News 2008-07-13 Andanh.com

Toledo Express contends with decline of air service
As recently as August, 2006, passenger service at Toledo Express Airport was potentially in a growth mode.
That was when the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority secured a $400,000 federal grant, to be matched by $200,000 in port authority funds plus in-kind marketing assistance, to subsidize a proposed Toledo-New York route. Officials believed such a route could attract tens of thousands of travelers who, according to a 2004 study, flew between the two cities each year but used nonstop service from Detroit Metropolitan-Wayne County Airport to do it. But during the two years since then, the port authority has been unable to land an airline willing to take the plunge, even with a $600,000 subsidy. Instead, a wave of airline shutdowns and service cancellations that struck Toledo Express in 2004 and 2005 is being reprised, with Delta Connection and Continental Connection recently announcing cessation of all service between the local airport and, respectively, Cincinnati and Cleveland in early September. After those pullouts, Toledo Express will have just eight departures per day to two hub airports three on American Eagle to Chicagos OHare International, and five on Northwest Airlink to Detroit plus flights several days per week to St. Petersburg and Sanford, Fla. Thats about half the service the local airport had when 2008 began and less than a quarter of airlines offerings four years ago, when 37 daily departures were in their Toledo timetables. And as service has plunged at Toledo Express, so has passenger volume. For the first five months of 2008, 123,967 passengers boarded or disembarked from planes there, down nearly 10 percent from 137,056 during the same period in 2007 and less than half the volume for the first five months of 2004.
More dead spots Leslie Jaeck, 18, a Whitehouse resident who has worked the gift-shop counter at Toledo Express for 1½ years, said the passenger decline has been obvious to her even during that short time. There used to be a lot more passengers. Now there are a lot more dead spots where there is no one in the airport, said Miss Jaeck, whose work hours were cut as a result, leading her to seek other employment. While some in Toledo have suggested the time may have finally arrived to throw in the towel on all scheduled passenger service at the local airport, port authority officials and an industry analyst who has consulted with them say that would be premature and unwise. If nothing else, losing air passenger service would make Toledo Express ineligible for federal funding for improvements, port spokesman Carla Firestone said. Those projects often benefit all airport users, not just the airlines, and Toledo Express has valuable air cargo, military, and general aviation activity, she said. Assessing the situation Michael Boyd, an Evergreen, Colo.-based analyst who has worked with the port authority on air-service development in recent years, said he is as confident as he can be that Toledo Express has reached rock-bottom for service cuts. American is doing well; so is Northwest. Their revenue is strong on their Toledo routes, Mr. Boyd said.
The Chicago and Detroit hubs, he said, are full-service and much more stable than Deltas operation at Cincinnati, about which Mr. Boyd reiterated doubts he voiced months ago because of its reliance on obscenely expensive regional jets that have poor fuel efficiency. Even so, Toledo has taken a disproportionate hit from airline service cutbacks compared to some of its regional peers. According to the Official Airline Guide, a Chicago-area firm that compiles airline schedule data, Toledos service schedule for November, 2008, will be 40 percent smaller than last November. And that doesnt consider the Cincinnati flights that Delta canceled but, as of midweek, had yet to be removed from reservations computers. Regional airports While Lansings service was cut 27 percent in the same comparison and Delta announced the end of Cincinnati-Lansing service the day before it pulled its Toledo route other nearby regional airports werent hit so hard, Official Airline Guide data show. Seating capacity at Flint, Mich., was down just 5 percent; Fort Wayne, Ind., was down 7 percent, and Akron-Canton showed a 1 percent increase in available airline seats for November. Toledo Express suffers because of its proximity to Detroit Metro, Mr. Boyd said. Flint would be in the same boat as Toledo and Lansing if it were not north of Detroit, which is the primary direction of Detroits suburban growth, he said. Flint and Akron-Canton have been buoyed by the presence at their airports of AirTran Airways, a discount carrier that built itself on leisure travel but has shifted its focus toward higher-paying business travelers. AirTran tested the waters in Toledo twice once during the late 1990s, with daily service to Orlando, Fla., the second time starting in October, 2000, with three daily flights to Atlanta. But AirTran pulled out in April, 2002, citing an inadequate percentage of business travelers using its flights. Business travel Having a strong business-travel market is even more important now than it was then. Brent Albrecht, a spokesman for the Official Airline Guide, said struggling airlines route cuts are hitting vacation destinations hardest so they can focus on business-oriented routes where they get a higher rate and are less competitive with discount carriers.
Sean Broderick, a spokesman for the American Association of Airport Executives, added that airlines are making route-cut decisions without offering airport managers any opportunities to request reconsideration. Airlines are not consulting with airports to make changes, he said. Many times, airport directors learn about these cuts when a reporter asks about them. Holding on tight Nadeem Salem, the airport committee chairman for the port authoritys board of directors, said he cant imagine Toledo Express losing all passenger service, but right now he believes its passenger-service fate is out of its control. Were just kind of sitting here and holding on tight, Mr. Salem said. The port authoritys board of directors plans to devote most of its monthly meeting July 24 to discussion about the recent past and future of Toledo Express passenger service and has arranged for Mr. Boyd, who addressed local business leaders about the airport during a luncheon early this year, to attend.
A key part of the presentation will be an explanation of the airline industrys dynamics so board members and local officials can fully understand the recent service spiral, Ms. Firestone said. There was absolutely nothing that could have been done to save that [Cincinnati] service, not even with subsidies, Mr. Boyd said Thursday, referring to Deltas decision to yank its presence in Toledo after 63 years of service. Youd have to have a 50 percent subsidy for every passenger. Mr. Boyd said he expects Delta to cut its Cincinnati hub operations deeper in the near future. While Continentals cancellation of Toledo-Cleveland service was announced last month as part of a broad package of systemwide cuts, Delta appears to be chipping down Cincinnati piecemeal, the analyst said. Lansing and Toledo eventually should recover some of their recent service losses, Mr. Boyd said, because they have fundamentally solid air-travel markets. But when that might occur depends heavily on what happens with the price of oil. If oil goes to $170 a barrel, we dont know whats going to happen, he said. Airlines are panicked right now. Theyre losing their shirts domestically. Blade staff writer JC Reindl contributed to this report. Contact David Patch at:dpatch@theblade.comor 419-724-6094.

Homeless students on increase in Toledo-area classrooms, schools say
Josh Fowler may not have understood fully the gravity of the situation when he and his mother found themselves homeless, again, last year.
For 7-year-old Josh, being homeless meant a 40-minute ride on a city bus to and from his school. It meant two moves while his mother, Karen, 40, underwent a second stint in drug treatment. It meant sharing a bedroom with his mother and sharing his toys with unfamiliar children at Aurora House, a transitional home for women on Toledo's north side.
Meanwhile, the kindergartner was trying to absorb the basics of reading and math at East Side Central Elementary.
Initially, his grades suffered.
"It was always hard to struggle with consistency," Ms. Fowler said. "I was not able to parent him the way I should have."
As a housing crisis rages and the economy slumps, more students are finding themselves in the situation Josh did - and the experience could have lasting effects on the students' academic progress, researchers say.
As many as 2 million children nationwide, including 68,500 in Ohio and 65,700 in Michigan, are expected to be affected by the housing crisis as an anticipated 2.2 million homes purchased with subprime mortgages slide into foreclosure this year and next, according to First Focus, a nonprofit child and family advocacy group.
The Ohio Department of Education recorded a 12 percent increase in student homelessness between the 2005-2006 school year and 2006-2007 - the last year for which statistics were available, Tom Dannis, the state's homeless coordinator, said. A total of 13,610 Ohio school children had experienced homelessness at some point during the year - an increase of more than 1,500, Mr. Dannis said.
"It's our impression that there may continue to be an increase," he said, pointing to new state figures that will be released next month. "We're seeing an increase generally in many areas."
Homeless children, as defined by federal law, include runaways; victims of fires or floods; those who live in shelters, hotels, campgrounds, or cars, and those who are doubled up with friends or family.
"Poverty issues are one of the main causes, but a breakdown in the family, youth runaways, and even a house fire, these are all common reasons students become homeless," said Nick Bates, youth advocacy program coordinator with the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. "People have these perceptions [about the homeless] and don't recognize that families and youth are a large portion of that population."
Michigan is projecting a 16 percent rise in its homeless rolls as well, according to preliminary figures for last year, said Sam Sinicropi, a consultant for the Michigan Department of Education. An estimated 18,020 Michigan school children were without a permanent home at some point during the last school year - an increase of more than 2,500 over 2006-2007, he said.
Economic factors Officials in Ohio and Michigan say school districts are getting better at identifying homeless students. Economic factors are playing a role in the increase as well, Mr. Sinicropi said.
"The economy in Michigan is not strong," he said. "We have people that are being affected by that, obviously."
Urban and rural districts alike are reporting rising rates of homelessness, said Angela Lariviere, youth advocacy director with the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing.
"Some districts say they're expecting 10 percent increases this year, if not higher," Ms. Lariviere said. "The housing crisis is what's going to make the biggest impact."
Tracking the problem Toledo Public Schools reported its homeless population nearly tripled from the 2005-2006 school year to the 2006-2007 school year. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District has reported 2,300 homeless students in 2007-2008, a 60 percent increase from state figures from the previous year.
When Toledo began monitoring its homeless population five years ago, 90 students were identified, said Emilio Ramirez, the former homeless coordinator for Toledo Public Schools. During the 2006-2007 year, the number had reached 641.
"Each year, it goes up," Mr. Ramirez said. "Part of it is our tracking [gets better], but I know part of it is the economy."
Mr. Ramirez reports as much as 80 percent of the homeless population is staying temporarily with friends or relatives. The remaining portion lives in the city's seven shelters, cars, or motels, he said.
A wide-ranging issue Fostoria Community Schools, 40 miles southeast of Toledo, is one of the 20 districts in Ohio, including Toledo, to receive federal grant money to address homelessness within the district.
Since the district began monitoring homelessness in 2006, Fostoria has seen the number of documented cases increase from three to 83, said Rachelle Griffin, the district's homeless liaison.
Some of the district's homeless residents have been victims of a fire or flooding, she said. Most are living with grandparents or aunts and uncles until their family's financial situation is under control.
In Adrian Public Schools in Michigan, the homeless population is on the rise as well, said Chris Timmis, the district's new superintendent.
"Every year we see an increase," he said. "We have a lot of parents that are struggling, they're struggling to help themselves."
Most "homeless" students in Adrian don't fit the stereotype, he said.
"They have somewhere to go every night, but it's not their own home," Mr. Timmis said, "so stability is an issue for them.
"They're good kids, they're just not getting the right breaks," he said.
Addressing the problem As a result of a 1987 federal law called the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, school districts are required to accept students claiming to be homeless without the traditional prerequisites: proof of residency, a birth certificate, and school records. The law also requires that homeless students be afforded all the services available to other students, such as after-school care, transportation, and free and reduced-price lunches, if they qualify. Each district also must appoint a "homeless liaison" to ensure compliance with the law and oversee support programs.
Toledo used the $165,000 it received last year through McKinney-Vento funding to offer homeless students one-on-one tutoring, assistance with supplies, and free city bus fare so they could avoid changing schools, Mr. Ramirez said.
Without a birth certificate, John Hammond, Jr., 10, was able to enroll immediately in Toledo Public Schools after his mother had fled a troubled relationship in Seattle and three months ago moved to Toledo to be near family. In addition, the district used its grant money to provide transportation for the fifth grader to go from the Beach House family shelter in North Toledo to Reynolds Elementary School on Norwich Road.
"It just really took a lot of stress off me," his mother, Arkeisha Brandon, 38, said.
Prior to the law, children could be denied access to school until the proper paperwork could be obtained. As a result, students might miss weeks of school. For older students, it could jeopardize their graduation, Ms. Lariviere said.
In Adrian, another grant recipient, the money was used, among other things, to help find housing for an 18-year-old boy with special needs who was evicted by his foster family midway through his senior year, Mr. Timmis said.
"We were able to find him somewhere to live - and he graduated," Mr. Timmis said.
A matter of obstacles Homeless students face a host of special obstacles that can interfere with their studies, Mr. Ramirez said.
"The teachers, they're sending Johnny down complaining he doesn't have his homework," Mr. Ramirez said. Only later does he realize: "This kid hasn't eaten.
"They don't have their books, they don't have a computer. They don't have the amenities that you normally have in a residence," Mr. Ramirez said. "You need love, shelter, before you can get to the educational part, and these kids are still working on shelter."
Adding to the strife, many students' descent into homelessness involves at least one school change, Mr. Ramirez said.
Residential changes can reduce the chances a child will graduate from high school by 50 percent, according to First Focus.
The National Center on Family Homelessness reports that nationally, 48 percent of homeless students in grades 3 through 12 were proficient in reading. Only 43 percent were considered proficient in math. Additionally, more than 1 in 3 homeless students will repeat a grade, the center reports. Behavioral problems are common.
Gauging the effects John Buckner, a child psychologist at Harvard Medical School who has spent 20 years researching the effects of homelessness on children, said the McKinney-Vento Act has improved homeless students' performance by improving access to school. With the proper response from the school district and community, many homeless students can perform academically, and many do, he said.
"Children who experience a lot of stress - sure, that can impact school performance and behavior," he said. "If their school experience is still pretty routine, I think kids can be OK."
In a study Mr. Buckner conducted, homeless students who had strong parental supervision and "self-regulation" skills, such as impulse control, organization, and attention, were often able to keep pace with their peers.
"It's hard to make really stereotypical claims about all homeless kids," he said. "There are kids who are having really specific difficulties and kids who are not."
Looking ahead A bill to add $30 million in grant funding to help school districts cope with the effects of the housing crisis is being reviewed in the U.S. Senate. The money could be used to keep children at the same school, improving the odds they will graduate on time and increasing their lifetime income potential, said Phillip Lovell, vice president for educational policy at First Focus.
For Josh Fowler, the situation looks bright. His performance improved midyear, and he finished the school year with all "satisfactory" marks. His mother is drug-free and enrolled in college, and the family is preparing to move into permanent housing on the Aurora House's grounds.
The move might mean a new school for Josh, Ms. Fowler said. But once he's settled, he'll be able to walk to class and spend time with his classmates after school.
The family is planning to establish a daily routine that includes homework. For the first time in five years, Josh will have his own bedroom. He might start taking karate.
"He doesn't seem to be as anxious as he used to be," Ms. Fowler said. "He has made a big improvement. I'm very, very proud of him."
Contact Angie Schmitt at:
aschmitt@theblade.com or 419-724-6104.

Lucas County grapples with pit bull issues
They're powerful, have a reputation for aggression, and are something of a status symbol.
Dog Warden Tom Skeldon says they're also a big problem in Toledo and Lucas County.
'They' are pit bulls.
The number of pit bulls seized for violating dog laws in Lucas County has increased steadily since 1997 and last year made up 34 percent of the canines at the county pound. Mr. Skeldon says the dogs rank highest in the county when it comes to biting people. The county ranks second in Ohio behind Franklin County in the number of pit bulls seized, and State Rep. Tyrone Yates (D., Cincinnati) said the dogs are a problem throughout Ohio. Mr. Yates sponsored a bill earlier this year to ban Ohioans from owning pit bulls but since has softened his stance•on what he calls the pit bull problem.
"I think it's a striking issue," he said. "These dogs seem to be status symbols in some inner-city neighborhoods of young people and young adults. They have proven to be a problem and a menace in many of the neighborhoods I represent in Cincinnati and have been for some years."
Lucas County Deputy Dog Warden John Simon, who has been working with dogs in the county for 22 years, said he has been getting more calls about pit bulls than ever.
"Toledo police are being more stringent in their enforcement," he said. "They're more aware of who's got pit bulls and they're more likely to call us. There's a lot of publicity on TV, so neighbors are more likely to call us."
Toledo police Deputy Chief Don Kenney said pit bulls are the breed of choice for drug dealers who use the dogs to deter police and others from finding drugs they've hidden in local houses.
Despite the number of dogs shot by police and reported by the media recently, the deputy chief said police avoid shooting a dog unless it poses an immediate threat.
"When a dog is charging an officer, we have no other means available," he said. "We don't expect our officers to wait until they have a dog's jaws clamped into their flesh."
As state and local lawmakers work to pass laws to keep the pit bull population under control, pit bull owners say breed-specific laws unfairly label pit bulls as vicious even if a dog hasn't attacked a person or another dog.
For a dog of any other breed to be considered "vicious" under Ohio law, it has to kill another dog or cause injury to a person.
Under Ohio law, people owning "vicious" dogs must pay more for liability insurance and keep their animal confined in a locked, fenced yard or a secure enclosure with a roof.
In Toledo, residents may own only one pit bull, which must have a leash and be muzzled when in a public place.
Pain at the pound Toledo resident Emmanuel Rodriguez shook his head in frustration last week at the Lucas County dog pound when an employee told him he couldn't take his pit bull, Bo Stank, home because of the city's laws applying to vicious dogs.
"My dog's the friendliest dog in the world," he said angrily. But the employee told Mr. Rodriguez he must pay a $100 fine and an additional $100 to have Bo neutered if he wants his dog back, because of a recently passed Toledo City Council ordinance.
"You have until July 24 to pay all your fees," a pound employee told him. "You need to know if you don't pay by then, your dog will be euthanized."
Mr. Rodriguez's pit bull was seized by county dog catchers after it was seen running loose without a collar near children on July 6 near Asbury Park in West Toledo.
Witnesses said Bo returned home without incident. But when police arrived, they said Bo approached them in an aggressive manner and one officer threatened to shoot the dog.
Mr. Rodriguez said Bo never has bitten anyone.
"He was only out for 10 minutes," Mr. Rodriguez told Karla Hamlin, a Lucas County deputy dog warden.
"It only takes a minute for somebody to get hurt," she responded.
Nature vs. nurture Dr. Gail Golab, director of animal welfare for the American Veterinarian Medical Association, called Mr. Rodriguez irresponsible for not confining his dog properly. But she said breed-specific laws are a "knee-jerk" reaction by lawmakers who don't address the real issue.
"[The veterinarian association does] not believe that the breeds considered to be pit bulls are inherently vicious," she said. "It's not so much nature as it is nurture. It's about teaching dogs how to behave around people and teaching people how to behave around dogs."
Dr. Golab said dog-bite statistics that suggest pit bulls bite most often are not necessarily accurate. They are hard to properly formulate, she said, because it's hard for some people to identify what breed bit them and the only bites that typically get recorded are ones reported in the media, to lawyers, or police.
The breed of dog that supposedly bites the most has changed over time, and there's a correlation with the breed's popularity, she said.
"If you were to look back 20 years ago, you'd see German shepherds were responsible for the most dog injuries," she said. "Five years later, you saw pit bulls. At other times you saw Rottweilers at the top spot, and still other times you saw Doberman pinschers."
Defining 'pit bull' Many experts have a hard time determining what a pit bull is.
The veterinarian association, which along with the American Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club set the standards for dog breeds in the United States, says the term pit bull does not refer to a specific breed of dog. It's a generic label that refers to several breeds.
They include relatively short, yet muscular members of the terrier group as well as the larger mastiff group, which historically has been crossbred with certain terriers to create larger pit bull breeds such as the Italian Cane Corso and the Spanish Perro de Presa Canario.
The only pit bull breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club are the American Staffordshire terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier, and the smaller bull terrier. These three breeds were popular in England during the early 19th century and were historically bred for dogfighting and a spectator sport known as bull-baiting in which dogs were placed in pits to attack and kill bulls for the entertainment of bloodthirsty spectators.
Kennel club spokesman Daisy Okas said pit bulls registered with the group are pedigreed dogs bred for good temperament and make wonderful pets.
She said dogs of every breed, pedigreed or not, consist of individual animals with individual circumstances.
"There are people who breed for poor temperament, but that's a people problem, not a dog problem," she said.
Recognized breeds The United Kennel Club recognizes another pit bull breed called the American pit bull terrier as its second most widely registered breed. There are also a variety of pit bull mixed breeds.
Dr. Golab said each of these breeds has its own distinct physical and behavioral characteristics and each individual dog is different as well.
"The pit bull dog will have very strong musculature," she said. "They have the tendency to bite onto something and not want to let go because that was the way they were trained."
The American Kennel Club and United Kennel Club said dogs registered among their pit bull breeds have been bred selectively for decades, if not centuries, based partly on their pleasant temperament toward people.
Dog breeders chose puppies that interacted best with people to breed and create more well-socialized pit bulls.
Even pit bulls that are bred for dogfights are usually socialized to be aggressive toward other dogs, not people.
But Mr. Skeldon said many pit bulls have been bred selectively to be relentless attackers, even if they're in pain, or face death.
He said it's that reputation for strong aggression or "gameness" that make the pit bull a popular status symbol for young men in Toledo and other metropolitan areas.
But that same aggression that was developed from hundreds of years of breeding and programming for fighting against other dogs gives pit bulls a strong, sometimes overpowering urge to attack, even when they're unprovoked, which makes them too dangerous to keep as pets, Mr. Skeldon said. "The majority of the pit bulls that do grave bodily harm to people have never bitten anybody before," he said.
'Genetic' stigma But pit bulls weren't the only dogs bred for bloodsport combat.
Molosser breeds, which are the ancestor of the giant mastiff group of dogs that includes the bull mastiff and St. Bernard, were used by Romans both in combat and gladiator sports.
Mastiffs were used to kill lions, bears, even people for the entertainment of others in ancient Rome and latter-day Europe.
Even the smaller British bulldog was used to kill animals for entertainment, but none of those breeds carries the "genetic" stigma of pit bulls.
Mr. Skeldon admits there are larger, more powerful dogs than traditional pit bull breeds but says they are the ones still genetically bred to attack and kill things and fight for sport.
"They have more than earned their vicious reputation," he said. "They go from being cute and cuddly puppies to being adult pit bulls who do what they are bred to do. People bond with that puppy and think, 'If we treat him right, he's never going to get us in any trouble.' Then the neighbor kid gets in a confrontation with their dog and it takes his face off."
'Vendetta's a good dog' Although Mr. Yates said it doesn't look like state lawmakers will ban pit bulls anytime soon, Oregon resident Cyril Kudlica says it would take more than that for him to get rid of Vendetta, the 10-year-old female pit bull that his late son, Cyril, Jr., adopted as a puppy before he was killed in 1999 by a drunken driver.
Mr. Kudlica used a chew toy to play tug of war with Vendetta while his 2-year-old niece petted the dog and his wife, Candy, watched. "I was nervous at first when my son got her," Mrs. Kudlica admitted. "We thought about getting rid of her when my son died."
But Mrs. Kudlica said Vendetta became important to her because it belonged to her son.
Her family debated having Vendetta euthanized when veterinarians informed them of a life-threatening infection that would cost about $700 to treat.
"I couldn't put her to sleep knowing that was something [my son] wanted," she said.
Mr. Kudlica said Vendetta never has attacked anyone but accidentally bit him once, drawing blood, when he was playing tug of war with her. "As soon as she bit down and felt my hand, she let go," he said.
The couple said pit bulls can make good, loving pets despite their reputation. "I think Vendetta's a good dog. Don't penalize all of them because some of them are bad ones," Mrs. Kudlica said.
Contact Chauncey Alcorn at:
calcorn@theblade.com or 419-724-6168.

Mic, camera never off for pols
JESSE Jackson's remark about Sen. Barack Obama is about as churlish as it gets. It reminded me of the braggart giant Goliath and David's response: "... Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?..."
So just who was that man on TV last Sunday, whispering a base comment to a fellow panelist on Fox & Friends that Senator Obama speaks condescendingly to African-Americans and what he'd like to do to the senator as a result?
Yes, it was Mr. Jackson, sounding like a brute.
He made the comment to another guest on the program, Dr. Reed Tuckson, who is executive vice president and chief of medical affairs for the UnitedHealth Group. Though Dr. Tuckson seemed unsure about how to respond, it didn't appear that he said anything at all. Good for him.
Will politicians ever learn never to try to whisper when in the presence of cameras and microphones? Mr. Jackson thought the mic was off when he weighed in with what he supposed was a private remark on his disregard for the senator's view on moral issues and said he'd like to remove certain parts of his male anatomy.
Know this, Mr. Jackson and politicians, et al: the microphone is always on, and even when you're not wearing one, pretend one is clipped to your suit jacket. Speaking "privately" doesn't mean your remarks won't be publicized.
Mr. Jackson should have learned that lesson in 1984 when he made a derogatory reference to New York City's Jewish population to a reporter, supposedly in private.
On Wednesday, Mr. Jackson made what seems to be a sincere apology. As expected, Senator Obama accepted. But details of the incident were already wending their way into print and broadcast media.
The most piquant criticism came from Mr. Jackson's son, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.
The controversy reflects the obvious and a changing of the guard. And though it may seem Mr. Jackson has blown an opportunity to rally around Senator Obama's pursuit for the White House, he can certainly redeem himself.
But first, during recent visits to black churches, Mr. Obama said he wants to expand the President's faith-based social service programs and criticized black men who are absent from their homes and their children.
Mr. Jackson objected, saying Mr. Obama has been "talking down to black people" and should address such issues as the housing and job loss crises.
One doesn't need a PhD in the social sciences to know that the absence of black fathers from the home is at the root of many of the ills among blacks. Mr. Obama was not turning a blind eye to the unfairness and injustice that are still at play.
Besides, did Mr. Jackson forget that Mr. Obama was reared by a single mother? He's not insensitive to the effects of an absent father.
It appears to me that Mr. Jackson is struggling with the realization that this presidential campaign isn't about him. It's about the senator, who is doing well and whose focus is not solely on matters of concern to African-Americans. For goodness sakes, the senator is running for president of all Americans. And quite frankly, much of what worries blacks worries other Americans, too.
That brings us to another point: the generational divide in the civil rights movement between the old guard and the new. Mr. Jackson's old approach to addressing unfairness with marches and the like is less popular.
Before the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Jackson wanted the senator to march on behalf of the black teenagers charged with beating a white classmate in Jena, La. However, Jesse Junior urged Senator Obama to focus on obtaining victory in Iowa, which he did win.
It's past time Mr. Jackson reinvent himself. Marching, for example, has certainly been proven to be worthwhile. But perhaps success is accomplished now by using a different technique or from the inside of a problem.
Jesse Junior's response to what his father said proves he recognizes that things must be done differently.
"I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson's reckless statements about Sen. Barack Obama," he said.
"His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee - and I believe the next president of the United States - contradict his inspiring and courageous career.
"Reverend Jackson is my dad and I'll always love him. He should know how hard that I've worked for the last year as a national co-chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. So I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself."
Anybody invited to the next big family dinner with the Jacksons should be sure to take a sweater. It could be a bit chilly.
Rose Russell is a Blade associate editor.
E-mail rrussell@theblade.com

Stainbrook attacks hurt Republicans
I was impressed by the number of Jon Stainbrook's recruits, and I wasn't alone when I considered voting for him. I didn't vote for him because of the personal attacks. I thought it detrimental to the Republican Party that over the last few months Mr. Stainbrook repeatedly has used the Noe name for personal gain.
I am offended when people are excluded because they existed before Chairman Stainbrook's reign. I began volunteering with the Lucas County Republican Party in 2006. I never saw the Noes there because when I got involved, they were long gone from the party. So I take offense to being profiled as bad simply because I was involved prior to Mr. Stainbrook's election.
What has Mr. Stainbrook done to heal the divide in the party? He hasn't shown he wants to unify; he is showing that he wants only his people and anyone who wasn't chosen by him can go away. Calling for resignations and firing people not because of job performance but because of who they supported - isn't that what he accused the former administration of?
Lynn Olman spoke about being a Republican Central Committee member at the meeting. He has a reputation as a dedicated, well-respected member of the community. He is just one of Mr. Stainbrook's recent targets.
Many central committee members have stayed neutral. Many have remained silent and tried to ignore the constant Noe bashing and inference to us. But this continued barrage for resignations of good, committed Republicans from Mr. Stainbrook and The Blade is not allowing that to happen.
We'd like to focus on the goal of getting Mr. McCain elected. So my question is: When do the personal assaults stop so that the business of restoring the Republican reputation in Lucas County can begin?
Christine Seles
Lucas County Republican Central Committee Member
and Ward Chairman Whitehouse America suffers as oil companies profit This letter is in response to the June 29 letter in the Readers' Forum from a woman who travelled extensively through China and said Americans should stop whining about high gas prices because in China they are paying $9 a gallon in U.S. dollars.
Has she, and others with her view on gas prices, taken a look at the fast-rising prices of food, clothing, travel, and other bare necessities of life that are the result of high gas prices? Our country is fast being brought to its knees while oil companies make record profits.
Maybe she can travel overseas extensively. For some of us, it's expensive to travel to the grocery store, bank, etc. It's called "combining trips, save gas."
If the letter writer and others with her view on gas prices think $9 for gas is fair, why don't they move over there?
Patricia Moore
Erie
Fireworks display was best ever I wanted to say, thank you, City of Toledo, The Blade, and the other sponsors of Red, White, Kaboom. It was the best I have seen in Toledo ever. Cannot wait until next year.
JASON CORDER Yermo Drive

Coingate coda
IT WAS not surprising but somehow fitting that Mark Lay, who may be the final malefactor to be punished for a role in Ohio's Coingate scandal, continued to deny responsibility right up until the moment he was led away in handcuffs on Wednesday to start a 12-year sentence in federal prison.
That's because virtually everyone involved in Coingate, which erupted from the pages of The Blade a little over three years ago, has attempted to dodge blame and downplay the significance of what it really was - a political scam that became the most mind-boggling waste of public money in this state's 205-year history.
Coingate was a criminal enterprise that still defies imagination, partly because some details remain unknown, including who specifically set the whole thing in motion early during the administration of Gov. Robert Taft.
In the end, the state lost some $300 million, money that was supposed to be used to aid injured workers.
The bulk of that, at least $213 million, was lost in a Bermuda hedge fund set up by Lay, a Pittsburgh money manager hired by officials of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation to bolster the agency's multibillion-dollar investment pool.
Lay was convicted in October of four counts of fraud. This past week, in federal court in Akron, he was slapped with a 12-year sentence, far short of the 27-year maximum, and an order to repay $590,000 in fees. His attorneys continue to argue lamely that Lay shouldn't be punished for a bad investment, but there was plenty of evidence that he exceeded investment limits and repeatedly lied to state officials about the hedge fund risks.
Before the infusion of cash to Lay, BWC officials wired $50 million from the same investment fund to Tom Noe, a dealer in rare coins and historic memorabilia here in Lucas County. Noe had little experience in managing large sums of money, but he did have impeccable credentials as a Republican Party insider in Toledo and as a generous fund-raiser for GOP candidates and officials.
Noe eventually got an 18-year state sentence for looting the investment windfall. But before he serves that he first must finish time in federal prison for funneling illegal contributions to President Bush's 2004 campaign, a scheme that was exposed in the glare of the Coingate investigation.
Similarly, Bob Taft was held accountable for ethics violations revealed during the investigation, and he left office in disgrace as the only sitting governor in Ohio history to be convicted of a crime.
In all, the scandal has resulted in 19 criminal convictions and two acquittals. Lawmakers made significant reforms in BWC operations and in 2006 voters broke a 16-year Republican stranglehold on state government.
At its most basic, Coingate was the result of political arrogance and avarice carried out to astonishing lengths. Certainly, Republicans hope they've seen the last of it with Mark Lay's sentencing, but the damage to the public trust will take many years to repair.

EU talks could defuse missiles
IRAN'S test of ballistic missiles as part of a military exercise is the latest unfortunate episode in a game of high-risk brinkmanship in the Middle East.
The exercise coincides with the United States' naval maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and the implementation of covert efforts, approved last year, to destabilize the government of Iran. That gambit includes the provision of money, weapons, and communications equipment to Iran opposition groups with ethnic and religious bases.
The other players in this dangerous game include Israel, the United Kingdom, and oil states of the Persian Gulf where the United States has bases - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
Verbal sparring continues between Iran and the international community over the future of its nuclear program. The European Union, negotiating on behalf of China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, has offered Iran a deal that starts with preliminary talks, to last six weeks, during which Iran does not expand its nuclear program and the international community freezes action on new economic sanctions.
The military maneuvers are dangerous because of the ever-present risk of confrontation, fueled by bellicose rhetoric from Iran, Israel, and the United States. Perhaps most disquieting is the domestic political situation in the three principal countries.
Iran faces considerable wrangling among rival factions, including between its senior clerical chiefs and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is fighting for his political life in the face of bribery charges and a coalition government held together with thin glue.
The United States is in the final months of a presidential campaign, superheated by a deteriorating economy with oil at the core. In case anyone needs to be reminded, Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and 40 percent of all oil exports come from the Persian Gulf region.
Some of the danger lies in the fact that America's oil companies see the days of President Bush coming to an end and, with them, their last opportunity to achieve drilling access to U.S. offshore zones and the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.
War with Iran and the potential withdrawal of its oil and that of other Gulf producers from the world market would send U.S. gasoline prices through the roof. It might also jolt the American public and Congress to cave in unwisely and short-sightedly to the administration on allowing offshore and Arctic drilling.
A new Asian war would not be to the benefit of Iran or Israel. The parties have every reason to be careful and to show restraint in actions and rhetoric; a concrete way to do that is to give the EU-led negotiations a chance to succeed.
For the United States, one false step could complicate things enormously, adding war with Iran to the continuing quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Though the Compact is signed, Great Lakes are still at risk
THE Great Lakes Compact took 10 years to write and pass, generated a thousand adoring news releases, and now goes off to Washington for what the region hopes is quick approval by Congress. Great work, right? Not so fast - let's look past the self-congratulatory press releases.
Advertised as a guarantee of "a future in which the Great Lakes are forever sustained" (Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio), "a strong regional warning to chronically dry regions of the South and West" (Chicago Tribune), and "something that will protect the Great Lakes for generations to come" (Wisconsin state Sen. Scott Gunderson), it's actually a way for bottled-water companies to gain rights to sell Great Lakes water.
What's the problem? Doesn't this pact set standards to limit or deny major Great Lakes diversions? Yes, for the most part through a pipe, but not in small containers. Also not addressed is the connection between groundwater and the Great Lakes. Groundwater is tied to the Great Lakes, supplying much of their flow.
To understand the biggest problem, it's important to remember how the whole thing got started 10 years ago.
In May, 1998, it suddenly became known through media reports that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources granted a permit to a private firm, the Nova Group, that wanted to ship up to 50 tanker vessels of Lake Superior water each year to unidentified private customers in Asia.
Turning Great Lakes water into a product - especially the water of Lake Superior, the purest and coldest of the Lakes - fueled indignation among citizens on both sides of the international border. Chastened after public hearings and media scoldings, the Nova Group gave up its permit, and Lake Superior was given a reprieve.
To prevent the Great Lakes from ever being shipped out as a commercial product, the eight states plus Ontario and Quebec began drawing up a binding agreement to prevent it. But something happened in the 10 years it took to produce that agreement.
Instead of banning the conversion of the Great Lakes to a product, the Compact promotes selling it in small containers. The agreement allows pumping and packaging of Great Lakes water - in the hundreds of millions of gallons per project per year - as long as the packages are 5.7 gallons or less in volume. Michigan has already allowed this practice. Any of the eight Great Lakes states could have closed the loophole within their borders. None have.
It's not an accident that an agreement designed to forbid water exports from the Great Lakes by private entrepreneurs now condones them. The bottled-water industry, not a serious economic force in 1998, burst on the scene, lavished its favors on elected officials, and is now slurping up the benefits.
In the Ohio General Assembly, conservative compact opponents held up the agreement by requiring a vote on a state constitutional amendment that will give more ammunition to private interests who want to draw down Great Lakes and Ohio River groundwater. "The government is being encouraged to take people's property without paying for it," said State Sen. Timothy Grendell. "That is flat-out un-American."
The irony is that the compact and Ohio's proposed state constitutional amendment may confer a new private property right - to Nestle and other giant water-for-sale companies. That's something few Great Lakes citizens, but many Great Lakes lobbyists, can go for.
Under centuries of common law and common sense, water has been regarded as a publicly owned resource, too important for navigation, fishing, and ecology to be privatized. The compact turns that upside down and puts the essence of life up for sale to private parties. That is un-American.
Michigan, the Great Lakes State, generated its share of bubbly news releases when its compact approval and related legislation was signed into law by Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Wednesday. But its water conservation laws remain some of the weakest in the region. They allow the draining of up to 25 percent of a stream, don't subject most major water withdrawals to any state approval, and lack funding for implementation and enforcement. And, for the second time in three years, the state has affirmed that a torrent of water flowing out of Michigan in high-priced containers is not actually an export barred by law.
The Great Lakes won't be lost tomorrow. But they won't be saved by the compact the day after tomorrow. It's time for the people of the Great Lakes region to assert their common ownership and control of the water that feeds them and the lakes. It will take a pitched battle and vast persistence in every state to make it happen.
The clock is ticking. Water is the resource that will bring economic opportunities to the Great Lakes region. The lakes contain 95 percent of U.S. and 18 percent of the world's surface fresh water. It makes no sense to sell them off in boatloads or truckloads of bottles.
One Michigan newspaper said, "Without the compact, the region's water could be put at risk." The problem is that with the compact, the region's water remains at risk and in some ways may be in greater danger than before. The work of assuring that the Great Lakes are not exported and drained is only beginning.
Dave Dempsey is author of "Great Lakes for Sale," published by University of Michigan Press this year. He was environmental policy adviser to Gov. James Blanchard of Michigan from 1983 to 1989.

Hearing footsteps: Creamer shoots 70, leads by 4
The wheels did not exactly come off for Paula Creamer in the third round of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic presented by Kroger, but her modest 1-under 70 yesterday on the wet grounds at Highland Meadows Golf Club did at least leave her hearing a few footsteps.
Creamer - who followed up her sizzling first-round 60 with a solid 65 on Friday, taking a six-shot lead at 17-under at the tournament's midway point - now clings to a less comfortable four-stroke cushion over South Korean rookie Eun-Hee Ji.
"I wasn't very pleased with the way I played today," Creamer said. "I only shot 1-under but, at the same time, I still have a pretty significant lead going into [today], and it's only 18 holes.
"[Ji] played well today and she made some birdies when she had to, and I made some good saves when I had to. Hopefully, I can go out and hit 18 greens [today] and just try to give myself as many chances as I can."
The 21-year-old Creamer, a fourth-year LPGA player, is seeking her seventh career tournament title and third this year.
"It was a difficult day with my ball striking," said Creamer, who had birdies on Nos. 8, 13 and 17 to offset bogeys on 3 and 11. "I never really got in a good wave with my irons. I hit a couple close but, overall, I didn't have many birdie chances."
Utilizing accuracy if not distance, the 22-year-old Ji turned in a third straight useful trek of the Meadows to pull two shots closer at 14-under (65-66-68-199).
"Today you could see that Paula didn't have her best day but, at the same time, I wasn't having my A-game [either]," Ji said through an interpreter. "So, I'm kind of happy that I am where I am. My putter wasn't working all that well today, but overall I'm OK with where I am.
"Hopefully I can keep up and [today] do better."
Joining the lead threesome yesterday was 12-year LPGA veteran Rachel Hetherington. The 36-year-old Australian stayed on the cusp of contention at 11-under by outdoing her younger counterparts with a 67, her second straight 4-under round to go with a 68 from Thursday.
Hetherington, the 2002 Farr champion, produced what turned out to be a make-or-break shot from a bunker in front of the green on the 355-yard, par-4 13th hole.
With Creamer sitting less than four feet from the pin awaiting a birdie putt, and Ji six feet away for the same, Hetherington stared at the possibility of losing two strokes from her precarious position.
Instead, she holed out the bunker shot for a birdie, which was matched by Creamer and Ji.
"There was never really any danger of not holing that bunker shot," Hetherington joked. "I had a pretty good feel about the bunker shot. But it's certainly a bonus for it to go in the hole."
Ji might have applied more pressure on Creamer if not for three pivotal shots on the back nine. First she miss-hit an 18-foot chip from the rough left of the green on No. 14, leaving half that distance for a par putt. Then she failed to convert.
That was after she had pulled within three shots of Creamer two holes earlier.
"I misread the grain of the grass and hit it just a little too short," Ji said of the bogey at 14.
Later, she failed to cash in on reasonable birdie chances from 10 and six feet, respectively, on Nos. 16 and 18, holes on which Creamer recorded impressive par saves.
All three leaders carded birdies on Nos. 13 and 17.
"I played pretty solid and obviously got off to a good start," Hetherington said. "I birdied the first two holes so that made me feel pretty good out there. It was a great group to be in. There was a lot of momentum from everybody, really. You just had to keep pushing for the birdies."
The round of the day was recorded by another Aussie, LPGA veteran and two-time player of the year Karrie Webb, who sank nine birdie putts en route to a 9-under round of 62. This after opening off the radar at 70-71.
That effort enabled Webb, who has won 35 LPGA titles and seven majors, to halve the gap between herself and Creamer from 16 to eight strokes in the span of 18 holes.
"I obviously made up some good ground and have a chance to have a really good tournament," Webb said. "And, after the rain [Friday] night, you never know what might happen.
"I just feel really good with the way I struck the ball today. I was playing my best ball-striking round of the year. And, I made the putts to go with it."
Webb (70-71-62) is tied at 10-under with 18-year-old rookie Shanshan Feng (69-70-64) of China, who carded a 7-under round yesterday.
"I think it was a great day for me because my lowest score before was 67," Feng said. "I was a little nervous on the course because it was my first time near the top of the scoreboard."
Three players are tied for sixth at 9-under par - Canadian Alena Sharp (69-67-68), Kristy McPherson (74-66-64) of South Carolina and Brittany Lincicome (70-67-67) of Florida.
Creamer said she intends to tighten her focus today from 10 pre-swing thoughts to two or three, an attempt to free her mind for better play.
"Winning wire to wire is difficult to do," Creamer said. "There's a lot of pressure on you in that situation, especially the first day shooting 60. Anything higher than that [afterward] and people think, 'What's going on? What's wrong?' I just want to go out and have fun and enjoy the day, and what happens, happens."
Contact Steve Junga at:
sjunga@theblade.com or 419-724-6461.

Creamer still in front at Farr Classic
Paula Creamer holds a four-shot advantage over Eun-Hee Ji heading into the final round Sunday at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.
Creamer carded a 1-under 70 in the third round Saturday at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, putting her 18-under for the tournament. Ji fired a 3-under 68 to make up some ground on Creamer, who entered the third round with a seven-shot lead on the field. Rachel Hetherington sits in third at 11-under after shooting a 4-under 67. Creamer played much of the day over par after bogeying the par-4 3rd and the par-4 11th. But she rallied on the back nine to birdie Nos. 13 and 17 to finish with a 1-under 36. Ji matched Creamer birdie-for-birdie on the back nine, notching a 2-under 35 to go with her 1-under 33 on the front nine. WEBB GOES LOW: Karrie Webb turned in the low score of the day with a 9-under 62, propelling her into a tie for fourth with Shanshan Feng at 10-under par. Webb finished with nine birdies and no bogeys in her round for a 4-under 30 on the front nine and a 5-under 32 on the back nine. "I just feel really good with the way I struck the ball today," Webb said. "I was playing my best ball-striking round of the year and I made the putts to go with it." RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY: A passing thunderstorm produced a 63-minute delay this morning at Highland Meadows. Third round play was suspended at 9:23 a.m. because of dangerous weather in the area before resuming at 10:26. Read more in Sunday's edition of The Blade and on toledoblade.com.

Farr Classic: Creamer backs 60 with 65
For anyone who was guessing that Paula Creamer would falter yesterday and come back to the field after her record 60 in the first round in the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic presented by Kroger, guess again.
After carding 11 birdies on Thursday, Creamer added seven more at Highland Meadows Golf Club yesterday to post a 6-under-par 65, move to 17-under for the tournament, and extend her lead to six shots over rookie Eun-Hee Ji.
Creamer's 36-hole total of 125 shattered the previous two-round record of 131 for this tournament. That mark was set in 1997 when Kelly Robbins started 67-64, paving the way to her Farr Classic crown that year. It was matched last year when Se Ri Pak opened 63-68 en route to taking her record fifth Farr title.
"All in all, it wasn't as solid as [Thursday]," Creamer said, "but I guess anything over 60 feels like it's kind of a letdown. I struggled out there. It definitely wasn't up to my standards of how I wanted to hit the ball.
"But that was probably one of my hardest rounds, coming after a 60. Anything you look at you feel like you're supposed to make and, when you miss, it's like, 'Whoa, what happened? Why isn't it going in?'•"•Just as Creamer was one shot from tying Annika Sorenstam's LPGA record for low single-round raw score (59 in Phoenix in 2001) on Thursday, she was also one shot from the low 36-hole raw score mark of 124. That record is shared by Sorenstam (Phoenix, 2001) and Meg Mallon (Tucson, 2003).
Creamer was one stroke above the best total for back-to-back rounds in Farr history. Pak carded 61-63-124 in the second and third rounds in 1998, the year she set the tourney record at 23-under and won the first of her five Farr titles.
Creamer did have one minor slip, making her first bogey of the tournament on the 375-yard par-4 fourth hole. After that brief detour, Creamer swapped shoes with her mother, Karen, prior to the fifth tee. Mom had been wearing a pair of her daughter's golf shoes that had better traction. Because of wet turf conditions following Thursday's late afternoon rainstorm, the tourney field was playing under lift, clean and place rules yesterday.
The lone bogey was it as far as slippage for Creamer - with footwear or with the tournament lead.
The 21-year-old dropped birdie putts on Nos. 2, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 16. She missed a five-footer for birdie on 17, but saved par with an up-and-down to close her day on 18, sinking an eight-footer to stay at 17-under at the event's midway point. "I'm really seeing the line," Creamer said. "I've worked on my [putting] stroke a lot the past couple of months, because that's the thing that's really been letting me down, and probably the reason why I haven't won as many tournaments as I feel I should have this year.
"It's all kind of coming together and, if you can feel it and you can see the lines out here, they can go in."
The only player visible in Creamer's rearview mirror is Ji, the South Korean who has shot 65-66.
"She has been incredible," said Ji, speaking through an interpreter. "Her score is unbelievable. Rather than trying to chase her down, I'm just trying to focus on my game and my score and see where it takes me."
Ji had entered the final round of the Wegman's LPGA on June 22 trailing Suzann Pettersen, the No. 3-ranked player in the world, by three shots, and came from behind to win her first title.
"From a confidence standpoint, that helps," Ji said. "Three strokes is big enough. The way Paula is playing, wow, I'm not sure. I'll just do my best."
Tied for third, nine shots off the pace, are 2002 Farr champion Rachel Hetherington of Australia (68-67) and South Korean H.J. Choi (67-68).
There is a four-way tie for fifth 11 shots back at 6-under - Canadian Alena Sharp (69-67), South Korean Young Kim (66-70), Scottish native Janice Moodie (69-67) and Stacy Lewis (70-66), who was born in Toledo.
Six players are tied for ninth at 5-under, most notably Pak, the defending champ.
"I'm making putts from every distance," Pak said, "but the last two rounds I don't think I made enough birdies, I guess.
"But I still have two days left. I was calculating that I have to at least go 8-under each day to maybe have a chance. I'm going to try to go low the last two days. There's a lot of gap between first and second place, but you never know. Hopefully I can make a lot of birdies like she did in the first two rounds."
Contact Steve Junga at:
sjunga@theblade.com or 419-724-6461.

Mud Hens bang out 11 hits to romp to victory over Indians
INDIANAPOLIS - On the day he turned 24, Yorman Bazardo took the mound for the Toledo Mud Hens against the host Indianapolis Indians.
Dan Reichert, making his first appearance for Indianapolis yesterday, was a day short of his 32nd birthday.
An 11-3 Hens romp, their fifth win in as many games, gave Bazardo (3-5) reason to celebrate.
The Hens punched out 11 hits in support of the Venezuelan right-hander - five of them for extra bases - while the Indians presented Barzardo with seven unearned runs.
"A win, yeah, that's a big gift," said Bazardo, "especially since I haven't been going good lately. Hopefully, next time it'll be the same way.
Reichert (0-1 with the Indians, 1-4 overall) came to Indianapolis earlier in the day from the Buffalo Bisons, the Cleveland Indians' Triple-A affiliate. The right-hander gave up four runs before his new teammates had a chance to bat.
Leadoff man Freddy Guzman opened with a walk and Michael Hollimon followed with a grounder to first baseman Steve Pearce. Pearce's throw to second wasn't in time to get Guzman, who scored on Timo Perez's line single as Hollimon took third. Hollimon raced home when Mike Hessman sent a checked-swing dribbler toward Pearce, whose errant throw pulled catcher Michel Hernandez off the plate. Perez came in and Hessman went to second on Brent Clevlen's base hit.
After Erick Almonte grounded into a double play, Max St-Pierre singled home Hessman to give the Hens a 4-0 advantage.
Indianapolis got a run back in the fourth. Hernandez opened the frame with a double and moved to third on Nyjer Morgan's single. Neil Walker's sacrifice fly scored Hernandez to make it 4-1.
Reichert gave up another run in the fourth. Back-to-back doubles by St-Pierre and Leon stretched Toledo's lead to 5-1.
The Indians stormed back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Brian Bixler started the rally with a two-out bloop single.
Consecutive triples by Hernandez and Morgan cut the Indians deficit to 5-3.
After walking Hollimon with none out in the fifth, Reichert gave way to Chris Hernandez. The right-hander retired the first three batters he faced, but ran into trouble in the sixth. Almonte led off with a single and was safe at second when St-Pierre grounded to shortstop Bixler, who failed to get the ball to second in time for the out. Leon followed with a sacrifice bunt. All hands were safe when Walker, the Indianapolis third baseman, muffed the play.
Derek Wathan cleared the bases with a two-bagger to right that made it 8-3. Two outs later, Perez doubled home Wathan. Jesse Chavez came in to pitch for the Indians, and Hessman greeted him with his 29th home run of the year to give Toledo an eight-run lead.
Barzardo gave up seven hits, a walk and hit a batter in six innings while striking out three. Clay Rapada pitched shutout ball in the seventh while Francis Beltran blanked the Indians in the eighth. Jeremy Johnson closed out the three-hour, eight-minute contest with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Hens have been short a player since Thursday, when Detroit recalled first baseman Jeff Larish.
The series continues today with right-hander Chris Lambert (8-5) starting for Toledo versus Tom Gorzellany (0-0).

Pesky Twins beat Galarraga
DETROIT - Perhaps Armando Galarraga has figured out how to pitch to the Minnesota Twins' pesky hitters.
But he hasn't learned how to beat them.
The Twins took care of the Tigers 3-2 last night, handing Galarraga his third loss as a Detroit starting pitcher. Naturally, all three of those defeats have come courtesy of Minnesota.
Galarraga
allowed just two runs in 52/3 innings last night, but he left the game trailing 2-1. The Twins pushed across another run before the Tigers did, so Galarraga ended up with his first loss since May 23. And we already know who that one was against.
"It's been a long time," Galarraga said of the welcomed delay between losses. "There haven't been any wins either. It will come.
"You have to give them credit. This is a tough team."
Galarraga (7-3) hasn't won since June 18, but his team has bigger problems.
The Tigers (46-46) have lost their last four games against Minnesota, including the first two games of this four-game series.
Detroit is 4-9 against the Twins this season and 13-23 against American League Central
opponents. Troubling, indeed.
"They put pressure on you," said Tigers third baseman Carlos Guillen. "They have good at-bats, they put the ball in play. They play good."
On a smaller scale, the Tigers don't know what to do about Minnesota shortstop Nick Punto.
He is 4-for-6 in this series, drove in both runs off Galarraga last night, and is riding an eight-game hitting streak overall.
Punto's two-out double in the fourth tied the game at one, and his sacrifice fly in the sixth scored Jason Kubel and put the Twins up for good.
When Tigers manager Jim Leyland likes a player's style, he sometimes refers to them as a "dirt ball."
Consider Punto filthy.
"He's going to scratch and claw, fight his [butt] off, and make plays at short," Leyland said.
So Punto is a dirt ball?
"Of the highest," Leyland said.
Another Twin causing problems for Detroit is starting pitcher Glen Perkins. The lefty is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in three starts against the Tigers this year, and limited them to two runs on six hits last night.
Guillen knocked in a run with a one-out single in the third, and Detroit capitalized on Matt Joyce's second double of the game when Placido Polanco drove him in with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire replaced Perkins with Jesse Crain to face Guillen with two outs in the seventh, and center fielder Carlos Gomez chased down Guillen's deep drive on the warning track.
"[Guillen] didn't miss it, he smoked it. But it's a pretty big space out there [in center field]," Leyland said.
Minnesota registered its crucial insurance run in the seventh on Delmon Young's sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.
Alexi Casilla led off with a double against Aquilino Lopez, and Bobby Seay loaded the bases with one out by walking Justin Morneau (intentionally) and Kubel (unintentionally).
Seay had Young down 0-2, but grooved a fastball that Young lifted to center to drive in Casilla.
Leyland wasn't faulting Seay for the loss.
Joyce and Miguel Cabrera each had two of the Tigers' six hits.
Guillen and Pudge Rodriguez had the others.
"We had too many guys that just didn't do anything tonight. That pretty much sums it up," Leyland said.
Fernando Rodney kept the score as close as it was by escaping a first-and-third situation in the ninth by striking out Kubel and Young.
As it turned out, Minnesota didn't need any more runs.
Twins closer Joe Nathan retired the Tigers in order for his 26th save overall and fourth against Detroit this year.
Contact Joe Vardon at:
jvardon@theblade.com or 419-410 5055.

Bargains lure intensifies for Toledo-area grocery shoppers
ITS ENOUGH to cause an upset stomach.
Food prices have risen 9 percent in the past year and are forecast to rise a further 5 percent this year. Gasoline is priced at over $4 a gallon. The money crunch has changed many area shoppers grocery-buying habits. From purchasing more in bulk at warehouse clubs, using more coupons, and choosing lower-priced store brands, consumers said they are forced into hard decisions. For one thing, you buy a lot less, and we dont go anywhere anymore, said Tiffany Tymiak, of Toledo, a single mother of two small children. She was loading food last week into her Ford Escape, a vehicle she just bought because it gets better mileage than her former Ford Explorer. I used to shop at three different stores. Now I just go to one: Kroger. I always look now for specials, and if its a 10 for $10, Ill get the 10, especially if its canned goods, cereals, or sauces. I wont get any name brands anymore, and with meats, I buy in bulk and package it down for the freezer. Bill Koza, manager of the Costco Wholesale Club store in West Toledo, said the stores shopper numbers and average bills are both on the increase. Food sales at the store that opened last August have been rising month to month over nonfood sales, he said. Elaine Underwood, of Lambertville, was in Costco last week, shopping with her out-of-town aunt. She was amazed at the prices. Look at this $3.99 a bag for chips elsewhere, and you get four bags here and pay half the price, she said, adding that shell probably buy a Costco membership.
Meijer Inc. stores use specials and reductions on higher-priced staples, like milk or bread, to lure customers. For example, the retailer had a gallon of milk for $2.77 last week. But Meijer spokesman Frank Guglielmi said such specials have become even more popular as gas prices rise. When we have specials, like on milk, youll now see people with six gallons or four gallons of milk in their carts. Its amazing to me. The chain has noticed a 25 percent redemption rate for certain coupons it promotes, compared with 2 to 4 percent on clipped coupons, Mr. Guglielmi said. Shoppers are hurting financially, said Mark Katafiasz, manager of the Food Town supermarket in Lambertville. We are seeing a trend of people tending to stay home a little more and doing cookouts rather than go to restaurants, he said. And theyre also spending less of their dollars on food. Our average sales are down. People are just not buying as many items. Or they are buying in bulk, perhaps stocking new freezers or splitting purchases with neighbors and friends, said area store officials. Shoppers new habits have bolstered store-brand sales at the expense of name brands, experts said. Karen Voorhies, membership director for the National Grocers Association, said shopping patterns are changing nationwide. Were seeing less trips [to the store] with bigger ring-outs, because of the gas prices, she said. Some stores are starting fuel reward programs as an added incentive. The cost of nutritious meals for a family of four has risen nearly 8 percent a week since May, 2007, and if the familys two children are under 5 years old, the increase was nearly 9 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Shoppers are definitely looking for the bargains, Mr. Katafiasz said. When we have things on sale, like hot prices on meats, they buy heavy. Therere two types of customers right now: those with a lot of money and those with very little. For the customer who has the money, when they see a great deal, they stock up. Those that cant afford to stock up, they take the deal and feel that they got off easy that week. Andrea Duby, of Maumee, formerly shopped at Kroger, but because of the rising costs of food and gas has switched to Aldi, which carries only its own private-label and lower-priced groceries. She now shops Kroger only for items Aldi does not carry. Look! she said last week after a trip to Aldi. I filled my whole cart up for $90, and you cant do that anywhere else. You cant get name-brand items, but Im trying to feed a family of five. She said she saved $200 to $300 a month on groceries. Elizabeth Moodt, head of operations for Aldi stores in the Toledo area, said the chains shopper numbers are increasing as gas and food prices rise. We can tell who are new customers just in that they dont know how to use the cart, she said. Aldi collects a 25-cent deposit for use of shopping carts. Not surprisingly, the nations discount chains are profiting. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said last week its June sales at its stores open a year rose 5.8 percent, exceeding the 3.8 percent that analysts forecast. Shoppers like Trivira Jackson, of Toledo, said she has confined most of her grocery shopping to Wal-Mart SuperCenters and Aldi since gas prices rose. Her changes included buying more store brands, like Wal-Marts soft drinks, instead of brands like Coke or Pepsi. In addition, she checks for advertised specials at Kroger. John Hayes, manager of the Wal-Mart owned Sams Club store in suburban Holland, said the stores average food purchases are up and demand for food-saver bags used for storing foods has spiked. Sams Club shopper Tralene Wiechers, of Napoleon, said last week that when gas exceeded $4 a gallon, she began coming to Sams less often, but buys more each trip, especially nonperishable items. And if theres a special on fresh meat, I stock up, she added. Tabitha Wood, of Holland, another Sams Club customer, said her shopping patterns havent changed much. But thats because she has shopped at Sams regularly for six years and buys her dry and canned foods at Aldi. What I can tell you is that now I only buy what I think were going to use. I dont want things going to waste, she said. Meanwhile, Costco, the areas other warehouse club retailer, last week reported a 9 percent gain in sales in June, surpassing an 8.2 percent estimate by analysts. Ms. Underwood, the Costco shopper from Lambertville, said she shops for advertised specials at other stores and stocks up. I do that especially with meats. I generally split things up, mark the date, and put them in the freezer, she said. And if theres a sale, Ill buy big time. Amy Barlow, a spokesman for Kroger, said sales of the chains advertised specials are up significantly, as are sales of Kroger value-brand and Kroger premium-brand items. The chains 10-for-$10 specials have become even more popular, she said. We think people are buying when they [the promotions] happen and maybe they didnt plan to buy it this week, but theyre going ahead and spending the money instead of waiting a week when it might not be on sale, she said. Contact Jon Chavez at:jchavez@theblade.comor 419-724-6128.

NEW SUBDIVISION IN SYLVANIA TOWNSHIP
The 80-home Walnut Springs subdivision in Sylvania Township is under way.
Prices for the 80-home project along Sylvania-Metamora Road, west of Mitchaw Road will be $260,000 to $385,000, said developer Doug Wamsher.

200 attend Toledo event with a focus on finances
When 37-year-old Santoria Johnson was just 18, she had 22 credit cards.
"They just kept giving them to [me]," said Mrs. Johnson, who now carries only two pieces of plastic. "I just wanted the free gifts. I got a nice cooler."
She was among 200 women yesterday at the 2008 Women & Money Conference in Toledo, hosted by the Ohio treasury department. The conference, one of 11 being held across the state, offered workshops on entrepreneurship, credit and debt, retirement planning, home planning, and kids and money, among other topics.
Said treasury spokesman Holly Hollingsworth, "The theory is that women still statistically make less money and live longer than men, and research shows they take more time away from the work force They are a group that needs personal finance education."
Beverly Monahan, a retired IBM associate, attended the event for the second year in a row.
"My biggest concern is making sure that I have saved money because I'm retired," Mrs. Monahan, 57, said. "Some of the challenges for me particularly are being able to go on a vacation, making the best of my investment." Concerns also included Internet transactions and identity-theft security.
A survey conducted at the event showcased the high level of financial burdens and fear among those in attendance.
Eighty percent of respondents rated the U.S. economy as "poor to very poor," 29 percent said they had $8,000 or more of credit card debt, and 48 percent admitted having less than $1,000 in savings.
State officials urged attendees to save money, limit credit card usage, and plan for the future.

Date reset to close Maumee stamping plant deal
The man trying to reanimate the presses inside Ford Motor Corp.'s former Maumee Stamping Plant told a group of veterans yesterday that he now intends to buy the plant "around Aug. 1" and begin producing product seven days later.
Speaking to the Toledo Post of the American Legion in the Toledo Club yesterday afternoon, Keith Obey, chairman of Maumee Authority Stamping Inc., said he was "still negotiating" with several "very wealthy individuals" to pump enough private money into his proposal to allow it to close.
"We're working with two financing partners now. What I'd like to do this afternoon is inform Ford that we will close Aug. 1."
The Maumee Authority project is to be owned in part by 250 workers, each pledging at least $16,000. Mr. Obey received commitments from the Ohio Department of Development and the Toledo Lucas County Port Authority for a combined $8.5 million in public funding if he can secure private funding to help close the transaction.
Mr. Obey previously had said the deal would close by Monday, and prior to that, July 1 and mid-June, but those dates were delayed when he had difficultly securing the necessary private funding.
National City Bank is to lend $3 million and provide a $5 million line of credit, the Maumee firm said. Two unidentified investors have provided $500,000, it said.
The 800,000-square-foot Ford plant, which opened in 1974, once had 1,200 employees, each making about $25 an hour manufacturing metal components like bumpers and body panels for a variety of Ford-made automobiles. It decided to close the shop as part of its restructuring last fall. The new operations would employ up to 300, with each making about $14 an hour.
High fuel and steel prices, Mr. Obey told his audience, will help his firm more than it will hurt it.
"It couldn't be worse for the economy, but it couldn't be better for us," he said. The factory's proximity and efficiency would benefit customers, he added.
Of potentially $80 million in sales the plant will do in its first year, "95 percent of it will be automotive," he said.
Contact Larry P. Vellequette at:
lvellequette@theblade.com or 419-724-6091.

Community gardens: growing food brings people together
Theres an old fable folded into a community gardening context.
The Little Red Hen finds a grain of wheat and asks for help planting, harvesting, milling, and baking the flour into bread, but alas, shes unable to drum up enthusiasm. Not I, say the Duck, the Cat, and the Dog. In the end, the lazy trio missed out on the delicious bread she baked and probably slathered, piping hot from the oven, with creamy butter and home-made raspberry preserves. They probably ordered a greasy pizza or got Chinese, spending cash instead of enjoying a home-cooked treat that cost little more than sweat equity. Nor did they experience a passel of other benefits: the opportunity to work side by side with creatures from diverse backgrounds while chatting about something as nonpolitical as the weather. Moreover, their apathy did zilch to enhance the neighborhood, generate good will, reduce pollution (by filtering rainwater and restoring oxygen to the air), deter crime (by putting more eyes on the street), or provide them with the sense of deep fulfilment derived from growing food. Chances are, the Little Red Hen would have better luck these days.
Community gardens are taking off like mad, says Vicki Garrett, projects coordinator at the American Community Gardening Association in Columbus. As food, gas, and household expenses soar, gardening is a low-cost hobby that offers big returns with safe, delicious food. The association estimates there are 18,000 to 20,000 such gardens in the United States and Canada. I think some cities have realized the value of growing food close to home, said Ms. Garrett. Locally, there are four acres in South Toledo with 88 large plots ($12 each), an upscale organic garden in a lovely riverside setting in Perrysburg, and a humble but productive strip of land abutting a freeway sound-barrier wall thats been enriched by a group of apartment dwellers. Some community gardens are little more than one person digging up the vacant lot next to their home and inviting neighborhood kids to help and to share the bounty. Leading the trend is Columbus, said Michael Szuberla, director of Toledo Grows, the community gardening program of the Toledo Botanical Garden that oversees 60 gardens.
The Franklin Park Conservatory, two miles east of downtown Columbus, offers an eight-week urban gardening academy each winter, awards 13 grants up to $4,000 each year, and is planning a five-acre community-garden campus with 50 plots, demonstrations, and cooking classes. Each year were growing by 15 to 20 community gardens, said Bill Dawson, the conservatorys Growing to Green coordinator. The city is very much behind it. Victory gardens Tending Taiwanese cabbage, New Zealand spinach, spoon mustard, and mache lettuce, Yvette Smith wonders why more Americans havent figured out the benefits of raising ones own veggies. I really do believe this is something that a lot of people should be doing, said Smith, who teaches French at the University of Toledo. She and some of her neighbors who reside in six four-unit buildings on Carskaddon Avenue in West Toledo have the blessing of their landlord to till and plant a skinny, sunny strip between their garages and the freeway wall. Andy Huff, caretaker of the properties and a resident, said several years ago a tenant suggested adding flowers to spruce up the place.
I said, Sure, sure; I just want to cut the grass, said Mr. Huff. Then I got a book on container gardening. And he attended a library program on gardening and called Toledo Grows. Its been great. Its been social, a source of conversation. People say this reminds them of the Victory Gardens, he said, referring to the patriotic gardens millions of Americans and others around the world planted during World Wars I and II. Ms. Smiths portion of the garden, shared with her partner, Noel Habib, also has kale, okra, eggplant, pickling cukes, lime basil, muskmelon, and enough tomato plants to fill jars that will last all winter. Raspberries thrive against the tall wall that dulls the sound of traffic in the I-475 canyon. We eat, we put away, we give away, she said. Different ingredients The creme de la creme community garden, offering water, mulch, compost, and an on-site horticulturist, is at the 577 Foundation on the former estate of Virginia Secor Stranahan in Perrysburg. The 39 individual plots, 10-by-12-feet and larger, and a childrens garden, are organic. A community garden is just like a big recipe; everybody brings a different ingredient, said Vicki Gallagher, 577s horticulturist.
This year the gardens adopted a no-till system that works like this: In autumn, the staff spreads four inches of shredded leaves on each plot, which, during the winter, gets compressed down to about an inch. Under that leaf blanket, a rich, moist microculture develops, full of worms and beneficial organisms that improve the soil and result in more nutritious vegetables. The microculture is best undisturbed, said Ms. Gallagher. Come spring, gardeners are asked not to churn up the soil but to simply dig a small hole through the leaf blanket to insert each plant, leaving the rest of the mulch in place. These plots have a waiting list, so Ms. Gallagher refers people to a 16-plot garden owned by the city of Perrysburg at East Boundary and Bexford Drive across from St. Timothy Episcopal Church. Theres access to water for the 40-by-25-feet plots that rent for $20 a season, and the city tills in leaf compost to amend the soil. All plots are filled and people usually reserve their space shortly after the first of the year. For information, call 419-872-8020. Old West Enders maintain a story-book garden at Delaware and Scottwood avenues. Its narrow, curving paths are fringed with good smells, tastes, and colors: raspberry bushes, broccoli, zinnias, lemon balm, tomatoes, and marigolds. A few miles away, Zenola Sherman is learning how to grow vegetables in the sunny side yard of the home she purchased in November. She was inspired after her mother, who received a $50 coupon to buy local produce, said the money wouldnt go very far. I want to share. Thats my objective, Ms. Sherman said. A few neighbors have helped in her yard off Nebraska Avenue, and shes received assistance from Toledo Grows. Mary Sawers often includes neighborhood kids in her Old West End garden on a vacant lot next to her home. It includes a large, fanciful fence made of tree branches that a friend built. I tell the children, Heres what I have to do today; weed, or plant, or mulch. And what do you want to do? I supervise them the first couple of times, said Ms. Sawers, an attorney. All the children know not to pick anything without asking. Soon, when cukes and tomatoes are ripe, shell bring out a bowl of ranch dressing for them to dip the fresh veggies. Shell swap produce with neighbors for their homemade wine, and give the rest away. On Earth Day in April, Johanna Laesch, a Spanish teacher at Scott High School, broke ground for a 35-by-45-foot garden next to the school. She and students planted vegetables that theyll make into salsa. An English teacher plans to put in a Shakespearean garden nearby. The last couple of weeks of school we spent at least the last 15 minutes of class in the garden, in which she hopes to involve Scott alumni. Students can earn community-service hours for working in the garden. My vision is to donate produce to the senior citizen center, said Ms. Laesch, adding that the venture has already resulted in new friendships and connections. Rewarding projects There are still 15-by-15-foot plots available at Common Space Too at Hill Avenue and South Holland-Sylvania Road, said Roger Zielinksi, director of the on-grounds Garden Sanctuary. Its extremely rich land, Mr. Zielinski said of the plots which he made into raised mounds after poor drainage two summers ago destroyed most of the vegetables. Plots rent for $40 a season, he said, adding that theres still time to put in beans, peas, Swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, beets, greens, cabbage, and other plants. The granddaddy but least-known of community gardens is a four-acre rectangle in South Toledo wedged between the Schneider Park soccer field, a public transportation building, and the worlds largest retailer. Off Schneider Road near Detroit Avenue, its divided into 88 spacious 20-by-60-foot plots that rent for $12 a season. Called the Interfaith Garden, it dates to 1975 when it was established as a living memorial to Jeff Wharram, who was a sophomore at Sylvania High School in 1973 when he died from a blood clot related to football injuries. (The garden was started in 1974 on Hoffman Road but had to be moved when the city built its landfill there.) Jeffs parents, Mary and Bruce Wharram, were inspired by a talk their minister gave about poverty, recession, rising oil prices, and a faraway U.S. war, and what a valuable service a community garden could be. Its a very rewarding project, said Ms. Wharram, who farms three plots with her husband. This space has plenty of sun but distinct challenges: water must be trucked in, the soil is clay, deer eat the vegetables, the bugs are bad, and poachers steal the food. Perhaps thats why only about half the plots are rented this summer. We could sure use more gardeners. The plots grow into weeds, which encourages more insects, she said. But we dont worry about it. God takes care of it. Toiling in these fields for more than 30 years is Rube Lyles, 99, who doesnt much care for store-bought vegetables. He wont eat any vegetables in a can. Vegetables come out of the ground, said his son, Robert Lyles. Robert, 59, began helping his father with the plot about 15 years ago and got hooked. Starting plants from seeds sown in the ground, theyre raising corn, cabbage, three types of greens, zucchini, squash, crowder peas, and the last to be harvested in late fall sweet potatoes. Im surprised not as many people are out here as should be. And young people dont care about gardens. Maybe they dont know what to do and nobody shows them what to do, said Robert as he sprayed the plots perimeter with an anti-deer concoction of hot sauce and water. His other attempt to keep Bambi at bay is lengths of shiny, black video tape stretched from pole to pole around the plot. He cans and freezes much of this food, and gives it to family and neighbors. Its relaxing, said Robert, whos been on disability since suffering a heart attack in October. And its nice to spend time with my father. Thats why I do it. Contact Tahree Lane at: tlane@theblade.com or 419-724-6075.

New HBO series is first-hand account of elite Marines in Iraq
If war is hell, does that mean that the people who go to war are hellions?
When theyre U.S. Marines, maybe so particularly if theyre members of one of the Corps elite Recon battalions who receive highly specialized training and usually operate deep behind enemy lines. Recon (or Reconnaissance) Marines are the special forces of the Corps, the equivalent of Navy SEALS or Army Green Berets. Theyre trained to parachute, scuba dive, snowshoe, climb mountains, and rappel from helicopters. They can run 12 miles loaded down with 100-pound packs, then jump into the ocean and swim miles more, still wearing their boots and fatigues and carrying their weapons and packs. And though theyre trained in all types of combat, their most effective weapon is stealth the ability to move quickly and quietly among the enemy without being detected until theyre ready to strike. In a searing, true-life miniseries called Generation Kill that begins tonight on HBO, a group of Recon Marines is given a most unusual assignment in the early days of the Iraq War. Theyre ordered to rush headlong at the enemy and engage them as the tip of the spear of the Iraqi invasion of 2003. The seven-part series is based on a bestselling 2004 nonfiction book written by Evan Wright, a journalist on assignment for Rolling Stone magazine. Wright was embedded for seven weeks with the 1st Recon Marine Battalion in the spring of 2003, and he rode in a lightly armored lead vehicle at the front of the invasion. His three-part magazine series focusing on the day-to-day lives of the Marines of Bravo Two (Bravo Companys 2nd Platoon), called The Killer Elite, won a slew of national awards, including one from the Marine Corps. own Heritage Foundation. The magazine stories were later expanded into a book titled Generation Kill. HBOs adaptation of Wrights book was produced by David Simon and Ed Burns, the creative team behind the gritty and celebrated HBO series The Wire, which ran from 2002 until this year on the premium cable channel. Generation Kill, which will continue on successive Sunday nights, covers the first 40 days of the invasion. Several real-life members of Bravo Two served as technical advisers on the series, and are cast members as well.
No ambiguity Tonights premiere episode (9 to 10:10 p.m.) introduces several of the Marines as they wait at a staging area in the northern desert of Kuwait for the war to begin. The members of Bravo Two are plenty tough, but theyre hardly battle-hardened veterans. Most are in their early to mid-20s, and theyre a lot more familiar with video games, reality TV shows, and Internet porn than with history or politics or warfare, for that matter. They see themselves as highly trained killers which they are but they dont know yet what it means to kill. They never consider the righteousness of the U.S. invasion, and theyre ready to do their jobs without qualms or moral ambiguity. Some of that, one suspects, will come later on. Theyre not thrilled when the writer from Rolling Stone is brought into their midst (You gonna write about how were all baby killers and momma rapers? asks one), but after learning that he once worked at Hustler magazine, theyre more ready to accept him. Before long theyre talking freely in front of him, as he scribbles furiously in his notebook. When the order to attack finally comes down to roll into Iraq its signaled by the bizarre sight of a fleet of Pizza Hut delivery vehicles rolling into camp most in the platoon are overjoyed, ready to finally get into combat. As they roll along dirt roads and pitted highways in a convoy of Humvees, the grunts pass the time talking about music, sex, and all the Hajis (their term for Iraqis) theyre planning to smoke. Nobody, it seems, is considering the fact that at any moment, he could get smoked by a roadside bomb, missile, or AK-47. One Marine, buzzing from lack of sleep and large quantities of Ripped Fuel, a popular ephedrine-based stimulant, cant keep quiet, and entertains others in his Humvee with an endless string of songs, dirty jokes, and ruminations. How come we cant ever invade a cool country with, like, chicks in bikinis? he asks as they pass a group of Iraqi women clad in long robes and veils. You know? How come countries like that dont ever need Marines? Point of view Fictional accounts of the Iraqi war havent done much at the box office consider In the Valley of Elah, Home of the Brave, or Stop-Loss and a 2005 Steven Bochco series on FX called Over There flopped, too. But Generation Kill is unlike any of those. Its not Hollywoods version of war, but a first-hand account of young Marines in an actual war. Real events are depicted, real names are used, and viewers will hear real, raw dialogue. (Thats one reason the series is definitely R-rated that, and of course, its graphic violence.) If Generation Kill is similar to anything thats come before, it might be HBOs own award-winning 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers, which followed an Army company during World War II. That series was based on interviews with veterans and research by historian Stephen Ambrose, but Brothers producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks admitted taking literary license with some wartime facts. Though the Generation Kill series originated with articles in Rolling Stone, a publication most would consider liberal, producer Ed Burns said the HBO project has no particular political slant. When I read the book, I initially saw it as anti-war, and yet the Marine Heritage Foundation gave Evan an award for writing it, so they must have seen a pro-Marine side, he said in an interview. It has that kind of range and thats a credit to the work itself. Evan has said his own politics were kind of beside the point. He just wanted to tell the story of these guys and what they went through. Susanna White, director of several episodes of the series, said the production is about people, not politics. Id like viewers to come away from the show with a new understanding of what it was really like on the ground for those Marines in the early weeks of the war, thinking there were weapons of mass destruction, going out in thin-skinned Humvees, and putting their lives on the line. Another director, Simon Cellan Jones, said it would be up to viewers to decide what the series message is. I hope viewers conclude that war is a blunt and inexact instrument that is at best a clumsy and inefficient and utterly brutal way of imposing ones will, but also that it produces complicated and conflicted emotions: fear, boredom, rage, and joy. However, the whole point of the show is that the audience is not led by the hand. They will make up their own minds how they feel. Eric Kocher, a Marine from the 1st Recon Battalion who served as a technical adviser and appears in the mini-series, summed up the mission of the miniseries, one that he contends was achieved. Generation Kill gives an objective view of what happened, without politics or agenda, Kocher said. Its the lives of these individuals and their road trip, and thats the main story. The war is just the backdrop.

Where theres a Will ... theres a hit
Will Smith has been a consistent hitmaker in July movie theaters. If anyone ever asked, Nicest star youve ever met? the answer would be easy: Will Smith.
Truth be told, most regular reporters (not celebs like Mary Hart or Leonard Maltin) rarely get to know movie stars. They talk to them by phone or meet them at roundtable interviews or, occasionally, during one-on-one sessions that usually last 20 minutes, until a hovering publicist signals Last question and then, Next! Writers stand at the fringe of the red carpet and see if the Academy Award nominees, presenters or guests will veer toward the press bleachers and stop to talk before they rejoin the throng inching toward the Kodak Theatre. Some actors seem to hate the publicity process. Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones and Sean Connery always looked as if they would rather be anywhere but fielding nosy, noxious questions from wretched writers. Not Smith. If Jones comes across as the equivalent of a bitter cup of strong coffee, Smith is all cream and sugar. The Philadelphia native is happy to be there. He is funny, likable, smart, talented, hard-working, energetic, a devoted husband and dad, and a friend who hasnt thrown Tom Cruise under the bus just because others wanted to. He has yet to meet a genre he couldnt master, from biopic (Ali) to romantic comedy (Hitch) to inspirational weepie (The Pursuit of Happyness) to sci-fi (I Am Legend, just the most recent).
Men in Black II co-star Lara Flynn Boyle once said he is about as perfect as they come. All kidding aside, she added, My mom always says that to make people feel good about themselves is a gift, and he has it. All of this comes across in interviews and on screen, so its no wonder that his movies have grossed nearly $4.6 billion around the world, and thats not counting ensemble efforts such as the animated Shark Tale. He once jokingly called Fourth of July Big Willy Weekend, but the holiday has been on hiatus. Its back with Hancock, and its PG-13 rating, 90-minute length and star guarantee big numbers despite largely lukewarm reviews. In honor of Hancock, we look at the world according to Will, summer edition: • Independence Day Released on July 2, 1996, this sci-fi sensation grossed $817 million (in todays dollars, thats more than $1 billion) around the world. Tom Shones book Blockbuster recounts the audacity of director and co-writer Roland Emmerichs centerpiece image: You want to blow up the White House? The executives at Fox were seated in a row on the sofa at the studios Culver City headquarters, and they were understandably worried. Producer-writer Dean Devlin and Emmerich agreed that destroying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. would be a bad idea if the attackers were terrorists, but they were ... space aliens. Invaders plus a cast that included Smith as a hotshot military pilot, Jeff Goldblum as a technogeek and Judd Hirsch as his father, Randy Quaid as a drunken crop duster and Bill Pullman as the president of the United States. Years later, Emmerich told the Post-Gazette, In Independence Day, I was looking for lots of comedians; it was almost like the comedic tone was the most important part. • Men in Black Smith capitalized on his newfound status as Mr. July with this comedy about elite cops monitoring alien activity on Earth. It opened July 2, 1997. Smith was paired with Tommy Lee Jones, and this silly sci-fi comedy fired on all cylinders, earning slightly more than Independence Day during its first three days in the U.S., eventually grossing $250 million domestically and more than twice that around the globe. It inspired many a Halloween costume, became a top video seller and spawned a sequel five years later. Once again, we doled out three stars and said: The film is very much calculated to woo us with attitude, and it succeeds brilliantly in that department. • Wild, Wild West Only in Wills world would almost $28 million be considered a disappointment for an opening weekend. But, then again, this is probably the worst of Smiths films, through no fault of his own. The 1960s television series was recast as a movie, with Smith as the charismatic hero James West, Kevin Kline as master of disguises Artemus Gordon and Kenneth Branagh as the villain. In assigning this two stars, we skewered its screenplay, anachronisms, ridiculous elements and lack of a real character for Salma Hayek to play, other than sexpot. • Men in Black II What was once fresh and hip was now familiar, although Smith and Jones proved again that they have comic chemistry. • Bad Boys II The opening was July 18, but it helped to anchor the summer of 2003 and reunited the key team from 1995s Bad Boys: director Michael Bay and Smith and Martin Lawrence as Miami narcotics detectives. An action picture about the pursuit of a Cuban drug lord, Bad Boys II is shot through with over-the-top stunts, artistically composed shots and a heavy dose of violence. Minutes into the movie, Smith strips off his KKK white robe disguise and emerges with guns ablazing, his body posed against a burning cross in the background. • I, Robot Once again, a mid-July release but a hit at home and overseas in 2004. A sci-fi film suggested by the work of Isaac Asimov, it is set in the year 2035 and featured Smith as a Chicago homicide detective who suspects a robot may have committed murder. What would WALL-E think? The Block News Alliance consists of The Blade and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Barbara Vancheri is movie editor of the Post-Gazette. Contact her at: bvancheri@post-gazette.com.

The weight of friendship: David Gutersons novel looks at duty and betrayal
THE OTHER. By David Guterson. Knopf. 256 pages. $24.95. There are many lives most of us arent brave enough to live. Well maybe, more accurately, some lifestyles seem just too crazy.
But theyre out there those people who choose off-beat paths and, whether theyre real or fictional, they deserve at least some amount of admiration. Because those people have a deeper understanding of what it takes not to conform. John William Barry, a young man of privilege and pedigree who bucked money and comfort for a life he believed to be without hypocrisy, is one of those people. Known as the The Hermit of the Hoh in David Gutersons most recent novel, The Other, John William has always lived his life according to his own set of convictions. He did this by escaping. In high school, he would encourage others to embark on long, desolate hiking trips into the vast wilderness of Washington. In college, he escaped to the wilderness again this time alone to live a life where his soul was devoid of the material world. Eventually, John William decides to leave the world behind entirely in exchange for a life alone in a cave that he carved himself out of the soft stone deep within Washingtons Hoh wilderness.
The story of John William Barry is told partly in the present and partly in the past, through the voice of his longtime friend, Neil Countryman. Neil admits that he just doesnt understand the path his friend has chosen, and many readers may agree. He also wonders about his own path. Neil becomes John Williams student and savior. He becomes the only one who knows how John William lives. More important, he is the only one who knows that he lives and, eventually, that he dies. But although he never betrays his friend, his noble intentions become his greatest source of guilt. Neil often tries to convince John William to return to society. He tries to sustain his body and mind by bringing provisions of food and literature. In short, he tries to offer human contact and assistance whenever he can. But he struggles with trying to determine if what he does is enough. It is this dynamic between these two friends that Guterson captures in a compelling manner. The reader is trapped within the conflict that Neil feels between maintaining his friends secret and thereby protecting his principles, and living with the guilt of letting him deteriorate before his eyes. It begs the question: What would you do? Using powerful prose and developing strong and complex characters, Guterson develops a thought-provoking book. The story confronts the reader with questions about possible paths in life, and where choices may take them. Even though the life John William chooses would not appeal to most readers, Guterson successfully creates a novel where somehow it becomes understandable. Contact Erica Blake at:eblake@theblade.comor 419-724-6076.

Cnote has smooth touch with ballads
CHIVALRY Cnote (JKH) Chivalry might be thought a rather old-fashioned title for a disc in these days of gangster rappers and sullen alt-rockers, but Cnote has a sound thats completely contemporary.
With only a few vocal and musical references to their Hispanic heritage, the group offers up some of the tightest, most mellifluous harmony vocals this side of well, its hard to think of a valid recent comparison. Cnote shines on songs that are tuneful and soft without being sappy. The title track is melodic, romantic, and boasts a glorious chorus. Its just one of several slower songs that highlight the disc, including so-smooth All Of Me, plus Forgive Me and Now I Realize. There are bumping beats, too, sinuous grooves on the dance-alicious Curious, Lets Go, and Hot Girls. But its the ballads that set the tone for the disc, and make it worth forking over a few bucks for this Cnote. RICHARD PATON LETS START SOMETHING Rob Roy Parnell (Blue Rocket Records) Parnell ladles out a powerhouse mix of lowdown harmonica and emotional vocals, putting together some hard-rockin and jump blues, boogie woogie, R&B and no-nonsense soul. Backed by a talent-laden roster of musicians on keyboards, drums and guitars, Parnell has made his return to album-making a reason to rejoice after being out of the recording end for eight years.
Ten of the 12 songs were written or co-written by Parnell, who shows no shortage of ability in the creative department. As a performer, hes still worth a regular listen if you like the blues, especially lively numbers. The driving sounds hold the groove rock steady on each track, while the tightness of the musicians keeps it all wound and moving solidly forward. Its blues with a clear beat throughout, worthy of some heavy duty toe-tapping or dancing. KEN ROSENBAUM SERAPHIC LIGHT Saxophone Summit (Telarc) This captivating, complex set of arrangements by a trio of top-shelf saxmen pays tribute to a pair of jazz stars who died years apart, legendary saxophonist John Coltrane and 11-time Grammy winner Michael Brecker.
Brecker was known as a contemporary jazz saxophonist and co-leader of the Brecker Brothers, a group he co-founded with his brother, trumpeter Randy Brecker. But Michael Brecker also was one of Coltranes countless admirers who achieved stardom in his own right. And, along with Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman, Michael Brecker was part of a trio of saxmen known as Saxophone Summit. Seraphic Light is a bold, yet heartfelt follow-up to the Summits only release, the acclaimed Gathering of Spirits in 2004. Stepping in for Brecker is Coltranes son, Ravi Coltrane, whose mother, Alice Coltrane, died within 24 hours of Breckers death in January, 2007. The disc is a combination of original material and arrangements recognizing the latter part of John Coltranes storied career. TOM HENRY BRIEFLY NOTED ABOUT TIME! Eric Morones (Arabesque Jazz) Wisconsin-born Eric Morones, who has spent a lot of time gigging in Los Angeles after moving there nine years ago, isnt exactly a household name. But Morones, who has played lead alto sax for the Brian Setzer Orchestra, shows promise as a recording artist with this thoroughly engaging debut album in which he performs a number of original ballads and uptempo numbers. While not flashy, his debut album should convince listeners hes one to watch.
T.H.

Chained to fashion: classic link jewelry enjoys renewed popularity
The chain-style link has been popular on handbag straps for several seasons, and now its one of the hottest trends in womens jewelry.
Link jewelry has never been out of style. But this spring and summer have seen its strong resurgence, possibly because of the renewed popularity of valuable yellow gold and the continuing strong influence of fashion from the 80s. The yellow gold link is, well, the gold standard. But there are all sorts of chic link necklaces, bracelets, and earrings in sterling silver, mixed metals, and resin. Its just a flattering look for everyone, said Helena Krodel, spokesman for the Jewelry Information Center, a trend-tracking trade group based in New York. And its just so classic. It goes with everything. And its not seasonal it looks great with a sundress and it looks great with a wool sweater. Links on jewelry in stores now are perfectly round and oblong, smooth and wavy, crystal-adorned and plain. Mesh link bibs, link chokers, long belly-grazing link necklaces, and multiple-strand styles offer something for virtually every personality.
There are chain-link rings that sort of collapse when removed from the finger, and the large hoop earrings that have been popular in recent years are also part of the story, said Ms. Krodel. Chain-link bracelets with large charms is a trend, and the charms are already added so you dont have to do it yourself, she said. Designers are taking the guesswork out. Theres lots of sterling silver paired with gold. The emergence of gold in general is a hot trend, and silver keeps the cost down, so you can get the look for less. And inexpensive styles are easy to find. Avon has tres affordable styles, and Vera Wangs Simply Vera line has multiple options ranging from multi-strand necklaces in 18k gold and sterling silver to chain-link goldtone bracelets. Rebecca Lau, who recently was highlighted during New York Fashion Week at the Gen Art Fresh Faces in Fashion show, has a collection of elegant link bracelets, necklaces, and earrings higher up the price scale at Henri Bendel and rebeccalaujewelry.com. Italy is renowned for producing gorgeous gold link jewelry, and Italian-born New York designer Ippolita has emerged at the forefront this season with a breathtaking collection of sculptural, handmade fine gold link jewelry. Theres a long tradition of large, fashion-oriented link jewelry as a staple of the fashionable woman in Italy, she said in a phone interview last week. Everybody has a version of it. Ippolita designs link jewelry to have an organic, crafted feel. Everything is handmade, which allows you to be a lot more expansive in your shape, she said. You want [pieces] to look sculptural without looking wacky, without looking crafty or funky. You want the feel that a craftsman actually touched this piece. Metalsmith ability has to come through. Part of the appeal of my jewelry in general is that its very tactile. In citing links as one of this seasons five key jewelry trends, the Jewelry Information Center described the look as a classically Italian, modern look thats a good wardrobe staple. Italians are known for their gold work, and I think its translated into a lot of different styles here, observed Ms. Krodel. But the difference is, the Italians really know how to keep the links very lightweight. They give the look of a big piece without it weighing a whole lot, and American designers are learning from that. Beyond its practicality and versatility, a piece of gold link jewelry just might be a good financial investment in these turbulent economic times. People are buying classics now because of the price of gold, said Ms. Krodel. And also, given the market, they want to invest in something that has intrinsic value and that theyre going to get multiple uses out of, season to season. The Block News Alliance consists of The Blade and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. LaMont Jones is fashion editor of the Post-Gazette. Contact him at: ljones@post-gazette.com.

Channel 11 names Ky. native weekend sports anchor
Natalie Grise is joining WTOL-TV, Channel 11, in Toledo as the new weekend sports anchor, replacing Gary Sensenstein.
She is currently the weekend sports anchor at KPLC-TV, WTOLs sister station in Lake Charles, La. Grise is a Louisville native and attended Western Kentucky University. Her first day at WTOL will be July 21.
Sensenstein retired last month after nearly 25 years at the station, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Toledo musician's songs featured on USA Network series
Two songs co-written by Toledo musician E.J. Wells will be featured in tomorrows episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
The new episode, which will run at 9 p.m. on the USA Network, will include the song Calivada, written with former Toledoan John Arduser, and actor Michael Massee lip syncing to We Are One Child, written by Dan OConnor and Wells. The seven-year-old police procedural drama set in New York City Vincent DOnofrio as a quirky investigator.

Calming dogs fear of thunderstorms
Dear Dr. Thompson: My dog is a 7-year-old terrier mix and has extreme anxiety attacks during thunderstorms. He crawls on top of everything headboard of the bed, couch, TV, tables, and even the car when I put him in the garage. He also digs with front pa ANSWER: Thunderstorm and fireworks phobias are extremely common this time of year, and given our string of recent bad weather, Im sure your dog has had a rough time. These phobias develop over time as a result of the disconnect between the noises they hear and the surroundings. Often our attempts to calm our pets have the unintended effect of reinforcing the dogs fears.
Historically, heavy sedatives have been prescribed for fireworks and thunderstorm phobias, but prescription anti-anxiety medications like Xanax have had widespread success for many dogs. These medications help decrease the fear-based behavior and are relatively fast-acting. For many dogs, giving the medication at the first rumble of thunder in the distance is enough. For debilitating anxiety, a program of desensitizing your dog can help decrease the severity of his response. Recordings of thunderstorms, played very quietly at first and slowly made louder over time, may help. Some dogs need daily anti-anxiety medication at a low dose initially during the ever- increasing time around July 4 when fireworks are set off, but this is unusual. Ask your veterinarian what is best for your dog, and keep in mind it may require some fine-tuning to establish what works best for your pet. Dear Dr. Thompson: My 3-year-old Scottie has been running and will occasionally yelp and hold up a leg for couple of steps. I feel the leg and she does not seem to indicate it is painful. Is she getting a cramp or twinge in her leg? ANSWER: The symptom you describe is likely a common condition in smaller dogs called a luxating patella, or dislocating kneecap.