There’s been no shortage of significant news in the Toledo region over the past year.
A tumultuous 12 months in local courtrooms — a disgraced former superintendent sent to jail, a man sentenced to death for a grisly murder, a serial killer released from custody — was dramatically topped off by the stunning arrest in December of three individuals charged in relation to two separate terrorism plots.
The saga over the need for a new Lucas County jail dragged on, with voters soundly rejecting the tax increase request that county officials hoped would fund the project.
The creation of a regional water agreement saw some progress, but still remains a tenuous prospect.
The continued revitalization of downtown’s Promenade Park — punctuated by a successful summer concert series — and the re-opening of the Toledo Zoo’s beloved tunnel served as bright spots scattered throughout an often difficult year.
And, of course, road construction in and around the Glass City continued to cause endless headaches for motorists.
But with those traffic-induced headaches — like with much of 2018’s top news stories — also came hope. Hope that Toledo’s streets, roads. and highways will look much better when the snow melts and the ground thaws; hope that justice served will bring some relief to mourning families; hope that — despite some inevitable setbacks — the region’s elected leaders found success in advancing the public interest.
Hope that, in 2019 and beyond, we’ll all do better in Toledo.
Reagan Tokes and Sierah Joughin get justice
Families of two murdered young women saw their daughters’ killers punished for their crimes this year, and worked to turn tragedy into new laws aimed at protecting the public.
Brian Golsby was sentenced in March to life in prison for the rape and murder of Reagan Tokes, an Ohio State student and Anthony Wayne High School graduate killed in Columbus in February, 2017.
And in April, a Fulton County judge sentenced James D. Worley to death for kidnapping and murdering 20-year-old Sierah Joughin in July, 2016. Worley has filed a notice of appeal for the sentence.
Families of both women sought legislative change related to their daughters' cases.
Gov. John Kasich in late December signed Sierah’s Law, creating Ohio’s first statewide database of violent offenders, and the Reagan Tokes Law, which marks a return to indefinite sentencing with minimums and maximums for those convicted of certain violent felonies, using the threat of longer prison time to get inmates to behave and work to improve themselves while behind bars.
Regional water agreement progresses
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz began 2018 confident he’d be leading the region in creating the brand new Toledo Area Water Authority, but by late May it became clear that city council and the general Toledo electorate didn’t support the plan.
Mr. Kapszukiewicz and leaders from Lucas County, Sylvania, Perrysburg, Maumee, Whitehouse, Fulton County, Monroe County, and the Northwestern Water and Sewer District pledged in January to form TAWA, but a series of contentious community meetings proved Toledoans couldn’t back a proposal that would lease or sell the city’s Collins Park Water Treatment Plant to the new authority.
The mayor in May unveiled his backup plan to create a regional water commission governed by a board of utility experts from each participating municipality that would make decisions about water rates and water system improvements, all while allowing Toledo to maintain ownership of its water infrastructure, and allowing Toledo City Council veto control over any water rate hikes approved by the regional commission.
The move upset many suburban leaders who said allowing Toledo to retain veto control over the commission wouldn’t amount to the regional cooperation and equitable water rates they are looking for with a regional water system.
But detractors of TAWA, the first regional water plan, threw their support behind the mayor’s proposal. In August, city council President Matt Cherry said he backed the plan, and by the time the Nov. 6 polls closed Toledo voters had given city council the go-ahead to put the new commission together.
Many suburban leaders are weighing their drinking water options. By early 2019, it should be clear who will participate in the new regional commission and what their water rates will be.
Patrick Hickey convicted
The drama-filled case of ex-Washington Local superintendent and school board member Patrick Hickey came to a close in 2018 with a former student testifying she had sex with the educator when she was a minor three decades ago.
In June, Hickey was sentenced in Lenawee County Circuit Court to a year in jail after pleading guilty to criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree for conduct with a teenage student when Hickey taught at Addison High School.
The man denied for years that he abused students. He attacked his critics and led a public push for redemption culminating in a successful run for school board following his resignation as superintendent.
The charges of misconduct, and his insistence he was innocent, split the district apart. Hickey resigned from the school board in March after he was criminally charged. He had spent the months before that lobbying for public support to block efforts to keep him from being seated on the board.
But following a Michigan State Police investigation into the 30-year-old allegations, a woman stood up in court at Hickey’s sentencing and said she had sex with him many times, starting when she was 15.
Serial killer released from prison
In August, a Toledo serial killer was released from prison in accordance with a plea agreement. It didn’t come without some friction, though.
Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Linda Jennings said she tried to find a legal basis to prevent Nathaniel Cook’s release, but she was legally bound to comply with a 2000 plea agreement made by Nathaniel and his older brother, Anthony.
The plea agreement resolved a string of previously unsolved homicides committed by the Cook brothers and guaranteed Anthony Cook, 69, would spend his life in prison, while Nathaniel Cook would be released from prison after 20 years.
As part of the deal, Nathaniel Cook pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated murder and two counts of kidnapping stemming from the May 14, 1980, abduction of Tom Gordon, 24, and his girlfriend, a then 18-year-old Sandra Podgorski. Mr. Gordon was shot to death, while Ms. Podgorski was raped and stabbed.
The Cook brothers gave confessions about their killings, most of which occurred in 1980 and 1981 and involved attacks on couples parked in cars or on young women abducted while walking down the street.
Nathaniel Cook was released on Aug. 9 and placed on community control for five years. He is currently at the Lucas County Work Release Program — a lockdown facility where defendants work or look for work during the day.
He must wear an electronic monitor with GPS for 12 months and is barred from consuming alcohol or drugs during his five years of probation.
He is a registered sex offender, and members of the Reentry Coalition of Northwest Ohio have been working with him.
Terrorism arrests rock the city
In a year marked by horrifying acts of violence across the nation, Toledoans were stunned to learn something like that almost happened here — twice. Three city residents were arrested in mid-December for their roles in a pair of unrelated plots to commit mass murder in the city.
Damon Joseph, 21, was arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Authorities say Mr. Joseph told undercover agents he supported ISIS and wished to attack area synagogues and kill a rabbi.
Elizabeth Lecron, 23, was arrested and charged with transporting explosives with intent to injure or destroy property. Her boyfriend, Vince Armstrong, was arrested a day later in connection with the plot. He was charged with lying to police.
Documents show Ms. Lecron informed an undercover agent she wanted to commit mass murder at a Toledo bar. Authorities say she purchased explosive black powder and hundreds of screws. They also say she and Mr. Armstrong owned numerous firearms.
Ms. Lecron's social media activity revealed an obsession with mass murder, often glorifying the Columbine High School shooters and Dylann Roof.
The arrests coincided with the trial of James Fields, a white supremacist from Toledo convicted of killing a woman with his car during a rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.
Road construction abounds
The good news is, much needed roadwork was completed in the Toledo area in 2018, with other significant projects getting underway. The bad news is, traffic headaches will be sticking around in 2019.
Street repairs and sewer projects made getting around downtown Toledo unusually tricky for much of the construction season.
Those downtown lane-closings and detours made for slow going during the morning and evening rush hours, and that only worsened on a few occasions when wrecks on I-75 sent overflow traffic down I-280 in search of other ways through town — some of which ended up on Michigan Avenue or Summit Street. The problem peaked when emergency joint repairs closed two of three southbound lanes on the I-75 DiSalle Bridge for several days in early August.
The Ohio Department of Transportation came close to finishing its I-75 reconstruction and widening between Lagrange and the I-475 “Jeep Split,” but a cold November forced postponement until spring of final paving in that work zone.
ODOT blamed railroad delays, meanwhile, for slow progress on replacement of a bridge on the Anthony Wayne Trail that narrowed that roadway’s inbound side to a single lane after Western Avenue.
And while work on I-75 north of I-475 approached its completion, the freeway’s reconstruction between South Avenue and Dorr Street was only just beginning; it’s scheduled to continue through 2020.
County jail issue drags on
Lucas County commissioners in February announced plans to build a new county jail in North Toledo.
To replace the downtown facility, an aging jail in operation since 1977, officials proposed a 25-acre site along the 5700 block of North Detroit Avenue. Construction involved a $185-million jail and off-site behavioral health solution center.
They sought voter approval of a 1.37-mill tax increase at up to 37 years. In November, voters rejected the measure with 59 percent of county voters opposing Issue 10.
Throughout the year, a citizen group called Keep the Jail Downtown Toledo sustained opposition to the new jail project. Members gathered more than 10,000 signatures from city residents in an effort to place a ballot initiative.
After a back-and-forth legal battle, the group has succeeded in getting approval for a special election voter referendum that, if approved, will attempt to amend the city of Toledo’s charter in a way that would force a new jail to be built downtown.
County officials contend that the referendum is legally dubious, but nonetheless a special election is set for Feb. 26.
Music in a revitalized Promenade Park
Downtown Toledo had a lot to offer when it came to entertainment this summer.
Aside from Toledo Mud Hens games at Fifth Third Field, the ProMedica Summer Concert Series at Promenade Park attracted about 50,000 people by the end of its season in late September. The series is a throwback to the former Rally on the River events that were held during the ‘80s and ‘90s at Promenade Park.
The outdoor park, which can squeeze in about 10,000 people, hosted acts ranging from Gladys Knight and K.C. and the Sunshine Band, to Gin Blossoms and Easton Corbin.
The season was a big success, surpassing the attendance of the 2017 concert series.
Corruption alleged in Put-in-Bay
Controversy never seems far from Put-in-Bay these days, and this time it's wrapped up the top political figure of the island village.
Mayor Bernard Mack McCann faces felony corruption charges. His indictment coincided with that of Kelly A. Niese, the village's former fiscal officer, who was indicted on third-degree felony theft in office and fourth-degree felony grand theft. She is accused of taking village funds without council approval.
The indictments followed charges against two of Mr. McCann's children, who were also part of the corruption investigation.
In September, agents from the Ohio Attorney General's Office's Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Ohio Ethics Commission raided Put-in-Bay's municipal building, as well as property linked to Mayor McCann, village legal counsel George Wilber, and ferry service Jet Express owner Todd Blumensaadt as part of the public corruption investigation.
The mayor says the charges relate to contracts with construction firm Put-in-Bay Investments — a company owned by Mr. Blumensaadt. He also claims he's done nothing wrong.
Animal and development news at the Toledo Zoo
The Toledo Zoo is often able to provide some relief when the 24-hour news cycle seems far too grim, and 2018 was no different.
In animal news, a Bactrian camel was born in the spring, and the zoo in May welcomed the arrival of an Indian rhino named Aashish.
The zoo in October managed in the first-ever release of captive-born lake sturgeon into the Maumee River in a landmark conservation effort.
In March, the zoo announced the largest charitable gift in its history, a $3.5 million donation by ProMedica toward its historic Museum of Science. The museum is currently undergoing extensive renovations to reopen in the spring as the ProMedica Museum of Natural History.
The zoo capped off the year by reopening the renovated the historic pedestrian tunnel under the Anthony Wayne Trail. The $3 million project was completed in late November, and the tunnel opened to the public Nov. 23 in conjunction with the start of Lights Before Christmas.
First Published December 30, 2018, 2:47 a.m.
