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WOUB Public Media •

SB 29, designed to protect student privacy, is causing headaches for some school districts

NELSONVILLE, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — When Nick Conroy teaches his class on 3D printing, he likes to wander around the room, checking on students’ work.
Since Senate Bill 29 went into effect Oct. 24, he’s been staying at the front of his classroom. The only time he checks students’ work is when they come to him because they’re stuck. Otherwise, he won’t even evaluate their designs; to see if they got...
WOUB Public Media •

HAPCAP celebrates the grand opening of its new market and training hub

LOGAN, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — One of the big challenges for food banks, pantries and HAPCAP is ensuring visitors get food they actually want and need.
At a typical pantry, people stand in line to get whatever volunteers have prepared. There’s minimal choice, and pantries seldom have enough people on hand to sort and stock products based on factors like dietary needs. That may mean someone gets ingre...
WOUB Public Media •

As HAPCAP prepares to buy the Sunset Motel, the family that owns it reflects on their life in Athens

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — In 1997, Jigna Bhakta and her husband Minoj moved from California to the small college town of Athens in southeast Ohio to buy and operate the Sunset Motel.
Bhakta had left her village in Gujarat, India just a few years before to join Minoj in the United States. She spoke no English and knew nothing about the business she had just acquired. Still, it was what the tw...
WOUB Public Media •

Athens’ new Nationwide Close To Home Center is open, with more programs still to come

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Nationwide Children’s Hospital officially opened the doors of its Close To Home Center in Athens on Monday, marking the beginning of a major expansion in pediatric services for southeast Ohio residents.
The center is located on the second floor of 26 Hospital Drive at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital. Site director Carla Cooper said the only service available at the moment...
WOUB Public Media •

Local organizations will use American Rescue Plan dollars to turn the Sunset Motel into an emergency shelter

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Plans are underway to transform the Sunset Motel on Columbus Road into emergency shelter for individuals facing homelessness.
The first phase of the project will renovate 20 rooms at the motel, according to HAPCAP Executive Director Kelly Hatas. The plan is to open in spring 2026. Hatas said HAPCAP and its partners will also spend the next 18 months planning how best t...
WOUB Public Media •

Food banks and SNAP recipients express alarm at a possible funding reduction in the upcoming farm bill

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Every month, Jody Dearth’s EBT card gets loaded up with the bare minimum of supplementary income to help cover the cost of groceries. This fiscal year, that’s $23.
“I’ve had people say, ‘Why do you even do the paperwork for it?’” Dearth said. “It’s milk and bread.”
That much money — less than a single night out at many restaurants — may seem negligible to some, but...
WOUB Public Media •

Federal Hocking board abruptly makes senior projects optional after a community survey shows broad dissatisfaction

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — The ongoing dispute over the Federal Hocking 100-hour senior project graduation requirement took an unexpected turn after the board voted to make the projects optional with immediate effect.
Superintendent Jason Spencer had previously suggested the district would make a final decision on the projects in the spring, and that this decision would not affect this year’s j...
WOUB Public Media •

Small farmers and food bankers hope Congress doesn’t forget the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program

LOGAN, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Although his last name might suggest otherwise, Steven Fowler of Pasture Fowler has not been farming chickens for that long.
“I’ve been on this farm for two years in December, and then prior to that — Pasture Fowler is about four years old, and I leased land before that,” Fowler said.

Fowler’s chickens are pasture-raised, meaning they grow up with grass at their feet....
WOUB Public Media •

Fed Hock parents share praise, concerns and potential changes for senior projects with the new superintendent

STEWART, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Parents at Federal Hocking had a chance to tell the district’s new superintendent exactly what they thought of a controversial graduation requirement at a community meeting Wednesday evening.
The requirement in question is Fed Hock’s 100-hour senior project. Since the mid-1990s, students attending Federal Hocking High School have had to complete one on a topic of their...
WOUB Public Media •

Local farmers are worn out by drought as a new farm bill remains distant — and potentially unhelpful for smaller operations

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — It’s been a bad year for Lindsay Klaunig.
The co-owner of Trouvaille Farm started the spring with contracts for $30,000 worth of crops. As of late September, she said, she has lost two-thirds of that to the drought ravaging southeast Ohio. Now she’s wondering if she can even farm next year.

“We basically worked for free all year — worked three times as hard as we norm...
WOUB Public Media •

The federal stopgap spending bill includes funding to keep reimbursing victims of EBT theft

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Congress has extended funding to reimburse stolen SNAP benefits through EBT fraud for two months.
The extension is included in the stopgap spending bill passed into law this week.
[Tada Images | Shutterstock]Athens County Job and Family Services Executive Director Jean Demosky had previously said without the extension, fraud reimbursements would cease at the end of...
WOUB Public Media •

Hopewell Health Centers lays off 35 employees because of drug manufacturers’ restrictions on a little-known federal program

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Being on Hopewell’s RN care management team was Erin Eddleblute’s dream job.
“We were kind of — and this was how our boss referred to it and I loved it — the junk drawer of Hopewell,” Eddleblute said.
She and the other RN care managers would work one-on-one with clients on all manner of issues. One client had blood sugar in the 600s every day; with Eddleblute’s help...
WOUB Public Media •

Athens County Children Services asks voters to renew its levy amid ballooning child placement costs

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Athens County Children Services is seeking voter approval of a renewal levy in November supporting the placement of children in foster care.
The 3 mill levy was last passed in 2015. Since then, the costs of care and placement have risen from $1.77 million to $4.5 million, according to Executive Director Otis Crockron. He attributed the dramatic change to a scarcity o...
WOUB Public Media •

Nationwide Children’s new Athens offshoot brings child health care “Close To Home” in southeast Ohio

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — When Melissa Kitrick’s daughter needs medical care, it often means another trip to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
“The transportation alone takes almost a couple of hours each way, and then, between the waits and actually being seen, it usually does take six, seven hours total,” Kitrick said.
The problem is that there just aren’t many pediatric specia...
WOUB Public Media •

Libby’s Pumpkin Patch, a popular fall destination in Athens County, won’t open due to drought

ALBANY, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — For over a decade, southeast Ohio residents have been visiting Libby’s Pumpkin Patch outside Albany for hay rides, corn mazes and, of course, pumpkins.
But not this year.

The drought that has afflicted the region since June has spelled doom for the flowers and pumpkins at Libby’s, prompting the family that owns the farm to close their doors for the season.
“We had g...
WOUB Public Media •

Warehouse workers feel the strain as Congress debates food bank funding

LOGAN, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — If someone in southeast Ohio picks up food from a food pantry, it probably stopped at the Southeast Ohio Foodbank warehouse first.
The warehouse is the food bank’s central hub. Food from major state and federal programs passes through here, making it a vital point in the region’s broader food assistance network. Pantries rely on it to stock their shelves.
And yet, the...
WOUB Public Media •

Vinton’s ‘loud and proud’ approach to overdose awareness sees a massive reduction in deaths

MCARTHUR, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Anyone taking State Route 93 east out of McArthur Thursday evening might have thought there was a party at the county fairground.
There were tents, a food truck and a large inflatable water slide. Loudspeakers blared a mix of popular songs like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” There were even giveaways – but these weren’t your typica...
WOUB Public Media •

Ohio has mandated schools follow the science of reading. Many southeast Ohio schools were one step ahead

JACKSONVILLE, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Sommer McCorkle knew early on that her son was behind in reading.
“We had been working with a tutor, and I was working with him at home,” McCorkle recalled. As a curriculum director, she knew the importance of the upcoming third grade reading test. She wanted her son to do well.
But he didn’t.

“His score was so low, I didn’t think he would be able to pass. And he...
WOUB Public Media •

Alexander’s new playground invites more kids to be included in recess fun, and organizers say they aren’t stopping there

ALBANY, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — School has yet to begin, but the new playground at Alexander Elementary School has already won the approval of its most important constituents: children.
Kids swarmed the freshly-installed structures before Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony even began, including a handful of children in wheelchairs who could enjoy the equipment with their friends for the first time.

T...
WOUB Public Media •

Alexander will not put a levy on the November ballot as its financial outlook improves slightly

ALBANY, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — After two consecutive electoral defeats, the income tax levy to fund Alexander Local School District will not appear on the ballot in November.
The Alexander school board voted 3-2 in a June 26 meeting not to file the levy. The decision followed electoral defeats in November 2023 and March of this year. Voters signaled little interest in renewing the income tax despite...
WOUB Public Media •

An initiative to remake Nelsonville’s city government appears less likely to make the fall ballot

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — A judge has put a temporary hold on efforts to advance a ballot initiative that would remake Nelsonville’s city government.
The initiative would end Nelsonville’s charter government and return the city to the system it had before 1995. Council seats would be divided into wards and new elections would be held for those seats. In addition, the city would once again have...
WOUB Public Media •

The next Athens Porchfest is scheduled and its organizers want more people talking about porches

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Rob Delach wants to talk about porches.
It’s only been one month since the first-ever Near East Side Neighborhood Porchfest, and Delach, who helped organize the event, already has the next one penciled in for May 18, 2025. On Tuesday, he met with interested community members at Jackie O’s to gather feedback and suggestions — and discuss the importance of Athens’ porche...
WOUB Public Media •

Glouster's youth grapple with the impact of substance use disorder in a new book

GLOUSTER, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — After Briley Mash saw her dad hit her mom, her uncle carried her to her grandparents’ house. Her father ran away; someone called the police. Briley and her sister sat in front of the TV, watching “Peppa Pig.”
“That night is engraved in my head and when I think about it I cry,” wrote Briley, who will start seventh grade in the fall. “That is all I can do. I can’t fix wh...
WOUB Public Media •

A leaking roof shows the limits of Athens’ rental code

ATHENS, Ohio — In retrospect, the SUV-sized hole that mysteriously appeared in the basement wall of the house Kim was living in should have been a warning.

Kim — a former Ohio University student who asked that her real name be withheld due to concerns about retaliation from her former landlord — contacted Athens city code enforcement. An officer came out and saw the damage, but it wasn’t until a few weeks later that her landlord fixed the hole. That seemed like a slow turnaround to Kim, but...
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WOUB Newswatch •

Stimson Avenue Construction Impacts Local Businesses

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Half of Stimson Avenue in Athens has been closed for months due to construction, and some businesses along the street are struggling.

Business owners say reduced traffic flow and disruptions from the construction work have created huge costs and drastically reduced revenue. Kevin and Carrie Tidd, owners of The Farmacy, a natural foods market, have seen their business fall by half since March.

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