News Briefs Week Of 3/14/2022

P.E.R.I. meeting
P.E.R.I. Chapter # 93, Lucas County District 1, will meet Thursday, March 24 from 1-2:15 p.m. at the Hungarian Club of Toledo, 224 Paine Ave. Additional parking is available at the Birmingham Branch Library, 203 Paine Ave. Masks will be required and bring COVID-19 vaccination card for registration.
The agenda will include an open business meeting addressing questions about pensions, HRA, Via Benefits, medical and pharmacy insurance, Medicare denials and the latest State of Ohio legislative information. The guest speaker will be District 1 Representative Chris Thompson.
Refreshments will be available. All chapter and P.E.R.I. members and guests, as well any O.P.E.R.S. (including soon-to-be retirees) are welcome. Limited seating is available.

Congressional District
Art Exhibition opens
The Arts Commission and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur are presenting the Ninth Congressional District Invitational Art Competition to honor artistic excellence demonstrated by area high school students.
Kaptur has been presenting this opportunity to her district since 1983. High schools and student artists in Lucas, Ottawa, Cuyahoga, Erie and Lorain counties are invited to participate.
After shifting to a virtual platform due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, this year, the artwork will be exhibited for in-person viewing at the Toledo Museum of Art Community Gallery. Visitors are welcome to attend during regular museum hours through Thursday, April 24.
An award ceremony will be held Sunday, March 13 from 2-4 p.m. in the Toledo Museum of Art Little Theater. Kaptur and Rhonda Sewell, board president of the Arts Commission and Director of Belonging & Community Engagement at the Toledo Museum of Art, will deliver remarks.
First place-winner is Ethan Miller, a student at Toledo School for the Arts. His artwork, “Idol: Cavetown,” will be displayed in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. for one year.
Runners-up are Jazzalyn Palma, a student at Lakewood High School, and Alexander Ni, of Maumee Valley Country Day School. Their works, “Unmotivated” and “Reflection,” will be displayed in Kaptur’s offices.

Severe Weather
Awareness Week
Gov. Mike DeWine has designated the week of March 20-26 as Severe Weather Awareness Week.
Many Ottawa County schools, health care facilities and other public and private organizations will be conducting training and drills in conjunction with the observance.
A key activity during the week will be a statewide test of weather warning dissemination and preparedness procedures which will be conducted at 9:50 a.m., Wednesday, March 23. The Ottawa County siren system will be activated for three minutes, and the Sheriff’s Dispatch will broadcast a test message to police, fire and EMS departments.
In addition, the National Weather Service will activate weather alert radios. Actual weather warnings are disseminated in the same manner.
The county will also test their wireless emergency notification system, which will alert you via cell phones in the event of an emergency. To sign up for this service, visit the Ottawa County Emergency Management Agency website at co.ottawa.oh.us/230/Emergency-Management-Agency.
“Severe weather can threaten Ottawa County in many forms,” said Fred Peterson, director, Ottawa County Emergency Management Agency. “Timely notification and warning play a key role in the effort to save lives and protect property.
“We urge you to review your tornado warning procedures and discuss them with your families and/or business personnel. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call our office,” Petersen said.

Museum front
entrance closure
The front entrance to the National Museum of the Great Lakes, 1701 Front St., Toledo, is currently under construction as the Metroparks Toledo works to improve the vehicle entrance and accessibility to both the museum and the Glass City Metropark grounds.
Work began Tuesday, March 8 and will conclude in April in preparation for May’s increased seasonal visitation as
the museum’s vessels reopen. The main signage on Front Street will be down for the duration of the construction, however the museum’s 11,000-square-foot inside exhibit space will remain open.
Visitors should expect to be directed to the museum’s parking lot with the use of orange barrels, temporary signage, and occasional entrance detours.
For more information and status updates, visit nmgl.org, call the museum front desk at 419-214-5000, or visit @NMGLToledo on social media.

First Solar plans
building expansion
First Solar has applied for an amendment to its enterprise zone agreement for a building under construction in Lake Township.
Wade Gottschalk, executive director of the Wood County Economic Development Commission, reported last week to the county commissioners the company is requesting 200,000 square feet be added to the 1.9 million square feet already included in the agreement.
He also said he was confident that property owned by Peloton Interactive, Inc. in Troy Township will attract a buyer if the economy remains healthy.
The building covers more than 1 million square feet and there is a large amount of usable acreage remaining on the site, he said.
Senior management at Peloton in February announced plans to sell the building and land at Peloton Output Park in Troy Township once external construction is complete.
The maker of interactive exercise bikes and equipment announced it had decided to “wind down our Peloton Output Park plan” as the company undergoes a major restructuring.
The move comes less than a year after it announced plans to invest about $400 million in the 200-acre site where it would manufacture the Peloton Bike, Bike+ and Peloton Tread. A groundbreaking was held in August 2021 and production was slated to start in 2023.
The company expected to add more than 2,000 jobs when the Troy Township project was up and running.

Trade policies flawed, Sen. Brown says
Senator Sherrod Brown criticized U.S. tax and trade policies following the announcement that GE-Savant will be closing its Bucyrus, O. light bulb plant:
“Once again, we are witnessing the result of decades of misguided tax and trade policies that work against Ohio workers and companies that want to manufacture in the U.S. I have been fighting alongside the men and women of GE-Savant for years, and I won’t stop fighting for them and their community now. This announcement should serve as a wake-up call – innovation happens on the shop room floor, and when 99 percent of energy efficient light bulbs are made in China, it is impossible for us to compete. We need to make more things in America – not cede market share in the products of the future to China.”

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