Loveland, Ohio – Loveland High School has been named to the “Best Schools” list by US News and World Report. Loveland High School (LHS) is ranked #35 among Ohio High Schools and #11 within the Cincinnati Metro Area.
“Congratulations to our students and their families – because every accolade for our district starts with hard work and dedication at home. Thank you to our fantastic staff, who do their best every day to help students succeed,” Superintendent Mike Broadwater said.
“We worked with our community to establish our #beLOVEland Strategic Vision, and Student Success is the #1 goal. The support of our community makes Loveland a special place, and recognition like this is only possible because of that continuing support,” Broadwater said.
Loveland High School moved up from last year when US News and World Report ranked LHS #45 in Ohio and #12 in the Cincinnati Metro Area.
Play fair or play dirty. Issue 1 showed Ohio voters how state Republicans play when they can’t persuade. Extremists know most Ohioans support the right to abortion within limits. The outright ban on abortion gerrymandered pols seek is wildly unpopular. Convincing rational minds otherwise is pointless. So Ohio’s GOP overlords cheat to win.
Lawmakers rushed a game-changing ballot amendment to an August election (in violation of state law) to sabotage the abortion rights amendment in November. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose spearheaded the shady maneuver to cancel self-governance by majority vote — just to keep a majority of Ohio voters from having their say on abortion access as a constitutional right.
The state’s elections chief actively campaigned to end the only enduring recourse of ordinary citizens to circumvent a crooked government because he didn’t want an abortion rights amendment to pass. Sit with that for a minute. The guy who administers the electoral system in Ohio tried to undercut the electorate.
That’s how amoral LaRose has become as he angles for attention as the greatest MAGA candidate in the U.S. Senate race. Burnishing his anti-abortion bona fides with the pro-Issue 1 crowd, in partnership with a leading anti-abortion lobbyist, was more important than upholding majoritarian democracy. Stumping for minority rule on the hollow pretense of “protecting” the constitution was a new low for LaRose.
But the integrity-is-overrated elections boss and Republican kingpins in the Statehouse badly mistook the masses for rubes. All the misleading, fear-mongering, coming-after-your-children TV ads (out-of-state money could buy) didn’t fool an overriding majority of ticked-off Ohio voters who showed up in record numbers to beat back an egregious political power grab on Aug. 8.
The beaten cheerleader for Issue 1 refused to concede the people had spoken (a Trumpian reflex?) and last week rolled out another snow job to derail the abortion rights amendment through ballot language subterfuge. LaRose chairs the Republican-dominated Ohio Ballot Board that voted along party lines Thursday to approve the summary language voters will read on their November ballot about the proposed abortion amendment.
Under state law, LaRose couldhave used the full text of the amendment as written, and attorneys for Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights urged him to so “there can be no dispute about whether legal standards have been satisfied, or whether the condensed text misleads, deceives, or defrauds voters.” Instead, LaRose recast the amendment to purposely mislead and deceive.
His draft is slanted with such routinely deployed anti-abortion propaganda it could have been dictated, word for word, by Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis. LaRose’s specious interpretation of the proposed amendment to enshrine reproductive freedom in the state constitution is deliberately deceptive with provocative wording to unfairly prejudice outcome.
The revisions he engineered on an amendment he campaigned against are so beyond the pale of “fair and accurate,” as the secretary ludicrously declared, that stunned amendment backers filed suit Monday with the state supreme court for fairness and accuracy. LaRose omitted actual provisions of the original amendment.
He deleted a description of reproductive choices an individual should have the “right to make and carry out” such as “decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.” LaRose’s altered the language stipulating an individual right to “one’s own reproductive decisions” to just “a right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion.”
Perhaps most blatant was the secretary of state’s pointed replacement of the medical term “fetus” throughout the amendment with “unborn child,” employing the same weighted rhetoric seeded over decades by the anti-abortion movement. He also curiously substituted “the citizens of the State of Ohio” for amendment prohibitions specifically targeting “The State,” defined in the language “as any governmental entity and political subdivision.”
So what was originally worded “The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or otherwise discriminate against” Ohioans exercising their reproductive rights became “the citizens of the State of Ohio” prohibited for doing the same. Different meaning. Why?
Original language allows that “abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability” or when the fetus can survive outside the womb — a standard restriction for decades under Roe. With a six-week ban on hold by the courts, abortion is currently legal in Ohio up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, a measured limitation widely acceptable.
LaRose flipped that reasonable allowance upside-down with inflammatory assertions that the amendment would “always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability, if, in the treating physician’s determination” the applicable life and health exceptions are met. The glaring prejudicial language and selective editing of the fall abortion amendment to intentionally distort an initiative petition so it fails should infuriate every Ohioan — regardless of their beliefs about abortion.
Frank LaRose, the public servant responsible for conducting free and fair elections in Ohio is playing dirty to win. It’s wrong. But it’s only the beginning. Issue 1 was a preview of the depths Ohio Republicans will go to when they can’t persuade. They cheat.
The devious battle to deny abortion access in Ohio, despite the wishes of a majority of voters, will be epic.
MARILOU JOHANEK
Marilou Johanek is a veteran Ohio print and broadcast journalist who has covered state and national politics as a longtime newspaper editorial writer and columnist.
Loveland, Ohio – Tamara Huson MD is a primary care and family medicine practitioner.
“I chose to practice family medicine because of my passion for treating patients of all ages, from newborns all the way through to the end of life. Family medicine allows me to care for entire families.”
Loveland, Ohio – The 6th annual Loveland Art Festival is fast approaching. We are excited to tell you about this celebration of the arts with 44 booths and 63 artists showing their wares. Look for painters, glass artists, fiber artists, potters, photographers, jewelry makers, painters, mixed media artists, sculptors, and many more.
This is a great way to support local artists and crafts people and to get a jump on your holiday shopping.
Special parking will be available at the lot at 220 East Loveland Avenue (next to The Trails).
There will be a Sammy’s Craft Burgers & Beer food truck serving burgers, wine, and beer: awesome live music by Ellen Mershon & The Bellowing Pines: & free raffles. You can visit the Loveland High School booth and see some talented students showing their work. Love Our Land and The Grail will have information about their non-profit organizations.
Join us on Saturday, September 2 from 11 AM to 4 PM.
Whistle Stop Clay Works is at 119 Harrison, Loveland, OH 45140.[pdf-embedder url=”https://lovelandmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Loveland-Art-Festival-Tri-Fold.pdf” title=”Loveland Art Festival Tri-Fold”]
After the meeting, Commissioner David Painter came to the hallway where Grailville supporters and Cardinal Land Conservancy workers had gathered and congratulated them for their efforts. (Photo by David Miller)
David Miller is the Managing Editor of Loveland Magazine
by David Miller
Batavia, Ohio – On Wednesday, Clermont County Commissioners Bonnie Batchler, Claire Corcoran, and David Painter voted their unanimous support for the Cardinal Land Conservancy seeking a grant from the State of Ohio’s Clean Ohio Conservation Fund that would be used to purchase 89 acres of Grailville land.
Both the City of Loveland and Miami Township have previously voted their unanimous support for the grant application. Cardinal needed an affirmative resolution from all three governing bodies that have jurisdiction over land use at Grailville.
Sharon Scovanner a leader with the grassroots, Grail Land Preservation Group told Loveland Magazine today, “Members of the community were pleased with the unanimous vote by the Clermont County Commissioners yesterday. This vote brings us one step closer to preserving 89 acres of Grail land in perpetuity.”
Another member of the group and also a Grail Member, Elizabeth Murphy sent this statement:
“For over 70 years the women of The Grail have tended this Grailville land. We have had the privilege and the pleasure of protecting and caring for this small piece of God’s Creation, and of sharing its peace and natural beauty with others. It is important to The Grail that the future of this land be in keeping with these values. We believe that Cardinal Land Conservancy will be an excellent steward of this property going forward, and it has been very good working with them to make this happen. We are grateful that all three government bodies – Loveland City Council, Miami Township Trustees, and the Clermont County Board of Commissioners have supported us. We look forward to having Cardinal as an active neighbor to our remaining Grailville property.”
Scovanner added, “Cardinal Land Conservancy will now be submitting an application for Clean Ohio funding. A decision should happen later this year. The partnership between The Grail, Cardinal, and the community has been instrumental in getting us to this point.”
There will be no direct local tax dollars used for the purchase.
The below LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV video is when Cardinal Land Conservancy’s Andy Dickerson spoke to the Commision on Wednesday, August 17 about Grailville and how they intend to use the grant funds if their request is approved.
The below LOVELAND MAGAZINE video is from Wednesday, August 17 when local residents made the trek to the Clermont County Commission meeting to urge support for a grant application to secure funding to preserve Grailvile acreage as permanent green space.
Clean Ohio Program
The Clean Ohio Green Space Conservation Program is dedicated to environmental conservation including acquisition of green space and the protection and enhancement of river and stream corridors. Grant recipients agree to maintain the properties in perpetuity so that they can be enjoyed and cherished for generations to come.
CLEAN OHIO FUND
DESCRIPTION
• The Clean Ohio Fund is a $400 million state bond initiative first approved by Ohio voters in 2000. It was overwhelmingly renewed in all 88 counties in 2008 with strong bipartisan support from the executive and legislative leadership.
• A public-private partnership, Clean Ohio restores, protects and connects Ohio’s natural and urban places by preserving open space and farmland, improving outdoor recreation, and cleaning up brownfields to encourage redevelopment and revitalize communities.
Four separate Clean Ohio programs run a competitive selection process so that Ohioans benefit from the very best projects:
– Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund: supports cleanup of brownfields for redevelopment; only public entities may apply.
– Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program: preserves farmland; local sponsors such as non-profit land trusts and soil and water conservation districts submit an application on the landowner’s behalf.
– Clean Ohio Open Space Conservation Program: preserves and restores open spaces, sensitive ecological areas and stream corridors; non-profit entities and local parks are eligible but not state agencies.
– Clean Ohio Trails Fund: improves outdoor recreational trail opportunities; any public subdivision or non-profit entity in Ohio may apply.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
All 88 Ohio counties have received funding and benefited from the Clean Ohio Fund. This critical state investment has:
Cleaned up nearly 400 abandoned, polluted sites.
Preserved over 26,000 acres of natural areas.
Protected over 39,748 acres of family farms.
Created over 216 miles of multi-purpose, recreational trails.
Leveraged additional investments to create a total economic impact of approximately $2.6 billion in public and private investments to date.
BENEFITS
• Helps catalyze economic activity in Ohio by creating new jobs and retaining existing ones in construction, goods, services, recreation, eco-tourism and high-tech industries.
• Helps secure our agricultural base, Ohio’s number one industry, by helping to preserve working family farms.
• Helps keep Ohioans’ drinking water safe.
• Protects Lake Erie and rivers and streams by creating natural buffers to keep them clean.
• Cleans and redevelops polluted abandoned industrial properties, protecting neighborhoods and spurring redevelopment.
• Protects natural areas and develops miles of multi-use trails for public access.
• Generates new tax revenues for schools and communities with redevelopment project spin-offs across Ohio.
• Leverages additional investments to create a total economic impact of approximately $2.6 billion to date.
• Does not raise taxes – each $25 million in Clean Ohio Fund bonds requires $2.3 million in annual debt service.
• Helps keep Ohio environmentally sound, economically viable, and poised for the future.
EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON UNTIL 9 PM THURSDAY
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air-conditioned environments.
Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.
Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 911
_______________________
Loveland, Ohio – The Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency has announced an Air Quality Alert for the Loveland Area.
The air quality index is predicted to be 105 on Thursday which is “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”.
Active children and adults, and people with respiratory diseases, such as asthma, should be avoiding all outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children, should limit outdoor exertion.
Do Your Share! Take these precautions:
• Take the bus, carpool, bike or walk instead of driving
• Refuel your vehicle after 8 p.m.; do not top off when refueling and tighten the gas cap
• Avoid idling your vehicle
• Combine trips or eliminate unnecessary vehicle trips
• Keep your vehicle maintained with properly inflated tires and timely oil changes
• Avoid use of gasoline-powered lawn equipment on Air Quality Alert days
• Avoid use of oil-based paints and stains on Air Quality Alert days
• Never burn leaves or other yard trimmings
• Always burn clean, seasoned wood in outdoor fire pits, fireplaces and wood stoves
• Do not use fire pits or fireplaces for non-essential home heating on Air Quality Alert days
• Conserve electricity
Loveland, Ohio – The Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency has announced an Air Quality Alert for the Loveland Area.
The air quality index is predicted to be 105 on Wednesday which is “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”.
Active children and adults, and people with respiratory diseases, such as asthma, should be avoiding all outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children, should limit outdoor exertion.
You can track the air quality in real-time by clicking the image below.
Do Your Share! Take these precautions:
• Take the bus, carpool, bike or walk instead of driving
• Refuel your vehicle after 8 p.m.; do not top off when refueling and tighten the gas cap
• Avoid idling your vehicle
• Combine trips or eliminate unnecessary vehicle trips
• Keep your vehicle maintained with properly inflated tires and timely oil changes
• Avoid use of gasoline-powered lawn equipment on Air Quality Alert days
• Avoid use of oil-based paints and stains on Air Quality Alert days
• Never burn leaves or other yard trimmings
• Always burn clean, seasoned wood in outdoor fire pits, fireplaces and wood stoves
• Do not use fire pits or fireplaces for non-essential home heating on Air Quality Alert days
• Conserve electricity
Loveland, Ohio – This year’s Homecoming Parade will be Thursday, September 21 at 6:30 PM. The Homecoming game will be Friday, September 22 against Walnut Hills. The parade starts at the Moose Lodge Hall on East Loveland Avenue and proceeds to West Loveland Avenue, to Rich Road, and ends at Loveland High School at #1 Tiger Trail.
The annual Powder Puff football game will be held in Tiger Stadium immediately following the parade.
If you want to participate in the parade click HERE or contact:
Loveland, Ohio – The Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency has announced an Air Quality Alert for the Loveland Area, including Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties in Ohio and Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties in Kentucky.
The air quality index is predicted to be 105 on Monday which is “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”.
Active children and adults, and people with respiratory diseases, such as asthma, should be avoiding all outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children, should limit outdoor exertion.
You can track the air quality in real-time by clicking the image below.
Do Your Share! Take these precautions:
• Take the bus, carpool, bike or walk instead of driving
• Refuel your vehicle after 8 p.m.; do not top off when refueling and tighten the gas cap
• Avoid idling your vehicle
• Combine trips or eliminate unnecessary vehicle trips
• Keep your vehicle maintained with properly inflated tires and timely oil changes
• Avoid use of gasoline-powered lawn equipment on Air Quality Alert days
• Avoid use of oil-based paints and stains on Air Quality Alert days
• Never burn leaves or other yard trimmings
• Always burn clean, seasoned wood in outdoor fire pits, fireplaces and wood stoves
• Do not use fire pits or fireplaces for non-essential home heating on Air Quality Alert days
• Conserve electricity
Two Republican Ohio lawmakers are touting the inclusion of homestead tax exemption changes in this year’s budget and promising to work on future tweaks as well. Reps. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Township, and Steve Demetriou, R-Bainbridge Township, joined a pair of county auditors Wednesday to explain how the exemption will respond to inflation going forward.
Hall and Demetriou initially filed those changes as House Bill 57. The measure passed the House easily, and budget negotiators were able to incorporate the bulk of that proposal in the final spending plan. But HB 57 hasn’t gone away, and the sponsors argue it could be a vehicle for further changes in the Senate.
They also pointed to a new Joint Committee on Property Tax Review and Reform created in the budget. That panel will hold hearings and deliver a report with recommendations by the end of this year.
Homestead changes
Ohio’s homestead exemption cuts property tax bills for low-income seniors and disabled residents by reducing the amount of their home’s value that’s subject to property taxes. The standard exemption reduces taxable value by $25,000, and disabled veterans get an exemption of $50,000.
So for example, a resident claiming the exemption who owns a $100,000 home would pay taxes as if their home was worth $75,000 or $50,000 respectively.
Lorain County auditor Craig Snodgrass explained, “currently it saves a lot of our seniors about $400 to $500 a year in taxes.”
While those savings are important, fellow auditor David Thomas from Ashtabula County noted they haven’t exactly kept up with Ohioans’ bills.
“I was in middle school in 2007,” he said, “and that’s the last time we’ve seen an increase.”
The changes included in the budget will tie those $25,000 and $50,000 exemptions to inflation. In successive years the dollar amount will likely climb to keep pace with rising costs.
But those changes would mean less money flowing to local governments for services like school and libraries. To make up for it, lawmakers plan to reimburse the lost revenue. State economists estimate that would cost $11 million in the 2024 fiscal year and grow to $28 million in 2025. Because of the timing of the bill’s passage, only half a year of expenses is reflected in fiscal projections.
“This legislation by no means is the end all, be all, fix all, for homestead or for seniors or disabled veterans,” Hall explained. “But I assure you this is the first step.”
Further changes?
In addition to indexing the homestead exemption to inflation, the state budget stands up a committee to propose further changes to Ohio’s property tax system. The ten-member panel includes five members from each chamber, with the majority appointing three and the minority the remaining two.
“If you leave and don’t hear anything else, this is just the first step,” Hall insisted. “We hope to continue the reform efforts. We hope to have more conversation about property tax, and we hope the committee produces a really good list of property tax reforms we can actually enact and move forward with.”
Outside of that committee Demetriou added “House Bill 57’s now in the Senate.”
“So as it moves through that process in the Senate,” he explained, “our hope is that we can make it even better outside of the language that got into this past operating budget, and that we can enhance and maybe tackle some things.”
One example he mentioned was raising the personal income ceilings, particularly for those on a pension. Another idea would create tiers to include vets that aren’t totally disabled.
Nick Evans has spent the past seven years reporting for NPR member stations in Florida and Ohio. He got his start in Tallahassee, covering issues like redistricting, same sex marriage and medical marijuana. Since arriving in Columbus in 2018, he has covered everything from city council to football. His work on Ohio politics and local policing have been featured numerous times on NPR.
Loveland, Ohio – Tamara Huson MD is a primary care and family medicine practitioner.
Whistle Stop Clay Works is at 119 Harrison, Loveland, OH 45140.[pdf-embedder url=”https://lovelandmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Loveland-Art-Festival-Tri-Fold.pdf” title=”Loveland Art Festival Tri-Fold”]
Loveland, Ohio – The Southwest Ohio Air Quality Agency has announced an Air Quality Alert for the Loveland Area.
