Owens board approves raises for part of staff
6/14/2007The Owens Community College board of trustees yesterday approved a 2 percent raise for about 45 percent of its employees.
The across-the-board salary adjustment, which will take effect July 1, applies to the college's nonbargaining staff that includes administrators, directors, deans, and other professional staff.
With about 300 people, the group represents the greatest number of employees at the college.
Their salary is reviewed for adjustment annually about this time of year to make sure it is competitive, said Gene Lapko, the college's vice president of human resources.
The contracts for members of the college's unions, of which there are three, expire in December, 2008. Those unions represent faculty, support staff, and safety and security employees.
Salary adjustments, according to those contracts, typically occur in January, Mr. Lapko said.
FINDLAY - Nearly four weeks after a newborn was found abandoned in a restroom at Riverside Park, court proceedings that could lead to the baby boy's adoption are moving forward.
Hancock County Juvenile Court Judge Allan Davis has scheduled an adjudicatory hearing for June 28 in which he will determine whether the baby is a dependent in need of guardianship of the court.
A dispositional hearing has been set for July 12 during which the court could decide whether to give permanent custody of the baby boy to the county's Children's Protective Services.
The agency was granted temporary emergency custody of the newborn May 17 - a day after he was found in a women's restroom by a Glenwood Middle School student who was at the park for a pizza party. Police Lt. Chuck Wilson said investigators have been unable to identify or locate the infant's parents.
FOSTORIA - Fostoria Community Hospital announced plans Monday for a $4.6 million improvement project that includes a centralized area for diagnostic services and a new entrance and lobby.
The work, which is expected to begin this month and be completed early next year, is the latest phase in a series of upgrades at the 25-bed hospital that have totaled more than $15 million over the last 10 years.
Hospital spokesman Julie Reinhart said the hospital built a new emergency department and medical office building in 1997 followed by a two-story addition that included a second-floor surgery department in 2003.
The latest project will place a centralized diagnostic center in the first floor of that addition and add a 2,000-square-foot main entrance and lobby, she said.
Officials said they are trying to increase accessibility, offer more convenience, upgrade technology, and enhance facilities at the hospital, which has been part of Toledo-based ProMedica Health System since 2000.
BLUFFTON, Ohio - Village council has awarded a $1.7 million contract to Tuttle Construction, of Lima, Ohio, for the renovation of its 120-year-old town hall.
Four smaller contracts also were awarded Monday for work on the project, which is expected to take nearly a year to complete.
Village offices moved out of the three-story, brick building last month and are now housed at the emergency medical services building on Washington Street. Village council plans to hold its meetings at the Bluffton Public Library.
In November, 2005, local voters approved a 10-year, 0.25 percent income tax to pay for renovations to the town hall after village council considered tearing it down and building a new one.