News for the week of January 31, 2012 For complete articles and additional news reports, please see the Point & Shoreland Journal
If you are still viewing last week's information please press your Refresh/Reload button on the top of your browser window to view this week's information. It is the policy of this newspaper to not include names of children with their photograph online.
A worker connects the electricity for the slot machines that soon will be installed on the bases already in place.
Casino nears completion
By Beth Church
Still predicting a spring opening, Penn National Gaming officials gave tours of the Hollywood Casino Toledo under construction last week to members of the media.
“The project has come to fruition very, very quickly,” said Richard St. Jean, casino general manager, who led the tours and answered questions along with Mike Galle, assistant general manager.
Mr. St. Jean praised the work of general contractor Rudolph Libbe–“they are timely, on schedule and on budget.”
Exterior construction of the 290,000-square-feet facility, which includes a parking garage that has 2,450 spaces, is almost fully complete, he said.
Interior work is about 85 percent complete, and a certificate of occupancy is expected in mid-March.
The 24-hour gaming facility on Miami Street, just west of I-75, will feature a 125,000-square-foot casino floor with 2,000 electronic gaming machines, plus 80 live poker tables, blackjack, roulette, craps and carnival style games.
There also will be four restaurants in the casino:
•Final Cut seafood and steakhouse, 130-seat fine dining with a 28-seat lounge overlooking the Maumee River;
•Epic Buffet with seating for 260;
•Skybox sports bar and grill, with seating for 173 and a 20-foot projection TV with a glass screen, visible from both sides;
•H Lounge, an 80-seat entertainment lounge with live acts seven nights per week, and
•Take 2 Grill for “grab and go” sandwiches, salads and desserts.
Most casino visitors will enter through the parking garage, he said, although a valet parking entrance will be available on the east side facing I-75.
Mr. St. Jean said the casino will be a no smoking facility, although it will be allowed outdoors in a designated area.
Local specialists offer predictions on loans, investing, employment By Beth Church
Like 50-degree temperatures in January, there are hints that the economic recession in northwest Ohio may be thawing soon.
Banks are waiting to lend money, while home prices and interest rates for loans are low, according to several local financial and economic specialists.
At a January 4 meeting of the Technical Society of Toledo, a panel spoke about hiring and employment trends, commercial lending and stock market investment advice.
“The banking industry right now is flush with cash,” said Chuck Hoecherl, vice president of treasury management at First Federal Bank.
“Banks primarily make money off loans, and there’s a much larger supply– deposits–and no demand, so the price falls. A 30 year mortgage is below a 4 percent interest rate.
“In 1961, my dad took out a mortgage at 4.25 percent–it’s lower today than 50 years ago,” he said.
He pointed out that Citibank, one of the largest national banks, had $478 billion in cash in September and $437 billion at the end of the year. Locally, Fifth Third had $18.2 billion, Huntington had $11 billion and First Federal had $356 million in December.
“Loan demand is soft, and people are paying down debt,” he explained. “We’d much rather lend it out to people buying homes, buying new businesses.
“If you’re a company expanding, interest rates are at 50 year lows. Banks are eager to lend to owner/operators–we’re trying to lend.”
Mr. Hoecherl, who also is a Monclova Township Trustee, said that consumer confidence, as measured by the federal government, was 64.5 in December–up from 55.2 in November, “although 100 is par.”
Former Sixth District Court of Appeals judge to fill vacancy on Board of Elections
Keila Cosme, who was appointed by Gov. Ted Strickland to serve on Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals in 2009, has been recommended to fill one of the two Democratic seats on the Lucas County Board of Elections.
Her selection comes on the heels of the resignation of former Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party Jim Ruvolo, who requested to step down due to increased professional responsibilities.
“Now is the right time for a transition. I hate to leave, but given the constraints with my job and the amount of travel required compared to the importance of the elections this year, staying on was not the right thing to do for the electorate,” said Mr. Ruvolo.
“I have tremendous respect for Jim, and I certainly understand the pressure he’s under at work. The position is challenging, but I look forward to working closely with the board, its staff, and the secretary of state to ensure that the integrity of our election system is held to the highest standards,” said Ms. Cosme.
Recruiter lists ‘hot jobs’ in the area for 2012
Layoffs and downsizing may seem dominant now, but H.T. Williams, president of Key Recruiting in Perrysburg, sees evidence of growth among local businesses.
“In northwest Ohio, so many small to midsize companies are doing good things and hiring people,” said Mr. Williams, who has spent 15 years in recruiting and seven years owning his business.
A recruiter/headhunter for the professional placement of degreed workers in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, his business in the last six months “has picked up dramatically.”
“Last week, we had five new orders for $80,000 to $100,000 positions,” he added. “It’s definitely increasing.”
Mr. Williams listed a new First Energy plant, Chrysler’s additional 1,000 jobs, Fed Ex’s 100 jobs at a plant in Wauseon and Hollywood Toledo Casino’s 600 jobs, “which have a ripple effect that translates into 11,000 jobs.”
Unemployment rates have dropped slightly in the past year for Lucas County, Wood County and Toledo, he also said.
“With all of that, the economy in northwest Ohio is turning around–we’re definitely going in the right direction,” he said.
From his experience, Mr. Williams provided the following list of “hot jobs” for 2012 in Lucas County:
•information technology (IT) professionals, such as programmers, network system administrators and help desk workers;
•engineers, especially in automotive and mechanical;
•health care, especially home health aides;
•sales professionals, because “as the economy comes back, people are hiring more sales people, especially with technical sales skills”
Traffic crashes and fatalities decrease in Lucas County in 2011
The Lucas County Traffic Safety Program reports that fatal crashes and motor vehicle fatalities decreased in Lucas County in 2011. There were 23 fatal traffic crashes resulting in 29 deaths; two of the 29 deaths were motorcyclists, neither of which was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, and four were pedestrians.
This compares with 35 fatal crashes and 40 deaths during 2010. In 2010 there were eight motorcycle deaths (only one was wearing a helmet when they crashed) and six were pedestrians.
Forty-eight percent of the fatal crashes occurring within Lucas County in 2011 involved a driver under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both at the time of the crash resulting in 11 of the 29 traffic fatalities.
Seat belt use in the fatal crashes that did not involve a motorcycle or a pedestrian was a dismal 26 percent. Only six people that had seat belts available were wearing them at the time of the crash. Almost 70 percent of the deaths were to people not buckled up. According to Gwen Neundorfer, coordinator of the Lucas County Traffic Safety Program, many of these deaths could have been prevented had the person been wearing a seat belt. “Being thrown from your vehicle is not the best outcome. There is room to live if you stay in the vehicle and aren’t violently thrown around striking the hard surfaces of the vehicle’s interior.”
Dog warden to speak at AARP meeting Feb. 2
The Toledo Chapter of AARP will meet Thursday, February 2, at 12:30 p.m., at the Friendship Park Community Center.
The guest speaker will be the Lucas County dog warden.
The public is invited to attend the program.
