization of urban areas. Any challenge to this progress could be a detriment to our state’s economy, as well as to the Democrats’ chances of winning the White House in 2016.
Ben Osburn can be reached at letters@toledofreepress.com.
It’s strange, the emotional connections we can make in a world of social media as the Internet lets us closely follow the lives of people we may have never even met. I have made friends who I have always been hundreds of miles away from, but who I love like family. And through following celebrities on Twitter and the like, I have grown to like them — or at least the face they show in public — as people.
.
But still I was surprised at how saddened I was last week at a particular bit of news — the death of a pair of celebrities’ pets. Felicia Day, the talented creator/star of “The Guild” and the mind behind the YouTube network Geek and Sundry, lost her dog Cubby. And the very same day, actor and geek icon Wil Wheaton revealed his family had lost their oldest dog Riley.
Thanks to their masters’ work and social media, I felt like I knew these animals. Cubby made appearances on Day’s Geek and Sundry shows, and seemed a very lovable pup. Riley was a regular fixture on Wheaton’s Twitter feed, her goofy grin usually accompanied by Wil’s caption, “I’M A DOG!” symbolizing the enthusiasm Riley had for life and her owners in general. So the news of their departures hit home.
But there’s more to it than that, I think. Most of us, at some point in our lives, have made a connection to a dog. Not just any pet, mind you, though I have cared about cats and other animals (my current house cat, Sammie, would bristle at the idea that I didn’t have room in my heart for other furry companions). But there’s just something about their personalities and the relationship we have with the dogs in our lives that makes them unique, and cements their place in our hearts long after they’re gone.
My first dog was named Daisy, a lovely small brown pup we got when I was very young. I can still remember the bristle of her fur as she plopped next to me on the couch, or her joy when we’d let her out to go running around our property in the country. Daisy was a strange combination of rambunctious and meek — I remember her getting easily excited, but never jumping up on anyone or even barking loudly.
Spooky was another matter. A larger black dog who turned up on our doorstep the day before Halloween (hence the name), Spooky was much more of a mutt who loved simply being a dog and running free behind our house. He was much more adventurous than Daisy, which led to my first real sense of loss as a child — the day he was hit on the road outside our house.
A while later, Daisy simply went outside one day and never came back. I remember spending days on our back porch calling for her, but there was never any sign, leaving a wound in my childhood that has never quite healed. Never getting a chance to say goodbye to something that meant so much to you can hurt much longer than even a tragic farewell.
A few years later, my family once more adopted a new puppy, a roly-poly ball of black-and-white fluff named Max. He was fun and excitable in that way that only puppies can be, and we tried to keep a closer eye on him after what had happened with Spooky. One day during a bad snowstorm, I lost my grip on Max as someone was coming in our door and he bolted outside. He was hit by a tractor driving by. I have never forgiven myself.
Eventually wounds heal, though, or at least enough time passes that the pain can be dealt with. We adopted another puppy not long before I started at university, a collie mix by the name of Missy. She lived with us the longest, and I grew to love her more than any other pet. For years, whenever I would come home from college or my new home here in Toledo, her bright eyes would greet me and she’d jump up with excitement, no matter how old she got. She was forever a puppy in her eyes — and mine.
We lost Missy to old age a few years ago, long enough for my dear nieces to have met her and grown to love her, too. I thought of all this few days ago, as I was walking my parents’ new dog, Jammer, a Basset mix with great hound dog eyes and seemingly endless energy. My nieces were outside playing with us. Suddenly my oldest niece looked up at me and said simply, “I miss Missy.”
A few tears welled up in my eyes as a thousand memories of her flashed through my mind. I thought of Missy, and Daisy and Cubby, and Riley, and of all the dogs we love throughout our lives. I thought of how there are emotional holes in a home that can only be filled by floppy ears and understanding eyes. I thought of how I remember each one that shared my life’s journey, and how no matter how much time passes, they will forever hold a place in my heart.
“I miss Missy, too,” I said to my niece. “She was my puppy for a long time.”
“She was everybody’s puppy,” my niece said. “Because she was so beautiful.”
Yes, she was. They all are.
Jeff McGinnis is Pop Culture Editor at Toledo Free Press. He can be reached at PopGoesJeff@gmail.com.
Experts encourage gardeners to ‘grow local and buy local’ this spring. Toledo Free Press photo by Christie Materni.
Weather permitting, April means gardening and area growers and retail garden shops have advice on what and how to plant for everyone from beginners to experienced planters.
Jerry Sullivan, owner of Black Diamond nursery since 1953, suggests that beginner growers keep their garden plot small.
“The best advice I try to give beginners is don’t get a garden too big to take care of,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan recommends a 10-foot-by-10-foot or 10-foot-by-15-foot plot, as anything bigger requires weeding and “doing it all.” Planters should grow the things that are easy to grow, Sullivan said.
A good place to start is with seed vegetables, like radishes, carrots and string beans, he said. Then, growers can graduate to vine vegetables, like tomatoes, cucumbers and watermelons, which require larger plots.
Gene Klotz, owner of Klotz Floral Gift & Garden Center in Bowling Green, said April is the best time for cool weather plants like lettuce, cabbage and herbs. He is also a part of the Maumee Valley Growers Association (MVGA).
Experts encourage gardeners to ‘grow local and buy local’ this spring. Toledo Free Press photo by Christie Materni.
“Typically, your annuals and perennials should wait till the end of the month because we’re waiting to see what this weather will do,” Klotz said.
Klotz doesn’t like to push people to plant too soon because most plants do better in warmer weather.
If people are itching to plant now, Klotz recommends cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, onions and potatoes. Asparagus likes the warmer weather, and gardeners should hold off on tomatoes and peppers too, he said. It’s also still too cool for annual flowers like marigolds or petunias.
Klotz recommends visiting an independent garden center for information. Most are family operated and have good advice for growers, he said. His family has owned Klotz Floral Garden Center since 1918.
Jill Bench of Bench’s Greenhouse and Nursery said what to grow and when all depends on what a planter wants. Herbs can now be grown inside, but perennials are not ready for the hard ground yet. If they’ve been growing inside under “beautiful” conditions, they won’t do well if taken outside, she said. However, simple plants can currently be grown outside.
“Beginner herbs are easy,” said Bench, who is president of the MVGA. “They like it dry and thrive on neglect and they start in the kitchen window. They need water but don’t like to be over-watered.”
Bench’s garden center sells three potted plant combinations in 14-inch containers. The plants can be re-potted in the store by the buyer or taken home and re-potted.
Bench’s Greenhouse has planted 14,000 hanging baskets, thousands of pots of perennials and hundreds of annuals, Bench said.
Bench’s also has vegetable and herb starters and cactus in its faery garden.
“What to grow is weather dependent,” Bench said. “Typically, a frost-free date is around Mother’s Day.”
Her advice to planters: “Grow local and buy local. April is not predictable enough not to plant inside, but by May you should trim roses and cut down grasses. Of course, the ‘Farmers’ Almanac’ says it’s time to go cut things back and get ready for the spring.”
Bench’s Greenhouse offers a free “Ready? Let’s Grow!” seminar every Saturday to help customers “get into the garden frame of mind,” Bench said.
Upcoming plant exchanges include:
May 2: Toledo Plant Exchange, Toledo-Lucas County Main Library parking garage, 325 N. Michigan St. Plant drop-off 8:30-10 a.m. with speakers 9-9:50 a.m. and exchange open from 10 a.m. until the plants are gone, which is typically less than an hour.
May 8-10: Toledo Botanical Garden’s annual plant sale.
