Wednesday Piqua Airport project
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Commitment To Community WEATHER: Dry and cool. High 78, low 54. Page 3.
INSIDE: Exhibit recalls Bob Hope. Page 5.
INSIDE: Deal wins Echo Hills golf title Page 9.
M O N DAY, AU G U S T 5 , 2 0 1 3
VOLUME 130, NUMBER 154
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Preparations under way for fair opening Fair president: This year’s fair will ‘rock’ with new features and old favorites BY MELODY VALLIEU several years now, quite a few fair patrons have left Staff Writer asking the comments mvallieu@civitasmedia.com board to switch the conTROY — Miami County cert up a little — and it Fair president Mike Jess aims to please. believes the fair will rock Tickets for the 8 p.m. this year — both literally and figuratively. Besides some new events and the usual line up of midway fun and fare, the Sunday night concert has been switched up to in- Aug. 10 show are on sale clude a little rock ‘n’ roll at the county fair office at instead of the typical the fairgrounds, or online country up-and-comer. at the fair website at Jess said the board www.miamicountyohiolanded on Hinder, best fair.com. known for its 2005 hit — Other fair mainstays, “Lips of an Angel” — in re- including the Friday tracsponse to comments from tor pulls, petting zoo, pony the public. He said every rides and much more also year the fair committee will return for the 2013 asks for public input event, according to Jess. about how they can imThe Sunday pig and prove the fair. He said for
calf scramble, which also is returning, now will be even more meaningful to 4-H participants, he said. Jess said those 4-H participants who chose to write an essay and turn it in prior to the deadline, were qualified to participate in a scramble where they will be rewarded with their 2014 livestock project. Those selected include five cattle, seven pigs, five sheep and nine goats. The 4-Her will get to choose his or her project from suppliers contracted with the fair board. “The 4-H kids who turned in an essay on time will get to participate and the kid with the fastest time gets to pick first for a project for 2014,” said Jess, who said many fairs offer a similar event. “That way they will know they 100 percent picked out their project themselves.” Dynamic Pro Wrestling again will be a featured
Nuisance issues on commish agenda
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BY BETHANY J. ROYER Staff Writer broyer@civitasmedia.com PIQUA — A resolution determining ‘Trick or Treat/Beggars Night’ in the city will —believe it or not— be part of Tuesday’s commission meeting, along with two first reading ordinances and several presentations and proclamations for the first of the month. A hint of the fall season rapidly approaching will be preceded with commissioners and city leaders discussing an ordinance related to nuisance abatement assessments of nuisance property conditions such as high grass, trash, trees in need of trimming, and demolition of structures. Costs of such abatements are charged back to the property owners, however, those that fail to pay must be certified to the county auditor once a year for placement on property taxes. This year’s assessments are due to the county auditor by Sept. 9 at a collection total of $35,597.44 for the cost of hiring See Commission/Page 3
Index Classified ...............13-14 Opinion ..........................5 Comics ........................12 Entertainment ...............5 Local ..............................3 Obituaries......................2 Sports.......................9-11 Weather .........................3 Next Door ......................6 NIE ...............................16
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attraction beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10 at the grandstands, said Jess, who said the event is free with paid admission. For more information v i s i t www.dcuprowrestling.com Jess said the midway will again offer the usual smorgasbord of food vendors — plus a few new. “The main staples, the guys that have been coming for a long time, will all be back this year, too,” Jess said. Jess said lots of familiar acts also will be returning to the entertainment tent during the week, including Rum River Blend, Rock Island Plow Co. and more. “There will be lots of good bands there,” he said, reminding that there will be a Gospel Fest t 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11. Several new events have been added to the schedule for the 2013 event, Jess said, in order to always keep the event
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entertaining for fairgoers. Mixed martial arts cage fighting — instead of a demolition derby — is being offered in the Thursday night slot this year, he said. Jess said falling participation over the last few years at the derby have
pushed the board to try something a little different. “We just went to that because the number of cars went down over the last couple years, so we’re just looking for something new to offer,” Jess said. See Fair/Page 3
Fairgrounds abuzz with cleaning, painting, more BY MIKE ULLERY Staff Photographer mullery@civitasmedia.com TROY — The Miami County Fairgrounds was a beehive of activity on Saturday as members of the senior and junior fair board, along with volunteers from several area 4H clubs, spent the day getting the grounds ready for this Thursday’s opening of the 2013 Miami County Fair. Everywhere one looked, you could see cleaning,
painting and spraying. Among the workers were junior fair board members Ashley Albright, 19, of Covington and Gavin Alexander, 19, of Pleasant Hill. Both, armed with paint brushes, were putting a new coat of white paint on the sheep office. A short distance away, Paula Wheaton and crew of volunteers cleaned and set up pens in the rabbit barn. Many hours of work are See Fairgrounds/Page 3
Mosquitos test positive for West Nile
DAYTON (AP) — A pool of mosquitoes has tested positive for the West Nile virus in a wooded area of a southwest Ohio park. A spokesman for Public Health-Dayton & Montgomery County says the recent test of mosquitoes in a wooded area at Dayton's Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark was the first positive one in the region this season. Public Health planned to treat the area with insecticide. The Dayton Daily News reports that Franklin County also had a mosquito pool test positive this summer in the Columbus area. There were 121 reported cases of West Nile virus in Ohio in 2012, including seven deaths. State health officials say no human cases have been reported so far this year in Ohio. The virus can cause convulMIKE ULLERY/STAFF PHOTO Eddie Money performs at the Miami Valley Centre Mall in Piqua on Saturday. Money was the featured per- sions, paralysis and loss of vision in severe cases. former at the annual Summer Cruise-in & Concert.
Verizon packs ‘em in for big giveaway ISAAC HALE/STAFF PHOTO
Kristy Nicodemus puts more backpacks on the table outside the Verizon store in Piqua as a young boy picks out a blue backpack during the store’s backpack giveaway Saturday. The giveaway was a nationwide effort put on by all TCC Premium Verizon Wireless Retailers and roughly 60,000 backpacks were given away across the country to help out students who will soon be returning to school. The backpacks were funded by asking customers of the TCC owned stores if they would like to round up their purchases to the next dollar and that additional change would go toward the backpacks.
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