Middfest to Honor James "Choppy" Saunders

Middfest International will be Honoring James “Choppy” Saunders on Saturday, April 26, 2008. Sanders, one of Middletown’s most respected citizens, will recognized on the occasion of his retirement from his position as President of the Middfest Board of Trustees.

The “Tribute to Saunders Dinner” will begin at 6:30 pm with a social hour on Saturday April 26, 2008 at The Manchester Inn, 1027 Manchester Avenue, Middletown Ohio 45042.

Those interested in attending should make reservations on or before April 21 by calling 513-425-7707 or sending an e-mail to middfest@siscom.net

To read more visit the full article on James “Choppy” Saunders by Christina Papakirk.

SunCoke Plant Has South Middletown Residents Concerned

SunCoke Energy, a subsidiary of Sunoco Inc., wants to build a $340 million dollar coke production and electrical facility in South Middletown on the border of Monroe. The plant would produce metallurgical-grade coke to be supplied solely to AK Steel Inc. in Middletown via a conveyor system. The board of directors for both AK Steel and Sunoco have made an agreement that would lead to a 20 year supply contract between the two companies, should the plant be built.

The plant being built is contingent on a few things, however. First, the land proposed for its location would need to be rezoned for industrial use. The Middletown Planning Commission has recommended just that - a unanimous vote was passed at a special meeting called on March 26th to address the issue. Middletown and Monroe residents in the area alike left apparently dissatisfied with how the meeting was conducted, with one resident proclaiming "There was no discussion!". Middletown City Council still has to approve the rezoning proposal before it takes affect, and SunCoke still has to receive the required local, state and federal approvals and permits before the plant can be built.

Alan McCoy, AK Steel Vice President of Government and Public Relations stated that the 20-year agreement would "be a tremendous benefit" for the Middletown Works and that the agreement would very likely be renewed after the initial 20 year contract expired. If everything falls into place for SunCoke, the facility would create hundreds of temporary construction jobs, as well as 75 permanent operating and maintenance jobs at the plant with an average salary of $35-45k per year.

Area residents cite concerns with the plant's proposed location, chief among them being pollution. The proposed site is close to Garden Manor Nursing Home and Amanda Elementary School, and surrounded by residential areas. An official from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, however, stated that the plant "should cause no health concerns" and would be rigorously examined and tested for harmful emissions before being given approval to begin operation.

Discuss the Middletown SunCoke Energy Plant on the MiddletownUSA Blog Forum.

Middletown Corporate Comptuer Service

Locally based CFR Inc, that has been doing business as Computer Service Now since 1985, has recently announced it will be making Middletown Area Computer Service a focus of their business plan in 2008.

As the firm has long focused on the National Computer Service arena Bill Schiering, the Vice-President of Sales, explained that going back as far as 2002 the company has refused to accept any new local customers. Schiering said the freeze on the local computer service business was necessary to protect the level of service their existing medical , government, and other corporate customers were receiving, while allowing the staff time to grow their more national based business mode promoted through their Tech-Army.org website.

Additionally Computer Service Now has once again joined the local Middletown Chamber of Commerce and a Schiering reports a new marketing plan is being put together to give more of a local Middletown area feel to their IT service and sales such as: Corporate Computer Service with a specialty in Medical / Healthcare Providers, Microsoft Volume Licensing, and Dell computer and networking solutions.

Computer Service Now is located at 6730 Roosevelt Ave across from the Towne Mall on Middletown's East End with a local phone of 513-422-1907.

Man on the Run in Middletown

We've all seen shows like COPS or Worlds Most Amazing Police Videos where a criminal is being chased through city streets by cops with sirens and flashing lights. Its always entertaining to see these crazy motorists do everything they can to avoid getting caught by the cops. But it is a totally different experience when you see an ex-con recklessly driving through streets you drive on everyday.

On truTV's show titled 'Most Daring' an ex-con is being chased through Middletown, Ohio