Message from Mayor Kapszukiewicz
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I encourage everyone to get out and enjoy some of the great events happening this weekend as the summer season begins. We will be at the
Old West End Festival and Parade
and the Point Place Days Parade sponsored by the Point Place Business Association Saturday. Hopefully, we will finally have an extended break in the rain and enjoy these two amazing annual events.
I also want want let everyone know that I am as frustrated as everyone else is with high grass in parks, triangles, boulevards, vacant lots, and nuisance properties. Near record rain this year is making the grass grow faster than we can cut it. In addition, we do not have enough resources to tackle the problem, and there are also irresponsible property owners in our community who don't cut their grass. Our heavy lawn equipment has gotten stuck in mud quite often this season in parks and we are unable to mow.
We know we must do better -- and city crews are working long hours to catch up. With the resources we have, the city has a schedule that does not match that of most responsible homeowners. Our goal is to cut grass every 14 days. We hold irresponsible property owners accountable. When they don’t cut their grass, and we learn about it, we come out, cut it, and charge them for it.
Finally this week, I want to congratulate the Toledo Walleye on their
4-1 win
against Newfoundland in the crucial game 3 of the Kelly Cup Finals. In case you missed it, I gladly accepted a
challenge
from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Mayor Danny Breen. All of Toledo is behind the Walleye during the rest of the series!
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The good economic news for Toledo continues.
Toledo was ranked among the national leaders in opportunity jobs this week, according to a new report authored by researchers at the Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia and Cleveland.
"More than one in five jobs across America’s metro areas are defined as opportunity occupations, meaning that they pay above the national annual median wage and are accessible to workers without a bachelor’s degree. Among the 121 metros studied, the regions with the highest share of employment in opportunity occupations were Toledo (34.0% of jobs), Anchorage (31.5%) and Des Moines (30.8%). In fact, seven of the top 10 metros are located in the TrustBelt Region. They include fifth-ranked St. Louis, No. 6 Cedar Rapids (Iowa), No. 7 Cleveland, No. 8 Lexington, Kentucky, and No. 10 Kansas City,"
Dean Monske, president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership, the economic development organization representing the greater Toledo region in northwest Ohio, said it is not a fluke that Toledo ranks No. 1 in the country in share of opportunity jobs. “When you look at the top 25 opportunity employment occupations in these 121 American metros, we have most of them right here in Toledo and Northwest Ohio,” Mr. Monske said. “And over half of these occupations are growing faster than employment growth nationally. Plus, only a handful of those top 25 jobs have any risk of being lost due to automation.”
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Jess Willard vs. Jack Dempsey Anniversary
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Mayor Kapszukiewicz this week announced the events planned to commemorate the 100
th
anniversary of the historic Jess Willard vs. Jack Dempsey
fight
that took place on July 4, 1919 – “Toledo’s Day In The Sun.”
“A century after Toledo’s most famed sporting event, which placed our city at the center of the sports world in 1919 — when Jack Dempsey defeated Jess Willard in a 97,000-seat wooden stadium built at Bay View Park specifically for the heavyweight boxing championship bout — we are bringing the fight of the century back to life this summer,” Mayor Kapszukiewicz said. “This is a first-of-its-kind production, with a replica of the stadium and a free-admission reenactment of the bout on July 4. The series of events will include actors in period dress.”
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The events planned for the anniversary include:
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- Block Party Preview, June 13, 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., on St. Clair Street in front of the Toledo History Museum. Drinks, food, special guests with an exclusive preview of the exhibit at the museum. The event is sponsored by Huntington Bank.
- Grand Opening of the Toledo History Museum exhibit, June 20, 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Created in partnership with the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, The Toledo Museum of Art, and the Toledo Blade, the show will feature photos, articles, films, and other memorabilia from Toledo’s Day In The Sun 100 years ago. The evening is also the Arts Commission’s Third Thursday Art Loop. The theme of the loop is “The Art of Sport.” Many of the venues will highlight sports, movement, boxing, and Toledo’s rich history and current involvement in sports. The Toledo History Museum will be a featured exhibition.
- Toledo’s Day In The Sun Celebration July 4, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Detwiler Park. The free, family-friendly day-long event, which is sponsored by Crestline Paving and Excavating, includes Junior Golden Glove amateur bouts, displays from eight boxing gyms with information and free educational sessions for children, a DJ, food trucks, drinks, t-shirts, and other merchandise for sale. There will also be a recreation of the world-famous fight with professional actors trained by Chicago-based fight director Charles Coyl. A portion of the stadium will be built by volunteer help from the Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Local 351. Fred Lefebvre of WSPD-AM 1370 will be the announcer.
- Toledo’s Day In The Sun Professional Boxing Night, July 6, 7 p.m., at Seagate Convention Center. Six cards, local boxers, historical displays, and more. Confirmed boxers include Robert Mumford, Jr., Antwan Jones, Elias Moreno, and Terrance Jarmon. Tickets start at $25.
Food truck operators interested in the events should contact Leslie Albanese at 419-245-1001.
The city of Toledo supports the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability to fully participate in 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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Every alley in Toledo will be cleaned this year. There are 2,351 alleys, or about 174 miles worth of alleys in the city.
Last week, the city collected 214,020 pounds of debris, and 307 tires. That brings the annual total to nearly 2.6 million pounds of debris and 2,608 tires. Check the cleaning progress at
this link
.
A joint Toledo Police - Toledo Code Enforcement task force is cracking down on illegal dumping in alleys. Anyone caught dumping in alleys, or anywhere in Toledo will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Alleys are also being graded this year. Grading crews completed grading in zip codes 43605 and 43609. Those in the 43607 zip code are currently being graded.
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Old West End Festival and Parade
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Toledo’s oldest running festival kicks off with the King Wamba Parade, followed by tons of other activities and live entertainment. Enjoy local food, yard sales, the marketplace and art fair, children’s activities and lots more.
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The Point Place Days Parade begins at
noon, Saturday, June 1
at Summit and 108th Street. It is sponsored by the Point Place Business Association.
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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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Swan Creek Cleanup
Downtown businesses and Partners for Clean Streams will be working together for a water and land based cleanup along the mouth of Swan Creek to remove marine debris and beautify downtown Toledo,
9-11:30 a.m., Saturday, June 1
at the Owens Corning Parking Lot/ Middlegrounds Metropark. Please meet at Visitor Parking Lot for supplies and safety training or Middlegrounds Metropark for boaters.
All are welcome to join this event! Registration is required at
this link
. Cleanup and safety supplies will be provided. Light refreshments available post-cleanup.
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By The Numbers
(year to date)
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57,452
potholes filled
1,322
illegal signs removed
125
water main breaks repaired
654,125
feet of sanitary sewers cleaned
19,296
feet of storm sewers cleaned
2,011,790
pounds of debris cleared from streets with street sweepers
2,593,757
pounds of debris cleared from alleys
602
trees trimmed
3,785
building inspections performed
1,681
contractor licenses issued
5,639
grass cutting work orders at nuisance properties and vacant lots completed
2,512
fire runs
21,366
EMS runs
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The City of
Toledo
Department of Public Utilities 2018 Annual Report is now available online at
this link
.
We are devoted to safe drinking water and clean source water. The city produces an average of 70 million gallons of great drinking water everyday that meets or exceeds quality standards.
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More than 2 million pounds of debris collected from Toledo alleys with more work to be done
2.59 million pounds! That's how much debris has been cleaned out of Toledo alleys already this year. There’s still plenty more to do. The 13abc I-Team caught up with one of those alley cleaning crews in the area of Detroit Avenue and Tecumseh Street in Toledo. For years the alley between Tecumseh and Hamilton has been a mess but now it's getting a new lease on life.
Kelly Cup Finals a financial boon for downtown Toledo
Paul Childers drove an hour and a half from his hometown of Fort Wayne, Ind., to see the Toledo Walleye battle the Newfoundland Growlers in Game 3 of the 2019 Kelly Cup Finals. On Friday, he plans to make that trip again, as he’s trying to soak up as much of downtown Toledo’s playoff hockey atmosphere as he can.
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