Hamilton Schools installs mask requirement for students and staffers
The Hamilton school board has unanimously approved a mandatory mask requirement for its 10,000 students and school staffers.
Nearly 20 percent of Hamilton students have been held out of classes, mostly due to coronavirus quarantines and positive cases, Superintendent Mike Holbrook told the board.
Previously, the district strongly recommended students wear masks while indoors at school.
PHOTOS: Hamilton West Side Little League team honored with parade
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Hamilton West Side Little League All-Stars were honored for their performance in the Little League World Series with a parade and ceremony on the stage at RiversEdge Amphitheater Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021 in Hamilton. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF
Go Greek for a day: Greek Fest returns to Middletown this month
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Opa! The Greek Fest in Middletown is returning for this year, organizers announced Thursday evening.
“Go Greek for a Day,” the motto for the annual festival in its 54th year, can be taken literally because this year’s festival is one day only.
The celebration of Greek culture will be from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 2500 Grand Ave., Middletown.
Hamilton seeks input on proposed North Hamilton Crossing. What do you think?
Hamilton’s city government and its consultants now are taking input from people who drive, walk or bicycle in the city about the need for the proposed North Hamilton Crossing, which would provide a bypass along the city’s northern edge and connect to the city’s West Side by a bridge near the current Black Street Bridge.
The online survey is located at northhamiltoncrossing.org.
In related news, Allen Messer, a senior civil engineer for the city, on Wednesday told City Council it isn’t feasible to burrow a tunnel beneath the Great Miami River as an alternative to building a bridge. That’s because the river is too far below the shorelines on either side of the river, and the slopes of the roads leading beneath the river would be too steep.
Butler County property tax collections called ‘highest ever,’ pass $560 million
Butler County collected more than $560 million in property taxes this year, an 8% increase due in part to a mandatory 2020 reassessment.
The second installments of property taxes were due in early August, and Butler County Treasurer Nancy Nix told the Journal-News the county collected $564 million — including $12.3 million in delinquent amounts — which is $42.3 million more than last year. This was “highest real estate tax collection ever,” she said.
The county property tax jump is due in part to the state-mandated 2020 property reassessment. All 165,000 Butler County parcels were reassessed last year and increases varied by neighborhood according to recent sales data. The state ordered an average 20% increase, and County Auditor Roger Reynolds is battling that amount on appeal.
AND, for an extra sixth story of the day ...
PHOTOS: 20 years ago in Butler County in scenes from September 2001
