Two catalytic converters were stolen on Centre Point Drive last week, as noted in this week’s West Chester police reports. But while editing reports for other newspapers, I saw reports of more catalytic converter thefts in Fairfield. Both of those were on different days in the Mercy Hospital parking lot.
Obviously there isn’t a lot you can do to protect these car parts. They are being stolen from vehicles that likely are higher off the ground. We’ll be checking with area police and with the hospital to see if any extra eyes are looking for these thieves.
I found this website with good answers as to why thieves want these parts. They’re worth a little cash, obviously. Check out the reasons and how they do it.
We aren’t sure yet if there was a sweep in West Chester, or why suddenly there were so many arrests of people with fake IDs, but we’re looking into it. Here’s a list of the five arrested in the past week.
The West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance’s annual gala was a fantastic event. The Lakota East show choir sang “Be Our Guest” as Chamber members and guests entered the dinner room at the Marriott on Friday night. The arts council provided cupcakes for dessert, Dean Miuccio made us laugh, and several surprise awards were handed out. Were you there? Check out our photo gallery to see photos from the event. Click here.
We have posted some photos of the Foxborough construction. It is the subdivision that will be the site of the 2011 Homearama home show in mid to late June. Here are the photos.
LIBERTY TWP. — Two adults and two children were transported to area hospitals Monday after a multi-car accident near the intersection of Ohio 747 and Hamilton-Mason Road.
The accident occurred about 3:20 p.m. when a motorist that a witness said was driving a red Chevrolet Cobalt erratically struck multiple vehicles traveling on Ohio 747.
The driver of the Colbalt was briefly trapped inside of the vehicle and the driver’s side door had to be cut off due to heavy damage to the left side of the car, Liberty Twp. Lt. Jason Knollman said.
The woman and a child, who was in an unbuckled car seat, in the Colbalt were transported to Atrium Medical Center with non life threatening injuries, Knollman said.
LIBERTY TWP. — Location, location, location.
The communities along Interstate 75 all saw their populations swell in the last decade because of it, including Springboro, Mason and West Chester Twp. Only Middletown saw declines. While not the largest, the two fastest growing communities in Butler and Warren counties were Monroe and Liberty Twp., thanks to well positioned spots on highways.
“I think it all comes to quality,” said Christine Matacic, Liberty Twp. trustees president. “Quality of the schools, quality of life and quality of the location.”
McAlister’s Deli, 7622 Cox Lane, West Chester Twp., will be giving out free signature cookies to all guests wearing green beginning March 13 through March 19 in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. For more information, call (513) 755-6888.
LIBERTY TWP. — Officials have filed a preliminary and permanent injunction Wednesday, June 2, against Club Splat!, a local teen hangout, for violating its zoning and going over its occupancy limit, township officials said.
UrbanSplat, 7102 Hamilton-Mason Road, is a paintball and Laser Tag business by day. On Saturday nights, it turns into Club Splat!, for teens from 15-18 years old — or as owner Mark Pannek calls it, a teen party place.
According to documents filed with the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, Pannek was issued a Liberty Twp. zoning certificate in July 2009 for indoor paintball. Caroline McKinney, the township’s economic development director, said operating the teen dance club violates the zoning use.
“Like all businesses, they need to follow a process and procedure to make sure we have the correct zoning in place,” she said.
In addition to the zoning issues, authorities have concerns about safety, McKinney said. The maximum occupancy of the building is 182, according to a Butler County certificate of occupancy. On May 15, approximately 500 teens were in attendance, and on May 22, nearly 300 teens were in the club, according to township documents.
The photos are still available online. Take a peek. I’d be curious to know what local parents think?
The issue boils down to two alleged violations: One, a violation of Pannek’s permit, which supposedly allows for the operation of laser tag and paintball and not a club. The permit is specific to the paintball use.
The difference? Of course, it comes down to money, and from where Pannek makes his take, i.e., charging by head at the door and via concessions. No alcohol is served at the club.
The other issue is capacity. The building is zoned to allow only 182 people at a time.
Take a look again at the pictures. You’ll lose count after hitting 182, so long as you don’t get distracted by the sea of shirtless young men and scantily clad young women seemingly caught mid-writhe.
Here’s another one, Pannek — or whomever the administrator of the Facebook page is — claims Liberty Twp. is “LIBERAL BIG GOVERNMENT.”
That’s an interesting take. Liberty Twp. residents are largely, largely Republican and largely, largely conservative. And their trustees are a reflection of that.
Trustees Patrick Hiltman and Christine Matacic, while they don’t run in partisan races for the township, are and have been life-long card-carrying members of the county’s GOP.
Trustee President David Kern was elected last week as the Chairman of the GOP, and he’s even further right than Hiltman and Matacic as a passionate member of the Liberty Tea Party (his wife, Katy, is that group’s president).
If you recall, he even called President Barack Obama “a Marxist” last year.
Not sure “liberal” is the word these folks were looking for.
Then Pannek takes a stab at pulp culture, paralleling his situation with that of the great 1984 flick “Footloose” (one of my favs for sure).
They even quote Ecclesiastes 3, which Ren McCormick (Kevin Bacon) stumbles through during the movie’s town hall meeting as a counter argument to town leader and local Rev. Shaw Moore’s (John Lithgow) reason for calling off a school dance.
ALL of this is to point out trustees and township administrators are saying Pannek or others can come to the township and apply for the appropriate zoning under which a “club” or similar operation could qualify. In other words, if he solicits and is granted the appropriate use of a zoning certificate, he can operate anything he wants…save for a strip club or other adult entertainment business. But that’s a whole different blog post.
Owners of the maimed and killed dogs, Indy and Pepper, describe finding their pets as horrific. The attacks happened over the past week.
Police and the Butler County Dog Warden say the owner of the two dogs (which the dog warden’s office consider a mix breed of pit bull and boxer, according to court documents) said the dogs somehow escaped their confinement and ran for days in the Beckett Ridge subdivision.
Here’s a few things regarding the case that didn’t make it into the story, mostly because of space. But I’ll also explain additional reasons for their exclusion.
First off, I spoke with a board member of the Dogo Canario Club of America, Inc., regarding the background of the Presa Canario. This was not included in the story because, although the owner of the dog said he thought the dog was at least a descendant of a PC, there was no real proof. Additionally, the county’s dog expert, Chief Dog Warden Julie Holmes, said the dog didn’t have the full characteristics of a Presa, and looked like something more of mix between a bull terrier and a boxer.
Now, Randy Green, board member of the DCCA, said it’s “extremely rare” for PC’s to attack unless, of course, if they’re provoked. He said, in fact, no more so than a poodle or a Labrador.
I agree with that. Any dog backed into a corner is capable of anything. What anyone can’t ignore is the fact that a poodle bite isn’t the same thing as a PC’s, a dog that’s historically trained to hunt down cattle in the Canary Islands so they can be slaughtered. Green agreed.
While Green said dogs are a product of their owners, their surroundings and more (instead of possessing a “killer instinct” for example), Holmes challenged that theory.
She said “There are several factors to how a dog behaves. It’s not just how they’re raised.”
On to the “vicious” designation, which has raised quite a bite with local owners, especially those of the bull terrier breed.
That word, “vicious” is a legal term used by the state of Ohio to designate certain breeds’ owners to carry liability insurance in the event of an attack.
That didn’t happen in the Beckett Ridge case, according to Holmes, which is why the guy is charged (times two) with failure to carry insurance in addition to the failure to confine charges.
Holmes also said she understands the frustration with state law, which actually allows for some subjectivity because the law is enforced according to appearance. So if it looks like a bull terrier, it is, by law a bull terrier, and by law considered “vicious.”
As I’ve said here before…not my decision, but them’s the rules.
A Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Tuesday, March 9, dismissed charges against one of two men accused in the September stabbing death of 15-year-old Amber Robinson.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, West Chester police were called out to the North Pointe Townhomes off Muhlhauser Road not once, but twice.
After arriving just after 7 p.m. that night on a reported disturbance, they left the scene following an investigation they said revealed no crimes had been committed.
About a half hour later, they returned to the complex to find out the situation had escalated, and that 15-year-old Amber Robinson had been stabbed to death.
Kelsey Cano covers the townships of West Chester and Liberty, Ohio, government, business and local residents just like you for The Pulse-Journal and Hamilton JournalNews. She wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment here, e-mail Kelsey at kcano@coxohio.com or call (513) 483-5237.
Latest comment
i had a 93 cavalier yrs ago and out of the blue one day it started stinking and running loudly someone