5 stories you may have missed this weekend: 7/14
7/14/2014
"I realized if I didn't get help sometime I wasn't going to be here long," Toledo resident Eddie Butler said. Mr. Butler has been arrested 197 times between 2000 and 2013.
THE BLADE/KATIE RAUSCH
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1. Toledo preparing to buy One Government Center for $1
The Michael V. DiSalle Government Center needs more than $7 million in repairs and deferred maintenance, including to the building’s heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, according to an October, 2013, facility assessment report by KZF Design.
Even so, the city of Toledo intends to make an offer to purchase the building this week, according to Joel Mazur, the assistant chief of staff to Mayor D. Michael Collins.
“We are preparing to make an offer to the state to take ownership,” Mr. Mazur said.
"I realized if I didn't get help sometime I wasn't going to be here long," Toledo resident Eddie Butler said. Mr. Butler has been arrested 197 times between 2000 and 2013.
2. Repeat offenders pose difficulties for Lucas County justice system
Eddie Butler has been booked in the Lucas County jail 297 times since 1987. Arrested repeatedly through the years as a drug-addicted homeless person, he has been to jail more times than any other offender in the county.
When the National Institute of Corrections released its assessment of Lucas County’s pretrial services in October, 2013, a problem population came to light: Repeat offenders like Butler who clog the jail daily.
Data from the sheriff’s office showed that just 6 percent of the jail’s offenders — a total of 996 people — accounted for nearly a fifth of the bookings.
From the charities, to the pros, to schedule of events for the week, catch up on everything you need to know ahead of this week‘s Marathon Classic LPGA golf tournament.
Matt Jackson, left, of Toledo Flyboarding, pilots a jet ski as Jeff Grashel, right, flexes his biceps to show off for his friends.
4. High adventure for thrill seekers getting their extreme water sports fix in northwest Ohio
Jeff Grashel is no stranger to water sports.
Swimming, boating, jet skiing, wake boarding -- he‘s done it all. It was a quest for something new that led him to the Toledo area in June to try his hand at a sport he’d only seen in YouTube videos: flyboarding.
While Northwest Ohio may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about extreme sports, the region has quite a bit to offer for thrill seekers looking to tackle everything from water sports to sky diving. The area may be short on mountains and cliffs, but it has plenty to offer in the way of water, allowing seekers to choose from lakes and rivers, and even a backyard pond, where Grashel and three friends, who traveled from Columbus, went flyboarding with Flyboard Rentals of Toledo.
Chris Wormley, a defensive end on the Michigan football team and a Whitmer graduate, gets first pitch participants lined up as he works as a promotions intern with the Toledo Mud Hens.
5. UM football player Chris Wormley enjoying Mud Hens internship
Some days, Chris Wormley gets to escort a pair of feathered friends around Fifth Third Field. Other days, he lines up Little League baseball players inside the ballpark and makes sure they’re in an orderly fashion.
One of his first days on the job, Wormley ran around the inside of the ballpark in a tall, narrow costume and took on the alter ego of a Toledo-born film star. But when it came time to lift the guise of “Jamie Farmadillo” off of Wormley, it took three interns and about ten minutes to wiggle the 6-foot-5, 290-pound defensive lineman out of the cylindrical costume.
That’s a day Wormley decided not to repeat. But he appreciates the fact that in working in minor-league baseball, each day is different.