D ELHI PRESS
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Delhi officials vote to place police levy on May ballot By Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com
DELHI TWP. — Residents here will have a decision to make regarding their taxes this spring. The Delhi Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday, Jan. 29, to place a five-year, 2.49-mill police levy on the May 6 ballot. “The work is cut out for us now,” Trustee President Cheryl Sieve said. “We’re going to work for a successful campaign to inform the residents of the necessity.” Passage of a 2.49-mill levy would allow the township police department to maintain its ex-
isting level of services with 29 police officers. For the owner of a home worth $100,000, the levy would cost an additional $87 per year in taxes. Sieve said the previous police levy, a five-year levy passed in 2005, is now in its ninth year. “They guys have been pretty frugal. They’ve done a great job,” she said. Delhi Township Administrator Pete Landrum said the police department operates on a roughly $4 million annual budget. A 2.49-mill levy would generate an additional $1.16 million annually for the department.
If the township does not implement a new levy, Landrum said the police fund would run out of money by April 2016. “Severe reLandrum ductions would need to be made,” he said, which would affect services and the department’s ability to handle crime. He said the number of criminal incidents in Delhi as been on an incline since 2005. There were 15,007 incidents in 2005 and 16,786 incidents in 2013. “We don’t want to ask for
money, but unfortunately some of the neighborhoods around Delhi are deteriorating and crime crosses borders,” he said. “We have to Sieve deal with the same crimes they deal with in big cities.” Township departments are self sufficient, Sieve said, meaning they operate solely on funding from levies and are not supported by the township’s general fund. Without an increase in revenue through a new levy, she said
Oak Hills robotics team gearing up for competition
Seton, Elder choirs performing at Carnegie Hall
By Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com
GREEN TWP. — Students at Oak Hills High School are discovering how science and technology can be fun. A group of 33 students has been working since the beginning of the school year to design, engineer, build and program a robot for an upcoming robotics competition at Xavier University’s Cintas Center. The students are members of the high school’s robotics team and they compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST is an acronym representing “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” Oak Hills senior Rhiannon Zito, Delhi Township, said she and her Scot Bot teammates are preparing for the regional contest March 27-29. “We’re here on the weekends, we’re here early before school and we’re here after school working on our project,” she said. “This year we have high hopes to go to the national championships in St. Louis, Mo.” Dan Boles, Oak Hills engineering teacher and team adviser, said each year FIRST comes up with a new task for teams to complete and gives teams a very strict set of rules and parameters to follow when building their robots. “Every team receives the same base parts,” he said. “It’s how you put those parts together and design your robot that sets you apart.” Zito said this year’s competition is called Aerial Assist, and their task is to build a robot that can pass and catch a 24inch ball. Their goal during the competition is to work with other teams and use the robots to pass the ball and toss it through goals set up at different
See ROBOTICS, Page A2
WRESTLING WITH A PURPOSE A6 West High’s Batchelor in search of postseason redemption.
the township would have to deficit spend and support the police department with money from the general fund, which the township cannot afford. “We don’t have a general fund that can support financing a police department,” she said, noting the township’s general fund has been decreased in recent years due to state cuts. Sieve and Landrum touted the police department’s ability to make a five-year levy last nine years, and Sieve said the township will continue to be frugal. “We watch every nickel,” she said.
By Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com
Oak Hills High School senior Nick McManis, a member of the school’s robotics team, tests out a robot the team is building for the FIRST Robotics Competition in late March. Students have been designing and engineering the robot since the beginning of the school year.KURT BACKSCHEIDER/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
CHOC IT UP Sweet treats perfect for Valentine’s Day See Rita’s Kitchen, B3
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PRICE HILL — Students from Seton and Elder high schools are packing their bags for a trip to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall. The school choirs have been invited to sing in a Feb. 17 concert presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Maribeth Samoya, choir director and music teacher at Seton. “It’s not often you get invited to perform at Carnegie Hall.” The Seton and Elder choir was asked to perform in the concert based upon a recommendation by award-winning composer and arranger Greg Gilpin. Samoya said she and Elder music teacher Jordan Schad became friends with Gilpin a while back when he visited the schools to conduct a music workshop. Gilpin is one of the composers of the concert, which celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Shawnee Press, a publisher of choral and instrumental music. Samoya said 34 students from Seton and 40 students from Elder are making the trip to perform. The students, along with Samoya, Schad and Elder music directors Dave Allen and Jack Anderson, will be in the Big Apple from Feb. 1418. “It’s kind of a big deal,” Seton senior and choir member Olivia Wall said. “I’m excited about it. I’ve never been to New York City before.” She said she and her fellow choir members have been re-
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See CHOIRS, Page A2 Vol.87 No. 6 © 2014 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED