What a wild day for Toledo. It’s not every day you hear about a 500 million dollar investment, like the one Chrysler’s CEO announced today.

Pretty incredible. The investment will be used for the creation of a new Jeep SUV. Production will begin in 2013–creating 1,100 added jobs for the local economy.

This is surely a trickle down affect, which so many people are excited about.

The Toledo Assembly complex will have to be expanded, and that means construction jobs starting immediately.

Sergio Marchionni says the new SUV will be replacing the current Liberty, which is created at the Toledo facility.

It was so uplifting to be apart of today’s announcement. The excitement and the hope among the workers wasn’t tough to notice.

Hockey Hall of Fame induction night was a special night for me. Born in Calgary and being a rabid Flames fan, it was tremendous seeing Joe Nieuwendyk and Doug Gilmour go in. This blog is not meant to take anything away from either Eddie Belfour or Mark Howe, both of whom I have tremendous memories of.

During my senior year of college, ESPN had a random trivia question as I was walking out of a classroom which had a few TV’s on. The question was, “Who before Teemu Selanne held the rookie goal-scoring record for a season?” The answer? Mike Bossy. My classmate (former FOX Toledo sports anchor Adam Kuperstein) was utterly shocked that I knew the answer right off the bat.

Here was my secret: I had gotten into NHL hockey a few years earlier, but my brain was starting to process things a little more during Nieuwendyk’s rookie season of 1987-’88. In that season, Nieuwendyk scored 51 goals. The media hype was tremendous about whether or not he would break Bossy’s record of 53. He obviously didn’t break that record, but he had done more than enough to win the Calder Trophy that year. Perhaps his most remarkable stat from that year – 31 power play goals.

Nieuwendyk played on a line with Hakan Loob and Gary Roberts, both tremendous players. That year, in 1988, Loob became the 1st Swede to ever score 50 goals. You might not have heard of Loob and the only reason this is the case is that Loob chose family over the NHL and moved back to Sweden after the Flames won the Cup the next season in 1989.

Before the 1989 season began, the Flames acquired Doug Gilmour in a move where they gave up Mike Bullard, who in 1988 had almost joined Nieuwendyk and Loob in the 50-goal club. As a kid, I knew Gilmour was good. After all, he was a part of an absolutely stacked Canadian team that had just won the 1987 Canada Cup over the Red Army – probably my 2nd favorite hockey moment after the 1989 Cup victory. Trust me – check the roster. STACKED.

Gilmour’s reputation, and this goes back to his junior hockey days with Cornwall, was that he was an offensive dynamo. He had a solid regular season in 1989 for Calgary playing on a line with Joey Mullen (currently in the HOF and scored 50+ that year) and Colin Patterson, who was a standout defensive forward and solid candidate for the Selke Trophy given to the league’s best defensive forward. Gilmour himself was a great defensive forward. He also had a reputation as a strong playoff performer. HOWEVER, most people forget that Gilmour was actually fairly quiet in the 1st-round series against Vancouver and through most of Game 1 in the second round against the LA Kings. THEN he scored in overtime to give the Flames the win. This was a Kings team in their first year with Wayne Gretzky, who had really helped Bernie Nicholls put up some serious offensive numbers. So there was a lot of intrigue in the hockey world with this series, especially since the Kings had just knocked off Gretzky’s former team, the defending champion Edmonton Oilers, who I absolutely hated. However, after that Gilmour goal, it felt like all the momentum swung the Flames’ way and Calgary swept LA in four. He would play a HUGE role with several huge goals the rest of the way as the Flames went all the way.

I also remember Gilmour for being part of a highly traumatic part of my childhood. Theoren Fleury (yes, I know he has off-ice issues) was always one of my favorites, being such a great player for the size that he was (I’m the opposite of tall myself), and as the years went by and Mullen moved on to Pittsburgh, Fleury played on the same line as Gilmour. They were a magical combo. Fleury broke the 50-goal mark in 1991. Gilmour had 61 assists. They were awesome.

Unfortunately, a contract squabble involving Gilmour came the following year, so the day that I moved to Houston, THAT DAY, I noticed that the Flames had made a huge trade with the Maple Leafs. Keep in mind, Cliff Fletcher (the guy who had assembled those championship Flames), had just recently taken the Toronto job. Fletcher absolutely FLEECED his successor, Doug Risebrough. The Flames traded Gilmour, solid backup goalie Rick Wamsley, very quality stay-at-home defensemen Jamie Macoun and Ric Nattress, and top prospect Kent Manderville. In return, they received a Gary Leeman who scored 50+ a few seasons earlier, but was coming off a down year. Michel Petit was a solid defenseman. Alexander Godynyuk was viewed as a solid prospect of a defender. Jeff Reese was a solid backup, but not in Wamsley’s neighborhood. And Craig Berube was an enforcer.

Essentially, this trade was about Gilmour and it was about Leeman. Leeman was so bad that he was traded to Montreal a few years later for Brian Skrudland. Skrudland was a solid defensive forward, but think about it: essentially, Gilmour for Skrudland. Not good for any Flames fan to think about.

And then Gilmour goes off and has a beastly Maple Leafs career that includes several more memorable playoff performances.

Nieuwendyk was traded a few years later for a young prospect named Jarome Iginla, but even though Nieuwy went on to win two more Cups and obviously still had plenty left in the tank, Flames fans could be happy for him because at least the Flames got Iginla out of it. Not Brian Skrudland.

Watching some of the speeches tonight, it just brought back a ton of memories. Nieuwendyk talking about the lessons taught to him by his dad and how his mother was the ultimate hockey mom. Gilmour taking a moment to remember the late Pat Burns.

It was, and I’m using Gilmour’s nickname here, just a “Killer” evening for any hockey fan, and meant that much more to me as a Flames fan.

I visited a friend in the hospital yesterday. Her story is a good example of how illogical our system is right now.

Of course I won’t use her name, just enough basics to illustrate my point.

She’s a 40-something cancer survivor who had to have surgery last week because after years good health, her cancer had come back. An energetic, funny, smart bicycling enthusiast who lost her nursing home mangement job a few months ago due to cutbacks. While living on unemployment, working part time as a contract employee and applying for the minimum 3 jobs each week that is required, this diagnosis came down.

She had made an effort to be smart. Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to afford the kind of medical insurance she had when she was working full time, she bought some very basic major medical insurance. Only enough to cover hospitalization. No frills. No doctor visits, or lab work, or MRIs are covered. No prescription coverage. She was told upon admission for surgery that she’d probably be better off with NO insurance. If she had none, the tab would be picked up by a government plan, a cancer charity or the hospital. Because she has a little insurance she now faces thousands in medical bills she cannot afford.

I’m not claiming to know what to do about health care. Obviously, a lot of smart and powerful people in our country have still not made sense of it. But I think you have to agree that there’s a problem when making an effort to have basic health insurance because you want to be covered if you have an accident while riding your bicycle (my friend’s rationale for buying the plan she did) gets you penalized.

No matter how true the grand jury report turns out, the details are absolutely horrible. If true, holy cow. Horrible. And that’s putting it lightly.

The real victims are the kids. Remember that.

Joe Pa’s legacy will be safe. Regardless of whether you’re pro-Paterno or anti-Paterno in this, his clean record will have a smear to end it, but time will heal. He will mainly be remembered for his many exploits on and off the field.

But he had to go. If he stayed, Penn State wouldn’t be an institution. It’d be a circus.

The victim here isn’t Joe Pa. It’s the kids. The fight for justice really should be for them if the allegations prove to be true.

Samuel Wurzelbacher already has announced he’s running for the 9^th District Congressional seat currently occupied by Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur.

But someone who attended Springfield High School alongside “Joe the Plumber” now is a declared Democratic candidate for the 5^th District Congressional race, ready to oppose incumbent Republican Bob Latta.

Angela (Wallington) Zimmann threw her hat into the ring Thursday during a campaign announcement held at her Springfield Twp. home. The Lutheran pastor and Bowling Green State University professor lives just a few streets away from “Joe the Plumber” in the Angola-McCord Rd. area.

But there’s an even bigger coincidence between the two, besides being high school classmates and current neighbors. It centers around their involvement in a campaign visit to their neighborhood by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

While Wurzelbacher gained national fame and notoriety for questioning the future president on the issues, Obama posed for pictures and even kissed Mrs. Zimmann on the cheek. Now the pair have become upstart congressional candidates, hoping to upset the status quo.

Redrawn Congressional districts are giving the candidates such a unique opportunity.

If they both win, wouldn’t it be even more ironic if they sat across the aisle from each other in the U.S. House of Representatives?

First of all, the weather. We came very close to a record high today that was set back in the World War Two era. We don’t often vote in shirtsleeves in November in northwest Ohio.

We’re also hearing some strange claims of a poll worker being shot with BB guns at one Toledo polling place. Another of a police officer in uniform being turned away at his polling place, because of the uniform. Of course Ohio’s Issue 2, involving collective bargaining for government workers has been a hot button this year. You are not supposed to be allowed into a polling place with buttons, tee-shirts or other signage proclaiming your stance on an issue. Poll workers are instructed to ask you to take off a button, for example, before coming inside to vote. It’s to protect voters from intimidation. We are still checking out these claims and circumstances. But compared to other recent elections, this one certainly seems emotionally charged.

5 % voter turnout for the Sept. primary– really, seriously?!?

For all the complaining I hear on the street about our politicians and the economy, that is an unbelievable number.

For all the ease in registering to vote, relaxed rules for absentee and early voting, etc., we have no one to blame but ourselves for not exercising one of our most basic freedoms, duties, and responsibilities.

Yes, I realize there is a battle royale between Democrats and Republicans over everything from collective bargaining to health care to a new congressional map– but c’mon, you want to see it change? Do something about it. Vote.

Don’t trust the board of elections because of a long line of shenanigans, including a current investigation into an email breach? Again, it’s an excuse.

The worst one I hear is “my vote won’t matter anyway.” Wanna bet? If everybody else stays home and YOU vote, then it’s even more likely to make a difference.  Low voter turnout simply means each and every one of us who DOES go to the polls CAN have an impact on the outcome.

Go. Vote. Now.

“It’s 5 o’clock in the morning… the conversation got boring…” – T-Pain

It’s actually literally 5 o’clock in the morning right now. Just got back from preppin for Hardcore Football. Back at it in 6 hrs at Scott Park at Toledo’s women’s soccer MAC semifinals against Buffalo.

#thisisthelife

Since it’s October 31st as I write this, it’s no big surprise that Halloween has been a big topic of conversation in the newsroom tonight.

From who has candy at their desk, to what costumes FOX Toledo employees or their kids are wearing, most of the conversation is what you’d expect.

Then we got into a debate about what’s socially acceptable regarding trick or treating. We debated the maxiumum age for begging door to door for candy. Opinions differed. Some said once you have ‘teen’ in your age, you’re too old. Others thought high school was the cutoff. And is it okay for an adult or couple to walk around with only an infant collecting candy? The kid can’t eat that without teeth. Of course tiny children in costume are really cute.

As a little kid carrying a small plastic candy basket, I was always annoyed by the older kids hefting fat pillowcases full of candy. It seemed rather over the top and greedy to me. Then someone else in the newsroom informed me that where he grew up, pillowcases were the container of choice and no one considered them in bad taste.

One member of our news staff didn’t celebrate Halloween as a kid for religious reasons. Some churches in the region have offered alternative celebrations or used All Hallows Eve as a way to pass out candy and possibly recruit new attendees. Others, like his, just encourage their flock to ignore Halloween.

I learned the term “Trunk or Treat” just this weekend. It’s when you put candy-givers in a parking lot and the trick or treaters come to their trunk. A church near my home town did it during the town’s official candy gathering time. Very efficient for kids looking to maximize their haul, or avoid having to travel far from house to house in rural areas.

One friend who noticed her house was getting too many repeat visit attempts because of her offering of premium candy downgraded her candy offerings this year. Watch out kids, that’s what can happen if you try to trick the treater.

Gov. John Kasich came to town for the big announcement that local startup company BX Solutions would take over the former BAX Global cargo handling facility at Toledo Express airport.

While here, he publicly noted the negative attitude of Toledoans and stressed there are better times ahead. When questioned later, he simply stated “he got the sense” that residents here feel beat up and downtrodden– and it reflects in their community-wide attitude.

The governor couldn’t quite put his finger on why– he surmised the poor economy had taken its toll.

But this is not the first time I have heard that theme in my travels. Toledo Mayor Mike Bell has mentioned it at press conferences numerous times: the need for Toledoans to change their attitude about living here and to promote a more positive spirit to outsiders and visitors.

I believe both men are correct. After all, if we don’t root for ourselves, who’s going to root for us? If we don’t search for some good in all the bad, then what’s the point?

Yes, two out of every three days in Toledo are cloudy, as the local legend goes. But that doesn’t mean we have to walk under the black cloud of negativity all the time, too.

Buck up, Toledo! Better times are ahead…