BG News: Breaking News and Online Updates

Wheat field catches fire in Plain Township

2011-07-13T01:40:52Z

A fire burned its way through roughly five acres of a wheat stubble field after a piece of hot farm machinery driving over the field sparked the blaze July 6.
Kramer Road in Plain Township was blocked during the firefighting process, said Central Joint Fire District Lt. Sue Gavron.
The Wood County Sheriff's department was notified at 7:54 p.m., and the CJFD responded. It is a volunteer department covering Liberty, Portage and part of Plain townships along with the village of Portage.
The CJFD used a dozen personnel, three vehicles and 2500 gallons of water to contain the field fire in the span of an hour.
The fire started in the middle of the field and because the farmer had taken the first cut of wheat off of the field, the property did not lose "thousands and thousands of dollars," Gavron said.
Gavron said it was important to stop the fire before it spread to a nearby cornfield where crops were still growing and said that winds could have caused the fire to spread to telephone poles and a bean field as well.
The combination of the hot vehicle and dry conditions of the field are fairly common causes of field fires, Gavron said.
"It was not set, it was not intentional, it's just one of the hazards of the wheat harvest," Gavron said. "This is probably not going to be the last one that we have of these."

Vice President of Student Affairs leaves University

2011-06-02T17:19:34Z

Ed Whipple, the vice president of student affairs will be stepping down on July 1.

Whipple will be leaving the University to serve as a senior fellow in Washington D.C. at NASPA-- an organization for student affairs administrators in higher education, according to an email by President Carol Cartwright.

Whipple has been at the University since 2004 and helped to develop the plans for the new Union.

Cartwright will assist future president, Mary Ellen Mazey in choosing an interim vice president of student affairs, according to the email.

Officer involved shooting at Stadium View Apartments

2011-04-27T17:37:14Z

A 46-year-old male died after a shooting incident with Bowling Green Police early Wednesday.

Officers responding to a welfare-check call at Stadium Apartments, 1608 Clough St., encountered an armed individual who fired on police, according to a police report.

Shots were fired and the individual, Robert B. Blackwell, was transported to the Wood County Hospital. He died at 1:10 p.m.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will handle the crime-scene investigation.

SEAN SHAPIRO | THE BG NEWS

"Flash Mob" hits the Union

2010-09-17T19:47:13Z

A "flash mob" occurred on the first floor of the Union Friday, Sept. 17.

"I was so shocked. It was great," said Tiffany Rush, a freshman in attendance. "It started out with the cheerleaders sliding across the floor and then everybody started dancing," Rush said.

To help spread awareness for the first home football game against Marshall University Saturday, Sept. 18, University officials and various student groups planned the mob which attempted to surprise most people.

"We worked with a variety of student groups and tried to keep it semi-secret," said Dean of Students Jill Carr. "The goal was to bring a sense of school spirit and adventure," she said.

Cheerleaders, dance team members, student representatives and University officials took part in a choreographed dance while others in attendance cheered on the football team.

"Our job is to get everybody hyped about the first home game," said junior dance team member Megan Cunningham.

Practices for the dance began in late August and continued until the day of the event.

"The flash mob's purpose is to help spread school spirit and awareness," said Nicole Krueger, a student representative who participated in the event.

"I've been at BGSU for a long time, but this has been one of my favorite moments," Carr said.

Biden tells Ohio auto workers industry will thrive

2010-08-24T04:35:00Z

TOLEDO -- Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that U.S. automakers will thrive in the coming years despite the economic challenges still facing the industry.

Addressing auto workers, Biden painted a rosy picture of an industry that only a year ago was facing questions about whether it could survive and still is struggling to sell cars and other vehicles.

"Don't believe those who will say this temporary," Biden said at a Chrysler assembly plant less than a week after General Motors announced plans to return to the stock market this year.

During a tour of the plant, Biden said he was pleased that GM plans to return to the stock market some time this year. But he was less confident that the government will end its ownership of the automaker any time soon.

"I don't know if we can totally get out of GM," he said when asked whether the government would be able to get rid of its stake of GM this year.

He later said he had no idea how much money the government will get back this year.
"I don't know what the number will be, but it's a big number," he said.

The U.S. government now owns about 61 percent of GM, which it got in exchange for giving the company $50 billion in survival aid last year. GM has repaid $6.7 billion.

GM is eager to see its initial public offering reduce the government stake in the automaker because it has said government ownership has hurt GM's public image and sales.

Chrysler Group LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne said Monday that the company will pay back its government loans within four years. The automaker received about $15 billion in government help and was placed under control of Italian automaker Fiat as part of its bankruptcy.

The company has repaid about half of the $4 billion loan portion of its aid and is considering a public stock offering sometime in 2011.

"I'm satisfied," Marchionne said. "We're ahead of the plan."

He cautioned, though, it would be difficult to show a net profit this year.

Chrysler has made strides in the past year, lowering its losses and increasing demand for its cars after emerging from bankruptcy protection. But the automaker still needs to show it can make a profit and pay off government loans.

Chrysler said earlier this month it had a second-quarter loss of $172 million, a $25 million improvement from the first quarter.

"We've got faith in you," Biden told a worker on the Jeep Wrangler assembly line.

He told the workers that letting the industry fail a year ago would have crippled not only the automakers but also parts suppliers that employ more than 420,000 people nationwide.

"What people fail to understand about the industry is that it's not just not the jobs here," Biden said. "It's the guy making the steel, it's the guy making the rubber."

COURTESY OF WHITE HOUSE FLICKR

SECOND IN COMMAND: President Barack Obama walks with vice president Joe Biden along the Colonande, Feb. 3.

Generation Y has more debt than its predecessors, spends more money

2010-05-05T06:16:07Z

Generation Y has a reputation for spending the most money and having the most debt.

The average debt of University graduates is more than $20,000, according to the University website.

Freshman Kellie Nodo said she believes the debt problem is due to new technology, the expense of college and how easy it is to get credit cards.

"College is so expensive, plus we always want the newest of everything," Nodo said. "We need to start being more aware of how we spend money and the loans we take out, and we need more help from the government to afford school."

Sophomore Stephanie Loomis said the nature of society plays a huge role in student debt.

"Society is so commercialized," she said. "It's really important to invest in an education, but it's also about what you have. To keep up with trends, you have to spend money."

However, Loomis said there are ways to avoid getting into too much debt.

"Our generation knows how important education is," she said. "But you have to work along with school and help pay debt [back] as soon as you can. You have to save and don't get a credit card unless you absolutely need it."

Associate Director of Student Financial Aid Eric Bucks said students can save money by making smart choices when scheduling classes. Bucks said it costs the same price to take 12 credit hours as it does to take 18 credit hours.

"If you take 18 credit hours just once a year, you could cut a whole semester out and save a lot of money," Bucks said.

He also said students can avoid too much debt by staying on track for graduation and not extending the length of their program, making smart decisions as consumers, applying for scholarships and working while going to school.

"Students should be working and saving and not just working and spending," Bucks said. "They need to be working with an academic advisor to stay on track, bargain shopping and weighing every decision."

Bucks said one way students can avoid debt is to make smart decisions about the loans they take out. He said the amount of money students take out in loans has increased over the years.

"Not a single expense out there for students has gone down," Bucks said. "There have been modest increases to tuition and room and board. Nothing has gotten cheaper and things have to get paid somehow. Inevitably, that leads to higher loans."

The number of students taking out loans has also increased, Buck said.

"There are families where mom or dad is out of work and that student who didn't have to borrow two years ago may have to now," he said.

Bucks said students should always try to take out federal loans first and minimize the amount of private loans and credit cards they use.

"Federal loans have lower interest rates, more flexible payment options, forgiveness possibility and overall are just better," he said.

Bucks said if students are concerned or want advice about making good financial decisions they should go to Student Money Management Services.

Patricia Donnelly, program manager of SMMS, said the type of service they provide is not very common at other universities.

"This particular service is pioneering at colleges," she said. "We look out for students' financial situations not only now but in the future."

Donnelly said one of the main reasons students get into so much debt is because they come to college without any money management skills.

"No one has ever educated them about that," she said. "And if they don't have money management skills, plus a credit card and loans, they can get into some trouble."

Another reason for high student debt, Donnelly said, is the new demographic of students attending college.

"First generation and minority students are a fast-growing demographic going to college," she said. "And they tend to be incredibly without financial support."

Donnelly said students need to develop a mindset of awareness about where their money is going in order to avoid debt.

"You need to try to set a goal for yourself," she said. "And then when you are spending money on other things, you need to realize that is not getting you toward your goal."

Donnelly said they currently see about two students per week for individual sessions, up from less than one person a week in 2008.

"Students can learn from their choices," Donnelly said. "It's never too late to get out of debt."

Bowling Green's Corner Grill reopens

2010-03-31T18:10:47Z

The downtown eatery Corner Grill reopened for business today.

The business shut down on Sunday due to demands from the city fire department to remedy code violations involving the business' exhaust hood.

Owner Larry Cain said he has met with City Prosecutor Matt Reger and set a plan in motion to fix the current problem.

"We still need to make the changes as soon as possible," Cain said.

Cain said no date has been set as to when Corner Grill needs to make those changes, but Cain and Reger plan to have two more meetings to discuss the issue.

"We are open till declared close," Cain said. "I am thinking we will stay open till the end of the summer."

Cain said the business will have to close to make the changes, but first he is focusing on financing the changes.

Cain said Reger didn't want to shut down the business, but when it did close he believes it was residents who allowed the shop to reopen.

"I believe there was enough noise in town and someone listened," Cain said.

Men's basketball hosts Kent State tonight

2010-02-24T11:14:42Z

With two of their last three games coming at home, the BG men's basketball team will look to use their 9-3 record at Anderson Arena this year to their advantage heading into the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

The Falcons have won four straight games at home, and their .750 winning percentage in Anderson Arena this season is the team's best mark since the 2004-05 campaign, when BG was .800 with a 12-3 record.

Currently 14-12 overall and 6-7 in the MAC, BG's last two of three games at home will play an integral part as they make a bid to host a first-round game in the MAC Tournament.

Finishing their home schedule strong will not come easy, however, as the Falcons' last two games are against the top two teams in the MAC East, one of them being Kent State whom BG will host tonight at 7.

The Falcons got the best of the Golden Flashes on Jan. 17, winning 76-70 on the road.

Since that loss, Kent State has gone on to win 11 straight games and is tied for first place in the MAC East with Akron at 20-8 overall and 10-3 in the conference.

The Golden Flashes are holding their opponents to just 39.6 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from three-point range in league games -- allowing opponents to score only 61 points per game.

"[Kent State] is competing extremely hard and they're playing a physical brand of basketball," BG coach Louis Orr said. "They make it hard for you to score. This is not a finesse league, this is a bump and grind, in your face, have-to-defend league."

Apart from defense, Kent State can get it done on the offensive side of the ball.

Four players are averaging at least 10.7 points per game, led by sophomore Justin Green, who posts 13.5 points per game.

Green ranks second in the MAC with a 52.7 shooting percentage and averages 6.6 rebounds per game.

Kent State's balanced attack continues with Chris Singletary, Rodriguez Sherman and Tyree Evans, who score 11.8, 10.8 and 10.7 points per game, respectively.

Their balanced attack on offense, coupled with stingy defense, is why Kent State has won 11 consecutive games.

"Any team in this league that's competing for a championship, that's the way you have to do it," Orr said. "[Kent State] is a team that's been there done that. They have some tradition on their side that accounts for a lot of their mentality."

If the Falcons can get the same production they got during Saturday in an 87-70 win against Valparaiso, which five Falcons scored in double-figures, then BG will set themselves up for a season sweep against the Golden Flashes.

If Kent State can pull out a win, however, they will clinch a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament, receiving the automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament that BG got a year ago.

Two local businesses robbed within 48 hours

2010-02-02T18:49:32Z

Two area business have been robbed since Sunday morning.

BG Carry Out, located on East Wooster Street, was robbed early Sunday and Video Spectrum, located on Washington Street, was robbed last night.

Lt. Tony Hetrick of the Bowling Green Police Division said it is possible the robberies are related due to the proximity of the businesses and the time frame of the robberies, but the descriptions of the robber are not identical in both cases.

According to a BGPD release, the robber is described as a white male, approximately 6 foot to 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighing around 200 pounds.

In both robberies, the suspect has "threatened or brandished a weapon" and takes an undisclosed amont of cash, according to the release.

Hetrick said the department will continue to patrol the area of the robberies and will "work to deter them with our presence."

According to the release, the robber has been targeting business that are open late and have no security cameras.

The BGPD are encouraging business to call immediatly if they see anything suspicious in the area.

Obama declares 'I don't quit' in his State of the Union

2010-01-28T06:45:00Z

WASHINGTON -- Declaring "I don't quit,'" an embattled President Barack Obama vowed in his first State of the Union address last night to make job growth his topmost priority and urged a divided Congress to boost the still-ailing economy with fresh stimulus spending. Defiant despite stinging setbacks, he said he would not abandon ambitious plans for longer-term fixes to health care, energy, education and more.

"Change has not come fast enough," Obama said before a politician-packed House chamber and a TV audience of millions. "As hard as it may be, as uncomfortable and contentious as the debates may be, it's time to get serious about fixing the problems that are hampering our growth."

Obama looked to change the conversation from how his presidency is stalling -- over the messy health care debate, a limping economy and the missteps that led to Christmas Day's barely averted terrorist disaster -- to how he is seizing the reins.

A chief demand was for lawmakers to press forward with his prized health care overhaul, which is in severe danger in Congress, and to resist the temptation to substitute a smaller-bore solution for the far-reaching changes he wants.

"Do not walk away from reform," he implored. "Not now. Not when we are so close."

Republicans applauded the president when he entered the chamber, and even craned their necks and welcomed Michelle Obama when she took her seat. But the warm feelings of bipartisanship disappeared early.

Democrats jumped to their feet and roared when Obama said he wanted to impose a new fee on banks, while Republicans sat stone-faced. Democrats stood and applauded when Obama mentioned the economic stimulus package passed last February. Republicans sat and stared.

On national security, Obama proclaimed some success, saying "far more" al-Qaida terrorists were killed under his watch last year in the U.S.-led global fight than in 2008.

Hoping to salve growing disappointment in a key constituency, Obama said he would work with Congress "this year" to repeal the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. But in a concession to concern about the move among Republicans and on his own party's right flank, Obama neither made a commitment to suspend the practice in the interim nor issued a firm deadline for action.

The president devoted about two-thirds of his speech to the economic worries foremost on Americans' minds, emphasizing his ideas, some new but mostly old and explained anew, for restoring job growth, taming budget deficits and changing a polarized Washington "where every day is Election Day." These concerns are at the roots of voter emotions that once drove supporters to Obama but now are turning on him as he governs.

Declaring that "I know the anxieties" of Americans' struggling to pay the bills while big banks get bailouts and bonuses, Obama prodded Congress to enact a second stimulus package "without delay," specifying that it should contain a range of measures to help small businesses and funding for infrastructure projects. Also, fine tuning a plan first announced in October, Obama said he will initiate a $30 billion program to provide money to community banks at low rates, provided they agree to increase lending to small businesses. The money would come from balances left in the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund -- a program "about as popular as a root canal" that he made a point of saying "I hated."

Acknowledging frustration at the government's habit of spending more than it has -- and yet placing much blame on Republicans for record deficits, he said he would veto any bills that do not adhere to his demand for a three-year freeze on some domestic spending (while proposing a 6.2 percent, or $4 billion, increase in the popular arena of education). He announced a new, though nonbinding bipartisan deficit-reduction task force (while supporting the debt-financed jobs bill). And he said he would cut $20 billion on inefficient programs in next year's budget and "go through the budget line by line" to find more.

Positioning himself as a fighter for the regular guy and a different kind of leader, he urged Congress to require lobbyists to disclose all contacts with lawmakers or members of his administration and to blunt the impact of last week's Supreme Court decision allowing corporations greater flexibility in supporting or opposing candidates.

Even before Obama spoke, some of the new proposals, many revealed by the White House in advance, were dismissed -- on the right or the left -- as poorly targeted or too modest to make a difference. And one of Obama's economic point men, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was verbally pummeled by Democrats and Republicans alike over his role in the $180 billion bailout of insurance giant AIG Inc., a venting of the public's anger about Wall Street.

In the Republican response to Obama's speech, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia showed no sign of his party capitulating to the president.

In fact, the choice of McDonnell to represent Republicans was symbolic, meant to showcase recent GOP election victories by him and others. McDonnell reflected the anti-big government sentiment that helped lead to their wins, saying in excerpts from his own post-speech remarks that Americans want good health care they can afford, just not by turning over "the best medical care system in the world to the federal government."