Regular Rust Wire readers know that we enjoy highlighting our favorite blogs.
This is a real gem and one I check regularly: EnjoyingToledo.com.

I love the font, photos, brief yet informative posts, and just the idea of it – as the blog’s author writes,
“The more I learn about the history of this city, the more I think Toledo is really a very special place. It’s sad to see that some people don’t see it this way… so this is my blog about all of the great things in Toledo (and surrounding areas)—people, …

The Buffalo News’ “The ‘Burbs” blog posed a question yesterday that has been asked by many a municipality: should public employees be required to live where they work?

(Sorry for this lame picture. I couldn’t think of any other way to illustrate this story.)
Their post dealt with the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, but it’s a question that has been asked throughout our region.
Typically, municipal leaders – and oftentimes voters as well – favor such rules, which are often opposed by police and firefighters unions.
This has been a hot topic in Ohio …

    Akron’s long-time mayor Don Plusquellic, a pioneer in regional economic development who has been credited with helping double the size of the downtown workforce, is facing a recall.
    Former Akron City Councilman Warner Mendenhall, a political rival of the mayor, has gathered the 3,179 signatures needed to hold a special election this summer to recall Plusquellic, The Plain Dealer reports.
    The special election will cost Akron taxpayers $175,000. Worse, The Plain Dealer reports that the special election favors Plusquellic opponents and few people in Akron are even aware of …

The Federal Government will steer $50 million in assistance to communities with auto plants that have experienced significant layoffs, The Associated Press reports.
The money will come from federal stimulus funds and be used for job training and placement.
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What does it take to retrain middle-aged factory workers?
 
NPR takes a look at the process in this story about a Toledo-area couple, both in their 50s, who are back in high school learning algebra and training for their first white-collar jobs.
The effort paid off for Jim Buford, who recently got a job installing solar panels.

 
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Toledo resident Stacy Jurich, 23, traveled 10,000 miles across the United States this winter on a Mercedez Benz powered by vegetable oil.
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A sad story about Toledo in Sunday’s Washington Post.
The article describes how the downturn in the economy is hitting white-collar workers- hard. (I should know, I’m one of them!)
“In this corner of Ohio, the workforce is contracting at an alarming speed, with unemployment climbing to rates more typical of counties in Appalachia,” the article states. “In March, unemployment in Toledo reached 12.6 percent, an increase of more than 50 percent over March 2008.”
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How do you overcome the perception – and reality- of a central city neighborhood in a Rust Belt city that is losing population? That’s Terry Glazer and United North’s challenge.
Glazer leads the Lagrange Development Corporation, a community development group that works to improve housing, jobs, economic opportunities, and the neighborhood in general in North Toledo.
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When I was a little girl my mom used to sing me an old cheer called “We’re Strong for Toledo.” My grandma used to sing me John Denver’s “Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio.” The songs portrayed two very different cities: one a proud metropolis, the other a laughing stock.
I thought it might be interesting to look at the most famous songs devoted to Rust Belt as a way to examine how these cities are portrayed in pop culture, and also how that image has changed over the years.
For example, the …

A recent Brookings Institution study found less “job sprawl” in Toledo than in many other major metro areas.
Eight of 10 jobs in the metropolitan area are within 10 miles of downtown, the study found, as reported in The Blade.
Toledo’s doing better than many other areas. Consider:
-In metro Detroit, 77 percent of jobs are more than 10 miles from downtown.

- In metro Chicago, the figure is 69 percent.
- And it is better than any of the Ohio cities studied, The Blade reported.
In Cleveland, just 16 percent of jobs were three miles …