WOUB Public Media

Breaking Ground With Telehealth

WOUB — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:27:50 +0000

Athens, Ohio

L-R: Gina Wilberger, Milena Miller, Deborah Meyer

On this edition of Conversations from Studio B, host Milena Miller talks with Deborah Meyer and Gina Wilberger of Appalachian Community Visiting Nurses, Hospice and Health Services.

Miller, Meyer and Wilberger discuss Appalachian Community Visiting Nurses’ new telehealth program.

“With the devices that we have, people are measuring their weight, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and their fasting blood sugars. Everything is done wirelessly so that when they are at home checking these things, I’m basically at the computer on the Internet”, says Wilberger.

VIDEO: WOUB NewsWrap - 6/19/13

WOUB — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:07:14 +0000

A Logan couple has been indicted by a grand jury after authorities say their daughter received second and third degree burns from a meth lab spill.

Plus, a man has been indicted on kidnapping and robbery charges after robbing a Meigs County bank last month.

These stories and more in your Wednesday NewsWrap.

Cooper Earns Workout With Washington

Matthew Doyle — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:07:01 +0000

Athens, OH

Matthew Doyle

D.J. Cooper and his agent confirmed Wednesday that the former Ohio guard will workout with the Washington Wizards this Friday. It will be the third pre-draft workout Cooper will participate in after completing workouts with the Portland Trail Blazers on May 31 and the Golden State Warriors on June 17.

Throughout the pre-draft process, Washington has been working out point guards expected to go late in the second round or undrafted, with their backup point guard A.J. Price entering free agency. Price averaged 7.7 points and 3.6 assists per game last year for the Wizards.

The backcourt is the strong point of the Wizards, led by former No. 1 overall pick John Wall. Wall averaged 18.5 points and 7.6 assists last season in 49 games.

Washington owns the No. 3, 38 and 54 picks in the upcoming draft. The Wizards are expected to address the backup point guard position with either the No. 38 or 54 pick.

Nelsonville Farmers Market Expands Now Open Once A Week

Sara Brumfield - Athens Messenger staff reporter — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:51:08 +0000

Nelsonville, OH

Sara Brumfield - Athens Messenger staff reporter

Nelsonville residents and visitors now have weekly access to fresh, local produce as the Nelsonville Farmers Market is held every Friday from 5-8 p.m. The market was only held on the last Friday of the month in prior years.

According to Nelsonville Farmers Market manager Margaret Ferguson, the market is in its third year. She said prior to the current season, the market had only been held in conjunction with Nelsonville’s Final Friday event. Final Friday is a monthly event that focuses on the many art galleries and shops surrounding the city’s historic public square on the last Friday of each month.

Ferguson said that in May the farmers market began selling local produce every Friday in front of the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway on Canal Street. The market moves to the Public Square on Final Fridays only.

Because farmers harvest their produce weekly, Ferguson said the decision was made to make the farmers market a weekly affair in order to give farmers a chance to sell more local food.

Currently the Nelsonville Farmers Market has four produce vendors and the Burrito Buggy also sells food. Ferguson said the market is looking to add more vendors, including community gardeners who may have just a handful of produce items to sell.

According to Ferguson, current items available at the market include herbs, collard greens, lettuces, kale, Swiss chard, radishes, plants, goat milk soaps and more. She said she’d like to see meat and egg produces, more plants and flowers and baked goods offered at the market.

The cost to sell at the Nelsonville Farmers Market is $10 per week or $60 for the entire season, which runs through the end of October.

For information about the Nelsonville Farmers Market or to become a vendor, call Ferguson at 591-5579, or visit www.facebook.com/NelsonvilleFarmersMarket.

Proposed Bill Would Require Ultrasounds For Women Seeking Abortions

Associated Press — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:24:54 +0000

Columbus, OH

Associated Press

Ohio lawmakers have been presented with a new Republican-backed legislative measure aimed at curbing abortions.

The proposal discussed Wednesday at a House committee hearing requires women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound. It does not specify which type of ultrasound.

Doctors would have to describe to pregnant women "all relevant features" of the fetus.

Rep. Ron Hood is the bill's sponsor. The Ashville Republican says the ultrasound a woman chooses to submit to must be capable of showing the fetus.

Critics of the measure say the bill's mandate would force some women in early pregnancy stages to undergo an invasive type of ultrasound.

The bill also would require doctors to tell women that the procedure increases the risk of breast cancer.

How One Day Everything Could Be Recycled

Randy Rieland — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:44:40 +0000

Randy Rieland

Photo Credit:

Courtesy of Princeton University

One bionic ear, fresh off the printer.

Chances are you’ve heard about the Texas company that recently announced it was able to produce a working handgun on a 3-D printer. After assembling the gun out of printed plastic parts, the firm’s founder, Cody Wilson, took it out to a shooting range and successfully fired some .380 caliber bullets. He calls his creation “The Liberator.”

Chances are you haven’t heard about the 3-D printed working bionic ear made by Princeton and Johns Hopkins scientists. Or the University of Michigan researchers who used a 3-D printer to produce a plastic splint that likely saved the life of a baby with a rare condition that caused his windpipe to collapse. Or the company called The Sugar Lab. It creates amazingly elaborate–and edible–sugar structures on, yes, a printer.

The truth is, almost any business that makes a product is probably weighing how 3-D printing–also known as additive manufacturing–fits into its future. Ford already is using the technology to print cylinder heads, brake rotors and rear axles for test vehicles. In fact, production time for some parts has been shaved by 25 to 40 percent. And engineers at Mattel are using 3-D printers to create parts of virtually every type of toy that it manufactures, from Hot Wheels cars to Barbie dolls.

If you’re still not buying into the notion that 3-D printing is finally, after 30 years, going mainstream, consider this: Last month Staples became the first major U.S. retailer to start selling 3-D printers. And one more tidbit: Amazon just launched an online 3-D printer store.

Nature’s way
It’s easy to get carried away with the idea that 3-D printing will change everything, that one day you’ll never have to go to an auto parts store or a toy store or a hardware store since you’ll be able to print out whatever you need. Not so fast. For starters, think about the liability issues that would come with installing car parts you printed at home.

That said, Janine Benyus thinks that 3-D printing presents a rare opportunity to profoundly change how we make things. Benyus is founder of the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute--that’s a reference to the 3.8 billion years life has been adapting on Earth–and she knows as well as anyone how much can be learned from nature. So, asks Benyus, why not take advantage of this moment in technological evolution to see how products can be created to better mimic the natural world? And what would it take to ensure that everything made on a 3-D printer is recyclable?

They’re questions she and other scientists will tackle later this week at the first Biomimicry Global Conference in Boston. During that discussion, Benyus will likely spend some time talking about potato chips bags.

They seem so simple, but as Benyus likes to point out, every bag is actually seven distinct layers, each made of a different material–one for waterproofing, one for excluding oxygen, one for inking, etc. Altogether, a potato chips bag comprises as many as 350 different polymers. By contrast, notes Benyus, a beetle’s shell is made of one material–chitin–but it’s strong, waterproof, allows air to pass through it and can change colors.

The challenge now, she notes, is to get the 3-D printer industry look to nature for inspiration. Says Benyus:

“Nature works with five polymers. Only five polymers. In the natural world, life builds from the bottom up and it builds in resilience and multiple uses. What would it be like to use only five polymer classes to build everything?”

Benyus’ focus is on rallying experts in her field to design biomimetic digital structures for materials that when printed, will have the same kind of strength, toughness and flexibility so common in substances in the natural world. And once a product’s life is over, it could be broken down and fed back into the printer to take shape as something new.

“We rarely get opportunities like this. This is our opportunity to get very close to how nature works,” said Benyus. “Are we going to address this? Or are we going to build bigger landfills?”

3-D visions

Here are a few more recent 3-D printer innovations:

Hold the toner: NASA has contracted with a Texas firm to develop a 3-D printer that can make pizzas in space. The company landed the contract, in part, because it has already built a printer that can print chocolate chips on to a cookie.
It’s alive!: A San Diego company recently announced that it has created on a 3-D printer samples of liver cells that function just as they would in a human. The 3-D cells were able to produce some of the same proteins as an actual liver does and interacted with each other and with compounds as they would in your body.
Go print up your room: Designers Benjamin Dillenburger and Michael Hansmeyer are building an entire room out of sandstone shapes created on a printer. The ornate room, which has been described as a “cross between an alien skeletal system and a cathedral on another planet,” will be unveiled next month.
But why stop there?: A Dutch architectural firm has designed an entire house that will be built of plastic parts made on a printer. The architects plan to have the entire front facade of the house, which will be located on a canal in northern Amsterdam, constructed by the end of the year. The 3-D-printed kitchen, study, storage room and guestroom will be added next year.
Imagine that: And in Chile, a team of engineers say they’ve developed software that enables objects to be printed in response to a person’s brain waves. In theory, users will be able to create and print 3-D versions of whatever their brains can conjure up. Chilean children will get the first crack at trying it out during a tour of schools later this month.

Video bonus: Janine Benyus talks about her favorite subject–the inspiration of nature.

Video bonus bonus: Listen to this violin for a few bars and you’ll see why some things probably shouldn’t be made on a printer.

Group Looking For More Volunteers To Help Repaint Town

Arian Smedley - Athens Messenger staff reporter — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:33:33 +0000

Glouster, OH

Arian Smedley - Athens Messenger staff reporter

Photo Credit:

John Halley - Athens Messenger

The Glouster Volunteers will once again be working with the students of Skills USA to repaint the town, but the group needs something to make it happen — more volunteers.

Last summer for the first time, 260 volunteers from the SkillsUSA Summer Leadership Camp at Hocking College joined the Glouster Volunteers in sprucing up the town. Last year, they painted the exterior of 17 houses in one day.

SkillsUSA Ohio is a technical student organization. For eight years, the summer camp has been hosted at Hocking College. During the camp, the students, who represent around 35 high schools from across the state, get a taste of the college experience, leadership skills and an opportunity to work a service project, in this case, painting the homes of Glouster.

On July 17, more than 200 campers will once again descend upon the little town with the hopes of painting at least a dozen or more homes, said Jim Cotter, co-founder of the Glouster Volunteers.

“We’d like to find out if anybody in the community would like to helps us be an advisor for our groups,” Cotter said.

Volunteers are needed sooner rather than later, Cotter explained. He said he needs help connecting with homeowners to find out what work needs to be done and where. There may also be tasks — like clearing off porches or chipping away old paint — that should be done ahead of time. Ideally, the only work that will be done on July 17 will be the painting, Cotter said.

On the day of the event, the volunteers will serve as project managers and will guide the work on each house.

The inspiration for the Glouster Volunteers, which has been around just over one year, came from Cotter and his sister Jody Moore. They both grew up in Glouster; Moore still lives there. Their efforts to clean up their town started with window washing and has since included dozens of improvement projects.

Anyone is welcome to join their efforts, said Cooter. Experience working with young adults is a plus. Those who are interested in helping can call either Cotter or Moore at 767-3458.

Man Indicted For Meigs County Bank Robbery

WOUB Contributing Writer — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:52:50 +0000

Pomeroy, OH

WOUB Contributing Writer

The man charged with robbing a Meigs County bank last month has been indicted on aggravated robbery and multiple kidnapping charges.

A Meigs County Grand Jury indicted Chad Rennicker, 25, of Ripley, West Virginia, Monday.

The indictment charges Rennicker with six counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated robbery in connection with the robbery of the Farmers Bank in Tuppers Plains, Ohio, on May 30.

Following the robbery, deputies say Rennicker took off with his girlfriend, Michaela Fritz, in her dad’s stolen car.

Less than three days after the robbery, Rennicker was arrested at an apartment in Ripley.

Deputies say some of the money from the robbery was found in that apartment.

Meigs County Prosecutor Coleen Williams said Rennicker used a painted water gun in the robbery.

At this time, court records do not indicate an arraignment date.

Rennicker is also wanted out of Belmont County, Ohio, in connection with his guilty plea in a bank robbery there.

Authorities say Rennicker and his brother, Brock, 26, of Dover, Ohio, robbed the Colerain PNC Bank in May 2012.

Published reports say the brothers were arrested about a month later at an apartment following a five hour standoff with SWAT members, and that they used a fake gun in that robbery.

In April, Chad Rennicker pleaded guilty to 3rd degree robbery and sentenced to 43 months of community service. A warrant for his arrest was issued following the Meigs County robbery.

Rennicker is being held in the Washington County Jail.

Police In West Virginia To Increase Traffic Enforcement In Work Zones

Associated Press — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:10:57 +0000

Charleston, WV

Associated Press

West Virginia is increasing enforcement of traffic laws in highway work zones in an effort to improve safety.

The Department of Transportation is using some of its federal grant money to pay for extra work zone patrols by West Virginia State Police troopers.

State officials announced the safety initiative Tuesday.

State police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous says he believes motorists have become complacent about seeing police lights in work zones and think they won't be pulled over for traffic violations.

With the extra patrols, Baylous says motorists can no longer assume that they won't be pulled over.

Department of Transportation spokesman Brent Walker says excessive speed or distracted driving are responsible for about 90 percent of accidents in work zones.

City Of Wheeling To Increase Sales Tax

Associated Press — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:31:25 +0000

Wheeling, WV

Associated Press

Wheeling is increasing its sales tax and reducing its business and occupation tax.

The changes are part of Wheeling's plan to eliminate the B&O tax without losing revenue.

The City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to raise the city sales tax by half a percent to 6.5 percent. The council reduced the B&O tax on retail businesses by 26 percent and eliminated the tax on manufacturing and amusements.

City manager Robert Herron says the sale tax hike likely will begin Oct. 1.

The B&O tax changes will become effective April 1, 2014.

Additional revenue from the sales tax increase will be used to pay for infrastructure needs and to upgrade WesBanco Arena.