ATHENS, Ohio — Athens County voters will see a number of issues on their ballots in November, including a statewide constitutional amendment. 

Local issues include five countywide tax levies and 16 local levies. Of those, 14 are renewals, three are replacements, one is a replacement plus an increase, and two are new levies.

Ballots for Nelsonville will include a proposed ordinance to abolish the city charter. Voters in Athens Ward 3, Precinct 1, are being asked to approve Sunday sales of liquor at the Union Street Market. 

Election Day is Nov. 5. To participate without using an absentee or provisional ballot, Ohio residents must register to vote by Monday, Oct. 7. Early voting begins Tuesday, Oct. 8. Voters may register online. Find more information from the Athens County Board of Elections.

Learn more about how property taxes are assessed in our Voter Guide.

State and countywide issues

Issue 1

Ohio Issue 1 seeks to remove politicians from the state’s redistricting process. Currently, legislative district maps are drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which has seven members:

• One appointed by the senate president (Republican).
• One appointed by the speaker of the house (Republican).
• One appointed by the senate minority leader (Democrat).
• One appointed by the house minority leader (Democrat).
• The governor (Mike DeWine, Republican).
• The state auditor (Keith Faber, Republican).
• The secretary of state (Frank LaRose, Republican).

If passed, Issue 1 would do away with the Ohio Redistricting Commission. Instead, districts would be drawn by a newly created Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, whose 15 members would be private citizens with equal representation among Republicans, Democrats and independents. None of the members could be current or recent officeholders, members of their staffs or consultants, or lobbyists.

The Ohio Ballot Board rewrote the proposed ballot language, triggering a lawsuit from the bipartisan group behind the proposal. The Ohio Supreme Court case largely upheld the ballot board’s language on a 4–3 party-line vote. The language of the actual proposed amendment will be displayed at polling places. 

Athens County Public Libraries levy

Issue 17 is a replacement and increase of a 5-year levy for the Athens County Public Libraries. The levy would replace the library’s existing 1.2-mill levy and add 0.3 mills for a total of 1.5 mills that would generate an estimated $2.175 million per year.

The Athens County Auditor’s Office estimates that property owners would pay $47 per $100,000 of appraised value per year.

Libraries Director Nick Tepe said that increase is needed to make up for a 30% cut in state funding to libraries following the fiscal crisis in 2008. 

“Here in Athens, that resulted in reduction in hours, layoffs, and it really set us back on our heels here,” Tepe said. While state funding has increased slightly then, Tepe said, those increases have not kept up with inflation. 

In 2014, voters passed ACPL’s first 1-mill levy. That helped with issues such as deferred maintenance, but it “wasn’t really enough,” Tepe said. The libraries successfully sought a 0.2-mill increase in 2019, but Tepe said that costs have soared due to inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Libraries are a good investment of tax dollars, Tepe said.

“Here in Athens County, every dollar — every tax dollar that is spent on libraries — returns over $3 into the local economy; in terms of money that people save, in terms of economic development, getting folks the training that they need for their jobs, providing high-quality educational programming assistance with technology, access to the internet,” Tepe said. “There’s so many resources that we provide, and we do it very efficiently.”

The economic impact data Tepe cited came from the Ohio Library Council, he said, which “has worked with an economist to create a return-on-investment calculator. … It tells us what is the actual economic value to the community,” Tepe said.

The levy would also support the proposed upgrades at the libraries’ two biggest branches: the Athens Public Library and the Chauncey Public Library.

Improvements at the Athens Public Library would include new carpeting, lighting fixtures and additional meeting room spaces. The work in Chauncey is more extensive: It needs a larger building to accommodate the high usage of the current 1,000-square-foot building. 

The library system has secured property in Chauncey for the new building, but it is still figuring out how to pay for construction. 

“If we don’t have this levy supporting our operations, there’s no way that we would be able to take on a major building project like that,” Tepe said.

The recently formed library workers labor union — ACPL United — supports the passage of Issue 17, a representative said in a statement.

“The 5-year replacement levy, if passed, would continue a predictable and consistent funding source for county-wide library services and programs,” the union said in its statement. “Day-to-day, we are here to serve the county. … Our work is for you, and we are reminded of that every day. … This November, Athens County voters get to decide what the future of our libraries will look like.”

Athens County tuberculosis levy

Issue 19 is a renewal of a 5-year, 0.3 mill levy for continued testing and treatment of tuberculosis, as well as maintaining a reserve to deal with potential antibiotic-resistant cases. The levy would generate an estimated $213,000 per year; the cost to property owners is estimated at $4 per $100,000 of appraised value.

The Athens City–County Health Department is in charge of the state-mandated TB control unit. Most of its work is in testing, department administrator Jack Pepper said. Two groups of people make up the majority of tests, Pepper said: people whose jobs require a TB test and international students at Ohio University. Some of those students come from countries with high rates of tuberculosis infections, he noted, so it’s important to catch possible infections early on. 

Tuberculosis tests administered by type and year

Year	Skin	Blood
2019	815	57
2020	564	30
2021	473	23
2022	511	37
2023	395	45
2024	211	24

Most TB cases in Athens County are latent infections; the person doesn’t feel sick and doesn’t show symptoms. Their disease isn’t contagious, but it will be if the infection becomes active TB.  

Although TB is on the rise across the country, it is not rising in Athens County, Pepper said.

“It is only upon the rarest of occasions do we actually see active disease here in Athens County,” he said. “But as we see this increase around the country, it is our expectation that we will start to see an increase in active disease as well. It just hasn’t presented itself yet.”

State law requires counties to pay for treatment of those who can’t afford it. The county maintains a cash reserve of about $1 million toward that end; if passed, the levy would keep that reserve intact.

“The worst case scenario is that you have an antibiotic resistance case of tuberculosis, which can lead to long term inpatient care at a very specialized tuberculosis hospital, and it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Pepper said. 

Athens County EMS levy

Issue 20 is a renewal of a 5-year, 0.5 mill levy for the operation and continued maintenance of emergency medical services. The levy would generate about $557,000 per year, costing property owners $11 per $100,000 of appraised value.

“We run all emergency calls, all 911 calls in Athens County,” said Randy Crossen Jr., assistant chief of Athens County Emergency Medical Services. “We’re the only EMS provider in Athens County.” 

In 2023, the county passed a 1.5-mill additional levy for EMS to address rising costs. According to the county auditor’s 2023 comprehensive financial report, the number of basic-level transports has risen fairly steadily over the past 10 years. In 2023, the number of basic transports was nearly double what it was in 2014. 

The report also states that “the Ambulance Service Fund balance decreased by $240,195 or 169.84% due to increased expenditures for ambulance services during 2023.” The service ended 2023 with a nearly $99,000 fund deficit.

Athens County senior services levy

Issue 21 is a renewal of a 5-year, 0.25-mill levy for services and facilities for senior citizens. It would generate an estimated $278,000 per year. Property owners would pay an estimated $5 per $100,000 of appraised value per year.

The largest senior services program is Meals on Wheels, which is seeing increasing demand, said Kelly Hatas, executive director of Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action.

“Unfortunately we are seeing food insecurity hit some of our seniors the hardest,” Hatas said. While food insecurity is rising among all demographics, it’s especially acute “with our senior populations who have potentially fixed incomes and aren’t able to manage the increased cost for food.”  

In March, when voters approved an additional levy for Meals on Wheels, the program was serving 110 people. It now serves “about 160 home-bound folks who aren’t able to access the food they need and need home delivered meals in Athens County,” said Hatas. 

The program again has a waiting list of about 60 people, Hatas said.

According to the county auditor’s 2023 comprehensive financial report, the senior citizens levy fund had a balance of $407,185 at the end of the year.

Athens County Children Services levy

Issue 22 is a renewal of a 10-year, 3-mill levy for Athens County Children Services. The current levy expires in 2025. If passed, the levy would generate an estimated $2.871 million per year, with property owners paying $60 per $100,000 of appraised value. 

The levy is needed to cover rising costs for placing children in care, according to a press release.

 “The lack of appropriate and available placements for children has led to a dramatic increase in costs associated with providing caring homes for children in recent years,” Executive Director Otis Cockron said in the release.

Cockron further noted that costs of care and placement of children was over $4.5 million in 2023 — an additional $1.77 million more than in 2015, when voters passed the previous levy.

“Unless more services become available and the crisis is abated, we will see the cost of placement continue to climb and we will require the support from our community to ensure that we are getting the care that is needed for our children,” said Matt Starkey, the agency’s 

public information officer and community events coordinator.

Voters approved a different 2.5-mill, 10-year levy for children services in 2019. 

According to the county auditor’s 2023 comprehensive financial report, the number of children in foster care has fluctuated annually over the past 10 years, from a low of 77 in 2014 to a high of 127 in 2023. The number of adoption cases and in-home client cases also has fluctuated but has not changed significantly. 

According to the report, Children Services ended 2023 with a $5.3 million fund balance.

Villages and townships

Albany

Voters in Albany will vote on two public services levies, both renewals of levies that will expire in 2025.

Issue 3 is a 5-year, 1-mill levy for fire protection services in Albany. It is estimated to generate $14,000 annually from $24 per $100,000 of appraised property value. 

Issue 4 is a 5-year, 1.5-mill levy for police protection services. The levy will generate an estimated $21,000 annually, beginning in 2025. Property owners would pay around $36 per $100,000 of appraised value.

Albany Mayor Tim Kirkendall did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Amesville

Issue 5 is a renewal of a 5-year, 6.9-mill levy for current expenses. The levy is estimated to collect around $13,000 annually. The cost to property owners is $186 per $100,000 of appraised value. 

Amesville Chief Fiscal Officer Tom McGuire did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Glouster

Issue 6 is a renewal of a 4-year, 3-mill levy for the Glouster Police Department. The levy is estimated to generate $35,000 annually, with property owners paying around $80 per $100,000 of appraised value.

The Independent did not receive any on-the-record comment from a village representative in time for publication.

Townships

Alexander Township, excluding Albany

Issue 7 is a replacement of a 1-mill, 5-year tax levy for Alexander Township fire services, excluding the village of Albany. The levy would generate an estimated $117,000 annually at a cost of $35 per $100,000 of appraised property value.

Alexander Trustee Brian C. Grubbs and Alexander Fiscal Officer Judy A. Ellis did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Ames Township, excluding Amesville

Issue 8 is a renewal of a 5-year, 1-mill levy for road maintenance. It is estimated to collect $21,00 annually, with property owners paying $22 per $100,000 of appraised value. 

Ames Fiscal Officer Anita Weed did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Athens Township, excluding city of Athens

Issue 9 is a renewal of a 5-year, 1.5-mill levy for road maintenance. The levy would generate $228,000 annually; property owners would pay $38 for each $100,000 of appraised value. 

Athens Trustees Brian Baker, Steven H. Pierson and Ted J. Linscott did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Athens Township (areas covered by The Plains Volunteer Fire Department)

Issue 10 is a renewal of a 2.5-mill levy for The Plains Volunteer Fire Department. The five-year levy is estimated to collect $126,000 annually. Property owners would pay $67 a year for each $100,000 of appraised value.

Athens Trustees Brian Baker, Steven H. Pierson and Ted J. Linscott did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Canaan Township, including Athens areas

Issue 11 is an additional 1-mill levy for fire services to replace a levy that expired in 2023. The levy would generate an estimated $85,000 annually for five years. Property owners would pay about $35 per $100,000 of appraised value.

“We are not asking for additional money, but just asking for the same level as we had previously,” said township trustee Randy G. Wolfe. 

The funds are split between the Ames/Bern Fire Department, which covers parts of the township north of the Hocking River, and the Richland Area Fire Department, which covers areas south of the river, Wolfe said.

“They both provide very good service to our township, and we wish to continue having them provide this service,” he said.

Dover Township, including Chauncey

Issue 12 is an additional 1-mill levy for fire department equipment. The levy would generate $61,000 annually for four years at an annual property owner cost of $35 for each $100,000 of appraised value.

Dover Township Trustee Stuart Neal said the township needs the funds to cope with current and increasing costs.

“The cost of fuel, the cost of electric, and maintaining the building and the equipment has gone up without an increase in levies for quite a few years,” Neal said. “We are barely making it through the year with what’s on our current levy. … I really need to ask the residents to step up and help us.”

If the levy passes, Neal said, the township also could replace older and damaged equipment and upgrade other equipment. Dover Township Trustee Christopher Russell did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. 

Trimble Township, excluding villages

Issue 13 is a replacement of a 5-year, 0.5-mill levy for fire protection to generate $13,000 annually and cost property owners about $12 per $100,000 of appraised property value. Trimble Trustee Paul Barrett did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. 

Waterloo Township

Issue 14 is a replacement of a 5-year, 1-mill levy for road maintenance. It would generate an estimated $51,000 annually and cost property owners about $35 per $100,000 of appraised property value.

Waterloo Trustee Gregg Andrews and Waterloo Fiscal Officer Kimberly K. Russell did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

York Township, including Nelsonville and Buchtel

Issue 15 is a renewal of a 5-year, 1 mill-levy for cemeteries operation and maintenance. The levy would generate an estimated $111,000 annually, with property owners paying about $25 per $100,000 of appraised property value. 

York Township Board of Trustees President Timothy R. Warren said the township maintains nine cemeteries in the township and Nelsonville. The board supports the passage of Issue 15.

“This is a renewal so no new monies will be realized by the township, only the amount that was voted in years ago when the levy originally was approved,” Warren said in an email. “Obviously, costs have risen during those many years, but the trustees feel strongly we should live within our means and not ask for additional monies at this time.”

York Township, excluding Nelsonville and Buchtel

Issue 16 is a renewal of a 5-year, 2-mill levy for road maintenance and improvement. The levy would generate around $117,000 annually, with property owners paying about $50 per $100,000 of appraised property value.

York Township Trustees Warren said York Township “maintains and does snow removal for approximately 34 miles of roadway all inside York Township,” varying from asphalt to gravel.

“Here again even though material prices and cost of employees have risen dramatically over the many years since this levy was originally voted in,” Warren said in an email. The Trustees only seek a renewal of this levy for 5 more years at the same amount of the original.”

City issues

Athens liquor option

Voters in Athens Ward 3, Precinct 1 via Issue 18 will decide upon a local liquor option. Union Street Market, a carryout store at 26 W. Union St., is seeking a permit for the Sunday sale of wine and mixed beverages.

Nelsonville streets levy

Nelsonville voters will vote on two issues. 

Issue 2 is a renewal for general construction, reconstruction, resurfacing and repair of streets, roads and bridges. The 5-year, 2-mills tax is estimated to collect around $100,000 annually.

The levy is “the primary and largest revenue source for street repair and maintenance for our neighborhoods,” said city Auditor Taylor Sappington in an email. The city would face an “immediate reduction” and “cut to all repairs for our roads,” if the levy doesn’t pass, Sappington stated.

“The state refuses to return its local government funding to places like Nelsonville and that means there is nobody coming to save us,” Sappington said in the email. “We must fund our roads if we want to continue repairs and thankfully this renewal would do exactly that, while not increasing taxes by a single dollar.”

Interim City Manager Devon Tolliver did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Nelsonville charter abolition

Issue 23 seeks to abolish their city charter and return the city to a statutory government with an elected mayor. The issue was added to the ballot Sept. 24 following a protracted court battle between the city council and its former president, Greg Smith.

If the charter that voters approved in 1994 is abolished, the city’s government would change significantly:

Roles	Charter (current Nelsonville city government)	Statutory; defaults to Ohio Revised Code
Who oversees city operations, and how is the role filled?	City Manager, hired by city council	Mayor, elected by voters
Who oversees city safety and services, and how is the role filled?	City Manager, hired by council	City Safety and/or Service directors, appointed by mayor
How is the city council president determined?	President of council is appointed by council	President of council is elected
How is the city auditor determined?	City Auditor is elected	City Auditor is elected
How is the law director determined?	Law Director is hired by council	Law Director is elected
How is the mayor determined? Does the mayor have veto powers?	Mayor and Vice Mayor (ceremonial titles), appointed by council — no veto power over city legislation. Mayor serves as council president	Mayor elected by voters, has veto power over city legislation
How is legislation introduced?	Council introduces all legislation	Mayor may introduce legislation
How quickly may the council pass legislation?	Council passes ordinances on second reading	Council must have three readings

This is the second and only successful attempt in a decade at placing the issue before voters. In 2015, an initiative to abolish the charter failed to make it past city council because it lacked a transition plan. This year’s initiative included a translation plan calling for a city election in November 2025 with new officials taking office on Jan. 1, 2026. 

The post Over 20 issues make the Athens County ballot appeared first on Athens County Independent.

When Amanda Saint went to vote in the 2020 election, she didn’t anticipate having any problems. For years, the 36-year-old nurse had been living and voting just outside of Huntsville, Alabama. But when Saint presented her driver’s license to the poll worker, they said it didn’t match her voter registration records. 

The reason was simple: when Saint got married in 2011, she changed her name with the Social Security Administration. They listed her as “Amanda Lenore Saint,” using her middle name. But Saint’s driver’s license says her name is “Amanda Glasscock Saint,” using her maiden name. 

Such discrepancies are relatively common. According to research from the University of Maryland, roughly 12% of Americans have a non-expired driver’s license that doesn’t list both their current address and name. 

“So I go, ‘Yeah it’s my maiden name instead of my middle name, but I’m still the same person. You saw me at the primaries when I voted. I didn’t have a problem then,’” Saint said. 

But poll workers still required Saint to vote provisionally. To this day, Saint doesn’t know if her provisional ballot was accepted. 

“I felt extremely frustrated because I’m just trying to do my civic duty,” Saint said. “I do the state elections and the primaries because they are important, and to not be able to vote in the big one except with a provisional ballot which may or may not be accepted because of a technical error that I had never dealt with? I fumed about it for months afterward.” 

Most Appalachian states require voters to present some form of ID at the polls. Within the region, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia have implemented new voter ID requirements since the 2020 election, according to USA Today. But all across Appalachia, photo ID requirements of all kinds — new and old, stricter and more lenient — are deeply intertwined with a complex web of legislation, lawsuits and logistical barriers. 

The combined effect? A voting process that gets more complicated by the day. 

‘Just a form of suppression’ 

Karen Pawloski has lived in southeastern Ohio for decades. But she didn’t begin working as deputy director of the Washington County Board of Elections until January 2020 — an experience she describes as “baptism by fire.” 

Since Pawloski’s tenure began, Ohio has made significant changes to its voter ID requirements. Previously, voters could bring non-photographic documents — such as bank statements or utility bills — to the polls to prove their identities. 

“We’re trying to do as much public relations as we can and educating the voters that they do have to bring in a picture ID now,” Pawloski said. “We’re using social media, and any time I interview with the local TV station here, we try to make sure that the voters know that…Voters that come and vote every election, they’re fine. But voters that only vote during presidential years, this is something new for them.”

Ohio now has some of the country’s most stringent photo ID requirements for voters. You can’t present a student ID from a public university at the polls. Or an out-of-state driver’s license. Or an expired driver’s license or passport. Since the state made these changes in 2023, more than 8,000 Ohioans have attempted to vote and had their ballots rejected because they didn’t present an acceptable ID. 

But what counts as an “acceptable ID” varies greatly across Appalachia. Tennessee, Ohio, and South Carolina don’t allow student IDs from public universities. North Carolina does, but unlike Georgia or Mississippi, it doesn’t allow driver’s licenses that have been expired for more than a year — unless you’re 65 and older and your ID was unexpired on your 65th birthday. 

And several Appalachian states don’t accept driver’s licenses from other states — including Tennessee. This requirement frequently confuses voters, according to Christie Campion, a former poll worker from Knoxville. Home to the state’s flagship university, the Appalachian city of just under 200,000 is full of college kids, including thousands of out-of-state students. 

Campion remembers having to give a provisional ballot to a college student who came to vote with a Maryland driver’s license. Although she recommended the student obtain a Tennessee driver’s license, she recognized that the process of making it to the DMV is burdensome in itself. 

“It’s a whole effort to go and get the ID, and then you go to try and get the ID, and they’re like ‘Oh you brought the wrong piece of paper. You have to come back later,’” Campion said. “I think being so restrictive on what counts as ID is just an attempt at suppression.” 

Research from the University of Maryland found that younger voters, Black voters and Latino voters are much less likely to have a driver’s license with their current name and address — or any driver’s license at all. And studies show there is virtually no fraud taking place that could be prevented through photo ID requirements, said University of Kentucky law professor Josh Douglas via email. 

“Overall, studies show that both​ sides embellish the debate a little,” said Douglas, who specializes in election law and advised on Kentucky’s voter ID legislation. “ID laws don't improve integrity, but the amount of disenfranchisement is typically somewhat small — ​though again, that depends on the specifics of the ID law and how strict they are.”

Kentucky’s photo ID requirements are relatively lenient, compared to other Appalachian states, but lawmakers recently tried making things more stringent. State senators passed a bill early this year that would’ve removed university-issued ID cards as a primary document for voter identification. The bill never made it out of House committees. 

University IDs are also under scrutiny in nearby North Carolina. There, the state Republican Party and the Republican National Committee sued the State Board of Elections, seeking to prevent the use of digital university IDs from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A superior court judge initially denied their request, but just last Friday, a North Carolina appeals court blocked the use of the mobile UNC One Card. 

The North Carolina Republican Party and the RNC have also recently filed several other lawsuits, including one seeking to revoke the voter registrations of more than 225,000 North Carolinians. 

‘We want everybody to be as informed as they can’ 

North Carolina isn’t the only Appalachian state shaking things up at the last second. In late September, the Georgia State Election Board passed a controversial rule requiring all voting precincts to count ballots by hand on Election Day and ensure the tallies match machine counts. Back in Ohio, days after he suggested banning ballot drop boxes entirely, Secretary of State Frank LaRose issued a new directive in early September, limiting their use. 

Now, if someone delivers an elderly or disabled voter’s ballot to a drop box, they have to physically enter the county board of elections office and sign a form. County board of elections officials have expressed concerns that this will create longer lines on Election Day. 

But amid a flurry of proposed and enacted changes, multiple organizations working on turnout in Appalachian Ohio aren’t sharing their personal opinions regarding voter ID. They’re too busy sharing information with voters. 

“I think our biggest concern when it went into effect was this education piece, ” said Adriane Mohlenkamp, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Athens County. “We were hoping to see some statewide wide-scale education efforts, and I know there's been some efforts around education, but it has not been maybe as robust as we would’ve hoped for.”

Lack of education is a big issue when it comes to voter ID. Fifty-five percent of people living in states with photo ID requirements either think they aren’t in place or don’t know if they are, according to research from the University of Maryland. Among voters aged 18 to 29, nearly 66 percent aren’t sure if photo ID is required — a particular concern in Athens County, home to more than 21,000 students attending Ohio University. 

Over the past several months, Mohlenkamp and the rest of her team have registered plenty of college students — and voters of all ages. They’ve written letters to the editor, posted on Facebook, done interviews with local newspapers and distributed non-partisan voter information cards at libraries. 

And on Ohio University’s campus, students are running their own initiatives to get their peers to the polls. In his capacity as the Student Senate’s Governmental Affairs Commissioner, sophomore Donald Theisen and his senators have spent hours passing out registration forms, preparing slideshows and participating in election-related events, including a recent debate watch party. Theisen wouldn't share his personal opinions on changes to Ohio election law. But he’s feeling pretty optimistic about Election Day. 

“My job is to represent everybody on the campus regardless of how they may feel — whether they may lean left or right, whether they support or disavow the most recent changes to the law,” Theisen said. “Our job is to get everybody engaged in the process, trying to get it so that everybody can be registered and vote as easily as possible. We want everybody to be as informed as they can, and I think that the turnout at OU is gonna be pretty good.” 

The post Across Appalachia, Photo ID Requirements Complicate Voting appeared first on 100 Days in Appalachia.

(RNS) — Vance’s remarks seemed aimed at quelling some of the controversy that sprang up after he and Donald Trump accused Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, of eating townspeople’s pets.

The post Vance, at Christian nationalist revival, says immigration stance is in keeping with faith appeared first on RNS.

ATHENS, Ohio — A limited bow hunting program will be held on several City of Athens properties in the coming months, with the goal of controlling the deer population.

Complaints made to the Athens City Council about damage inflicted by white-tailed deer motivated the creation of this program, said Katherine Ann Jordan, the director of the Athens Arts, Parks and Recreation Department. While the Ohio Department of Natural Resources doesn’t estimate the number of deer in any given county, they do keep track of the deer harvested from a county to give a rough idea of the population.

“We really want to encourage the harvesting of doe,” Jordan said. “That’s really important for deer management. … We want deer but we don’t want so many.”

The Department of Arts, Parks and Recreation will determine who gets to hunt these lands via a lottery system, with the drawing of names occurring this Wednesday, Sept. 4. 

Hunters who win the lottery will be required to submit a copy of their hunting license, a $100 fee to hunt on the land and a deer permit before Sept. 20. The fee will go into the city’s recreation fund, which funds labor costs related to organizing the hunt and other associated expenses.

The city’s process is similar to those in other municipalities which allow limited hunting on government owned land, such as Cincinnati’s bow hunting lottery and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources controlled hunts. Outside of hunting on city land, there are no other special privileges afforded to hunters participating in the program; they must obey all laws, rules and regulations.

“Our program is an archery hunt because within city limits you are not allowed to shoot a firearm,” Jordan said. 

To make the job of these hunters easier, they will be allowed to construct temporary deer blinds and tree stands. However, baiting is strictly prohibited. Micheal Tonkovich, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Deer Program administrator, anticipates that these deer may behave differently than those in other areas due to their frequent exposure to people, but encouraged hunters to remain cautious about the unpredictability of wildlife.

“While these deer have habituated to humans, they are likely to respond differently to people in elevated stands/trees,” Tonkovich said in an email.

In total there will be five sessions of bow hunting held across 13 city properties, totalling over 600 acres of land. Each session will last a few weeks spanning from the end of September to the start of February, resulting in 65 permits given out across bow season. 

According to Jordan, 31 hunters have entered into the lottery as of Sept. 4, meaning that every hunter will have the opportunity to hunt at least twice.

“I don’t believe that we will have every property full for every session with the number of people registered,” Jordan said. “I think it’s good that we are not inundated with so many people as we figure everything out.”

Tonkovich is happy to see the city hold a limited hunt, but wants people to know that limited hunts aren’t a quick fix.

“If your herd is sufficiently large, reducing it might actually trigger a density-dependent response in reproduction, which translates to more deer to be removed the following year,” Tonkovich said in an email. “In short, it is quite complicated.”

According to Jordan, the City of Athens has no target number for the amount of deer they’d like harvested and is more interested in gathering demographic information on the deer herds of Athens.

 “The city is interested in the number of deer harvested, their gender, and when and where they are harvested in order to get a better sense of the deer population,” Jordan said. 

The post Athens to allow deer hunting on select properties appeared first on Athens County Independent.

ATHENS, Ohio — The city of Athens may not enforce its ban on single-use plastic bags because it violates state law, a local judge ruled on Aug. 28.

According to the judgment entry, Athens County Court of Common Pleas Judge George McCarthy found that the city’s Chapter 11.13 (created by Athens City Council Ordinance 0-25-23 to regulate single-use plastic bags) violates state law. He issued a permanent injunction against the city, meaning the city may not enforce the ordinance. 

“We’re disappointed with Judge McCarthy’s ruling. We plan to discuss this result with City Council to determine our next steps in protecting Athens’ Home Rule authority,” Athens City Law Director Lisa Eliason said in an email.

The city has 30 days to appeal. It may also request a stay of the court’s orders, which would stall the injunction until the appeals court reaches a verdict. In the meantime, the ordinance banning single-use plastic bags is no longer effective. 

Eliason said in an email that since May 2023 the city has never fined a business for non-compliance with the ordinance. The ordinance authorized a $150 fine for business non-compliance. 

The city argued that its single-use plastic bag ban was allowed under Ohio’s Home Rule provision. The state argued that Ohio Revised Code 3736.021 governs the public’s usage of single-use plastic bags — and overrides home rule.

Judge McCarthy found that the city’s prohibition on single-use plastic bags is in “direct conflict” with state law. Moreover, McCarthy found that the usage of single-use plastic bags is an issue governed by the state’s solid waste management plan.

According to the judgment entry, the city “suggested” that single-use plastic bags are not recyclable — at least locally. But the court also found that single-use plastic bags are recyclable, at least in part because of local organizations’ partnerships with NexTrex, a national organization that facilitates the collection of film plastic for recycling. 

In his ruling, McCarthy wrote that “it is more likely that the City’s recycling services refuses to accept them for recycling because they may tend to jam the machines. … But the bags do not necessarily go to the landfill even though they are not accepted by Athens’ single stream recycling service. The single-use plastic bags can be reused by consumers or returned to several stores that accept such bags. And those bags can go on to be recycled.”

“The public interest of Ohioans is served by continuing to allow them to decide what bags to use,” the judgment entry also stated. 

The ruling’s mention of NexTrex — along with Facebook posts and an NPR story from 2022 — could give the city grounds to overturn McCarthy’s decision, according to former common pleas court judge Tom Hodson.

“The parties agreed that the original facts were not in dispute, but then the court, on its own, added these additional allegations of fact from sources beyond the record, like Facebook,” Hodson wrote in an analysis of the decision for his Inside Courts column. “The city may argue, on appeal, that these new alleged facts were not agreed upon by the parties and may in fact be disputed — thereby, negating one of the criteria for ordering a summary judgment.”

Athens-Hocking Recycling Centers, Inc., the Ohio Attorney General’s office, and Athens ReThinks Plastics, a local group that was in favor of the city’s ban, did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication. 

Two local businesses that converted from plastic bags to paper (Seaman’s and College Bookstore) told WOUB they do not plan to make immediate changes to their businesses. 

Athens City Council will meet tonight, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. in Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also available online.

Disclosure: Tom Hodson is secretary of the board of Southeast Ohio Independent News, the entity that publishes the Athens County Independent.

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Mary Annette Pember
ICT

Former President Donald Trump’s decision to tap U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate drew immediate concerns from Indigenous leaders over his views toward Indian Country.

Vance called Indigenous Peoples’ Day a “fake holiday” and praised Columbus just a few weeks after questioning the term “two-spirit” in separate postings in 2021 on social media. He also has fought name-changes requested by tribal leaders for historical sites.

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The social media comments were made before Vance, a native of Middletown, Ohio, was sworn in as one of Ohio’s U.S. senators in 2023.

“‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day” is a fake holiday created to sow division,” Vance wrote on Oct. 11, 2021, on the social media site now known as X. “Of course, Joe Biden is the first president to pay it any attention.”

In a subsequent posting on Oct. 11, Vance wrote, “A half a millennium ago Columbus used technology developed in Europe to sail across a giant ocean and discover a new continent. Today we celebrate that daring and ingenuity. Happy Columbus Day!”

A month earlier, he commented on a Sept. 8, 2021, post from Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York that makes references to “trans, two-spirit and non-binary people.”

“I’m sorry but what the hell is two-spirit?” Vance asked on the site known then as Twitter. “Would love if progressives would just stop inventing words.”

This week, after the announcement that Vance would be Trump’s vice presidential nominee, leaders at the Urban Native Collective issued a statement expressing concern over his remarks.

“These remarks undermine the inherent rights and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples and perpetuate historical inaccuracies,” according to the statement issued on Wednesday, July 17, by the collective, a nonprofit based in Cincinnati that advocates for Indigenous peoples.

‘Resilience and strength’

President Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021, lending the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus toward an appreciation of Native peoples.

The day is observed each year on Oct.11, along with Columbus Day, which is established by Congress.

“For generations, federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures,” Biden wrote in the Indigenous Peoples’ Day proclamation. “Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society.”

In a separate proclamation on Columbus Day, Biden praised the role of Italian-Americans in U.S. society, but also referenced the violence and harm Columbus and other explorers of the age brought with them.

Making landfall in what is now the Bahamas on Oct. 12, 1492, Columbus, an Italian explorer, was the first in a wave of European explorers who decimated Native populations in the Americas in quests for gold and other wealth, including people to enslave.

Vance has said little during his political tenure regarding Native Americans or Indian policy, as reported by Indianz.com.

Opposing tribal requests

Vance has opposed the renaming of several sites requested by tribal leaders, however.

In August 2023, as a U.S. Senator, Vance issued a public letter asking the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture to oppose changing Ohio’s Wayne National Forest to the Buckeye National Forest.

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The agriculture department had proposed changing the name in response to requests from tribes and local community members, according to a press release issued by the agency. The changes is still under discussion.

“The forest is currently named after General Anthony Wayne, whose complicated legacy includes leading a violent campaign against the Indigenous peoples of Ohio that resulted in their removal from their homelands,” according to the statement.

In his letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, Vance wrote, “The federal effort denigrates Ohio history and represents a lack of fidelity to our nation’s founding generation.”

He went on to write, “I take exception to the U.S.D.A.’s designation of Wayne’s legacy as ‘complicated.” Labeling the life and times of Wayne in such a way is an all-too-common dismissive, academic handwave that is beneath the dignity of the U.S. government.”

In 2023, Sabrina Eaton of Cleveland.com described Wayne as a general in the Revolutionary War, nicknamed Mad Anthony Wayne either because of his bold military tactics or his hot temper.

In 2019, ICT quoted George Ironstrack, assistant director of education for the Myaammia Center at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, about Wayne’s history with Native peoples in Ohio. The center is an initiative led by the Miami Nation of Oklahoma, whose homelands include lands in and around the Ohio river valley. They were removed from the state in 1840.

“As part of his campaign, Wayne’s forces systematically burned Miami villages, food stores and crops,” Ironstrack told ICT.

According to Ironstrack, Wayne’s strategy of starvation culminated by the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, which forced the Miami tribe to the negotiating table and resulted in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville in which the Miami and other tribes ceded most of their lands in Ohio.

Vance, who is the author of the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” frequently touts his hardscrabble upbringing and aversion to elitism in politics as bridges to the populist wing of the Republican Party. He also opposed Trump sharply before shifting his rhetoric to support the former president.

A story published Thursday, July 18, by the news site Wired, however, details the senator’s contacts with the elite, conservative heavyweights, wealthy financiers and others that he previously had denounced.

The contacts came from a Wired analysis of Vance’s public Venmo account network. Venmo is a digital payment application that frequently makes users’ phone contacts and friends’ lists public.

Among those listed as Vance contacts is Amalia Halikias of the controversial Project 2025. Created by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, Project 2025 sets forth a political plan that calls for dismissal of thousands of public servants, expanded power of the president, dismantling of the Department of Education, halting sales of the abortion pill and many other actions that appeal to the far right. Trump has claimed ignorance of Project 2025 but Vance has stated in previous interviews that the document has “some good ideas.”

‘We demand respect’

Vance’s nomination as the GOP’s vice presidential candidate came during the Republican National Convention, which ran July 15-18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Indianz.com noted a lack of Native events during the convention in a state that is home to 11 federally recognized tribes, but ICT reported the scheduling of a federal Indian policy roundtable organized by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who is Cherokee.

A couple of Native delegates from Oklahoma were also voting at the convention, which included appearances from some tribal leaders from Wisconsin, including Forest County Potawatomi Chairman James Crawford. Former Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer, who made a statement during the 2020 convention, had been expected to attend the roundtable discussion.

The announcement of Vance as the vice presidential candidate, however, came at the last minute as the convention was set to begin.

“Our rights and history as Indigenous peoples are not up for debate; we demand respect from someone in such a potentially powerful position like the vice president,” Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard, executive director of the Urban Native Collective, told ICT. Massolini-Blanchard is a citizen of the CHamoru Nation of the island of Guam.

“It’s saddening that political leaders continue to stand by these colonized names that hold such deep pain for Indigenous peoples.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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ATHENS, Ohio – During a special session held during its committees meeting Monday, Athens City Council heard second reading of an ordinance that would use a different source for half of the salaries for two municipal court employees.

Currently, the two employees’ pay comes from the city’s General Fund. By reducing the General Fund’s share of the wages to 50%, the proposed ordinance would bring the General Fund balance closer to its statutory minimum threshold of 7.5% of annual expenditures. The fund balance was at 6% in late May, Athens City Auditor Kathy Hecht said at a previous council meeting. The goal is to reach 9%.

Council heard first reading of the ordinance, which would amend the 2024 appropriation ordinance, at its June 10 meeting. The ordinance, as drafted by the municipal court, amends the 2024 appropriation ordinance so that half of the employees’ wages come from the General Fund and half from grants to be obtained by the court.  

At Monday night’s meeting, however, council discussed moving $55,000 in salary expenses to come municipal court’s DUI Court Fund instead of the General Fund. While that approach would help the General Fund balance, paying court employees with DUI funds could create a problem, said council member Solveig Spjeldnes, 1st Ward. 

“Requiring the court to pay for employees with DUI funds turns that into an incentive to find people with DUI charges to maintain their employees,” Spjeldnes said.

Speldnes added that while she “loves” the idea of relieving financial stress from the General Fund, courts should not be self-funded and should be sustained by the General Fund and grants. So, she is unsure if she will vote to pass the ordinance on third reading.

“I don’t really like the idea of setting a precedent of having fines and fees be what sustains our courts,” said Spjeldnes. “I don’t think that’s philosophically a good idea.”

Monday’s meeting was a regularly scheduled committee meeting; committee meetings are intended for general discussion rather than official action. Although the special session appeared on the meeting agenda, no public notice of the change appears to have been made. Ohio law requires public bodies to provide at least 24 hours’ public notice of special meetings.

City Law Director Lisa Eliason told the Independent that council agreed to add the special session to the June 24 meeting at its June 17 meeting. In an email, Council Clerk Debbie Walker said the special session agenda was published on June 21. The Independent is investigating the matter.

Athens City Council’s next regular meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5, in Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also available online. Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays. Regular meetings are not held in July unless otherwise ordered by the council.

This story was updated at 3:15 p.m. June 27 to include information from Debbie Walker.

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