As part of the opening ceremonies of the 130th General Assembly, State Senator Joseph Uecker, R–Miami Township, was officially sworn in this week as the senator for the 14th District.

Celina Republican Keith Faber becomes the new president of the Ohio Senate today, succeeding outgoing Senate president Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond. Faber will be sworn in today by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy.

Seventy-eight farms were designated as Ohio Century Farms in 2012 by the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Century farm status is awarded to families who have owned the same farm for at least 100 consecutive years.

A Hillsboro man is facing charges of resisting arrest following a Saturday evening incident at his mother's residence.

The Hillsboro Police Department was called to the scene of a weekend automobile crash in the center of uptown Saturday evening. According to the HPD, Richard Walker, 43, of Hillsboro was southbound on High Street, attempting to turn left onto East Main Street, and reportedly turned in front of northbound motorist Fred Messer, 78, of Hillsboro.

A new bus stop shelter for Hillsboro City Schools students has been installed in the 400 block of East Walnut Street. The brainchild of former Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education member and current Hillsboro City Council member Mary Brown-Turner, the shelter was constructed and set up by Lerch's Barnlot Equipment of Hillsboro.

A new bus stop shelter for Hillsboro City Schools students has been installed in the 400 block of East Walnut Street. The brainchild of former Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education member and current Hillsboro City Council member Mary Brown-Turner, the shelter was constructed and set up by Lerch's Barnlot Equipment of Hillsboro.

Former Third District Congressman Mike Turner was sworn in by fellow Ohioan, House Speaker John Boehner, this week as Ohio's new 10th District representative.

Dr. Brad Wenstrup today took the oath of office for the 113th Congress, officially beginning his congressional service to Southern and Southwestern Ohio. “I’m both honored and humbled by the privilege of representing my community in Congress,” Dr. Wenstrup stated. “I’ll work hard every day to serve the people of Southern and Southwestern Ohio, to reduce government spending and to keep taxes low for Ohio families.”

On Dec. 13, the Lynchburg-Clay FFA members hosted a bowling party at the Highland Lanes Bowling Alley for their annual Christmas Party.

Help Me Grow Director Heather Gibson said the grant application was due Jan. 7. She said Tony Long, superintendent of the Southern Ohio Educational Service Center, and Kyle Lewis of the Clinton County Board of DD, both supported the grant application.

The following is the Hillsboro Police Report for Jan. 1, 2013.

In a contentious House vote, the Republican majority backed down from earlier demands for more spending cuts and agreed to tax increases late on New Year's Day last night, and agreed to the Senate compromise bill that would avert the so-called fiscal cliff. Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman voted for the bill, while Congressman Mike Turner voted no.

The report found that, "prior to the terrorist attacks in Libya on September 11, 2012, it was widely understood that the Libyan government was incapable of performing its duty to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel, as required by longstanding international agreements, but the Department of State failed to take adequate steps to fill the resulting security gap.

In response to requests for information relative to planning school safety initiatives, Ohio Homeland Security has partnered with the Ohio Department of Education to assemble informational resources from a variety of reliable sources and is providing them to Ohio’s school administrators and the law enforcement community.