Ed Gudenas, owner of the St. Hazards Waterfront Resort on Middle Bass Island, is looking for someone with a warm building, a green thumb and a soft heart for tropical trees. More than 30 palm trees have been brought north and planted at the resort to give his guests a tropical feeling when they vacation on the Lake Erie island, Gudenas said.

SANDUSKY The faded, mint-green home on Pearl Street doesn't look like much. Rust and cracks mar the white rainspouts that run alongside the two-story home. Siding near the second-floor window is missing. Across the street, industrial debris protrudes from a fenced-off, overgrown field.

SANDUSKY Not signing on to Ohio's application for $400 million in federal education grants didn't mean a whole lot for districts such as Berlin-Milan, Huron and Perkins schools. Those districts, and many of the 289 school districts that declined to participate in Race to the Top, stood to gain $100,000 during the grant's four years.

SANDUSKY Businessmen who own local indoor tanning salons say they feel burned by a new federal tax that will hit them July 1. Starting next month, they'll have to pay a 10 percent federal excise tax -- essentially a sales tax -- on all of their services.