Afternoon catchup: 5 Butler County stories you need to know today

West Chester Twp. Fire Chief Rick Prinz

West Chester Twp. Fire Chief Rick Prinz

Here’s a look at five big Butler County stories today to catch up on the news:


Water main break closes down Butler County high school

More than 600 students at Badin High School will have to learn remotely from home today after school officials announced a watermain break near the Hamilton campus. (File Photo\Journal-News)

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Hundreds of Badin High School students will be learning from home today due to a water main break near the school’s Hamilton campus.

School officials announced the temporary move to remote learning for its more than 600 students around 5 a.m.

“Badin will be utilizing the remote platform today due to a water main break across from school. Badin does not have water and will not for several hours,” said Principal Brian Pendergest in an announcement sent to school families.

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Downtown Middletown business owner and ‘gem of our city’ dies at 41

Kara Goheen, the 'energy' behind Downtown Middletown Inc., died Sunday. She was 41. She's being remembered as someone who moved to Middletown 12 years ago and poured herself into the community. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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She lived in Middletown for just 12 years, but the impact Kara Goheen had on the community can’t be measured in years, her friends said.

Goheen, a community volunteer who recently opened a downtown business with Suzie Hatton, died Sunday. She was 41. No cause of death has been released.

Her friends are shocked because many of them had just talked to her after she was scheduled to receive the Mary Maurer Volunteer of the Year Award from the Middletown Community Foundation and the Impact Award for Community Building from Kingswell.

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West Chester fire chief hospitalized after coronavirus diagnosis

West Chester Twp. Fire Chief Rick Prinz

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West Chester Twp. Fire Chief Rick Prinz has been hospitalized with the coronavirus, and officials say service won’t suffer in his absence.

Prinz' long-time girlfriend and WLWT-TV reporter Karin Johnson told the Journal-News she took the chief to West Chester Hospital on Saturday after he began feeling ill on Oct. 27. She said the doctors told him he can expect bad symptoms for about another week, and they have not given him a release date.

She said it’s been “like a rollercoaster. One day he had energy and thought the worst had past, the next he was knocked down again. By day eight, all he was doing was sleeping and I mean all day and night long.”

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First tenant signs long-term lease for portion of Middletown distribution center

Cintas Corp. recently signed a long-term lease for more than 250,000 square feet of the 75 Logistics Center in Middletown. City officials said Cintas, who will less than half of the 613,000 square-foot available, is the first tenant for the speculation building which was constructed by The Opus Group and Founders Group LLC. The building was completed in May 2019. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

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A building constructed in Middletown without tenants yet planned did not stay vacant for long.

CBRE Cincinnati Industrial said last week it leased a 250,000-square-foot portion of the 613,000-square-foot 75 Logistics Center, just north of intersection of Yankee and Todhunter roads.

Michelle Goret, Cintas Corp. vice president of corporate affairs, told the Journal-News that its fast-growing first aid and safety business has outgrown its space at a Mason-based facility.

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Trial canceled for teen accused in Middletown shooting death last fall

Cameron Kyles FILE

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A trial scheduled to begin next week in Butler County Common Pleas Court for a teen accused of killing a man in his Middletown home has been canceled.

Cameron Kyles, now 19, is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, felonious assault and having weapons under disability for the Oct. 12, 2019 murder of Michael Stewart II.

In June, Kyles' attorneys filed a motion arguing his statements to police should be tossed out at trial, claiming he gave false confessions and his Miranda rights were violated.

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AND, for an extra sixth story of the day ...

Local lawmaker co-sponsors bill that would add rioting, looting criminal offense

Ohio Rep. Sara Carruthers, R-Hamilton.

Credit: Provided

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Credit: Provided

A pair of southwest Ohio lawmakers introduced a new bill that would create new criminal offenses to combat rioting, looting and violence in the state.

State Rep. Sara Carruthers, R-Hamilton, introduced House Bill 784 along with Ohio Rep. Cindy Abrams, R-Harrison, that would create a new riot assault charge if a person engaged in an aggravated riot recklessly causes physical harm that is punishable by a fifth-degree felony. The charges elevate to a fourth-degree if the alleged assault is against a law enforcement officer and a third-degree if the law enforcement officer is seriously injured.

The bill allows any law enforcement officer injured during the alleged riot to file a civil suit against those responsible, including riot organizers.

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