Money to Burn: A prescription for destructive fire on public land?

Money to Burn: A prescription for destructive fire on public land?
Environmental coalition calls for investigation, files complaints
June 24, 2009. For immediate release.
Complete list of contacts and supporting documents below.

In a telephone press conference Wednesday, a coalition of citizens and environmental groups called on the Strickland administration to “rein in Ohio Division of Forestry (ODOF) and conduct a full public investigation of its disastrous prescribed burn program, including April’s 2870-acre Shawnee Forest fire, and financial incentives for DOF to burn.” The group explained in the phone conference why such an investigation must examine:

* ODOF knowledge of and failure to heed extreme fire danger conditions that indicated a high probability of their prescribed burn escaping
* arson charges brought by ODOF during the fire, which the prosecutor has recommended be dropped
* site preparations for the burn (permitted for 250 acres) that eventually burned 2870 acres of Shawnee State Forest at great cost and danger to people and property
* the link between federal fire money and ODOF activity, and
* fire impacts on Ohio forests, local economies, and public health.

David Maywhoor, Director of the Buckeye Forest Council, a statewide forest protection nonprofit, said, “The Ohio Division of Forestry funds its budget in part with federal funds based on acres burned. Behind schedule and with an April 30 deadline looming, DOF set a fire in Shawnee State Forest on Friday, April 24––a day for which the National Weather Service had issued a warning of extreme fire danger ‘across much of southern Ohio.’” DOF’s permit was for 250 acres. 2870 acres burned over the next seven days.

Cheryl Carpenter, of Shawnee-based Voices for the Forest, described circumstances of the arson charge: “On Sunday, April 26, a 22-year old volunteer firefighter and Army veteran who had been assisting DOF on Friday called 911 from a home near where fire had flared. As he was running back toward the fire, he was arrested by DOF and charged with arson for fires that had started on Friday and for possession of criminal tools. According to legal documents, the criminal tool was a Bic lighter.”

Carpenter is one of at least four citizens and environmental groups filing Verified Complaints to Ohio EPA based on DOF violations of its open burning permit. Also filing are Matt Peters of Forest Watch, Barbara Lund of Adams County, and Buckeye Forest Council. Each filing requires that OEPA follow up with an investigation. Peters said, “The breadth and depth of the issues raised in these complaints show that this is not an isolated issue limited to one burn on one forest. Internal agency review has lost its legitimacy. Oversight is needed beyond the agency level.”

Carpenter’s OEPA complaint cites, among many issues, the Fire Chief’s Handbook and DOF’s lack of site preparation: “Many tall dead trees were left standing, even along the permit area perimeter. They act like chimneys and can project embers up to three miles.” The alleged arson fires were less than half a mile downwind of DOF’s fire. ODOF has acknowledged causing the spot fire that started between its permitted fire and the alleged arson fires. “DOF’s fire or spot fires could easily have started all the fires,” Carpenter stated. The Fire Marshall never ruled any of the fires arson. The prosecutor has recommended that the case be dismissed: "They have a lot of work to do--both to show this is arson and to show that he is the one who did it. " (Mark Kuhn, Scioto County Prosecutor in Portsmouth Daily Times, 6-24-09)

J.B. Berry, Nile Township Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief, believes the accused “is innocent and that forestry officials have no physical evidence to prove otherwise,” according to the Portsmouth Daily Times (6/6/09): “‘I don’t even think there was an arsonist out there…You had winds that day gusting up to 40 miles an hour.’”

Brandi Whetstone, Sierra Club Ohio Chapter Conservation Program Coordinator, discussed political, health and environmental impacts of the burn program: "Prescribed fire in Ohio's public forests is inappropriate, given the lack of public hearings and the many public health and environmental impacts.” She said, “Fire not only destroys valuable forest habitat but also releases air pollution that contributes to respiratory illness and climate change. Burning is of special concern in areas that fail to meet clean air standards for particulate matter. Ohio Department of Natural Resources should be preserving forests as carbon sinks instead of releasing greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change."

Heather Cantino, of Buckeye Forest Council, stated, “DOF uses weak, frequently changing justifications to burn vast areas of public woodland in a part of the country where fire is not necessary but harmful. Unlike western forests, our forests are moist: wood rots and does not accumulate as fuel. The only way to protect homes is to protect the immediate area around them. Burning forests doesn’t protect homes. Instead, DOF fires produce lots of dead wood that creates rather than eliminates wildfire risk.”

Cantino continued, “Our forests are not adapted to fire; it harms our forests and encourages invasive plant species, a growing threat to our native forests. And fire’s promotion of oaks is an unproven, controversial goal appropriate, at most, in well-constructed experiments. Where is DOF”s monitoring of the effectiveness of any of its forest burn activities?” she asked.

“Unlike historic fires of earlier centuries, which would have been small and confined to ridgetops, DOF conducts high intensity burns from ridgetops to cove bottoms over many hundreds of acres at a time,” Cantino said. “The studies DOF cites do not look at long term effects, late April burns, or effects on rare species. There is no support in the scientific literature for this kind or scale of burning,” she concluded.

Barbara Lund stated, “Most of Ohio has been appropriated for human use. Less than 1% is truly original. Even secondary native ecosystems are like tiny islands in an ocean of human development. Ohio’s state forests contain biodiversity essential to human survival. But they are literally being managed to death.”

David Maywhoor summed up with the group’s call for action: “The Governor should appoint an independent investigative body to review this fire and all DOF fire and logging activities. Public scrutiny of DOF activities is essential to protect our citizens and our forests. We also look forward to prompt and complete investigation by OEPA of all violations cited in the recently submitted Verified Complaints.”

Additional contacts:

* Cheryl Carpenter, Voices for the Forest: 740-820-8425, cheryl61@falcon1.net
* Brandi Whetstone, Sierra Club Ohio Chapter: 614-461-0734 x311, brandi.whetstone@sierraclub.org
* Barbara Lund, member, Save our Shawnee Forest: 937-544-7104
* Matt Peters, Forest Watch: 740-797-4319, matt@wormsnbats.com
* Heather Cantino, Buckeye Forest Council: 740-594-3338; heather.cantino@gmail.com
* JB Berry, Assistant Fire Chief, Nile Township Fire Department, Friendship OH 740-858-5190

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Great Lakes states pump $211 million into the local economies and sustain 4,400 jobs

Recommended article from La Prensa, Salazar: Visiting our parks is one way of bolstering an ailing economy:

If the economy woes are bringing you down, take a hike in the lush Metroparks or camp in the Emerald Necklace to recuperate your senses and reconnect with the environment. Spending your family vacation visiting natural parks is one way to bolster the ailing U.S. economy.

Department of Interior is allocating $3 billion nationally under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to create 100,000 jobs that cannot be outsourced, conserve natural treasures, and generate renewable and efficient energy and protect the environment.

Speaking at the City Club of Cleveland on June 2, 2009, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar said the country’s economic recovery will begin in Ohio. The Buckeye state is slated to receive $23 million of which more than $7 million will be invested in Cuyahoga Valley National Park to upgrading nine miles of railroad, closing four hazardous abandoned oil and gas wells to restore the natural landscapes, and repairing the historic Tinker’s Creek aqueduct.

“The investment we are making in Ohio will create jobs,” Salazar said. He said Pres. Obama has made economic recovery a top priority and the administration is seeking solutions that will set the nation on a path to energy independence,

Salazar said national park sites in the Great Lakes states pump $211 million into the local economies and sustain 4,400 jobs. “At Cuyahoga Valley National Park alone, two and a half million people visit each year, spending $38 million annually in the local economy, supporting nearly a thousand jobs,” Salazar said. “Supporting our parks and refuges is something that benefits everyone.”

Office of Fleet Management wins award for alternative fuels

State of Ohio wins national award for alternative-fuel-use scorecard

Efforts by the State of Ohio to increase the use of alternative fuels in state vehicles has captured national recognition.

The Ohio Department of Administrative Services’ Office of Fleet Management has been named a winner of the 2009 Larry Goill Memorial Quality Fleet Management Idea Award from the NAFA Fleet Management Association for the creation and use of a scorecard measuring the use of alternative fuels in state vehicles.

This international competition recognizes creative ideas that improve productivity and/or favorably impact bottom-line cost savings.

“This national award further confirms that the State of Ohio has made great strides during the past two years in our efforts to increase the use of alternative fuels. There is more work to be done, but we accept the responsibility of being a leader among our peers,” said Director Hugh Quill of the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.

The Ohio Revised Code mandated the use of alternative fuels in capable state vehicles in October 2006. The code spelled out the minimum amounts of biodiesel and E85 fuel required to be used annually. To illustrate usage in an easy-to-read format, in 2007 the Office of Fleet Management created a scorecard indicating each state agency’s alternative fuel use and its progress toward reaching its goal. The scorecard has been shared with agency fleet managers and posted to the State of Ohio Web site at http://das.ohio.gov/gsd/Fleet/pdf/E_85_Bio_Feb_09.pdf.

The results of the implementation of the scorecard have been astounding. During calendar year 2008, E85 use increased 701 percent and biodiesel use increased 2,364 percent.

The State of Ohio was one of two winners of the 2009 Larry Goill Memorial Quality Fleet Management Idea Award. Applications were accepted from anyone employed in a vehicle management role by any company, utility, government agency or not-for-profit organization in the United States or Canada.

The awardees were announced April 27 at the NAFA Institute and Expo in New Orleans.

Underground Railroad Lantern Tour

If you have never taken the Underground Railroad Lantern Tour offered by the Metroparks of the Toledo area? I highly recommend it and it is coming up this May 2nd:

Take a walking tour at an actual site where runaway slaves hid on their journey to freedom. Historical figures will transport you back in time to share two very different stories during the Underground Railroad Lantern Tour, Saturday, May 2 at the Lathrop House, located inside Harroun Community Park on Main Street in Sylvania.

Join Metroparks and Friends of the Lathrop House for a night of dramatic history and discover northwest Ohio's important role in battling slavery. You will hear two very different stories that span generations: one follows a slave family from Africa to Canada, while the other chronicles an abolitionist family's difficult journey from England to Sylvania, Ohio. These very different stories are fated to collide in northwest Ohio.

Available time slots from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Fee: $5. Register Here or call 419-407-9700.

Arts organizations celebrate legacies and the future

Recommended article by Christine Senack in this week's Toledo Free Press on Arts organizations celebrate legacies and the future. Part of what was shared there as it relates to upcoming events:

Upcoming Events

May 2 Paw Hoorah. Enjoy cocktails and your gourmet grazing delights while bidding on hundreds of silent auction items at. Proceeds benefit Planned Pethood’s low-cost spay/neuter programs. Tickets are $60 with a cash bar. Country club casual attire. Call (419)826-fixx or visit plannedpethood.org for more information.

May 16 Raise Some Cash. Back for a second year, this event is organized by members of Augsburg Lutheran Church to benefit the Feed Your Neighbor pantry in the 43612 zipcode. The will be held at the Blarney and features several popular local bands, and each act is slated to perform at least one song by Johnny Cash. Casual attire. $5 cover charge. For more information call 419.410.1117.

Glass City Rollers "full contact musical chairs"

This sounds like a fun one!

The Glass City Rollers are putting on the skates Friday, April 24, 2009 for full-contact musical chairs at Mickey Finn’s Pub, 602 Lagrange Street in Toledo. There will be a 50/50 Raffle and official Glass City Rollers merchandise on sale. Members of the all-women flat-track roller derby league will be available for questions about the team throughout the evening starting at 9:00 p.m. The Glass City Rollers are always seeking skaters, staff, and sponsors to keep them rolling! Friday night’s music will be provided by The Zimmerman Twins.

Visit www.glasscityrollers.com for more information.

Artomatic419! Has begun!

It's that time again Toledo for Artomatic 419! Presented by the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo Artomatic 419! starts this Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. and ends Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 11:00pm. The location for 2009 is right next to the Oliver House at 201 Morris Street and there is no admission cost. Visit the website, www.artomatic419.org for more information and there is a commercial done by Above the Shop Studies after the fold...

Earth Day event sponsored by Black Swamp Conservancy

In via e-mail:

Black Swamp Conservancy to hold Earth Day event at Forrest Woods

Perrysburg, Ohio (April 7, 2009) - Black Swamp Conservancy will host an Earth Day celebration at Forrest Woods Nature Preserve on April 25, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. The celebration will include a seed planting and nature walk. There is no charge to attend and the event is open to the public.

Forrest Woods Nature Preserve, a state nature preserve owned by the conservancy, is located near Antwerp in Paulding County, Ohio. The preserve is one of the few sites that retain the characteristics of the historic Great Black Swamp, which once stretched from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Ohio’s Lake Erie shoreline. A variety of native plants and animals call Forrest Woods home, including many rare, threatened and endangered species.

Along with its partners at the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves and at Defenders of Wildlife, the conservancy has been restoring several fields in the preserve to a natural condition. The fields, which had been farmed before the conservancy acquired the property, are being allowed to revert back to woodland. In an effort to maintain the local genetics of the land, the conservancy collected several hundred tree seeds from the old growth woods last fall. The seeds were stored over the winter and will be planted during the Earth Day event.

After the planting, participants are invited to join the conservancy on a nature walk through the preserve. John Jaeger, former director of natural resources for Toledo Metroparks, will lead the walk. Known for its brilliant spring wildflower displays and diverse bird population, Forrest Woods Nature Preserve was named the “best spot to step into spring” by Ohio Magazine in 2007.

Those interested in participating in the Earth Day event should meet in the parking lot of Bethel United Methodist Church at the corner of Paulding County Roads 73 and 192, at 10:00 a.m. on April 25th. Participants are encouraged to bring a shovel or spade with them for the planting. The conservancy also suggests that you dress appropriately for the weather and cautions that it may be muddy in the restoration areas and on the nature walk.

For more information about the Earth Day celebration, please call Rob Krain at Black Swamp Conservancy, (419) 872-5263.

Black Swamp Conservancy, founded in 1993, is a non-profit land trust whose mission is to conserve and protect natural areas and farmland in northwest Ohio for the benefit of future generations. The conservancy has permanently protected 7,522 acres of family farms, woods, meadows and wetlands at over 70 locations in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. The conservancy’s territory covers the Oak Openings region, one of Ohio’s biologically most unique areas, as well as the area of the former Great Black Swamp. More information about the conservancy is available online at www.blackswamp.org.

19th Annual Heartwood Forest Council

This in via e-mail describing last years event:

Just days after the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division Of Forestry revealed plans to initiate major burning in the Shawnee State Forest , local, state and regional environmental groups announced the convening of the 18th Annual Heartwood Forest Council. The event, which will take place, Memorial Day Weekend, May 23-26, 2008, is to be held at Boy Scout Camp Oyo in the Shawnee State Forest near Portsmouth, Ohio. The theme of this year's Forest Council is "Burning Issues: Climate is a Forest Product."

The Heartwood Forest Council is the largest annual gathering of citizens from across the Eastern, Midwestern, and Southern United States who care about the health and well being of our nation's forests. This will be the second time this event has taken place in Ohio, the first being at Camp Oty Okwa in 1992.

“We are expecting more than 200 participants from communities in Ohio and nearly two dozen other states,” said Andy Mahler of Heartwood. “We had hoped to showcase the beauty and splendor of the Shawnee State Forest. With the threat of these burns, we are not sure what we will encounter in the Forest."

“We will focus on threats to our region and to human and community health, in an atmosphere of collaboration designed to form stronger personal and organizational connections,” Said David Maywhoor, Executive Director of Buckeye Forest Council. “While addressing the issues we face and celebrating the work that we do, the Forest Council will offer participants an opportunity to identify lasting solutions and proven action steps that will move us as a community toward a shared vision of a healthy, just, and sustainable society.”

The program will begin the afternoon of Friday, May 23, and continue through mid-day, Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day), and will be interspersed with ample social time, leisure, lively local music, dancing and great food. The Forest Council will be family friendly - kids of all ages are encouraged to attend.

“This year's Forest Council will explore how we can nurture sustainable local and regional networks and a culture of cooperation and care,” said Mr. Mahler. “Together we will identify viable alternatives to the dominant economy and its toxic legacy of waste and prepare ourselves with the knowledge and tools to protect ourselves, our communities, and our planet.”

“Since the 2003 ice storm, Shawnee State Forest has been devastated with nearly 7,000 acres of logging and now an open-ended experimental prescribed burning plan which could last decades.” said Cheryl Carpenter, Voices for the Forest. “In the first five years alone, 7,868 acres are scheduled to be burned. This Forest Council will bring this issue front and center nationwide.”

“This Council has something for everyone, environmentalist or not.” Ms Carpenter continued, “On Friday, Dr. Andrew Feight, Shawnee State University Associate Professor of History will be sharing the history of the Scioto River Valley and Dr. Tula Cora Watters, Chief of the Shawnee Nation, Blue Creek Band, will be speaking on the Shawnee Nation. Additionally Jenny Richards and Kevin Bradbury, Shawnee State Park, will offer a colorful presentation on the flora and fauna of Shawnee State Forest. On Saturday, there is an array of talented, local musicians including Steve Free, John Simon & Band and Mothman. And one of Ohio’s best naturalists, John Howard will lead a hike on Sunday.

The program will consist of three days of workshops, discussions, keynote speakers, and field trips. Key program elements will include:

Forest Issues: public lands management, roadless and other special areas, prescribed burning on state and national forests, genetically modified trees, sustainable forestry and low impact logging, land certification, and land management strategies and opportunities including the value of non-timber forest products.

Coal, air, energy and climate issues: coal mining and processing, including mountaintop removal, room and pillar, and longwall mining, coal-fired power plants, air pollution and global climate change. We will also talk about resurgent efforts to promote nuclear power, the alternatives to fossil fuel such as wind, solar and hydropower, and the connections between forests and energy production including cellulosic ethanol and biomass.

Sustainability issues: creating viable communities and taking responsibility for our own future; localized economies, permaculture, local and regional food production and distribution, alternative energy and transportation, traditional uses of plants and their preservation, religion and environmental protection, alternatives to the corporate control of food and seed supply; and how to sustain our minds, bodies and spirits as we seek environmental justice and transformational change.

Hosts for this year’s event include Heartwood, the Buckeye Forest Council, Save Our Shawnee State Forest, Voices for the Forest, Meigs Citizens Action Now, Protect Biodiversity in Public Forests, EarthWatch Ohio, Sierra Club, Ohio Chapter and Ohio Environmental Council.

This year's event will be held at:

We would like to invite you to the 19th annual Heartwood Forest Council, to be held Memorial Day weekend, May 22-25, 2009, at Camp McKee near the Red River Gorge in Appalachian Kentucky. The theme of this year's Forest Council is Defending the Earth, Sustaining Ourselves.

Camp McKee, is a great location just seven miles south of Mt. Sterling, with over 800 acres of forests and trails, a large lake, and sits adjacent to Pilot Knob State Nature Preserve and just a stone’s throw from the beautiful and unique Red River Gorge.

Visit www.heartwood.org/forestcouncil for more information and how to sign up.

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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