Despite my coming of age in the rule-bending, laissez-faire era I shared with the likes of Kurt Cobain, I have become comfortable enough with convention that I am now ready and willing to play within the confines of any given system. Just give me the laws of the land and I’ll follow them. I want to live honestly and with integrity. I want to do the right thing.

One would think that such a willingness toward conformity would make the world a simpler and more manageable place. One would think that happily agreeing to “this is what we do and this is how we do it” would make one happy and agreeable. Yet, in reality, living by the rules is a confusing, frustrating and exhausting way to play the game of life.

Something as seemingly simple as hand washing, for example, comes with so many more strings attached than just sticking your hands under running water for 30 seconds. There’s a semi-complex right way to do it: turn on the faucet, furiously scrub with soap while singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” twice in your head, grab a paper towel to first use as a drying device and then immediately re-fashion the paper towel into a germ barrier between your ready-to-perform-surgery, perfectly-washed hand and the assumed-to-be-germ-infested faucet handle. However, in a freely-speaking country smack dab in the middle of the information age, even something as basic as hand washing comes with well-publicized conflicting viewpoints.

The hand washing system is based on the medical community’s rules, which offers nagging opposing questions even within its own system. Won’t fighting germs with such constant vengeance also keep me less immune and give those germs even more power than they would have otherwise? Won’t such repeated washings strip away at the precious epidermis that is meant to bar such viral and bacterial invaders in the first place?

Furthermore, environmental rules beg me into a completely different direction: turn off the water as soon as humanly possible instead of leaving it running until you have the impenetrably protective force of a wet paper towel in hand to fight any faucet germs. In fact, my trying to do right by the environment pulls me in at least two directions each time I so much as clean out the medicine cabinet. Do I empty expired bottles down the drain and risk contaminating the water supply, throw the bottles away in the trash without emptying them and shirk my duty to recycle or do I hold onto them until the next medication disposal drive hoping that my kids don’t stumble upon them first? Attempting to play by the rules doesn’t make life easier; it makes it much more complicated and stressful.

Attempting to play by the ever-rotating rules of parenting, with the health, safety and general well-being of your children hanging ever so delicately in the balance, is even heavier on the do-the-right-thing pressure and is enough to turn a formerly reasonable, mild-mannered person into a messy heap of self-doubting nervousness. Should I hide my children’s skin from the sun’s harmful rays or let them bask in that all-important shower of vitamin D enhancer? Does the vitamin D enhancer still come through if I put sunscreen on them? Are the effects of the chemicals in sunscreen even worse than the effects of the sun itself? Such a questioning situation is just one of a seemingly infinite number of parenting scenarios we must confusingly face each day with little chance of gaining any confidence that we are doing the right thing.

Why must the modern, sophisticated, guideline-focused world come with so many more questions than definitive answers? Each corner of concern, be it medical, environmental, social or otherwise never quite seems to align just right with all of the other corners. The abundance of mixed signals received by and the additional stress put upon those of us struggling to follow the rules are often enough to make us want to give up on rule-following all together.

When I notice people happily walking around carefree with their germy hands and their sunscreen-free, vitamin-D-laden kids, I wonder if ignorance and/or a “Who cares?” attitude really is bliss. Witnessing such an untroubled approach to the world when fighting the endless battle of trying to figure out just what the right thing is makes me want to return to the much more relaxed state of 1990s flannel and indifference.

In the words of the late Mr. Cobain, I sometimes would just rather say, “Oh well, whatever, nevermind.”

Shannon and her husband Michael are raising three children in Sylvania.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness  … “

— Charles Dickens

I have been struck since relocation to the Kansas City area by comparisons between this city and Toledo. Both are border cities, with Kansas City resting on the western border of Missouri and Toledo on the northern Ohio boundary. Both are urban islands in the heart of the farm country in their respective states. Both cities have riverfront views, with Toledo overlooking the Maumee and Kansas City cut by both the Kansas and Missouri rivers. There is even a rather curious and amusing history of Mayors with unusual names, with Toledo’s recently departed Carton S. Finkbeiner and Kansas City’s current leader, Mark Funkhouser.

But while both cities share a genial population and a certain Midwestern charm, there are certainly differences to be found between the two however. Kansas City for example, is one of the two cities that dominate its state of Missouri (along with St Louis ); where Toledo must accept 2nd tier status behind Ohio’s Big Three C’s (Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati). Kansas City leads in comparisons of population with just over 482,000, to Toledo’s estimates in at just over 316,000; and likewise covers a far greater geographic area coming in at some 318 square miles to Toledo’s mere 84.

There are apparently a vastly different philosophies between the two with regard to the priority of staffing safety departments as well.  While Toledo’s leaders have put off police classes for years and even now struggle to find ways to finance the addition of 30 new patrolmen in order to maintain its department size at 570, Kansas City is instead looking to add some 100 officers this year (though interestingly enough, the KC police chief only requested 40) to bring its totals to 2,170.  In other numbers cited in a recent Kansas City Star editorial (“History shows Kansas City loves hiring cops, firefighters”), the City of Fountains was discovered to have enlarged its police force by some 453 members since 1985, an increase in those twenty-five years almost equal to the size of the entire Toledo department.

This safety department staff disparity can likewise be found in the fire departments of the two (both of which have taken pre-eminence in the area of ambulance service).  While Toledo can have 525 in its department by contract, and is currently operating with some 462 firefighters; Kansas City finds itself finds itself with some 1,331 currently filling the ranks of its department.  Data gathered by Mr. Abouhalkah for the Star in fact points out that safety department employees in Kansas City now make up almost 50% of the city’s work force.

Not surprisingly, the tax rates used to pay for such services are different for the two areas, though they are not those that one might expect.  Toledo residents pay a city income tax of 2.25%, (including both permanent and ‘temporary’ income taxes), where Kansas City takes only a 1% from its residents.  Sales tax rates are also different for the two areas with Kansas City living under a higher rate of 7.725%, with some 4.225% imposed by the state, 1.125% to Jackson County, and 2.375% going to the city.  Toledo on the other hand, has a sales tax rate of 6.75%, with 5.5% going to the state of Ohio, 1.25% going to Lucas County, and nothing to the city coffers.

Of note in the KC Star piece however is that the question uppermost in the mind of  the writer is not the revenue source nor the relative safety of the city, but rather whether additions to safety departments are necessary when so many other services appear to be lacking.  In a quote eerily familiar to anyone from the Glass City,  Mr. Abouhalkah begins his piece by saying: “Mayor Funkhouser is mayor of a city that doesn’t efficiently collect taxes, maintain parks, fix roads, inspect blighted properties, knock down dangerous buildings, or provide many other basic services.”  It requires no real effort to say that he could find kindred spirits with similar concerns in Toledo.

Having read this piece, I am curious now whether the path chosen by Kansas City might be seen as something that Toledo can and should learn from.  Should KC’s choices be perceived as a narrative to follow or a cautionary tale to reflect upon as Toledo writes successive chapters to its own story?  And while no one can know the end of the tale for either of these two cities, I believe that I will be far from alone in paying rapt attention to the unfolding saga.

Michigan’s Early Childhood Investment Corporation, along with more than 55 Great Start Collaboratives and 70 parent coalitions, will host a “Sandbox Party” Convention Aug. 26 in Lansing.

The Sandbox Party is a nonpolitical, nonpartisan party that advocates the interests of Michigan’s youth. The group is aimed at informing the public, elected officials and political candidates the importance young children play in the state’s economic turnaround.

“We feel it’s important that early childhood issues become part of the election discussion,” said Matt Gillard, a policy and advocacy consultant for early childhood interest groups who is working with the convention.

The Sandbox Party is an opportunity for families state-wide to alert the public of the importance of the education in the early years, said Nancy Thompson, coordinator of the Monroe County Great Start Collaborative.

“When people think it’s a special interest, it’s not. It’s a community interest,” she said. “The early years impact future success.”

The convention will feature three hours of family friendly entertainment as well as educational programs for children. A special mock election will teach the children about the importance of voting, Gillard said.

“We want them to learn that voting can be fun and is an important part of their community involvement,” he said.

Various vendors from around the state will also be in attendance. Exhibits include the Potter Park Zoo, the Detroit Science Center, Reach Out and Read Michigan and the Mid Michigan Children’s Museum.

In addition, Michigan state legislatures have been invited to attend and both gubernatorial candidates have been invited to speak.

“It’s a chance for parents to talk to the legislature and the candidates. Let them know. If there are cuts we can go back and rebuild a child’s brain in 10 years when you reinstate funding. Child education is the best investment you can make,” Thompson said.

The Sandbox Party Convention is from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Breslin Center on the Michigan State University campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Those in Monroe County interested in attending can contact (734) 242-5799 for more information.

The Lenawee County Great Start Collaborative will have a bus service and car caravan to Lansing available. For more information on travel, visit www.lenaweegreatstart.org.

For more information about the Sandbox Party Convention, visit www.greatstartforkids.org.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — As President Obama was in Downtown Columbus on Aug. 18 attending a Democratic fundraiser for Ohio Democrats like incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland, Ohio Auditor Mary Taylor, a Republican running for Lt. Governor along side ticket topper running mate John Kasich, engaged reporters in a short conference call in which she called Strickland an “incompetent administrator” and said JobsOhio, a new non-profit proposed by her campaign to replace the state’s existing development department, would help create the jobs she said Strickland has failed to do on his watch.

Read the full story here.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Barack Obama made another visit to Ohio on Aug. 18, stopping to meet with Rhonda and Joe Weithman in Columbus, the state capital. Obama had a kitchen-table discussion with the Ohio couple and small business owner before hosting a discussion with about 40 people on the economy in the couple’s backyard.

Read the full story here.

Rave Motion Pictures will host a special live boxing fight of “Mosley vs. Mora” at its Fallen Timbers Theater.
Shane Mosley will face Sergio Mora at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 18 at 9 p.m. The pay-per-view fight is scheduled to be streamed live on big screen for $15 a ticket.
For more information, visit www.ravemotionpictures.com.

Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the Chrysler Group’s Toledo Supplier Park on Aug. 23.
The White House confirmed that the vice president will visit the Chrysler Supplier Park complex in Toledo on Aug. 23, reported FOX Toledo News, media partner of Toledo Free Press.
Biden is expected to discuss how suppliers have played a pivotal role in Chrysler’s recovery, according to a Chrysler Group spokesperson who confirmed the vice president’s visit. A Chrysler official at the Toledo Supplier Park said Biden will take a short tour of the facility and make some comments but no additional details are available.

Biden

The automaker returned to profitability in the second quarter of 2010, which ended June 30.
The Chrysler Group reported an operating profit of $183 million in the second quarter and positive cash flow of $474 million strengthening its cash position to $7.8 billion. Net revenues increased 8.2 percent to $10.5 billion in the second quarter from $9.7 billion in the first quarter, according to the company.
The Toledo Supplier Park was the first North American auto plant to have three major vehicle-building operations managed by suppliers, according to Chrysler. The plant, which employs about 2,000 workers, is located on the same site in North Toledo as Chrysler’s North Assembly Plant where the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro are built.
The supplier complex opened in 2005 as a joint partnership of Chrysler, KUKA Systems Corp. North America, Magna International Inc. and Hyundai-owned Ohio Module Manufacturing Co. (OMMC). The plant includes the body shop operated by KUKA, paint shop by Magna and chassis assembly by OMMC with Chrysler handling assembly of the major components for the Jeep Wrangler.
Biden’s trip is a follow-up to President Barack Obama’s visit to Chrysler and General Motors assembly plants in Detroit last month.
FOX Toledo News reported that Biden will also visit Willard & Kelsey Solar Group in Perrysburg where he appeared on his last visit to the area June 23, 2009. The company was founded in 2007 to produce solar panels using silicon thin-film photovoltaic technology.

The Aug. 16 TFP Star/Bridal Guide is available as an e-edition.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Just as many Republican sympathizers joined Tea Party Nation rallies last summer, waving homemade signs that mistakenly invoked the federal government to “keep it’s hands off” Medicare, a popular and greatly needed program for American seniors that the federal government runs and that Republican leaders have vowed to privatize if they regain power in Washington this November, President Obama and Democratic sympathizers are using the 75th anniversary of the exceedingly popular program for seniors who need Social Security and who paid into it all through their working lives, to tell Republicans to “keep their hands of it” by not letting Wall Street financiers get their talons into it.

Read the full story here.

Frank Ryan, a renowned plastic surgeon and Toledo native, died Aug. 16 in a car crash. He was 50 years old.

Ryan graduated from St. Francis de Sales High School in 1978 and remained close to the school after he moved to California.

“Obviously, this is a tragedy for us and his mother,” said Joe Sweeney, director of development for St. Francis. Sweeny said a family member called the school Aug. 17. Ryan’s mother, Mary Kate Ryan, was also living in Los Angeles.

“Frank is just a very generous guy.”

Sweeney said Ryan sponsored a St. Francis student to enable him to attend the high school last year.

“Dr. Ryan hosted a couple different alumni reunions we had out in Los Angeles. He helped sponsor a young man to attend SFS last year,” he said.

Through his Bony Pony Foundation, Ryan helped inner-city children find a place in mainstream society. The foundation enabled these children to remove tattoos.

Ryan attended the Ohio State University College of Medicine and moved to California in 1986. He operated on celebrities such as Heidi Montag and Gene Simmons.