Metro 07/08/13

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The Homeowners stand ground See page 6

July 8, 2013

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Lucas County dog pound running out of space By Melissa Burden Special to The Press

Top left photo, Zachary Ellis, an employee at the Lucas County Dog Shelter, gets a kiss from Snoopy, a Pointer mix. Bottom left, volunteer MaryAnn Radscheid gives a treat to Liberty, a Chow-Chow mix. Top right, Sylvestor, a Pointer/Spaniel mix, and bottom right, Rascal, a Pit bull mix, are just two of the many dogs awaiting adoption. (Press photos by Ken Grosjean)

Found innocent of sexual assault

Exonerated man gives his version By Yaneek Smith Press Contributing Writer news@presspublications.com We are taught in this country that an individual is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Maybe in the court of law, but Genoa native Joe Bergman says the same is not necessarily true in the court of public opinion. Bergman, a U.S. Army officer, was acquitted on May 16 of this year in Wood County Common Pleas Court of a sexual battery charge that was brought against him just over a year ago. It’s surprising that something so casual as meeting with someone in a busy movie

theater parking lot to say goodbye for 10 minutes could turn into so much more, but Bergman says that is what happened to him. On the night of March 30, 2012, Bergman met with a female Genoa High School student in his car at the parking lot at the Levis Commons RAVE Movie Theater to say goodbye before he was to leave for military training the next day. Even though Bergman insists that nothing more than words were exchanged between the two, an anonymous letter sent to Genoa Superintendent Dennis Mock brought about a felony charge against Bergman in early May, 2012. From that point, the situation drastically changed as one thing led to another.

“It went from being characterized as an inappropriate relationship to an inappropriate sexual relationship,” Bergman said, “to being reported that I was caught in a compromising position by Perrysburg city police at Levis Commons.” Press requests for interviews were made to Mock, Wood County prosecuting attorney Heather Baker, and Perrysburg detective Pat Jones, but all three parties declined. Bergman understands that it’s reasonable for someone without knowledge of the case to have doubts about his innocence. He says there are three things that should overwhelmingly convince a skeptic about the case.

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The Lucas County dog warden is hoping a drop in the adoption fee will reduce overcrowding of dogs at the pound. A dog can be adopted for just $25 this month in a special promotion, “Christmas in July.” Dog Warden Julie Lyle said the kennels are close to capacity with dogs looking for homes. Several more are coming in every day. “We have 166 dogs currently and some of them have been waiting a long time for a home,” Lyle said. “We had 10 dogs per day come in last week and we are approaching capacity.” Lyle would not give a number when it came to capacity, but said the pound has kennels for both large and smaller dogs and that it’s hard to define. Two-thirds of the dogs are picked up as strays while one third are owner surrenders, she said. Lyle said she has “heard it all” when it comes to reasons people give up their dogs. “I have heard they had to get rid of the dog because they are moving, they or a child has allergies, the dog barks too much, and they can’t house train the dog,” Lyle said. “The problem is, many people get these dogs as puppies and they do not train them properly. Now they have a dog with an annoying issue. Many of the dogs we have just need a little help becoming great family members.” Lyle said at any given time, approximately 40 percent of the dogs in the pound are pit bull mixes. The pound also houses dogs that are being “bite quarantined” as well as those being held by courts. Dogs could be euthanized if space becomes limited. However, Lyle said it has never happened since Lucas County Commissioners hired her in March 2010 to replace controversial long time warden Tom Skeldon, who had resigned in January of that year following intense criticism for having one of the highest kill shelters in the area. “Space is a limiting factor,” said Lyle. “We do not want to euthanize because of space. We work hard to make sure we do not have to do that. We have never had to do that since I took office. We hold special adoption events like this and we work with

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uote of The Week

It’s obvious Ohio has a bigger problem with the problem drinker, not the social drinker. John Szozda See page 9


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