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 Members of the Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council pose for photo outside the classroom earlier this year. To date, the group has raised nearly $2,300 in which they have donated to various local and area organizations throughout the 2009-2010 school year. Photo provided By KRISTA HAYES
Staff Writer
With the end of the school year nearing, Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council members are hoping to end their term on a positive note.
During the school year, the school government raised nearly $2,300 for various local and area organizations.
“Each year, we try and raise as much money as we can for various clubs and organizations that we vote on and decide to help support at the beginning of the school year,” Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council President Neal Maxson said.
Elected a Student Council representative of his homeroom, Maxson, a seventh-grade student, said this is his second year serving on the council. This year as president, his main responsibility is to set forth an agenda and preside over the group’s monthly meetings which are held the first and third Thursday of each month.
“I joined the Student Council because I was looking for a new activity to do and thought it’d be challenging experience,” Maxson said. “Politics have always been one of the things to stick out in my head and when I grow up, I want to be a lawyer.
“Overall, as president I think I have done a pretty good job,” he said. “Being president is a lot harder than what I thought it would be since I have to make the agendas, run the meetings, and keep the advisers in the loop. I have the whole weight of the council on my shoulders, and at times it can get frustrating, but I would recommend it to all the kids coming to the middle school next year because it’s a fun activity to be involved in.”
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No arrests in weapons study: More than half of illegal weapon arrests involve felonies |
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Monday, 28 September 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
Illegal weapon arrests were released statewide last week, with Auglaize and Mercer counties, both handled by the Wapakoneta Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, having none.
In the district, which also includes Logan, Union, Shelby, Darke, Miami, Champaign, Preble, Montgomery and Clark counties, there were 27 illegal weapon arrests. Most of those were along major routes near larger cities in Miami, Montgomery and Clark counties.
There were five illegal weapon arrests in Allen County, four of which were along Interstate 75, during the 20-month recording period from 2008 to present.
Lt. Scott Carrico, commander of the Wapakoneta Post, said the majority of illegal weapon arrests are made as the result of troopers stopping motorists for other offenses.
“They are found as the result of other types of searches, arrests or while inventorying vehicles,” Carrico told the Wapakoneta Daily News. “Sometimes it’s for violation of a concealed carry permit and they are not properly transporting them or notifying that they have them.”
The lieutenant said most illegal weapons found are firearms and concealed large knives.
Illegal weapons also may include bombs transported in vehicles, but those are not often found in this area, Carrico said.
He reminded the public that if they are carrying a weapon, even with a concealed carry permit, they are required to notify officers immediately.
“We have a lot with permits for concealed carry that don’t carry them with them,” Carrico said. “In a mostly rural area, pretty much everyone with a concealed carry permit is aware of the laws when it comes to carrying them.”
Across the state, Richland and Ross counties had the most illegal weapon arrests since 2008, according to statistics recently released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Troopers made 24 illegal weapon arrests in each county during that time frame.
In total, there were 447 illegal weapon arrests between January 2008 and August 2009. Of those arrests, more than half, or 233, involved felonies, 173 involved impaired motorists, 120 involved drug arrests and 80 were motorists with suspended licenses.
Eighteen concealed weapon arrests were made in Scioto County and 17 each in Mahoning and Stark.
Counties in the patrol’s Jackson District in southeast Ohio accounted for 85 arrests, followed by the patrol’s Massillon District in northeast Ohio with 59 illegal weapon arrests.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 September 2009 )
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