Archive - News Article
December 8th
With a requested budget for 2012 nearly the same as last year for the Auglaize County Veterans Services Commission, the biggest surprise came when officers said they were considering not coming back to the Auglaize County Administration Building.
“Our office is very, very busy as you know,” Auglaize County Veterans Services Director Doug Howard said. “We love where we are. If we could stay out there we would.”
The Auglaize County engineer submitted a figure he did not expect to get when he requested more than $10.4 million for his 2012 budget.
His appeal stressed the county’s need.
The request is approximately $5 million more than the revenue in the Motor Vehicle and Gasoline Tax Fund for 2011.
“I know I’m not going to get it, but this is to reflect the need,” county Engineer Doug Reinhart told the Auglaize County Commissioners during his budget hearing on Wednesday. “I do this every year. It looks like I’m asking for the world, but we need it.”
December 7th
By
Sharon K. Ghag-McClatchy Newspapers
Bazaars are the best kind of holiday gatherings. These sweet events are a showcase of taste-tempting, time-tested favorites.
As December kicks off, so do holiday bazaars. One of note is United Methodist Women's annual Christmas Bazaar in Merced, Calif. That this church tradition is in its 81st year is impressive. What's more remarkable is that the grand dame of this event will be 98 years old in January.
Staffing, supplies and services needed for two required primaries in the spring led to the Auglaize County Election Board’s request for $100,000 more in its 2012 budget.
“Hopefully it won’t be that much,” Auglaize County Elections Board Director Carolyn Campbell said.
The increase to $360,973 is 38 percent more than the board’s budget this year.
“Cut it where you will and we’ll work around it,” Campbell said of the budget.
The Auglaize County Agricultural Society filled its last two open positions this week on the fair board.
Kevin Turner was chosen by fair board members Monday to fill the Logan Township representative position, while Dru Meyer was selected as the Wapakoneta city representative at the meeting.
Those two, along with Doug Roediger, had expressed interest in filling the vacant seats. They will serve in those positions until next November.
Fair Board Secretary and Fairgrounds Manager Fred Piehl said the two should be great for the positions.
It is important not to give out any personal information to suspicious online websites or callers, the Wapakoneta police chief says, as there has recently been reports of Social Security scamming.
Police Chief Russ Hunlock advises local residents to never give out any personal information to just anyone.
“We advise not to give out information, until they can verify who they are,” Hunlock said.
December 6th
Two popular television series helped a local youth with an act of heroism — saving his younger brother’s life.
Representatives from Lima Memorial Hospital visited the Wapakoneta Middle School on Monday to present sixth-grade student Jake Turner with a Life-Saving Hero Award.
On Nov. 19, Jake rescued his two-year-old brother, Noah, who had fallen into a pond in their grandparents’ back yard in Lafayette, near Lima.
Jake and his siblings were playing outside, when all of a sudden his younger sister, Jenna, came running up to him and said that Noah had fallen into the pond.
A city ordinance making certain synthetic, or designer, drugs illegal to possess, sell and use is off the books — it has been replaced by a state law.
Wapakoneta city administrators welcomed the change after Wapakoneta City Council members adopted an ordinance on Monday rescinding the city’s previous ordinance making illegal certain synthetic drugs, such as “bath salts.”
Overall, the Auglaize County dog warden’s proposed budget for 2012 should decrease by 13 percent, even though he is requesting a salary increase for his assistant.
Auglaize County Dog Warden Russ Bailey reviewed his budget proposal Monday with the Auglaize County commissioners as they heard the first presentation in a full week of meetings with department heads and elected officials, who will go through details of their budgets in preparation of developing the county’s 2012 budget.
December 5th
People crowded onto Main Street waiting in line to talk with Santa Claus or to skate on a temporary rink, to get signatures from a professional baseball player or to ride a pony, to take a carriage ride or a train ride.
Cartoon characters walked among an estimated 3,000 people who turned out for this past weekend’s Children’s Hometown Holiday in downtown Wapakoneta.
Started five years ago in the effort to help stimulate business downtown, the event’s primary organizer, Elaine Poppe said the big crowd made it the largest turnout the event has had yet.
