In an act of defiance of state law for the sake of protecting the city's drinking water, Athens City Council introduced an ordinance Monday night that bans oil and gas drilling within its wellhead protection zone.

When Tammy Bolin first applied for a job at the Athens County Public Defender's office back in 1982, she recalled, she was "just 18, fresh out of high school," and had no experience whatever in the legal profession.

A local landlord is trying to evict an Ohio University fraternity from its house on North College Street. The owner of the property claims that the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity has violated its lease in various ways that include keeping a dog; causing a lot of damage to the house; having alcohol "and/or other controlled substances" on the premises; letting trash pile up; and lighting fires in the basement.

A state geology report released in mid-March seems to have had the same effect on the local debate over oil and gas drilling as a pail of freezing cold water.

Three Athens women have contributed a chapter to a groundbreaking book on using horses to help heal humans with emotional problems.

The Hocking College Education Association Support Staff has withdrawn its strike notice in an ongoing labor dispute with the school over a new contract.

Ohio Stream Restore Corps AmeriCorps members, working on the Appalachia Ohio Zero Waste Initiative (AOZWI), have received $2,000 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to implement five litter cleanup events throughout the Sunday and Monday Creek watersheds.

The Athens Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, April 12, will discuss the issue of creating housing for people with special needs.

The city of Athens will have to delay planned renovations to the Oxbow Bridge on the upper end of Richland Avenue after bids for the project came in significantly over what had been planned.

Athens City Council has amended proposed changes to its wellhead protection plan to alleviate concerns from city Law Director Pat Lang about language banning oil and gas drilling and exploration in the wellhead area.