West Chester-Liberty Herald
Local news for West Chester and Liberty Township.
Local news for West Chester and Liberty Township.
Sports
Lakota East girls tennis blanks Middletown 5-0 in GMC opener
Lakota East girls tennis swept Middletown 5-0 in the Thunderhawks' Greater Miami Conference opener on Monday, Aug. 24, with singles wins from Emese Watkins, Zara Parson and Scarlett Black powering the shutout and improving the team to 2-2 overall.
Community
Retail building proposed on residential land in West Chester
Hutsenpiller Contractors Inc. is asking West Chester Township's Board of Zoning Appeals for conditional use approval to build an 80-by-60-foot, two-story retail and office building at 6749 Station Road, which is zoned for single-family residential use.
West Chester, OH
78°F
Partly Cloudy
Feels like 78° · 1% rain
MonMostly Sunny93°F3%
TueSunny96°F0%
WedSunny97°F0%
ThuSunny96°F14%
FriChance Showers And Thunderstorms90°F26%
SatSlight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms87°F25%
SunSunny85°F9%
Sports
Lakota East girls tennis blanks Middletown 5-0 in GMC opener
Lakota East girls tennis swept Middletown 5-0 in the Thunderhawks' Greater Miami Conference opener on Monday, Aug. 24, with singles wins from Emese Watkins, Zara Parson and Scarlett Black powering the shutout and improving the team to 2-2 overall.
West Chester, OH
78°F
Partly Cloudy
Feels like 78° · 1% rain
MonMostly Sunny93°F3%
TueSunny96°F0%
WedSunny97°F0%
ThuSunny96°F14%
FriChance Showers And Thunderstorms90°F26%
SatSlight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms87°F25%
SunSunny85°F9%
Sports
Lakota East girls tennis blanks Middletown 5-0 in GMC opener
Lakota East girls tennis swept Middletown 5-0 in the Thunderhawks' Greater Miami Conference opener on Monday, Aug. 24, with singles wins from Emese Watkins, Zara Parson and Scarlett Black powering the shutout and improving the team to 2-2 overall.
West Chester, OH
78°F
Partly Cloudy
Feels like 78° · 1% rain
MonMostly Sunny93°F3%
TueSunny96°F0%
WedSunny97°F0%
ThuSunny96°F14%
FriChance Showers And Thunderstorms90°F26%
SatSlight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms87°F25%
SunSunny85°F9%
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Dayton kayaker drowns in Great Miami River; officials warn of swift currents
A 47-year-old Dayton kayaker drowned in the Great Miami River near Hamilton's low dam, and Butler County officials are warning residents about dangerously swift currents and floating debris that have made the river treacherous for boaters.
West Chester trustees to vote on finance hire, $160K contract
West Chester Township trustees will vote Tuesday on hiring a finance director at roughly $140,000 per year, a $160,000 economic development consulting contract, an emergency resolution locking in electricity rates and an $88,646 police vehicle purchase.
West Chester records show unpaid bills, weak hotel data behind festival split
Newly released public records show West Chester Township had to hire lawyers to collect overdue bills from the VOA Country Music Festival organizer in both 2024 and 2025, and township data found the event actually reduced hotel occupancy and nearby business traffic.
Duke expects full power restoration Thursday after derecho
Duke Energy says nearly all customers still without power from this week's derecho will be restored by end of day Thursday, Aug. 13, with 38,861 still in the dark regionwide including Butler County residents.
Health officials warn against Great Miami River contact after Indiana sewage discharge
Hamilton County Public Health is warning residents to avoid the Great Miami River and Whitewater River after a flood-damaged Indiana treatment plant began releasing raw sewage, affecting waterways that flow downstream toward recreation sites near West Chester and Liberty Township.
Lakota tightens absence tracking: all missed days now count under new state law
The Lakota Board of Education approved a new attendance policy July 27 that counts all absences — excused, medical, and religious — toward chronic absenteeism, triggers earlier parent notifications, and establishes intervention teams at every school building ahead of the Aug. 13 start of classes.
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Local Government
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Local Government
West Chester trustees to vote on finance hire, $160K contract
West Chester Township trustees will vote Tuesday on hiring a finance director at roughly $140,000 per year, a $160,000 economic development consulting contract, an emergency resolution locking in electricity rates and an $88,646 police vehicle purchase.
Local Government
Two Cars & Coffee dates remain at Liberty Center
Liberty Center's free Cars & Coffee series has two remaining 2026 dates — Sept. 19 and Oct. 17 — in the Taylor Parking Garage, where car owners display their vehicles and neighbors browse over morning coffee.
Local Government
Butler County TIF fight over $690M data center hits close to home for Lakota taxpayers
Madison and St. Clair townships filed TIF resolutions to block Trenton from capturing $690 million in Amazon Web Services data center tax revenue, escalating a county-wide fight that lands days before Liberty Township's own data center zoning rules take effect Friday, Aug. 21.
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Local Government
Kuechly enshrined in Canton as St. Xavier team watches from the stands
Luke Kuechly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday in Canton, with the St. Xavier football team in attendance two weeks before the Bombers open their season Aug. 21 at Lakota West.
Local Government
Butler County commissioners vote 2-1 to press zoning fight against fifth-generation farm market
Butler County commissioners voted 2-1 on Aug. 4 to continue a legal challenge against Garver Family Farm Market in Lemon Township, with Commissioner Cindy Carpenter dissenting; the case now heads to Common Pleas Court and could set a precedent for how zoning rules apply to agricultural land countywide, including in West Chester and Liberty townships.
Local Government
West Chester Rep. Gross introduces bill requiring voter approval for Ohio data centers
West Chester State Rep. Jennifer Gross introduced House Bill 983 on July 28, which would require Ohio voters to approve large-scale data centers before they can be built, ban local tax incentives for the industry, and impose new environmental and energy-generation mandates on operators.
Education
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Chamberlain, Covista invest $150K in Cincinnati youth nursing pipeline
Chamberlain University and parent company Covista committed $150,000 over three years to partner with The Health Collaborative on healthcare career exploration programs for Cincinnati-area middle and high school students, announced alongside the ribbon cutting of Chamberlain's 25th campus on Thursday, Aug. 20.
Education
Dolly Parton's book program lives on for Butler County kids
MidPointe Library System honored Dolly Parton after her death Aug. 25, spotlighting the Imagination Library program that delivers free monthly books to Butler County children from birth through age five.
Public Safety
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Public Safety
Dayton kayaker drowns in Great Miami River; officials warn of swift currents
A 47-year-old Dayton kayaker drowned in the Great Miami River near Hamilton's low dam, and Butler County officials are warning residents about dangerously swift currents and floating debris that have made the river treacherous for boaters.
Public Safety
Health officials warn against Great Miami River contact after Indiana sewage discharge
Hamilton County Public Health is warning residents to avoid the Great Miami River and Whitewater River after a flood-damaged Indiana treatment plant began releasing raw sewage, affecting waterways that flow downstream toward recreation sites near West Chester and Liberty Township.
Public Safety
Duke expects full power restoration Thursday after derecho
Duke Energy says nearly all customers still without power from this week's derecho will be restored by end of day Thursday, Aug. 13, with 38,861 still in the dark regionwide including Butler County residents.
Public Safety
Rollover crash with entrapment closes roads near Union Centre and Beckett in West Chester
A multi-vehicle rollover crash with entrapment near Union Centre Boulevard and Beckett Road in West Chester Township closed several roads Wednesday evening, Aug. 5, with injuries reported but details on severity not yet released by police.
Public Safety
VOA Country Music Festival warns of possible evacuation if storms hit this weekend
The VOA Country Music Festival at Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester Township faces potential storms Thursday through Saturday, with organizers warning that evacuation of the open grass field is possible if lightning threatens the tens of thousands of expected attendees.
Public Safety
Milford Township crash kills goat farm owner headed to Butler County Fair
Christine Rhoads-Larsen, 44, of Milford Township, was killed July 28 in a three-vehicle crash at U.S. 127 and Hamilton Eaton Road when a Toyota Camry failed to yield; two others were treated at UC West Chester Hospital and the Butler County S.T.A.R.T. team is investigating.
Community
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Retail building proposed on residential land in West Chester
Hutsenpiller Contractors Inc. is asking West Chester Township's Board of Zoning Appeals for conditional use approval to build an 80-by-60-foot, two-story retail and office building at 6749 Station Road, which is zoned for single-family residential use.
Community
West Chester fans fill dance floor in tribute to Dolly Parton
Country music fans gathered at Lori's Roadhouse in West Chester on Tuesday, Aug. 25, to honor Dolly Parton with line dancing and personal reflections, as local residents and state leaders pledged to continue her Imagination Library legacy in Ohio.
Business
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Business
Meta settlement sends Ohio $319 million, caps teen screen time
Ohio will receive $319 million from Meta's $17 billion settlement with 47 states, which mandates two-hour daily screen-time caps, overnight access blocks and silenced weekday notifications for teen users of Instagram and Facebook.
Business
West Chester records show unpaid bills, weak hotel data behind festival split
Newly released public records show West Chester Township had to hire lawyers to collect overdue bills from the VOA Country Music Festival organizer in both 2024 and 2025, and township data found the event actually reduced hotel occupancy and nearby business traffic.
Business
Ohio's sales tax holiday starts Friday with narrower deals for West Chester shoppers
Ohio's 2026 sales tax holiday runs Aug. 7–9 with narrower exemptions than last year's two-week event, as lawmakers redirected revenue toward property tax relief; West Chester families are preparing for the three-day window ahead of Lakota's Aug. 13 first day of school.
Business
P&G confirms thousands of job cuts, announces $3.8 billion Thorne acquisition
Procter & Gamble confirmed in a Wednesday federal filing that it has cut 4% of its global workforce under a restructuring targeting 7,000 non-manufacturing jobs by 2027, while announcing a $3.8 billion acquisition of supplement brand Thorne expected to close in Q4 2026.
Business
Resilience, Eli Lilly partnership hits $750 million as West Chester expansion adds 400 jobs
Biomanufacturer Resilience and Eli Lilly announced that their combined Ohio investment has reached $750 million, with the latest expansion bringing at least 400 new KwikPen production jobs to Resilience's West Chester Township campus by early 2027.
Business
Liberty Township accepting vendor applications for Sept. 26 Fall Festival
Liberty Township opened online vendor applications Friday, July 24, for its annual Fall Festival on Saturday, September 26, at Liberty Park, seeking local crafters, artists and family-friendly vendors.
Sports
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Lakota East girls tennis blanks Middletown 5-0 in GMC opener
Lakota East girls tennis swept Middletown 5-0 in the Thunderhawks' Greater Miami Conference opener on Monday, Aug. 24, with singles wins from Emese Watkins, Zara Parson and Scarlett Black powering the shutout and improving the team to 2-2 overall.
Sports
Lakota East girls soccer earns first win in 3-1 victory over Springboro
Abby Vogelmann, Bailey Bacher and Gianna Perry scored as Lakota East girls soccer beat Springboro 3-1 on Aug. 18 for the Lady Hawks' first win of 2026; the team sits at 1-1-1 after three games.
Weather
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Weather
Monday night storms knock out power for thousands in Butler County
Severe thunderstorms Monday night, July 27, knocked out power for roughly 2,500 Duke Energy customers in Butler County and nearly 15,000 regionwide, with downed trees and power lines reported along Stahlheber Road; most power was restored by Tuesday morning.
Weather
Storms knock out power for thousands across Greater Cincinnati; Butler County in affected region
Severe storms left at least 10,000 Duke Energy customers without power across Greater Cincinnati on Tuesday, July 21, with Butler County in the affected region, though no local outage numbers have been confirmed for West Chester or Liberty Township.
Weather
Wildfire smoke and storms hit West Chester on Saturday; Sunday brings relief
Canadian wildfire smoke and afternoon thunderstorms complicate Saturday plans in West Chester Township, but Sunday offers clearer skies and lower humidity before a major storm system arrives Tuesday.
Maryam Khanum
Maryam Khanum is a journalist based in Winston-Salem, NC. She graduated from Wake Forest University in 2024 with majors in Political Science and Communications. Maryam was heavily involved in journalism throughout her college career, serving as Multimedia Managing Editor for the student-run newspaper, the Old Gold & Black. She previously worked for the International Business Times.
Maryam Khanum
Maryam Khanum is a journalist based in Winston-Salem, NC. She graduated from Wake Forest University in 2024 with majors in Political Science and Communications. Maryam was heavily involved in journalism throughout her college career, serving as Multimedia Managing Editor for the student-run newspaper, the Old Gold & Black. She previously worked for the International Business Times.
Maryam Khanum
Maryam Khanum is a journalist based in Winston-Salem, NC. She graduated from Wake Forest University in 2024 with majors in Political Science and Communications. Maryam was heavily involved in journalism throughout her college career, serving as Multimedia Managing Editor for the student-run newspaper, the Old Gold & Black. She previously worked for the International Business Times.
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©2026 West Chester-Liberty Herald
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©2026 West Chester-Liberty Herald
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