Former Pickaway County Commissioner Brian Stewart has jumped right into work as the new Ohio House 78th District Representative, co-sponsoring legislation known as House Bill 2 that includes helping tech companies development broadband service in Southeast Ohio.
The plan puts $210 million of state funds into the effort to get broadband into underserved areas. Stewart says this is for homes, not big companies.
Stewart says “Access to the internet has become the number one issue in southeastern Ohio and basically every underserved area in the state. We already had problems before COVID which has shined a big spotlight on all of these problems. We have gone to remote learning, but kids have to sit outside McDonald’s parking lot to do their homework. We have parents driving around late at night trying to upload school assignments and try to find a WiFi signal. And for those wanting to work from home, you can’t do that if you don’t have the internet.”
Stewart added that some of his constituents have told him they lost their jobs because they were unable to work from home.
Plans by Spectrum to install internet in some areas is separate from what House Bill 2 will do.
Representative Stewart hopes the state senate will quickly pass the bill and claims Governor DeWine is ready to sign it. If approved, Stewart says funds could start being shipped to areas for internet infrastructure work to begin before the end of the year.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced that 15 long-term mass vaccination clinics will open throughout Ohio to significantly expand regional access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The state-sponsored mass vaccination clinics will be located in Lima, Maumee, Dayton, Columbus, Akron, Youngstown, Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Marietta, Wilmington, and Zanesville. Four mobile mass vaccination clinics will also make rounds in the areas of northwestern and west-central Ohio (Ada), southeastern Ohio (Athens), north-central Ohio (Mansfield), and east-central Ohio (Steubenville).
“Mass vaccination clinics have always been part of our plan, but adequate supply is necessary for larger sites, so it was crucial that we first established local provider sites in all 88 counties to ensure that every citizen in every community has a provider nearby,” said Governor DeWine. “Now that we have more than 1,250 local vaccine providers and a significant increase in vaccine supply expected at the end of March, this is the right time to finalize and prepare to launch these large-scale regional clinics.”
The regional mass vaccination clinics, which will begin opening in the coming weeks as supply becomes available, will operate until they are no longer necessary.
The regional mass vaccination sites will be locally operated with support from the Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Emergency Management Agency. Clinics will be equipped to administer between 300 and 3,000 vaccines a day depending on location, supply, and demand. Ohio’s established vaccine providers can also expect to see an increase in their vaccine allotment as supply increases, and vaccine doses may also be allotted to new providers.
A source with knowledge of the state mass clinic plan, says Adena Health System will be shipped approximately 4,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine each week, as they will serve as the site for the Chillicothe state mass vaccination site.
This will in no way alter the mass vaccination clinic already being conducted by the Ross County Health District at Ohio University-Chillicothe’s Shoemaker Center, which will continue receiving approximately 1,000 doses per week.
Any Ohioan who is eligible to receive the vaccine under the Ohio Department of Health’s vaccination plan may be vaccinated at any of Ohio’s mass vaccination clinics. Ohio will also work closely with the clinics to ensure equitable access for high-risk residents and medically underserved communities that could be disproportionately impacted by the virus.
Several appointment-scheduling options will be available, including the use of Ohio’s forthcoming central scheduling system for some sites. The sites are not yet taking reservations, but specific instructions on how to book an appointment will be announced later this month. Dates of operation and hours will vary, but sites will offer both weekday and weekend appointments.
Governor DeWine also announced today that 50,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine will be dedicated to two pop-up mass vaccination sites in Columbus and Cincinnati. The pop-up clinics will open shortly after the March 17 start date of Cleveland’s mass vaccination site and will offer 12,500 first doses at each location. Those vaccinated during the Columbus and Cincinnati pop-up mass vaccination sites will be guaranteed a second dose. Exact site locations are pending.
The 50,000 vaccine doses for these pop-up mass vaccination clinics were initially required by the federal government to be set aside for use in Ohio’s more than 2,400 long-term care facilities as part of the federal long-term care program. Ohio was one of the first states to begin drawing from the unused long-term care vaccine supply to provide vaccines for the general population. Ohio has already administered nearly 160,000 reallocated doses from the program to the public.
A complete list of the selected regional mass vaccination clinic sites and associated local partners can be found at governor.ohio.gov.
A presentation regarding the status of World Heritage nomination for the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks was given at the PACCAR Medical Education Center in Chillicothe in 2019. Dan Ramey/Litter Media
(CHILLICOTHE, OH) – The Ross-Chillicothe Convention & Visitors Bureau would like to provide an update to the community regarding the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks World Heritage nomination. The Ohio History Connection in consultation with the National Park Service continue efforts in preparing the application dossier as part of the nomination process. This dossier will be the official document submitted and reviewed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) on behalf of the World Heritage Committee.
Currently, the projected timeline reflects that work on the application dossier will continue into summer and possibly into fall of this year. However, it is anticipated that the U.S. Department of State may submit the completed dossier to the World Heritage Committee in early 2022 which then could be reviewed by ICOMOS in late 2022 or early 2023. Unfortunately, this timeline is not fixed so it is possible that due to processes or events beyond the control of stakeholders that this timeline could be delayed.
“We are optimistic that the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks will be on the World Heritage List in just a few short years,” said Burt Logan, Executive Director and CEO of Ohio History Connection. “Our work continues to bring this prestigious recognition to Ohio.”
Recently, Ohio has been invited to present on the significance of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks nomination to the United States International Committee on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS). Ohio History Connection representatives will share insights during this presentation on why the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks deserves to be included on the prestigious World Heritage List. Chief Glenna Wallace of the Eastern Shawnee, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, and staff from the Ohio History Connection will share remarks during the presentation. Being invited to present in this forum is an honor reserved for sites already on the World Heritage List and those nearest to potential designation.
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks nomination includes 2,000-year-old American Indian Earthworks sites in central and southern Ohio. The Newark Earthworks in Licking County and Fort Ancient in Warren County are Ohio History Connection sites; the National Park Service owns the five sites of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ross County which make up the nomination. There are currently only twenty-four sites within the United States that are recognized on the World Heritage List. The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks would be the first World Heritage inscription for the state of Ohio.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohioans interested in wildlife conservation may submit comments about current hunting and fishing regulation proposals online here, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Comments will be accepted through Sunday, March 14.
One regulation proposal would allow antlerless white-tailed deer to be taken from all public hunting areas from Sept. 25, 2021, to Feb. 6, 2022, provided that a hunter takes only one antlerless deer from these lands per license year. A second proposal would expand deer management permits to all 88 Ohio counties from Sept. 25 to Nov. 28, 2021, and allow hunters to use the deer management permit up to the county bag limit.
For wild turkey hunters, a proposal calls for a limit of one bearded wild turkey during the 2022 spring hunting season on public hunting lands. The statewide limit this spring remains two bearded birds.
A complete list of proposals is available at wildohio.gov.
A statewide hearing of the Ohio Wildlife Council on the proposed rules will be held virtually at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 18. The council is an eight-member board that approves all Ohio Division of Wildlife proposed rules and regulations. Meetings are held virtually and are open to the public. Individuals interested in providing comments are asked to register by calling 614-265-6304 at least two days prior to the meeting. All comments are required to be three minutes or less.
After considering public input, the council will vote on the proposed rules and season dates during its meeting on Wednesday, April 7.
Near the end of each week during the highway construction season, Litter Media will provide the weekly updates from the Ohio Department of Transportation concerning area projects that might involve roadways you could be traveling on.
The following construction projects are anticipated to affect highways in Pickaway County construction information.
U.S. Route 62 Bridge Replacement – The U.S. 62 bridge over Deer Creek will close starting Monday, March 15 through September 2021 for bridge replacement. Detour: U.S. 62 to I-71 to SR 56 to U.S. 62 or reverse.
The following construction projects are anticipated to affect highways in Ross County next week. All outlined work is weather permitting.
NEW* Tar Hollow State Park Slide Repair – Park Road 10 will be closed for 30 days in Tar Hollow State Park for a slide repair project starting March 15 at 7 AM. Estimated completion: May 14
NEW* Ross County Guardrail Replacement – Various county roads will be reduced to one lane daily from 7 AM to 5 PM starting March 1. Traffic will be maintained using flaggers. Estimated completion: Summer 2021
U.S. 23 Slide Repair – U.S. 23 northbound will be reduced to one lane immediately south of S.R. 372 beginning at 7 AM on March 15. Estimated completion: Spring 2021
The following construction projects are anticipated to affect highways in Pike County next week. All outlined work is weather permitting.
NEW* S.R. 772 Slide Repair – S.R. 772 will be reduced to one, 13-foot lane between S.R. 124 and McKinney Road starting March 15 at 7 AM. Traffic will be maintained using temporary signals. Estimated completion: Summer 2021
NEW* Pike Lake State Park Resurfacing – Various park roads in Pike Lake State Park will be reduced to one lane daily from 7 AM – 5 PM starting March 15. Traffic will be maintained using flaggers. Estimated completion: Spring 2021
NEW* S.R. 32/Shyville Road Intersection Improvement – Beginning March 15, traffic lanes on S.R. 32 will be shifted in advance of construction of a new RCUT intersection design. Additional traffic impacts will be communicated as the project progresses. Estimated completion: Spring 2021
The following construction projects are anticipated to affect highways in Scioto County next week. All outlined work is weather permitting.
NEW* U.S. 23/Feurt Hill Road Intersection Improvement – Feurt Hill Road will be reduced to one lane starting March 8 at 7 AM. Two lanes in each direction will be maintained on U.S. 23 throughout construction. Estimated completion: Fall 2021
The following construction and maintenance projects are anticipated to affect highways in Adams County next week. All outlined work is weather permitting.
NEW* S.R. 247 Culvert Replacement – S.R. 247 will be closed for one day between Reed Road and Moores Road starting at 7:30 AM on March 9. Traffic will be detoured via U.S. 52 and S.R. 136. Estimated completion: March 9 at 3:30 PM
NEW* S.R. 247 Culvert Replacement – S.R. 247 will be closed for one day between Beasley Fork Road and Trotter Road starting at 7:30 AM on March 9. Traffic will be detoured via U.S. 52 and S.R. 136. Estimated completion: March 9 at 3:30 PM
Current road closures and restrictions for Gallia County are listed below. All outlined work is weather permitting.
SR 850 resurfacing – One lane of SR 850 is closed between Hidden Valley Road (Township Road 445) and the U.S. 35 west entrance/exit ramps due to a resurfacing project. Temporary traffic signals and an 11 foot width restriction are in place. Estimated restriction end date: June 30, 2021
The following construction and maintenance projects are anticipated to affect highways in Lawrence County next week. All outlined work is weather permitting.
State Route 7 Rockslide Remediation – S.R. 7 southbound between Buffalo Creek Road and Tallow Ridge Road is reduced to one, 12-foot lane. Additional traffic control measures may be necessary as construction progresses. Estimated completion: 2021
Lawrence County Debris Cleanup – Multiple routes in Lawrence County will be reduced to one lane daily from 7:30 AM to 5 PM for continued work to clear debris following an ice storm that hit Lawrence County in mid-February. Traffic will be maintained using flaggers, barrels, cones, and other traffic control devices as needed. Estimated completion: March 12, 2021
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—In a statewide address to Ohioans Thursday evening, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine urged Ohioans to remain committed to following COVID-19 safety practices as Ohio cases trend downward, and detailed the measurement needed to lift all Ohio Department of Health orders.
“This has been a very tough year for Ohioans, yet we did what Ohioans always do– we rallied together to protect the most vulnerable,” said Governor DeWine. “The end of our fight is now in view, but we must continue pressing forward. We can set realistic goals that we are within reach for lifting health orders.”
Governor DeWine announced that when Ohio reaches 50 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks, all health orders will be lifted. Cases per 100,000 people for a two-week period is a measurement that Governor DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health have utilized since early in the pandemic.
Governor DeWine also detailed the success that Ohio has seen recently in the COVID-19 pandemic. Ohio’s stay-at-home order and curfew have been lifted, and restaurants, bars and gyms are open. In February, Ohio vaccinated over 200,000 educators for students to return to in-person learning. As of today, nearly 95 percent of Ohio’s K-12 students have returned to school for in-person learning.
His focus is on how immigrants who came to the United States in its early days as a country gave shape to citizenship in the decades after American independence.
The book also challenges academic and popular assumptions about immigration and citizenship and the changes that occurred during this time. O’Keefe points out, for example, that immigrants were a strong voice advocating for their rights from the early days of the republic.
“I began research for this book after noticing how debates over immigration in the first decades of the 2000s revolved around definitions of belonging in the nation,” O’Keefe said. “As I began to research, I saw that these debates had origins in the formation of policies during the early years after U.S. independence, and that immigrants back then were also active in participating in those debates.”
“Stranger Citizens” explains how during this formative time in American history, lawmakers attempted to shape citizenship and the place of immigrants in the new nation, while granting the national government new powers such as deportation. O’Keefe argues that despite the challenges of public and official hostility that they faced in the late 1700s and early 1800s, migrant groups worked through lobbying, engagement with government officials, and public protest to create forms of citizenship that worked for them.
An example O’Keefe uses in his book is how definitions of family affected immigrants during that time. He explains that children were apprenticed into households headed by someone other than their biological parents – if a child of British immigrants served many years as an apprentice in a household headed by a native-born American, were they citizens once they completed their apprenticeship? Some apprentices said yes, but officials did not always agree.
“From 1783 to 1830, immigrants came from well-known places such as Ireland and Germany, but tens of thousands of people also came to the U.S. during the Haitian Revolution, and from Latin America, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region,” O’Keefe said. “Each of these immigrant groups encountered different receptions and challenges when they arrived and pushed for different visions and understandings of citizenship. This was a period of significant racism and xenophobia, and immigrants banded together to push both collectively and individually against popular and official hostility to their rights and their presence in the U.S.”
O’Keefe presents examples of racism in his book, even opening with how a Haitian immigrant was accused of voter fraud in 1807 in a Philadelphia election and his testimony demonstrating his qualifications under Pennsylvania voting law, which then required voters to be taxpayers in Pennsylvania.
“There is a long history of racist exclusion of immigrants from political participation, and delegitimizing of immigrant voting and advocacy, especially accusing immigrants of color of participating in fraud,” O’Keefe explained. “The events of the 2020 election came home to me as I was finalizing the manuscript of the book and when Black Philadelphians were accused of voting illegitimately in the 2020 election, I realized that white hostility to voters of color exerting power at the ballot box, and its perception as a threat has very early origins.”
To write “Stranger Citizens,” O’Keefe went through extensive archival research, finding specific collections that provided information about particular immigrant groups. He also used large collections of federal records and supplemented them with newspaper accounts, petitions by immigrants, missionary accounts and secondary work to provide context and make the immigrants’ situations and choices come to life through the documents.
“Stranger Citizens” is published by Cornell University Press. An online version is currently available with a print edition being published this summer.
Scouts across Ohio will be teaming with Goodwill Industries for the Spring Good Turn Day on March 20th.
All nine of Goodwill of South Central Ohio stores will participate in the annual event. Good Turn Day is an opportunity for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts to do a “good turn” in their community by collecting used clothing, housewares and books to donate to Goodwill.
“We’re excited to participate in Good Turn Day again, and we appreciate what the Scouts do for Goodwill”, said Goodwill of South Central Ohio CEO Marvin Jones . “The scouts efforts will help Goodwill with its mission as a nonprofit organization to partner with individuals with disabilities and challenges to help them lead the lives they envision across our 8-county region.”
Stores in the region have awarded about 400 patches over the last four Good Turn Days. Scouts earn a patch by donating a large trash bag of items or volunteering for an hour in one of the stores.
Limited volunteering will be available at the stores on March 20th except the McArthur store and Zane Plaza store in Chillicothe.
Scouts wanting to volunteer must schedule a time by emailing jona.ison@gwisco.org or by calling (740) 702-4000- extension 135 no later than March 18th.
Donations for Good Turn Day can be dropped off anytime during business hours March 20th at stores in Athens, Chillicothe, Circleville, Jackson, Logan, McArthur, Washington CH and Waverly and at their donation center in South Bloomfield.
(ATHENS, Ohio) – After a thorough and significant review of options by Ohio University’s events team and discussions with public health leadership on and off campus, President M. Duane Nellis has announced an exciting change in plans for Spring Commencement. With recent changes in state guidelines for events and after extensive and innovative planning by the University events team, OHIO plans to host multiple in-person Spring Commencement events at Peden Stadium over the course of several days, streamed live for graduates who prefer to participate virtually.
“We are so pleased to have the opportunity to celebrate our graduating students’ incredible accomplishments with in-person commencement ceremonies this spring,” President Nellis said. “Our team has planned carefully with the advice of public health officials, so that we can host safe, meaningful events for our graduates and their families.”
The Spring Commencement ceremonies will take place over the course of five days between April 29 – May 3. The University will work to determine specific dates and times based on RSVPs received from our graduates. The number of students who plan to participate in-person will inform the number and size of our events. At the recommendation of our public health partners, we expect to limit guests to two people per graduate. The University will share more details in the coming days with Class of 2021 graduates.
Each regional campus location will hold graduation recognition activities on April 29 or 30. Regional OHIO graduates are invited to attend events on their home campus and in Athens. More details will be shared with graduating students in the coming days.
Additionally, the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine will be celebrating commencement in-person on Saturday, May 8. Class of 2021 medical school graduates will be receiving more information soon from the Heritage College.
The University has also initiated planning for the postponed Spring 2020 commencement activities and will be sharing more information with Spring 2020 graduates before the end of spring semester.
“I am looking forward to joining Bobcats everywhere to celebrate our graduates as they embark upon their next adventure,” President Nellis said.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Fishing opportunities will abound this spring when rainbow trout are stocked at 67 public lakes and ponds, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Beginning the week of March 12 at Adams Lake in Adams County, more than 81,000 of these cold-water fish will be stocked in 2021.
Rainbow trout are raised at Ohio’s state fish hatcheries and measure between 10-13 inches when they are released by the Division of Wildlife. Rainbow trout releases will take place across Ohio from early March until May as long as areas are ice-free and accessible to anglers. A complete list of dates is available at wildohio.gov.
All fish will be stocked during the week listed for each location and will be available by the Friday of that week. Some locations feature a special event on the day of the scheduled release, including youth-only fishing. Information about the trout releases, including any updates to the schedule because of weather, stocking locations, and event information, is available at wildohio.gov or by calling 1-800-WILDLIFE (945-3543).
By stocking these water areas throughout the state, anglers of all ages have the opportunity to get out and enjoy quality spring rainbow trout fishing in a family-friendly environment. The daily catch limit for inland lakes is five trout per angler with no minimum size limit.
Anglers age 16 and older are required to have an Ohio fishing license to fish in state public waters. The 2021-22 fishing license is available now, and an annual license is valid for one year after it is purchased. An annual resident fishing license costs $25. A one-day fishing license costs $14 and may also be redeemed for credit toward the purchase of an annual fishing license. Licenses and permits can be purchased online at wildohio.gov, through the HuntFish OH app, and at participating license sales agents.
Sales of fishing licenses along with the federal Sport Fish Restoration program support operation of Division of Wildlife fish hatcheries. The Sport Fish Restoration program is a partnership between federal and state government, the fishing industry, anglers, and boaters. When anglers purchase rods, reels, fishing tackle, fish finders, and motorboat fuel, they pay an excise tax. The federal government collects these taxes, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administers and disburses these funds to state fish and wildlife agencies. These funds are used to acquire habitat, produce and stock fish, conduct research and assessment surveys, provide aquatic education, and secure fishing access.
