Helpful winter weather: Ice rescue training possible in Butler County in cold snap
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Public safety departments are using the recent cold spell to complete their annual ice rescue training in real-life scenarios.
Firefighters from Middletown trained several days last week on the frozen Smith Pond, and members of Butler County’s Emergency Response Services (ERS) will train at an unknown site Feb. 16, said Capt. Rick Bucheit from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.
Bucheit said the ERS team is comprised of about 30 members from the sheriff’s office and fire departments in Hanover Twp., Forest Park and Colerain.
Hamilton woman indicted in fatal shooting during gunplay
A Hamilton woman has been indicted by a Butler County grand jury for reckless homicide in the shooting death of a teen in December.
Aerial Katelynn Brazzell, 21, is accused of killing Bennie Shaun Boggs Jr., 16, on Dec. 17. Boggs was shot at 1:20 a.m. at her residence in the 200 block of Cereal Avenue.
Hamilton police say Brazzell was “playing with a firearm pointing it at the victim and discharged the firearm striking the victim in the head.” She was booked into the Butler County Jail about eight hours after the alleged shooting and the case was sent to a grand jury after she waived a preliminary hearing.
Woman indicted for allegedly stealing from cars in Warren County, hitting victim who confronted her
A Madison Twp. woman is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly stealing from vehicles at Atrium Medical Center YMCA and hitting a victim when trying to flee.
Alexis Adrian Engle, 24, of the 4800 block of Trenton-Franklin Road, was indicted Monday by a Warren County grand jury for aggravated robbery, robbery, felonious assault, criminal mischief, two counts of petty theft and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
The incident happened Jan. 11 when Engle allegedly broke into multiple vehicles and stole items from customers and hospital employees, according to Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell.
Hamilton seeks better east-west traffic flow with Spooky Nook on the horizon
With the Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill looking to open by Dec. 31, Hamilton officials are seeking ways to improve east-west traffic through the city, especially east of the Great Miami River, as soon as they can.
The proposed North Hamilton Crossing, which would include a bridge over the Great Miami River and likely an overpass above CSX railroad tracks, could take 10 years or longer, and its expense could extend that timeframe even longer because federal grants will be necessary, City Manager Joshua Smith recently told the Journal-News.
Officials also must identify shorter-term solutions, he added.
New free clothing depot will help Butler County issue: Getting people back to work
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Butler County agencies and organizations are trying to find employment for job seekers and better equip them with clothing for work and job interviews to ease unemployment that skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the last year, the unemployment rate in Ohio ranged from 4.1 percent to a record 16.8 percent in May 2020, according to Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The unemployment rate in December 2020, the latest statistics available, was 5.7 percent.
The agency received 47,786 new claims for unemployment benefits last week, and before the pandemic, the agency was getting a few thousand claims each week.
AND, for an extra sixth story of the day ...
Hamilton Farmer’s Market offering romantic gifts on Valentine’s Day
Hamilton’s Historic Farmer’s Market will informally become Hamilton’s Romantic Farmer’s Market, just for the afternoon of Valentine’s Day.
From 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the market will be open inside The Blank Space of Hamilton, 220 S. Third St., “for all of your last minute wooing needs,” the sellers announced in a social-media post.
The event is part of the farmer’s market’s Winter Market, the indoor version of the warmer-months outdoor market near Butler County’s historic courthouse building.