THE EARLY BIRD NEWSPAPER
www.bluebagmedia.com
SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2014
Judge Hein rules in favor of The Early Bird, again! GREENVILLE – The Early Bird and Brothers Publishing RYAN BERRY Company, Managing Editor LLC has bluebagmedia.com once again earned a victory in the Darke County Court of Common Pleas. For a third time, The Early Bird has been ruled a Newspaper of General Circulation. The ruling was necessary for the newspaper to continue to run and seek legal advertising. For each argument presented by Civitas Media, Judge Jonathan P. Hein, Darke County Court of Common Pleas, found The Early Bird clearly met each objective under Ohio law. “The Court finds that the Legisla-
“The Early Bird is certainly not a “shopper” advertisement flyer as pejoratively described by Civitas Media, LLC.” – Judge Jonathan P. Hein ture clearly intended free newspapers to be added as a method to meet general circulation purposes,” said Hein. “The expanded page size and substantive content requirement of revised R.C. 7.12(A)(1) and (2) were included to increase the likelihood that the newspaper would attract the public to also view governmental information and notices.” Hein continued, “The Early Bird is certainly not a “shopper” advertisement flyer as pejo-
ratively described by Civitas Media, LLC.” Following the announcement, Keith Foutz, owner and publisher, stated “We were pleased that the court system and Judge Hein has once again ruled in our favor. Judge Hein was exceptionally thorough in his ruling stating unequivocally The Early Bird is a newspaper of general circulation, meeting the legislative requirements and qualifies to run legal advertising for Darke County.”
The publisher continued, “We were equally pleased when Judge Hein went on to state what has become obvious to the residents of Darke County ‘The Early Bird is certainly not a shopper advertisement flyer’ as previously claimed by Civitas.” Foutz concluded, “We have been confident since this process began that the court system would rule in our favor and we are extremely pleased and happy to have this so clearly stated by Judge Hein. We now look forward to helping the city, county, villages and townships save substantially on their expense of running legal advertisements through utilization of the locally owned and operated Early Bird.” This ruling marks the third time The Early Bird has been deemed a Newspaper of General Circulation. The first ruling came on Sept. 10, 2012 when the Darke
County Prosecuting Attorney concluded the weekly newspaper was a Newspaper of General Circulation. Seven days later Civitas Media, LLC, which owns and operates The Daily Advocate, filed a protestation letter arguing against the ruling. Judge Hein eventually ruled in favor of The Early Bird. Civitas Media disagreed with the judge’s decision and took the case to the 2nd District Court of Appeals. That court did not rule against The Early Bird, but did send the case back to Judge Hein’s court for mediation between the two parties and for the trial court to consider an affidavit submitted on behalf of Civitas Media by Kathleen Chandler, former state representative and member of the Local Government Public Notice Task Force. Regarding the affidavit, Judge Hein said in his ruling, “This de-
cision places the trial court in the curious quandary of violating the rules of evidence since the affidavit does not possess an evidentiary foundation for admission nor does it allow for cross examination by the opposing party. Were the trial court allowed to apply the rules of evidence at hearing herein, the affidavit would not be admitted.” Although the judge allowed the affidavit at the direction of the Court of Appeals, he pointed out it held “little evidentiary weight.” Eric Brand, attorney for Brothers Publishing, pointed out the judge spent a great deal of time and thought reviewing the material and did an excellent job reviewing the law. Brand also praised the Civitas attorneys in noting Gary Leppla did an excellent job with his presentation, but the law wasn’t on his side.
McGreevey new CT director following Peltz resignation
Construction workers are building the frame for the shell that will surround the cafeteria and offer a new face for Greenville High School.
GHS remodeling work on schedule for 2015 GREENVILLE – The last day of school didn’t lead to a quiet BOB ROBINSON high school Associate Editor bluebagmedia.com campus like it did on the other campuses in the Greenville City School District. Action started immediately after the last official session of the year, a required teacher work day. Workers began the remodeling of Greenville High School. The framework for the cafeteria shell is starting to take shape, asbestos removal operations are underway, work has begun on the new roof and more. In the meantime year-round administrative personnel, including GHS Principal Ken Neff, have been moved to the Career Tech Building. “Construction is going great,” Neff said. “They are easy to work with, polite… doing a good job and we’re having no difficulties doing our job.” Neff is in CT Room 204. Desks, boxes and more are pushed against the wall and stacked for summer storage. Neff’s work area is toward the front of the room. Greenville City Schools Supt. Doug Fries is also pleased with the progress. “I’m happy that our local contractor, Brumbaugh
Secure tile asbestos removal from the administrative and band room areas is part of the construction process.
Construction, was able to get the contract. They all are working well together. There’s lots to get done.” The shell will be complete in the fall but not the cafeteria or kitchen. That will be finished in the fall of 2015. Administrative offices, with new security measures in place, will be ready this fall. Work on the tennis courts is scheduled to be finished in the fall. According to Fries, the primary focus this summer will be the administrative area, a new roof, the shell for the cafeteria and a teacher workroom area. Throughout the school year classrooms will be worked on in groups of four or five. Those classes will be moved to available space. When work is finished – it will take about six weeks – they’ll move back and
four or five more classes will be moved. Work will be continuing for air conditioning and new heating with scheduled completion for the fall of 2015. “There is a lot of above ceiling grid work… water lines and insulation… electric,” Fries said. Work is also being done in the music area. New instrument cages, acoustical tile, painting. Fries noted asbestos removal from old tile in the office area and band room is also underway. All work is on schedule for anticipated completion by the end of summer 2015. Fries added site prep work for the K-8 building is expected to begin in August. It will take two years to finish; the facility is expected to be ready for the 2016-2017 school year.
GREENVILLE – The Greenville City School District is reBOB ROBINSON aligning its Associate Editor administrabluebagmedia.com tive staff to move Administrative Director Jon McGreevey to Career Technology and Business Operations Director. The restructured position was accepted by McGreevey following the resignation of former CT Director David Peltz. He begins his new duties Aug. 1. “Jon will do an excellent job for us,” GCSD Superintendent Doug Fries said, noting McGreevey’s background in Career Technology. McGreevey said he looks forward to work-
JON McGreevey
ing with the staff and students at the Greenville Technology Center and Greenville High School. “I started my teaching career in CT 14 years ago,” he added. “I’m looking forward to getting involved again.” Tech center responsibilities include the general area of workforce development. “Marc Saluk has done an outstanding job with Workforce Develop-
ment,” McGreevey noted. “I look forward to working alongside him. Also, we have a great maintenance and technology staff. Working with great people in a great district that is moving students forward using 21st Century skills is exciting. It motivates me each day.” McGreevey’s other responsibilities have not changed. They include district technology and the buildings and grounds, including overseeing the renovation of Greenville High School and construction of the new K-8 building on North Ohio. Peltz resigned at the end of May to move to the Miami Valley Career Technology Center. He has been unavailable for comment.
Grand Jury indicts former deputy for second time GREENVILLE – A Grand Jury has indicted former Darke CLINTON RANDALL County AuxStaff Writer iliary Sherbluebagmedia.com iff’ Deputy Bryan D. Wombolt, 27, on four counts of Sexual Battery for a second time. Darke County Prosecuting Attorney Kelly Ormsby dismissed a previous indictment before the case was set to go to trial. According to both the state and defense, a plea agreement could not be worked out in the case. “We decided that if it had to go to trial we
Bryan D. Wombolt
wanted to take it back with additional charges to the Grand Jury,” Ormsby stated in a previously published article. The case was re-presented to the Grand Jury on June 26 with the same four counts, but under a separate section of the Ohio Revised Code. Ormsby told The Early Bird the new charges carry the same penal-
ties, but do not specify an age of the victim only that Wombolt was acting as an employee of the school engaging in sexual relations with a student which is a crime under the new charges regardless of the victim’s age. The female student was 17-years-old at the time of the offenses in February. Wombolt is awaiting arraignment under the new indictment. The current Sexual Battery charges are still third degree felonies with a penalty of up to three years each. He could be required to register as a Tier III offender for life if convicted as charged.
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