In observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, Toledo, county, state and federal government offices will be closed today. City offices of Perrysburg, Sylvania, Oregon, and Maumee also will be closed, as will Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles deputy registrar sites across the state. A list of select offices and services follows:

■ Public utilities: Toledo’s Department of Public Utilities will be closed; Columbia Gas and Toledo Edison and its parent company, FirstEnergy, will be open regular hours.

■ Bus service: Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority buses will operate on a regular weekday schedule.

■ Schools: Public and parochial schools and colleges and universities will be closed, and no classes will meet.

■ Retail stores: Franklin Park Mall, Fallen Timbers, and Levis Commons will have regular hours.

■ Libraries: The Main Toledo-Lucas County Public Library in downtown Toledo and all branches will be closed.

■ Trash pickup: Refuse collection will be on a regular schedule for Toledo residents; other communities may vary.

■ Parking: Metered parking in downtown Toledo will be free.

Area events

Groups throughout the area will host events to honor the life and work of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Among the planned events are:

■ The city of Toledo and the University of Toledo will hold the 13th annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Unity Celebration at 9 a.m. today at Savage Arena on the university’s main campus. The event will be shown live on WGTE-TV Channel 30 and rebroadcast at 1 p.m. Ray Wood, Toledo NAACP president, will be the keynote speaker. The free event features performances by the Toledo Youth Choir and the Toledo Interfaith Mass Choir.

■ The First Presbyterian Church of Maumee, 200 East Broadway, will have free activities and food for preschool to eighth-grade children from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today. Parents are invited to drop off their children to participate, and high school students are asked to volunteer to help with the service project.

■ The MLK Kitchen for the Poor will hold its annual celebration service, march, and luncheon at 10 a.m. today at Lo Salem Missionary Baptist Church and the kitchen. The service at the church, 660 Vance St., will be immediately followed by a commemorative march around the Rev. H.V. Savage Park and lunch at the kitchen, 650 Vance.

■ Bluffton University’s Damascus Road anti-racism team will lead a Martin Luther King, Jr., Day Forum discussion of “Race, Fear, and Violence: Reflections on the George Zimmerman Verdict” at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Founders Hall. A panel of five faculty and staff members will answer questions submitted anonymously in advance. The event is free and open to the public.

■ Bowling Green State University will hold its sixth annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service Challenge today, with groups of students, faculty, and staff traveling to area community agencies to provide help. A check-in and a welcome reception for volunteers will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Lenhart Grand Ballroom at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. Volunteers will then travel to various project sites around the area.

■ BGSU will host a presentation by John Quiñones titled “What Would YOU Do? A 20/​20 Vision of America.” The co-anchor of the ABC newsmagazine Primetime and sole anchor of the series What Would You Do?, will speak at 7 p.m. Jan. 29 in Lenhart Grand Ballroom at Bowen-Thompson Student Union.

■ Mark Hampton, founder of FTL Leadership Group, will give a presentation titled “Think Like A King” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Schomburg Auditorium at Defiance College. The event is free and open to the public. FTL provides leadership training and development programs.

■ Monroe County Community College will hold a diversity fair followed by an evening seminar on welfare reform, immigration, and the LGBT community today on the main campus. The diversity fair will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Warrick Student Services/​Administration Building. The seminar, titled “A Quest for Justice,” will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the La-Z-Boy Center Atrium. Marci Ybarra, assistant professor at University of Chicago school of social service administration, will speak about welfare reform; Joanna Sabo, professor of political science and business management at MCCC, will talk about immigration, and Melissa Grey, assistant professor of psychology at MCCC, will speak about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The events are free and open to the public.

■ Heidelberg University will host the Democratic leader of the Ohio House of Representatives at its Martin Luther King, Jr., Day event Tuesday. Tracy Maxwell Heard (D., Columbus) will speak at 11 a.m. in the Brenneman Concert Hall in Tiffin. Heidelberg will also hold a Day On Community Service today. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to participate.

■ The annual Tiffin-Seneca Martin Luther King, Jr., Day community program will be at 7:15 p.m. today at Faith United Methodist Church, 75 N. Sandusky St. The Rev. Darvin Adams will speak on “Celebrating Dr. King’s Theology of Constructive Integration: In Black and White.” The Harmonettes, a Fostoria gospel group, will perform. It is free and open to the public.

First Published January 20, 2014, 5:40 a.m.