News 2008-08-01 Andanh.com

Port Authority board fires Hartung; Toth named interim president
Paul Toth, Jr., has been named interim president of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority following the firing Friday morning of agency President James Hartung "immediately and with cause."
Mr. Toth, a 19-year port authority employee, is a past director of Toledo Express Airport and is currently the port authoritys vice president for technical and financing services. "I have worked with Paul for the last several years as a board member and have been impressed with his dedication and commitment to the port authority," William Carroll, chairman of the port authoritys board of directors, said in announcing Mr. Toths selection as interim president. A national search for Mr. Hartungs permanent replacement will now be conducted.
Mr. Hartungs firing Friday morning concluded a port authority investigation of his hiring of a lobbyist with whom he was accused of having an affair. The 13 directors unanimous vote followed 50 minutes of resumed closed-door discussions in a fourth-floor conference room in the National City Bank building after a nearly four-hour deliberation on Thursday. Mr. Carroll said at a brief news conference after the vote that he could not reveal the reasons behind the firing, citing "attorney-client privilege," but that an interim replacement would be named by Friday afternoon. A national search will be launched to find a permanent successor to Mr. Hartung. Mr. Carroll said Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, whose accusations of wrong-doing by Mr. Hartung prompted the investigation, would not be asked to be the interim president. If he wants to be named to the job permanently, "hed have to go through the application process, give us his resume like anybody else," Mr. Carroll added. PORT AUTHORITY MEETING ON FRIDAY

Mr. Hartung, accompanied by his attorney, Kevin Greenfield, walked briskly out of the building before the news conference, saying only that he was not prepared to comment.
"Im going to have to talk to my family, to my lawyer," the deposed executive said. Mr. Finkbeiner was not immediately available to comment Friday morning. The roll-call vote to terminate Mr. Hartung was a somber affair, with long faces all around the conference table and some port directors stating their votes in soft voices. Angie Bailey, who along with being the clerk for board meetings was Mr. Hartungs personal secretary, sobbed quietly as the unanimous tally concluded. The decision to fire Mr. Hartung after more than 14 years as the port authoritys president was based entirely on the contents of thousands of documents the port authority and its attorneys reviewed and more than two dozen interviews, Mr. Carroll said. "We conducted a serious, independent review. There was no pressure from outside influences," the chairman said. He then specified that a parallel investigation Mr. Finkbeiner launched July 21 had no bearing on the port boards decision. As he did when the mayors investigation began, Mr. Carroll criticized it as "redundant" and "expensive" and having been launched "when he didnt know what we were doing." The board of directors "takes seriously its role as a public agency and dedicates itself to act properly and ethically," the chairman said. "This has been a very difficult process," Mr. Carroll said. "This investigation has taken place in an expeditious manner, as it is vital we get back to the critically important work that the port authority does." Mr. Finkbeiner had voiced skepticism that Spengler Nathanson, a Toledo law firm that the port authority has long employed as its outside counsel, could conduct an impartial investigation of port staff conduct. A city law department request for public records from the port authority covered documents pertaining not only to Mr. Hartungs conduct, but to the Jan. 18 resignation of James Mettler, the port authoritys vice president for new project development who received a $40,000 buyout and six months continuing health insurance when he left. Mr. Carroll declined to say whether the circumstance of Mr. Mettlers departure was a factor in Mr. Hartungs termination, again citing "attorney-client privilege." Lucas County Port board recesses on Hartung inquiry (From earlier editions.)
By DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER After nearly four hours of closed-door deliberations yesterday afternoon, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority's board of directors failed to conclude its investigation of port President James Hartung's lobbying expenses and decided to recess until this morning. Board leaders were tight-lipped upon exiting a conference room in the National City Bank building in downtown Toledo shortly after 5 p.m., saying they could not even discuss the nature of what they were reviewing that would require such an extended executive session.
"We're recessed until tomorrow [Friday] morning. That's all we can say. We're still in executive session," Opie Rollison, the board's vice chairman, said.
"We want to make sure it's done right and legal," board Chairman William Carroll said.
Before entering the executive session, the port board agreed to put a renewal of the agency's 0.4-mill levy on the Nov. 4 ballot - a proposal whose passage could end up hinging on public perception of Mr. Hartung's conduct and the port authority's investigation.
During a levy committee meeting that preceded the full board of directors' session, committee member Dennis Duffey acknowledged that a controversy over Mr. Hartung's hiring of lobbyist Kathy Teigland had created bad publicity for the agency, but "I expect that to be put to rest in the very near future."
Mr. Duffey, a retired electrical-workers union leader whose term on the port board expired at midnight yesterday, said he considers the levy renewal to be a simple matter that is unlikely to attract organized opposition.
Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner has raised allegations of wrongdoing by Mr. Hartung that prompted the port's investigation.
According to the mayor, Mr. Hartung steered a lobbying campaign on behalf of the port authority and other local entities to Ms. Teigland while he was having an affair with her.
Mr. Finkbeiner attributed that information to "prominent members of the community," whom he has not named.
Mr. Hartung has declined to comment. Ms. Teigland has not returned phone messages.
Mr. Finkbeiner subsequently declared that the port board's decision to use the agency's regular outside law firm, Spengler Nathanson, to conduct its investigation to be inadequate and has launched a separate city investigation of Mr. Hartung.
In response to a city public records request, the port authority has turned over thousands of pages of documents related to the lobbying effort and other port business, including the resignation early this year of James Mettler, a port vice president who received a $40,000 buyout and six months of medical coverage.
Mayor Finkbeiner yesterday said the city's investigation being conducted by the law department will take about a month, and that he expects to receive more documents in response to the public records request.
"We have still not gotten half of what we think are key documents," he said.
Jim Jeffries, a Spengler Nathanson attorney, was the only person other than the port board's 13 members to participate in the executive session yesterday.
Walking away from the meeting room after the board voted to close the doors, Mr. Hartung said he didn't know where he was going to wait out the deliberations: "Maybe into seclusion?"
The port board meeting is scheduled to reconvene at 7:30 a.m. today.
During the levy discussion, Mr. Hartung had cautioned about "a lot of anti-levy sentiment out there" and noted that a port question would be one of at least seven on the Lucas County ballot.
Along with Mr. Duffey, levy committee member Bruce Baumhower acknowledged that this fall will be a less than ideal time for the port authority to put a levy request - even a renewal that won't change anyone's taxes - on the ballot.
Besides the Hartung matter, he noted, the port authority is affected by drastic airline cutbacks at Toledo Express Airport, which the agency manages.
And with a vigorous presidential campaign under way, Mr. Baumhower, who is president of United Auto Workers Local 12, warned that organized labor volunteers the port authority have depended on in the past to help get out the pro-levy vote will be consumed this fall by the campaign to elect Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama.
But the port authority has "some really exciting stuff happening" at the Port of Toledo, involving both cargo growth and revitalization of the Toledo Shipyard, Mr. Baumhower said in urging fellow port directors to go forward with seeking a levy renewal this fall even though it does not expire until the end of 2009.
Thomas Palmer, another levy committee member and a past port board chairman, said his only concern was about the port authority's ability to mount an effective levy campaign when it is getting a late start, especially considering that television advertising slots will be soaked up by the presidential rivals.
"It's a question of whether we're effectively heard, not that we have a bad message," Mr. Palmer said.
The port authority's request must be approved by the Lucas County commissioners before Aug. 21.
The agency has not yet submitted updated revenue-forecast documents, but the current levy generates about $2.2 million annually. The money is used for capital expenses at port-owned facilities and for neighborhood-revitalization grants.
Contact David Patch at: dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.

Ohio establishments count down to Keno
COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio bars, restaurants, racetracks and bowling alleys are making final preparations to become Keno parlors when the states new lottery game starts Monday.
Keno resembles bingo, with winnings based on how many correct numbers a player has out of 20 numbers picked. Players will use video terminals connected to the game online, and new numbers will be drawn every four minutes between 11:04 a.m. and 1:44 a.m. A $1 ticket has the potential to turn into $300,000 in winnings.
At Jimmy Vs in Columbus, bar manager Sarah Griffith says patrons are very excited about Keno. Gov. Ted Strickland backed the game to raise money to close an expected budget gap. He expects the lottery expansion to bring in $73 million during the first year.

Sergeant shows jury how he shot Lima mom
LIMA, Ohio - Sitting on the witness stand yesterday, a serious-faced Joseph Chavalia didn't hesitate when he was asked point-blank: "Who killed Tarika Wilson?"
"I did," the Lima police sergeant replied.
"Who shot and wounded Sincere Wilson?" Special Prosecutor Jeff Strausbaugh then
asked. "Those rounds were fired by me," Sergeant Chavalia responded.
On the fourth day of his trial in Allen County Common Pleas Court on misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and negligent assault, Sergeant Chavalia, 52, took the stand to give his account of what happened on the night of Jan. 4 when Wilson, a 26-year-old mother of six, was shot to death and her 1-year-old son was wounded. Under questioning by defense attorney Bill Kluge, Sergeant Chavalia said he was "absolutely, positively" convinced he was being fired upon by a shadowy figure he saw duck in and out of an upstairs bedroom as he made his way up the stairs of Wilson's Third Street house.
The figure, which he first detected as a "movement to his left," appeared as "shades of gray, shadows, a silhouette" that he determined was a human being.
"As I saw the form, that became a threat because I had no idea what it was other than it was a human being and I based that on its size, shape, and movement," he said.
In a few brief moments, he said, the figure appeared from behind the doorway and, at the same time, he heard gunfire. The figure ducked behind the doorway again, he said, and when it reappeared the third time, he again heard gunfire, and made the critical decision to return fire. All the time, he said, he was yelling commands for the person to get down on the floor.
"There was absolutely, positively no doubt in my mind right then and there that whatever this was is shooting and they're trying to kill me," he told the jury.
Wilson's mother, Darla Jennings, immediately left the courtroom sobbing.
Asked by Mr. Kluge if he knew what he was firing at, Sergeant Chavalia said, "I knew I was firing at that human being. There was no doubt in my mind."
What he didn't know was that he had shot and killed Wilson with two bullets to the neck area and shot her young son in the shoulder, severing one of his tiny fingers.
What he didn't know was that Wilson's five other children were in the same bedroom, that neither she nor the children had any weapons, and that the gunfire he heard came from the kitchen below where two SWAT team members had shot two pit bulls that Wilson's boyfriend and the target of the drug raid, Anthony Terry, had let loose on police.
While Mr. Strausbaugh attempted repeatedly to show that Sergeant Chavalia was negligent in firing because he had not correctly identified his target, several other SWAT team members and a former FBI agent hired by the defense testified that an officer is justified in using deadly force to protect his life or the life of others.
Sergeant Chavalia "acted appropriately," said Lt. Chris Protsman, commander of the SWAT team.
Urey Patrick, the former FBI agent and a $2,000-a-day consultant who said he frequently represents police officers in civil and criminal cases involving use of force, told the jury they can't look at the situation knowing the facts that Sergeant Chavalia couldn't have and didn't know when he pulled the trigger.
"You have to look at the totality of the circumstances a law enforcement officer finds himself in. You can't bring in information after the fact that the officer had no way of knowing at the time," Mr. Patrick said. "You can't go back and use 20/20 hindsight."
Two SWAT team members who took the stand yesterday testified that they, too, believed the SWAT team was being fired upon when they heard the gunshots fired soon after they burst into Wilson's home.
"I believed the team was coming under fire and I dropped to one knee," said Officer Kelly Ricker, who was on the first floor but had not seen the dogs.
Sergeant Chavalia, who was hired by Lima police in 1977 and has taught courses in both firearms and defensive tactics, conceded he "never had more than a partial target," but said he felt he had no other options.
"I could have stayed there and gotten killed and not done anything which was not an option in my mind," he said.
At Mr. Strausbaugh's request, the sergeant reluctantly demonstrated the way he was holding his rifle when he fired through a stair railing toward the doorway where Wilson was struck while in a crouched position.
He had the gun pointed slightly upward and said he did not use the scope on the gun to take aim.
"I was looking at the human subject that was in the doorway," he said, admitting he could not tell if the figure was male or female.
He said he could not see her hands, face, any weapon, a muzzle flash, or the child in her arms.
"I did not see a child at any time," Sergeant Chavalia said.
"So, did you properly identify your target," Mr. Strausbaugh asked.
"Yes, I did," the sergeant replied.
The trial is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Monday.
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-353-5972.

Mayor ups count of Toledo residents by 16,000
Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner yesterday announced his administration has identified about 16,000 people living in the city who were not included in a U.S. Census Bureau population estimate.
"They've just been using an estimate each year, not a real count," Mr. Finkbeiner said. "The reason it's important is because you get a percentage of federal dollars based on your population."
Toledo's 2007 population officially was listed as 295,029 - down 0.9 percent from the previous year's estimate of 297,806.
The mayor this month announced a new effort to count more Toledoans in 2010, the next U.S. Census.
At the time, he said his administration had identified 1,400 addresses previously not recorded on the Census Bureau's address list and, subsequently, 4,000 people were not included.
Now, that number of addresses is up to 7,000 single-family residences with an average of 2.3 people living within each.
If verified by the Census Bureau, the city's official population would be pushed to nearly 314,000, Mr. Finkbeiner said.
Calvin Lawshe, director of the Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions, said the 7,000 addresses are in the process of being verified by "Toledo's 2010
Everyone Counts Committee," a task force created by the mayor.
"There is no doubt that we
are going to end up challenging the number and doing better," Mr. Lawshe said. "I just don't want to start locking in a number. "We have always felt we had more units than we were being given credit for," he said.
Mr. Lawshe is co-chairman of the committee along with Bill Kitson, president and chief executive officer of the United Way of Greater Toledo, and John Jones, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League.
Mayor Finkbeiner is among a number of mayors nationwide who have criticized census estimates as being too low.
Mr. Finkbeiner said the city would be working with Social Compact Inc., a Washington-based nonprofit organization, to file an official challenge to the census.
Toledo, Cleveland, Dayton, and Akron all lost population in 2007 over 2006, according to the census' most recent estimates.
Columbus continued its steady population increase, gaining 4,779 people, or 0.6 percent, to reach a total of 747,755.
Cincinnati reversed years of decline through a challenge of the census estimate in 2005.
Social Compact was hired by Cincinnati for that challenge.
Cleveland had the greatest decline in the nation from 2006 to 2007, losing 5,067 people.
Contact Ignazio Messina at:
imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171.

Erie Street Market shows will go on, city leaders say
The "Metro Mixer" today and the concert tomorrow night at Toledo's newest downtown entertainment venue - the Erie Street Market - will go on, city leaders insisted yesterday.
That's despite accusations of stolen stage lights and a political uproar over how Mayor Carty Finkbeiner used almost $80,000 of taxpayer money to renovate part of the city-owned building.
Local concert promoter Robert Croak, of the Verso Group, was tapped by the mayor to schedule shows and events at the market, 237 South Erie St.
Today's mixer, dubbed "First Fridays," begins at 4 p.m., and will feature Rodney Parker and Liberty Beach, DJ Rob Sample, and Bridges. The blues-rock duo The Black Keys will perform at 8 p.m. tomorrow.
Over the past month, a flurry of work, lasting some nights until midnight, has been taking place to transform the market's largest area - Bay 4 - back into a concert and event space.
Croak yesterday said 24 stage lights belonging to him were installed recently in that section of the building after being removed from Headliners, 4500 North Detroit Ave.
Anthony Varwig, owner of that concert venue, wants them back.
According to a police report, Mr. Varwig said Croak had no right to remove the lighting.
"They were just taken out unbeknownst to me," he said yesterday. "We are meeting with detectives and the bottom line is I just want what belongs to me back."
Croak said he has a receipt for the lights and promised they would be working by the time the show starts tomorrow night at the market's newly renovated Toledo Civic Theatre. It used to be called the Civic Auditorium.
Headliners is taking a huge hit at the expense of the city's reopening the market for concerts and Croak's switch to that location.
The Black Keys were to play at Headliners as was the national punk band New Found Glory on Sept. 21. But both groups were moved by Verso to the city-owned building.
The Finkbeiner administration said it is staying out of the dispute between Croak and Headliners.
"Sounds like to me we are in the middle of a divorce," said Andy Ferrara, a city economic development specialist who monitors the market for the mayor's office.
Installation of the lights along with other work, including the expansion of an outdoor deck, painting, floor restoration, and restoration of the space's historic stage, were funded without prior knowledge of or approval by Toledo City Council, which has some members up in arms.
Republican Councilman George Sarantou yesterday called the mayor's action's deceptive. "Why didn't the administration notify council that they were planning to make major renovations to the Erie Street Market?" he asked.
"I think we had a right to know because we asked for a business plan and because the administration knows how deeply concerned we are about the Erie Street Market."
Councilman D. Michael Collins, an independent, was the first to publicly question the cost of the renovations and how the mayor was able to make them without council approval, which is needed for expenditures over $10,000.
The work at the market totals $79,879, which was split into 13 contracts - each less than the $10,000 threshold, according to Finkbeiner administration records.
Democratic Councilman Frank Szollosi yesterday said he asked the clerk of council to request a legal opinion regarding the money spent for the civic theatre at the market.
Mr. Szollosi thinks a section of the city charter prohibits spending on a "municipal theater" without a referendum.
"Clearly, bundling the [market] expenditures also violates the spirit and intent of the charter section requiring council approval over $10,000," he wrote in an e-mail yesterday.
Council President Mark Sobczak said council would get answers on Wednesday when the Finkbeiner administration is sure to face tough questions about the expenditures on the market during a council committee-of-the-whole meeting.
"Council is going to have to make a determination of what we are going to do," Mr. Sobczak said. "If they want to go a different course, they can do that and if they want to stay the course, they can do that."
Robert Reinbolt, the mayor's chief of staff, said 1,250 tickets had been sold so far for tomorrow's concert. The venue will hold 2,200.
Croak is keeping 100 percent of the gate but is not permitted to keep any proceeds from alcohol sales, of which the city will get 60 percent.
Croak was convicted on one count of forgery and has been arrested for but not convicted of underage alcohol sales, according to court records. The forgery conviction stems from a 2001 accusation that Croak falsified records to obtain a liquor permit.
Contact Ignazio Messina at:
imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171.

McCain goes negative
THROUGHOUT his 26-year career in public life, John McCain has presented himself as a man of honor, a fearless maverick unafraid to speak the truth even if it often refl ects poorly on his own political party.
Why, then, is the Arizona senator stumbling headlong with a largely dishonorable presidential campaign, camoufl aging his own shortcomings by fecklessly impugning his opponents integrity and spouting what amount to outright lies? As evidence, we reference the McCain TV commercial blaming Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, for the high cost of gasoline; Mr. McCains mendacious comment that Mr. Obama went to the gym in Germany rather than visit wounded American troops, and the even more desperate claim that his opponent would lose a war in order to win the presidency. Such vicious nonsense nothing more than the political equivalent of drive-by shootings gives the distinct impression that Mr. McCain is willing to destroy his own reputation for honor in order to save it, and win the November election himself.
If that sounds like an echo from the Vietnam War era, it is no accident. Mr. McCain, who built a career in public life on his 5½-year ordeal as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, seems still to be fi ghting that fruitless conflict. He has staked his campaign for the White House on a die-hard defense of President Bushs war in Iraq, a pledge to indefinitely continue an unjustified and unwinnable war that a large segment of the American public opposes and wants to see ended. To obscure the fact that Mr. Obama has been on the sane side of this issue from the beginning, the McCain tactic is to impugn some sinister political motive to the Illinois senator, to declare, in effect, that he has no right to be right. Thats poll-driven, consultant-conjured desperation speaking, not the level-headed, straight-talking public servant the American public formerly knew as John McCain. Even some of his fellow Republicans arent buying it. Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam vet and certainly no fuzzy-headed liberal, put the lose a war, win the campaign accusation in perspective. I think John is treading on some very thin ground here when he impugns motives and when we start to get into, Youre less patriotic than me, Im more patriotic, Mr. Hagel said. I admire and respect John McCain very much Johns better than that. In regard to the allegation that Mr. Obama dissed wounded troops in Germany in favor of a work-out, several news services examined the facts and determined it wasnt true. Mr. Hagel, who accompanied the senator on the Afghanistan/Iraq portion of his trip, pointed out that Mr. Obama would have been accused of taking advantage of American soldiers for political purposes. Besides, he said, we saw troops everywhere we went on the congressional delegation. We went out of our way to see those troops. As for tying Mr. Obama to high gas prices, thats just one more scattershot charge used by GOP politicians to defl ect attention from the fact that they have been as responsible as anyone for preventing serious fuel-economy policies that could have reduced pain at the pump. In sum, Mr. McCain does himself a disservice by engaging in the politics of prevarication. He may win, but hes discarding his own honor in the process.

Kirk - McCain's straight talk

TARTA is increasingly frustrating
Two items in the July 25 edition of The Blade caught my attention, both related to TARTA. The first was the coverage of the public hearing on the No. 3 route. The second was the column by Special Assignments Editor Dave Murray.
I, too, am a No. 3 rider, and while I could not attend the hearings, I sent written comment very similar to The Blade's coverage. Under the current schedule, it takes me about 45 minutes to get to my dentist. With the new schedule, which will involve taking the bus downtown and transferring, the time will be about an hour and 20 minutes. To get to the doctor, instead of a 15 to 20-minute trip, it will be at least an hour, again going downtown and transferring back out. Perhaps, the No. 3 should become an in-town Call-a-Ride.
I congratulate Mr. Murray on his experience taking the bus to work. He noted that it took 42 minutes to get to his job. Good for him. Before I retired I could get to work in a similar time on TARTA. Since most of the people quoted were senior citizens, is the message that they have the time and therefore need not be accorded the best service? As a person who chooses not to own a car, I am beginning to feel more and more frustrated.
Kathie King
Hill Avenue
Mayor was elected to make changes
Regarding the July 21 letter in The Blade titled "Mayor mistreating village volunteers," the writer says the new Waterville mayor has chosen not to reappoint members of committees and boards whose terms are up.
I voted for Derek Merrin because I wanted new blood. I did not vote for Mr. Merrin to continue business as usual. I would like to see new people. I commend him for not reappointing people; reappointing is nothing but doing business as usual.
The writer should quit crying. If Mr. Merrin thought that she were as valuable as apparently she does, perhaps, he would have reappointed her.
As for no thank you for four years of service, again, stop crying.
John Gensler
Waterville
Mosquitoes spoiling enjoyment of garden
Like many in Toledo, I planted a garden for pleasure and for the benefits of growing my own vegetables.
During the past two weeks, I have been completely unable to leave my house to either enjoy the weather or to work in the garden because of the swarms of mosquitoes. Last evening, I briefly walked into the yard a distance of 10 feet and was bitten 22 times. I've used insect spray and creams to no avail and finally called Lucas County to find out when they are going to spray for the nasty little disease-carrying biters. The spokesperson on the phone said they have sprayed this area twice, but the skeeters are making it impossible to enjoy the brief warm weather and associated summer activities. What are they spraying with, human pheromones?
Whims Ivey
Airline Avenue
Irresponsible DJ running down city
I have two children, ages 11 and 13. I like to consider myself a good parent. I try to monitor what they watch on television and I don't allow them to have a TV in their bedrooms. I do, however, allow them listen to the radio. Their favorite radio station is 92.5 KISS FM. This is a station I believe targets young people to listen. I thought their content would be less questionable. I was wrong.
I walked into my son's room recently and heard a DJ named Boomer call a random hotel room and harass a man who was sleeping. My son thought it was funny. There were many words that disc jockey had to bleep out because of repeated curse words of the "victim."
I told my son he was no longer allowed to listen to this station, took the radio downstairs, and continued to listen to see what my kids have been exposed to.
I was alarmed to hear the DJ belittle a young man from East Toledo for calling his show. I found it extremely rude that this Boomer called the caller a "stupid Toledo guy."
With the amount of apathy in our community, the lack of work, the poor economy, do we really need a broadcaster in our town referring to the population as "stupid Toledo guys?"
I think something must be done to stop the irresponsibility of 92.5 KISS FM and Boomer on the Radio.
Dave Mazur
131st Street
Politicians need to get out of the way
Did you ever notice that Wood County is booming, and most of us can't name a single Wood County commissioner? I don't even know how many they have. Perhaps it's because they know that when politicians get out of the way and remove arbitrary regulations and fees, economic development just happens.
In Toledo and Lucas County, many politicians are so concerned with taking credit for projects that they remove control of the project from the person who's paying for it. Politicians who have never owned or managed a business have no business telling developers and entrepreneurs how to run a business. These people couldn't function in the private sector. In the private sector, when you have a zero balance in your checking account, you have to stop spending money.
The junior-high feuds that take place in the headlines of The Blade are embarrassing. This juvenile bickering and A team/B team garbage only hurts the city. They vote against each other regardless of the merit of the project or issue.
It's all about getting re-elected. Meanwhile, the movers and shakers are moving away.
Marikay Blankenship
Sylvania Township
Religion reporting is fair, unbiased
Blade ombudsman Jack Lessenberry's views of Blade religion editor David Yonke's blogs were as fair and balanced as Mr. Yonke's stories, blogs, and book on religious subjects and issues.
Mr. Yonke's constitutional freedoms did not end when he accepted a journalist position. He should not be intimidated by anyone into eliminating, or even restricting, his blogging activities.
Mr. Yonke's objective as a reporter is to present the news truthfully and, as much as possible, without offense or judgment. One of Sally Oberski's roles as communications director for the Catholic Diocese of Toledo is to manage the news as much as possible, with special emphasis on damage control.
I have read dozens of Mr. Yonke's Blade stories and blogs, as well as his book, Sin, Shame & Secrets, about the Gerald Robinson case, and have found him to be, without exception, more than fair and free of bias.
His coverage of the Toledo Police Department's success in obtaining Diocese of Toledo "secret files" may have Pulitzer Prize potential.
Indeed, the diocese is very fortunate that the local religion editor is an ethical and sensitive reporter who has uncommonly high professional standards.
Many other dioceses would be very grateful to have such balanced and unsensationalized reporting in their local papers.
Richard Rosenbaum
Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Use campaign cash to meet U.S. voters
What are these two guys thinking? Barack Obama went to Berlin to give a meaningless speech, then traveled to meet with the president of France, while John McCain met with the Dalai Lama. Seems to me they could spend our campaign contributions more wisely by meeting with everyday American voters who are experiencing real problems in our own country.
Some things never change. It seems these two are more interested in a good photo-op than working on solving America's problems. How many electoral votes do Germany and France have?
Doug Abodeely
Sylvania
Great minds think alike
A recent Blade editorial stated that Pete Gerken and Tina Skeldon Wozniak have voted together because "one commissioner is blindly following the other, or the two are somehow aligning their votes in advance." The editorial neglected to mention a third and more probable reason: two great minds that think alike. Patricia L. Donatelli Mapleway Drive

Land of opportunity
BLAKE Gottesman is living proof that it pays to have girlfriends in high places. The young man, who once dated Jenna Bush in high school, has moved up from taking care of President Bush's dog, Barney, and holding the President's coat.
He's on board to become the next deputy chief of staff at the White House, overseeing day-to-day operations and pulling down a $172,000-a-year-salary.
Is this a great country, or what?
Mr. Gottesman, 28, was recently promoted from his job as the President's personal aide, known as the "body man," to a position on a par with other top administration officials like the press secretary and national security adviser.
Having graduated from such duties as supplying Mr. Bush with Sharpie pens for autograph signing and hand sanitizers to ward off germs, he will fill the shoes of Joe Hagin, a man nearly twice his age, who is leaving to become a chief executive in the private sector.
And so it goes as the lamest of lame duck Presidents fills key White House vacancies in the dwindling days of his term in office. Mr. Gottesman, a college dropout who somehow was able to earn a Harvard MBA, joins a coterie of other fresh-faced aides enjoying lofty executive branch jobs and seeing the world aboard Air Force One.
"The 30-somethings have left, and now we're down to 20-somethings," observed Paul Light, a political scientist at New York University. "It's kind of like a summer job in college."
White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten believes Mr. Gottesman is "uniquely situated" to assume the responsibilities of the departing deputy chief of staff for operations because "he retains the respect and confidence of everybody from the President and First Lady on down."
Even though his relationship with the now-married Jenna didn't work out, the former boyfriend has no regrets. And why should he? He's just one more success story in that great font of opportunity at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Utah won't be easy test for Michigan
A hypothetical question, coach.
Rich Rodriguez, say your Michigan Wolverines had to open the 2008 season today against the Utah Utes.
Not in a few weeks on Aug. 30, with time to build cohesion between your young Wolverines squad and your coaching staff, but today. How's 3:30 p.m. sound?
"I can't sleep now. You want me to think about that question?" Rodriguez said recently.
The Wolverines scheduled opponents for this season long before Rodriguez took over at Michigan. Still, no one did him any favors by making Utah Rodriguez's first opponent as the Wolverines' coach.
Utah isn't Appalachian State, and everyone knows how last year's opener turned out.
The Utes went 9-4 overall and 5-3 in the Mountain West Conference last season, finishing with a 35-32 triumph over Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl.
Some key players return for the Utes, including quarterback Brian Johnson and running back Darrell Mack, whose 1,204 rushing yards last season were the third-most in school history. Four starters from Utah's offensive line are also back, as is Poinsettia Bowl most valuable player, safety Steve Tate. Utes coach Kyle Whittingham will lead this core group into Michigan Stadium to face a Rodriguez team running its spread-option offense against an opponent for the first time.
"It's a difficult game because of who they are, who they've got coming back," Rodriguez said. "Everyone always says,
'Oh, you want to open up with a good team.' Not if you're a young team, you don't. I'd rather open up with somebody bad. Are you kidding me? I'll be honest. We're opening up with somebody really good."
This is not to say Rodriguez can't or won't win his first game on UM's sidelines. The fact is, the Wolverines don't have to play today and beginning Monday will have 29 practices to settle on a quarterback and fine tune a defense that is returning seven starters.
There likely isn't a coach in the history of college football who wasn't dying to win his first game, nor a team that didn't want to help him do it.
But the feeling is perhaps even more intense for Rodriguez and the Wolverines, who haven't exactly had an easy go of things since Rodriguez's arrival in December.
From Justin Boren transferring to Ohio State and questioning UM's "family values" to an ugly $4 million lawsuit Rodriguez settled with West Virginia (thanks to a $2.5 million payment from UM), some fans and alumni are already uncomfortable with the negative attention the program has received. And then there's the issue of four consecutive losses to Ohio State, which is no fault of Rodriguez but a sore spot nonetheless.
"If the coach is worried about what the fans are thinking, he'll wind up sitting with them," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez and his players say they don't have time to worry about the recent past.
"I think our focus needs to be right now on getting Michigan better," Rodriguez said. "We have so much on our plate as coaches and players that I can't even think about Utah yet. Two weeks into camp I will be, though."

READY ... SET ... HIKE: FOOTBALL PRACTICE BEGINS
Perrysburgs Kyle Szczublewski takes a water break yesterday on the first day of high school football practice.

Matt Slocum looks to throw a pass.

Mitch Griffith catches a pass in front of Szczublewski. The Blades high school football section will be published Aug. 20 and the season begins Aug. 22.
ALSO

THIN SLICES: LeBron makes Facebook

UT freshmen could make an impact
When the University of Toledo football team opens camp Thursday, coach Tom Amstutz and his staff will pay extra attention to a few freshmen on offense.
Amstutz said earlier this week at Mid-American Conference football media day that freshman Kenny Stafford is expected to compete for the starting third wide receiver spot. Stafford, a 6-foot-4, 185-pounder from Columbus, is the nephew of former NFL star Cris Carter.
"I normally don't do this too much, but there's a really talented wide receiver that's a true freshman coming in, Kenny Stafford," Amstutz said. "He's had a tremendous summer of working out. The kid's very talented, he's a big receiver, tremendous hands and quickness. I wouldn't be surprised if he plays an important role on our team."
At Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School, Stafford had 25 catches for 444 yards and six touchdowns his senior year. Rivals.com ranked him as the 24th-best player in Ohio.
"We can tell how physical and fast he is by working out," Amstutz said. "He might be that special kind of guy."
Also, Morgan Williams, a former two-time Ohio Division I player of the year at running back, is academically eligible after sitting out last season. Williams had tremendous numbers his final two seasons at Canton McKinley, with at least 2,400 yards rushing and 31 touchdowns each year.
"Morgan Williams is ready to go," Amstutz said. "That's going to be a guy that no one knows about in our league. He was an outstanding high school player at Canton McKinley. He's eligible and ready to play."
MAKING COMEBACKS: Amstutz said the players who missed last season with injuries and did not participate in spring practice will be ready to go Thursday. That includes defensive ends Sean Williamson and Douglas Westbrook and offensive tackle Jan Gewont.
"Those guys are all back and working and conditioning and rehabbing at different levels," Amstutz said. "It's nice to have them coming back.
"They should be able to practice right away. We'll control it as we watch them work."
Defensive backs Tyrrell Herbert and Desmond Marrow, who also missed last season with injury, were at full strength in spring practice.
SPEED TO BURN: Amstutz stressed at the preseason meetings and at spring practice his defense will have much more speed this year.
Junior safety Barry Church agreed with that assessment.
"A couple of the freshman corners that are coming in have a lot of speed," Church said. "Kenny Veal, for example, and Andreas Ashwood. Also a couple junior college players - Tyler Roby has a chance to actually start. Joe Bates is another guy who has been up there this whole summer and is somebody to keep an eye on."
REDSHIRT TALK: Amstutz said it's a possibility the Rockets could redshirt sophomore RB/WR Gordon Warner. Warner played in six games as a true freshman last year and rushed for 126 yards and three touchdowns.
Warner is listed as fifth at running back on the preseason depth chart. He played some at slot receiver in spring drills.
Redshirt freshman Adonis Thomas is currently the No. 2 running back behind DaJuane Collins.
When the Rockets signed junior college quarterback Alex Pettee last winter, redshirting D.J. Lenehan in 2008 seemed like an option since Lenehan played last year in his true freshman season. Amstutz said for now, Lenehan is the No. 2 quarterback behind Aaron Opelt, and it's too early to tell if he would be redshirted.
Contact Maureen Fulton at:
mfulton@theblade.com or 419-724-6160.

Mud Hens coast to shutout win over Indianapolis
It took seven games, but the Mud Hens finally got to play a laugher at Fifth Third Field.
After six consecutive home games that were decided by three or fewer runs - including four one-run decisions - Toledo claimed a relatively easy 8-0 victory over Indianapolis last night.
"It was a nice birthday present for [hitting coach Leon] 'Bull' [Durham]," Hens manager Larry Parrish said of his team's 15-hit attack. "That was a nice game, and we haven't had many of those lately.
"We scored a bunch and we shut them down."
It looked as if the Mud Hens were going to continue their struggles hitting with runners in scoring position when their first three batters - Freddy Guzman, Clete Thomas and Brent Clevlen - collected hits to load the bases in the first, but Toledo managed just one run.
Timo Perez lifted a sacrifice fly to right that scored Guzman and sent Thomas to third. On a 3-2 pitch, Clevlen was running from first when Jeff Larish struck out, and the Tribe executed a rundown that eventually nabbed Thomas at the plate.
Back-to-back leadoff singles by Max St-Pierre and Guzman in the third didn't result in a run after a double play, but the Hens finally got to Thompson in a three-run fourth.
Perez led off with a double, then came home on a one-out double by Erick Almonte. A double off the wall in right-center by Michael Hollimon plated Almonte, and a two-out single by St-Pierre scored Hollimon.
Toledo finished the game 7-for-14 when hitting with runners in scoring position, a far cry from the team's 8-for-53 effort (.151 average) in those situations in the first six games of this homestand.
"I know I've had several opportunities with guys on third and less than two outs and haven't gotten the hit to drive them in - or even a sacrifice fly," said Clevlen, who finished with four of the Hens' 15 hits. "I thought we did a better job of fouling pitches off or hitting the ball the other way to get the guy in.
"It's been awhile since we've come through, so it's great to get that off our shoulders."
That outburst was more than enough offense for Hens starter Eddie Bonine, who shut out the Indians on five hits over seven innings to claim his third consecutive win with Toledo and improve his season record here to 12-2.
"He locates the ball well," Parrish said of Bonine. "He moves the ball in and out. And he throws that knuckleball, which is kind of a weird pitch - and you don't see it enough to zero in on it.
"And he doesn't panic when he's in trouble. He doesn't throw harder, get behind and have to throw a fastball down the middle. He doesn't get out of his game plan. He just executes."
Bonine weaved through trouble before retiring the final six Indianapolis hitters he faced. The Indians advanced runners to third in both the second and third innings before the right-hander got the outs he needed to avoid damage.
He nearly wasn't as fortunate in the fifth, when a single by Michel Hernandez and a one-out walk to Andrew McCutchen put two runners on. Then with two outs, Luis Ordaz lined a single to center, but Thomas threw out Hernandez at the plate to save the shutout.
"I made a few mistakes, and they got some singles and doubles," Bonine said. "But then I got some groundballs, and the next thing you know I got out of it.
"I just tried to make pitches. I told [catcher Max ] St-Pierre in the dugout after the inning where we scored three that we had to treat it like a 0-0 ball game and keep pitching."
Brian Rogers relieved Bonine and held the Indians off the board in the final two innings.
NOTES: An MRI revealed a cyst in Danny Worth's right shoulder, and it's not certain when or if Worth will play again this year. Yesterday Max Leon took batting practice from the right side for the first time since his injury Perez extended his current hit streak to 13 games with his double in the fourth. Last night's crowd of 10,403 was the Mud Hens 26th sellout this season and the 201st in the seven-year history of Fifth Third Field. It also marked the third time in ballpark history that every game in a homestand has sold out. It was "Tribute to Bobs Night"at the field last night. Every player was given the first name "Bob" by the night's public-address announcer, former Mud Hens - and current Tigers - P.A. man Bobb Vergiels.
Contact John Wagner at:
jwagner@theblade.com or 419-724-6481

Ohio State player pleads not guilty
COLUMBUS - An Ohio State University football player has pleaded not guilty to charges he was driving drunk near Ohio Stadium.
Defensive tackle Doug Worthington didn't appear in person at a hearing yesterday morning in Franklin County Municipal Court. The plea was entered by his attorney, who declined to comment afterward.
Campus police said Worthington failed sobriety tests when he was charged with two counts of driving under the influence in the early hours on Saturday. The 20-year-old from Buffalo, N.Y., also was charged with speeding and with having a plate on his vehicle that belonged on another car.
No trial date has been set.
2 at Penn State dismissed STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Just days after ESPN's Outside the Lines questioned whether Penn State football players that had gotten in trouble with the law were being disciplined enough, the team announced defensive tackles Chris Baker and Phil Taylor have been booted off the team.
Outside the Lines reported that 46 Penn State players have been charged with 163 criminal counts since 2002. Of those, 27 players pleaded guilty and were convicted of 45 counts.
While team spokesman Jeff Nelson gave no reason for the dismissal, it was confirmed police were investigating an incident at a pool party that may have involved several players.
According to a source close to the program, Baker and Taylor attended the party with former teammate Chris Bell, who was kicked off the team in the spring.
On July 22, Bell pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of making terroristic threats for his actions in April when, during an argument, he pulled an eight-inch knife on teammate Devon Still. Bell left the university and is enrolled at Norfolk State.
Baker, a junior from Windsor, Conn., was involved in two fights last year that got national attention. In May, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault and criminal trespass for his role in an April 2007 brawl at an off-campus apartment, and he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault for a fight last October.
Taylor, a junior from Brandywine, Md., pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in May in connection with the October fight.
WVU QB apologizes MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia quarterback Pat White apologized for his comments that accused Mountaineer baseball coach Greg Van Zant of not pursuing black athletes.
White has been selected three times in baseball's amateur draft. He was asked at the Big East football media day in Newport, R.I., whether he had spoken with Van Zant about the possibility of playing college baseball.
White said Van Zant "wasn't interested" in having him on the team and was "not too high" on black players. There were no blacks on the 2008 WVU baseball roster.
"Thinking back on my recent comments at Big East media day, I believe that I may have overstated my feelings on college baseball and the WVU baseball program," White said in a statement. "I have not played collegiate baseball in the past because I have concentrated on football and building on our success with my football family.
"I am sorry my comments have caused so many distractions. I am looking forward to putting this behind me and getting on the practice field with my teammates on Saturday."

FirstEnergy seeks to hike area electric rates
COLUMBUS - The typical Toledo Edison customer could see a barely noticeable drop in his electric bill next year under a proposed rate plan filed yesterday with state regulators.
But the longer-term outlook for the next three years would be higher prices.
"Considering our costs to produce and deliver electricity have increased dramatically since our last base-rate cases were decided more than a dozen years ago, we've designed a plan that provides for modest increases in electricity prices over the next three years," Anthony J. Alexander, president of Toledo Edison's Akron-based parent, FirstEnergy, said.
A new law reasserted the state's regulatory authority over electric utilities, slamming the brakes on the state's march toward an open electricity market that had resulted in price spikes in some other states which got there first.
The law required utilities to instead file three-year regulatory plans with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Those plans invariably included requests for rate hikes for the three major utilities whose rate plans expire on Dec. 31.
Under FirstEnergy's proposal, the average rates for customers across all of its subsidiaries would climb 5.3 percent next year, 4 percent in 2010, and 6 percent in 2011.
But in the higher-cost Toledo Edison territory, the monthly bill for the typical residential customer using 750 kilowatt hours would drop by 16 cents in 2009. The bills then would climb, however, by $3.06 in 2010 and $3.30 in 2011.
By comparison, Ohio Power's parent, Columbus-based American Electric Power, asked the PUCO to approve a rate hike of 45 percent over three years. Cincinnati-based Duke Energy's request involves an 11 percent hike over three years.
"The anticipated impact of the Electric Security Plans would be a one-two punch to customers' wallets, as any rate increases would be on the heels of the higher distribution rates proposed by most of Ohio's major electric and natural gas utilities," Ohio Consumers' Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander said.
The new law places decisions on rates in the hands of the PUCO, which will hold public hearings before issuing final decisions within 150 days.
While the law was designed to prevent price spikes, price increases still were generally expected in Ohio after a decade of relatively stable rates. Some electricity marketers and Ms. Migden-Ostrander, however, had suggested that if any area of the state stood a chance at seeing lower bills, it would be FirstEnergy's northern Ohio territory.
The utility's rates are the state's highest, partly because of surcharges that the utilities had been allowed to tack onto customers' bills to recoup investments in such things as nuclear power plants. Those surcharges will expire with current rate plans at the end of the year.
"For those who were concerned about the very large increases seen in some states, we're hopeful this addresses those concerns," FirstEnergy spokesman Ralph DiNicola said. "If the rates were approved for [all utilities] as submitted, it would largely eliminate whatever [price] variance existed in the past."
FirstEnergy's proposal includes an alternative market plan that the PUCO could consider. The plan would involve competitive bidding among electricity suppliers to serve customers in FirstEnergy's territory. Suppliers would bid on FirstEnergy business in increments of 100 megawatts of power.
"We believe the ESP would still be a savings compared to the market," Mr. DiNicola said. "The commission has the option in the third year to see if the market is a better deal, so for customers this is best of all worlds."
David Fein of electricity supplier Constellation Energy had yet to study the proposal.
"Whatever the rate plan looks like and how it's adopted by the commission, we are hopeful that Ohio consumers, especially those in northern Ohio who have suffered with higher rates, have the ability to select a competitive supplier if they so choose."
According to its proposal, FirstEnergy would offer to reduce the increase in its base generation rates by 10 percent for those who choose to buy their power from the local utility during the three-year period instead of buying it from another supplier. That amount would be deferred and later spread out and collected during a period of up to 10 years.
FirstEnergy waited until after the stock market closed yesterday before filing its plan. It was the last of the three major Ohio utilities whose current rate plans this year to do so.
The company noted that its Toledo Edison customers are currently paying $1.70 more per month for power than they did in 1996 when the utility had its last rate case. The average bill has increased more than that, however, because consumers' power consumption has increased 21 percent in that time.
For AEP's Ohio Power, which also serves portions of northwest Ohio, the average customer's monthly bill could climb $12 next year. The utility blamed the spike on higher fuel costs.
"The fact is that coal has doubled in cost in the last year alone, dramatically affecting AEP Ohio's cost," AEP Ohio President Joe Hamrock said. "The tools given to us by the state's new energy plan allow us to phase in those fuel price increases over time so that, unlike the spikes Ohioans see in so many products, AEP Ohio's rate increases are spread out to be made more affordable."
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com, or 614-221-0496.

GM's Chief Financial Officer: Automaker may consider more layoffs
DETROIT General Motors Corp. might offer another round of buyout and early retirement offers to its U.S. hourly workers because of production cuts, the company's chief financial officer said Friday.
Nearly 19,000 manufacturing workers or about 25 percent of GM's U.S. hourly work force signed up for the latest round of buyout offers, which ended July 1. Chief Financial Officer Ray Young said 90 percent of those workers have left the company.
GM took a $3.3 billion charge in the second quarter to pay for those buyouts, making up a big chunk of the $15.5 billion net loss the company reported Friday. Young said more buyouts could be coming because of a steep decline in demand for GM's trucks and sport utility vehicles, which have forced the closure of several North American plants. GM said in mid-July it plans to reduce North American production by 300,000 vehicles. The company is speeding up closures of pickup and SUV factories in Janesville, Wis.; Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; and Toluca, Mexico as it tries to deal with a rapid shift to smaller vehicles brought on by $4-per-gallon gasoline. It also is eliminating shifts at a Moraine, Ohio, SUV plant and a Shreveport, La., truck plant, and could cut further shifts. GM's hourly work force has been cut by more than half in recent years as the company adjusts its manufacturing to its shrinking U.S. market share. GM had a total of 113,000 U.S. hourly workers in 2006; it now has around 55,000. The company also is reducing its salaried work force. GM said in mid-July it would cut 20 percent of its U.S. and Canadian salaried costs, or around 5,000 workers. Those cuts are expected to be completed by November.

GM posts $15.5 billion 2nd-quarter loss
DETROIT General Motors Corp. says its losses widened to $15.5 billion in the second quarter as North American sales plummeted and the company faced expenses due to labor unrest and its massive restructuring plan.
Its the third-largest quarterly loss in company history. The company says the loss includes $9.1 billion in one-time charges, including $3.3 billion for the buyouts of 19,000 U.S. hourly workers. The second-quarter loss was $27.33 per share, compared with net profit of $891 million, or $1.56 per share for the same period a year ago. GM reported revenues of $38.2 billion, down $8.5 billion from a year ago.
The loss also includes $1.3 billion worth of write-offs because of a decline in value of GMAC Financial Services portfolio of trucks and sport utility vehicles. Those vehicles sales have plummeted due to high gas prices.

Dana lays off 100 at Maumee tech site as part of trim of 500 salaried jobs
Toledo's Dana Holding Corp. confirmed yesterday that it will lay off 500 salaried employees across North America, including about 100 at its facilities in the Maumee area.
Most of the local layoffs, which were carried out yesterday, involve workers at the automotive supplier's technical center in Maumee, company spokesman Chuck Hartlage said. No employees at Dana's Dorr Street headquarters were affected, he said.
The remaining 400 job cuts elsewhere throughout Dana's operations are to be put into effect over the next three months, he added. Dana has about 35,000 employees worldwide, including about 1,100 in the Toledo area.
Those laid off yesterday were salaried engineers and technical workers, or were in purchasing, administration, and sales, Mr. Hartlage said. He said he could not provide a range of salaries of those laid off.
Before yesterday's cuts, Dana's Automotive Systems Group Tech Center, near Briarfield Drive in Maumee, had about 470 employees.
In a letter to employees dated July 18, Chief Executive Officer Gary Convis hinted that the cuts were likely by saying that Dana needed to follow other auto suppliers who have cut their work forces.
"The why [of the layoffs] is the unprecedented pressures in the industry right now," Mr. Hartlage said. "Today's news is very much evidence of the turbulence in the North American auto industry right now."
Mr. Hartlage said Dana will provide severance and outplacement assistance to those losing their jobs.

Marathon's Findlay operations may be split off from Houston
FINDLAY -Northwest Ohio would gain a new publicly traded company under a proposal being studied at Houston-based Marathon Oil Co.
The firm's 1,500-person operation in Findlay, which oversees service stations, oil refineries, and miles of oil pipeline, would become a separate company if directors vote to split the company's two main business units.
"They would be two very strong publicly traded companies," said Angelia Graves, a Marathon spokesman in Findlay.
Marathon Oil was based in Findlay until 1982, when the firm was acquired by U.S. Steel Corp., of Pittsburgh.
Its independence was restored in 2001 when U.S. Steel, then USX Corp., split its steel and oil business into separate companies. Houston was picked as the headquarters of the new corporation.
But Marathon continued to have a significant presence in its longtime home in a three-building complex along South Main Street in downtown Findlay.
Wall Street reacted favorably yesterday to word of the study.
Investors sent Marathon shares up $4.34, or 10 percent, to $49.47 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The primary aim of the move would be to boost the value of shareholders' investments, executives said. Shareholders would receive stock in both firms, the company spokesman explained.
Directors are expected to make a decision by the fourth quarter, Ms. Graves said. Separation of the company could take effect in the first quarter of 2009, analysts said.
The impact on employment probably would be minimal, although Findlay operations might pick up a few positions in the legal field and regulatory compliance area, Ms. Graves said.
Findlay would retain the firm's marketing, refining, and transportation functions.
They include 1,600 Speedway and SuperAmerica service stations; 4,400 Marathon-licensed stations; wholesale fuel sales; oil refineries in Canton, Ohio, Detroit, and five other cities; oil terminals throughout the Southeast and Midwest; 8,000 miles of leased and owned pipeline, and a transportation system that includes river barges and trucks.
Houston would retain the exploration, oil-sands mining, and natural-gas businesses.
They have outperformed the Findlay operations recently. The firm's quarterly financial results, announced yesterday, showed that the Findlay businesses accounted for about $158 million of the firm's $744 million profit in the second quarter.
In the prior-year period, Findlay contributed $1.3 billion to the bottom line, records show.
But that doesn't mean that, if established, Marathon-Findlay would start out in a weakened state, analysts said.
John Parry, vice president and senior equity analyst with IHS Herold, in Norwalk, Conn., said the ultimate strength of Marathon's Findlay operations as a separate company may depend on what's allocated to it.
"It depends on what kind of shape they leave the balance sheet in when they do the separation," Mr. Parry said.
"I don't think [Houston] will turn it loose to see it fumble," he said.
Mr. Parry said Marathon has one of the largest independent refinery capacities in the industry and would be well positioned to process crude oil from the Canadian oil sands in Alberta. The company's retail brands are also a strength, he said.
"I would think Marathon is looking at it that they feel the [Houston] operations are doing very well, and that the [Findlay] operations are in a little bit of the doldrums so they're looking at whether two separate entities would be worth more than what they might be together right now," Mr. Parry said.
By stock-market value, $32 billion, Marathon is the sixth-largest U.S.-based oil company.
This report includes information from Reuters.
Contact Gary Pakulski at:
gpakulski@theblade.com or 419-724-6082.

Cavs fan? Your best friend LeBron makes his Facebook debut
"...as human beings we are capable of making sense of situations based on the thinnest slice of experience."
Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and The Tipping Point.
FRIDAY, JULY 31 WHAT'S UP, LEBRON? Every Cleveland Cavaliers fan in the world has a new friend on Facebook. (RL)
TOGA!!! TOGA!!!!! This week's Thin Slices weekend DVD pick is National Lampoon's Animal House, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. A counter-culture homage to bacchanalia, booze, and toga parties, the low-budget John Landis film proved that being bad really is better than being good, as this trailer shows. (RL) OMG!?! Looks like we're about to get a glimpse of Bragalina's super-twins. Just Jared says People magazine paid between $10-15 million for the first shots. Wouldntchaknow? They're going to give it to charity. While we're waiting for People to publish the pics, check out celebrity "B List" babies like Sheryl and Wyatt Crow. (AS) THURSDAY, JULY 31 WHERE'S ALYSON: Toledo actress Alyson Stoner has a new straight-to-DVD movie that was released yesterday - Alice Upside Down. Luke Perry and Penny Marshall help the effort. Check out Ryan E. Smith's review. (RL)
GIRLIE MEN? With Ultimate Fighting and even the women of the WNBA duking it out, is baseball losing its grit? Some die-hard baseball fans are begging the powers that be to dump the pitch count. Let the big guys go ahead and finish their games.Sign the petition. (KC) TWO-FACED: Totally Looks Like will take two photos and without mercy reveal some pretty funny combinations. Bono and Robin Williams, Sisqo and Donkey Kong, James Hetfield and Cowardly Lion. (KC) WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 BOOM-DE-AH-DAH, BOOM-DE-AH-DAH: Can't get going this morning? Get some . . . I Love the World with the Discovery Channel and Stephen Hawking. Then find Mike Rowe, Bear Grylls, the Deadliest Catch captains, Mythbusters, and Cash Cab's Benjamin Bailey sing their version. (KC)
WHO CAN RESIST a band named Natalie Portman's Shaved Head ? They'll be at Frankie's Inner City on Friday night in Toledo showing off their quirky blend of pop and alt-rock. (RL) TUESDAY, JULY 29 WHEN WILL THEY LEARN? Another radio "shock jock," another offensive
comment, and more controversy: this time it's Michael Savage yammering about autism that has sponsors pulling their ads. (RL) WALK ON THE WILD SIDE: El Caminito Del Rey (The Kings Pathway) is the pathway above the El Chorro gorge, near Alora in Malaga, Spain. Intense. The construction of this walkway was finished in 1905 and not much maintenance has been performed since. See if you can get through this 6:25 video without grabbing the arms of your office chair. (KC) IF YOU'RE BORED WITH THE OLYMPICS: Wife Carrying leads this list of the World's 10 Silliest Sporting Events. Goat Polo and Dog-Surfing failed to make the Top 5. (RS) START MAKING SENSE: Alternative rock granddaddies David Byrne and Brian Eno are back together for a new album and tour, which should bring some fresh sounds to a music scene that's been a bit stale. (RL) MONDAY, JULY 28 TRACK HOW Brett Favre and his suitors are screwing up the odds for Super Bowl XLIII. The Detroit Lions will probably remain 80-1 regardless of how the Favre sweepstakes turns out. (KC)
BE THE FIRST on your block to sport the new GPS with Knight Rider, which includes the stylings of voice actor William Daniels from the 1980s TV show. You will be tempted to begin getting lost on purpose, just so you could hear KITT make an announcement. (RS) WHO SAID IT: Bush or Batman? Can you guess which of these quotes - provided by Philadelphia sketch group, Secret Pants - belong to our president, George W. Bush, and which belong to Batman from his 1960s TV series? (RS) BARACK OBAMA's warmup acts at his recent Berlin speaking engagement were reggae artist Patrice and Reamonn, two very popular acts in Germany. (KC) THIN SLICING Have some Thin Slices to contribute or comment on?
Rod Lockwood Kevin Cesarz
ARCHIVES Week 1 Slices

Jason Michael Carroll finds himself in songs
Jason Michael Carroll has done some special things with his debut album, "Waitin' in the Country." "Alyssa Lies" and "Livin' Our Love Song" were Top 10 hits, and each had close to 400,000 digital downloads. "I Can Sleep When I'm Dead" topped out at No. 21.
He's hoping he can repeat the magic with his next album.
"There's this thing going around Nashville about a sophomore curse. People say you have your entire life to make your first record and only six months to record your second one, and I totally get that saying now," he says. "But it's been cool to be back in the studio with the songs we've picked. I really feel we have something worth sticking around for, and our next record is going to be really good as well."
That record should be out by the beginning of the year, and the first single is likely to be released in September. A couple of tracks that Carroll will likely play at his Wood County Fair show Saturday night are candidates to be that first single.
"Where I'm From" was written by Patrick Davis, a longtime friend of Carroll's. It tells the story of two guys sharing a flight from Memphis to Los Angeles and warns about the dangers of first impressions because the guy wearing that Armani suit might not be who you think he is. The chorus has a great hook that captivated Carroll.
"I remember hearing that and saying, 'Why hasn't someone cut this song yet?'•" he says. "A lot of artists cut songs called 'Where I'm From' or 'Who I Am,' and I was a little shy about doing that, but honestly, I feel this song is me."
"Barnburner" is a typical party song co-written by Brian Davis and Keith Anderson. Carroll fell in love with it and wanted to put it on his debut album, but Anderson held the rights to it.
"Keith Anderson called me up himself and said, 'Jason, you still like that song?' I said, 'Heck yeah.' He said, 'I thought I was going to put it on my album, but not now. You can have it if you want it.' And I remember thinking that I had to have that song."
Songs have always been the most important thing for Carroll. He's most proud of the fact that he's recorded songs that have been special to him.
"My mom called me up after my first album came out and said she was really proud of me. I naturally assumed it was for finally reaching some of my goals I'd set for myself. She made it clear that it was not only for that but because every song she'd heard me sing - whether it was in my cover band or on stage now - was a song that I could relate to," he says. "As an artist, you don't get many chances to relate to a crowd or your audience. It's through your music, and now my CDs and videos. I try and make sure people see the sides of me that help them get to know me a little better."
For a guy who's been on country radio for only a little more than a year, Carroll has a firm grasp of what he wants to accomplish, but he also understands the importance of his fans and staying modest.
"People come up to me all the time and say, 'Wow, I've never met anyone famous.' I just tell them, 'You still haven't,'•" he says. "This has been a lot of work. You really have to set your goals and stay focused and work toward them every chance you get because there are a lot of folks in this business trying to do exactly what you're doing."
Billy Currington and Jason Michael Carroll will play at the Wood County Fair on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 for track seating and $25 for the grandstand. They can be purchased at the fair office on West Poe Road in Bowling Green or by calling the office at 419-352-0441.
Contact Brian Dugger at:
bdugger@theblade.com.

Ch. 24 extends programming to Buckeye through the Olympics
WNWO-TV, Channel 24, will continue to provide programming to Buckeye CableSystem through at least Aug. 24, the NBC affiliate announced yesterday.
The Barrington Broadcasting-owned station is in negotiations with Buckeye and faced a midnight deadline to reach an agreement on retransmission rights to 150,000 local cable subscribers.
"As a courtesy to Buckeye subscribers and as a demonstration of good faith in our negotiations, NBC24 will extend retransmission consent through the end of the Summer Olympic Games, Sunday, Aug. 24, to allow all viewers to enjoy this historic event," WNWO management said in a statement.
At the heart of the negotiations is the station's position on how much Buckeye should pay it to broadcast the NBC affiliate's signal.
Buckeye CableSystem is owned by Block Communications, Inc., parent company of The Blade.
WNWO was part of the $262 million deal nearly two years ago in which Barrington Broadcasting of Hoffman Estates, Ill., acquired a dozen television stations from Raycom Media Ind.
Barrington owns 21 television stations in 15 markets including Ohio, Michigan, Texas, New York, and South Carolina.
In its financial statements to the Security and Exchange Commission that are posted on the company's Web site, Barrington acknowledged that if it is unable to reach agreements with cable companies to carry the signals of its stations, "we could lose revenues and audience shares."
The company reported a net loss of $7.3 million in the first three months of 2008 and shared concerns that it may breach its loan obligations before the end of the year.
K. James Yager, the CEO of Barrington, previously served as president and chief operating officer of Benedek Broadcasting Corp., which at its peak owned 28 stations.
According to federal court filings, Benedek filed for bankrupty in 2002 and sold off its stations. Yager, along with other senior Benedek staff, co-founded Barrington in May, 2003, with the support of a private equity firm, the Pilot Group.

Sour notes for Columbus Symphony
COLUMBUS - It's painful to watch a major orchestra go for Baroque.
But that's what is happening in Ohio's state capital as the Columbus Symphony Orchestra has canceled 10 concerts in October and November of the 2008-2009 season because of a $3 million budget deficit.
Apparently anticipating such drastic changes, the symphony never sent out subscription brochures late last winter, when performing groups typically announce coming programs and featured soloists to vie for public support.
The deficit is not news anymore. Announced in January by the CSO board, the shortfall has resisted resolution despite seemingly earnest negotiations.
"I think it's terrible that the city of Columbus and business leaders can't figure out how to maintain a high-quality symphony," Judy Kleen, a symphony fan, told the Columbus Dispatch last week.
The sticking point has been the board's insistence that reducing the budget from its recent high of $13 million to a more manageable $9 million be accomplished primarily by slashing players' numbers and salaries. That item alone accounts for some 47 percent of the total budget, a ratio that is not uncommon among major American orchestras.
Tendered offers by the musicians to cut salaries in a less draconian fashion were rejected in May.
As of June 1, the symphony had canceled its popular summer pops series and informed musicians that their contracts, which originally extended to Aug. 31, were null and void. Health care and other benefits were discontinued in the process.
"We have gone absolutely as far as we can go," claimed Buzz Trafford, head of the CSO board, last week. "Unless musicians change their position, we won't reach an agreement."
Since then, the 53 musicians and their main agent, the Central Ohio Federation of Musicians, have filed suit to recover $820,000 in lost wages and benefits.
Players also have reformed as the Musicians of the Columbus Symphony, an effort to provide work, income, and maintain a higher profile in a city.
A recent study by the Columbus Cultural Leadership Consortium noted that every dollar spent on arts and culture in the city and its environs generates $22 in additional income for the region.
The same study estimated that $330 million is spent each year by nonprofit arts and cultural groups and their audiences, with the CSO leading all other groups.
In a posting at their new Website, http://www.mcsconcerts.org/, members write: "We believe music is a calling and telling us we can no longer play concerts is like telling us we can no longer eat or breathe."
So far, the MCS has organized two concerts - classical rent parties - to help cover missing funds. Both are cash-only operations. Symphony Strong, a citizens' group, is providing support.
The first, presented last weekend in the Veterans' Memorial, the CSO's former venue, with former music director Alessandro Siciliani returning to donate his services, attracted a large crowd.
The second, set for 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, also in Veterans Memorial, will feature current music director, Junich Hirokami, who is in the second year of the three-year contract. For tickets and information call 614-221-4341 or visit the musician's Web site.
Contact Sally Vallongo at svallongo@theblade.com.

UT defense's big task: stay healthy
Some numbers do not lie. For example, the University of Toledo's football team surrendered 444 yards and 39 points per game, on average, during the 2007 season. Not so coincidentally, the Rockets finished 5-7.
Some numbers do lie. UT lists eight returning starters on defense, which a cynic might suggest may or may not be good news considering the previous paragraph.
In truth, the Rockets have more defensive starters returning than they have defensive positions. And that is definitely good news for a unit that's on the spot after two successive losing campaigns.
Five key defensive players never made it either into or out of the starting blocks in '07.
Tyrrell Herbert, maybe the most dangerous free safety in the Mid-American Conference at the dawn of last season, and veteran defensive end Sean Williamson, with 27 career starts under his belt, both were hurt in the season opener, took medical hardship years, and now return as fifth-year seniors. Douglas Westbrook, the opposite end, made it into the second game before suffering a season-ending injury.
Archie Donald, who started six games at linebacker in 2006, red-shirted last season for academic reasons. Desmond Marrow, who got a start at cornerback in '06, never saw the field last year because of injury.
Technically, none of those five show up as returning starters on the UT depth chart. In reality, they are five of the very best players on the unit. Without them, the Rocket defense was chewed up and spit out last season. With them?
"We have great players and great leaders coming back," said UT's Barry Church, arguably the best safety in the MAC. "We can't dispute that our defense was poor last year. It stunk. But we had to plug in a lot of new guys who had never played before.
"Archie is the spark plug of the defense. Tyrrell is the leader of the secondary. Sean is the leader of the line. With those five guys, plus the guys who got so much experience last year, I think we should be 10 times better, 10 times faster, and 10 times smarter."
It might take all of that if UT is to survive a meat-grinder of a non-league schedule and find a way to be a factor in the MAC race, which hasn't been the case the past couple years.
As coach Tom Amstutz points out, the Rockets ranked No. 2 among MAC teams in points per game last season and return a reasonable number of the same offensive weapons this time.
"So, defense is the biggest area we have to improve," Amstutz, who starts his eighth season as head coach with a 55-32 mark, said. "A lot of it will start with the return of those experienced players who were injured last year."
Amstutz says football is a game of "unpredictable variables," but he can only hope 2008 is not as unpredictable as its predecessor. In other words, he needs his defense to stay healthy.
Otherwise, the Rockets will be hard-pressed to endure the non-league slate that includes games at Arizona and Michigan, as well as a home date against top-25 caliber Fresno State.
Plus, three teams - Central Michigan, Ball State and Western Michigan - were picked ahead of UT in the preseason MAC West Division poll. Those same three teams scored a combined 135 points against Toledo a year ago.
So the Rockets' defense will need to be re-energized by the return of last season's M.A.S.H unit. This schedule and UT's hopes instead demand a S.M.A.S.H unit.
Like last season's statistics, that's no lie.

Walleye worth the long trip: Erie boat journey easy, but fish came 90 miles to be caught
FAIRPORT HARBOR, Ohio - Ninety miles is a long swim for all but the rarest of humans, but it must be nothing for a Lake Erie walleye.
After all, it's a fish for Pete's sake. Still, it's a mite amazing to think that at least some of the walleye we were catching on a trolling bite here mid-week were part of spawning runs this spring in Sandusky Bay and the Sandusky River 90 miles west of here.
"They caught a transmitter fish off Geneva," noted guide Ron Johnson in between landing fish. "What's the chances of that?"
He was referring to one of about 200 in the Sandusky stock that state biologists have equipped with radio transmitter backpacks to track their movements and distribution. Two hundred out of millions.
We didn't find any wired walleye on this trip but did amass a nice mess of chunky fish up to a 28-inch Fish Ohio qualifier, plus a couple of sleek blue-chrome steelhead trout, one a hook-jawed male that approximated the big walleye in length.
The occasion was an annual invitational outing by Bob Ulas, head man at the Lake County Visitors Bureau, who with the help of cousin Jeff Frischkorn, outdoor writer at the News Herald in Willoughby, rounds up some usual suspects for a day on the lake, central basin style.
Johnson, a regular, guides on Thumper, a well-known boat in the Grand River fleet here. Enough hands showed up this year to also fill Rampageous, guided by Mike Langer.
Special guests this time included a couple of pitchers for the Lake County Captains, the Cleveland Indians' Single-A team here, Dallas Cawiezell and John Gaub. Neither Cawiezell, of Davenport, Iowa, nor Gaub, from St. Paul, Minn., had fished big water before.
At trip's end, Cawiezell, a middle reliever who sees two innings many nights, said he had never seen walleye that size before, nor steelhead, either. He took both under the tutelage of Johnson and Marv DeGreen, guide of Evil Eye, who took a busman's holiday to help with the busy details of running spoons off an array of rods and Dipsy Divers.
Both Johnson and DeGreen said fishing has been good but tricky this year. "We've had to work for them at times. But we've been smashing them the last week. We don't have a real strong thermocline [temperature-break in the water column] this year. I don't know if it's all the rain, or what."
Lots of unusually strong sub-surface currents have been a challenge, too. But Johnson motored out 11 miles to 74 feet of water, set lines, and the fish started popping - including more than a few sheepshead, which were putting in an unusually strong appearance. "Where did they come from?" Johnson said, noting that the sheep had not been around in those waters until we showed up.
The veteran guide, who will fish the fall season off Vermilion and begins the year off Marblehead, said attention to detail has been the secret to success.
"Ten degrees difference in trolling direction can mean the difference between 36 fish in two hours, or 36 fish in four hours, or maybe even six hours." The tricky currents change the presentation of the trolled spoons and being half a bubble off keeps the catching off-balance.
Cawiezell, 22 , a Lake Erie rookie, took some good-natured ribbing without complaint. "You get to keep doing it until you get it right," quipped Johnson after the pitcher landed his first 'eye.
"This is the biggest water I've ever been on," he said. This from a guy used to guiding for waterfowlers along the Mississippi River in the off-season.
The central basin fish, Johnson noted at one point, are "sitting right above the thermocline, where the water starts cooling down. That's where they're setting, in a narrow band."
Along the way he also pointed out some concerns noted among anglers all along the lakefront.
"If it wasn't for the '03 fish, we wouldn't be fishing. You can only write so many checks off one bank deposit."
Indeed, the megayear class of 2003 has been carrying the walleye fishery. Some 2005 fish are around, and 2007's class is decent, though not super; only some of them will meet the 15-inch minimum keeper length by next season.
Too, Johnson noted the gas thing, as in high prices. "It's both the fuel and the economy," he said. He and DeGreen, veteran skippers with good customer books, agreed charters are off 20 to 25 percent. "Even the business customers," added Johnson, referring to regular business clients that have been canceling fishing entertainment of customers because of tight expense accounts.
Lower fishing pressure, however, has left plenty of room to fish and plenty of fish to catch.
•
Closer to home, walleye fishing has been excellent between the northern end of the Toledo shipping channel and West Sister Island, between B Can of the Camp Perry Firing Range and Little Pickerel Reef, and southeast of G and H Cans of the Camp Perry range.
Drifting with bottom bouncers and worm harnesses or casting mayfly rigs have been productive. Trollers have been catching fish on spoons with divers, or worm harnesses fished with in-line weights, snap weights, bottom bouncers, or divers. The best spoon colors have been pinks and purples.
The best yellow perch fishing has been west of Rattlesnake Island, north of Lakeside, north of Cedar Point and west of Kelleys Island. Perch spreaders or crappie rigs with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish.
•
Bass angler Andrew Lemle of Perrysburg has qualified to fish in the amateur or co-angler division in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour's $2 million Forrest Wood Cup competition set for Aug. 14-17 at Lake Murray in South Carolina.
In the recent competition, the $1.5 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour's Chevy Open based on the Detroit River, Lemle, a frequent top-10 co-angler finalist in such events, finished fifth in the division with five bass at 11 pounds, 7 ounces to win $7,000. The placement helped qualify him for the Cup competition, named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats.
•
The Super Retriever Series will be hosting its Zink Calls/Port Clinton Qualifier today through Sunday in Ottawa County. The retriever trials will begin daily at 7 a.m., and are being held at 6700 Oak Harbor SE Road, Oak Harbor. For more information, visit on-line at:
SuperRetrieverSeries.com. Contact Steve Pollick at:
spollick@theblade.com or 419-724-6068.

Ford could find solace in era when Model T ruled the roads
DEARBORN, Mich. - At Ford Motor Co., there must be a powerful temptation to live in the glorious past.
The present is getting to be, well, a little painful. The latest bad news was the newest round of devastating losses; $8.7 billion in the second quarter alone. Ford tried to put the best face on things, noting that most of that resulted from "accounting" reasons.
What that meant, however, was the books being readjusted to reflect reality settling in; a revaluation downward of the net worth of the company that once put the world on wheels.
Looked at another way, from April 1 to June 30, the company Henry Ford founded in 1903 lost almost a million dollars every 15 minutes. Twenty-four hours a day; seven days a week.
That's enough to make any executive want to flee to better times and, in fact, many auto buffs are doing just that. For this just happens to be the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Ford that changed America.
It put the world on wheels, spurred road construction, made Ford rich, and made Detroit a boomtown.
They called it the Model T.
"It was incredibly sturdy, simple, and durable. Easy to repair, and almost anyone could afford one," said Bob Casey, who ought to know. He's the author of the just-released The Model T: A Centennial History (Johns Hopkins, $24.95) and transportation curator of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.
Without a doubt, there has never been a car as important. "Before the T, there were very expensive cars that handled well, and very cheap cars that were not very reliable," Mr. Casey said.
Henry Ford - the original model (1863-1947) - knew exactly what he wanted to do. He virtually lived in a room over his first small factory on Piquette Avenue, working day and night. The year before the car was ready, he announced what he was up to:
"I will build a motor car for the great multitude," he proclaimed.
"It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one."
Remarkably, he kept his promise - and more.
Historians today often write as if the assembly line was the key to the Model T's success. It wasn't.
As British journalist Robert Lacey noted in his 1986 book Ford: The Men and the Machine, it was engineering, led by Ford himself, "who threw himself into every detail, insisting on getting small things absolutely right; going for innovation when it tested properly, but sticking to the tried and true when it did not."
The result was "a machine that was at once the simplest and most sophisticated automobile in the world." Ford ended up making 15 million of them, most in a massive, now-abandoned, red-brick factory in Highland Park, a ruin in a town that is itself a ruin.
Ironically, if the Model T's rise illustrated Detroit's car industry at its best, it also came to foreshadow its biggest weakness. Henry Ford wouldn't stop making the car, even after it was time for a new model and competitor vehicles had far outstripped it.
When World War I ended, nearly half the cars in the world were Model Ts. When Ford finally agreed to move to the new, more technologically sophisticated Model A in 1927, his company had fallen hopelessly behind General Motors, never to catch up.
•
Tiger Stadium Revisited: When Tiger Stadium, then Navin Field, opened in April, 1912, some of the smart set undoubtedly rode to the game in their new Model T Fords. The wrecking ball is now hard at work demolishing the old ball yard.
But then the stadium - a small part of it, anyway - got a last minute reprieve. Detroit City Council changed its mind and agreed to leave the portion of the structure standing between first and third base - at least until March.
Ernie Harwell, the famous Detroit Tigers broadcaster, is leading a group that wants to raise the money - an estimated $15 million - needed to renovate that much of the park and use it for a museum and for a place for youth baseball leagues.
Council was skeptical, but agreed after the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy announced it had raised $400,000. Three-quarters of that money must now be put into an escrow account.
If the conservancy doesn't come up with the rest of the money needed by March 1, the conservancy forfeits it to the city, which is losing $300,000 the contractor would have paid for the scrap if it had torn down the stadium at once.
The conservancy will also have to pay $69,000 for security and maintenance at the site.
Will the needed money magically appear? Well, Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) thinks he can earmark $4 million for the project, though it's not clear how fast that money might arrive.
Nor is it clear how much other money really is out there, in the state with the highest unemployment rate in the nation.
Tiger Stadium has to hope for a come-from-behind rally in extra innings. Of course, it has seen a few of those before.

SPECIAL DELIVERY FOR A SPECIAL FAMILY IN BOWLING GREEN
Scott Nuzum looks with his sons at some of the toys donated by area businesses as employees of the Appliance Center unload appliances, in the background, including a large-screen TV. The giveaway came as a surprise to Mr. Nuzum and his wife, Joanne, who adopted and are raising 29 special-needs children at their Bowling Green home.

Lima officer absolutely, positively certain victim had fired first
LIMA, Ohio When Sgt. Joseph Chavalia pulled the trigger and fatally shot Tarika Wilson, he was "absolutely, positively" certain the person he was firing at had shot at him first.
"There is absolutely, positively no doubt in my mind that this person is shooting and theyre trying to kill me," Sergeant Chavalia said from the witness stand Thursday while describing what happened during the Jan. 4 drug raid.
The 31-year police veteran said that as he was climbing the stairs at Wilsons Third Street house, he had spotted what he took to be an adult human form on the second floor of the house the Lima Police SWAT team was securing and soon saw it disappear. When the human form appeared a second time, he heard gunshots and flinched. The person again disappeared. Sergeant Chavalia said that when the person appeared again, he heard another gunshot and fired. "There is just absolutely no doubt in my mind Im taking fire from this person," he said.

Oregon prepares to hold Community Pride Day

Oregon is preparing for its Community Pride Day, which begins at 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Oregon Municipal Complex, 5330 Seaman Rd. The free event includes face painting; a moon walk; an appearance by Charlie the Chipmunk, the mascot for St. Charles Mercy Hospital; rocket launches; the Cake Walkin Jass Band; a clown; crafts, and a chance to throw a pie in the face of city elected officials, including Mayor Marge Brown.
The event ends with fireworks at dark.

Toledo set for first go round with four square
They still play kickball in Brooklyn. And Chicagoans boast one of eight "professional" teams that comprise the National Dodgeball League.
Now Toledo is poised to join the growing number of cities with large-scale adult tournaments for games that, well, most people stopped playing after grade school.
The first "Four Square 4 Toledo" block party is scheduled to take over three blocks of Adams Streets between 14th and 17th streets the evening of Sept. 13, allowing quick-footed merrymakers a chance to relive highs and lows from recesses past.
The event is organized by the office of Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop, who is billing the event as a fun networking opportunity for area young professionals that would highlight and support the UpTown arts and entertainment district near downtown.
Yet anyone, white collar or blue, who is age 21 or older may take part in the tournament, which runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. The goal is to have at least 32 teams of four people competing.
The event is free, does not use county funds, and all proceeds from sponsorships will benefit the Toledo-Lucas County Police Athletic League, Mr. Konop said. The four-hour four square party will tie in that night with a pub crawl along Adams Street bars that is sponsored by the Toledo City Paper.
Mr. Konop noted the trend of recent years in which seemingly responsible and job-holding adults take part in leagues and tournaments for traditional schoolyard games.
Because kickball and dodgeball are the most popular of these so-called "rejuvenile" games, playing four square could generate for Toledo some attention and cachet, Mr. Konop said.
"Kickball and dodgeball have already been done," Mr. Konop said. "I think four square is sort of the next trend in this rebirth of recess games among young professionals."
Players in some rejuvenile sport leagues, such as Brooklyn Kickball, appear to revel in a mix of serious competition with the tounge-in-cheek. The league features 33 teams with names like Government Kickbacks and Booze on First.
Although not as widespread as kickball or dodgeball, adult four square has taken hold in various pockets of the country. Boston is home to Squarefour, the self-proclaimed "nation's first and finest four square league."
Since 2005 the Lakes Environmental Association in Bridgton, Maine, has held the annual Four Square World Championships. This year's competition in February drew about 70 competitors from throughout the northeast and Canada, said Peter Lowell, event founder and the association's executive director.
The championships are held indoors inside Bridgton's former town hall.
"We were looking for some unusual fun things to do here in the winter to stave off boredom," Mr. Lowell said. "It's just one of those things that sounds silly, but once you start playing you realize the skill involved and how much fun it is."
The inspiration for Toledo's four square party came on a summer evening last year at Blarney Irish Pub near Fifth Third Field. Mr. Konop recalled he was approached by an old [and publicity shy] friend: "Out of the blue, he's like, 'Why don't we have a four square tournament?.'•"
The commissioner liked the idea, and said he proceeded to conduct an informal public survey of the proposal on the Blarney's patio, where the majority of that night's patrons were in their 20s and 30s. The support for the tournament was "unanimous," Mr. Konop said.
The tournament is just beginning to register participants. Among the first to sign up was Nick Malone, 29, who once dominated the four square marks of Gesu School in West Toledo.
Now an attorney with Shumaker Loop & Kendrick, he is looking to organize four square teams among members of the Young Lawyers Committee of the Toledo Bar Association.
Four square, Mr. Malone said, "is a throwback, in our minds, to simpler times - when your biggest concern is whether or not you can hit someone with a dodgeball."
Mr. Konop said he has yet to hear from any four square skeptics.
"I don't think four square has enemies," Mr. Konop said, "unless you had some sort of traumatic experience in your youth."
Those wishing to sign up teams may visit the tournament's Web site at www.myspace.com/4toledo.
Contact JC Reindl at:
jreindl@theblade.com or 419-724-6065.

Volunteers graduating from Toledo seniors program

Its graduation day for volunteers who took part in training to check on Toledo senior citizens living alone. The graduation ceremony, a cooperative effort of the Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio and Toledo police, will be at noon today at the Area Office on Aging, 930 South Detroit Ave. Police Chief Mike Navarre will present the graduation certificates. The volunteers, who are age 55 or older, completed a week-long training program in defensive driving, first aid, and services available to older adults. With their graduation, they join the RSVPatrol, part of the agencys Retired and Senior Volunteer Program.
RSVPatrol, in existence since 2000, helps more than 100 Toledo senior citizens.

Our Featured Home
Woodcreek Village in Walbridge, Ohio, is an adult community, just minutes away from shopping, churches, banks, doctors offices and more. And now, a lovely clubhouse includes a fitness center, a full kitchen, a hot tub, and lockers. A great room with a gas fireplace and flat screen TV is perfect for community social gatherings. A spacious back deck offers a view of the woods behind the building. Deer often come out in the evenings to graze. The use of the clubhouse and its facilities are all available to Woodcreek Village homeowners at no additional charge.
Todays featured home, 114 Woodcreek Blvd., is a model home that showcases many of the amenities you may choose for your new home here. The home is more than 1,800 square feet of spacious rooms and amazing features. Enter into the living room, with its vaulted, textured ceiling with crown molding. Large windows with white trim let in plenty of sunshine. To the left is the master suite. The bedroom is quite large, but you neednt fill it with furniture. A generous walk-in closet can easily hold your dresser, as well as all your hanging clothes. Double doors lead to the master bath. Directly ahead of you is the jetted tub; to the right are a fireplace and space for a flat screen TV, with storage and seating below. A linen closet is tucked behind the door. To the right are the glassed, step-in shower, a private water closet, and a raised dual vanity in oak with a tile backsplash. Four large windows above the tub and recessed lighting throughout the bathroom flood this space with light.

Off the living room are the kitchen and dining room. The U-shaped kitchen has a convenient work island in the center. Beautiful oak cabinetry with braided crown molding rings the kitchen, and the countertops are laminate with a distinctive oak edge. White GE Profile appliances include a cooktop, built-in microwave and oven, and refrigerator. A European-style range hood provides ventilation.
A window seat is adjacent to the dining area, as is a built-in buffet. A chandelier hangs overhead. This dining room is large enough for the whole family, and with close proximity to the kitchen, makes entertaining a breeze. The family room is next. A corner gas fireplace has a stone surround and raised hearth. An oak mantel can display your treasures, and a ceiling fan offers a gentle breeze. A hall off the family room takes you to two smaller bedrooms and another full bath. A utility room near the back door doubles as a mudroom. With its oak cabinets and sink, guest closet and convenience to the bathroom, its a wonderful place to tidy up before coming in the house. Optional features for this home include a two-car attached garage, patio and deck. Quality 2x6 exterior construction, new curtains and blinds, smoke alarms, and vinyl, tilt-in, low-E windows are among the myriad standard features on these homes. Dutch Housing manufactured this featured home in its plant in LaGrange, Indiana. The homes are completely built indoors, out of the weather, so they are never exposed to the elements. Features 3 Bedrooms 2 Baths Brand New Construction Clubhouse Adults Only

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Garden Design Tips from Better Homes and Gardens
(ARA) - Great-looking garden design doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming. If you don't forget about the basics, it's easy to create a professional look like you see in gardening magazines.
Better Homes and Gardens magazine editor Justin Hancock reveals his time saving tips and money saving tricks for backyard beauty: Add Instant Impact Easily Hancock says one quick and easy way to achieve instant impact in the garden is to plant en masse, filling-up flowerbeds and bolstering borders with super-sized color-bearing shrubs like azaleas, shrub roses and hydrangeas. "Planting several of the same variety of a plant in one area is a fool-proof way to create a big impact, even if you have a little space," says Hancock. "And it's less intimidating to work with one color instead of having to mix several different shades." Do opt for repeat blooming shrubs. Planting long season bloomers eliminates the necessity to plant annuals to maintain continuous color in the landscape. Water Wisely and Feed Well "No matter what kinds of plants you grow, your garden will look its best if you keep your plants healthy," says Hancock. "Regular maintenance -- watering and feeding your plants appropriately will also save you time and money," he says. Keeping plants healthy and hydrated is your best defense against poor performance. Do save time and money fertilizing. Look for a long lasting, slow release plant food to do the work for you. Minimize Your Lawn; Maximize Your Style Today's style conscious home gardeners are trading in their square-shaped lawns for a more curvaceous, stylized look that ultimately saves time and money. "Most gardeners I know want to cut down on how much time they spend mowing the lawn and how much money they spend watering it," says Hancock. To accomplish this, Hancock says to think outside the planting box, "Get rid of lawn in areas where it's tough to mow or the grass struggles. Replace it with easy-care perennials and groundcovers." Or replace grass with hardscape elements and free flowing flowerbeds to create an outdoor space that adds dramatic visual interest and unique style.
"One thing that's great about free-flowing beds is that it isn't a science -- you can create shapes that look great to you. You'll end up with a personal look with loads of impact -- and less upkeep." Incorporate Art in the Garden Garden planning is a lot like interior design. Every great indoor room incorporates decorative accessories that add interest and a finishing touch to the overall look. You can apply interior design elements to your outdoor design as well. Do add architectural elements of surprise within gardenscapes in the form of garden art. "Using architectural salvage is hot right now. Decorate your beds and borders with accessories such as an old metal gate you plant sweet peas on or using an old chair or table to put containers on," he says. Design elements like these will add a powerful punch and a touch of panache to an otherwise traditional garden setting. Hancock says that garden art doesn't have to be high end or brand new. Look for unique artifacts in your own garage, at a yard sale, or a flea market. Courtesy of ARAcontent

Easy Backyard Upgrades Improve Outdoor Living
(ARA) - In today's tough housing market, many homeowners are choosing to upgrade rather than move. Home expansions can improve your lifestyle, add beauty as well as protect your investment. One of the easiest and least expensive ways to add living space is to create a backyard sanctuary using low-maintenance tools and materials.
There are several new products on the market that reduce time, labor and costs that will turn your backyard into an entertainment haven you can show off to friends and family. Here are some ideas to create a stress-free backyard retreat: ' No Mess with a New Deck A stylish deck that has the look of real wood but without the maintenance headaches can add living space while reducing upkeep costs. There are several types of alternative materials designed to look like wood -- all with their own pros and cons. The exteriors experts at AZEK Building Products say a new type of cellular PVC decking resists mold/mildew, scratches from dog paws, greasy food and even red wine. "Unlike wood and composites, this new generation of decking repels food stains, yet has a natural, wood grain look,"says AZEK's President Ralph Bruno. He cautions homeowners should always ask for a code report for any decking product, since many building permits require this. ' Details that Last for Decades
After installing a low-maintenance deck, dress it up with planters, window boxes, a trellis or pergola. There are beautifully crafted wood look-a-likes on the market that last for years without requiring re-painting. ' Easy Tools Create a Clean Backyard To create a backyard sanctuary, it's important to get rid of the clutter. The one item homeowners use all the time is the garden hose, which can often be found spread across the lawn or hung on the side of the house in a sloppy mess. Tools like an automatic hose reel keeps the yard clean with little effort. ' Block the Season's Beatings
There are areas of your property that may have become unsafe over the winter season, whether you're in a freeze/thaw zone or damp and rainy climate. Concrete, stone and brick can especially show signs of wear. Check p