LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Author: David Miller

  • Superintendent announces new mask policy

    Superintendent announces new mask policy

    Loveland, Ohio – According to a newsletter issued by the Loveland City School District on Thursday, December 16, a new mask policy will go into effect beginning Tuesday, January 18, 2022. In the newsletter, Superintendent Mike Broadwater said, “Masks will be strongly recommended for our staff and students, but they will be optional for staff and all students in grades K-12. We are waiting for two weeks after our return from Winter Break to allow for any illness to run its course after people are together with family and friends for the holidays.”

    The current policy requires masks for students PK-6 but allows students in grades 7-12 to be mask optional. Broadwater further explained by saying, “When we set that policy back in August, we drew the line at grade 7 because vaccinations were only available for students 12 and older. With COVID vaccines now available for any student 5 and older, it makes sense to align our policy to reflect that.”

    The federal requirement to wear masks on buses will continue through at least March 18, 2022, according to the newsletter.

    “We are still more than a month away from the date this change goes into effect, so if you’re considering vaccinations, now is the time to have a conversation with a trusted medical professional and make the decision for your students,” said Broadwater.

    See all of the District COVID 19 Reports

    “Important Hospital Update”

    The day after the Superintendent’s announcement, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital issued what they headlined an “Important Hospital Update” on December 17 at 7:19 PM that said:

    Cincinnati Children’s is currently incredibly full. This high number of patients, along with increased illness in our community means that our system is under stress. Our Emergency Departments and Urgent Cares are very busy, and wait times are long. We know these wait times are inconvenient and we assure you, our teams are working hard to see every patient who needs care, as quickly as possible. Please do not hesitate to come if you need emergency care.

    If you are unsure if your child needs to be seen in the Emergency Department or Urgent Care, please start with a call to your primary care provider to ask for advice. You can also visit our 24/7 Virtual Urgent Care to see a pediatric provider. Install the App now so you are ready if you need it: https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/…/cincykids-health…

    While the hospital is so full, providers may be reaching out to reschedule planned admissions or procedures. If you have an upcoming admission or surgical procedure and have questions about how your family may be impacted, you can contact your provider at any time to discuss. We also need your help. Please be safe – wash hands often, avoid large gatherings, wear masks in public settings and get vaccinated for both COVID and Flu.

    We thank you for trusting your child’s care to Cincinnati Children’s and we thank you in advance for your grace and patience during this busy time.

    If you have questions regarding coronavirus/COVID-19, call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634).

    All Ohioans 5 and older are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Schedule your vaccination today at gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov. You can also chat with our Virtual Assistant for any COVID-19 vaccine, registration, and scheduling questions.

    Ohio National Guard Mobilized, Hospital Staff Needed

    Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today (December 17, 2021) provided the following updates on Ohio’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

    OHIO NATIONAL GUARD MOBILIZED

    Governor DeWine mobilized 1,050 members of the Ohio National Guard to help relieve the hospital staffing strain caused by the rising number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients is causing. Of the total mobilized guard members, approximately 150 are highly-trained medical professionals and will deploy to help meet critical needs at hospitals and testing locations.  The remaining 900 guard members will help with patient transport, housekeeping, and food services. Guard members will be brought on duty beginning on Monday.

    STAFFING AGREEMENT

    The Ohio Department of Health is working with an Ohio health care staffing company to help meet hospital staffing needs. This agreement will allow for Ohio hospitals to bring in qualified nurses and other providers from out-of-state to fill needed positions to help ease some of the current added pressure on hospitals and staff.

    HOSPITALIZATION DATA

    More than 4,700 people arecurrently hospitalized in Ohio fighting COVID-19, that equates to one in every 5 hospital patients. This is the highest number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 this year, and the number of hospitalized patients is rapidly approaching an all-time high.

    Due to the increase in COVID-19 hospital admisions many hospitals have been forced to postpone elective surgeries, transfer patients to other hospitals, impose visitation standards, and/or implement what they call “crisis standards of care,” in which they have no choice but to take extraordinary steps to care for patients in ways that aren’t typical, such as providing intensive care in emergency rooms or in post-surgical units.

    In Northern Ohio (Ohio Hospital Zone 1) most hospitals have suspended elective surgeries. In Central and Southeast Ohio (Ohio Hospital Zone 2), the same thing is beginning to happen. In SoutheastOhio, (Ohio Hospital Zone 3), hospital leaders are preparing to take similar action.

    The best way to relieve the strain on our health care providers is to stay up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations to prevent serious illness and hospitalizations.  To find a vaccination provider near you, visit http://gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.

    CASE DATA/VACCINE INFORMATION

    In-depth COVID-19 data for Ohio: coronavirus.ohio.gov. 

    Ohio’s central scheduling system: gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov

    All vaccine providers: vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov

    More vaccine information: coronavirus.ohio.gov/vaccine

    Video of today’s full update, including versions with foreign language translation, can be viewed on the Ohio Channel’s YouTube page. 

    For more information on Ohio’s response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.

  • [Video] Hugs for Coach Parker Night at Loveland High School

    [Video] Hugs for Coach Parker Night at Loveland High School

    by David Miller

    David Miller is the Publisher of Loveland Magazine

    Loveland, Ohio – In this LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV video, you will get a feel for what it was like to be in the Loveland High School gym Friday night as Loveland Women’s Head Basketball Coach Darnell Parker received a community hug on the eve of his leaving for the Cleveland Clinic for cancer surgery.

    His team and their parents gave him an emotional sendoff as well as raised dollars to help pay his hospital bills with a split-the-pot raffle and half-court shots.

    Coach Parker sends along his greetings and thanks in a brief interview and basketball mom Jessica Early talks about the evening’s event.

    The popular coach will undergo surgery to remove cancer in both his Liver and Colon.

    Couldn’t make it to the game… visit the GoFundMe page and give to this worthy cause so our beloved friend with his young family can afford the expenses of their journey to Cleveland and their cancer cure journey.

    Photos by David Miller/Loveland Magazine © 2021

  • Newest abortion bill heads to governor’s desk

    Newest abortion bill heads to governor’s desk

    Anti-abortion demonstrators march. (Photo by Robert Zullo/ States Newsroom).

    BY: SUSAN TEBBEN – Ohio Capital Journal

    The newest abortion regulation in the state is now headed to the Ohio governor’s desk after the Senate agreed to technical House amendments.

    Senate Bill 157, the so-called “born alive” abortion bill, passed the Senate 24-7 on Wednesday. The bill expands the crime of “abortion manslaughter” to include inaction by doctors if a child is “born alive” in an abortion procedure.

    The bill has already passed the House and the Senate, but prior to the House’s 59-33, they made technical changes so the bill conforms with rules in separate and unrelated legislation.

    One of the technical amendments takes a change made in House Bill 110, the main operating budget, and conforms the bill to the changes. In HB 110, legislators narrowed the distance allowed between an ambulatory surgical facility (the category under which abortion clinics fall) and a hospital where a consulting physician has admitting privileges, from 30 to 25 miles.

    The other change made applies physician disciplinary actions made in the bill to the Ohio Revised Code’s regulations on medical licensure, according to the Legislative Service Commission.

    SB 157 requires physicians who perform or attempt an abortion in which the child is born alive to “immediately provide certain newborn care,” and to complete a “child survival form.”

    Doctors could face charges of felony abortion manslaughter for failing to “take measures to preserve the health of a child born alive after abortion,” including post-birth care, calling for emergency assistance and arranging hospital transfer.

    Opponents say because the bill prohibits doctors funded and affiliated with public medical schools from participating in variance agreements with abortion clinics, it could spell closure of Southwest Ohio clinics.

    Abortion advocates have also said the bill duplicates regulations already a part of law in terms of life-saving care, and purports to fix a problem that is already tracked and statistically rare in the state.

    Gov. Mike DeWine seems likely to pass the bill based on his previous pro-life stances.

  • Visit Whistle Stop Clay Works during Christmas in Loveland today

    Visit Whistle Stop Clay Works during Christmas in Loveland today

    Whistle Stop Clay Works (WSCW) is participating in Christmas in Loveland happening this Saturday, December 18 from 4pm till 8pm in Loveland, Ohio. The event highlights the giving spirit of local businesses all over Loveland. Whistle Stop Clay Works will be giving away 500 undecorated “gnome” ornaments to children who stop by the studio at 119 Harrison Avenue.  The clay ornaments can be taken home and decorated with paints, markers, and glitter. “Christmas in Loveland is an opportunity for our studio to show appreciation to the people of Loveland for the support we have received from community.  We will also be having a raffle and giving away pottery to two lucky winners, ” says Tim O’Grady, studio co-owner. 

    The WSCW studio will also be selling artist-decorated gnome ornaments for ten dollars with 100% of the purchase price benefiting the League of Animal Welfare. “We are excited to partner with the League of Animal Welfare this year.  They are an invaluable advocate for homeless animals and have been operating for over 70 years,” says studio manager Bonnie McNett.  Additional information about this non-profit can be found at: https://www.lfaw.org. 

    In addition, the studio will have a special sale for those shopping on this festive evening.  The gallery will be stocked with mugs, serving and soup bowls, platters and plates, chip & dip servers, sculptures, wall hangings, whimsical fairy houses and holiday decor and ornaments. Christmas in Loveland is happening Saturday, December 18 from 4pm till 8pm.  WSCW is located at 119 Harrison Avenue, in historic downtown Loveland, Ohio. Parking is free.  Additional information can be found at https://lovelandmagazine.com/christmas-in-loveland-is-december-18/ or by calling the studio at (513) 683-2529.

  • [VIDEO] It’s now the Stan McCoy Junior Gymnasium – “If you look in the mirror you can’t lie to yourself.”

    [VIDEO] It’s now the Stan McCoy Junior Gymnasium – “If you look in the mirror you can’t lie to yourself.”

    David Miller is the Publisher of Loveland Magazine

    by David Miller

    Loveland, Ohio – In a brief video interview this week, I asked Stan McCoy to tell viewers something I had heard him repeat many times over the years about his expectations for the Loveland students he taught and coached. He responded, “If you look in the mirror you can’t lie to yourself.” He explains further in the interview what his simple message is.

    On Monday afternoon, December 13, the gymnasium at the Loveland Intermediate School (LIS) was named in honor of retired teacher and coach Stan McCoy Jr.

    McCoy served the Loveland City Schools community for decades and the community came to the gym to cheer him on as he received this special honor. 

    It’s now the Stan McCoy Junior Gymnasium.

    This approximately 5′ square sign is now outside the entrance to the Loveland Intermediate School Gym. A similar sign is down the hallway at the Loveland Middle School gym that honors Stan McCoy’s father, Stan McCoy Sr.

    The Loveland City School District invited the community to a special event on Monday, December 13 at Loveland Intermediate School for a ceremony honoring McCoy Jr.

    The naming ceremony took place between basketball games in the gym.

    Barbara Orsinelli who taught physical education with Stan also speaks on camera about working with him for seventeen years. Cam Louder, now a student at Xavier University also appears on camera speaking about what Stan meant to him during his younger years attending Loveland schools.

    The LIS Gym will carry the McCoy name, just as the Loveland Middle School Gym is named in honor of his father, the late Stan McCoy Sr. 

    McCoy is a graduate of Xavier University. He was a physical education teacher at Loveland Schools for nearly 30 years. He has coached eighth-grade football, seventh and eighth-grade basketball, and track and field. McCoy is part of a family that has Loveland Tiger pride extending back three generations.

    Stan McCoy, Jr.

    McCoy once held the Loveland basketball season and career record for the most assists in 1970 through 1973.  He had quite a career playing Xavier basketball back in his college days. He was head coach, Tay Baker’s first recruit.

    In December of 2020, McCoy received the Community Service Award from the City Recreation Commission that is named after his father. The “Stan McCoy Sr. Award” is presented annually, with the criteria that nominees be “persons of quality and integrity, who with love and enthusiasm for the Loveland area, have worked to sustain and improve the community.”

    This past September, McCoy was the Grand Marshall of Loveland’s Homecoming Parade.

    He grew up in Loveland with his mother and father and three athletic sisters. McCoy has told Loveland Magazine that he was inspired by his father Stan McCoy Sr, also a Loveland High School athlete who graduated in 1943, who later became a history and physical education teacher at Loveland High School, as well as the head football coach, athletic director, assistant principal, and assistant superintendent.

  • Snow Removal Information and Ways You Can Help

    Snow Removal Information and Ways You Can Help

    Deerfield Township, Ohio – The Township has produced this video that discusses the Deerfield Township’s Service Department’s response to winter weather and clearing roadways. It also discusses ways you can help their crews work more efficiently and effectively.

  • Enter Loveland’s “Holiday Pet of the Month” Contest and Take Home Some UNBELIEVABLE Prizes!

    Enter Loveland’s “Holiday Pet of the Month” Contest and Take Home Some UNBELIEVABLE Prizes!

    Self-described “Dog Mom” Cassie Mattia lives in Historic Downtown Loveland with Nala, Dean, and her boyfriend Adam. Cassie is the Associate Editor and Co-Owner of Loveland Magazine.

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – Who doesn’t love sharing a beautiful festive photo of their pet? It’s Christmas time and we want to see your pets in their best holiday attire!

    If you are a Loveland resident and live close to the Loveland Bike Trail you know more than anyone that Loveland has a special place in its heart for pets. From dogs to cats to horses to exotic animals the Loveland community welcomes all animals with open arms! This is why here at Loveland Magazine we want to celebrate your pets!

    At the beginning of every month, Loveland Magazine selects and features “Loveland’s Pet of the Month,” in which that pet is then featured in our publication, weekly newsletters, and our social media platforms for that entire month.

    The featured pet will receive A Nothing Bundt Cakes Bundlet Tower, a Works Pizza gift card, and a beautiful, glossy, high-quality 8X10 photo keepsake that the pet owner will then be able to pick at Loveland Magazine headquarters! We love our pets as much you do Loveland so join us in paying tribute to them!

    This is Dean, Cassie’s older household sibling to Nala.

    To enter into Loveland’s Pet of the Month contest you must email me, Cassie Mattia, at cmattia12@gmail.com 2-5 of your favorite photos of your pet along with a short bio about your pet. Share with us and the community why your pet is so special to you along with any other unique facts that sets your little buddy apart from other pets! The window for receiving pet of the month candidates for the month of January will be extended due to the holidays! The contest will run from December 1st through January 3rd (deadline). When sending in your pet photos and bios please include your pet’s name, age, and breed as well as your contact info with a short description of each photo you provide us with. If you want to share where your pet’s favorite spots are in Loveland that would be great as well!

    The Loveland Pet of the Month for January will be announced on January 5th!

    Remember we DO NOT discriminate against any pets; all pets are welcome to enter into the contest!

    As a reminder, you may send in pet photos and bios up until January 3rd. Again Loveland Magazine’s January Pet of the Month will be announced on January 5th!

    We are so excited to share the love you have for your pets and the joy they bring you every day with the community!

    ENTER YOUR PET

  • Loveland Schools Covid-19 Dashboard for December 12

    Loveland Schools Covid-19 Dashboard for December 12

    Loveland, Ohio – At the beginning of each week, the Loveland City School District releases their latest Covid 19 Dashboard.

    NOTE: On November 1st the District District implemented new Close Contact guidelines…

    Note the correction to the 10/3/ report and that community cases increased from 51 to 62.

  • Christmas Tree Recycling in Miami Township

    Christmas Tree Recycling in Miami Township

    Miami Township, Ohio – Christmas tree recycling starts on December 26th and ends on January 31st. 

    The drop-off locations are at Miami Meadows Park at 1546 State Route 131 and Paxton Ramsey Park at 6265 Price Rd.  

    The Township says that the Drop-off areas will be clearly marked at the parks.    

    Questions? Call the Service Department at  (513) 248-3728 for more information.

  • 1-DAY ONLY – HOLIDAY GALLERY SALE

    1-DAY ONLY – HOLIDAY GALLERY SALE

    Promoted Post

    Loveland, Ohio – On Saturday, December 11 from noon until 5 PM Whistle Stop Clay Works will have special Holiday hours for shopping for Pottery, Sculptures, Ornaments, and Photography.

    They will have lots of bowls, colanders, chip & dips, plates, mugs, holiday trays, and festive sculptures. You’ll also find fine photographs and sweet ornaments. 

    As is a holiday tradition, they will have gnome ornaments for $10 with the purchase price benefiting the League of Animal Welfare.

    The studio will also be overflowing with holiday cheer and will be drawing a lucky winner for a festive evergreen tree tray at 4 PM (no purchase necessary and you need not be present to win).

    Whistle Stop is located in the beautifully decorated Historic District of Downtown Loveland nestled where O’Bannon Creek enters the State and National Scenic and Wild Little Miami River. The Gallery is only one block from the Loveland Bike Trail at 119 Harrison Avenue.