Buckeye Forest Council announces...

Our good friend Barbara Lund, Save Our Shawnee Forest, has scheduled three hikes in the Woodland Altars forest which will be held Sundays – March 22nd, 29, and April 5th from 1:00 – 4:00 rain or shine. Woodland Altars is located at 33200 Ohio Route 41 north of Peebles in Adams County, Ohio. Participants should meet at the lodge parking area and wear appropriate footgear and clothing.
Come early and view maps and photographs.

Hike leaders include:
March 22nd – Paul Knoop
March 29th – Martin McAllister
April 5th - Brian Truitt

There are five major loop hiking trails, four through hilly forestland and one in a large prairie. The trails vary from ½ to 1 ½ miles in length and are easy to moderate difficulty. Depending on weather and trail conditions part or all of one loop will be covered on each hike.

About recent logging at the Woodland Altars, in a February 12 letter to the editor in The People’s Defender Paul Knoop wrote “…over the years I have observed numerous Boy Scout camps and other outdoor education facilities cut their large, old trees. Formerly these cut areas were dark and green and cool and lush with beech ferns, club mosses and the song of deep woodland birds. Now, after cutting, these areas are a tangle of Multiflora rose, scattered small trees and scars from the logging operation. In almost every case the money derived from the harvest was a short-term fix and the affected agency regretted the loss of their best trees. It must be remembered that once 100-year-old trees are cut it takes a full human lifetime to replace them. Several generations of children (and adults) will not see the big trees ever again.

I also want to dispel the myth that the forest will deteriorate unless it is managed by humans. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Forests left to their own devices will do perfectly well just as they did prior to humans arriving on the scene. Forests in wilderness areas, state parks and preserves and other "no cut" areas continue to be healthy and viable.”

Toledo will support Earth Hour 2009

CITY OF TOLEDO ANNOUNCES IT WILL SUPPORT WORLD WILDLIFE FUND'S EARTH HOUR 2009

Joins Tens of Millions in Turning Off Lights for Largest Climate Event in History

The City of Toledo announced today it will officially support Earth Hour 2009, a global climate event led by the World Wildlife Fund. More than 240 cities around the world have already committed to go dark for one hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m., as tens of millions of people from all corners of the world unite in a call for global action on climate change.

Today, Mayor Finkbeiner released the following statement - "Toledo is known all over the world as one of the leading producers of clean, green, renewable alternative energies, and our participation in Earth Hour reflects our commitment to energy efficiency and natural resource conservation. We are proud and honored to be part of this international effort to raise awareness about climate change."

From Amman to Warsaw, city skylines will go dark for one hour as individuals, businesses, government buildings, schools and major landmarks turn off non-essential lighting in what will be the largest climate event in history. The list of participating cities in the US includes Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville with more signing up every day.

"World Wildlife Fund is pleased that Toledo is taking part in Earth Hour 2009. As lights go out in cities around the U.S. and the world on March 28th, Earth Hour will provide world leaders with an unmistakable mandate to take action," said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts. "The climate crisis threatens the ability of our planet to support its inhabitants. We want the world to know that Americans care about saving the planet and stand united in seeking to find solutions to climate change."

During Earth Hour 2008, more than 50 million people in 400 cities on all seven continents turned off their lights as major icons also went dark, including the Sydney Opera House, the Coliseum in Rome, Stockholm's Royal Castle, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Google turned its homepage black for an entire day in tribute.

The City of Toledo is asking all citizens, businesses, and organizations to turn off all non-essential lighting for one hour on March 28, 2009 between 8:30 - 9:30 PM. The City of Toledo also encourages citizens and businesses to commit to actions they can take in the coming year to reduce their carbon footprints and conserve energy.

The re-awakening begins...

I've started out with a new template, changed the links around a bit and now I'm working towards adding the content that will focus on Toledo with some other interesting tid bits now and then. There are so many releases that I get that at times are not politically related but that might be of interest that I plan to list those here.

This is also a place for me to focus on some of the things that matter to me, like 1Matters and some of the other community things that I get involved with. Take now as an example, a few of us are working on the concept of a street paper with the goal of getting some of our local homeless involved in the writing of the paper as well as giving them a chance to sell the paper. Other cities have been successful in this type of a endeavor.

Perhaps time to re-awaken

I'm still debating what I can do with this blog, I'd like to re-awaken it in a bit of a different format than the political version, with a focus on local community events, but unfortunately I haven't found the time to start.

So, perhaps I need to either do it or forget it..

Tower Brass Quintet to play December 19th

Nationally-known and Bowling Green-based brass ensemble The Tower Brass Quintet will return to Trinity United Methodist Church in Bowling Green on Wednesday, December 19 at 7:00 pm. to offer their very popular holiday concert — The Spirit of Christmas Brassed. Trinity United Methodist Church is located at 200 N. Summit St. in Bowling Green. The December 19 concert will mark the Tower Brass’s eighth annual appearance at Trinity. Admission is free and there will be a free-will offering at intermission of the concert. For information, call Trinity Church at 419-353-9031.

Christmas Brassed offers a full spectrum of holiday music, including classical and sacred music, brass ensemble arrangements of well-known traditional Christmas carols, and jazz renditions of popular tunes of the season.

Art in TARTA

If you have ever noticed some of the great artwork that is on some of our local TARTA buses it's the work of the Art in TARTA group. Our Art Community is one of the fantastic things about the Toledo area, so I urge you to visit their website and learn more:

www.artintarta.org.

Holiday Craft Show

It's time once again for the Toledo Craftsman's Guild's free holiday craft show. Each year new and repeat crafters sell their holiday and gift wares at this even and admission is free. It's a great way to see some of the talent of Toledo area residents and buy some unique gift items. It's being held again at the Lucas County Recreation Center on Key Street in Maumee, Ohio.

Listed Hours:
Friday, Nov. 23, 10AM -5PM
Saturday, Nov. 24, 10AM -5PM
Sunday, Nov. 25, 11 AM - 5 PM

Still no re-direct code

Lefty Blogs has the new Glass City Jungle linked up. Blognet News Ohio doesn't yet but I'm not going to create a post double up over on Lefty Blogs sooo until I find a re-direct code that will work with blogger without causing a syntax error? If you visited here? Head on over to the new Glass City Jungle and thanks to those of you who have updated your links.

:-)

Jack Ford makes his recommendation for the State School Board

And I disagree with him….

In this week’s Sojourner’s Truth, Jack Ford discusses the State School Board elections and makes his recommendation. While I’m glad to see the topic of this opening for the State School Board discussed, I’m disappointed that our former Mayor doesn’t even mention any other of the candidates.

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Howard Dean in Toledo...

Marcy Kaptur spoke first with quite a bit of applause, then there were two speakers, one was Jacob Smith who was in the military and spent 14 months in Baghdad. He is now attending BGSU Firelands and was very well received by the crowd. I don’t have the spelling of name of the next speaker but she was a former UAW worker who gave a very passionate speech on what our area has gone thru as far as manufacturing job loss and the importance of talking to our friends and family about the importance of voting.

Marcy Kaptur then introduced Howard Dean...

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Human Billboarding in Lucas County

Today, Libertarian candidate for Governor Bill Peirce was covered in the Toledo Blade. There is a photo shown of him in Toledo yesterday doing what many local candidates have been doing as well, it’s known as “Human Billboarding”.

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Dansack District 46 Campaign Media Release with Reason #3..

From the Mark Dansack for District 46 Campaign:

Mark Dansack Stands for Change in Ohio, Mark Wagoner protects the status quo.

Beginning October 31, Mark Dansack will be recapping over the next several days the reasons why residents of District 46 will be better served by electing a voice for positive change in Ohio rather than his opponent, who embraces the present “pay to play” dynamics now running rampant in Columbus.

Reason #3, Life experiences

Mark Dansack has long been involved in the Northwest Ohio community. From his early years on, Dansack has been working in his community for positive change. As a teenager, he served as a volunteer athletic coach in his community giving back to his hometown. As a young adult, Dansack became involved in campaigns of Democratic candidates who stood for positive change and also volunteered for the American Heart Association and American Leukemia Society.

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Nookular Option Podcast with James Nusbaum interview

Don has the podcast from this morning’s interview with Jim Nusbaum, judicial candidate for the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas up here for those of you who didn’t get a chance to tune in earlier. It’s a great interview and I hope you take a listen.

Impressions from Lucas County Commissioner Debate

As an update to the below, Joshua Boak’s article in the Toledo Blade is a nice summary of last night’s debate and includes some new information.

First I’d like to thank the Toledo Public Library, they did an excellent job once again with a huge special thanks to Undrea M. Powell who was in charge of the technical aspect for the Library tonight. She is amazing and had everything all set up and ready for me with the laptop on line and even had a mouse and a mousepad. We are very lucky to have such a fantastic Library system and it’s people like Undrea who make that happen.



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Tonight's Live Blogging of the Lucas County Commissioner Debate...

Will be over at the new Glass City Jungle

Absentee Voting rules changed and Missing Absentee Ballot Requests in Lucas County

I’ve gotten several emails on the settlement that was reached concerning the questions related to providing Identification for those voting by Absentee Ballot and those voting early in person. Today’s Toledo Blade provides the basic information on this settlement.

Here in Lucas County though there appears to be a very huge issue that no one is talking about. As most of you know I recently experienced some health problems so on that weekend, I decided to be on the safe side I was going to request an absentee ballot, because I had no idea how I was going to feel. I downloaded the form, filled it out and gave it to my husband who personally delivered it to the South Toledo post office on Byrne Road, South Detroit (I always confuse the two) he took the envelope inside that was clearly marked, “Absentee Voter Request”, and put it inside the mail slot for “In Town” mail. This was mailed on Monday, October 23, 2006.

If you are interested in this post it can be found here

McNamara Press Release on Swan Creek Riverwalk…

This in from the Joe McNamara for Toledo City Council campaign:

McNamara Outlines Plan For Swan Creek Riverwalk

Council candidate says project would strengthen Erie Street Market, make downtown more attractive to business

If you are interested in this post it can be found here

Campaign ads I would have like to have seen face local “Truth Test”

The latest ad that 13-ABC and the Toledo Blade decided to focus on was from the Lucas County Commissioner’s Race. The Sarantou ad with the “apple doesnt fall far from the tree” meme was recently released.

Yet there are several ads out there that have ran of longer duration that I believe are just as negative or not more so that did not receive the attention of either 13-ABC or the Toledo Blade.

If you are interested in this post it can be found here

Blade makes endorsements for Ohio General Assembly…

This morning’s Blade contains the following summary of their endorsements for the Ohio General Assembly:

If you are interested in this post it can be found here

Toledo Blade endorsed Sykes…Plain Dealer picks Taylor

Last Friday the Toledo Blade endorsed Barbara Sykes. The Cleveland Plain Dealer on Sunday, endorsed Mary Taylor.



If you are interested in this post it can be found here