Kasich has new site for speech
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Ohio Gov. John Kasich will give his State of the State speech in Steubenville next month.
It’s the first time in modern history that the annual address to state lawmakers will take place outside of Columbus.
“We don’t think all of the news happens at the corner of Broad and High,” said Rob Nichols, spokesman for the governor, referring to a downtown intersection near the Statehouse.
The speech — technically a joint session of the Ohio House and Senate — will take place Feb. 7 at Wells Academy, which is part of the Steubenville city school system.
According to the governor’s office, Wells is the highest-ranking elementary school in the state, as measured by test results and “is consistently viewed as one of the best, most innovative elementary schools in Ohio.”
Steubenville also is in a part of the state that is expected to reap economic benefits from horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, an emerging means of extracting oil and gas by pumping millions of gallons of water, chemicals and sands into deep underground shale formations.
“Location’s important, not only because of what this school is doing, but it’s a part of the state that we are focusing on and that we think is poised for an economic revival,” Nichols said.