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The One quest down, two to go See page 10
RESS March 3, 2014
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Serving i Th The E Eastern astern t Maumee M Bay Communities Since 1972
High Level closes for 19 months, creates concerns
Gals not afraid of guys See page 18
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By J. Patrick Eaken Press Staff Writer news@presspublications.com
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The river is quite dynamic. It drains into hundreds of square miles of farmland. Mayor Gordon Bowman See page 4
Little Bitz is happy to be back home with George and Addie Decker. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
Returned
Lost Yorkie, “Little Bitz” is back home By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com George Decker had his prayers answered on Tuesday. Little Bitz, his three year old Yorkie mix that’s been missing since Feb.11, was returned to him and his wife, Addie after someone recognized a photo of the dog that appeared with an article in The Press last week. “We got her. She’s sitting right here in my lap,” George told The Press Tuesday afternoon. Decker, 80, had been inconsolable since the 10 lb. dog slipped away from him after he had opened his car door in the parking lot of Nose to Tail, a groomer at Coy and Navarre Avenue, for a 9:30 a.m. appointment. The dog, donning a pink wool coat, red collar with a pink leash trailing behind, had dashed across Navarre Avenue by the time Amie Brodie, owner of Nose to Tail, had sprinted down the street to help George retrieve it. But a motorist had picked up the dog and drove away. Crushed, George could hardly contain his pain. He considered Little Bitz, which had helped him recover from a stroke last year, his “baby.” He couldn’t sleep for days, blaming himself for losing his grip on the dog’s leash. He and Addie had filed a report with the Oregon police, checked with the Lucas County
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It was so lonesome when she was gone. We had no life in us at all. I felt sick half the time.
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The Ohio Department of Transportation District 2 announces that the Anthony Wayne Bridge is scheduled to close March 17 at 7 a.m. The bridge will be closed to both vehicles and pedestrian traffic through September 2015. Built in 1931, the Anthony Wayne Bridge is a nationally recognized historical bridge that connects downtown Toledo with the east side. ODOT awarded the $28.7 million project to the E.S. Wagner Company in Oregon. Work includes re-decking the bridge, replacing the existing truss end spans, rehabilitation of the existing substructures, new street lighting and rebuilding the sidewalks, railings and fence. Following the closure, lane restrictions will be put in place for an additional construction season for painting with a project completion date slated for December 2015, weather permitting. “It’s going to send a lot more cars down Main Street. It’s going to have a negative impact on some businesses, like those gas stations right at the base of the bridge — on both sides,” District 3 councilman Mike Craig said. “I’m more concerned about businesses that have drive-in traffic. The drive-up businesses will have a negative impact and what I’ve been telling people is, ‘It’s a negative-impact, yeah, and it’s going to be a long time — 19 months. But if they don’t do this now, they could close that bridge.’” Other downtown bridges open during the construction period are the Martin Luther King Bridge, which leads directly into Main Street in East Toledo, the Craig Bridge which connects Summit Street to Front Street, the Veterans Glass City Skyway Interstate I-280 span, and the DiSalle Bridge that spans I-75 near downtown. ODOT will be holding an informational meeting to discuss the Anthony Wayne Bridge project on March 5 at 6 p.m. in the East Toledo Family Center, 1020 Varland Dr., Toledo. ODOT will also post updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Canine Care & Control (formerly known as Lucas County Dog Warden), posted a photo on Facebook’s Toledo Area Lost and Found Pets, and circulated fliers in hopes of finding Little Bitz, but to no avail. After their story appeared in The Press last week, calls came pouring in, said Addie. “People called me like you wouldn’t believe,” she said. “Someone called and said, `Addie, I don’t have your dog, but we’re praying for you.’ Also among the calls was a man who said “My heart breaks for you.” “He said he saw a woman in a brown midsized Chevy with two children in the back seat pick the dog up. He was right be-
hind her. He told me he was going to go that way every day to see if he could find the woman.” A staff member from the Wood County Humane Society also called, said Addie. “One of the women who works there said she would go in every day to look for our dog,” said Addie. She said `If I can’t find your dog, I will find you another little dog.’” George said he was grateful for the support from the community. “Everyone wanted to get involved,” he said. Someone suggested putting an ad in Toledo’s daily newspaper, but Addie said they had already done so before contacting The Press “and we didn’t get one call.” On Tuesday morning, they got the call they were waiting for. “A young woman said `I think I have your dog,’” recalled Addie. The woman’s grandmother had read the story in The Press and informed her the dog she had found was George and Addie’s. “I asked the woman to call Little Bitz by her name to see if she would respond,” Addie said when she got the call. The woman, according to Addie, said the dog wasn’t paying attention to her. “I said `Let her hear my voice on the phone,’ and when I called out to her, Little Bitz knocked the phone out of that woman’s
Serious illness raises tough questions. Let our experts help with what’s weighing on your mind. ToughQuestionsStraightAnswers.org © 2014 Hospice of Northwest Ohio
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