AYERSVILLE, Ohio — A historic Black cemetery that was forgotten over time is making a comeback.

Archibald Worthington Cemetery in rural Defiance County’s Highland Township, north of Bowman Road, is believed to have held the remains of as many as 50 people years ago.

But over time, grave markers faded from sight. What few tombstones existed were moved to the edge of the property.

The little family cemetery, which is less than an acre in size, blended in so much with an adjoining 50-acre soybean field that people didn’t know where one began and the other ended, if they knew there had been a cemetery there at all, according to local historian Sarah Marshall.

The bodies buried in Worthington Cemetery were believed to come primarily from three rural Defiance County families and some friends between 1855 and 1890, she said.

On Saturday, starting at 1 p.m., a local citizens group called Friends of Worthington Cemetery is hosting an event for people interested in the site’s history and to “help envision a new sacred space,” according to a news release.

The Friends have been working with several other groups, including the Defiance Public Library, Defiance College, and the Ayersville Water and Sewer District, on a plan to rededicate the site.

The event is open to the public, and those who attend are asked to meet at the state historical marker on the north side of Bowman Road between State Rt. 15 and Dohoney Road.

Organizers want input from the public on what the next respectful steps should be at the historic cemetery.

In 2024, the cemetery was recognized by an Ohio Historical Marker erected by the library, the college, Defiance County Board Of Commissioners; and the Ohio History Connection.

“Worthington’s Cemetery: Known But to God,” it reads.

The scam that wasn’t

Kimberly Whickum-Greene, of Toledo, Mr. Worthington’s great-great-great granddaughter, was there two years ago when the marker was erected.

“When I think of the joy, excitement, and goose bumps I got the morning of the historic marker dedication, I am reminded of Alex Haley’s quote ‘In all of us there is a hunger marrow-deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we came from,’” she said. 

Ms. Whickum-Greene said she “really thought it was a scam” when she was contacted out of the blue by the Friends of Worthington Cemetery two years ago, but soon realized it wasn’t.

“Discovery of the cemetery had me full of emotions,” she said, adding how impressed she was that strangers would take the time and energy to find her and other descendants.

“The historical marker for the cemetery is something that can be admired by the whole family, our community and friends, for many years to come,” Ms. Whickum-Greene said. “Also, we have made lifelong friendships and memories through the Archibald Worthington Cemetery discovery.”

Archibald Worthington was a freed slave from Virginia and a Civil War veteran who became a prominent farmer in Highland Township. 

He set aside an acre of his crop field as a cemetery.

Jay Budde, Friends of Worthington Cemetery president, said he was inspired to help preserve the cemetery because “respect is not a thing that’s common in our country these days.”

“The folks buried in Worthington cemetery have not been respected, and I would like to help their community and their neighbors respect them,” Mr. Budde said. “Basically, it’s the right thing to do. Cemeteries shouldn’t be lost.”

Eleven bales of straw will mark the known gravesites at Saturday’s event, he said.

Mr. Budde said the story of Worthington Cemetery is “a remarkable story and it hooked me.”

Same goes for Ms. Marshall, a local history specialist for the Defiance Public Library System.

She said she learned about Worthington Cemetery while researching Riverside Cemetery in 2021.

Human remains

Worthington Cemetery’s only known records were written by the New Deal-era Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.

KYK9 Search Dogs of Kentucky was hired to see if there were human remains at the site. There were.

Results of ground-penetrating radar surveys provided more confirmation, Ms. Marshall said.

“The event is for us to determine how we want the cemetery to look now,” she said.

Mr. Budde said the end product probably won’t look like a traditional cemetery, because it never was one.

But he said it’s important not to just erect a historical marker and move on.

“We’re asking the community and living descendants,” Mr. Budde said. “I got interested because there’s sort of a justice issue when a cemetery gets erased.”

The city of Maumee and its partners want area residents to drop off food waste at designated locations to create nutrient-rich compost and reduce environmentally harmful landfill waste.

“If you do have food that’s going bad and can’t really avoid it, then composting really is the easiest and simplest way to remove the landfill part of things, remove the methane side of things, and just keep those nutrients that are so valuable in your food into the soil, too,” Chrissy Miller said.

“If you take one thing away from this [presentation], please leave our landfills empty.”

A Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful community education specialist, Ms. Miller spoke Tuesday during a food-scrap composting presentation. The nonprofit is dedicated to creating cleaner, greener communities in Northwest Ohio through litter prevention, recycling programs, and environmental education, according to its website.

About 25 people attended the free 60-minute session hosted by the City of Maumee Environmental & Tree Advisory Commission at the Maumee Branch Library.

“The idea is that the more we have to throw things away, the more we open landfills we have, the closer it does get to your home, your school, or your park,” Ms. Miller said.

“Food waste in landfills also releases methane into our atmosphere,” she said. “Methane is a powerful and harmful greenhouse gas that is a major contributor to climate change.”

She also introduced attendees to a local community food waste drop-off and composting program involving GoZERO Services, an 11-year-old Springfield, Ohio, commercial and community food waste composting service. The company collects organic scraps and turns them into nutrient-rich compost.

Attendees were each offered a complimentary GoZERO food waste collection bucket.

Carol Rambo, a 65-year Maumee resident, got two, one for herself and the other one for a friend.

“I am definitely going to participate,” Ms. Rambo said. “Why? To keep America beautiful by keeping that stuff out of the landfill.”

A fellow attendee and Maumee resident, Kyle Faeth, who moved to the city about two years ago, said he was glad the area has a composting program and that he too would participate.

“I just don’t like trash going into the landfills,” he said. “It’s a personal preference ... to create as little waste as possible.”

The Tuesday event was timed to follow the Sept. 10 launch of a new food waste drop-off site at the Side Cut Metropark Seigert Lake parking lot in Maumee, event organizers said.

Other area drop-off locations include: Glass City Metropark, Toledo Botanical Gardens, Swan Creek Metropark, City of Toledo Recycling Center, Perrysburg Department of Public Service, and Perrysburg Department of Public Utilities.

The drop-offs are free. The food waste at the sites is picked up weekly.

Along with food, acceptable items include food-soiled paper and BPI-certified compostable plastics.

In 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that about 39.6 million tons of food waste from the residential, food retail, and food service sectors were sent to landfills in the United States.

A hearing to determine whether a juvenile charged in the Old West End Festival shooting should be tried in adult court will proceed as scheduled in mid-October.

Patricia Wardrop, the assistant Lucas County prosecutor who heads the juvenile division, said new discovery recently provided to the adult defendants in the case had not yet been sent to her, but she expected to receive it by week’s end.

Jeremy Pratt, the defense attorney for Markel Watson, 17, said he had already reviewed most of the video evidence involving his client and was confident he would have adequate time to review the new discovery if he receives it from Ms. Wardrop in a timely manner.

With that, Judge Amy Stoner confirmed a previously scheduled Oct. 16 date for a probable-cause hearing in Lucas County Juvenile Court to determine if proper circumstances exist to transfer young Watson’s case to adult court.

The boy is charged with delinquency for five complaints: second-degree robbery, third-degree tampering with evidence, fourth-degree inducing panic, and fourth-degree and fifth-degree aggravated riot.

None of those counts carries a mandatory bind-over, so the judge will have to determine that young Watson is not amenable to treatment in the juvenile system in order to transfer his case, along with finding probable cause for the charges.

He is accused as a participant in the altercation that resulted in gunfire that wounded 12 people at the June 6 festival, then also is accused of snatching a bag from a security checkpoint that contained one of the guns involved.

Ka Nye Taylor and Eljay Crisp-Carr, who are charged with 20 and 25 counts of attempted murder, respectively, plus felonious assault and other charges for the festival shooting, are next scheduled to appear in Lucas County Common Pleas Court on Oct. 13.

Toledo police and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency responded Tuesday to a tractor-trailer rollover crash, police said.

Toledo Police Department spokesman Sgt. Mohamad Nasser said officers responded to the report of the rollover at Detroit Avenue and Dura Avenue just before 3 p.m.

Upon arrival, officers saw a tractor-trailer on its side just off the road and a spill on the ground and requested an EPA crew “just in case,” Sgt. Nasser said.

He said he did not know the nature of the spilled substance or what the tractor-trailer was hauling.

The driver had exited the vehicle before crews arrived. It was unclear whether he was injured, but no one was taken from the scene to a hospital, the sergeant said.

The crash remains under investigation.

The Lucas County Coroner’s Office has identified the man whose body was found floating in the Maumee River on Monday as Shawn W. Jackson, 30. 

There were no visible injuries on the body, officials said, and they are waiting for results from additional testing before determining the manner and cause of death.

Emergency crews recovered Mr. Jackson’s body after responding to the 200 block of Summit Street about 3:45 p.m. Monday on a report of a body in the river.

Toledo City Council is requesting an independent audit of the city’s Flock Safety cameras to ensure that the technology is being used appropriately.

The legislation was formally introduced Tuesday by Council President Vanice Williams and Councilman John Hobbs III. The audit comes as many municipalities in Ohio and across the country are reviewing the technology amid privacy concerns from residents.

Council members could vote to approve the audit as early as Sept. 22.

“Residents have expressed concerns regarding the use, access, and sharing of information through the Flock system under the control or supervision of the city of Toledo,” Mr. Hobbs said. “This audit, we are hoping to have … all of these things addressed and to be evaluated.”

Flock Safety’s automated license plate recognition cameras photograph passing vehicles, recognize license plates and vehicle identifiers, and store that information in a database. The company’s software allows officers to search for vehicles and receive real-time alerts if they match a vehicle sought by police.

If approved, the audit would evaluate policies, procedures, and controls that have been used to ensure the information accessed, searched, shared, retained, and used via the Flock system is for authorized and appropriate purposes.

Additionally, some of the other items the auditor could review as authorized by the proposed legislation include:

● Searches performed by city personnel

● Searches of the city’s Flock network or data by outside agencies

● Network-sharing arrangements and controls governing access by outside agencies

● Data-retention requirements

● Policies, procedures, training, and other requirements governing use of the technology

● Controls designed to identify unauthorized or inappropriate use

● Compliance with the city’s policies

The city auditor, who is independent of the city, and works for city council, will conduct the review.

Mr. Hobbs said the audit could be complete as soon as the end of October.

The proposed legislation would not pause the cameras while the audit is performed, despite requests from several council members.

“I think it is imperative, at this point, that the administration pause the use of this technology until we find out how to better protect our residents, who I think, are very clear on this topic,” Councilman Nick Komives said at a council meeting last week.

Section 30 of the Toledo Municipal Code states that council members can not interfere, directly or indirectly, with the conduct of the mayor’s administration. While a council member could request to pause the cameras, they cannot require it.

Both Mr. Hobbs and Ms. Williams have spoken in support of the technology, and the Toledo Police Department has continuously stated it is an essential tool for investigations.

Still, there have been instances of misuse in other cities.

Columbus has paused its cameras amid an investigation into an officer who allegedly searched the system for the same license plates hundreds of times. The Monroe County Board of Commissioners in Michigan has also voted to end the use of its license plate readers.

Toledo’s cameras will be further discussed at a public safety committee meeting Thursday, which gives residents a chance to weigh in.

The council’s proposed audit comes about one month after Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken called for an audit on the county’s use of Flock cameras.

Mr. Gerken’s staff conducted an initial review of the county’s database, and from June 20 to July 20, more than 904,000 searches were conducted by more than 3,200 agencies, according to the findings.

Like the Toledo Police Department, Lucas County Sheriff Mike Navarre has defended the license plate readers, calling them a “crime-solving tool.”

The city’s public safety meeting on Flock cameras is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday at One Government Center.

BOWLING GREEN — Wood County officials on Tuesday recognized the completion of the $13.1 million water and sewer project, which provides new water and sewer service to the Dunbridge area.

The Northwestern Water & Sewer District’s project addresses long-standing water-quality concerns related to failing septic systems in the unincorporated areas of Dunbridge identified through Ohio EPA findings and orders, county officials said.  

“Projects like we’re celebrating today can be difficult to accomplish because they are costly and complex,” said Wood County Commissioner Ted Bowlus. He was one of three officials who spoke at a ceremony in a shelter house in Middleton Township off Dunbridge Road to announce the project’s completion.

“State and federal programs offer grant opportunities, but they are very competitive, and many communities look to the same programs for help with infrastructure costs,” he said.

In 2021, Wood County received $25.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. Wood County commissioners committed $8.7 million of that amount to help make the project affordable for the community, he said.

“We knew this was a one-time opportunity to address important infrastructure,” he said.

Garret Chamberlain, engineer with the Northwestern Water & Sewer District, said the new sanitary sewer line constructed in the unincorporated areas of Dunbridge eliminate privately owned septic systems.

The project was needed after the Ohio EPA found aging local septic tanks leaking raw sewage into nearby ditches.

“The EPA did some water sampling out here because of concerns from the health department, which notified them that septic systems were failing in the area. Those failed septic systems were discharging raw waste into public streams and ditches nearby,” Mr. Chamberlain said. “The EPA did a total of 12 water samples, out of which 11 came back in excess of the permissible level for E. coli in those streams. With this project, hopefully, that should be resolved.”

Rachel Aeschliman, Wood County’s interim health commissioner, said the area, located east of I-75 between Bowling Green and Perrysburg on State Route 582, has many older homes with aging septic systems.

“That increases the risk of poor water quality,” she said. “With the new sewer lines, each of those homes does not have to rely on ongoing maintenance of an aging septic system. They can tap into a sewer line, which will last much longer. This investment, in the long run, will really benefit the environmental health quality of the water for this area.”

In conjunction with the sewer project, the district also installed water lines through most of the community.

“Unfortunately, we could not do the whole community, but more than 75 percent of the homes have access to the water,” Mr. Chamberlain said. “They can choose or not choose to connect to it.” 

Forty-one residences so far have hooked up to the water line, while 102 have connected to the sewer line, county officials said.

In addition to ARPA, the project was funded by a 0% Ohio EPA loan.

The project extends public sanitary sewer and water service to Dunbridge, Middleton Township, Center Township, and the I-75/State Rt. 582 interchange area. Work began in December, 2024, and was completed in December, 2025. Sewer tap connections to residential properties continue.

Properties within 400 feet of the new sanitary sewer are required to connect to it. 

“Because the area of the Dunbridge project met income requirements, Wood County was able to provide about $65,000 in federal block grant funding through the Wood County Planning Commission, which is working with the district to identify anyone whose income qualifies them for assistance with the costs of tapping into the new water and sewer system,”  Mr. Bowlus said.

It is the largest single project in district history by cost and scope, according to a fact sheet provided by the district.

“It was quite a project,” Mr. Bowlus said. “That just shows you when we work together, we can accomplish amazing things.”

COLUMBUS — It’s not surprising that the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Trump’s proposed mail-in ballot restrictions ahead of the November election, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Tuesday.

“Early voting for overseas and military personnel starts on Friday. We’re just a few weeks away from early voting starting for everybody else — including absentee voting,” Mr. LaRose said. “It’s too late in the process to implement a massive change like that.” 

Mr. LaRose made the comments while speaking with reporters after a National Voter Registration Day event in Columbus.

He said the concerns raised by the Trump Administration regarding mail ballots are legitimate in some states, but not in Ohio.

“There are states that don’t do the work that we do to maintain accurate voter rolls, that don’t do the work we do to validate identity before they mail out absentee ballots,” Mr. LaRose said. 

State Rep. Allison Russo (D., Upper Arlington), the Democratic candidate for Ohio secretary of state, celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision.

“Millions of Ohio voters rely on vote by mail, and thankfully this Supreme Court ruling will ensure their access is not disrupted less than two months before the next election,” she said.

“However voters cast their ballot this year, they should not forget that my Republican opponent and the current secretary of state chose to remain silent rather than speak up against this clearly unconstitutional executive order,” Ms. Russo said. “As Ohio’s next secretary of state, I will do what is best for Ohio — even if it means taking on the president or my own party. My opponent cannot say he will do the same.” 

Dalton Throckmorton, campaign manager for Sprague for Ohio, issued a statement on behalf of Republican secretary of state candidate Robert Sprague.

“Allison Russo and Ohio Democrats have spent the better part of the year hyperventilating with doomsday election predictions trying to scare everyone that have all gone up in smoke,” Mr. Throckmorton said. “The fact of the matter is, Ohio will run another secure, drama-free election in 50 days just as it always does.”

Voter registration day

Mr. LaRose celebrated National Voter Registration Day with students at Mifflin High School in Columbus, where he urged young Ohioans to defy the stereotype that only older people are reliable voters.

Statistically, that stereotype is often accurate, he said.

“There are a lot of reasons for that. We all move a lot in our teens and 20s. ... That can be a busy time in life where you’re maybe not keeping track of getting registered to vote,” Mr. LaRose said. 

He said young people should actually care more about elections than older people.

“If you think about it, for these young Ohioans, they’ve got more skin in the game,” he said. “The decisions that are made in Columbus and Washington, and city hall and county government, are going to impact them for decades to come.”

The secretary said young people often tell him that voting seems difficult or intimidating, so that’s why he holds Grads Vote events like the one at the high school Tuesday.

“We gave them a test run today,” he said. “They checked into a voting location that’s going to look just like their voting location. They went to a real, live voting machine and they voted for student body president and class officers.”

First-time Ohio voters 

Additionally, Mr. LaRose announced a new initiative celebrating first-time voters. 

The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office will provide county boards of elections with posters inviting first-time voters to provide information after scanning a QR code. 

“We’ll send them a proclamation in the mail — an official state proclamation congratulating them for being a first-time voter,” Mr. LaRose said. “But the other key is, we’re going to provide some prompts for them to make a social media post about it.” 

The secretary said he hopes the initiative will create some positive peer pressure among young Ohioans and newly naturalized citizens to go vote. 

“We’re always looking for new ways to get people engaged and excited about citizenship,” he said, noting some county boards of elections already have similar programs.

“In Medina County, for example, they’ve got literally a cow bell they ring when somebody comes in ... and everybody cheers and their face turns red and all that,” Mr. LaRose said. “This is another way to recognize first-time voters.”

Toledo Public Schools again earned a rating of 2 out of a possible 5 stars in the state’s 2026 School Report Cards announced Tuesday, while Ottawa Hills and Perrysburg led the region’s rankings.

Romules Durant, TPS superintendent, said he believes the district’s grade cards will see improvement in the coming years.

“We are seeing increased graduation rates and an increase in students in career tech,” Mr. Durant said. “With the changeover to more academies, we will see more students on the path to success.”

The district’s graduation rate is at 81.4 percent. In 2025, 40 seniors in the district graduated with an associate’s degree. The graduation rate for students enrolled in Career Tech is at 94.4 percent, Mr. Durant said.

Toledo Early College High School and Toledo Technology Academy of Engineering each earned 5-star ratings. Toledo Pre-Medical and Health Science Academy, Toledo Aerospace and Natural Science Academy, and Grove Patterson Academy all earned 4.5 stars.

“The total industry credentials earned by TPS students is 1,808 last year,” Mr. Durant said. “Our goal is to have 100 percent of our students earning industry credentials and associate degrees so they can earn a livable wage when they graduate.

Ottawa Hills, Perrysburg top scores

Ottawa Hills Schools and Perrysburg Schools each retained the 5-star ratings from 2025. 

“We value the state report card as one measure of our continuing efforts to provide the best education to our students,” said Bill Miller, interim superintendent of Ottawa Hills. “We also recognize it has both strengths and limitations in capturing the full Green Bear experience at Ottawa Hills.” 

Perrysburg schools said district leaders are beginning a more detailed review of the data behind the ratings.

“The star ratings are one part of the story,” Superintendent Mike Acomb said. “Our next step is to get into the data behind those ratings and understand what it tells us about our students. We want to identify where we are seeing strong results, where students are making meaningful progress, and where the data points us toward opportunities to improve.”

Other districts

Anthony Wayne, Evergreen, Benton-Carroll-Salem, and Eastwood schools received 4.5-star ratings, as did Sylvania, Bowling Green, Danbury, and Port Clinton, which moved up from 4 stars last year.

Sylvania Schools Superintendent Tim Zieroff said the district was very happy with the rating.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment,” Mr. Zieroff said. “It is a reflection of the high level of teachers, support staff, students, parents, and community in the district. We are extremely proud of the educational experience we offer.”

Northwood and Otsego earned 4-star ratings. Wauseon moved up from 3.5 last year to 4 this year. 

Districts earning 3.5 stars include Swanton, Rossford, and Lake. Springfield moved up from 3 stars. Genoa, Maumee, and Oregon also earned 3.5 stars, down from 4 stars last year. 

Washington Local Schools earned 3 stars as did Elmwood, which dropped from 3.5 stars.

Taryn Miley, assistant superintendent of academic affairs at Springfield schools, said the district was excited by the rating.

“It shows that overall we are meeting state standards in many areas,” Ms. Miley said. “We are meeting standards in English, but exceeding in math and science.”

Springfield Middle School received 5 stars for gap closing, which measures how well schools and districts reduce chronic absenteeism and work with different socioeconomic and ethnic groups, Ms. Miley said.

Springfield High School received 4 stars each for graduation and College, Career, Workforce, and Military Readiness.

“We want fair and equitable outcomes for all of our students,” Ms. Miley said. “We also want to provide multiple pathways for our students to be successful and thrive beyond school walls.”

Springfield Superintendent Matt Geha said the state grade card is just a piece of what Springfield offers.

“There are lots of pieces in education,” Mr. Geha said. “Our parents, staff, students, and community all play a part in it. The grade ultimately shows hard work does pay off.”

Statewide progress

Ohio’s 2026 Ohio School Report Cards show increases in literacy, math, and work-force readiness, according to state officials.

Stephen D. Dackin, director of the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, said the report cards are showing progress.

“This year’s results carry an important benchmark in the state’s language and literacy outcomes,” Mr. Dackin said in a news release. “Ohio has now finished its first full year with all learning communities incorporating the Science of Reading into literacy instruction. Thanks to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jim Tressel for championing the Science of Reading, and with support from the Ohio General Assembly, Ohio’s efforts to raise literacy achievement are working.”

“We’ve achieved — in this past year — the best numbers that we’ve achieved in the last five years,” Mr. DeWine said. 

Mr. DeWine said these report cards cover the first year that the science of reading has been fully implemented in this state. 

“Maybe the most important thing besides just the overall numbers is the fact that we saw an increase in proficiency among every subgroup,” the governor said, pointing specifically to improvements among economically disadvantaged students and those with learning disabilities. 

According to the release, English language arts proficiency has reached a five-year high of 62 percent in 2026. Math proficiency continues to rise statewide, more students are attending school regularly, and more than two-thirds of graduates are demonstrating postsecondary readiness. 

“Ohio’s Class of 2025 continues to show strong momentum in college, career, work force, and military readiness,” Mr. Dackin said. “Over two-thirds of graduates earned at least one of the state’s 11 postsecondary readiness measures, marking the third consecutive year of statewide improvement.”

Mr. DeWine said these results are further evidence that the next governor and the next Ohio General Assembly should continue his administration’s literacy policies.

“We have to stay focused on this,” he said. “There is nothing more important that we can do for the state of Ohio. There is nothing more important that we can do for our children than to make sure they can read.”

New-student enrollment is growing at the University of Toledo, while Owens Community College and Bowling Green State University are reporting increases in overall enrollment for the fall 2026 semester.

Figures from UT released Tuesday show that new enrollment of students from high school has increased for the first time since 2018. The university added 3,623 students into degree programs this year, up more than 2 percent from last year.

This is while total enrollment, coming in at 14,029, has declined by 1.8 percent since the fall of 2025. 

“What that means is we graduated more students than we brought in,” said James Holloway, president of the University of Toledo. “At this point in time, you see graduates from four or five years ago. There were more of them [in those classes] than there were in the last couple years.” 

Mr. Holloway said continuing on the path of increasing new student enrollment for a few years will eventually result in total enrollment increases. 

The president added that UT is continuing to invest in strategies like recruiting sophomores and juniors. This strategy was announced last year and, Mr. Holloway said, is slated to pay off next year and in the years following. 

“We have seen almost a 30 percent increase in inquiries for next fall,” Mr. Holloway said. “... Those juniors are now becoming seniors.” 

Overall, Mr. Holloway said that the downward trends in enrollment the University of Toledo was experiencing before he became president last year are over. 

“That has been the whole strategy for all of the years to really turn that around and show that we can grow new students by that 2, 3 percent rate,” Mr. Holloway said. “So we are really excited.” 

Eight in a row 

Owens is experiencing its highest enrollment since 2020, officials said. 

Enrollment figures show 7,652 students enrolled at Owens for the fall 2026 semester, a 3.1 percent increase from 7,423 students in fall 2025.

The total is the highest since spring 2020, when 8,486 students were enrolled. School officials said fall 2026 marks the eighth consecutive semester of enrollment growth.

The number of new students increased 5 percent, while the number of continuing students increased 4.5 percent.

Erin Kramer, Owens director of admissions, said that the word momentum is key at Owens. 

“Eight straight semesters. ... That is something we are really proud of,” said Ms. Kramer, who is also an at-large Toledo city councilman. “We are working really hard at Owens to tell our story, and that story includes being affordable.”

Ms. Kramer said she feels those cost factors are making students more strongly consider what was once an alternative option by attending a school like Owens. 

“They are really starting to look a little harder at the cost of higher education as well as the return on their investment when it comes to getting a college education,” she said. “They are thinking, ‘If I go and take out loans, what am I going to get? Am I going to actually get a job? Am I going to be able to get a job that I am going to be able to pay off those loans?’ That is important.” 

Experience and education 

At Bowling Green State University, total enrollment is 20,799 students, up 2 percent from 20,383 last year.

Erin Heilmeier, senior associate vice president for enrollment management at BGSU, added that enrollment of new students topped 4,000 for the second year in a row. This is the first time the school has achieved that feat in back-to-back years, though Ms. Heilmeier said that new student numbers have remained steady from last year to this year. 

“What we are seeing is that students are really recognizing our fantastic academic offerings,” Ms. Heilmeier said. “We are providing them opportunities in areas that are growing both in interest but then also in the work force.” 

She noted that BGSU was one of three universities in the entire country to be named a finalist for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Excellence in Student Success Award. The honor was announced Tuesday. 

“That is for universities that demonstrate a comprehensive commitment to advancing student success,” she said.

BGSU university spokesman Colleen Rerucha said that this award was warranted by the school’s high retention rates, which have increased by 4.4 percentage points since 2021, and its focus on student experience. 

“I think sometimes people are surprised by the fact that they may see us as a larger institution, but it doesn’t feel that big when you are here,” Ms. Heilmeier said. “You can still have amazing opportunities like getting involved with our Falcons marching band, getting involved with our student organizations and professional organizations. It is a really good mixture of providing them with the education that they are seeking but also that experience that they are looking for when they are looking at a four-year institution.”

BOWLING GREEN — NAMI Wood County will host a wellness seminar Friday in Bowling Green. 

The symposium, hosted by local affiliates of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, will include a panel discussion on recovery journeys that focus on cultural identity, trauma, resilience, and the role of community support, organizers said.

Breakout sessions and other training will cover handling hard conversations, creating brave and safe spaces, and creating a personalized affirmation pouch.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the event at Veterans Memorial Building, 520 Conneaut Ave., in Bowling Green, is designed to build “skills, compassion, and cultural awareness for anyone working in mental health or community support,” organizers said.

The $25 registration fee can be paid online or at the door. Find details at namiwoodcounty.org.

A community group is holding a free breakfast and discussion for neighbors on issues and developments in North Toledo neighborhoods.

On Saturday, the North Toledo Coalition will have a free pancake breakfast at Jamie Farr Park, 2140 N. Summit St., from 10 a.m. to noon. 

The gathering is “an opportunity for residents to speak openly about the challenges facing the neighborhood, recognize the progress being made, and discuss ways to continue building a stronger community,” organizers said in a news release.

The event will also promote the coalition’s ongoing pocket park project, Harvest of Hope Gardens, which aims to create a welcoming space where residents can enjoy nature.

“Our goal is to have real conversations with residents and talk about good things going on in the neighborhood, address those negative issues, and enjoy some pancakes,” said Alfonso Narvaez, the coalition’s director.

The North Toledo Coalition is a group of residents dedicated to bettering North Toledo neighborhoods through blight reduction, community cleanups, and neighborhood improvement projects.

Four blocks of 11th Street in downtown Toledo have been converted from one-way to two-way traffic.

The change was implemented this week between Monroe and Jackson streets, with traffic signals installed for southbound traffic at Jefferson Avenue and at Monroe, and a four-way stop set up at 11th and Madison Avenue.

Eleventh remains one-way northbound between Washington and Monroe streets — a block where it handles a substantial volume of traffic off the Indiana Avenue/Washington Street exit from southbound I-75 — while Do Not Enter signs on the southbound stoplight masts at Monroe warn drivers against continuing south there.

The change is consistent with other recent changes by the Toledo Department of Transportation to reduce the number of one-way streets in the downtown area.

The city of Lima and the village of Pioneer are the latest pair of northwest Ohio municipalities to approve data center moratoriums.

Lima’s is for 18 months. Pioneer’s is for six months.

Votes came at the respective Lima and Pioneer council meetings on Monday night. Both were unanimous decisions, although Lima’s vote had an abstention from Councilman Jesse Lowe.

The Lima moratorium came at the request of Lima Mayor Sharetta Smith. The council granted her request for an 18-month pause.

“Mayor Smith requested the moratorium to give the city time to establish clear standards for future data center development before making additional long-term commitments of city resources and infrastructure,” Jessica Begonia, Lima public information officer, said.

“With data center development accelerating,” she continued, “and state and federal policies continuing to evolve, the 18-month pause allows Lima to evaluate those changes while protecting its ability to reliably serve residents and existing industries and preserve capacity for a diverse range of future economic development opportunities.”

Mayor Smith was not available to elaborate on that statement Tuesday.

Councilmen Lowe told other council members during the meeting he was abstaining because he “did not have enough information” about the moratorium they were voting on.

The vote was taken with little discussion. The motion to approve it was made by Councilman Derry Glenn.

Lima Council President Jamie L. Dixon said in a statement on Tuesday that the 18-month moratorium “is about being thoughtful and intentional about Lima’s future.”

“The moratorium gives the city time to examine issues such as appropriate locations, infrastructure, water capacity, electric demand, land use, and other potential community impacts,” Mr. Dixon said. “This action is focused on future proposed standalone data centers. It does not affect the existing agreement or the data center project that is already under construction.”

He said it is important to note that Lima is “not closing the door on economic development.”

“We are taking the time to make sure that future development is approached with a clear process, established expectations, and the long-term interest of Lima in mind.”

Similar concerns in Pioneer

In Pioneer, a Williams County village near the Ohio-Indiana state line, acreage acquired by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies is being marketed as a potential site for a data center now that it appears AquaBounty is unlikely to develop it as an indoor salmon-rearing facility, as originally planned.

Earlier this month, Cervenka Development Partners, LLC, an Illinois-based commercial real estate firm, met with members of the Pioneer planning commission. Cervenka focuses on recruiting data center developers, and said it believed it could land one for the Pioneer site as early as January.

The village council followed that meeting up with its approval for a six-month moratorium, though.

Pioneer Councilman Brock Zuver said he and others wanted a pause to consider what is best for the village, especially now that the rush to build data centers has gained national attention and has become a focus of some political campaigns.

“We didn’t want anything to get fast-tracked,” Mr. Zuver said. “I want people to feel safe when they live here. I want them to live here 20 or 30 years. I’m for growth and industry, but data centers don’t have a ton of jobs.”

The village council recently authorized an electrical study to be done in the coming months to provide more information about its energy needs and potential.

“By waiting 180 days, we should have the electrical study back,” Mr. Zuver said.

He also said he would like to know what kind of data center is interested upfront.

“I don’t want to sell to a developer and not know who my neighbor will be,” Mr. Zuver said.

Also to be decided is the fate of a mile-long easement for a future waterline that would be built to move groundwater from a well in a nearby field to the AquaBounty site, with a nearly parallel pipeline laid to send discharge to the East Branch of the St. Joseph River.

County Engineer Todd Roth has asked Williams County commissioners to hold off on granting a six-month extension to the permit until it is clear who would be using the water.

A local mechanic found temptation irresistible when another driver challenged him to a drag race while he test-drove a marked Lucas County Sheriff’s Office vehicle last week after servicing it.

Unfortunately for Matthew Means, 22, of Toledo, a following motorist had activated a dashboard camera and caught the Sept. 8 race on video. Mr. Means now faces a misdemeanor count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in Toledo Municipal Court.

A tongue-in-cheek post on the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page Tuesday had been seen more than 66,000 times in less than 10 hours.

Service appointments are “not your cue to spiritually transform into **Ricky Bobby** as you fix the vehicle,” the page remarked, referring to the character from the hit 2006 movie, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

“And because the universe has impeccable comedic timing, a member of the public recorded the whole audition,” the post said. “So while you were out there yelling Shake and Bake in your soul, somebody was quietly filming Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Exhibit A.”

Capt. Bobby Chromik, the keeper of the sheriff’s Facebook page, said the witness initially turned on her camera out of concern about the behavior of the driver of an orange Dodge Charger who she believed was operating recklessly.

When that vehicle pulled alongside the cruiser Mr. Means was driving at a red light on outbound Monroe Street at Collingwood Boulevard, the witness expected that to resolve the situation, Capt. Chromik said. So it was to her great surprise when both vehicles revved their engines and rocketed away when the light turned green, he said.

She made a complaint to the sheriff’s office, which began an internal affairs investigation only to determine quickly that it wasn’t a deputy behind the wheel, Capt. Chromik said.

The vehicle involved was a courthouse-services car that, while lacking an emergency light bar on the roof, has the same markings as a road patrol cruiser.

Captain Chromik said when a detective approached Mr. Means, he was very cooperative and readily admitted what he had done.

Comments on the Facebook post generally played on the humor in the situation, even as many also saw the seriousness of it, the captain said.

“I don’t think they’re crucifying this guy,” he said before joking, “They should have waved the black flag, because there was no checkered flag at the end of this race.”

Mr. Means declined to comment when reached by telephone. He is scheduled to appear Sept. 25 in municipal court.

Capt. Chromik said he understood Mr. Means to have been disciplined but not terminated by his employer, which the report did not name. The driver of the Charger was not identified.

COLUMBUS — At least two bills restricting or banning the use of Flock cameras will soon be introduced in the Ohio House. 

Automated license plate readers such as Flock cameras have become a bipartisan target as Ohioans across the state have expressed opposition to the mass surveillance technology. 

State Rep. Gary Click (R., Vickery) is proposing a 12-month moratorium on the cameras with exceptions, while state Reps. Tristan Rader (D., Lakewood) and Levi Dean (R., Xenia) are proposing a total ban on the technology. 

Mr. Click said he and others are gravely concerned about establishing an infrastructure for a surveillance system capable of stripping the right to privacy from citizens. 

“I think we need to put a pause on them,” Mr. Click said Monday. “The problem is ... technology is advancing faster than checks and balances can keep up.”

He said he understands the cameras are helpful for law enforcement, but that is not a good enough reason to allow their use. 

“There are a lot of other things that would be advantageous to law enforcement, too,” Mr. Click said. “Why don’t we just all wear ankle monitors or just get chipped so everybody can know where we’re at all the time?”

Mr. Click is calling his bill the “1984 No More Act” because the cameras remind him of Big Brother in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. 

“It’s already being misused by law enforcement officers who are tracking former romantic partners,” he said.

“I’m very pro law enforcement,” he continued. “Our good men in blue have been solving crimes without this technology for a long time, and putting a strategic pause on there for 12 months until we can figure out what is appropriate isn’t going to hurt us.”

Mr. Click’s bill includes several exceptions to the moratorium, as it allows law enforcement to use Flock cameras to find missing or endangered children and adults. The bill would also allow the cameras to be used to find suspects accused of harming law enforcement officers. Finally, it would allow use of the cameras by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to enforce immigration laws. 

There is also language included in the bill to ensure that other types of cameras are not included in the moratorium, such as the license plate readers used on the Ohio Turnpike for tolling purposes. 

Mr. Click said he is open to changing the length of the moratorium or the exceptions during the committee process when lawmakers return in November.

Flock camera ban

The legislation proposed by Mr. Rader and Mr. Dean — the “Ohio Freedom from Mass Surveillance Act” — would ban law enforcement from using automated license plate readers and create civil and criminal penalties for doing so. 

Mr. Rader said law enforcement should investigate crimes, but they shouldn’t track everyone’s movements just because they can.

“These cameras quietly built a statewide surveillance network without meaningful public debate, clear limits, or adequate protections for our civil liberties,” he said. “Ohio took a wrong turn. This legislation gives us a chance to correct course.”

Mr. Rader said he initially supported Mr. Click’s 12-month moratorium, but he could not support the current bill for a number of reasons, including the exception for ICE. 

“Part of the reason Mr. Dean, myself, and others are supporting an outright ban is because of the threat of the federal government having access to this and using it to whatever ends they want to use it too with very little in the way of checks and balances,” Mr. Rader said. “I think people on both sides of the aisle are worried about that.”

Starting out by offering exceptions is also the wrong strategy, he said. 

“We should not begin this debate by negotiating how much warrantless surveillance Ohioans must tolerate,” Mr. Rader said. “A ban is on the table. We cannot compromise before we even start deliberating.”

Mr. Rader was one of five members of the Ohio House to vote against legislation authorizing warrantless law enforcement drone surveillance. House Bill 251 is set to become law on Oct. 6.

“This technology has become so pervasive and so opaque in how it’s operated,” he said. “Access seems to be dealt out in a way that a lot of people didn’t expect. There’s a lot of folks in Silicon Valley ... in private companies that now have access to this powerful network of surveillance. That is alarming.”

Gubernatorial candidates weigh in

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton recently said she would support a ban on Flock cameras.

“Keeping Ohioans safe will always be my top priority, and public safety should never come at the expense of our rights,” Dr. Acton said.

“It’s become clear that Flock cameras pose serious risks to our privacy and are too easily abused,” she continued. “As governor, I’ll work across the aisle to ban their use statewide and protect Ohioans from the misuse of AI surveillance.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been critical of Flock cameras, but it’s unclear if he supports a ban. 

“We need to effectively, quickly, and rapidly prosecute violent crime, but we have to respect the Constitution as we do it,” Mr. Ramaswamy said. 

“That means that Flock cameras will not ever be used ... in this state to spy on an individual when they’re in a private space,” he continued. “A private space includes not just your home — but also your car. That has to be respected as a hard boundary.”

Mr. Ramaswamy said he is working with law enforcement to ensure there is a proper balance.

In the face of recent cuts in funding, organizers of the Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit are making sure the public knows EVs are here to stay. 

“We live here in northwest Ohio, and we realize how important the mobility and automotive market is,” said Chris Price, chief strategy officer at Tradeshow Logic, which is helping to put on the event, known as EVIS. “Our federal government probably isn’t as promotion-oriented of it, so there is a little bit of a slowdown, maybe a little bit of a pause button, but electric is not going away.”  

EVIS started in Abu Dhabi and has run five times since 2021. Mr. Price and Hesham AlBahri, of fellow organizer Leading Events, appeared before the Rotary Club of Toledo on Monday during its weekly meeting to relay details about the event before it comes to Toledo. 

EVIS America will be Nov. 3-5. Most activity will occur at the Glass City Center, though plant tours will take attendees to other parts of the region. 

A wide range of speakers will offer local perspectives in addition to perspectives and expertise from countries like Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and India. 

Mr. Price said 250 to 300 attendees are expected, some of whom are investors looking to plant seeds in the area. He said the conference’s trade show was initially expected to be bigger. 

The organizer compared holding EVIS in Toledo to holding the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a mountain town with 10,000 permanent residents. He hosts events all over the country and said organizers are looking for more secondary and tertiary cities like Toledo to do business in.

“Although this doesn’t have the Alps in the background, Toledo, to us, is super important because it is the right market size,” he said. “It is easy to get to. It is extremely affordable. And for business connections, this is the place we need it to happen.”

The summit will consist of three programs. EVIS America will focus on advancements in electric vehicles and the infrastructure that supports them. Mobility TechEX will focus more specifically on technology’s impact on mobility, including artificial intelligence. FutureFuelCON will look at fuel technology and alternative fuels and energies. 

Mr. AlBahri said the separate tracks are meant to exhibit the interconnectedness these disciplines have. 

“As you can see, vehicles, they need energy; energy needs infrastructure; and infrastructure needs and requires the intelligence through AI and technology,” he said.  

Attendance at the show is open to the public at the cost $495 per person.

The men said the summit will be valuable for attendees regardless of background or industry. 

“We want to make sure to deliver value,” Mr. Price said. “It is all about value and to make sure the people who come walk out of there and go ... ‘I made some new connections’ or ‘I can participate in that’ or ‘I’m a solution to it.’” 

In the audience, Joshua Dressel was intrigued by several key questions about electric vehicles. 

“What is it going to do to benefit our economy, and what is the risk for our economy?” asked Mr. Dressel, COO at Talbot Health Services. “My fear with the research I have done on EV is the batteries. When you got to recycle them, it is pretty dangerous.”

He said he would like to attend the event, if he is able, to learn more about the answers to such questions. 

“Getting to understand about the actual conference and what it is going to do in our community and the people that are internationally coming in, potentially for the new business development and the business value they add to Toledo itself, because it sounds like they want to invest in Toledo,” Mr. Dressel said. “... If I am able to attend, I am definitely going to attend.”

Lance Woodworth, president and CEO of Destination Toledo, said his organization was involved in the formulation of the event from the beginning. He said Toledo was a first choice for EVIS organizers as they looked to bring an event to the United States.   

“When you think about all the international travelers, as well as domestics that will be coming into town, this will be many of those attendees’ first trip to Toledo,” Mr. Woodworth said. “We have data that shows once people have been here and seen what we have to offer they want to come back.” 

He was excited by giving investors a first look at the city. 

“These investors have so many opportunities or places to invest the money, especially the international ones coming in,” Mr. Woodworth said. “Oftentimes it is who can get them to their place first, develop a relationship with them. People want to do business with people that they know and trust.

“We always say the visit is the first date of economic development. If you get that first date right, you date again and you see where it goes.”

BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green City Council is calling on residents to disregard political considerations when submitting their ideas on the redistricting and updating of the city’s ward boundaries.

“Starting with our current map and then working to make small changes is what we would like to do, and we’re asking folks to not worry about the politics of it,” Councilman Katelyn Elliott said.

“Don’t worry about where current council members live,” she continued. “Don’t worry about the partisan makeup. Just go with what you believe are the communities of interest, and what would make the most sense as wards to you.”

She spoke during a ward redistricting meeting Monday evening. About a dozen people attended the public event at Veterans Memorial Building on Conneaut Avenue. 

The purpose of the redistricting is to reflect population shifts and guarantee equal representation for all residents, Council President Jeff Dennis said.

Last revised in 2002, the maps now show a 29 percent deviation between the largest and smallest wards’ population counts, while courts generally accept a population deviation of 10 percent, he said.

“We’d like to ask the community to give us as much feedback as possible on where the boundaries should be, what communities of interest should be kept together,” he said.

Peg Baker, a 32-year Bowling Green resident, said she plans to do just that.

“As an informed citizen, I come to many meetings, school board meetings, and so forth, and I just wondered what their thinking was because they might know more about planning of new housing in the community,” the retired high school English teacher said.

She was one of a few attendees who said they wanted to make sure the redistricting accounts for planned residential developments.

Ms. Elliott assured them that the more immediate developments will be taken into account, with the more distant ones to be considered during the next redistricting following the 2030 Census.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Monday event, Mr. Dennis offered Bowling Green State University as an example of a neighborhood in need of attention. 

“BGSU right now is split between two wards, and a lot of people don’t think that makes much sense,” he said. “It has the effect of diluting the vote of  BGSU students, who make up more than half of the Bowling Green community, so there are some real questions of fairness around that.”

During the meeting, Ms. Elliott demonstrated ways to create one’s own ward map or just list suggestions and submit them online.

She also listed council-suggested criteria for ward proposals, which include the following:

● Equal population: 7,702 being ideal.

● Contiguous wards.

● Keeping together neighborhoods and communities whose residents share neighborhood, economic, educational, transportation, and other major interests.

● Keeping wards reasonably compact.

● Minimizing unnecessary disruption.

Maps can be created by visiting the Dave’s Redistricting website at davesredistricting.org and creating an account. Users can then make their own copy at the city of Bowling Green’s Starter Map website, bgohio.gov/721.

Once residents have completed their ward maps, they can visit the Ward Redistricting Comment and Map Submittal Form website to submit the link to their map. Submissions will close at 11:59 p.m., Saturday.

The Monday meeting was the first of two public forums to learn more about the purpose of redistricting, discuss communities of interest, and receive assistance with creating maps. 

The second will be 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Simpson Garden Park Building, 1291 Conneaut Ave., Bowling Green.

City Council will then hold a public meeting to consider all maps and select three finalists. The public will be able to provide feedback on those maps by contacting a member of council. 

The final map will be introduced and given its first reading Oct. 5 during a regular council meeting. An ordinance detailing the ward boundaries will be passed ahead of next year’s municipal elections, officials said.

Members of Toledo City Council hope to strengthen local oversight on problematic hotels and motels within the city of Toledo.

District Councilmen Adam Martinez, Theresa Gadus, and Theresa Morris are sponsoring an ordinance that would add local licensing requirements for hotels and motels.

In Ohio, those establishments must be licensed through the state fire marshal within the Ohio Department of Commerce.

State oversight of the licenses makes it harder for municipalities such as Toledo to penalize establishments that are not in compliance, and the district council members said the state is not always attentive to local issues.

“I haven’t really found that the state has been receptive and responsive to our concerns,” said Ms. Morris, who represents District 6.

Mr. Martinez, who represents District 2, said he has received ongoing complaints about criminal activity at the Motel 6 on Heatherdowns Boulevard in South Toledo, but, despite numerous requests to the state, the motel is still operating.

The motel’s owner was not available for comment on Monday.

Toledo police have been called out to the Heatherdowns property 101 times just in the past year, Mr. Martinez said, and it isn’t the only nuisance property.

“Looking at it from an economic standpoint, it costs us a lot of money to respond to a lot of these calls for service,” Ms. Morris said. “These places don’t always have security, so a lot of times they end up using Toledo police.”

On Tuesday, the council members will introduce their proposal, which would amend the city’s municipal code to create a new chapter establishing requirements for motels and hotels.

If approved, hotels and motels will need to obtain a local license to operate in addition to the mandatory state license.

A license will not be issued to a hotel or motel until the property owners are up to date on their taxes, comply with the city’s code, are in good standing with the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, and hold applicable state permits and licenses.

The proposed ordinance would also require a $400 license fee. That money will go toward inspections and code compliance, Mr. Martinez said, so there will be no additional cost to the city.

“The fee isn’t to be punitive, but it’s to give local oversight to ensure that hotels and motels are being operated appropriately,” he said.

Hotels and motels currently operating within city limits will be required to obtain a local license if the ordinance is approved. License applications would be due by Jan. 1, according to the proposed ordinance. Licenses could not be transferred with a change in ownership, and establishments would be required to renew their licenses annually and pay the $400 fee.

Local licenses could be denied or revoked if an establishment violates the city’s code or the Ohio Revised Code, and any person with an ownership interest in a business whose license is revoked could not reapply for a new one within one year of the revocation, according to the proposed ordinance.

If a license is denied or revoked, applicants can appeal the decision with the city.

The ordinance would not only establish local license requirements and guidelines, but it would also limit the duration of occupancy for patrons.

Limiting duration of stay

Under the proposed ordinance, no person could stay at the same hotel for longer than 29 days in a consecutive 60-day period, but there are exceptions.

Exceptions would include establishments with contracts with governmental, charitable, or insurance agencies to house families in crisis receiving temporary housing assistance; agreements with businesses requiring extended temporary occupancy; or contracts with individuals whose hotel stays are not intended as their primary residence.

“There are people that do unscrupulous or shady activity [at hotels],” Ms. Morris said. “Whether you’re talking prostitution, illegal drug use, so then they’re really not safe for people who have children. Having this piece of legislation in place will help us get a handle on some of these hotels and motels that have really been a problem for us.”

Ms. Morris said people who live in hotels as a permanent residence often spend more on housing than they would through other options. She said the goal is to connect them with assistance despite the strained shelter system.

“We can help them get some other supportive services that may be beneficial to get them housed quicker,” she said.

If an establishment violates any part of the proposed code, its local license could be revoked. Any hotel or motel operating without a local license would be charged with a misdemeanor of the fourth degree and receive a penalty of $200 per day for operating without a license.

The proposed ordinance would also allow the city’s law director to bring action against an establishment, including collecting outstanding fines and authorizing a cease-and-desist order.

“We’re not playing around,” Mr. Martinez said.

The members will formally introduce the ordinance on Tuesday during council’s biweekly agenda review meeting. Toledo City Council could vote on it as early as next week, but Mr. Martinez said he would not mind holding off the vote to give his colleagues more time to discuss the proposed ordinance.

Mr. Martinez said this specific ordinance is just the start, hinting that additional legislation is in the process to provide better oversight on short-term rentals.

Some members have had issues with Airbnbs in their districts causing disruptive gatherings, including one that led to the fatal shooting of West Toledo resident Cole Lepkowski.

“I’m hopeful that it will be introduced relatively soon,” Mr. Martinez said of the legislation regarding Airbnbs. “What that looks like, I don’t know because that’s not my legislation, but I’m certainly anxiously anticipating it because we have a lot of Airbnbs in South Toledo that we need to address.”

Toledo Fire & Rescue recovered a body from the Maumee River Monday, a department spokesman said. 

Crews were waiting around 5 p.m. for the coroner’s office to arrive at the scene near Promenade Park.

The spokesman said crews responded to a 3:41 p.m. call from dispatch. Information about the age or gender of the person was not yet available.

Check back for updates.