Plain City officials are implementing new measures to slow down speeding drivers in Pastime Park. The specific area of concern is the path from the north entrance, at the top right corner of the graphic, down the west pathway illustrated with arrows, to the ball fields. Village staff and council would like to add more speed bumps and bollards, highlighted in yellow. The east pathway currently has a number of speed bumps, illustrated with red, and does not experience as many speeders. (Graphic submitted) Plain City officials are searching for a way to slow down drivers through Pastime Park. Parks…
Author: Kayleen Petrovia
Throughout history, we’ve seen the Olympics as a way to set aside our differences – political or otherwise – and come together in the name of sportsmanship and humanity. Ideally, the Games would feature only the brightest moments of the world. Even for a couple weeks, though, it’s difficult to exclude all the challenges that come with a global pandemic and political upheaval. Instead, perhaps more than ever before, it feels like the Olympics have been a perfect reflection of the world around them. We’ve seen a number of athletes drop out of competition after testing positive for COVID-19 or…
Plain City officials are considering changes to the village ordinances that govern building designs in the Uptown Historic District. During Wednesday’s council work session, Village Administrator Nathan Cahall said the ordinance that provides guidelines for the Design Review Board “could have more clarity and specificity.” “It would be a good idea… that the ambiguity be eliminated,” Cahall said. He noted that there are two sections of the ordinance that address building design. One is titled “standards for rehabilitation and guidelines for rehabilitating historic buildings,” which relies on criteria established by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The other section, “design…
A group of property owners and developers are taking Jerome Township to federal court, claiming zoning in the area is “broken.” Stakeholders for three residential developments that were each stalled by referendums are joint plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking damages from Jerome Township. Land owners and companies developing The Homestead at Scotts Farm, Rolling Meadows and The Farm at Indian Run claim the township violated their property rights and discriminated against them during the zoning process. “A few organized and vocal individuals in the township have hijacked the zoning process to stop new homes from being built purportedly to keep…
Volunteers from the Hope Center are shown assisting with the inflation of a balloon at a previous All Ohio Balloon Fest. (Balloon Fest photo) A weekend of fun at the All Ohio Balloon Fest will benefit the community long into the future. For the third time, proceeds from the annual event will benefit the Hope Center, a nonprofit organization that serves Union County. Through the partnership, the Hope Center will provide volunteers to assist during the weekend festivities. In return, the nonprofit will receive the net proceeds from the event. “We find people absolutely love it,” said Hope Center Director…
Though many pandemic restrictions have been lifted, officials say one of the changes made popular during the height of COVID-19 is likely to stay: food trucks. “It’s a trend we’re going to see for the long-term,” said Jason Stanford, development services manager with Union County-Marysville Economic Development. Stanford said the emergence of food trucks has been a “regional phenomenon” throughout central Ohio for the past several years. He said the Marysville area was “slow to embrace” the trend, as food truck operations did not become more prominent locally until many brick-and-motor restaurants closed during the pandemic. Marcia Dreiseidel, director of…
Nearly 70 incoming kindergarteners at Plain City Elementary School spent four days at “Safety Town” to prepare them to be smart and safe students. Pictured above, children use tricycles to “drive” through a mock city complete with functional traffic signals. (Journal-Tribune photo by Kayleen Petrovia) The incoming kindergarteners at Plain City Elementary will arrive at the school feeling safer and smarter, thanks to a collaborative effort throughout the village. Community partners came together to host Plain City Safety Town, a crash-course that aims to prepare young children to become students. “It truly takes a village to go from an idea…
Despite millions of streams and thousands of loyal fans, Mitchell Tenpenny sees himself as a normal guy. Humility is a trait the rising country music star learned first from his grandmother, a titan in the Nashville music industry, and then the artists who mentored him. “When you see these superstars that you look up to, they’re all pretty much super normal people and they’re willing to help and that’s a pretty cool thing in country music,” Tenpenny said. “I know in a lot of other genres, it doesn’t always tend to be that way.” The collaboration and encouragement between artists…
Plain City officials are beginning a 90-day pilot program that will reduce parking in certain areas that create bottlenecks for emergency vehicles. Pictured above, curb areas of Cooper Lane and Dickens Lane highlighted in red will no longer permit street parking. Other streets affected include Carriage Drive, Lantern Lane and Murlay Drive. The changes will go into effect on Aug. 9. (Graphic submitted) Plain City residents will soon see a change in available street parking. A number of streets that currently have parking on both sides will be reduced to parking on only one side. Beginning Aug. 9, parking on…
Representatives from the Union County Fair Board and Union County Health Department say they have a strong working relationship, as they navigate repairing damages caused during COVID-19 mass vaccination clinics. “The Union County Fair Board has had an open and good working relationship with the UCHD and looks forward to continuing to serve the health and safety of our community,” according to a written statement from Michelle Kuhlwein, with the fair board. Kuhlwein said the estimate for $282,785.36 worth of damages, quoted by Goodwin Services, was obtained in order to start the process of applying for funding from the Federal…
A proposal provided by the Union County Fair Board, with a quote from Goodwin Services, estimates repairing damage to the fairgrounds caused by COVID-19 mass vaccination clinics will cost more than $280,000. The project is broken into seven areas of roadway that would be repaired, each labeled with a letter and highlighted above. Section A represents the Route 4 entrance, while Section F surrounds the rabbit/poultry barn where vaccines were administered. (Graphic submitted) The Union County Health Department could be liable to pay the Union County Fair Board what it claims is more than $280,000 in damages to the fairgrounds.…
Triad families will see a difference in building leadership during the upcoming school year. The Board of Education recently approved a new principal and moved another to a new building. Vincent “Vinnie” Spirko was hired as the middle school principal while Doug Lowery, who formerly filled the position, will shift to the high school. Triad High School’s principal position opened when Kyle Huffman accepted the same position at Madison-Plains High School over the summer. Superintendent Vickie Hoffman said she “immediately” knew that she wanted Lowery to lead the high school. “It wasn’t a great time, in my eyes, to have…
Triad officials believe the district’s choice to continue in-person instruction through most of the 2020 school year is paying dividends. Chief Academic Officer Morgan Fagnani said Triad’s spring test scores are approximately 10% higher than the state average. “I was really happy to see that,” she said during Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. Fagnani said she recently received preliminary results from spring state testing. The state has not yet sent scores from students who participate in alternate testing, so Fagnani said she cannot provide concrete results until then. However, she said the conclusions she has drawn thus far are positive.…
Women at the Ohio Reformatory for Women use clear plastic trash bags as ponchos during a rainy Parent Day event hosted Saturday by Prison Fellowship, a Christian non-profit that advocates for justice reform. The program featured testimony from former inmates, resources from Rock City Church of Columbus and a performance by 216 Stix, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ drumline. Nearly 400 women filled the ORW yard during the event. (Journal-Tribune photo by Kayleen Petrovia) On Saturday, hundreds of women gathered to share their parenting tips. In the yard of the Ohio Reformatory for Women, these women weren’t seen as prisoners, but first…
Before I even knew how to drive, I remember a family member telling me about one thing I needed to be especially careful about once I did have my license. If I was stopped at a gas station, she told me I should never accept a business card from any man who approached me. She apparently read on Facebook that groups of men were posing as car detailers interested in gaining women’s business. They wore rubber gloves to protect themselves from a harmful chemical their business cards were contaminated with. If you left the gas station with a business card…