The free concert by the Spikedrivers at Stuart’s Opera House was incorrectly listed in today’s print edition of The Athens NEWS as being Thursday, July 2. This free outdoor concert is actually happening on Thursday, July 9., at 7 p.m. Our apologies for the error.

Please spread the word if you know of friends, co-workers, family or acquaintances who are considering attending this free show.

Last Friday the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 by a vote of 219 to 212, with this area’s two Democratic congressmen voting the opposite way on the issue.

U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, voted in favor of the legislation while U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-St. Clairsville, was one of 44 Democrats voting against it.

Wilson said that he doesn’t believe the legislation goes far enough to protect energy consumers and industries in Ohio’s 6th Congressional District, which he represents.

“I believe that coal must and will play a major role in our nation’s transition to energy independence,” Wilson said in a statement after the vote. “In Ohio, 86 percent of our electricity comes from coal. And the vast majority of that coal comes from Appalachian Ohio.”

The latest Ohio University budget shows nearly half the projected $40.6 million revenue of OU’s on-campus student housing program being paid out in internal “transfers.”

The university’s top finance official said last week, however, that OU remains committed to using the money from ever-rising room-and-board rates to renovate or replace crumbling dormitories.

“We aren’t backing away from that,” insisted William Decatur, OU’s senior vice president for finance and administration.

Decatur also stressed that, like other internal transfer payments showing up for the first time this year in OU’s budget, transfers from housing don’t represent any major new money-shifting, but merely state clearly internal payments for administrative overhead that have been made for years.

A 51-year-old Little Hocking man was arrested Monday night after allegedly stabbing and seriously injuring his wife and a West Virginia man during a domestic dispute.

Facing a felonious assault charge is Daniel Carsner of Houston Road. Carsner is accused of stabbing Joel Crites, 33, whose last known address, according to the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, is in Charleston, W.Va.

A Nelsonville-York gym teacher who is involved in two separate lawsuits for allegedly bullying students has asked a judge to rule in his favor in both cases.

Even if the allegations district parents have made against teacher Anthony C. Mollica are believed, his attorney wrote in a recent motion, the worst conclusion one could reach is that Mollica “yells and screams and is mean,” not that he tried to deliberately inflict emotional distress on two elementary-school boys.

Once a month, people gather at Abundant Life Church not as a congregation, but as shoppers of Angel Food Ministries, a non-profit, non-denominational organization that began in Monroe, Georgia in 1994 and moved to Athens in March.

Angel Food Ministries provides people with the opportunity to purchase quality foods for nearly half the cost as grocery stores. Menus for the upcoming food distributions are placed on the Web site, where shoppers can then call and place their orders at the church, receive a pick up date and come to collect their food at the scheduled time. Abundant Life Church member Susan Hopkins said that she was impressed with the variety and quality of food offered.

The effects of the economy have demanded budget changes in WellWorks, Ohio University’s wellness program through the College of Health and Human Services. Effective June 15, WellWorks began to issue changes in the program’s hours and membership fees.

A newsletter issued to WellWorks members stated that the changes made to WellWorks are not meant to detract from the program, but to better it in ways that will continue to help the program in the future.

Officials of the Athens County public libraries discussed several ways to deal with a potential funding cut at an emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees last week. Possible options include cutting library hours or floating a local tax levy sometime next year.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s latest proposal to fill a $3.2 billion hole in the state budget would cut funding to Ohio libraries by 30 percent. When added to 20 percent in cuts that have already taken place, libraries in the state would end up working with half the funds they had previously.
Athens County Public Libraries Director Lauren Miller said the potential cut could have a range of local impacts, including increased fees, decreased materials, cuts in hours and possible furloughs for employees.

WASHINGTON — As hundreds of thousands of people march in the streets of Tehran and other major Iranian cities following the official election results, an important question hangs in the air: What will become of Iran’s reform movement?

Reformist candidates Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi were widely credited with generating a semi-revolutionary zeal among Iranian voters during the elections. The green color of Moussavi’s campaign brought a revolutionary symbol to reformists’ renewed powerful presence on Iran’s domestic scene. For many it was reminiscent of the color-coded revolutions in countries like Georgia and the Ukraine as well as Iran’s popular revolution 30 years ago against Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi. This did not go unnoticed: Forces loyal to the powerful Revolutionary Guards and the current establishment in the Islamic Republic accused reformist candidates of attempting to stage a “colored revolution.”