Chillicothe Gazette from Chillicothe, Ohio • Page A3

CHILLICOTHE GAZETTE II 3A MIKE THRONE Editor 740-772-9350 LOCAL Second-half tax payments due uly 10 Second-half real estate ax payments for Ross County are due July 10 and Treasurer Jerry Byers is re- inding taxpayers that missing the deadline will mean paying more. Ohio law requires the treasurer to charge a 10 percent penalty on all payments received or postmarked after the due date. Taxpayers are asked to contact the office if they have changed heir mailing address or if they have not received their bill. Taxpayers who receive a separate manufactured home statement ave until July 31to complete those pay- ents. The office does offer a monthly budget plan that is designed to help taxpayers set the money aside for their taxes.

The plan allows a taxpayer to pay the semi-annual taxes in monthly installments. Payments toward next taxes begin in August after all taxes due on the property for this year are paid. Information on how to sign up for the plan i included with the tax bill and is available on the website. The office, in the Ross County Courthouse, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Monday through Friday except holidays. It will be closed for the Independence Day holiday. The office will remain open until 6 p.m. the final week of the real estate tax col- ection. For more information, contact Treasure Jerry Byers at 740-702-3080, by email a or by visiting the website at www.rosstreasurer- com.

Holiday pool party details eleased The city has released etails of its Fourth of July pool party from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Donald M. Smith Memorial Pool in Yoctangee Park. A ccording to Parks and Recreation Director Dave Tener, the pool will be open uring normal hours from noon to 5:30 p.m., then will close until 6 p.m. when everyone in the community will be welcomed back for the pool party.

Admission for the evening session will be $5 for a dults and $4 for children, with no pool asses honored that evening. The event will be a fundraiser to help offset the cost of the fireworks display that night just after dark. During the event, the slide will operating and there will be food, games a nd fun activities for everyone. OU board hikes tuition rates Students at Ohio University-Chillicothe can expect to pay a ittle more in tuition this year after the Ohio University Board of Trustees last eek approved tuition hikes as part of their Fiscal Year 2016 budget. According to the university, lower- division tuition at the Chillicothe, Lancas- er and Zanesville regional campuses will increase 1.96 percent, while upper division uition at all regional campuses will increase by 1.11percent.

he resolution approving the tuition hikes also includes approval of fees for a handful of new, revised or renamed off- ampus graduate programs in the Ohio University system, recommended new or increased student fees for the Athens and egional campuses and a required reaffirming of the current fees for eLearning Undergraduate Programs and for Correctional Education. The fiscal year 2016 budget also inc ludes a 2 percent raise pool for university faculty and staff, with final raises contingent on whether assumptions on the inal state biennial budget were accurate. The budget, according to the university, is also the first one to incorporate the Ohio Guarantee, which it defines as comprehensive tuition model that ensures a cost to attend Ohio including tuition, room, board and most student fees hold constant for 12 consecutive ADAMH board honors retiring embers The Paint Valley Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health ervices Board recent honored a trio of retiring board members Judy Dixon, oan Pelfrey and Sue Turner for their service. Dixon served two terms on the board, having served as vice chair and serving as oard chair since 2012. She was appointed the Pike County Commissioners in 2007 and currently serves as executive director the Pike County Outreach Council.

elfrey also served two terms on the board, having been appointed in 2009 by the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. She is a retired alcohol and drug addiction professional. Turner, during her two terms after being appointed in 2007 by the Fayette County Commissioners, has served as board finance chair. She retired from the Fayette County Board of Developmental Disabilities. Paint Valley ADAMH helps residents dealing with drug and alcohol addiction a nd needing mental health services in oss, Pike, Fayette, Highland and Pickaway counties.

LOCAL BRIEFS Plentiful produce at JESS Halle Minney, left, and Petra Minney, 2, shop for produce from Patricia Hester Tuesday at Hester's Produce stand on Western Avenue near Plyleys Lane. Brace yourself for a potentially confusing fall ballot with two competing marijuana proposals: One would legalize 10 pot farms, and another would prohibit such monopolies in the state constitution. On Tuesday, ResponsibleOhio delivered 695,273 signatures to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to place its marijuana legalization effort on the fall ballot one day before the July 1 deadline. The proposal would create 10 pot farms across Ohiofor commercial marijuana production and allow individuals older than 21to grow the crop for personal use. is about democracy.

This is doing what the statehouse has not been willing to do for the last 18 Re- ponsibleOhio executive director Ian James told reporters. will give voters a chance to vote on medical marijuana as well as personal use of A least those signatures ust be valid for ResponsibleOhio to ake the November ballot. Husted, ith the help of local elections officials, has until July 21to check that those circulating petitions followed the rules and that people who signed petitions were registered voters. Husted has already warned elections officials about potential voter fraud in signatures collected by Re- sponsibleOhio, including signatures from people who will be younger than 18 on Election Day, fake addresses, illegible forms and duplicate signatures. Lawmakers also will have a ballot initiative to block monopolies, such as 10 pot farms, from being placed into the state constitution.

The change, which would not affect the already approved casinos, would let groups ask voters to allow language giving certain businesses exclusive rights to marijuana sales, for example, and ask vot- rs to legalize marijuana on the same ballot. Husted had warned that, if both proposals were put before voters in the fall, the ban on monopolies ould essentially trump the marijuana egalization effort because initiatives roposed by the Legislature take ef- ect immediately. Changes made Tuesday evening would allow the initiative to trump the marijuana proposal no matter what. If voters pass both proposals, a lawsuit is likely. Opponents of proposal say wealthy donors are trying to buy exclusive rights to marijuana sales in Ohio.

Marijuana advocates say lawmakers are stripping away right to decide which proposal they prefer. If placed on the fall ballot, Respon- initiative would be only the second marijuana proposal ever considered by Ohio voters. The first would have created drug treatment for individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes, including sale and possession of marijuana. The 2002 initiative failed by 67 percent of the vote. 695K signatures delivered or Ohio pot farm plan Another proposal would ban such monopolies JESSIE BALMERT GANNETT OHIO ARepublican lawmaker wants to protect clergy rom performing same-sex mar- iages.

The proposal, circulated Tuesday Rep. Nino Vitale, R-Urbana, would allow pastors, clergy and ministers to abstain from performing same-sex arriages and officiate only ceremonies line with their deeply held religious It would not apply to florists, bakeries or other businesses. really just focuses on the religious community not being forced to something against their deeply held Vitale said. The proposal was modeled after a Texas law signed in June. U.S.

Supreme Court deci- ion, which legalized same-sex mar- iage in Ohio and several other states, was not enough to protect religious eaders, Vitale said. had many people say they are fearful of what might happen to them a nd their church property, and how it is going to be Vitale said. But Chris Geggie, campaign man- a ger for Why Marriage Matters Ohio, said religious leaders are already protected from performing ceremonies by the First Amendment. I think it accomplishes anything but waste the Geggie said. Vitale said his approach differs from the Indiana and Arizona reli- gious-freedom bills that sparked national firestorms, causing Republic ans to kill similar legislation in Ohio.

ov. John Kasich and House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, ave suggested support reli- ious-freedom bills if they pass in conjunction with legislation prohibiting ousing and employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Ohio is one of 33 states where gay couples an marry but be fired for showing their wedding pictures in the office, Geggie said. But not part of proposal, and conservative Republicans have declined to sign on to non- iscrimination proposals in the past. Bill would protect pastors rom officiating gay weddings JESSIE BALMERT GANNETT OHIO Douglas Avenue, rom Eastern to Washington avenues, ill be closed 10 a.m.

to 4 p.m. Wednes- ay for sewer line repair. For more i nformation, call the water department at (740) 774-1415. Douglas Avenue shut down GAZETTE STAFF CRIME REPORTS CHILLICOTHE FIRE Monday 9:15 a.m. North Walnut medic 10:00 a.m.

Delano medic 2:36 p.m. Western medic 6:04 p.m. River Trace Lane; medic 6:06 p.m. Cliffside Drive; medic 7:04 p.m. Huron Road; medic 7:27 p.m.

Applewood Drive; medic 9 :09 p.m. Belleview medic 9:30 p.m. University Drive; medic 10:06 p.m. Buckeye medic 10:46 p.m. West Seventh medic 11:07 p.m.

Fairway medic Tuesday 1 2:57 a.m. Delano investigation 3 :11a.m. Independence Drive; medic 3:48 a.m. University Drive; medic 4:16 a.m. Elm medic PUBLIC RECORDS.