Editorial cartoon by Don Lee for the Toledo Free Press.
Kindness unites neighbors
Neighbor to Neighbor continues kindness, peace initiative amid political conflict
LUCAS COUNTY – Throughout the political season you may have seen the bright green Love your Neighbor signs in front yards around Lucas County. These signs by Neighbor to Neighbor represent kindness and neighborly love, despite conflicting political views.
Neighbor to Neighbor is a non-partisan and nondenominational 2024 election year peace initiative by St. Michael’s in the Hills Episcopal Church. The organizational initiative is promoting Intentional Acts of Kindness Week leading up to the general election, which ends tomorrow.
Neighbor To Neighbor’s next event, “We Are Still Neighbors,” will be at the Enrichment Center of the Glass city Metropark on Sunday, Nov. 17, following the conclusion of the 2024 general election. To sign up, go to We Are Still Neighbors.
Carol Nichols, a member of St. Michael’s and a leader of Neighbor to Neighbor, said regardless of the election turnout, we are still neighbors, and the simple supper event is aimed to bring the community together as a collective.
Alongside the meal, the community will be discussing the future of the Neighbor to Neighbor program in Toledo and brainstorming solutions to community tensions.
“People really are hungry for this kind of thing,” said Nichols. “It has been a bright light for many of us during this very stressful political season.”
Neighbor to Neighbor campaigned Intentional Acts of Kindness Week from Oct. 29 until Nov. 5, but it was ultimately up to the greater Toledo area to commit acts of kindness and share them with the organization on their Facebook or Instagram pages to be featured.
Nichols said Toledo embraced the initiative completely, and even Neighbor to Neighbor helpers and members of the organization’s congregation St. Michael’s are being intentional about promoting acts of kindness.
Nichols said she spearheaded the idea for the initiative in January because she was bothered by the major political divide in the community.
“This political divide has been hammered into our heads for the past 10 years,” she said.“We really wanted to push back against that because we really are just neighbors and we may vote differently, but we want to be able to live together in peace and to recognize and treat each other with kindness and respect.”
Nichols added that it is important to be kind all days of the year, but Neighbor to Neighbor is specifically asking people to be mindful of their treatment of others during this difficult political season because elections tend to cause a divide in communities.
According to the Neighbor to Neighbor website, The City of Toledo, The Village of Ottawa Hills and The University of Toledo have declared Intentional Acts of Kindness Weeks, recognizing the need to increase the focus on kindness.
The initiative was supported by more than 40 donors, including Toledo Lucas County Public Library, Lourdes University, The Village of Ottawa Hills, The Multifaith Council of Northwest Ohio, and others.
Wade Fulkerson, a voter from east Toledo who visits the polls regularly, says through his political experiences that it’s important to be kind to others with different political views.
“To me, I believe that we should treat everyone as equals,” said Fulkerson.
Despite having opposing views than some of his family members on the major candidates, he says every vote matters and that he encourages registered voters to go out and cast their ballots on election day.
“It’s our choice to decide who we let in and who we don’t,” he said. “We have a choice and I encourage you to vote even if you don’t like either candidate.”
The “We Are Still neighbors” event, in collaboration with the MultiFaith Council of Northwest Ohio, is a simple supper of pasta, salad, bread and dessert, to be served to the public on a first come, first serve basis.
For a few ideas of kind gestures, visit the Neighbor to Neighbor’s website.
Issue 29 helps fund senior care
AOoA offers tips for aging parent caregivers
TOLEDO – Stephanie spends most afternoons at her dad’s house, cleaning up, organizing his medications and simply spending time with him. Michael picks up his mom’s prescriptions and groceries, while Sarah is taking care of her sister until she recovers from a recent surgery.
Stephanie, Michael and Sarah may be handling very different chores, but they have much in common: All are probably helping out while working full time jobs; they’re going through the emotional stress of caring for a loved one; and they’re often handling most financial responsibilities themselves.
They’re all caregivers, and they’re likely doing all of this without any outside help. There are an estimated 53 million adults (more than 1 in 5 Americans) who are unpaid caregivers to a loved one, according to a 2020 study from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving.
A potential solution would be to hire professional in-home caregivers or use outside facilities. But a long-term trend in the home health industry predicts a significant labor shortage among caregivers and nurses.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1 million new home health and personal care aide jobs will be open by 2031. And despite recent increases in home healthcare workers’ pay, the labor shortages should continue.
Planning in advance
Justin Moor, president/CEO of the Area Office on Aging (AOoA) of Northwestern Ohio, recommends that caregivers contact AOoA when they’re first beginning to assist a loved one (over 60 years old).
“Our social workers can visit families as a whole, or individually with the caregiver and the patient,” he said. “In that way, we can assess the current situation, and we’ll be ready to provide services whenever they’re needed.”
Short-term services include adult day care (through centers around the area), caregiver break times through the AmeriCorp Senior Program in your home, providing transportation of all types, among others.
Issue 29 on the Nov. 5 election ballot is a 1.0 mill renewal that would provide $8,148,000 annually to provide or maintain senior citizens services and programs. Many of AOoA’s programs are funded by this measure.
“A temporary break from caregiver services can be critical to well-being,” said Moor. “Caregivers most often forget to take care of themselves. This work is extremely important, but they don’t have to do it alone.”
He compares it to the instructions we all remember from taking a flight – put the mask on yourself before putting it on someone else. In addition to the short-term programs for adults, AOoA provides a range of counseling programs and support groups for caregivers, so they can focus on self-care.
Changing the narrative
According to Moor, caregiving was a very black and white conversation – either family provided it or paid services were called in.
“Here in Lucas County, the Area Office is entering that gray area,” by offering healthcare programs directly to caregivers, to help alleviate the estimated 22 hours per week caregivers provide, he said. AOoA is looking to reach caregivers in three “easy” steps:
#1 – We’re talking to you.
“Family members think caregiving has to be on their shoulders, but it doesn’t,” he said. “AOoA can supplement the care you’re providing. We want to be your care partner, because the result is better care for your loved ones.”
#2 – We feel your pain. Moor explained that any level of caregiving comes with stress:
- The emotional toll of the changes taking place in your family, concern about your loved one’s illness and uncertainty of the support you can provide
- The physical toll of the actual, long-term care of a loved one
- The financial toll of handling caregiving out-of-pocket
#3 – We can help. The AOoA provides a full range of programs for caregivers, from offering a temporary break or daycare in the short term, to longterm assistance and support programs.
But Moor says that while “better decisions are made when there’s no emergency, most caregivers come to us later than they should” to arrange for services.
Changing caregiving in the future
AOoA is working through the federal Older Americans Act to offer services, like drop-in day care, exercise, massage, counseling and support groups through some of the region’s 45 senior centers. These programs should be available within the next two years.
In Ohio, Medicaid and the Veterans’ Administration offer programs to pay family members to provide specific care programs to their loved ones. In addition, the AOoA and Lucas County Commission in Toledo, and Principle Business Enterprises in Bowling Green are joining together to survey their employees about caregiver challenges and awareness of available services. That survey and its recommendations should be complete in early 2025.
In the meantime, learn more about caregiver services from AOoA by calling 419.382.0624.
The sounds of owls
Owls make their presence eerily known in the forest
WHITEHOUSE – As leaves flutter to the ground and late fall takes hold, the canopy opens up and sounds carry better through the woods.
It’s time for owls to rule the light sounds.
Now is when owls make their presence known, perhaps inspired by the shorter days, the inevitable onset of winter, and the priority to claim prime hunting territories. These fascinating creatures of the night seem to enjoy the longer hours of darkness.
Our most common owls are the great-horned, barred and the diminutive screech owl. The screech owl (image above captured at the Blue Creek Metropark) stands only about 8-9 inches tall with a wingspan of about 20 inches. It may be the smallest of our common owls, but its got a loud and eerie tremelo call that can carry a long way through a leafless forest. It can send chills down the spine of anyone who hears it.
It’s the perfect call for the Halloween season.
Listen to the distinctive sounds of owls:
The Fish are back!
Walleye victorious in front of sold out crowd
Story and photos by Kyle Brown
TOLEDO – Skates hitting the ice is a sound to be heard and celebrated. Add cowbells, loud chants and a goal horn, and you’ll find yourself in the makings of a good night.
That’s exactly what fans got when they attended the season opener for the Toledo Walleye hockey club this past weekend. “Let’s go Walleye!” chants flooded the streets and inside the Huntington Center as fans arrived for the game against the Wheeling Nailers. The Walleye won Friday night’s game 3-2.
Fans were able to get the party started Friday night at Hensville, where a free pre-party kicked off at 4 p.m. Fleetwood’s Tap Room had pregame food and drinks, an inflatable Spike Tunnel and an outdoor hockey rink.
I came across a group of rabid fans many Walleye fans have come to appreciate. The Walleye Mania is a group of men who’ve been going to games dressed as characters since 2019. One of the characters stated, “It’s a lot of fun. When you are a normal person, you stand out and get a little shy. Put a mask on, and it takes away your embarrassment.
“We’ve been fans since the Storm days,” one of them said. When asked about the expectations Toledo may have getting into the playoffs, the group replied in unison, “The Kelly Cup! We want that cup! We are always the bride’s maid, never the bride.”
If you see these characters roaming the streets before or at a game, go say hi. They are just as much a part of the fan experience as everything else. The group even donates their time in the summer for the Andrew Gulch Memorial Golf Outing, an event to raise money and awareness for Muscular Dystrophy. Walleye players, past and present, help out and play in the outing.
When 6 p.m. rolled around Friday, fans began making their way to the entrance gates of the Huntington Center.
Upon walking around, I found my way to the Voorhees family, out of Republic, Ohio. Melissa and Jason Voorhees explained how they became fans, stating, “We became fans right before covid, so four or five years … just to get out of the house and try new experiences … and we got hooked.”
One of the things the Walleye do very well is their promotions. The staff finds ways each year to make it bigger and better. Melissa Voorhees commented that she’d “really like to catch a teddy bear during toss night.”
I turned my attention to two kids sitting with them, Jensen Voorhees and Colt Stockmaster. When asked who their favorite players were, they admitted that “they are all gone now, except for Hawk (Brandon Hawkins).”
Fans had to watch opponent Wheeling score two goals before the Walleye struck back and scored on the power play. In response to the power play goal, fans received a free promotion of a Wendy’s Chili.
During an email interview, Troy Hammersmith, director of Events & Fan Entertainment for the Toledo Walleye, said he and his staff start thinking about promotions, like the chili giveaway, ahead of each season.
“The planning process for a new season really begins before the current season ends. We start reviewing how certain themed promotions performed, and begin putting a survey together for fans in spring,” he explained.
When asked how Toledo fans support the team and how the success of fan turnout is for each game, Hammersmith stated, “Toledo has the best fanbase of the ECHL and much of minor league sports. That is something we do not take for granted,” Hammersmith said.
“We are always looking for ways to engage with our fans. Last season, we introduced new in-game elements, like our large cowbell and our large Our Fish, Our Fight banners that fans hold up in the goal zones. This season we are introducing some new technology that allows fans to use their phones to share selfies on the video board and be a part of a pregame light show.”
Staying relevant and researching themes can be an uphill battle. What may be popular today may be obsolete tomorrow.
“Our team follows what other teams in hockey and other sports are doing, as well as with other entertainment venues,” Hammersmith said. “We visit other venues when we can and attend industry conferences. Research is an important part of our decision-making process. We survey fans regularly to gauge their interest and satisfaction in various game elements. We also invest in third-party market research tools to help guide us.”
The Walleye can rest assured they are doing a great job on that, as Friday night was the 35th consecutive home sellout. Fans are coming out to support the hockey club, not only for the team playing, but for the entire fan experience that the Huntington Center provides.
Fans are encouraged to reach out to the Walleye to help voice your opinion on what can be made better. Surveys are sent out throughout the season, as well as the option to talk in person to Walleye staff around the venue during game days.
To view the Walleye's Season schedule.
Ohio Voters Bill of Rights
Ohio Supreme Court removes obstacle to proposed voting rights amendment
(This story was originally published by Signal Cleveland. Sign up for their free newsletters at SignalOhio.org/StateSignals.)
By Frank W. Lewis | Signal Cleveland
OHIO – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost cannot hold up the progress of a proposed amendment – the Ohio Voters Bill of Rights – to the state constitution based on its title, according to a unanimous Ohio Supreme Court decision released on Wednesday.
Backers of the proposed amendment had hoped to get it on the ballot this year. But after Yost rejected their summary language a second time in January, they sued him. They asked the court for an expedited hearing schedule, in order to meet the other deadlines for the 2024 election, but the court declined.
The summary is what supporters of an amendment show to people when they’re gathering signatures on petitions, another step in the process of getting an amendment on the ballot. That’s why state law requires that the summary be a “fair and truthful statement” about the proposed changes to the constitution. The law also gives the attorney general sole discretion over determining that.
But the law does not give the AG power to reject the summary based on its title, the court said in its decision, which devoted several pages to parsing the meanings of “title” and “summary” and whether the relevant law covers both.
“A ‘title’ is not the same thing as a ‘summary,’ and the current statute unambiguously tasks the attorney general with examining only the latter,” the court stated.
Amendment backers didn’t get everything they wanted from Ohio Supreme Court
The court did not order Yost to approve the summary, as backers of the amendment had asked, because it was not clear to the court if Yost had even evaluated it. His rejection letter stated that the title “is sufficient on its own to reject this petition.”
Yost has 10 days to “determine whether the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment, and, if so, certify and forward the submitted petition to the Ohio Ballot Board,” according to the court’s decision.
“The Supreme Court has now answered this question [about titles], which had not before been answered,” Yost said in a statement provided by his office on Wednesday. “My duty is to comply, and I shall. If the legislature intended something different, it is up to them to change the statue.”
The organizations backing the Ohio Voters Bill of Rights — Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Ohio NAACP, the A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Ohio Unity Coalition — had not released a statement at time of publication. When they do, Signal Cleveland will update this article.
What would the Ohio Voters Bill of Rights do?
If passed, the amendment would make significant changes to voting in Ohio:
• Allow unregistered people to register and vote on the same day during the early-voting period or on Election Day.
•Add school-issued photo identification cards to the list of acceptable documents for proving ID.
• Allow people who don’t have a photo ID to vote by signing a “declaration under penalty of perjury attesting to their identity.”
• Require the state to cover the cost of postage for mail-in balloting and to create a system for tracking mail-in ballot applications and ballots so that voters can be notified if they’ve made a mistake in time to correct it.
• Permanently establish the days and hours for early voting but also allow counties to offer more hours and multiple locations and as many 24-hour secure drop boxes as they deem necessary.
The amendment would also remove a section added in 1851 that states: “No idiot, or insane persons, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.”
(Signal Statewide is a nonprofit news organization covering government, education, health, economy and public safety.)
Ohio Issue 1 explained
Geographic district boundary selection on the ballot
OHIO – You might know who your congressional representative or state legislator is, but do you know how your community gets assigned to its district?
The process of who makes those decisions is the focus of Ohio Issue 1, a state-wide ballot issue that will determine who draws the geographic district boundaries for future elections.
The Citizens Not Politicians committee urges a yes vote on Ohio Issue 1, while the Ohio Works committee urges a no vote.
What does redistricting mean?
The taking of the census every 10 years begins a timeline by which population trends are vetted and district boundaries are reconsidered for the House of Representative seats. The House is currently at 435 members, and Ohio has 15 of those seats.
In a parallel arrangement, the Ohio legislature has 33 Senate seats and 99 House seats, with census population counts among the factors used to draw the districts.
Redistricting determines who appears on the ballot in specific geographic areas. Voters may be included in an area with shared political opinions, but also might find the opposite. And each time a district boundary is reset, some voters will learn they were placed in a different district for future election cycles.
What does gerrymandering mean?
Ohio’s current political climate trends republican, and many of the statewide officials now in office are of that party. This was not always the case: Ohio’s presidential voting history is actually mixed. In most presidential elections during the past 50 years, the state has voted with whomever was the overall winner.
Regardless of statewide or national voting patterns, the political personality of individual districts depends on who lives in those communities. Accusations of gerrymandering, the intention to provide an unfair advantage to one party over another through district boundaries, have long been part of Ohio politics.
“We started fighting gerrymandering in the 1960s,” said Jen Miller, from the League of Women Voters of Ohio. “Whatever party is in power wants to keep that power.”
Miller said when a district is tilted too much toward one political persuasion, “it makes it nearly impossible to hold politicians accountable.”
Both statewide campaigns claim their respective stance is meant to deter that situation.
How was redistricting handled recently?
The Ohio Redistricting Commission, created in 2015 with seven elected and appointed members, including the state governor and state auditor, was tasked with redrawing districts for Ohio’s legislative seats under rules approved that year by Ohio voters. Another ballot issue in 2018 addressed the congressional seat allocation.
The maps the commission proposed for the state and congressional seats resulted in multiple lawsuits and years of litigation. That commission has disbanded; its last meeting was in fall 2023.
What would Issue 1 do?
The decision before voters in the Nov. 5 election involves who will draw future boundaries and sets limits on court appeals of the maps.
If Ohio Issue 1 is approved, the newly formed commission will have 15 appointees: five republicans, five democrats and five independent voters. Current and former politicians, along with lobbyists, could not serve on the commission.
The selection process includes retired judges interviewing potential candidates and then randomly drawing names from among the finalists.
Support for Issue 1
Citizens Not Politicians is the group in favor of Issue 1, with “end gerrymandering” as its campaign phrase.
“When politicians draw biased voting districts to ensure their own re-election, it’s called gerrymandering, and independent, nonpartisan experts have found that Ohio is one of the most gerrymandered states in America,” the committee’s ballot statement says.
Melissa Portala, of Toledo, is one of the volunteers working on behalf of the Issue 1 campaign, and said the campaign is “a very bipartisan issue,” citing the list of people and organizations who have issued endorsements.
“I think it is time for the voters to pick the politicians instead of the politicians to pick the voters,” Portala said. “This gerrymandering leads to extremism. It’s very difficult to compete.”
When she is speaking to voters, Portala often shows district maps to illustrate her point, explaining that “not doing anything leaves the gerrymandering in place.”
Miller said the League of Women Voters supports Issue 1, just as it supported anti-gerrymandering efforts in the past. She said leaving politicians involved in mapping discussions, as has traditionally been done, results in concerns about fairness and accountability.
“Voters overwhelmingly have supported this amendment,” she added.
The Lucas County Democratic Party has a “Vote yes on Issue 1” message on its website.
Opposition to Issue 1
Ohio Works is the group opposing Issue 1, with “Vote no Issue 1” as its campaign phrase.
“Issue 1 is nothing more than a partisan power grab by elite, out-of-state special interests who want to rig Ohio’s elections and impose gerrymandering into Ohio’s constitution,” its official campaign statement said.
Ohio Rep. Josh Williams, a republican whose District 41 includes part of Lucas County, said his concerns include potential impact on minority representation in the statehouse. He pointed to Michigan’s redistricting efforts as an example: “It resulted in cutting up minority communities in an effort to create more democratic districts,” he said about the Michigan maps.
Williams also opposes Issue 1 because of what he sees as lack of accountability. Since the commission members were not voted in, they can’t be voted out. There also are limits on what the courts can do should a map be challenged.
“It literally removes the jurisdiction of our courts to review maps,” he explained.
Another reason he cited is the emphasis on the two major parties in the plan, with its five republicans and five democrats in the commission. “It disenfranchises independent voters. What about our third party candidates?” he asked.
