West Chester & Liberty Township News

$Area and state transportation officials have announced the proposed Interstate 75 and Millikin Road interchange design will be the same as the "diamond" designed interchange opened in 2020 farther south on I-75 in West Chester Twp. The $36 million proposed highway connector at Millikin Road in Liberty Twp. (current overpass pictured) is a key transportation project for both the township and Butler County. (PHOTO BY NICK GRAHAM\Journal-News)$

New Liberty Twp. I-75 interchange could mirror West Chester Twp.’s connector

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Liberty Center Premier Town Center in Liberty Township offers a wide range of dining, shopping and entertainment options. this is a view looking toward Northstar Cafe and apartments from the Foundry. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Apartments at Liberty Center get planning commission approval

FILE: About 50 people braved cold temperatures for the 34th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. event in 2020 in Hamilton. The march stepped off from the Booker T. Washington Community Center on Front Street, traversed High Street and then down MLK Boulevard to the Pilgrim Baptist Church.

List: MLK Day events in Butler County

Some area schools cancel sports activities because of COVID-19

$Officials for the 10,000-student Fairfield Schools, which is one of the largest districts in southwest Ohio, say the district's recent five-year financial forecast shows it to be stable when it comes to its operations. The governing school board recently reviewed the district's state-mandated, financial projection. (File Photo\Journal-News)$

COVID-19: More area school districts close because of low staffing

Lakota school buses. File Photo/Journal-News)

School districts in dire need of substitute teachers, bus drivers

Darbi Boddy was sworn in as the newest member of the Lakota School Board during a meeting at Lakota Plains Junior School Monday, Jan. 10, 2022 in Liberty Township. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

First meeting of Lakota school board sees new member take quick opposition

$Two Lakota school bus drivers recently died in unrelated deaths prompting school district officials to offer grief counseling earlier this week to student bus riders and fellow drivers. Susan Brovey had driven school buses for Lakota for three years and Tony Heaton for six years. (File Photo\Journal-News)$

2 Lakota bus drivers die; district supports grieving students

Mask policy changes? Area schools vigilantly monitor COVID-19 spike

School board meetings in 2021 were contentious as mask mandates led discussions

$The now three-year old Boys Club at Lakota's Ridge Junior School continues to see more boys join as the home-grown club grows in popularity. The club was started three years ago by a Ridge teacher with 10 members and now has 50 boys participating. Some of the members are pictured in a Ridge school hallway. (Provided Photo\Journal-News)$

Lakota school’s boys club more popular as pandemic lingers

Joel Herzog, West Chester Twp. Police Chief. GREG LYNCH / STAFF

Best of 2021: Seven stories from West Chester Twp. this year

$A new program addition to Lakota Schools' Virtual Learning Option (VLO) remote learning is allowing students to interact in person this school year through visits to make-shift libraries in the district's two high schools. There are currently 365 VLO students in the 17,000-student school system whose parents signed up for at-home learning in part due to concerns over the coronavirus. (Provided Photo\Journal-News)$

Modified remote learning lets students gather in Lakota makeshift libraries during COVID

$Liberty Twp. Trustees recently approved a new $5 annual vehicle fee for residents that will help pay for roadway re-paving and maintenance. The fee, which the first of its kind in township history, will not begin to be collected from residents until after Jan. 1, 2023. (File Photo\Journal-News)$

New vehicle fee rolling toward Liberty Twp. residents

Isaac Adi, left, is sworn in early to Lakota School Board by school board member Lynda O'Connor before the meeting Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021 at Lakota Plains Junior School in Liberty Township. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

New Lakota board member sworn in early

Shoppers walk through the Foundry at Liberty Center, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016. Liberty Center is celebrating their one year anniversary this weekend. GREG LYNCH / STAFF

Liberty Center announces three new tenants, including Taste of Belgium restaurant

Gold Star and its partners are presenting 2021 Gold Star Express Light Display tours of homes around the tri-state region, including in Butler County. Pictured is 710 Webster Ave. in Hamilton. PROVIDED

Guide reveals some of the best holiday lights displays in the Tri-state

One of the jobs of Butler County Educational Service Center human resource specialist Anna Hennig is to help new substitute teachers get signed up for substitute jobs at schools in the area. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

Struggle for schools to find substitute teachers grows

$Liberty Twp. Trustees this week held a first public meeting as they consider approving a $5 annual vehicle tax to help pay for roadway repairs and maintenance in the Butler County community. The trustees are scheduled to vote on the tax during their Dec. 13 meeting. (Provided Photo\Journal-News)$

Liberty Twp. officials propose first local vehicle tax to maintain roadways

Credit: Butler County Jail

Man sentenced to life in prison for Liberty Twp. park killing

Credit: Apryl Pilolli

Cincinnati Archdiocese releases final Beacons of Light ‘families’ map

$The Liberty Twp. headquarters saw a recent ceremony honoring deceased former Trustee David Kern, who now has one of the main conference rooms of the administration building - and a commemorative plaque - highlighting his legacy of public service. The ceremony saw Kern's family and current township trustees in attendance. (Provided Photo\Journal-News)$

Liberty Twp. public service icon honored with name on conference room, plaque

$Amy Moorman, a 23-year veteran school counselor at Lakota's Adena Elementary, was surprised and honored this week by officials from a local bereavement assistance organization for her work in counseling grieving students who have suffered the deaths of parents, siblings and other families members. Companions on a Journey (COJ) officials presented Moorman - and two other local school counselors - with trophies and school presentations this week. (Photo By Michael D. Clark\Journal-News)$

Area school counselors awarded for helping students grieve family losses

The Rev. Geoff Drew who served as pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Liberty Twp. from 2009-2018, is accused of raping an altar boy decades ago. STAFF FILE

Plea negotiations underway in Father Geoff Drew rape case

$Lakota Schools Superintendent Matt Miller spent part of his Wednesday online chat with school parents pitching for more in the public to apply for substitute teaching jobs in the wake of the district's recent hike in pay. Earlier this week the Lakota Board of Education approved raising the daily pay for substitute instructors from $85 to $125. (File Photo\Journal-News)$

Historic shortage: Lakota raises substitute teacher pay, solicits more school workers

$Departing Lakota Board of Education member Brad Lovell clashed with board veteran Lynda O'Connor during Monday evening's meeting over the district's financial future and whether public records requests should be publicized on the board's meeting agenda. Lovell did not seek re-election after one term on the Lakota board and his four-year term ends on Jan. 1. He and O'Connor have opposed one another periodically in the last two years over a number of issues. (Photo By Michael D. Clark\Journal-News)$

Lakota board members clash over public records, finances

Gurpreet Singh, 37, is charged with four counts of aggravated murder. With specifications of using a firearm and killing two or more persons, Singh faces the death penalty if convicted.

Judge denies defense request in West Chester quadruple murder case

Defense attorney Charles M. Rittgers, right, speaks with his client Gurpreet Singh, charged in a quadruple homicide in West Chester Township, during a hearing in Butler County Common Pleas Court Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021 in Hamilton. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

Defense for Singh wants prosecution, public left out of funding request

At least two candidates for Kettering Municipal Court clerk will be on the ballot this fall for the first time in 18 years. FILE

Credit: FILE

Man indicted for fatal crash in West Chester Twp.

$The proposed budget for 2022 for Liberty Twp. was unveiled for trustees this week during a work session meeting. The proposed budget shows revenues of $29.8 million in all funds and expenses of $29.3 million. It includes operating revenues of $19.4 million and daily operating expenses of $18.9 million. Trustees are scheduled to approve a final budget for 2022 next month. (File Photo\Journal-News)$

Liberty Twp. budget includes study for new I-75 interchange and other projects

$Joe Hinson, president and CEO of the West Chester Liberty Chamber Alliance, and a long-time advocate for business growth in the area has won a place in a regional business hall of fame for his work. Hinson has been a business growth leader in the area since the late 1990s and vocal supporter of the Interstate 75 growth corridor along the stretch including the two boom townships and beyond. (File Photo\Journal-News)$

Longtime business advocate Joe Hinson wins hall of fame honors

$Liberty Twp. resident Troy Miller, right, poses with Ohio Sen. Rob Portman after President Joe Biden's signing this week of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill outside of the White House. Miller, who president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627 in Cincinnati, says it was thrill to be so close to the historic signing, which Portman was instrumental in making happen. (Provided Photo\Journal-News)$

Local man attends signing of $1 trillion infrastructure bill at White House