Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Some residents feel Dollar General a 'golden opportunity'

BY STEPHANIE GROVES

Staff Writer

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OTTOVILLE - A number of residents attended the Ottoville Village Council meeting Monday night to voice their concerns regarding the possibility of a Dollar General Store being constructed across from the high school on US 224, as well as to learn first-hand the reason behind the Auglaize Street water lines freezing.

A few residents spoke on the positive impact having a Dollar General Store would have on the community.

Jerry Hohlbein said prior articles in the newspaper have reflected a negative point of view, something that is not a good reflection left on the town "that we call home."

"There is always two sides to every story," Hohlbein said. "Equal time could be given where citizens can express their positive views and desires before the administration [village council] makes the final decision."

Hohlbein feels it [Dollar General Store] is a golden opportunity that seldom comes along to villages with a population of less than 1,000. He feels the new adventure could open the door for commercial growth which everyone will benefit from. In addition, Hohlbein feels closing the door on this opportunity could have a lasting negative impact on the community for generations.

Owner of Subway Jim Rhodes said there are rumors that people who enter or shop at Dollar General are low-income.

"I shop there," Rhodes said.

Rhodes also addressed the potential safety concern for the students wanting to cross over US 224 and go to the Dollar General.

"The kids will be at the junior high level or older," he said. "Kids should have been taught how to cross a road safely by that age."

Rhodes said Dollar General is an expanding business.

"Why stop them from coming into this town?" he asked. "What will happen to this town and our future?"

Councilman Tony Langhals said the location is the issue.

"There are a fair amount of people in favor," Langhals said. "I hate to get aggressive at this time."

Langhals voted against John Schimmoeller's request to tap into the forced water main across from the high school.

Councilman Randy Altenburger feels Dollar General is a necessity.

"With all things considered - Schimmoeller tapping in and annexing the property - we should continue to pursue speed limit reduction," Altenburger said. "I vote we continue to allow Schimmoeller to proceed."

Council voted to allow Schimmoeller to tap in.

Mayor Ron Miller said the tap-in is allowed and the village will draft a letter to propose the speed reduction - 35 miles per hour on both sides - from the edge of the bridge to the corporation limit.

Miller Contracting representative Josh Clay and Brian Goubeaux of Choice One Engineering were on hand and spoke with council and discussed the frozen water lines on Auglaize Street.

Last week, council held a special meeting to address the situation where Miller reported that the majority of the houses on the south side of the street were being affected. He said there were eight or nine houses that had frozen water lines and the village started getting reports of frozen pipes the second week of January.

Clay and Goubeaux explained that after the water system was installed, the excavation was backfilled with the compaction gravel and water was used to aid the process.

"The moisture in the stone back fill has traveled down and deepened the frost line," Clay said.

"We need information. Is this going to be an ongoing situation or is it due to the extreme weather conditions?" Miller asked. "We don't want to tear up the road and we want to fix the problem."

"It's the sixth coldest winter in the history of documenting the weather," Clay said. "It could be freezing at the road, we don't know."

"Are service lines at specification depth?" Altenburger asked. "Why doesn't the east side of the street have the same problems?"

"Some service lines went over the storm sewer and some run under," Clay said. "We had to come up to meet the customer's line from the houses."

Clay said he did not know if the village would find out of the furnace trailer until they went through another winter. He emphasized that everybody involved in the decision-making processes used their best judgement.

So far the village has spent $4,000 to repair three lines on Auglaize and another by the hardware store.

Miller suggested an extension of the warranty, which would give the village close to an extra six months after the original warranty was up and give the village one more winter to be sure the system is OK.

"If you followed the plans, then we'll have to fix it [frozen lines]," Miller said. "We can work on an agreement if you [Clay] get more information on an extended warranty."

Council approved the purchase of a new 500-gallon double-wall diesel tank at approximately $2,900 which will be located at the sewer plant to service the diesel generator, equipment and vehicles. Street Supervisor Barry Koester suggested pouring a concrete pad to place the tank on.

Board of Public Affairs members Phil Hilvers and Dan Honigford reported the new water meter reader ordered in October is in. Hilvers suggested Fiscal Officer Jeanne Wannemacher and Water and Sewage Treatment Plant Manager Steve Wittler and employee Chad Knippen take the training session on use of the meter.

Fire Chief Dan Honigford reported that the fire department has been looking into remodeling the exterior of the fire station. He said they have an architect that will produce color renderings - at $1,000 - of a variety of facades and changes in the structure.

"We would be looking at changing windows and doors," Honigford said. "I'd like to start on it this summer."

After a brief discussion, council recommended looking into the furnace and air conditioning before putting any money into remodeling the exterior.

Koester requested funds for a trailer to use to keep the department's cold mix on, which would lead to less waste - since it is kept on the floor of their building - and expedite the street repair process.

"M&W is doing the metal work and welding the axle," Koester said. "The rest we are doing in-house and it will cost close to $3,500."

Council also discussed implementing sidewalks on State Route 66 west on Sunset Drive. They all agree not having sidewalks is a safety issue.

"Residents have the option of having it put in by their own contractor or we will have our contractor install it," Miller said. "Their contractors will have to follow the same specifications."

Residents will pay 70 percent of the cost and the village will pick up the remaining 30 percent.

The next village meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on March 24.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Cumberland Matters: Take steps to keep familiy safe

<out of the furnace soundtrackp>Posted:

Smoke detectors help protect you against fires, but you can also protect your family by installing a carbon monoxide detector to guard against the odorless, colorless gas, which can be deadly.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, more than 150 people die of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning each year. A carbon monoxide detector with battery backup can guard against the deadly gas that can leak from gas logs, stoves or furnaces. Carbon monoxide detectors need to be closer to the floor than smoke detectors, since carbon monoxide is heavier than air.

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Posted in Living, Saturday extra on Saturday, February 15, 2014 12:02 am. | Tags: Cumberlandmatters

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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Go Joe! Amazon 'Kindle Worlds' inks deal for G.I. Joe, Veronica Mars fan fiction

For those authors who always believed that their magnum opus about an elite squad of gardeners teaming up with G.I. Joe to fight the forces of COBRA was a ticket to the big time, Promo Codes has some very good news.

The company announced today that licenses for its Kindle Worlds fan fiction program have expanded to include G.I. Joe from Hasbro, alongside a number of other fictional properties including "Veronica Mars" and "Pretty Little Liars" spinoff "Ravenswood." Those universes will be joining offerings from "Gossip Girl," "The Vampire Diaries" and other franchises which are already a part of Amazon's program.

Kindle Worlds, which Amazon started last year, allows writers to submit stories that are based in fictional universes of others' creation and get paid a royalty of up to 35 percent on every sale they make through Amazon's Kindle Store.

Adding Veronica Mars seems like particularly fortuitous timing, given that the franchise just got a new lease on life last year after raising more than $5.7 million on Kickstarter to produce a feature film.

Blair Hanley Frank is GeekWire's Bay Area Correspondent. He has also worked for Macworld, PCWorld and TechHive. He can be found on Twitter @belril and can be reached by email at blair@geekwire.com.

Speaking of films, Hasbro also owns Wizards of the Coast, the Renton-based company that is responsible for Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. While there's no sign that a deal to bring those franchises to Kindle Worlds is in the works, it's certainly an interesting possibility for Amazon's platform, especially since a Magic movie is in development right now.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Film Festival hosts 'The Best Offer' and'Love Is In the Air' Feb. 7-12

New Geoffrey Rush film and French romantic comedy premiere at Mary D. Fisher Theatre

Sedona AZ (February 4, 2014) - The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premieres of Geoffrey Rush's new film "The Printable Coupons" and French romantic comedy "Love Is In the Air" showing Feb. 7-12 at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre.

THE BEST OFFER

Academy Award-winner Geoffrey Rush and Golden Globe winner Donald Sutherland star alongside Jim Sturgess and Sylvia Hoeks in the new indie sensation "The Best Offer".

"The Best Offer" is the simple, touching tale of a solitary, cultured man, no longer young, whose reluctance to engage with others is matched only by the dogged obsessiveness with which he practices his profession of art expert and auctioneer. Asked to handle the valuation and sale of a mysterious woman's priceless heirlooms, the antiques dealer finds himself enveloped by a passion that will transform his grey existence forever.

Virgil Oldman (Rush) is a solitary, cultured man whose reluctance to engage with others, especially women, is matched only by the dogged obsessiveness with which he practices his profession of antiques dealer. He's never been close to another human being, not even Robert, his only friend - a young, skillful restorer of mechanical devices from every era.

The day he turns sixty-three, Virgil receives a phone call from a young woman who asks him to handle the disposal of some family works of art. But when the time comes for his first site visit, the girl fails to appear, nor, for various reasons, is she present for the taking of the inventory or for the transportation and restoration of the pieces.

More than once Virgil is tempted to bow out of what appears to be nothing but a bothersome mess, but on each occasion, the mysterious young woman, locked in her own obsessional world, convinces him to continue. And with this, the old antique dealer's life begins to take an unexpected turn. It is Robert who shows him, step-by-step, how to win the heart of a young woman who is afraid of the world and, caught in the middle of this puzzling game of chess, Virgil soon finds himself enveloped by a passion that will transform his grey existence forever.

"The Best Offer" can be explained as a film about art, seen as the sublimation of love, but also as a film about love, seen as the product of art.

"The Best Offer" will be shown at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre Feb. 7-12. Showtimes will be 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7; 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 9; 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 10; 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 11; and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

When two former lovers find themselves unexpectedly seated next to each other on a flight to Paris, the unresolved issues from their relationship quickly surface in both real-time and flashback in this glossy, sexy French romantic comedy, "Love Is In the Air".

Soon-to-be-married Julie (the effervescent Ludivine Sagnier) and continent-hopping playboy Antoine (handsome newcomer Nicolas Bedos) find themselves seated next to each other on a first class flight to Paris - but it isn't a welcome arrangement. He broke her heart three years prior, and they haven't spoken since.

Over the course of the flight, their verbal sparring catches the attention of the other passengers, who are amused by the live soap opera happening in front of them. Alternating between real time and flashbacks from their love affair, this big-budget French comedy is the perfect fun film fare just in time for Valentine's Day.

"Love Is In the Air" will be shown at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre Feb. 8-12. Showtimes will be 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8; 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 9; 4 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 10; and 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

Tickets are $12, or $9 for Film Festival members. For tickets and more information, please call 928-282-1177. Both the theatre and film festival office are located at 2030 W. Hwy. 89A, in West Sedona. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.org.