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November 2008 |
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By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
A former Wapakoneta law enforcement officer’s future is now in the hands of seven state Supreme Court justices.
Former Wapakoneta Police Chief Dave Harrison’s 6-year-old sex crime case reached the pinnacle in Ohio’s court system Wednesday, as justices heard arguments from Harrison’s attorney Dean Boland and state prosecutor Scott Longo.
Each party had 15 minutes to present their case to the justices. After both attorneys argued their cases, a single word in Harrison’s sentencing entry and a grilling delivered to Longo by justice Maureen O’Connor left Boland optimistic about his client’s future.
In June, 2003, Harrison plead guilty to a six-count bill of information after child pornography was found on his computer. After entering his plea, the man who served as police chief from 1988 to 2002 was sentenced to one year in jail.
Seven months after he completed his sentence, it was discovered by county prosecutors that Harrison should have been sentenced with an additional five years of mandatory post release control, or probation.
During a court hearing, Harrison was given the option to either be re-sentenced or withdraw his plea. Harrison chose the latter, taking things back to square one.
With the plea withdrawn, the state of Ohio slapped Harrison with a 23-count indictment which he was ultimately found guilty of and sentenced to six years in prison.
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Thursday, 14 August 2008 |
Auglaize County family summer assistance program runs out of funds
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
A program helping to ease the burden on Auglaize County residents struggling to keep cool this summer has run out of funding.
Sources Community Network Services, which provides assistance to families with energy bills during winter and summer, announced this week that its Summer Crisis Cooling Program, which began a month later than normal on July 1, has already run out of money.
Typically the program, which serves qualifying clients in Auglaize and Mercer counties, extends from June 1 to Aug. 31.
Because funds were already 80 percent depleted from the heating season, the cooling program started later this year but still couldn’t extend through its normal duration, said Mike Bottoms, emergency services coordinator for Sources, which is located in Celina.
“Because we used so much with higher prices last winter there just wasn’t enough,” Bottoms said. “It’s very disappointing. I’ve been doing this 13 years and this is the first time we’ve ever run out of funding with this program.”
However, he said the lack of funding was anticipated as more families are needing to use the assistance, and utility and gas prices continue to climb. Eligibility requirements for the heating program also dropped this year, allowing more families to qualify.
“People are spending more of their budgets on gas and utilities and they can’t pay their bills,” Bottoms said.
Funding for the summer cooling and winter heating programs comes from the Ohio Department of Development.
Money is distributed on a first come, first served basis but is a little more restricted in the summer, with funding limited to those with medical conditions requiring electric and verified by their physicians or someone in the house 60 years or older.
This year, Sources was able to aid 120 households with their summer electric bills while the agency typically can assist 300 households.
The program provides up to $100 one time to households during its summer program.
“I’m afraid to say what I think winter will be like,” Bottoms told the Wapakoneta Daily News on Wednesday. “Everyone is predicting really high costs and lots of need.”
“Last year we had record high applications statewide,” he said. “More people were struggling with high utility costs even then.”
He said the agency helped pay bills for 1,200 households at that time, compared to the 875 the previous year.
The state’s Winter Crisis HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program), which is open to those with or without children at or below the 175 percent federal poverty guidelines, offered a credit of $600 to those homes using propane and fuel oil, and $175 for those using electric or natural gas.
The Winter Crisis program, administered by the Ohio Department of Development’s Community Development Division, provides assistance once per heating season to eligible households that have been disconnected, are being threatened with disconnection, or have less than a 10-day supply of bulk fuel.
Heating oil and propane were estimated to have increased in cost by 28 percent last winter, according to the National Energy Assistance Director’s Association, a national association of government energy assistance providers.
Already Bottoms said he is noticing more residents concerned about what they are going to do this winter about high heating costs. More than in the past, many also are taking advantage of home weatherization programs offered by the agency.
“They need to prepare for higher bills,” Bottoms said. “Anything they can do to cut down on air leakage around homes is important.” |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 15 August 2008 )
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