michellezepeda's Blog

This week Northwest Ohio made national news.  It all happened after Lake Local’s High School choir took a trip to Chicago.  While staying at the hotel the chaperones taped the door handles of the hotel rooms the kids were staying in. 

 

Apparently they did not tell the Lake Local students and when one of them tried to open their hotel room door in the middle of the night it was not easy to open.  That student called his mom allegedly in a panic and then his mom complained to the school district and Fox Toledo News.  The mom was concerned chaperones taped the door completely shut not allowing her son to get out of his room.

 

Today Lake Local Superintendent, Jim Witt, called Fox Toledo and wanted to clear the air.  I went to his office where he showed me the roll of tape used to tape the student’s doors and also demonstrated how the doors were taped and how easily the tape could be broken when the door was opened. 

 

Taping doors is a new practice used by school districts across the country.  It lets chaperones know if any kids tried getting out after curfew because the tape will rip.  This is a safety measure to keep kids secure in their rooms while the adults are sleeping. 

 

Superintendent Witt told me the tour company that the choir trip was booked through actually suggested for the chaperones to tape the doors.

 

The school district wants to put this all behind them and believes after a meeting the parents have come to the conclusion that their children were not in danger. 

 

As a parent I would immediately jump to my daughter’s defense if she was panicking and said she was in trouble.  But sometimes as parents and members of society I think we have to take a step back and look at all the information before pointing fingers.  In our world today it is so easy to blame others without gathering all the facts.  The door taping seems to have been a big misunderstanding and if the two parties would have initially just sat down and discussed what happened all this would have probably been resolved without making local or national news.    

Here we go again. Gas prices took a huge jump. They are now at $3.80 a gallon for regular unleaded. AAA says they will hit $4.00 a gallon this month. A lot of motorists have changed their routines in order to cope with the expense of gas. Some walk, take their bike or bus rather then driving. Others eat out less to alleviate the cost.

Now that the prices are getting so high I am really taking notice myself. I live in Perrysburg, and drive downtown for work. So hoping a bus is not an option for me yet. But I have been planning my errand running days a little better. I try to go to a store where I can grab everything I need, rather then making two or three stops. So now a question for you…What if anything are you doing different to save on fill ups?

This week the Lucas County Commissioners held their State of the County Address.  The plan was to hold it at the Seagate Convention Center, Tuesday morning.  In the past all three Lucas County Commissioners attended and each gave a speech talking about the negative and positive issues the county is facing. 

Well this year a last minute change turned the traditional State of the County Address into an uncomfortable and very untraditional situation. 

 

Over the Weekend Commissioner Ben Konop announced that he would hold his own State of the County Address at The Source Tuesday afternoon.  He said the State of the County Address should be given to Lucas County residents who are struggling to look for a job.  Rather then at the Seagate Convention Center in front an audience of County employees, and campaign contributors. 

 

Commissioner Pete Gerken and Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak said “the show must go on” and delivered their speeches as planned.  They told the media that the reason they held it at the Seagate Convention Center was because it overlooked the Arena construction site, which they say is a big part of Lucas County’s future.

 

So both sides, if you will, have valid arguments as to why they held their State of the County Address where they did.  But it seems there may be a bigger underlying issue.  Commissioner Konop is the newest Commissioner in Lucas County.  And over the past few months Konop has been holding several press conferences by himself without Wozniak or Gerken. 

 

All the Commissioners talked about modernizing local government and moving Lucas County ahead in their speeches, but I think it would be best to hammer through the personal or professional issues the three may have first.  It can be tough to get along with “co workers” when you have different ways of doing things and different visions, but it will be hard for the Commissioners to move Lucas County out of the economic slump it’s in without working together.  

I recently found out one of my friends is getting a divorce after being married for nearly 10 years.  I really have not known a lot of people in my life to get a divorce.  I come from a Catholic family and was raised to believe you get married once.  But finding out the news led my husband and I into a long discussion about a successful marriage. 

He asked me if I thought a marriage was successful if it ended in a divorce.  The question really made me think.  Initially I said no, but after time I reconsidered my original answer. 

 

If a couple is married for 30 years and has children together how could that marriage be a failure?  You raised your children together, they bring you joy and will grow up and contribute to our world.  That would hardly be considered a failure.  Or even a couple that was married ten years without kids, but had a loving relationship, traveled and built a home together.  Would you consider those ten years a wasted of time?

 

In our society today you hear more and more about couples getting divorced and remarried two and three times.  It almost seems like getting divorced and remarrying is the new norm.  And when you personally know the couple getting divorced it’s easier to accept what is happening, because you can see it’s for the best. 

 

So I’m still undecided on the answer to the question, “is a marriage still successful if it ends in divorce?”  I would love to hear how you guys answer that question to help me figure out the right answer….if there is one.     

It’s time to blog again.  Today was a crazy day for me. 

I had planned on covering a story at The Toledo Post of The Highway Patrol.  An 84 year old woman was pulled from her burning car by three good Samaritans after an accident in January.  Today the men were being honored for saving the elderly woman’s life. 

But minutes after being handed the story Sgt. Richard Murphy with the Toledo Police Department called to tell me about a big arrest.  They caught a guy stealing from the Family Dollar on Dorr and Collingwood.  But after they had him in custody police noticed the alleged thief, Derrick Jones, had over a dozen other warrants out for his arrest.  Fox Toledo was the only TV Station there, and we got great video of Jones in custody.  I was also able to talk with the manager of the store and get a look at what the guy tried taking. 

So now we had two really good stories that we wanted to bring to our viewers First at 4.  My producer decided to assign me to both stories.  So I had a busy afternoon writing and putting each together. 

Besides that I had a few deadlines coming up on other projects.  So today I feel like I did enough work to fill three days…I’m exhausted  But as I am writing this blog, I can say everything on my “to do list,” for work at least, is crossed off.  I love that feeling.

My husband and I will be heading to Las Vegas for a little get away in a few weeks.  We are really looking forward to some sun, relaxation and a little time away from your one year old daughter Mazie. 

Last week really good friends of ours decided they would like to come with us for the trip.  I was really excited that they wanted to go.  So we all started checking all the websites for cheap tickets, and we were shocked at how high the airfare was to Vegas. 

 

Our friends were willing to travel out of several different cities, but even with flexible travel dates and departure cities we could not find anything lower then $400 round trip per ticket.  I remember when it use to be pretty affordable to travel to this hot vacation destination. 

 

There is a good chance this is just the beginning of higher airfares.  With the price of gas rising fast, airlines may have had to raise their fares to keep up. 

 

So I was wondering if anyone else noticed this trend?  Are you seeing higher then usual ticket prices out there?  And how much are you willing to pay for a flight to get away from it all?  Let me know.     

 

On Sunday Fox Toledo and St. Vincent Children's Hospital put on the Children's Miracle Network Celebration.  It was a huge success.  We raised over $500,000 for the hospital.  The thing I love about CMN is that all the money raised stays in our area.  Every penny will go towards St. V's to help purchase new equipment, games and anything else the hospital needs to make the life better for the kids and families that use their services. 
 
In the past I really believed in CMN but this year it held a special place in my heart.  I am a new mom, my daughter Mazie is four months old, and listening to the families’ stories and visiting the hospital really affected me.  I am blessed with a healthy child and could not even imagine the heartache some of these families go through, having a child in the hospital.  I realize how valuable it is to have a children's hospital in our area.  It is a wonderful resource that I hope I will never have to use, but glad it is there just incase.  And it's wonderful our community is so committed to the hospital and supporting their efforts.