At 9 p.m. Thursday, the Oxford Life Squad responded to a report of a drug overdose. The Oxford Police Department (OPD) joined the Life Squad to assist. A male was home alone, and when others walked inside they found him slumped in a chair unresponsive and not breathing. OPD said upon their arrival he was breathing, but still unresponsive. Evidence of drug abuse was in the male's proximity, according to OPD. The male was transported to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital for further evaluation.
On Saturday around 2:30 a.m., an OPD officer noticed a young woman sitting in Skyline Chili, 1 E. High St., with a plastic cup of pink liquid and a dainty cocktail straw, resembling one purchased at a bar, OPD said. The OPD officer went up to the female and asked where she got the drink. She responded saying she got it at "New Bar," officially known as The Woods. She also admitted being 18 years of age, OPD said. She was then taken into custody. During processing, OPD found a fictitious driver's license showing her to be 21 years of age, OPD said. The female is a student at The Ohio State University. She was charged with sales to and use by underage persons, certain acts prohibited and open container.
Around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, OPD officers were sent to Village Green Apartments in response to an unwanted subject knocking on an apartment door. The caller said they had told the subject to go away and he would not. When OPD arrived, they found the subject still in front of the apartment. He was interviewed and asked if he knew who lived there, and he said he did not know, according to OPD. Officers detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage, glassy eyes and slow, slurred speech. When asked his name and date of birth, the male gave a name with the wrong spelling and a date of birth a few months off, OPD said. The officers found this information to be incorrect and when the suspect realized the police were not going to let him go, he fessed up to his real name and date of birth. He was found to be 19 years of age and lived in Flower Hall. The male admitted to consuming alcoholic beverages and was taken into custody, OPD said. While being transported, he continually asked why he was in trouble and said he didn't know the resident of the apartment and believed he was lost. The male was charged with sales to and use by underage persons, disorderly conduct and public intoxication.
By Caitlin P. Lamb For The Miami Student
Miami University alumna Kim Eichold tutors English as a Second Language at Fairfield Central Elementary, one of two schools in the Fairfield School District that would have been slated for demolition had the district's levy passed in last week's election. Instead, both Fairfield and Middletown City Schools' bonds were turned down at the ballot box. The demolition has been put off.
"[Students] deserve to learn in an environment that isn't full of asbestos and mold," Eichold said, lamenting the bond's failure.
Miami junior Lauren Scott currently student-teaches at Fairfield Central Elementary.
Projected to raise $61 million and grant access to $19 million in state funding, the bond would have replaced Central Elementary, which has been in operation since 1929, as well as the Fairfield Freshman School, built in the early 1950's, according to Scott.
"Fairfield Central Elementary doesn't have air conditioning, and it's really miserable," Scott said.
While she was never a Fairfield resident, Scott said she was in favor of the bond.
According to Scott, while some may argue that the existing building simply be outfitted with air conditioning, Fairfield staff were told in a recent meeting that to do so would be more expensive than to build a new school.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
"As a Miami alumna and employee of the Fairfield School District, I am affected as I see children sitting in classrooms that are 96 degrees and struggling to hear their teachers over the six fans in the classroom blowing around hot air," Eichold said.
The bond would have cost a household valued at $100,000 about $91.70 per year. The decision about the levy divided the city during a time when people are tightening their already tight budgets, according to Fairfield City School Districts website.
Another local school district, Middletown City Schools, also had a bond fail that was intended to replace their 90-year-old middle school.
From Cleveland's Westlake School District, which now faces cuts in art programs as well as in honors and Advanced Placement classes, to Columbus's Westerville School District, that will soon have cuts in sports programs and teacher positions, districts across the state are deciding how they will tighten their budgets and hold on until another levy or bond may be put on the ballot, according to NPR State Impact's website.
Out of the 193 school districts in Ohio that had bonds, levies or a combination of the two on the recent ballot, 116 saw success. Lakota School District was one of those winning districts.
"If the [Lakota] levy didn't pass, more teachers would have been laid off, all of the busing would have been cut and students wouldn't have the opportunity to take music, art and Advanced Placement classes," Miami junior Phu Nguyen, a Lakota West graduate, said.
Lakota's successful levy prevented such cuts.
"We have been in a tight financial situation, and all of a sudden you realize that the wheel is about to fall off the cart," Lakota School Board President Joan Powell said. "This is not a mandate by any means. It was a tight vote, which shows that we have work to do."
The levy combination passed by less than 1 percent of the vote, according to the Butler County Board of Elections.
As families continue to be strict with their budgets, decisions and opinions regarding where money needs to be spent will only become more difficult.
"We most likely will have another bond on the ballot in May," Middletown School Board president Marcia Andrew said. "We are holding back the kids if we can't provide an educational environment for them to graduate competitively."
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.