New plan gives city hope for Southwyck

5/7/2006

Eight bite-size Lemmon Drops to nibble on while waiting for the first attack ad in the Ohio governor's race:

  • Here we go again.

    Larry Dillin is to disclose details of his redevelopment plan for Southwyck Shopping Center tomorrow. It's an ambitious project $150 million, to be completed in 2007 that would revive an area that seemingly was left for dead by the mall's out-of-state owners.

    We found out the name on Thursday The Village at Southwyck. It will be a mix of retail stores, offices, and apartments.

    Mr. Dillin used that same formula for Levis Commons in Perrysburg. Not that Toledo needs to be reminded, but Owens-Illinois is packing up and moving there.

    Maybe the "new" Southwyck will be just as attractive to businesses looking to relocate.

    We've gotten our hopes up before for a Southwyck revival, only to be disappointed. Thanks to the involvement of Mr. Dillin, a top-notch local developer, there's reason to be optimistic this time.

  • The Village at Southwyck? As American Idol judge Randy Jackson might say: I don't know, dawg, it's just alright for me.

    I'm just glad Mr. Dillin didn't get nostalgic and name it Esplanade at Southwyck.

  • The 1969 Mets. Jimmy Carter. James "Buster" Douglas. Jesse Ventura.

    Welcome to the club, Ben Konop.

    His victory Tuesday in the Democratic primary for Lucas County commissioner was a real shocker.

    Not that we should be surprised. He is a tireless campaigner, and this was a great example of hard work paying off.

  • Tell me again why Wade Kapszukiewicz and George Sarantou didn't inform law-enforcement officials when fellow Toledo City Councilman Bob McCloskey offered them wink, wink campaign contributions a few years back.

    I would have expected more from Mr. Kapszukiewicz, who was elected Lucas County treasurer in 2004. After all, he vowed to "dismantle the political machine" in the treasurer's office. Too bad he didn't expose the wrongdoing that was taking place when he was on council.

  • By rejecting an operating levy for the seventh consecutive time, it's as if voters in the Lake Local school district are trying to test the validity of the African proverb "it takes a village to raise a child."

    It gained proverb status for a reason, folks.

  • Nice comeback, Lucas County Board of Elections.

    After the meltdown in November, when Lucas County was the last of Ohio's 88 counties to turn in final results to the Secretary of State's office, being No. 79 on Tuesday is a step albeit a small step toward restoring confidence in what you do.

  • For only the second time in our 260 Sunday get-togethers, I'm going to recommend a film. (The first? Twist of Faith, of course.) United 93 the story of one of the four hijacked planes on 9/11 can be tough to watch at times because you know how it's going to end, but, wow, what a powerful "lest we forget" booster shot.

  • It had been several months since I heard from Terry, who for years took great pleasure in giving me weekly nose-rubs via e-mail. On Monday, he returned.

    "You still imagine yourself some sort of an elitist, the smartest guy in the room," he wrote. "You are wrong!"

    As I told Terry, not once have I claimed to be the smartest guy in the room (I can't, in good conscience, because of my SAT scores), but if it were just the two of us in a room, I might be tempted.