The Pioneer City was chosen by Ohio Magazine as one of its 2026 Best Hometowns, according to a release from Marietta Main Street, the nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing and preserving the city’s downtown area.

The Best Hometowns recognition will be featured in the November/December issue of Ohio Magazine, with additional coverage in the July/August 2027 issue and online.

“We hope this recognition encourages even more people to visit, explore, shop, dine, and experience everything Marietta has to offer,” said Jen Tinkler, executive director of Marietta Main Street. “There has never been a better time to discover why we’re proud to call Marietta home.”

The release says Ohio Magazine’s editors selected Marietta for its charming historic district, opportunities for outdoor recreation and the way the community celebrates and preserves its deep ties to American history. Communities were evaluated in six categories: Community Spirit, Education, Entertainment, Health & Safety, Business Environment and Culture & Heritage.

“This recognition belongs to our entire community,” Tinkler said. “Every business owner who opens their doors each morning, every volunteer who gives their time, every organization that works to make Marietta better, and every resident who believes in this community played a part in earning this honor. We have always known Marietta is a special place, and it’s exciting to see that recognized on a statewide level.”

The release notes Marietta’s status as Ohio’s first settlement and says the city “blends more than two centuries of history with a thriving downtown filled with locally owned businesses, restaurants, festivals, public art, outdoor recreation, and year-round events.

“From the brick streets and historic architecture to the scenic riverfront and welcoming community, Marietta continues to attract visitors while offering an exceptional quality of life for those who call it home,” the release says.

More than 170 people attended the event hosted by the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation, Cadot-Blessing Camp 126 SUVCW and the Civil War Round Table of the Mid-Ohio Valley.

Saturday’s dedication featured the annual memorial service conducted by Cadot-Blessing Camp 126 SUVCW, a presentation by David L. Mowery, author of “Morgan’s Great Raid,” a proclamation by Marietta Mayor Joshua D. Schlicher, the unveiling of the historical marker, comments by President Darryl Smith of the Battlefield Preservation Foundation, an artillery salute, period music performed by the 73rd OVI Regimental Band and a picnic.

Smith said the Ohio History Connection, owner and caretaker of the park, is failing in its stewardship. No American flag is flown because a flagpole struck by lightning in the 1960’s was never replaced, a large granite and mortar monument constructed in 1933 as the centerpiece of the park is crumbling and in need of repair, an interpretive bronze plaque dedicated to the Adena mound that stands in the park is missing, pit toilets on the property are in disrepair and rarely cleaned and the open pit mining of the battlefield authorized by State of Ohio agencies in the 1990s has resulted in the permanent loss of more than 40% of the battlefield, he said.

The Battle of Buffington Island occurred on July 19, 1863.

In July 1863, Confederate Gen. John H. Morgan led a raid across Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Late on the evening of July 18, 1863, Morgan and his cavalry of 1,930 men arrived at Portland Bottom to cross the Ohio River to escape pursuing Union land forces.

However, the Ohio River ford there was guarded by an earthwork built by 200 members of the Marietta Militia. Because of the darkness, Morgan was unable to assess the scope of the earthwork or determine what force or how many men guarded the ford.

He decided to camp that night on the river bottom delaying the attack on the earthwork and the river crossing until daylight. However, later that night, the Union army and four U.S. Navy gunboats arrived at Buffington Island and in the two-hour battle that followed the next morning, nearly half of Morgan’s force was captured.

Morgan and his remaining force escaped and continued the raid north and eastward across Ohio until they were captured on July 26, 1863, in Columbiana County, Ohio near the Pennsylvania border. The 1,100-mile raid was the longest of the Civil War.

Directive 2026-25 updates requirements and resources to ensure poll workers are prepared to serve voters professionally, efficiently and in accordance with Ohio law, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said. Poll workers assist voters, resolve issues at polling locations and protect the integrity of the process.

The office of the secretary of state will provide $1 million to county election boards with allocations based on the number of registered voters in the county, each receiving a minimum of $1,000. The funding is intended only for recruitment and training.

The issue is not a problem getting poll workers, Mandy Amos, director of the Washington County Board of Election, said.

Election officials are anticipating more poll workers are going to be needed because the race for governor is expected to draw a larger volume of voters on election day, Amos said. In the race for governor, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy is running against the Democrat Amy Acton.

“They are expecting a lot of voter turnout this year,” Amos said.

More poll workers will be needed to make it more efficient for the voters at the polls, Amos said.

Washington County has 50 precincts and at least two poll workers per precinct are needed, however, the estimate is that up to 30% more poll workers could be needed for the mid-term election, she said.

The directive requires boards of elections to recruit and train at least 15% more poll workers than the statutory minimum and recommends a goal of a 30% reserve pool in anticipation of the higher turnout and to ensure coverage in the event of cancellations, illness or other last-minute needs on election day.

Poll workers regardless of experience must receive updated training before the general election. Required training topics include voter photo ID procedures, provisional voting, polling location setup and closing procedures, required signage, de-escalation and conflict resolution, election integrity and security and proper polling place management.

The state also will provide recruitment strategies, marketing resources, the PEO Handbook, Quick Reference Guide, and access to the Ohio Poll Worker training module to support both training completion and assignment tracking.

“Successful elections begin long before election day,” LaRose said. “By investing in recruitment and training now, we are helping our counties build strong, prepared teams that can serve voters with confidence and professionalism.”

Funding can be used for recruitment advertising, training facility rentals, external trainers or contractors for training-related services and printing or reproduction of training materials. For more information on becoming a poll worker, contact the board of elections or go to OhioSoS.gov/BeAPollWorker.

The America 250 celebration is free and open to the public and will include a memorial service, brief presentations, period music performed by the 73rd OVI Regimental Band, an artillery salute and a picnic following the ceremonies.

The celebration is made possible by the generosity of the America 250-Ohio Commission, of Marietta, American Legion Post 64 in Marietta, Mid-Ohio Valley Veterans Outreach, Military Order of the Purple Heart Marietta Chapter 743, VFW Post 5108 in Marietta, the Civil War Round Table Congress, Dan and Lisa Evangelista, the Marietta Community Foundation, Judy Phillips and the Warren Offenberger family.

The Battle of Buffington Island, the largest Civil War battle in Ohio, started on July 19, 1863, when Confederate Brigadier Gen. John H. Morgan and 2,000 cavalrymen attempted to cross the Ohio River into West Virginia at Buffington Island to escape pursuing Union land forces under Gens. Edward H. Hobson and Henry M. Judah and naval gunboats under Lt. Com. Leroy Fitch.

The 1,100-mile raid across Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, the longest raid of the Civil War, was conceived by Morgan and Gen. Braxton Bragg, commander of the Confederate Army of the Tennessee, to create panic in the North and distract Union resources from the invasion of Eastern Tennessee.

The expedition began on July 2, 1863, when the raiders crossed the Cumberland River from Tennessee into Kentucky. They raced north through Kentucky and feigned distress to hijack two steamboats used to cross the Ohio River into Indiana near Brandenburg, Ky., on July 8-9, 1863. The raiders burned factories, homes, bridges and railroad depots, stole food and grain for their horses and sowed fear and confusion wherever they chose. Fresh horses were stolen all along the route to enable the raiders to outrace their pursuers as well as deny them this vital resource.

Citizens were in widespread panic at the prospect of facing Morgan as he turned east and crossed the Ohio-Indiana border.

Morgan circumvented Cincinnati and nearby Camp Dennison, Ohio’s largest Union Army training camp and supply depot, and continued east through Clermont, Brown, Adams and Pike counties. On July 13, Ohio Gov. David Tod ordered all militias in Southern and Southeast Ohio to report to Col. William Rufus Putnam Jr. at Camp Putnam in Marietta.

Camp Putnam was a Union army training camp located at the present-day Washington County Fairgrounds. Putnam, who commanded the camp, was the grandson of Gen. Rufus Putnam, a founder of Marietta referred to as the “Father of Ohio.”

The following day, July 14, Tod telegraphed Putnam to alert him that Morgan had crossed the Little Miami River and was expected to cross the Ohio River into West Virginia at fords near Marietta. Tod further directed Putnam to prevent Morgan from crossing the river and to contain him west of the Muskingum River.

On July 15, a detachment of 300 men, under the command of Capt. D.L. Wood, 18th US Infantry, moved downriver to Blennerhassett Island where Wood dispatched 100 men to guard the ford there. He continued to Buffington Island, arriving there on July 17.

The men, primarily from Marietta and Athens County, were blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers, shopkeepers, stone cutters, tailors and teamsters with little military training and no combat experience. Wood immediately set his men out as pickets to alert the force if Morgan approached, constructed earthworks or an earthen redoubt, and prepared to defend the ford.

Two brass guns, fired on holidays by the Fort Harmar and Marietta militias, were mounted prominently on the redoubt walls.

When Morgan’s force of more than 1,900 cavalrymen descended from the hills onto the Portland Bottom on the evening of July 18, darkness made it difficult to observe the earthworks. It was nearly impossible to assess the extent of the earthworks, the number of defenders and to determine if they were regular soldiers or militia.

The rebels, engaged in a running gunfight with their pursuers for most of the day, were exhausted and starving. They were caring for their wounded and the Ohio River ford, normally 2-feet deep in July, ran 6-feet with turbulent and unpredictable currents due to heavy rainfall in western Pennsylvania in early July.

Morgan made the fateful decision to camp on the Portland Bottom that night and to wait for daylight to take the redoubt and attempt the dangerous river crossing. Two Kentucky regiments formed a line just 400 yards from the earthworks and were poised to begin the attack at first light. Meanwhile, the 200 men of the Marietta Militia huddled behind the earthworks and were determined to repulse the Confederate assault. Neither Confederate nor Union soldiers slept that night.

While Morgan’s men rested on the banks of the Ohio, all Union land and river-based forces were moving rapidly to Portland. Hobson’s vanguard came from nearby Chester and arrived before midnight while Judah’s column set out on a night-march from Pomeroy. Lt. Cdr. Leroy Fitch and a flotilla of four Union gunboats from Cincinnati arrived at about 2 a.m. July 19 and anchored in the narrow channel between the mainland and Buffington Island.

At 5:30 a.m. on July 19 Morgan’s men moved forward but found the earthworks abandoned and were eager to begin the river crossing. Almost immediately, however, they collided with the forward line of Judah’s brigade who were marching up the Portland Road. The dense fog prevented each party from detecting the other. The battle that followed was a decisive Union victory. Morgan’s force sustained heavy losses that included 150 killed and 1,025 captured in nearly three and one-half hours of fighting. Union losses were light. Yet, Morgan somehow escaped with almost half of his men.

By July 18, a force of nearly 12,000 militia had reported to Camp Putnam but there were too few firearms available to arm them. Instead, Col. Putnam sent them out with axes, pitch forks, spades and picks to fell trees across the roadways, burn bridges, and guard the fords west of the Muskingum River to impede Morgan’s path of retreat. Pursued by Union Generals Hobson and Shackelford, Morgan’s retreat route led through 12 Ohio counties before he is captured near Salineville in Columbiana County near the Pennsylvania border on July 26, 1863.

Most importantly, the events at Buffington Island and role of the Marietta Militia were vital in securing Morgan’s capture and ending the longest raid of the Civil War.

Guests in attendance will learn more about Morgan’s Raid and the defense of the earthworks by the 200-man Marietta Militia – the first force on the battlefield – and their fate while standing steadfast in the face of Morgan’s nearly 2,000 raiders on the night of July 18, 1863.

The battle is significant because it demonstrated that Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio were vulnerable to Confederate attacks from Tennessee. Two future U.S. presidents, William. Mckinley and Rutherford B. Hayes, were on the battlefield, and Danil McCook, 65, and patriarch of Ohio’s famous “Fighting McCooks” that included two brothers and their 13 sons who served in the Civil War, was mortally wounded in the early moments of the battle.

In Wheeling, the news of Silicon Foundation Energy’s purchase of and possible plans to retool the former Centre Foundry site into a small data center evolved as the week went on. It all started when Stokes Energy, a firm that says it has been hired to build a data center along River Road in Warwood, posted the project on LinkedIn. With no further information other than that post and what existed on Silicon Foundation’s own website, which termed the project a “data center,” speculation grew.

On June 22, Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said he and others had met with a Silicon Foundation representative for a preliminary discussion, but no project was officially in the works. The following evening, Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, held an impromptu town hall in Warwood to discuss the project (state Sen. Laura Wakim-Chapman, R-Ohio, also was in attendance to answer questions). On June 24, Andrii Garanin, chief energy and infrastructure officer for Silicon Foundation, spoke with the Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register in an attempt to clarify the company’s intentions not to build a data center but instead to revamp the former foundry to build modules for data centers — at least in the initial phase.

To further that point, on Friday the newspaper received communication from Nick Preservati, West Virginia’s deputy secretary of commerce, noting the Department of Commerce had spoken with Silicon Foundation officials.

“The project in question is not a high impact data center. Instead, it is a mixed-use manufacturing and technology facility, including the manufacturing of modular computing components and software design. Claims that the project includes a 100-megawatt high impact data center are incorrect. The developer has also committed to immediately notifying the department should the intended use of the property change in the future.”

Garanin is expected to be in Wheeling this week to meet with city, county and state officials on the Warwood project.

Meanwhile, Belmont County Commissioners learned Wednesday that a firm called EnergiAcres wants to construct a 2-3-gigawatt data center on thousands of acres somewhere in Belmont County. No further details were provided, and the announcement didn’t come from the company, but instead St. Clairsville resident Paul Cameron.

Cameron told commissioners the company plans to have the data center operational by the second quarter of 2029. According to the company’s website, the project is in the planning stages and is referred to as “The Real Stargate Ohio.”

“Located in Belmont County, Ohio – one of the state’s most energy-rich corridors. Proximity to major gas infrastructure and transmission lines enables fast, cost-effective interconnection. (It would use) 2-3 GW of firm power generation across thousands of acres, designed for phased build-out. Behind-the-meter architecture keeps energy costs predictable for large compute tenants,” according to the company website. “Currently in active planning and permitting. Target commercial operation date of Q2 2029, with site preparation and civil works beginning ahead of schedule.”

Cameron also told a Wheeling reporter that he has learned of proposed data centers in other parts of the region, including one between Toronto and East Liverpool at the Empire-Stratton Power Plant site and another in Harrison County at the former Consol Coal property off Ohio 9.

Centre Foundry Data Module Manufacturing Facility and Proposed Data Center Campus

Here’s what we know:

* The former Centre Foundry property in Warwood has been purchased by Silicon Foundation Energy Inc. for $1.5 million

* Company officials say the facility’s primary purpose will be to manufacture modular components used in the construction of AI data centers.

* The company says those modules would be shipped to projects across the country, creating a manufacturing operation in Warwood.

* The company is also exploring development of a computing and energy technology campus on or adjacent to the property.

* Plans could include a regional compute hub with up to 100 megawatts of computing capacity.

* The proposal has generated significant public interest and concern, prompting a packed community town hall meeting Tuesday in Warwood.

* Residents have raised questions about noise, power generation, environmental impacts, traffic, emissions and transparency.

* Company representatives have stressed that the manufacturing operation and the potential computing campus are related but distinct parts of the overall vision.

What we don’t know:

* Whether the 100-megawatt data center campus will ultimately be built.

* A final construction timeline.

* How many permanent jobs would be created by either the manufacturing operation or the data center.

* Whether backup generation would be required from the current American Electric Power feed, and what type.

* Total water usage and cooling requirements.

* Traffic impacts once the project is fully operational.

* The project’s total investment.

* Whether state or local incentives will be sought.

* How HB 2014, the microgrid bill, will work in relation to this particular project.

Proposed Belmont County AI Data Center

Here’s what we know:

* A separate proposal has surfaced for a massive data center somewhere in Belmont County.

* The project is being promoted by EnergiAcres.

* Company materials describe it as a proposed 2-3-gigawatt AI data center campus.

* The project is referred to as “The Real Stargate Ohio.”

* It could be operational by the second quarter of 2029.

* Belmont County Commissioners first learned of the proposal during a public meeting this past Wednesday and had not previously been briefed.

* The exact site has not been publicly identified, although it is expected to involve thousands of acres.

* Officials noted the proposal is still in the planning stages.

* The Belmont County project is entirely separate from the Warwood proposal.

What we don’t know:

* The exact location of the proposed campus.

* Which property owners are involved.

* Whether land has been secured.

* The ultimate customer or operator of the AI data center.

* The project’s total construction cost.

* The number of permanent jobs expected.

* What power generation infrastructure would be required.

* Water consumption and cooling requirements.

* Environmental impacts.

* Whether local zoning approvals or tax incentives will be needed.

* When the public will have an opportunity to review detailed plans.

* Whether the project ultimately will move beyond the planning stage.

The average price for gasoline across northern West Virginia was $3.726 per gallon on Monday, 10 cents lower than the previous week, according to auto club AAA.

In South Central Ohio, the decrease was even greater, as the average dropped 22 cents to $3.981.

Crude oil prices continue to fall as the U.S. and Iran work on a deal to end the war that began Feb. 28, including fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The sliding prices come as millions of Americans prepare to travel for Independence Day in record numbers starting next weekend, the release said.

Monday’s national average was 63 cents less than a month ago but 71 cents more than a year ago.

Marietta’s average for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline was $4.168 on Monday, down from $4.383 the previous week. In Athens, the average dropped from $4.357 last week to $4.185 this week. The lowest price in the region was $3.708 in East Liverpool.

That would have been around the middle of the pack for northern West Virginia, where averages included $3.914 in Parkersburg and $3.77 in Wheeling. The lowest was $3.407 in Martinsburg.

Last week, the average price of gasoline was $3.938 in Parkersburg, $3.894 in Wheeling and $3.468 in Martinsburg.

The national average per kilowatt hour of electricity at a public EV charging station went down one cent this past week to 41 cents.

Conserve Ohio, the grassroots organization behind the proposed constitutional amendment, said they are now hoping to make the 2027 ballot. The amendment would prohibit building data centers with a peak load of more than 25 megawatts per month, which would prevent most modern data centers.

“We want to make it clear: We will not be stopping,” Conserve Ohio said in a statement. “Construction won’t be stopping, so signature gathering and community action will not be stopping.”

Conserve Ohio originally was trying to make this year’s ballot after the Ohio Ballot Board gave petitioners the green light to start collecting signatures in April, but they were up against a tight deadline.

“The July 1st deadline was our best case scenario for the quickest possible action,” Conserve Ohio said in a statement. “Internally, we set that as our ideal target and it just didn’t pan out. We are not going to be submitting this year.”

The amendment would have needed more than 413,000 signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties by July 1 to get on this year’s ballot. The signatures they have collected so far remain valid since they did not submit them to the Ohio Secretary of State.

Conserve Ohio has collected more than 70,000 signatures as of June 18, according to their campaign. The counties with the most signatures are Lucas County (6,482), Stark County (6,329) and Butler County (4,030).

“We can’t change when we began, but we can determine how it ends,” Conserve Ohio said. “All is not lost. The end goal has not changed. Our resolve has not changed.”

Conserve Ohio is only using volunteers to collect signatures, and they have more than 1,000 volunteers.

Ohio has more than 200 data centers, the sixth-highest state in the country, according to Pew Research Center. Most of the data centers are in central Ohio. Cincinnati has 26 and Cleveland has 22, according to the Data Center Map.

More than a dozen Ohio cities have enacted temporary moratoriums on data centers.

Ohio lawmakers have yet to pass any data center legislation.

Ohio House Bill 646 would, among other things, limit the size of new sales tax breaks from 100% down to 50%. But this would not apply to any of the companies with existing contracts, like Meta, Google and Amazon.

The state provided almost $1.57 billion in sales-tax exemptions on purchases of data center equipment and construction materials last year, according to the Ohio Department of Taxation.

A large data center can use as much electricity as 100,000 homes, according to the Office of Ohio Consumers’ Counsel.

Data centers used 4% of all U.S. electricity in 2023 and that is expected to grow to 9% by 2030, according to the counsel.

A large data center can use up to 5 million gallons of water per day, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.

Lawmakers in at least 14 states — Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin — have introduced legislation that would temporarily ban data centers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky. Original story can be found at https://ohiocapitaljournal.com

His document included his experience with capital punishment as a former county prosecuting attorney, a member of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate and House of Representatives, a member of the Judiciary Committee in the U.S. Senate, Ohio Attorney General and as governor.

“When I voted for the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1981, I believed that in some cases, capital punishment could serve as a deterrent to keep some people from killing,” said DeWine.

DeWine voted in favor of the death penalty bill, which took effect Oct. 19, 1981. As Ohio Attorney General he would work on death penalty litigations.

“Of the 337 individuals who received a death sentence since 1981, 56 have been executed,” read the document. “Excluding the last seven-plus years, we now have four decades of experience with the death penalty in Ohio.”

Based on his findings, he determined the death penalty wasn’t a deterrent as he initially thought.

Depicted in the chart in his written remarks, Ohio deaths as a result of the death penalty have steadily gone down since 1982. In the past six years, there have been two people sentenced to death. In the 1990s the average was 13.6 deaths annually.

“The conclusion I draw from all of this is that it is today impossible to make the case that the death penalty is a deterrent,” read DeWine’s statement. “The moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty simply no longer exists.”

The document also discussed the impact the death penalty could have on the victims’ families as well as on those who carry out the execution.

“Any decision to officially end the death penalty in Ohio cannot change the horror and the anger we feel in regard to these murderers nor the deep sorrow we feel for the victims and for their families,” read DeWine’s statement.

Rep. Kevin Ritter, R-Marietta, said he respects DeWine’s position on the death penalty and any changes would require legislative action.

“For direction on important issues like the death penalty, I look to authorities like St. Augustine who believed the state could execute criminals and remain true to Justice and to St. Thomas Aquinas who taught that dangerous criminals could be executed to protect society,” said Ritter. “Recent theologians have taken a narrower view but my view is closest to those.”

Ritter said there are a “limited number of voting sessions for the legislature” this year, which could present a challenge to abolish the death penalty.

Wenda Sheard (D-Athens) is running for the Ohio House District 94 against Ritter for the upcoming election.

Sheard said she is also against the death penalty and has spoken against it in the past.

“My first husband was murdered in 1978 … we were married for three years .. I never ever felt that anyone should be killed as a result of a crime,” said Sheard.

She said she worked in the court system for many years and knows that the cost of the death penalty was more than keeping the individual in prison.

“And mistakes always happen,” she said.

She said during the trial for her late husband’s case, she met the wife of the man who killed her husband and she realized the death penalty, if it had been an option, wouldn’t have resolved what happened.

“We said to each other, let’s pray for the best,” said Sheard.

DeWine said in his statement the money and energy directed toward the death penalty should be put toward “keeping these repeat violent offenders out of society.”

DeWine said he recommended the legislature take action to abolish the death penalty and if they don’t take action then the decision can be made by the people of Ohio.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com

Richard M. Brooks, 48, Malta, was killed on Saturday when the 2006 Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide motorcycle he was operating on State Route 266 in Windsor Township went off the right side of the road and laid over on its side, the patrol said. Brooks, pronounced dead at the scene, and a passenger, April L. Santek, 41, also of Malta, were separated from the motorcycle, the patrol said.

Santek was flown by medical helicopter to Grant Medical Center in Columbus with life- threatening injuries, the patrol said.

The accident happened around 8:30 p.m., the patrol said. Drugs are suspected of being a factor in the crash, the patrol said.

Responding agencies included: Ohio State Highway Patrol, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Department of Transportation, MedFlight-Morgan County, Stockport Volunteer Fire Department and EMS, Morgan County Coroner’s Office, M&M Volunteer Fire Department and EMS, Beverly/Waterford EMS, Miller-Huck Funeral Home, Secure Towing and Pinetree Towing.

The crash remains under investigation, the patrol said.

Roger Cage, 56, Chesterhill, Ohio, was killed when he was ejected from a truck on State Route 555 in Homer Township where his 1992 GMC C7 went off the right side of the road and overturned on Saturday, the patrol said. The accident happened around 2 p.m.

Gage was dead at the scene, the patrol said. Alcohol is suspected of being a factor in the crash, the patrol said.

Responding agencies included the Highway Patrol, Ohio State Motor Carrier Enforcement Unit, Ohio Department of Transportation, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Chesterhill Volunteer Fire Department and EMS, Morgan County Coroner’s Office, M&M Volunteer Fire Department and EMS, Brock’s Towing and Pinetree Towing.

The accident remains under investigation, the patrol said.

Among those who spoke were Washington County Commissioner Charlie Schilling, The Superior Group CEO Bryan Stewart, City of Johnstown Mayor Tiffany Hollis, Matt Szollosi with the Construction Trades Ohio Foundation, and more.

With over four hours of witness testimony followed up by questions from the committee, transparency between government, developers, and the communities was the recurring topic of the meeting.

After a five minute testimony from each guest, the committee, which includes House Co-Chair Rep. Adam Homes (R-Nashport), Rep. Thad Claggett (R-Licking County), Rep. Heidi Workman (R-Rootstown), and Rep. Chris Glassburn (D-North Olmsted), Senate Co-Chair Sen. Chavez, Sen. Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin), Sen. Shane Wilkin (R-Hillsboro), and Sen. Willis Blackshear Jr. (D-Dayton), were given an opportunity to ask questions.

Their questions focused on NDAs (nondisclosure agreements), economic impact, potential environmental impacts on water and land, noise pollution, workforce, and impact on utility rates.

Schilling was invited to the stand about three hours into the meeting. He spoke about the potential data center in Waterford and discussions with developers over the past few months.

He said the NDA he signed in January has allowed the commissioners to have an opportunity to speak with the developers and discuss tax relief for the community.

“I support policies that keep Ohio competitive for these kinds of developments,” he said.

Schilling focused his points on the benefit of the payment in lieu of taxes if procured and how it would help Washington County with revenue and local organizations in terms of economic development.

“Data centers bring real economic impact,” he said.

He said the county and the community needs to have a voice in the process with these developers to discuss the needs of the community.

“It’s important we hold these developer’s feet to the fire and make sure they do what they say they’re going to do,” he said.

When it comes to local control, he said the development they’re looking at is a “hyper-scale” developer and the local government shouldn’t turn down the opportunity.

“I’m not here to argue that the county should have the power to block all data center development or that Ohio should abandon its competitive position in the data center market,” said Schilling. “What I am asking is that the communities who are bearing the infrastructure burdens and the community impacts of these facilities have a seat at the table.”

Many of the individuals who testified said they were “competing with misinformation” that was spreading on Facebook.

Brent Stevens with the Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation said they’ve been very transparent with their community and had very little pushback when the data center was first announced.

“But within the past three months there’s been a lot of pushback,” said Stevens. Stevens said after doing some research, he found there were groups based in Washington D.C. paying millions of dollars to push anti-data center information on the internet. He said he noticed there has been a lot of information circulating on the internet and he hoped the committee could find a way to clear up misinformation.

Szollosi focused his testimony on the impact data center development has had on the workforce for blue collar jobs.

“Blue collar jobs are winning in Ohio and it’s due to data centers, but we have to stay competitive,” he said. Szollosi said blue collar jobs have gone up 70% over the past 10 years.

“People saying ‘these are temporary jobs’ is an insult to hardworking construction and trades workers in Ohio,” he said. “People need work, and these are great jobs.”

Szollosi said some of these workers can make up to $160,000 annually and it’s bringing revenue to the middle-class.

Johnstown Mayor Tiffany Hollis spoke about her experience with a data center developer coming to her hometown and “pinned the community against each other.”

“Intel took over the area before the project was even announced, large scale developers need to provide more information,” she said to the committee.

Hollis said the developers were buying out land in the area for years before the community even knew about it, and by then, it was too late to do anything about it.

She said there needs to be more transparency between all of the groups involved.

“Give the power to the people, communities should make these decisions locally because some communities aren’t meant for these developments,” said Hollis.

Andry Rose with Concord Township said the data centers can have large impacts on small communities and local governments should have the power in those decisions. He said this isn’t a “one size fit all” situation.

Public testimony included local government and communities. Invited testimony included the Ohio Farm Bureau, The Superior Group, Associated General Contractors, ACT Ohio, Ohio State Building Trades Council, Northwest Ohio Building Trades Council, Central Ohio Building Trades Council, Laborers District Council of Ohio, and the Cleveland Building Trades Council.

After over four hours of testimony and questions, the meeting concluded with the fifth meeting slated for Thursday, but is subject to change.

Although Chavez said there has been no set end date for these meetings, they are acting quickly and the goal is to see if any legislation from the state is required based on their findings.

Meetings are live and posted at ohiochannel.org by searching Ohio House and Senate Select Committees on Data Centers.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com