Cleveland Toledo Chicago Rail Corridor Under Review

1 December 2021 ~ Put-in-Bay Daily

On Tuesday, November 23, Rep. Kaptur sent a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration expressing her strong support for an application submitted by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) for a $2.56 million grant that would be used to fund a comprehensive analysis by NOACA of the Cleveland to Chicago rail corridor.

The corridor, which runs through Cleveland, Elyria, Sandusky, Toledo, Bryan, Waterloo, Elkhart, South Bend, Gary, and Chicago, is a critical linchpin of the nation’s transportation network, connecting the industrial Midwest to America’s coasts and international shipping lanes.

NOACA’s study would identify investments that would be needed to improve passenger and freight rail travel, and reduce congestion along one of the nation’s busiest corridors.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalize our dilapidated infrastructure – and rebuilding our nation’s rail corridors will be a top priority,” said Rep. Kaptur. “Through the visionary leadership of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, we hope to take the next step that will empower us to better connect our ports and manufacturers to markets, bring together the economic hubs of the Midwest, and drive new investments and job growth throughout the region.”

“NOACA is thrilled to have this opportunity to submit the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements grant to improve the AMTRAK multi-modal transportation system within the Cleveland-Toledo-Chicago corridor,” said NOACA Executive Director and CEO Grace Gallucci. “I am optimistic about the collaboration with our state representatives, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and Department of Transportation agencies representing our Great Lakes region.”

Rep. Kaptur’s full letter can be found here.

PiB Public Docks Ready for Weekend

12 July 201812 July 2018 ~ Put-in-Bay Daily

Put in Bay Public Docks — Wildlife at “B” Dock

Public Docks are popular havens for weekend boaters at Put-in-Bay. Below are images revealing the pre-weekend calm! “A” & “C” docks can be hailed on VHF channel 69, “B” dock monitors VHF channel 68.

Put in Bay moorings — Enjoy “serenity now!”

Alternative spots are available at The Boardwalk. For moorings call VHF 10; for dock slips contact VHF 79.

Mysterious Object Passes through Our Solar System

1 December 2017 ~ Put-in-Bay Daily

Gene Zajac, Put-in-Bay’s very own Village Astronomer, reports regularly about phenomena in our universe. Below, he writes about a recent space discovery.

On October 19, 2017 an object was discovered traveling through space at an incredible speed of 85,000 mph. Based on its orbit and speed it was determined this asteroid like object came from another star system! This visitor will not return! It was discovered by Hawaii’s Pan-STARRPI telescope. It was named Oumuamua (oh Moo-uh Moo-uh). The name means “a messenger from afar arriving first”. It came from the area in space near Vega in the constellation of Lyra, but when this interstellar object passed through that area in space, Vega was not there. Oumuamua will head towards the constellation of Pegasus.

Oumuamua has a very unusual shape and is unlike any object observed before. The ratio of its length to width is 10 to 1. In our solar system we have objects with a 3 to 1 ratio. The 1/4 mile long visitor seems very dense and rotates at 7.3 hours. It appears reddish from millions of years exposure to cosmic radiation. It is estimated we may get such visitors every year but this is the first discovered.

NASA has been undergoing searches to find asteroids and comets that may be a threat to Earth. It is during this cataloging of objects Oumuamua was discovered. It may have been ejected from a forming star. Our own star probably sent its own armada of asteroids during its early formation. I look forward to the next discoveries of traveling nomads from star systems far, far away! (Images courtesy of Gene Zajac)

Put-in-Bay’s “Village Astronomer” Shares Impressive Space Mission Accomplishments

14 September 201714 September 2017 ~ Put-in-Bay Daily

Gene Zajac, of South Bass Island, highly regarded as our Village Astronomer, presents some fantastic data on the space missions of three satellites.

Voyager 1 and 2 were launched in September, 1977, making this their 40th anniversary. V-1 is 20.6 billion miles away from Earth; it is our farthest satellite from Earth. Amazingly, it is 139.3 times farther from the sun than Earth. Reaching another star would take 40,000 years! It’s twin, V-2, is 17.3 billion miles away! Voyager 2 visited all four of the largest planets.

This week the Cassini space satellite at Saturn will end its 20-year mission, crashing into Saturn. It completed 293 orbits of Saturn, providing us with incredible pictures of its moon, the complicated ring system, and wonderful pictures of Saturn’s surface! Cassini’s final 22 orbits involved crossing the ring plane 22 times. The decision to crash the satellite in a specially designed path will prevent it from accidentally crashing into a moon. The moons, Titan and Enceladus, needed protection from Earth contamination. The end of Cassini will occur on Friday, September 15th, at approximately 7:30 am. Congratulation to both satellite teams for their excellent work with these two missions. The incredible pictures are courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Lab/NASA.