Middletown to lower flags in memory of former vice mayor
Credit: Lisa Powell
Credit: Lisa Powell
Middletown will honor a former vice mayor Tuesday by lowering the City Building flags to half-staff and reading a proclamation.
Anita Scott Jones, who championed the city of Middletown as a council member and vice mayor, died April 11. She was 58.
The city will lower the flags at noon Tuesday and Mayor Nicole Condrey will read a proclamation, then present it to Lyndon Lorenzo Jones.
Hamilton council rejects zoning change for Rossville properties, including former elementary school
In a rare move Wednesday, Hamilton City Council rejected a request by city staff to change the zoning of the former Adams Elementary School and Beeler Park properties.
Council voted 6-1 against the zoning change after two city residents appeared Wednesday to complain about the proposed zoning change that could have been a step toward allowing more than 50 new houses in the Rossville neighborhood.
The former elementary school property is owned by the city’s board of education. Some people expressed concerns about Beeler Park being used as part of a development if its zoning were changed, as city staff had recommended, Council rejected the zoning change, which would have made it easier for development of 54 or more houses there. Only Council Member Robert Brown voted for the change.
Butler County starting aggressive improvement program with sheriff’s office upgrades
The Butler County commissioners have started awarding funds for county capital projects, including some that are COVID-19-related, which will see work happening in government buildings this year.
This week the commissioners approved two new projects that are part of the $4 million capital improvement plan funded by the general fund. Sheriff Richard Jones’ $365,000 computer management system upgrade was approved. The commissioners previously agreed to around $600,000 for the sheriff’s annual vehicle replacement program.
Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said the pricey software upgrade is necessary just like any other technology that becomes either obsolete or is not longer supported. Some of their systems are over a decade old. The upgrade to jail system is a particular benefit to the taxpayers who are paying for it.
How local breweries kept changing during the COVID-19 pandemic
Running a craft brewery when all bars and restaurants are closed during a pandemic is hard, but Tom Meyer, CEO of DogBerry Brewing in West Chester Twp., was too busy fighting for his life to overly complain.
“I was out for eight months, including 12 days in the ICU,” he said. “I just had a ridiculously huge inflammatory response to COVID. I wasn’t given much of a chance to survive.”
Meyer said he never intended DogBerry to be a big-league distributor. After leaving what he calls “the real world” 10 years ago, he became a stay-at-home dad and started craft brewing as an entrepreneurial hobby. He opened DogBerry in 2014.
Butler County residents can recycle more with Rumpke through grant: What’s been added?
Thanks partly to a 2019 “audit” that Rumpke Waste & Recycling conducted to determine how Fairfield households recycled items, the company recently won a grant from a national non-profit organization to recycle plastic yogurt tubs, cottage-cheese containers, and tubs that hold margarine and whipped toppings with the lids attached.
Rumpke received $775,000 toward a $2 million project that allows it to better recycle such items, which often are labeled a “No. 5.” As Earth Day approaches on Thursday, customers can celebrate that a long-sought material is being recycled across the region.
“We’re really excited to support them in this new investment,” said Katherine Huded, director of circular ventures for The Recycling Partnership, which receives money from consumer-product companies that want to see recycling innovations.
AND, for an extra sixth story of the day ...
Trial begins today for man charged with Monroe stabbing death last spring
A trial for a Monroe man who is accused of stabbing his roommate to death in May is set to begin in Butler County Common Pleas Court this afternoon with jury selection.
Peyton Michael Joseph McFarland, 21, was arrested on May 31, 2020, a day after the homicide, and charged with murder. McFarland was later indicted for murder and felonious assault in the slaying of Christopher Hacker, 31.
McFarland’s trial was scheduled to begin in January, but was rescheduled due to coronavirus concerns.