Here is a look at five big Butler County stories today to catch up on the news.

Investigation of Hamilton drive-by shooting ongoing; callers to 911 heard multiple gunshots

Two people were injured Thursday night in a drive-by shooting at Bailey Square in Hamilton.

It happened at about 9:15 p.m. at Walnut and Second streets. Javon Monquez, 28, of Cincinnati, and Nicolette Shawnese, 28, of Hamilton, were both hit by gunfire.

Hamilton Sgt. Rich Burkhardt said their injuries are non-life-threatening.

Hamilton agrees to 12-year tax incentive for Amp House Brewing

Hamilton City Council OK’d a 12-year tax incentive agreement with the owners of Great Miami Brewing as they plan a $2 million investment to redevelop a decommissioned electric substation into a craft brewery and restaurant.

Economic Development Director Jody Gunderson said he believes the project “represents something very significant” along the Maple Avenue corridor, which runs parallel to the south of High Street.

“It’s going to be sort of like the anchor of Maple Avenue there, and with the (former CSX train) depot going in across the tracks there, we’ve got some other projects that are ‘what ifs’ along that corridor there,” he said. “It’s probably coming together much quicker than we even thought.”

Preliminary Badin H.S. parking expansion, stadium plan gets council approval

Hamilton City Council has approved a preliminary plan for a proposed parking expansion and possible athletic complex.

But the final plan, whenever it is presented to Hamilton Planning Commission, won’t look the same.

“Over the last couple of weeks, we met with the adjacent property owners to discuss their concerns and see what changes could possibly be made,” said Badin High School Principal Brian Pendergest. “We’ve agreed to look at other orientations for the stadium in an effort to address the concerns of the neighbors to the south.”

The Joe Nuxhall legend was born today in 1944

On June 10, 1944, Hamilton’s own Joe Nuxhall made history, becoming the youngest player to appear in an MLB game.

The Ol’ Lefthander was 15 years, 10 months, and 11 days old, playing in just one game that season. He returned to the majors in 1952 and spends 14 more seasons with Cincinnati.

It was a solid start 77 years ago today, but it was a rough finish.

Selling Care Facility’s nursing beds could help fund mental health crisis center

The Butler County commissioners announced recently they will be out of the nursing home business by year’s end and now are debating how to finance transforming the space into an emergency mental health crisis center.

The county is working to shut down the 109-bed Care Facility by the end of the year and transform part of it into an emergency crisis center. Commissioner Cindy Carpenter told her fellow commissioners recently the local group working on the OneOhio opioid settlement for the region — the seven-county region is slated to get about $54 million — made the crisis stabilization a funding priority, but there is a hitch.

“We have identified that the crisis stabilization center is the primary project we’re going to seek funding for,” Carpenter said. “Unfortunately Butler County is part of a region and the guidelines say that everything we put forward has to support the region, so we have to adjust our crisis stabilization center to support these other six counties.”

AND, for an extra sixth story of the day ...

Preble County Pork Festival back on, organizers say

EATON — The Preble County Pork Festival will happen in September after all.

In April, a post to the festival’s Facebook page stated it would not happen this year due to rising costs and a lack of volunteers. But today, organizers said it will happen the third full weekend in September.

“This year’s Preble County Pork Festival held at the Preble County Fairgrounds will take place Sept. 17-18, 2022 marking the organization’s 51st annual event,” states a release from organizers. “The food, entertainment, exhibitors and pork education are integrated into a weekend event sure to appeal to all ages. The Board of Directors unanimously confirmed to reinstate the previously canceled festival after receiving a groundswell of community support.”