Ray Cooney
Ray Cooney was elected president of The Graphic Printing Company in December 2023. He became publisher of The Commercial Review on July 1, 2020, while retaining the title of editor he has held since Dec. 1, 2014. He served managing editor from July 2013 through November 2014, assistant managing editor from November 2005 through July 2013 and sports editor from March 2001 through July 2013.
He earned the most awards of any journalist in Division III in the Hoosier State Press Association Better Newspaper Contest for four consecutive years from 2013 through 2016. His first-place honors this year were for in-depth feature, sports feature, general news photo and video.
In his career he has also won HSPA awards for sports commentary, editorial writing, use of graphics, community service, news writing under deadline pressure, sports action photo, sports feature photo, headline writing, editorial page, profile feature and multiple picture group. He had picked up nine Indiana Associated Press Media Editors awards earlier in the year, including first place for business writing, non-deadline sports story and headline writing.
Cooney was honored with the Indiana High School Athletic Association Distinguished Media Service Award in 2012, and also received the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Outstanding Baseball Media Award in 2009.
A native of Avon, Ohio, Cooney graduated from St. Edward High School (Lakewood, Ohio) in 1996 and Cleveland State University in 2000. He was the inaugural editor of The Cleveland Stater at CSU, and also worked for The Morning Journal (Lorain, Ohio) and The Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) before moving to Jay County.
Cooney lives in Portland with his dog, Scooter.
NEWS
Council deals with salary issues
Jay County’s deputy coroners will see a pay increase. Decisions on other requests for salary bumps will wait until at least March.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
JCDC to begin planning process
After nearly a decade, Jay County Development Corporation is working to develop a new strategic plan.
RAYS OF INSIGHT
Joy of sports goes past competition
Alex Bader took a few moments to catch her breath Saturday, then turned her eyes toward the scoreboard.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
FR annexation nearly complete
FORT RECOVERY — In 30 days, the village will expand. And, if all goes as planned, it will do so at least twice more this year.
SOUTH ADAMS
SA wins title; Jay takes 2nd
For the last two seasons, strong Starfire squads found themselves chasing Jay County. They came close enough at the 2016 sectional to smell victory, but not to taste it. That changed this year.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Results are in
Survey results show District 33 has shifted in favor of a gas tax increase for purposes of road funding, though the results are far from unanimous.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Stars, Patriots are favored
The Starfires established themselves as the favorites.
SPORTS
Kenney wins flyweight title
LEMOORE, California — As Casey Kenney wiped away some of the blood leaking from the cut above his left eye, he did so with a smile. It was a small price to pay for glory.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Issues addressed
Road funding has been the focus thus far for the Indiana General Assembly during its 2017 session.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Dunkirk gets more blight funding
Dunkirk has already removed nine of its eyesores thanks to help from a state grant. It plans to use the leftover money from that grant to eliminate six more. Now, the city can add another five homes to that list.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Jay unemployment rate stays at 4.1 percent
For the first time since April, Jay County got the better of its neighbor to the south in the state’s unemployment rankings.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Hospital to partner with Quorum
Finances continue to be a challenge for Jay County Hospital.
NEWS
Study shows some housing need
Bill Bradley hears the same thing regularly when visiting local businesses: Portland does not have enough available at-market housing.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
District to try new hours
Jay County Solid Waste Management District will try out some new office hours and will be going back to its old meeting schedule.
ENTERTAINMENT
State stage
In their seventh year of competing, the Jay County Thespians have been declared ready for the big stage.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Roads dominate session
Local legislators have their hands firmly grasped at 10 and 2.
SPORTS
Starfires stumble after solid start
Don’t worry, Starfires, Jay County knows how you feel.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Plan will be implemented
Not wanting to lose momentum in the process of improving the Upper Salamonie River Watershed, local officials made use of a state grant to bridge a one-year gap in funding. Now they’re ready for full implementation.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Council updated on JEMS
Just a few weeks into his new job, Eric Moore is already implementing changes.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Champ suggests new 'chill' plan
A contentious topic from the end of 2016 has now carried over into a new year.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
FR scores go up
As Fort Recovery School Board made preparations for 2017 and beyond, it also got some good news about 2016 test scores.
NEWS
School tax rate to drop
The property tax rate for Jay Schools will drop in 2017 thanks to an unexpected jump in the county’s assessed valuation.
JAY COUNTY
Spurt enough to spark Jay
There are no style points in basketball. A dunk counts the same as a layup or a 10-foot jumper. But a well-time slam can serve as a spark.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
JCHS divers finish in 10th
The Patriots got a taste of a different level of competition.
SPORTS
Jay strong after break
With a gap in the schedule, swim teams put in their most demanding few weeks of practice during the holiday break.
RAYS OF INSIGHT
Santa delivered Browns victory
Well, Merry Christmas to me. Just a week ago in this space I shared my sports Christmas wish list. These lists are often things of fantasy. But what do you know, this time, Santa Claus delivered.
FORT RECOVERY
State-line stampede
FORT RECOVERY — It was a close game through two and a half quarters. No really, it was.
SCHOOLS
FR projects are in process
FORT RECOVERY — One improvement project is nearly complete while several others are in the works.
NEWS
Jay unemployment stays at 4.1 percent
While some counties saw unemployment increases in November, Jay County stayed stable.
NEWS
Five elementary schools earn A
Some of Jay County’s school accountability grades took a dip, but the results came in about as administrators expected following the release of ISTEP scores last month.
NEWS
School board shifts duties
The final adjustments were made Monday to account for eliminating a Jay School Corporation administrative position.
JAY COUNTY
Strong 4th lifts FR over Jay
FORT RECOVERY — Through three quarters, the Patriots had the slight edge.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Lilly wins Lilly
When she realized what was happening, Lilly Rogers immediately covered her mouth with her left hand, stunned.
SPORTS
Playoff theory misses target
“If a team didn’t win its conference, it shouldn’t be able to compete for a national championship.”
NEWS
Board makes appropriations, transfers
With the year nearing its end, the Jay County Solid Waste Management District Board made some additional appropriations and transfers Monday to help ensure its books will be balanced.
HOMEPAGE ROTATING ARTICLES
Late FTs miss mark in JC defeat
RICHMOND — The Patriots got exactly what they wanted.
NEWS
Prepping to pack
Raising $25,000 is a tall task for a group of high school students. By selling cotton candy, peddling T-shirts and soliciting donations, they’re doing it a little bit at a time. But they still have a long way to go.
SCHOOLS
Tri-Star to sell bonds locally
FORT RECOVERY — Having already shown strong support at the polls for Tri-Star 2.0, local residents will get the opportunity to invest in the facility as well.
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