5/6/2013 1:29 AM
Hens’ hurlers need batters to hit
BY DAVE HACKENBERG BLADE SPORTS COLUMNIST
The Mud Hens scored one run Sunday afternoon. They scored one run in 13 innings on Saturday. They scored two times on Friday. …

5/6/2013 12:00 AM
Bright future awaits Clay students
BY TOM WALTON BLADE COLUMNIST
A comedian once joked that he was a peripheral visionary. He could see into the future, he said, but only off to one side. I saw the future head-on recently, and I felt a lot better about it. …

5/5/2013 1:22 PM
Putin’s propaganda efforts could imperil Americans
BY MIKE SIGOV
Russian President Vladimir Putin is using the Boston Marathon bombing as a propaganda tool to justify the Kremlin’s genocidal practices in Russia’s secessionist province of Chechnya that have bred radical Islamist converts, including those accused in the Boston atrocity. …

5/5/2013 9:16 AM
Gangs in Toledo
KEITH C. BURRIS ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF THE BLADE
Toledoans are talking, and thinking, about The Blade’s gang series — Battle lines: Gangs of Toledo. It’s a stunning accomplishment. The sheer amount of work — writing, filming, and legwork — done by Taylor Dungjen and Amy E. Voigt, as well as by the Blade’s newsroom editors and art staff knocks me out. What a commitment — to serious journalism …

5/5/2013 12:00 AM
Spring allergies can make pets miserable, too
DR. GARY THOMPSON
The much anticipated arrival of spring with the accompanying warm weather brings many blooming and growing things. This means that springtime allergies for pets are going to follow shortly behind. Pets are sensitive to the same grasses and pollens that trigger reactions in people. However, the manifestations of these allergies are quite different. …

5/4/2013 11:49 PM
The power of a president is limited
BY DAVID SHRIBMAN PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
It Began with the budget battle, reached a cruel crescendo with the gun vote, and culminated in the question President Obama had to field at his press conference last week about whether he’d run out of “juice” to pass his agenda. …

5/4/2013 11:45 PM
Drop the teacup, lawmakers, and expand Medicaid
BY DAVID KUSHMA BLADE COLUMNIST
The Republicans who control Ohio’s General Assembly are making an instructive choice. They are denying health insurance to hundreds of thousands of working-poor Ohioans — and defying the governor of their party — so they can pander to the hard-right bloc of GOP voters. …

5/5/2013 12:12 AM
Pro golf can truly be sport for masses
BY DAVE HACKENBERG BLADE SPORTS COLUMNIST
It all started a quarter of a century ago when Craig Stadler got down on his knees to propose hitting his golf ball from under a tree at the San Diego Open. There was one problem. Fashion plate that the Walrus was, and is, he did not want his pants to get dirty. So he spread a towel on the …

5/4/2013 11:28 PM
Aviary offers birders the rest of the world
BY MATT MARKEY BLADE OUTDOORS EDITOR
As thousands of birding enthusiasts swarm over the northwest Ohio area to take advantage of the unparalleled viewing opportunities the spring migration presents, many have a checklist proudly in hand. …

5/5/2013 12:00 AM
Talent lights up Lourdes' Luminations
BY BARBARA HENDEL BLADE SOCIETY EDITOR
Lourdes University's signature fund-raising event Luminations on April 27 in the Franciscan Center showcased Toledo's performing arts while raising more than $260,000 for scholarships. …