Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

CARROLL -- Although the holiday shopping frenzy has just begun, artists at Blue Shoe Arts have been planning for the season for months. Full Story »

LANCASTER -- Residents had the opportunity Thursday night to express their concerns about health care to a U.S. Senate candidate. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner conducted a women's forum on health care, elder care and child care at Independence Hall. Full Story »

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama warned Thursday that some of the almost 8 million jobs lost during the two-year recession might not return without a series of new government initiatives to jump-start private sector hiring. Full Story »

LANCASTER -- Dozens of Fairfield County dancers will get the chance to participate in a fairy-tale Christmas production they look forward to each year. Full Story »

LANCASTER -- Mike DeWine brought his campaign for Ohio Attorney General to Lancaster Thursday and stressed his reasons for seeking the office. Full Story »

LANCASTER -- About a dozen men stood out next to the right-of-way fence on County 33A near the intersection of Election Road in the cold and rain Thursday holding a banner. Full Story »

Each year, fifth-graders in Fairfield County are treated to a local historical event. On the same day that River Valley Mall opened, another photo on the front page showed Bloom Elementary fifth-graders playing on the corner of Broad and Main streets by the Gazebo and Fairfield Federal Bank during their lunch break. Full Story »

COLUMBUS -- Ohio is scrambling to make more changes to its education system before a January deadline to better compete with other cash-hungry states for roughly $4.4 billion in additional federal education stimulus money. Full Story »

A silent epidemic is taking its toll in Ohio, killing more people each year than motor-vehicle crashes. The cause will probably surprise you. Full Story »

CANAL WINCHESTER -- Fairfield County sheriff's detectives responded to a reported shooting they later turned over to Columbus police. Full Story »

LANCASTER -- Lancaster firefighters and Fisher Catholic High School students worked together Wednesday to unload hundreds of dollars in food and supplies at Lutheran Social Services Choice Food Pantry. Full Story »

CARROLL -- Fairfield Department of Health officials and a band of Medical Reserve Corps volunteers are making their way from school to school to vaccinate as many children against the H1N1 virus as they can before Christmas break. Full Story »

COLUMBUS -- A proposal to overhaul the way Ohio conducts contracting for state construction projects became the major sticking point on Wednesday in ongoing negotiations on filling the state budget gap. Full Story »

COLUMBUS -- Columbia Gas of Ohio will start using a new system to buy natural gas beginning in February. Full Story »

The Eagle-Gazette's headline for the Oct. 1, 1987, edition announced "River Valley Mall Opens." The picture on the front page showed hundreds of people who had attended the previous evening's party that kicked off the official opening the next day. Full Story »

BALTIMORE -- A diamond ring, PlayStation 3 gaming system and other items worth $2,920 were stolen from a residence in the 5,700 block of Stringtown Road between 7:20 a.m. and 3:05 p.m. Tuesday, according to a report from the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office. Full Story »

Thomas Alexander, 18, of Lancaster; was booked at 12:25 p.m. for trafficking in marijuana. Full Story »

LITHOPOLIS -- Two people remain in a Columbus hospital four days after a vehicle crash on Lithopolis-Winchester Road that killed one person. Full Story »

LANCASTER -- Faith Memorial Church will have a free, public Christmas concert Sunday featuring the Rick Webb Family. Full Story »

BALTIMORE — Some residents have differing opinions on the decision made by President Barack Obama to send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan. Full Story »

AMANDA -- The Amanda-Clearcreek Board of Education will decide in January whether to try another levy on the May ballot in an attempt to save the district from cutting $500,000 from its budget. Full Story »

WASHINGTON -- With echoes of George W. Bush's post-Sept. 11 call to arms, President Barack Obama worked diligently Tuesday night to make his wartime address sound like an endgame rather than what it was -- a striking escalation of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. Full Story »

LANCASTER -- When Anthony Howard enrolled in a prison exchange program that brought inmates and college students together, he was leery, thinking he and other inmates might be put under a microscope. Full Story »

LANCASTER -- Special prosecutors from Franklin County have been appointed to the case of a Lancaster woman who died by police gunfire in November. Full Story »

LANCASTER -- The Lancaster man accused of holding officers at bay for more than five hours Sunday has been ordered to have no contact with the woman he is accused of attacking. Full Story »