Downtown Dayton skyline changes

If you didn’t notice, the downtown Dayton skyline changed a bit last week when workers removed a large microwave tower from one of the taller buildings in the area.

The giant tower stood for at least a half century in downtown above the AT&T building that opened in 1930 on Second Street near the Federal Building. It has been a part of popular drawings and photos of Dayton’s skyline.

AT&T, which was called Bell Telephone Systems at the time, launched the $40 million microwave radio-relay skyway, a network of microwave towers designed to transmit telephone and television signals nationwide more than 60 years ago. I could not find out the exact date when the tower was built in Dayton, but the first call on the nationwide system was placed in August 1951, according to the company.

Microwave was a powerful tool where data was transmitted through the air a long distance without physical wires. But just like visible light, microwaves are blocked by obstacles. They need a clear path to reach their destination and that’s the reason the tower in downtown stood above most buildings in clear sight of the city’s skyline.

Microwaves replaced wires and today fiber optics that carry large amounts of bandwith have replaced microwaves.

The AT&T microwave towers were used for both civil and government communications, according to Engineering Radio.

Just as the Internet has led to the demise of many industries, it ultimately killed the need for microwave towers.

New female CEO

One of the largest companies in the Dayton region named Elizabeth Mangan its new CEO last week.

Miller-Valentine Group announced Mangan will become the real estate development company’s leader in January, replacing Bill Krul. According to the company, Mangan is only the fourth person named to the position in the company’s nearly 50-year history.

Mangen had been Miller-Valentine partner since 2014. Krul, who has been with Miller-Valentine since 1969, will remain with the company, becoming a co-executive chairman of the board of directors.

Plan early for drinks

If you enjoy an alcoholic drink during your holiday celebration, this year’s calendar could cause you a problem if you don’t plan ahead.

Reporter Mark Fisher reported last week that because Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve fall on a Sunday this year, some liquor permit holders won’t be able to sell liquor on those days.

“We started getting inquiries from permit holders in September,” Lindsey Leberth, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control, told Fisher.

The bottom line for retailers, Leberth said: If you can’t sell it on Sundays now, you won’t be able to sell it on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve.

Rich Gillette is the Dayton Daily News business editor. Tell him about your business at rich.gillette@coxinc.com or @richgillette on Twitter.