Brian Ames has spent the last decade filing upwards of 160 lawsuits against local governments.
“I go find public bodies that are not following the Open Meetings Act, and I bring cases against them that require them to comply with the law,” he explained.
The courtyard at Pickaway Correctional Institution hummed with activity on a sunny Wednesday in March. The prison’s residents stretched their legs under the warm sun and greeted this week’s visitors with the same ease of neighbors passing on the street.
Five years ago this month, Ohio issued an emergency stay-at-home order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schools shut down. Child care providers stopped operating. Libraries paused their programming.
In a swampy wooded area in Athens County, David Funk moves swiftly past sycamores coming-of-age, and the frogs belting below them, to a small stand of walnut trees.
With the snip of his pruning shears, he clears off a low-hanging branch. It may seem destructive, but it’s a part of Funk’s forest management plan.
Public school districts across Ohio say they’re running out of money. From the largest city districts to the smallest ones in urban and rural communities, schools are preparing to make cuts.
As foreign countries threaten and impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products, some Ohio soybean farmers are growing concerned.
Soybeans are the state’s top-produced crop: Ohio farmers planted upwards of 5 million acres of the legume last year, compared to about 3.5 million acres of corn.
The woods behind Weston Lombard’s farm in Athens County is expansive.
“If you look around, we're just surrounded by oak trees and hickory trees and walnuts,” he said.
Birds dance through tangles of branches that reach toward the sky. A tiny snail curls up on the ground.
But it wasn’t always this way.
Truck driving is one of the most dangerous occupations in the country, making up 20% of all vehicle related-fatalities.
On the third Wednesday of every month, a group of adults gathers at the CO-Hatch Market in downtown Springfield to see what they can make with LEGOs.
Librarian Catie Stewart calls out different challenges, telling the group to make something surprisingly random — a favorite candy or a landmark from their hometown.
Warning: This story references sexual assault and suicide.
Sara loves the way light streams through her Nelsonville apartment windows and shines on her two cats. The rays embody the warmth she feels in her new space.
