SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2020
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COVID tops 120 cases in one week By JD LONG
jim@harrisonnewsherald.com
CADIZ – The numbers continue to climb in COVD cases being reported in Harrison County. It’s becoming a broken record as the commissioners met on Monday instead of Wednesday for their weekly meeting and Harrison County Health Administrator Garen Rhome reported 555 total cases since last week. By the end of Tuesday, that number had skyrocket to a total of 127
cases just since last week, breaking the weekly record of 91 set just two weeks ago. By Monday that count had been 83 in one week but the additional 44 boosted that total to the record now being reported. Rhome said early Wednesday afternoon that the total cases, which now stand at 599 (up from 472 last week) will easily be broken by the end of this past week, which means the record of 127 cases is not finished rising.
Rhome said presumed recovered cases stands at 396 but active cases have also risen to 192. And another three deaths have been reported, which is up from eight that Rhome quoted from last week. Another recent outbreak at a health care facility has helped to spike the numbers as well, especially the last five deaths recorded. Discussion turned to vaccinations and what could possibly be forced upon people. Rhome said vaccinations are under Emergency Use Authorization,
“nobody is allowed to say you must get it.” But Commissioner Paul Coffland said they’ve been hearing a different tone namely from the Ohio Commissioner’s Association and the legal angle involved in that. “They’re saying that basically yes, you can make it a condition of employment,” Coffland explained. “There’s certain exemptions but they’re saying you could make it, not only to hire but continue to work.” He clarified that it would be up to each particular
office and not the commissioners who would give an order like that. Rhome added some additional information such as Moderna sought emergency use only for 18 year-olds and up with Pfizer being 16 and 17 then moved to 18 years and up. Rhome said they were expecting 100 vaccinations to Harrison County for now but could change the following
See COVID- Pg. 4
MWCD to invest millions in freshwater loans By JD LONG
jim@harrisonnewsherald.com
Ashley and Chris Sasak opened their thrift/variety store, Helping Hands Shopping Center, on Nov. 30 in Cadiz. The couple volunteers with the Urban Mission in Steubenville, and knew that Harrison County needed a store like this.
Harrison County receives some Helping Hands CADIZ — On Nov. 30, Chris and Ashley Sasak of Adena, along with their two partners, Francis and Angela Sproull, opened the doors to Helping Hands Shopping Center in Cadiz. Helping Hands Shopping Center is a thrift store providing various items such as clothes, appliances, and furniture at affordable prices to the residents of Harrison County. Ashley says that her father works at the Urban Mission in Steubenville, and both he and her mother were the inspiration to start the business. “He’s [Ashley’s father] basically our inspiration,” noted Ashley. “And I said [to myself ], ‘You know, Harrison County has nothing, no second-hand stores.’”Both Ashley and Chris volunteer at the Smithfield food pantry and the Urban Mission. Ashley went on to say that she and Chris are always going to auctions looking for good deals, and they planned for about a
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year before opening the store in Cadiz. “We kinda beat it around for a year and then finally started moving on it and making things happen,” Chris said. They said that their inventory consists of items from auctions and donations and that they do a lot of purchasing off of Facebook Marketplace. “We try to keep everything at a very low cost so people can afford it,” Chris said. They also clean out homes and purchase storage lockers to find items as well. The couple said that since opening in November, business has been good despite many people not knowing about it. “We’ve been moving a decent amount of furniture, and it’s probably been our biggest seller,” Chris said. There are two levels of merchandise currently: the main floor is clothes, decorations, toys, trinkets, and miscellaneous items, while the downstairs
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contains furniture and appliances. Chris said that depending on the furniture condition; he may opt to fix minor problems such as re-staining it. “If it’s antique, I try not to mess with it because you reduce the value of it,” he said. Appliances get the same treatment — if a washing machine or refrigerator needs repairs, Chris takes care of it to ensure it’s in perfect working condition for the customer. “We basically spray them down, clean them, and Steri-Fab® so there’s no chance of there being any kind of bugs, germs or whatnot. We make sure everything is cleaned really well,” Chris said. They said they are always accepting donations of clothes, toys, decorations, appliances, and furniture. Besides furniture being a big seller, Chris said
NEW PHILADELPHIA – The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) is entering another phase of investments but this time it does not involve their Master Plan projects. It was announced at last week’s meeting to invest $5 million in the Ohio Water Development Authority’s (OWDA) freshwater loan program. Executive Director Craig Butler said he and the finance team have had continuing discussions regarding the OWDA program. Butler said OWDA is only one entity providing funding with the others being EPA, Army Corps of Engineers, Office of Appalachia and others. They work with the various municipalities across Ohio to fund water and wastewater “extensions and improvements and upgrades.” Butler said the issues are usually motivated by compliance issues in both water and wastewater or extensions being sought for “potential new economic development.” Butler emphasized that these are loans and not grants but could still be “sizable” in the amounts approved. He added that many communities in the MWCD footprint are eligible for the funds but struggle with payments. Butler said the discussion with OWDA was in the area of how could the MWCD help. He said the idea was for the District to invest money in the OWDA fund to aid in struggling communities within the MWCD territory. “Generally, the smaller community’s that have the tougher time to pay back these investments, to pay off the interest off of the loans they would have from OWDA,” Butler explained. He said this could help them afford a loan they generally might not be able to through normal channels and also, to reap additional funding through OWDA that they normally would not be able to “because of the interest payment.” “So, I think it’s a unique approach for us to invest some of our dollars into the community,” Butler told the board. “We are, in my opinion, as strong as the communities around us [and] it’s a way for us to continue to…invest in the communities and give back to the region.” Butler felt this would be accepted by the other funding entities in OWDA freshwater loan program but the interested communities who may be eligible, as well. Chief Financial Officer Jim Cugliari followed by explaining the financial side of the investment. He said the goal for the District was to maximize their money in the best way possible. Cugliari then announced the $5 million investment plan involving maintenance assessment money combined with some general funds where each would contribute $2.5 million. “That five million dollars as they utilize it throughout the coarse of the various projects they’ve considered, could fund up to, it’d be just under twenty million dollars in projects,” Cugliari explained adding that it would have
See RECEIVES - Pg. 4
See MWCD - Pg. 4
OBiTUARiES
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