http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/ohio/napoleon/ Napoleon, OH News http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/ohio/napoleon/content/0dc276056387cab52b6a17c388825c3b.html Paying a visit to the variety storeMilestoneJohn Buskirks courageous battle against leukemia has been well chronicled on these pages the past few yearsThe popular SS John and Paul assistant football coach reached a milestone Thursday http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/ohio/napoleon/content/e2e51213f8374b622c9f4aa9a7423583.html Doug Pelmear returned from Las Vegas this morning on a gamble that he could get 100 miles per gallon in his Mustang http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/ohio/napoleon/content/e15bc4a97eced9afd210b4f1fa5ccac3.html NAPOLEON The first long section of fourlane US 24 to be built as part of the socalled Fort to Port Highway is open and reconstruction and widening of the Defiance bypass are nearing completionExcept for intermittent lane closings needed for shoulder work four lanes are now open between Defiance and Napoleon a 13mile stretch where the Ohio Department of Transportation bought enough rightofway during the 1960s to accommodate four lanes but only built two at the timeThe 495 million project begun last year and built by Miller Brothers Construction of Archbold is essentially complete although state officials say it won't be formally done until springTaking longer but also nearly complete is widening of the twolane portion of the US 24 Defiance bypass and rehabilitating the fourlane sectionToday eastbound traffic will be shifted back onto what was the original roadway in the twolane section while westbound traffic will remain on the new roadway said Rhonda Pees a spokesman at ODOT's district office in Lima Westbound traffic will be restricted to one lane until late this month during final paving she saidWest of Defiance and east of Napoleon the 77mile highway between Waterville and the Indiana border near Fort Wayne will use new routes and the 23mile stretch west of Defiance is on schedule for completion next year Ms Pees saidThat's cooking quite nicely the spokesman said There's a lot of pavement downState Rt 49 closed south of Antwerp at its future interchange with the new road since June 11 should reopen by month's end Ms Pees addedThe NapoleonWaterville section by contrast is still in its early stages with Miller Brothers starting work on the westernmost five miles in June under a 48 million contract State contracts for two other phases farther east are to be awarded next year and the NapoleonWaterville roadway is scheduled to open in 2011The Indiana Department of Transportation expects to start building its 11mile section of US 24 linking the Ohio project with I469 near Fort Wayne later this fall http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/ohio/napoleon/content/f5c37c26291567e0e33e075e53c0d6dd.html A woman killed in a car accident on US 24 in Waterville Saturday was a Napoleon newspaper photograher on her way to an assignment http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/ohio/napoleon/content/876d42d1139092a3b042f6ce7a6ced7c.html The Muskingum Valley League reaped a handful of honors as the 2008 AllOhio boys and girls soccer teams were recently released by the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/ohio/napoleon/content/3b7d41e69f88e5eef1f8e153742339f0.html A handful of area coaches and players were honored as the 2008 AllOhio boys and girls soccer teams were recently released by the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/ohio/napoleon/content/9c890c0ad758db38d0df4c15f3254342.html BLOG: 4:06 pmLongest waits in Lucas CountyOhio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner reported that Lucas County during the morning voting rush had the longest average wait times in the state The secretary of state's office did not have further detailBLOG: 3:30 pmArea board of elections reporting mostly smooth sailingIn Ottawa and Sandusky counties voting has continued to run smoothly throughout Tuesday afternoonIn most precincts throughout both counties the long lines that dominated early morning voting hours have subsidedPoll workers are however gearing up for another rush after people get off work about 5 pmCarol Pennington chairman of the Ottawa County Board of Elections said they have received calls from voters to verify the provisional ballot process and also to double check polling locationsThere were a few concerns about the type of identification accepted at the polls Some people felt a passport should have been accepted but Ms Pennington said the state ruled against thatThats the rule we are going by she saidLisa Hartley the director of the Sandusky County Board of Elections said she has only spoken with poll workers briefly throughout the day about minor problems which she took to mean that most precincts were running smoothlyFulton County Board of Elections Director Kathy Meyer said the wait to vote was about 30 minutes near lunchtime TuesdayWe have not had any major problems Ms Meyer said The worst would be paper jams in the machine or paper running outThere are 17 locations with 35 precincts and 159 touchscreen machines in Fulton County All 159 machines were operational at 3:20 pmIt sounds like most people are using the machines and we are getting very few paper ballots she saidThe Henry County Board of Election in Napoleon Ohio reported no problems Tuesday afternoon but long lines in the morningThe parking lot at the Ability Center of Northwest Ohio in Sylvania has been full most of the day said Dan Wilkins public relations managerLines were heavier in the morning and have thinned out Tuesday afternoon Mr Wilkins saidA woman who talked with nearly two dozen people throughout the day in Oregon found there were no reports of having to wait in line to vote at any time Tuesday morningBLOG: 3:15 pmJoe the Plumber waves to Obama supporters but he isn't talkingTuesday afternoon sisters Barb Foltz and Pat Tailford went door to door for the Obama campaign down the Springfield Township street that is home to Samuel Joe the Plumber WurzelbacherHe waved to us and that surprised me said Ms Foltz who wore an Obama tshirt and several pinsMr Wurzelbacher was home Tuesday afternoon but refused to be interviewed by The BladeMs Foltz and Ms Tailford swept the street looking for Obama supporters who hadn't voted or needed a ride to the pollsMost of them have already voted Ms Foltz said reporting no problems at the polls from the people she met while knocking on doorsBLOG: 11:50 amAbout 100 people were waiting for polls to open at the Genesis Dreamplex on Reynolds Road in South Toledo about 6:30 am Tuesday Once the doors opened the line moved relatively smoothly More people were using paper ballots than electronic voting machines The access cards often expired during the wait in line for a machine and a poll worker would then have to revalidate them Even then some of the machines wouldnt accept the access cards Most people remained cheerful during the hour wait The line had thinned out by about 7:30 am BLOG: 9:10 amLong lines reported at polling locations in south Toledo Waterville and MaumeeReports from locations in south Toledo Maumee and Waterville all had a common theme: voters got up early got in line and waited until they could cast their ballotsAt Holy Trinity Church on Glendale Avenue there were an estimated 60 people in line by the time the doors opened at 6:30 am a crowd that Kevin Brandon found a bit disconcertingMr Brandon who was at the front of the line usually votes at the church on his way in to work but he146;s usually the only one there so earlyMaybe they146;re right maybe we146;ll get record turnouts for this one he saidPoll workers at the church said they had never seen such volume as they were already seeing early in the morning and there was a heavy use of paper ballots because of lines for the electronic voting machinesMindy Miller said voting first thing was the reverse of what she usually does 151; cast her ballot on her way home from workI knew it would be busy so the earlier the better she said adding that she thought the longer she waited the longer the linesRich Guenin said he usually votes on his way home from the night shift at Precision Strip a metal processing companyHe admitted that being surrounded by so many other earlymorning voters is pretty oddLongtime poll workers at the recreation building in Waterville said they had never been greeted like they were Tuesday morning: with a line that snaked around the buildingBut if there146;s one thing that early morning voters would tell those waiting to vote it146;s this: know your precinct number before showing up at a polling stationVoters at Fairfield School in Maumee were greeted with a bit of confusion Tuesday morning as several were given wrong information about their precinctsWhen the mistake was discovered they were told they had to go to the back of the line at their correct precinctBLOG: 8:35 amHundreds line up to vote in Bedford Sylvania TownshipsPolling places in Bedford Township Toledos largest suburb were crowded this morning However lines seemed to be shorter in some Republican leaning precincts such as precinct 12 which votes in a church off of Sterns Road In more Democratic precincts in the central part of the township lines stretched at least 100 voters deep and snaked their way out to the road at Lambertville United Methodist Church at Douglas and Dean roads In Sylvania Township there were 200 to 300 people lined up outside the Joseph Diehn Legion Post just before the polls opened Tuesday morning Nancy Crandell communications director for Sylvania Schools said it took most people about 30 minutes to get through the line BLOG: 8:07 amWest Toledo school packed with early morning votersThe first voters at the new Elmhurst School in west Toledo showed up at 6 am said poll workers and well over 100 people were in line when the doors opened at 6:30 amThat146;s a far cry from a typical election when voters usually walk right into the gym vote and are on their way five minutes laterThere was a steady stream of voters Tuesday morning using the sites 12 electronic machines and 20 voting stations for paper ballotsThe crowd was quiet and orderly even when the lights in the school146;s gymnasium briefly went off There were medical professionals in scrubs an elderly couple holding hands and even two schoolage girls who had the day off from school but begged their mother to accompany her to the polls at 6:30 amAs one poll worker told the two girls: This is history http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/ohio/napoleon/content/8864c9e33c90984a8b6fcb828073abb7.html BAY VILLAGE 8212; Lowgrade gronking was detected among the Bay soccer faithful over a perceived slip in the boys team8217;s postseason play the past two years This year8217;s seniors were freshmen on the 2005 Rockets squad that finished as Division II state runnerup after losing a 21 shootout to Bexley in the title match