A recent string of attempted child abductions has local leaders promising an increased presence by public safety officials around schools before and after classes. Law enforcement representatives, educators and individuals working to prevent abductions agree adults need to take more proactive roles if their children are to stay out of harm’s way.

”It all comes back to that adult supervision,” said Nancy McBride, national safety director for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the national clearinghouse for information on missing children and child victimization prevention. ”We are saying that we have to take the onus of safety off of children because it’s our job as adults to make sure kids are safe.”

Said Toledo Police Chief Jack Smith at a March 24 press conference: ”We cannot accomplish our job without the support of the citizens — the folks that are out there all the time that know what should and should not be going on in their neighborhoods.”

What can parents or guardians do to keep their children safe? More than one might think and a lot of which is basic, abduction prevention advocates say.

Avoid suspicious situations

In the three Toledo incidents, all of which involved teenage girls, victims were able to flee their attackers by using force to thwart abduction. However, it was the actions of three Perrysburg elementary students last week that exemplified what children should do when approached by suspicious individuals. When offered candy by a 17-year-old male near Toth School in Perrysburg, the students immediately ran and told adults what had happened.

”We want kids to be able to recognize and avoid dangerous situations,” McBride said. ”We don’t want children to be in confrontations with perpetrators.”

Shelly Blanco, who conducts seminars at the Martial Arts Center for children on how to identify strangers, said young children often aren’t aware of who a stranger is or what that person might look like. Not only is a stranger someone the child doesn’t know, she said, he or she is a person their parents don’t know they are with.

”A lot of child abductions or child molestations happen internally,” Blanco said. ”They happen with a neighbor, they happen with an uncle.”

If a child doesn’t think of someone as a stranger, Blanco said, they’re more prone to interact with the individual approaching them. She said it’s also important parents or guardians teach their children to become skeptical when someone they don’t know offers a bribe or a lure as in the Perrysburg incidences.

”Adults should never ask children for help,” Blanco said. ”If an adult is asking you for help, something is wrong.”

It’s crucial children avoid compromising situations, Blanco said, even if it means acting rudely toward an adult.

”Don’t worry about hurting their feelings,” she said. ”Hurt their feelings. Who cares?”

McBride agreed. She said once a child is taken to a desolate area with an abductor, the situation becomes more dangerous.

”Once they change locations, the odds go down that the child is going to be able to get out of that situation OK,” she said.

Strength in numbers

Educators throughout the Toledo Public Schools system are stressing to students they should never travel to and from school alone, said Dan Burns, the district’s chief business manager.

”The best thing we can do is get information out and remind kids in our schools and just ask for students to travel together,” he said.

According to results of an April to December 2005 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children analysis of 213 abduction cases, 38 percent of the incidents occurred between 2 and 6 p.m.; 18 percent happened from 6-8:30 a.m.

”Always have someone with you to and from school,” said Toledo police spokesman Sgt. Richard Murphy. ”Don’t make yourself vulnerable to anybody.”

‘Fight for your life’

Sergeant Murphy said children should do everything in their power to not go with an attempted abductor, even if it requires they use violence. He said if they are hurt fighting off an attacker in public they’re more likely to receive assistance from someone who might have witnessed the abduction attempt.

”They gotta fight, scream, yell, run away if they can,” Murphy said. ”Fight for your life because that’s what you’re doing.”

Though McBride agreed fending off an attack with force might be necessary, she said the method should be used as a last resort. She said she would rather have children not be in that situation by simply fleeing the scene if a stranger approaches them.

Communication is key

McBride said Toledo-area parents should use the recent series of attempted abductions as motivation to communicate to their children how they need to act should they find themselves in a compromising situation. She said doing so often makes young people more confident and likely to respond in appropriate ways.

”Don’t use fear as a motivator,” McBride said. ”Kids are already scared. Fear is not very useful. Kids and adults usually become paralyzed when they are scared.”

Communication among families is important because it lets children know they can tell their parents anything, McBride said.

”If you’re not going to communicate and be open,” she said, ”there’s someone who will and that’s the unsavory person that you don’t want.”

For more child abduction prevention tips, visit www.missingkids.com.

Stranger Danger

Parents or guardians looking for assistance in teaching their children how to identify and react to strangers are encouraged to attend one of the Martial Arts Center’s ”Stranger Danger” seminars.

What: ”Stranger Danger” seminar.

Why: To teach children how to

recognize and respond to strangers.

Who: Children age 3 and up and

parents or guardians.

When: 2 p.m. April 8. A 3:30 p.m.

session will be added if needed.

Where: Martial Arts Center, 7430

W. Central Ave., Sylvania Township.

The seminars are free and open to the public. Parents may register by calling Shelly Blanco at (419) 385-1000. Both sessions are limited to 20 children each.

Toledo police and firefighter unions say they are tired of playing the waiting game.

The Toledo Police Patrolman’s Association and Toledo Firefighter Association have been working without a contract since theirs expired Dec. 31.

”We want to let the public know the city’s not concerned about settling the contract,” said Jim Martin, president of the TFFA.

The TPPA had ”Protecting & Serving, 87 Days Without a Contract! Thanks Carty!” posted on its Web site, and the TFFA has ”Always on the frontline, 87 days without a contract” on the billboard outside its Washington Street office March 28.

Union leaders said contracts, which last for three years, are usually discussed and finalized at least a month before their terms end. That didn’t happen this year, in part because of the change in mayoral administration and the replacement of the lawyer who negotiated labor contracts for the city.

The mayor’s chief of staff, Bob Reinbolt, Toledo Police Chief Jack Smith and Fire Chief Mike Bell refused to comment.

The unions negotiate separately. The TPPA has talks scheduled for this week, but the TFFA had not heard anything from the city at press time. Three months into the new Carty Finkbeiner administration, frustrated union leaders are ready to bring in third parties.

Toledo unions, including the TPPA, have worked without contracts before. The difference, Martin and TPPA President Gregg Harris said, is that calls haven’t been returned for months.

”What upsets us most is that it seemed like the city was blowing us off,” Martin said. ”What we’re upset about is that we’re at an impasse.”

”We have been available for negotiations all along,” Harris said. ”Phone calls have gone unanswered. We’ve left messages, sent written correspondence. When you just plain don’t hear back, that’s frustrating for the union and all its members.”

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said the city is ”actively working toward completing contracts for the police and firemen. The city cannot legally discuss the details, but is focused on coming to a conclusion that satisfies all parties.”

”January through March we didn’t have any sit-downs with the city,” Martin said. ”They’ve had plenty of time to look and time to say something. After two months of that, we were ready to turn up the heat or go to fact-finding. It’s a slap in the face to every man and woman who works in the department.”

”We’re also prepared to go to fact-finding, if that’s the way they want to push it,” Harris said.

Fact-finding is a negotiation tactic — one side will hire an independent reviewer to look over the situation and render a ”finding of fact,” which is their opinion of what has happened so far and their recommendation for the next step. The police and fire unions, in this case, are each talking with fact-finding organizations to push negotiations along.

”The third party is not going to know the history, so it would be best to have the two parties just sit down,” Harris said. ”But we’ve been ready for five months now. We can’t sit and wait any longer.”

Council is required by law to pass a balanced budget by the end of this week. A

1.5 percent pay raise is built into that budget.

Martin said he believes Councilman Frank Szollosi is setting the negotiation process back by decrying the increase in overtime used by safety forces, and has called for Szollosi’s resignation.

”They’re justifiably frustrated with the process of negotiations,” Szollosi said. ”But in politics people should be civil and people should have thick skins.”

Szollosi said he is only trying to ask tough questions about spending.

”We have to pass a balanced budget, by law, by the end of the week,” Szollosi said. ”It would be disingenuous to support a budget with numbers in it that are factually wrong.”

”We know how budgets are set and there’s room for movement inside the budget to take care of things that need to be taken care of,” Harris said. ”There are ways to adjust.”

Though Martin and Harris declined to discuss the terms the unions are asking for, they did note that the terms of their last contract are well below national standards and what they deserve.

”We’re not asking for the moon, just compensation for the risks we take. Each and every one of us is putting our lives on the line every day,” Martin said. ”Where were they when I was on Central and Mulberry [streets] getting my ass kicked [during last year’s riots]?”

If you have never reveled in the deliciously hilarious writings of the inimitable Sir P[elham]. G[renville]. Wodehouse (1881-1975), it’s never too late to join in on the fun.

I am not aware he has any direct literary antecedents, but feel utterly safe in saying the humor of P. G. Wodehouse (the name, incidentally, is pronounced WOODhouse) is unparalleled in English letters. In the realm of high English farce, Wodehouse stands alone.

You will probably want to begin with the legendary ”Jeeves” series of tales (beginning with ”Carry On, Jeeves”) which chronicle the various misadventures of Bertram Wooster, Esq. and his irrepressible valet, Jeeves, the indispensable, quintessential and archetypal ”gentleman’s gentleman,” as the two gentrified gents gallivant about Edwardian England alternately becoming ensnared in and then inevitably effecting the improbable resolution of a wide assortment of intricate and absurd ”imbroglios.”

Think ”Brideshead Revisited” meets Monty Python meets Oscar Wilde meets the Marx Brothers meets Shakespeare’s ”Twelfth Night,” with generous dashes of Ogden Nash, Cole Porter and S. J. Perelman tossed in for good measure.

Add fancy jazz clubs, flowing champagne, sojourns to Blandings Castle, plush Bentleys and stylish two-seater roadsters, tailored suits, irate aunts, blushing damsels, burly constables, sumptuous suppers, temperamental French chefs, brash American businessmen and dusky-voiced flappers, insubordinate butlers, cricket matches, plus-fours, bowler hats, lawn parties, Boat Race Day — assorted run-ins, shenanigans, love trysts, escapades and hair-brained schemes involving the likes of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Tuppy Glossop, Madeline Basset, Lord Emsworth, Lady Agatha Worplesdon, The Rev. Aubrey Upjohn, Headmaster Malvern House Bramley-On Sea and sundry — an occasional unavoidable and well-intended burglary, unfortunate misunderstanding or regrettable appearance before the magistrate possibly even resulting in an impromptu overnighter in jug, narrow last-minute escapes from the clutches of matrimony, a couple of stiff pick-me-ups at The Drones Club … and you have the general gist of things.

The recorded books are every bit as enjoyable as the printed volumes. I especially recommend the spirited readings of Jonathan Cecil and Frederick Davidson.

For a more in-depth look at the life of the maestro there are several excellent biographies, the most recent being ”Wodehouse: A Life” by Robert McCrum.

If English Lit isn’t necessarily your thing and golf is more your bag, it just so happens one of Wodehouse’s best efforts pays side-splitting laugh-out-loud homage to ”the noble game.” Golf lovers can’t go wrong with a recording of ”The Clicking of Cuthbert,” read by Frederick Davidson.

Wodehouse is a man for all seasons — the perfect tonic for the downtrodden spirit. He deserves a permanent place in the literary canon and no discriminating reader’s bookshelf can be considered complete without at least one or two volumes of his best. As Evelyn Waugh so aptly put it, ”Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale … He has made [it] for us to live in and delight in.”

I probably shouldn’t tell you this since I depend on a steady supply for my own sustenance, but a respectable selection of Wodehousian high jinks — including recorded books and DVDs of the delightful ”Jeeves and Wooster” TV series starring Stephen Fry in his flawless portrayal of Jeeves and Hugh Laurie with his equally adept take on the bumbling Bertie Wooster — can be found at our beloved Toledo-Lucas County Public Library.

Columnist Reid Ahlbeck may be contacted at letters@toledofreepress.com.

In 1896, there were only four cars registered in all the United States. Two of them collided with each other in St. Louis.

Those odds are exponentially worse today. I am not indulging in hyperbole when I say this is the worst era for driving civility in all of recorded history, at least since Roman chariot times. The Ohio DMV gives a license to anyone who asks. Just give them one of the beers you keep in the cooler in the back seat and they’ll give you a license for life.

It’s one thing for the idiots on the road (I define ”idiots” as anyone driving slower or faster than I do) to swerve and look for things under the seat at 70 mph. What confounds me is when people driving business vehicles drive like Sandra Bullock in ”Speed.”

Would you print your business card on a razor blade? Would you put your name on a pen and throw it at a client’s jugular vein? Would you distribute a promotional coffee cup with a chipped, jagged lip? Would you mail a corporate holiday card soaked in bird flu? Not if you wanted to stay in business.

Why do companies have drivers who cut off cars, make dangerous turns, fail to signal, speed, eat, drink coffee and talk on the phone while making notes on a clipboard, all at the same time, as they drive the wrong way down a one-way street in a school zone?

Placing your company information on a delivery vehicle is an easy and common way to advertise.

For as little as $100, you can get a lettering company to paint your logo and phone number on your delivery van. As the van zips around town, everyone can see your proud company name and the service you offer.

It’s a rolling billboard that represents you, a moving message that makes a first impression.

When people see your company truck do something stupid, they identify that with you and your company. You realize that, right?

When a delivery truck from a west side roofing company cuts me off in a Sylvania school zone, why would I ever call them to use their service?

When a truck from a Maumee land design business refuses to allow me to merge onto the Anthony Wayne Trail, then flips me off when I honk, why would I ever spend money with them?

Tell your drivers, when they are on the road, they represent you and your company’s reputation. Those peeling, faded ”How am I driving?” bumper stickers aren’t enough. I know other drivers make it difficult to be civil at all times; but just as you control the tone and tempo of your in-store and at-desk employees, you should coach your drivers to be aware of their impact on your business as they deliver your goods and services.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety does not keep statistics on the number of commercial vehicles involved in accidents, so I do not know how to quantify the number of delivery vans and small trucks that get into accidents.

When I was an editor for the South Florida Business Journal, we wrote an occasional article about area companies whose representative vehicles were seen driving recklessly. Business Journal photographers and reporters contributed to the feature, and we published photos and stories of several company vans driving like they had the devil in the back seat.

We also reported when we saw a company vehicle do something friendly and civil, but we did not need as much ink for that.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press. He may be contacted at (419) 241-1700 or by e-mail at mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

Two weeks ago, we chastised Lucas County Commissioner candidate Phil Copeland for not responding to calls inviting him to join an April 10 debate sponsored by Toledo Free Press, WSPD 1370 AM and Fox Toledo 36. This week, Copeland accepted the invitation. All five candidates will be at the Main Library for the debate.

The zoo levies

We endorse the levies as a vote of confidence in Baker; it will be up to her to earn future requests for Lucas County dollars.

When Tom Treece returned to the United States in 1969 after being drafted and serving a year in Vietnam, he vowed to never revisit the place where he witnessed death.

His memories of time spent there were bleak: He was handed an automatic weapon and expected to kill anyone associated with the enemy, ”all against his will,” he said.

”My memory was of war,” said Treece, 58, a Monroe, Mich., native who lives in nearby Luna Pier. ”Being there, you were constantly watching your back and trying to stay alive. When I was there, everyone was trying to kill me.”

Thirty-seven years later, the same man who fought the Vietnamese people is now working for their benefit. Treece, an active member of the Northwest Ohio-based charity Development Of Vietnam Endeavors Fund, wrote a book released late last year that documented his return to Vietnam in 2001. All proceeds from the effort will be used to build a school in the Duc Pho region of South Vietnam, where he served in the Army as a member of the Americal Division’s 11th Light Infantry Brigade.

The book, ”The Ghost Closet,” recounts Treece’s hesitation to return to Vietnam with other DOVE Fund board members and tells of the emotional healing that took place during the visit.

”It’s a great satisfaction just to be able to share this transition that I went through in my life,” said Treece. ”I hate to admit that I had a hatred for the Vietnamese people. I guess I blamed them for my life being so traumatically and dramatically interrupted.”

Norm Van Ness, the morning weatherman for NBC 24 who also serves on DOVE Fund’s board, said he was surprised at how vivid Treece’s memories were of the 2001 journey and his time served in Vietnam during the war.

”I was just amazed not only with Tom’s storytelling ability, but I was also amazed at how personal [the book] was,” Van Ness said. ”I felt like I was there with him, going through this experience.”

Fred Grimm, DOVE Fund chairman, said the proceeds from Treece’s book sales would go ”a long way” in Vietnam. He said $28,000 would build a six-room schoolhouse there.

More than 700 copies of the book have been sold, thus raising about $11,000. Treece said everyone buying a book is purchasing one brick of the school.

Treece said he planned on revisiting Vietnam April 21 when a group of DOVE Fund members travels there to dedicate several schools and plan future projects, but his wife, Renee, just recovered from a serious illness that will prevent them from making the trip.

”There’s something so special about reaching across geographic, ethnic and religious boundaries to help somebody else in need on the other side of the world,” he said. ”We’re all on this planet together and we need to find a way to get along.”

Beginning March 24, Toledo police and firefighters will team up in a citywide effort to patrol neighborhoods surrounding schools before and after classes. The extra precautions come in response to three attempted abductions of teenage girls that occurred in the past eight days. Composite sketches of two of the alleged perpetrators in those incidents have been disseminated throughout the city to public safety officials. Mayor Carty Finkbeiner urged anyone with information on any of the cases to contact Crimestoppers, police or his office.

Press Release: Super Bowl Champion runningback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jerome ”The Bus” Bettis, will host the 2006 Urban All American Celebration on Monday, May 22, 2006 at 7p.m. in the Nairobi Pavilion of the Toledo Zoo. In its 15th year, the Urban All American Awards is presented by the Diocese of Toledo’s Central City Ministries of Toledo (CCMT).

CCMT is a consortium of five elementary schools located in central Toledo, and includes Rosary Cathedral, St. Elizabeth Seton, St. Charles, Queen of Apostles and Pope John Paul II schools. Central City Ministry believes all children should have the opportunity to learn in a safe and supportive environment regardless of where they live or their economic situation. Central City Ministry educates children in an interfaith and multicultural environment while offering clear goals and expectations, strict discipline and attendance standards, pre- and post-school day extracurriculars, and efficient school management.

Each spring, students and former graduates are honored for their accomplishments and community service at the Urban All-American Celebration. The event also provides an opportunity to acknowledge individuals who have been influential in the success of Central City Ministry such as the Anderson Family and Chuck Oswald. Funds raised are used for tuition assistance and day-to-day school operations for 800 students attending CCMT schools. Last year over 1,000 supporters attended the event, which raised over $108,000. The following awards will be presented at the May 22 dinner:

Corporate Philanthropy Award: Awarded to a business/corporation that has been a long-time supporter of the Central City Ministries of Toledo and its mission to the children and families who live in the central city of Toledo.

The Hall of Fame Award: Awarded to an individual or group who has demonstrated great passion and commitment to the central city of Toledo.

The CCMT Service Award: Awarded to an individual who has served CCMT in the past and has made an outstanding contribution in the promotion and enhancement of Catholic education in the central city schools.

Urban All American Award: Awarded to individuals who graduated from a Toledo central city Catholic elementary school, who exhibits extraordinary achievement and/or talent in academics, athletic and/or career success, and is a positive role model for today’s students

The individual winners will be announced by May 1st. For more information please contact Jennifer Skeldon, CCMT Gift Officer at 419-244-6711, ext 216.

Parents of children in Perrysburg Schools received a letter today warning of ”suspicious incidents.”

The Perrysburg Police today informed the schools they have received complaints of three incidences of suspicious activity near Toth Elementary School this week.

It has been reported that a white male in his early twenties with dark curly hair stopped in a vehicle and offered candy to young boys and girls walking home. Two different vehicles may have been used: a white cargo van in one case and a vehicle described as a dark, possibly blue, pick-up truck. It was also reported that another male with facial hair was in the vehicle. None of the children approached the vehicles and all ran to safety.

These incidences occurred on streets surrounding Toth School and took place at approximately 3:45 p.m.

The police have been authorized to work overtime, including plain clothes officers, to apprehend these individuals. The suspects do not match the descriptions of recent abduction attempts in Toledo.

The schools have notified teachers and staff about these incidences and have talked to their students about Stranger Danger and what to do if approached by a stranger. the school asks parents to reinforce these lessons at home.

The Perrysburg Police are asking anyone with information to contact the police department at (419) 872-8001.

City Councilman Phil Copeland has agreed to particpate in a debate with the candidates for Lucas County Commissioner.

Toledo Free Press will sponsor the political debate on April 10, between the five candidates vying for the Lucas County commissioner’s seat in November.

The primary election on May 2 will reduce the group of three Democrats and two Republicans to a head-to-head campaign between the two parties. The debate runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the McMaster Center in the Downtown branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library. Free parking is available.

Media partners in the debate are WSPD-1370 AM and FOX Toledo 36. Republican George Sarantou, elected for his fifth year on Toledo City Council last fall, faces Pam Haynam, a Sylvania School Board member, to decide the GOP candidate. For the Democrats, either attorney Ben Konop, Maumee Mayor Tim Wagener or Phil Copeland, Toledo councilman, will advance to the ticket.

In addition to live broadcast on WSPD, Lisa Renee Ward will post a live blog update from the debate.