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Harrison News-Herald E-Edition 11/19/22

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Saturday, November 19, 2022

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2022

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Defying the odds: Kris & Robin Bowdish BY ALEXIS CORDER Harrison News-Herald Staff Writer

Kris Bowdish enjoying the outdoor scenery/PHOTO PROVIDED

TAPPAN—Cri du Chat syndrome, also known as 5p- (five p minus), is a chromosomal condition that results from the deletion of part of the fifth chromosome. This rare condition only affects 50-60 babies per year and varies in severity depending on how much of the chromosome is deleted. 5p- can cause lifelong physical and/or developmental complications, including skeletal problems like scoliosis, heart and/or organ defects, hearing and/ or vision difficulties, trouble talking, and behavioral problems, just to name a few. Living any resemblance to what is stereotypically considered a “normal” life with 5p- can be incredibly difficult, but one local family has turned their hardships and struggles with this syndrome into motivation and inspiration. Kristopher Bowdish, 34, was diagnosed with Cri du Chat when he was 14 months old. According to the mother, Robin Bowdish, they could tell from the beginning that Kris was developing differently than other kids. “We had some early concerns. He wasn’t walking but was pulling himself up on things trying to [walk]. He wasn’t verbalizing a whole lot. He was just right on the edge of everything… sitting up at ten months instead of eight months, just right on the edge, so it was kind of hard to know what was going on.”

Polls see significant turnout for midterms BY REBECCA BRATTEN-WEISS Harrison News-Herald Staff Writer HARRISON CO—Over 50% of the 10,035 registered voters in Harrison County showed up at the polls on November 8 to cast their ballots in the 2022 midterm election. While the nation did not see the “red wave” of Republican votes that some analysts predicted, county residents, along with much of Ohio, tended to favor Republican over Democratic candidates. Harrison was one of the 80 Ohio counties that went for memoirist and venture capitalist J.D. Vance (R) over congressman and union advocate Tim Ryan (D) in a hotly-contested race for the senate seat soon to be vacated by Republican Rob Portman. Locally, Vance secured 3,668 votes to Ryan’s 1,441. Harrison was also one of 85 counties in the state where incumbent Governor Mike DeWine (R) far outperformed Democratic challenger Nan Whaley, 4,026 to 1,063. State-wide, 53.3% of the votes for senator went to Vance. That 53.3% is notable in that Donald Trump secured the same percentage of Ohio votes in the 2020 presidential election. However, in this election, Ryan secured 46.7% of the votes for the senate seat, compared with Joe Biden’s 45.2% against Trump in 2020, indicating that even in majority-Republican Ohio, the anticipated red wave lacked the momentum some expected. Nevertheless, the state remains solidly red. In the race for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican candidates won 10 seats, and Democrats won 5. Dave Yost (R) also held onto his seat as Attorney General against Ohio Representative Jeff Crossman (D). In the races for Secretary of State and Treasurer, incumbent Republicans Frank LaRose and Robert Sprague also held onto their seats. Locally, the races for two county commissioner seats were uncontested: Republican Dustin Corder was elected, and Democrat Amy Norris kept the seat to which she was appointed following the death of her husband, Dale Norris, who held the position previously. Republican Allison Anderson was reelected County Auditor, and T. Owen Beetham was elected Judge of the County Court, both in uncontested races. However, as Kelli Martin, Deputy Director of the County Board of Elections, explained to the News-Herald, these results are still just the “unofficial canvas.” The official canvas, when

the last outstanding votes are counted, will be held on November 21. Few votes remain to be counted, so no changes to the results should be anticipated. There will also be an audit, where the state picks two races, and the Board of Elections picks one race, and both are hand-counted. These and other procedures are in place to help protect the integrity of the voting system. Martin explained that election fraud would be extremely difficult to accomplish. “It’s very hard to vote twice, too,” she explained. For instance, if someone has cast an absentee ballot, the ballot has to be received within ten days following election day. This gives time to make sure they aren’t voting on election day and then casting an absentee ballot later. There are also procedures in place to make sure people don’t vote at two separate locations. “All the counties communicate. It’s crosschecked between other counties. We have systems in place to protect against voter fraud.” Other procedures include keeping ballots and machines locked with tamper-proof seals and behind double-locked doors. A Republican and a Democratic election official must go together to unlock them. Each county board of elections must be made up of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, and all precincts must, similarly, be staffed by a bipartisan team. Any handling of ballots or machines must also be done by an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. Voting machines are rigorously tested and are never connected to the internet, so hacking into them is impossible. Boards check over voter lists to make sure no vote was counted twice. And every vote is recorded in hard copy on paper. “We can be proud of the fact that in Ohio, we run safe and fair elections,” said Martin. Two state issues were also on the 2022 Ohio ballot. On Issue 1, which amends the state constitution to require courts to consider public safety and other factors when setting bail, and which removes the state Supreme Court’s role in bail procedures, 4,022 Harrison County voters voted “yes,” and 1,035 voted “no.” County voters also voted “yes” on Issue 2, amending the Ohio Constitution to close a loophole that sometimes allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections. Harrison County votes on this issue were 4,271 for and 816 against. Both issues passed easily on a state-wide level, gaining over 77% of the votes.

Eventually, after voicing their concerns to Kris’ pediatrician, they were sent to a geneticist at West Virginia University for testing—which is where Kris was eventually diagnosed with 5p-. “Interestingly enough, at the time he was diagnosed, and we saw the geneticist, she told us he would never walk, he would never talk, he would never run, he would never communicate, he would never feed himself, he would never sit up independently…but he was already doing a lot of those things on his own.” Still to this day, Kris has defied almost all of the odds against him. Robin made it clear that their family stayed positive about Kris’ situation and his abilities. As Kris grew up, she focused a lot of her efforts towards advocacy for Kris and other kids with similar disabilities. Robin worked for a period of time with Family and Children First in Tuscarawas County, where she helped families ensure that the needs of their children were being met in schools. She also worked with State Support Team Region 12, where she worked with educators to develop plans that would assist with navigating the different situations that come about when teaching kids with disabilities. Even now, Robin attends IEP meetings with different families as their support person and helps to answer the questions asked by parents KRIS See Pg.- 10

County scrambles for new grants BY CORNELIA GRACE Harrison News-Herald Reporter

CADIZ—The Appalachian Community Grant Program (ACGP) has been on the minds of many Harrison County residents and organizations. The program, greenlit by Governor Mike DeWine, will inject $500 million of funding into the 32 counties located in the Appalachian region. The deadline for turning in applications is December 9, 2022, causing many counties to feel like it’s a mad dash for the money. Over 20 community members and representatives squeezed into the commissioner’s office on November 14 to present their ideas for grants. ACGP is for planning and development. From ohio.gov, “Projects should be designed to bring about transformational change and be a catalyst for future development by providing generational investments in the Appalachian region.” The funding is provided by Ohio’s designation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars and will be administered by the governor’s office. The grants will heavily favor multi-county projects involving infrastructure, workforces, and healthcare. The commissioners have already held several meetings with OMEGA representatives and have appointed a steering committee for grant applications. Commissioner Paul Coffland said they have heard from several nearby counties about projects to partner on. OMEGA Communications Manager Kennedy Blakely was present to “listen, answer, and take the questions I don’t have answers to back to our grant team.” Blakely provided the county-specific website link for the application process to the commissioners and offered to share it with anyone else who was ready to put in for the grants. “OMEGA is here to help in any way that we can,” she said. “One thing I will stress is the more collaborative these applications are, the better they’re going to score and the better chance you’ll have at securing that funding.” After several introductions and a general welcome, Coffland opened the floor for public comments.

Ken Mason was first on the list to speak, and he suggested a grant could go toward work on the Underground Railroad Museum, “I had a conversation with Belmont County Tourism,” he said. “The museum is currently in duress. There’s some discussion about establishing a partnership with other counties to possibly move the museum from Flushing to a more desirable space over along Interstate 70.” He said the project would incorporate ten counties and be a good candidate for the grants. Chamber of Commerce representative Milo Baker endorsed the idea on behalf of the chamber. Rich Milleson spoke on behalf of the Cadiz CIC, bringing up several projects that have been on the village’s radar for some time including dealing with the decrepit bank building on the main square and tearing down the old post office to possibly put in a roundabout. “We’re still working with our consultant for the Brownfield demolition side of [the post office],” Coffland said. “We’re going back and forth on the bank property due to environmental issues.” Dee Horstman for the Conotton Creek Trail talked about expanding the trail, “We just got recognized as an Ohio National Recreation Trail, so there are possibilities of hooking our trail up to Columbus or Pittsburgh.” Watershed coordinator Aaron Dodds for Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District also spoke about expanding the trail, “We started working on trails; it was always the goal to get to the Conotton Creek Trail. You don’t always realize it, but you have an amazing gem in the Conotton trail that’s been nationally recognized. An endeavor called the Great American Rail-Trail is coming through here. It extends from Washington DC to Washington state, and right now, the first gap is at the Ohio state line in Jefferson County.” He said the national organization’s goal is to take the trail to Jewett because it’s close to the Conotton trail. Dodds has been working to accumulate the land needed, and all the land is heading toward Jewett, where they can create a regional connection. “We’re also looking to extend the GRANT See Pg.- 10

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