Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Vote recount same as electronic count

Auglaize County

By William Kincaid
Every vote counts is what some learned after a final recount on Monday determined the winners of two council seats in Auglaize County.
Auglaize County Board of Elections announced that Patrick McGowan defeated incumbent Mike Bernard by two votes (906-904) for a council-at-large seat on St. Marys City Council in the November election.
In Minster, village council challenger Paul Enneking beat incumbent Randall Huelsman by just five votes (729-724).
"We hand-counted St. Marys Precinct 1B and Minster South Precinct. The hand count was exactly the same as the electronic count. The totals did not change," Carolyn Campbell, director of the Auglaize County Board of Elections, wrote in a press release Monday afternoon.
Board of elections officials completed the final recount on Monday morning.
"Although hand counting ballots is time consuming, it does demonstrate the accuracy of the equipment used for tabulating ballots," Campbell also wrote.
Automatic recounts were ordered for both races because the vote spread among candidates was a half percent or less.
McGowan, 63, 801 Linden Ave., has 40 years experience working in marketing for and with various Fortune 500 companies. He also has sold components associated with power/energy plants. While campaigning, he said he wants to assist in attracting new jobs and finding funding to restore some of the old buildings in St. Marys.
The city council for 2010 now will be at-large seats held by McGowan, Ronald Ginter and James Harris; Ward 1, Michael Kleinhenz; Ward 2, Dennis Vossler; Ward 3, Billy Slemmons; Ward 4, Robin Willoughby; and council president, Daniel Hoelscher Jr.
Enneking, 36, 78 S. Lincoln St., is a a mechanical engineer with Precision Strip and has said he wants to take an active role in such projects as the reconstruction of Fourth Street and cleanup of the Miami and Erie Canal.
Along with Enneking winning the November election, others elected to Minster council were Ricky J. Schwartz, Craig G. Oldiges and Steven M. Kitzmiller. Also on council is Tom Herkenhoff and Nicole Clune, whose terms were not up this year.
Additional online story on this date
First step in reconstruction project underway; street will remain open during work
Tumbusch Construction of St. Henry has begun replacing water lines along Celina's Main Street - the first step of the Main Street reconstruction project. [More]
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Jerry Newland, 39, was pronounced dead at Maricopa County
14 acres bought as investment for landlocked district complex
MARIA STEIN - Marion Local Schools board of education met in special session Monday night and unanimously approved a 14-acre land purchase as an investment in the future.
Mercer Health
Mercer Health board of governors recently approved the purchase of equipment used to sterilize tools such as those used for surgery.
The Steris ste
Law enforcement officers continue to search for a 16-year-old Auglaize County boy who was last seen by his parents Sunday night.
Lonnie Lehmkuhle,
COLDWATER - Roberta Donovan, an outpatient counselor at Foundations Behavioral Health Services in Celina, likens stress to a handful of colorful pipe cleaners wound into a tangled mess.
The Celina boys basketball team is hoping to avoid a rebuilding season, but the lack of proven varsity players will certainly be a concern for Bulldogs head coach Chris Bihn entering this year.
The Celina girls basketball program will be relying on a handful of seniors this year to help keep the Bulldogs as consistent contenders in the Western Buckeye League.
For Coldwater boys basketball coach Mike Kanney, waiting is a big part of his job.
The Cavaliers, almost yearly, don't have their complete hoops team in practice because of the success of the football team and the standout athletes that participate in both sports.
While last year's 6-16 campaign was a tough one for the Coldwater Lady Cavaliers, it did provide good experience.
Nick Fisher's squad has seven players with some varsity experience coming back, five of which played in all 22 games and averaged at least five minutes per game.
For a good part of the Brian Patch era at Fort Recovery, the Indians have been regular visitors to Wapakoneta, home of the Division IV district tournament.
While the Fort Recovery girls basketball team lost five seniors from last season, there is plenty of experience back from last year's 17-6 run to the district semifinals.
This year's edition of the Marion Local boys basketball team will have plenty of questions that will need answers, and there won't be a lot of studying time before the test is given.
Marion Local girls basketball coach Treva Fortkamp is being greeted by plenty of familiar faces as she returns for her 12th year of coaching the Flyers.
Through the lengthy tenure of Mike Lee's coaching career at Minster High School, his teams have always prided themselves on sturdy defense, a deep bench and playing their tails off for a full four quarters.
With four returning starters, a veteran coach and a team motto etched out simply as "Runnin' and Gunnin'", the Minster Wildcats harbor lofty expectations this season, so the rest of the girls' teams in the Midwest Athletic Conference may want to take note.
When asked about the 2009-10 version of the New Bremen boys basketball team, Cardinals head coach Mike Ernst is very optimistic and with good reason.
Long time New Bremen girls basketball coach Dave McFeely knows that amateur athletics is all about challenges.
You have a stretch of success, where
After a long run as an assistant coach for the New Knoxville boys basketball team, Kort Fledderjohann will now get the chance to run the Rangers' program.
After an 11-10 season, New Knoxville will look to replace a bulk of its scoring while working with a short bench.
Tim Hegemier's program has just 14 players for the varsity and junior varsity teams, six players being either sophomores or freshmen.
Parkway boys basketball coach Doug Hughes has one major concern coming off last year's 13-8 campaign - scoring.
The Panthers lost their top three scorers from a year ago and their returning players combined to average just 11.7 points per contest from last season.
The Parkway girls basketball team experienced a renaissance last season.
After struggling mightily in recent seasons, Parkway went 7-15 a year ago and appeared in the Division III sectional final despite playing with just a dozen girls in the entire program.
St. Henry will have plenty of experience for first-year head coach Eric Rosenbeck as the Redskins get set for the 2009-10 boys basketball season.
N
New St. Henry girls basketball coach Jeff Roessner is no stranger to this year's team. Roessner has served as an assistant to former Redskins coach C
Dan Hegemier admits that he had to be a little more patient this year in preparing for the upcoming basketball season.
The veteran coach, two years removed from a state title at New Knoxville, will look to restore some success to a St. Marys program that won just one time all of last season.
Kelly Fulmer, known to Grand Lake area sports fans by her maiden name VanderHorst, is no stranger to seeing St. Marys girls basketball, having faced off against the Roughriders during her playing career for Celina.
The Celina boys and girls swimming teams have been perennial contenders in the Western Buckeye League ever since it became a varsity sport in the league.
The Coldwater swimming and diving program will be a mixed with experienced veterans and younger athletes as they go into the season.
While the girls have 21 athletes going out this season, the boys will have a small, but experienced group of four.
The Marion Local Flyers' swim team will begin the year with some key contributors back from last year and a new coach as well.
Kristi Schulze, a Marion Local graduate and former competitive swimmer, will take over the reins of the Flyer swim team this year after serving as an assistant a year ago.
For Minster High School swim coach Carla Walter, who doubles as the leader of both the boys and girls squads, her annual goals are always modest, yet challenging.
The 2009-10 version of the New Bremen boys swim team will test the old adage, it is not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
New St. Marys swimming coach Kim Menchhofer will have a small group to work with this season as just seven guys and nine girls will compete for a program that finished ninth in the girls and 10th in the boys at the Western Buckeye League meet last season.
While the numbers are down a bit for the Celina wrestling team, experience is in abundance.
Of the 16 grapplers out on the mats this season, 10 let
Coldwater hoping that tough times from last year bring quick turnaround
Last year was kind of an anomaly for the Coldwater wrestling team.
A young and inexperienced team made for some tough matches last season.
Althou
The St. Marys wrestling program will be young this season, as graduation and other departures have left a void for the Roughriders.
Of the five grapplers who advanced to district and beyond last season, only two return for this season.