Five things you might have missed: 1-13

Top stories from this weekend's editions of The Blade

At last year’s show, 795,416 people saw this Volkswagen display, the most since 2004. The days of industrywide worries are over for this year’s edition as organizers prepare for at least 50 vehicles to make their worldwide debut when the show opens Saturday.

THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON
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At last year’s show, 795,416 people saw this Volkswagen display, the most since 2004. The days of industrywide worries are over for this year’s edition as organizers prepare for at least 50 vehicles to make their worldwide debut when the show opens Saturday.

1. Motor City welcomes back sizzle to North American International Auto Show

Asked what he was expecting out of this year’s North American International Auto Show, one industry insider had a simple answer: Excitement.

Yes, that sounds like a cop-out. But it’s not.

“We are back to an exciting Detroit auto show,” said Karl Brauer, senior analyst with Kelley Blue Book. “A couple years ago we were concerned about having any Detroit auto show.”

Slowly but surely, the emotion has returned to Detroit. Concept vehicles are back. A slew of important cars will make their worldwide debut in Detroit. READ MORE

A city worker battles blowing snow in downtown Toledo. Monday’s conditions were blamed on the polar vortex.

2. Climate change role in cold snap triggers debate

North America’s sudden fascination with the swirling, icy-cold air mass called the polar vortex has — if nothing else — expanded the meteorological vocabulary of millions of people, from late-night talk-show hosts tossing around their quips to ordinary people who share opinions on Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media.

But it’s also quietly opened up an ethical debate among mainstream scientists over how hard they should promote any and all possible links between climate change and the planetary effects of it, especially when they’re in early phases of research.

In today’s wired-up world of rapid, online communication, the lines can get blurred between perceptions of scientists doing their jobs and environmentalists crying wolf. READ MORE

Brittni Mominee measures Paula Swan for a bra at Dillards at Franklin Park Mall.

3. Most women are wearing the wrong size bra

The modern brassiere has been around since the 19th century and even now, most women are wearing it incorrectly.

For women, a bra is one of the most essential items of a wardrobe, a must have, but experts estimate that almost 90 percent of women are wearing the wrong size bra.

“Almost nobody is the size they think they are,” said Kris Beard, owner of That Special Woman, an intimate apparel boutique that specializes in bra fittings of all types including plus size and mastectomies. “You can get measured, but until you get fitted, you don’t know exactly what it is you need.” READ MORE

Toledo city worker Paula Williams patches potholes on Berdan Avenue near Detroit Avenue on the city’s north side.

4. Toledo's pothole problems grow as snow melts

Not far from one of Toledo’s resurgent pothole moonscapes is the auto repair and customizing business Par Roslin co-owns, and business was busy on Friday.

“I’m going to say at least a half-dozen in addition to normal,” Mr. Roslin estimated the repair traffic that Majestic Automotive, on Douglas Road at Central Avenue, has gotten that he can attribute to potholes or other winter-related problems.

“We’re very busy,” he said. “Everybody’s car’s not starting, or the heat doesn’t work.”

About a mile south, near the University of Toledo, Douglas’ pothole-plagued pavement provided plenty of new blown-tire and bent-rim prospects for unwary or unlucky drivers — and that was far from the only such spot. READ MORE

About a third of Perrysburg teachers signed up for performance-based pay, permitted under the new labor contract which teachers shown here a few months ago were negotiating.

5. A third of Perrysburg teachers sign up for performance-based pay

Nearly one-third of the Perrysburg teachers have chosen to be paid under the new performance-based pay scale instead of receiving a flat 1.25 percent raise in each of the next two years.

The difference in pay methods, which each teacher could choose, was set up in the new teachers union contract approved in December. Teachers had until Jan. 6 to opt-in to the performance-based pay method and those that did will receive a $1,500 bonus, plus the opportunity, through performance, to earn more than a 1.25 percent pay boost that other teachers will receive.

Out of nearly 300 teachers, 86 chose performance pay. READ MORE