GREEN HILLS IS HIRING - Dietary Aides & Cooks 3 WAYS TO APPLY… ATTEND Open Interviews (Tuesdays 2 to 5 p.m.), CALL for appointment (937.465.5065), ONLINE at (greenhillscareers.org) 6557 U.S. 68 South | West Liberty BELLEFONTAINE EXAMINER Vol. 128 • No. 267 Wednesday, October 30, 2019 75 CENTS ONE MORE FORECAST Tomorrow Nationals defeat Astros to force 56º 26º Game 7. ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE @ www.examiner.org Scary weather forecast prompts trick-or-treat changes BY NATE SMITH A cold, wet forecast has Center and DeGraff will be er.” Similarly, village of Mayor Ben Stahler said. “Rain will likely be done EXAMINER STAFF WRITER already prompted some Saturday, Nov. 2, from 1 to Ridgeway Fire Department “Some years it’s been beau- by Thursday evening, but [email protected] area municipalities, includ- 2:30 p.m., village officials announced in a social tiful, other years it’s been windy and cold conditions ing the villages of Belle have reported from munici- media post that trick-or- cold, snowy or rainy.” will combine to push wind Beggar’s night festivities Center, DeGraff, West palities. treat there has been Stahler pointed out that chills into the 30s for the in Bellefontaine and across Liberty, West Mansfield and West Liberty trick-or- rescheduled to 3:30 to 5 typically beggar’s night in evening,” NWS reports. some of Logan County Rushsylvania to postpone treat will also be Saturday, p.m., Saturday. Logan County is set for the “Thursday will see temper- remain scheduled for 6 to trick-or-treat until this from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The association of Logan fourth Thursday in October, atures drop about 25 but the mayor’s association 7:30 p.m., Thursday, and are weekend. Villages of West County mayor’s sets the degrees from early-morn- wanted to take the opportu- set to proceed “rain or Temperatures forecast Mansfield and Rushsylvania date for beggar’s night dur- ing highs near 60 into the shine,” city government by U.S. National Weather each host trick-or-treat on nity this year to align local mid-30s around midnight.” ing a regular, quarterly trick-or-treats with the actu- reported Tuesday after- Service in Wilmington are Sunday, Nov. 3, from 5 to Ominous late-week meeting, usually in late July al Oct. 31 date of Halloween. noon. set to turn sharply colder 6:30 p.m., mayors Kim forecasts affected beggar’s or August. Rain is expected today, But officials in five coun- throughout today and espe- Kerns and Phillip Wright “Historically, beggar’s and will last through the night plans for municipali- ty villages conversing cially Thursday, when wind said. night is chosen for its date overnight hours and into ties not just in the immedi- amongst themselves ulti- chills and real-feel tempera- The city of Urbana has on the calendar, and not Thursday morning, accord- ate vicinity, but throughout mately decided to postpone tures may well fall below postponed beggar’s night necessarily the crazy weath- ing to a forecast from the the entire region. beggar’s night Saturday and freezing. until 6 to 8 p.m., Saturday, er we can get in late National Weather Service in Sunday. Trick-or-treat in Belle citing “questionable weath- October,” Bellefontaine Wilmington. See TREATS on Page 3 Rushcreek residents to decide on electricity aggregation initiative AMANDA TONOLI EXAMINER STAFF WRITER [email protected] Rushcreek Township voters will decide whether or not they support an electricity aggregation program initiative on the Nov. 5 ballot. “Aggregation is when a group of customers join togeth- er to form a single, larger customer that buys energy for its members. A large buying group may be able to get a bet- ter price for the group members than you can get on your own,” according to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio website. The initiative will allow Aspen Energy Corp. to com- bine residential and small business/small commercial energy “loads” together to pursue a better price for Rushcreek energy consumers. Aspen currently serves about 20,000 customers with nearly 40 communities that have aggregation programs. “This is really the best way to bring a value to the com- munity,” said Jay Sell, Aspen Energy Corp. major accounts associate. The purpose of an aggregation program is to get a bet- ter deal for everyone — better than they could get on their own, Sell explained. The practice of aggregation isn’t new. There are more than 300 communities in Ohio partici- EXAMINER PHOTO | MANDY LOEHR pating in an aggregation program. Those eligible for the Riverside Elementary School kindergarten teacher Mandy Cotterman, center, speaks Tuesday during a literacy round program are Rushcreek Township residents who are not with another supplier other than Dayton Power & Light table discussion with Ohio Department of Education members who visited the school to glean insights into the dis- Company, or on an existing co-op or on a current con- trict’s reading success. tract. Rick Kennedy, trustee chairman, estimated about 60 percent of Rushcreek residents will be eligible for the pro- The science behind reading success gram. If passed, Aspen will negotiate a price per kilowatt ODE committee visits Riverside hour with about 11 aggregators, ultimately choosing one energy supplier for the entire township. to glean insights on literacy gains “The goal is to bring a savings to the community,” Sell BY MANDY LOEHR said. state testing. Riverside was The initiative allows residents to opt out within the EXAMINER STAFF WRITER one of 11 school districts in first 21 days with no fee. Residents also have the option of [email protected] Ohio to receive an A letter opting out at anytime during the agreement at no cost, as grade on the K-3 Literacy well. If a customer opts out, they can always choose to opt A literacy training class- standard on the state back in at no charge. room at Riverside Local report card, as previously If passed, the program would be implemented in Schools featuring posters detailed in the Examiner. March or April, and residents would start seeing the bene- detailing some of the sci- For this report card sec- fits of the program on their bills perhaps a month or two ence behind reading, tion from the 2018-19 after the start date of the program — likely in May or June. including the portions of school year, Riverside’s 94 Chad Dolbeer, Aspen senior energy consultant, said it is difficult to know what the savings will look like, but the brain involved in the percent grade in this com- Aspen will do everything it can to come in with a lower process and a “sound wall” ponent involved moving 47 price. picturing the parts of the out of 50 students from off- “We will try to get the most savings we can for the mouth that are responsible track to on-track with their community,” Sell said. for making letter sounds, reading scores. The previ- If passed, there will be two more public hearings about provided the backdrop ous school year, the build- the aggregation program, one during the day between the during the last three school ing had 54.8 percent of hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and one after business hours. years for all elementary their third-graders score EXAMINER PHOTO | MANDY LOEHR “Those will be round-table discussions,” Sell staff to undergo extensive proficient on the Ohio Linda Haycock of the Ohio Department of Education explained. literacy training that has Third Grade reading test. District 1, second from the right, shakes hands with The no opt-out fee is the real benefit to the communi- paid large dividends in “This is really wonderful Riverside Superintendent Scott Mann Tuesday while ty, he added. “It is giving something that might help and saying you terms of student success. and exciting and I know also congratulating Elementary Principal Mason Bryan can get out of it at no cost,” Sell said. Tuesday in the same there has been so much and Literacy Coach Brenda Lowery with a certificate Kennedy said Rushcreek Township Trustees are “very classroom, Ohio time put into this,” Ohio honoring the district’s large gains in K-6 literacy. much on board” with the aggregation initiative. Department of Education Department of Education Mann told the visitors that in the classroom. “The three of us (trustees) are on board with the public representatives from the District 1 representative the success for the district “I am the luckiest super- having the benefit of energy savings through the aggrega- Committee on Teaching, Linda Haycock of Lima told began with the district’s intendent in Ohio,” he told tion program,” he said. “We’ve been sold on it .The three Leading and Learning the staff during the visit. receipt three years ago of the committee during a of us recommend DP&L customers support it.” Committee along with “You had this vision and the ODE’s Early Literacy roundtable discussion The opt-out-at no-cost feature is the biggest selling State Support Region 6 you made it happen. Grant, and as a result, involving his staff and the point, Kennedy continued, in addition to the kilowatt per members visited the dis- “Reading is so vital to Margo Shipp, regional early ODE representatives from hour savings. trict to glean insights into our everyday life. It is set- literacy specialist for State around the state, some “We have an organization (Aspen) watching the mar- some of the training back- ting up your students up Support Region 6, has been who had traveled four kets, negotiating for the best price, staying informed (and) ground and how the school for success in any path they working alongside district hours to the school.