The year’s biggest stories (in no particular order)

Keller Blackburn and the Whartons’ divorce
The Independent published a lengthy investigation this summer into a potential mishandling of a conflict of interest by the Athens County Prosecutor. 

Amid an investigation into and prosecution of a New Marshfield couple’s alleged small-scale drug trafficking, Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn did not recuse himself from investigating former friend Harmony Wharton’s alleged criminal involvement. While the two Whartons began divorcing, Harmony was named in the indictments of the New Marshfield couple. 

Just a few months prior, in 2023, Blackburn requested a special prosecutor for pressing charges against Harmony’s soon-to-be ex-husband, Blackburn’s former friend and Athens landlord Bryan Wharton.

However, he did not initially do the same for the case against Harmony Wharton. This led Harmony Wharton’s criminal attorney Scott Petroff to file an affidavit in the Whartons’ divorce case suggesting that Blackburn was wielding the power of his office to win Bryan Wharton a more favorable outcome in the divorce. After the affidavit was filed – and after the Independent began investigating Petroff’s claims – Blackburn eventually referred to the case to a special prosecutor in Delaware County.

According to docket searches in the Athens County and Delaware County courts of common pleas, Harmony Wharton has not been charged criminally in either court, as of Dec. 17. 

“All these accusations, still they’ve never charged her. Wonder why, right?” Petroff said in an interview

Bryan Wharton hasn’t yet been charged with anything that resulted from the October 2023 incident either. In October 2023, the Athens Police Department recommended a misdemeanor domestic violence charge against Bryan Wharton. 

The case has since jumped from Athens County to Vinton County, from Gallia County to the city of Athens, and finally to Meigs County. Asked about any updates on the case, Athens City Attorney Lisa Eliason said in a Dec. 17 email, “Check back with me next week.”

The first-degree misdemeanor domestic violence charge carries a two-year statute of limitations. 

The chaos has all come amid the Whartons’ divorce. According to the Athens Court of Common Pleas docket, the final hearing in their divorce is set for February 2025.

Mission drift allegations at the Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program
The Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program has been working to restabilize since its longtime director, Jen Seifert, was terminated from her position this summer. Seifert’s termination came amid perceptions of a toxic work environment among the staff and concerns about mission drift related to the organization’s massive Appalachian Community Grant Program-funded initiatives. 

In particular, current and former SAOP employees expressed skepticism about the organization’s focus on 3D-printed housing development, which they said drew attention away from the direct service programs that they viewed as more central to SAOP’s mission.

On Dec. 16, SAOP announced on Facebook that former interim director Madison Trace was promoted to SAOP’s new executive director. 

“I’m really energized by the opportunity to further our vision of empowering survivors and fostering these communities to be safe and free from violence,” Trace told the Independent. 

She acknowledged that, over the past year, “the community really wasn’t sure what SAOP did.” 

“There was a major focus on the innovative and affordable housing over the last year, and while that’s really important to the work that we do, that is not the core of our mission,” Trace said. “So, we would like to offer these services and partner with other agencies that we can build this housing or housing capacity, but it’s not going to be at the core of what SAOP does.”

In 2025, Trace said, the organization will hammer out what its housing initiatives will look like long term – but said “it’s going to look a little differently than the way it had been presented maybe a year ago.”

Trace said she intends to refocus the organization’s core work on direct service. The organization’s advocates have continued “to show up for our survivors” amid a difficult year at the organization, Trace said.

SAOP has also added new staff, after experiencing high turnover amid its organizational crisis.

“I feel like we have such a solid team in place that we can really build on the foundation we have and start expanding going forward,” Trace said.

Trace said SAOP’s priorities in 2025 will include enhancing access to the organization’s direct services; more collaborations with community partners such as schools; a continued focus on developing a new, ACGP-funded Child Advocacy Center in Athens; and developing more affordable housing.

Meanwhile, Trace said, she will continue working to cultivate a more trauma-informed workplace than that which developed under her predecessor.

“It feels like the culture has really changed over the last few months, and it feels good,” Trace said. “I’m not going to speak for [staff], but from my point of view and the people I work with daily, it feels really good.”

Commissioner Charlie Adkins defeats challenger 
Once again Athens County overwhelmingly reelected an incumbent commissioner, who has held the office for the past dozen years. Before his loss, independent candidate and former public employee Jon Rose ruffled some feathers.

In May, the Athens County Board of Elections certified Rose’s run for office — but was forewarned his petitions would be met with protest. That threat never came to fruition, but it did impact Rose’s campaign — via an apparent investigation by Athens Democrats.

In October, Rose held a press conference that focused on the working conditions of Athens County Emergency Medical Employees (Rose is a paramedic and former ACEMS employee). 

After his appearance at Rose’s press conference, part-time ACEMS employee Rick Trask was put on leave, pending an investigation into his potential violation of the Hatch Act — an act that restricts public employees’ political participation. The brief investigation concluded with no findings of violations.

Meanwhile, Adkins won 64% of votes cast for his seat. But he then held his own press conference to address Rose’s press conference and subsequent media coverage. Adkins revealed at his press conference that he believed Rose’s petitions were invalid, but that he “couldn’t afford” to protest his opponent’s candidacy. 

Election results indicate Athens County Republican shift
This year, Athens County voters gave President re-elect Donald Trump a higher share of votes than they have any other Republican presidential candidate so far this century. While he didn’t win the county, he received 44% of its votes.

Additionally, Republican Kevin Ritter of Marietta beat Athens County’s own Wenda Sheard, a Democrat, in their race for Ohio House District 94. 

Incumbent Republican Don Jones (R-Freeport) also won House District 95, again, beating Athens’ Micah McCarey. Districtwide, Jones defeated McCarey by around 16,000 votes, but received only 25% of votes in Athens County. 

What’s ahead in 2025:
Nelsonville City Auditor Taylor Sappington will become Athens County Treasurer in 2025, vacating an office he’s held since 2020.

Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason’s term expires in 2025. Eliason, a Democrat, has held the office since 1998.

Big changes at local recycling center 
Throughout 2024, the Independent has covered changes in the region’s locally-operated recycling center. 

The assets and operations of the independent nonprofit Athens-Hocking Recycling Center were officially absorbed by the Southeast Ohio Recycling Terminal council of governments in September. The move followed the city of Athens’ 2023 decision to switch its hauling contract away from the local, environmentally-minded, union shop, to instead partner with Rumpke. The decision cut the recycling center off from its largest revenue stream.

Although it now exists in a new form — which seemed unlikely earlier in a year — the recycling center has scaled back its operations, now operating under SORT’s banner with a smaller staff and fewer trucks.

The organization has spent the past few months dealing with changes associated with the transition to operating under the council of governments. In the new year, SORT will approach municipalities to seek out new contracts, director Crissa Cummings said. 

This will be important, as the organization’s operations remain shaky.

“We still have some money in savings,” Cummings said. “We are spending it at slower rate than we had predicted at the beginning of the year, but we’re still projected to run out of money at some point. So, I’ve been applying for grants like mad and crossing my fingers that some of them will come through and make up that budget shortfall.”

Solid waste management moving toward ratification
Changes at the local recycling center played a role in efforts this year by the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District to develop a new, 15-year solid waste management plan. The district updates the 15-year plan every five years.

The district had initially proposed a parcel fee for property owners that would have allowed it to purchase Athens Hocking Recycling Centers’ property and facilities at 5991 Industrial Drive in Athens and avoid increasing fees. However, the Hocking County Commissioners shot down that plan. 

So, in a new draft of the plan, the district increased the fees it plans to charge landfills and transfer stations. These fees will likely be passed down and ultimately affect solid waste customers, Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District Director Jane Forest Redfern previously told the Independent.

The district has spent months working to get the new solid waste management plan ratified, Redfern said. Now, 100% of municipalities that were required to sign off on the plan have done so. The plan was scheduled to be approved by the district’s policy committee on Wednesday night.

After that, Redfern said Wednesday, the plan will head to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for final approval.

The draft plan includes various goals and priorities that the district will pursue if funding becomes available. Redfern said the district has made progress on that front.

In late November, the district received $400,000 from the Ohio EPA grant which Refern said will allow the district to improve recycling infrastructure, “reduce open burning and open dumping,” and “give people more opportunities to properly dispose of their materials.”

SORT-ing out the trash
In December 2023, the city awarded its trash and recycling contract to Rumpke — precipitating a crisis at Athens-Hocking Recycling Centers, which derived 40% of its revenues from the city. Residents urged the council to join the newly forming Southeast Ohio Recycling Terminal council of governments, which could allow the city to break its Rumpke contract. 

However, Mayor Steve Patterson and Service Safety Director Andy Stone remained resolute in supporting the Rumpke contract. Although city council authorized the mayor to join the council of governments, Stone said that the city could not break its Rumpke contract. 

Gaza ceasefire resolution
City residents also pressured the council to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Gaza. Assistant Law Director Jessica Branner Hittle advised against passing such a resolution, saying that it was unprecedented and outside the scope of council’s responsibilities. 

In February, council voted 4–2 to adopt a resolution submitted by councilman Michael Wood, 3rd Ward; Solveig Spjeldnes, 1st Ward, and Alan Swank, 4th Ward, cast the two opposing votes. 

Zoning board controversy
Patterson’s reappointment of landlord Joe Krause came under fire by United Athens County Tenants, a renters’ advocacy group. UACT said that Krause’s properties had failed numerous inspections over a 14-year period. 

After UACT sent a letter to council members presenting its objections to Krause’s reappointment, local attorney Rusty Rittenhouse — who represents Krause — accused the group of anti-Semitism because Krause is “one of few Jewish public servants in Athens.” UACT called that “a derogatory and bald-faced attempt to obfuscate the real issue at stake: tenants’ rights to safe and habitable rental units in the City of Athens.” 

Krause’s reappointment also caused a clash between Patterson and members of the city council, who disagree about whether the mayor can legally reappoint members of city boards and commissions without council approval. 

Although council voted to table the question of Krause’s reappointment at its Sept. 23 meeting, Patterson swore him in anyway, WOUB reported. Athens City Law Director Lisa Eliason informed council members by email on Oct. 10 that in her opinion, “a reappointment by the mayor would require confirmation by council.”

Amid the controversy, Krause resigned from the board.

Appropriations, tax hike and cyber theft
In November, Patterson’s administration proposed increasing the city’s income tax from 1.95% to 2.25% — a 15% hike that is the highest in city history. If passed, the administration estimates the increase would generate an additional $2.6 million annually.

The tax proposal threw a wrench into the council’s consideration of 2025 appropriations. Swank and Spjeldnes had already raised questions about the measure because the city had not presented revenue projections to give context to the requested expenditures. They also suggested that the city consider cutting expenditures before asking for a tax increase. 
Over Swank’s and Spjeldnes’ objections, council approved its $54 million appropriations ordinance on Dec. 9. The following week, they passed an ordinance placing the tax hike before Athens residents in May 2025.

Complicating matters further was the revelation in early December that the city had lost nearly $722,000 in a cyber scam in November. 

What’s ahead in 2025:
The income tax increase will likely appear on the May 6 primary ballot.

Investigation of the cyber theft continues. The city will undergo its annual financial audit; the state could issue a finding against the city and hold the official responsible for the transfer liable. Although both city Auditor Kathy Hecht and Treasurer Josh Thomas are bonded, neither’s bond would fully cover the amount stolen.

Council President Sam Crowl, Treasurer Josh Thomas, and all seven members of the city council will be up for re-election.

Council membership chaos
The year began with a council full of fresh and incumbent faces. As its president, the body elected Greg Smith — who had been ejected from council four times and re-elected twice. 

Upon receiving yet another settlement from the city, Smith resigned as president and from council just weeks into the new year. Council chose freshly elected Rita Nguyen as president — but in late January she resigned and rescinded, echoing a flurry of resignations and rescissions by three council members in 2023. In March, council members voted 3-2 to replace Nguyen with former-returning Councilman Tony Dunfee.

Two days later, the council appointed Gregg Clement as president, and he appointed Councilman Opha Lawson to Smith’s seat. But Nguyen, acting as council president, then appointed Sue Powell, a former Nelsonville City Auditor, to fill Smith’s seat. 

After effectively being booted off council — for resigning, and for an invalid appointment — Nguyen and Powell took their case to court in late April. A local judge ruled who may act on council, and the appellate court upheld that decision; Nguyen and Powell’s case currently rests with the Ohio Supreme Court.

Making Ohio history: Nelsonville abolishes its charter
Smith, alongside Vicki McDonald and others, collected over 200 signatures this summer to move forward a ballot initiative to abolish the Nelsonville City Charter.

Despite litigation that ended up in the appellate court — and an Election Day hiccup — the initiative to abolish the charter was overwhelmingly successful, receiving the support of roughly 70% of ballots cast.

The issue calls for a return to statutory government in 2025, with elections to be held that year. The issue dictates that the city hold new elections in 2025, with new officials taking office on Jan. 1, 2026. However, neither the city nor Athens County Board of Elections cannot schedule elections on their own; that would be under direction of the Ohio Secretary of State.

At its Dec. 9 meeting, the council voted to appeal the matter to the Ohio Supreme Court. 

City manager remains on paid leave
The city’s current interim city manager is Nelsonville Police Department Chief Devon Tolliver. The council placed City Manager Tom Cangemi on indefinite paid administrative leave, pending an external legal investigation, “based on allegations of misconduct,” on July 30. The council hired Cangemi on Oct. 6, 2023.

Via a public records request, the Independent learned that City Service Director Jason Coen filed a police report on July 29, for an “altercation” with Cangemi 10 days previously. The NPD referred the incident to the Athens Police Department, who declined to press any charges.

Coen said in the police report that “Cangemi yelled at him during this altercation and at one point put his hand out across Mr. Coens desk to shake hands, when they engaged in the handshake Mr. Cangemi pulled on Mr. Coens right arm with enough force to pull Mr. Coen off balance and had to catch himself putting his left hand onto his desk.”

Cangemi’s aggressive handshake “caused [Coen] significant pain and as a result he was forced to begin wearing a brace again,” according to the police report. Coen’s statement says that, additionally, his doctor also restricted his ability to lift over 10 pounds, due to the incident.

Records show that the city spent $4,571 on outside legal counsel for the investigation into Cangemi’s conduct. 

As of December, Cangemi remains on paid leave, Nelsonville City Auditor Taylor Sappington confirmed in an email. 

What’s ahead in 2025:
As of mid-December, it’s unclear how Nelsonville will implement Issue 23. A supreme court decision could provide clarity. Meanwhile, the city plans to form a citizens commission to help implement the changes. 

Four council positions — currently held by Clement, Lawson, Jonathan Flowers and Cory Taylor — will be up for grabs. 

County. Workers at Ohio University, Hopewell Health Centers and Athens County Public Libraries all cited low pay among their reasons for organizing. Employees at OU and Hopewell also said they were overworked.

Workers at all three locations expressed concern that what they described as sub-par working conditions would affect the quality of the services their organizations provide to the community.

Ohio University
Ohio University faculty filed for a union election in March after a lengthy organizing campaign. However, actual progress toward that election was stalled for months amid a lengthy — and expensive — legal fight with Ohio University over the composition of the bargaining unit.

Now, faculty are finally moving toward a union election. If all goes according to the tentatively agreed upon plan, the union election will take place Feb. 18–March 4, 2025. The election will be conducted by secret ballot. Votes will be tallied by the State Employee Relations Board on March 17, 2025.

Since the Independent’s last story on the union election, Ohio University published details regarding the tentatively agreed upon bargaining unit via a university presentation to faculty. Although organizers fought to include all clinical faculty in the bargaining unit, the final unit will see faculty in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine excluded, along with many faculty in the College of Health Sciences and Professions.

However, full-time CHSP faculty in the departments of social work, social and public health, and interdisciplinary health studies will be included. That’s more CHSP units than OU had originally wanted to include.

Hopewell Health Centers
An initial group of Hopewell Health Centers employees unionized in October 2022. A second group unionized in May. However, neither group has yet won a contract.

“They are still in the middle of it,” said Namita Waghray, communications director at American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employee Ohio Council 8. “I know it’s been really difficult to get dates from Hopewell. I can’t really comment on the ongoing negotiations, except that we’re showing up every single time to keep trying to move the ball forward and continue the negotiations, and that is where we’re at right now.”

Athens County Public Libraries
Athens County Public Libraries employees requested voluntary recognition for a union in July. The ACPL board granted voluntary recognition just days later.

Contract negotiations at ACPL remain underway.

“We have started and so far the parties are working hard to meet each other’s needs,” the union, Athens County Public Libraries United, said in a statement.

Leaking injection wells in eastern Athens County
Fracking waste injection wells operated by K&H Partners near Torch have been a source of conflict across the region since they were first proposed, amid concerns over possible impacts to health and the environment. 

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas Resources found last year that what activists had warned of since the wells were drilled had come to pass: Highly toxic fracking waste was spreading miles underground, far beyond approved areas of review.

In April, the division won a hard-fought legal battle against the company, successfully suspending the K&H wells. The company applied to plug its wells shortly thereafter, permanently shuttering Athens County operations.

ODNR media representative Karina Chueng told the Independent on Dec. 19 that two of the three K&H wells had been plugged. The permit for K&H to plug its third well is valid until summer of 2026, Chueng added.

Also this year, the ODNR conducted testing on water wells near the K&H wells and another leaking injection well, owned by Reliable Enterprises in Rome Township. The ODNR found no evidence that drinking water had been impacted, although advocates argue additional testing is needed.

Chueng said Reliable Enterprises has not plugged its well, known as the Frost well. The state is likely to eat at least part of the cleanup cost.

“Reliable Enterprises Ohio has a court-appointed receiver who has advised that the company does not now have the financial resources to plug the wells,” Chueng said in an email. “Based on this information, the Division has begun the process to place the well in the orphan well program. The Division also will seek to collect on the bond to partially cover the cost of plugging the well.”

Ohio Senator to face lawsuit over leaking well
The Independent reported in October on issues at an injection well owned by Ohio Senator Brian Chavez. Chavez recently won election to his first full-term in the chamber after he was appointed to fill a vacancy in late 2023.

In 2021, toxic fracking byproducts injected into the state senator’s well migrated underground before erupting to the surface at a nearby oil and gas production well. The incident resulted in environmental damages, including a mass wildlife die-off. It also cost the state more than $1 million to fix.

To recoup costs, the ODNR Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management sued the oil and gas producer, Genesis, which had not properly plugged its well. However, although an attorney for Genesis previously acknowledged that its client hadn’t done everything right, Genesis maintains that the problem started with Chavez’s company. 

Genesis’s attorney, Kevin M. Maloney, told the Independent his client has officially decided to sue Chavez’s company, Deeprock Disposal Solutions.

“I need to get some documents from the state and then I’m going to be filing in January, right after the first of the year, against Deeprock,” Maloney told the Independent.

Chavez’s company submitted a plan to the ODNR to address issues at the senator’s injection well. ODNR media representative Karina Chueng told the Independent on Dec. 19 that the plan remains under review by the ODNR.

Summer heat wave …
A week of intense heat hit Athens County in June this year. From June 17 to June 21, meteorologists predicted humid heat indexes up to 103 degrees. The humidity was especially dangerous as it prevented sweat from evaporating, the main way the human body cools itself down. 

In response, cooling stations opened up all over the county. While heat wave conditions eventually subsided, it signaled the start of drought conditions that continued through the year.

and prolonged drought
Drought conditions in Athens County first began on June 18, when the U.S. Drought Monitor declared that the region was experiencing “abnormally dry” conditions. In August, September and October, the county was designated as experiencing “exceptional drought” — the worst designation on the U.S. Drought Monitor’s scale.

Ryan Fogt, director of Ohio University’s Scalia Laboratory for Atmospheric Analysis, predicted the drought would persist through the fall, with a wet winter to end the drought. 

This prediction is seemingly coming true, as drought conditions have improved going into winter, with the U.S. Drought Monitor downgrading drought conditions to “moderate drought” status.

The drought has continually posed problems for Athens County farmers. 

Some businesses, like Libby’s Pumpkin Patch, closed for the season. Meanwhile, farmers, such as CJ Morgan and Adam Blaney, kept their operations going. Many farmers have considered altering their crop growing practices, while others sought to take advantage of U.S. Department of Agriculture relief funds.

Morgan said the drought relief from USDA alleviated hay costs. He also said that his business, MoSo Farm, fared better than anticipated, thanks to good neighbors. 

“We anticipated no grazing after October,” Morgan said. “Fortunately, we were able to graze on our neighbors’ land. The community really came together.”

Allison Arocho suit heading back to trial
The Independent has followed Alison Arocho’s lawsuit against Ohio University for more than two years. Arocho has argued OU is liable for the 2005 sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of former OU Police Department officer Robert Andrew Parsons. Arocho was 15 at the time.

Arocho says Parsons used his authority as a police officer to coerce her into having sex. Key to her argument that OU is liable is that OU should have known Parsons was likely to engage in such behavior. Why? According to an OU memo from 2006, OU was aware of a “similar allegation” against him in 2001. 

Arocho and her attorneys struggled to get records about that allegation though. The only substantive information about the nature of the allegation that surfaced at the 2022 trial was from Parsons himself — and the trial judge referenced Parsons’s testimony as fact in his decision, despite Parsons’ established history of lying about the 2005 incidents.

The judge found that OU was not liable. 

However, Arocho appealed that decision — arguing that the trial court erred in quashing a subpoena for Athens County Children Services records on the 2001 allegation. As the Independent reported earlier this year, Arocho won that appeal. The initial court decision was overturned, the case in the lower court was reopened, and ACCS was asked to turn over records about the 2001 incident.

However, in recent court filings, the trial court judge David Cain explained that when the court inspected “confidential documents submitted by ACCS to determine their discoverability,” it determined there was nothing that pertained to Arocho’s case. Arocho’s attorney, Mike Fradin, told the Independent he never got to see any ACCS records.

Fradin told the Independent he now believes the 2001 allegations referenced in the OU memo must actually pertain to an internal investigation by OU. If true, Arocho argued in court documents, this would invalidate prior testimony that OU retained Parsons after 2001 in part because of ACCS findings about the 2001 allegation.

OU argued that Arocho’s argument was without merit. However, the trial court found that it could not reinstate the previous decision in the case, because that decision was already nullified by the appeals court.

On Dec. 18, Fradin told the Independent that Arocho’s lawsuit against OU was scheduled to head to a new trial in May 2025.

DOJ cases against local landlords
Over the past year and a half, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed two lawsuits against Athens County landlords over allegedly sexually harassing their tenants.

The second lawsuit filed, against Kevin Martin, settled quickly. The suit argued that Martin engaged in a “longstanding pattern or practice of illegal sexual harassment of multiple actual and prospective female tenants from at least 2010 to at least 2020.” Martin denied the allegations but said he settled due, in part, to his health.

The first suit was filed against Joe Lucas, and was later amended to include his family members. The amended complaint said Lucas was acting as a property manager at properties owned by his family members. 

Legal Aid of South Central Ohio attorney Caitlyn McDaniel previously told the Independent, “Even if the landlord does not know of the abuse perpetrated by their property manager, the landlord could be liable for those abuses because the property manager was acting as an agent (or on behalf) of the landlord.”

The lawsuit against Lucas and his family members remains open.

In September, the DOJ filed a second amended complaint, adding an additional defendant, Emily Bush, to the complaint. Emily Bush is married to Lucas’s grandson, also a defendant in the case. The DOJ alleges that “Ms. Bush and Jacob Bush held title to a rental property where an aggrieved person lived and experienced sexual harassment.”

Emily and Jacob Bush, like all defendants in the case, deny the allegations against them.

NPD racism lawsuit
In 2023, a lawsuit was filed against the city of Nelsonville and former city employees claiming that Nelsonville’s former city manager, former police chief and two former police officers violated the civil rights of a Black resident and his family. 

Body cam footage released by the Independent showed former Nelsonville Police Chief Scott Fitch — now the Meigs County sheriff — making racially charged comments toward Black plaintiff Bobby Hunt prior to Hunt’s arrest. The video also showed Fitch put his hands on Hunt’s neck multiple times. 

Both other officers involved in the incident went on to work under Fitch in Meigs County. Fitch and one of the other officers had faced separate, prior allegations of racism.

While the Independent hasn’t reported on this story since 2023, developments in the case are imminent. As the Logan Daily News reported Dec. 10, the parties are pursuing a tentative settlement agreement.

Dan Klos, attorney for Bobby Hunt and his co-parent Ashley Klinedinst, told the Independent on Dec. 6 that the city of Nelsonville was the only party that had yet to agree to the proposed settlement. He declined to share details of the settlement.

Devon Tolliver, current Nelsonville police chief and interim city manager, told the Independent in a Dec. 9 email that the city council needs to adopt “a piece of legislation authorizing our insurance carrier to finalize the settlement.”

The Independent will request and publish a copy of the settlement agreement once it is finalized.

Medflight lawsuits
We reported on the high cost of emergency air transports by MedFlight of Ohio and the company’s lawsuits against four Athens County residents to recover unpaid bills. Those airlifts occurred before state and federal laws protecting consumers against unexpected bills for emergency services — including air transport — from out-of-network providers.

The Government Accountability Office estimated that 69% of air ambulance transports in 2017 were made by companies outside the patient’s insurance network. 

As of Dec. 16, the two cases MedFlight filed in Athens Municipal Court remain open. One of the defendants in Athens County Common Pleas Court filed for bankruptcy in July, which stayed all actions against his property. Athens County Common Pleas Court Judge George McCarthy ordered the other to pay MedFlight $30,300, plus court costs and 8% interest annually. 

Plastic bag ban
In late August, Athens County Court of Common Pleas Judge George McCarthy agreed with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office that the city of Athens could not ban local businesses from providing single-use plastic bags to customers. He issued a permanent injunction against the city, meaning the city may not enforce its plastic bag ban. 

McCarthy found the city’s ordinance conflicted with a state statute that says a person “may use” single-use plastic bags. McCarthy also found that the statute is a “general law,” and that therefore, the city cannot supersede the statute. 

In McCarthy’s finding that the statute is a “general law,” he connected the statute to the state’s solid waste management plan. He made that connection by relying on facts outside the case to argue that plastic bags are recyclable. 

The city appealed the decision in September.

In an appeal brief filed Dec. 18, the city laid out its argument in the appeal. In the appeal brief, the city argues that its plastic bag ban does not conflict with state law and that, even if it did, the city has home rule authority to enact its own policy.

The city points out in its brief that regardless of whether “single-use plastic bags can ever be recycled” the bags do not “create a constant supply of recyclable materials today” because plastic bags cannot be recycled at a large scale (emphasis in original). Therefore, the city argues that McCarthy did not have solid grounds to connect the statute to the solid waste management plan. 

Additionally, the city argues that the state statute in question governs the use of single-use plastic bags, not their provision. The city’s ordinance does not prevent anyone from using single-use plastic bags, it only prevents businesses from providing them, the city argues.

Auditor employee theft
In September, the Independent reported that Kristen Andrews, a former deputy auditor at the Athens County Auditor’s Office, faces felony charges for allegedly tampering with auditor’s office records and stealing from the office. 

The information about the allegations against Andrews that’s available in the court docket is sparse. Andrews’ case remains open.

Union Street work causes business woes
Over the past year, business owners of West Union Street have publicly stated their major loss in business due to infrastructure improvements, which limited the road to one-way traffic for months. WOUB reported that business owners spent months uninformed on how to get in touch with the project’s community liaison.

Kenneth Oehlers, executive director at Habitat for Humanity of Southeast Ohio, told the Independent that the Habitat for Humanity ReStore “took a substantial hit during the W. Union St. construction project.”

“Over the entire project, we lost over $70,000 in sales compared to the prior year, which resulted in a 45-50% decrease in gross sales,” Oehlers said in an email. “Since the opening of the road to two lane traffic (ours was only open to two [lane] traffic in the last several weeks), we have seen sales begin to climb to where we expected them to be.”

West Union Street has been open to two-way traffic since late October, as work nears completion. 

A business owner complained to city council twice about continuous sidewalk closures on Union Street in Uptown Athens. The sidewalk has been closed for months as the former Follett’s Bookstore at the intersection of Court and Union streets is undergoing renovations.

Saraquoia Bryant, owner of Cool Digs, raised the issue at council meetings in October and December. At the latter meeting, Bryant told the council that the closures had already forced Grub ‘n Go and Jack Neal Florist out of business, and that her own shop might not be far behind.  

The Plains roundabouts
In October 2023, Independent reported on an Ohio Department of Transportation open house that collected feedback from the public on two proposed roundabouts for the exit ramps/intersections of U.S. 33 and SR 682 in The Plains. 

“The project to construct two roundabouts at the Athens 33/682 interchange has been awarded,” ODOT District 10 Public Information Officer Ashley Rittenhouse said in an email. “The construction schedule is not set, but it is anticipated that work could begin as early as February 2025, if weather allows.” Rittenhouse said the project received a total 29 comments. 

Coolville RCUT
The Ohio Department of Transportation announced plans to build reduced collision U-turns, or RCUTs, at the intersection of U.S. 50 and Brimstone Road in Coolville. The agency says that the change — which will prevent drivers on Brimstone Road from directly crossing U.S. 50 — is necessary to improve safety at the intersection. 

In May, Coolville Mayor Neil Cowen called a town meeting to encourage residents to voice their opposition to the project. Nearly a dozen residents turned out for a July meeting with ODOT officials to learn about the project and share their concerns. Among them was an attorney for GoMart, which has a gas station and convenience store at the northeastern corner of the intersection. 

But by July, Cowen had changed his mind about the project after ODOT altered its original plans for the intersection. 

“The first blueprints that we got — basically, they were walling off that intersection,” Cowen told the independent in August. “There was going to be no crossings at all. I mean, it was going to just be a wall, and that was it.”

Cowen said the agency came back with an updated plan that allowed traffic on U.S. 50 traveling both east and west to turn onto Brimstone Road and into the village. Traffic on Brimstone Road will be restricted to right-hand turns onto U.S. 50. 

At its Dec. 10 meeting, the village council heard first reading of an ordinance approving the project, Cowen said. A second reading will occur in January. 

“People realize that it’s definitely a safety issue that needs to be dealt with,” Cowen said. “I have a couple of council members that are dragging their feet, but I still feel good about the project.”