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THE BLADE: TOLEDO, OHIO ■ MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015SECTION B, PAGE 2 toledoBlade.com

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DAVID PATCHROAD WARRIOR

Each week, The Blade’s Road Warrior highlights the major construction projects in Toledo and the surrounding area, noting where delays are worst and suggesting alternate routes.While the I-75 work zone between I-475 and I-280 is now essentially set up the way drivers will see it until mid-2016, some spot ramp closings and detours will still occur.Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the ramp from eastbound I-475 to northbound I-75 will be closed. Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. each night, traffic will be detoured via the Detroit Avenue interchange.Also during those hours today through Wednesday, Stickney Avenue and La-grange Street will be closed for overhead bridge demolition. Stickney will also be closed Wednesday night. With the Cecelia Avenue overpass now closed permanently, traffic from both closed streets will be detoured to Phillips Avenue.On the plus side, the Ohio Department of Transportation advises that the nighttime through-the-ramps detours set up last week at the Stickney-Lagrange inter-change for demolition of the Polish Village Overpass are all that will be needed for that structure’s removal.We had been told during set-up that weekend freeway shutdowns were planned, but those will not occur for this part of the project.In Lima, I-75 motorists should be alert for changing lane patterns starting this week and continuing through May’s end. ODOT says traffic will be shifted onto newly built pavement in southern Allen County as part of the freeway’s ongoing reconstruction there.Southbound ramps at Breese Road will reopen, while the State Rt. 65 entrance to southbound I-75 will close.1. I-75: Reconstruction and widening from I-475 to I-280 closes all ramps at Jeep-Willys and all ramps at Phillips except the southbound entrance. Eastbound I-475 entrance from ProMedica also closed. Detour to nearby interchanges. Overpass at Stickney-Lagrange interchange closed for reconstruction. Lane restrictions and nighttime closings on Phillips and La-grange at I-75 for bridge work. Completion in mid-2018.2. I-75: Two of four lanes closed, down-town Toledo to I-475, for reconstruction until mid-2016. Detroit entrance to south-bound I-75 closed. Very congested during rush hours, especially southbound in the morning and northbound in the afternoon. Oakwood closed at I-75 through April for bridge work.3. I-75: No shoulders and 60-mph speed limit for widening project from I-475 in Perrysburg south of State Rt. 18 near North Baltimore. Off-peak single-lane clos-ings possible.4. I-475/U.S. 23: Traffic shifts and shoulder and ramp closings for bridge widening. Airport entrance to southbound I-475 closed until mid-June. Use Salisbury/Dus-sel entrance instead.5. I-475/U.S. 23: Off-peak lane closings at the I-475/U.S. 23 split in Sylvania Township and south of U.S. 20 (Central) for interchange work and overhead bridge renovation at Bancroft.6. Anthony Wayne Bridge, Miami Street: Bridge closed for renovations until No-vember. Use DiSalle or Martin Luther King, Jr. bridges instead. Miami closed at the bridge for overhead work through June. Detour via Fassett and Oak.7. U.S. 20 (Central, Reynolds): Lane closings at Central/Reynolds and Central/Holland-Sylvania intersections for finish

work on widening and median construc-tion project.8. McCord Road: Closed just north of Hall/North Mall for sewer work ahead of underpass construction at the Norfolk Southern railroad. Posted detour is Airport, Holland-Sylvania, and Angola. Use Hollo-way to Front and Clark or Clarion for local access in Holland.9. I-475: Eastbound right lane closed between Corey and Secor weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. for noise-wall construc-tion. Daytime lane closings, I-75 to U.S. 23, for cleaning and drainage work through Friday.10. Cherry Street: Inbound lanes closed at Collingwood and outbound traffic reduced to one lane north of Central for water proj-ect. Inbound traffic detour via Collingwood and Central.11. Ohio Turnpike: Lane closings east of I-280 for resurfacing through October. One lane closed each way during daytime hours, but a second lane may be closed in either direction at night.12. U.S. 23: Daily lane closings for pave-ment patching between School and Ida Center roads until 2 p.m. Friday.13. State Rt. 420: One lane closed on the northbound side from Libbey to the Ohio Turnpike for widening.14. State Rt. 65: Varying lane clos-ings between State Rts. 64 and 235 for resurfacing.15. State Rt. 2 (Airport/Western): Closed to eastbound traffic for reconstruction between Detroit and the Airport/Western intersection. Detour via South Avenue. Avoid Western/Airport west of Hawley if possible because of rough pavement conditions during repaving.16. State Rt. 795: Varying lane closings, Luckey to Oregon, for pavement repairs today through Wednesday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.OFF THE MAPI-75: Reduced speed limits and off-peak lane closings through Lima for reconstruc-tion. Entrance ramps closed at State Rt. 65 in both directions.Ohio Turnpike: One lane closed each way between mile 5.7 and the Indiana border for resurfacing. Delays likely during peak weekend travel times. Lane closings between the Fremont and Sandusky/Bel-levue interchanges for reconstruction.U.S. 6: Closed east of Fremont for bridge repair through May. Detour via State Rts. 510, 412, 101, and 269. U.S. 6 also has lanes closed between State Rt. 25 to Dun-bridge Road, for pavement repairs. Ramps from southbound I-75 to eastbound U.S. 6 and from northbound I-75 to westbound U.S. 6 are closed. An automated signal governs alternating traffic at a bridge project between State Rt. 199 and New Rochester Road.U.S. 23/30: Lane closings near Upper Sandusky for bridge repairs and resurfac-ing. Ramp from eastbound U.S. 30 to northbound U.S. 23 closed until late in the month.U.S. 23: Lane closings between Milan, Mich., and I-94 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mon-day through Thursday for cable guardrail installation in the median.State Rt. 2: Lane closings east of Port Clin-ton for stabilization of mine below freeway into June. Westbound entrance closed at Catawba Island interchange (State Rt. 53).State Rt. 12: Closed near Bettsville for bridge rehabilitation until June. Detour via State Rt. 635, U.S. 6, and State Rt. 53.State Rt. 295: Closed until May 22 between Doran and Archbold-Whitehouse roads for multiple culvert replacements. Detour via State Rt. 64 and U.S. 24.

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Contact the Road Warrior at: roadwarrior@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.

EngineerContinued from Page B1

Commission — remained em-ployed by the county engi-neer’s office. During their em-ployment, both of his sons re-ceived several raises, accord-ing to the settlement.

The ethics investigation,brought forth in 2013, foundMr. Recker violated a 1985 lawthat disallows public officialsfrom hiring relatives.

The settlement states Mr.Recker cooperated with the in-vestigation and that “multiple”Putnam County officials be-lieved Mr. Recker’s sons weregrandfathered in and no ethicsviolation occurred. The reportalso states that Mr. Recker hadhired his daughter after 1985,and when told that was “inap-propriate,” he “removed” hisdaughter from the position.

Neither John Lowe, presi-dent of the Putnam CountyCommissioners, nor Mr.Recker returned messages Fri-day seeking comment. PutnamCounty Prosecutor Gary Lam-mers could not be reached forcomment.

The settlement states Mr.Recker acknowledged usinghis position to help his sonsand that he agreed to resign 40days after the settlement date.His last day of work is sched-uled for Friday.

HearingContinued from Page B1

which next meets June 4.TARTA’s $1 fare has been in

effect since January, 2006, al-though for some passengersthe cost of riding nearly dou-bled in 2008 when the transitauthority eliminated 10-centpaper transfers, forcing thosewhose trips require a bus con-nection to pay full fare for eachleg.

Mr. Gee said at the timethere were problems withfraudulent use of transfers, andhe expected their eliminationto boost pass sales among fre-quent riders.

Some passengers com-plained they couldn’t affordthe passes’ up-front cost.

Adding 25 cents to the basefare would match Toledo’s busfare with that of the Youngs-town and Akron transit author-ities, while other Ohio bus sys-tems charge much more, in-cluding $2.25 in Cleveland, $2in Columbus, and zoned faresin Cincinnati that start at $1.75and rise significantly outsidethe city limits.

Other TARTA fares and passprices would also increase byabout 25 percent under theplan, including an increasefrom $2 to $2.50 per ride forTARPS.

Mr. Gee said authority offi-cials expect the fare increasesto boost TARTA’s revenue byabout $500,000 annually. Arule of thumb is that ridershipdrops by about 1 percent foreach 5 percent increase in fare,he said.

TARTA collected about $4.12million at its fareboxes lastyear, covering less than onesixth of its $26.4 million oper-ating budget. Most of its localrevenue comes from two prop-erty levies assessed in itsseven-community servicearea, which generated $12.96million in 2014.

TARTA operates in Toledo,Ottawa Hills, Sylvania, Sylva-nia Township, Maumee, Wa-terville, and Rossford.

Contact David Patch at:dpatch@theblade.com

or 419-724-6094.

UTContinued from Page B1

THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER

Jason Strumbo of UT’s musicdepartment conducts anensemble. At right is the UTPershing Rifles color guard.

their children become gradu-ates,” he said. “On thisMother’s Day, I want to ex-press our sincere thanks to allof the moms whose love andsupport made this achieve-ment possible for their sonsand daughters.”

During the 9:30 a.m. cere-mony, state Sen. Keith Faber(R., Celina), who representsOhio Senate District 12, deliv-ered the address for graduatesfrom the colleges of Adult andLifelong Learning, HealthSciences, Social Justice andHuman Service, and the JudithHerb College of Education.

Mr. Faber acknowledgedwhat was undoubtedly on theminds of many graduates— that the three-hour cere-mony was too long; that the

majority of graduates probablywon't remember who the com-mencement speaker was, or

recall what he said.He quoted the movie char-

acter Ferris Bueller, who, hequipped, was a noted philoso-pher from the 1980s.

“He famously said, ‘Lifemoves pretty fast. If you don’tstop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it,’ ” thestate senator said. “So today isyour day to stop and lookaround. It is this moment inyour life that you will remem-ber all of the rest of your life. Itis both the end of a long andhard-fought journey but also[the] beginning of a next chap-ter.”

Mr. Faber spoke of the OhioSenate’s “5 percent challenge,”which calls on Ohio’s publiccolleges and universities to re-duce student costs by 5 per-cent for the next academicyear.

“Simply put, we are bringingcosts for students down,” hesaid.

UT signed a memorandumof understanding with threearea community colleges —Owens Community College,Northwest State CommunityCollege, and Terra State Com-munity College — to create aconsortium to lower costs andimprove the transition fromsecondary to higher education.

Roy Armes, chief executiveof Cooper Tire and RubberCo., spoke during the 2 p.m.ceremony for the colleges ofBusiness and Innovation,Communication and the Arts,Natural Sciences and Mathe-matics, and Languages, Litera-ture, and Social Sciences.

Mr. Faber received an hon-orary doctor of public adminis-tration, and Mr. Armes re-ceived an honorary doctor ofbusiness administration.

Contact Ignazio Messina at:imessina@theblade.com,

419-724-6171, or onTwitter @IgnazioMessina.

A KISS FOR MOM ON MOTHER’S DAY

THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT

Breanna Hernandez plants a smooch on her oldest son, Aiden, 11, while spendingMother’s Day in Pearson Metropark in Oregon. The Hernandezes live in Walbridge.

Corps wants dredging postponedASSOCIATED PRESS

CLEVELAND — The deci-sion to hold off on dredgingpart of the Cleveland Harborand Cuyahoga River channelshould be maintained while astate lawsuit is pending, ac-cording to a court filing fromthe U.S. Army Corps of Engi-neers.

In its filing, the Corps askedU.S. District Judge DonaldNugent not to grant the stateof Ohio’s request that it fullydredge the channel while thelawsuit is pending, the North-east Ohio Media Group re-ported.

Ohio sued the Corps inApril over its plan to charge

the state $1.4 million for dis-posing toxic sediment dredgefrom the channel into con-tainment facilities and not inLake Erie.

The state said the Corpswon’t dredge the entire chan-nel unless Ohio covers thecost.

The Corps has said that fed-eral regulations require theagency to determine the leastexpensive dredging optionthat’s technically feasible andenvironmentally suitable.

Ohio regulators havevoiced concerns that the sedi-ment is affecting water qualityand contaminating LakeErie’s sport fish.

Steam-leak repairs keepDavis-Besse shut down

OAK HARBOR, Ohio —Davis-Besse nuclear powerplant remained shut downSunday after a steam leakSaturday night.

FirstEnergy Corp. shutdown the power plant anddeclared the lowest levelemergency in response to thesteam leak, which came fromthe nonradioactive portion ofthe plant and does not in-volve the nuclear reactor,Jennifer Young of FirstEnergysaid.

The company is examining

the pipe that must be re-paired to fix the leak, shesaid. The plant will remainshut down until repairs arecomplete.

“We do not expect this tobe a lengthy shut down,” Ms.Young said.

Electric service for thecompany’s customers hasnot been affected becauseFirstEnergy can draw fromother sources, she said.

“There should be no im-pact to customers,” she said.“They shouldn’t notice any

difference because the plantis shut down.”

Davis-Besse personnel dis-covered the leak just before 7p.m. and began a shutdownof the plant, Ms. Young said.The utility declared an “un-usual event,” the lowestemergency category, notifiedthe Nuclear Regulatory Com-mission, and asked on-callsupport staff to report forduty.

“We make these declara-tions out of an abundance ofcaution,” Ms. Young said.

Some Ohio court clerksfail to report convictionsBy RANDY LUDLOWCOLUMBUS DISPATCH

COLUMBUS — While theoffice of Ohio Attorney MikeDeWine wrestles with a tech-nologically unreliable crimi-nal background-check sys-tem in a bid to generate accu-rate reports, there’s anotherproblem.

Some Ohio court clerks failto follow state law that re-quires them to report crimi-nal convictions weekly sothey can be linked to arrestsand fingerprints on file.

There’s nothing Mr.DeWine or the OhioSupreme Court can do aboutit. The laws lack any mecha-nism to force independentlyelected court clerks to com-ply.

Twenty-three commonpleas, municipal, and juve-nile court clerks, and poten-tially dozens of Ohio mayors’courts, are failing to reportcriminal convictions to theBureau of Criminal Identifi-cation, an audit by Mr.DeWine’s office found.

BCI employees, Mr.DeWine’s office said, try tocompensate by checkingpublicly available court web-sites and by faxing and call-ing the offices of clerks ofcourt to capture convictions

and shuttle them into thestate system.

Still, Mr. DeWine said,thousands of convictions,which police officers andpublic and private employershope to detect during back-ground checks, are missingfrom the state database.

The problem is set againsta backdrop in which an in-vestigation by WBNS-TV andthe Dispatch discovered ma-jor flaws in a criminal back-ground-check system thatperiodically reports that fel-ons have clean records.

Other problems have in-cluded some courts failing toreport convictions formonths at a time and recordslacking a key ID numberneeded to link arrests andconvictions. An analysis ofFranklin County MunicipalCourt records found that 36percent of cases over threeyears lacked the number.

In Marion County, 16-yearCommon Pleas Clerk JulieKagel stopped mailing crimi-nal convictions to BCI nearlyfive years ago and is awaitingthe completion of an onlinereporting system in comingmonths to resume reporting.

“We have it all stored, wejust have to have the elec-tronic mechanism in place to

send it,” she said.Meanwhile, Ms. Kagel said

she honors faxed requestsfrom BCI for dispositions onarrests previously reportedby police.

Marion County Sheriff TimBailey is disappointed thatwhile his deputies do theirjob on the front end, process-ing suspects’ fingerprints andsending them to BCI, theirconvictions are not reportedas reliably.

“It could provide an in-complete picture of the per-son we’re dealing with ... ifdispositions are not making itto BCI,” Sheriff Bailey said.

The Ohio Supreme Courtcan encourage court clerks toreport their convictions, butthat’s the limit of its author-ity, spokesman Bret Crowsaid.

High-court officials talkedwith Ms. Kagel and JudgeWill iam Finnegan and“stressed the importance ofresolving this issue as soon aspossible,” Mr. Crow said.

The court also makes tech-nology grants available to lo-cal courts, awarding morethan $1 million since Febru-ary, to allow them to reportconvictions electronicallyboth to the Ohio Court Net-work and BCI, he said.

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