Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued March 22 at 9:27PM EDT until March 22 at 10:15PM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)

SVRILN
The National Weather Service in Wilmington has issued a
* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Shelby County in west central Ohio... Northwestern Champaign County in west central Ohio... Western Logan County in west central Ohio... Darke County in west central Ohio... Southern Auglaize County in west central Ohio... Southeastern Mercer County in west central Ohio... Miami County in west central Ohio...
* Until 1015 PM EDT.
* At 927 PM EDT, severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near New Bremen to near Fountain City, moving east at 55 mph.
HAZARD...Quarter size hail.
SOURCE...Law enforcement.
IMPACT...Minor damage to vehicles is possible.
* Locations impacted include... Troy, Sidney, Piqua, Bellefontaine, Greenville, Tipp City, West Milton, New Bremen, Minster, Versailles, Covington, Arcanum, Newport, Bradford, Anna, Fort Loramie, Jackson Center, Russells Point, De Graff, and Pleasant Hill.
This includes I-75 in Ohio between mile markers 67 and 106.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued March 22 at 5:43PM EDT until March 23 at 12:00AM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 73 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS
IN INDIANA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 8 COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL INDIANA
FAYETTE UNION WAYNE
IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA
DEARBORN FRANKLIN OHIO RIPLEY SWITZERLAND
IN KENTUCKY THIS WATCH INCLUDES 3 COUNTIES
IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY
BOONE CAMPBELL KENTON
IN OHIO THIS WATCH INCLUDES 32 COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL OHIO
DELAWARE FAIRFIELD FAYETTE FRANKLIN HOCKING LICKING MADISON PICKAWAY UNION
IN SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO
ADAMS HIGHLAND PIKE ROSS SCIOTO
IN SOUTHWEST OHIO
BROWN BUTLER CLERMONT CLINTON HAMILTON WARREN
IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO
AUGLAIZE CHAMPAIGN CLARK DARKE GREENE HARDIN LOGAN MERCER MIAMI MONTGOMERY PREBLE SHELBY
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ABERDEEN, ADA, ALEXANDRIA, AURORA, BATESVILLE, BEAVERCREEK, BELLEFONTAINE, BELLEVUE, BLANCHESTER, BRIGHT, BROOKVILLE, BURLINGTON, CAMDEN, CELINA, CHILLICOTHE, CIRCLEVILLE, COLDWATER, CONNERSVILLE, COVINGTON, DAY HEIGHTS, DAYTON, DELAWARE, DILLSBORO, DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI, DOWNTOWN COLUMBUS, DOWNTOWN DAYTON, EATON, ERLANGER, FAIRBORN, FAIRFIELD, FLORENCE, FORT THOMAS, FRANKLIN, GEORGETOWN, GREENDALE, GREENFIELD, GREENVILLE, HAMILTON, HIDDEN VALLEY, HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, HILLSBORO, INDEPENDENCE, KENTON, KETTERING, LANCASTER, LANDEN, LAWRENCEBURG, LEBANON, LIBERTY, LOGAN, LONDON, MANCHESTER, MARYSVILLE, MASON, MIDDLETOWN, MILAN, MILFORD, MINSTER, MOUNT CARMEL, MOUNT ORAB, MOUNT REPOSE, MULBERRY, NEW BREMEN, NEWARK, NEWPORT, OAKBROOK, OSGOOD, OXFORD, PEEBLES, PICKERINGTON, PIKE LAKE, PIKETON, PIQUA, PLAIN CITY, PORTSMOUTH, RICHMOND, RIPLEY, RISING SUN, SEAMAN, SIDNEY, SPRINGBORO, SPRINGFIELD, ST. MARYS, SUMMERSIDE, TIPP CITY, TROY, URBANA, VERSAILLES, VEVAY, WAPAKONETA, WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, WAVERLY, WEST COLLEGE CORNER, WEST JEFFERSON, WEST UNION, WHEELERSBURG, WILMINGTON, WINCHESTER, WITHAMSVILLE, AND XENIA.

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

More farms might face restrictions

Regulations discussed at area meeting

By Sydney Albert

FRYBURG - Farmers in the St. Marys, Auglaize, Little Auglaize and Ottawa river watersheds may soon be required to meet stricter fertilizer regulations after Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order.

The Auglaize County Township Association members heard on Wednesday that Kasich has signed an executive order asking the director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture to consider all or portions of the watersheds as "watersheds in distress."

Other watersheds included in the executive order are Platter Creek, Little Flat Rock Creek, Eagle Creek and Blanchard River. All are part of the western basin of Lake Erie watershed and are being targeted due to their high nutrient levels, "especially levels of phosphorus from fertilizer runoff and soil erosion," according the governor's office.

Consent from the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission is needed for the declaration. If Kasich's proposal is approved, the Grand Lake watershed will no longer be the only one in Ohio designated as distressed.

State Rep. Craig Riedel, R-Defiance, who spoke at the township association meeting, said the move would mean more fertilizer regulations for farmers in the area. He expressed disappointment, saying he'd hoped for a more collaborative and voluntary effort between farmers and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Distressed watershed rules ban manure application between Dec. 15 and March 1 unless a landowner receives state permission. Nutrient-management plans and requirements for the storage, handling, land application and control of residual farm products, manure and erosion of sediment would need to be established under the executive order.

A distressed watershed designation can be removed only after the ODA director has confirmed the "sustained recovery, restoration and mitigation of factors leading to the original designation," according to a news release.

Nutrient runoff from agricultural fertilizer is considered a leading contributor to harmful algal blooms that have plagued the western end of Lake Erie, according to documents from the governor's office. Ohio has invested more than $3 billion since July 2011 to improve the Lake Erie watershed, the documents read.

Additionally, Riedel said lawmakers had passed the Clean Lake 2020 Plan, which would put aside more money to clean up Lake Erie, conduct research on uses for dredge materials and help end the open-lake disposal of dredged materials. Riedel said more funding is needed and open-lake disposal of dredge materials has only "stirred the pot" of potential algal blooms.

Archive of July 12th, 2018

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Stadium won't be ready for season

ST. MARYS - The St. Marys Roughriders football team will call Skip Baughman Stadium home for one last season.

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