Hamilton Journal News
Fairfield will help industrial park
Developers of a speculative industrial park not yet built are getting help from Fairfield to make needed improvements to the adjacent roads. NorthPoint Development plans to close on about 140 acres of the Jacquemin Farm near the intersection Seward...
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North Hamilton Crossing sparks support, opposition
The massive North Hamilton Crossing expected to take as much as three decades to complete is generating support, opposition, questions and concerns about how the $145 million project will reshape neighborhoods, impact businesses and alter traffic...
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Father Walk uplifts youth, celebrates student leaders
Fathers, mentors and community leaders joined dozens of children Thursday, Sept. 17, at Bailey Square for Hamilton’s fourth annual Father Walk. The celebration of positive male role models mixed prayer, music, breakfast and recognition of student...
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Butler Tech students make manufacturing chips, sell them domestically, overseas
High school students at Butler Tech are making an iron chip product and are the first in the history of career school system to also sell their product globally. Teens in the Mechatronics program at Butler Tech’s main Fairfield Twp. campus are now...
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Ohio AG wants penalties for Flock camera misuse
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson called on Ohio lawmakers to officially criminalize the misuse of automated license plate readers like those provided by Flock Safety following reports that some GOP lawmakers are looking to rein in the controversial...
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Trenton locals question police chief about Flock
For nearly two hours Tuesday night, Trenton Police Chief Patrick Carr answered questions from residents about the department’s use of Flock license plate reader cameras, addressing concerns about privacy, oversight and potential misuse of the...
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Coach finds strength in community amid cancer
FAIRFIELD — Becca Rogers found out she had cancer on a Wednesday. She went to work Thursday. For the 28-year-old Creekside Middle School teacher and Fairfield volleyball coach, staying home to contemplate a diagnosis she never imagined receiving...
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Police ID man who died in fire, shooting incident
Hamilton police said Monday, Sept. 14, that a man was found dead inside a home on Eaton Avenue after a domestic dispute Friday night, Sept. 11, escalated into gunfire and a blaze. Units were dispatched at 6: 52 p. m. to a multi‑unit residence in the...
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Report: Kroger shoppers say prices don’t match
A new report from the nonprofit Center for Responsible Food Business claims Kroger overcharged customers at more than one-third of the Ohio stores reviewed by the organization. According to the report, 36 of 101 Ohio Kroger stores included in...
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Koch Foods faces deadline for violations after fire
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently gave Koch Foods until mid-October to fix the safety lapses it found during an investigation into workplace safety at its Fairfield plant, where a Feb. 15 fire killed a worker and injured two...
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Zion Lutheran’s $750K restoration project called a ‘generational investment’
Renovation and restoration of Zion Lutheran Church, a Hamilton landmark constructed soon after the Civil War ended in 1865, is almost complete. A capital campaign raised funds to replace the steeple and roof shingles, repaint the gold cross and trim...
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National GOP pushes Husted at convention
In a difficult election fight at home, U.S. Sen. Jon Husted took his campaign to Texas this week, using a speech before an unusual midterm GOP convention to make his case against Democrats and former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. While Husted was speaking...
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‘IT WAS OUR PEARL HARBOR’ How those who serve at base Why 9/11 attacks, remember the horror of 9/11 its many griefs land differently
Jason Lindsey, then an Air Force captain, pulled into a parking spot at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland, on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when he heard the frantic report on his car radio — United Airlines Flight 175 struck the...
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Warrior Walk spotlights suicide prevention
Three area women are launch‑ ing a community event this week‑ end that raises awareness of sui‑ cide among veterans and first responders while benefiting Ohio‑based Save A Warrior’s mis‑ sion to prevent suicide among military service members, vet‑...
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Program will help families navigate pediatric cancer
The state will soon roll out a new navigator resource for all Ohio families dealing with pediatric cancer diagnoses following the passing of 20-year- old Jayden Zurlinden of West Chester Twp. in June. “His parents, Cassie and Jay, did everything they...
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ICE has made 380 arrests in Springfield, DHS says
Federal immigration authorities have made 380 arrests in Springfield, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said during a press conference in Warren County on Friday, Sept. 4. The city has seen increased U.S. Immigration and...
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Firm’s longevity built on community values
Drive around anywhere in Hamilton, and SHP Architecture & Design’s work is a part of the landscape. “You see our work everywhere,” said Jeffrey Sackenheim, president of the firm. “We planned all the original buildings there.” That includes everything...
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JobsOhio incentivizing training for technicians
Ohio employers who may be poised to hire and train a new batch of technicians now have a new reason to take the leap. The state’s jobs creation arm, JobsOhio, is offering qualified employers in the right industries up to $10,000 for each employee or...
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Monroe council wants to oversee Flock invoices
The Monroe City Council approved a motion last week to limit the number of automatic license plate reading cameras in the city, and it must approve invoices related to the cameras before they’re paid by the city. Council member Todd Hickman, following...
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Trenton voters will see data center ban on ballot
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, Sept. 1, that the city of Trenton must place a proposed charter amendment restricting large-scale data centers before voters in a special election. The amendment would prohibit the construction of data centers...
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Advocates demand end to monitors after student’s death
Springfield community leaders and advocates are demanding an end to ankle GPS tracking for Haitian immigrants following the suicide of a 20-year-old student who friends and family say was driven to despair by the device’s stigma. The family attended...
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How marijuana-impaired drivers are identified
During this year’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Safety Council of Southwestern Ohio are highlighting the dangers of driving under the influence, including that of marijuana. In 2025, Ohio recorded 286...
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Hamilton West Side showed grit during series
West Side Little League reached a U.S. championship game in the Little League World Series this past weekend, advancing farther than the program had in past years and energizing Hamilton and its residents along the way. Families and fans followed...
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Butler County to invest $15M in regional airport
Butler County is poised to invest an initial $15 million in the Butler County Regional Airport to clear a path for it to “become not only an economic anchor, but an economic engine.” County officials have been talking about ways to make Hogan Field an...
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Family settles with district over teen’s 2014 death
The family of Emilie Olsen, a 13-year-old who died by suicide in 2014, has reached a settlement regarding the teen’s death more than a decade after they filed a lawsuit accusing Fairfield City Schools of knowing about their daughter being bullied but...
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Fan helps build Parton’s literacy project in Ohio
When Duane Gordon first got internet access in 1996, he built a fan website dedicated to Dolly Parton. What started as a hobby eventually made the Middletown resident one of the country’s bestknown Parton fans, helped him launch the singer’s...
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City planning to enforce vacant property ordinance
Middletown officials are considering changes to the city’s vacant property ordinance, which a Journal-News investigation found last year was largely unenforced. Chapter 1458 of the city’s code, adopted in 2019, requires owners of vacant properties to...
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DeWine tours new Butler Tech aviation school
an example of how to do it, and you guys are doing it right.” Earlier this month, the Aviation Center hosted officials from Ohio’s Chamber of Commerce and dozens of representatives from airports and aviation industries statewide at a conference. Days...
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Amazon offers $5M to townships for annexation
Amazon has offered $5 million each to Madison and St. Clair townships if they will allow the controversial 600-acre annexation by Trenton for the massive data center development to go through without objection. The trustees have until Wednesday, Aug....
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VP Vance touts $500M federal investment in steel
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s modernization project in Middletown will be supported by a $500 million U.S. Department of Energy grant. The grant’s original purpose was to support the conversion of the Middletown Works’ energy source to hydrogen. The revised...
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SNAP benefits can be used at some farmers markets
As farmers market season continues, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reminds families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits that they can use their Ohio Direction Card to purchase food at participating...
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Middletown development director resigns from role
Middletown’s director of community and economic development has resigned after about five months on the job. Tom Smith, who joined the city in March, recently resigned from the position. The exact date of his departure was not immediately available...
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Iran dismisses Trump’s economic threats
Iran on Thursday, Aug. 20, dismissed U. S. President Donald Trump’s threats of economic pain and isolation, while the U.K and other nations condemned Israel over a controversial settlement project. In Gaza City, a mass funeral was held for 50 people...
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For West Side team, ‘This is a dream come true’
Josiah Infante admits he doesn’t know much about Williamsport. He knows what it took to get there, though. And for a 12-year-old who has spent the summer helping Hamilton West Side Little League navigate a path traveled by generations before him,...
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Ship attacked during Strait of Hormuz transit
A projectile hit a ship as it sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center, and an Iranian official said the waterway would not be reopened until the United States meets...
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Fairfield overpass project gets boost from grant
Fairfield’s Symmes Road overpass project received a big boost with the announcement of a $40 million federal grant. The Federal Railroad Administration awarded the grant through its Federal-State Partnership for Inter City Passenger Rail Grant...
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How Ohio keeps emerging professionals from leaving
Ohio businesses and universities are working to keep college students who are emerging professionals from leaving the state for job opportunities. While Ohio is a dominant figure in the higher education space, containing the sixth most universities in...
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Ohio AG, DeWine defend Flock cameras amid public scrutiny
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson and Gov. Mike DeWine recently defended the use of Flock cameras by local governments amid growing public scrutiny around the surveillance company’s contracts with law enforcement agencies across the country. Both...
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Students return to facility changes, new leaders
Thousands of K-12 public and private Butler County school students began returning to classrooms this week, and more will continue through August, marking the start of a new school year as major changes and potential challenges await them. And soon...
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West Side Little League to return to World Series
WHITESTOWN, Ind. — Boone Treadway stood on the mound with six runs behind him and an entire city waiting back home. The West Side Little League right- hander made sure there would be no suspense about where Hamilton was headed next. Treadway f ired a...
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Hamilton City Schools open year amid overhaul
Hamilton City Schools opens the school year this week with a major restructuring, consolidating campuses, reassigning students and shifting services to BCESC partnerships. The overhaul cut costs, reorganized leadership and facilities, and preserved...
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Hundreds rally at site where Haitians required to check in
Hundreds of people gathered outside a federal immigration office Sunday morning, Aug. 9, to show support for Haitian immigrants from Springfield who were called to report for immigration check-ins. The rally, organized by Ignite Peace in partnership...
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Buc-ee’s vs. Beaver’s: What’s in a trademark?
Within four months of entering the Dayton market, a Texas-based chain of mega travel centers has sued a local small business for trademark infringement over its beaver mascot. Buc-ee’s brought its brand to Ohio when it opened its largest-ever store...
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Strait of Hormuz deal may require Trump compromise
WASHINGTON — To reach a deal with Iran that reopens the economically vital Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump may need to do something out of character — compromise. Any concession would be tough for the Republican president, who has insisted...
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DeWine, lawmakers react to Buc-ee’s lawsuit
Gov. Mike DeWine and state lawmakers are joining criticism of Buc- ee’s after the Texas gas station megachain filed a federal trademark lawsuit against Beaver’s Mini Mart, a small Beavercreek convenience store that has had a beaver logo for years. “It...
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Council rejects petition to ban data centers
Trenton City Council voted Monday, Aug. 3, to reject a citizen-led charter amendment petition that sought to ban future large-scale data centers within city limits. Supporters of the petition immediately vowed to challenge the decision. “We’ll have...
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80 Acres Farms, produce grower in Hamilton, to close
One of Hamilton’s most high- profile companies plans to close its doors. 80 Acres Farms, a Hamilton- based pioneer in vertical farming, is “winding down operations” following “an exhaustive effort to find a way forward,” according to CEO and...
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Officer found guilty, will be sentenced later this month
A Middletown police officer was found guilty Thursday, July 30, in Middletown Municipal Court. Jamie Patterson was indicted earlier this year on two counts of dereliction of duty stemming from a Jan. 3 incident in which she allowed and encouraged the...
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Battle to win union voters in Ohio governor race
In this year’s race for Ohio governor, Democrat Dr. Amy Acton will hope to curb — and Vivek Ramaswamy will hope to extend — a political trend that has seen a significant share of union voters shift from Democrat to Republican. That “stark change” in...
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Kings Island: No plans to demolish Son of Beast ride station at this time
Last month, Warren County amusement park Kings Island was granted a permit to condemn the ride station of its former Son of Beast attraction, leading some to wonder if the park would soon demolish one of the few remaining fragments of the controversial...
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Ramsey talks inspiration that led her to be trustee
Hanover Twp. Trustee Diana Ramsey’s start in politics was shaped by a decade on the community’s park committee and a lifelong connection to the township. Ramsey, who was elected last November and became the township’s first female trustee earlier this...
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State grant, donations to fund fairground upgrades
Butler County Fairgrounds will see major upgrades over the next year, with state funding and local donations driving projects to modernize decades‑old barns for safety and future use, and to replace grandstand seating for comfort. The Butler County...
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Fairfield Schools to have tax request on fall ballot
For the second time in six months, voters in the Fairfield school system will be asked to decide on a proposed school tax hike after the district’s governing board voted Monday evening, July 27, to add to the fall ballot. Members of the Fairfield...
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Young competitors stand out at Butler County Fair
Nine-year-old Emagene Otto, of Hamilton, had a little help hoisting 36-pound turkey Bob into the air Monday, July 27, at the Butler County Fair’s Junior Fair Poultry Show, but no issue holding the massive fowl aloft following multiple escape...
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Mediators see progress in efforts to halt war
CAIRO — Mediators have achieved progress in efforts to get the United States and Iran back to negotiations and avert an all-out war in the Middle East, two regional officials said Monday, with a pause in attacks coming after a period of rapidly...
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Middletown bus route overhaul put on hold
The Butler County Regional Transit Authority has postponed the launch of a planned redesign of its Middletown bus routes after hearing concerns from riders and community members about how the changes could affect access to service. As the planned...
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Back-to-school sales tax holiday just 3 days this year,
Volume 105, Number 207
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Drones hit Iraq city where U.S. forces are based
IRBIL, Iraq — Drones carrying explosives targeted a city in northern Iraq where U.S. forces are stationed and sirens rang out in Bahrain on Friday, July 24, hours after the American military said it finished its 13th night of strikes against Iran. The...
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Trenton woman accused of stealing more than $2M
A Trenton woman is accused of stealing more than $ 2 million from a Middletown business where she worked as a bookkeeper, according to Warren County prosecutors. Alisha R. King, 3 9, h a s b e e n indicted on 10 felony counts in Warren County Common...
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$9M project to create 28 jobs at Hamilton facility
An international manufac‑ turer has secured local incen‑ tives to support a $9 million ver‑ tical expansion project that will create more than two dozen new jobs with approx‑ imately $ 2.7 mil‑ lion in local pay‑ roll while retain‑ ing nearly 100...
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Problem Middletown bar to reopen, forgo alcohol sales
A Middletown bar that has been the site of multiple shootings and hundreds of police calls in recent years could soon reopen under a new concept aimed at ending the violence that has troubled the neighborhood. Nate Williams, the new manager of the...
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Doctors struggle to get reimbursed by insurers
In her office off South Main Street in Centerville, clinical psychologist Dr. Kathy Platoni held a file more than an inch thick of copies of emails, forms, and other correspondence she’s had with one health insurance company since the start of this...
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New rest areas along I-75 in Butler County open
Drivers traveling along Interstate 75 through Butler County just got some relief. The two rest areas in Liberty Twp. that have been closed for two years are open, according to a state transportation official. The rest areas just south of the Ohio 63...
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Specialty license plates help nonpro ts advertise, fundraise
For decades, Ohio drivers have been able to show their support for certain causes on their license plates. The revenue earned through specialty plates is a major factor in income and advertising for many nonproffts. The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles...
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Cat overpopulation being tackled by multiple groups
Butler County’s animal shelters may be the public face of animal welfare, but they aren’t waging the battle against cat overpopulation by themselves. Shelters increasingly rely on volunteer cat rescue individuals and organizations to trap, neuter and...
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ICE contract gives sheri ’s budget boost
The Butler County sheriff has submitted a $ 68 million early spending plan for next year that estimates a 28% revenue hike for housing illegal immigrants and other inmates from outside the county. Sheriff Richard Jones has submitted a preliminary,...
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‘It’s exciting to see’: Company adding 100 jobs
Hamilton-based thyssenkrupp BILSTEIN of America, Inc. is set to expand its operations in the city with a major hiring initiative and facility investment. The automotive technology ffirm announced plans Monday, July 13, to hire around 100 new employees...
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Middletown OKs gravel removal at Paperboard site
Marva Gaston sees a future where she can sit outside again without worrying about dust blowing through her neighborhood. After repeatedly raising concerns for a year to the city of Middletown about a massive gravel pile left by an abandoned paper...
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Butler County tax budget skewed by 27th pay period
The Butler County commissioners are mulling a $138.6 million structurally balanced general fund tax budget for next year that looks large but is skewed by a rare extra pay period and other anomalies. The annual tax budget is a rough draft of the...
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Residents weigh in on Cleveland-Cli s proposal
Residents, labor leaders, business oficials and environmental advocates packed Middletown council chambers Thursday, July 9, for an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency public hearing on a proposed Cleveland-Cliffs project. Supporters say the project...
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County has seven cases of ‘explosive’ diarrhea illness
A foodborne, parasitic illness that can cause “watery, and sometimes explosive, diarrhea,” according to the Ohio Department of Health, is spreading throughout Ohio with about a dozen local cases. ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderho is urging Ohioans to...
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Meteorologists: Heat dome to last at least a week
Most of America’s Lower 48 states are about to swelter under an unusually large, strong and long-lasting heat dome that will spike temperatures in a way that the National Weather Service calls “signifficant and dangerous.” The heat wave will start...
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Company to renovate former paper mill
A Swiss manufacturing company plans to invest $150 million to renovate and expand a historic former paper mill in Middletown, creating 56 full- time jobs by the end of 2028. Weidmann, a family- owned company that manufactures paper insulation...
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