Several Downtown entrepreneurs say they are concerned about the future of their businesses because of what they describe as the lack of entertainment at the Huntington Center.
The next event at the arena is the “American Idol” concert on Aug. 29. Before that, the only other event was the Brad Paisley concert on June 4.
“I’m saying, two times a month? Can we have two events a month in the summer?” said Eric Sitter, a co-ower of Sidelines. “I just think it’s a shame. I think it’s a huge shame that that gorgeous expensive arena is sitting there doing nothing.”
He added that he thinks summer concertgoers would enjoy seeing performances in an air-conditioned facility instead of outside in the hot weather.
Sitter said when he opened the Downtown Toledo location of Sidelines, he was banking on the arena drawing crowds to the area.
“We are dependent on the arena,” he said.
But with very little entertainment over the summer, he said his restaurant is having trouble attracting enough people to remain profitable.
He said he has not been able to give some of his employees hours in three weeks because of the lack of evening entertainment.
“It’s just a shame,” he said.
Kelly King, manager of Ole Taco, said her business is similarly dependent on the arena to attract people to the Downtown area.
“We really count on events that happen at the Huntington Center, and we’re very anxious for the Walleyes to start,” she said.
Joe Cowell, the owner and operator of the Toledo Players Sports Bar, said he has had to lay off some of his employees because business has been lighter than he expected because of the arena’s inactivity during the summer. When Players opened six months ago, Cowell said he had no idea that the arena would be almost  empty for three months during the summer.
One Huntington Center suite owner, who requested anonymity, said it does not look like the arena will be able to hit the number of events suite holders were promised for 2010.
“The events that have been there have been outstanding, but there seems to be a lot of quiet time this summer,” the suite holder said.
Al Purdie, the marketing manager for the Huntington Center, said it is typical for indoor arenas to be lightly scheduled over the summer because most artists are performing at outdoor events.

“Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3” (Atlus) a one-player, role-playing action game, continues the Persona series with quality narratives and characters that offer a high-level relationship-based experience. The term Persona refers to the soul power which thrives on bonds you have with others. Persona 3 was first released in the U.S. on PlayStation 2 and still stands the test of time as an amazing gaming experience — now exclusively on the PlayStation Portable (PSP).
Other new extras include bonus fights,and events to rescue missing persons. Fans can encounter a new experience with a female character while the additional difficulty settings (Beginner and Maniac) expand the range to five. Developers also include characters and elements from the Persona 4 game.

This engaging game, aka P3P, follows a one-year timeline with full moons (about every month) and contains special challenges fighting “shadows” who exist in a unique building housing the antagonist element affecting society on a large scale. Gameplay centers on player time at school and activities based from the school dorm where the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES) teammates stay.
The progressive activities help with the unique midnight fights against the “shadows” that feature preemptive advantage hits (for both sides) before going into battle mode. Use tactics to assess your enemy and sometimes wait to save strength while your teammates hit the enemy hard. Fight in groups or alone. Players can also minimize the strategy by simply rushing the opponent using the triangle button.
The more you interact with the environment, the more information you gather to make informed decisions. Players can save progress at the dorm front desk, school desk or at the midnight battles. Relationship connections create an amazing experience in several different settings. At school, players increase their charm with other characters by answering questions in class. Some questions are very challenging while others are as simple as one plus one. You get permission to join clubs to create even more relationships. There are no penalties for not accepting social engagements, but don’t disappoint them too much consecutively.
The events and voice talent keep the timeline from getting stale. Every time you get close to predicting events or tire of the same settings, a new twist or opportunity appears changing the narrative and possibly characters. The load times can be frequent and a bit lengthy, but work well given the immense content and seemingly infinite possibilities. Casual gamers can also find a great experience if they complete the game in smaller blocks of time). (****, rated M for blood, language, partial nudity, sexual themes, and violence).

When Andrew “Z” Zepeda first met his future wife, Michelle, he was about to cover her with ice cream.
He’d been working at a radio station in Green Bay, where Michelle was living with her family. “He had a contest, ‘What would you do for Matchbox 20 tickets?’ I didn’t really like the band, but my sister did,” Michelle said. “So, I e-mailed and said I’d become a human sundae. And I won!”
After dousing her with caramel, sprinkles, ketchup and other toppings, a relationship began to blossom.
“We kind of e-mailed back and forth a lot, we saw each other at the concert, she kind of stayed in touch and the rest is history,” Andrew said.
The pair, who have been together for 13 years and married for seven, now find themselves sharing a life spent largely on the airwaves. While Andrew hosts Toledo’s most popular morning radio show, Michelle has worked as a reporter for FOX Toledo since October of 2005.

Michelle, Andrew and Mazie Zepeda.

Andrew’s career in media began first, during his brief (two weeks, he claimed) stay in college.
“One of the days that I was home ditching, because I didn’t feel like going, I saw a commercial for a broadcast school,” Andrew said. “I went and had the interview, and I think they accept everybody.”
His first radio gig was in Illinois, which for a kid from Los Angeles was a major culture shock. From there, the nomadic nature of media took hold — jobs in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona followed — before he got his current gig at 92.5 KISS FM. This year, he celebrated his 20th year on the air.
For Michelle, the choice to be in media was directly influenced by her relationship with Andrew. She was a business major at first, then “being around him, being around TV folk and radio folk, I switched my major real quick so I could still graduate in four years, and I decided what to be,” she said.
Her career has largely been guided by the path that Andrew’s has taken, and where ever his job takes him, hers has followed.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate to find a job every time, but this was the best move, because when I moved here FOX Toledo had a job opening as soon as I got to town, and I’ve been a reporter there for five years.”
The demands of their jobs give the couple little time, between work and caring for their 3-year-old daughter, Mazie. Time spent together at the end of their respective days is at a premium.
“Usually, we’ll eat at the restaurant around 7 to 7:30, and then we get home around 8, put Mazie to bed by 9. We wind up getting basically an hour a night together,” Andrew said.
Then there’s raising a family in public, an issue only heightened by Andrew’s recent announcement (on-air, naturally) that the couple is expecting their second child. But Michelle insisted, “I don’t think it’s different than anyone else — we have preschool for [Mazie] and day care options, and I think we’re like any other working couple.”
Andrew added, “When Mazie was first born, I was doing stuff at FOX every day, so she was around the TV station and she was around the set, because I’d take her with me. And then she’s been around the radio station, so she’s comfortable with media. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what she ends up doing, although, God, I hope not!”
Though Michelle noted with a grin that there are benefits to being a spouse in the public eye.
“I think sometimes it helps me out having our life be a little more public, because I don’t feel so crazy, because people can see his crazy side and his argumentative side, so I actually have a lot of people who support me.”
Also grinning, Andrew interjected, “I just know 100 percent of the time what’s right and what’s wrong.”
The Hegartys
Sara and Shaun Hegarty may be prominent members of Toledo media, but they often poke fun about how only one of them had formal training.
“I went to school for it!” Shaun joked. “I went to classes, and those tests … ”
“I went to classes! I took tests!” Sara quickly interjected.
“Yeah, but mine were for journalism and broadcasting,” he replied, with heavy sarcasm.
But despite their varying levels of experience, both halves of the famous couple take to the air on a daily basis — he as an anchor for FOX Toledo News, she as co-host for Andrew Z in the Morning, the area’s No. 1 morning FM radio show.
They first met in college, while going to Syracuse University. “We met at a floor meeting, but we didn’t become friends until a few months after that. And we didn‘t date until after we graduated,” Sara said.
The couple has now been married for four years, about as long as Shaun has worked for FOX Toledo. The nomadic nature of television news saw them living in Corpus Christi, Texas, before relocating to the Glass City.

Sara, Leah and Shaun Hegarty.

“I started out as being a reporter, and then Karl Rundgren left, and I just kinda auditioned for the anchor gig,” Shaun said. “This is my first anchoring gig, and it’s been a lot of fun, I like the station, I like this town, so overall it’s been positive.”
Shaun’s broadcast career has been going on for much longer than Sara’s — he was even a regular on Andrew Z’s show first, broadcasting a daily news report. And it was their connection to the Zepeda family which helped Sara land her new gig.
“When Trish (Andrew’s former co-host) announced she was leaving, Andrew approached me about maybe trying out for the position, and I was really hesitant at first,” Sara said.
Conversations with Shaun helped change her mind, and her first tryout with Andrew went so well, Sara said, “Andrew called me and said, ‘You were good. We need to get you back here because I think it was a fluke.’ ”
More auditions won her the position that now monopolizes her mornings, and nowadays both the Hegartys’ schedules are “polar opposites,” said Sara — she’s up by 3:30 a.m. for the radio, and the first time the two speak is usually when he comes on the show for his news report.
For Shaun, the morning is spent doing “Dad duty” with the couple’s daughter Leah. Sara works at the studio all morning until “I get home around 12:30, 1 o’ clock. And that’s when I take off co-host hat and put on Mommy hat. And I’m just Mommy the rest of the day,” Sara said. Then it’s time for Shaun to head to the station. Since the two rarely get to see each other during the week, they both note how important it is to maximize the time they do get to be together.
Though they work in highly public media, the couple noted the contrast between their careers.
“Even though we do broadcasting, we do very different things. And I find it very interesting listening to her side of it, all the little things that go into it,” Shaun said.
“It’s all under the broadcasting umbrella, but I think that seeing her side of it is so very different than mine.”
And for the first time, Shaun and Sara are in a situation where bigger and better things in media may come one day, perhaps with little notice.
“I’d say I’m content with where we are right now. I think we are only going to get better, and things will only get better for us,” he said.
“I think, right now, I’m good!” Sara said.
“Yeah, but you could be better next week!” Shaun retorted, with a laugh.

All good things come to those who wait; in the comics biz that can be especially true. Though the general rule of comics these days is late-shipping product and interminable gaps between issues, sometimes a series comes along that’s worth a few months wait or even a few years.
Take “Planetary,” for example: it’s a 27-issue bimonthly series from Wildstorm that took almost 10 years to complete instead of two. That kind of tardiness would’ve crushed a normal fanboy, but not The Game Room’s comic maestro Paul Shiple.
“‘Absolute Planetary v2,’ a lush 384-page oversized slipcased hardcover, concludes a story a decade in the making,” he said. “Planetary is a worldwide organization of archaeologists who search for the secret history of the 20th century. With this labor of love, writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday have produced what is arguably the best series of the last decade.”
Now, this isn’t just any collection of comics that came out last week. Ellis, one of the true gonzo scribes of modern comics, along with Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, has created a universe to contain all the great fictional archetypes — not unlike Moore’s “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” With his own versions of famous characters like Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes and Godzilla, he puts his team of super-operatives through their paces in what can only be described as multidimensional, multilayered, speculative science fiction pulp wish-fulfillment. Ellis has even taken heat from copyright holders for veering a bit too close to their owned characters — but he’s the one laughing in the end.
One can also sigh with relief over the release of “Futurama” No. 50, from Bongo Comics. “With the return of new ‘Futurama’ episodes on Comedy Central in the last month, longtime fans of the show have been rewarded for their six plus years of patience,” Shiple said. “Little did many of them know that during this drought, there have been new stories featuring their favorite characters all along. Bongo Comics is finally releasing this semi-centennial issue.”

When Toledo native Tom Jackson’s kids grew old enough to listen to music, he was frustrated with the quality of tunes available for them.
“It’s just kind of bad and overproduced,” he said. “You think of Barney and the Wiggles. It was not real enjoyable for my wife and I.”

“I can do this!” he remembers thinking.
So he took matters into his own hands and teamed up with his father-in-law, Don Staczek, to start a band that would perform music both parents and kids could enjoy. The result is Wilson Lake and the Rock Bass.
Jackson described the music as eclectic; some of thier songs are folksy, some are bluesy, and others have the feel of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll.
“We’re not saying that we’re great or anything, but it’s certainly an alternative to what they’re getting on cable TV,” Jackson said.
The inspiration for many of the band’s songs — and its name — comes from the vacations Jackson takes with his family to their cottage on Wilson Lake in Michigan: “Super Guy Dragon Fly,” “Trail Blazin’,” and “Fish Face.”
Jackson, who has played music in bars around Toledo, said he enjoys performing for kids as a member of Wilson Lake just as much as he likes playing for adults. His young audience members are just as choosy as adults.
“They aren’t any easier to impress or please, surprisingly,” he said.
The band has performed at local libraries, private parties, and elementary schools all over Toledo. They have released two CDs, the first of which was reviewed by the School Library Journal.
All of the band members have children.
Sandy Skala, one of the band’s vocalists, said her daughter Ashley, who has autism, is one of the group’s biggest fans.
“She doesn’t have hobbies like you or I might have; there’s not a whole lot of things that she likes to do in her spare time,” Skala said. “But once she hears music, she definitely responds to it. And she responds to the melodies of our music and loves it.”
The band performed at Acoustics for Autism, a yearly fundraiser for Project iAm, a group that supports and educates families affected by autism.
Wilson Lake consists of Jackson on guitar and vocals; Skala on vocals, percussion and kazoo; Brian Strong on keyboard and vocals; Staczek on drums and Mike Harshman on bass and vocals.
The band will perform  at 7 p.m. July 21 at the Pearson MetroPark, on Aug. 4 at the Main Library in Downtown Toledo at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and at the Rossford Public Library at 7 p.m. that evening.

Toledo gets its fair share of bands. However, every once in a while we are treated to something very special. On July 23, Unknown Hinson will play at Frankie’s and for those who like well-written music and love comedy, this is not a show to miss.

Unknown Hinson

Hinson has yet to achieve the success and wide-spread admiration of music and comedy lovers he deserves. Check out his MySpace page (myspace.com/unknownhinson) and listen to the songs he has posted, but for a greater picture of what a Hinson show is like, watch some of the videos.
Unknown Hinson is a remarkable songwriter and a ridiculously funny performer. The man’s catalog contains dozens of songs, all of which are expertly crafted, professionally produced and stupid-funny. Hinson’s songs make fun of the dark side of “hillbilly” or “redneck” culture without being hostile and each track feels authentic. From his genuine southern drawl to the content of his songs, Hinson is able to connect with any audience with an IQ above room temperature.
Hinson is an impressive guitar player. Everything from his chord structures and progressions to solos and interludes have feeling and character. If the music wasn’t expressive enough, the lyrical content is borderline hysterical. From songs like “Talk American” to “Cleaned Out A Room In My Trailer,” Hinson takes some of the most benign and potentially static topics and turns them into comedic gold.
While Hinson isn’t a commercial powerhouse, the character artist has an impressive cult following. With album releases dating back as far as 1999, regular voiceover duties on Cartoon Network’s “Squidbillies” and more than 1 million plays on his MySpace page, it’s safe to say this man is a true success, not a product of major-label marketing and backing.
Known as the “King of Country Western Troubadours,” Hinson enjoys the support of several high-profile fans and an immense underground following. He is known to stick around after shows to take pictures with fans and sign autographs. In one of Hinson’s videos, he says, “I always invite the ladies over to the merchandise table and I’ll be happy to sign they breasts.”
Doors for the Hinson show open at 8 p.m. Tickets will be $15 at the door. Advance tickets can be purchased for $12 from Culture Clash and Ramalama Records.

It was April 1997. In the world of video games, a publishing company by the name of 3D Realms was riding high after the release of its enormously popular shooter “Duke Nukem 3D,” a sequel to several successful platform games.

Bolstered by its success, 3D Realms and director George Broussard announced a new installment in the franchise for PC and consoles — “Duke Nukem Forever.”

Thirteen years have passed. In the interim, the world has seen the beginning of two new console generations. Countless updates to PC operating systems. Seven different Olympic games. Three presidential elections. The death of VHS and the rise of DVD.

But among all the events and changes in the intervening years, one thing has remained the same: Fans are still waiting for “Duke Nukem Forever.”

This is not a matter of the game simply being cancelled or scrapped — that happens. This is a game that has actually been in development for over 13 years. Even the most seasoned gaming journalists have never seen anything like it.

“’Duke Nukem Forever’ really stands alone in terms of how long its saga has dragged on,” said Ryan Geddes, senior editor of gaming site IGN.com. “There’s really nothing that I can think of that has been sort of stretched out like this.”

The first indications that something was wrong came in the first years following the announcement, as 3D Realms continuously pushed back the game’s scheduled release. Finally, in 2001, the developer changed the release date to “when it’s done.” And so it has remained ever since, despite promo materials continuing to surface at gaming shows like E3.

The constant reminders are enough for some fans to keep hope. Fans like Robert Yatta, founder and director of Duke4.net, the world’s most comprehensive fan site ever dedicated to a game that has never existed.

“On the average day, we get about 2,000 – 3,000 unique visitors a day,” Yatta said in an interview. “During critical times — for example, back when new screenshots were released, or new videos were released — we’d get up to 20,000 unique visits in a single 24 hour period.”

Why? What still draws the interest of people to a game that has been “in development” since the Clinton administration? Part of it is certainly morbid curiosity, like gawking at a car accident — only one that’s been going on for over a decade. But more than that, there is a genuine nostalgic attachment to the original games and their title character.

“Duke Nukem is sort of a beloved character for longtime gamers. When ‘Duke Nukem 3D’ came out, it was sort of a breath of fresh air for people,” Geddes said. “I think people really responded to the honesty of this character. These guys made a guy who was really crass — it was not politically correct, there were a lot of pop culture references for sci-fi geeks and people who were into horror movies…And aside from all that, it was just a really well-designed game that was a lot of fun to play.”

Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be a happy ending anywhere in sight for Duke. In May of 2009, Take Two Interactive, the company that had planned to publish the game, fired the “Forever” development team after money disagreements with 3D Realms and director Broussard ended in a stalemate. Take Two then filed a lawsuit against 3D Realms for failing to complete the game. The suit was settled in June, but the legal status of the game — and who holds the rights to release it, if anyone would ever finish it — remains unclear.

Geddes holds no hope that the game will ever see the light of day. “No chance. You’ll get some people that’ll be very angry at me, but honestly — if I were a publisher, I wouldn’t touch that game with a ten foot pole,” he said, with a laugh.

And even die-hard fan Robert Yatta acknowledges that a finished game would be received skeptically by the public. “There will be groups of people who will be cynical about the game, even after having played it,” he said. “And there will be people like myself who will be very happy, very surprised and just very relieved to be able to finally check out the game we’ve been looking forward to for a long time.”

E-mail Jeff at PopGoesJeff@gmail.com.

Fans of classic rock road warriors REO Speedwagon who long for the days when Gary Richrath tore it up on lead guitar, Epic/Legacy’s latest “Setlist” release is music to your ears.

The label released a 14-song CD of REO’s live performances on July 13, with all but two cuts featuring the licks of the band’s original guitar player. Dave Amato replaced Richrath on stage right for REO in 1989. Half of the CD are songs previously unreleased on REO’s six other discs that contain live material.

Legacy dove deep into the vault for several gems that may be little-known to casual Speedwagon fans. “Say You Love Me or Say Goodnight,” and the re-make of the Chuck Berry tune “Johnny B. Goode” are rare treats not available live on other REO discs. Richrath’s guitar is especially on fire on those two cuts, and again on “Golden Country.” “Live it Up” and “Flying Turkey Trot” each can be found live elsewhere in the REO catalog. But both have rarely, if ever, been a part of the band’s regular concert setlist.

The disc is produced well and the songs seamlessly flow into each other, with the roaring crowds’ appreciation blending one into the next. Selections are taken from shows ranging from 1976 to 1990, pulled mainly from Midwest venues including Indianapolis, St. Louis, Kansas City and even Grand Rapids, Michigan. It’s amazing what putting 20 to 30 years back on frontman Kevin Cronin’s voice can do!

“Setlist” is recommended for fans who already own at least one other live REO disc due to two songs that are conspicuous in their absence. “Take it on the Run” and “Back on the Road Again” have been played at virtually every REO show since each song was written. Both are missing from “Setlist,” as is “157 Riverside Avenue,” another staple of their live shows over the past 20 years. But for the harder-core REO fan over the age of 45, this disc mostly serves to welcome back the harder-edged sound of their halcyon days of the 70s and 80s when the band was still headlining large, sold-out arenas.

Legacy released the disc as part of a series that also includes “Setlists” from Cheap Trick, Kansas, Jefferson Airplane and several others.

Toledo and Pittsburgh are among the next cities that Ohio wants to connect as part of its developing passenger rail project, state transportation officials said July 15.

The state has signed a $7.8 million contract with an engineering firm to study new routes that would branch off from Ohio’s marquee federal stimulus project — a $400 million rail system with 79 mph trains connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati beginning in 2012.

The contract with AECOM, a Los Angeles-based company that has worked on California’s planned high-speed rail system, will determine routes for a future 110 mph service on four corridors: Detroit-Toledo-Cleveland, Cleveland-Pittsburgh, Toledo-Columbus and Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati.

The federal government requires this kind of preliminary environmental impact study before funding can be approved. The study would likely take about a year, said Matt Dietrich, executive director of the Ohio Rail Development Commission.

President Barack Obama announced in January that he would give $400 million to Ohio for the 79 mph startup service from Cleveland to Cincinnati, part of $8 billion in stimulus grants for rail projects in the U.S.

Ohio has yet to spend the money. The state is waiting for the Federal Rail Administration to sign off on $25 million that will complete engineering and design work — information that will identify track upgrades, pinpoint operating speeds along the route and set departure schedules.

Dietrich said he hopes to get federal approval in a few weeks.

The Federal Rail Administration on Monday approved $20 million for North Carolina to refurbish passenger coaches and locomotives, the first installment of $525 million in stimulus money to help that state increase top speeds to 90 mph on trains between Raleigh and Charlotte and double the number of round trips.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat running for re-election, has billed his state’s rail project as something that can create hundreds of construction jobs and spark new economic development in cities with train stations.

But there is some political uncertainty around the project.

Even if Strickland wins in November, he will need support from Senate Republicans on the state Controlling Board, a seven-member panel that approves major construction spending and equipment purchases.

Republicans, including GOP gubernatorial candidate John Kasich, have criticized the rail plan, questioned ridership estimates and complained that the initial service would be too slow.

About 6 million people live along the Cleveland-Cincinnati route, making it one of the most heavily populated corridors without rail service in the Midwest.

Early estimates predict 478,000 riders in the first year of operations, annual ticket sales at $12 million and the state responsible for an additional $17 million operating subsidy, according to an Amtrak study released last year.

The July 18 issue of Toledo Free Press is now available: