Afternoon catchup: 5 Butler County stories you need to know today

Here’s a look at five big Butler County stories today to catch up on the news:


Taco restaurant chain opens first Butler County location in Monroe

The manager of a new restaurant in Monroe believes the supply for Mexican food hasn’t surpassed the demand.

So Luis Gaytan, 31, manager of Victor’s Taco Shop, is excited about the franchise’s eighth Ohio location and first in Butler County that opened two weeks ago.

Some of the other Ohio locations are in Dayton, Fairborn and Xenia, and the expansion will continue with restaurants expected to open in Columbus, Kettering and Lima, Gaytan said.

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Middletown man ejected, killed after car crash into building

A 21-year-old Middletown man was killed after he was ejected Tuesday night when in a car crash that injured three others.

The victim was identified as Charles Barrett, who was pronounced dead at the scene on Lefferson Road in Middletown, according to a release issued Wednesday evening by the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Hamilton Post.

Barrett was a passenger in a 2008 Mini Cooper that was headed east on Lefferson Road around 9 p.m. when the driver, Jordan Kenyon, 22, of Middletown, “was traveling at a very high rate of speed” before he lost control, traveled off the left side of the roadway and struck a building, the patrol said.

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80 Acres to sell its Hamilton-grown produce in more of Kroger’s Midwestern markets

Hamilton-based 80 Acres on Monday will begin shipping its greens and salads to more Kroger markets, including in Columbus, Indianapolis, Lexington and Louisville, the two companies announced.

“We had some stores in the Cincinnati-Dayton area that we’ve been supplying, and they’re ready to expand, and so we’re expanding into four regions,” said 80 Acres spokeswoman Rebecca Haders.

In total, 80 Acres food will be in 316 Kroger supermarkets in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

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3 Butler County bridges that will be replaced or rehabbed in 2021 in the biggest project year yet

The Journal-News reported this week that the Butler County commissioners settled an $800,000 right-of-way acquisition deal with Wendy’s that was needed to complete the recent Tylersville Road widening project. It was the most-read story on our website on Wednesday.

That was just the latest move on big county projects, recently detailed by Butler County Engineer Greg Wilkens. His office’s road work plan for this year totals $43 million, the largest it has undertaken in Wilkens’ 20-year career with the county.

One aspect of that is rehabbing or replacing three county bridges in 2021. They are:

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Several Hamilton candidates take out petitions to run for city council

Five people have taken out petitions to run for Hamilton City Council, including Mayor Pat Moeller and two others now serving on council. Two challengers also have pulled petitions from the Butler County Board of Elections.

One of the challengers is Adam Collins, 38, who said he is running, as he did four years ago, because of his dislike of former President Donald Trump.

“When I first did it, four years ago, it was because Donald Trump won the presidency, and it had me so (upset) and fired up that I felt I had to do something,” Collins said. “I had to get involved in some kind of community activity, progress, to try to push against what I saw as a threat to our democracy.”

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AND, for an extra sixth story of the day ...

Q&A: Shakespeare performances coming to Municipal Brew Works in Hamilton this weekend

Pop-up-style performances by the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Two Sketchy Dames, Kamikaze Fireflies, and Miami Valley Ballet Theatre are coming to bars, restaurants, and bowling alleys in and around Hamilton in March and April as part of “Fitton: Outside the Box!” a new, live performance series.

The first performance, “Bard on the Bar” presented by Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, will be held on Saturday at Municipal Brew Works from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

We caught up with Angelique Archer actor, and tour manager at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in a Q & A to find out more about what audiences can expect from the performance.

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