Podcast of Joe McNamara interview and a Press Release...

If you missed yesterday's interview on Nookular Option you can download the podcast here. Joe covers various topics both related to the campaign as well as some state issues and you can hear me ask Joe a question and then blather on about how much I love Toledo...

This Press Release from the Joe McNamara for City Council campaign came out this morning:

Joe McNamara is “Fighting Crime At Its Roots” City council candidate plants fruit trees with supporters and introduces initiative to promote safer neighborhoods through community gardens.

Toledo, OH – Joe McNamara will hold a press conference and lead a service project at the Glenwood Lutheran Church community garden next door to the Church (2545 Monroe) today, Wednesday, July 19, at 2 PM.

The candidate and supporters will plant a few bushes and fruit trees and McNamara will announce “Fighting Crime At Its Roots,” his plan to promote safer neighborhoods through community gardens.

“You might not recognize it at first glance but community gardens like this one are powerful and cost-effective weapons in our crime-fighting arsenal,” McNamara asserts. “Cutting edge research tells us that a strong sense of community is a neighborhood’s best defense against delinquency and crime.”

McNamara’s proposal calls for establishing a task force to determine what city government can do to promote community gardening, for an inventory of city-owned vacant lots suitable for community use, and for extending the city’s Youth Park Ranger program into neighborhood gardens.

“By fighting crime at its roots with initiatives like this we save taxpayers money, enrich the lives of community residents and children, and add value to our neighborhoods,” says McNamara.

“Service to ALL of Toledo” is the theme of McNamara’s grassroots campaign. In addition to having a legacy of public service in his family, McNamara currently gives back to his community as a Trustee of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system and a Board Member of the Greater Toledo Urban League.

Since announcing his candidacy last month, McNamara and supporters have walked in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, participated in the Greater Toledo Urban League’s Day of Service in the neighborhood surrounding the Frederick Douglas Center and registered voters at the Toledo broadcast of radio host Tom Joyner’s Sky Show. Most recently he organized a blood drive at the American Red Cross Donation Center in Toledo last Saturday.

This week's Toledo Free Press and Blog it! Toledo

Some new blogs of interest await you in this week's Blog it column. The cover story about Toledoans trapped or trying to escape what is happening in Lebanon is a recommended read. It really brings home the point that while the middle east may be far away in miles, many local families are affected by what is happening there. Also of note is this article about Chicks for Charity, I like their style.

On a less serious note, Michael Miller may be tired, but it hasn't affected his writing talent. There is of course much much more awaiting you in this week's Toledo Free Press, including a very interesting look back by Troy Neff.

:-)

Arena and Marina ponderings....

Yesterday's Toledo Blade had another article about the Ice House and what the possibility of a two rink skating facility at the new Marina could do to their business. I'm not sure if this area can sustain an additional ice facility or not, but what I do know is the give a way's that Woodlands Consulting Group is looking for have never been offered to the Ice House:

"Basically, from the city, we are looking for shared parking and the tax abatement, which is crucial. We haven't decided how we are going to do the land, whether we are going to lease or buy it. Certainly, we would like to see the land as a gift. Some of the things we were looking for are low-interest loans and that comes through the state and the city also providing an economic development loan," said Jerry Jones (the main consultant for the investors and chief executive officer of Woodlands Consulting Group ).

One wonders what kind of improvements the Ice House could have made if they had been given such an offer and why one Toledo Business could potentially be sacrificed for another courtesy of funding thru tax payers. If one business is created and thru fair competition results in a closing that's the market and supply and demand, yet when a company who pays taxes in Toledo sees tax dollars spent to create their competition? Understandably the owners of the Ice House are not happy.

Then today, somewhat related to the arena:

University of Toledo alumnus Chuck Sullivan and his wife, Jackie, longtime supporters of UT athletics, showed their loyalty and commitment to the university yesterday by agreeing to donate $6 million, $5 million which will be designated for renovations and planned additions to Savage Hall.

The Sullivans' generosity toward the UT athletics department was motivated, in part, to put an end to any discussion about UT athletics, particularly men's and women's basketball, playing home games off-campus, possibly in a yet-to-be-de-termined sports arena in downtown Toledo.

"I wouldn't have given them anything," Mr. Sullivan said in response to being asked if he would have provided such financial support to UT athletics if future plans involved playing off-campus. "They wouldn't have gotten my money. This [Savage Hall] is a good building here. This building just needs some work. It doesn't need to be torn down."

It would appear any future arena plans that would include UT are now officially over, what affect that will have on arena plans is too early to tell.

Joe McNamara interview reminder...

A quick reminder that Joe McNamara will be interviewed on the Nookular Option today around 2:30. You can listen live thru WXUT (88.3 FM) or via their webstream or you can listen to the interview and the entire show via podcast. Podcasts are normally up the day after the show is on the air.

:-)

Ben, George and Dave on accessibility

The Toledo Blade's Joshua Boak reported on yesterday's Press Release by the Ben Konop for Lucas County Commissioner campaign.

I'm not sure of George Sarantou's position on the internet portion of Ben's plan but he did state he felt, "that government should be open and responsive to voters".

The Blade article also pointed out that Dave Schulz also supports some of these same proposals. The web address listed for Dave in the article is not correct, the one here and on the side bar under "NW Ohio Candidate Websites", is the correct one. (Update - the web address has been corrected in the online version of the article)

:-)

I LOVE this ad campaign...

A very deep curtsy to Ohio 2nd Blog for this link.

Visit The Ad Council and their ad campaign to encourage people to pay attention to candidates:

The Advertising Council launched the “Pay Attention & Vote” campaign in July 2006 in conjunction with the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) to encourage young adults to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.

Featuring multi-media public service advertisements (PSAs) and a new Web site, http://payattention.org the Vote campaign is designed to educate young adults about the ease and importance of voting in the 2006 midterm elections. This target audience, 18 to 24 years old, is the largest group of non-voters in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

My personal favorite? Leaning towards:

Tacky Ceramic Rooster Prepared For Cock Fight

WASHINGTON - Tacky Ceramic Rooster, a candidate in this year’s midterm elections, says he’s ready to fight for a spot in Washington. “We’re prepared. We know what we have to do and how we have to do it. The only problem we have is people with a general dislike for poultry-themed cookie jars. We’ll never win those votes. And those people are crazy anyway,” said Phil Miller, spokesman for the Tacky Ceramic Rooster Campaign.

Thanks Maggie, WSPD and more...

Thanks again to Maggie Thurber for having me on as a guest today while she is filling in for Brian Wilson. Welcome to those of you heading over to visit to see what's going on over here at Glass City Jungle.

As I said on air, my main goal is to provide information, discussion and to encourage as many people as possible to read blogs. I see blogging as a way to compliment media, especially when it comes to candidates and issues. Besides Dave Schulz who I mentioned on air, I also want to mention other candidates who have helped influence what Glass City Jungle has become. Ben Konop who made my introduction to some of the UT College Dems and Lucas County Young Democrats organization possible, and his support of blogging has been important. Frank Szollosi also been not only a resource of information for me but has supported blogging and this site. I appreciate those who have participated in interviews thus far; Mark Bula, James Nusbaum, and Michael Goulding. Also those who are yet to be interviewed, because without the candidate support of blogging I've received some of what I do here wouldn't be possible. I also give lots of credit/thanks to Michael Miller, the editor of the Toledo Free Press for giving me the opportunity to not only live blog debates but the weekly Blog it! Toledo column.

Then of course the people who visit and comment here, because without you it would just be me blathering on. It really is about all of us and while we may not always agree on who we are going to vote for or how we stand on an issue; we all share the desire to make the Glass City area the best it can be. I'd also like to point out a new site that I didn't get a chance to mention on air that you'll see listed in the "Political/Action Sites" section, As Ohio Goes is a new blogging community for all of Ohio that had it's official release date today.

Thanks also for the emails and the phone calls about the interview. I didn't say "exactly" at all but depending on the source I said "um" two or three times.

:-)

As an update...if you are interested in the Townhall article Maggie was referencing it can be found here.

Ben Konop announces four part proposal...

A Press Release from the Ben Konop for Lucas County Commissioner Campaign:

Building on his focus of providing a higher standard of leadership, Democratic Commissioner candidate Ben Konop will be holding a 10:30 AM news conference today, July 17, in front of One Government Center to discuss his four-part proposal promoting openness and accessibility in county government.

Konop will propose streaming live webcasts of Lucas County Commissioner meetings, as well as real-time television broadcasts.

Konop is also calling for an increase in the number of meetings held throughout the county and in the evenings. With one-third of the residents of Lucas County living outside of the city limits, equitable practice would call for a commensurate proportionality in the location of meetings, with two-thirds in the city and one-third in other areas.

Konop is also advocating for the county budget to be placed online to increase accessibility and accountability in spending practices.

Finally, Konop is calling for full disclosure of all campaign contributions via the website of the Lucas County Board of Elections. Franklin County already has such a system in place in order to provide the voters with a clear picture of the sources of funding for each candidate.

Konop hopes these changes will help restore faith in the integrity of elected officials. “In the wake of Tom Noe and backroom bribes in city council, it is important to make government operations as transparent as possible,” stated Konop.“Allowing voters to see for themselves where campaign contributions originate is truly in the spirit of democratic government,” added Konop. “Leaders need to be open and accountable in every way, and this plan seeks to move county government in that direction.”

The four-step proposal builds upon Konop’s ethics pledge to the citizens of Lucas County and his June 29th announcement that as a Commissioner, Konop hopes to utilize open-source software on County computers potentially saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

Good news then some not so good news for NWO

First the "Good" news from the Toledo Blade:

Manufacturing activity in northwest Ohio rose last month for the 33rd-straight time and was stronger than the national figure, according to the Northwest Ohio Manufacturing Index released yesterday by Toledo's Regional Growth Partnership.

The article about The Andersons is also in the "Good" news category.

Aldi's is planning two more area stores.

Now for the not so good news:

New housing construction slipped by a third in northwest Ohio's two most populous counties in the first six months of the year from last year, building officials said. In Michigan's Bedford Township, building also declined, but by a smaller percentage.

The number of unsold used homes in northwest Ohio as of June 30 was 15,705, up 8 percent from a year ago, according to statistics provided by the Toledo Board of Realtors.

For those following the discussion concerning the Minimum Habitability Standard that Toledo City Council is considering, this is something that will most certainly come into that discussion.

Me on WSPD

Maggie Thurber will be guest hosting this coming Monday for Brian Wilson. She's asked me to come on to talk about my blogs and blogging in general especially how it relates to encouraging political involvement and the role of blogs as an alternative news source. It should be a great time so I hope you tune in, I should be on a little after 3:30 p.m. on Monday. For those of you who can't get WSPD via radio they do offer streaming audio. A big thank you to Maggie for inviting me.

For those of you who have listened to me on the Nookular Option; I promise to watch how many times I say exactly...

:-)

Red lights and no not Carty's red lights...

No matter which position you take on the using of red light cameras to fine those who run thru red lights, when reading the above linked Toledo Blade article this jumped out at me as an "excuse me?" moment:

Mr. Kaplan said documents provided by the city show that $279,000 of the nearly $1.1 million collected in 2004 went to the city, and the remaining $800,000 was given to RedFlex.

Yes, that states the company RedFlex is making more from red light violators than the City of Toledo. Seems like more of a funding deal for RedFlex...I haven't gone back into the records to see who approved this but I really have to wonder.

I suppose the bright side is when they are declared illegal Toledo won't be out the money for cameras...The shear numbers aspect that many people ran red those particular 17 red lights to create that kind of revenue is disturbing. Given the number of red lights in Toledo the realization that we have that many drivers out on the road that don't care about safety immediately came to mind. I also can't help but wonder if some attention to making it so the lights were syncronized better to stop some of the stop and go issues that I see on a daily basis might be a small step not only for better fuel usage due to less time waiting at lights but less red lights.

Fedor V Finkbeiner...A team V B team..

Yes, it's gotten to the point that even a "temporary truce" between the seemingly impossible to unite Lucas County Democrats gets media attention.

As the above title linked article states:

"This is bigger than us," Ms. Fedor said she told the mayor.

Not to diminish either sides belief in their importance but...It is pretty safe to say that one little phrase could apply to most of what the A V B team skirmishes are about.

ps...one "A" teamer and one "B" teamer are still missing. I'm beginning to wonder if this is being done purposely so that I'll keep linking the Lucas County Democratic Party website...

:-)

Ben Konop and Former Mayor Jack Ford

Why are they both sharing a title headline?

Because they are both featured in alternative newspapers this week. Ben as mentioned earlier in the week was in the Toledo Free Press and he is also in this week's Toledo City Paper. It's an enjoyable read that I recommend, though I'm hungry for funnel cakes now...

Then we head over to "The View from BGSU University Hall" at Sojourner's Truth written by Jack Ford. This is also a recommended read and contains this bit of information:

The recent salute by the 100 Black Men of America (as reported in The Truth last week) to Ken Blackwell, candidate for governor of Ohio, may be a harbinger of other black-based organizations leaning towards Blackwell. Blackwell is an archon in the Alpha Phi Boule (an fraternity of professional men) and a 33rd degree Prince Hall Mason.

There are 10,000 Prince Hall Masons in Ohio and a thousand Boule members. I wonder if Blackwell can connect the dots.

I can't speak to the issue of race, however I do think it's important to realize how others feel. Chances are very great if Jack Ford is putting this in writing that others agree with him.

Toledo becoming "Big Cheese"

Seriously, I'm not joking, though some could say I was broaching a very "cheesey" topic... I was reading a copy of "Development News" which is published thru Toledo Business Journal and saw this as a headline, "A&M Cheese Co. Relocates, Toledo home to Ohio's largest cheese plant". I can't link to the story because Toledo Business Journal doesn't have that as an option. However, some information from the article:

A&M Cheese Company has moved to a new location on Waggoner Blvd and has started operations. A&M grew from Sofo Foods and they specialize in creating custom cheese blends for pizzerias. The expected increase in production at the new facility is from 31 million pounds of cheese processed to 60 million pounds of cheese processed each year. (That's a lot of cheese.) No new jobs resulted in the move but there is an expectation that as the business continues to grow that new jobs will be added.

Some interesting things I learned in addition to the existance of the plant was that the entire new facility will be kept at 38 degrees. The building is highly specialized and is a USDA plant. Currently the plant makes cheese blends for Sofo Foods, Dairy Fresh and Grecco with some new distribution to suppliers out in California.

In doing just a bit of additional research I found this page over at the Sofo Foods website. They even have a slide show on the new building.

I picked up my free copy of Development News at Beaner's over at Cricket West. I called to verify that it was a monthly publication and it is at various locations within Toledo including our public library system. There are several other articles of interest so I recommend picking up a copy.

:-)

Call and Post domain site suspended...

From excite's search engine:

Call and Post Home Page
The Call and Post Newspapers, Ohio's largest and oldest African American Newspaper ... Our History. Showtime. Call & Post. Contacts. Site Index ... Arana Lynch. Call and Post Sports writer ...
www.callandpost.com

From Tuesdays Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland had tentatively agreed to a proposed debate sponsored by the PD, The Columbus Dispatch, and the Dayton Daily News, but pulled out after the papers rejected their demand to include the Call and Post, a weekly aimed at black readers, as cosponsor.

Call and Post editor Connie Harper said the paper now wants to organize the Cleveland debate and is searching for its own co-sponsors, which may include the Urban League.

“We are working on it today,” she said.

I haven't gotten any confirmation yet but typically "Account for domain www.callandpost.com has been suspended" means the bill wasn't paid.

Doing a who is:

Registrant:
Angela Publishing
11820 Shaker Blvd
Cleveland, Ohio 44120
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: CALLANDPOST.COM
Created on: 16-Mar-01
Expires on: 16-Mar-07
Last Updated on: 07-Mar-06

Technical Contact:
DeVore Technologies
466 Northfield Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44146
United States

However, Devore Technologies doesn't have Call and Post listed on their Client List

I waited one day to see if this was some sort of a glitch but this morning the same message:

Account for domain www.callandpost.com has been suspended...

I have no idea if this will affect debate organizing for the Cleveland event or if this is a sign of larger problems at Call and Post.

Toledo not feeling the love from Ted Strickland...

It's bad enough that NWO is not going to be included in the Gubernatorial Debates, not even from a media partner aspect. Yes, Ted Strickland was here for the official opening of his campaign office in Downtown Toledo, however, I picked up a copy of La Prensa on Monday. The July 5th edition, which was the same week that Ted opened his campaign office here.

On page 27 there is a half page ad. For those of you who don't normally read La Prensa, it has a Toledo location, and it is billed as "Ohio and Michigan's Oldest and Largest Latino Weekly".

The top of the ad reads:

Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Mayor Michael Coleman, Mayor Frank Jackson, Mayor Rhine McLin, Mayor Marcia Fudge & Mayor Mark Mallory

Endorse

Ted Strickland for Governor

I realize that La Prensa is viewed as a "minority" newspaper, however how many of those above Mayors are Hispanic or Latino? How many of them are from NWO? If you are not a political junkie, and you see that ad you might not realize that our own Mayor, Carty Finkbeiner endorsed Ted Strickland. Not recently, but quite some time ago, before a majority of those pictured and touted on this ad did. Ted Strickland right after he had announced he was running for Governor came up to Toledo to attend Mayor Carty Finkbeiner's inaugural ball. From Strickland's own website it states, "Carty showed strong support for Ted" and this was even before the primary. From that Toledo Blade article, dated January 15, 2006:

Returned to Government Center with 68 percent of the vote in November, Mr. Finkbeiner campaigned for someone else during his own party.

As he guided Mr. Strickland to the clubhouse’s ballroom, Mr. Finkbeiner introduced his prospective ally to his major supporters, who quoted Bible verses and pledged to support the congressman, a former pastor...

Mr. Finkbeiner, who previously served as Toledo’s mayor from 1994-2002, then made a request of his guests on behalf of the congressman.

“I want all of you who are going to work for him to shake his hand,” he said. “Give his aides your name.”

Of course this ad or the debate issue is not going to make residents of NWO turn their backs on Ted Strickland but it's not quite the way to encourage support. Here's my advice for the next time an ad is run in a local paper; include the Mayors of those towns the newspaper serves that endorsed you or if you are going to try to highlight minority support? There are quite a few well known Democrats in this area and in Ohio who are Hispanic/Latino and that would have more of an impact than ignoring those who do live, work and most importantly vote here.

Blog it, Toledo, Carty, Ben and more....

This week's Blog it! Toledo is online as well as another online exclusive by Traci Curth on Friendship. Michael Miller focuses on "The fast and the spurious", making me realize that I really don't miss that part of driving at all. :-)

This week's cover story is on Our Mayor, it's a highly recommended read as well as a guest column by Ben Konop in response to a guest column done by George Sarantou last week. Tom Richard has another very informative article in the Business Link section.

That is just a few of the many great reads awaiting you in this week's Toledo Free Press...

Sitting down with Michael Goulding, Judicial Candidate...

There is some basic biographical information on the web about Michael Goulding in the Toledo Blade, the Toledo City Paper as well as few other publications so I set out to find out more than what I had discovered in doing research before meeting with him. I knew from our email exchanges in setting up this interview that he is a new father, and is very proud of not only his wife but his baby daughter, Abigail Marie. I anticipated from reading the Toledo City Paper bio piece, when he ran against Peter Ujvagi after Steve Goldman had withdrawn from the race, that Michael had a good sense of humor...he does. I also knew from that same article that drummer Neil Peart of Rush is a favorite of his, however, I did not know that Michael is also a drummer as well as a bass guitar player. His home was in one of the South Toledo areas that flooded, thankfully his drums were not damaged but there was some water damage that they have had to deal with.

Michael takes his committment to public service very seriously. He served on the board of the Mildred Bayer Clinic until it became a part of the Neighborhood Health Association and then joined that board and is the current Vice President. He is still the Legal Advisor for the Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and also served for a brief time as Juvenile Court mediator. He took several classes on mediation as well as attending training sessions specific to Juvenile Court mediation. Michael also served as a page for in the House of Representatives, under the sponsorship of J. Barney Quilter. He also was involved with campaigning for Pat Kennedy for the Toledo Public School Board and was at one time her campaign treasurer. It was this experience that led to Michael deciding he felt more compatible with being a Republican. I did not ask him any questions related to Republican party platform issues because while he is running as a Republican, I also know that in the end when it comes to Judical matters personal beliefs or political party issues are not supposed to be a factor. Just as I would not ask a Democratic or an Independent candidate for judge questions that I would ask a City Council Candidate as one example.

As is stated on some of the other media bio information on Michael Goulding, he is licensed to practice law in both Ohio and Florida and in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. After passing the Ohio Bar on his first attempt he studied while working full time to take the Florida Bar exam. Michael stated that at the time the Florida Bar exam was in some ways more difficult than the Ohio Bar because it included a test section on the Florida Constitution. He flew down to Tampa and passed the Florida Bar the first time as well. Being able to practice law in both states has been a huge benefit to clients that live in our area and also live in Florida, or those who live here who have relatives in Florida, especially when dealing with probate issues. As an attorney he specializes in employment, probate, civil litigation, and real estate; Michael feels his experience in civil litigation, contract disputes as well as his past mediation experience gives him the level of mediation skills that he feels is critical for a Judge on the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas. He has also had experience with criminal cases at a Municipal Court level.

His first experience with running for office against Peter Ujvagi was a situation where the odds were very far against him winning. As he jokingly stated in the Toledo City Paper piece when asked what was the first thing he'd do if elected; "The first thing I’ll do if elected is worry about a recount." This campaign for the former term of Judge Zouhary is in some ways different yet in some ways similar. Michael's entrance into the race was again due to a last minute withdrawl of another candidate, this time Larry Kaczala. Due to some signature issues, Michael had to run a write in campaign to get on the November ballot, which he was successful at. This time he is running against Stacy Cook, who has the benefit of name recognition. However, Michael is not facing an established incumbent for this race. I'd say he appears cautiously optimistic as to his chances of winning in November.

When I asked the question of what he would do if elected, he stated he would like to "spearhead an effort" related to online filing and online access of case filings in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas. This could a huge benefit to not only local attornies but to the public as well as far as access of information. While there is some information available online now, Michael would like to see this expand more in the nature of what the US District Court offers. This is an issue that will be a key component of his campaign for election. Michael realizes he cannot meet this goal alone, but feels if elected he can garner support on this issue.

In closing, Michael Goulding is warm, friendly and has a great sense of humor. I had a very enjoyable time doing this interview. Yet, not to sound cutesy, I could picture him as a Judge. He does have a proven record of legal experience and it is obvious he has the work ethic one would expect from a Judicial Candidate. He will be updating me with information such as his official campaign kickoff and other similar noteworthy press release updates which I will share with you here. I thank him for taking the time to meet with me and allowing us to learn more about him.

(This article will also be featured in the weekly Carnival of Ohio Politics brought to you by Paul Miller of Northwest Ohio Net where every Wednesday some of the best bloggers in Ohio feature their work.)

Looks like Learn and Earn made it

In this Toledo Blade article about the deceptive nature of the signature gathering process, we discover something that I expected:

As of last weekend, Mr. Hopcraft said the effort already had garnered more than 402,000 signatures. It has until Aug. 9 to continue collecting signatures in hopes of surviving review by county boards of election and a potential court challenge that could drag the effort below the 323,000 threshold.

Granted a majority of those 402,000 probably had no clue it involved gambling but evidently it's legal to be deceptive in collecting signatures for petitions to change the Constitution in Ohio. Considering they are still collecting signatures at this point they have a cushion of 79,000 signatures. Even if they don't make their goal of 500,000 as it stands right now this will probably be on the fall ballot.

Despite this:

Spokesman David Hopcraft said Learn and Earn has heard complaints about the radio spot, and said the spots are designed to introduce Ohioans to the Learn and Earn brand.

The commercial does provide an Internet address for voters to find out more about Learn and Earn. The Web site, www.ohiolearnandearn.com, states on its home page that the program would be funded with slot machine revenue and provides a link to the full language of the proposed amendment.

He said the organization will be more explicit about the gambling connection during the fall campaign, assuming the proposed amendment is certified for the Nov. 7 ballot.

I'm not overly optimistic that future commercials will be more factual in content. However, I'm sure the organized opposition will then start and they'll hopefully be more factual as to what Learn and Earn really is about. Gambling...with a side benefit to entice you into supporting a constitutional change to allow it by dangling the promise of college funding that many more than me question from a numbers stance.

It's said there is a sucker born every minute, there could be some truth to that. It's amazing to me that so many people would sign a petition to change the Constitution for our State without bothering to get details. Or the attitude toward legalizing gambling in this state has changed dramatically since the past failed attempts. Unfortunately I'm leaning towards the first statement...

Now, back to moving...

Between moving trips into Toledo notes...

The dsl at the new home of Glass City Jungle (finally in the Glass City) isn't up and running yet, so a few things of note while at the old place that still has a net connection. Yes, my computer is the last thing to go.

First, if you haven't seen the Toledo Blade article on Frank Szollosi, I'd recommend reading it. Personally I think what Frank is doing with Szollosi Listens comes first from his desire to find ways to connect and help his Toledo constituents rather than politics though I'm not naive enough to think that politics is not a part of it as well. For as long as I have known Frank he has tried to do what he can for Toledoans and even before I became a FOF (Fan of Frank) he responded to requests for information/questions. We don't always agree but we respect each other and he has been a huge help to me in supporting my blogging both here and on LCS.

Incase blogging is light tomorrow, don't forget to tune in Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. to WXUT either by stream or live on the air to hear Nookular Option. Mark Dansack is one of the scheduled guests that Don and Anthony will interview. I'm not sure of which hour he will be feaured, Nookular Option might update that information between now and Tuesday. Also for those Mark Dansack Fans, he has an upcoming Campaign Kickoff this month.

Tomorrow I'm meeting with Michael Goulding, who is running against Stacy Cook for the Lucas County Court of Appeals term beginning 1/02/07 (The former seat of Judge Zouhary.) That interview will be posted Tuesday afternoon/evening, and the list of candidates that will be highlighted in this weekly feature is growing. As promised when I started this, both Republicans and Democrats will be included. If you are a candidate and we haven't made contact yet and you are interested? Drop me an email.

On the Tuesday City Council agenda, Joe Birmingham did contact me (Thank you Joe!) and let me know that the lawnmower purchases some of us had questions on are indeed heavy grade commercial mowers and they will have service maintenance thru Maumee. The purchase was done outside of NWO from Joe's understanding because of the requirements of being on the state approved purchase list. No updated information is available on the Eminent Domain case posted about earier which is also on that agenda, as of the time of this posting.

Now back to more box moving I go. We slept at the new house for the first time last night, having moved all of the heavy items yesterday. It was so quiet not living that close to the train tracks it was almost hard to sleep at first. Having a wonderful cross breeze rather than what exists here was amazingly awesome and our puppy has somewhat conquered her fear of going down steps as well has having a blast in her nicely fenced in back yard. My new modem is supposedly at Maumee's UPS hub so if all goes well dsl might be up and running at House by tomorrow.