The Newsmeister

Edward E. Tanber, Jr. 1930-2009

Edward E. Tanber, Jr. died July 7 at Heartland of Holly Glen, Toledo, where he lived two weeks.  He was 78.

Ed’s heart had been failing for several years, but somehow he managed to overcome one setback after another to continue his mission at the Step One Club on West Sylvania Avenue, where for more than three decades he helped thousands of club members and others control their addictions – along with his own - one day at a time.

Cancer Victim Leaves Longshot Surprise to Thankful Widow

SWANTON, Ohio - The lottery ticket was stashed among the documents, bills, receipts, medical records and other papers atop the bedroom dresser that served as her husband's desk during the last months of his life.

When lung cancer claimed Mike Bernath in October, 2006, Mary Ann Bernath gave the ticket little heed. She had a husband to bury. Children and grandchildren to console.  And, she needed time to grieve.

Some weeks later, while sorting through Mike's stuff, Mary Ann stumbled upon the ticket.  She briefly considered where to keep it safe, as Mike had told her to do, and finally settled on what in her mind was the most logical place - the Bible she kept on the nightstand next to her bed.

There it remained for 2 1/2 years.

Biker Allegedly Shot in Back by Ottawa Hills Cop Paralyzed and Burned; Files Law Suit

TOLEDO, Ohio - A unarmed motorcyclist allegedly shot in the back by an Ottawa Hills police officer and paralyzed and severely burned during a traffic stop, filed a civil suit yesterday in U.S. District Court against the officer and the village where the incident took place on May 23.

Officer Thomas White, the Village of Ottawa Hills and Officer John Doe are the defendants named in the complaint. The complaint, filed on behalf of Mike McCloskey, 24, of Maumee, by Geoffrey Fieger of Southfield, Mich., a nationally-known attorney, argues that McCloskey's civil rights were violated by Officer White, the village and Officer Doe.

The complaint asks for a jury trial and, as required in such cases, a minimum of $75,000 in punitive and other damages.  That figure could go considerably higher, according to an attorney familiar with the case.

Ottawa Hills police and officials with the state's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, which is investigating the case, have declined to comment or release any documents related to the shooting. But in another incident report, released by Ottawa Hill police and related to the arrest of a second motorcyclist traveling with McCloskey, a different account than is detailed in the complaint of some of the events of that night is given.

Burnt Bridges: How The Blade Tried to Smoke Toledo's Pro-Public Smoking Group

On April 1, The [Toledo] Blade asked the four candidates in the city's mayor's race to sign a clean campaign pledge produced by the Institute for Global Ethics in Rockland, Maine. Yet the newspaper itself frequently has violated fundamental ethics rules established by the Society of Professional Journalists. This is the first in a series of articles detailing the more serious infractions.

"Having been the ombudsman for this paper for almost a decade...I have never seen anyone trying to distort the news at all." Jack Lessenberry, The Blade, Jan. 27, 2008

TOLEDO, Ohio -  During the week before the November, 2004 election, editors at The Blade met for their daily news meeting in the third-floor conference room at the newspaper's North Superior Street offices.

When the discussion turned to a ballot initiative hopeful of diluting the city's recently-passed smoking ban - a ban The Blade championed - an editor had a question for Kurt Franck, the paper's managing editor.

When was the paper going to publish the results of a poll revealing voter opinion on the anti-smoking ban issue? 

The editor, who has requested anonymity for fear of being fired, said the question was asked because The Blade had been running daily polls on nearly every key race and issue - polls the paper had commissioned and paid for - yet nothing on the much-anticipated anti-smoking ban initiative poll.   

Franck had some startling news: The Blade would not run the poll story.  No explanation was given.  End of subject, Franck told the editor.

The implication of Franck's news, however, was clear to everyone aware of the poll: The Blade's side on the issue was losing.

Toledo Water Commissioner/Pastor Retires Amid Lewd Text Messaging Affair

[Publisher's note: This article contains graphic sexual content.]

 

TOLEDO,Ohio – When the city's water commissioner, Willie Perryman, Jr., suddenly retired on Sept. 23 from his $65,000-a-year job, there was little surprise at City Hall.

Perhaps Mayor Carty Finkbeiner and his top aides, Tom Kroma and Robert Reinbolt, encouraged him to leave.  Or maybe Perryman, the longtime pastor at Jerusalem Baptist Church on Dorr Street, had had enough after a tumultuous six weeks.

In his brief memo to Finkbeiner, submitted the day he retired, Perryman, 49, said he was leaving his job to devote more time to his ministry.

 

Not addressed by Perryman, the Finkbeiner administration or anyone else was the real reason behind the departure.

 

City documents obtained by The Newsmeister.com reveal that last summer Perryman sent an unspecified number of shockingly explicit sexual text messages to a temporary clerk in the city's Neighborhoods Department.

 

The employee, 40-year-old Tamara Turner Fuseini, turned seven of the messages over to her bosses, who alerted city officials, triggering an investigation. 

 

Toledo Native Recounts Harrowing Escape In NYC Plane Crash

One minute, Denise Lockie was chatting amiably with her seatmate in the first class cabin of U.S. Airways Flight 1549, as the plane headed out over the Hudson River on its departure from LaGuardia on a bitterly cold but clear Thursday afternoon.

The next, there was an explosion and the plane quickly tilted toward the water. Lockie, a Toledo native and Charlotte businesswoman, assumed the worst as flight attendants asked the 150 passengers aboard  to tuck and brace. Before she tucked, Lockie turned to a passenger wearing a pilot's uniform who was sitting behind her.

"I asked if we were crashing. And [he] nodded yes."

Lockie,a frequent flier who has always been squeamish during takeoffs, felt hopeless.

"I was praying; I thought I was dead," she said. "And, then, we hit the water."

Mayor's Wife Breaks Arm In Fall; Surgery Scheduled for Friday

TOLEDO, Ohio - Ice and the city's First Lady have a thing going on - a thing she could do without.

For the second time in a decade, Amy Finkbeiner took a spill on a slick surface, breaking her arm. The most recent incident occurred Christmas Eve on the front steps of the South Toledo home she shares with her husband, Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.

The break, which she described as a distal radius fracture, has not healed well. Finkbeiner will have surgery Friday morning at the University of Toledo Medical Center, where she manages the Volunteer Services Department.

"It's pretty bad," she said during a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon from her office. "I'm in quite a bit of pain."

Broken Hearts: Rules Flap Sinks St. Ursula Golf Team

TOLEDO, Ohio – Golf, it is often said, is the cruelest game. Rules set in place for a century or more sometimes make little sense. Some of the rules are so obscure that even veteran golfers and tournament officials are unaware of their existence, which is ironic – and often unfortunate - because golf is also the one sport in which players mostly police themselves and integrity is considered its most important virtue.

Sadly, the sport's archives are littered with stories of inadvertent rules violations that have resulted in lost tournaments, broken hearts and even crushed careers.

It has happened at the sport’s highest level, such as the 1968 Masters. There, Roberto De Vicenzo famously missed a chance at a playoff with Bob Goalby when De Vicenzo’s playing partner, Tommy Aaron, marked par on a hole for De Vicenzo when he had made birdie. De Vicenzo did not catch the miscue and signed for the wrong score, which stood.

And it has happened at high school events, such as the Oct. 9 girls Division 1 District Tournament at Heatherdowns Country Club in South Toledo, where 10 teams vied for two spots in this weekend’s state golf championship tournament.

Potential Downtown Hotel Deal Quashed - For Now - Over Land Costs

TOLEDO, Ohio - A deal that potentially would bring a new hotel to downtown Toledo is on hold because the developer believes the asking price for the property is too high.

The developer, Ed Walsh of Alpine Reality in Ann Arbor, Mich., bid on a property at Jefferson Avenue and Water Street owned by the Reuben Co., a Toledo real estate and property management company, according to Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken.

Walsh intended to build a Courtyard by Marriott on the property, currently a 1.6-acre parking lot behind Fort Industry Square, according to Gerken. He said the deal is valued at $16 to $18 million.

Walsh confirmed that he was interested in the Water Street property but declined to give specific details.

"There's not much to comment on other than we weren't able to make a deal," he said. "We have been interested in a few downtown properties but haven't been able to make a deal with anyone."

Letter from Syria: Crossing Turkish-Syrian Border Requires Patience of Job

BAB EL HAWA, Syria – The red letters read “Welcome to Syria.” They’re painted on a large billboard, just off the narrow, bumpy road that connects southeast Turkey and northwest Syria. It’s twilight.  Traffic is light.  Surely it will be an easy crossing.

The Syrians have other ideas.  Like many in the developing world, they practice a form of bureaucracy unknown – and unimagined – in the West.

The first guard I meet calls himself Ali.  He sits at a desk in a small building that resembles a drive-through bank. He wears olive green fatigues. Like many Syrian border guards, Ali is a soldier.

“Passport, please,” he says.

Ali sees that my visa is in order and then hands me a form.

“Money declaration,” he says. “You must write down all of your money.”  Because the Syrian lira is weak, the form is an exercise to keep visitors from trading much-desired dollars at a rate substantially higher than the government would like.  I fill out the form and hand it to Ali.  “Next window please.”

There I meet another Ali who asks why I’m driving a car with French license plates. “It’s rented,” I explain.  “It’s a bit hard to drive across the Atlantic.” Ali ignores my humor and fills two lines in an oversized logbook.  “Welcome to Syria,” he says.