“More than just a party;” Dayton celebrates Juneteenth
Crowds came to Liberation Park on Saturday to celebrate the city’s annual Juneteenth festival, celebrating the end of slavery in the United States.
“Juneteenth should be more than just a party,” said Donald Domineck, Chair of the Dayton New Black Panther Party, which put on the event. “We want to build upon this and hopefully in the coming years, this will be the premier Juneteenth Festival in the City of Dayton.”
Saturday’s event featured a parade, live music throughout the day, vendors, food trucks, and several organizations, including Premier Health, the Dayton Metro Library’s Bookmobile, and others.
Legionella discovered in Kettering Fairmont High School football stadium field house
KETTERING — Results of water tests at Kettering’s City Schools Roush Stadium indicate Legionella was found, according to a message from the superintendent.
Results received Saturday were positive for the bacteria at the field house, which has been closed since Tuesday, when student-athlete illnesses were reported, Superintendent Mindy McCarty-Stewart said in a letter to the district.
In 2019, a Kettering Fairmont High School custodian died of Legionnaires’ disease. Given the most recent discovery, the district is working to see if all other buildings — which are set to be tested in July — can be evaluated sooner, Kettering schools Spokeswoman Kari Basson said in an email Sunday.
Xenia man builds new life after addiction, jail
Finding a job can be challenging. The task can be even tougher and close to impossible for someone convicted of multiple felonies.
Michael Wise of Xenia has 13 felony convictions on his record and has served time in prison twice for crimes related to drugs and theft.
“I was born and raised on the east side of Dayton,” Wise said. “My mom was the only person in my family who didn’t do drugs.”
Wise remembers watching his father sneak down to the basement to smoke marijuana and sitting wrapped in blankets because the power in their house had been disconnected.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE: Erma’s House needs items for kids
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Keeping children safe has been the mission of Erma’s House Family Visitation Center for more than 20 years. A program of Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley (CSSMV), Erma’s House grew out of the community’s need for a safe, structured environment where children could have scheduled contact and maintain a relationship with their non-residential parents.
The special facility helps families interact in a safe and appropriate manner in a neutral setting focused on the children, with no interaction between the adult parents or guardians. The program includes both supervised visits and supervised exchanges. During supervised visits, staff or trained volunteers monitor and record the activity between the parent and the child. Supervised exchanges are also monitored, and are provided for parents who don’t wish to interact with one another when the child is being exchanged from one household to the other.
“The mission of Erma’s House is to assist and support Montgomery County children and families who have been affected by divorce, separation, abuse or neglect,” explains Catholic Social Services CEO Laura Roesch. “Erma’s House helps these children and parents to maintain or rebuild their family relationships through a program of safe, structured, and community-based visitation services. This critically important, very unique program served 219 people in 2022.”
County chief building official: Tavern building “in worse shape than we thought”
TROY – Miami County’s prosecutor said Friday it is time to act on the Tavern building at 112-116 W. Main St. in Troy after additional damage including the wall facing West Main Street “moving” in recent days.
“According to our structural engineer, the north wall is leaning an additional two inches toward the street. I’m told this is an extremely dangerous situation. It’s time to take action because the time for debate (which has gone on for over three years now) is over because of the above described changes in the building’s condition,” Prosecutor Tony Kendell said Friday evening.
“The building is in worse shape than we thought,” Rob England, county chief building official, told the county commissioners in a brief report Thursday. He specifically noted the north wall that engineers said was “actively moving.”
About the Author