Five Things You Might Have Missed: 2-24

Top articles from this weekend's editions of The Blade

2/24/2014
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    A man makes his way through the parking lot of Gibsonburg High School after the Ottawa Hills basketball game on Feb. 4 in Gibsonburg, Ohio.

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  • A man makes his way through the parking lot of Gibsonburg High School after the Ottawa Hills basketball game on Feb. 4 in Gibsonburg, Ohio.
    A man makes his way through the parking lot of Gibsonburg High School after the Ottawa Hills basketball game on Feb. 4 in Gibsonburg, Ohio.

    1. Harsh weather has the ability to reassure us

    You’ve endured more backaches shoveling snow this winter than you can remember.

    You are — to put it mildly — fed up.

    Or are you?

    Strange as it may sound, some psychologists believe there’s a large number of us who may actually be diggin’ this winter, whether we realize it or not.

    Deep down inside, the theory goes, the harsh winter being experienced by the Great Lakes region and the East Coast has been having a calming effect on the collective psyche of residents there, taking them back to what they associated with winters of their childhoods — far unlike the massive, all-day thunderstorms and lightning that moved through the Toledo area on Thursday, summerlike events that, at one time, would have been unthinkable for February and now just seem a little weird. READ MORE

     

    Florida State senior Natasha Howard, a Waite graduate, is an All-America candidate, averaging 19.7 points per game for the 17-9 Seminoles. She set a school single-game record with 40 points.
    Florida State senior Natasha Howard, a Waite graduate, is an All-America candidate, averaging 19.7 points per game for the 17-9 Seminoles. She set a school single-game record with 40 points.

    2. Natasha Howard’s drive comes from off the court

    In west Africa, Natasha Howard realized how dramatically different life could be.

    The Waite High School graduate wanted to reach out and help every child she had met. She wanted to show them how to properly dribble a basketball, and to tell them that, yes, there was a better life for them.

    As she looked outside of herself, her first trip outside of North America resonated within her.

    “It really opened my eyes,” Howard said. “I went to the Bahamas my freshman year, for a tournament, but this was way, way better than the Bahamas. Going to Africa, I was like, ‘wow, we as United States citizens, we have so much.’ But we went there, and it was good that we went there and we gave back.”

    Now a senior at Florida State, Howard, 22, is considered by many to be the top girls basketball player Toledo Public Schools has produced. She led the Indians to the Division I state championship game in 2010 and was named Ohio’s Ms. Basketball, and a McDonald’s All-American that year. READ MORE

     

    Moses Fleetwood Walker was a catcher who played for the Toledo Blue Stockings in the 1880s.
    Moses Fleetwood Walker was a catcher who played for the Toledo Blue Stockings in the 1880s.

    3. Bill aims to honor groundbreaking Toledo baseball player

    History credits Jackie Robinson as the first African-American to break through the “color barrier” of major league baseball.

    But that color barrier was erected after — and perhaps because of — the man believed to have been the first black man to play under contract in the majors more than half a century before Mr. Robinson took to the field — Toledo Blue Stockings catcher Moses Fleetwood “Fleet” Walker.

    Mr. Walker is largely forgotten today, a timeline credit and photo in an exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., compared with huge displays honoring Mr. Robinson. But Mr. Walker may get some due through a bill just introduced in the Ohio House.

    House Bill 436 would designate Oct. 7, his birthday, as Moses Fleetwood Walker Day each year in Ohio. READ MORE

     

    Pvt. Antwoine Mister hugs Battalion Chief Sally Glombowski after receiving his hat during a graduation ceremony for the Toledo Fire Department. Private Mister was among 47 new firefighters who graduated on Friday.
    Pvt. Antwoine Mister hugs Battalion Chief Sally Glombowski after receiving his hat during a graduation ceremony for the Toledo Fire Department. Private Mister was among 47 new firefighters who graduated on Friday.

    4. Toledo Fire graduation class pays homage to fallen comrade

    The latest class of Toledo fire recruits became the newest Toledo firefighters Friday as they donned their caps to the cheers of family and friends in a packed Doermann Theatre at the University of Toledo.

    Those new firefighters, 47 strong, sat on stage behind dignitaries and department brass.

    The absence of one among them suffused the hourlong ceremony.

    A chair placed downstage held a cap and a graduation certificate and remained empty. Silence answered Pvt. Jeffrey Koenigseker as he called the roll: “James Dickman,” once, twice, three times. READ MORE

     

    Rodney Schuster is the executive director of the Catholic Charities Diocese of Toledo.
    Rodney Schuster is the executive director of the Catholic Charities Diocese of Toledo.

    5. Catholic Charities Toledo celebrates its 100th year

    One entry tells how Crisis Navigator Linda Kraft helps people search through resources that can help them in 19 counties in Northwest Ohio. “Car troubles, prescription assistance, utilities, furniture, glasses, it’s really all over the board,” she says.

    Another tells how Catholic Charities helped Gary, a diabetic in Mansfield, get needed insulin, and how its H.O.P.E. food pantry provided him with healthy meals.

    The charity will hold its first public celebratory event at 10 a.m. Tuesday, when a centennial Mass will be said at Rosary Cathedral, 2535 Collingwood Blvd. And on Sept. 18, ESPN analyst and former football coach Lou Holtz will be the keynote speaker at the gala anniversary celebration.

    Catholic Charities served 20,000 people three years ago; last year, the number had grown to 50,000, says Executive Director Rodney Schuster.  READ MORE