Athens
Good Works provides housing to people in nine Southeastern Ohio counties
This is the second part of an ongoing series looking at homelessness and housing insecurity in rural Ohio counties. Read the first story here. Keith Wasserman opened up his remodeled basement to people experiencing homelessness more than four decades ago and hasn’t looked back. He asked his professors at Ohio University if he could do […]
Broadband program salvaged in state budget
City leaders who see internet connectivity as a growing public utility were relieved to find broadband programs and grants kept in the new state budget. The fate of the Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant Program and municipal broadband programs in the state were in question during budget negotiations. In the Senate version of the budget, […]
Sen. Brown, local officials want direct payments for COVID-19 relief
City officials are begging for help from the federal government to cover losses in every sector brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown says he plans to bring legislation that would align with President Joe Biden’s comprehensive funding plan, and drive direct payments to municipalities across the state. In a […]
Pandemic could have major impact on census data
There was a Ferris wheel destined for Athens, Ohio. When Mayor Steve Patterson was thinking of ideas to help boost participation in the 2020 census, he and other officials came up with one giant reward for college students’ participation. “Everyone that brought proof that they’d filled out the census would get a free ride, and […]
Double-digit cuts a sure thing for Ohio cities, mayors say, full coronavirus impact unknown
Mayors of many cities in Ohio agree that the steps taken to stem the spread of coronavirus were necessary, but the impacts of the stay-at-home orders and the business closures will be on their minds for the foreseeable future. Municipalities already anticipate drops in income taxes — one of the main revenue sources for the […]
The power of a platform: Joe Burrow, the Heisman and food insecurity in Ohio
Athens native Joe Burrow won the 2019 Heisman trophy Saturday and used his national platform to highlight poverty and food insecurity in Southeast Ohio: “Coming from Southeast Ohio, it’s a very, very impoverished area. The poverty rate is almost two times the national average,” Burrow said. “There are so many people there that don’t have […]