When the 2010 baseball season began, Mud Hens first baseman Jeff Frazier was one of several players caught in a crammed outfield. The Hens broke camp with five outfielders on its roster, and with only three spots available and several star prospects ahead of him, it looked like at-bats for Frazier might be few and far between.
“I just kept telling myself I would get a chance,” he said. “I just knew when I got that opportunity that I needed to make the most of it.”
Being the “odd man out” has been the theme of Frazier’s career. After being drafted by the Tigers in 2004, the New Jersey native has had to prove himself several times.
He was traded to the Seattle Mariners in 2007, then traded back to Detroit in 2008. After spending the majority of 2008 at Double-A Erie, Frazier was poised to begin his 2009 season with Toledo. But those hopes were dashed after the Tigers signed Johnny Damon prior to last season.

Jeff Frazier

After getting called up to Toledo in May 2009, he went on a tear in July, hitting .353 throughout the rest of the season. He hit 11 HR with the club and drove in 54 RBI. With such a productive season under his belt, Frazier felt he would be ready to help lead the Hens in 2010.
“I thought doing what I did in Toledo last year, I thought that would mean that I would easily be a starter somewhere,” he said.
Throw in the start of this season’s bleak outlook for Frazier, and it seemed like he was in store for more bad luck.
“Coming in on Opening Day this year and not seeing my name in the lineup was difficult. We had all these up-and-coming guys, and I knew I just had to take advantage of any chance I got.”
Frazier got his chance that first game, when outfielder Casper Wells was injured sliding into second base.
“I was put in as a pinch runner and, in my only at bat, I got a single, and I haven’t been out of the lineup since,” he said.
What has ensued since that fateful at bat has been Frazier’s most complete season in professional baseball. Moving from the outfield to first base, Frazier has hit the cover off the baseball.
He ranks second on the team in batting average (.274), and he leads the team in home runs (20), RBI (61), and slugging percentage (.516).
Frazier’s surge of power at the plate can be attributed to some tips from Hens hitting coach Leon “Bull” Durham and manager Larry Parrish.
“Both Bull and LP were watching the way I was swinging through the ball, and they said if I dropped my hands I would be able to get some lift on the line drives I was hitting. I took their advice and the ball started carrying over the wall.”
Frazier’s fantastic first half earned the first baseman an All-Star slot for International League team and he was also selected to participate in the Triple-A Home Run Derby. Both were great honors for the 27-year-old.
“The whole experience was great,” he said. “It was pretty close to my hometown and I had a bunch of family and friends in the stands. The crowds were great and everything was first class all the way. I just had a blast out there.”
While the fanfare is nice, Frazier has more pressing issues to deal with.
Frazier is in the final year of his contract with Detroit, and with the season more than halfway through, time is running out for Frazier to prove his worth.
“This is a huge year for me and it is so important for me to finish strong. I am going to keep doing what I have been so that I can find a place to play next year.”
Some might crack under such intense pressure to perform, but Frazier uses it as motivation.
“I use it to drive me every day, and I keep trying to prove that I am worth taking a chance on,” he said.
No matter what the future holds, Frazier said he is still focused on getting the Hens back to the winning ways from earlier in the season.
“We went on a little bit of a slide there for a bit,” he said, “but stuff is starting to come back together for us. I am going to keep doing what I can to help this team win, and I know the other guys are too.”

Chris Schmidbauer is sports editor for Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at cschmidbauer@toledofreepress.com. He also can be heard every Tuesday at 11 a.m. on the Odd Couple Sports Show on Fox Sports Radio 1230 WCWA.

I was scrubbing the underside rim of the master bedroom toilet recently when my mind whispered, “I bet Johnny Depp isn’t spending his Saturday morning cleaning bathroom porcelain.”
That is not to malign Depp or imply he is too snooty, stuck-up or lazy to clean his own home; I am just guessing that with his millions of dollars and scores of creative preoccupations, he has someone else using the toilet brush and a bottle of Lysol Deep Reach Toilet Cleaner to keep the Chez Depp bathroom winter-minty fresh and the unsightly stains off Johnny’s john.
Once a certain financial station is reached, a person can be expected to say goodbye to such mundane chores. Can you imagine Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe or Meryl Streep on their hands and knees, sanitizing the potty, especially one being used as a training site for a 2-year-old boy and an aiming range for a 4-year-old boy? I can’t. I can picture Steve Carrell still getting down and dirty to keep the can clean, but that’s just because he seems like such a nice, ordinary, average, multimillionaire household-name type of guy.
My first thought as an example of a celebrity who may still maintain his own facilities was Cuba Gooding Jr. But I thought, “If I give examples of four white people who don’t clean their own toilets, then toss out one example of an actor who does, and that sole illustration is a black person, will that look racist?”
What an odd thought to derail such a whimsical train of thought. But sensitivity to race and how one communicates about racial issues are intellectually crucial — albeit creatively inhibiting — concerns.
The radio on my desk is tuned to news all day, so I can keep up with anything that breaks. That means bouncing back and forth between WSPD 1370 and WGTE 91, with an occasional detour through Shores & Steele on K100 or Andrew Z on 92.5 KISS FM. For the past two weeks, one of the main topics on WSPD’s midday schedule has been race and its use as a dividing factor in politics.
I never invoke the concept of innocence when choosing self-descriptive words, but I do not understood the human impulse to categorize and despise based on race.
Without going all “Ebony and Ivory” on you, it has never made sense to me to judge and dismiss an entire group of people based on the supposed behavior and traits of a few.
I might understand racism if, for example, there were a race of green people whose only reason for existing was to kill and eat all other people. If all green people made homicide and cannibalism their imperative, I would understand if everyone else said, “I don’t like green people. Can’t stand them and I am afraid of them. They kill and eat the rest of us, you know.”
That version of racism I would understand, as it would be based on empirical evidence, not emotional prejudice.
From kindergarten to the middle of my freshman year, I attended school in the Walbridge and Lake systems. There were not many black students in the classrooms. Midstream in my freshman year, I transferred to Libbey High School, where black and Hispanic students were the majority. I assimilated fairly quickly, but I will always remember one hallway incident that left me rattled. During a between-class hallway rush, as students pushed through narrow gaps between bodies and navigated the gauntlet, one black student shook his bookbag in frustration and said, “I hate white people!”
We made eye contact as he said it, and while I was speechless and shocked into standing still in the middle of the rush, his gaze burned into mine with a “yes, you” look as he shoved past.
I was plunged back into that memory recently as some of the WSPD talk radio shows repeatedly played an audio cut of Minister King Samir Shabazz, also known as Maurice Heath, the New Black Panther Party’s Philadelphia leader, saying, “You want freedom? You’re gonna have to kill some crackers! You’re gonna have to kill some of their babies! I hate white people — all of them! Every last iota of a cracker, I hate ’em.”
While I give Shabazz credit for speaking his views in public without the obscuring benefit of a white sheet or any other tool of anonymity, the quick and easy response is that if any white person stood up and expressed reverse sentiments, he or she would be rightfully escorted into the hall of shame and exile. Ask Mel Gibson and Michael Richards how open racism has helped their careers and lives.
But Shabazz’s seething hatred, so reflective of that young Libbey student’s back in 1984, has galvanized conversation for many of the wrong reasons. Instead of examining the anger for inroads to communication and insight, it seems it is being used to inspire fear and alienation, which just cycles back to the original seeds of hatred. No Pollyanna blindness here; I know Shabazz is not going to sit across from Glenn Beck, listen intently and say, “Well, I had you folks all wrong. My bad. Wanna grab a beer?”
It is sad and disheartening that in the first term of our country’s first black president, the racial divide seems to be growing, with jagged tears along a fault line of distrust and outright fear. Maybe it seems exaggerated to me because I spend so much time with my ears to the radio and eyes on news websites, but it strikes me that an honest discussion about race in America is like scrubbing a toilet; you have to be willing to face some ugly truths, and it is not a job for the weak of stomach.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. E-mail: mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

The Katyn Memorial, honoring the victims of the massacre of Polish intelligence officers in WWII, made its first stop in Toledo.

The memorial encompasses the massacre and a plane crash, coinciding with the massacre, that took the lives of Poland’s president and other military leaders.

The memorial is sponsored by The Kosciuszko Foundation and has been displayed at the Library of Congress and the U.S. Senate’s Rotunda. The memorial is will travel throughout the United States.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Allen Paul, an author and expert on Poland, will partake in a special event in honor of the exhibit July 24.

Paul will introduce he audience to Poland and background to the events that surround Katyn and then the exhibit will be open for the audience to explore.

The event is at the Rosary Care Center Evergreen Dining Room at the Lourdes College campus in Sylvania.

The event is free and open to the public.

Part of the exhibit will be on display at the Downtown Branch of the Toledo/Lucas County Public library July 26 to July 30.

For more information, visit www.kaptur.house.gov.

Vendors will serve ribs throughout Smoke on the Water — Ribs for the Red Cross presented by Columbia Gas of Ohio, but they are hoping to save some of the best for last.
The three-day festival will wrap up with the Judge’s Choice contest, where local personalities will taste and rate each vendor’s ribs. The winners take home a trophy, bragging rights and exposure that might lead to increased business.
The panel of judges comprises two politicians, six media members and four other area professionals. Toledo Mayor Mike Bell, K100 personality Gary Shores and a Toledo Mud Hen will all be on hand to help determine the ultimate grill master.
The judges will convene for the tasting at 3 p.m. Aug. 1, just behind the stage at Promenade Park. Winners will be announced an hour later.
The judges are given a sample of each of the 10 vendors’ ribs and are asked to make a decision based on taste, sauce, texture and appearance. Once each judge has tasted each variety, the field is cut to six and the process repeats. The top three vendors are then chosen from the narrowed field and the judges get one last taste of the top contenders’ masterpieces. That’s a total of 19 samples in an hour. But local sports radio personality Norm Wamer is not concerned.
“Eating has never been a problem,” he said with a laugh. Wamer enjoys making his own ribs and worked seven years at Damon’s Grill. This is his first year judging at Smoke on the Water.

Brad Jennings, owner of AJ’s Doolittles, will try to defend his 2009 ‘people’s choice award.’

“I’ll just go and enjoy it with an open mind because there’s a lot of different ways to get to the end product,” he said.
But even with an open mind, vendors should expect judges to adhere to the basic dogma of ribbing.
“You look for tenderness, whether they’ll fall off the bone,” Wamer said. “Generally, the slower you cook them, the more tender they will be.”
One vendor who touts a number of trophies is two-time defending Judge’s Choice champion and self-coined “regional favorite” Big Moe’s BBQ & Catering from Kalamazoo, Mich. Moe Pritchett employs a generations-old family recipe for his barbecue sauce to court the judges.
“We do taste testings every week,” Pritchett said. “It’s amazing when I look in people’s eyes every time they taste it.”
Pritchett and his grilling team keep a special eye on the ribs designated for the judges. Even with the sauce, a little extra pampering can’t hurt, he reasons.
“You have to manicure them, make sure that they’re the best you’ve cooked for the day,” Pritchett said.
People’s Choice voting also takes place throughout the weekend. AJ’s Doolittles won the honor last year, and owner Brad Jennings has noted a spike in business. His competitive edge is his dry rub technique, which he keeps top secret.
“I’ve got a certain way I do them, but there’s two people that know how to do it,” he said.
The field also includes four newcomers. John Coulston of Twist & Shout Family Restaurant in Carey would like to claim a trophy at Smoke on the Water, but publicity is his primary goal. Like Pritchett, Coulston puts his money where his sauce is.
“This guy I bought out, we compared our sauce to his sauce. No comparison. I wouldn’t eat his sauce,” he said.
When the smoke disperses, only one vendor will win over the hearts and stomachs of the judges. Pritchett was confident enough to give advice to his grilling foes.
“Use my sauce, cook the way we do and you might have a better chance of winning,” he said with a laugh.
“Every time we’re in a competition, we want to win. It’s just like sports.”
Local contenders
Six Toledo-area vendors will join four other out-of-town restaurants to sell their ribs at Smoke on the Water.
AJ’s Doolittles Sports Bar and Restaurant, Lambertville, Mich.
After last year’s “People’s Choice” competition, the owners of AJ’s Doolittles had to come back, said owner Brad Jennings.
“All that hard work, it makes you feel like it pays off when people are happy with your product,” he said.
The restaurant was founded in 2003 and along with ribs serves steaks, seafood, sandwiches, burgers and more. Rib dinners range from $11 to $17.
“You name it, we’ve got it,” Jennings said.
Baldy-Q Rib Shack, Swanton
Baldy-Q will enter the event for the first time this year to gain publicity. The restaurant opened in January, but before that its owner traveled around selling ribs for two years, said owner Tye “Baldy” Hightower.
The restaurant’s specialty is southern-style ribs that use a Memphis-style dry rub, he said. Rib prices range from $11.50 to $19.50.
“We are traditionally a noncorporation barbecue restaurant. We make everything in house from scratch on a daily basis,” said Hightower, who has been a chef for 30 years.
Famous Dave’s, Toledo
Famous Dave’s, which has 192 locations around the country, has been in the Toledo area for about four years, said Matthew Kinner, general manager.
Kinner said he enjoys the atmosphere at Smoke on the Water and will continue to go back to the event.
“It’s a great time. We do very good with sales,” he said, adding that he enjoys working with the Red Cross.
The restaurant’s prices range from $5 to $20 for ribs, which have a seasoning and special rub, as well as “zesty” barbecue sauce, Kinner said.
P & D’s Sports Page Bar & Grill, Toledo
P & D’s has competed in other events such as chili cook-offs, but this will be the first time the restaurant has participated in Smoke on the Water.
“We’ve got good ribs, they’ve been telling us for years that we should do it,” said Pat Smith, one of the restaurant’s owners.
“The sauce makes the ribs different,” Smith said.
The restaurant, which has been open for 12 years, also serves crab legs and steak. Rib prices range from $8 to $13.
“We’ve got a huge, huge menu,” Smith said.
Sidelines Sports Eatery and Pub, Lambertville and Toledo
Sidelines has participated in all three Smoke on the Water festivals, and co-owner Eric Sitter said his restaurant will continue to participate “as long as they do it.”
“The people at the Red Cross work really hard on it. I’m in contact with them year-round,” he said.
The restaurant uses baby back ribs from Chicago and a special braising technique to make their ribs tender and moist, Sitter said.
Rib prices range from $10 to $19. Sidelines has a locations on Laskey Road and Mellwood Avenue, across from the Huntington Center Downtown, and on Secor Road in Lambertville.
Texas Roadhouse, Toledo
Texas Roadhouse takes three days to make ribs, cooking them for nine hours to make them tender, said Scott Schraeger, managing partner for the restaurant.
This is the second year Texas Roadhouse has participated in Smoke on the Water. Schraeger said he enjoys the atmosphere with other ribbers and customers eating and enjoying themselves.
“We thought the Red Cross would be a good thing to get involved with and being down on the water is always a nice atmosphere,” he said.
Texas Roadhouse has been in Toledo for about eight and a half years and also specializes in steak. Rib dinner prices range from about $12 to $17, Schraeger said.

Up to 20,000 people are expected at Smoke on the Water  — Ribs for the Red Cross presented by Columbia Gas of Ohio July 30 to Aug. 1 in Promenade Park.
General admission is $5, or $4 if tickets are purchased in advance at Northwest Ohio Meijer stores. Kids 12 and younger are free. Admission July 30 is free until 4:30 p.m.; members of the military are free Aug. 1.
The fundraiser includes live music, a play area for kids — and, of course, ribs and fresh side dishes.
“The ribs are the stars,” said Jodie Tienvieri, communications manager for the American Red Cross Greater Toledo Area Chapter.
Ten rib vendors will be at the festival this year — reduced from last year’s 12. The 10-vendor limit increases competition and allows each vendor to profit more, Tienvieri said.
Famous Dave’s Pulled Pork Eating Contest will take place July 31, and Judges’ and People’s Choice Awards for Best Ribs will be presented Aug. 1
Music includes Toledo School for the Arts (TSA) Steel Drum Band, Chris Shutters Band, Polka Floyd, Mini-Kiss, Jason LaPorte, Faux Paus, More Than Me, Kentucky Chrome, Gin Blossoms, TSA Urban Jazz Collective, 9 Lives, Melanie May and Kentucky Headhunters.
“I think we’ve got some great headliners this year, but we’ve also got some great local bands,” Tienvieri said.
Festival food will include ribs, roasted nuts, grilled corn, elephant ears, blooming onions, fries, smoothies, steaks, hamburgers and hot dogs  — “it’s a little bit of everything,” Tienvieri said.
“For those more picky kids who don’t like ribs or barbecue, there’ll be something for them,” she said.
Aug. 1 is Family Day and Military Appreciation Day. Sunday’s bands will be closer to country music than hard rock music — “I’d say they’re a little bit tamer,” Tienvieri said — and there will be a kids play area from 1 to 4 p.m. that day as well.
Last year, more than 10,000 people paid admission, Tienvieri said. That’s not a total count of attendees, though — kids 12 and younger get in free, and members of the military get in free Aug. 1.
“We know it was over 10,000; we just don’t know how much over 10,000 it was,” Tienvieri said.
Interviews with Gin Blossoms and Kentucky Headhunters, along with more information on the weekend’s events, will appear in the July 28 Toledo Free Press Star.
Recycling efforts
The event will feature recycling receptacles for the second year in a row.
“We need to keep as much out of the landfills as we can. It’s important to help Mother Earth,” said Philomena Caratelli, one of two Red Cross volunteers who collect recycling throughout the event.
“It’s a great way to involve more volunteers with the event and a great way to help our environment,” Tienvieri said. The receptacles will be used to collect plastic bottles throughout the event. Materials the vendors use, such as cardboard, will also be recycled, she said.

More coverage: Event benefits Red Cross

More coverage: Champs, rookies prepare for ribs battle

Meet the band, win free night at Smoke on the Water!

Win a free night at Smoke on the Water — Ribs for the Red Cross and meet MiniKiss! One Toledo Free Press reader will win four tickets to the July 30 Smoke on the Water event, four VIP tent passes, a meet-and-greet session with MiniKiss and a ribs dinner with a drink and 2 side dishes courtesy of Swanton’s Baldy-Q.

To enter, visit the Toledo Free Press Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ToledoFreePress) and post on our wall the name of your favorite Kiss song or a great rib sauce recipe. A winner will be chosen and notified by July 29.

Gene Simmons, “The Demon” of Kiss who breathes fire and spits blood, is an imposing figure. Imagine being 4 feet 4 inches tall and impersonating the bass player — right next to the 6 foot 6 inch rock god.
Joey Fatale of MiniKiss and his little people tribute band mates took on the larger-than-life characters and performed with the legends for a Dr Pepper commercial that debuted during the Super Bowl.
“Oh, man, it was so cool. We did that commercial from 6 in the morning until midnight, and Gene, he’s a great guy. He actually sat with us. We had a really great conversation,” Fatale, who plays “mini-Gene,” said.
“I asked him, ‘Listen, I can’t help this, but about a half hour before I go on, I have to be alone, I have to be in my own world, and I can’t let anyone bother me.’
“And he said, ‘Joey, that’s exactly how I am; until this day, I’m the same way. I have to be in my own world, and I don’t want anyone to bother me because I get nervous.’ And he even said if you feel like that, that means you really care and you have a lot of love for what you’re doing. That was cool to hear that because what I’m doing means a lot — and it means a lot to him — so it was really great to know that.”

Joey Fatale

MiniKiss has performed a private concert for Simmons and appeared on his reality TV show.
“We’re on the ‘[Gene Simmons] Family Jewels,’ and every day we are shown on TV as we speak with our Dr Pepper commercial. That’s been really big and helped us a lot through this tour,” Fatale said during a call en route to a gig in Iowa.
Fatale has been a Kiss fan since he was a kid.
“I really like their look — that’s really what got me into Kiss. I love their style, the outfits, the craziness, the blood and all that — that’s what really turned me on.”
The bassist, guitarist, keyboardist and drummer played in a few bands, but then had to get a real job.
When he was moving in 1996, Fatale came across a Kiss album.
“And I just looked at my album, and I thought this would be so frickin’ cool, man: four little people dressed up as Kiss. And boom! MiniKiss popped in my head,” he said, adding that he owns the band name.
Since then, Fatale has taken on the personas of Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss and Simmons, who is his favorite to play.
“The funny part about me being Gene is I’ve always loved the character and, I’m not bragging but everybody even says it: I have a long tongue like him, not as long, of course, but for a little person, it’s a pretty long tongue.”
Twenty-two members have been in MiniKiss.
“I can’t believe that, wow. Just like the real Kiss,” he joked.
MiniKiss will perform at Smoke on the Water — Ribs for the Red Cross presented by Columbia Gas of Ohio at 8:45 p.m. July 30 in Promenade Park. The Polka Floyd Show will open at
7 p.m. Admission is $5 and free for children 12 and younger. Tickets are available in advance for $4 at Meijer.
The Gin Blossoms play July 31 and Kentucky Headhunters play Aug. 1.
“We do all Kiss things — the blood, the fire,” Fatale said. “And the past couple of years, we’ve also been doing a few ’80s songs — we do some Van Halen, Guns n’ Roses.”
He said the group does use backtrack music.
“We’ve done a couple shows totally live and it’s not good; we’ve got to do the backtracks only because it’s really a high-energy stage performance,” Fatale said. “It’s hard to do a stage show while we’re doing live, you know, because we’re little people and even the real Kiss I see when they play it’s hard to do all the chords and run around on stage and light the fire and the whole nine yards.”
Regardless, he said, the response has been great.
“Me being little all my life, kids always stared at me,” Fatale said. “When I’m in that MiniKiss gear, at first people have that look to them, but then they come up and they love it. They love what we’re doing.”

On the Web: visit www.minikiss.com and click on links for more information.

When the 18-screen cinema on Conant Street in Maumee closed July 11, it became the fourth vacant theater in the Toledo area.
The Franklin Park Cinemas on Monroe Street and Showcase Cinemas on Secor Road have been closed since May 2005, and Super Cinemas in Spring Meadows has been closed since April 2008, according to an e-mail from Rachel Lulay, a spokeswoman for National Amusements Inc., which owns the three theaters.
Rave Motion Pictures bought the Conant Street theater from National Amusements for about $4.7 million in December 2009, according to the Lucas County Auditor’s Real Estate Information System.
Rave also took control of National Amusements theaters at the Shops at Fallen Timbers in Maumee, inside Westfield Franklin Park Shopping Mall in Toledo and at Levis Commons in Perrysburg, but did not buy the theaters because they are owned by the shopping centers, said Jeremy Devine, vice president of marketing for Rave.
Rave will try to sell the approximately 98,000-square-foot Conant Street building, Devine said. The company is 10 years old and has never sold a theater building before, he said, adding that he hopes the building can be repurposed into something else, such as a health club or a church.
Steve Serchuk, the marketing agent for National Amusements, is trying to sell the Secor Road and Spring Meadows theaters.
National Amusements is not actively marketing the Monroe Street theater because the company also owns the shopping center behind the cinema and is trying to lease empty spaces in the shopping center first, said Serchuk, who works for real estate company, Signature Associates.
People have expressed interest in using the Secor land for medical offices, hotels and fast food restaurants, and others have expressed interest in using the Spring Meadows property for hotels and retail stores, he said, adding that no contracts have been signed and the properties are still up for sale.
Serchuk said he thinks the buildings will be torn down because they don’t convert well to other facilities.
“They are divided into a lot of theaters and each theater has load-bearing walls and fire walls and you cannot open them up easily,” he said.
It is not unusual to have large buildings on the market for five years, but the economy has not helped, Serchuk said.
County Commissioner Ben Konop also attributed the empty buildings to the poor economy and  called the theaters a “blight on the community.”
The many other empty buildings and commercial properties for sale might make it harder to sell the buildings, said Ford Weber, the president and CEO of the Lucas County Improvement Corporation.
“I think it’s going to be a bit of a challenge [to sell the properties] right now because there is a surplus of commercial property on the market and it’s very expensive to renovate a theater,” he said.

On a hazy and overcast Friday afternoon, Officers Neil Brokamp and Cory Hartman patrolled Maumee Bay on a 26-foot law enforcement boat. They approached a vessel for a spot check to determine if there were two life jackets suitable for the two men aboard. But before Hartman could utter a word, one of the men told him his boat had been stopped and inspected just the previous week. After assuring him they were just checking for life jackets, the man complied with the officer’s request and Brokamp steered the boat toward Downtown Toledo.
A boat inspection sticker on the starboard side of the stopped vessel confirmed the United States Coast Guard had boarded the ship sometime in 2010. The officers said they would not have stopped the boat if they had seen the sticker sooner.
Staying off the Maumee
Brokamp and Hartman work for the Division of Watercraft, a part of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and one of multiple law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction on Northwest Ohio waterways. This was not the first time the officers have stopped a boat that had been recently inspected by the Coast Guard — it happened again just a few minutes later during another spot check. No Coast Guard boats were in the area at the time.
“We see a lot of complaints because of their boardings,” Hartman said.
Local boaters have raised concerns about the multiple agencies patrolling the Maumee River and surrounding area. Some say boaters are staying off the river to avoid the chance of being stopped. That chance is very high, according to Harbor View Yacht Club Commodore Dean Reamsnyder.

Master Chief Petty Officer Aaron Zimmer, left, and Fireman Cody Locklear of the Coast Guard patrol the Maumee River.

“Boaters will tend now to either stay in port and go to their own club functions or go toward Michigan,” he said. “Most boaters are of the opinion that some time this year you’ll get pulled over.”
(Over?) enforcement
Federal, state, county and local agencies have concurrent jurisdiction on the Maumee River, and they can all site boaters for similar infractions. This has led boaters to question the number of law-enforcing bodies on the river.
“There are currently too many individual law enforcement agencies functioning independent of one another where people can drive down the river and be stopped four times,” said Jim Ragan, who managed the Glass City Marina in 2009.
“Traditionally, [the Maumee River] has been more of a place to relax. People are unable to do that when they’re stopped every 10 minutes.”
One boater described an experience he had in June 2007, when he was stopped and inspected by three different agencies in one day. He said the Coast Guard originally cited him for his expired registration and the Division of Watercraft inspected him later in the day. A third entity, whose identity he could not recall, then boarded his boat.
“The other two entities wanted to do their own inspection,” he said. “To me that was overemphasis on safety.”
Many boaters believe the agencies are not communicating effectively. Reamsnyder said communication could save officers and boaters the hassle of inspections.
“It seems like in the modern age they would be able to keep your boat number on a database,” he said, adding that such a system would allow officers to see if a boater has outstanding warrants.
But Master Chief Petty Officer Aaron Zimmer of the Coast Guard said boating enforcement depends largely on circumstances. For example, he said, place-of-use regulations require different equipment in different waterways.
“If you’re stopped by Rossford, the equipment you need on your boat is different than West Sister Island,” he said. “We want people to have fun, but also to be safe. Inspecting and stopping a boat are vital parts of that.”
The Division of Watercraft tries to stagger its shifts so it is not patrolling the same area as the Coast Guard. Brokamp said he typically spends half his shift on the Maumee River.
“When we see violations is when we stop. We don’t stop boats for the heck of it,” he said.
Once an inspection has been completed, an agency will give the boater some evidence that the boat has been stopped. This can range from a report of the inspection to a sticker to put on the outside of the boat. Zimmer said keeping the report on hand might dissuade other agencies from stopping the boat.
Authority and responsibility
Five separate law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction on the Maumee River. No two authorities share identical boundaries, but several overlap on sections of the river and Lake Erie.
The Coast Guard operates out of Station Toledo, located at 3900 N. Summit St. along the riverbank. This entity has jurisdiction on any navigable, federally maintained waterway from Marblehead to the Detroit River Light. The station employs several patrol boats to cover the area.
“We have a large area to patrol with a limited amount of resources,” Zimmer said.
The Coast Guard’s mission centers on safety. That mission is carried out through law enforcement and search and rescue. On a law enforcement stop, the Coast Guard may board a boat and check for proper safety equipment, such as flotation devices, a fire extinguisher and distress indicators, such as flares or a sound-producing device.
“We have many missions that we’re responsible for,” Zimmer said. “We have to balance safety and security.”
The ODNR Division of Watercraft also has broad jurisdiction. The Maumee Bay office covers eight counties in Northwest Ohio and has authority on all area rivers, inland lakes and some of the Ohio portion of Lake Erie. The Division of Watercraft is responsible for boating laws and marine safety, unlike the Division of Wildlife, which has authority on fishing and game. It also teaches a boating education course, which is required for any boater born after January 1, 1982.

Officer Neil Brokamp of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources writes a warning to a Maumee boater on july 11.

“We’re very specialized in what we do. There are very few DNR agencies that have a watercraft division,” said area Supervisor Chad German.
German and three other officers staff the Maumee Bay office. One officer may patrol smaller bodies of water, such as the Auglaize River, but officers patrol larger waterways in pairs. Most patrols take place during the weekend.
The Division of Watercraft also funds operations for narrower jurisdictions. Lucas County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol received nearly $25,000 from ODNR this year and Perrysburg Twp. Marine Patrol obtained just more than $14,000.
Lucas County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol has jurisdiction on waterways within the county, including the Maumee and Ottawa Rivers and a part of Lake Erie. Capt. Robert McBroom said the Marine Patrol rarely navigates the two rivers.
“We are in charge of enforcing watercraft rules within Lucas County, but primarily, our duties are on Lake Erie,” he said.
Another county-owned boat is operated through the Northern Border Initiative (NBI), a federally funded project designed to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking to and from Canada. Officers from the city of Oregon and Monroe County operate the boat with Lucas County officers. McBroom said the NBI boat patrols the Maumee River when lake conditions are subpar.
“It’s hard to separate the two [entities] when the same boat’s being used,” he said.
On weekends, Perrysburg Twp. Marine Patrol operates an ODNR-funded vessel on a part of the Maumee River. The municipality only has jurisdiction on water within township limits, between Rossford and Toledo city limits, and this part of the river has no commercial boating. Officers manning the single patrol boat are primarily concerned with water devices such as jet skis, Sgt. Joe Christy said.
“We don’t take our boat out on the lake,” he said. “The big one we do is the personal watercraft.”
Toledo Police Department does not operate its Harbor Patrol due to a lack of funding.
The department still has jurisdiction on Toledo waterways, but would have to take drastic measures if the need arose, Sgt. Michael McGee said.
“We will have enforcement out there,” he said. “We depend on the Coast Guard, unless we commandeer a boat or something … in a matter of life and death.”
Oregon only has a presence on the river through NBI. Rossford and Washington Twp. do not have a marine patrol or work with NBI.
At other times, the agencies work together, such as Fourth of July weekend. Perrysburg Twp. Marine Patrol joins the others Downtown to help patrol during Toledo’s fireworks.
“There’s not one of us that could do it on our own. We pool our resources together,” Christy said.
The Lucas County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol safely evacuated nine passengers off a boat that caught fire on the Maumee River during the busy weekend.
“Thank goodness we were down there the other night,” McBroom said. “Our boat was there and did a great job.”
Numbers
Ragan said law enforcement agencies received grants from the Department of Homeland Security through the Port Security Grant Program after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
He said this has led to more stops on the water.
“Since the boats are out there, [officers] said, ‘geez, guys, we need some paperwork to justify using the fuel’,” Ragan said. “It has squelched down the usage of boats on the waterway.”
Zimmer highlighted the number of boats the Coast Guard stopped in 2009. Of the 31,000 boats registered in the four counties in which Station Toledo has jurisdiction, the Coast Guard boarded 350 in 2009.
Six of those stops involved a boat the Coast Guard had boarded earlier in the year.
“We don’t unnecessarily go out and stop people’s trips,” Zimmer said. “We try to inspect the boats, but also try to minimize impact on the boater.”
On the Maumee River last year, Division on Watercraft issued 1,036 warnings, 75 citations (all for misdemeanors) and took five boaters off the water for operating under the influence. Division of Watercraft also conducts spot checks. Perrysburg Twp. Marine Patrol conducted 45 spot checks and wrote 53 warnings in 2009.
Lucas County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol primarily made contact with boaters on the Maumee River during holidays and special events. The entity made two stops in 2009, and the only five stops so far in 2010 took place during the July 4 fireworks Downtown.
Only two citations have been issued on the river by this agency since 2007.
Data from Toledo Police Department Harbor Patrol are being processed after Freedom of Information Act requests were filed.
“We each have a little bit different focus,” Zimmer said. “Sometimes those focuses overlap, but our ultimate goal is a safe environment for everyone to work in.”

Editor’s note: Toledo Free Press will follow the Blank family of Millbury for the next year as they rebuild their lives after a June 5 tornado destroyed their Main Street home.

The Blanks and Bihns have found a routine after living together for seven weeks.
Monday nights are for watching “The Bachelorette.” Wednesdays are for “Big Brother.”
When Julie Blank goes to the grocery store, she calls to see if Becci Bihn needs anything. When Becci does laundry, she does a load for her guests, too. She is like a second mom to 15-year-old Casey Blank, just as Julie is to her three children, Connor, 11, Ethan, 7, and Maci, 5.
The families even cook and eat together when possible.
“We like the same foods, we eat the same stuff,” Becci said. “My kids look up to Casey and adore him, and Casey adores my kids.”
When the initial chaos quieted, it started to feel like the families were on vacation, something they do anyway. Becci, principal of Eisenhower Middle School, has been off since July. The Blanks took them to Myrtle Beach earlier this month to thank them.
“It has been fun,” Becci said.  “There hasn’t ever been a moment where I am like, ‘When are these people leaving’?”
She never even discussed the living arrangements with her husband Steve, who was out of town, the night of the tornado. The families became friends years ago when because Steve and Ed played on a softball league.
Hours before the tornado, Becci and Maci were at the Blanks house for Casey’s birthday party. They left at 9:30 p.m. because Maci was getting tired and the storm was coming.

The Blanks and Bihns.

Becci was in the basement of her Perrysburg Township home gathering items to wait out the storm when she thought of the Blanks. She knew they were probably cleaning up from the pool party and called to let them know about the storm.
When Julie didn’t answer her phone, she called Ed. When Ed didn’t answer his phone, she called Casey. And when Casey didn’t answer, she called the home phone. Still, no answer.
Becci comforted herself by saying they knew the storm was coming and it was not going to be that bad.
But it was. Julie’s sister’s called with the news. The Blanks lost everything.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Becci said. “I was like, ‘for gosh sakes, there has to be something left there.’ I couldn’t imagine the house being gone. I was just there.”
Becci called her mom who happened to be in Walbridge and asked her to go pick up the Blanks.
As she waited, she was a nervous wreck, not knowing if they were cut and bleeding.
“I made an egg casserole and I got the coffeemaker out; we are not coffee drinkers, but they are,”  she said.
“When they came in, they were mud from head to foot. Pitiful. I was just staring. I was in awe. They were crying and in shock.”
Becci took charge.
“I told them, ‘You guys have nothing to worry about, you guys are staying here’.”
And she told stubborn Ed, “Don’t argue with me.”
Ed and Julie would sleep in Ethan’s room; Ethan would sleep with Connor; and Maci would sleep with her parents, so Casey could have her room.
The night of the tornado, Becci had them take showers; she washed their soiled clothes and she insisted they sleep in her king-size bed. For that night, she wanted them to be together.
By 7 a.m., everyone was up and no one knew what to do.
“It wasn’t like you got a phone call to come back to their house,” Becci said. “They kind of took their time, but I think they took their time because they were scared of what it was going to be.”
When they got to the neighborhood, the Bihns weren’t initially allowed in.
“Just being at the corner of Ayers and Main Street, I cried the entire time. It looked like a war zone, it truly, truly did.”
They all assumed roles. Steve, who works in commercial construction, made sure the adjustors were doing their job. Becci’s mission was to find Julie’s jewelry, so she could bring it to her in the hospital. Julie suffered minor heart damage after the tornado.
When searching the site behind the neighboring Walters’ property, Becci happened to look down and see a wad of jewelry. One of the first things she saw was a circle necklace that she had given to Julie for her birthday.
Later, when a wall from the Walters’ house was being lifted, Becci found an emerald ring, which had belonged to Ed’s mother. Three of the four members of the Walter family died in the tornado.
The Blanks first reaction was to not rebuild at the same site because of all the bad memories. Becci and her husband talked it through with them.  Eventually, they reconsidered. Meanwhile, they are moving into a condominium in August.
“We were trying to take pressure off of them, and there were things we would suggest that no one else would suggest to them,” Becci said. “I don’t think they ever felt like we were telling them what to do.”
The Bihn children have also learned about compassion.
“It has taught them to be more giving and to help people,” Becci said. “My husband took them to the scene. I think they appreciate and value things a little bit more. They take better care of their stuff.
“We will miss them when they leave,” she said. “It will be weird not having them around.”

About 15 years ago, ex-Marine Gary Rexroad noticed cramping in his calves. He blamed the hard concrete floors of the tool and die shop where he worked, but his pain increased as his mobility declined. The cramping slowly climbed his legs, working through the thighs before making it to the buttocks. It was then that he finally sought medical help.
“I didn’t have a clue what it was,” he said. “You can blame it on 10,000 things.”
Two years after the cramping began, Rexroad visited Toledo Clinic, where newly hired cardiologist Dr. Ghiath Yazji diagnosed him with Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD).
PAD is a condition in which non-coronary arteries become congested, limiting blood flow to the extremities. It occurs most frequently in the legs, but the arms also can be affected. Most cases of PAD form from atherosclerosis, the same process that blocks coronary arteries and can lead to a heart attack.
Blood carries oxygen throughout the body. When circulation is limited, oxygen flow is hindered, eventually causing muscles to cramp below the blockage site. Over time, the blockage may become extensive, leading to gangrene and possibly amputation.
In its early stages, PAD may exist without any pain or symptoms, and most people do not visit a doctor until cramping develops. Blockages often appear in a similar location in both legs.
“Many of the patients that I see are patients who have gotten to the point where they’re significantly limited in their lifestyle,” said Dr. Mark Burket, director of vascular medicine at University of Toledo Medical Center.
“They try to walk and their leg tightens up, and they can’t do what they would normally do.”
Burket uses several techniques to detect PAD. A pulse test on the back of the ankle and top of the foot can determine the strength of blood flow reaching the lower leg. Diminished or absent pulses typically indicate PAD. A Doppler probe is slightly more advanced and produces an audible pulse if an artery is open. A magnetic resonance angiogram and CT scan are more advanced techniques.
Once detected, treatment has two objectives: addressing the known blockage and preventing other cardiovascular incidents, such as heart attack and stroke.
“Anytime that we find PAD, we know that person is at risk for other cardiac and vascular events,” Burket said.
Aspirin and cholesterol-reducing drugs, such as statins, may lower the risk of heart attack and stroke. Statins may also inhibit the expansion of a blockage in the leg, delaying symptoms and prolonging mobility.
Once pain develops, several courses of treatment are possible. One is atherectomy, in which the doctor scrapes away and removes the buildup in the artery.
Stents may also be used to reline a blood vessel. In more severe cases, surgical bypass may be required.
Rexroad underwent two atherectomies in each leg — one set in 1997 and another last year — to remove blockages in his femoral and iliac arteries. Burket assisted Yazji the first time and led the effort on the latest procedures. Each leg is done separately. The femoral artery in Rexroad’s left leg burst during his latest round of procedures, but Burket stopped the bleeding right away. Rexroad has nearly a foot of stents in each leg
“I can’t thank the man enough,” Rexroad said. “He’s the reason I’m walking. I’m hearing pulses in my feet I haven’t heard in 20 years.”
Burket said about 70 percent of patients with PAD are stable or show improvement over five years. Of patients diagnosed after cramping develops, about 5 percent will go on to an amputation within five years. Sometimes, he said, aggressive atherosclerosis will force an amputation, which doctors “avoid like the plague,” even when the patient has done everything possible to avoid it.
“In that case, though, usually the amputation has been delayed,” he said. “Many times when we treat people we realize at some point we may have to give up and do an amputation.”
Several risk factors contribute to PAD. Diabetics and African-Americans have a greater risk of developing the condition, and a family history of atherosclerosis also increases its likelihood. Because the disease develops over time, age is another determining factor. U.S. Census Bureau data and the American Heart Association show that more than 360,000 Ohioans will likely develop PAD by 2015, including one-third of Ohioans older than 50.
Like many circulatory conditions, the No. 1 cause is cigarette smoking.
“To avoid developing peripheral arterial disease, far and away the most important thing is to not smoke cigarettes,” Burket said. “And then the general efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle are also important.”
Treatment for PAD is covered by most insurance plans, Burket said. With coverage and treatment available, Rexroad encourages patients to do all they can to fight back.
“There’s a lot of people that are afraid to have it done,” he said. “I tell them when I die I plan on leaving skid marks on the ground. As long as there’s a chance that you can fix something, why not?”