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As of Saturday, 473 houses had been incinerated in the Colorado wild fires. AP photo.

Janice Morse reports:

Eight firefighters from Butler County are doing their part to help combat the devastating Black Forest fire in Colorado – and, at the same time, they’re learning tactics that could be put to use for any major disaster that could strike here, Monroe Fire Chief John Centers said Monday.

“This is not an endeavor to learn how to fight forest fires. This is an endeavor to learn how to handle large-scale incidents,” Centers said. In such incidents, emergency personnel are divided into various specialties, such as planning, operations, finance and safety, he explained.

The local firefighters who went to Colorado are from the Butler County Incident Management Assistance Team, a group that can be deployed to assist with major incidents across the nation, Centers said. The team includes representatives of most Butler County fire departments, along with a handful of Warren County agencies.

On Saturday, federal officials activated the local team to go to Colorado, where a fast-moving wildfire killed at least two people and destroyed hundreds of homes. The fire, which spread across at least 25 square miles, has become the most destructive blaze in the state’s history.

The Butler team sent eight of its members, hailing from the cities of Monroe, Middletown and Oxford, along with Ross, West Chester, Liberty and Fairfield townships.

“They are doing great and learning a great deal from some of the best folks in our business,” Centers posted on his Facebook page Monday.

The Butler team has been working 15-hour days and sleeping in tents as nighttime temperatures dip into the 40s. “It’s a shame to have work under these circumstances, but they understand why the residents love this area so much,” Centers wrote.

The Butler team is expected to return home late Thursday night, Centers said, adding, “God bless the Colorado residents and the firefighters who protect them.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: Colorado fires 2013, fire department, Liberty Township Fire, Liberty Township Fire Department, West Chest Fire, West Chester Fire Department

SWAGG will headline this Thursday’s show of the 2013 season of the First Financial Bank After-Hours on The Square concert series in West Chester. The band will perform from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Square at Union Centre.

The free concert series will take place every Thursday night, except July 4, through Aug. 29.

The Square at Union Centre is located at 9285 Centre Pointe Drive, adjacent to the West Chester Library. No alcohol is permitted on The Square unless purchased at the event. Beer sales also help support the event.

Below is the 2013 After-Hours on The Square schedule:

• June 20 – SWAGG
• June 27 – My Sister Sarah
• July 11 – Color Blind
• July 18 – Naked Karate Girls
• July 25 – Parti Gras
• Aug. 1 – Lt. Dan’s New Legs
• Aug. 8 – My Sister Sarah
• Aug. 15 – Zack Attack
• Aug. 22 – Stays in Vegas
• Aug. 29 – Naked Karate Girls

Posted in: Business, Events, News |

Tags: Tags: After-Hours on the Square, After-Hours on The Square at Union Centre, Color Blind, concert, concerts, My Sister Sarah, Naked Karate Girls, Parti Gras, Square at Union Centre, Stays in Vegas, SWAGG, Zack Attack

PHOTO GALLERY MAY NOT APPEAR ON MOBILE DEVICES

Bats are the theme for Thursday’s Discovery Kids program for preschool children at Voice of America Park in West Chester Township.

The nature program for preschoolers, formerly known as Lollipop, is run by MetroParks of Butler County each month.

The hour-long program is targeted to children ages 3-5 and their adult companion. Children explore nature through stories, crafts and activities.

• Photos Discovery Kids November program at VOA
• Photos Discovery Kids September program at VOA

Sessions will be offered at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Lodge area at the Voice of America Park, 7850 VOA Park Dr.

There is a $3 craft fee for children. Registration is required and can be made by calling 513-867-5835 or online at www.yourmetroparks.net.

A motor vehicle permit is needed to enter either park. Hangtags are free to Butler County residents with proof of residency. Non-residents can purchase a $10 annual hangtag or $5 single day permit.

Posted in: Events |

Tags: Tags: Discovery Kids, Discovery Kids program, MetroParks, MetroParks of Butler County, photo gallery, photos, VOA Park, Voice of America Park, West Chester photos

Bowdeya Tweh reports:

Electronic lockbox systems provider SentriLock plans to open its new West Chester headquarters Friday.

The National Association of Realtors-owned SentriLock sought the move from Sharonville to a new 40,000-square-foot facility at 7701 Service Center Drive to house its 100 employees. The company said it sought the move as a result of its expanding operations.

Officials from the company and trade group will meet in West Chester Friday morning to celebrate the opening.

The remodeled facility offers double the square footage and will feature SentriLock’s corporate offices and manufacturing, repair and customer service operations, the company said. SentriLock was founded in 2003.

The Chicago-based Realtors group bought the building in November for $3.6 million. Air-Tite Home Products, the building’s previous occupant, closed its operations at the site last year.

SentriLock has more than 500,000 lockboxes in use by 250,000 agents throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: National Association of Realtors, SentriLock, SentriLock headquarters, SentriLock headquarters West Chester, SentriLock West Chester

Justin Binik-Thomas, a former Cincinnati Tea Party spokesman and owner of Conservative Media Group, Deer Park, Ohio, talks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, during a break in the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the extra scrutiny the Internal Revenue Service gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. During the hearing, Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, asked witness, ousted IRS chief Steven Miller why the IRS wanted to know about Binik-Thomas when the Liberty Township Tea Party in Ohio applied for tax-exempt status. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Deirdre Shesgreen reports:

Organized by the Tea Party Patriots, the “Audit the IRS rally” comes amid the unfolding scandal over the tax agency’s targeting of conservative groups.

Justin Binik-Thomas, a founding member of the Cincinnati Tea Party, and George Brunemann, leader of the SouthWest Cincinnati Tea Party, are listed as speakers for the event.

According to a news release, GOP Sens. Mike Lee, of Utah, and Rand Paul, of Kentucky, will be there, along with GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, to talk about “actions being taken to protect citizens from being attacked by their own government.”

Meanwhile, back in West Chester, The Cincinnati Tea Party will have a sign wave from noon to 1 p.m. at John Boehner’s West Chester office, 7969 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, according to Today’s Pulse.

Posted in: Government, News, Tea Party |

Tags: Tags: Cincinnati Tea Party, IRS Tea Party, IRS Tea Party scandal, Liberty Township Tea Party, Tea Party, West Chester Tea Party

Photo provided by the Butler County Visitors Bureau

The Junior U.S. Open Water Ski Championships are coming to West Chester.

The event, which is free to attend, will take place next weekend, June 29-30, at Voice of America Park.

“We are excited that Butler County’s Voice of America MetroPark has been chosen to host this prestigious youth sporting event,” said Mark Hecquet, executive director of the Butler County Visitors Bureau. “Having hosted this event in 2008, we’re looking forward to welcoming USA Water Ski and their top athletes back to Butler County.”

The two-day event will feature 100 of the nation’s top junior water ski athletes under the age of 21. The competitors will compete for titles in tricks, jumping, and top overall categories.

The championship event is expected to have an economic impact of around $155,000.

While the event is free and open to the public, motor vehicle permits are required to enter VOA Park. Permits are free to Butler County residents. Non residents can purchase an annual pass for $10 or a daily pass for $5.

Posted in: Events, News |

Tags: Tags: Butler County Visitor's Bureau, MetroParks, MetroParks of Butler County, photo gallery, photos, VOA Park, Voice of America Park

Trucks, helicopters and other vehicles that serve the community will be on display at West Chester’s annual “Touch A Truck” event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. next Friday, June 28.

• Photos from 2012 Touch A Truck event in West Chester
• Photos from 2011 Touch A Truck event in West Chester

The event will take place on The Square at Union Centre and is free to attend.

During “Touch A Truck,” children can climb through fire trucks, police cars, snow plows, military vehicles, helicopters, rescue boats, street sweepers and more while learning about them and the men and women who operate the vehicles on a daily basis.

For more information, visit www.WestChesterOH.org.

Posted in: Events, Recreational events |

Tags: Tags: helicopters, snow plow, Square at Union Centre, the Square at Union Centre, touch a truck, trucks, vehicles, West Chester Fire Department, West Chester photos, West Chester Police, West Chester Police Department, West Chester Touch A Truck, West Chester Touch A Truck photos

Evan Cook with his mother Kathy Cook, Evan just graduated from the Lakota Plans Junior School in Liberty twp. over the last year Lakota has seen it’s enrollment drop. Photo taken by Tony Jones.

Michael D. Clark reports:

The school year might be finished but there is no end in sight for shrinking enrollments at some once-booming, suburban school systems.

The trend adds to the nervousness of Southwest Ohio school officials and school parents who await the state budget’s unveiling later this month. Smaller enrollment often means less school funding in Ohio’s biennium budgets. And fewer state dollars mean districts often ask voters to pay higher school taxes.

“It’s a guessing game now when it comes to the state budget and it is definitely a concern about what the future will hold,” says Kathy Cook, mother of twoin Lakota Schools, which has seen both declining enrollments and lagging state funding in recent years.

Enrollments in some area suburbs slowly began to shrink after the 2007 housing market collapse. The trend gained momentum around 2010 when federal stimulus education money that protected many districts from the impact of a still sluggish economy began to run out. Since then, many area districts have also been battling historic financial challenges that included making millions of dollars in budget cuts at the same time enrollments declined.

Other contributing factors:

• A slower turnover in home sales meant fewer young families moved in.
• Many families decided to enroll their children elsewhere to avoid schools hit hard by budget cuts.
• A decades-long trend of children of the “baby boom” generation graduating from local schools and not staying in the community.

According to the U.S. Census estimates released last week, the school age population – children 5-17 – fell in all but five of Ohio’s 88 counties between 2010 and 2012.

Butler County was among the five but showed only 0.2 percent increase.

“This is a nationwide trend in successful school districts. We have high graduation rates, high college attendance rates, and our kids leave their hometown,” says Randy Oppenheimer, spokesman for the top-rated Lakota Schools. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Lakota enrollment, Lakota schools, Randy Oppenheimer, Randy Oppenheimer lakota

Dressers decorated by Lakota art students were on display at IKEA for months leading up to a silent auction benefiting the school district’s art programs. Photo provided.

IKEA’s “Dress Me Up” silent auction, featuring dressers decorated by Lakota art students, raised more than $2,000 for the art programs at both Lakota high schools and Lakota East Freshman School.

The silent auction took place Thursday night. Besides Lakota students, dressers were also decorated by members of the Arts Council of West Chester and Liberty, as well as IKEA employees.

• Photo gallery of IKEA dressers on Lakota’s Facebook page

IKEA matched all community bids and hosted the two-hour auction and student reception at its store restaurant.

The dressers were on display on IKEA’s icon wall for three weeks prior to the auction. Participating Lakota student groups include Lakota East’s Art Club, Lakota West’s AP Art class and two art classes at Lakota East Freshman School.

Posted in: Business, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Arts Council of West Chester and Liberty, IKEA, IKEA West Chester, Lakota art programs, Lakota East, Lakota West

West Chester Township-based AK Steel warned investors Monday that it expects a net loss of between $0.33 and $0.38 per diluted share of common stock for the second quarter of 2013.

In April, AK Steel reported a net loss of $9.9 million or 7 cents per share in the first quarter. In January, the steelmaker reported a net loss of $1,027.3 million or $9.06 per diluted share for 2012. In 2011, it reported a loss of $155.6 million or $1.41 per share.

The company also expects its average selling price per ton for the second quarter of 2013 to decrease by approximately 1 percent from its price for the first quarter of 2013, falling from $1,063 to $1,055 per ton.

The expected decrease in average selling price is primarily due to lower spot market prices for carbon steel products compared to the previous quarter, according to AK Steel.

Second quarter results include the effect of the a seven-day maintenance outage at its Middletown blast furnace, which will drive up the company’s maintenance costs to $21 million for the second quarter. The company spent $1 million in total maintenance outage costs in the first quarter and does not have any other planned blast furnace maintenance outages for the reminder of 2013.

Also in Monday’s release, AK Steel said that it expects shipments of approximately 1,340,000 to 1,360,000 tons in the second quarter of 2013 compared to shipments of 1,289,800 tons in the first quarter of 2013, a increase of approximately 4 to 5 percent.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: AK Steel, AK Steel financial results, AK Steel financials, AK Steel West Chester, West Chester business news