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

John P. Hart II

John P. Hart II

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


Police search lake for missing Fairfield Twp. man

ajc.com

Credit: Fairfield Township Police Department

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Credit: Fairfield Township Police Department

A search of a Fairfield Twp. lake came up empty for a resident missing since May.

Fairfield Twp. police Sgt. Brandon McCroskey said officials received information last weekend there might be evidence related to the search for Michael McKenney, 29.

“We talked to a couple of people and we, of course, wanted to verify that was accurate so they had the Butler County dive team come out and check and we didn’t find anything at all,” he said.

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‘People need to see good’: Community combines to build basketball court for Butler County special needs teen

Kaden Buck, 17, of Trenton, stands with Hamilton firefighters Toby Howell and Ryan Pendergest, who helped organize an effort to build a basketball half-court space for the teen. PROVIDED

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When a Hamilton firefighter and a concrete company employee learned 17-year-old Kaden Buck of Trenton needed a basketball court, they went to work making it happen for the special needs teen.

With the help from various concrete workers who volunteered their time and Ernst Concrete in Lebanon, which donated the concrete, they created a 20-by-24-foot basketball setup in Buck’s backyard after Kaden’s mother asked on Facebook for recommendations on concrete workers.

“They did all the hard work,” said Katy Fisher, a Trenton resident and a 2005 Hamilton High School graduate who is a friend of Kaden’s parents, Amanda and Michael Buck. “I just shared Amanda’s Facebook post because I actually work for Baker Concrete, and I know a lot of guys in the industry.”

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Current, former Middletown airport employees facing criminal charges after investigation

Start Skydiving in Middletown.

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Three current or former Middletown employees will face charges after a criminal investigation by police.

Middletown police were contacted Sept. 15 by John Hart II of Start Skydiving, who alleged hacking, corporate economic espionage and illegal recordings by city employees at the Middletown Regional Airport.

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Lakota superintendent gets new 5-year contract, 13% raise

Lakota Schools Superintendent Matt Miller this week received a new contract into 2025, a raise and praise from the school district's governing board for the work he has done in modernizing the school system. (File Photo\Journal-News)

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The leader of Lakota Schools got a raise last week, and the school board members who oversee his administration of the district said it was deserved.

The $22,100 raise for Superintendent Matt Miller came with a new contract that has him employed through July 2025. If Miller has his way, he told the board, he’d like to stay even longer.

“I feel very fortunate to be at Lakota and can think of nothing better then to retire from Lakota,” Miller told the Lakota Board of Education.

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Police: Man shot in Franklin after suspects come to door

File photo

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A man was shot in Franklin on Wednesday night, and he told police the incident began when two men knocked on his door.

Police responded to the 200 block of South Avenue on Wednesday shortly after 10:30 p.m. and found a 22-year-old man shot in the arm.

The man told police two men came to his front door, and after a short conversation, one of them shot him. He told police the suspects left in a dark color vehicle.

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

Former town supervisor wanted for 23 years arrested while hiding in Ohio, held in Butler County Jail

William L. Jones, seen at left in the 1990s and at right this week in Butler County Jail, was arrested in Waverly, Ohio on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020, after being wanted out of New York for 23 years.

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When a police officer in Waverly, Ohio stopped to help a limping man, he solved a mystery that has been lingering over the town of Mentz, New York for more than 23 years, according to the sheriff’s office there.

Officials in Cayuga County, New York say that William L. Jones, the former town supervisor of Mentz, was arrested in Waverly on Sunday after fleeing New York in 1997 to avoid sentencing on a conviction of selling firearms illegally.

Jones, 71, is being held in the Butler County Jail pending his extradition to Cayuga County.

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