The word "dry" no longer completely applies to the city of Belpre.

Issues aimed at selling beer and wine at two Speedway stores and at Napoli's Belpre restaurant were approved Tuesday by voters. They did, however, reject sunday alcohol sales at the Speedway locations.
and by a little less than 300 votes, Belpre city school district residents continued the school system's 3.8-mill levy...something school leaders did not take for granted.

"We have tough economic times...the Mid-Ohio Valley has not escaped the problems from across the country," said Mike Wile, President of the Board of Education. "It's a tax people can vote in and out, and it's quite possible these can go down to defeat."

It's also a district where voters have repeatedly turned down additional levies. And it could be looking to those voters again for additional revenue, because ohio slowly is phasing out the tangible business property tax, which accounts for nearly a third of the school budget.

"By 2014, that's going to be cut in half," Wile noted. "So you're looking at 30% of our budget going down to 15%. The other 15%, which is about $1.5 million, is going to have to be made up somewhere."

The only changes on Belpre City Council will be on previously vacant seats. One of those is in the third ward, where Eric Sinnett defeated Brad Harper for an open council seat.

And in nearby Little Hocking, voters allowed the sale of beer, wine and mixed beverages at a Marathon store along route 50.

As was the case in Belpre, however, they rejected Sunday sales of alcohol at that location.