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Kasich Honors Ohioans, Announces New State Park In Speech
By: Associated Press
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WESTERVILLE, OHIO (AP) – Gov. John Kasich has given this year’s Governor’s Courage Awards to three Ohioans who made personal sacrifices to help others.
The Republican governor delivered the awards during his final State of the State address on Tuesday in his hometown of Westerville.
Recipient Mikah Frye, a 10-year-old from Ashland County, passed up an Xbox for Christmas and used the money to buy blankets for a homeless shelter.
Chris Hole, a nurse from Miamisburg, won the award for her work helping to save lives after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history in Las Vegas in October.
Nina Schubert, a 19-year-old student at Kent State University, was the third winner. Schubert created the Nightingale Project, an on-campus student group with the goal of ending stigmas around mental illness.
Kasich also announced Ohio is getting a new state park, one of the largest in its history.
The term-limited Republican said he will name the park after Jesse Owens, “that great Ohioan who stood up to Hitler and came home with a gold medal.”
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources struck a deal with American Electric Power in August to purchase a major portion of a 60,000-acre parcel owned by AEP in eastern Ohio, known as ReCreation Land.
The land spans parts of Guernsey, Morgan, Muskingum and Noble counties. A portion to begin with would be used for a wide range of outdoor recreational opportunities including hunting and fishing.