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From the 7/8/07 ABJ: Photos | Akron Art Museum gala Museum awes patrons Gala guests say building's fame will rise By Ed Meyer Beacon Journal staff writer Judging by the sweeping gestures of his talented hands, local artist and University of Akron professor Mark Soppeland was more than impressed by what he saw Saturday night as he stood in the crowded, sunlit lobby of the new Akron Art Museum's Defy Gravity Grand Opening Gala. "I think that this is probably the most ambitious and outrageous building in the state of Ohio,'' Soppeland said. "It is incredibly daring. It is everything that a museum should be. This is really a big, big city museum now. And when you walk through the galleries, you will be in galleries that will compete with the great museums of the world. And this lobby competes with any museum in the world. It is really dramatic.'' From the moment that some 1,500 patrons and contributors to the new museum pulled up to the building's entrance at East Market and South High streets in downtown Akron, drama and elegance flowed in all directions. Arriving guests -- in black tie and evening gowns -- were greeted in the street by valets dressed in white tuxedo jackets and black pants and women in flowing black dresses who opened the car doors for the short walk to the entranceway. Inside, the soaring, three-story glass lobby of the 63,000-square-foot building was bathed in bright sunlight and pleasant music from live bands. Full story at http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/17470201.htm?source=rss&channel=ohio_news

Link contains photos. From the 7/8/07 Enquirer: More kids use guns in crimes Cases involving minors and firearms double in county BY SHARON COOLIDGE | [email protected] Zachariah Hassell is wanted for murder. Cincinnati police officials say he is armed, dangerous - and just 15. Suspects like "Little Zach," as he is known, are increasingly common in Hamilton County: Still a child in the eyes of the law, but committing gun crimes that only hardened criminals once committed. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070708/NEWS01/707080367/-1/rss

From the 7/8/07 Enquirer: Diocese adapts to growth Task force to plan changes as population soars BY BRENNA R. KELLY | [email protected] It's not just the roads and public schools in Boone County that are being overrun by the county's exponential growth - it's also the Catholic churches. The booming population has led to crowded pews and classrooms at the county's parishes. Now the Diocese of Covington wants to figure out how to handle the growth. Read more here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20070708/NEWS0103/707080409/

From the 7/8/07 DDN: Civil rights group holds rally at Wright-Pat SCLC members and some workers claim that there is racial discrimination going on at the base. By Christopher Magan Staff Writer Sunday, July 08, 2007 Southern Christian Leadership Conference members announced Saturday they plan to step up efforts against alleged racial discrimination at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with a march this fall... Contact the reporter at (937) 225-2342 or [email protected]. http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/07/08/ddn070807sclc.html

From the 7/8/07 Newark Advocate: Ethanol's impact Amount of pollution still a question mark By MARK SZAKONYI Advocate Reporter NEWARK -- Determining the effect of Ohio ethanol plants on the environment is tricky considering none have started production. But a Des Moines Register newspaper report on how ethanol plants affect Iowa's air, water and soil points to concerns for Ohio's own environment when its facilities go online. More at: http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070708/NEWS01/707080301/1002/rss01

From the 7/6/07 Dispatch: Columbus Africentric Firing left students scrambling for credits Friday, July 6, 2007 3:29 AM By Simone Sebastian THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH More than 100 students had to sit through a study hall last school year instead of Spanish classes when Columbus Public Schools fired their teacher in November. Now those students -- about a quarter of the enrollment at Columbus Africentric Early College -- are retaking Spanish, and some of them will have to put off the start of sports because they didn't earn enough credits to play. District officials said they told Malyka Knapp-Smith to stay until February, the end of the semester for the year-round high school. But Knapp-Smith insists she was forced to sign a resignation letter and leave the school immediately. Either way, the district couldn't find an accredited Spanish teacher to take Knapp-Smith's place. The six classes she was to have taught were turned into study halls headed by a substitute teacher, and the students -- mostly ninth-graders -- received no credit for the year. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/07/06/retake.ART_ART_07-06-07_A1_IF77DEE.html?type=rss&cat=21

From the 6/28/07 Dispatch: Science school showing promise Metro freshmen liked tough classes Thursday, June 28, 2007 3:43 AM By Charlie Boss THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH There was no extra credit, no study hall and no grading system. The 104 freshmen could achieve only mastery -- a 90 percent or better -- in their classes. They had two hours a day of class for each subject, averaged an hour of homework a night and met weekly with advisers. The pace was fast and expectations were high at Metro High School, a public math, science, engineering and technology school in partnership with Franklin County school districts, Battelle and Ohio State University. The school is on Kenny Road near OSU. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/06/28/Metro.ART_ART_06-28-07_B1_7A7593G.html?type=rss&cat=21

From ThisWeek West Side, 6/24/07: CPS administrators, supervisors receive 3-percent raises Sunday, June 24, 2007 By SUE HAGAN ThisWeek Staff Writer Columbus Public Schools administrators and classified supervisors will receive 3 percent cost of living raises next year, their first since both groups received 2 percent raises in the 2005-2006 school year. The CPS Board of Education approved the new compensation packages at its board meeting on Tuesday evening. Just under 600 employees are covered in the agreements, and the cost to the district's general fund will be about $1.5-million, according to spokesman Jeff Warner. He said the raises will not cause the 2007-2008 general fund budget to increase more than 3 percent over last year's spending plan; the board is expected to approve the budget on June 29. Read more at http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/062407/West/News/062407-News-377019.html

From the 6/14/07 Dublin Villager: Board asked to rethink Metro School policy Thursday, June 14, 2007 By CANDACE PRESTON-COY Villager Staff Writer Metro High School is a first-of-its-kind public math, science and technology high school that just completed its first year. Nearly 100 freshmen from several of the 16 Franklin County districts attended. Tuition for the students attending the school pays for the day-to-day expenses, specifically salaries, while The Ohio State University and Battelle cover the major expenses. Most districts paid all $6,000 tuition for their students in the 2006-07 school year, while Worthington required full payment from parents for their children to attend Metro School. Read more at http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/061407/Dublin/News/061407-News-372077.html

From ThisWeek German Village, 5/31/07: PHOTO: Architect's rendering of the new downtown high school site plan, showing the parcel CPS plans to purchase at 190 E. Fulton St. More land on tap for downtown high school Thursday, May 31, 2007 By SUE HAGAN ThisWeek Staff Writer Columbus Public Schools plans to purchase an additional acre at the site of a planned downtown alternative high school, allowing room for green space and a bus drop-off area. The district has an agreement to buy the building and parking lot at 190 Fulton St., said Carole Olshavsky, CPS senior executive for capital improvements. The $1.05-million purchase will give CPS control of the entire block bounded by Fourth and Fifth streets on the west and east, and Mound and Fulton streets on the north and south. In 2005, CPS purchased three acres of property there for $2.2-million. But the owner of the additional tract, Dwj Limited Liability Company, was asking $1.4-million for it at the time -- a price district officials said was well above market value. "We thought a million-four was a bit much and decided to cool our heels," said John Rosenberger, a member of the Neighborhood School Development Partnership, the volunteer panel overseeing the CPS school rebuilding effort. The downtown school, billed as an alternative high school but with a career center focus, is slated to open in late 2008. It will be 134,000 square feet in size and has a construction budget of $21-million. Machisa Design, O.A. Spencer and Triad are the architects designing the three-story building. Read more at http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/053107/GermanVillage/News/053107-News-362741.html

From The Booster, 5/30/07: PHOTO:A crowd gathers outside of Indianola Informal Alternative School Thursday evening for one last look at the school which will be closing at the end of this school year. News photo by Dan Trittschuh Parents, alumni bid sad farewell to Indianola building By JENNIFER NOBLIT A large crowd dotted the lawn and even more people roamed the halls and filled the auditorium to say goodbye to a school that touched their lives. The educational program at Indianola Informal Alternative School isn't being eliminated. But it is moving to larger facilities at the former Crestview Middle School, 251 E. Weber Road, in two years. Until a renovation project at Crestview is finished, the students will move to Everett Middle School, 100 W. Fourth Ave. Read more at http://www.snponline.com/NEWS5-30/5-30_colindianola.html

From the 5/28/07 Dispatch: Schools' inclusion bid fuzzy Columbus district's recordkeeping falls short in push to involve local contractors Monday, May 28, 2007 3:26 AM By Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Records at the Ohio School Facilities Commission show that the district paid Smoot Elford Resource $128,484 in fees and $214,000 in direct hourly expenses for Smoot employees to administer the LEDE program. It has budgeted an additional $270,000 in bond money for the program. The district goal is to steer 20 percent of all construction dollars to LEDEs. Businesses qualify as LEDEs if they are either based in Franklin County or most of their employees live within the district, and they are majority-owned by people with net worths of $750,000 or less. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/28/lede.ART_ART_05-28-07_B1_306RHFO.html?type=rss&cat=21

From the 5/25/07 Dispatch: Columbus schools will keep promise on spending growth -- barely Friday, May 25, 2007 3:22 AM By Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Fiscal accountability was the theme of the 2004 Columbus Public Schools operating-levy campaign, but it will be creative accounting that will let the district keep its promise to limit spending growth to 3 percent a year. Under a plan endorsed by the district's Audit and Accountability Committee yesterday, the district would put off until the end of next school year recording as an expense any of the money it used to prop up its financially troubled food-services division. The five-year financial forecast that Kinneer presented last week projected that food services will owe the general fund almost $14 million by 2010. But it appears the board will keep its promise to the voters. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/25/food.ART_ART_05-25-07_B5_RD6QPHV.html

From The Booster, 5/23/07: District enrollment drops, but revenues remain strong The Columbus district lost another 500 students since its October count. By JENNIFER NOBLIT While student enrollment continues to decline, Columbus Public Schools officials last week reported millions of dollars more in revenue than expected. A five-year financial forecast from district Treasurer Michael Kinneer showed the district collected $26 million more than previously projected. The amount was a variation of 1.1 percent from October projections, he said. A large portion of the surplus in revenue comes from real estate taxes, a increase Kinneer said was caused by a rise in property values and better-than expected collection of delinquent taxes. According to numbers from the treasurer, the district has collected $299 million in real estate taxes so far -- $29 million over projections from October. Kinneer's forecast expects real estate values to continue to increase by 1 percent each year and 3 percent in 2009, after the county's three-year revaluation effort. Read more at http://www.snponline.com/NEWS5-23/5-23_col5yrbudget.htm

From The Booster, 5/16/07: Construction, facelifts continue on district facilities By JENNIFER NOBLIT An overhaul to Columbus Public Schools facilities will take 15 years, but in some areas students get to savor that new-school smell every day. Columbus residents approved a 3.46-mill bond issue in 2002 to fund two out of seven segments of a facilities plan. Work for the first segment is nearly complete. The first segment contained 19 schools -- including the newly opened Arts Impact Middle School Downtown and Shady Lane Elementary School slated to open this fall. Work on the second segment, which includes Fort Hayes High School and Indianola Alternative Elementary School, is under way. While the entire 15-year project includes more than 60 new buildings and renovations to more than 80 schools, Warner said, the district is lucky to have a place to put students while work is done. "One of the unique things with Columbus Public Schools is since we have schools available, we can move students into those schools while their schools are being refurbished or replaced. They're there one or two years so they're in a safe location. They won't have dust falling on their heads or anything," he said. Read more at http://www.snponline.com/NEWS5-16/5-16_colfacilityupdate.html

From the 5/16/07 Dispatch: Columbus schools' proposed budget: $1.2 billion Spending blueprint sees more students leaving for charters, vouchers during 2007-08 term Wednesday, May 16, 2007 3:34 AM By Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Columbus schools would spend about $1.2 billion next school year -- about $22,800 per student -- including local, state, federal and construction-bond funds, according to Superintendent Gene Harris' budget presented yesterday. If the budget is approved by the Board of Education next month, the general fund, the discretionary part of the budget paid for by local property taxes and state aid, would grow by 3 percent next school year to $651.6 million. Budget highlights Details of the Columbus Public Schools' proposed budget for 2007-08: Overview: Spending would climb 3 percent while general-fund revenue would climb 0.3 percent. Charters/vouchers: Nearly 12 percent of the budget -- $78 million -- is slated for students who instead attend charter or private schools. Enrollment: 52,632, down 5.5 percent from the current year Salaries: Teachers will receive 3.25 percent raises and other employees, 3 percent; many also receive "step" increases. But overall spending on personnel services, which includes employee pay, will decline 0.4 percent because of staff reductions. Building operations: $61.4 million, 6 percent more than the current year, though four schools are closing. Higher utility costs related to new buildings account for part of the increase, the district says. Transportation: $48.2 million, 13.4 percent more than the current year. About $12 million is for contracted buses, which largely serve students going to charter or private schools. Source: Columbus Public Schools Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/16/CPSboard.ART_ART_05-16-07_B3_0Q6NUGQ.html?type=rss&cat=21

From the 5/10/07 Dispatch: Health costs cramp district Columbus schools' plight forces higher payments by nonteachers, staff cuts Thursday, May 10, 2007 3:50 AM By Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Soaring health-care costs are continuing to put the squeeze on Columbus Public Schools' budget, even contributing to staff cuts. Claims under the district's self-insured program have increased by about 11 percent each of the past two years, forcing about 1,300 nonteaching employees who chose a preferred-provider plan to pay for more of their prescription-drug costs, said Craig Bickley, district personnel director. "The district -- operating under a Board of Education promise to keep its general-fund expenditure growth to no more than 3 percent a year -- has been forced to reduce staff to help pay for health-care increases, said budget director Hugh Garside. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/10/healthcost.ART_ART_05-10-07_B1_SA6LFIF.html

From the 5/6/07 Dispatch: Schools' local job figures unclear Minority contractors say district construction projects aren't properly monitored Sunday, May 6, 2007 3:52 AM By Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH When the Columbus Board of Education set a goal of hiring district residents for 25 percent of all on-site work on school construction projects, no one could have imagined how perfectly things would work out. A report issued this year on how the program was going said the district had exactly met its 25 percent goal for 2006. Smoot Elford, the construction manager of the $521 million project to build or renovate 38 schools and complete 51 other repair projects, compiled a breakdown: first quarter, 25 percent; second quarter, 25 percent; third quarter, 25 percent; fourth quarter, 25 percent; and work on the separate "warm, safe and dry" program to keep the furnaces and roofs up to par on schools not currently funded for major overhauls, 25 percent. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/06/lede.ART_ART_05-06-07_B1_4H6JSLB.html

From The Booster, 4/25/07: District begins planning for high-growth areas' needs By GARTH BISHOP Columbus school district officials tentatively are planning to build a new school in one of their high-growth areas, and opportunities for more could be on the way. Segment 3 of the district's Facilities Master Plan tentatively calls for a new school in the district's fast-growing northeast corner, west of New Albany. "It seems like a reasonable approach to start providing some space for kids up there that are currently having to travel eight miles on a bus to get to a Columbus public school," said Carole Olshavsky, the district's senior executive of capital improvements. Three other parts of the district are identified as high-growth areas: the northwest corner near Hayden Run and Cosgray roads, the southwest area and the southeast corner near Canal Winchester. "The city is projecting well over 30,000 new individuals in each of those growth areas of the city ... over a 20-year time period," Olshavsky said. Developers in the northeast corner have agreed to provide the city of Columbus with a 20-acre site for a park and a school. "The city gives the land to the schools," said Greg Davies, deputy director of the city's development department. "Then there's a 4-mill community authority that's being established, and 2 of those mills would go to the schools." The district must act quickly if it wants to take advantage of the city's offer -- the site can be used for other purposes if the district does not make a commitment to using it by the end of 2008, officials said. Though the new school is part of Segment 3 of the master plan, that segment has not yet been set in stone, Olshavsky said. Read more at http://www.snponline.com/NEWS4-25/4-25_colCPSgrowth.html

From The Booster, 4/18/07: Many charter school students return to Columbus Some return after the charter school closes, others due to disenchantment with the charter program. By GARTH BISHOP The road that leads Columbus Public Schools students to charter schools is not a one-way street, district officials say. For the 2006-07 school year alone, some 1,400 students have returned to the district from charter schools, said Elaine Bell, executive director of student assistance, intervention and outreach for the district. The number of returning students during the 2005-06 school year was just under 1,300, Bell said. Charter schools are publicly funded educational facilities that use the per-pupil state dollars "assigned" to the student. The home district loses that money when students opt to attend a charter school, sometimes even when the student returns to the district later in the year. For the current school year, CPS officials estimated in the fall that more than 3,400 students had left district schools to attend either charter or private schools. Read more at http://www.snponline.com/NEWS4-18/4-18_colreturns.html

From the 4/15/07 Dispatch: GRAPHIC: Goodbye to long bus ride? CONTINGENT ON TAX INCREASE District plans new K-8 school for city 'island' Sunday, April 15, 2007 Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH It comes with a two-story family room, a secondfloor laundry, artistic lighting, a garden tub and "a New Albany lifestyle." But the feature that surprises most potential buyers about the $229,900 house and others in nearby subdivisions is that they are in the Columbus Public Schools district, said real-estate agent Paula Shepherd. "They?re expecting it to either be Westerville or New Albany" schools, she said. "They?re like, ?You?re kidding me. This is Columbus Public Schools? How could that be?? Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/contentbe/dispatch/2007/04/15/20070415-A1-03.html

From the 4/6/07 Dispatch: Columbus schools lay off 20 teachers in specialty areas Friday, April 6, 2007 3:28 AM By Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Columbus Public Schools mailed layoff notices to 20 teachers yesterday, district spokesman Michael Straughter said. The decision is based on budget constraints, enrollment and staff-allocation formulas, Straughter said. The 20 teachers represent less than a half-percent of the district's almost 4,300 teachers. "The bottom line is we just don't feel we're going to need that many in those classifications," he said. The targeted teachers are eight in physical education, four in business, four in art, two in dance, one in vocal music and one in industrial arts, Straughter said. Read more at http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/04/06/CPScuts.ART_ART_04-06-07_C5_UQ6AAG3.html

From ThisWeek Clintonville, 4/5/07: RENDERING: Artist's rendering of the front elevation of Crestview Elementary. Crestview renovations set for summer Thursday, April 5, 2007 By SUE HAGAN ThisWeek Staff Writer Renovations to Crestview Middle School in Clintonville will begin this summer, to prepare the school for its conversion to a building that will house the Indianola Informal Elementary K-8 program starting in the 2009-2010 school year. The Crestview building has an auditorium and stage, and a secondary gymnasium, which Indianola will use for the dance program. Other features of the Crestview renovation include: * A new entrance into the lowest level will lead directly to the principal's and other central offices, and the media center will extend across the entire front of the first floor. * Two elevators will be installed. * The four small rooms on the fourth floor, which was added in 1926, will be renovated into two larger rooms, for life skills and a science lab. * Two separate playgrounds will be built, one for grades K-3 and the other for older children, four basketball hoops will be installed and some outdoor classroom space planned. * Boys' and girls' bathrooms will be available on all floors. Indianola, which has outgrown its current building, will move to the Everett Middle School building in Victorian Village for the next two years. Read more at http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/040507/Clintonville/News/040507-News-332329.html

From the 6/7/07 Dublin Villager: Council members OK technology agreement with TechColumbus Thursday, June 7, 2007 By BRITTINY DUNLAP Villager Staff Writer Dublin City Council seemed much happier with the revised proposal for a partnership with TechColumbus, a nonprofit company that will help foster new technology companies in Dublin and central Ohio. Council approved the partnership in a 6-0 vote Monday. One aspect of the plan is developing "deal flow," which Deputy City Manager Dana McDaniel defined as the number of entrepreneurial business opportunities being brought forth to justify the need for an "incubator." The incubator is a single facility that would house several start-up companies, allowing them to share resources. Full story at http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/060707/Dublin/News/060707-News-367886.html

From the 4/5/07 Dublin Villager: City to review 'incubator' facility plan Thursday, April 5, 2007 By BRITTINY DUNLAP Villager Staff Writer Funding sources are materializing for a concept designed to foster new technology companies in Dublin and central Ohio. At the heart of the plan will be an "incubator" facility that would be on a site yet to be determined in the city's 1,500-acre Central Ohio Innovation Center at the Route 33-state Route 161 interchange. The incubator would house several start-up companies, allowing them to share resources and be housed in a single 11,500-square-foot facility. The nonprofit TechColumbus, which is involved with the effort, announced Friday the state's Third Frontier Commission awarded a $6.2-million grant for the Entrepreneurial Signature Program (ESP), a regional initiative to increase the number of new technology businesses in the 15-county central Ohio region. Part of the money will be used to establish the Dublin incubator, and a similar facility in New Albany. Full story at http://www.thisweeknews.com/?story=sites/thisweeknews/040507/Dublin/News/040507-News-332284.html