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A blaze of suspicious origin destroyed a vacant duplex early Wednesday on Knower Street near Broadway and South Avenue in Toledo?s Old South End, the city fire authorities said.

There were no injuries.

Fire crews arrived at 659 Knower St. about 5:25 a.m. and saw heavy flames coming from the rear upper part of the duplex, Battalion Fire Chief David Hitt said.

Firefighters had an aerial operation up and running in about 15 minutes, about as soon as they had a water hose extended to the scene of the fire from a hydrant across the street, Chief Hitt said.

LONG after the Beijing Olympics is remembered as China's coming out as a world superpower, it is likely to be remembered as the Michael Phelps Games. It was where he came out as perhaps the greatest Olympian of all time.

His haul of eight gold medals in Beijing, added to the six he won in Athens (where he also won two bronze), makes him the most golden of all Olympic athletes. With world records falling in his wake, he did it in a style that seemed to suggest he was destiny's child.

An Aug. 14 contributor to the Readers' Forum was under the delusion that opening up all U.S. territory and territorial waters to exploration can make us "independent from foreign oil." Unfortunately, how much oil is out there depends on geology and how quickly it can be pumped depends on physics.

CAN YOU hear it?

There's a buzz, just the hint of an undercurrent barely on the edge of perception, but a buzz nonetheless. If you listen carefully, you can make it out: downtown Toledo is on the verge of becoming "the place to be."

The announcement of a plan by the Eyde Co., owners of the former Fiberglas Tower, to renovate the 39-year-old fixture in Toledo's skyline is just the latest - and by no means the least - of a string of positive developments that could transform the Glass City.

When a utility crew using a traditional bucket truck responds to fallen wires, the truck's engine may idle for hours while the crew works in the lift bucket to repair the problem.

But when a crew using one of International's new electric-hybrid trucks responds to the same situation, the truck's batteries store enough electricity to operate the lifting system for as long as two hours. When the batteries run down, the engine starts automatically, runs for six to eight minutes to recharge them, and then shuts off - simultaneously reducing fuel consumption, engine wear, and pollution.

COLUMBUS - Ohio's weakening economy could shed 75,000 more jobs and employers could end up paying $1.7 billion more a year if voters choose to mandate up to seven paid days of sick leave for most workers on Nov. 4, a business-backed study predicted yesterday.

The study, funded by the Ohio chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, predicted that many of those losses will occur in small businesses otherwise exempt from the mandate because of a trickle-down effect caused by cutbacks made by larger businesses that use their products or services.

The Lucas County commissioners are considering a $1.5 million loan to Maumee Authority Stamping to reopen the auto parts plant Ford shuttered last year.

The money would come from the county's cash reserves, and would be part of a short-term loan.

But if the project went belly-up, it's possible the loan would not be repaid.

"Is it a risk? You bet," said Commissioner Pete Gerken, an advocate for the project. "But if you don't take risk, there's no reward."

Developer Larry Dillin is asking Toledo City Council to approve a fourth amendment to the development agreement for the $20 million public portion of the riverfront Marina District planned for the city's east side.

The last plan approved by council would have sold 58 acres along the Maumee River to Mr. Dillin for $3.6 million for a residential and commercial development.

In the latest plan, the city would convey just 18 acres to Dillin Riverfront Properties Inc., Mr. Dillin's Perrysburg-based company, for $1.2 million.

A prominent local architect and preservation advocate said he believes the United Way building in downtown Toledo should be saved, possibly by being sold if the agency no longer wants the structure.

?It shouldn?t just be discarded,? said Paul Sullivan, a Toledo architect who is a past president of the Toledo chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

?We have programs that recycle bottles. We should be able to recycle buildings.?

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WASHINGTON ? Wholesale inflation surged in July, leaving prices for the past year rising at the fastest pace in 27 years, according to government data released Tuesday.

The Labor Department reported that wholesale prices shot up 1.2 percent in July, pushed higher by rising costs for energy, motor vehicles and other products. The increase was more than twice the 0.5 percent gain that economists expected.

WASHINGTON ? Wholesale inflation surged in July, leaving prices for the past year rising at the fastest pace in 27 years, according to government data released Tuesday.

The Labor Department reported that wholesale prices shot up 1.2 percent in July, pushed higher by rising costs for energy, motor vehicles and other products. The increase was more than twice the 0.5 percent gain that economists expected.

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? A new study commissioned by a small business group says Ohio would lose 75,000 jobs in the next five years if voters approve a ballot issue that would give most full-time workers seven paid sick days a year.

The research conducted on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business in Ohio says 20 percent of those job losses would occur in businesses that employ one to 20 employees, even though those businesses would not be required to offer the sick days under the ballot proposal.

The Ohio Green Fleets Program was launched by Clean Fuels Ohio, a statewide, non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the use of cleaner and energy-efficient domestic fuels.

Lucas County commissioners approved four levy requests for the November ballot, including a third try by COSI

Former Perrysburg resident, Anna Tunnicliffe,  came from behind to win gold in the final for the women's Laser Radial class

Former Perrysburg resident, Anna Tunnicliffe, comes from behind to win gold in the final for the women's Laser Radial class

Two months after buying one of the last remaining units in an unusual row-house development in downtown Toledo, Joel Tse has no regrets.

"I love said it," said the Toledo Symphony flutist.

"I like downtown living, and it's close to the museum."

Developer Brad Stough accomplished a rare feat in today's sluggish real estate market.

He carved out six stylish townhouses from a pair of rundown commercial buildings along Washington Street at Michigan Street and delivered them to the market for less than $200,000 each. (Two sold for under $120,000).

David H. Y. Ho, chairman of the Greater China region of Nokia Siemens Network, has been named to Owens-Illinois Inc.'s board.

Jacqueline Dedo has joined Dana Holding Corp. as vice president of strategy and business development. She was a senior executive at the Timken Co. in Canton.

Edward McClendon, a founder of McClendon and Associates in Norwalk, was elected vice president of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors-Ohio.

Sylvania City Council members last night selected Mary Westphal, a member of Sylvania's municipal planning commission, to fill a vacancy on the council.

Ms. Westphal will serve the 16 months that remain in the term vacated by longtime Councilman Read Backus.

She is the director of development for the Toledo Symphony, and she has been a resident of Sylvania for nearly her entire life.

Her appointment was approved unanimously following interviews with six candidates.

Ms. Westphal took the oath of office and participated in her first meeting last night.

The Perrysburg High School girls? volleyball team was back in training yesterday. Their locker room was closed and practice suspended last week because of an outbreak of staph infection.

Three cases of the infection were reported among players, one dating back to June, Superintendent Tom Hosler said.

Last week, the high school?s athletic facilities were closed and sanitized.

Mr. Hosler said the infections were believed to be caused by girls? sharing personal items, such as water bottles, towels, soap, and razors, which can spread pathogens.

In a major boost to northwest Ohio?s position as a budding center of low-cost solar-panel production, First Solar Inc. said yesterday that it will more than double the size of its operations in Perrysburg Township and add 134 jobs.

The project, the value of which wasn?t disclosed, will include a second research facility to serve company operations worldwide, more production capacity, and three additional buildings on the firm?s campus in Cedar Business Center in the Toledo suburb.

The 500,000-square-foot addition is to be completed by spring 2010.

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