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Frustration
Lake sends $2 million bill to the state By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com
Walleye's toss for a cause A record-breaking number of teddy bears and other stuffed toys were collected during the Toledo Walleye's annual Teddy Bear Toss event presented by BCSN. Walleye forward Austin Wuthrich scored the goal that had fans tossing nearly 3,000 stuffed animals onto the ice. Pictured, players Mike Leone and Jared Nightingale were among those who helped pack the stuffed animals into bags for distribution. The toys went to the Salvation Army of NW Ohio, Lucas County Children's Services, Wood County Children's Services, Toledo Police and Fire, Family House, and Aurora House. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
Senator Gardner asks
Does Ohio need levy to clean up lake? By J. Patrick Eaken Press Staff Writer news@presspublications.com
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Clean water is important enough that there is more to invest in, in this state.
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Lake Erie Waterkeeper Sandy Bihn, as moderator of the Lake Erie Improvement’s Association forum on Lake Erie, introduced a guest who was not a scheduled speaker — State Senator Randy Gardner (R-Bowling Green). In 2015, Gardner co-sponsored Senate Bill One, which banned the application of manure and fertilizer on frozen ground. “Randy has continuously been a great advocate for Lake Erie and he does his very best for us in a very difficult environment because of all the different conflicts that can happen,” Bihn said. Bihn then turned to Gardner asking “Is that fair?” Bihn knew Gardner’s challenge was finding a balance between Lake Erie environmentalists, businesses and agriculture, which is taken much of the blame for causing toxic harmful algal blooms in the lake’s Western Basin. Gardner responded that her comment “was fair.” Gardner arrived just before Verna Harrison spoke about similar environmen-
tal issues affecting Chesapeake Bay, and the senator brought up the idea of another funding source to keep Lake Erie healthy — a statewide bond issue. There is nothing on the ballot yet—he’s just seeking discussion and feedback. “The one issue I’m going to raise, and I know it creates some disagreement, even in the environmental natural resources pro-Lake Erie community, and that’s the issue of whether we should have a statewide bond issue to help with the clean water issue,” Gardner told about 100 guests who attended the forum and packed into the
Catawba Island Club. “I believe the answer to that is ‘yes.’ I don’t have all the answers as to exactly what that bond issue ought to promote and fund, but I do agree with the Healthy Water Ohio Report, where a lot of organizations came together — nature conservancy, farm bureau and many others to basically say this lake is important to us,” Gardner continued. “Clean water is important enough that there is more to invest in, in this state. Whether it’s combined sewer overflows, or wastewater, or drinking water plants, or dredging issues, or agricultural support, or part of all the above — whatever that might be, I believe we have a conservative state when it comes to bond indebtedness, we have the capacity to do this, and we can do more for a precious resource that provides over $10 million of economic impact and affects so many small businesses and tens of thousands of small business jobs. “Some people ask whether we can afford this. I would ask small business people especially, and their families that are affected by whether this lake is as healthy as it
An invoice for about $2 million being sent to the Ohio Department of Education by the Lake school board will never be paid. Lake board members and the administration contend the funds would have better served taxpayers by not being diverted to charter schools. The invoice figure represents the amount of funds deducted by the state from Lake’s basic state aid for fiscal years 2006 through 2015 for charter school students living in the Lake district, Jeff Carpenter, Lake treasurer, said. The board Wednesday voted on a resolution expressing its frustration with how the state administers and funds charter schools. The resolution and the invoice requesting reimbursement of the funding will be sent to Columbus. Carpenter said the district’s charter school deduction for FY 2015 was $335,556. Save for FY 2014, when the deduction was $393,407, the deduction amount has climbed every year since FY 2006 when the deduction was $82,121. “This is starting to gain some momentum and public school districts are starting to do this, sending these invoices. They’re not going to be paid, of course. But we’re just trying to send a message that we’ve had enough of these charter school fiascoes,” Carpenter said. Statewide, charter schools “extract” about $1 billion annually from public schools, the resolution says. It criticizes the state for its “lack of capacity to effectively monitor and police the Charter School industry” and says charter schools in Ohio have demonstrated an overall low academic performance. Carpenter said charter schools often have lower expenses than public schools. For example, it costs the Lake district about $900,000 annually to maintain its bus fleet while charter schools typically don’t incur large transportation expenses. Last month, Gov. John Kasich signed a bill that reforms charter schools, saying that while the state was proud of “high-performContinued on page 2
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Ditto for why it remains illegal: Money. Thomas Knapp See page 18
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