Early Bird Newspaper 082519

Page 1

Bigry takes Gene Riegle Memorial

Oldest Darke County fair-goers honored

Sports • A6

Local • B1

THE EARLY

BIRD NEWSPAPER

THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER PAPER O OF THE GREAT DARKE COUNTY FAIR!

Online at earlybirdpaper.com

Weekend edition

Sunday, August 25, 2019 • $1

Farm Bureau donates Crum

Brown

Non-compliance tops court case GREENVILLE — Allegations of noncompliance topped two cases in Darke County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday. Judge Jonathan P. Hein presided. First to make an appearance via video from the Darke County jail was Kyle L. Brown, 30, of Greenville. Brown is currently on community control sanctions for two convictions of domestic violence, both fourthdegree felonies, and faces up to two years of incarceration. His failure to comply stems from alcohol and illegal drug usage. According to Darke County Assistant Prosecutor Jesse Green, this failure to comply is not an isolated incident. The defendant will continue to “Disobey the court’s orders concerning the use of alcohol and drugs.” “The best bet is to have a period of forced sobriety,” continued Green. “We know he is not going to be drinking in jail.” According to probation, Brown’s non-compliance included ignoring alerts for breath analyzer testing via Soberlink. The defendant claimed the signal to his cell phone, which provides the alerts would go in and out, but admitted to not complying with testing due to drinking. Brown asked the court for an own recognizance bond to obtain a lawyer and not lose his employment, “Or at least a work release.” Stating he was going to strike a balance between the defendant and prosecution, Hein released Brown on an OR bond with the same terms and conditions with daily reporting for education classes. “If you don’t show up every day, you can just go back to a black and white striped uniform,” said Hein. Bradley S. Crum, 33, of Greenville, went before the court via video from the Darke County jail also on allegations of non-compliance. Crum was originally convicted on breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony, in July. He was sentenced to 60 months of community control and was scheduled to meet with probation but failed to report on July 30. He was arrested on Aug. 16. “Which gets you a black and white striped jumpsuit and a meal plan,” said Hein. “Because you didn’t show up on schedule.” Crum proceeded to waive counsel and admit to the violations. When asked about housing, he requested Graham House (Good Samaritan Home), agreeing with Judge Hein that his current living quarters and housemates were less than ideal. He was sentenced to 11 days with six days of credit, allowing time for assessments by probation. “So you got five more days to figure out a better place to live,” said Hein. “Get your evaluations done and if they say show up — you show up.” Reach reporter Bethany J. Royer-DeLong at 937/548-3330 or email broyer-delong@aimmediamidwest.com. Read more news, features, and sports at DarkeCountyMedia.com.

GREENVILLE-In addition to awards being presented prior to Thursday’s annual Parade of Champions at the Great Darke County Fair an exciting announcement was made. Melinda Lee, organization director for the Darke County Farm Bureau, announced the Farm Bureau was making a $2,000 donaLinda Moody | DarkeCountyMedia.com tion to the 4-H program in Darke Melinda Lee, organization director for Darke County Farm County. Bureau, points to others on the racetrack in front of the “We held a Farm to Table dinner Grandstand who were on the committee which made the for the first time last year at Win$2,800 donation to Darke County 4-H possible.

ner’s Farm Meats, and we’re donating the proceeds to 4-H,” Lee said. “We wanted to give back to the community. We connected producer and consumer to give back.” Serving with Lee on the committee that made the donation possible were Morgan Aultman, Dena Wuebker and Rob Winner. Lee, who is from Morrow County, has been with Farm Bureau for five years, the last 3 ½ in Darke County. Prior to that, she started serving in central Ohio in 2015. Contact Darke County Media Staff Writer Linda Moody at lmoody@aimmediamidwest.com or 937-569-4315, ext. 1749. Read more news, features and sports at DarkeCountyMedia.com.

Sidewalk regulations narrowly pass GREENVILLE – Although a lot of things in Darke County come to a screeching halt when the fair arrives, Greenville’s city government keeps marching on. Greenville City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday and may have finally decided how to proceed with sidewalk repairs. For the past several months, Mayor Steve Willman and the city’s administration has been pushing the issue of sidewalk repair. A council meeting in May and a community meeting in June laid out the groundwork for what the administration wanted to accomplish. The city is separated into 10 phases with the first phase taking place in 2020. Property owners in the areas inside Walnut on the west, Tecumseh on the east, East Water Street on the north to Fifth Street on the south are in the first phase. If the homeowner chooses not to perform the work, the city will hire a contractor to repair the sidewalks. The resident will have an opportunity to pay for the project,

but if they don’t it will be assessed to their property taxes to be paid over a period of five years. An administration fee from the city and county for the assessment would be included. On Tuesday, council narrowly approved an ordinance establishing the regulations to determine if a sidewalk is in need of repair. As pointed out by Council President John Burkett, the ordinance provides an opportunity to appeal to the Greenville County Safety Committee if the sidewalk is determined to be in disrepair. With Councilman Leon Roger absent from the meeting, the vote ended in a 3-3 tie, which gave President Burkett the opportunity to cast the deciding vote. “The chair votes yes,” said Burkett. Joining Burkett in voting in the affirmative were Jeff Whitaker, Doug Wright and Doug Schmidt. Voting against were Clarence Godwin, John Hensley and Dori Howdieshell. Council approved the use of street department workers to help revitalize the Rotary Park in downtown Greenville. The little-used park may soon see a few more people enjoying the green space once the facelift is

Ryan Berry | DarkeCountyMedia.com

completed. The Rotary Park is located just off the Public Square and is nestled behind the Moc Shop/Act 1 Realty and Final Bow studios. Volunteers recently painted the walls and removed brush from the park. Crysta Bloomingdale, executive director of Main Street Greenville, explained they want to do more to enhance the park, which would include the installation of shade sails, picnic tables and LED lighting. The street department would be responsible for ripping out concrete, digging holes for shade sails posts and creating and electrical tap for the lighting in this city-owned park. Main Street Greenville is seeking a grant and doing fundraising to finish the project.

Jeff Francis, IT manager for the city, shared the cost of airing council meetings on GPAT may soon be going up. There is no longer a requirement for Spectrum to provide a local channel and at anytime they could institute a $500 a month connection fee. GPAT is currently operated by Greenville City Schools and the IMTV class. They have sponsors signed up through May 2020. Francis estimated the cost to the city, even without the connection fee, to approach $71,000. The city could also choose to live-stream meetings on its You Tube channel at a projected cost of $2,750 over the next five years. Contact Editor Ryan Berry at rberry@ aimmediamidwest.com or (937) 5690066. Read more news, features and sports at DarkeCountyMedia.com.

Mini Food Truck Rally Sept. 1 GREENVILLE – The next Mini Food Truck Rally in the Park will be on Sunday, Sept. 1 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. The event will be held

in the Greenville City Park, 610 E. Harmon Drive. This will be the final food truck rally in the Greenville Park for 2019.

The food trucks participating on this particular Sunday are: Pa’s Pork, Homestead Spud, Wildfire Pizza and Creme de la

Creme Cakery. There will be a concert by the Greenville municipal band at 7 p.m. in the band shelter in the park.


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