MasonBuzz.com

Carl Weiser reports:

State Rep. Ron Maag, a Lebanon Republican, plans to introduce right-to-work legislation soon – but only for public sector workers.

In a request to fellow House members asking for co-sponsors, Maag wrote: ”Right to Work, also known as “Workplace Freedom,” would eliminate compulsory unionism in Ohio. This means simply that employees would be free to choose whether or not to join a labor union.”

Ohio would be the 25th state to pass right-to-work laws, he said.

• Read Maag’s letter

State Democratic chairman Chris Redfern has already pounced, saying “Here we go again,” a reference to the bitter 2011 battle over Senate Bill 5, which would have reined in the powers and rights of public sector unions.

“Just as SB 5 was soundly rejected by Ohio voters, we expect this unnecessary sideshow – which will do nothing to create more good-paying jobs – to fail, and we intend to hold Governor Kasich accountable for choosing to focus on distractions over Ohio’s middle class,” he said in a statement.

Posted in: Government, News, Ohio |

Tags: Tags: democrats, kasich, lebanon, ohio, politics, representative, republicans, right to work, ron maag, sb5, senate bill 5, union, warren county

The city of Mason, AssureRx Health Inc. and BioOhio are teaming up to hold the Ohio Biomedical & Pharma career fair in Mason today.

Twelve local bioscience companies are expected to participate in the fair, which takes place from 2-6 p.m. at the Mason Municipal Center, 6000 Mason-Montgomery Road.

More than 150 job-seekers are expected to take part in the event, which is free and open to the public.

Companies represented include: Advanced Testing Laboratory, Aerotek Scientific, Alliance Scientific, Amylin Ohio, AptalisPharmatech, Assurex Health, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Forest Pharmaceuticals, Lab Support, Medpace and Patheon Pharmaceuticals

Tours of AssureRx’s health genetics lab and the Mason Community Center will also be offered.  AssureRx develops diagnostic tests that help physicians prescribe optimal medications for neuropsychiatric patients.

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Posted in: Events |

Tags: Tags: assurerx health, bio-medical, bioohio, bioscence, career fair, city of mason, job, mason, ohio

The Associated Press

More good news for the Ohio economy: The state’s per-capita income rose at one of the fastest rates in the nation last year.

That’s according to an analysis by The Dayton Daily News (http://bit.ly/XUcCW3 ), which says the statistic is a sign that the state’s economy is recovering more quickly than that most of the country.

Per-capita personal income includes all earnings such as wages, dividends, interest income and rents. In Ohio, it rose by 1.7 percent to $39,289 between 2011 and 2012. That was a larger increase than all but two other states.

Experts say incomes in Ohio continue to benefit from the revival of the manufacturing industry and the emergence of the oil and gas sector. But, they say, future prosperity depends on diversifying Ohio’s industrial base.

Posted in: News, Ohio |

Tags: Tags: economy, income, ohio, per capita income

The Enquirer

Gov. John Kasich plans to sign a transportation bill that boosts Ohio’s speed limit to 70 mph on rural interstate highways.

The governor is slated to ink the bill during an event Monday in Warrensville Heights, near Cleveland. He’s also expected to highlight the legislation at a later stop in Columbus.

The two-year transportation budget measure sets in motion a $1.5 billion Ohio Turnpike bond sale. It guarantees 90 percent of bond proceeds will go to northern Ohio projects. Toll rates would be capped on E-ZPass users’ car trips of 30 miles or less for 10 years.

The measure also sets the maximum speed limit for interstate freeway outerbelts in urban areas at 65 mph and on freeways in congested areas at 55 mph.

Posted in: News, Ohio |

Tags: Tags: 70, governor, John Kasich, ohio, speed limit, transportation bill

Richard S. Oliver reports:

Without immigrants, the Cincinnati region’s population would barely be growing, new Census Bureau estimates released today show. Immigrants also may have stopped Hamilton County’s population decline and helped to bolster population gains in Butler, Boone and Warren counties, according to the estimates.

The new estimates have the 15-county region growing at a 0.7 percent rate from the 2010 Census to July 2012. That helped the Cincinnati region tie for 252nd place in population growth among 381 metro areas nationwide. Without immigrants, the growth rate would have been 0.3 percent and the region would have tied for 282nd in growth.

The region’s increased population from an international influx, combined with births exceeding deaths, took the edge off more than 13,000 people who left here for other locations in the United States. The region now has an estimated 2,128,663 residents.

Only 19 of 88 counties in Ohio (including Butler, Clermont and Warren) have seen a population increase since the 2010 Census, according to the new estimates. In Kentucky, only 47 of 120 counties saw a population increase. Thirty-five of Indiana’s 92 counties saw populations rise; the 57 that didn’t include the three in Southeast Indiana.

“If you look around the country at the markets that have been and still are growing rapidly, almost all of them are magnets for international immigration,” says Janet Harrah, senior director of the Center for Economic Analysis and Development at Northern Kentucky University.

Warren County was the fourth-fastest growing county in Ohio, according to the new estimates. But half of its growth came from births exceeding deaths, not people moving into the suburban county, the estimates show. Of the newcomers to the county, roughly one in 3 three came from a foreign country. Warren did not make the list of the nation’s 100 fastest-growing counties; only Hamilton County, Ind., a suburban county north of Indianapolis, ended up on the top 100 from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

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Posted in: News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: census bureau, cincinnati, immigrants, ohio, procter & gamble, warren county

Carl Weiser reports:

Ohioans could legally drive 70 miles per hour on the state’s freeways – up from a maximum of 65 mph now – under a Senate plan.

The speed limit hike, which has been debated at the Statehouse for years, would apply highways outside of congested urban areas, Gongwer News Service reports.

Senators included the change in a substitute version of the turnpike bonding plan (HB 51) that was also combined with the separate transportation budget (HB 35).

The Dispatch reports that West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky are among the 35 states nationally that, as of last year, h ad posted speed limits at or above 70 mph on some segments of their road systems. The Ohio Turnpike, which is run independently, raised its speed limit to 70 mph in 2011.

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: 70, ohio, senate, speed limit

Michael D. Clark reports:

Posted in: News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: bigger is better, excellent ranking, high school, largest, mason, mason community center, mason high school, national merit finalists, neighborhood schools, ohio, taxes, tracey carson

Christa Criddle of the Ohio Auditor’s Southwest Ohio Regional Liaison office presents the Auditor of State Award with Distinction to Deerfield Township Fiscal Officer John Wahle. Also pictured are Deerfield Township trustees, from left, Pete Patterson, Chris Romano and Dan Corey. Photo provided

Ohio Auditor Dave Yost’s office this month honored Deerfield Township with the Auditor of State Award with Distinction for good financial record-keeping.

The award is bestowed on local governments and school districts upon completion of a financial audit that meets the criteria for a “clean” audit report.

Among the criteria considered are filing timely reports and a lack of errors, citations, questioned costs and deficiencies.

About 2,900 audits are eligible for the Auditor of State Award each year. Less than 11 percent of those organizations receive the Auditor of State award and only about one percent earn the Auditor of State Award with Distinction, according to the state auditor’s office.

Christa Criddle, a representative of the Auditor’s Southwest Ohio Regional Liaison office, presented Deerfield Township Fiscal Officer John R. Wahle with the award at the township’s March 5 board of trustees meeting.

Wahle is a three-time recipient of audit report awards from the Government Finance Officers Association.

Posted in: Deerfield Twp., News |

Tags: Tags: audit, auditor, auditor of state award, dave yost, deerfield township, john wahle, ohio, with distinction

Bowdeya Tweh reports:

Ohio’s unemployment rate rose in January to 7 percent as the number of people without work rose by 14,000 from December, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Friday.

The state department said there were 399,000 unemployed Ohio workers in January based on data adjusted for seasonal swings in employment. Nonfarm wage and salary employment increased 3,800 to 5,178,800 from December’s revised figure.

Participation in the labor force was 63.5 percent in January, although it remained lower than the January 2012 rate of 64.1 percent. One year ago, Ohio’s jobless rate was 7.6 percent.

The education and health services sector had the biggest employment gain in January from December, by adding 8,000 jobs. State government employment had the biggest dip from the last month in 2012, by losing 1,800 jobs.

Nonfarm payroll employment in Ohio is up 29,100 from January 2012.

The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics also said Friday the nation’s unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percentage points to 7.7 percent in February, which was its lowest level since December 2008. Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 236,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis from January.

Posted in: Business, News, Ohio |

Tags: Tags: jobs, ohio, ohio department of job and family services, unemployment rate

Bowdeya Tweh reports:

Walmart says it has installed solar panels on the rooftops of 12 Ohio Walmart and Sam’s Club stores – adding to the retailer’s distinction as the nation’s largest onsite green power generator.

The installations include stores in Fairfax, Franklin, Mason, Middletown, Milford, Loveland, Xenia and two in Cincinnati.

Installations of solar panels will add 6 million kilowatt hours of generation production, which is enough energy to power more than 820 homes. The electricity generated is expected to supply between 5 to 20 percent of each store’s overall electricity use.

Each solar power system has enough panels to cover 11 football fields.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership rated Walmart as the largest onsite green power generator in the nation. Walmart said its goal is to be powered 100 percent by renewable energy.

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Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: business, energy, green, mason, ohio, solar, solar panels, solar power system, walmart