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1 week ago | 
athensindependent.com | Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
STEWART, Ohio — The Federal Hocking Board of Education voted Tuesday night to nonrenew contracts for two teachers at the middle school and for high school Principal Jake Amlin, as recommended by Superintendent Jason Spencer. Middle school teachers Jaclyn Casey and Carrie Towne are employed under limited contracts, which can be for no more than five years and must be renewed.
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3 weeks ago | 
athensindependent.com | Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
Dear friend,It’s been just three years since we incorporated the Athens County Independent with a bold vision: to restore strong, independent, truly local journalism that could empower community engagement. We’ve accomplished a lot in that short time: Published 500+ original reported news articles. Promoted 11,000+ events from 190 community organizations. Grown to 7,000 email subscribers.
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1 month ago | 
athensindependent.com | Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
On Monday, WOUB’s David Forster published a story with the headline “Email exchanges detail how the city of Athens fell victim to a $700,000 cyber scam.”“Dozens of emails released by Athens Friday show how the scammers were able to insert themselves into an existing thread of legitimate email exchanges without notice and then start sending their own emails to redirect payments for work done on the fire station,” David wrote.
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1 month ago | 
athensindependent.com | Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
AMESVILLE, Ohio — The Federal Hocking Local Schools Board of Education voted Tuesday night to eliminate eight teaching positions effective with the 2025–26 school year. The reduction in force proposal from Superintendent Jason Spencer, introduced at the board’s Feb.
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1 month ago | 
athensindependent.com | Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
Corinne Colbert (she/her) worked for newspapers in Wheeling, WV and Martins Ferry, Marietta and Marysville, Ohio, before leaving journalism to work in nonprofit and freelance communications. She returned to the newsroom in June 2021 as editor of the Athens News but was suddenly fired in February 2022 for warning readers about deceptive advertising in the publication.
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1 month ago | 
athensindependent.com | Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
STEWART, Ohio — The Federal Hocking Local Schools Board of Education met in executive session with Superintendent Jason Spencer Monday night following a Facebook comment about teacher pay that he made last week using the district’s official account. On Thursday, Feb. 27, the Federal Hocking Local Schools Facebook account responded to a post calling for a nationwide minimum teacher salary of $70,000. “U don’t even know how much teachers are paid to work 182 days a year,” Spencer’s comment read.
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2 months ago | 
athensindependent.com | Larry Di Giovanni |Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
ATHENS, Ohio — When Athens City Council first discussed rehabilitating the Stimson Avenue bridge back in June 2023, the city was expected to bear about 12% of the total project cost. The Ohio Department of Transportation was picking up the balance. In April 2024, council amended its original authorization to increase the city’s share to $580,000. Because the state had increased its allocation for the project, though, the city’s responsibility represented only about 11% of the total cost.
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2 months ago | 
athensindependent.com | Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
My husband voted for Donald Trump. Twice. I am far from being the only American living in a politically divided family. For every person who recoils in horror when I reveal my marital status, at least two or more nod in sympathy. And often, they have the same story that I do — of watching someone they love changing under the influence of events and partisan news media. My husband is not the same man I met 35 years ago.
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2 months ago | 
athensindependent.com | Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
The News Roundup in Tuesday’s edition of The Scoop included an item from NiemanLab about Good Day, a company that’s creating AI-generated “local” newsletters for communities across the country — including one aimed at Athens. A reader sent us one of the emailed newsletters in December. That issue featured “7 Breaking Stories in Athens Today,” including four items from WOUB Public Media, one from the Athens Messenger and two from Ohio University.
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Jan 24, 2025 | 
athensindependent.com | Corinne Colbert |Martins Ferry |Corinne served
Nearly two months have passed since we published our first article on the theft of nearly $722,000 from the City of Athens. It’s been about a month since our last update on the situation. Undoubtedly you still have questions about the theft. As do we. I’d love nothing more than to fill you in on all the details. Trouble is, I can’t get those details because the city refuses to share them through public records requests. On Dec. 4 and Dec.
