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Airport announces new director Dayton Business Journal - September 28, 2006 Closing a 14-month search, the city introduced Thursday the director of the department of aviation, which manages the Dayton International Airport. Iftikhar Ahmad's first day will be Oct. 30 and comes by way of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, where he has been a vice president since November 2002. He led the department of planning, design and construction. The MNAA owns and operates Nashville International Airport, which has nine million travelers pass through annually, and a general aviation airport. Ahmad also worked with the City of Houston's department of aviation, serving in a variety of positions between 1997 and 2002. The Houston airport is one of the largest in the country, includes four facilities and serves about 42 million passengers a year. Ahmad said he will look for ways to drive non-airline revenue, such as dollars from parking, tenants and concessions, to support the airport. He said his top job will be figuring out a new use for the former UPS freight hub and working to replace the lease revenue generated by the now-empty facility. More at http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/

Spectacular shots!

ONU is in Ada, which is about 20 miles east of Lima.

As the article says, the Catholic churches in soutern Mercer and Auglaize Counties, as well as northern Shelby and Darke Counties seem to be still hanging on. But now with the priest shortage, one priest is covering 3 parishes. As priests continue to retire and die, I'm sure they going to have to really start consolidating them. Catholic Churches in the "Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches"

University of Northwestern Ohio is a small private technical school in Lima. What kind of program is he going into? I believe their school for automotive repair is pretty good. I know of a couple of people who have taken classes in their business program, and they seemed to think it was fine, but I don't know much more than that. The "campus" is located in a safe area...it is right by the mall, so it just a bunch of sprawl development.

The current owner has some big plans for this building. There is a plan to restore the 1st and 2nd Floors as soon as the new tenant finalizes their lease (which should be very soon). The teller cages will remain and be converted to offices (more like cubicles) and the boardroom will become an office. From what I've heard, there seems to be a commitment to keep as much of the historical elements as possible. Later plans include renovating upper floors for residential and office use. Construction start: November 1925 Construction finish: December 1926 Height: 12 stories Architect: Weary & Alford Company of Chicago, IL Builder: W H Horster of Tulsa, OK This bank building was constructed as Lima's "daylight office building" in Lima's booming downtown. It replaced a a three story bank building on the same site. The prospectus explains that the "chief aim has been not how cheap but how good can this building be made for our tenants." The building was envisioned as acting as a "silent partner" for its many physicians, dentists, attorneys, and other professional tenants. Obviously a bank was the main first floor tenant. The banks occupying the space over the years were Lima Trust Company, which mergered in 1931 with First American Bank & Trust to form Lima First American Trust. This bank liquidated in 1933 and on September 9 of that same year, the National Bank of Lima was formed by a group of local businessmen. In 1963 it was purchased by First National Bank and Trust. The bank was purchased in 1975 by Huntington National Bank. Huntington vacated the building sometime in the late 80's or early 90's. Exterior It was advertised as bring of fire-proof steel construction, with the exterior of gray Indiana limestone over a base of polished granite. 1st Floor The bank lobby was described as monumental in the original building prospectus, which is still the best description of the vaulted ceiling of decorative plaster, brass fixtures, and marble staircases. Stained Glass Window The stained-glass window on the west end symbolizes the connection of agriculture and manufacturing in Lima's economy. The central figure is a female representation of prosperity and is flanked by an image of a farmer on one side, a factory worker on the other, and a train locomotive below. Now skipping to the 2nd Floor The 2nd Floor boardroom has walls paneled in black walnut. Interesting fact: One of the many features of the building was the burglar "alarm." Inside each teller cage was button near the floor which could be pressed with the foot in case of robbery. This would dispense tear gas through slotted fixtures just above floor level. Interesting fact: As late as 1966, the Federal Reserve of Cleveland would store $14 - $15 million cash in the downstairs vault. Much of this information is from the Allen County Reporter

^ Now lets just hope that these people are smart with their money. Unless they were already really close to retiring, it really wasn't a whole lot of money. Those who were not close to retiring will have a hard time finding work that pays even nearly as well. Then again, if you see the writing on the wall I guess I would be best to get a buyout check rather than an unemployment check. Also, do retirees continue to pay union dues or do you only pay while you are working?

Is there actually a process of decertifying a union? If so, how does a company go about it?

Yeah, I thought of the authors each time I had to buy a "new" edition of a textbook in college. ;) Seriously though, I would not have bought them at full price. It was just something that seemed interesting and it was cheap, so I bought them. I got the books and liked them, so now I am more likely to go out and pay full price for others in the series.

Also, I must say their Dayton selection is pretty slim, so I think Jeff should get in touch with them!

There's one on Middletown and also one on the steel industry in Middletown. I ran across them at Half Priced Books and they were only a couple of bucks, so I picked them up. As you said, some great photographs and interesting history. Everytime I'm at the bookstore I want to buy more, but can never decide which ones to buy. At the publisher's website, you can search by state.... http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SRCHM&Store_Code=arcadia

Lovely town. When I drove through some of the residential areas of Maysville, though, it seemed pretty run down. I wonder what the local economy is like. Hopefully the locals appreciate the architecture that they have and continue working to preserve it.

I'm not sure if he was actually born in Geogetown or Point Pleasant, but I believe he and his family have connections to both towns. I know there is a Grant museum in Point Pleasant, but I don't recall if it was his birthplace or childhood home.

Nice job. When I was taking pictures in West Union this past spring, I talked to another guy who was out taking pictures. He lived in West Union and didn't really have much good to say about it. As far as the local economy, Wal-Mart was considered one of the better employers in town and there was another company that just had a big expansion--adding 20 new employees. He said many people have to drive to Cincinnati for work. He said he liked to take pictures of different little towns in the area so I told that he should start posting them on this site and he seemed pretty interested, but I don't think he has. Oh well...

Susquehanna/Cumulus Broadcasting sold the brand and call letters to Radio One for something like $5 million so Radio One could immediately launch their new station on 100.3, which they just bought. I can't get 100.3 here in Dayton and they are changing around the format, making it more like WROU in Dayton. Also, Radio One said they may hire a couple of the hosts, but most of them are gone which is unfortunate because most of them were pretty decent as far as radio hosts go. It's definitely not going to be the same Mojo. :( Guess it is giong to be more NPR for me in the car.

That cat's name didn't happen to be Pinky, did it?

Here's the transcript.... SHOW: ABC Nightline 11:47 PM EST ABC September 19, 2006 Tuesday (Off-camera) More bad news for the beleaguered Ford Motor Company today, as two agencies load its credit rating further into junk status. It's been a tough season for American automakers, especially Ford, which is slashing jobs by the tens of thousands after losing more than a billion dollars in just the last few months. And for the communities who've fed from the hands of the Big Three, there are consequences, like learning that the company wants to close the stamping plant, where Ford car parts are made. 'Nightline's" John Donvan reports from Maumee, Ohio. GRAPHICS: MAP OF OHIO JOHN DONVAN (ABC NEWS)(Voiceover) Here's the kind of place Maumee, Ohio was before Ford announced it was taking away 700 jobs. An American city of 15,000 people, with the charm and friendly feel of a small, American town, where they figured out how to hold on to the past, like this 1940s theater they resurrected as a community center. And on the night, they hold their annual holiday light parade, practically every club and mom-and-pop shop in town enters a float. And that guy hugging Santa, that's actually the mayor of Maumee, maestro of this sort of typical Maumee moment. Then, last Friday happened.... http://www.abcnightline.com/

Good article...but yet we continue to hand out tax breaks to shopping centers :roll:

I don't really consider it so much complaining. If you want complaining, just read some of the messages on enquirer.com, etc. The people on here are overall very supportive of the project. Being support and aware of these big projects, people here are more likely to have and share their opinions and critical analysis. I don't really consider this the typical complaining and whining that many are used to. Just my opinion.

Andrew made a trip to Dayton last month to make a presentation to Grassroots Greater Dayton. The main subject of the meeting was the aviation heritage light rail plan, but it provided a great opportunity to discuss the Ohio hub plan as well. Many people seemed to be unaware of All Aboard Ohio and the Ohio Hub plan, so his presentation was much appreciated. His enthusiasm and passion for the project was quite evident.

Looks pretty much like the City BBQ/Graeter's that opened in Beavercreek

The closing of the Maumee plant and the impact on the local community is going to be the subject of Nightline on ABC tonight (Tuesday night)

^ I think it depends on which section of the newspaper it is in.

Would the fact that their headquarters is located in Kentucky (Louisville) make them more likely to locate in NKY to gain more political clout with state leaders there or maybe locate in NKY because of political pressure from KY leaders?

LOL...I didn't even notice that.