More than we like, the will and whims of government affect your electric cooperative’s costs and operational decisions. Federal and state elected officials and their appointed regulators set laws and rules that govern a range of issues, including regional electric markets, grid access, environmental impacts, employment laws, and taxes and fees, all of which affect the cost and reliability of your electric service. Government relations and advocacy are an essential part of the job of managing an electric cooperative.
Fact is, no one remembers the day those foreigners invaded Cincinnati — they don’t teach it in the history books — but that influx of folks from Greece and the Macedonian region early in the 20th century has left its tasty marks on the region.
There are more than 200 such shops in the region, and the star of the show at each is the soupy, spicy concoction that, despite the name, bears little resemblance to what most Americans consider chili. Further, it’s tough to guess what’s in the chilis because no one wants to talk recipes.
The original
Steve Martin has operated Empress Chili in Alexandria, Kentucky, for 35 years.
“Empress is the original,” he says. “It all started in 1922 with brothers Tom and Jeff Kiradjieff; they were Macedonians. Empress is the best.”
Janet Rehberg, director of cooperative development at Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, began her electrical industry career as an engineer with AEP, designing the underground electrical systems for new housing developments.
Holly Huffman, communication support specialist at Indiana Electric Cooperatives (IEC), began her career in public relations. She worked for an agency for a while, as well as in the real estate industry, before a position opened up in the marketing department at Wabash Valley Power Alliance. “I didn’t know anything about the industry or what cooperatives were,” she says. “I just knew the electric company kept the lights on.” After eight years, she transitioned to her role at IEC, where she works with member cooperatives to produce content for Indiana’s cooperative-member magazine.
Thirty-two employees of Ohio electric cooperatives and generation facilities graduated from the Cooperative Leadership Edge program on December 17.
Cooperative Leadership Edge is a comprehensive training program for current managers who are seeking to develop the necessary skills to effectively lead people at all levels of an organization.
Students must complete four core courses, two elective courses, attend an OEC conference, and complete a capstone project. They also receive one-on-one leadership coaching, and DISC and EQi assessments.
2019 graduates include:
It wasn’t too long ago that the area along Gender Road, south of Route 33 near the Franklin-Fairfield county line, was farmland as far as the eye could see. There was the bucolic village of Canal Winchester nearby and Columbus just a bit farther up the road.
Soon came a taproom-style restaurant and then, in 2018, a 32-room hotel called the DogHouse that has been named one of Time magazine’s “100 Greatest Places to Stay.”
It’s clear from the very start that an overnight stay at the BrewDog complex is not your everyday experience. Here, dogs are welcome (in some of the guest rooms), beer is a celebration, and ingenuity is everywhere.
It was 1977, and as a young state wildlife officer, I had just been assigned to duty in Morrow County in north-central Ohio.
I had heard of Gilfillan’s stellar professional reputation, so I decided to pay him a visit. I had no knowledge of his wry sense of humor when I knocked on his door. He seemed genuinely pleased to meet me and invited me into the living room of his home in Mount Gilead saying, “Sit anywhere you’d like.”
Yet as I started to sit down in a straight-backed wooden chair, he quickly stopped me. “No, don’t sit there!” he cautioned. “That’s the preacher’s chair.”
On 28 Mondays a year, Greg Mahle climbs into his semitractor-trailer in Zanesville and heads south on a mission through Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi to give formerly homeless dogs the loving homes they deserve.
One of his first stops on the weeklong, 4,200-mile journey is Shaggy Dog Rescue in Houston, where he finds dogs waiting for him that have been saved from overcrowded shelters across the Lone Star State.
Mahle gets the dogs into kennels, which are then secured — three shelves high — along the walls of his custom-built, air-conditioned trailer. Though they don’t realize it, the dogs have taken their first step toward much better lives, thanks to Rescue Road Trips, the nonprofit organization Mahle founded.
Like the tip of an iceberg, the name of Whitewoman Street hints at considerably more than it reveals.
The short answer is that the street honors Mary Harris, a woman of European descent who lived in the Ohio Country. But that merely skims the surface of her story. In all probability, Harris was the first white person to reside in Ohio, and her presence was so extraordinary that it was noted on international maps and occasioned a nomenclature — including White Woman’s River, White Woman’s Town, White Woman’s Rock, and, of course, Whitewoman Street — that is particular to the Coshocton area.
