Editor’s note: Following is a month-by-month look back at the top local news stories from October through December of 2023 as reported by The Times-Gazette.

October

3 – Artist Pamela Kellough finished her sixth downtown Hillsboro mural at the Fraternal Order of Eagles after starting it on Sept. 13. The mural, funded by the local FOE and the Hillsboro Uptown Business Association, shows an eagle carrying a bunting of the American flag, with Kellough saying that she made it more 3-D and less 2-D.

5 – Misty Daniels, 34, Sabina, was sentenced to three years of community control on one count of child endangerment, a fourth-degree felony, following a school resource officer notifying another officer that a student brought methamphetamine into Hillsboro Elementary School inside a jacket. The student said they’d traded jackets with someone else, with the original owner saying the jacket belonged to Daniels.

6 – Ohio AMVETS Post 61 of Hillsboro was awarded $142,778 in damages and court costs from Carla Smith following a civil hearing in Highland County Common Pleas Court. The court found that Gary and Carla Smith, while in control of the bar, bingo and general operations accounts for the AMVETS Post on North Shore Drive, took over $100,000 from the bingo accounts from 2017 through 2019.

13 – Street and safety committee chair Adam Wilkin reported that they met to discuss security at city parks and a proposal to establish a one-way street on Johnson Street, with the proposal rejected. Wilkin said the committee recommended the legislation be pulled following “a lot of protest.”

17 – Hillsboro Mayor Justin Harsha and other city officials held a groundbreaking ceremony to herald the start of the first phase of the Roberts Lane Extension. Harsha said the first part of the project would cost less than $1.2 million, with the entire project to cost around $13 million. He said it would include two roundabouts and a section of road connecting Roberts Lane and S.R. 73.

19 – Greenfield Law Director Hannah Bivens was reviewing a lodging tax. Bivens said that when Greenfield council found out what the lodging tax should look like, she would bring forward legislation for review.

26 – Brandon Fuller, 31, Hillsboro, was sentenced to 45 years to life for three counts of rape, all first-degree felonies, with Fuller also ordered to register as a Tier III Registered Sex Offender. According to court documents for all three counts, Fuller engaged in sexual conduct with a victim under the age of 10.

November

1 – A new mural by Pamela Kellough featuring Greenfield musicians Ralph May, David Pettit, The Adams Brothers (Don, Gary and Arnie), Johnny Paycheck, Brad Martin, Scott Cossu and Dusty Barrett alongside a piano around guitar strings was shown off in the village of Greenfield. The mural was paid for with grant funding through the Ohio Arts Council.

1 – The Highland County Historical Society announced that it planned to honor the 150th anniversary of the Women’s Christian Temperance March that happened on Dec. 24 and 26, 1873, by hosting different representatives from the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. The organization also planned to hold a re-enactment of the march.

6 – A Leesburg area teenager trapped in a grain bin was rescued and proclaimed to be OK. The Highland County North Joint Fire & Ambulance District and the Highland County Grain Bin Team were called to the location on Monroe Road at 5:47 p.m.

8 – Highland County collectively rejected State Issue 1 and State Issue 2 for abortion rights and marijuana legalization, respectively, but it was not enough as Ohio as a whole voted through both measures, Issue 1 passing with an unofficial tally of 56.62 percent of the votes and Issue 2 passing with an unofficial tally of 56.97 percent of the vote.

10 – A head-on collision in Clinton County claimed the life of a Hillsboro woman, with a juvenile in the vehicle walking away unharmed. According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the crash occurred at around 4:42 p.m. on S.R. 73 in Green Township in Clinton County.

14 – The Hillsboro Woman’s Club announced a celebration was planned for the centennial anniversary of the club’s inception, as tea would be had at the Highland House Museum in Hillsboro. Seventeen women gathered at the home of Anita Harsha on April 12, 1923, to mark the induction of the club, with Harsha elected president.

21 – A tanker spanning 170 feet in length and 12 feet and six inches in diameter was hauled through Highland County alongside an Ohio State Highway Patrol escort. The object traveled by water from New Prague, Minnesota to Manchester, Ohio. The tanker was floated down the Mississippi River after which it went up the Ohio River, and then took a land route to its destination.

27 – The annual Shop with a Cop event was once again planned for 15 to 20 Highland County children. The children would be taken to breakfast at Old Y Restaurant in Hillsboro and escorted by a motorcade of lighted cruisers to Walmart in Hillsboro, after which bowling, lunch and other games would happen at Highland Lanes.

28 – The 34th annual Leesburg Luminaria event was announced to be held on Dec. 10, as residences and businesses in Leesburg would light the candles inside bags on the evening of the event, with open houses to happen after. Santa Claus was to be in attendance.

28 – An explosion at Jimbo’s Auto Repair in Hillsboro in the late afternoon took the lives of three people — David Beaver, Tim Furbee and 19-year-old Cameron Boatman — all employees of the shop. Paint Creek Joint EMS/Fire District Chief Dave Manning said his department received a report of the incident at 4:02 p.m. and when they arrived at the scene, “debris was everywhere” and the location at 502 S. High St. had heavy smoke and fire showing.

December

7 – Investigators Randy Sanders and Chris Bowen of the Highland County Prosecutor’s Office and Chief Deputy Brandon Stratton of the Highland County Sheriff’s Office both spoke on the trends of drug issues at a meeting of the Highland County Drug Abuse Prevention Coalition. Sanders also said that fentanyl is the worst aspect of the drug problem in Highland County.

7 – “Step by Step: How the Lincoln School Marchers Blazed a Trail to Justice,” a non-fiction picture story book told through the eyes of one of the Hillsboro marchers and their friend, was released. The book was written by New York Times bestselling author Debbie Rigaud and Carlotta Penn and illustrated by Nysha Lilly.

12 – A free walking tour was announced at the Highland House Museum, 151 E. Main St, Hillsboro. The walking tour would take people through the saloons and pharmacies targeted by the crusade on Christmas Eve. The tour was also wheelchair-accessible but the path was hilly and would be rescheduled in the event of of inclement weather.

11 – Jamie Marcum, 44, Greenfield, died in prison at the Mansfield Correctional Institution despite being a month away from being released. A spokesperson from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction would not give any details to how Marcum died.

13 – A Highland County Children’s Services levy was approved for the March ballot by the Highland County Board of Commissioners. Jeremy Ratcliff, director of Highland County Jobs and Family Services, said that this levy would be a replacement issue and would not come with any increases. He said that 100 percent of the levy funds would go to placement costs.

14 – The Waw-Wil-a-way Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) planned to participate in the national nonprofit Wreaths Across American program. The DAR held the event at Hillsboro Cemetery.

19 – Republican and Hillsboro resident Shane Wilkin announced his candidacy for Brad Wenstrup’s seat in Congress. Wilkin said his “strong conservative record built on principled leadership” are guided by his tenets of faith, family and freedom.

21 – Gary Seitz, 32, Greenfield who was previously found hanged in his cell at the Highland County Justice Center, died. Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera said Seitz was found unconscious in his cell at around 3:30 p.m. when a guard doing routine checks found him hanged with a bed sheet issued to every inmate.

29 – Hillsboro Mayor Justin Harsha and Steve Holland, among others, placed the C.S. Bell back in front of the Highland House Museum following its removal from the spot due to two traffic accidents damaging the bell in a 90-day span. The new unveiling of the bell also introduced a new paint job, with the bell now sporting a black color instead of the previous gold.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.