Have you ever forgotten to close a bank account? Moved before your income tax refund arrived? Forgotten to check the lottery numbers on your ticket?
You aren't alone. In the last fiscal year, for example, Ohioans failed to claim $17 million in scratch-off lottery ticket winnings. If this is you, don't delay; you only have about six months to redeem them.
You should also be aware of the Ohio Division of Unclaimed Funds. They receive money from a variety of sources; unpaid insurance policies, uncashed checks, credit balances, forgotten layaway deposits, rent deposits, dormant bank accounts, and more. At present, the division has 2.6 million accounts worth over $700 million. Their mission is to match it with its rightful owner.
Be warned: there are unscrupulous people who, for a fee, offer to find unclaimed funds for you. All they do is check with the division.
You can do that yourself! Simply go to their web page, click on the box labeled "Ohio Treasure Hunt" and follow directions.
I came up empty, unfortunately. But you could be the lucky one. No need to tip me, but an 'attaboy' would be nice.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, too. Among those we haven't gotten to yet are Sammy Kaye, Dean Martin, Ted Lewis, The McGuire Sisters, the Mills Brothers, The O'Jays, Screamin' Jay Hawkins...
Another in our series on Ohio bands. The Michael Stanley Band was a Cleveland band popular in the 1980's. It was founded by Michael Stanley Gee from Rocky River. Here's a clip of them playing one of their hits, Heartland, in 1981.
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.
Karen Wynn Fonstad, author of The Atlas of Middle-Earth, has created a wonderful web page on which she breaks down, day by day, the first leg of Frodo's journey in Lord of the Rings, from Hobbiton to Rivendell. To get a better perspective on his journey, I've overlaid these distances on a walk across Ohio.
I started in the hills north of Oxford, because the terrain seems perfect for hobbit holes. Zoar Village stands in for Rivendell, for convenience, not appearance. After all, what could stand in for Rivendell?
To make sense of this, you'll need an Ohio map and access to Fonstad's web page, along with a working knowledge of LOTR.
Start: Assumptions: I multiplied as-the-crow-flies mileage x .7 to compensate for foot travel.
Day 1- 18 miles
Fairhaven to woods near Gratis (Preble Co.)
Day 2- 28 miles
Near Colonial Vineyards, Ridgeville
Day 3- 27 miles
Ridgeville to King's Mill
(Cross Little Miami River, think of Buckleberry Ferry)
Bob Evans Restaurants show up a winner every time Ohio Magazine asks people to list their favorite best value restaurant. At least that happened when I was there. Once there was a rule that chains weren't to be nominated-just to give some other restaurants a chance to shine. No matter. People in Ohio are wild about Bob Evans. At least the folks who enter restaurant contests are.
As one reader stated, "You said no chains, but we go there all the time. The food is always good, as are the service and the prices."
I like Bob Evans myself, especially for breakfast--and recognizing that breakfast is one of its hallmarks, the chain has cooked up a different kind of contest itself. This one is on Ebay. People are bidding on a 3-day vacation and breakfast with Bob Evans himself. The neat thing about this, is that proceeds are gong to Habitat for Humanity.
What's the impetus for all this? With its roots firmly in Ohio, even though it's reaches are far outside the state's borders, Bob Evans Restaurants have a new item on the menu and their own blog, "One Stack at a Time." The blog is basically devoted to Stacked and Stuffed pancakes. Readers can add their favorite choices. There is also a video that shows how to make Stacked and Stuffed pancakes yourself. The listed favorite from the blog is roasted apple carmel cream. Here's a link to the press release about the contest and Bob Evans's new endeavors. Also, if you want to join in the auction, hurry. You only have two days left. This is a great opportunity to have an Ohio vacation and help charity as well.
If you're a history buff like I am, and obviously connected to the internet if you're reading this right now, you should take a trip over to Youngstown State University's Oral History Digital Program, where you can download transcripts of over eleven hundred oral accounts given by Northeastern Ohians since 1974. The histories recorded span subjects such as the World Wars, Vietnam, Immigrant Cultures, the steel industry before and after it settled and abandoned the Youngstown-Warren region of Ohio, the Holocaust, religion, and so much more.
I've read through a great many of the oral history transcripts myself, trying to familiarize myself with the region in which I grew up. You'd be surprised how much you don't know about where you come from. So take a dip into your heritage, and see if you can't find out some of the reasons why Northeastern Ohio is what it is today.
Some things I don't want to know too much about, including (in Twain's words) the making of law and sausages. However, if you are curious about the sanitation in your favorite dining establishment, the Columbus Board of Health inspection reports can give you the down and dirty.
The department is about start a new program in which restaurants will be required to color-coded signs indicating the findings of the most recent inspection. Green will indicate a clean slate, yellow for corrections needed, white for probation and red for restaurants shut down for violations. A blue sign indicates a place that has had no problems for at least a year.
I checked a few local restaurants at random, to get a sense of what the inspectors look for and how strictly they inspect. I was impressed by the detail of their work, and pleased with the results of their inspections.
For an example, I looked at a few recent inspections, (and understand these are not worse-cases; they are simply random choices, and all of the have satisfied these Health Department's concerns). Their reports:
The Cheesecake Factory: mid-priced casual dining at Easton Mall. Soda guns soiled with mold inside. Cook used bare hands to put cheese on pasta. Garlic and oil at 65F, should be 41F or below. Waffle House, Dublin-Granville Road: You know Waffle House! Cook changed gloves without washing hands. Raw beef stored above sliced ham and cream in fridge. Can opener and prep sink dirty.
Pizza House, E. Lincoln Ave. Both carryout and in-house dining. Raw eggs stored above soda in fridge, cheese stored too warm, lack of date-marking of sliced ham, food surfaces dirty, employees drinking from unlidded containers in kitchen, cook did not know proper way to cool foods, raw chicken and beef stored above bread, food prep with bare hands, salad stored in garbage can, dirty can opener, ice machine drainage improperly air gapped.
M- Perhaps the most upscale restaurant in town. Partially eaten apple on cold prep table. Chef assembled mini-burger with bare hands. Mashed potatoes held for hours were not time-dated. Waiter didn't properly warn patron of the danger of under-cooked meat. Ice machine was soiled.
I am reassured both by the detailed inspection and the fairly mundane violations found.
I have to admit that "severe weather" warnings seem to be getting more common, along with warnings of "don't go out if you don't have to." I don't think it's because we have more bad weather than ever before. It's just because we hear about it a lot more in this day of instant information. If you'd like to see just how bad Ohio weather can get, and you don't scare easily, there's a good website Ohio History called Severe Weather in Ohio. It might make you a little less ready to run for the basement, thinking the latest storm isn't all that big a deal, or it might make you take the next plane out in terror. i wouldn't recommend that course, though. You can't run from Mother Nature.
The site was developed with information from a book called Thunder in the Heartland: A Chronicle of Outstanding Weather Events in Ohio, by Dr. Thomas Schmidlin and Jeanne Appelhaus Schmidlin. Brief accounts of twenty-five events are presented, with photographs and, in some cases, videos. Whoever designed the site did an excellent job. There's a weather glossary and a good page of links. If you go to Weather for You, you'll find out that, on any given day, there was a time when the weather was a lot worse. Maybe it will make shoveling the snow a little easier. Want a forecast? Just go to the National Weather Service. It's a lot faster than waiting for the news.
The site deals with tornadoes, floods, heat waves, and some mysterious eight-foot waves that hit Cleveland. Toledoans remember the day in, 1992, when twenty-eight tornadoes passed through Northwest Ohio, a record that I'm glad I missed. There is an event on the list that I remember well, even though I survived it in the next state over. January of 1977 is a month I'll never forget. The blisters on my hands from shoveling snow ten times a day for a whole month lasted till spring. I never want to see twenty-five below on a thermometer again! After that shock, it takes a lot to impress me.
According to the Arbor Day organization, which created the well-known Hardiness Zone Map for trees that divides the country into ten climate zones, the changes in our climate are shifting the areas in which weather-sensitive plants thrive.
The transition does not move our climate over a tipping point at which some varieties of our common trees are threatened, but it does move us closer to the day when heat-intolerant species could fail. I'd suggest, if you're looking to plant a 100-year tree, picking one that can deal with a warming atmosphere. Perhaps the Al Gore Oak. (Joke)
Some of the interesting stories in the Blog-O-sphere recently-
Gallipolis Daily has an interesting twist on the search for ancient Ohio cave writings.
Writes Like She Talks questions whether Cinci school kids will be permitted field trips to the Creation Museum.
The Chief Source is out in front in the Tressel-hating wave following the OSU-Florida debacle earlier this week.
MyHometownOhio is waxing enthusiastic about the Historic Rehab Tax Credit Taft signed into law just before he left office. The Cincinnati Blog did a nice piece about the most important and most overreported Ohio stories of 2006.
Politics in Mudville is keeping us up to date with the ongoing comedy/tragedy of the Toledo mayor's actions.
If you know of new, interesting Ohio blogs, please drop us a note!
The arts and crafts scene in Ohio thrives, with shows just about every weekend somewhere. Locally, for example, we have a number of Saturday morning farmer's markets that have become excellent venues for artists such as my friend Carolyn. The state also supports some lucrative competitions that can help pay the bills while you pursue your passion.
If you have works that you'd like to take to market or enter into a contest, take a look at the Ohio Arts Council's 2007 Ohio Arts Festivals and Competitions Directory. The publication compiles the dates, locations, and other pertinent info for the entrepreneurial artist.
The guide is available in dead-tree form either by calling 1-800-BUCKEYE or sending $1.17 in postage along with an SASE to the Ohio Arts Council, 727 E. Main St., Columbus OH 43205.
Every once in awhile an email ends up in my junk mail that looks interesting. Today there was one from Americantowns.com announcing that Columbus is part of this on-line venture designed to let folks know what is happening in the cities and towns where they live. My email was about Columbus specifically. When I went to the website Columbus is the city that appeared but that must be because somehow this site knows this is where I live. If you go to the part that lets you switch to other towns, you can pull up various towns and cities around Ohio. I went to Willoughby to see if the linked worked and Willoughby happenings showed up.
But, about Columbus. Mainly there is a list of activities happening at the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Columbus Public Library, the Columbus Symphony and the Columbus Museum of Art. I imagine the list will get bigger as time goes on and organizations know that this venue for getting the word out is available. One useful piece of information I also saw was the reminder that Columbus Public Schools is closed on the Martin Luther King Jr birthday holiday.
When I browsed down the list I saw a few things I knew were happening before but forgot ,and some things I didn't know. There's a Family Fun Day at the Columbus Museum of Art, for example, this Saturday. It's part of the gubernatorial festivities. When you see an activity listed, you can click on it for more information. Along the left side of the page there's a textbox style column with specific highlights.
Americantowns.com is also a place where you can find out realtor information, movie times and get maps to find out how to get to all the neat places there are to go. Personally, I liked that I could scroll down the list to see what was happening in the order that it's happening, then click on links to the sponsoring organization to find out more. It seems like this will be a good place to go to not loose track of the neat things there are to do in Columbus and the best way to schedule them in. It's a website where you could do some serious browsing.
For a city with a lot of problems, Youngstown has a lot of citizens with a great passion for the place. Particularly in the younger, newer generations growing up in the wreckage of past industrial economic betrayals and disappointments, I find more and more Youngstowners who are blogging and journaling about the city and what it was, is, and what they hope it will become.
What many of the Youngstown blogs I come across do are paint a portrait of the city rather than the bloggers themselves, which I find fresh, and a welcome addition to the many blogs that detail the daily lives of their bloggers.
In the online blog of the Walruss, Youngstown's new alternative newspaper, the city's renaissance call among its bloggers has been reported, detailing a variety of blogs, like John Slanina's "I will Shout Youngstown" blog, which he states has been a way for him to remain connect to his hometown and also as a tool for him to express his thoughts on city planning and economic development. His blog, among many others, like Mike Prelee's "Tales from the Rustbelt" provide readers both in and outside of Youngstown with a picture of the city from the inside.
This city has many tales to tell, and needs its tellers. Hopefully we'll have more in the near future.
With the weather in a state of flux this is the time of year to pick up a good book. Here are some suggestions I've culled from a couple of Ohio's sources. Perhaps you have some other ideas. Send them along. Here's to not waiting for what Oprah says to read before heading to the library or bookstore. Check out Ohio's brand of literary tastes for some reading pleasure. They run the gamut from classics, to mystery to literary to just plain fun. The websites have what's on the agenda for the coming months as well.
Here's a smattering of what's being read in January, or at least suggested.
J-Link Book bunch at Panera's in Clintonville (Columbus) is reading The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.
Newburgh Adult Book Discussion Group that meets at the Central Branch of the Ohio Township Public Library System is discussing Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Oh, wait a minute. This group is in Indiana, but since I took the time to write it up, here's a nod to them.)
Lori Foster, a Cincinnati-based romance writer wanted for Christmas the following: Drop Dead Gorgeous by Linda Howard; Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris and A Marked Man by Stella Cameron.
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Have you ever forgotten to close a bank account? Moved before your income tax refund arrived? Forgotten to check the lottery numbers on your ticket?
I thought this would be a good time to recap all the Ohio bands we've posted clips for over the last six months, in case you missed any.
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.
Bob Evans Restaurants.jpg)
If you're a history buff like I am, and obviously connected to the internet if you're reading this right now, you should take a trip over to 
Some things I don't want to know too much about, including (in Twain's words) the making of law and sausages. However, if you are curious about the sanitation in your favorite dining establishment, the 
out if you don't have to." I don't think it's because we have more bad weather than ever before. It's just because we hear about it a lot more in this day of instant information. If you'd like to see just how bad Ohio weather can get, and you don't scare easily, there's a good website 
Some of the interesting stories in the Blog-O-sphere recently-
The arts and crafts scene in Ohio thrives, with shows just about every weekend somewhere. Locally, for example, we have a number of Saturday morning farmer's markets that have become excellent venues for artists such as my friend Carolyn. The state also supports some lucrative competitions that can help pay the bills while you pursue your passion.
Every once in awhile an email ends up in my junk mail that looks interesting. Today there was one from Americantowns.com announcing that Columbus is part of this on-line venture designed to let folks know what is happening in the cities and towns where they live. My email was about Columbus specifically. When I went to the .jpg)
For a city with a lot of problems, Youngstown has a lot of citizens with a great passion for the place. Particularly in the younger, newer generations growing up in the wreckage of past industrial economic betrayals and disappointments, I find more and more Youngstowners who are blogging and journaling about the city and what it was, is, and what they hope it will become. 
With the weather in a state of flux this is the time of year to pick up a good book. Here are some suggestions I've culled from a couple of Ohio's sources. Perhaps you have some other ideas. Send them along. Here's to not waiting for what Oprah says to read before heading to the library or bookstore. Check out Ohio's brand of literary tastes for some reading pleasure. They run the gamut from classics, to mystery to literary to just plain fun. The websites have what's on the agenda for the coming months as well.
