Toledo area positioned for development
6/3/2008The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority commends The Blade for its recent quality coverage on the current and future importance of intermodal transportation to Toledo. The port authority is committed to uniting the community in creating a political will to accelerate regional transportation-dependent economic development. We are pleased The Blade shares this commitment.
The port authority wholeheartedly embraces The Blade's assertion that Toledo's future can be full of promise if we act on our opportunities today. The port authority is in active contact with transportation leaders around the world - promoting this community's interconnectivity and intermodal assets.
The port authority's recent acquisition of 181 acres of waterfront property distinguished the Port of Toledo as the largest land-mass seaport on the Great Lakes. This intermodal property is characterized by pipelines, deep water, rail, and heavy roadway access and is being aggressively marketed to businesses and industries which require the convergence of transportation assets as part of their primary business profile. We are seeking private partners to invest - to create jobs and a captive cargo base to enhance Toledo's reputation as the leading Great Lakes center for maritime and multi-modal commerce.
The port authority recently completed an air cargo strategic development plan for 750 acres at Toledo Express Airport. Aviation, real estate, and logistics professionals carefully evaluated the likelihood of this property's development for intermodal opportunities, specifically air and ground transportation. They concluded that we are extraordinarily well-positioned for these development opportunities. With an intelligent investment in infrastructure and facilities, Toledo Express Airport can become a major driver of transportation-economic development.
The port authority thinks, plans, and operates from the premise that transportation must be administered holistically to best serve the economic development interests of this community and its growing global network of interdependent trading partners.
The time is now and the Port Authority applauds The Blade for its support of the urgency of this vision.
William J. Carroll
Chairman, board of directors
James H. Hartung
President,
Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority
View of free speech narrow, restricted
I hope that the University of Toledo has a better defense of its termination of Crystal Dixon than conveyed in The Blade's May 16 editorial defense of its actions.
The editorial states that Ms. Dixon was dismissed because in some future decision about hiring she might not hire the best candidate due to that person's sexual orientation and the university could be sued. There appears to be absolutely no evidence in her previous hiring decisions of any such bias. Indeed, part of the buzz surrounding this situation comes from the fact that no one at the university seems to have been aware of her private opinions about homosexuality. This argues for a level of professionalism consistent with her senior position and performance reviews.
Does The Blade really think it reasonable that someone be fired because they might someday do something wrong? Under that standard, no one with a criminal conviction, a previous substance abuse problem, or a mental illness would have any protection against arbitrary dismissal because "you never know what they might do."
The Blade's defense of the university is particularly disturbing. To see a newspaper arguing for such a narrow, restricted view of free speech is incredible, particularly when it is in defense of a government agency. Has it also changed its opinion of warrantless wiretaps in national security cases?
Joseph McGee
Sylvania
Lead on warming starts closer to home
After reading the editorials in The Blade on May 21 about leadership in the fight against global warming, the liberal elitists running our local government and communities should show some intestinal fortitude of their own.
Why haven't The Blade, our Democratic member of the House, the Democratic-controlled county commission, and the Democratic mayor of the City of Toledo ever called for mandatory emissions testing of all vehicles in Lucas County? I'll answer my own question. Political suicide. They are waiting for the federal government to mandate this action so they don't have to fall on the political sword of getting voted out of office or, in The Blade's case, declining readership. Blaming the federal government, even a Democratic-controlled one, is far easier than exhibiting this kind of stick-your-head-in-the-noose leadership that The Blade is crying out for. Think of the poor polar bears, not the ones that are dying in captivity in our zoos but the ones losing all that Arctic ice.
I have been an automotive enthusiast my entire life, but if there is a shred of truth to the theories concerning global warming, let the leadership begin a little closer to home.
William C. Nichols
Whitehouse
Healthy choices are up to the individual
Health commissioner David Grossman is right. When commenting on efforts to make Toledo healthier in a May 21 story in The Blade, the county official noted that "it's really up to the individual." But some people think that they should make the choice for us.
A few nutrition activists want to pin our heart health solely on food - leveraging that hype to direct energy toward ineffective government control of our food choices. In the past year we've seen proposals for zoning against popular restaurants, taxes on snack foods, and outright food bans. Legislators in Mississippi even considered making it a crime for eateries to serve food to anyone deemed "obese."
"Healthy" doesn't mean city-wide diets or government-mandated exercise. It's about all of our small, daily choices: turning off the TV, climbing the stairs, and taking that extra step.
Trice Whitefield
Senior Research Analyst
Center for Consumer Freedom
Washington, D.C.
Toledo needs jobs, not health summit
I was encouraged to read about Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner's decision to convene a "summit of health-care providers" to promote healthier lifestyles for Toledoans. Mayor Finkbeiner is apparently concerned over a recent study that shows that many Toledoans exhibit an inordinate propensity to be overweight, lazy, and, in general, unhealthy.
Perhaps our mayor should instead convene a summit of business leaders, developers, and educators to come up with some plan to get more Toledoans decent jobs. Toledo doesn't need any more "international awards." It needs jobs - good jobs that pay a living wage. A gainfully employed person is less likely to be a lazy, overweight, unhealthy person.
One popular idea that The Blade recently examined was the development of an "intermodal transportation hub." What is our mayor doing to embrace this exciting, job-producing idea?
Mike McMahon
Robinwood Avenue
Hussain showed his mettle after attack
After having been beaten mercilessly and robbed in his own home, Dr. Amjad Hussain appeared only a few hours later on a panel to discuss interracial problems.
He certainly fulfills my criteria of what a real man is all about.
Gordon M. Mather
Crossfields Road
Why is it that every person nowadays who violates some sort of rule or law thinks it doesn't apply to them?
The Bowling Green seventh grader sent home for having red streaks in her hair needs to understand, along with her mother, that dress code rules are set in place for a reason. In every stage and endeavor in life or job there are rules to obey or there is anarchy.
School is the easiest thing she will be involved with her whole life. If she has "to find herself," let it be on her own time in the summer or when it isn't distracting other students who are trying to learn. Time to grow up and face reality.
Kent Snyder
Westbrook Drive