New Billboard?

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Also from the Dayton Daily News:

City wants feedback on giant billboard for commuters

Monday, January 26, 2009

DAYTON — City officials want to know what residents think of a proposed mega, electronic billboard along U.S. 35 that would include a gateway feature welcoming commuters to the city.

"We need to make sure people know about this, before it surprises them one morning on the way to work," City Planner Tony Kroeger said.

Dayton-based Key-Ads Inc. has asked the city for waivers from height, setback and distance from residence requirements for the proposed 396-square-foot billboard to be located on U.S. 35 at Todd Street, near Linden Avenue.

This is a privately funded project, with no tax dollars being used to support it. The billboard would be located on the north side of the highway in an industrial area.

"It truly would be state of the art, with the newest digital technology," Nick Keyes, Jr., vice president of Key-Ads.

The company, a family-owned business operating in Dayton since 1955, plans to allow some public service messages on the billboard and they would have the ability to quickly post Amber Alerts.

Two public meetings have been set to discuss the proposed sign. The first meeting will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 6:15 p.m. at the Southeast Priority Board, 2160 E. Fifth Street. The city of Dayton Plan Board will have the proposed billboard on its agenda at 4:30 p.m. in City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 3.

Key-Ads initially agreed to remove a billboard at Hoover and Verona in exchange for the waivers, but the Plan Board felt removal of that 72-square-foot billboard would not result in an equitable exchange for the new one.

The Plan Board also expressed concern that the billboard would affect a major view of downtown from the highway and that it would be visible from homes on Carlisle Avenue.

"We designed the billboard to be a part of the vista," Keyes said. "The nearest home is across the highway 300 feet away."

In response to these concerns, Key-Ads modified their application to offer three proposals, each including the removal of multiple billboards so that the waivers could be granted for the U.S. 35 sign.

Governor Visits Stivers

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From the Dayton Daily News:

Strickland to visit Stivers on Thursday

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

DAYTON — Gov. Ted Strickland will visit Stivers School for the Arts on Thursday, Jan. 29, a day after his State of the State speech in which he is expected to lay out his plans for education reform and funding, a Dayton school official said.

Strickland is scheduled to tour Stivers at 1313 E. Fifth St. for 45 minutes beginning at 5 p.m., said Jill Moberley, spokeswoman for Dayton Public Schools. Strickland's office declined Tuesday to confirm the visit.

In December, Stivers made U.S. News & World Report's annual list of America's best public high schools, capturing a bronze award. It joined three other high schools in Montgomery County that made the list — Centerville, Oakwood and Dayton Early College Academy, a Dayton district-sponsored charter school developed in partnership with the University of Dayton.

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Stivers Fundraiser

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FYI...

Stivers hosts special fund-raiser at local restaurant

A local restaurant has teamed up with Stivers musicians to create a unique fund-raiser that's food for the spirit and stomach!

Coco's Bistro, 515 Wayne Ave., will host Savor Your Sunday, a special brunch series featuring performances by young musicians from Stivers School for the Arts. The restaurant will be open especially for the occasion, and Coco's chefs are crafting a special menu for the brunches. A different group from Stivers will perform each Sunday.

The schedule is:
Feb. 1: String Quartet
Feb. 8: Chamber Choir
Feb. 15: Jazz Trio
Feb. 22: Concert Pianists

The brunches will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost is $30 per person; $20 of this is a tax-deductible donation to the seedling Foundation, which supports the arts at Stivers.

U.S. News & World Report recently named Stivers one of the nation's best public high schools. All funds raised during the Sunday brunches will support arts instruction at the school.

Only 100 seats are available each Sunday. Advanced reservations are required; call 228-COCO (2626).

Education News

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Our neighbhors at Ruskin Elementary and East End Community Services are seeking voluteers and tutors....

East End Community Services partners with Ruskin Pre-K-8th Elementary School in East Dayton with the goal of helping all students achieve academic success. In April students in grades 3-8 will take the Ohio Achievement Tests to determine degrees of proficiency in Reading, Math, Social Studies, Science, and Writing as defined by the Ohio Department of Education. East End is supporting Ruskin’s teachers in preparing children for the test by making ourselves available for one-on-one tutoring. We are recruiting others to join us in tutoring children – particularly in the areas of Reading and Math.

If you can spare an hour a week, after 2:00 until 5:00 we can match you with a child at Ruskin. The child’s academic needs have been assessed, and a tutoring plan has been tailored to meet the needs of the student. You will attend an orientation program that includes information about how to effectively tutor a child, and you will be equipped with a tutoring kit that includes flashcards, worksheets, and other academically relevant materials. Prior to being matched you will need to go through a background check that takes just a few minutes of your time.

Please contact Stephanie Smith at East End Community Services for more information and to receive an application form. Thanks for considering this opportunity to change a child’s life.

Stephanie Smith, Volunteer Coordinator
East End Community Services
937 259-1898
ssmith@east-end.org
624 Xenia Avenue
Dayton, Ohio 45410

Also, the new STEM regional school is now taking applications! We got this note from one of our neighbors in South Park:

Do you have a child who is very interested or gifted in the fields of Science, Engineering and Math? The New Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) is taking applications through March 2nd for the new class of 9th graders that will start in August.

This is a public school and is hosted by Wright State University and the Air Force Research Lab, with additional support from the University of Dayton, Clark State University, and the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). It will serve Greene, Montgomery and Clark Counties.

Here is the school's website - http://www.daytonstemschool.org/ as well as a few great articles about this school and the other six that Ohio has created this year. These articles explain how these schools are key to helping Ohio migrate from an industrial age to an information age economy.

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The Mayor

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Announcement - Dayton's Mayor Rhine McLin is expected to attend our next meeting on February 6, 2009 at 7 pm. Everyone in the St. Anne's Hill neighborhood is welcome to join us and bring a question for the Mayor. She is running for a third term this November.
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Website Data

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Happy New Year! Our first meeting of the year is tonight at 7 pm in the Liederkranz building at the corner of Fifth and High Streets.

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The St. Anne's Hill Historic Society will continue working hard to represent our neighborhood in 2009. Here's some year-end data about the St. Anne's Hill website!

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St. Annes Hill Historic Society Site Summary

Visits Total ....................... 13,477
Average per Day .................. 6

Average Visit Length .......... 2:04

This Week ....................... 40

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Recent visitors by location:

Dayton, Ohio

Lima, Ohio

Findlay, Ohio

Tipp City, Ohio

Springfield, Ohio

Morrow, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

West Alexander, Pennsylvania

Chicago, Illinois

Naperville, Illinois

Murphysboro, Illinois

Buffalo, New York

Irmo, South Carolina

Orlando, Florida

Boulder, Colorado

Jamestown, North Dakota

Dallas, Texas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Phoenix, Arizona

San Francisco, California

Hayward, California

Salt Lake City, Utah

Vancover, Canada

London, UK