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WOUB Public Media •

A tumultuous Trimble board meeting ends with a surprise vote and a daunting projection

GLOUSTER, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — In an unexpected twist, the Trimble Board of Education voted 3-1 not to cut additional teaching positions at its meeting Thursday evening.
The reduction in force would have eliminated an elementary preschool teacher and a kindergarten teacher, among others.

“I think it’s going to be too much, especially on the kindergarten,” said board member Kayla Simons.
It would have...
WOUB Public Media •

Treasurers and auditors warn the plan to cap school cash reserves would cause major problems for districts and taxpayers

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — On paper, it looks like a simple idea.
Property values in Ohio have skyrocketed, causing property taxes to spike. Most of that money has gone to school districts, which are sitting on billions of dollars in cash reserves. Why not just take some of the money back and redistribute it to taxpayers?
That’s what the Ohio House of Representatives wants to do in its version of...
WOUB Public Media •

As a troubled year draws to a close for Federal Hocking, its superintendent expresses confidence while staff share concerns about leadership

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — For Emma Wright, the nonrenewal of Jake Amlin’s contract was just the latest in a year of troubles at Federal Hocking.
Wright is the guidance counselor at Federal Hocking High School, where Amlin is principal. By the time the board voted not to renew Amlin’s contract, Wright had already made a decision of her own: hand in her resignation and pursue a new degree.
“If this...
WOUB Public Media •

Local organizations warn southeast Ohio faces huge state and federal cuts to critical programs

GLOUSTER, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — State and federal aid programs are a defining pillar of everyday life for thousands of southeast Ohioans. Now many of those programs are facing significant reductions, if not outright collapse.
Visitors packed into a meeting room at HAPCAP’s Glouster headquarters Friday for a presentation on the upcoming state and federal cuts.
Staff from HAPCAP and Integrated Services to...
WOUB Public Media •

Trimble residents want more information from their superintendent and school board as more positions are cut

GLOUSTER, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — It became apparent at Thursday’s board meeting that residents of Trimble Local Schools do not want to sit idly by as their district is stripped to the bone.
“We have one of the greatest communities around, and we’re not selling ourselves,” said parent Mark Brunton. “Let’s be leaders, not just trying to scrap and crawl and ‘Woe is me.’”

Brunton was one of several atten...
WOUB Public Media •

Residents react with outrage after the Federal Hocking board chooses not to renew High School Principal Jake Amlin's contract

COOLVILLE, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Residents of the Federal Hocking school district packed the Coolville Elementary cafeteria for a marathon board meeting to decide the fate of the high school principal.
In the end, their presence was not enough to sway the board, which voted 4-1 not to renew Jake Amlin’s contract, with Jenny Leigh the lone dissent. Angry residents, some in tears, filed out shortly...
WOUB Public Media •

Federal Hocking High School students leave class to protest the potential loss of their principal

STEWART, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Students gathered outside the front doors of Federal Hocking High School Tuesday morning after word spread that the district may not renew Principal Jake Amlin’s contract.
The protest took place for about half an hour during class time. A handful of supportive parents watched from the parking lot. Senior Adam McKnight spoke at length to the crowd, urging everyone to at...
WOUB Public Media •

Jackson residents protest as the Ohio Legislature considers replacing the Fair School Funding Plan

JACKSON, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Protesters lined the edge of the Manpower Park in Jackson on Saturday to call for stronger state investment in public education.
Organizers called for the protest after state leaders signaled they would not fully fund the Fair School Funding Plan in the upcoming biennial budget. The event then merged with a local Hands Off! protest put together by the Jackson County Dem...
WOUB Public Media •

Ohio doesn’t fund its public schools like it’s supposed to. Now many in southeast Ohio are facing shortfalls.

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — There’s a pattern emerging at school board meetings across southeast Ohio: Districts are losing money, and they’re cutting staff to stay afloat.
Some districts, such as Meigs and Alexander, have made these cuts quietly, through a process called attrition: If a staff member retires, the district doesn’t hire someone new. For other districts, attrition isn’t enough. The cu...
WOUB Public Media •

Southeast Ohio Foodbank loses 162,000 pounds of food to canceled federal shipments

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Decisions at the federal level will once again have a direct impact on dinner tables throughout southeast Ohio.

The Trump administration canceled $500 million in shipments to food banks, a project the Biden administration announced in October.

The money was earmarked specifically for emergency food purchases, which form the bulk of food banks’ supply. Shipments bought w...
WOUB Public Media •

The federal Community Eligibility Provision has helped more kids in southeast Ohio eat. Some worry it may face cuts

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Last year, a big change came to school lunches in Athens.
For the first time, the district met the threshold to qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision or CEP. That meant it could allow all students to get food from the lunch line free of charge. As a result, the number of students visiting the lunch line went up about 20%, according to treasurer Jared Bunting.
To...
WOUB Public Media •

Teachers will soon have to inform parents if students identify as transgender. Some worry abuse will follow

GLOUSTER, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — When 14-year-old Willow Grimm first came out as transgender, what mattered the most was her parents’ approval.
“It was very important that I had a good home life. It didn’t matter about my social life at all. I wanted a good home life before anything else,” Grimm said.

Grimm is a student at Trimble Local Schools. With her parents supporting her, she said, life is p...
WOUB Public Media •

A Perry County group spent thousands on hotel rooms for unhoused people as commissioners voice their concerns about establishing a shelter

NEW LEXINGTON, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Getting custody of his teenage son was a positive development in Paul’s life. Among other things, having someone to take care of sharpened his sense of purpose. Another positive: His son was adjusting well to school in Perry County.
But there was a problem: Paul (who asked that WOUB not use his real name) is homeless. He can’t work anymore because of a bulging...
WOUB Public Media •

Reimbursement for victims of SNAP fraud has ended, leaving no way to recoup stolen funds

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Congress has cut off an important lifeline for low-income Americans who find themselves the victim of SNAP fraud.
Americans who qualify for federal food assistance through SNAP use EBT cards to help pay for groceries. The cards have a well-known vulnerability: Skimming devices can steal their information, allowing thieves to drain victims’ accounts. From June 2023 thro...
WOUB Public Media •

A homeless encampment in Athens is gone after an anonymous complaint, causing problems for its occupants

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — After she lost her home this summer, Athens resident Michelle Anderson spent several months camping on the wooded ridge between West Union and the West State Park.
“I had it looking beautiful up there, kind of like a sanctuary,” Anderson said. “And now it’s just trashed.”

Anderson left the camp in late December after a local nonprofit put her up in a motel room. Not...
WOUB Public Media •

Supercharged by community support, Athens’ new emergency warming center is open

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — What began as an ad-hoc push to help the local unhoused population escape blistering cold weather has rapidly transformed into a clean — and, by all accounts, well-run — overnight warming center.
The emergency warming center opened Sunday night in the former fire station headquarters on Columbus Road. The city offered the building because its residential facilities, including showers and a kitchen, still work....
WOUB Public Media •

How the Athens community came together to help the homeless during the polar vortex — and what comes next

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — On the morning of Sunday, Jan. 5, Lucy Juedes was sitting in the pews of Christ Lutheran Church, trying to listen to her pastor’s sermon on the Epiphany. She was worried about the weather.
“I was afraid that, with the Level 3 (snow emergency) coming, that … after it’s done, we would find someone passed away, out in the cold,” Juedes said.

Juedes was thinking of Athens...
WOUB Public Media •

The Ross County Community Resource Center saw many families utilize its new shelter during a record-breaking first year of use

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — On a cold December afternoon, the front room of the Ross County Community Resource Center is bustling.
People sit at tables, some on smart devices, others with their heads down, others eating cake the staff has put out on a nearby counter. A mother holds a child; nearby, a baby plays in a bouncer. Along the walls, someone has put up holiday decorations. In the...
WOUB Public Media •

A plan to build secure sleeping units in Athens faces a major setback as bitter cold strikes local homeless population

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Michelle Anderson cried when she realized she would have to live in a tent.
Until last year, the 58-year-old Athens resident had a house and a job. Then she had a heart attack, followed by other health complications that repeatedly landed her in the hospital. After losing the house to foreclosure, she moved into a hotel, hoping to find something more permanent soon....
WOUB Public Media •

SB 29, designed to protect student privacy, is causing headaches for some school districts

NELSONVILLE, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — When Nick Conroy teaches his class on 3D printing, he likes to wander around the room, checking on students’ work.
Since Senate Bill 29 went into effect Oct. 24, he’s been staying at the front of his classroom. The only time he checks students’ work is when they come to him because they’re stuck. Otherwise, he won’t even evaluate their designs; to see if they got...
WOUB Public Media •

HAPCAP celebrates the grand opening of its new market and training hub

LOGAN, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — One of the big challenges for food banks, pantries and HAPCAP is ensuring visitors get food they actually want and need.
At a typical pantry, people stand in line to get whatever volunteers have prepared. There’s minimal choice, and pantries seldom have enough people on hand to sort and stock products based on factors like dietary needs. That may mean someone gets ingre...
WOUB Public Media •

As HAPCAP prepares to buy the Sunset Motel, the family that owns it reflects on their life in Athens

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — In 1997, Jigna Bhakta and her husband Minoj moved from California to the small college town of Athens in southeast Ohio to buy and operate the Sunset Motel.
Bhakta had left her village in Gujarat, India just a few years before to join Minoj in the United States. She spoke no English and knew nothing about the business she had just acquired. Still, it was what the tw...
WOUB Public Media •

Athens’ new Nationwide Close To Home Center is open, with more programs still to come

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Nationwide Children’s Hospital officially opened the doors of its Close To Home Center in Athens on Monday, marking the beginning of a major expansion in pediatric services for southeast Ohio residents.
The center is located on the second floor of 26 Hospital Drive at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital. Site director Carla Cooper said the only service available at the moment...
WOUB Public Media •

Local organizations will use American Rescue Plan dollars to turn the Sunset Motel into an emergency shelter

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Plans are underway to transform the Sunset Motel on Columbus Road into emergency shelter for individuals facing homelessness.
The first phase of the project will renovate 20 rooms at the motel, according to HAPCAP Executive Director Kelly Hatas. The plan is to open in spring 2026. Hatas said HAPCAP and its partners will also spend the next 18 months planning how best t...
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WOUB Newswatch •

Stimson Avenue Construction Impacts Local Businesses

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Half of Stimson Avenue in Athens has been closed for months due to construction, and some businesses along the street are struggling.

Business owners say reduced traffic flow and disruptions from the construction work have created huge costs and drastically reduced revenue. Kevin and Carrie Tidd, owners of The Farmacy, a natural foods market, have seen their business fall by half since March.

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