Meet Yarko Kuk
Yarko Kuk
Yarko started as a Blade employee in the early 1980s, as a paperboy in Ottawa Hills. After graduating from Ottawa Hills high school in 1985, he pursued a print communications degree at the University of Toledo, where his father taught foreign languages. From 1985 to 1991 he worked part time for The Blade as a copy messenger / news assistant / reporter. He had a pair of summer internships, one in 1988 at the Mansfield (Ohio) News-Journal and one in 1989 at the Allentown Morning Call. He was also a reporter and editor for the UT student newspaper, The Collegian, where he got to know such current and former Bladeos as Melissa Burden, Tony Bassett, and Larry Vellequette.
Meet Alexa York
Alexa York
Originally from Luckey, Ohio, Alexa did not plan on pursuing journalism. She graduated from Bowling Green State University in 2020, where she studied music education and German. While at BGSU, she played trumpet in the marching band and was involved with several music ensembles across campus. However, after graduating she decided to try something new and spent a year in Bitterfeld, Germany teaching English through the Fulbright Program.
Top 10 biggest style mistakes
News Editor Alicia Gruver will be providing regular Style Snapshots for us so we can better adhere to our style. To get things started, we are pointing out what we're calling the Top 10 biggest style mistakes.
1) We use the Oxford comma. (Ex. red, white, and blue.)
2) We say news conference, not press conference.
3) When we refer to days within the week, we use the day, not the date.
4) Protesters and advisers are spelled with an "e" and not an "o" at the end.
5) There is a comma between months and years (Ex. January, 2022).
6) Use periods when abbreviating legislative bills. (Ex. H.B. 51.)
7) Jr. and Sr. get commas around them. (Ex. Martin Luther King, Jr.,...)
8) We use single quotes in cutlines.
9) Numbers are used with percentages, and we spell out the word "percent." (Ex. 1 percent.)
10) Health care is two words and is hyphenated if used as a modifier to another word (Ex. health-care workers.)
Meet Kelly Kaczala
Kelly Kaczala
My name is Kelly. I am the new Blade reporter covering Toledo City Council and the mayor's office. I graduated from the University of Toledo, with a major in political science and history. After I graduated, I was hired as a reporter for The Journal, a daily newspaper in Lorain, Ohio. I then worked for The Press Newspapers in Millbury, Ohio, as an investigative journalist; I was eventually promoted to news editor, though I continued to work as an investigative journalist, which is my main passion.
Sheila Howard named first quarter Eddy winner
Sheila Howard
Each quarter the newsroom recognizes an employee who's made a significant contribution to the paper. For the first quarter of 2024, that employee is Sheila Howard.
Sheila joined The Blade in January 2023, having written three books and done some freelance journalism.
In 12-plus months she has more than risen to the challenge of daily journalism. Although hired as a general assignment writer, she has managed to forge a strong relationship with the Lucas County minority communities thanks to her ongoing stories which give members of those communities a voice.
From day-in-the-life stories and coverage of community events to profiles of visiting dignitaries, she has spotlighted these readers and their concerns. This has often entailed weekends. In return, readers now routinely reach out to Sheila with tips and ideas for stories.
To celebrate her citation, Sheila has requested that we bring in charcuterie boards for the newsroom. Look for that to happen on March 14.
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