P
The Alan Miller All Press Team See page 18
March 18, 2013
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Serving The Eastern Maumee Bay Communities Since 1972
Ribbon cut on $400 million project
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Speed limits raised By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com
Solar project Dean Sandwisch, director of business affairs, Oregon City Schools, chats with Steve Hall of Lake Erie Electric, on the roof of Starr Elementary School were approximately 634 solar panels are being installed. The 288 kW solar array will produce nearly 332,000 kWh annually. Another solar project is being constructed at Jerusalem Elementary School. Both projects are expected to be completed in April. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
Smashing the stereotype
Punk rock birder idolizes author Close your eyes, and in your mind’s eye picture what you think a typical bird watcher looks like. Paul Riss used to see the same vision. “People always think bird watchers are little old ladies,” said Riss, a 42-year-old Canadian. “I thought I would try to change that (stereotype) by making a documentary, called ‘Punk Rock Big Year.’ People say I don’t look like a bird watcher.” Riss is one of the keynote speakers at this year’s Biggest Week in American Birding, which will be held May 3-12. He has been “birding,” he said, since he was 10 or 11 years old. “My dad was kind of looking for a way to spend time with his son,” Riss said. “One of his buddies said, ‘Take him to the conservation area.’ That very first time, a Chickadee landed on my hand and that was it. I was hooked. Ever since then I’ve been crazy about birding.” The term “crazy” may be putting it mildly. Riss has covered his body in 88 bird tattoos, and he plans to increase that number to more than 200. Born and raised in a small town about an hour east of Toronto, Riss and his wife, Rachel, are the parents of 5-year-old boy and girl twins. The family produces 8 percent of its own food, Riss said, and built a
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When people meet me or read my blog, they say this guy’s really not nuts, he’s just passionate about this.
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By Mark Griffin Press Contributing Writer news@presspublications.com
greenhouse in the backyard. The tattoos, he said, are a tribute to his love of birding. “I want people to say, ‘He did what? That’s crazy!” Riss said. “When people meet me or read my blog, they say this guy’s really not nuts, he’s just passionate about this. I have a very good job, and a wife and 5-year-old twins. When people watch my film, I want people to understand bird watchers aren’t necessarily what you think they are. “Maybe they’ll pay a little bit more attention to someone who is covered in tattoos and interested in punk music. Birds are kind of the gateway ‘drug’ to the rest of nature. Kids love them. We have a bird feeder in our backyard and my son says, ‘Dad, I wish I was a bird.’ I say, ‘why?’ He
says, ‘Cause I wish I could fly.’ If we can gets kids into it, that’s awesome.” Oak Harbor resident and famous birding author Kenn Kaufman, who is also a naturalist and conservationist, was the inspiration for Riss’s film “Punk Rock Big Year.” Riss said being a keynote speaker at this year’s Biggest Week in American Birding is “quite an honor.” “Kenn Kaufman is kind of a birding hero for me,” Riss said. “There are two sentences in his book, Kingbird Highway, where that really gave me the inspiration for doing the ‘Punk Rock Big Year’ thing. Kenn dropped out of high school as a kid and hitchhiked 70,000 miles to see as many birds as he could in America. He was going someplace to see these crows. He got picked up and said he was a bird watcher, and they said he didn’t look like a bird watcher. They said bird watchers are bluehaired and 70 years old.” On Jan. 1, 2011, Riss decided he was going to take an entire year to try to see as many different species of birds as he could in the Ontario area. “Punk Rock Big Year” tells that story. “I’m trying to do something different to catch peoples’ attention,” Riss said. “I grew up listening to punk music. I vowed to tattoo the Latin name of every bird that I saw on my body. I ended up seeing 234
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A stream of complaints from residents and research by the village administration and council led to the decision to set the speed limit on main roads in the Village of Walbridge back to 35 miles per hour, Mayor Ed Kolanko said last week. After conferring with the Ohio Department of Transportation, the village dropped the limit in September to 25 miles per hour on North Main Street, from Elm Street to the village’s northern corporation limit, and on South Main, as well as a stretch of Walbridge Road, which runs east-west. Mayor Dan Wilczynski, who stepped down from office earlier this year, said at the time the lower limit put the village in compliance with state law. However, after residents complained of the village becoming a speed trap, Police Chief Ken Frost and councilman Fred Sloyer, chairman of council’s safety committee, studied the issue further and determined the limits could be set at 35. “Council and myself continued to hear dissatisfaction from many residents regarding this issue,” Mayor Kolanko said. “We listened to those comments and continued to research and work on what the village could do to remedy the concerns. Last month, council approved an ordinance after only two readings to amend the village code regarding speed limits. “Speed limit signs are correctly posted throughout town,” the mayor said. Walbridge Road as it enters the village from the east was becoming a particular headache for motorists. On the west-bound lane into the village from an I-280 overpass, the 25 mile per hour limit was 30 miles per hour limit less than east-bound lane, which sits in Lake Township. Worse, village police occasionally place a radar unit along the road. Cecil Adkins, a former member of village council, was a vocal critic of the 25 mile per hour limit and even retained an
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uote of The Week
Just about the only people who will not benefit from my plan are a few Wall Street executives. Senator Sherod Brown See page 11
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