Message from Mayor Kapszukiewicz
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Our street crews are still working to fill every pothole in the city. We just surpassed 100,000 potholes filled since Jan. 1, and the Pothole Emergency Plan initiated about eight weeks ago continued this week in the Crossgates neighborhood.
If you have not seen crews on your street yet, please rest assured we will be there. At the same time, our mill and fill teams are working to replace pavement that has been neglected for years.
All Ohio cities are struggling with infrastructure funding needs, and we are working on ways to make sure Toledo's roads are better cared for than they have been in the past due to massive funding cuts at the state level.
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I also want to thank everyone who came out and enjoyed the amazing Independence Day fireworks display last night and the "
Toledo Day in the Sun
" activities at Detwiler Park earlier in the day, which included the Willard vs. Dempsey 1919 championship fight reenactment.
Both events were a huge success and I could not have been more proud of Toledo!
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The city of Toledo’s pothole emergency plan, which has been extended, is now in its 8th week and filled more than 82,000 potholes during that period.
"About 70 percent of city streets have been covered and we are still progressing through the streets," said Toledo Public Service Director Paul Rasmusson. "We recently started in the Crossgates area and we are still diligently working."
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The Toledo Police Department is now using new technology, called ShotSpotter, to detect and locate gunshots within a four-mile section of North Toledo.
ShotSpotter sends alerts to police in real-time after detecting and triangulating gunshots. The system went “live” on June 25. During the first week of use, officers responded to 14 shooting incidents, of which 11 would have otherwise gone undetected if not for ShotSpotter.
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In addition to increasing the detection of gunfire incidents, the technology has already shown to improve response times and assist officers in locating evidence at shooting scenes. Following a ShotSpotter alert, nearby residents will be notified of the incident by a TPD door-hanger requesting Crime Stoppers tips. The newly-formed Gun Crime Intelligence Task Force will focus on analyzing evidence and following up on ShotSpotter leads.
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In September 2018, TPD received a $492,553 grant from the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Technology Innovation for Public Safety. The grant will fund ShotSpotter for one year and a crime analyst for two years. Community members are urged to call 9-1-1 and notify police of crimes in progress. ShotSpotter does not replace 9-1-1 calls.
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Police vehicles make a lot of different noises, but "meowing" is not one of them. That's why when, during a daily vehicle inspection this week, officers Gankowsky and Peart were befuddled by the meowing coming from the back of their wagon.
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The officers drove the vehicle to the department's service station and by then the meowing stopped and mechanics couldn't find this furry friend. The mechanic, after finishing maintenance on another vehicle, walked past the parked wagon and finally heard the meows for himself.
Turns out officers Gankowsky and Peart's rider managed to get up front and was nestled behind a headlight. The black-haired, blue-eyed kitten was uninjured, adorable, and a little feisty.
Steve Clark, the city mechanic who was able to rescue this kitten, says it was fate. Two weeks ago his family lost a cat to illness and his stepdaughter has been upset.
If the kitten is a girl, they'll call her Paddy; if it's a boy, he will be Smokey.
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The
Toledo Air Show
2019 at Toledo Express Airport will be held
July 13 and 14.
F16s will be among the featured flying acts, as will be the Navy’s F18 Super Hornet demonstration team and the Army’s special-operations Black Daggers parachute team. Headlining the show will be Tora! Tora! Tora!, a Commemorative Air Force squadron of eight World War II Japanese “Zero” bombers that will re-enact the Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor bombing. More at
this link
.
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Marathon Classic Presented by Dana
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Tickets are offered at area Kroger stores! When you purchase a ticket online or at a Kroger store, 100 percent of the profits will be donated to an eligible charity of your choice!
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Join us at
7 p.m., Thursday, July 11
at Joe E. Brown Park, 150 West Oakland St.,
for a FREE movie night in the park -
Black Panther.
DJ Mpress will be spinning the hottest music before the movie and concessions.
Entertainment starts at 7 p.m. The movie starts promptly at 9 p.m.
The city of Toledo supports the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability to fully participate in this or any city program or event, please contact Joan Easler, city of Toledo ADA Administrator, Office of Diversity and Inclusion at 419-245-1059.
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The Great Toledo Cleanup will take place from
9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, July 13
in ten different city of Toledo parks - Friendship, Bowman, Joe E. Brown, Wilson, Jamie Farr, Highland, Woodsdale, Navarre, Cullen, and Greenwood
.
Participants are invited to the Bay View Yacht Club for lunch after the event for a meal catered by Balance Pan Asian Grill.
“This is a new program for our area, and a great partnership between Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful, Inc., The Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, Bay View Yacht Club, and Balance Pan Asian Grill,” said Adam Cassi, Executive Director of Keep Toledo/Lucas County Beautiful. “We currently have around 200 people registered for this cleanup. It is open to anyone to participate, but a large bulk of the volunteer workforce are Girl Scouts."
More information, and to register, at
this link
.
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The final home game for the
Toledo Threat
at
5 p.m., Saturday, July 27
at Owens Community College, 30335 Oregon Rd., Perrysburg, Ohio 43551.
The team is now 6-0 and ranked #2 in the entire league, which has 30 teams from across the country!
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Participate in free group exercise classes in city parks all summer, co-presented by The
YMCA of Greater Toledo
! Check out the schedules at:
Haven't signed up to join the challenge yet? It is not too late. Sign up today at
takeitofftoledo.com
.
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By The Numbers
(year to date)
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104,072
potholes filled
1,578
illegal signs removed
141
water main breaks repaired
778,226
feet of sanitary sewers cleaned
30,621
feet of storm sewers cleaned
2,011,790
pounds of debris cleared from streets with street sweepers
3,527,402
pounds of debris cleared from alleys
672
trees trimmed
4,835
building inspections performed
1,730
contractor licenses issued
10,673
grass cutting work orders completed at nuisance and vacant properties
3,170
fire runs
26,356
EMS runs
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'Long overdue' upgrades planned for Ottawa Park amphitheater
Improvements are coming to Ottawa Park and its 83-year-old amphitheater. The Friends of Ottawa-Jermain Park, a community park board-turned nonprofit, are working with city officials to make Toledo’s largest public park more attractive to visitors. The nonprofit applied for a grant through the city’s new district improvement program, which sets aside $125,000 for each of the six council districts to put toward projects that improve neighborhoods.
Toledoans celebrate history, boxing at Day In The Sun event
The bell rang and the stands went quiet. The two boxers circled in the ring, bobbing and weaving. The applause and hollering started once the first punch was thrown, even though the crowd already knew who would win the heavyweight championship bout.
Thousands brave heat for music, fireworks in downtown Toledo
It is hard to stay still when you are 4 years old and waiting for fireworks to start. Zackariah Duvall, who is turning 5 on Monday, led his five siblings — age 2 to 9 — and both parents on a chase around the stage at Promenade Park every time he escaped from the spot the family reserved to watch Toledo’s Independence Day fireworks scheduled after dusk.
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The next Toledo Friday News will be July 26
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