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Remember those blue skies?

Posted by Paula Scott on January 12, 2023 - 10:45am

These days, blue skies in Bluffton have been fleeting. Photographer Levi Sutkay captured a double dose reflected in the Riley Creek as it passes under the Cherry St. bridge.

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BHS girls basketball defeats Elida

Posted by Staff on January 12, 2023 - 7:02am

By Cort Reynolds

The visiting Bluffton High School girls basketball team put three players in double figures to defeat Elida 45-39 in a non-league contest Tuesday evening, January 10.

Bluffton improved to 9-4 with their second road victory. The Bulldog girls dropped to .500 at 7-7 with the defeat.

The Pirate girls held a narrow 16-14 lead after the first period. Elida led 12-11 before Sami Scoles canned a triple and fed Julia Mehaffie nicely for a layup. 

The visitors stretched the margin to 29-21 at halftime.

Section: 
Sports
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4-H online enrollment for Allen County

Posted by Staff on January 12, 2023 - 7:02am

It is time again for Allen County 4-H Enrollment.

Visit the OSU extension website for information including:

Section: 
Regional news
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Having a Voice

Posted by Staff on January 12, 2023 - 7:01am

By Karen Kier
Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team

The power of having a voice is important so one can be active and have a participatory role in making or influencing a decision.  At times we can think of this as it relates to politics and our role in making our voice heard.  The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum offers a course for 3rd to 6th graders titled Making Your Voice Heard.  The course teaches about civic engagement and making a difference by writing letters.  The goal is to use the written word to effect change in communities and government.  

Besides the written word, we can use verbal communication to inspire, create, and innovate.  We can use our voice to create movies, television shows, art, theater, music, and poetry.  When I hear the voice in conversation, I often think of the television show The Voice. An interesting concept of judges blindly listening to someone’s voice without any other visual clues.  

The music competition first aired on April 26, 2011.  The show completed season 22 on December 13, 2022.  For those who watch, country music’s Blake Shelton is the only original coach on The Voice and he plans to finish out season 23 and walk away from coaching.  

How does one’s voice correlate to one’s health?

Section: 
Health Services
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Zoning board approves variances for the conversion of 104 E. Elm property into apartments

Posted by Staff on January 12, 2023 - 7:00am

By Liz Gordon-Hancock

The Village of Bluffton Board of Zoning & Building Appeals, which is made up of members Tom Downey, Tony Pinks and Dave Miller, met on Tuesday, January 10 to hear a proposal from Ryan and Jessica Meyer asking for permission to convert the former True Word Tabernacle church at 104 East Elm St. into a multiple apartment facility.

The Meyers’ proposal required permission for variances to certain Chapters and Sections of Village code, involving conditional use (Chapter 153.142), required yardage for a residential property (Chapter 153.123 & 153.145), and off-street parking (Chapter 153.306).

Jessica Meyer gave a detailed presentation on their proposal to convert the church into 8 individual apartment units with modern amenities and private entrances. 

Over twenty community members attended, many of whom spoke in favor of the proposal.

The Zoning Board unanimously approved all three variances required.

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Section: 
Public Meetings
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EMS chief proposes weekend on-call incentives

Posted by Paula Scott on January 12, 2023 - 6:47am

UPDATED 1:00 P.M. JANUARY 11
The Icon is providing expanded and corrected descriptions of two incentive program options provided by EMS Chief Jan Basinger. The proposal document is attached.

EMS Chief went on 486 of 808 calls in 2022

By Paula Scott

On January 9, the Bluffton Council safety services committee met to hear a proposal by EMS Chief Jan Basinger to provide on-call and service frequency incentives for EMS volunteer crew members. He was responding to a 2021 request from the council to create a bonus program for EMS members.

The reason for the new proposal is that calls for service are steadily increasing while EMS volunteer personnel numbers are decreasing.

Section: 
Public Meetings
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