Much of what passes for economic development these days seems to consist of sitting around and waiting for Uncle Sam to bail you out, or demanding that politicians in Columbus or Erie County solve all of our problems.

I'm more intrigued by grassroots efforts, such as 10 Percent Shift.

 My mother, who I have mostly trained not to send me forwards of any kind, sent me this YouTube video. I shows a highly-automated and very nifty VolksWagen factory.

Governor Ted Strickland and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur were all atwitter Wednesday when the announcement came that 86 of 88 Ohio counties will receive $1 billion in federal loan assistance guarantees.

On Wednesday, June 17 I was invited to attend a Health Care forum hosted by Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur’s office in Toledo.  The audience consisted of retired physicians, employed nurses, who practice home health care and hospice care, mental health professionals and social service professionals.

The idea that America is post-racial because Barack Obama was voted into the White House is pretty absurd. 

I will be working with The University Memory & Aging Center of Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center in their study to learn how to best help family members increase their knowledge and skills related to the caregiving of persons with Alzheimer’s Disease

One subject I've generally stayed away from while discussing the teenage psyche is love. More than anything, the reason being is because most adults tend to scoff at teenagers and love.

A year ago, the Save Our Shoreline Parks viewpoint was derided as "unworthy of credibility" in the pages of the Sandusky Register:

Intense, focused, motivating force. My personal trainer Ken Cutcher of Anytime Fitness in Perkins Township is all of those things. I can get pretty whiny and he just blows it off. I love that about him.

What a week.

First, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina disappears. His wife tells the AP he just needed to get away from the kids — on Father's Day — so he could write in quiet.