Former Beckett Paper Mill in Hamilton catches fire, damage is minimal
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
A weekend fire at the former Beckett Paper Mill took firefighters four hours to extinguish and clean up, and the Hamilton fire chief said it doesn’t appear suspicious.
“We don’t have anything that says exactly what it was, but ... we expect it’s going to be people who were not supposed to be in there,” said Chief Mark Mercer.
The call came in around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, and while there was some damage, there wasn’t a lot to the structure, the chief said. The Hamilton Fire Department received mutual aid from five area departments: Liberty, Ross, Fairfield, and St. Clair townships, and the city of Fairfield.
Bomb threat closes elementary school in Lakota district
Freedom Elementary School in West Chester Twp. is closed today due to a bomb threat, but police have found no evidence the threat is real.
A bomb threat was called into the Ohio State Highway Patrol anonymous tip line last night for Freedom Elementary. Officers and the K9s have been at the school and found nothing, “out of an abundance of caution, Lakota decided to close Freedom today,” township spokeswoman Barb Wilson said.
West Chester police are investigating the threat and will be on hand when students return to school on Tuesday.
Deputy rescues woman, dog after they fall through ice on Liberty Twp. pond
A Liberty Twp. woman and dog are doing well after being rescued by a deputy on Sunday when they fell through ice, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputy Evan Depew was on routine patrol about 4 p.m. when a call was received at Four Bridges on St. Andrew’s Cross for a dog in the pond behind the condos. Depew is also a member of Emergency Response Services. The quick response to this call saved the lives of the woman and the dog, according to the sheriff’s office.
The dog wandered off and walked onto the pond, breaking through the ice. The woman crawled onto the ice to save her dog and broke through the ice and submerged into the freezing water. Depew pulled both to safety.
Miami instructors working to form faculty union in wake of job cuts
Some of Miami University’s educators are trying to form a union to engage their employer in collective bargaining.
That’s according to a recent announcement made by officials of the Faculty Alliance of Miami University, who said their unionizing effort “was prompted by longstanding issues with working conditions, compensation, shared governance, and academic freedom.”
“As a faculty member at Miami for the last 16 years, I’ve seen the relationship between upper administration and faculty deteriorate,” said Todd Edwards, professor in the Department of Teacher Education and among the faculty members pushing for forming a union.
After years, searching continues for Butler County adults who vanished
Hamilton mom Debbie Winkler Estes was in tears last week when she talked about the disappearance of her son William “Billy” DiSilvestro. Today marks 11 years since the 28-year-old vanished without a trace and 11 years of anguish for his mother.
It was bitter cold during the early morning hours of Feb. 7, 2011, when DiSilvestro, known to friends as “Billy D,” left a Rossville neighborhood house after a party and was never seen again. He left his phone at a friend’s house and had no money.
“It’s sadder every year,” Estes said in a choking voice. “At this point, I just want my son. I don’t care what happened. Who did what. I don’t care about about that, I just want my kid.”
AND, for an extra sixth story of the day ...
Hamilton’s Bob Harris is so tough, he beat Chuck Norris in karate
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Actor and karate expert Chuck Norris’ toughness is legendary. One recent overstatement of Norris’ power is the joke that after he was exposed to COVID-19, it was the disease — not Norris — that had to go into quarantine.
But it’s possible Hamilton native Bob Harris is tougher than Norris, because Harris defeated him in karate during the 1970s in amateur competitions. On the other hand, Harris also lost to Norris.
“There’s no ifs, ands or buts about that,” Harris said. “You lose some, you win some, but in your amateur stage, you don’t keep keep count of those.”