A livestock auction facility planned for U.S. 27 is taking steps forward, even though its future remains uncertain. One step involved presenting a drainage plan during the Jan. 8 meeting of the county’s drainage board, which is composed of the three county commissioners. The board voted 3-0 to approve the plan as Gordon Moore, the […]
Author Archives: Mike Emery
Mike Emery is a reporter and layout editor for the Western Wayne News.
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BZA grants variances for home beauty salon
A planned beauty salon received two variances from Wayne County’s Board of Zoning Appeals during a Jan. 9 meeting. Tracy Glynn plans to build a 40-foot-by-60-foot pole barn for her salon at her Minneman Road home, which is zoned agricultural. Glynn needed a variance of use for the salon and a variance from development standards […]
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County finds clear path through snow
As snow continued falling Jan. 5, blowing and drifting on county roads, Wayne County’s commissioners declared a Level II travel watch. It was the first Level II declaration since Dec. 23, 2022, when neither Brad Dwenger nor Aaron Roberts yet occupied his commissioner seat. With that in mind, commissioners met Jan. 8 with Matthew Cain, […]
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RPD major sues prosecutor
Richmond Police Department Major Adam Blanton has filed a lawsuit against Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Shipman over Shipman’s inclusion of Blanton on a list of potentially problematic law enforcement officers. U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Brady and Giglio cases require prosecutors to disclose to defendants anything that could impeach law enforcement witnesses. That information could […]
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Council cleans up county’s finances
Wayne County Council cleaned up the county’s 2024 finances and organized itself and its finances for 2025. To begin its Jan. 2 meeting, council elected Max Smith as its president, replacing Beth Leisure, who had presided over council for three years. Smith thanked his fellow councilors for the confidence, and he thanked Leisure for her […]
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Commissioners retain same leadership
Jeff Plasterer will continue as president of the Wayne County Board of Commissioners for a third year. New District 2 commissioner Aaron Roberts nominated Plasterer to remain president during the first meeting of the year Jan. 2. Plasterer took over as president when Brad Dwenger replaced the previous president, Ken Paust, on the board beginning […]
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Blue Buffalo will receive city bonds
The city of Richmond will issue more than $36 million in bonds to support an ongoing Blue Buffalo expansion project after a Dec. 16 Richmond Common Council vote. Blue Buffalo, which opened in 2018 at a Midwest Industrial Park site along West Industries Road, began a 169,000-square-foot expansion in 2023 that requires purchasing additional equipment […]
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Health officer: Vaping harms children
One in 10 U.S. high school students uses e-cigarettes. Dr. Jennifer Bales, the health officer for Wayne County, highlighted the dangers that e-cigarettes and vaping pose during the Dec. 17 meeting of the county’s health board. She said dangers of smoking, such as risk of stroke, heart disease, lung disease and cancer, are well-known, but […]
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Grateful judge
Judges bear the weight of their rulings on their own, but the judicial system requires contributions from many. When Judge Charles Todd Jr. sat behind the desk in his Superior Court 1 chambers and spoke about nearly 16 years on the bench, he expressed gratitude toward all those people — his colleagues and staff, the […]
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Building Together transforms houses, people
The Building Together program has transformed a burned-out Crosshall Street house into a beautiful home while it tries to guide transformations within the men working on the renovation. Jeff Holthouse, the primary instructor, and Tim Pierson of Bridges for Life provided a Building Together update Dec. 18 to Wayne County’s commissioners. The commissioners provided $200,000 […]