Committee OKs bill to rename highway

VW independent/submitted information

COLUMBUS — State Representative Tony Burkley (R-Payne) announced that House Bill 406 to designate a portion of highway in Paulding County after a local military hero who was killed during a shootout in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has passed out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by a vote of 11-0.

House Bill 406 would name the portion of U.S. 127 stretching from the northern edge of Paulding to the intersection of Ohio 111 in Paulding County as the “U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith Memorial Highway.”

Born in Paulding in 1989 and a graduate of Paulding High School, PO2 Smith was shot while protecting his fellow servicemen on July 18 during an ambush at a recruiting center in Chattanooga. He died two days later.

“I am thrilled and appreciate the committee taking swift action on this legislation that honors this hero,” said Burkley.

House Bill 406 will now await a vote of the full House, before moving onto the Senate for further consideration.