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

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones photographed on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones photographed on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

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


Butler County sheriff tests positive for COVID-19

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones warns residents about a scam in which a caller poses as a sheriff’s employee demanding money. GREG LYNCH / STAFF

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Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones has tested positive for COVID-19, he told the Journal-News.

“It’s my third test of the past 12 months, and it is positive,” he said.

He said he will be going into quarantine at home for two weeks.

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Suspicious bag outside Butler County church had cat, newborn kittens inside

The Butler County Bomb Unit was called Thursday for a suspicious package left outside a church in New Miami. Instead of ticking, deputies heard purring. It wasn’t a bomb, but a cat and her newborn kittens inside the bag.

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The Butler County Bomb Unit was called Thursday for a suspicious package left outside a church in New Miami.

Instead of ticking, deputies heard purring. It wasn’t a bomb, but a cat and her newborn kittens inside the bag, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office posted on social media.

The bag also contained a note stating that the mother cat, Sprinkles, went into labor Wednesday afternoon. The cat and her six kittens were taken to the Animal Friends Humane Society shelter in Hamilton.

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Man who lead police on hour-long chase through Middletown indicted

Ryan M. Carrell

Credit: Butler County Jail

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Credit: Butler County Jail

A Trenton man has been indicted by a Butler County grand jury on charges stemming from an alleged hour-long police chase in Middletown.

Ryan Carrell, 41, of Trenton, was indicted Wednesday for failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony, and driving under OVI suspension, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to court records.

Middletown police were called at 6:22 a.m. on Dec. 22 to the CVS on Breiel Boulevard on a report that two people were passed out in a vehicle in the parking lot, according to police

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Butler County officials say at least 20% of population immune to COVID-19

Lakota schools employee Amy Powell gets her Covid-19 vaccine administered by Kroger pharmacist Nancy Adomako Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at Lakota West High School in West Chester Township. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

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Since COVID-19 vaccination efforts ramped up about 40,000 Butler County residents have gotten a shot in the arm, and including people who have already had the coronavirus, about 20% of the county’s population is immune.

Butler County Commissioner Cindy Carpenter said about 10% of the 384,000 county residents have been inoculated, and another 9% have reported having the virus, although they know there are unreported positive cases.

“If you look at those numbers at least 20% of Butler County citizens are immune to getting COVID and that’s a very large number,” Carpenter said. “Our health commissioners are very pleased with this.”

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Liberty Twp. changes plan for former administration building after neighbor complaints

The Liberty Twp. trustees have an offer to sell the former town hall at 6400 Princeton Road for $515,000 but some neighbors oppose the move.

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A planned sale of the former Liberty Twp. administration building is still on, but trustees have scrapped an application to broadly rezone the site in favor of a more restrictive classification.

Residents were upset when the trustees planned to rezone the old meeting space site at 6400 Princeton Road to “B-2″ for a $515,000 deal to sell to a West Chester Twp. business. The zone change was a condition of the sale.

The buyer wanted B-2 zoning because it is the least restrictive with a whole host of uses like gas stations, discount retailers and sexually oriented businesses, with conditions. A “planned unit development” classification allows the township to pick what uses are permitted on a specific property.

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

PHOTOS: Snow day on the sled hill in Butler County

Anton Sheafe sleds down a hill with Alora Sheafe, 3, and Amir Sheafe, 4, at Voice of America MetroPark Thursday, February 18, 2021 in West Chester Township. Many schools in the area were off for a snow day. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

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Credit: Nick Graham

The sledding hill at Voice of America MetroPark was a popular attraction Thursday.

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