The official mascot of The Highland County Press, Sasquatch, rose from his hibernation on Thursday, following a nap from his busy holiday season of delivering the HCP to the community to see his shadow, topping anything a groundhog in Pennsylvania can ever predict.

A motion to suppress an alleged written confession was denied Wednesday in Highland County Common Pleas Court in a first-degree felony armed robbery case. 

    Cole Midlam, 29, was indicted on the charge in July 2010 after he allegedly robbed the Hillsboro Rite-Aid in May 2010. He is scheduled to stand trial on the charge on Monday. 

    A motion to suppress hearing was held Wednesday in which Midlam's attorney, William Armintrout, alleged that Midlam was not fully Mirandized at the time of the alleged confession and that Midlam asked if he needed an attorney.

A boil advisory in Greenfield has been extended after some water tests returned positive indicators for certain unhealthy bacteria.

  The six candidates vying for two seats on the Highland County Board of Commissioners talked about jobs, economic development and balanced budgets Monday evening during a candidate forum sponsored by the Highland County TEA Party. 

The TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party event was held at the Hi-TEC building in Hillsboro. Moderator Jim Cook said that questions for the event were solicited from the public and were broken down into six categories: introduction and vision for Highland County; budgets, appropriations and property; economic development; shared services; practices and procedures; and closing remarks. 

Two Hillsboro businesses told The Highland County Press their bills increased approximately 40 percent from the previous month. Prior to the start of Tuesday evening's candidates forum hosted by the Highland County TEA Party, Highland County Commissioner Tom Horst said the courthouse electric bill increased 700 percent over the previous month.

A new year has arrived, but Adena Health System's commitment to providing outstanding healthcare in southern Ohio remains the same. Adena is beginning 2012 with a series of exciting events.

The Wilmington area will be losing more jobs, according to a report in the Dayton Business Journal. Fortis Plastics LLC will close its Wilmington facility and lay off 119 workers, the Journal reported.

The bill establishes texting-while-driving as a serious traffic violation for commercial drivers, excludes certain components from the prohibited length dimensions of specified types of vehicles, revises the law governing self-sufficiency contracts established under the Ohio Works First program.

For the fourth time in the past six months, Auditor of State Dave Yost is citing community school treasurer, Carl Shye, for illegally spending taxpayer dollars at three separate schools.  The multiple findings for recovery issued against him now total more than $600,000.

Former Ohio Gov. and Congressman Ted Strickland has accepted a teaching position at Harvard University's Institute of Politics.

Speaker of the Ohio House William G. Batchelder (R-Medina) today announced that Judge Philip H. Rose has been selected by the House Republican Caucus to be appointed to the vacant 87th House District seat.