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The Klinger comes home See page 16
Keep plows plowing snow, avoid a tow
RESS February 17, 2014
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In a select group See page 18
Serving i Th The E Eastern astern t Maumee M Bay Communities Since 1972
Early literacy
By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com Oregon Mayor Mike Seferian said the public should realize when a snow emergency is issued, there should not be vehicles parked on the streets so that plows can clear away the snow. “We hope people do move them. There have been occasions when we’ve had cars towed. We haven’t lately. Not this year,” said Seferian at a council meeting on Monday. “But we keep trying to threaten it and hope they’ll be moved. People have an obligation to do it. For the most part, people do it. People actually start doing it a lot of times before we call the snow emergencies.” “Sometimes you learn the hard way,” said Public Service Director Paul Roman. “In some cases, if you’re the last car on the road, and you’re driveway is close to where you parked, when that plow comes through, it leaves a bigger wedge than what you normally would have had. Granted, everyone is going to have a pile of snow at the bottom of their aprons after the plow goes through. But it can be a lot worse when a plow goes through there.” Roman said city plows can get the main roads cleared usually within 16 hours of a snow storm. “That’s assuming there’s no other snow, no drifting, the event is done, and they can go straight into the subdivisions,” he said. When the plows encounter a parked vehicle, they will turn around if they can’t get around it, he added. Councilman Joshua Hughes said there are people in his neighborhood who are not complying. “There have been several individuals in my neighborhood thus far this year who haven’t gotten the message,” said Hughes. “Cars remain nonetheless. And my neighbors then ask me, `The city has issued a snow emergency, and the cars are supposed to be removed, so why is it every time the plow has to go around these vehicles?” Seferian said the city, at some point, will issue tickets to residents whose vehi(Continued on page 10)
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Lamenting the past prevents you from moving forward. Bryan Golden See page 13
Samuel Myers, 5, of Genoa plays on the Early Literacy Station as Mason Beard of Northwood, 2, and Asher Widmer of Genoa, 2, look on. The Early Literacy Station is loaded with educational software programs which encourage learning in areas such as math, social studies, music, and art. The purpose of the Early Literacy Station is to help prepare children for school by encouraging learning through the Five Practices of Early Literacy: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. The station is available at Elmore and Genoa Library. (Press photo by Stephanie Szozda)
Energy projects provide fuel on road to recovery By John Szozda Press General Manager zoz@presspublications.com Energy is fueling a $1.94 billion fire that could ignite our economy this year and in the near future. That gaudy number reflects the upcoming investments in our community from four energy companies: First Energy, BP-Husky Refinery, PBF Refinery and Clean Energy. Those investments are: • First Energy announced two weeks ago it would invest $600 million to upgrade the Davis Besse nuclear power plant near Oak Harbor; • PBF Energy, owner of the former Sunoco Refinery, announced in December it would invest $140 million in the next 15 months to upgrade its 282-acre refinery on the Toledo-Oregon border; • BP-Husky Refinery in the spring announced it would soon start its $400 million project to enable it to refine sour crude from the Husky oil sands in Alberta, Canada; • The $800 million Oregon Clean Energy natural gas plant in Oregon is clearing environmental hurdles and is expected to break ground this spring. Some 4,000 contractors will work at these sites this year and next and will not only give the local economy a boost, but position our area for potential growth in manufacturing. The Davis Besse and Clean Energy
Progress 2014 On the Road to Recovery.
projects will assure that manufacturers will have a reliable source of reasonablypriced power. Coupled with the City of Oregon’s capacity to deliver fresh water for industrial use, a Great Lakes’ port, available rail, a skilled labor force and proximity to the interstate crossroads of I-75 and I-80, Northwest Ohio has assets that are the envy of other communities competing for manufacturing jobs. While good paying manufacturing jobs moved overseas some years ago, there are signs that trend is reversing itself. Consider what others have to say about a rebirth in U.S. manufacturing. Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, last year announced the creation of 1,000 new manufacturing jobs in the U.S. through its Made-In-America initiative. Simon stated his company would spend $50 billion in the next decade to
buy American products such as light bulbs, socks, towels, door hardware and televisions. Some local business experts also foresee resurgence. Dr. Sonny Ariss, chairman of the management department and fellow of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology Commercialization at the University of Toledo, stated in a September interview with The Press that there are two reasons for this rebirth. First, wages in Asian rim countries have increased while wages in the United States have decreased. Second, transportation costs have increased. Dr. Stan Westjohn, professor of international business at the University of Toledo, adds a third reason—lower energy costs. The availability of cheap natural gas through fracking will mean manufacturers will have a stable, inexpensive source of energy. Next to labor, energy is their next highest cost and cheap energy can be the deciding factor in plant location. These three reasons make it advantageous for manufacturers to build closer to their consumers. Tom Nimbley, CEO of PBF Energy, agrees. He spoke in December to the Oregon Economic Development Foundation. He said the “prospect of energy independence in North America is within our sights.” He cited fracking technology and the ability of Midwest refineries to process sour crude from the Alberta oil fields. (Continued on page 2)
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