July 28, 2011
Dublin schools
May: Fall bond-levy follows 2008 schedule By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Voters will see a combination bond and levy issue for Dublin City Schools on the Nov. 8 ballot. Dublin Board of Education members last week approved two resolutions to place a combined 7.2-mill operating levy and $25-million bond issue on the ballot this fall. School board president Lynn May
said the 2011 issue follows the schedule laid out by the district in 2008, when voters approved a 7.9-mill operating levy and a $50-million bond issue. Lynn “We knew three May years ago in (2008) that we were coming back in ’11. It won’t be collected until 2013,” May
said. “We’re making the plan work.” If approved by voters in the fall, the 7.2mill operating levy should generate $21.7 million gross annually, district treasurer Stephen Stephen Osborne Osborne said. The district projects net revenues of $20.7 million each year after delinquent payments and fees,
he said. The 15-year, $25-million bond issue will account for 0.77 mill, Osborne said, taking the entire ballot issue to 7.92 mills. According to Osborne, the combined issues would cost an additional $244 annually per $100,000 assessed property value. “This is necessary to keep operations going,” May said. While the operating levy would hold
programs currently in place around the district, the bond issue would fund several improvements. During a July 11 board meeting, district business director Annette Morud said $4.3 million of funding from the bond issue would be used for additions to Deer Run and Glacier Ridge elementary schools. The replacement of computers, new See MAY:, page A2
Counseling center also helping the unemployed By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Tim Ferkand of Providence, R.I., works on the top section of the bicentennial public artwork project on the Karrer Barn property July 21. The piece, which is a representation of the George Karrer workshop, was created by artist Brower Hatcher.
Bicentennial artwork installed By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A lot of hard work and sweat went into the installation of Dublin’s bicentennial public artwork last week. Rhode Island artist Brower Hatcher and his team faced a triple-digit heat index as they installed the metal workings of the public art on the Karrer Barn property, at the southwest corner of High and Waterford streets. The work, which consists of yellow and green powder-coated steel rods on a limestone base, is an imagining of the blacksmith shop owned by George Karrer that once sat on the property. When Hatcher first visited the site at 225 S. High St. for the public artwork to celebrate Dublin’s 2010 bicentennial, the history inspired him, he said. “I developed a mythology and what it could
cation,” he said. “It is low impact and transparent. It will blend in with trees and foliage. It will carry a memory that happened here at one time.” Hatcher, who has been working on the artwork for six months, said the idea came while thinking about a company that creates computer simulations of historic ruins. He wanted the artwork to have a “virtual” feel, he said. The artwork also is meant to “blend in.” “It’s supposed to be transparent, an illusion,” BROWER HATCHER Hatcher said. “The intent is this idea of evok—bicentennial public artwork artist ing a memory.” The artwork also looks different, depending mean to a community like Dublin,” he said. on the time of day and from where one views Hatcher also wanted to work within the bound- it, Hatcher said. As he worked on site from Monaries of the site, which is near residential prop- day through Friday last week, he saw different erty on the southern edge of Historic Dublin. views as the sun moved across the sky. “Essentially, we knew it had to be low impact because it’s in a historic and residential loSee BICENTENNIAL, page A7
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Essentially, we knew it had to be low impact because it’s in a historic and residential location. It is low impact and transparent. It will blend in with trees and foliage. It will carry a memory that happened here at one time.
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Along with such issues as alcoholism, drug abuse and depression, the Dublin Counseling Center helps people address problems resulting from job loss. Dublin’s unemployment rate since the recession began in 2007 peaked at 7.2 percent in April and July 2010. Although the city’s current unemployment rate is about 5.2 percent, residents continue to seek help for stress, grief and other mental issues associated with unemployment, and the Dublin Counseling Center tries to help. “We’ve seen people who have never been out of work before who have lost jobs in their late 50s,” center executive director Julie Erwin-Rinaldi said. “They’re thinking about retirement and suddenly out of a job. They are having a tough time getting back into the workforce at that age. Being unemployed at a later age is quite shocking and traumatic.” According to a 2009 survey completed by nonprofit organizations Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Depression is Real Coalition, those who are unemployed are “four times as likely as those with jobs to report symptoms consistent with severe mental illness.” The survey also found that “Americans who experienced involuntary changes in their employment status, such as pay cuts or reduced hours, also are twice as likely to have these symptoms, even though they are employed full time.” See CENTER ALSO, page A5
24th annual festival to offer up Irish fun Aug. 5-7 By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The 24th annual Dublin Irish Festival at Coffman Park next weekend will feature a full slate of music, cultural activities, sports, food and dancing with a Celtic twist. The festival runs Aug. 5-7 in Coffman Park, which is transformed into more than 29 acres of Irish entertainment and activities. The event will include 65 acts on seven different stages with both singers and dancers. “Returning favorites in the entertainment lineup are Gaelic Storm,” events administrator Mary Jo DiSalvo said. “This is their eighth time. They were the group
New feature is mead tasting, education By JENNIFER NOBLIT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
An opportunity to test and learn about honey wine will be included in the lineup of beer and whiskey tastings at this year’s Dublin Irish Festival. Mead was sold at last year’s festival, but this year, an inaugural mead tasting will be that played in ‘Titanic.’We’ve also got a returning favorite, the Step Crew. They’re a touring dance act. They have fancy footwork and fantastic fiddling.” New to the lineup this year are Goitse and the Elders.
offered at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 7 as part of the annual Dublin Irish Festival in Coffman Park. The whiskey and beer tastings at the festival often sell out, so after several requests, festival organizers decided to try a tasting for honey wine. “We get requests. People say, ‘Why do you have other beverages that are Irish, but not mead?’ So we decided to try it,” events
A new element at the Irish rock stage will let visitors get closer to the bands. “We have a stage-side screen on the side of the Killian’s Irish rock stage. People can see the screen from a greater distance,”
administrator Mary Jo DiSalvo said. Trish Lackey, events manager, said the mead tasting would follow a similar layout of the whiskey and beer tastings and could accommodate 100 patrons. The Oliver Winery of Bloomington, Ind., will provide the mead. See MEAD TASTING, page A3
DiSalvo said. “We’re doing that this year because it brings the entertainers closer to the audience. People can see up close and personal.” While Irish dancing will be featured on stage, the Columbus Feis
“Throughout the weekend, if people are interested, they can go to the Ceili dance tent to learn the steps for themselves,” DiSalvo said. The festival also will feature children’s activities in the Wee Folks area. “The Wendy’s Wee Folk area is extremely popular year in and year out,” DiSalvo said. Children could do crafts, play on bounce games provided by SuperGames or check out some entertainment, events manager Alison LeRoy said. “We have a variety to hit different age groups,” LeRoy said. “For the youngest age group, we
will be held across Coffman Road at Coffman High School. A winners parade will be held at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 6 on the Irish Thunder Stage. Festival visitors also can learn a little bit about Irish dance. See IRISH FESTIVAL, page A3
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