Toledo Blade City of Toledo

D.J. Bork sat motionless, paralyzed with pain over the death last month of his 3-year-old daughter, Kaycie, who had been severely abused.

He uttered only a few words about how she used to run through the house looking for her daddy.

"I miss that the most," Mr. Bork said, wearing a T-shirt and button adorned with a picture of the little girl relatives called Peanut.

Kaycie Bork died Oct. 23 in St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, four days after she arrived with severe head injuries, police said. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Howard Pinkley remembers when water skiers soared over ramps and sailboats raced on the Ottawa River.

Gradually, however, the conduit to Lake Erie has become mired in muck, he said, and it's taking the local boating industry with it.

"We've had very low water over the last few years," said Mr. Pinkley, whom many consider the unofficial leader of Point Place, an unincorporated community in northern Toledo. "A bird can walk across the Ottawa River today."

BOWLING GREEN - Fascinated by the crowd of people and pups lining up along North Main Street early yesterday, 2-year-old Bryson Torres smiled and bounced on his feet moments before the 23rd annual Bowling Green Community Holiday Parade.

But his giggles and pointing to the "doggie, doggie, doggie" stopped when the big red fire engine rolled by. Until the Bowling Green Fire Department rigs passed, the toddler sat wide-eyed, open-mouthed. "His favorite," because a relative is a retired firefighter, said his grandmother, Melanie Torres.

Two separate fires less than 12 hours apart at a West Toledo light-bulb sales firm are under investigation as possible arsons, authorities said yesterday.

There were no reports of injuries.

The first fire at Light Tech, 821 Phillips Ave., was reported about 6:30 p.m. Friday.

It was extinguished a short time later, but not before it caused about $5,000 in fire and smoke damage, Battalion Fire Chief Dave Fought said.

Fire crews responded to the second fire at 4:58 a.m. yesterday.

FORT JENNINGS, Ohio - A 20-year-old man was pronounced dead in a Lima hospital yesterday soon after he was found in a burning house just east of Fort Jennings, authorities said.

Michael Pollock, Jr., who was home alone at the time of the fire, was pronounced dead before 4 a.m. at St. Rita's Medical Center, Lima, Ohio, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's office.

An autopsy is to be performed today at the Lucas County Coroner's office.

FORT JENNINGS, Ohio ? A 20-year-old man was pronounced dead in a Lima hospital early Saturday soon after he was found in a burning house just east of this Putnam County community, authorities said.

Michael Pollock Jr., who was home alone at the time of the fire, was taken to St. Rita?s Medical Center, Lima, Ohio, according to the county sheriff?s office.

Mr. Pollock was pronounced dead before 4 a.m. Saturday, according to the sheriff?s office. The cause of death was pending an autopsy scheduled at the Lucas County Coroner?s Office, a nursing supervisor at the hospital said.

Two separate blazes within less than a 12-hour period at a West Toledo light-bulb sales firm are being investigated as possible arson fires, authorities said Saturday.

There were no reports of injuries.

The first fire at Light Tech, 821 Phillips Ave., was reported about 6:30 p.m. Friday. It was extinguished a short time later but not before it caused about $5,000 in fire and smoke damage, Battalion Fire Chief Dave Fought said.

The Toledo Zoo signals the arrival of the holiday season with its ?Lights Before Christmas? celebration, which features more than a million holiday lights and an 85-foot Norway spruce towering above the zoo Conservatory.

The celebration will continue from 5 p.m. to8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and from 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 31.

The zoo will be closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.

Kate Weathers hauled herself in a car with no heat, driving for more than an hour last night from north of Detroit with two goals in mind: Get to Toledo. See Puddle of Mudd.

The 18-year-old arrived early and quickly blended in with 2,000 others already at the Erie Street Market's Toledo Civic Theatre for the same reason.

"It'll be a great show." Ms. Weathers said barely listening to the opening band that she could not name.

As for the venue, she gave it a thumbs up.

Toledo Councilman Joe McNamara weighed in yesterday on a proposal by Lucas Commissioner Pete Gerken to raise the county's real estate conveyance fee by 33 percent - asking him to consider directing the added money to help the housing industry instead of the Lucas County Improvement Corp.

"Housing is economic development," Mr. McNamara said during a news conference. "The bottom line is that the conveyance fee comes from housing, and revenue generated from the housing industry should be reinvested into the housing industry."