Meet Ashley Helmke

Ashley Helmke

My name is Ashley Helmke and I’m a graduate of The Fashion Institute of Technology where I got an Associate degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications. I’m also a graduate of Bowling Green State University where I got my bachelor's degree. I also hold an associate degree from Owens Community College.

Read Ashley's full bio

Ice cream is making a return

To cap off the summer, we're going to bring ice cream back, but this time with some extras. Thursday, Sept. 22 is National Ice Cream Cone Day, and who knew this existed?

During this afternoon, we'll have a variety of different ice cream cones (vegan, gluten free too) in the conference room, along with ice cream and some probably messy toppings.

This is in honor of July's employee of the month, David Jacobs. We'll also announce the August and September employees of the month.

See you then.

Jacobs captures Cleveland Press award

David Jacobs

David Jacobs, who returned to The Blade in November, received a first-place award last week at the 2022 All Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards from the Cleveland Press Club. The category was for 2021 breaking news/digital work about flooding that David performed at his former newspaper in Richland County. Congrats David!

Kim Bates

Meet Emerson Bell Rowland

Emerson Rowland

Kyle Rowland and his wife, Stacey, welcome a baby girl, Emerson Bell, who was born on June 13 at 6:19 p.m. Emerson joins sister Whitney Rose, who was born in October  2018.

Emerson weighed in at 7 pounds 3 ounces and is 20 inches tall.

Mom and Emerson are doing great. So is Kyle.

Meet intern Matthew Youkilis

Matthew Youkilis

My name is Matthew, and I am an intern this summer with The Blade. I was born and raised 200 miles down I-75 in Cincinnati, and I am excited to experience life in another Ohio city this summer. I am currently an incoming junior at Yale University majoring in history, and I especially enjoy political history and writing. Matthew's email address is [email protected] and his work extension is 6050.

Read Matthew's full bio

Meet intern Charlotte Hughes

Charlotte Hughes

My name is Charlotte, and I'm joining The Blade as a summer reporting intern. I grew up in Columbia, S.C., and I'm an incoming sophomore at Yale University, majoring in English and Philosophy. I spent my freshman year reporting for the Yale Daily News, and I write fiction and poetry as well. I  also love to read, and I can't wait to explore Toledo! Charlotte's email address is [email protected] and her work extension is 6050.

Read Charlotte's full bio

Closing Shot: The Blade’s Photo of the Week