WestChesterBuzz.com

Sue Kiesewetter reports:

A slate of officers and new board member for 2013 has been selected by the West Chester-Liberty Chamber Alliance’s board of directors.

Members will vote on the slate during the chamber’s Nov. 13 luncheon meeting at the Wingate by Wynham, 7500 Tyles Place in West Chester Township.

Officers who are being recommended for a term that begins Jan. 1 are:

• Karen Mueller, of HORAN, chairman
• Ron Rohlfing, West Chester Hospital,vice-chairman
• Deborah Brenneman, Thompson Hine LLP, secretary

Dina Minneci, Liberty Township’s administrator is being recommended for a three-year term on the board that also begins Jan. 1.

The luncheon runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Guest speaker is Col. Dean Smittle, a military analyst for FOX19 Morning News, is the guest speaker. His topic is U.S. Military Risk in the Middle East and Update on the Regional Population/Tribal Communities.

Smittle has served in key leadership positions in both the army and air force and now teaches as an adjunct faculty member at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.  Before enlisting, he earned a master of art education degree from the University of Cincinnati and graduated from the Air War College at Air University in Alabama.

The emcee for the luncheon is Rich Sears of Ameriprise Financial.

Information/tickets: 513-777-3600

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: board of directors, business, col. dean smittle, Deborah Brenneman, Dina Minneci, Karen Mueller, luncheon, rich sears, Ron Rohlfing, vote, West Chester Liberty Chamber Alliance

Secretary of State Jon Husted / AP Photo

Paul Kostyu reports:

More than 920,000 absentee ballot applications to vote by mail have been received by county boards of elections statewide, according to Secretary of State Jon Husted.

County boards of elections will begin sending ballots to eligible voters who have requested them Tuesday, 35 days ahead of the Nov. 6 election. Early in-person voting in Ohio begins Tuesday at 8 a.m. in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.

“We are ready,” Husted said at a press conference this afternoon. “Boards of elections are prepared and all voters can have confidence that Ohio will conduct a fair, open and secure general election.”

Still pending in federal court, however, is a case that could change whether polls are open the weekend and Monday before election. Husted wants to close early voting ono those days, but a federal judge ruled a state law prohibiting weekend voting unconstitutional. He ordered Husted to keep the polls open. The state has appealed.

Husted released the following numbers regarding this year’s election:

• 7.8 million Ohioans are currently registered to vote, which is down about 400,000 due to purging of registrations that were either invalid or duplicative or of voters who are deceased;
• 922,199 absentee ballot applications have been received as of Friday, Sept. 28;
• 10,823 military and overseas absentee ballots have been distributed as of Friday;
• Nearly 6.9 million absentee ballot applications were sent out to Ohio voters over the course of two statewide mailings;
• 62,600 voters and counting have updated their address online.

Voters must submit absentee ballot requests to county boards of elections no later than noon on Nov. 3. Forms also can also be downloaded at: www.MyOhioVote.com. Voted ballots must be postmarked by the day before Election Day and received no later than the 10 days after the election; that is by Nov. 16. Absentee ballots also may be delivered in person to boards of elections by the close of the polls on Election Day. They may not be returned at polling locations.

Husted said he expects about a 70 percent turnout of Ohio voters this year, the same as in 2008.

Posted in: Election, News |

Tags: Tags: absentee ballots, ballot, election, election 2012, jon husted, polls, presidential election, vote

FINAL UPDATE – Lakota school levy – 11:27 p.m: – The levy has failed…now what? Lakota supporters are already talking about next levy and upcoming cuts.

UPDATE – other levies – 10:51 p.m: – West Chester police levy results are in – 54.64 percent is in favor of the levy with a 100 percent of the vote in – The senior citizens levy has 99 percent of the vote in and has passed with 65.74 percent of the vote. Last, the MetroParks levy is too close to call with 50.94 percent of the vote in favor and 49.06 percent against – 99 percent of the vote is in.

UPDATE – Lakota school levy – 10:29 p.m: – Final numbers are in. 75 precincts out of 75 (100 percent of the precincts) are in for the Lakota school levy – a total of 39,797 votes are in according to the Butler County Board of Elections – 53.45 percent are against the levy and 46.55 percent are for the levy.

UPDATE – Lakota school levy – 10:27 p.m: – Lakota school levy has failed. It is about to be announced as I type.

UPDATE – West Chester police levy – 10:27 p.m: – 42 precincts out of 48 have reported on the police levy – right now there are 22,085 votes in according to the Butler County Board of Elections – 54.57 percent for the levy and 45.43 against the West Chester police levy. If you are wondering, the senior services levy is all but passed.

UPDATE – MetroParks levy – 10:24 p.m: – 259 precincts out of 298 are in and a total of 101,643 votes on the MetroParks levy according to the Butler County Board of Elections – still really close – 50.75 percent are for the levy – 49.25 percent are against the levy.

UPDATE – Lakota school levy – 10:20 p.m: – 65 precincts out of 75 (86.7 percent of the precincts) are in for the Lakota school levy – a total of 35,924 votes are in according to the Butler County Board of Elections – 53.83 percent are against the levy and 46.17 percent are for the levy. It appears that the levy is not making up enough ground to pass.

UPDATE – 8th Congressional District – 10:18 p.m: – Just a quick note from the congressional race – not a surprise, but House Minority Leader John Boehner has 64.54 percent of the vote and his opponent Justin Coussoule has 31.91 percent of the vote. 240 of 277 precincts are reporting or 86.6 percent of the vote.

UPDATE – Lakota school levy – 10:06 p.m: – Lakota school board member Ben Dibble just made an announcement to the Lakota school levy party – reporting 66.7 percent of the vote is in…it appears like we are getting close to know if this levy will pass or fail.

UPDATE – Lakota school levy – 10:03 p.m: – 50 precincts out of 75 (66.7 percent of the precincts) are in for the Lakota school levy – a total of 28,415 votes are in according to the Butler County Board of Elections – 54.25 percent are against the levy and 45.75 percent are for the levy. Pro-Lakota supporters still believe they can come back. (more…)

Posted in: Events, Political events |

Tags: Tags: Butler County election results, election, election results, Issue 2, Issue 21, Issue 4, Issue 6, Lakota school levy, Nov. 2, vote, voting, West Chester election results

Aided by the school levy, residents of West Chester Township appear to be showing up in strong numbers to the polls.

Three polling locations in West Chester; Lakota West High School, Hopewell Elementary and the West Chester Township Administration Building have all experienced strong showings from voters in the area.

During the morning rush, approximately 30 voters waited outside the administration building. The wait was said to be typical for an election with a school levy on the ballot.

>>>PHOTOS OF ELECTION DAY 2010<<<

Meanwhile, Hopewell Elementary was also packed at 6:30 a.m. Many voters were forced to wait at least 10 minutes before being able to have their turn.

Like the other poll locations, Lakota West High School has also seen a steady stream of voters and experienced a rush early in the morning.

Currently, the polls are experiencing a lull of sorts. However, that could all change as people leave work.

Many voters at each poll location were tight lipped on candidate races and local issues on the ballot.

Those who did share, a majority preferred not to be identified, one of those voters said “no” to all four of the local levies, saying, “I am taxed enough!” (more…)

Posted in: Election, Events, Levy news, News, Political events, Schools |

Tags: Tags: election, Lakota school levy, levies, levy, Nov. 2, vote