Local Archived News

NU students compete at Art Exhibit
By Sherryl Sheets
Several members of the North Union High School Art Class submitted handmade art pieces to be judged during Region 4 judging last weekend for the 43rd Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Exhibit. The governor’s exhibit is dedicated to the educational and artistic advancement of talented youth in Ohio. This experience is an opportunity to advance their talents through scholarships and experience of competition.

Pregnancy Center serves Richwood
By Sherryl Sheets
Information received from the Ohio Department of Vital Statistics indicated that there were 13 abortions in the northern end of Union County in 2010. That number caught the attention of the Pregnancy Care Center of Union County. The answer was to offer services in the Richwood area, so a satellite office was opened last August.

Another robotics team qualifies
By Sherryl Sheets
Last week, another North Union Middle School Robotics team qualified for the VEX World Championship in Anaheim, Calif. They will compete in mid-April.
About 70 other teams from around Ohio and Indiana competed at the Society of Manufacturing Engineering Education Foundation’s Marion VEX Robotics Qualifier at the Alber Center on The Ohio State University at Marion/Marion Technical Center campus. This was the final qualifying event after several competitions last week in celebration of National Engineers Week.

Providing Safety for schools
By Lindsay Castle
Union County Sheriff Jamie Patton talked with North Union School Board members recently about the safety of students and teachers in districts within Union County. Patton, along with Superintendent Dr. Rick Smith, asked board members what their thoughts were on researching the process of making schools safer, and possibly arming people in schools such as undercover officers.

Funeral director a computer expert
By Sherryl Sheets
Greg Ballinger is a multi-talented man. He’s a family man, a musician, a community-minded person who serves on various committees for the betterment of Richwood, a busy funeral director and some may call him a “computer geek.”

Council discusses downtown parking
By Lindsay Castle
By the summer months, parking in Richwood could be more convenient for business owners and less convenient for those who carpool.

Police respond to gunshot
From Richwood Gazette staff reports
The Richwood Police received a call at 2:08 a.m. Tuesday morning regarding a domestic situation at 241 Race Street. When they arrived one person had been shot.

Bloodmobile coming March 18
Mark your calendar for Monday, March 18, and attend the American Red Cross Bloodmobile at the Richwood First United Methodist Church, 18 South Fulton Street in Richwood. The hours are from 1 to 7 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome.

Area churches hold Easter Services
The public is invited to attend upcoming Easter services at any of the churches listed below:
The Festival of Praise will be held Sunday, March 24, 7 p.m. at Fulton Creek Friends Church (located at corner of Fulton Creek Road and Route 4. It is sponsored by the Richwood Area Ministerial Association.
On Good Friday, March 29 at the First Baptist Church, the public is invited to attend at noon. The speaker will be Pastor Brian Owens. The church is located at the corner of North Clinton and East Ottawa Streets). A light lunch will follow at 12:30 p.m.
The following is a list of area churches and their events, which are open to the public.
•Union Baptist Church – Wednesday, March 27, 7 p.m. Sunday, March 31, 8 a.m. Sunrise breakfast; 9:30 a.m. Sunday School; 10:30 a.m. Morning service; 6 p.m. evening service. (16623 Route 739)
•First United Methodist Church – Thursday, March 28, Maundy Thursday Service, 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 30, children’s Easter Party (open to all children in the community), 2 to 4 p.m.; Sunday, March 31, 8 a.m. Sunrise Service; breakfast, 8:30 to 9:45 a.m.; Hand Bell Concert, 10 a.m.; worship service, 10:30 a.m. (18 South Fulton Street)
•Advent Christian Church – Sunday, March 31, 10:30 a.m. Sharing Service (Claibourne Road)
•Magnetic Springs United Methodist Church – Sunday, March 24 Palm Sunday, a celebration of the Palms. Sunday, March 31 – Sunrise service at 7 a.m. followed by breakfast; worship at 9:15 a.m. With Easter Egg Hunt at 10:30 a.m. (113 Olive Street)
•Pharisburg United Methodist Church – March 28, Maundy Thursday, 7 p.m. Easter service at 10:45 a.m. On Sunday, March 31 (intersection of Routes 4 and 347)
•First Baptist Church – Palm Sunday service, Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. with worship at 10:40 a.m. Sunday, March 31, Easter Sunrise Service at 8 a.m. With Sunrise Breakfast to follow at 8:30 a.m. Sunday School 9:30 and worship at 9:40 a.m.

100th anniversary of the 1913 flood
From Richwood Gazette staff reports
The rains began on March 23, 1913, Easter Sunday that year. Devastation from the flood hit 15 states and in Ohio, the Dayton area was hit the hardest. Millions of dollars in damage was reported and over time, many new lessons learned.
In the Akron area, high waters washed out homes and the storm led to the end of the Ohio and Erie Canal. Cement was added to the sides of the canal locks to preserve them from the freezing and thawing in the sandstone which caused problems.

Students demonstrate use of technology
By Lindsay Castle
Second grade students at North Union Elementary School can probably use an iPad better than a majority of those reading this newspaper.
Teachers at NUE have received iPads with training to use them properly for educational purposes. There’s also a cart of 25 iPads for teachers to use with their students.

Auditor announces State Award Recipients
Auditor of State Dave Yost has announced that the following entities received the Auditor of State Award for their clean audit reports

ODOT recruits litter cleanup volunteers
From Richwood Gazette staff reports
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) spends more than $4 million each year picking up nearly 400,000 bags of trash from highways and interchanges. The cost and time involved for crews to remove litter could be used for much-needed equipment or highway repairs. ODOT also offers an excellent volunteer opportunity year round for volunteers to participate in clean-up programs through its Adopt-A-Highway program.

Flood control technology came after the 1913 Flood
From Richwood Gazette staff reports
The Great Flood of 1913 which hit from Indiana to Connecticut, was declared the worst flood disaster in U.S. history at the time. Hardest hit areas were Ohio and Indiana, home to the largest manufacturers of steel, railroads, coal and natural gas at the turn of the 20th century. These storms hit between March 23 to March 27, 1913. Much of today’s education in flood prevention comes from the effects of the 1913 flood.

April is Child Abuse Month
From Richwood Gazette staff reports
As part of April's Child Abuse Prevention Month, efforts are underway in Union County to raise knowledge on how to prevent child abuse and neglect.
By ensuring that all parents in the community have access to quality childcare, affordable social and health services, parenting education resources and substance abuse and mental health programs, we can make progress in keeping children safe and families strong.

Robotics team visits village council
By Lindsay Castle
Robotics teams from North Union middle and high schools visited the Richwood Village Council meeting Monday night to give members a preview of their upcoming trip to Anaheim, Calif.
The students have spent the past school year building and programming robots to compete against students from other schools in a variety of competitions. A few of the NU teams will be competing in the global competition in April.