Daily Archives: August 7, 2020

Sports

OHSAA Adjusts Season if Football is Approved by Governor

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Following a recommendation this week from the Governor’s Office to shorten the season due to concerns that COVID-19 may spike in early winter, the Ohio High School Athletic Association announced Friday that if high school football games are approved by the Governor, all teams will enter the playoffs beginning October 9 and the state championship games will be played no later than November 21.

The OHSAA Board of Directors, which assisted OHSAA staff to create the proposal and approved it by a 9-0 vote, considers this a win-win situation for all schools since it will not matter how many games each team has played leading up to the playoffs. Instead of the computer ratings system determining which teams qualify for the playoffs, the coaches in each region will conduct a tournament seed meeting the week of September 28 to form the regional bracket, similar to the process in other OHSAA team sports.

Schools may keep their first six previously scheduled games, but all regular-season football contracts are now voidable by either school, especially in the event that conferences redo their league schedules to fit into the first six weeks. In addition, the OHSAA will determine new playoff regions in September. Schools that are eliminated from the playoffs may continue to schedule regular-season games up until November 14.

Schools that have currently paused sports could still begin their season in September or early October and compete in the playoffs. Schools are not required to enter the playoffs if they would rather play regular-season games up until November 14.

“To both ensure we can offer students the opportunity to participate in education-based athletes but do so with their best interests in mind, we believe this modified plan offers a positive solution by addressing many of the concerns of our member schools,” said Jeff Cassella, president of the OHSAA Board of Directors and athletic administrator at Mentor High School. “Those that are able to start their seasons on time will be able to do so. Those that are starting later can still have a season. Add in the option of all schools entering the playoffs and the possibility of schools still being able to play 10 regular season contests, and this plan is helpful to virtually all of our schools.”

The highest number of responses to one of the questions posed of superintendents, principals and athletic administrators in a recent OHSAA membership survey indicated that nearly 60 percent (890 of 1,498 respondents) favored either reducing the regular season and maintaining full OHSAA tournaments or maintaining the full regular season and maintaining full OHSAA tournaments.

A decision on spectators at contact sports has not yet been made, however the OHSAA believes that at a minimum parents should be permitted to attend.

As a reminder, four of the OHSAA’s fall sports have been determined to be low-contact by the Governor’s Office and thus are permitted to have contests with other schools, including golf, tennis, volleyball and cross country. The OHSAA’s fall sports of field hockey, soccer and football have been determined to be high-contact sports and the OHSAA continues to work with the Governor’s Office and the Ohio Department of Health toward modified protocols for those three sports to have contests. 

For additional questions and answers regarding the modified OHSAA football season, please click here: https://ohsaaweb.blob.core.windows.net/files/Sports/Football/2020/2020FootballModificationsQandA.pdf

The full text of Friday’s memo to member schools is posted at: https://ohsaaweb.blob.core.windows.net/files/BulletinBoard/20200807AdministratorUpdate.pdf

2020 OHSAA Football

•  Regular-season games will begin the week of August 24 (same regular-season starting date).

•  All teams eligible to enter the OHSAA playoffs. New regions will be determined in September.

•  Number of playoff rounds dependent upon the number of schools entering the playoffs in each division. Coaches in each region will seed all playoff teams in the region to form a bracket, similar to other OHSAA sports.

•  Schools eliminated from the OHSAA playoffs or that choose not to enter the OHSAA playoffs have the option to schedule additional regular season contests through Saturday, November 14 (maximum of 10 regular season contests permitted).

•  Regular season Week 1:  Week of August 24

•  Regular season Week 2:  Week of August 31

•  Regular season Week 3:  Week of September 7

•  Regular season Week 4:  Week of September 14

•  Regular season Week 5:  Week of September 21

•  Regular season Week 6:  Week of September 28

•  Playoffs begin Friday, October 9

•  State finals end no later than Saturday, Nov. 21

Other Playoff Details

•  Playoff seeding will be via a vote of the coaches the week of September 28 (Harbin Ratings suspended for 2020 season)

•  All playoff contests through the regional semifinals (and possibly the regional finals) will be hosted by the higher seeded team

•  Schools must commit to participate in the playoffs by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, September 17

•  Playoff regions will be drawn on Friday, September 18

•  Schools may withdraw from the playoffs without penalty until Thursday, September 24

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Ross County Ready to Open Junior Fair Saturday

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The Ross County Fair Board voted in June to not hold a traditional fair for 2020 due to the restrictions and guidelines mandated by Governor Mike DeWine. Last week, citing a spike in COVID-19 cases statewide linked back to fairs, the Governor limited the remaining fairs for the 2020 season to Junior Fair only. Because of the decision made by the Ross County Fair, they were ready with a plan to hold their shows.

WHAT ABOUT THE LIVESTOCK SALE?

There will be two rotations of animals: (Rotation 1) Dogs, Goats, Horses, Poultry and Sheep Saturday through Tuesday (Rotation 2) Beef, Cavy, Hogs and Rabbits Wednesday through Saturday. The fairgrounds will be cleared Tuesday evening for sanitizing.  

Participants have been given directives for their animals following their shows for the release and removal from the grounds.

The shows will not be open to the public and only those with wristbands distributed by the fair will be permitted on the grounds. Masks will be required for those on the grounds. 

Here’s the 2020 Ross County Junior Fair schedule of events for the shows for animals beginning Saturday. 

SATURDAY – AUGUST 8: 

8:30am: Dog Show 

4:00pm-9:00pm: Move-in and Rolling Weigh-in for Goats, Poultry, Sheep 

SUNDAY – AUGUST 9: 

8:00am: Sheep Shows – Showmanship Contest, Breeding Sheep and Market Lambs 

9:00am: Horse Show 

1:00pm: Non-Market Poultry Show followed by the All-Poultry Showmanship Contest 

2:00pm: Goat Showmanship Contest – Dairy, Meat and Pygmy Goats 

MONDAY – AUGUST 10: 

8:00am: Market Poultry Show & Goat Dairy Show 

9:00am: Horse Show 

9:30am: Goat Pygmy Show 

11:30am: Goat Meat Breeding Show 

2:00pm: Goat Market Show 

TUESDAY – AUGUST 11: 

9:00am: Horse Show 

7:00pm: Fairgrounds cleared for sanitizing 

WEDNESDAY – AUGUST 12: 

8:00am-9:00am: Breeding Rabbit & Fancy Rabbit, Cavy Check-in 

9:00am-12:00pm: Breeding Rabbit, Fancy Rabbit and Cavy Shows 

2:00pm-8:00pm: Market Rabbit Weigh-in and Caging 

4:00pm-9:00pm: Swine Move-in and Rolling Weigh-in; Beef Move-in 

THURSDAY – AUGUST 13: 

8:00am: Cavy and Rabbit Showmanship Contest 

8:00am: Beef Team Fitting Contest 

2:00pm: Beef Showmanship followed by Beef Breeding 

FRIDAY – AUGUST 14: 

8:00am: Market Rabbit Show 

8:00am: Market Beef Show 

4:00pm: Swine Showmanship 

SATURDAY – AUGUST 15:  

8:00am: Market Swine Show 

7:00pm: Fairgrounds Close 

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COVID-19 Update: School Broadband Connectivity

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(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted today provided the following update on the status of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

SCHOOL BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY

Lt. Governor Husted announced today that schools can begin applying for the new BroadbandOhio Connectivity Grant on Monday, August 10.

A total of $50 million will be allocated through the grant program to help provide hotspots and internet-enabled devices to students.

Schools can begin applying for this grant opportunity at https://ohio-k12.help/broadbandohio-connectivity-grant/. The public website will be live today, however schools will not be able to apply until Monday.

After hearing feedback from various groups that the matching grant requirement would create a barrier for districts, it has been removed from the program. Many school districts have already begun to make purchases for the upcoming school year, and as a result, purchases made since July 1 of this year are eligible for support from this program.

The application period will close Friday, August 21.

In the coming days, the Ohio Department of Education will begin notifying district superintendents and school leaders around the state to make them aware of this program.

To help schools make the best purchasing decisions based on their needs, internet providers have begun to list their equipment and pricing information in one centralized location to the benefit of Ohio schools through a Request for Information. Visit procure.ohio.gov to review the RFI.

The K-12 School Computer Products and Services RFI was released to the public on July 23, 2020, and a variety of companies have provided responses.

CURRENT COVID-19 DATA: 

There are 98,675 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio and 3,652 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 11,447 people have been hospitalized, including 2,641 admissions to intensive care units. In-depth data can be accessed by visiting coronavirus.ohio.gov. 

For more information on Ohio’s response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.

Watch the Governor’s News Conference below via The Ohio Channel.

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OSU Professor to Address Ross Soil & Water Conservation District Virtual Meeting

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Chillicothe, Ohio – August 6, 2020 – The Ross Soil and Water Conservation District announces a free online program for the district’s annual meeting. Ohio State professor Steve Culman will present a preview of the much-anticipated Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations on August 20. Attendees are asked to contact the district for an invitation to the free online event at the district website www.rosscountyswcd.org.

“These recommendations affect everything from the cost of farming to water quality,” according to district administrator Bob Neal. Neal says assistant professor Steve Culman from the Ohio State University Soil Fertility Lab will lead the online presentation. Ag professionals use these fertilizer recommendations to make short-term and long-term decisions about cost and yield, according to Neal.

Culman spoke at a seminar in March this year and said the recommendations are out of date. “They are what they are,” Culman says, “they were published 25 years ago based on data older than that.” Culman and a team at the Soil Fertility Lab have been working on updating the recommendations.

The free online event will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday August 20, 2020. Professor Culman will make a presentation about the Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations and answer questions. Following the presentation, Supervisors for the Ross Soil and Water Conservation District will conduct the district’s annual business meeting including the district election. Anyone interested in attending the online meeting can request an invitation at the Soil & Water district website or by calling the district office at 740-772-4110. Press extension 116 when the system answers.

The Ross Soil and Water Conservation District has been assisting farm producers and property owners with conservation practices since 1947. Ross County residents can request free technical assistance about drainage issues and other conservation questions by calling the district office at 740-772-4110 (extension 116) or visiting www.rosscountyswcd.org online.

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Second DeWine Test: Negative

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(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—In a second test administered today in Columbus, Governor Mike DeWine has tested negative for COVID-19. First Lady Fran DeWine and staff members have also all tested negative for COVID-19.

A PCR test was administered to the Governor and members of his staff this afternoon.  The PCR test looks for the specific RNA for the SARS CoV-2 — in other words, the genetic material specific for the virus that causes COVID-19.  This test is known to be extremely sensitive, as well as specific, for the virus.  The PCR tests for the Governor, First Lady, and staff were run two times.  They came back negative the first time and came back negative when they were run on a second diagnostic platform.  

We feel confident in the results from Wexner Medical Center.  This is the same PCR test that has been used over 1.6 million times in Ohio by hospitals and labs all over the state.

The test administered this morning to the Governor in Cleveland, as part of the protocol required to meet the President, was an antigen test.  These tests represent an exciting new technology to reduce the cost and improve the turnaround time for COVID-19 testing, but they are quite new, and we do not have much experience with them here in Ohio.  We will be working with the manufacturer to have a better understanding of how the discrepancy between these two tests could have occurred. 

Out of an abundance of caution, and at the direction of medical professionals, the Governor and First Lady plan on having another PCR test on Saturday.  Results of these tests will also be released.