MOUNT VERNON — When the 2011 Christmas Parade makes its way into downtown Mount Vernon, leading the way as grand marshal will be local auctioneer John "Red" Shaw.

MOUNT VERNON — On Wednesday the Mount Vernon Lions Club held a Liberty Day assembly for Mount Vernon eighth-graders.

MOUNT VERNON — A Mount Vernon man was charged with falsification and probation violation after an officer with the Mount Vernon Police Department discoverd a meth lab on Nov. 7.

The Mount Vernon Democratic Banner reported on Oct. 22, 1861, that the 4th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was unhappy with its new commander

CENTERBURG — A little bit of "Dixie" was on hand in Centerburg, Saturday, Nov. 12, as the Ohio Historical Society marker honoring Centerburg native Brig. Gen. Daniel Harris Reynolds, C.S.A., was unveiled in the village park at the corner of Main and Clayton streets.

SPARTA — Her name is etched in the history books at Highland High School.

MOUNT VERNON — Whatever the pros and cons are of oil and gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing and of brine disposal wells where fracking fluids can be disposed of, there is a practical downside — the effect increased truck traffic can have on roads unprepared to handle it.

MOUNT VERNON — The Winter Sanctuary, located in the Parish House of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, is now open and ready to provide overnight accommodation for homeless men who need temporary shelter in the winter months, November to April.

NEWARK — An indictment was recently served to William O. Dunlap, former clerk/treasurer for the village of Utica, on a third-degree felony of theft in office.

FREDERICKTOWN — A high school senior died in a head-on crash on Old Mansfield Road on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

CENTERBURG — The Centerburg school board on Monday learned the school district is among the top 25 schools in the state in the academic achievement reached by its students.

MOUNT VERNON — Forgery and receiving stolen property charges have been filed against a Cambridge woman as a result of an incident which took Mount Vernon police to Ohio Heritage Bank on Yauger Road, Friday evening.

GAMBIER — After nine seasons, Kenyon College and head football coach Ted Stanley are parting ways.

MOUNT VERNON — A pair of Freddies take top honors on the Mount Vernon News All-Area cross country team.

FREDERICKTOWN — A high school senior died in a head-on crash on Old Mansfield Road on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Caleb Hite, 18, Fredericktown, was pronounced dead by Knox County Coroner Jennifer Ogle at the scene, just north of the Knox Lake Road intersection.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Hite was northbound in his 1997 VW Jetta passing a car on a hillcrest. His car collided head-on with a Dodge Dakota pickup driven by Benjamin Vance 27, no address given. Vance was flown from the scene by MedFlight to The Ohio State University Medical Center. He is listed stable condition today.

Both vehicles caught fire after the crash. The patrol said the car being passed was driven by Chazz Smathers, 19. Both Smathers, and his his passenger, Cameron Peugh, 19, went to the rescue.

“They took lifesaving action in pulling the occupants from their vehicles,” according to patrol Lt. Chad McGinty.

With Vance were his two small children, ages four and nine months old. Both were in child restraint seats and were not injured. The children were released to their mother’s care at the scene of the crash.

All the occupants were restrained, according to the patrol. The Fredericktown Fire Department extinguished the fire but there was significant damage to the vehicles the patrol said.

Hite was a senior studying auto technology at the Knox County Career Center.

“I can’t tell you how we’ll miss him around here,” said KCCC Superintendent Bernie Pachmeyer. “He was just a great kid, very friendly and a very nice person.”

The crash remains under investigation.

Starting on Wednesday, November 16, at 8 a.m., the intersection of Sugar Street and McKenzie Street will be closed for sewer work. The work will end at 1p.m.

MOUNT VERNON — Residents of the city of Mount Vernon will have a small window of opportunity to take advantage of a reduced rate for electric aggregation in an opt-in program that is different from the ballot measure that was approved by voters last week.

MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon City Council voted 5-1 to pass a resolution that would protest AEP Ohio's cap on rate switching.

UTICA — Plans to pursue a village operating levy were addressed when Utica Village Council met Monday evening at Utica town hall.

MOUNT VERNON — The trial of Michael T. Collins, 55, charged with murder in the death of Mary Ann Township (St. Louisville) Fire Department firefighter Lilly Dawn Pressley-Claggett in a shooting July 1 on Ohio 586, has been postponed.