Bad homophone cartoon by Steven J Athanas for the Toledo Free Press.
Why Lake Erie Advocates exited law suit
Legal action in Federal Court against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to do right by Lake Erie is in its seventh year, going on eight.
Lake Erie Advocates (LEA) was the original plaintiff in a suit to force EPA to clean up Lake Erie, first filed in 2017. We withdrew under protest four years later, but according to local news updates on the lawsuit’s new participants, that part of the story has gone down the memory hole.
When the Environmental Law and Policy Center, out of Chicago, came looking for local plaintiffs so it could have standing to sue the U.S. EPA, all the likely candidates, except LEA, said “No, thank you,” including the city, county, the Ohio Environmental Council, Lake Erie Waterkeeper and the Lake Erie Foundation.
Maybe it was an intimidating request; I don’t know. But I do know that LEA, then known as Advocates for a Clean Lake Erie, said “YES!” in a heartbeat. There was no cost involved and we hoped something good would result.
For over four years we were active plaintiffs, publicizing the suit at every opportunity and letting the attorneys know, to no avail, of valuable insights we had learned from our research. lronically, that research eventually led us to withdraw as a plaintiff in 2021.
Our initial enthusiasm about the suit was spurred by what looked like real progress cleaning up Chesapeake Bay under the U.S. Clean Water Act. TMDLs (total maximum daily loads), a term that would become familiar in Toledo, were pointed to as the reason oyster beds were returning and other water quality indexes improved.
But the more we learned about the differences between Chesapeake Bay and Western Lake Erie, and the more we learned about what TMDLs would mean in our case, the less optimistic we became.
We learned that:
- Subsurface drainage, the “field tiles” so ubiquitous in our former Great Black Swamp watershed, are not an issue in the Chesapeake watershed.
- When billions of gallons of liquid, untreated animal waste is dumped on farm fields, it quickly hit those subsurface drains and heads straight for the nearest ditch or stream, eventually ending up in Lake Erie.
- Hundreds of millions of dollars the state and feds spend on programs, like H2Ohio, are mostly a “See, we’re doing something about the lake” smokescreen. Our research showed that in different parts of the country, those very same methods, such as buffer strips, no-till and cover crops, had uneven results at best, and, at times, even made the problem worse. And those methods were the majority of what the Ohio EPA wrote into the TMDLs for Lake Erie.
- There’s a vast difference between Total Phosphorus (TP) and Dissolved Phosphorus (DP) when determining success or failure of H2Ohio programs. The Ohio EPA planned to measure success based on reductions in TP, something that meant little to politicians or even the attorneys in the lawsuit at first, but is of utmost importance to the lake.
- Factory “farming” condemns some 30 million confined animals in our watershed to a living hell, regardless of whether the lake can be improved. If one cares about other living things, this fight is over more than just water quality.
After four years of active support for the lawsuit, LEA came to the conclusion that we could no longer be a plaintiff in something that would require us to declare victory over what would be a mirage. We withdrew, explaining why in this December 2021 news release and in this Channel 13 clip from the news conference.
Any of the above points would be appropriate to include in news updates, but the dominant narrative of Lake Erie will not allow it. The lawsuit, the H2Ohio budgets, statements of elected officials and most environmentalists are all about “how can we fix this industry’s environmental problems?”
Nothing outside that frame is allowed in the picture; certainly not a statement that there is no “fixing” this industry, that we need to return to time-tested methods of raising animals in more humane and sustainable ways. Until 1995, there were no factory “farms” in our watershed and shoppers never once found empty shelves in the milk, egg and meat departments.
If you say current law is incapable of fixing the problem, it’s like daring to say the king has no clothes. The charade and the expense must continue. The Lake Erie Bill of Rights was an attempt to move beyond current law, but it was squashed by a corporate-sponsored lawsuit the day after Toledo voters approved it overwhelmingly in February 2019.
Extending legal rights to nature so it is not considered simply property to exploit is a necessary concept that may never arrive in time.
Factory “farming” is a method of raising livestock that has been researched and developed with our tax dollars and continues to be propped up by them. It is killing Lake Erie, destroying family farms, confining millions of animals in lifelong cruelty and incubating the next pandemic … but it must continue because, well … because it’s now part of the system.
The guardians of reality in the press, the courts and government agencies allow the debate to go only so far. Only certain questions can be asked. Somehow we must live with this madness and figure out how to make it a little less harmful. You can bet that if the lake didn’t turn green every summer we would still be in denial.
As the lawsuit grinds on with plaintiffs who initially declined to join it and more who’ve recently piled on, Lake Erie Advocates will continue to tell the public all the costs of a system we had absolutely no voice in creating.
The salvation of the lake and the animals will happen only if enough people care. As one of our banners in the Old West End parade said a few years ago: “Our lake waits for people to wake.”
Protesters rally against Trump’s policies, executive orders
Story and photos by Stephen Zenner
TOLEDO – Almost three weeks into his second term, President Donald J. Trump has already done much to upset his opposition, leading to a national 50501 (50 protests, 50 states, one day) anti-trump protest on Wednesday.
But here in Toledo, a ragtag conglomeration of groups took to the corner of Central Ave. and Secor Rd. on Saturday to localize that discontent against the new president’s unpopular administration policies and Elon Musk’s extensive unelected reach.
Heavily layered to stave off sleet, snow and bitter cold, the group spread out across each corner of the intersection, waving all manner of signs to protest as many causes as there were people.
“It’s everything!” exclaimed Becky Koskinen, 67, of Old Orchard, when asked what made her want to protest. Top on Koskinen’s list were that Trump pardoned January 6th convicts, wrote executive orders against transgender individuals and, perhaps the most controversial of Trump’s latest actions, appointed Elon Musk as the head of the new Department Of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
“Elon Musk, we didn’t vote for him,” she said, outraged, as the Tesla and X [formerly known as Twitter] CEO has moved to cut government jobs and even destroy full government agencies empowered by Trump. Musk was not elected democratically or confirmed by congress, but designated by the Whitehouse as a special government employee (SGE) within the United States DOGE Service (USDS), formerly the United States Digital Service.
Trump has never done as much as he is doing now, and compared to his last election, the oppositional reaction has been somewhat delayed. Countless protestors took to the streets immediately the last time Trump was elected, but it appears people may be bracing themselves.
As of Friday, the second term president has already signed a flurry of 56 executive orders. This is more than most presidents sign in their first 100 days, and already surpasses Trump’s previous 100 days, at 33 back in 2017.
The shear number of executive orders illustrates how Trump views his power in the Whitehouse, but opponents of the new president say he is overstepping his constitutional bounds.
“He’s acting like a monarch,” said Dan Rutt, 63, of central Toledo, referring to Trump. “He’s creating a constitutional crisis by not respecting the Constitution and the powers of Congress.”
The latest center of Trump and Musk’s fury is the United States Agency for International Development or USAID, which Musk has threatened to destroy with seemingly little resistance.
Congress holds the power of the purse, so it’s up to Congress how the funds procured for USAID are used. But for a president to gut an entire agency without coordination from Congress would be shocking, and critics of the president accuse him of violating the constitution for acting so brazenly, accuse Musk of conflicts of interest, and feel the number of executive orders is meant to overwhelm them.
“They try to get people tired by ‘shock and awe’ by doing all of the orders,” said Mindy Adams, 47, of west Toledo.
Perhaps the most shocking order dealt with a pause on federal financial aid, later rescinded by the president when met with legal opposition.
But as protesters gathered at the Toledo intersection yesterday, cars drove by with a variety of hand gestures to show their dissatisfaction with protesters and their support for Trump.
Organizer of the protest, Makailyn Cowell, 26, west Toledo, said she and others had organized a protest two weeks earlier, and had spread the event on Saturday across social media.
“We had heard on Reddit that there were people looking for protests to attend,” Cowell said, adding that the organizers put the protest together because of “all the B.S. going on. There’s a lot of stuff that’s coming out, all the time. We can’t just sit here and do nothing. We have to go out and do something.”
People came out to support immigrants, refugees, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ rights. There were a few individuals who said they were disabled, who came out in support of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
“Life gets hard,” Adams said, and expressed fear over cuts to DEI, and how it might affect her disability, fibromyalgia.
In just a few weeks, Trump has ceased refugee resettlement; buffered border security; ended DEI programs within the government; pulled the United States out of the World Health Organization (WHO); threatened to defund any funds associated with DEI; barred transgender individuals from military service; and the list goes on.
It was evident that all of these changes have discomforted and angered the protesters, and that they are worried about the the future of this country.
“Are people gonna start, like, literally attacking us and hate crime people who aren’t white and rich?” asked social worker, Leigh Pinkleman, 34, of east Toledo. “I know a lot of my trans friends are worried because of how things have been in the past.”
What is next for the country is unclear as American citizens scramble to accommodate the new Trump administration. But Cowell and the other protesters wanted to show their unhappiness with the current president, and said they would do more organizing in the future.
Editor's Note: There were no counter-protestors present at this rally.
Patrons pay tribute to Cloister Gallery
TOLEDO – Upon hearing the news that the beloved Cloister Gallery would be going off view for two years, residents flocked to the Toledo Museum of Art in droves last weekend to experience the iconic space before it closed.
TMA made the surprise announcement the morning of Jan. 30 in a social media post on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. The announcement stated Feb. 2 would be the last day to visit the gallery until it reopens in 2027. The Facebook post alone received more than 300 comments, ranging in tone from excitement to concern to outrage.
While some shared memories of concerts, wedding proposals and bygone hours spent sketching, reflecting and meditating in the space, others expressed worries about the museum’s commitment to preserving the visitor favorite.
In the final few days, residents of all ages turned out to wander in quiet reverence among the medieval columns. Some examined and photographed the intricate carvings, while others sat in quiet reflection on the worn limestone and marble ledges of the arcades.
JoAnna Studer, a frequent museum visitor who came to the mourn the space with her son, William Zeigler, called the gallery a special spot that shows how architecture evolved over the centuries.
“It was on the to-do list as soon as we read that it was going to be closed for two years,” said Studer, who visited Sunday afternoon. “That’s a long time to go without it.”
Zeigler, 10, said he admires all the beautiful artwork in the gallery, especially the columns, stained glass windows, sculptures, paintings and the roof.
The idea for a gallery designed to resemble the type of open-air courtyard found at the center of a medieval monastery dates to the late 1920s, and The Cloister was a highlight of TMA’s 1933 East and West Wing expansion.
The gallery was a gift of museum co-founder Edward Drummond Libbey. Three of the arcades were assembled from different monasteries in south France: Two from the middle of the twelfth century represent the architecture of the Romanesque era, while one in the Gothic style dates to around the year 1400. Local craftsman constructed a fourth arcade from wood and plaster and covered the Cloister’s surrounding walkways with timber and tile roofs.
The heart of daily life in a Christian monastery or convent, a cloister served as a place for meditation, reading and exercise for the resident monks or nuns. It was also a place of connection, as cloisters typically joined together the principal buildings of a monastic complex.
According to an informational panel displayed in the exhibit.
Adrian Traynum II described The Cloister as “a space of sanctity and community.” A frequent museum visitor since childhood, Traynum squeezed in one last visit to the gallery before he headed to work on Sunday afternoon. “I wanted to be sure I got in here and saw the Cloister before it went down for two years,” he said.
Traynum said the gallery makes visitors feel as though they are taking a step through time.
“It’s like nostalgia for something that we haven’t even fully seen, but as humans I feel like we can resonate with because it feels like it’s just from straight up out of the ancient history,” he said. “They captured a piece of community back when community was way more tight-knit.”
Visiting with his mother and siblings, Traynum marveled in reflecting on how many generations have been able to experience the gallery. “Someone in their 90s could have come here where it first opened,” he said.
Kristi Russell said her mother, Glenda Russell, 85, has been coming to the museum since she was a child. The pair visited Sunday afternoon, and expressed concern about the future of the Cloister and the lack of detailed information from the museum about plans for it.
Glenda Russell said the space represents “serenity” to her.
“It’s not just pictures lined up,” added Kristi Russell. “You can walk into a monastery … and meditate and sit and pray.”
Janice Rogacki echoed the sentiments of those describing The Cloister as a sacred space. She and several other visitors recalled the magic of attending concerts held there in past years.
She was visiting with a friend, Laurel Reed, who said she came to get a few photos to help her remember the gallery as she knows it. “There’s a feeling in The Cloister that’s different than any other room in the entire [museum],” she said.
Visiting the museum has been a tradition for her family for decades, since they moved to Toledo when she was 7. “Change is unnerving,” said Reed. “Historically, the museum always gets new shows and the rooms change and the colors change. But this, The Cloister, has been a place that has stayed, even though some of the art has changed.”
What’s next for The Cloister Gallery?
The biggest two questions on the lips of many visitors included where is it being moved and why. Museum security guards and other employees asked about plans had limited details to share over the weekend.
Penny Gentieu, a Toledo native and photographer who maintains a website about TMA and the region’s historic artists at artistsoftoledo.com, expressed concerns about the risks of moving the fragile columns, capitals and arches of The Cloister in a blog post on her site.
“Changes in temperature, humidity, and lighting at a new location could accelerate the degradation of the stone,” wrote Gentieu. “Moving might expose the artifacts to vibrations, pollutants, or handling-related damage. They will need to maintain climate-controlled storage and moving conditions.”
Doreen Cutway, senior public relations manager for the museum, said moving The Cloister is one part of a major two-year reinstallation project announced in November. Once completed, the entire TMA collection will be presented chronologically from antiquity to present day.
“We know what a gem this particular exhibition is and how important this is to the community, so we are going to take really good care of it and give it a better home than it has now,” said Cutway.
There may be other gallery closures in phases, Cutway said, but the museum’s goal is to keep things on view as much as possible during the process.
In a follow-up email to the Toledo Free Press, a museum spokesperson acknowledged The Cloister was also closed for a period of time in 2021 to be “refreshed.” The email noted the latest closure ties into the broader reinstallation outlined in the museum’s 2021-2026 strategic plan.
The spokesperson wrote that the Cloister is to be dissembled, labeled, stored and reassembled next to Classic Court in the footprint of galleries 3, 4, 5 and 6 by 2027.
TMA’s conservation team is working closely with its architectural partners, Michael Maltzan Architecture and EverGreene Architectural Arts, to ensure the move is done safely. EverGreene is a leading architectural conservation firm with extensive experience working with cloisters, and TMA’s 2021 project in The Cloister Gallery also helped the conservation team develop considerable expertise on the arcades.
The museum did not provide details about the cost for moving The Cloister. The spokesperson wrote that TMA is privately funded and the project is one small part of the larger reinstallation that is being funded through individual and corporate philanthropy.
TMA recently launched a new website offering an overview of the project, which marks the museum’s first comprehensive gallery reinstallation in more than 40 years.
Ohio Loves Transit Week offers free rides, honors Rosa Parks
TOLEDO- Ohio Loves Transit Week kicks off on Feb. 9-15, and the Toledo Area Regional Authority (TARTA) will join 62 other public transportation agencies to show its appreciation and gratitude to the public.
TARTA CEO Laura Koprowski held a press conference on Tuesday to talk about the events coming up and the impact she wants the transit system to have.
“No matter someone’s race or their income, everybody deserves a dignified and safe ride on the bus to get to where they need to go,” Koprowski said. “We continue to play a critical role in advancing racial and social equity and expanding opportunities for all.”
All TARTA fixed-route, paratransit and TARTA Flex services will be free of charge on Tuesday, Feb. 11, as part of Ohio Loves Transit Week, which celebrates the contributions of the public transit system.
“Sort of a way to thank people who depend on the service every day and to be able to celebrate people who work in transit,” noted Andy Cole, TARTA’s communication and marketing manager, when talking about the purpose of the event.
On Feb. 8, Ohio State representatives Elgin Rodgers, Erika White and Josh Williams, Ohio Sen. Paula Hicks Hudson and representatives from the Toledo Chapter of the NAACP will read a story to families at 11:30 a.m. to honor the life and contributions of Rosa Parks. The readings will be at the Mott, Holland, King Road and Heatherdowns branch libraries.
This is the second year they have done a read-along for the public. I am Rosa Parks, a book written by Rosa Parks and illustrated by Toledo native Will Clay, will be one of the books read.
Mercé Culp, a Toledo native, created a Rosa Parks mural that is displayed at the TARTA headquarters on N Huron Rd. in downtown Toledo.
“This is by far one of my favorite projects working on this mural,” Culp said. The Rosa Parks mural is also displayed on the side of a TARTA bus.
Having this event during Black History Month and near Rosa Parks Day is important to TARTA.
“Something we can do to celebrate Rosa Parks’ contribution not only to transit, but to equity in general,” Cole said.
Borderline Grill gets job done right
SYLVANIA – ‘Of course we would go on the busiest night since they opened.’ That was the first thought that jetted across my mind when my wife and I walked into Borderline Grill on a recent Saturday night.
It was approximately 7:20 p.m., and the restaurant was near standing-room only. Families out for the night; couples; four-tops; six-tops; all trying the new restaurant on the block.
Yes, it was busy, and there was a little wait for our order, but the food and drinks moved at a steady pace. Borderline has only been open since Jan. 17, and as a scar-tissued foot soldier of customer service, it wasn’t a stretch to say staff stayed busy between pick-ups. They were active during any downtime: clearing tables, wiping the windows, rolling silverware in fresh napkins.
“Tonight is the busiest night we’ve had,” said bar manager Chris Ryan as he handed over my Makers and ginger ale and a beautiful Prosecco for my wife, Victoria. “Service has been on-point. People are happy, and the food’s coming out fast. This is exactly what we’ve wanted.”
I could hear the bustle from the kitchen as the line tackled their orders. The sizzling oil, plates slapping the counters, the chatter down the line … it all funneled out organically every time someone walked through the double doors. There wasn’t the frantic shuffling, flare ups, confusion or spastic yelling that one might be used to from watching Hell’s Kitchen or The Bear.
On the contrary, under the direction of head chef Kris Parker, the kitchen line ran smoothly for an operation that is building its identity. I was lucky to have a couple minutes with him during service.
“I haven’t come up for air in the last four hours,” he said, exasperated but gleeful. “We actually ran out of our feature item, the Smash Burger, because we prepped for how the last two Saturdays went. But they just kept coming in tonight. It’s been a great surprise.”
This is great news for him, his wife and marketing manager Nikki Falk, who is also the co-owner/operator of the business. Having served their time at Carrabas, Applebees, Longhorn and Barr’s Public House in Maumee, this is their opportunity to shine, given the obstacles.
“We wanted to open last year,” said Falk, via email. “But we had hold-ups. The contractors for the fire suppression, for example; they never sent their plans over [to the Department of Inspection]. This was around Thanksgiving. After we waited long enough, it took an affirmative email and they got their butts into gear.”
That little wait for our order I mentioned in the beginning took 23 minutes between the appetizers arriving to us and digging into the entrees. To save you the ramblings of a pompous Michelin critic, I’ll try to keep it within reason.
The first appetizer was the fried burrata – a cool mozzarella ball underneath hot, fried and crispy breading sitting atop scratch-made vodka sauce and topped with shaved parmesan.
“Next time, I’m getting two,” I said aloud, and my wife responded by nodding because she had a mouthful of food.
The goat cheese dip followed – whipped goat cheese with cucumber and crostini slices. It was a hit; delicate and blended well, with just enough seasoning to bring it home.
“I wanna bathe in this,” said my wife. I concurred, and still do. It really is that good.
For the entrees, we ordered the Croque Monsieur (French ham and cheese sandwich) and ribeye sandwich. There wasn’t much conversation or note-taking during this part of dinner.
When the food does the talking and you shut up and listen … that’s how you know you came to the right place. Between the ham, be’chamel (French creamy white sauce) and gruyere (cheese), and my face full of prime ribeye, caramelized onions and provolone (both on toasted buns), all we could do was stare at each other and have that silent conversation of nodding in unison. I would recommend the grilled broccoli for choice of side.
After looking at the ceiling and rubbing our bellies, we decided on the molten lava cake for dessert. Out of necessity, of course.
Chocolate cake … melting ice cream … hot fudge dressing … I probably sound like Homer Simpson by now.
Borderline Grill is in a prime position, being a stone’s throw from Centennial Terrace. And if they’re packed in the dead of winter, then spring and summer will only deliver upwards return.
This is scratch cooking as good as you can get it. The question is if you want the job done or the job done right.
Borderline Grill $ is located at 5680 Mayberry Square E in Sylvania.
