Morning Read – June 12S

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Morning Read

ASHLAND ANNOUNCES BICENTENNIAL KICKOFF – Ashland’s celebration of its 200th anniversary will heat up with a Downtown Bicentennial Kickoff celebration that will feature a variety of events on Saturday, June 27.

The day-long celebration, which is sponsored by Kingston of Ashland, will start at 12 noon at the stage located in Kinnaman Park next to Home Hardware with the raising of the flag presented by the Ashland Honor Guard and the singing of the National Anthem by Elizabeth Ewers-Jankowski of Kingston of Ashland.

The opening events also will include a prayer and ceremony involving Ashland Mayor Glen Stewart and Rick Spreng, co-chair of the Bicentennial Celebration Committee.

“Bring your family downtown and join us as we kick-off Ashland’s Bicentennial commemorative events,” Spreng said. “The downtown will be full of fun, games, food and sidewalk sales great for the whole family!”

Following the opening ceremony, famous historical Ashlanders will be present on stage to talk about Ashland’s 200th birthday.

Then from 12:30 to 5 p.m., there will be a family fun time with bounce houses, kids games, nature crafts, chair caning demonstration, band organ demonstration, sidewalk sales, food, face painting, cotton candy, popcorn, backyard games, area mascots and food vendors. The Humane Society will sponsor an adopt a pet, balloon canvas painting, a photo booth and more.

From 1 to 3 p.m., the Historical Museum will be open for the public to tour and also offer the public an opportunity to talk with the Ashland historical characters.

At 1 p.m., there will be a Limbo Contest on the stage for kids of all ages, courtesy of the Ashland Kroc Center as well as a Corn Hole double elimination tournament from 1 to 2 p.m., courtesy of Kingston of Ashland. At 1:30 p.m., introductions of the Queen Pageant contestants will be made on stage and at 3 p.m., judging for the Beard Growing Contest will take place on the stage.

“Make sure to join the celebration from 3 to 10 p.m. for the many food options and a Beer Garden in the Home Savings parking lot presented by the Ashland Elks,” Spreng said.

The evening will conclude with concerts by two local groups – the Jessica Hannan Band from 5 to 7 p.m. and Krush from 8 to 10 p.m.

The Jessica Hannan Band is a modern country music band based out of Mansfield, Ohio. The band, which played more than 75 shows throughout the state of Ohio last year, plays a mix of new and old country favorites and is known for the high-energy they bring to the stage. The band, led by vocalist Jessica Hannan, is in the process of recording its first Nashville recorded and produced EP. Other band members include David Haag on drums, Mark Merchant on lead guitar, Andy Haupricht on bass and Tom Shields on keyboards and vocals.

Krush is a high-energy classic rock group from Ashland, Ohio, consisting of professional veteran musicians Keith Kobilack on guitar and lead vocals, Kevin Kobilack on drums and lead vocals, and Garry Denney on bass and vocals. Their distinctive style of danceable classic rock is combined with a unique and original stage show that is entertaining and energetic, while also incorporating costumes, choreography and outrageous stage antics that showcase their showmanship.

The City of Ashland is celebrating its 200th year anniversary during 2015 and its year-long celebration is sponsored by Donley Auto Group. For more information on these and other events, please go to the Bicentennial website at http://www.ashland200.com/.

NEW ONLINE BUSINESS SERVICES AVAILABLE – Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted today announced the expansion of online services offered through the Ohio Business Central, a program he launched in October of 2013. Today’s announcement is part of the Secretary’s ongoing goal to improve services offered to current and prospective Ohio businesses and to ensure our state is one of the easiest places in the nation to start and maintain a business.

As of May 2015, Ohio Business Central has been used to form more than 60,000 business entities.

“If we want to attract more jobs to our state, we need to make sure businesses can work with state agencies at the speed of business,” Secretary Husted said. “In just four years, we’ve brought the services our office provides out of the Stone Age and into the 21st century, which is one of the many reasons more businesses are choosing to start up in Ohio than ever before.”

When Secretary Husted took office in 2011, the agency accepted only hard-copy applications for new businesses and business renewals. Those forms took four days to process and commonly required follow-up communication that delayed a business startup. The online process turns around applications in less than 24 hours in most cases.

As of today, five new forms can be filed electronically; meaning up to 84 percent of business filings received by the Secretary of State’s office will be able to be completed by going to OhioSecretaryOfState.gov and navigating to the business services tab. This includes 100 percent of those forms needed to start a new Ohio-based corporation.

The new forms include Articles of Incorporation for Profit Corporations (532A), Articles of Incorporation for Non-Profit Corporations (532B), Articles of Incorporation for Professional Associations (532C), Statement of Partnership Authority for General Partnerships (535), and Statement of Qualification for Limited Liability Partnerships (536).

The new forms also allow applicants under the Universal Commercial Code (UCC) to submit supporting documents as attachments, which had deterred companies from utilizing the feature in the past due to the increased risk of error.

In addition to the new business forms, the Secretary of State’s website now also features the ability to request certified copies of a business license. Previously, the 16,000 annual requests for certified copies would have to be handled by hand.

“There is no room for complacency and bureaucracy in a service agency,” added Secretary Husted. “In the Secretary of State’s office, we continue to seek new ways to provide more services to Ohioans while being better stewards of their hard-earned tax dollars.”

The new forms are available for use beginning immediately.

MORE SPACE STUDIES PROGRAM EVENTS PLANNED – The public event series of International Space University’s (ISU) 28th Space Studies Program (SSP15) continues next week with two major panel discussions. One will feature an international group of astronauts representing 40 years of space exploration on almost every vehicle to carry humans into space.

The nine-week professional development program hosted by Ohio University for the future leaders of the global space community – more than 110 participants and more than 150 faculty – will showcase various public events throughout the summer, from a rocket launch to space-themed concerts.

International Astronaut Panel: Wed., June 17 at 8:30-11 p.m. in Baker University Center Ballroom

On Wed., June 17, Apollo 17 astronaut and former U.S. Senator Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk will participate in a panel discussion from 8:30-11 p.m. at Baker University Center Ballroom on the Athens campus, with a reception to follow.

Schmitt, the only scientist to walk on the moon, will draw upon his experience as a U.S. Senator to highlight the political importance of space activities. As part of his visit, Schmitt will also hold a public book signing at Little Professor Bookstore in Athens on Wed., June 17, from 10:15-11:30 a.m.

Krikalev, Russia’s preeminent cosmonaut and rocket scientist, holds the record for longest time spent in space and was the only human in space onboard a spacecraft alone for several months.

Nespoli, a European Space Agency astronaut, Italian professional engineer and parachute jumpmaster, has experience onboard the International Space Station, Space Shuttle and Soyuz.

Thirsk, a Canadian astronaut who flew onboard the Space Shuttle and the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, was the first Canadian to have flown a long-duration flight on the International Space Station and is now chancellor of the University of Calgary in Canada.

The discussion will be moderated by Russ College of Engineering and Technology Dean Dennis Irwin, who will take questions from the audience in Athens, and around the world via Twitter and Facebook. Tweet a question with the hashtag #AskAnAstronaut and follow @ISU_SSP and @russcollege. On Facebook, post a question on the ISU SSP15 community page at www.facebook.com/ISUssp15 with the hashtag #AskAnAstronaut.

The event will be webcast live at www.ohio.edu/engineering/isu/media/index.cfm/.

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