Episode Details

This week’s episode of the Hilliard Beacon Audio Companion runs in two distinct halves.

In our first bit, Jordan, Tim, and Kevin gather around the mics to talk through recent events in Hilliard. We start with Tim’s firsthand account of a serious train accident that shut down parts of Northwest Parkway and Leap Road for hours. Thankfully, no fatalities were reported, though the truck driver was hospitalized in stable condition.

From there, the guys connect the incident back to the city’s long-running “quiet zone” debate, revisit past council discussions on grade crossing safety, and touch on community events including Celebration at the Station, National Night Out, and the latest election filings.

Listeners also get updates on the uncontested HCSD school board race and a Norwich Township trustee contest that’s already drawing fundraising attention.

The second half of the show shifts gears into a longform interview with Gold Path Solar founder Jake Trubiano. A Hilliard native now leading a Dublin-based solar firm, Trubiano walks through his path from Air Force Academy to Ohio University to solar entrepreneurship. He explains how rising electricity rates and federal incentives make solar projects pencil out for both homeowners and commercial developers in Ohio, with payback windows as short as six years and warranties stretching 25. The conversation ranges from rooftop systems to solar carports, from the Inflation Reduction Act’s promise of U.S. manufacturing to the uncertainties caused by new tariffs and the rollback of residential tax credits.

It’s a wide-ranging episode and fun conversation - one part history. one part future and definitively ALL HILLIARD.