Here's a local connection to Oprah Winfrey that's worth a blog. Not because it's Oprah, but because of the story. Sufiy Davis has been using the movie The Pursuit of Happyness to promote happiness. Actually, the real intention, I think, is to promote hope, possibility and drive in people who are homeless. Sufiy's been taking homeless men and women from Faith Mission operated by Lutheran Social Services in Columbus to the Drexel Theatre. And not just a couple of people, as many as she can afford to take. The Drexel has also helped offset the cost.

Sufiy let The Oprah Winfrey Show folks know what she was up to as a "Pay it Forward Challenge." Being that Oprah's show knows a photo op when they see one, Sufiy was hooked up as a guest. Her TV time on Oprah was on Friday, January 26. From what I heard, the crew went to the movies with Sufiy and the gang . Plus, interviews with residents and Sheila Gaston, the shelter manager were included in the broadcast. Here is the link to The Oprah Winfrey Show broadcast that highlights Sufiy's story with text and pictures.

I like this story for a couple of reasons. It's such a simple concept to take folks to the movies. One person had this idea, followed through with it, and it actually was recognized as being marvelous. There are folks all over Ohio who are making a difference. I can think of a couple of school classrooms for one. It's neat, though, that at least one Ohioan got a trip to see Oprah. To the rest of you out there, keep doing good. You know who you are.

Toledo's Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge has been subject to short closings lately. It's about to be out of commission for a longer period. The structure is in the process of getting a complete overhaul, and will close today so the central drawbridge section can be replaced. People will have an easy time remembering when they'll be able to cross it again. It opens two days after Valentine's Day.

The Cherry Street Bridge, as it was first known, was built between 1910 and 1914, at a cost of one million dollars. That may seem like pocket change for building a bridge these days, but back then it was the most expensive public improvement project in Toledo's history. Like most expensive public projects, the building of the bridge was controversial. There were a lot of people who thought spending a million dollars on a bridge was just plain crazy. They lost the argument, but managed to get a few corners cut in the budget. For example, the best part of the design, four tall, column-like towers were never built. Two of them were to sit at either end of the drawbridge to house the lift mechanism. That's a shame. I've seen the plans and they were impressive. Everyone likes to save money, but no one liked the plain wooden sheds that were built instead. It was a long while before they gave way to the current structures, which are an improvement, but nowhere near as nice as the towers.

One other interesting thing about the building of this bridge, it was constructed right next to the old bridge it replaced. No traffic problems there.

I do not like guinea pigs. Or hamsters, or mice, or rats - really, anything with little grabby, claw-like hands. Yeah. They're quite gross. So the thought alone of a guinea pig rescue house is weird, but now I'm also visualizing it and it's creeping me out...

My distaste for their job makes me believe that Karen and Steve Oehlerts of This Little Piggy and Me are quite brave. TLP&M is a rescue and adoption house for guinea pigs, located in Forest Park, Ohio, near Cincinnati. It's a not-for-profit, run out of their actual home (bless their hearts, the place probably is starting to smell a bit ripe), and is dedicated to the rescue and adoption of the little animals into good homes. Such good homes, in fact, that adopting parents have to sign a contract starting they won't feed the guinea pigs to another animal or eat it themselves. And now I am thoroughly grossed out.

The Oehlerts bought a pregnant guinea pig back in 2003, and had to start giving away babies. Karen became known as Guinea Pig Lady, people began calling to have the guinea pigs taken in or to ask where they could find some, and the whole process was born. In 2006 alone, they had 193 adoptions. I am amazed that so many people want guinea pigs, but thank goodness the Oehlerts are there to help!

Clearly, this movement is way bigger and more permanent than I imagined. I thought it'd be like how for a while all girls knew how to knit - like all girls were going to want to be in a roller derby team? Well, the fad is not ending, and there's an Akron team starting up!

The team is called the Rubber City Demolition Dolls (so fitting, and feisty), and they want roller girls, coaches and volunteers! According to the flyer I was given, all derby girls must be over 21, be willing to learn, be dedicated, and have health insurance. And from what I know about derby girls, I'm pretty sure that that need for health insurance is pretty valid. Check them out! At the least, hopefully soon, Akron will have another rip-roaring event to go to on a Friday night.

I was surprised to learn that the Library of Congress has been storing some of the great treasures of American cinema in vaults at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton. And now they're leaving, moving to a new facility in Culpepper, Virginia.

The films include the original negatives of The Maltese Falcon and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (ironic, that). The 25,000+ films on about 125,000 reels have been stored in a temperature and humidity-controlled vault at the base. The oldest movies were made pre-1900.

The vaults were originally built to house military records, including film. Old movie film, made from nitrate, is extremely flammable and subject to decay, so special care was put into the vault design. In 1969, the storage facilities were turned over to the Library of Congress for storing the nation's film archives.

Now they will reside in a former Federal Reserve building underground near Washington, renovated into the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center.

Goodbye, Mr. Smith. I hope Washington treats you better this time.

Just after I apparently revealed my massive ignorance by not knowing that Columbus already had a soccer team, I luckily found it that it doesn't matter. As much as I do love soccer, which I do, I love another rough-and-tumble sport more. Hockey!

Not just hockey, but hockey being played in Cleveland! A hockey team called the Lake Erie Monsters! Yes! The Lake Erie Monsters are part of the American Hockey League franchise, and will be playing the 2007-2008 season at Quicken Loans Arena. The Monsters are actually owned by some of the same people that own the Cleveland Cavaliers, so we're keeping all Cleveland teams close together. The team will be playing as the affiliate team for the Colorado Avalanche, and they just don't know how lucky they're going to be.

Apparently, a ton of market research was done to decide upon the name the Lake Erie Monsters, a name chosen for its fun, its aggressiveness, and its obvious ties to the region. The logo is a very spiky M with a glaring eye monster eye - ha ha ha, for an actual monster! Like we have in Lake Erie! Team colors will be wine, yellow, blue and black, which to my mind is an odd combination of colors, but maybe I'll be surprised. I'm just happy they didn't try to tie in orange and brown for the Browns. Who cares, though, because hockey is back, and it'll be here this October! Yay!

Bono, lead singer for U2 and advocate for improved conditions in the underdeveloped parts of the world, especially Africa, has partnered with students at Miami of Ohio to market African-made cotton t-shirts.

Students in Miami's Center for Social Entrepreneurship buy the edun Live brand T's for about $4 per, screen print messages and art on them, and sell them to other
campus and off-campus groups for around $10. Among the messages they've come up with so far is "I know who made my shirt: do you?" Proceeds for the shirts will be used to further the Center's mission by bringing in speakers and perhaps sending students to Africa.

edun Live hopes to expand the program to many other campuses. Bono started the company in order to provide jobs and trade to developing countries, promoting the idea of 'trade, not aid'.

I have found no explanation why the company name spelled backwards is 'Evil nude'.

Ohio's new governor, Ted Strickland, gave Mahoning Valley residents cause to hope for their future again during his inauguration speech. Gov. Strickland spoke about the various causes he will be pursuing in Ohio during his first term, including our ramshackle education system as one of his priorities. He also made several points about the Ohio legislature and how it must begin, like the federal government, to work together, promoting bipartisan projects, reminding citizens that we are all Americans, and in this case that we are all Ohioans, and not to allow divisions between Republican and Democratic parties to allow our country, and in Strickland's case our state, to suffer due to petty power struggles.

Mahoning Valley residents were reportedly happy with Strickland's inauguration address. Many were quoted in the newspapers and on television, saying they believe in Strickland's honesty, and feel he will aid this notoriously economically depressed area of Ohio in creating a future again. A large number of Mahoning Valley politicians appeared with Strickland at his inauguration, including: Attorney General Marc Dann of Liberty, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, and U.S. Representative Tim Ryan. Strickland made use of quotes by Republican leaders of the nation like George W. Bush on education, and Ronald Reagan on the status quo.

While I am much in sympathy with my fellow residents of the Mahoning Valley, I'll be waiting to see what Mr. Strickland proves himself capable of. I'm a supporter of bipartisan measures myself, but I fail to see how quoting George W. Bush on education and Ronald Reagan on the status quo is "striking the right political tone," as Representative Ryan was quoted saying in the Youngstown Vindicator. Both Bush and Reagan had and have their positive qualities as leaders of the nation, but President Bush's education policies have proved to be some of the worst created in the history of the United States, and former President Reagan is rarely remembered as a model for progressive politicians who do not settle for upholding the status quo. I still have hope that Governor Strickland will come through for the Mahoning Valley, but will wait a bit longer to see what he is actually able to accomplish in his first few months before committing myself to a Strickland believer.

A lot of people are counting on you, Governor Strickland. Good luck, and fight hard!

830 sites on our planet are listed as World Heritage Sites by the U.N.'s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Ohio Historical Society believes at least two Ohio sites, the Serpent Mound and various Hopewell structures including mounds near Chillicothe, belong on that list. To that end, they have petitioned for their inclusion.

And why not? Both are remarkable examples of pre-European earthworks. The Serpent Mound is the most famous effigy mound in North America, and the Hopewell mounds are preserved in the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. Also included in the Hopewell petition is Ft. Ancient and the Newark earthworks.

If the Hopewell petition goes through, it may include the first golf course named as a World Heritage site. The Octagon Earthworks in Newark are incorporated into the links of the Moundbuilders Country Club.

These sites would join such noteworthy treasures as the Great Barrier Reef, the Imperial Palace in Beijing, the Galapagos Islands, Thebes, Chartres Cathedral, Vatican City, and the Statue of Liberty. Sites on the list enjoy the protection of an international treaty, the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

With new Governor Ted Strickland in office, Ohians have begun to raise their voices for various causes. One cause has been in opposition to the death penalty in Ohio. According to the Youngstown Vindicator, protestors gathered outside the Ohio State Penitentiary to let our new governor know that many of Ohio's citizens do not approve of this particular measure of justice.

The protest was organized by Cleveland residents but included Youngstown area residents as well, and was staged on Martin Luther King Day weekend. At this point there are five men on death row in the state penitentiary who the protestors claim are innocent of the crime that put them there. Known as the Lucasville Five, the men were part of a prison uprising in Lucasville in 1993 in which prison guards were killed. The men on death row, say the protestors, were not part of the deaths of the guards.

I myself don't believe that the death penalty is an effective measure for curtailing crime. If it were, the number of crimes in which the death penalty is a possible outcome would drop, but this isn't so. Historically the death penalty hasn't worked to curtail crime. Even in the days of public executions, it didn't stop people from commiting crimes. Some sociological studies have found that it may even promote the idea of social justice being equated with death, creating a society more inclined to kill.

I do think the death penalty serves a purpose, mostly to make family and friends of victims feel that justice has been served. It doesn't aid the betterment of society itself, though, especially when so many people have died on death row who were later found to be innocent. A measure of justice shouldn't have so much collateral damage, as some would call it, as this one does. I do, however, sympathize with the victims of crime and their families and friends, who desire some form of justice in the face of their tragedies, and I won't pretend to have a better plan for justice. I do hope, however, that more measures can be taken to ensure that a form of punishment so severe as the death penalty will be carried out with more caution in the future. Perhaps protests such as the one carried out on Martin Luther King Day weekend will be a call for more consideration of how we, as a society, proceed with a process so fraught as the death penalty is in the new century.

A lot of people who are concerned about Downtown Toledo are breathing a sigh of relief. Fifth Third Bank has announced that it will move its regional headquarters to One SeaGate, Toledo's tallest semi-vacant building.

One SeaGate was built in 1981, as the headquarters of glass producer Owens-Illinois. O-I, however, moved to a new campus in Perrysburg last year, leaving the 32-story skyscraper on the banks of the Maumee almost completely empty. It's not exactly the best public relations move to have the tallest building in town standing vacant.

I'll admit this is a case of "musical buildings", but it's a welcome announcement. Fifth Third currently occupies the old Nicholas Building on Madison, which was built in 1906.

Let's hope having One SeaGate occupied will get the ball rolling for the rest of Downtown Toledo.

Our state recently lost out as the site of an experimental coal-burning power plant designed to test new strategies for pollution control, partly because the state lacked sufficient information about our subsoil strata.

One of the primary pollutive elements from coal burning is carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas we pump by the cubic mile into the air for the enjoyment of our upstate New York neighbors. One strategy for cleansing the exhaust is to pump it deep underground into salt-rich rock and coal deposits or old oil and gas pockets where it would be trapped.

In an effort to catch up, Ohio has allocated $2.3 million to drill a 9,000 foot hole in the bedrock to begin gathering such information. The location of the Battelle Institute-directed project, called the Ohio Stratigraphic Borehole, will be a yet-unannounced spot in either mid-eastern or southeastern Ohio.

The project will help prepare the state for possible future restrictions on gas emissions. Ohio has room underground for an estimated 180 years of pollution storage.

Drilling is scheduled to begin soon, with results coming online later this year.

Morlocks?

Ohio is on the radar for puppy mills. It seems that the number of pet stores in Ohio is a possible indication that many dogs are forced bred in this state to produce the dogs that people want. Puppy mill dogs are a problem from what I've read and heard. Over bred dogs are unhealthy since their bodies don't recover between litters, plus dogs bred in a puppy mill may have more behavior issues and poorer health.

Since we're not exactly designer dog people, and we wanted a dog that was stellar in other ways, we took a tip from a woman I met who had a cute black Lab (I'm not sure if I'm a dog person at all,) and headed down to Vinton County to Camelot Puppy Sanctuary . We ended up picking out a terrier beagle mix. If you want your own Fido or Rover, go here. I was impressed by the unhurried approach when we were looking for our dog. Instead of thinking that we had to make a quick decision, we watched the dogs romp around the property's pond for an hour or so until our minds were made up.

At the sanctuary, there are always several dogs, mostly young ones, available. Check out the website to look at the dogs and then call ahead. The phone number is listed. We didn't plan on getting this particular dog type, but when we were among all the adoptable options, our dog picked us.

Camelot Puppy Sanctuary is a dog paradise of sorts. Run by two women who delight in saving abandoned dogs, the sanctuary is a wonderful option to consider when looking to expand your family. Reading the website descriptions is a lot of fun since each blurb captures a specific quality about each dog's personality.

The dog featured in the picture is Nickolas, a Laborador Retriever/terrier mix. Here is his description.

Here is an article about the puppy mill problem from an NBC channel wkyc.com.

The king of the urgency pitch, Burton 'Buddy' Kallick of Buddy's Carpet Barn passed away last week. For years, Buddy's smiling face and carnie voice were a fixture on Ohio television, offering carpet at what he would have us believe were astounding discounts. But only if we acted by Tuesday.

Kallick and his partner opened Buddy's Carpet Barn in 1983 near Dayton and over the next 20 years built it into a regional success. They sold the company in 2000, but Buddy remained as the pitchman through 2002 as they transitioned to the current spokeswoman.

In the age of MTV-style advertising, Buddy's ads harkened back to a time when advertising was unsophisticated, when the product, the seller and the sales proposition were simply presented. With his smile and conviction, Buddy was an iconic salesman straight from the 50's.

I hope he makes it to heaven by Tuesday, so he can take advantage of their specials.

In a bit of questionable good taste, Twinsburg-based toy manufacturer K&M International will unveil a new line of toys at next month's International Toy Fair in New York featuring a Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin action figure. Irwin was killed last year by a stingray while filming on the Great Barrier Reef.

The talking doll will feature Irwin's recorded voice saying things like "Holy guacamole!" and, no doubt, "CrankyCrikey!" The toy is part of a 39-piece Steve Irwin Wildlife Adventure Series that will be sold in North America and Europe.

Lest you think this will offend Irwin's relatives, these toys have been on sale for the past year at Irwin's zoo in Australia. Irwin's widow pushed for the release, hoping they would help solidify his legacy.

The doll's release coincides with PR buildup for Irwin's final video, Ocean's Deadliest, which debuted on the Discovery Channel yesterday.