The following was released to news media Jan. 27 by Lucas County Commissioner Ben Konop:

“As many of you know, I am strongly considering a run for mayor of Toledo. As I continue to think seriously about that decision, I want to engage the citizens of this community in a grassroots discussion of Toledo’s present and future.

“In keeping with my record as a Lucas County commissioner, I am eschewing the good ol’ boys network and the old way of doing things, and instead creating an exploratory committee of the people. Beginning tonight at 8:15 p.m. at the University of Toledo’s Field House (Room 2100), I will talk with students, senior citizens, workers, and the disadvantaged in a series of town hall settings to truly take Toledo’s pulse on the issues nearest to its heart.

“Normally, when a politician in Toledo thinks about running for mayor, he or she goes through the motions of appointing a “blue ribbon exploratory committee” made up of the same dozen or so folks who always are found on blue ribbon committees throughout town.

“When it comes to making our city a better place, I want to consult those who matter most – the working men and women to whom Toledo truly belongs.

“We live in a perilous time. The old ways of doing business, the old committees, and the old ideas aren’t going to cut it. I am hopeful that my discussion with Toledo will not only give me guidance as I decide on running for mayor, but more importantly give citizens a voice and a stake in the future of our community.”

Konop’s Talking With Toledo Stops:

Tuesday, Jan 27

UT Student Senate Meeting
8:15pm
UT Field House Rm 2100

Wednesday, 28

Beach House Family Shelter
9:30AM
915 N Erie St

Aurora House
11:00AM
1035 N Superior St

Kingston Senior Center
2:00pm
4121 King Road

Anthony Wayne Democratic Club
7:00pm
800 Michigan

Thursday, Jan 29

Northview HS
8:00am
5403 Silica Dr

Central Catholic High School
9:45am
2550 Cherry

J. Frank Troy Senior Center
12:30pm
1235 Division

Toledo Federal Urban Credit Union (EITC Kickoff)
2:00pm
1339 Dorr St

Springfield High School football standout Eric Page will officially sign his intent to attend
UT on Feb. 3 at 3 p.m.
The senior played quarterback, running back, kicker, punter, punter returner and defense for the Springfield Blue Devils.

Ryan Fowler’s profile on Eric Page may be read here.

Software developer and University of Toledo graduate student Terry Biel will announce his candidacy for Toledo City Council At-Large on Jan. 28, at 10 a.m. at the University of Toledo in front of University Hall on Bancroft Street.

Terry Biel

“It’s time for new leadership and a new direction for Toledo,” said Biel, an independent developer of commercial software applications and a graduate student in the University of Toledo’s College of Business, in a news release. “We must create a community where young people want to stay and businesses want to invest.”

Biel said he grew up near Highland Park and graduated from Bowsher High School in 2003. Enrolling at the University of Toledo, Biel led the Student Senate and graduated with honors from the College of Arts & Sciences in 2007. He will receive his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in May 2009.

Ohio gasoline prices are lower this week amid fears that the recession could worsen and reduce demand for fuel.

A daily survey from AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express shows the statewide average for a gallon of regular is $1.84, down 9 cents from last Monday.

Ohio prices are in line with the current national average of $1.84.

Prices have been fluctuating in recent weeks on questions about fuel supplies and future demand.

On Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden said the American economy will “get worse before it gets better.”

The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of crude oil. Energy traders say economic issues have weakened global demand for fuel and will continue to weigh down prices.

On the Net:

AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Ohio:

EDITOR’S NOTE: Konop’s Jan. 26 Toledo Free Press guest column on Living Wage may be read here.

At the Jan. 27 Lucas County Commissioner Hearing, Commissioner Ben Konop will formally propose a living wage resolution designed to “help ensure citizens receive an honest day’s wage for an honest day’s work,” according to a news release. Konop’s proposal would cover the wages of workers who are employed by businesses getting tax incentives or loans through the county and those businesses choosing to enter into contracts with the government, the release reported.

Ben Konop

Konop will also propose that $650,000 be spent on avoiding cuts in sheriff road patrols throughout Lucas County and helping ensure that a new class of sheriff deputies is filled this year. The $650,000, the product of a tax increase on home sales that Konop voted against last month, is currently slated to go the LCIC.

“The LCIC has a new board that hasn’t even met yet and they haven’t established an agenda, a strategy, or any accountability measures. So why are we giving them a veritable blank check of taxpayer dollars?” asked Konop. “Instead, let’s invest these funds into ensuring our public safety is priority number one,” added Konop

Under the living wage program, a worker in Lucas County covered by the resolution would have to earn at least $8.38 an hour based on the calculator developed by Dr. Amy Glasmeier and the Penn State University. Workers would also be offered health insurance at no more than 15% of their take home pay.

“The living wage is based in fairness, religious teachings, and social justice,” stated Commissioner Konop. “It will strengthen the economy and help ensure that workers receive decent pay for a day’s hard work,” added Konop.

A telltale sign America’s chips are down: States are increasingly turning to gambling to plug budget holes.

Proposals to allow or expand lotteries, slots or casinos are brewing in at least 14 states, tempting legislators and governors at a time when many must decide between cutting services and raising taxes.

Ohio’s casino advocates are pushing a variety of large-scale development projects, and a Georgia developer wants to transform a blighted section of downtown Atlanta with a 29-story hotel that would attract tourists with more than 5,500 video lottery terminals.

Gambling has hard-core detractors in every state, but resistance to it is easier to overcome when the budget-balancing alternatives lawmakers must consider include freezing employee salaries and slashing funding to crucial services or raising property and sales taxes, political analysts said.

“Who wouldn’t be interested if you’re a politician who needs to fund programs?” said Bo Bernhard, director of research at the International Gaming Institute, a government-funded program, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

While gambling has not been immune from the recession, it has held up relatively well compared with states’ other revenue streams, such as income and sales taxes. This helps explain why past industry growth spurts have been preceded by economic downturns, experts said.

For example, Rhode Island opened the country’s first racetrack casino in 1992, and four states soon followed. More recently, states faced with sagging revenues during the 2001 recession joined multistate lotteries such as PowerBall and gave more leeway to Native American tribes seeking to expand their casinos.

In Ohio, where voters repeatedly have rejected ballot proposals to expand gambling, Gov. Ted Strickland said he is willing to listen to proposals to help close a $7 billion shortfall in the next two-year budget.

The new speaker of the Ohio House, Democrat Armond Budish of Beachwood, has also said he is willing to consider casino gambling as a way to increase state revenue.

Budish has said he has met with representatives of Penn National Gaming Inc., which owns Toledo Raceway in northwest Ohio and the Argosy riverboat casino in southeast Indiana, near Cincinnati.

Penn National spent $36 million last fall to defeat a ballot measure that would have allowed a $600 million casino resort in southwest Ohio.

Analysts say the latest round of gambling initiatives are noteworthy in volume and ambition _ a sign that the industry aims to capitalize on states’ badly bruised economies.

“From the gambling industry’s point of view, this is their big chance,” said Earl Grinols, an economics professor at Baylor University who specializes in gambling.

The developer pitching the $450 million Atlanta project, Dan O’Leary, estimates $300 million a year in revenue would come to the state, helping to pay for a popular lottery-funded scholarship that provides in-state college tuition for students with “B” averages.

Even Hawaii, which along with Utah is one of two states without a lottery or other form of legalized gambling, may consider a change. Aides to Gov. Linda Lingle, long an opponent of gambling, say she is open to discussing it as a way to close the state’s growing budget gap.

Gambling proponents are quick to tout its bells and whistles: a $54 billion annual industry that employs more than 350,000 people, with most state gambling revenues coming from lotteries, racetracks and betting devices such as slot and video poker machines. Twelve states reap tax money from full-fledged casinos, and 23 others have casinos on Native American reservations, which generally do not pay taxes to states.

But while advocates argue that casinos will help attract jobs and revitalize downtrodden areas, religious groups and other critics fear gambling has a disproportionately negative impact on lower-income people, and does not provide long-term economic growth.

They point to research that shows casinos attract crime, foster gambling addiction problems and divert money from other businesses.

“We’ve got gambling in 48 states, and you’d think if it worked, you wouldn’t have budget problems or education problems,” said Tom Gray, a field director for StopPredatoryGambling.org.

Many of the gambling proposals seek to expand footholds in states that already allow limited gambling.

Kentucky’s House speaker had proposed allowing video gambling terminals at the state’s racetracks, and legislators in New Hampshire, New York and Texas are seeing proposals this year to allow similar gambling terminals at their tracks. Casino advocates plan to push for casino-style gambling in hurricane-ravaged Galveston, Texas, as well.

Lawmakers in other states are talking about reversing hard-fought crusades to tighten restrictions on gambling.

Nine years after South Carolina lawmakers outlawed video poker, state Sen. Robert Ford is fighting to make it legal again. He estimates it could bring in $750 million each year – money needed for a budget devastated by $1 billion in cuts since July.

“Gambling ain’t no blight on society,” he said. “Gambling is fun. People who play video poker are educated people. They got to be because you’re talking about a game of skill.”

While analysts have long considered gambling to be almost recession-proof, the economic downturn has seen layoffs, declining revenues and falling stock prices hit casinos. State-run lotteries are faring better, though: More than half of the states with lotteries have reported rising sales over the past six months.

Amid the rush to embrace gambling because of short-term budget problems, some experts say a long-term perspective is needed.

After gambling is approved and revenues are allocated, it’s not something lawmakers are likely to reconsider down the road – no matter how much economic conditions may improve.

“Once you have legalized a form of gambling, the moral argument draws away and gambling is looked at as a cost-benefit analysis,” said I. Nelson Rose, a gambling law professor at Whittier Law School in Orange County, Calif. “So many states have opened those doors now.”

Due to an ongoing water main break on N. Michigan Ave in downtown Toledo, the Lucas County Courthouse at 700 Adams Street is without water, according to a news release.

The Courthouse will close as of 12 p.m. for the remainder of Jan. 26.

Individuals with court appearances scheduled in Common Pleas Court this afternoon should make contact with the office of the assigned Judge tomorrow for information on the rescheduling of the appearance.

It is expected that the courthouse will be open for business as usual on Jan. 27.

Obama video: www.whitehouse.gov

Boehner video: www.youtube.com/rnc

President Barack Obama on Saturday laid out more pieces of an economic plan he says would add 3,000 miles of electrical lines, increase security at 90 ports and double the United States’ renewable energy capacity within three years.

It was the latest appeal from the new president for a massive spending bill designed to inject almost a trillion dollars into a flailing U.S. economy and to fulfill campaign pledges. As members of Congress consider an $825 billion plan and Obama woos them, his White House released a radio and Internet address directed at voters who want answers.

Barrack Obama

“Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future,” Obama said in a five-minute address that the White House released early Saturday.

“In short, if we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.”

Along with the speech, Obama’s economic team released a report designed to outline tangible benefits of the plan and shore up support. Aides said they wanted people to understand exactly what they could expect – more schools, lower electricity bills – if their members of Congress supported the proposed legislation.

The United States lost 2.6 million jobs last year, the most in any single year since World War II. Manufacturing is at a 28-year low and even Obama’s economists say unemployment could top 10 percent before the recession ends. One in 10 homeowners are at risk of foreclosure and the dollar continues its slide in value.

That harsh reality has dominated Obama’s first days in office and prompted a Saturday meeting of his economic team at the White House during their first weekend in power.

A day earlier, he invited Democratic and Republican leaders to the White House to hear their ideas on the economy, yet Obama didn’t share his plan’s specifics while they visited.

“We presented President Obama with our ideas to jump start the economy through fast-acting tax relief – not slow-moving government spending programs,” House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said in the weekly GOP address. “We let families, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and the self-employed keep more of what they earn to encourage investment and create millions of new private-sector jobs.”

Boehner said the Republicans would cut taxes for every taxpayer, dropping even the lowest income tax rates. “That’s up to an extra $3,200 per family every year – money that can be saved, spent or invested in any way you see fit,” Boehner said. He also proposed a tax credit for home purchases, an end of taxation of unemployment benefits and tax incentives for small businesses to invest in new equipment and hire new employees.

“We cannot borrow and spend our way back to prosperity,” Boehner said.

Many of the goals in Obama’s speech and report were familiar from his two-year campaign, like shifting to electronic medical records and investing in preventive health care. Other parts added specifics.

Obama’s recovery package aims to:

• Double within three years the amount of energy that could be produced from renewable resources, an ambitious goal given the 30 years it took to reach current levels. Advisers say that could power 6 million households.
• Upgrade 10,000 schools and improve learning for about 5 million students.
• Save $2 billion a year by making federal buildings energy efficient.
• Triple the number of undergraduate and graduate fellowships in science.

The plan would spend at least 75 percent of the total cost – or more than $600 billion – within the first 18 months, providing a massive infusion of cash to the struggling economy, either through bricks-and-shovels projects favored by Democrats or tax cuts that Republicans have pushed. Either could produce progress the administration could point to if it needs to justify a second economic package.

The broad plan puts heavy emphasis on infrastructure that crumbled as state budgets contracted. Governors have lobbied Obama to help them patch holes in their budgets, drained by sinking tax revenues and increased need for public assistance like Medicaid and children’s health insurance. Obama’s plan would increase the federal portion of those programs so no state would have to cut any of the 20 million children whose eligibility is now at risk.

Obama’s plan would also provide health care coverage for 8.5 million Americans who lose their insurance when they either lose or shift jobs.

“It’s a plan that will save or create 3 to 4 million jobs over the next few years” and recognizes “there are millions of Americans trying to find work even as, all around the country, there’s so much work to be done,” he said.

But he cautioned again against expecting instant results: “No one policy or program will solve the challenges we face right now, nor will this crisis recede in a short period of time.”

Two undercover Toledo police officers suffered minor injuries after a brawl in North Toledo early Sunday morning, a TPD sergeant tells FOX Toledo News.

Around 2 a.m., the two officers walked up to six people to talk to them near Scarlett’s Adult Cabaret at the corner of Alexis and Telegraph. When one officer showed the group his badge, a person grabbed it away and “the fight was on,” police said.

One officer was hit on the head and both were winded, but neither of them were taken to the hospital.

After the attack, the Vice Narcotics officers were able to call out a description of a 15-passenger van on the radio and reported that it was headed east on Alexis, police said.

A Washington Township officer spotted the vehicle and stopped it just short of Detroit Avenue, where backup arrived to get the suspects out of the van.

At least two men were led away in handcuffs.

More than a dozen police vehicles, including Washington Township, Toledo and various marked and unmarked gang unit and Vice Narcotics cars blocked three lanes of traffic.

A city rescue ambulance and fire engine were also called to the scene. It’s not clear if they were there to treat an officer or a suspect.

The officer’s badge was recovered in a parking lot a short time later.

Police have not released the names of any suspects. They may not release the officers’ names due to their undercover status.

FOX Toledo is a Toledo Free Press media affiliate.

Ohio schools should have a freer hand awarding tenure to good teachers and firing bad ones, a philanthropic coalition said in making sweeping education reform recommendations to the governor and Legislature.

It also recommends junking Ohio’s standardized high school graduation tests and suggests replacing them with other ways to gauge critical-thinking skills and readiness for college and work.

“We can no longer be satisfied with a school model that structures instruction and learning for a fast-disappearing industrial era,” said the Ohio Grantmakers Forum report. “Tinkering with the systems we have will not serve the educational needs of our children, nor will it meet the state’s need for a more innovative and skilled workforce.”

The group represents more than 200 private and corporate foundations that give more than $300 million to Ohio schools each year.

The report comes as Gov. Ted Strickland prepares to discuss his educational proposals next Wednesday before state lawmakers. They are likely to spur a rush of suggestions by education interests, including school districts and teacher unions.

“The governor is aware of the Ohio Grantmakers Forum report and he values their work. Gov. Strickland will be discussing his education reform and funding plan in the State of the State address next week,” spokesman Keith Dailey said in an e-mail response to a request for comment on the forum’s recommendations.

The governor’s senior staff was briefed on the group’s recommendations in recent weeks, forum president George Espy said.

The report said Ohio law should be strengthened to require teachers seeking tenure to demonstrate their skills, based in part on student performance.

As for firing bad teachers, the report suggested making terms of dismissal similar to other public employees. Current law on dismissing teachers is narrowly focused on immoral conduct, Espy said.

The report said current state standardized tests for high school graduation results in a focus on performing well on those tests instead of 11th and 12th grade learning. The recommendation called for developing a broad profile of what students should know to prepare them for jobs and college.

They report was developed by 43 people from 33 organizations interested in education issues, including the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the Ohio Education Association, the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio School Boards Association. The recommendations were endorsed by the forum’s board, but not every organization with a participant backed all proposals, Espy said.

The 130,000-member OEA said it found common ground with many of the proposals but backed the state’s current teacher tenure and dismissal standards.