Five Things You Might Have Missed: 6-30
Top articles from this weekend‘s editions of The Blade
6/30/2014
Nearly 10 years ago, Larry Dillin was a highly sought-after developer as his project, Levis Commons in Perrysburg, shown in 2011, was an immediate success.
THE BLADE
Buy This Image
Nearly 10 years ago, Larry Dillin was a highly sought-after developer as his project, Levis Commons in Perrysburg, shown in 2011, was an immediate success.
1. Ex-developer Dillin works to sort out tangled finances in Texas as he keeps tabs on Levis Commons
Nearly 10 years ago, developer Larry Dillin was the toast of northwest Ohio.
His Levis Commons shopping-living-entertainment complex opened in Perrysburg and was an immediate success and Mr. Dillin, head of his fast-growing Dillin Corp. development company, became a highly sought visionary for a variety of projects in the Toledo area.
But that was then.
Late last month in Austin, where the 58-year-old developer now resides, Mr. Dillin filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy protection.
In his petition, filed May 27 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Western District of Texas, the former Perrysburg resident cited assets of $1.18 million. Liabilities totaled more than $139 million. READ MORE
Ohio’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is seeking signatures for two ballot initiatives — one that would ease marijuana law in Toledo, the other statewide.
2. Marijuana backers seek reforms in Ohio
Rob Ryan isn’t shy about the medicine he said has helped him tremendously — even though it’s illegal.
After a cancer diagnosis about 10 years ago, Mr. Ryan, now 60, began a regimen of the usual suspects. Chemotherapy and pills led to pain and weight loss. Then he added marijuana to the mix. He said the improvements were undeniable.
At that moment, he realized the earlier things he’d heard about the banned drugs’ ill effects simply were not true.
“The government has a problem,” Mr. Ryan said of American drug policy. “It’s caught in a lie and it’s getting exposed daily.”
Today, Mr. Ryan of Cincinnati is among the state’s most public advocates for legalizing marijuana, medical and otherwise. Last fall, he was elected president of Ohio NORML, the state chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
The group’s aim is “to move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults,” according to the national group’s Web site. READ MORE
Earl Johnson, the executive director of Come Home Baltimore, says death threats have ‘only strengthened my resolve to make changes’ to improve his hometown. Change, he says, starts with citizens.
3. Baltimore’s fight against blight could offer guidance to Toledo
Death threats did not deter Earl Johnson.
“Those threats just strengthened my resolve to make changes. I wasn’t scared of getting my head cut off or shot off, but I was scared of something happening to my wife. If something had happened to her because I didn’t get involved, I couldn’t have lived with myself,” Mr. Johnson said.
He stepped up and then got down and dirty. Hundreds of others in Baltimore did the same.
Weary of worrisome dangers and destruction, the take-back-Baltimore movement has helped heal sections of the city wounded by caustic conditions.
Blight was kicked to the curb in the Oliver neighborhood in particular. Call it a modern-day Oliver twist. READ MORE
The Jeep Cherokee will now include engines that automatically shut off when the vehicle comes to a stop.
4. Jeep Cherokee to get stop-start engine technology
The Jeep Cherokee will be available with engine start-stop technology later this year, as Chrysler Group LLC continues to use that vehicle as a springboard for launching new technologies.
Start-stop systems automatically turn off the engine when a vehicle comes to a stop. The system seamlessly restarts the engine when the driver steps back on the accelerator.
Some Ram 1500s have been equipped with start-stop since the 2013 model year, but the 2015 Cherokee will be the company‘s first widespread application.
“The Cherokee is a very important play for introduction of technology in the company, and also due to the large volumes, it’s where we can get the most benefit for the largest number of customers,” said Brad Pugh, the vehicle’s chief engineer. READ MORE
5. AFSCME Local 7 approves new contract with City of Toledo
Members of Toledo’s largest municipal union Friday overwhelmingly approved a new three-year contract, the first full-term contract to be negotiated by Mayor D. Michael Collins.
The agreement provides for 1.5 percent pay increases in January of 2015, 2016, and 2017, according to a memorandum from the Collins administration to city council members.
The contract also eliminates, starting next month, the 3 percent employee share of pension contributions that the city has been paying.
Members of American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 7 approved the contract by a 70 percent margin, said Steve Kowalik, regional director of AFSCME Council 8. The tally was not released. READ MORE
OUR TOWNS
Sylvania man, 85, bilked out of $28,000, police report
An 85-year-old Sylvania man was bilked out of $28,000 after a caller told him he won the Mega Millions lottery, a matter now under investigation by Sylvania police and the FBI.
The story is typical of scams used regularly to steal money from vulnerable people. Officials urge people to be careful before agreeing to give anyone money, especially strangers on the telephone.
The Sylvania victim, who declined to comment to The Blade, told police he was contacted by phone by someone claiming to be a representative of the multistate Mega Millions lottery who told him he had won a jackpot. The caller requested money to send the prize, a tactic such scammers often use. READ MORE