After reviewing the budget needs of the county’s departments, the Wood County Commissioners have decided to ask the county’s budget commission to forgo collecting millage for 2011 on a levy that funds the Child and Protective Services program. Tim Brown, a county commissioner, said tax revenue projections indicate there are sufficient revenues to carry the Job and Family Services Department through 2011 without collecting the tax from property owners next year. About $3.98 million would be generated next year by the levy. “At a time when so many families have cut back at home, we feel that an actual tax cut will be helpful to many of our citizens,” he said. “We will make the formal request of the budget commission for their consideration within the next two weeks.”
Clay High School is closer to getting commercial wind turbines erected on campus now that the Oregon Planning Commission recommended granting the school district a special use permit to install two wind generators. The Planning Commission on Oct. 19 voted 3-0 in favor of recommending the special use permit. The project now goes before Oregon City Council and the school board for approval. City council will hold a public hearing on the matter on Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. The school board is expected to vote on the project at its Nov. 4 meeting. The high school campus is located on the north side of Seaman Road, west of Stadium Road. One of the turbines will be located near the football stadium and one near the practice soccer field. Both will be over 250 feet in height. The district plans to use wind generated energy to power the entire campus, including the high school, stadium, bus garage and administration building.
A plan to address problems of high levels of fecal bacteria along Lake Erie beaches near Maumee Bay State Park isn’t ready for bulldozers to be mobilized but it is ready for grant writers to be mobilized, says an executive with the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments. An open house for the public to comment on the Wolf Creek/Berger Ditch Restoration Plan will be held Nov. 4 at the Maumee Bay State Park Lodge. The plan is a proposed system of ponds, wetlands, and floodplains to naturally remove bacteria before it reaches the bay that will cost about $5.26 million, including the design, permits, and construction. The open house will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. A 45-minute presentation begins at 7:15 p.m. The session will provide the public with a chance to see the results of studies tracking bacteria in the area and review wetland designs and watershed information.
Ag easements to be explained In Northwest Ohio, a session will be held Nov. 29 from 6-8 p.m. at the WW Knight Nature Preserve, Great Room, 29530 White Road, Perrysburg. Agricultural easements are voluntary legal agreements restricting non-agricultural development on farmland, with the land itself remaining on the tax rolls and under private ownership and management. Landowners may undertake any agricultural activity permitted under Ohio law, and they can sell their farm or pass it along as a gift to others. However, the easement remains with the land, prohibiting any future non-agricultural development to make certain that it remains used for agricultural purposes. Meetings will feature a presentation by the department’s farmland preservation staff as well as testimony from landowners who have participated in the program.
In a flash the dog covers 25 yards or so and knocks the fleeing man to the ground, sinking his teeth into the upper sleeve of the man’s coat.
Seeing the dog leaping onto the man’s back, several in the crowd gasp, amazed at the rapidity of the attack and how quickly the man is on the ground. Fortunately for the man he’s wearing a bite suit designed for just such an attack. K-9 units from law enforcement agencies throughout Ohio were in Lake Township last week for three days of training and certification sessions capped off by a demonstration for the public at Friendship Park. Brian Woods, a retired K-9 officer with the Fremont Police Department and master trainer, surprised the crowd himself with some facts about the dogs. Although their capabilities make them an asset to law enforcement, the dogs aren’t necessarily the smartest breeds, he said, noting the Belgian Malinois in particular isn’t known for its intelligence. “We want them dumb,” he said. “If not, they would do what they want to do.” |
MarijuanaRecreational marijuana recently became legal in Washington, D.C. Should Ohio follow suit?
|
|
