While snow hammered northern Ohio, freezing rain/sleet turned out to be the biggest nemesis for southern Ohio, creating icy roads and power outages during the winter storm to open February. All area schools are closed Friday.
Winter Storm Warnings, which covered every county in Ohio, were lifted Friday morning. The National Weather Service posted a Winter Weather Advisory for central and southern Ohio through 3pm Friday, which called for an additional one inch of snow to go with the few inches received Thursday night.
Power outage numbers in the thousands were reported in the region for South Central Power Company and American Electric Power in southern Ohio. Most of these were created by ice heavy trees falling on power lines. Winds that were expected to gust at up to 35 miles per hour had not materialized by Friday morning, which kept power outages from being even worse.
AEP officials said electricity in Lancaster and Athens might not be restored until Saturday night
Most area counties were on Level 3 Snow Emergencies into Friday, until being dropped to Level 2 Friday afternoon.
Ross, Pickaway, Pike, Fayette, Highland, Hocking, Fairfield & Jackson counties were lowered to Level 2 Friday afternoon.
The Ross County Commissioner’s in conjunction with Ross County E.M.A. opened a warming center at the Ross County Service Center located at 475 Western Avenue. The center was open from 12pm to 5pm Friday. Residents without power/heat can go to warm up, charge cell phones, and have a hot beverage.
Temperatures are expected to drop to 4 degrees Friday night with sunny and 21 Saturday and 39 degrees on Sunday.
(Chillicothe) – The Ross Soil and Water Conservation District announces the Board of Supervisors will hold regular meetings in 2022 on the second Tuesday of each month at 8:30am in conference room D of the Ross County Service Center at 475 Western Avenue in Chillicothe, Ohio. Please contact the district if you would like to join by video conference or telephone conference.
Media outlets and the public may contact the district to be notified about any special meetings or meetings on a particular topic.
February 8 March 8 April 12 May 10 June 14 July 12 August 9 September 13 October 11 November 8 December 13
The Annual Meeting will be held on August 18, 2022.
The Ross Soil and Water Conservation District promotes land use practices that prevent soil erosion and protect water quality. The district provides free technical assistance to landowners implementing conservation practices through the farm bill or for the CAUV tax program. The district is engaged in a broad range of services related to geographic information systems, residential neighborhood drainage and runoff, wildlife and habitat. Residents can find more information about education and outreach programs on the district website www.rosscountyswcd.org or call the district office at 740-772-4110, extension 116.
Celebrating 75 years in 2022, the Ross Soil and Water Conservation District was formed in 1947 and is governed by a volunteer board of supervisors elected by Ross County residents and producers. The 2022 supervisors are Brice Acton, Frankfort; Mike Anderson, South Salem; Philip Gray, Chillicothe; Greg Ramsey, Clarksburg; and Pam Snyder, Kingston.
(Athens) – Ohio University’s Academic Achievement Center (AAC) has been awarded certification as a Level I and II certified tutor training program by the internationally recognized College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA).
The AAC has worked hard to develop a tutor training program that meets CRLA’s rigorous standards and has successfully completed the International Tutor Training Program Certification (ITTPC) peer review process. Achieving certification means that the AAC has met CRLA’s high standards for tutor selection, training, direct service, and evaluation as an integral part of OHIO’s academic assistance efforts.
“We have over 75 peer tutors who are well-trained and ready to help their fellow students better understand their course material, prepare for tests, and achieve better academic outcomes,” Director of Academic Assistance Elizabeth Fallon said. “Securing CRLA tutor training certification demonstrates how effectively we are equipping our student tutors to provide critical individualized academic support.”
The AAC is housed in University College but provides support to students in all colleges and at all Ohio University campuses. Interim Dean of University College Carey Busch said the AAC’s professional and student staff plays an important role in helping students perform their best and achieve their academic goals.
The Academic Achievement Center will be hiring peer tutors for fall semester beginning in March. Prospective tutors must have taken the class which they plan to tutor, received at least a B+ in the course and have maintained a 3.0 GPA or higher.
Schools, local government offices, services and many businesses closed as a winter storm entered the region Thursday.
Every school in Ross, Pickaway, Fayette, Pike, Highland, Fairfield had closed for the day, while Jackson County schools started in session Thursday, but are dismissed early.
All area sports activities for Thursday cancelled.
The National Weather Service added an Ice Storm Warning for the region at 11:23am, going through 7am Friday going along with the Winter Storm Warning for the entire state. Many of the TV meteorologists are saying they “can’t remember this happening in decades, possible as far back as the 1978 Blizzard.”
The Ice Storm Warning covered a line with Ross, Fairfield and Highland Counties to the north, going south to the Ohio River and into Kentucky.
Most area counties went to snow emergency status, including Level 3 for Ross, Pike, Fayette, Pickaway, Highland, Jackson, Hocking and Fairfield counties.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 10am FRIDAY MORNING. ICE STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED. Light snow continuing. Additional snow accumulations of up to one inch. Portions of Central, South Central and Southwest Ohio and Northeast and Northern Kentucky.
Friday A chance of snow, mainly before noon. Cloudy, with a high near 21. North wind 9 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Friday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 0. Wind chill values as low as -12. West wind 3 to 6 mph.
Saturday Mostly sunny, with a high near 21. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the morning.
(UPDATED 2:30pm 2/3/22) The Southeast District Athletic Board will be steering away from the Ohio University Convocation Center for boys district basketball tournament games again this year.
The District Board has elected to once again go with larger area high school gym neutral sites for the District Tournaments and allowing the higher seeded teams to host through the Sectional Tournaments.
One good news note is that the Ohio High School Athletic Association has changed their mind about moving Regional Boys Basketball Tournaments out of the OU Convo for 2022. Southeast District Athletic Board Member Wayne Horsley notified Litter Media on February 3rd that Ohio University had changed their mind about not allowing concession stands. OU will allow them to be open now, which has prompted the OHSAA to keep the Regional Boys Basketball Tournaments at the Convo in 2022.
Litter Media’s Mike Smith spoke with Southeast District Athletic Board member Mark Rose as to the reason why “The Convo” will not be used for boys district tournaments again this year. Rose says the Board “originally had planned to have boys semis and finals at Ohio University, but several factors played into their final decision not to go to The Convo in 2022.”
Among those reasons were several “schedule conflicts” with Ohio University. Those conflicts included events for OU Wrestling and the strong possibility that both OU Women and Men’s Basketball would be hosting first-round MAC Tournament games (due to their respective successful seasons).
Rose said the District Board had even “considered” bringing the girls district basketball tournament games back to Ohio University, where they were held for a few years in the early 2010’s. The Girls Sectional and District Tournaments have been using the format that the boys will be using again this year.
Rose says the District Board’s “hope is to return to The Convo in 2023.”
Girls Basketball Tournament Seeding will be released by the Southeast District Athletic Board at approximately 3:30pm Sunday, January 30th and the Boys Basketball Tournament Seeding on Sunday, February 6th.
Here are the breakdowns of “tournament sites” for each division in both girls and boys basketball in 2022.
GIRLS Division 2 Sectionals (higher seeded team hosts each game) Division 2 Districts at Southeastern High School CLICK HERE FOR EMPTY DISTRICT BRACKET
(Lancaster) – Low-income partially- or totally-unemployed Ohio residents now have the opportunity to earn one or more Ohio University Lancaster credentials for free through a training program grant awarded by Ohio’s Individual Microcredential Assistance Program (IMAP).
Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted, director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, announced on Jan. 27 that 14 training providers located throughout the state will receive a total of $2.93 million in awards to support 2,336 credentials. Ohio University Lancaster will offer several computer skills training credentials.
“At Ohio University Lancaster, we consider it our responsibility to build the skills of our local workforce,” Jarrod Tudor, dean of campus and community relations, said. “The Lancaster campus is excited to offer in-demand, technology-focused training to help our residents and enhance their capabilities for current and future employability.”
Credentials offered through Ohio University Lancaster include:
AWS Cloud Certified Practitioner
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
CompTIA A+
CompTIA IT Fundamentals
Computer Networking Technology
Computer Skills for the Workplace
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office Specialist: Associate
Microsoft Windows 10
“IMAP gives individuals the opportunity to earn in-demand, technology skills so they can get higher-paying jobs in a very short amount of time,” said Lt. Governor Husted in a release from his office. “Ohio businesses across all industries need to compete in today’s economy, and this program provides them a pipeline of ready-to-go talent.”
Individuals interested in earning a credential or learning more about the programs offered by Ohio University Lancaster can visit Workforce.Ohio.gov/IMAP.
(Nelsonville) – The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO), in partnership with the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation of Nelsonville (OHFN), is announcing a Request for Proposals (RFP) opportunity intended to address the social, economic, educational, and health challenges faced by young people in Appalachian Ohio.
(Foundation For Appalachian Ohio)
Given the critical role of childhood development on lifelong wellbeing, FAO’s I’m a Child of Appalachia® Fund, through its Health & Human Services Pillar of Prosperity, and OHFN are inviting proposals that support nonprofit and public organizations that are building resilience and increasing protective factors for youth in our region.
“Through the I’m a Child of Appalachia® Fund’s inaugural partnership with OHFN, we were able to fund 19 visionary projects that positively impacted the youth in our communities,” said Cara Dingus Brook, FAO president and CEO. “We are excited about supporting organizations again this year and the difference they will make in Appalachian Ohio.”
Funding available through the RFP will emphasize support for young people during out-of-school time to increase access to broader social support systems and resources. FAO and OHFN also will support capacity-building as part of the overall request to help organizations best meet the needs of those they serve by expanding services, enhancing program quality, and/or improving operational efficiencies.
“Investing in the region’s young people and the skills that will help them now and far into the future is vital to the health of our communities,” said Megan Wanczyk, director of programs with OHFN. “We’re looking forward to partnering with the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio again to support the work of youth-serving organizations that are working with such commitment in the region.”
As FAO and OHFN work to strengthen Appalachian Ohio’s communities, investing in the health, wellbeing, and opportunities available to our region’s young people is a key priority.
Up to $380,000 is available through this funding opportunity, with grant awards anticipated to range from $5,000 to $30,000 per organization. Applications must be submitted by March 16, 2022, and are available at www.AppalachianOhio.org/youthresiliency. Proposals should reflect the resources needed to implement the project effectively and alignment with the intent of the RFP. Applicants are encouraged to include capacity building for their program or organization in their requests.
Nonprofit and public organizations in any of the 32 Appalachian Ohio counties are eligible to apply. The 32 counties of Appalachian Ohio include Adams, Ashtabula, Athens, Belmont, Brown, Carroll, Clermont, Columbiana, Coshocton, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mahoning, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Vinton, and Washington counties. OHFN priority counties for this funding opportunity include Athens, Hocking, Jackson, Meigs, Morgan, Perry, and Vinton.
Applications are due March 16, 2022, and funding decisions will be announced by April 15, 2022. More information is available at www.AppalachianOhio.org/youthresiliency. For any questions, or to learn how you can support other opportunities like this one, contact FAO at 740.753.1111.
(Chillicothe) – The Ohio National Guard will end their deployment February 4th at Adena Regional Medical Center for assisting in COVID testing.
“They tell you to have a bag ready at all times to be ready to respond when the state or nation needs us,” said Major Donny Glosser, who has headed up National Guard efforts over the last month in support of Adena Health System’s COVID-19 testing and operations during the latest Omicron variant-related patient surge. “I think anybody who has been in the Guard for a while, we – and our families – kind of grow accustomed to us being temporarily removed from our everyday life.”
The leadership, physicians and caregivers of Adena Health System are thankful for the sacrifices those Guard members and their families are willing to make. Since early January, about 70 Guard members from as far away as Cincinnati and Cleveland have left their civilian jobs and families to converge on the communities Adena serves to offer support during this critical time. Those tasks, in addition to performing COVID-19 testing, have included spending one-on-one time sitting with hospitalized patients, intra-hospital patient transport, nutrition services (cafeteria support), and performing environmental service (cleaning and housekeeping) tasks at Adena’s four hospitals located in Chillicothe, Greenfield, Washington Court House and Waverly.
The assistance came about through efforts of the Ohio Hospital Association and the governor’s office in support of hospitals across the state that we’re facing significant patient surges and staffing shortages. With hopes that the Omicron variant’s spread may have peaked locally and with Adena’s staffing resources improving, the National Guard is ending its Adena deployment on Friday.
As a result, drive-thru COVID-19 testing at the PACCAR Medical Education Center on the Adena Regional Medical Center campus will not be available this weekend but will return Monday on a weekdays-only schedule, available from 8am to 6pm, handled by hospital staff.
The drive-thru testing site has succeeded in doing what it set out to do. For patients, it continues to provide a convenient location where they can be swabbed while sitting in their vehicle and quickly be on their way again knowing they will be contacted when the test results are available. For the Health System, it has helped moved the testing load away from Urgent Cares that were regularly seeing record patient levels and allowed them to focus on other care priorities.
To put those patient loads into context, on January 4, 2021, Adena’s Urgent Care facilities across the Health System saw a peak of 305 patients in a single day. On January 5th of this year, the peak was at 570. The drive-thru testing site, meanwhile, peaked at 472 patients on January 13th of this year.
“There were several days when we were seeing more than 1,000 patients a day between the Urgent Cares and the testing site,” said Jessica Matheny, Associate Vice President of Adena Medical Group. “When you look back during a pandemic like this, it feels like we’ve been doing this forever.”
That kind of strain facing the frontline caregivers at Adena and in other health systems inevitably leads to fatigue. The National Guard’s arrival, Major Glosser said, appeared to bring a very visible relief to some of that fatigue.
“The biggest change I noticed from when we arrived on January 7th into that following week was how nice it was to see the hospital employees out here smiling and laughing,” he said. “When my leadership asked me if we were providing value, I said it was obvious from the demeanor of the staff that we were helping them.”
The Health System and community at large, in turn, have shown their appreciation. Several departments have provided Guard members with gift baskets and cards, the Adena Health Foundation has provided them with snacks and drinks, physicians have purchased pizzas for them, Health System leadership has provided them with gift cards to use for meals and a local Girl Scout troop even brought them donuts to enjoy.
“It’s been awesome,” said Major Glosser, who hails from the Cincinnati area. “I’ve had my dinner bought for me several times in the community, and I never expected that. I’ve felt real supported in this community, it’s been a great experience.”
Specialist Noah Love, a 20-year-old Guard Member from Dover who has served the entire month at the testing site, agreed.
“We get treated great around here,” he said. “I was going to transfer closer to home, but I like it too much here to transfer. Some of the patients even want to buy us food and they say, ‘Thank you for your service.’ They’ve been real courteous to us.”
Lt. McKensie Logan, who noted that Guard units since the start of the pandemic have been called upon across Ohio to assist in warehouses, with vaccinations and at food banks among other tasks, added that patients who have been admitted to Adena’s hospitals have also frequently expressed their appreciation to the Guard members.
For more information on Adena’s COVID-19 testing locations, COVID-19 vaccine distribution and other health care services, visit Adena.org.
Ross County Christian Academy Phase 1 Building Plans
Jones discussed their current fundraising campaign to construct a high school campus on the site of Brookside Church, which currently houses some of the 400+ students attending RCCA.
Other students are utilizing space in the Lighthouse Baptist Church on Clinton Road and Zion Baptist Church off of Veterans Parkway.
Jones says their goal is to begin construction for Phase 1 of the project by this summer. The construction should take approximately two years to complete, according to Jones.
For more information about the building project, contact Valerie Jones at (740) 703-9036 or email at vallery.jones@rccacademy.org
Their school website is http://www.rccacademy.org/
