Happy anniversary to a Toledo eyesore

11/28/2004

Eight bite-size Lemmon Drops to nibble on while waiting to see if NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw keeps his composure on Wednesday's farewell broadcast:

  • Did you know that Toledo's biggest eyesore turned 57 earlier this month?

    You gotta love this excerpt from a 1999 story in The Blade:

    The Toledo Sports Arena opened on Nov. 13, 1947, to praise and excitement. The building "symbolizes great progress in a great city," said then-Vice Mayor Michael V. DiSalle.

    Today, the arena still symbolizes something -- but it's not progress.

  • Judy, a former Toledo resident, is rooting for Southwyck Shopping Center's survival and believes owner Sherman Dreiseszun might have a renewed sense of responsibility.

    "I was recently in Toledo and returned to Southwyck where, to my surprise and amazement, I found the potholes in the parking lot have been patched! Surely Mr. Dreiseszun wouldn't have gone to this expense unless he intends to renovate and return Southwyck to its former glory!

    "Or did I forget my medication again?"

  • An e-mail vent from Florida "snowbird" Janet: "After 44 years of living in Toledo, I am more and more convinced it is a backwater city. Nothing but nothing changes. I leave Toledo in November, and on return in late April the issues are the same."

    Just think of the frustration of those who live here year-round, Janet.

  • Some of you might be surprised -- I know I am -- by the number of uppity comments that readers make about my taking the bus to and from work most weekdays. It's as if they want public transportation to fail. These naysayers perpetuate the myth that "no one" rides TARTA.

    Chew on this, skeptics: I boarded a bus at 5:23 a.m. Monday and was one of nine passengers when it rolled into downtown.

  • Big Oil will get a chuckle out of this one. While at the stoplight at the intersection of Reynolds Road and Heatherdowns Boulevard one day last week, I noticed gas was selling for $1.85 a gallon at one station and for $1.99 across the street. Care to guess which station had four customers and which had one?

  • Toledo's elected officials have no one but themselves to blame for the budget crisis, according to Jeff. "A distinction between political spending and that of corporations is a matter of planning. When corporate revenues decline, so does spending. Our politicos don't know how to accomplish this or don't have the guts."

    I suspect it's a little of both, Jeff.

  • Toledo Public Schools paying $924,000 a year for a dozen Toledo police officers -- an average of $77,000 for each -- would not make the list of most prudent expenditures by a tax-supported institution.

  • The city's budgetary woes inspired John to come up with this Jetsons-esque idea:

    "Have every car in Lucas County fitted with a GPS (Global Positioning System) device to monitor its location at all times. When it detects you are speeding, you'll be mailed a $100 ticket. The GPS will know the speed limit for the road you are on, and it will know how fast you are traveling. $100 per incident will add up. Oh, yea ... individuals have to buy the GPS device when renewing their license plates. Budget problem solved by Big Brother!"