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Boys regional soccer: Bay edges Lima Shawnee, 1-0, earns third trip ...
Found: 2 Weeks 4 Days 5 Hours 53 Minutes ago
The Chronicle-Telegram - LEXINGTON — The clock operator was already reading the overtime rules and jotting down notes when Aaron Adkins and Ian Munro, Bay’s most dangerous offensive threats, went to work deep in the offensive zone. In the gloaming of Saturday afternoon, Adkins and Munro finally got it [...]...
Huntsville council updated on salt pricing
Found: 3 Weeks 23 Hours 13 Minutes ago
The Bellefontaine Examiner - Huntsville
council updated on salt pricing...
Birds Win District Championship
Found: Minutes ago
Archbold Buckeye - The pre-season goal of the Pettisville volleyball team was to advance to the regional tournament. Now the Birds have to set a new goal after beating Antwerp for the Division IV district championship, Saturday, Oct. 25 at Napoleon....
Bryan basks in rare beam of political attention
Found: 3 Weeks 1 Day 6 Hours 32 Minutes ago
Toledo Blade - BRYAN - Any solo visit by the governor, a U.S. senator or congressman, or the head of a state political party represents big news here in the seat of Williams County.
And when all those dignitaries arrive at once as a well-known television news anchor is broadcasting live across town, well, that's one exceptional day in the limelight for Bryan, a city of about 10,000 residents.
"It's out of the ordinary for sure," said city native Mike Barbee, 34, a recently laid-off machinist.
"Normally during presidential elections, you don't get too much attention here - it's definitely a good thing for Bryan."
Yesterday, Bryan was the final destination for the second day of "The Countdown to Vote" bus tour, a collaboration between The Blade and WTOL-TV, Channel 11, to find out what's on the minds of voters in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan in the final days before the election.
Traveling through on an altogether different venture, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio), U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D., Niles), and state Rep. Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, all stopped in downtown Bryan to rally supporters inside the local headquarters of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Their visit was part of a planned 40-stop tour by Governor Strickland and Senator Brown to smaller Ohio communities that seldom receive visits by the presidential candidates themselves.
"I think so many Americans are so accustomed to living in this democracy that they fail to understand that most of the people living on this Earth would give almost everything they have just for the privilege of doing what we're doing here - meeting together with like-minded people … to work for a country and a government that reflects our beliefs and our values," Governor Strickland said to a standing crowd of more than 80 people.
Williams County usually votes Republican in national elections. In 2004, President Bush bested Democratic rival John Kerry 12,040-6,481.
As in many parts of the country, the economy is considered a top issue in this election by many in the area, including Tony Przepiora, 55, who lives north of Bryan near the Michigan line.
A bowling instructor and single parent, he was inside Bryan Lanes yesterday afternoon directing practice of an area youth league while WTOL anchor Jerry Anderson began broadcasting live amid the heavy thuds and rattling crashes of balls and pins.
While Mr. Przepiora believes that his job at Stryker's Ferro Corp. plastic manufacturing plant is safe at the moment, he said he is nervous as the nation continues to head into recession.
Yet one silver-lining to the cooling economy for Mr. Przepiora is falling oil and gas prices. Living as he does in the country, driving is an unavoidable fact of life.
"The other day somebody told me, 'Well, it's not really a good thing the prices are coming down,'•" Mr. Przepiora said, shaking his head. "Anytime they come down, it's a good thing."
Williams County's unemployment rate of 8.8 percent in September was the 14th highest of Ohio's 88 counties.
The effects of that joblessness are visible at the Grace Community Church homeless shelter downtown, which has been filled to capacity with about 25 men, women, and children, said Rita Amstutz of Defiance, manager of the shelter's thrift shop.
The shop offers some of the lowest-priced goods around, and winter items such as $2 sweaters and $3 coats have been flying off the shelves as the weather turns colder.
"If the economy's going south as much as you think it is, who can afford to go out and spend $45 or more for a coat?" asked volunteer Annie Chambers, 48, of Bryan.
Yet the outlook isn't all gloomy in Williams County. Some residents point to recent or ongoing expansion projects at Bryan's Titan Tire Corp. and Community Hospitals and Wellness Center, Bryan, as good omens.
"We have a lot of positive going on in Williams County," said Peggy Bernath, mayor of West Unity, a one-stoplight village that is home to about 1,800 residents.
"The Countdown to Vote" bus visited Ms. Bernath's village after stops in Morenci, Mich., and Fayette, Ohio.
Gathered to greet reporters and photographers in the parking lot of West Unity United Methodist Church was a small group of the village's community and business leaders, including Mayor Bernath, village Administrator Randy Mahlman, and Deb Piotrowski, superintendent of the Millcreek-West Unity Local School District.
Ms. Bernath and Ms. Piotrowski are the first women to have held their positions.
After a little chit-chat with Mr. Anderson, the group climbed into the motor home and directed him on a tour. The first stop was outside the Kamco Industries plant at the village's edge. The facility, which is surrounded by now-harvested cornfields, is West Unity's largest employer, with roughly 350 jobs. It makes components for Honda vehicles.
"That is the neat thing. You have a factory here, and you have your cows grazing over there," Ms. Piotrowski said.
While many small towns in Ohio and Michigan have been hurt in recent years by business and plant closures, the regional job base for West Unity residents has been relatively stable. It is even projected to grow, Mayor Bernath said.
"I think we've been very fortunate here," the mayor said. "We may lose one, but we bring something else in."
The bus stopped next outside the gray concrete shell of the school district's new kindergarten through high school building. The nearly $23 million structure is on target for completion by next fall.
A concrete mixer whirled in the background as Ms. Piotrowski spoke about how exciting it will be to finally move her students in.
But what's on her mind at present is the 4.8-mill renewal levy for operating expenses that voters will face on Tuesday's election ballot.
Contact JC Reindl at:
jreindl@theblade.com
or 419-724-6050.
...
McCain, Palin, Bill Clinton to speak in area
Found: 3 Weeks 1 Day 6 Hours 33 Minutes ago
Toledo Blade - The Republican candidates for president and vice president and a former Democratic president will all be speaking at rallies in northwest Ohio this week, beginning this morning.
Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, will speak at a solar panel manufacturing business in Toledo to tout her party's plan for energy independence before heading to Bowling Green for a rally this morning.
Also:
•Republican presidential candidate John McCain will speak tomorrow in Defiance to kick off a two-day bus tour of the state. Tickets are available at GOP headquarters in northwest counties.
•Democratic former President Bill Clinton will speak on behalf of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama at Grove Patterson Academy in Toledo tomorrow. Tickets are not required.
Alaska Governor Palin will speak to invited guests at Xunlight Corp., 3145 Nebraska Ave., prior to a planned 10:15 a.m. rally at Bowling Green State University, campaign officials said. Xunlight Corp. is a recently formed energy company that is quickly ramping up production of flexible, thin-film photovoltaic solar panels.
The BGSU rally was moved yesterday from Perry Field House to Anderson Arena. The rally is open to members of the public who obtained tickets. Nonticketed individuals will be allowed into the event as space allows, campaign spokesman Paul Lindsay said.
Anderson Arena holds approximately 5,500 people. Parking will be available near the football stadium.
Senator McCain's Road to Victory Rally starts tomorrow at Defiance Junior High School, 629 Arabella St., Defiance, with doors opening at 7 a.m.
Tickets are available at the following Republican Party offices:
•Defiance County, 518 Clinton St., Defiance, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
•Williams County, 126 North Main St., Bryan, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
•Fulton County, 211 Depot St., Wauseon, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
•Putnam County, 872 North Perry St., Ottawa, Ohio, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
•Paulding County, 103 West Perry St., Paulding, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
•Henry County, 733 North Perry St., Napoleon, today only, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and
4:30-7:30 p.m.
Former President Clinton will speak in support of Mr. Obama at an "Early Vote for Change Rally" at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Grove Patterson Academy, 3301 Upton Ave. Doors open at 5 p.m., and a ticket is not required for admission, a campaign spokesman said. Mr. Clinton will make an earlier appearance in Mahoning County. He is scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. at Memorial High School in Campbell, Ohio.
...
Tickets available for McCain's northwest Ohio visits
Found: 3 Weeks 1 Day 22 Hours 19 Minutes ago
Toledo Blade - Tickets for Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain’s rally in Defiance Thursday are available, the campaign announced Tuesday.
The two-day bus tour called the Road to Victory Rally starts at Defiance Junior High School, 629 Arabella St., Defiance, with doors opening at 7 a.m.
Tickets are available at the following Republican Party offices:
• Defiance County, 518 Clinton St., Defiance, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Williams County, 126 North Main St., Bryan, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.
• Fulton County, 211 Depot St., Wauseon, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Putnam County, 872 North Perry St., Ottawa, Ohio, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
• Paulding County, 103 West Perry St., Paulding, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Henry County, 733 North Perry St., Napoleon, Wednesday only, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 4:30-7:30 p.m.
The McCain bus tour will make other northwest Ohio stops that have not been announced yet, and will include Youngstown and Columbus.
...
NEW: Whirlpool to move hundreds of jobs to Findlay plant10/28/2008 ...
Found: 3 Weeks 2 Days 5 Hours 44 Minutes ago
The Courier - Whirlpool Corp. will add 360-365 jobs at its Findlay plant by mid-2009 in a restructuring of its production, the company announced today....
Designer of U.S. flag urges focus on goals
Found: 3 Weeks 2 Days 7 Hours 48 Minutes ago
Toledo Blade - Bob Heft, who has been called the Betsy Ross of America's 50-star flag, said yesterday he's proof that good things can happen to those who stay focused on a goal.
"If you believe in something and it's proper, don't let anyone discourage you," Mr. Heft said, referring to advice he typically imparts on youth. The comment was made during an hour-long talk with 40 residents of Swan Creek Retirement Village, 5916 Cresthaven Lane.
Now a resident of Saginaw, Mich., the 66-year-old former Napoleon mayor was a longtime educator for Northwest State Community College in Archbold, Ohio.
He figures his life would have turned out much differently if he'd initially received the A he felt he deserved for an American history project in 1958 at Lancaster High School in Ohio, where he graduated.
Bob Heft and Betsy Ross of America's 50-star flag
He spent a weekend replacing the blue background on his family's 48-star flag with one that had 50 stars.
His teacher, to his dismay, wasn't that impressed by his 12-plus hours of labor. He gave him a B-.
Mr. Heft, 17 at the time, said he was told the only way he could get an A was if he went to Washington and got his idea for a 50-star flag accepted, which he did.
He said he was motivated not only because he thought America was on the verge of getting two more states, but also because he was jealous of a classmate who got an A just for sticking five leaves in a notebook and identifying them on the way to class.
"If [the teacher] had said 'Here's an A,' then that would have been it," Mr. Heft said.
With the help of public officials, including former Ohio Gov. Michael DiSalle of Toledo, Mr. Heft's flag was accepted. Last year, it surpassed the 48-star flag as the nation's longest for continuous service.
Mr. Heft recalled a lot of talk about Alaska becoming the 49th state in 1958. At the time, it was a heavily Democratic state. President Dwight Eisenhower was Republican, as was the U.S. Senate.
He figured the 1960 race for the presidency between Democrat John Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon would be one of the closest in history, which proved to be true. He also figured Hawaii, being mostly Republican, would be granted statehood for political balance before that election.
That's what happened: Alaska and Hawaii were both were granted statehood in 1959.
Mr. Heft's parents weren't happy with him for tearing up the family's old 48-star flag and sewing on a new background with 50 stars. It was the only time in his life he used a sewing machine.
Little did they know he was making the investment of a lifetime.
Mr. Heft said he has received offers as high as $3.5 million for the flag he used to get his 50-star design approved.
He wants to sell it to somebody willing to keep it on display for the public. At least one of his potential buyers has offered to donate it to the Smithsonian Institution, he said.
Contact Tom Henry at:
thenry@theblade.com
or 419-724-6079.
...
Will Findlay close fire station?
Found: Minutes ago
The Courier - Higher insurance premiums, coupled with slower response times by firefighters, could be in store for Findlay residents and businesses if Fire Station 3 closes....
Ohio traffic deaths dropping
Found: 3 Weeks 2 Days 19 Hours 5 Minutes ago
The Courier - Traffic deaths will reach record lows in Ohio this year, Col. Richard Collins, Ohio State Highway Patrol superintendent, predicted Monday....
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