Voters yesterday rejected the proposal to bump the tax by one percent.

The city of London was able to pass an income tax increase on its fifth try. Voters in Lancaster approved a tax levy to repair city streets.

A school levy in Groveport Madison remains undecided after unofficial results show it failed by 16 votes.

School funding proposals in Delaware, Marysville, and Johnstown all passed.

In the race for Columbus City Council, all three incumbent Democrats qualified for the fall ballot.

The 16-year-old sophomore, Spencer Pearson, reportedly made the video modeled after the lead character in the anarchistic movie “V for Vandetta.” The video reportedly contained the phrase “the next time we meet, I’ll have something interesting to show you.”

Gahanna administrators say the boy posted a second video, saying he didn’t mean any harm with the first video. He also reportedly threatened to “crash” the school’s computer network.

Administrators say a bomb squad was going to sweep the high school this morning as a precautionary measure.

The enclosed shelter at Hannah Park off of Clark State Road is one of two locations Gahanna officials have selected to allow firearms training if the Gahanna City Council approves. The 35 acre grounds include a play area, a baseball diamond, tennis courts and a basketball court. Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, Tony Collins says the proposal was put together after he was approached by the Boy Scouts.

“This is one more method to get people out and active in our park system. It’s a great educational opportunity, both for children and adults. Safety education is always important to us from a mission standpoint,” said Collins.

Council member Shane Ewald says he also is in favor of the program.

“Well there won’t be any firing of any type of firearm which would be a gun powder based weapon. There will be practicing with air rifles which is BB or pellet. There will not be any kind of live ammunition allowed at the parks whatsoever,” said Ewald.

The Boy Scouts will learn about the parts of an unloaded gun and how to clean it. Anyone interested in holding a firearms training session would have to file for a city permit and be certified by either the National Rifle Association or the Boy Scouts. Signs would be posted for park goers during the training. Jogger, Jerry Gerker visits Hannah park up to five times a week and has some concerns.

“I would prefer that they would try to find another facility that was similar. There’s one close to the airport,” said Gerker.

Director of Parks and Recreation, Tony Collins says park goers will be safe.

“I think that the safety situation can be controlled. I think it’s a good use of parks. It’s a good use for our citizens to take advantage of our local resources,” said Collins.

Collins adds the other location under consideration for firearms training is the 46 acre Price Road Reserve in the southwest part of Gahanna. If the measure is approved it will take effect in 30 days.

On Monday American Electric Power said it had enough energy to meet demand and they reported no power outages.

But the weather was sending shoppers to local stores to make sure they and their families had enough clothing to keep warm. Sheila Leffler manages one of the Volunteers of America thrift stores in Columbus.

“Yes we’ve had pretty good sales,” Leffler says. “But we were thinking it was income tax return.”

Keeping her spouse warm was definitely on the mind of Sue Furry who stopped at a local sporting goods store to get the latest high-tech cold weather gear.

“Well I’m looking for a hat for my husband who works outside in the cold,” Furry says. “And this keeps him as warm as he can possibly be.”

It was 12 degrees when Ohio State University graduate student Leo Glimcher set out Monday afternoon for his daily run. The temperature had dropped to 9 when he stopped for a brief chat; the blustery wind making the chill factor much colder. But not too cold for this native Muscovite who left Russia 12 years ago.

“It’s all right,” Glimcher says. “It’s cold for a couple of minutes but then you warm up.”

Glimcher is young, and he’s wearing thermals underneath and a fleece hat. John Drstvensek, a Riverside Hospital Emergency Room physician, says proper clothing is vital to protect the most vulnerable parts of the body against cold weather injuries such as frostbite.

“Your fingers, your toes, your nose and your ears; those have the least amount of blood flow and can be damaged by the cold if they’re out for any length of time,” Drstvensek says. “After ten or 15 minutes they could have early symptoms of frost bite.”

Members of the Gahanna Lincoln High School hockey team, including Joe Mizera, were out practicing for several hours at Blendon Woods Metro Park before they’d finally had enough of the cold.

“You’ve just got to bundle up,” Mizera says. “It’s not really fashion out here, you just try to stay warm but once you get moving, I’m sweating right now.”

Riverside’s Dr. Drstvensek says it’s more important to keep the elderly shielded against such extreme winter temperatures.

“Many times because they have heart disease and narrowing of the arteries, they are on medications that drop their blood pressure and they can be at risk for these types of injuries,” he says.

According to the Mayo Clinic, if the temperature dips below zero or the wind chill falls below minus 20, anyone, elderly or not, should stay indoors. Highs in the Columbus area are forecast to rise only to the mid 20s by Saturday. Lows for the next several nights will be in the single digits.