Tagged: toledo

Automaker Chrysler plans to put close to $20 million into one of its northwest Ohio plants.

Chrysler says the work at the machining plant just outside Toledo will go toward new equipment and tooling. The investment won't bring any new permanent jobs though.

The spending will increase capacity for a torque converter for the new 2014 Jeep Cherokee.

The plant near Perrysburg makes torque converters and steering columns for several Chrysler plants in the Midwest as well as Canada and Mexico.
 

This weekend an international heavy metal conference for academics and researchers is happening in Bowling Green, Ohio. It's called "The Heavy Metal & Popular Culture Conference," and organizers say it's the first of its kind in the U.S.

It will feature presentations by heavy metal scholars from around the world about race and gender in the genre, and about its growing popularity in places like Finland and Puerto Rico.

A new report finds three regional cities are good places to buy and rent out single family homes.

A new Realty Trac survey lists Detroit, Saginaw and Toledo among the 20 best markets in the country to own and rent single family homes. Florida cities dominate the rest of the list.

The top 20 are based on the markets with the most potential cash flow and capitalization rates on a 3-bedroom home.

Saginaw ranked second on the survey.  Toledo came in third.  Detroit ranked 15th on the list.  Memphis, Tennessee topped the Realty Trac ranking. 

While Toledo, just south of Michigan’s border, is part of Ohio, it shouldn’t be. Geographically and economically, it is more part of the Michigan economy, right down to the Jeep plant.
 Its 300,000 people tend to share our state’s demographics and the same range of difficulties Michigan manufacturing cities face as they attempt to transition to a twenty-first century economy.

Last week I spent some time with the mayor of Toledo, Mike Bell, who for many years was the fire chief. Four years ago, he got elected by running strictly as an independent -- unbossed and unbowed. He takes stands on issues, but doesn’t endorse partisan candidates. Though he’s been a longtime state official, he’s never held elected office before.

I asked him what had been the biggest surprise for him in his first term as mayor. When I’ve asked other politicians that, they’ve often said that the job turned out to be far more complex than they’d imagined. But not Mayor Bell. The shocker for him is the lack of civility, courtesy and respect people show officials these days.

A Kansas-based company says it has a deal to buy the short line Michigan rail company Ann Arbor Railroad Inc.

Pittsburg, Kan.-based Watco Companies LLC says the deal awaits approval from the Surface Transportation Board, which is expected in late January or early February.

The Ann Arbor Railroad serves southeastern Michigan and the Toledo, Ohio, areas, mainly shipping auto and other manufacturing goods. It operates 50 miles of track between Ann Arbor and Toledo and has Toledo-area terminals serving General Motors Co., Chrysler and Ford Motor Co.

If you ever took a course in Michigan history, you may remember that Toledo was originally supposed to be part of Michigan. We lost it after the infamous Toledo War.