11 vie for new congressional seat

Dec. 8, 2011, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Eleven people are eying the new congressional district that includes the southern part of Fairfield County.

However, the field could change.

Wednesday was the filing deadline for partisan congressional candidates looking to run in the 2012 primary election.

Under the maps passed this fall, Fairfield County is divided between congressional districts.

They lost everything

Dec. 7, 2011, Newark Advocate

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Ursula Harris was not the type of person you’d expect to meet at a homeless shelter.

At a first meeting, she sat in the corner of the Salvation Army shelter in Newark. She wore makeup, nice clothes and jewelry. She spoke confidently and was willing to be photographed.

Harris, her daughter and her grandkids found themselves at the shelter after they were evicted from their home in Pataskala. It was a nice home, and they lost everything.

This wasn’t the first time Harris fell on hard times — several years ago, she was foreclosed on after losing her job — but it was her first time homeless.

She had been in the shelter for less than a week, and she’ll be out soon, she said — and stronger for the experience.

Harris is a former financial broker. She worked for herself, and when the economy collapsed, so did her finances.

Multiple primaries causing confusion

Dec. 5, 2011, Port Clinton News Herald

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

Ohio congressional candidates don’t know what their districts will look like, or even when their primary will be, but the secretary of state is asking them to have petitions submitted by Wednesday.

The two primaries, one March 6 and the other June 12, stem from the battle over the once-a-decade redistricting process. However, there’s still talk in the House of Representatives of moving up the later primary.

“Having two primaries is not an ideal situation,” Shannon Boston, a spokeswoman for Ohio House Republicans, wrote in an email. “... But we only moved the primaries that are affected by the situation we find ourselves in with the potential congressional map referendum.”

Having two primaries presents a complication for the secretary of state’s office and uncertainty for candidates seeking congressional seats. Here are some questions and answers about the situation.

At Chillicothe food bank, demand keeps increasing

Dec. 4, 2011, Chillicothe Gazette

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

CHILLICOTHE — Space is cramped at the Seventh-day Adventist Church. There are two adjoining rooms, both about the size of a doctor’s office examination room, that hold the church’s clothing and food bank. There’s no waiting room.

Clients line the perimeter of the clothing room, some standing, some sitting cross-legged on the floor, waiting for their turn to go into the food bank.

When their names were called, the clients would go into the other small room with two volunteers.

Together they would pick food off the shelves — seldom more than an arm’s length away, and place it in a box sitting on a table in the middle of the room.

School an oasis for kids who are poor

Dec. 4, 2011, Chillicothe Gazette

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

CHILLICOTHE — There’s not much in the Huntington Local School District except farm land and residential area, so the district’s three buildings are more than just educational centers. They’re the hub of the community.

As the economy deteriorated, the schools have taken on a new role: social service agency.

When some students attend school, Superintendent Jerry Mowery said, it might be the only good part of their day. It might be the only place they feel safe. It might be the only time during the day they eat a balanced meal.

Food for hungry, help for jobless

Dec. 4, 2011, Chillicothe Gazette

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

CHILLICOTHE — There wasn’t a long wait to get a free lunch at the Carver Community Center, but after one long folding table was vacated, another group or family was ready to sit down.

On a sweltering summer day, a steady stream of people came through for a smoked sausage sandwich, a vegetable medley and peaches from a can. As the kitchen opened, head cook Cheryl Hitchens just had finished preparing 300 meals to send out to area summer youth programs.

As she showed off the kitchen, a volunteer interrupted. One of the schools needed five more.

The demand just grows, Hitchens said. On average, the center will serve about 3,000 meals each month to low-income people.

In western Pike County, people do what it takes

Dec. 4, 2011, Chillicothe Gazette

Story by Jessica Alaimo and photos by Heather Cory and Frank Robertson

CentralOhio.com

Brock Brewster’s truck dominated the single-lane road in western Pike County and rumbled over an extension cord.

This extension cord has been strung across this Latham road for two years. It powers the lights of a white-and-brown trailer, using the electricity from a home across the road. It’s the only source of electricity for the trailer’s owner, who said she uses it to power her lights. She uses a wood stove to stay warm.

Her property and her sister’s across the road are cluttered with stuff, but it is packed up and placed under blue tarps. There’s an order to the chaos, with items appearing sorted and walkways clear. Four big dogs and a puppy run around loose outside. “I have severe arthritis, which is why this place is such a mess,” said the owner, who wouldn’t give her name.

“I’ve driven over that extension cord a hundred times,” said Brewster, the principal at Western Local High School. “Those people probably don’t think a thing about running their home with an extension cord. ... They’re survivors. They get up every day and do what they’ve got to do.”

Surviving is tough in Pike County. The county has the state’s highest unemployment and poverty rates. Earlier this year, cabinet-maker Masco closed, putting 1,200 people out of work. The uranium enrichment plant that once held hope for 2,000 new jobs instead issued a notice that 450 pink slips might be coming.

Although the going is tough, nobody seems to be going anywhere.

“I was born here, my dad lived here, and I guess this is where I’ll die,” said the trailer owner. “I try to stay here in my own place, and let other people stay in theirs.”