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Your Community Press newspaper serving Anderson Township, California, Mount Washington, Newtown
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017
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School treasurer quits after sexting scandal Hannah Sparling Cincinnati Enquirer
A month after a sexting scandal landed three Forest Hills Local Schools employees on leave, a second one of the three is quitting. Rick Toepfer, the treasurer for the school district, turned in his resignation Monday as part of a mutual separation agreement with the school board. His one-sentence letter does not mention the scandal or subsequent district investigation. It
Forest Hills Local Schools FILE PHOTO
says only that Toepfer is leaving for “personal reasons effective at the close of business on October 30, 2017.” Toepfer will be paid for 35 unused vacation days and more
than 100 unused sick days, a total of $74,630. He will also get to keep his insurance through the end of the year. The district has been using an interim treasurer, Robert Giuffre, since early October. School officials have been quiet on specifics of the investigation, but documents provided in response to an Enquirer public records request contain emails and text messages that include graphic depictions of sex between Toepfer See SCANDAL, Page 2A
A bronze police dog stands alertly at the Ohio Police K9 Memorial in Amelia. JEANNE HOUCK/THE ENQUIRER
Additions to police dogs memorial to be unveiled Current, former K9s named Jeanne Houck Cincinnati Enquirer
This group of Anderson Township residents rescued the entangled deer. PROVIDED BY AARON MEYERRENKE
Great pumpkin chase frees deer from jack-o’-lantern Jennie Key Cincinnati Enquirer
The calls started last week at the Anderson Township Family Pet Center. “How do you get a pumpkin off a deer’s head?” Eastside Cincinnati neighbors began commenting on social media Wednesday about a deer sporting a child’s bright orange Halloween jack-o’-lantern on its head. The deer was seen in a number of neighborhoods in Anderson Township and was
spotted several times in Guardian Angels Cemetery. The pumpkin would not come off because its strap was lodged around the back of the deer’s head, stuck on the nubs of his antlers. The deer was unable to eat or drink. Daryl Meyerrenke, owner of the pet center, said people began calling to ask how they could help, and residents started to brainstorm online to figure out how to help the animal. On Sunday, Oct. 29, Anderson Township residents Dave
and Wendy Saylor set up a tracking thread for the deer’s location. A group set out to catch and free the deer from the plastic pumpkin. Meyerrenke, who has wildlife handling experience, headed up the expedition. The deer was seen in the area of Paddison Road at around 3 p.m. By 4 p.m., the deer hunters were on the trail and into the woods. The group included the
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See DEER, Page 2A
Two granite walls listing the names of current and former Ohio police dogs will be unveiled at the Ohio Police K9 Memorial in Amelia next May 19. A third granite wall between those walls also will debut then, inscribed with a poem about K9 officers and their dogs called “Guardians of the Night.” The Ohio Police K9 Memorial was the idea of Amelia K9 Officer Craig Heintzelman, who early in 2015 decided dogs – dead and living – that work with police throughout Ohio deserve to be honored. Heintzelman talked Amelia Village Council into allowing the development of the Ohio Police K9 Memorial next to village hall at 119 W. Main St., where a bronze statue of a police dog now stands. The nonprofit Ohio Police K9 Memorial Corp. was created and Heintzelman and Beth Whitehead, president and treasurer, respectively, of the corporation, are traveling across Ohio to raise money
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for the memorial. Perhaps the greatest unexpected reward of this effort, Whitehead said, has been the celebration of the relationship between police dogs and their handlers. “Few bonds are closer. We have received many personal notes from handlers after they have been notified that their K9 has been sponsored to appear on the wall by name,” she said. “They are beautiful, emotional, and truly appreciative. They share details of their experiences and the personalities that made their dog special and they are very touched that their K9 will be honored and remembered.” For more information or to donate to the Ohio Police K9 Memorial Corp., visit www. ohiopolicek9memorial.com. “We have reached this goal through the generous contributions of thousands of people and we are so grateful to have achieved it,” Whitehead said. “We have been amazed at the tremendous outpouring of support for this project from not just Ohio but residents of several states. “We have learned how much K9s mean See MEMORIAL, Page 2A
Vol. 57 No. 33 © 2017 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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