Permits at $5.8 million

Building permits for construction totaling more than $5.8 million were issued in November, boosted by a $4.6 million chicken confined feeding operation.
Hoosier Pride Farms LLC, North State Line Road, Bryant, was issued a permit for six confined feeding buildings for layer chickens with construction costs of $4.6 million. The company received a tax abatement from the Jay County Council for the project.
The Jay/Portland Building and Planning department issued 18 permits totaling $5,820,804. Permits issued include:
Melvin Fear, 8573 North Ind. 1, Bryant, barn, $16,309; Ralph Homan, 7195 West 200 South, Portland, machine shed, $40,000; James Cook, 4060 S. Boundary Pike, Portland, pole barn, $26,000; Dale G. Evers, 8260 East 800 North, Bryant, storage building, $20,000; Jerry Thornburg, 6860 West 650 North, Bryant, pole building, $12,000; John Evans, 2296 East 200 South, Portland, lean-to, $4,000; Harold Towell, 1912 West 500 North, Portland, lean-to, $3,000; Eric Siegrist, 9491 West Division Road, Dunkirk, swine confined feeding building, $600,000.
Youth Service Bureau, 603 W. Arch St., Portland, sign, $2,600; Randy Mann, 099 West 200 South, Portland, new home/garage, $268,000; Bell Aquaculture, 9885 West Ind. 67, Redkey, process building, $200,000; Roger and Brenda Roberts, 749 West 500 South, Portland, residential addition, $12,000; Shana Babbitt, 825 E. Water St., Portland, carport, $595; Elizabeth A. Schwartz, 167 East 650 North, Bryant, residential addition, $1,700; Tom Weaver, 947 Massachusetts Ave., Portland, storage building, $5,000; Michael Thomas, 6762 North Ind. 1, Bryant, lean-to, $1,000; James C. Crosbie, 495 S. Union St., Pennville, garage, $8,600.

Manure rules
New restrictions on manure spreading in Mercer County may be in place by the end of the month.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is planning to implement 20 new rules to control runoff into Grand Lake and other waters in the area.
The department was spurred to action after a massive algae bloom in the lake this summer.
The rules would include a ban on spreading manure on frozen land.
The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review determined this week that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has the authority to implement some rules.
Two rules — including requiring farmers to have a nutrient management plan and a ban on spreading between Dec. 15 and March 1 — cannot be implemented until the ODNR declares the Grand Lake Watershed as a distressed region.
The rules, if approved on schedule, would go into effect Dec. 23.

Tyson support
Tyson Foods Inc. have joined with the Salvation Army to help feed the hungry in northwest Arkansas.
The company donated $50,000 to help pay for equipment for the Salvation Army’s northwest Arkansas Area Command Soup Kitchen.
The kitchen provided almost 49,000 meals to the needy in 2009.
No. 3
POET was ranked No. 3 in Biofuels Digest’s “Hottest Companies in Bioenergy.”
POET, which operates 27 plants nationwide including its POET Biorefining- Portland location, finished in the top three last year as well with Amyris and Solazyme, who join POET in the rankings as Nos. 1 and 2 this year.
The rankings are based 50 percent on votes from a 75-member panel of international selectors and 50 percent on votes from subscribers to Biofuels Digest and Renewable Chemicals Digest.

New employee
Jay County REMC welcomed Dave Peters as a new groundman.
Prior to joining REMC, Peters worked for Ohio and Indiana Roofing Company.
He is a graduate of Laurel High School in New Castle, Pa., and served four years in the U.S. Army as a petroleum supply specialisty/convoy security in Iraq.
Peters moved to Portland approximately three years ago and attended Ivy Tech Community College.
He lives in rural Portland with his wife Joanna and son.[[In-content Ad]]