Metzgers Printing + Mailing in Toledo is installing a rooftop photovoltaic solar array in partnership with Solscient Energy of Toledo.
The 9,500-square-foot solar array is one of the largest rooftop solar installations by an Ohio-based privately held company, according to Joe Metzger, president of the commercial printing company.
“Most large solar installations are at public institutions, but to be one of the largest solar installations by a privately held company in Ohio is something our team and customers can be proud of,” Metzger said in a prepared statement. “It’s another important step in our long-term plan to expand our green printer status.”
Metzgers was the first printer in Northwest Ohio to receive certification from the Forest Stewardship Council for its company-wide recycling efforts, he said.
The solar installation includes 4,095 square feet of panels on the main printing plant on Arco Drive and another 5,444 square feet on the adjacent mailing and fulfillment center.

From left, Matt Longthorne and Granger Souder of Solscient Energy show a solar panel to Tom and Joe Metzger.

The total solar array is capable of producing up to 125,580 watts at any time during peak conditions and up to 144,417 kilowatt-hours in a 12-month period, according to a press release.
“This new solar array will be a showcase for all who are interested in solar energy for their business,” said Granger Souder, co-founder of Solscient Energy with partner Matt Longthorne.
Solscient Energy provided the design, development and installation of the solar array system for Metzgers. The fully integrated solar energy finance and development firm is a tenant at the Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator on the University of Toledo campus.
The solar project is being installed by local contractor from Nordman Roofing and Romanoff Electric, both of Toledo. Both solar arrays are expected to be operational by Dec. 1, Metzger said.
The rooftop solar installation is expected to produce enough energy from the solar panels to generate about 13 percent of the firm’s annual power usage, which costs about  $25,000 per month, he said.
The balance of the power generated when Metzgers is not using it will be returned to the grid and used by First Energy, which pays them the same amount for the electricity that commercial customers pay, Souder said.
Solscient is partnering with commercial property owners for solar installations with no upfront investment or cost, almost immediate energy savings, no maintenance or operational obligations, and long-term protection against rising energy costs, Souder said.
Solscient provides turn-key development of solar applications for commercial property owners. The custom- designed systems include photovoltaic panels, inverters, combiner boxes, meters, electrical systems, racking and related balance of systems equipment.
“We design and engineer the system to accommodate the existing roofing material and structural configuration like we did for the 1975 rooftop at Metzgers. Our systems are designed for grid-connected, distributed generation applications at the location where the electricity will be consumed,” Souder said.
“They put the whole project together for us,” Metzger said. “Installing solar panels helps limit our company’s impact on the environment.”
The solar energy generated is equal to annual environmental equivalents of 104 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, 241 barrels of imported oil, 11,666 gallons of gasoline and 237,986 miles driven in a passenger car, based on estimates by the clean energy resource calculator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Metzgers employs 85 full-time and 35 part-time team members.

It may seem unusual to produce a scripted storyline based on a game that champions the act of randomness, but the dungeon masters at IDW are rolling the dice on a brand new “Dungeons & Dragons” comic book. Dust off your old spell books and get out your graph paper; Ed Katschke of Monarch’s Cards & Comics has made the first foray into this latest adventure.
“Many companies have tried — and failed — to make a go out of adapting the most popular roleplaying game of all time to a comic book format,” he said. “But IDW might have finally clinched it. ‘Dungeons & Dragons No. 1,’ written by John Rogers and drawn by Andrea Di Vito, is a lively and entertaining take on the often moribund ‘swords and sorcery’ genre.
“One of the biggest problems I have always had with previous comic adaptations of ‘D&D’ has been the creators’ habit of stressing the mechanics of the game over the creation of compelling characters. Rogers and Di Vito do a fine job here of introducing the players by dropping us right in the middle of an exciting narrative with a minimum of tedious exposition. ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ No. 1  hits all the right notes for the beginning of an interesting adventure and makes one look forward to learning more about the group of intrepid adventurers and the world they inhabit.”
Since its debut in 1974, “D&D” has been adapted to everything from novels and computer games to films and even a soundtrack to roll dice to.
DC Comics took the most high-profile stab at a comic book version from 1988 to 1991, but as Katschke notes, the challenges of taking a game where almost anything can randomly happen and fitting it into a scripted narrative can be daunting … not to mention the legion of
“D&D” fans who demand that spinoffs echo all the game’s traditions.
Decide for yourself, and don’t forget to ask your retailer about the special “module” edition of the comic that features “playable game content.”
As IDW says, “you can play the issue you just read!”

CSX Corporation showed off the Northwest Ohio Intermodal Terminal in North Baltimore to local media with a tour of the nearly completed facilities Nov. 12.
Some construction continues on the $175 million project on 500 acres along state Route 18 just west of North Baltimore. The terminal is scheduled to open for business by the end of the first quarter in 2011, according to Peter Craig, terminal superintendent for CSX.

Wide-span cranes on tracks will lift 40,000-pound containers while loading and unloading trains and trucks.

“It’s the greatest intermodal project going in North America,” Craig said.
It is part of the $842 million National Gateway project undertaken by CSX in several states that also includes intermodal terminals in Chambersburg, Pa., and Pittsburgh. An existing terminal in Columbus will be expanded as part of the project.
The intermodal rail project will offer a more efficient link for East Coast ports to growing markets in the Midwest. The Northwest Ohio terminal is designed to improve the flow of freight, create hundreds of jobs and support distribution facilities in the region, according to CSX.
The intermodal terminal will handle containers coming from ports on the East Coast, such as Baltimore, that are shipped west across Pennsylvania and Ohio on CSX trains.
Those trains could be unloaded at this terminal where containers would be loaded onto other trains heading west or south or trucks delivering containers of cargo to local destinations.
The terminal will provide a direct rail link to Chicago or bypass Chicago for direct shipment to the West Coast. The bypass will allow containers to get through Chicago faster and reduce transit time to the West Coast, Craig said.
“Customers will determine the best way to use this facility,” said Craig, who hosted potential customers for the facility at the terminal. He said they were very impressed with the facility and its potential for business.
Craig said that transshipping business would be the core of the terminal where they will move containers from train to train, train to truck and truck to train. The typical service area for such a facility is a 75-to-100-mile radius but that could be expanded based on demand, he said.
CSX reports that the terminal will handle 25 trains per day and move more than 630,000 containers and trailers per year. Craig expects the facility to handle 75 to 80 trucks daily, calling it a “modest forecast.”
“The volume will be determined by customers using the facility,” he said.
Double-stacked containers on trains could reduce the number of trucks on the highways as one train can carry the load of more than 280 trucks.
Craig said the containers, weighing up to 44,000 pounds, would contain mostly consumer and household goods, food and paper products and would be transported by trains and trucks. During the first year of operation, CSX expects more than 20,000 lifts to serve local markets including Toledo, Findlay, Napoleon, Fostoria and Bowling Green.
The five wide-span cranes will service eight processing tracks from 500 to 3,000 feet long, two straddle lanes, one truck lane and five container stacks of four high. The cranes will move from 15 to 30 containers per hour, Craig said.
The cranes are operated by one operator located in a small booth 100 feet above the ground. Crane operators will have a comfort station located outside the control booth for breaks, he said.
CSX will hire and train about 48 crane operators to work at the facility. The operators will be trained in a $700,000 simulator located in a 40-foot container on the site.
Jamie Watkins, operations manager for the terminal, is training on the simulator and actual cranes. She will help teach the incoming crane operators how to load and unload the containers from the booth using two joystick controls.
CSX has hired one manager locally and is relocating 12 additional people. It has made job offers to 80 prospective employees from about 2,700 candidates who applied for positions, Craig said.
The first round of employees will begin work in December. As many as 200 workers would be employed at the terminal by CSX and vendors working there when it opens, Craig said.
The $842 million National Gateway is a public-private partnership, with CSX providing $400 million of the development with $60 million for clearance projects. The balance includes $30 million in federal funds, $20 million from State of Ohio and $10 million from the Ohio Department of Development.
Craig said that 80 percent of the National Gateway project’s costs are already committed.
The National Gateway would provide nearly $1.7 billion in public benefits in Ohio by reducing carbon dioxide emissions by almost 2 million tons, saving $350 million in logistics costs for the state, reducing the state’s highway congestion and lowering highway maintenance costs, enhancing rail transportation infrastructure and expanding potential rail market access, according to CSX.

Toledo area media icon, Frank Gilhooley, died on Nov. 19, reportedly of heart failure while in hospice in Perrysburg.

Bobb Vergiels, former Mud Hens PA announcer from 1999 to 2003, spoke with the Toledo Free Press on Nov. 19.

Vergiels said, “For people of Toledo, Frank was the voice of summer … Frank goes back to the ’60s, when the Mud Hens came back in 1965, there’s a whole generation of us who are now entering their 60s who remember when Frank was the man doing baseball.

“We lost a guy who … everyone else today has stuff written down, they can look on the Internet, they can get all the statistics — Frank didn’t need that, he had it in his head because he saw it.

“Frank was so different than the annoucers today, because Frank let the game be a game. He was almost understated in the way he’d describe the game. You could tell the exciting time. When he had to get excited he’d get excited, but he didn’t get excited about the pop fly that almost got caught by the left fielder. He took it for what it was. If you listened to Frank you could tell exactly where the ball was, and if you listened to Frank he’d always tell the score after one or two batters,” said Vergiels.

EDITORS NOTE: Below is an article by Chris Schmidbauer published in the May 16 Toledo Free Press as Mud Hens, the International League and Toledoans honored Gilhooley at Fifth Third Field with the inaugural “Spirit of the International League Award.”
Last week was a difficult one for many baseball fans in the Toledo area. Ernie Harwell, famed radio broadcaster of the Detroit Tigers, passed away at the age of 92 after a bout with cancer.
Harwell was the voice of summer to many who used to hang on his every word as he described the sights, sounds, and events of Tigers baseball.
Toledo has its own icon and voice of summer. Frank Gilhooley has been a part of Toledo Mud Hens baseball and local sports in the Glass City for 60 years.
“Frank has been an icon in the broadcasting industry in this town,” said Joe Napoli,  Mud Hens president and general manager. “He is undoubtedly one of the all-time greats to pass through the broadcast booth.”
On May 16, the Mud Hens, the International League and Toledoans will honor Gilhooley at Fifth Third Field with the inaugural “Spirit of the International League Award.”  Prior to the Hens game, an on-field ceremony will honor the legendary broadcaster for his career.
“For Frank to receive this award makes our entire organization extremely proud,” Napoli said. “We are just so happy and there are no words that can express how proud we are that this award will bestowed to Frank.”
Broadcasting beginnings
When a young Gilhooley returned from another long basketball tour as a member of the Toledo Jeeps, he had some much unexpected news waiting for him at home.
“My mother told me that the owner of the Mud Hens, Red Smith, had called and he wanted to have lunch with me,” Gilhooley said.
Shortly before the baseball season began, the Milwaukee Braves needed a minor leagues affiliate. Because Toledo had the facilities available and no team to use them, the Glass City was the obvious choice.
Gilhooley, unsure what Smith would want, met him at a restaurant at the corner of Detroit and Monroe.
“Red told me he needed an announcer,” Gilhooley said. “I just looked at him and said, I have never talked into a microphone before in my life. Red just looked back at me and said, ‘Well you’re going to start.’”
Gilhooley was no stranger to the game of baseball. His father, Frank Sr., had played in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. His father roomed with Babe Ruth during his playing days in Boston.
During his childhood, Gilhooley was a batboy for the Mud Hens, and he spent his summers taking in America’s pastime during his father’s playing career and later as a manager.

Frank Gilhooley

Frank Jr. was no slouch on the diamond either. Gilhooley played baseball and basketball at the University of Notre Dame and he was a part of many Harlem Globetrotters tours as a member of the Toledo Jeeps, an all-star team that was assembled to take on the Globetrotters.
But watching the game and calling one on the radio are very different, so Gilhooley took a crash course in broadcasting with Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame radio announcer Waite Hoyt.
“In those days, after spring training broke, the teams would play exhibition games against one another in towns as they worked their way back up to their home cities,” Gilhooley said. “Detroit and Cincinnati were playing a series in Richmond, Ind., and Red sent me over there to learn some tricks of the trade.”
Gilhooley observed the series, studying Hoyt’s styles and techniques.
“He was such a great announcer,” he said. “During one of the games, he looked up at me and he said, ‘I haven’t told you much because I started out like you did with no experience, but I will give you some tips’,”
Hoyt told Gilhooley three key rules that were like gospel to him during his entire broadcasting career.
“He told me I could never say the score enough, to never criticize the organization, and you can talk too much,” Gilhooley said. “When I got back to Toledo I made sure I remembered all three of those things.”
Seasoned veteran
Gilhooley worked as an announcer for the Hens several different times, but he also called games for many other sports. The Toledo native called games for the UT basketball teams coached by the legendary Bob Nichols, BGSU basketball with Hens broadcasting partner Jim Weber and Buckeyes football.
“I got to see some really great games and teams play during my time in the booth,” Gilhooley said. “I was a part of the Woody and Bo days of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry and Bob Nichols’ Rocket teams were always a joy to watch.”
Gilhooley also served as the sports director at 13abc for more than a decade. He was a part of both evening broadcasts and he also went in the field to cover sports figures when they were in town.
“That was a good time, but I always enjoyed the radio a little more than the TV side of it,” he said. “I didn’t mind the field reporting, I was never a fan of going on and reading some of the sports scores, but it was still a pleasure to work at Channel 13.”
Honorary fireman
A lesser-known piece of Gilhooley’s time in Toledo is the special relationship the 86-year-old maintains with the Toledo Fire Department (TFD).
“When I was a boy, the local fire station in my neighborhood had a basketball court on the second floor of the firehouse,” Gilhooley said. “They hung a hoop for us and we used to play for hours there.”
Gilhooley remembers hearing the bell ring, and he said he would run down the stairs, hoping to get to tag along on a run.
“They always would try and get me to try taking the pole down,” he said with a chuckle.
Even as he got older, Frank never forgot TFD, and he made frequent visits to Station 1 and Station 5 in Downtown Toledo.
“I always stopped in and we would banter back and forth with each other,” Gilhooley said. “They would put on a pot of coffee for me and we would share stories.”
Gilhooley is so close with many of the Toledo firefighters that he was named an honorary firefighter in 2008.
“I was a wannabe fireman as a kid,” he said, “and even to this day I still am. They are a great organization and I have many good memories from them.”
Mud Hen for Life
After retiring from 13abc in 1987, Gilhooley was invited to join longtime play-by-play announcer Jim Weber in the broadcast booth for the Mud Hens.
“I had known him for awhile, and we were both born and raised in Toledo, so we clicked right away,” Weber said.
For 21 years, the duo called many games together.
“I figure that we have called over 1,500 games together,” Weber said. “I don’t know that anyone worked with Frank calling games as much as I have over the years.”
Bill Clark, a St. John’s Jesuit graduate, has taken Gilhooley’s chair at the ballpark since 2008. He said it was a special honor for the St. Johns  Jesuit graduate to fill in for one of his boyhood idols.
“I have known Frank since I was a teenager in high school,” Clark said. “Frank and my mother went to grade school and high school together, and when I wanted to get into the business, she ran into Frank and he let me come in every Friday and help put together the sports broadcast at WTVG. So he’s been a mentor to me.”
Jason Griffin, Mud Hens director of public and media relations, said Gilhooley eased his own transition, when he moved to the Mud Hens from the Toledo Storm organization.
“I was a 28-year-old kid and I was kind of intimidated to be calling games with two of Toledo’s most iconic announcers,” Griffin said. “But as soon as I met them, all that went away; Frank was kind and welcoming. It has been a real pleasure working with them.”
Since being diagnosed with a heart ailment in 2007, Gilhooley has been prohibited by his doctor from calling Hens home games on a daily basis. Weber said at first it was tough for the broadcast team to adjust.
“When you see someone almost every day, like Frank and I did, it becomes part of your routine, like breathing,” he said. “He was a legend when I started with him in 1987 and he is even more of one now.”
Despite his inability to make it to Fifth Third Field on a daily basis, Gilhooley is on the minds of many.
“We made sure he has a segment during every pregame show,” Clark said. “That was very important to everyone here that he still has a part in our broadcasts.”
Griffin said Gilhooley is welcome to occupy his chair and call a game.
“He is always going to be a part of the organization,” Griffin said. “He is always welcome when he would like to do a game because he is such a legend in this town. It is very important to us to make sure he is always included.”
Gilhooley is thankful for the run he has had with the Hens.
“The Mud Hens have been so good to me over the years,” he said. “I worked with some great people like Jim [Weber], Jason [Griffin], Bill [Clark] and Joe [Napoli]. Those were some of the best years of my life.”
Spirit of the IL
When Randy Mobley became the president of the International League in 1991, he always wanted to create an award. Mobley’s idea was to honor those who have enriched the experience of International League baseball.
“This award was something I had in the back of my mind for awhile,” Mobley said. “We had many awards that recognized staff and players. But we never had an award for those people whose involvement in daily events helps enhance the minor league baseball experience. But it never really materialized.”
A call from Napoli and Griffin helped  make Mobley’s idea a reality.
“When they called and were looking for a way to honor Frank, I thought this might be something to move from the back burner to the front burner, and we came up with the ‘Spirit of the International League’ award.”
Gilhooley will be the award’s inaugural recipient and Mobley thinks that there is no better person to receive the first award.
“Frank is a guy people recognize, and he has been enhancing the experience for Mud Hens fans for so many years. We could not think of anyone else who deserved this award more than him,” Mobley said.
Napoli agreed.
“This is the proper way to respect everything that Frank is about,” he said. “Frank embodies the spirit of all the things that you love about sports. He is a great storyteller and he is so passionate.”
The award will be presented by Mobley. Gilhooley said he is humble by the honor.
“It feels nice to be the award winner and I am thankful to the selection group for choosing me,” he said.
“But they must’ve been scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for a recipient,” he said with a smile.
Gilhooley’s award represents a fitting end to a phenomenal career, summed up best by his pupil Clark.
“He’s been a mentor and a friend to so many people in this city,” Clark said. “He is a great announcer and, more importantly, a great person. The only way to sum him up is Frank Gilhooley is what’s best about the city of Toledo.”

Sister Paulette Schroeder spends her days working for peace and justice in one of the most unstable regions of the world.

The 66-year-old member of the Sisters of St. Francis in Tiffin has been living in Hebron for more than two years as part of a peacekeeping mission. Located south of Jerusalem, Hebron is the largest city in the West Bank.

Along with other members of a group called Christian Peacemakers, Schroeder monitors checkpoints, accompanies children to school and mediates on behalf of the families of people taken to jail.

Schroeder, a former Toledo Central Catholic teacher, said Hebron — full of roadblocks, checkpoints, closures, curfews, soldiers, guns, inaccessible or restricted roads and lack of jobs — is a paradigm for the whole West Bank. The population is largely Palestinian interspersed with small settlements of Israelis and patrolled by Israeli soldiers.

“Across from where I live, soldiers are on rooftops and guns are pointed everywhere,” Schroeder said. “Many times at the checkpoints, young men are detained, IDs confiscated, pressed up against the wall, arms spread, legs spread, handled roughly from behind, checked in dishonorable ways to the Muslim culture. These kids have no recourse; they can’t talk back to soldiers or explain that they were just going home. So our intervention a lot of times keeps worse things from happening.”

One day, Schroeder said, she watched a soldier take a young man and keep him blindfolded for hours.

Sister Paulette Schroeder works with children in the West Bank. She has lived there more than two years.

“I asked ‘Was he a security risk? Why did you blindfold him? You’re not taking him anywhere.’ He wouldn’t answer,” Schroeder said. “Finally we asked ‘Do you have a quota? Do you have to stop a certain number of young men?’ and he nodded.”

Schroeder said she often tries to appeal to soldiers  — often only teenagers themselves — on terms of faith.

“I often tell them, ‘This is not what your faith tells you to do to the stranger, or someone who is different from you,’” Schroeder said. “One of the soldiers said to me ‘I think about this every day, I don’t like it.’ Another said, ‘As soon as I get out of this army, I’m going to speak up.’ But I don’t know — they are very young. They are doing what they have to do to get a college education or a job, they are conscripted. So they push the women down on the ground, they take the children and blindfold them, humiliate young men at the gates, they do what their captains tell them.”

Of the 250 Israeli settlements in the West Bank, about 30 percent, including five in Hebron, are ideological, Schroeder said.
“Ideological settlers think differently than  a lot of the settlers,” Schroeder said. “These groups really and sincerely believe that this is really and truly their land alone and the Palestinians need to get out.”

Schroeder said she and other team members were once attacked by three settler teenagers as their teacher encouraged them.
“I wasn’t hurt badly, but I was traumatized,” Schroeder said. “The teacher stood there shaking her finger at us, while the three kids stood there kicking and hitting and pushing and trying to steal our cameras. They tore off our caps — it was January, so it was cold. There was a soldier standing maybe 10 meters behind me. Finally, he came and shooed them off. I think some of these settlers have been convinced that anyone who works for the sake of the Palestinians is on the wrong side.”

Schroeder said the peacemakers are committed to preventing and de-escalating violence and work with any group, including Israelis, who shares their goal.

“We are working for people — not just one side,” Schroeder said. “This world is not meant to be in conflict all the time. Every human being has dignity and needs to be treated that way.”

Schroeder said she cherishes the small successes.

“Whenever we see the soldiers hand back the IDs rather quickly when we are present, we feel that is a small success. Whenever we plead for a kid who is taken away to prison for allegedly throwing a stone, if we are heard and maybe the sentence is lessoned, we feel that is a small success,” Schroeder said. “The successes are few, but the Palestinians know that in the international audience they can have a voice. They keep saying to us, use your pens, your cameras, show what’s really going on. That makes me have comfort and hope that slowly, slowly a collective consciousness is moving toward greater justice.”

Schroeder said she joined the sisterhood because she wanted to give her life to the poor.

“I didn’t think of myself as an educator at that time, but I’ve discovered that’s what I am,” Schroeder said. “I asked to go to Hebron. I turned 64 and I felt like I still had really good energy and I always wanted to risk more and to speak for people who don’t have a voice.”

When she got there, Schroeder saw quickly that the situation is not how many Americans perceive it.

“There has been a myth built up that it is so scary to go to Hebron because all these Arabs are terrorists and I want so much to dispel that; I have not found that at all,” Schroeder said. “That’s why I’m so passionate about this. I want so much to show the real face I have discovered in the Palestinian people.

“I had been trained to think from my earlier years and from the media that the Islamic faith did not tolerate Christianity. I don’t find any of that true there; my Palestinian neighbors have been nothing but kind and hospitable,” Schroeder said. “In every religion, there are fanatic people, but the search for human dignity, for peace, for rights for everybody — it’s the same. It’s amazing the similarities we have in our scriptures.”

Every few months, Schroeder returns to Ohio to give talks, raise funds — and to rest.

“We’re not used to all this trauma,” Schroeder said. “We can see somebody beaten up and these are your friends, or taken off to prison and we don’t even know where they’re at. You have to keep working and so you don’t deal with it. So a lot of times I come home and just about cry.”

When Schroeder’s three-year commitment is up, she said she might return to the U.S. and continue to work on the problems in Israel from here.

“People don’t often hear this whole other part of the conflict,” Schroeder said. “The U.S. generally sees things from the Israeli point of view. And the Holocaust is so deeply ingrained, it’s hard to think you aren’t speaking anti-Semitically when we are critical of the Israeli.”

As for peace in the Middle East, although it doesn’t always look promising from the ground, Schroeder believes there is room for hope.
“What’s needed is pressure from the outside and pressure from the inside: From the Israelis, to speak up to their government; from Palestine, non-violent resistance and working to build up the economy; and then international pressure. And if the U.S. would stop or reduce its monetary assistance until international laws are obeyed, that would have a strong impact.”

For more information, visit www.cpt.org or www.tiffinfranciscans.org.

Next week, Toledo Free Press will combine the Nov. 24 Toledo Free Press Star and the Nov. 28 Toledo Free Press into a single issue delivered to homes in time for ‘Black Friday” shopping plans.
More than 100,000 copies the combined issue will be delivered to Lucas and Wood County residents on Wednesday Nov. 24, so content and advertisements can focus on the post-Thanksgiving shopping day.
“This will be the first time Star will be home delivered, so we are planning a special issue with an exciting cover story, an interview with an international superstar,” said Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller. “It will be an expanded issue with more local arts coverage, inserted inside a Toledo Free Press with a great, conversation-inspiring cover story and our usual line-up of commentators and features.”
For information on advertising in the special “Black Friday” issue, e-mail star@toledofreepress.com.

The Nov. 21 edition of Toledo Free Press, featuring a cover story on Grumpy’s Deli, is available as an electronic edition.

It is time to announce the first (in what I hope will be annual) Schmidy Award winners for achievements in high school football for 2010.

If we actually had some form of banquet, it would be a cross between the Heisman Trophy presentation and a Saturday afternoon watching college football at a local sports bar.

Before we get to the awards, I want to thank all the readers who voted for these awards.

"Schmidy Award"

Without further ado, here are your 2010 Schmidy winners.

We’ll start with the Specialist Award. This is the Schmidy that honors the best special teams’ player for this season. While the race for this one was pretty tight, the winner is Brandon Smith from St. John’s Jesuit. Smith was the City League’s sixth leading scorer this past season. He was tops in the City League in number of field goals made (7) and he also converted on 43 extra points this season. Honorable mentions for this award go to the runner up in Patrick Wesolowski from Central.

Moving along w go to the All Heart Award. This honor goes to the team that played hard all season long despite tough odds and insurmountable obstacles at times this season. This seemed like an easy choice, but I was a bit surprised to tally the votes and see who the winner was. The Schmidy goes to the Woodward Polar Bears. Many of the voters felt that with the tough times in the Toledo Public School System, it was tough sledding for Woodward’s football team this season. The runner up for the All Heart Award was the Lake Flyers, who finished 6-4 this season despite the summer tornado that damaged the school and devastated the community.

Now, the winner of the John Doe Award. This Schmidy goes to the best player in Northwest Ohio that nobody talked about this season. This award ended up being a runaway winner. The winner is Shannon Geren, RB, from Edon. Whether it is the fact that Edon High School is located near the Ohio-Indiana border or because he played in the Toledo Area Athletic Conference (TAAC), Geren flew under almost everyone’s radar this season. His stats were nothing short of amazing. Geren ran for 2,040 yards, 22 TD, and also kicked 30 extra points this season. The gap between him and the second leading rusher in the TAAC was almost 900 yards. The Bombers rode Geren’s back and almost made the state playoffs because of it. The runner up for this award ended in a tie between two players: Damond Powell, WR, from Rogers and Jake Wawrzyniak, RB, from St. Francis.

Our last team award is the Iron Curtain Award. This honor is given to the defensive unit that was most dominant throughout this season. This award was decided by a single vote. The winner is the Whitmer Panthers. It is hard to ignore what this team did on defense this season. The Panthers allowed just 10.7 points per game this season, and they were fantastic in stopping the run. Led by Ohio State bound Kenny Hayes, linebacker Jamar Ridley, and safety Mark Meyers, Whitmer’s defense was a main ingredient in the Panther’s CL championship recipe. The runner up for this award was the Genoa Comets. The Comets allowed just 7.5 points per game, but the voters who left feedback said they felt the Panthers’ competition was tougher during the regular season than Genoa’s.

Finally we come to the Walks on Water Award. This one goes to the best player in Northwest Ohio for the 2010 season. There was a lot of talent that was up for this award, and you could make a case for each of the nominees to win this Schmidy. One player stood out to the voters amongst all others this season though, and that player was Jody Webb, RB, from Whitmer. Webb was electric on the football field this season rushing for 1,139 yards and 19 TD. What is more impressive about Webb’s season though were his statistical averages. He averaged almost ten yards per carry this season (9.8 ypc) and he scored a touchdown once out of every seven times he touched the football. Webb also was the CL’s fifth best receiver, gaining 378 yards on 16 catches. The runner up for this award was Central Catholic’s Calebb Goings, who was the CL’s leading rusher this season.

That is all for the 2010 Schmidy Awards. Congratulations to all of the winners for a fantastic 2010 football season.

Chris Schmidbauer is sports editor for Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at cschmidbauer@toledofreepress.com. He is also the co-host of the “Odd Couple Sports Show” on Fox Sports Radio 1230 WCWA and can be heard every weekday from at 10 a.m. to noon. He can also be seen weekly on the “Friday Night Frenzy Tailgate Show” on NBC 24’s America One.

Among the many items brought before Toledo City Council on Nov. 16, two illustrated the extreme range of financial decisions that body routinely faces.
On the lighter, less urgent side, a Toledo Symphony Orchestra representative asked Council for $10,000 toward its 2011 trip to New York City’s Carnegie Hall. The symphony has reportedly raised $220,000 of the $250,000 it needs to make the trip. There is no questioning the quality, impact and importance of the symphony, but there is no place for public money in such an endeavor. With nearly six months before the May performance, there must be other ways for this respected organization to bridge its funding gap than to ask for taxpayer money. Councilman D. Michael Collins’ suggestion that council not only provide the asked-for $10,000 but the whole $30,000 may have been sarcasm, but it was met with such enthusiasm there would be no surprise if council approved the jab, at our expense.
Light years away from such relative luxuries, Director of Public Utilities Tom Crothers made a pitch for some significant increases in water and sewer rates.
During a meeting with the Toledo Free Press editorial board Nov. 18, Crothers presented two dozen slides that carefully outlined the history and future of the water and sewer system. Knowing that some of the system dates back to the Civil War era, it is amazing that as much of the 1,100 miles of line is in as good a shape as it is.
Crothers is extremely careful to not undermine confidence in the water system, the region’s true lifeblood, but he does not hesitate to put the system’s needs in context with the national crisis of ignored infrastructure of bridges, utility lines and water and sewer pipes.
Council is faced with a double whammy: The rate increases are going to have a major impact on every taxpayer in the city (and those in surrounding areas who buy water from Toledo), but there is really no option to deny the request. If the system isn’t maintained and repaired as needed, there could be catastrophic consequences.
I hope Toledoans attend the first public hearing on this matter, planned for 4 p.m. Nov. 22 in Council chambers. Crothers will make the same presentation to the public he previewed for us and will be open to the same questions.
Our water and sewer lines are out of sight and out of mind, relics our great-grandparents left for us to use. But ignoring them carries a price, and Council will have to approve the rate increases to keep the systems invisible. It will hurt, as any major investment does, but the integrity and viability of the water system cannot be anything close to compromised.
So, Council has to make choices about luxuries and choices about necessities. In these two cases, the choices are not quick and easy, but the appropriate outcomes are clear.
Council does not want to find itself in the position of literally funding someone to fiddle (or play violin) while the city’s water network burns.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

Years before his death, my father had a sign in his office.  It said, “Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” It’s a saying he used often and is one that comes to mind from time to time.
Listening to the audio of the Nov. 16 Toledo City Council agenda review was one of those times.
The words, “and declaring an emergency” are often placed in legislation before Council.  While Council does not always grant the request by saying “SEP” (S = Suspension of the rules, E = Emergency, P = Passage), large dollar amounts of funding requests have been given SEP.
This means instead of being given first reading, the item goes from being read once at agenda review and is typically voted on by Council the next week.
What was troubling about the Nov. 16 agenda review was that most of the money being allocated came from the very accounts that were stated as being so depleted that rates needed to be raised for water, sanitary sewer and storm water utilities to replenish them.
Justifications were presented by Director of Public Utilities Tom Crothers and others for this spending. It is hard to believe that since it was known, as an example, about the “worn, inoperable and, in some cases, dangerous equipment” as cited in legislation seeking about $2 million for new vehicles for the Division of Sewer and Drainage Services, this could not have been done before, instead of SEP.
There will be “real” emergencies that come up or legislation that does not require extensive due diligence for members of Council, such as land banking sales to residents. The overuse of SEP for large funding requests is something that should be questioned by us and by Council.
The same could be said about the rates for water, sanitary sewer and storm water. While the blame is being placed on the previous administration, the Bell administration has been in office for almost a year.  Eventually, “It’s Carty’s fault” is going to wear thin as an excuse.
Also of concern was a statement made during discussion of the increase being sought for water, sanitary sewer and storm water rates.
Crothers said, “I am sorry to say, frankly, that the replacement funds, the improvement funds of the Department of Utilities (DPU), which in the past have had very robust balances, which have allowed us to make maintenance and major improvements when catastrophic failures, like the sanitary sewer failure on Front Street four or five years ago, that was a $3 million bill. Fortunately, at that time DPU had adequate funds in the sanitary sewer replacement fund to deal with that … I’m sorry to say that today, I cannot make that statement. If we were faced with a catastrophic sewer failure like that, we would have to move money among the funds of DPU on a loan basis to take care of such a catastrophic failure.”
David Leffler, public utilities commissioner, upon being questioned by Councilman D. Michael Collins about the city’s catastrophic insurance from FM Global covering some of the cost of the Front Street failure, said, “Yes, we did recover a portion of those funds, I can’t tell you exactly how much, it was I believe about a third or a little more.”
Collins said “If my memory serves me correctly, it was over a million,” and went on to provide details that Leffler agreed with.
When Collins questioned why we did not have enough insurance coverage to pay for the failure, Leffler said, “They [FM Global] paid for the actual failed section, but while we were down there doing repairs, we increased the scope of the project, to enhance the other edges rather than waiting for those to fail, so they would not cover the total costs. Plus there was a delay in filing the claim so, for those two reasons, we didn’t recover the total cost.”
The city does need money in these funds to pay upfront costs. Giving the impression that something cost $2 million more and not mentioning that there was insurance coverage that reimbursed most of the cost related to the failure, creates speculation as to what would have been said had Collins not raised the issue.
There are hard choices that need to be made, but giving accurate information and reducing the use of “and declaring an emergency” helps citizens be informed and can ensure Council members have enough time and information to make decisions.

Toledo Free Press contributor Lisa Renee Ward operates the political blog GlassCityJungle.com.