OHIO – Gerald Bruce may have lost the first battle in his effort to radically overhaul Ohio’s system of assessing and collecting property taxes.
But the 64-year-old Groveport maintenance worker isn’t giving up his crusade – the first step of which involves trying to personally get 1,000 voters to sign his petition for a constitutional amendment that, among other things, would cap a property’s taxable value until it’s transferred or sold.
“I don’t go around to houses now, especially after dark. Some people just are really jumpy,” Bruce said.
I’m interested in Bruce’s story not because I think he’s likely to succeed but because I’m keeping an eye on broader grassroots efforts focused on property taxes and the real-world impact of property-tax increases.
There’s an ongoing property tax revaluation happening in phases around the state, which will be the first since the low interest rates of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic helped send home values skyrocketing. That means that, depending on where they live, Ohio property owners are likely to see significant increases in their tax bills soon, if they haven’t already.
Around 12 people – representing several different anti-property tax groups from the Cleveland and Cincinnati areas – held a rally at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, calling on lawmakers to either reform property tax laws or eliminate them altogether.
We’re going to become a voting bloc, I know it. This is changing across the country … We’ve been mad by ourselves for far too long.
Sarah Wolf of Cincinnati
There are a bunch of bills pending in the Ohio legislature to limit property taxes. Some apply to certain groups – like military widows or senior citizens – while others are more broad. Some would require the state to pay to offset property tax hikes while others would reduce revenue for schools and other local government entities.
There’s even a proposal from lawmakers to amend the state constitution – which would require voter approval – to freeze annual tax increases at 4 percent. This proposal got its first committee hearing on Tuesday, roughly six months after it was introduced.
The bills seem unlikely to pass, given the disagreement over whether state or local government should foot the bill, so to speak. But I’ll be writing more on this topic soon.
Signal Statewide is a nonprofit news organization covering government, education, health, economy and public safety.
Toledo city council member Theresa Morris asks Jason Watson, transportation roadway team leader for Mannik Smith Group, how much property will be taken from homeowners during the I-475 expansion.
Commissioners, council members hold first hybrid meeting
Story and photos by Lori King
TOLEDO – To hear community feedback on a proposed 4-year, $217,000,000 I-475 improvement project, Lucas County commissioners and Toledo city council members held a special hybrid committee meeting inside council chambers at One Government Center.
It was the first time these two government entities sat side by side during a public forum.
The Nov. 18 joint meeting focused on the proposal by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to reconstruct approximately 4.5 miles of West I-475, from Douglas Rd. to U.S. 23. Details of the project, slated to begin in the summer of 2027, include reconstructing the pavement and infrastructure, correcting deficiencies, such as curbs and under drains, and adding lanes.
Lucas County commissioner Pete Gerken tells ODOT officials that the company has a reputation of not following through on promises, and the community remembers those broken promises.
Patrick McColley, ODOT District 2 deputy director, justifies expanding West I-475 during a joint public hearing with Lucas County commissioners and Toledo city council members.
The meeting began with presentations from two speakers: Pat McColley, ODOT District 2 deputy director, who claims the widening project will lesson congestion and improve safety, and Peggy Daly-Masternak, coordinator for the I-475 Neighborhoods Coalition, who vehemently opposes it.
Before introducing McColley, commissioner Pete Gerken stated that the purpose of the public forum was to “hear voices on both sides of this very important project, from ODOT and the citizens who’ve been very organized and very vocal.”
Gerken said one of the things he promised during conversations he had in West Toledo and in his office was to hold a public hearing on the issue, “and we are keeping that promise tonight. I think it’s appropriate public policy.”
Gerken noted this was an opportunity for ODOT and residents to be in the same room at the same time, and that it was “not run by you, not run by them, but by the representative government body.”
First up to give testimony was McColley, backed by a team of staff, engineers and consultants. He started out by saying that when you look at projects like this, one of the things to consider is interstate reconstruction, which hasn’t been done since the 1960s.
He said it’s not just about widening I-475, but also replacing water and sewer lines; reconstructing pavement and under drains; expanding ramp lengths; fixing curves, shoulders and sight distance issues; and even making it safer and less difficult for law enforcement to monitor and enforce traffic in that narrow corridor of highway.
“All of that will be corrected with this project,” McColley said.
He emphasized that no houses would be taken, which was a main concern brought up by several council members, including Mac Driscoll, Theresa Morris and Theresa Gadus; however, there will be limited strip takes for about 30 properties.
Council member Mac Driscoll, an urban planner, questions ODOT’s Patrick McColley about neighborhood concerns.Toledo city council member Theresa Morris asks Jason Watson, transportation roadway team leader for Mannik Smith Group, how much property will be taken from homeowners during the I-475 expansion.
McColley said that because of public recommendations, ODOT will institute a tree program to make the area better environmentally, connect communities with two bridge caps, and add multiuse paths and sidewalks where none currently exists.
He then showed a PowerPoint before taking questions from commissioners and council members.
Nearly 90 minutes into the meeting, McColley vacated his seat for Daly-Masternak, who arrived with a few dozen supporters of her own.
Peggy Daly-Masternak delivers her dissent against the interstate expansion.
Daly-Masternak started out by saying, “I truly tell you there is a commitment here on the part of the neighborhoods and other citizens to oppose this, and it’s growing.”
She added that Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz opposed it in a letter he wrote to ODOT in 2023. “He said, ‘This project is a solution in desperate need of a problem.’ It’s worse. The expressway is a nonproblem. ODOT’s solution creates far greater problems.”
She went on to list a few of the “significant harms” that would befall the people who live nearby:
The use of “precious” tax dollars that could be “well spent” on so many other things.
Climate concerns. “The entire project is in the historically rare Oak Openings region. The Nature Conservancy has said the Oak Openings region is one of the 200th last great places in America, and the entire footprint of the project will continue to decimate what’s already been decimated. It makes no sense.”
Not looking at alternatives to economic investments, which should be returned back to the City of Toledo and Lucas County.
The continuation of structural inequities. “The inequities began when interstates were first built to connect one city to the next … but were never supposed to be beltways, let alone ripped through cities that were red line districts and immigrant working class neighborhoods. Why would we continue those structural inequities by expanding I-475?”
Daly-Masternak told the commissioners and council members that “this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rethink what all damaging highways do. If this gets built, you will not be able to un-ring that bell.
“I really look at the critical importance of everybody who is sitting here, who has the opportunity, whether you can be the decision maker or not – you can definitely pass resolutions because city after city after city are standing up and opposing highways by their elected officials.”
After her presentation, which also included a PowerPoint, citizens took to the podium to voice their opposition or support for the I-475 expansion.
Toledoan Rick Baum opposes the I-475 expansion project. He is a member of the I-475 Neighborhoods Coalition.
“First, we don’t oppose the reconstruction; if the freeway is ending its useful life at its base, that’s fine,” reasoned Rick Baum. “We oppose the widening of it. We just want to be clear about that.
“We talked about congestion … it’s shown in that data that it’s laughable on its face. The director points to some projections of increased traffic. I don’t know where that’s coming from, given the decrease in population,” Baum said.
Other citizens who opposed the project brought up concerns regarding climate chaos and global warming; tree removal; sound walls that make more noise, not less; putting citizens deeper into car dependency; neighborhood segregation and inequity; and taxpayer money for the maintenance upkeep of a wider highway.
In support of the project was Brian Dicken, vice president of Advocacy and Strategic Initiatives for the Toledo Chamber of Commerce.
Sitting in the front row are ODOT staff, consultants and engineers who attended the Nov. 18 public forum.
“On behalf of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, which represents nearly 2,000 businesses across the region and employs nearly 120,000 people, many of which are your constituents, I’m asking that you support this project, not because it’s an economic development project, because it absolutely is … it’s about safety.”
Dicken told the story of when he was heading west on I-475 a couple of weeks ago, and there was an major accident in the east bound lanes.
“As I moved through and saw the congestion and the backup on the eastbound lanes, there were emergency vehicles stuck in traffic. You can only imagine – what if we had broader shoulders and a third lane to make it easier for people to get the help they need in cases like that?” he asked.
“I often hear from my colleagues who live in the Sylvania area, ‘Hey, we’re going to be late because backups on 475.’ This isn’t once every six months; this happens on a regular basis,” he said.
“This is also about reconnecting our neighborhoods that got split 60 years ago. So, with the bridge caps and what we’ve seen with the green spaces, it makes them more walkable, more bike-able, and I think that’s a goal we’ve been talking about for a long time in Toledo.
“So, as we improve our infrastructure and reconnect our neighborhoods, we have an opportunity maybe to do something about these projections that we’ve heard (about),” Dicken said. “Start to increase our population and get back to the community we’ve all been striving for for 20 and 30 years.”
Dicken added that the project will create jobs for our region; provide Toledo significant income tax revenue that can be used toward other projects within the community; and generate sales and hotel tax for the county to help with their projects.
“Again, support this because it’s not just economic development; this is community development, and that’s what we all should be striving for,” he pleaded.
Jason Watson, Transportation Roadway team leader for the Mannik Smith Group, explains how noise walls could be added during Phase II of the I-475 expansion.
In a phone interview with the Toledo Free Press several days after the Nov. 18 joint session, McColley said he thought the public forum went well.
“I think we were able to properly explain and articulate the reasons why we’re looking to do this. It’s good for the city and the county, and for the elected bodies that represent both to understand what we’re trying to do.
“I don’t know that everybody fully understood what we are trying to do, as well as what our processes are,” Dickens said. “I think the public input, though, has been valuable and very important as far as what we want to see out of this.”
This was the fourth public hearing ODOT has attended for this project; the first was back in 2020. And it might not be the last.
Parents are often very confused on why an antibiotic is not prescribed when their child is clearly ill. Here are the common questions or statements I often hear in my practice:
I took my child to the urgent care/emergency room, and they were diagnosed with a virus but not put on an antibiotic.
My child has a really bad cold. Why will you not prescribe an antibiotic?
The nose is draining green now, so they need an antibiotic.
Can we just give an antibiotic to prevent this turning into a bacterial infection?
So, why are antibiotics prescribed? Antibiotics are given for bacterial illnesses, which include the following: strep throat caused by Group A Streptococcus; walking pneumonia caused mycoplasma pneumoniae; and UTI’s caused by E.coli. These are some of the more common bacterial infections we see in pediatrics, though there are others.
An antibiotic is not effective for an illness caused by a virus. There are multiple different viruses, some of the most common being mononucleosis, RSV, influenza A and B, and COVID.
The majority of the illnesses that children have are caused by viruses. If your child is diagnosed with a viral infection and given an antibiotic, it will not prevent a bacterial infection or resolve the viral infection. Antibiotics are not effective against viruses; antibiotics are given if you have a bacterial infection, not to prevent a bacterial infection.
Another important reason not to give an antibiotic when it is not needed is the prevention of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change and are no longer responsive to antibiotics. This occurs when antibiotics are inappropriately prescribed, therefore allowing the bacteria to change and become less responsive to the antibiotics.
When bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, the infections they cause can be difficult or impossible to treat. In some cases, they can even be deadly, according to the National Institute for Health (NIH).
It’s also worth noting that yellow or green mucus in the nose does not mean antibiotics are needed. During a common cold or viral infection, it is normal for mucus from the nose to get thick and to change from clear to yellow or green. Actually, this most often is from a viral infection, which can last for 10-14 days, according to the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics).
The symptoms for both a bacterial infection and viral infection can be the same, and in office testing can help us to determine if an antibiotic is needed. For both viral illness and bacterial infections, common symptoms are headaches, cough, runny nose, fevers, sore throats and, at times, body aches, nausea and vomiting.
A simple search indicates that the vast majority of childhood illnesses are caused by viruses, with estimates suggesting that around 80-90 percent of all children’s illnesses are viral in origin, while only 10-20 percent are bacterial. So, if your child has a viral illness, an antibiotic will not be needed or indicated for good evidence-based medicine.
Treatment for viral illnesses include symptomatic care like increasing fluids, using Tylenol and Motrin, cool mist humidifiers and rest.
I hope this has been informational and helpful as we are going into the sick season for children. Have a great holiday season, wash your hands, cover your mouth when coughing, and be safe!
Loud, melodious songs nice respite from our quiet winters
WHITEHOUSE – Winter may be just around the corner, but that doesn’t make much difference to Carolina wrens.
Though they’re not common, this species is here to stay, probably not far from where they nested earlier in the year.
In warmer weather they love to gorge themselves on spiders and insects, but come winter they turn to fruits and berries, as well as visiting backyard feeding stations for peanuts and suet. Look for them, especially if we experience severe winter weather.
Carolinas are large by wren standards, and, in winter months when many birds go silent, they are a notable and welcome exception. If these chunky birds visit your feeders, you could very well have the silent winter landscape interrupted with welcome choruses of their loud and melodious song.
Joe Stokes, a physical therapist assistant, watches veteran Dave Russell Sr. do a leg exercise. Stokes has been at the clinic for 14 years. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
Clinic offers medical, specialty services to veterans
TOLEDO – While Toledo-area veterans may know that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has an outpatient clinic in the city, it’s often a surprise as to how many veterans actually access primary medical and specialty services at the Detroit Ave. site.
A shovel used in the 2011 groundbreaking ceremony hangs on the wall at the Toledo VA Clinic. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
Alex Herrick. (Courtesy Photo/VA Clinic)
The VA Toledo Community Based Outpatient Clinic is part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Ann Arbor Health Care System, along with other facilities, such as the newly opened VVA outpatient clinic in Findlay.
About 5.5 percent of the population in Lucas County are veterans, according to the U.S. Census bureau, which is close to the state average of 6.5 percent and national average of 6.2 percent. Of that population in Lucas County, about 10 percent are female and 90 percent male.
That said, Herrick explained the client reach extends well past the Toledo metro area, with eight counties in northwest Ohio and two counties in southeast Michigan. Now that the Findlay site is open, some of those veterans are starting to schedule medical appointments closer to their homes.
Despite the client base and facility size, services are intentionally designed to be personal and attentive.
Chris Arbino. (Courtesy Photo/VA Clinic)
“I’ve spoken with veterans who are pleased with how they are treated here. I hear far more positive interactions than negative,” said Chris Arbino, public affairs specialist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Ann Arbor Health Care System.
Toledo has had a VA clinic for decades, originally on Glendale Ave., Herrick said. The current facility opened in 2012 and has 66,000 square feet of space.
Even that’s not enough to handle current and expected needs, as a building expansion and staffing increase is planned for fiscal year 2026.
During federal fiscal year 2024, which ended Sept. 30, Herrick said the Toledo clinic served 16,500 patients, of which 13,500 sought primary care services and the others seeking specialty care, such as oral surgery, mental health and vision appointments that can be done on site.
“We just started a full-time acupuncturist,” Herrick added. “The veterans are loving that. It’s used for a multitude of things – pain, relaxation, for smoking cessation.”
Acupuncturist Michael Fiorani shows the needles he uses for his ‘gentle style’ of needling. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
Michael Fiorani, a fully accredited acupuncturist, has been the acupuncturist at the VA clinic since the acupuncture clinic opened in January. He concurred that acupuncture is beneficial on many levels, “but I would say the biggest benefit is pain management. It really has so many different positive effects: pain management, mental health, PTSD, anxiety and depression.
“From a pain management perspective, it really helps reduce inflammation, improves blood circulation, relaxes the nervous system, and has an impact on the entire body, really. We have quite a few happy veterans,” he added.
One of those happy patients is Lisa Heard, who has been receiving acupuncture therapy for depression, anxiety and addiction since February. She described the treatments as “a unique feeling at first because I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s not painful; it was more of a relaxation for me.
“I did the five point dry needling sessions for depression, anxiety and addiction. It was very relaxing; I would actually fall asleep during the treatments,” she said.
Heard added that after two or three sessions she could feel a difference in her urges. “I’m more relaxed and just more level, so it’s a great experience.”
Another new specialty that is getting attention was authorized through the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022. This bill expanded VA health care and benefits to veterans who were exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange or toxic substances during their service time. Health services related to this specific need were introduced to the Toledo clinic in 2023.
“That was a key piece of legislation that’s going to drive enrollment,” Arbino said about PACT Act.
Herrick said each veteran who seeks primary care there is assigned to one of 14 medical teams who then work with that specific caseload. With focused attention, he said it’s easier to make sure a patient is able to follow up on appointments, testing and recommended care.
“It’s a different system than you normally see in the private sector,” Herrick said about the team-based assignments.
Should a local veteran need specialty care available at the Ann Arbor facility, but not have transportation, a shuttle bus is provided between Toledo and Ann Arbor.
Secure firearm storage devices are offered for free at the entrance of the VA Clinic. The devices are meant to help make the veterans feel safer. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
Whether a particular individual or a spouse is eligible for VA medical services, or what copays may be involved, depends on the terms of the discharge. “It’s really based off your veterans benefit. Most veterans that served and have other than dishonorable discharge are eligible for VA care,” Arbino said.
“For the most part, you don’t have to have a service-related disability to be here,” Herrick added.
Beyond the medical care provided to veterans, there is a distinct personality at the Toledo VA clinic. Across the VA medical system, Arbino said, about 30 percent of the staff have themselves served in the military. Many of the volunteers, such as some of the greeters at Toledo VA clinic, have served as well.
And there are special events held throughout the year: A Vietnam veterans recognition event takes place every March; and each spring Toledo’s VA2K event invites the community to a classic car show, a mile run and related events.
“We’ve got a lot of camaraderie in this facility,” Herrick said.
While the VA care is separate from that provided by local civilian medical entities, such as ProMedica and University of Toledo, Herrick said there is cooperation among them, such as the UT Medical Center sending some of its residents to the Toledo VA clinic for training. And since the Toledo VA clinic is outpatient only, the staff does make referrals to the local hospitals when admissions are necessary.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead: the Department of Veterans Affairs has requested a 9.8 percent increase in its budget for Fiscal Year 2025, with the intent to provide money for health care, benefits and national cemeteries for veterans. The fiscal year began Oct. 1, but Congress passed only a short-term budget deal this fall and will need to address the rest of the year before current spending authorization ends Dec. 20.
“Regardless of the budget, we still provide direct care,” Herrick said.
Salute to Military History
If you happen to have an appointment or are accompanying a veteran to his or her appointment at the VA Toledo Community Based Outpatient Clinic, be sure to take some time to visit the military history displays that are on site.
The outdoor flagpole area is within a small park setting. Seating benches adorned with military service branch emblems are accompanied by a Blue Star Memorial historical marker through a program hosted by National Garden Clubs Inc. and its local affiliate, the Anthony Wayne Garden Club. The Blue Star tradition in the United States originated during World War I and remains popular today, with a Blue Star flag indicating a family member is serving in the military.
The interior of the Toledo VA Clinic’s main hub. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
The Faces of Heroes wall on the second floor of the Toledo VA Clinic. (TFP Photo/Lori King)
The atrium above the patient lobby features a number of military artifacts and photos.
“It’s fun to see the history up here,” Herrick said.
The honor wall includes presentations about Lt. Robert Montgomery Craig, who is the namesake of Toledo’s Craig Memorial Bridge, and Civil War veteran Wilson W. Brown of Ohio, whose story inspired the 1956 movie The Great Locomotive Chase.
A flag flown during the 2004 dedication of the National Park Service’s World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. is preserved in a trifold case.
And one of the most popular areas of the atrium is the Faces of Heroes photo gallery. This wall features several collage panels of military service photos that were submitted by local veterans and their families. A binder is on a shelf near that display, with printouts listing the names of those who are pictured.
OHIO – State Sen. Nickie Antonio of Lakewood and other Democrats in the Ohio Senate gave a forceful defense of their party’s stance on transgender rights this week after majority Republicans approved a bathroom bill for state schools and universities.
The bill would require K-12 schools and colleges to designate bathrooms and locker rooms for single-sex use based on students’ sex assigned at birth. The bill passed 23-7, with all Republicans voting “yes” and Democrats voting “no.” It now heads to Gov. Mike DeWine, who soon will decide whether or not to sign it into law.
The vote offered an early example in Ohio of how Democrats may approach LGBTQ issues following the Nov. 5 election. Before the election, Republicans hammered Sen. Sherrod Brown and other vulnerable Democrats on transgender issues.
Since then, some Democrats have suggested backing off of defending transgender rights to try to broaden the party’s appeal, particularly among minority and working-class voters who tend to be more socially conservative. Polling commissioned by Ideastream Public Media, WKYC and Signal Ohio found a majority of Northeast Ohio voters surveyed, including a significant number of Democrats, support the Republican position. LGBTQ advocates have said transgender-related issues are misunderstood by the public unless they have a personal connection.
But Antonio, who in 2010 became the first openly gay person elected to the state legislature, said Senate Democrats didn’t privately debate the bill’s political merits ahead of the vote. Rather, their discussion focused on how they viewed it as morally wrong.
We’re not going to kick transgender people to the curb and say ‘You’re just dragging us down.’
State Sen. Nickie Antonio
During the debate on the floor of the Ohio Senate on Thursday before the vote on the transgender bathroom bill, Republican senators said the election results reinforce that public opinion is on their side.
“Ohioans and Americans … don’t want boys in girls’ sports, they don’t want boys in girls’ locker rooms. They don’t want girls in boys’ bathrooms. It’s for the safety of the kids. And this message was sent loud and clear last week during the national election,” said state Sen. Kristina Roegner, a Hudson Republican.
But Democrats said they view the matter as a civil rights issue.
Antonio said she’s previously resisted private calls to remove the “T” from an LGBTQ nondiscrimination bill that a coalition of gay-rights groups and businesses have tried to pass unsuccessfully for years.
“There has been an effort to segment them off because they are the most marginalized, the most vulnerable, the most misunderstood,” Antonio said of transgender people. “That doesn’t mean we should do it. That means a lot more work has to happen for people to understand rather than malign them.”
Signal Statewide is a nonprofit news organization covering government, education, health, economy and public safety.
