Reduced library hours start today

By Christopher Magan | Monday, January 4, 2010, 12:02 PM

Starting today, January 4, Greene County public libraries will operate under reduced hours after reductions in state funding.

Branches in Cedarville and Jamestown will be open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday noon to 8 p.m., Wednesday and Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Libraries in Beavercreek, Bellbrook, Fairborn, Xenia and Yellow Springs will be open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday noon to 8 p.m., Wednesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Beavercreek, Fairborn, Xenia and Yellow Springs libraries also will be open Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

During the fall campaign for levy renewal Karl Colon, library director, said the reduction in hours was necessary to cut expenses without impacting services. Voters overwhelmingly supported the levy that will raise $3.2 million, or roughly half the agency’s funding.

The new library hours are in place until at least 2013 unless future cuts in state funding force changes, according to a new release from Colon.

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Mayor recovering after emergency surgery

By Christopher Magan | Monday, December 21, 2009, 10:32 AM

XENIA - Outgoing Mayor Phyllis Pennewitt is recovering after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery Saturday, Dec. 19, at Greene Memorial Hospital.

Councilwoman Pat Felton said she spoke to a family member Saturday who said Pennewitt came through the surgery and is on the mend.

Pennewitt became mayor in 2006 after serving six years as a councilwoman. She announced earlier this year she would not seek re-election and supported retired Xenia schools principal Marsha Bayless, who won the election in November to replace her.

Bayless and newly elected Councilman Wesley E. Smith will be sworn in at council’s first meeting in January.

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Democrat announces statehouse bid

By Christopher Magan | Friday, December 18, 2009, 10:59 AM

BEAVERCREEK - A local Democrat hopes to unseat a former city councilman who took over the 70th district state house seat after Republican Kevin DeWine left to head the state GOP.

Kevin O’Brien, who retired from the Air Force and now works for a military contractor, announced Thursday at the city veterans’ memorial on North Fairfield Road that he will again run for state representative.

O’Brien lost his challenge to unseat DeWine in 2006. Jarrod Martin, a former Beavercreek City Councilman, won a crowded primary race and then the general election for the seat in 2008. He’s seeking re-election next year.

O’Brien wants to bring a different perspective to the state house. He says he’s not a typical democrat. “I’m pro life and pro gun.”

O’Brien, who’s 38 and grew up in Beavercreek, plans to campaign on education reform and dealing with the state’s budgeting issues. He says he’s better prepared then when he ran in 2006. “This being my second time, I’m a lot more prepared to make a run at it,” he said.

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Early lines for H1N1 vaccine in Greene County

By Christopher Magan | Tuesday, December 15, 2009, 03:26 PM

XENIA - A long line snaked along the building at the Greene County Fairgrounds where H1N1 vaccines were available for the first time for the general public Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Suesie Strider, of Wilmington, said she waited about 45 minutes to get inside the pavilion where the shots were being administered. She had hoped for a shorter wait, but wanted to get the vaccine. “I’m around a lot of people and you never know what germs they’re carrying and I want to protect myself,” she said.

Sara Pappa, spokeswoman for the Greene County Combined Health District, said they expect to vaccinate 3,000 people Tuesday during the clinic’s hours of 2 to 7 p.m. Another clinic is set for the same time Wednesday.

Health officials set up a “Kings Island style” line inside the pavilion to get as many people out of the cold as quickly as possible, Pappa said. Crowds were expected to fall off and then increase after people get off work.

Anyone six months or older is now eligible to get the vaccine and Greene County has several thousand of both the shot and the nasal mist. Health officials are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated, especially as the holiday traveling season approaches.

“Think about what you might be exposed to when you are traveling,” Pappa said. She added that the clinics were the perfect time for children under 10 to get the second dose they need to develop resistance to the so-called swine flu.

How to go: Flu clinics are 2 . to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15 and Wednesday, Dec. 16, at the Greene County Fairgrounds, 120 Fairground Road in Xenia.

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Former city prosecutor gets jail time for theft

By Christopher Magan | Tuesday, December 15, 2009, 01:29 PM

XENIA - The former assistant city prosecutor who admitted stealing from two clients of his private law practice received the maximum sentence of 18 months in prison on Monday, Dec. 14.

Craig Saunders, who pleaded to two counts of felony theft in September, doesn’t have to report to serve his sentence until Dec. 28.

A special prosecutor and judge were brought in to handle Saunders’ case because of his notoriety in Greene County where he served on the local fair board, Bar Association and Republican Party leader. He lost a primary bid for state representative in 2008.

Xenia police said money problems led to Saunders stealing nearly $50,000 from two clients of his law practice. Both times Saunders pocketed money clients had sent him for estate taxes, police said.

In exchange for his guilty pleas, prosecutors agreed not to proceed with charges from a third case that Saunders had repaid to the client.

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Alleged 3-time car thief nabbed by GPS

By Christopher Magan | Thursday, December 10, 2009, 10:51 AM

FAIRBORN - Technology foiled an alleged serial car thief who instead of variety opted for taking the same vehicle three times.

Police say they caught up to Rahshe L. Walker, of Grierson Place, shortly after he allegedly took the vehicle from the Treeborn Apcartments on Dayton-Yellow Springs Road thanks to a Global Positioning device the owner allowed police to install after the first two thefts.

Police believe Walker took the car all three times and returned it to the neighborhood the first two. After allegedly taking the car a third time Wednesday, Dec. 9, Walker noticed he was being trailed by police down Interstate 675, said Sgt. Matt Ricketts. Walker slowed the vehicle and leapt from it, escaping into a wooded area.

Police located Walker nearby hiding under a car near his home. He faces failure to comply, receiving stolen property and obstructing officials business charges and is being held on $20,000 bond in the Greene County Jail.

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State grants Xenia $400k for downtown improvements

By Christopher Magan | Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 04:17 PM

XENIA - City leaders learned Wednesday, Dec. 9, they’ll have another $400,000 in grant money to work with as they continue to revitalize downtown.

The Ohio Department of Development and Gov. Ted Strickland announced $2.4 million in grant money for six cities including $400,000 in Xenia for facade improvement, curb and sidewalks, murals, bikeway and other streetscape improvements.

Mary Crockett, Xenia community developement director, said the money will be paired with about $450,000 of stimulus, state and federal grants the city has already received for a total of about $850,000.

“I’m very excited about this,” Crockett said. She added that city council members and downtown merchants worked together to win the grant award.

Much of the money will go toward a loan program that allows downtown business and building owners to borrow money interest-free to paint and fix the facades of their buildings. “These grants give zero percent interst loans to cash strapped building owners,”Crockett said.

Money also will be used to landscape and improve access to the bikepath around Xenia Station and to spruce up streetscapes along East Main Street.

Mark Bazelak, city finance director, said the beautification paid for with the grant money should aid the city in its efforts to attract new business. “Obviously, as we are looking toward the future one principal element to focus on is economic development,” Bazelak said.

Gov. Strickland echoed this sentiment, saying in a news release that “downtowns often showcase the best of what Ohio has to offer and keeping them strong and vibrant will help accelerate our state’s economic recovery.”

Besides Xenia, Wilmington, Cambridge, Defiance, Nepoleon and Waterville received grant money for downtown improvements.

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