The Columbus Dispatch
He brought ‘life into a room’
Ben Karcher was more than just the life of the party. The Upper Arlington wrestler was the party itself, a flesh and blood gathering place at which friends laughed, teammates felt seen and classmates felt cared for in a safe space where a sense of...
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Dispatch reporter covers the northwestern suburbs
Beat notes is a weekly feature from Dispatch journalists who share what’s been happening in their area of coverage and upcoming events. This week we hear from Anna Lynn Winfrey. I cover the northwestern suburbs for The Columbus Dispatch, which...
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‘A shining example of a man’
The family of a Columbus man killed in a multi-vehicle crash that stemmed from a wrong-way driver on Interstate 71 is demanding answers and accountability for those responsible. “He was a shining example of a man,” said Tequila Williams, who described...
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‘The underserved would go without’
Brenda Case and her family have seen Dr. Gregary Graves to get their glasses prescriptions and vision care for more than 25 years. h Case, a resident of Columbus’ Northeast Side, trusts him. Before Case qualified for Medicare, she had no insurance, so...
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ANALYSIS
President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24. He delivered his address days after the Supreme Court struck down his tariff strategy and amid a U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf.
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SAVING LIVES
Every student in a sixth grade class at Harambee Christian School raised their hand when asked if they talked to people online via social media and other websites. h More than half of the 11- and 12-year-olds admitted to talking to people who are...
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East Central Avenue to close for 45 days for ‘Point’ project
The city of Delaware is entering the final year of a multiyear, $44 million road construction project to widen a major corridor on the city’s east side. But there will be more traffic disruptions before the project wraps up in August. The “Point”...
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Funding in flux
The future funding of a local public radio station is in question after federal disruptions and growing questions over continued Columbus City Schools support. WCBE 90.5 FM, based out of the Columbus City Schools’ Fort Hayes campus, is a...
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Dispatch reporter covers kindness and religion
Welcome back to the kindness corner of The Columbus Dispatch. My name is Sophia Veneziano, and I’m the kindness reporter for The Dispatch. This role is supported by the Center for Humankindness at The Columbus Foundation. In the fall of 2025, I picked...
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U.S. Supreme Court strikes down tariffs
WASHINGTON − A furious President Donald Trump slammed the Supreme Court after a landmark decision striking down his power to impose sweeping tariffs. “I’m ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do...
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Former prince arrested, suspected of misconduct
Andrew Mountbatten-windsor was released from police custody Feb. 19 after British authorities arrested him on suspicion of misconduct in public life. The disgraced former prince was spotted departing from Aylsham Police Station in an image obtained by...
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Wexner on Epstein: I’ve ‘nothing to hide’
Without Ohio retail billionaire Les Wexner’s financial support, disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein would not have been able to commit many of his alleged crimes, according to members of Congress who questioned Wexner for...
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‘GOD’S INFLUENCER’
As Catholics prepare to enter the season of Lent after observing Ash Wednesday on Feb. 18, the Catholic Diocese of Columbus is hosting and honoring the heart of the first millennial saint. Nicknamed “God’s Influencer,” St. Carlo Acutis committed his...
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Ramadan costs rise
Spiking grocery costs and fluctuating tariffs are likely to take a toll on Muslims celebrating the holy month of Ramadan this year. The ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which begins Feb. 17 and ends March 19, is a time for Muslims around the world...
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‘Fascism is on the rise ... and we must be vigilant’
An otherwise routine Grove City Council meeting devolved into shouting and recrimination as community members aligned with a local progressive group and a Grove City Council member clashed over ICE. It wasn’t because ICE was surging into Grove City or...
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If it’s local you want, we’ve got it.
Our Sunday refresh offers more local news and sports, as well as “Weekend Exclusive” content to help you navigate your lives. So enjoy your Sunday reading filled with stories that will inspire, educate, inform and entertain you.
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Student informants spur academic freedom debate
Texas A&M University told philosophy professor Martin Peterson in early January that he could not teach some of Greek philosopher Plato’s writings that touch on “race and gender ideology.” The university’s local chapter of the American Association of...
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BEHIND
Hundreds of Haitian parents living in Ohio under a temporary legal status are faced with making the impossible decision about what will happen to their children if they are detained or deported. h More than 3,000 children born in Franklin and Clark...
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Ohio cannabis industry divided over hemp law
An effort to block changes to Ohio’s marijuana and hemp law is laying bare divisions within the cannabis world. Advocates seeking to repeal part of Senate Bill 56 have launched a campaign to gather nearly 250,000 signatures by mid-march for their...
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Teen paralyzed in Ohio youth prison incident
The first sight of their 15-year-old son in a Cleveland hospital bed, unable to talk or move, shocked Tenayuh Mosby and Robert Bragg. h “I just bust out crying. I felt hurt, I felt confused, I felt angry,” she said from her attorney’s office in Toledo....
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Several OSU buildings faced renaming attempts
When Yondris Ferguson was a member of Ohio State University’s Undergraduate Student Government, he twice introduced resolutions calling for the university to remove Les Wexner’s name from campus buildings. h Wexner, the New Albany billionaire retail...
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YMCA Jerry L. Garver branch to close in May
The Jerry L. Garver YMCA branch, which has served the area around Pickerington and Canal Winchester since 1995, will be closed and demolished at the end of May. The YMCA of Central Ohio understands the branch’s value to the neighborhoods around Gender...
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He covers trending sports in Columbus
When I accepted the offer to become the Columbus Dispatch’s next breaking and trending sports reporter, I told my aunt, a devoted Michigan Wolverines fan, that I’d be covering her No. 1 enemy for a living. She got a kick out of it. I’m not from Ohio,...
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Fearful memories
SPRINGFIELD – What surprises Viles Dorsainvil most about America today is how familiar it feels. h The Haitian immigrant, along with hundreds of thousands of others in the past decade, fled his home country to escape violence and repression. He saw the...
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‘WONDERFUL YOUNG WOMAN’
Hailey Buzbee was excited about attending college and following her passions. The 17-year-old was a hard worker in every sense of the word, and she left a comforting impression on people who met her, even if it was only once. Before her disappearance...
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STILL FEARFUL
SPRINGFIELD – Celebration of a federal court ruling blocking the Trump administration’s cancellation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians was short-lived, and the fear is enduring – at least among residents here. The TPS designation – which was...
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Haitians get 11th-hour reprieve
A federal judge issued a last-minute reprieve on Feb. 2 that blocks President Donald Trump’s attempt to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants in the U.S. The TPS designation, which allows about 350,000 Haitians...
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Prayers for Haitians
So many people packed the sanctuary at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield to support Haitian immigrants who soon may be forced to leave the United States that Mayor Rob Rue had to ask 150 to leave on Feb. 2. The approximately 900 people...
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‘COMMUNITY INCLUDES IMMIGRANTS’
A coalition of Columbus organizers says their belief that a community doesn’t discriminate against who belongs is driving a growing coalition of central Ohio small businesses to support families whose lives and businesses are being affected by fear of...
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A story about what a good story can do
(Editor’s note: This article is part of an occassional series featuring new Columbus Dispatch journalists and their work in our community.) Long before I learned to read, I loved words. As my mom loves to recount, 2-yearold me had quite the peculiar...
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Generational lessons
Oliver Yetman and Randy Marker are technically both seniors in college. h Yetman, an 18year-old senior at Whetstone High School, and Marker, a 69-year-old former construction executive, wouldn’t typically be college classmates for a few reasons. For...
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Water main breaks plague city, icing over streets and vehicles
In the wake of winter storm Fern, over 50 water mains have broken in Columbus and its suburbs, leading to frozen roads and vehicles encased in ice. “It’s a big issue here but in places around the country,” said Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther. “A lot of...
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Commissioner blasts growing censorship in Trump’s 2nd term
Just days after President Donald Trump retook office, the Columbus VA told Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce not to mention diversity, equity or inclusion in a keynote address at a lunch honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 23, 2025,...
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American hero
She wasn’t worried. h Newly trained astronaut Judith A. Resnik was a special guest in 1979 when the NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. h The 30year-old engineer told interviewers that...
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SHUTDOWN
Central Ohio’s biggest January snowfall since 1910 dumped a foot of snow and led seven local sheriffs to close all roads to non-emergency traffic, essentially shutting down the metro area for two days. Even worse, the Jan. 25 snow won’t melt anytime...
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Finding their niche
A small business owner of over 30 years, Marianne Lannan is no stranger to competition. In 1995, after taking the reins of The Lamp Shade – a lamp and home decor shop now situated in the Short North – Lannan found that publicity for her business was...
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TRANSPARENCY
Keen political observers will notice there’s been an important disruption in the Democratic unity that has dominated public decisions in Columbus City Hall for many years. Council President Shannon Hardin has publicly opposed fellow Democrat and Mayor...
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Ex-ohio Speaker Householder seeking a pardon from Trump
Disgraced former Speaker of the Ohio House Larry Householder wants forgiveness. Not from Ohioans forced to pay unnecessarily high utility bills because of the public corruption scheme Householder and others hatched with Akron’s Firstenergy Corp. Not...
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‘Day of hope’
Ndeloh Khumbah, 62, came to the United States as an asylee from Cameroon seven years ago. h After years of effort, he took his Oath of Allegiance and became a U.S. citizen Jan. 21 in a naturalization ceremony at the Joseph P. Kinneary U.S. Courthouse...
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3 people arrested at a protest on OSU campus
Three individuals were detained by police officers during an Ohio State University campus demonstration protesting U.S. Customs and Border Protection recruiters working at a career fair. About 60 Ohio State students, employees and community members...
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Cheers for OSU
ORLANDO, FL – Ohio State University’s spirit program is bringing home gold. Ohio State’s dance, cheer and mascot teams each earned a national championship at the 2026 UCA & UDA College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship, held Jan. 16-18...
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Raising their voices
Amaiya Willis has witnessed injustice on social media, the news and “even in our own personal experiences.” Despite this, the eighth grader at Westmoor Elementary School told the crowd at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast in Columbus that...
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Federal rural health funds flow to Ohio
Ohio received millions from the rural health care funding promised by Congress, but whether it’s enough or how exactly it will be distributed remains in question. The Rural Health Transformation Program provided $50 billion within the One Big...
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Funding, attendance shortfalls force staff reductions at COSI
The Center of Science and Industry has reduced staffing by about 15% in response to economic pressures. COSI, which moved to the Scioto Peninsula in 1999, has had to adjust over the years to shifting demographics, attendance, inflationary pressures...
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‘We didn’t scam anyone’
The glass double doors at the entrance of 161 Child Care in Columbus’ Northland neighborhood now have multiple signs warning there will be “no trespassing” tolerated and that police will be called if someone tries to enter. When four men first tried...
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CHARTING A COURSE
Jack Nicklaus’ name is everywhere in Columbus. It’s on the Jack Nicklaus Museum at Ohio State University. It’s on Jack Nicklaus Park in Upper Arlington. It’s frequently in the pages of The Columbus Dispatch. h Attentive drivers may have even noticed...
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Hundreds protest in downtown Columbus
Some light rain didn’t deter hundreds of protesters from rallying at the Ohio Statehouse on Jan. 8 in remembrance of a woman who was killed by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis and to demand that immigration agents leave Columbus. The protest...
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Gov. Dewine responds to fraud allegations at Somali day cares
Gov. Mike Dewine defended Ohio’s oversight of publicly funded child care as rumors spread about unproven fraud at Somali-run day cares. Dewine held a news conference Jan. 5 as allegations spread on social media about fraud at day cares in Columbus,...
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Homicides in Weinland Park ‘could’ve happened anywhere’
Tanya Long recalled her initial reaction to the double homicide Dec. 30, 2025, in her Weinland Park neighborhood as “absolutely unnerving.” North 4th and Summit streets have been the spines of the neighborhood sandwiched between Downtown and the...
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‘Significant areas for improvement remain’
The Columbus City school board offered Superintendent Angela Chapman pointed feedback in her annual evaluation, saying “significant areas for improvement remain” in her performance. In her second annual performance evaluation since she was hired as...
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Reporter Max Filby looking for Dispatch’s next big investigation
Max Filby is an investigative reporter for The Columbus Dispatch, where he has worked for more than six years. Fliby led The Dispatch’s “Invisible Killer” investigation into how federal, state and local leaders fail to protect Ohioans from radon — an...
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Life in spotlight
WASHINGTON – Usha Vance misses plenty about her old life. h She loved being a lawyer and had aspirations beyond working at a firm. She dreams of one day returning to Cincinnati and the home she shared with her husband, JD Vance, and their three...
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Stores Ohio lost in 2025 include Joann, Big Lots
Ohio lost a number of retail stores in 2025, including several based right here in the Buckeye State. Joann Fabrics, based in Hudson, Ohio, closed its doors completely. Columbus-based Big Lots appeared ready to close all its stores, too. However, new...
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Industry experts: Data centers to blame for spiking electric bills
Your electricity bills are higher, and experts say data centers are a key reason. The central Ohio region has seen one of the largest data center booms in the country, thanks to Microsoft, Google and Meta. There are a total of 217 data centers in the...
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STAGE IS SET
Ohio State players and coaches took the field at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for media day on Dec. 29 ahead of their New Year’s Eve College Football Playoff game against the Miami Hurricanes. The Buckeyes are looking to start a repeat bid as...
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‘It’s a blessing’
The kitchen buzzed with movement and purpose early on Christmas morning. h Lifecare Alliance volunteers swarmed tables and carts, hauling buckets of food into waiting cars. The air was unusually warm for the holiday and smelled like comfort food – a...
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If it’s local you want, we’ve got it.
Our Sunday refresh offers more local news and sports, as well as “Weekend Exclusive” content to help you navigate your lives. So enjoy your Sunday reading filled with stories that will inspire, educate, inform and entertain you.
Read Full Story (Page 1)
U.S. forces hit Islamic State in Nigeria with ‘deadly strike’
President Donald Trump said on Dec. 25 that the U.S. military had attacked Islamic State targets in Nigeria, claiming the group had been targeting Christians. In a post on Truth Social, the president said he directed the military to launch a “powerful...
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Luxury car maker to pay Ohio millions in lawsuit over illegal emissions
Ohio will receive more than $2 million as part of a settlement with a major car manufacturer over environmental law violations, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced. The multistate settlement with Mercedes-benz USA and Mercedes-benz Group AG will...
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Santa’s workshop comes to life
Santa Claus had a few extra elves to help with his toy-making, but it’s a bit south of the North Pole – in central Ohio. Creating everything from puzzles to a ring toss game, ducks that waddle and doll beds, the Woodworkers of Central Ohio (WOCO)...
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County treasurer hunts for pennies
The Franklin County Treasurer’s Office, which oversees the county’s more than $1 billion investment portfolio, is literally pinching pennies. Since the U.S. stopped minting pennies in November, it has become difficult to obtain the copper-colored...
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A LOOK BACK
At the end of 2025, Columbus Mayor Ginther is celebrating progress in the growing city on housing affordability and reducing crime. h City voters approved his bond package in November, which included a historic half-billion dollars for affordable...
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If it’s local you want, we’ve got it.
Our Sunday refresh offers more local news and sports, as well as “Weekend Exclusive” content to help you navigate your lives. So enjoy your Sunday reading filled with stories that will inspire, educate, inform and entertain you.
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NEW CONNECTION
A massive flyover ramp connecting downtown Columbus and I-70 west to I-71 south has opened after years of construction, the Ohio Department of Transportation announced. The new ramp will eliminate the left lane exit on Interstate 70 west/i-71 south...
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RECOGNIZING A MOVEMENT
The Ohio Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission had grand plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. However, the COVID-19 pandemic foiled most of the 16-member...
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German Village drops lawsuit, but City Council OKS ordinance
The German Village Society has dropped its lawsuit against Columbus in a sign that city leaders and residents of the historic district have had productive conciliatory talks in the past week over how to handle the neighborhoods’ unique limestone curbs...
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Columbus is snowier than usual this month
If you think there’s been a lot of snow in Columbus, you’re not just seeing things. The city has already posted its snowiest December since 2013 with more than half the month to go. So far, Columbus has seen 10.1 inches of snow in December. The winter...
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Arena renovation plan latest step of evolution
On the day “Nationwide” Arena was named, Sept. 8, 1997, a company official praised the value and benefits the proposed $182.5 million future home of the Columbus Blue Jackets would have to a vibrant city. “It will have a 360-degree positive impact on...
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END OF YEAR SPECIALS!*
• 12 months No interest & No payments • FREE Gutters with Roof & Siding Replacement • FREE Leaf Relief Guards with Roof & Gutters
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‘My niece got killed right there in my front room’
The father of a 14-year-old boy arrested in the accidental shooting death of an 11-year-old relative told the Dispatch he left the gun out and is prepared to face the consequences. Amya Frazier died at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Dec. 8, days after...
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Ohio bill to restrict most hemp sales heads to desk of governor
Ohio is poised to restrict the sale of most hemp products and roll back legal rights afforded to marijuana users. The Ohio Senate voted 22-7 on Dec. 9 to pass the latest version of Senate Bill 56, which regulates hemp and changes the voter-backed...
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Dreams of a White House Christmas
While central Ohioans dream of an upcoming white Christmas, April Groff, of Pickerington, already had her Christmas dreams come true. Groff was one of 145 volunteers selected to help decorate the White House for the holiday theme, “Home Is Where The...
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‘I don’t want to leave’
If you walk down High Street at 10 p.m. on a Thursday, there’s a good chance you’ll hear the cacophonous belts of college students taking the mic at The Little Bar’s karaoke night. h And if you take the same route the morning of an Ohio State football...
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‘Bringing all of the pieces together’ ahead of opening
Randy Allen’s normal job at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is to handle the operating budget, but on Dec. 4, his job was to have a pretend medical emergency on an MRI table. Allen and other volunteers like him play an important role...
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