Police investigating racist, threat-filled letter sent to Black Butler County family
Police in Butler County’s West Chester Twp. are investigating a complaint by a family that they received a letter filled with racial slurs and and threats for them to take down yard signs backing Joe Biden and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“You think it’s about time to take down those signs?” the letter states, township resident Brian Harlan said Sunday. “If not, we’ll do it for ya ... (racial epithet). You might think twice, and think quickly... you ain’t got much time here, so if you don’t take that (expletive) down in a hurry we’ll be aiming at your house, your cars and YOU!!!”
Harlan and his wife Mia have two signs in front of their West Chester Twp. home supporting Joe Biden and a flag mounted to a sign with the message ‘Black Lives Matter.’
Middletown wants residents to stay home unless travel is ‘essential’ as COVID-19 cases rise in the city
As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in the city, officials are urging residents to take steps to reduce the spread of the virus and the impact it’s having on local healthcare facilities.
Hospital staff and physical facilities are becoming “taxed beyond capacity,” according to a release from the city.
Butler County repurposing hundreds of lots that used to be eyesores
With the second of two major demolition funding programs winding down, the Butler County Land Bank and the cities of Hamilton and Middletown are working to repurpose hundreds of vacant properties that used to be eyesores.
The purpose of the land bank is not only to remove dilapidated, dangerous properties but also to clear the way so they can be repurposed into productive properties. A 500 percent leap from about 500 to 3,000 foreclosures between 1999 and 2010 prompted the 2012 establishment of the land bank in Butler County. In the beginning, only the two largest cities, Hamilton and Middletown, were members because they provided $1.1 million each in order to collect state Moving Ohio Forward monies.
Since then, millions more has come available through the federal Hardest Hit Fund of the Neighborhood Initiative Program (NIP). The county received $4.3 million in NIP money but had to give up $620,839 because the money wasn’t spent by the deadline. The county has recouped about two-thirds of that money according to Land Bank Executive Director Kathy Dudley. The commissioners also approved siphoning a portion of Delinquent Tax and Assessment Collection (DTAC) money so other jurisdictions could get help downing problem properties.
Fairfield councilman: ‘We need to do something’ with important stretch of road
The city is contracting with two companies to study a portion of Pleasant Avenue with one City Council member saying they “need to do something down there.”
Fairfield contracted with MKSK and LJB to conduct a Fairfield-Pleasant Avenue Access Management Study.
Development Services Manager Greg Kathman said the section of Pleasant Avenue between Nilles Road and the Pleasant Run Creek “is an important economic and transportation corridor” in Fairfield as it’s home to dozens of small businesses.
New data: Where are the most coronavirus cases reported in Butler County?
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Most of the coronavirus cases reported in Butler County have continued to come from Miami University students and five ZIP codes that have at least 1,300 cases each.
That comes from the Butler County General Health District’s latest detailed report.
Miami students and ZIP codes 45011, 45014, 45044, 45013 and 45069 account for about 79% of the cases in the county, which totaled 10,577 as of the newest report. There have been 142 deaths in Butler County.
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‘Total reversal’: Hamilton combines seventh-grade football team for undefeated season
Rodney Wilson was hopeful his Hamilton seventh grade football team would be more competitive after combining the Garfield and Wilson middle school squads last year, but he never knows what to expect from the upcoming class of elementary graduates.
An 8-0 finish this fall was a pleasant surprise.
Hamilton’s first combined seventh grade team in 2019 went 3-5 but was competitive in every game, Wilson said. This year’s group took the next step toward success and went beyond what any previous Hamilton seventh grade team, combined or not, had done. Only one other team from the two middle schools has gone undefeated, according to what Wilson could find – Garfield once produced a 7-0 record.