Although Earzlink Hearing Care has already been serving the hearing needs of Highland County residents since late July, they have chosen to delay their announcement of their grand opening in order to offer a number special events and activities. Earzlink Hearing Care is located at 934 West Main Street in Hillsboro.

Commissioners said this week they are pleased with the initial departmental budgets presented for 2011. During a budget review hearing on Wednesday, Aug. 11 with Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley, commissioners Shane Wilkin, Tom Horst and Gary Heaton expressed appreciation to department heads for keeping next year’s budget close to the 2010 numbers. “The requests came in very much in line with what they were this year,” Fawley said. “There are some increases, but nothing major."

Jenny Penn of Hillsboro, the athletic administrator at Western High School in Latham, will begin her term on the Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors Thursday, as the board meets in Columbus to begin the 2010-11 school year. It is her first term on the OHSAA Board of Directors.

Ohio Inspector General Thomas Charles has issued a report that alleges a longtime union leader who Gov. Ted Strickland picked to head a state agency that handles school construction projects routinely abused his power to help unions get work.

After a recent controversy, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has issued an executive order that bans the outsourcing of services paid for with state dollars.

An Ohio woman who allegedly posed as a teenage boy and is accused of engaging in sexual conduct with a Springboro girl, has ties to Highland County and may take up temporary residence here. Patricia Dye, 31, of Franklin is facing three misdemeanor charges: contributing to the unruliness of a minor, sexual imposition and attempted sexual imposition.

Kenichi “Ken” Yamashita rolled into Hillsboro (literally) Tuesday, Aug. 3 from California. His mode of transportation? Rollerblades. Yamashita, 62, is traveling U.S. 50 from west to east a distance of approximately 3,000 miles, with a destination of Cape Cod, Mass.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has announced $29.9 million in Job Ready Site program grants and $4.6 million in other state infrastructure grants for projects at 14 commercial and industrial sites aimed at spurring job creation throughout Ohio. He made the announcement at the University of Dayton Research Institute in Dayton.

Democratic leaders in a five-county area have selected an Ohio University professor with a doctorate in economics education from Fairfield County to challenge the incumbent Republican, Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, for the 31st Ohio Senate District on the November ballot.

Leadership from Highland County townships are scheduled to address the Hillsboro City Council during the Aug. 9 meeting regarding pending fire protection contract increases that some trustees are saying will put a strain on township budgets.