Former priest and confessed rapist Geoff Drew wants to return to the West Side to live with his elderly mother once hes released from prison on Aug. 17.

Ohio prison officials notified Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich of Drews request to live with his mother. A spokesperson said the address has not yet received final approval, which generally happens closer to an inmates release date.

Hes going to be living with his mom, here in our county, within easy walking distance of multiple schools, including an elementary school, Pillich said. People need to be very, very worried about the safety of their children.

Drew pleaded guilty in 2021 to repeatedly raping Paul Neyer when he was 9 and 10 years old. It happened in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Neyer was a student and altar boy at St. Jude in Bridgetown, where Drew was a music director.

Watch: What we know about Geoff Drew's upcoming release

Judge Leslie Ghiz sentenced him to seven years in prison, which was set by the plea deal, but added that she would have gladly sent him to prison for life.

It was one of the most highly publicized and controversial crimes in recent memory. It led to the resignation of an auxiliary bishop, the demand for a Vatican investigation by 1,500 local Catholics and questions about how the Archdiocese of Cincinnati handled complaints that spanned three decades, across three different counties where Drew worked in churches and schools first as a music or band director, and later as a priest.

I want to make sure that everybody knows that this guy has committed monstrous acts, Pillich said. I have no reason to think he has changed his ways.

A WCPO investigation revealed that priests, parents, and church and school officials knew about Drews inappropriate behavior with boys for decades, ranging from lingering hugs and shoulder massages to vacations and camping trips where alcohol was served and a boy blacked out from drinking too much.

Police identified a second victim, but prosecutors said they could not file charges in that case because the statute of limitations had expired.

Many other men spoke to police as they were investigating Drew in 2019, describing inappropriate and grooming behavior that continued for decades.

If you have the strength, and not everybody does, please come forward, Pillich said, encouraging any other victims to contact law enforcement. It takes a lot of courage to come forward, especially if you were a child.

Drew is currently classified at the highest sexual offender level. Once he is released from the Noble Correctional Institution, a medium-security prison for men in Caldwell, Noble County, Ohio, he must register his new home address with the sheriffs office every 90 days for the rest of his life.

Deputies would then distribute postcards containing his mug shot and criminal history to neighbors, nearby schools, and childcare centers.

Drew tried to reduce his sex offender status to make it harder for the public to know where he was living.

But a judge denied his motion for reclassification in March 2025.

Tier 3 offenders, such as Drew, cannot establish a residence within 1,000 feet of any school, preschool or day care facility.

The WCPO 9 I-Team reviewed a map of Drews mothers neighborhood. It appears to be a legally acceptable place for him to live and is just over a mile from three schools.

The West Side of our city is like its own small town, said Rebecca Surendorff, co-founder of Ohioans for Child Protection. I know of some children who have gone to St. Ignatius who have indicated they have some anxiety over his release and what they would do if they were to encounter him.

Surendorff has many ties to Drew. She was a classmate of Drews victim, Paul Neyer, at St. Judes in the late 1980s. When Drew later became a priest, he baptized her daughter in 2004. Years later, he became pastor of her childrens school, St. Ignatius of Loyola in Green Township, which at the time was Ohios largest Catholic grade school.

Then-Archbishop Dennis Schnurr placed Drew on an administrative leave of absence before his 2019 arrest, following accusations of inappropriate behavior with a student. 

Drews laicization was finalized in November 2023, and his name was subsequently placed on the list of clerics with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse on the archdiocese website, according to an Archdiocese of Cincinnati spokesperson.

He may no longer present himself as a priest. Additionally, he will not be permitted to volunteer in any capacity at any parish, school or ministry under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, according to spokesperson Mike Schafer.  

A 2023 Ohio law makes it illegal for sex offenders to volunteer in positions that would allow them to have extensive contact with children.

But Surendorff worries that the law is vague enough to allow Drew to work and volunteer in places where he may see children again, theoretically, even as a music director.

Surendorff believes that Drews case highlights the need for statute of limitations reform in Ohio.

Ohio ranks among the worst states when it comes to statute of limitations reform, according to Child USA, which is a national think tank that promotes the elimination of time limits on civil and criminal cases of child sex abuse and the revival of claims that expired under current law.

The Ohio legislature is very favorable to insurance companies, corporations, and the Catholic Church, said Konrad Kircher, an attorney who has represented hundreds of victims of child sexual abuse, in a 2024 interview with the I-Team. Those entities have strong lobbying arms in Ohio.

In the past decade, public pressure has prompted lawmakers in many other states to reform their statute of limitations to allow more sexual abuse victims to sue and predators to be prosecuted.

But Ohio laws are still unchanged for child victims: criminal charges for rape and sexual battery can be filed until victims are 43, while civil claims are permitted until they turn 30.

That prohibited prosecutors from filing charges when a second victim of Drew came forward, because he was age 45.

Our statute of limitations, as we can see in the Drew case, directly impacts public safety risk, Surendorff said. Sadly, a lot of this is going to have to be advocated for at our statehouse.

Pillich agreed, saying a conviction from a second victim would undoubtedly have resulted in a prison term that was longer than seven years.

If my office had been able to prosecute that second victim, we would ask for the maximum possible, Pillich said. Theres absolutely no leniency for people who hurt children.

Drew declined an interview.

The I-Team discovered new details about Drews second victim in 2024 while reviewing police investigative files and audio recordings of their interviews.

The following excerpt is from a 2024 I-Team investigation into Drew:

Twenty-five years ago, on April 7, 2001, a Cincinnati police officer shot an unarmed 19-year-old, Timothy Thomas, in an Over-the-Rhine alley. He was the 15th Black man killed by police since 1995, and his death sparked days of unrest. The riots, looting, vandalism and fires drew national attention and highlighted a deep divide between Cincinnatis Black community and the police. That mistrust, along with lawsuits accusing the department of a decades-long history of racial profiling, helped shape the Collaborative Agreement. We hope our coverage this week will start a conversation about what led to the unrest, what has happened since, and what work still needs to be done.

Former Mayor John Cranley was 27 and had been a Cincinnati City Council member for only a few months when he chaired a chaotic Law and Public Safety Committee meeting on April 9, 2001, two days after the police shooting death of Timothy Thomas.

A crowd, including Thomas mother, passionately demanded answers. More than 200 protesters took over the meeting and, by some accounts, trapped council members in City Hall for more than three hours, before the protest shifted towards the District 1 police headquarters. Once riots began, the fires, looting, vandalism, and confrontations with police stretched on throughout the week.

On the 25th anniversary of those events, Cranley sat down with WCPO 9 I-Team reporter Paula Christian to reflect on that crisis and how the city came back from it.

Cranley served on the Cincinnati City Council from 2000 to 2009, and returned to City Hall as mayor in 2013, serving two terms until 2022.

Watch our interview here:

Q: Why is it important that we, as a city, never forget that time period?

A: It was a wake up call where people felt that the city was either going to make a comeback, or the city was going to completely disintegrate. It was the moment where we were either going to die as a city or have a rebirth. And Im happy to say, in collaboration with a lot of people, we had a rebirth.

Q: What were the factors that were building before this shooting?

A: At a macro level, you had capital flight, white flight from the city to suburbs and exurbs, not just within our region but within the country it led to a shrinking pie and concentrated poverty and concentrated segregation of poverty where increasingly you had wealth and opportunity in the suburbs. You had a poorer set of people living in the city that did not have the same access to opportunity.

Part and parcel of that trend was unresolved racial tensions, history of discrimination, history of prejudice long patterns of unequal treatment for Black Cincinnatians ... At the same time, we had a very old-fashioned system of policing that was very old school, just kind of crack some skulls, round people up, mass arrests and so a lot of innocent people were caught up. And there was a deep sense of bitterness among all African American Cincinnatians that they were being treated differently from white people.

So, the combination of all of those things, and then the killing of Timothy Thomas, which came a couple of months after the death of Roger Owensby but the Owensby case was literally the George Floyd case. Owensby was killed because the officers knelt on his back and suffocated him to death and then just a few months later, Timothy Thomas happened, and it exploded.

Q: Did you have any idea that things would happen the way they did?

A: Yes, because again, I cant emphasize the importance of the Roger Owensby death enough because it is so amazingly similar in a scary and bad way to what happened to George Floyd. When that happened, tensions were at a complete boil.

Then I got on city council, and not too long afterwards, I was appointed chair of the Law and Public Safety Committee. At that time, I went to the civil rights leadership and said, "What can we do about all this racial tension?" They said, we have been advocating for a ban on racial profiling within policing for at least a decade. This was a cause that was taken up around the country, but no city had voluntarily done this.

So, the very first major legislative act that I ever introduced to city council was to ban racial profiling by the police. This happened in February and March of 2001, and there were a ton of hearings and big debates. Big op-eds and editorials. The FOP was against it; the civil rights community was for it. It was a big, big debate. And it basically said you should not be pulled over solely because youre black.

Q: Was there a sense in the city that the frustration was growing, that it was inevitable something would happen?

A: You could cut the racial tension with a knife. You could feel it everywhere. There was a real sense of anger and frustration. In those days, every week, we would have hours of testimony from civil rights leaders coming down and telling us how they were being mistreated by the police.

Q: When Timothy Thomas was killed, when did you know it would spark a huge reaction?

A: I remember very clearly, I believe it was the Sunday after Timothy Thomas was killed I remember that afternoon being at Lunken Airport playing tennis, and I was a councilman, and Charlie Luken called me, the mayor. It was the day before the Law and Public Safety meeting that didnt go so well. And he said I think this is going to be really bad. This is really bad.

Q: Describe that Monday Law and Public Safety Committee meeting.

A: That meeting was awful. I also think it was important. The images and the videos are rough, and there are a lot of perceptions out there that were incorrect. For example, we had a lot of police in the room in plain clothes, and there was constant communication between them and us. There were some people who argued that we were being threatened or were in physical danger.

Q: By some accounts, it was almost like a hostage situation.

A: Yes, people have used that rhetoric, and Im not sure that was accurate. I mean, Chief Streicher was there for hours, and he certainly had his people protecting him and us.

Q: But they were so angry?

A: Extremely. People were hot. But Paula, the point I would make time and time again and have made is: that infamous day in my life and certainly the citys life is that Angela Leisure, the mother of Timothy Thomas, was there personally. She sat down at the witness table and said Im not leaving until I get answers.

Now, many people have said to me and written about whether we should have canceled that meeting or walked out, and to this day, I think that would have been a mistake.

Here was the grieving mother of Timothy Thomas. What was I supposed to do, have her removed? Was I supposed to have the police arrest her? Its absurd. What we needed to do that day was listen and hear the anger that was coming at us. To really pronounce the tensions that could no longer be ignored in our city.

RELATED | 25 years later, Cincinnati looks back at racial tension and progress made since riots

Q: How do you, watching whats happening on national news back then, think Cincinnati can ever come back from this?

A: I think its fair to say that at that time, the mayor and city council ... were the most unpopular group of people in the history of city council. I mean, everywhere we went, people were telling us we were doing a terrible job while no one liked us, we made the decisions that permanently put the city on a comeback.

We had a very young city council. I was the youngest; we also had Alicia Reece, David Pepper, Pat DeWine Mayor Charlie Luken, who was still relatively young, certainly young at heart. This set of young, ambitious, hardworking people who loved Cincinnati knew that we had to lead and do things very differently.

So, you had a number of big changes. You had the Collaborative Agreement. You had 3CDC. You had Issue 5 on the ballot in 2001, changing the way we hire and the police and fire chiefs, which created more accountability. And we were then transforming into the stronger mayor system, so Charlie was going to become the first stronger mayor, and there was a greater sense of political accountability for the problems.

READ MORE | 'Transformational': How the Collaborative Agreement changed policing in Cincinnati after the 2001 riots

So all of these things changed at the same time. I dont believe the political will would have been there in the space to be creative, to change the way we did economic development, to change the way we did policing, to change the way we did government, to change the way we hired and fired police and fire chiefs, had it not been for what happened in 2001.

Q: Where did the idea for 3CDC come from?

A: Downtown already did not have a particularly vibrant nightlife, and then the events of 2001 only made it way worse. Suburbanites in particular were afraid to come downtown.

So, the problem was getting worse, and there was a real question of whether Procter & Gamble, Kroger, and others would make a long-term commitment to Cincinnati ...

We put together an economic development task force, and George Schaefer, who was then the CEO of Fifth Third Bank, was the chairman of that task force the number one recommendation of their report was to create a nonprofit development corporation that would have the power to buy land and redevelop property, that would be funded in large part by the business community. That, of course, became 3CDC.

RELATED | Over-the-Rhine 25 years after Cincinnati riots: Where is it now and what is its future?

The other thing that happened in that same year, 2002, was that I wrote all the TIF districts in downtown and Over-the-Rhine, and I did something radical that was opposed by the business district at the time. I created TIF districts that combined downtown with Over-the-Rhine, so a TIF district west that had Fifth Third headquarters in it, and Macys headquarters and Over-the-Rhine west. And then Over-the-Rhine east with Procter & Gambles headquarters going up into Over-the-Rhine.

Q: As opposed to cutting it north and south?

A: The business community at the time was very angry at me, and they said we should do one for Over-the-Rhine; they said its not fair to take our taxes to subsidize this ghetto.

Im proud to say that I overruled their advice and got the city council to go along. And those TIF districts have funded the citys contribution to Washington Park, the Fountain Square revitalization, the ice-skating rink, and Ziegler Park.

So many things that 3CDC has done to revitalize Over-the-Rhine were primarily funded by the private sector, by the business community, but the city portion came from those TIF districts that I put in place in 2002.

Q: Describe how 3CDC got started once Steve Leeper was hired?

A: At the time, the issue wasnt Over-the-Rhine; the issue was downtown.

So, we started with Fountain Square, and that was a huge controversy to revitalize Fountain Square to move the fountain These were huge controversies at the time. For 3CDC, this was their first test as to whether they could do something, and candidly, it was incredibly unpopular. If you had polled the city at the time, should we work with 3CDC to improve Fountain Square, it would have been 80 to 20 against.

But again, David Pepper, Alicia Reece, myself, Pat DeWine, this bipartisan group, Charlie Luken, we knew that something big had to happen and had to change. So, we took some very tough votes to push those changes forward. Of course, it paid huge dividends because they did a great job, they brought in far more activity, far more restaurants ...

But quietly at that time, the business community, through 3CDC, started buying up a bunch of vacant property in Over-the-Rhine. It was incredibly depressed, and that was before the stock market crash of 2009 When other cities couldnt raise capital because nobody was lending money anymore, Cincinnati had the resources, the deep-pocketed resources of the business community to reinvest and revitalize property when nobody else could.

I give a lot of credit to Procter & Gamble and to Kroger for their visionary leadership to put tens of millions of their own dollars in to save their city. They could have picked up stakes and gone to the suburbs. They could have picked up stakes and gone to another city. But we really are blessed to live in a city where our corporate business leadership, when the chips are down, are willing to double down and help save our city.

Q: What are the lessons that you think are important to remember from back?

A: The big one is transparency. In those days, the police were insulated from any political accountability whatsoever. They just decided whether they were going to tell the public what happened or not.

One of the big principles of the Collaborative is transparency. Get the facts out. Get the video out. Get the body cameras. Let people see with their own eyes what happened. And I will be the first to say happily that body cameras overwhelmingly exonerate police officers and their actions.

So, that spirit of transparency, of leveling with the public good, bad, and ugly Transparency, I think, is something that too often there is a temptation by people in power to try and hold back information from the public. That, to me, is an ever-vigilant principle that I think could be lost. I think its being lost at the national level, and its at risk of being lost at the local level.

Q: What about Over-the-Rhine?

A: I think theres a lot more work that could be done in Over-the-Rhine. A ton of progress has been made, but like anything, sometimes you take one step forward, two steps back, and then three steps forward. I think re-accelerating that effort would be big.

Q: You mean north of Liberty?

A: Exactly. North Liberty is still the frontier, and its got a lot of issues, so I think extending the efforts there would be good

In 1970, the population of Over-the-Rhine alone was 30,000 people ... Today, despite all the progress weve made, the population in Over-the-Rhine is still at 10,000, maybe at 11,000 ... There is still an enormous opportunity to bring in new people without displacing the old, and in the process giving all people greater opportunity.

Q: Are there any specific changes that you think would be helpful from City Hall?

A: What I want is for 3CDC to be as ambitious as it was for the last 20 years, for the next 20 years.

To go north of Liberty. To continue to fill out pockets. And then go outside of Over-the-Rhine and downtown, to go into other areas of concentrated poverty in the city, whether its on the West Side, the Mill Creek corridor, and work with the Port Authority and others, and Cincinnati Development Fund and organizations like that to have the same kind of public-private partnership that worked so well for downtown and Over-the-Rhine.

Q: Is the momentum there, or is the momentum gone?

A: Well, Im not in City Hall right now, so I cant answer that, but I can tell you what I clearly hope to be true.

Q: Is there anything that you look at that now and you think, Thats not quite how we intended it, or maybe its taken a veering off?

A: I think that the proactive policing - we have to get back to, and specifically what I mean by that is getting back to group and gang activity.

And really working and breaking up some of those behaviors that lead to the open-air drug dealing and violence and the culture of drug violence. I think weve got to reinvigorate that.

Q: What about the growth and economic development?

A: Well, look, youre either growing or dying.

Im very proud that every year, when I was mayor, we had a record-breaking permit pulls to do more development. There are obviously macro factors: interest rates, recessions, and banking environments that are out of the citys control. But 3CDC and its best work were happening during the Great Recession

Under Mayor Mallory, under Mayor Luken, weve all worked together to partner with 3CDC and to keep the spirit of this Collaborative alive, and I just hope it continues

If we can make the city safe, clean, and have a pro-growth mentality with an eye on justice to make sure we dont fall back into the habits that led to the racial unrest, then I think we can continue and accelerate our comeback.

You can read more of our coverage on the 25th anniversary of the 2001 riots here.

Over-the-Rhine was once considered one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the United States, a stigma bolstered by the 2001 riots and the refusal of suburbanites to go into Cincinnatis urban center.

Today, the streets in southern OTR are unrecognizable, a slew of chef-owned restaurants in 19th-century storefronts, parks with morning yoga, flea markets and jazz, and loft-style condos with exposed brick that can easily top $400,000.

Pride.

Thats how former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley described his feelings about Over-the-Rhine now.

Knowing how bad it was then, and knowing how vibrant it is now, great restaurants, great parks, Music Hall, Memorial Hall, the outdoor dining it feels like a European city, especially in good weather, Cranley said. Now obviously it still needs more work, and there are some rougher edges that are re-emerging, but I think that its a thousand times better today than it was in 2001.

In the aftermath of the 2001 riots, when images of a burning and broken Cincinnati were broadcast across the nation, the city was at a crossroads.

It just looked like a war zone, Urban Sites CEO Greg Olson said. Every faade was beaten down, it was either boarded up, no glass, painted over, there was graffiti everywhere there was prostitution, drug dealing. I would get asked if I wanted to buy drugs almost every day in 2002. It was certainly not safe.

Watch: How has Over-the-Rhine changed in the years since the Cincinnati riots?

Major companies considered moving out of downtown, Cranley said.

Everybody felt that our city was on a precipice and it could fall off, permanently, Cranley said. We were at a turning point. It would either get worse or better.

The city created a task force driven by Mayor Charlie Luken and comprised of corporate leaders to brainstorm how to bring vibrancy to the urban core.

George Schaefer, who was then the CEO of Fifth Third Bank, was the chairman of the task force, Cranley said. Their number one recommendation was to create a nonprofit development corporation that would have the power to buy land, redevelop property, that would be funded in large part by the business community. That, of course, became 3CDC.

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., or 3CDC, was created in July 2003. Steve Leeper became CEO of the private, nonprofit development corporation the following year, and soon tackled its first major project: the revitalization of the Fountain Square District.

Simultaneously, 3CDC was also focused on Over-the-Rhine. It began buying distressed and nuisance properties there in 2005, and held onto them until redevelopment could begin.

Quietly at that time, the business community, through 3CDC, started buying up a bunch of vacant property in Over-the-Rhine, Cranley said. When other cities couldnt raise capital because nobody was lending money anymore, Cincinnati had the resources, the deep-pocketed resources of the business community to reinvest and revitalize property when nobody else could. I give a lot of credit to Procter & Gamble and Kroger for their visionary leadership to put tens of millions of their own dollars in to save their city.

The Gateway Quarter

Urban Sites was one of the first developers to take a risk in Over-the-Rhine, restoring 1200 Race Street in 1993, across from Washington Park. The historic building has apartments on the upper floors and Teak Sushi & Thai restaurant on the street level.

Its the largest collection of Italian and Greek revival architecture in the whole country, thats what makes it so special, Olson said.

Olsons crews have discovered Thomas Edison light bulbs, old medicine bottles, and newspapers with stories about the Civil War in the basements of buildings during restoration.

My father-in-law (the late Ed Hubert) always had a massive love for Over-the-Rhine and helping to revitalize and bring things back to life, Olson said. Our family had started with Bill Baum in the early 1990s, renovating historic buildings along Main Street and 12th and 13th Bill Baum created the industrial loft style look here, and he made it famous here in Cincinnati.

In the years that followed, other developers such as the Model Group, City Center Properties and the NorthPointe Group made bold, early investments in Over-the-Rhine, restoring historic buildings.

We decided to focus on Vine Street to begin with and the development just incrementally moved up the street to Liberty, 3CDC Chief Operating Officer Paula Boggs Muething said.

That redevelopment began just north of Central Parkway in the blocks known as the Gateway Quarter.

Thats what we called it then, at 12th and Vine Street because we didnt want to call it Over-the-Rhine because no one would want to come there, Olson said.

When I met Steve Leeper, I want to say in the fall of 2004, we were working on a project called the Lofts on Broadway right across the street from where the casino is now, Olson said. And we started imaging what Over-the-Rhine could be like if we started doing some work on Vine Street, so we started partnering with 3CDC.

But Olsons friends and family warned against it, saying, " You should not be doing this, this is not safe, its not a great investment.

Then the Lavomatic wine bar and restaurant opened in February 2008 in an old laundromat at 1211 Vine St. Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel brought French cuisine to the up-and-coming neighborhood, and suburbanites got curious enough to visit.

I remember when Lavomatic opened. My friend and I were so excited to see what had happened to this little corner, Muething said. It was so busy, I remember we waited to get in; it was really exciting.

At first, 3CDC hired an outside company to manage its first-floor commercial spaces, such as restaurants and bars, in its renovated buildings, but then decided to bring that control in-house, Muething said.

Being able to control what is on the street from a commercial perspective as well as have the residents above that give you that foot traffic, that was an early pivot in the strategy for redevelopment, Muething said. You can really see now that with control over those commercial spaces, we are able to take a risk on new businesses or an entrepreneur who has never had a business before.

The real turning point in Over-the-Rhine was the redevelopment of Washington Park in 2012, creating a seamless connection between Music Hall and Vine Street, Muething said.

Washington Park before these changes was a scary place, Cranley said. In those days, if you were going to Music Hall, you would park where WCET is, in that garage, and take the skywalk over Central Parkway to get to Music Hall. It was a place you definitely wanted to avoid at night, and most people avoided it during the day. It was scary.

The $48 million Washington Park restoration included an underground parking garage, a performance stage, a public lawn and event plaza, a water feature with lights and sound, a playground and dog park, a restored bandstand, planting beds and garden pathways. 

In the years that followed, 3CDC continued its work in Over-the-Rhine with a series of massive renovations and expansions to Ziegler Park, Music Hall, Memorial Hall, and the creation of Imagination Alley.

The citys financial contribution to those big projects came from the new TIF districts that Cranley had created in 2002, he said, blending the neighborhood with downtown to spur development.

I did something radical that was opposed by the business district at the time, which is I created TIF districts that combined downtown with Over-the-Rhine, Cranley said. The business community at the time was very angry at me they said its not fair to take our taxes to subsidize this ghetto. Im proud to say that I overruled their advice and got city council to go along.

Better or worse?

Recently, developers and 3CDC have shifted their attention to a rougher section of vacant buildings in the blocks north of Liberty Street.

Many of these streets have open-air drug markets, homeless people who sleep on sidewalks and steps, shootings, vandalism and nighttime rowdy crowds especially during summer evenings.

Thats how south of Liberty used to look, Olson said. What Im seeing up there is 2.0 of what happened south of Liberty. Its not going to happen overnight. Its going to take 15 years.

But John Donaldson has been waiting for that turnaround since before the riots. Hes lived in Over-the-Rhine since 1999 and has owned property around Grant Park since 2003.

I look at the crime in the area, and I would say its gotten worse, Donaldson said, noting the number of homicides in the area before the riots was much lower than it is now.

Right now, its Mayberry, Donaldson said, during an interview with WCPO 9 I-Team reporter Paula Christian on March 19. But at 7 oclock when it's 80 degrees outside, it wont be its easy to let your guard down now because it feels this way, but then well have a drive by (shooting). That doesnt happen in Mason. That doesnt happen in Hyde Park.

Donaldson acknowledged some improvements to his neighborhood.

One thing that has gotten better is the amount of dumping that we had back then, which has significantly gone down, Donaldson said. Back then, it would not be uncommon to see couches, chairs, beds just lying in the street, loose trash floating all around. It was really pretty bad.

Hed like to see improvements made to Grant Park, which is often the site of shootings and large nighttime crowds that gather along the perimeter.

I would like to see city cameras in the park, I would like to see city lighting, for it to look a little more pleasant. This ground is pretty beat up, Donaldson said. I think we need to reimagine the park. I think it needs some investment.

Meanwhile, Muething, of 3CDC, said there are plans to renovate Grant Park.

I think our work in North Over the Rhine has to include work in Grant Park, Muething said. Its been a park that has seen a lot of violence and disinvestment, but there is a lot of promise in that part of the neighborhood.

The first large project by 3CDC in north OTR is the Findlay Community Hub, with 60,000 square feet of fitness and community center space, a swimming pool, a roller rink and a child care center. Construction is expected to finish in November, and the hub will open in January 2027.

A few doors down from the hub, the new Crossroads Health Center is expected to open in May. 3CDC plans to redevelop the old health center building on Liberty Street, but Muething said there are no plans yet.

Then we are going to break ground on Findlay Flats, which will be another residential project that will have ground-floor commercial right in that area; it will be a little bit of a scattered site right along Vine Street, Muething said.

We will also have the Rust Alley Flats project that will come we are currently securing financing for that, but we do have plans, and those will be really good projects for the neighborhood that will have a mix of affordable and market rate.

Grant Park will be part of the second phase of the Findlay Community Hub project, Muething said, the reimagining of that so children can play in the park, but that there will be amenities for people of all ages so and really to make it a welcoming space for visitors and for residents and to program it so that we have good activity there.

Meanwhile, the Model Group, which has worked for years to revitalize the area around Findlay Market, continues to redevelop historic buildings and create more apartments and office space.

Urban Sites has a groundbreaking set for April 17 for a new $34 million project at the old Grammars bar at Walnut and East 15th streets, which is the oldest bar north of Central Parkway, built in 1872. The historic site will reopen as a mixed-use development called The Lockard with 129 units, 4,000 square feet of retail, and 71 parking spaces.

Youre never really done.

When Muething was asked when Over-the-Rhine would be finished, she didnt have a clear answer.

Youre really never done, Muething said.

Cranley agreed and described the neighborhood north of Liberty Street as the frontier.

Today, despite all the progress weve made, the population in Over-the-Rhine is still at 10,000, maybe at 11,000, Cranley said. Were not even a third of the way back to where Over-the-Rhine was before the decline of the 70s and 80s and 90s, so there is still an enormous opportunity to bring in new people without displacing the old, and in the process giving all people greater opportunity.

Cranley hoped that 3CDC continues to be aggressive in its efforts to buy, develop, program and oversee property and community spaces.

What I want is 3CDC to be as ambitious as it was for the last 20 years for the next 20 years. To go north of Liberty. To continue to fill out pockets, Cranley said. Then go into other areas of concentrated poverty in the city, whether its on the West Side, or the Mill Creek Corridor, and work with the Port Authority, and the Cincinnati Development Fund, and organizations like that to have the same kind of public-private partnership that worked so well for Downtown and Over-the-Rhine.

But the one variable is crime.

While some blocks north of Liberty are busy with construction crews beautifying historic buildings, just a block or two away, the vibe quickly shifts to graffiti-covered vacant buildings and street drug sales.

The underlying currents that caused the problems in 2000 are still here today, Donaldson said. If you measure it by the way buildings look, weve made significant progress. If you measure it by the underlying crime and violence and community relationships with the city, I would say weve gone in the wrong direction.

He would like to see more proactive policing and Hamilton County Sheriffs deputies patrolling here, as they did in 2006 to assist Cincinnati Police. So would Olson of Urban Sites.

I would love to see their presence here, Olson said. I voice it, I share that, but its not my call for sure.

Meanwhile, 3CDC continues to work with the city on public safety. Muething said they have to provide a real sense of safety, whether it's the reality of crime or just how people feel about it.

"We try to provide as much safe, secure parking as we possibly can. We have been working on providing the valet options, so the Over-the-Rhine valet is a new amenity that weve offered," Muething said.

Olson believes the city is working hard to solve crime problems here, along with residents and owners.

Its not like conversations arent being had by the property owners and all the restaurant and business owners, Olson said. We are always texting and emailing and calling each other trying to figure out how it can be better."

Cranley said the city must return to proactive policing.

And specifically, what I mean by that is getting back to group and gang activity, Cranley said. You have a lot of young people in the city who dont have father figures in their lives and humans are social animals and so the lack of father figures, youre going to coalesce around your peers and breaking up some of those behaviors that lead to the open air drug dealing and violence and the culture of drug violence, I think weve got to reinvigorate that.

But Olson remains optimistic as he looks to the neighborhoods future.

How is Over-the-Rhine doing? It certainly doesnt look like how it did in 2002, said Olson. I think people need to continually remind themselves that were not how we used to be. And remind ourselves that we have made massive progress, $2 billion worth of investment.

Seventeen months after the evictions began, Frischs restaurant properties are again poised for big changes.

A Florida landlord is unloading the dormant real estate to buyers who have yet to reveal definitive plans for them. And that is triggering speculation about what lies ahead for these former neighborhood anchors.

In the 50s and 60s, this place was just booming, said Scott Sayre, whose Advance Dentistry practice flourished on Wooster Pike as the Frischs Mainliner declined in the last 40 years. Fairfax has done some nicer things in this area and its just kind of sad to see the building sit here without anybody doing anything.

Watch: What will happen to the now-dormant Frisch's locations across the Tri-State

Sayre was encouraged to learn a Lexington developer that specializes in redeveloping retail properties bought 11 former Frischs locations in the last five months, six of them in Greater Cincinnati.

Greer Companies, once the largest franchise operator of Cheddars Scratch Kitchen restaurants, did not respond to calls seeking comment for this story. It has redeveloped more than 100 retail properties by attracting users like Starbucks, Shoneys, Taco Bell, Burger Fi and Fazolis, according to its website.

With that kind of background even if they decide to hold it and sell it to somebody else, theyll be a driving force, Sayre said. Weve got a lot of fast food around. But we dont have anything where you could come here at night, have a dinner, bring the family.

Greer Companies isnt the only local buyer of empty Frischs locations.

Middletown entrepreneur Brett Oakley bought the Germantown Road Frischs location in January but hasnt decided what to do with it.

In Bethel, a corporate affiliate of Mt. Orabs Mi Camino Real restaurant purchased a former Frischs location at 551 West Plane Street.

The WCPO 9 I-Team tried to reach the buyers of all 13 properties. All either failed to respond or declined to identify future plans for the real estate.

One thing is clear: The sales will continue.

According to local real estate records, two dozen empty Frischs locations are still owned by NNN REIT Inc. Thats a real estate investment trust that filed dozens of eviction cases against Frischs in 2024, then signed a deal with a Michigan Big Boy chain to bring its Dollys concept to town.

As WCPO has previously reported, Dollys never got close to its stated goal of more than 50 Southwest Ohio locations before folding in September. By that time, NNN REIT was in active negotiations with other potential buyers.

The companys annual report said it sold 67 vacant properties in 2025. CEO Stephen Horn told investors last month the vast majority of those sales were Frischs locations.

The biggest buyer, Greer Companies, owns the Mainliner site and a Lawrenceburg property through a corporate affiliate, Olowalu Land Company LLC. It also owns four Northern Kentucky locations in Florence, Fort Wright, Independence and Cold Spring.

The companys president told the Lexington Herald Leader that he was talking to a Frischs franchise owner about leasing "one or more" properties for a Big Boy restaurant outside of Lexington.

And it turns out that a rendering on display at the Kyles Lane Frischs in Fort Wright shows that location is moving to a Greer-owned property on Madison Pike at Orphanage Road. Frischs declined to comment on the relocation, but employees said it will happen by July.

The rendering also shows a new look for the fresh 3L Frischs, one that de-emphasizes the Big Boy logo and recasts the Frischs name in a different font style. They call it the 3L Frischs because Madison Pike, or Kentucky Route 17, connected the horse racing cities of Louisville, Lexington and Latonia in the early 20th century.

The Kyles Lane Frischs is operated by Cheryl White, one of two Frischs managers who bought multiple locations and future development rights of the Frischs Big Boy brand, according to a November 2024 press release. White did not respond to an email seeking comment.

When the dust settled after the 2024 evictions, Frisch's had 31 locations including 11 in Greater Cincinnati. The Kyles Lane store was among them.

Real estate records show that the store got a new landlord in September, when Guardian Savings Bank sold the land and building to 20 Kyles Lane LLC. It isnt clear whether the ownership change was a factor in the restaurants relocation.

But longtime Frischs customer Janie Van Winkle was happy to learn that her current favorite Frischs found a long-term home nearby.

Our local Frischs closed, and this is the closest one we have, said Van Winkle, who lives in Aurora but drives regularly to Kyles Lane for lunch. Orphanage road is a little big further drive, but thats OK. Ill still go for my fish sandwich.

In the meantime, Van Winkle asked WCPO to pass along a message to Greer Companies. Shed like Frischs to return to the Eads Parkway location that a Greer corporate affiliate purchased for $1.75 million in October.

Put a bug in their ear, Van Winkle said. In high school, a lot of the kids would go to (the Lawrenceburg) Frischs. It would be the main place that they would hang out. So, it has a lot of memories."

A West End man may have to pay $18,000 to remove graffiti from his warehouse or risk the city of Cincinnati placing a lien on his property, under a new rule council members quietly passed in 2024 that pushes cleanup costs to taxpayers.

Rory Benson has lived in a historic warehouse on York Street for more than a decade. Vandals occasionally tagged it with graffiti, but until recently, city crews always cleaned it up without being asked.

Around 2000, in the middle of COVID, it just stopped. I would call, I would get no response, Benson said. I thought there were delays just because of COVID and it was a few years before someone finally said, Hey, we just dont do that anymore.

Benson said he was given no notice of the city's rule change. For many years, the Department of Public Services had removed graffiti from both public and private property.

That formally changed in May 2024, when the Cincinnati City Council voted to limit graffiti cleanup by the Department of Public Services to public sites at the suggestion of City Manager Sheryl Long.

WATCH: WCPO's I-Team looked into how the city's new rule could impact residents

Over time, shifting responsibilities within the city administration have rendered portions of the present graffiti abatement chapter functionally obsolete, Long wrote in a May 8, 2024, letter to council introducing a new program to provide an improved mechanism to mitigate graffiti within our neighborhoods.

Instead, West End residents say the citys new policy has encouraged vandals to produce an ever-increasing amount of graffiti in their neighborhood. Many homeowners can't afford removal, so it isnt getting cleaned up.

Its basically surrounding the neighborhood, fast. It just keeps exploding and radiating out, Benson said.

Noah OBrien, a West End Community Council Executive Board member, agreed, saying the city continues to concentrate poverty here with more low-income housing, which leads to blight, repeated graffiti, drug dealing and violence.

The citys new graffiti policy is simply a symptom treatment that victimizes property owners while City Hall refuses to fix the root causes that it exacerbates, OBrien said. Property owners are now supposed to pay for endless cleanup crews for criminals the city wont catch or deter."  

The citys Buildings and Inspections Department now oversees graffiti abatement, along with other nuisance issues, including overgrown grass, litter and dumping on private property. Once a notice of violation for graffiti is issued, owners have 30 days to remove it.

City officials declined an interview. Instead, a city spokesperson sent an email about the policy change, saying that the public services department, had very limited resources to handle graffiti removal on private property and essentially no formal means of working with property owners to gain access or enforce noncompliance.

In the case of noncompliance, B&I will bid the work to a contractor to have the graffiti removed, then pass the cost of the removal to the property owner, city spokesperson Ben Breuninger said in the email. The cost of the removal depends on the size of the tag, the difficulty of removal, and the method of removal used. The city has received quotes ranging from $13,000 for difficult cases to as little as $250 for simple abatements."

Benson received his first notice of violation last summer. He didnt want the city to send out a random cleanup company for fear it would damage the faade of his warehouse, which was built in 1904 and had been owned by the Wegman family. He tried to remove it himself.

One company gave me a quote for $18,000 to have it removed, Benson said. Another company said that they knew the city was changing their policies and that I should be warned that other people are going to be increasing their prices because of that then Im just forced to pay whatever the city assesses. Theyll just put a lien on your property.

Benson asked city crews to remove all graffiti one last time, so he could apply an anti-graffiti coating on a clean surface and prevent future vandalism at his warehouse. But he said the city inspector refused.

Instead, Benson spent more than $1,000 on special chemicals that partially removed some of the graffiti last summer.

It was a couple of weeks after I took most of it off that, at least my first pass, that another giant piece showed up, Benson said.

On March 9, Benson said he received another violation notice, warning that the city could place a lien on his property if he fails to remove the graffiti.

We regret that you were the victim of this vandalism. Nonetheless, as owner of the property, it is incumbent upon you to see that the condition is abated, a building inspector wrote in the notice.

Thats when Benson reached out to the WCPO 9 I-Team for help.

I dont think its fair that I should have to pay for it. If I do pay for it and it comes back a week later, I have to pay for it again, Benson said. Its an endless cycle at that point.

Benson's neighbor, Paul Tucker, got hit with his first noticeable graffiti last year. He bought his first building in the neighborhood in 2007 for his luxury commercial seating business, Orange Chair. He bought a second large industrial building across the street on Hulbert last year to expand.

This just really kind of exploded in the last number of months, Tucker said. I think its a fair question to wonder why the city stopped maintaining it, because had I known this was a problem and it was going to cost me, say $18,000 a shot, I might not have made this investment.

Tucker said the city is victimizing the victims of vandalism and hurting the West End. He also said he received a notice of violation from the city for graffiti in March and is not sure what to do.

Tucker said if hes forced to spend tens of thousands removing graffiti from his large buildings each year, it could threaten his business.

I feel like while theyre working so hard to regenerate life in this corner, theyre not really helping the people that are actually putting in the time and the dollars, Tucker said. It would be a vital threat, and also it would certainly stall any further development in the neighborhood.

Last year, city inspectors issued 223 notices of violation for graffiti removal, and 44 so far in 2026, as of last week, Breuninger said.

To date, the city has not filed any property liens for nonpayment of graffiti removal.

Benson said the city has a double standard by targeting residents for code enforcement issues while failing to maintain its own public property. He showed the I-Team photos of waist-high grass on city land adjacent to his warehouse and on an island on his street, and said he was forced to mow it because the city never did.

OBrien agreed.

Meanwhile, the same city cant or wont keep its own West End Recreation Center free from hand-to-hand illicit drug sales and massive amounts of litter on its own properties, OBrien said.

It was a cluster of Northern Kentucky construction companies, built on the business connections of its founder. When their new owner assembled a remote management team to operate the enterprise, the downward spiral began at Reston Construction.

Thats the picture that emerged from a three-day trial into a business dispute that began when Northern Kentucky entrepreneur Christopher Cook sued Reston in 2023.

Cook alleged Reston reneged on a $3 million purchase agreement for the six companies he founded or purchased since 2012. Reston owner Kyle Motycka alleged Cook misrepresented the working capital of his companies prior to the sale.

The case was filed under seal and didnt become public until last fall. By that time, the financial meltdown was obvious at Reston.

WATCH: Trial sheds light on the collapse of Reston

It faced more than 20 lawsuits in which vendors, customers and former employees claimed they were owed more than $2.7 million. By the end of last year, the U.S. Department of Labor was looking into money missing from the retirement accounts of Reston employees.

The turmoil led Motycka to sell two of Cooks companies Cru Cutters and Landworx and cease operations of two others Kramer Pools and BBG Electric. But it didnt keep him from buying another local company, J.M. Mechanical, in 2025.

All of those details were discussed during a three-day bench trial, convened on Feb. 16 by Kenton County Circuit Judge Mary Molloy. It didnt take long for attorneys to trade barbs about who was at fault.

A month after closing, Mr. Cooks trusted advisors were informing Mr. Motycka that the business was a disaster, attorney Alex Rodger said during opening remarks on Restons behalf. Vendors were refusing to work. Vendors were unpaid. Projects were going undone. This is less than a month. That wasnt revealed in the due diligence period. As soon as they were employed by Mr. Motycka, they revealed the secret: Weve got problems.

Cooks attorney, Ryan McLane, said the blame lays squarely with Motycka and Daniel Logdson, a California surgeon who co-owns Reston and personally guaranteed company debt.

They substantially harmed nearly everyone theyve come into contact with, in Northern Kentucky, McLane said. They cheated Cook out of millions. They failed to pay subcontractors across our region. They cheated homeowners out of large cash deposits. They left projects unfinished. They failed to pay employees, most of whom were blue-collar workers.

Before the trial began, Molloy had already ruled that Reston defaulted on a $2.4 million promissory note for seller financing of the 2022 sale.

On Feb. 12, she signed a judgment on the personal guarantees signed by Motycka and Logsdon. That means Cook can pursue about $1 million in payments from both men through the collections process.

Both sides requested additional damages in written closing statements, submitted March 18.

Cook wants an additional $2.6 million from Motycka, as full compensation for the promissory note, missing 401(k) money and a $100,000 loan that Cook made to the company so it could meet payroll in 2023.

Motycka is seeking damages of $6.3 million, claiming Cooks misstatements about working capital caused "lost profits" and diminished business value.

Molloy has not revealed when she will issue a final ruling in the case.

Management shakeup

In the meantime, new details emerged from trial testimony and court exhibits that showed just how quickly Cooks family of companies crumbled after selling to Motycka.

The short answer is nine months.

Thats how long it took Motycka to replace Cooks management team with higher paid remote employees in Denver and Miami, Fla. And thats how long it took the companys net losses to more than triple to $2.2 million, according to an income statement filed as an exhibit in the case.

Prepared in September 2023, the document showed revenue and expense estimates for the 2023 calendar year compared to prior years under Cooks leadership.

From Cooks last year in charge to Motyckas first:

The management shakeup happened in the summer of 2023 and it wasnt part of the original plan.

Both men testified that they expected Motycka to relocate to Cincinnati and take the helm of Cooks companies in January 2023. They also expected Cooks top managers Tanner Prince and Erin Rehkamp to oversee daily operations while Cook worked part-time to recruit new business.

The big selling point was how strong Tanner and Erin were, Motycka testified about his early expectations. It sounded like a business that was growing, had a good reputation, had a strong c-suite, had good processes, had good procedures.

But Motycka didnt relocate to Cincinnati until August 2023 because he was working full-time for another company, VSL Electric in Reston, Va. Motycka testified that he managed 20 to 30 projects a year for VSL and never told his employer he was running Cook's companies on the side.

By the time he moved to Madeira, Motycka had replaced Prince with Chief Operating Officer Alex Riedy, working remotely from Denver. Rehkamps position as chief administrative officer was replaced by John Collier, a part-time chief financial officer who worked remotely from Miami, Fla.

Riedy had a unique skill set that would be hard to replicate, Motycka testified about his long-distance COO. He helped get our bidding processes better in line and I felt like that was a weakness we identified in the business.

About Colliers hiring, Motycka said: We explored some local CFO options and couldnt find the right fit.

But the limitations of Motyckas long-distance chain of command were soon apparent to Cooks employees and customers.

Eric Fegan, a real estate investor who used Cooks lawn care company to tend to his properties since 2018, testified that he stopped doing business with Cru Cutters in 2024 because he paid advance for services it did not perform.

Dane Christy, a former TKOR vice president, testified that problems with vendors began a few months after closing and Kramer Pools started missing payroll in the summer of 2023. He left the company after Riedy instructed him to keep taking deposits on new pools, even though vendors were refusing to supply new materials to the company.

I had concerns that we would not be able to complete projects, Christy testified. I had a moral obligation to the customer.

Motycka testified that he wouldn't have taken deposits if he'd known the company wouldn't be able to pay them back.

Cook testified that he faced only three lawsuits in 20 years of operating his companies. Reston was sued 14 times in 2024 and nine times in 2025.

Two and a half years after the management shakeup, Motycka has finally left that full-time job in Virginia.

He testified that he left VSL Electric in early February because he wanted to focus on what assets we have left at Reston.

He also claims to have settled some of the lawsuits pending against him and hes trying to work through a solution with the Labor Department for those missing 401(k) funds.

But his legal problems wont end with a final verdict in the Cook case.

Thats because Motyckas newest acquisition, J.M. Mechanical, is facing a new lawsuit alleging $579,373 in unpaid bills.

The Feb. 19 lawsuit, filed in Hamilton County by HVAC supplier Controls Center Inc., alleges Motycka personally guaranteed a promissory note in June 2025 to cover J.M. Mechanicals accounts receivable balance at the time.

According to the lawsuit, Motycka made interest-only payments for six months but no principal or payments since January 2026.

A second dumpster containing flammable cooking oil was found under a Tri-State bridge, despite a devastating fire that occurred below the Big Mac Bridge just over a year ago.

The WCPO 9 I-Team toured highway bridges in the Cincinnati area and discovered the first dumpster of used cooking oil under an Interstate 75 bridge in Lockland in January.

Last week, the I-Team discovered a second dumpster of cooking oil under the Taylor Southgate Bridge on Riverboat Row in Newport during a tour of Northern Kentucky bridges and overpasses.

Thats Newport thats controlling that, and I talked to them about that today (March 13), and they are going to move that from out from under the bridge, said Bob Yeager, chief engineer for Kentucky Transportation Cabinets District 6. I dont know if its dangerous or threatening at this point, but there is potential that exists so theyre going to have that moved, and I think thats appropriate at this time to do that.

A KYTC spokesperson confirmed on Monday that the dumpster had been removed from under the bridge.

WATCH: WCPO I-Team looks into dumpster of cooking oil found under Newport bridge

The Ohio Department of Transportation also reacted to the I-Teams findings in January.

Thats a fire hazard right there that needed to be removed immediately, said Kathleen Fuller, a spokesperson for ODOT District 8, in a February interview. When we saw the photo, our project manager ... asked the owners to remove that, which they did. They complied.

The I-Team has been targeting bridges known as problem sites for storing hazardous items since December 2024.

Following the Big Mac Bridge fire ... thats like the number one thing were mostly concerned about, are fires, Fuller said.

The Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, known as the Big Mac Bridge, was severely damaged on Nov. 1, 2024. It happened after a playground at Sawyer Point Park, beneath the bridge, caught fire overnight and burned for hours. It was large and hot enough to warp some of the steel beams supporting the bridge.

The fire caused extensive damage that cost at least $10 million to repair. 

The bridge was closed for 100 days, resulting in massive traffic delays. Four people were convicted for their roles in what happened the night of the fire.

The Federal Highway Administration urged state bridge inspectors to watch out for flammable material stored beneath bridges after a fire on the Santa Monica Freeway in 2023, prompting transportation agencies across the nation to assess their bridges and overpasses.

When the I-Team toured Hamilton County bridges in January and February, it discovered combustible items stored beneath: wooden pallets, tires, mattresses, piles of trash, homeless encampments with evidence of fire, tractor-trailers and that dumpster of oil.

Next, the I-Team crossed the Ohio River to examine bridges, but found far less trash and fire hazards, and no homeless encampments in Northern Kentucky.

I dont think it surprises me. We do take those things seriously, Yeager said, of KYTC, who credited manpower and effort. I think the longer you let it go, the worse it gets because people see that thats a dumping site and they can dump there, whether theyre supposed to or not.

Although District 6 oversees more than 1,400 bridges in Northern Kentucky, Yeager said most are not accessible by car, so they arent suitable for storage.

Were not talking about a big problem, were talking about those few areas, the big bridges, I-75, I-471 where they are elevated through cities that make it a convenient place for people to store stuff, Yeager said. Those are the ones we would concentrate on.

The I-Team toured the I-471 bridge next to Newport High School and found roughly 100 cars parked under the bridge, two trash dumpsters and three large storage containers.

Thats owned by the city of Newport, so they basically have the parking there for the school, Yeager said. Its one of the areas where we protect the piers to make sure they are not bumped into by students or teachers.

Do you have a story for the WCPO I-Team? You can contact Paula here:

Yeager also said he checked with Newport officials on the storage containers and learned they were empty, so they did not need to be removed.

What I told them is they dont have to move them on my account, but I would like to know whats in them, so that I can assess the potential for any hazard, Yeager said.

Yeager said he wasnt concerned about the dumpsters stored under the bridge because they are used by the school and routinely emptied.

The I-Team also discovered giant pipes stored under I-275 at KY-17 near Gateway Community College, with a large crane used for a construction project.

The pipes are part of an ongoing construction project. We allow construction material to be stored under there, Yeager said. Our biggest concern is not whats being stored, its how its being handled. When you come in there with a crane to not hit the top of the bridge, we regulate that so they are there by permit.

In Maysville, the I-Team found stacks of wooden pallets stored near the piers under the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge. Since this is in the KYTC District 9, Yeager declined to comment.

A KYTC District 6 spokesperson reached out to District 9 for a statement regarding those pallets, but the I-Team has not received a response from the agency.

It was an eventful February for Covington Police Officer Doug Ullrich, who won his fourth court fight over the constitutionality of his law enforcement tactics while a new lawsuit was filed against him his ninth since 2021.

U.S. District Judge S. Chad Meredith sided with Ullrich, Officer Anthony Fritsch and the City of Covington in a 2024 case alleging the officers used excessive force while arresting Covington resident Ashley Ferreiras.

Given that the plaintiff resisted arrest and assaulted the police, it was not objectively unreasonable for the police to subdue her by striking her twice, placing her in handcuffs, and forcing her into the back of a police car, Judge Meredith wrote. Thus, the plaintiffs excessive-force claim is unavailing. And so are her other claims.

Ferreiras attorney, Justin Whittaker, declined to comment on the ruling but added: We will let the appellate process play out.

You can see the body camera from Ferreiras' arrest here:

The Ferreiras case is one of 16 lawsuits filed against Covington police officers since 2021. The city has yet to be found liable in any of the cases. Two of them were settled without an admission of liability.

The rulings issued so far show that the actions taken by our officers were professional, lawful, and within established operating procedures, Captain Justin Bradbury wrote in an email response to the WCPO 9 I-Teams request for an interview. The Covington Police Department is committed to professional policing, accountability, and ensuring that officers carry out their duties responsibly while protecting the people and visitors of Covington.

The I-Team did an extensive report on Ullrichs history with the department in October. At that time, the city had been named in 14 lawsuits since 2021, with Ullrich named in seven of those cases. In the last five months, two new lawsuits have been filed in which three people allege Ullrich and other Covington officers violated their constitutional rights during traffic stops.

Ferreiras was recovering from left ankle surgery when Covington officers stopped her boyfriends car near her home on May 4, 2023. Her complaint alleged Ullrich and Fritsch violated the departments use of force rules by pulling away her crutches, punching her in the head and stepping on her foot after she fell to the ground.

It was Ullrich who began yelling at Ferreiras from the start in aggressive and threatening language, Ferreiras attorney argued in court filings. He then escalated the confrontation by grabbing her, discarding her crutch, and placing her under arrest for a minor, non-violent offense that should have resulted in a ticket or fine according to the statute.

In its motion for summary judgment, the city argued Ferreiras actively resisted arrest after ignoring Ullrichs orders to stay away from the traffic stop.

From verbal noncompliance to outright assault, Ferreiras resisted Officer Ullrichs efforts to arrest her for nearly seven minutes, said the filing. In those minutes, she pulled away from, hit, kicked, and bit Officer Ullrich.

Judge Meredith ruled the officers were entitled to qualified immunity for their actions, but didnt need it because Officer Ullrich acted reasonably and did not subject Ferreiras to excessive force.

The ruling repeatedly noted that Ferreiras was convicted by a Kenton County jury of assault, resisting arrest and criminal mischief for her actions that night.

Ferreiras does not contest that Officers Ullrich and Fritsch had probable cause to arrest her for a variety of crimes, including assault, Judge Meredith wrote. Thus, Officer Ullrich had the right to arrest Ferreiras for her offense and use the amount of force necessary to detain her.

Its the third time since 2024 that Ullrich has been cleared of liability in cases that alleged he violated the constitutional rights of people during traffic stops. He also won a 2025 dismissal in a jailhouse complaint that accused him of fabricating evidence.

In the five cases still pending against Ullrich, the city has filed motions to dismiss all or part of three cases. Proceedings are delayed in a fourth case while criminal charges are pending against the plaintiff. The city has yet to respond to a fifth case, filed Feb. 27.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit last month to enable a data center project near the former Stuart power plant in Adams County, even as voters circulated petitions to block the project.

The Nationwide Permit No. 39 comes with special conditions to protect endangered bats, mussels and butterflies. It also establishes a 100-foot buffer zone to keep construction crews from disturbing three cemeteries near the site.

The Feb. 18 permit, obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request by the WCPO 9 I-Team, came as a surprise to data center critics who circulated and signed petitions Monday at the West Union Walmart.

How is that possible when nobody got a question or an opportunity to say We dont want that near us? asked Manchester voter Amy Crumley. Thats what that means to me. Somebodys just streamlining things.

Watch: How multiple different groups are trying to restrain the growth of data centers in Adams County

The petitions call for an Ohio constitutional amendment that would ban data centers statewide and ask Adams County commissioners to establish rural zoning that could make data centers harder to build. A third petition directs Sprigg Township Trustees to rescind a Jan. 26 resolution that signaled no intent to change zoning at the former Stuart power plant.

The increased voter activism coincides with the opening of a new tourist attraction in Adams County that could tip the scales toward tighter restrictions on data centers.

What concerns me is not data centers. Its how theyre implemented, said Dieter Moeller, who spent millions to bring state-of-the-art telescopes to a 900-acre site near the former Killen power plant.

Moeller is concerned that light pollution will keep amateur astronomers from using his equipment to see distant planets, stars and galaxies.

Theres no need to light up the night sky, Moeller said. You can light up a parking lot. If they do that and they use the right colors, they can do it in a way thats minimally disruptive.

The Moeller Observatory uses red lights at night to minimize light pollution, as its powerful telescopes scour the skies for specks of white light from distant galaxies.

Red light has longer wavelengths. It allows humans to maintain their night vision and is less likely to scatter into the atmosphere.

Red lighting and light caps that direct brighter lights downward would be among the restrictions hed like to see on data centers.

The big thing in astronomy is light gathering, said Moeller, owner and chairman of RH Aero Systems in Mason. Large optics are used to both gather more light and provide more resolution.

The WCPO 9 I-Team has been tracking data center developments in Adams County since Feb. 5, when Economic Development Director Paul Worley confirmed that companies were exploring data center projects at the former Killen and Stuart power plants.

He described the plants as ideal for data centers because of their access to power and water. He said they might be able to replace some of the 700 jobs lost when the plants closed in 2018.

DP&Ls parent company, AES Ohio, disclosed in a Feb. 3 regulatory filing that a data center in the vicinity of the Stuart plant would require 1300 megawatts of electricity by 2032. That would make it one of Ohios largest data centers, consuming 31 times the annual power consumption of Adams County.

Ohio EPA records show the Buck Canyon site could hold twelve light industrial buildings, internal access drives, five stormwater management basins and utility infrastructure by 2028. It would cause unavoidable permanent impacts to approximately 0.74 acres of three low-quality isolated wetlands on the site. To address those impacts, 68 Yards LLC asked the EPA to approve its purchase of wetland mitigation credits from the Red Stone Farm Mitigation Bank in Pike County.

In its initial letter to the Army Corps of Engineers on Nov. 26, 68 Yards LLC said it expected to clear approximately 320 acres of forested habitat for the Buck Canyon project, which would provide service the southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky region.

The permit was verified with 11 special conditions, wrote Lee J. Arco, a regulatory archaeologist for USACEs North Branch, in an email response to the WCPO.

Those conditions include a requirement that crews cease all work if previously unknown historic or archaeological sites or human remains are uncovered and install temporary construction fencing around the Boone and Davidson cemeteries and permanent fencing around the Rogers Parr cemetery.

The conditions also say new restrictions could be imposed if new information reveals impacts of the project that may affect federally listed species or critical habitat in a manner not previously considered.

Moeller also has ideas about restrictions that should be considered for Adams County data centers.

Ark of Appalachia is over a 20,000-acre nature preserve. Its just right over the next ridge, Moeller said. Theres a lot of great ecotourism business thats going on. And its a wonderful thing for the local economy. That can all be destroyed by having data centers go in that dont do things in a responsible way.

Moeller has taken some preemptive steps to guard against light pollution. He spent more than $3 million to acquire roughly 900 acres surrounding his observatory. That includes 347 acres on the former Killen plant site, according to Adams County property records.

Moellers ownership of an aerospace company and degrees in physics and computer engineering give him a unique perspective on data centers. He thinks they can bring about positive change by advancing the use of artificial intelligence.

I think the productivity were going to see is unlike (what) weve seen throughout any of the major evolutions in the history of humanity, Moeller said. And Im excited for what thats going to do. Data centers are an important part of that.

But that doesnt mean he wants data center developers to pay no taxes, cause environmental harm or fill the night skies of Adams County noisy generators and glaring, white light.

Data centers can be a home run for the area through taxes. Or if its not handled correctly, (they) can be a disaster, Moeller said. The whole idea of data centers being a replacement for jobs is farsical.

Adams County leaders have repeatedly said they have received no formal proposal from a data center developer. But they did receive a November briefing from Argus Growth Consultants, Ltd. showing what data center tax breaks might look like, based on similar deals in other parts of the state.

Monroe Township trustees passed a March 2 resolution to establish a zoning commission to regulate development in its 27-square-mile jurisdiction, which includes the Killen plant. Trustees in Sprigg Township, home of the Stuart plant, passed a one-year voluntary moratorium on data centers, also on March 2.

But Adams County voters arent leaving things to chance.

So many people have said, Oh, this has been in the making for three years now, four years now. Its a done deal, said Emily Harper, who staffed a signature gathering station at the West Union Walmart Monday. When you have commissioners saying, Its not a done deal, it offers hope that maybe we can channel this in a certain way that benefits our community the most.

You can see the permit here:

A Cincinnati-area police officer is back in uniform after a domestic violence arrest for throwing a bourbon bottle at a woman through a mirror, striking her in the chest and covering her in glass shards.

Mt. Orab police arrested Zachariah Smith after a woman called 911 and said he was very drunk and had thrown a bottle at her on May 29, 2024.

Days later, Smith resigned from the Union Township Police Department and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct in July 2024.

But eight months after his arrest, Smith returned to law enforcement in the rural Adams County village of Manchester. He switched departments in September 2025 and now works as a part-time officer for the villages of Sardinia and Russellville.

I was a good officer prior to my arrest, Smith said. From my training records and everything that Ive been through, you can see that this is an isolated incident.

But some disagree with his redemption story and question whether he should still be a police officer.

There still has to be a standard, and I feel that standard has sadly, especially in rural areas, kind of evaporated due to lack of manpower. Its a shame, said Marcus Callahan, police chief of the private, gated community of Lake Waynoka in Brown County. It puts everybody at risk and makes us all look more incompetent.

Watch: Why an officer arrested for domestic violence was hired at another police department

The WCPO 9 I-Team has been tracking police accountability since 2017, with dozens of stories about use of force, disciplinary matters and best practices that shed light on how local departments operate.

For this story, the I-Team spent three months collecting public records and conducting interviews to determine whether problems exist in the rural counties east of Cincinnati.

Smiths career is one way to answer that question.

After his May 2024 arrest, Union Township police placed Smith on leave while they conducted an internal investigation that ultimately recommended his firing. Instead, Smith resigned in June 2024.

Lt. Scott Blankenship noted in his report that Smith was disrespectful, rude, and unprofessional to Mt. Orab police officers on the night of his arrest. Smith drank a Miller Lite beer while they questioned him. He told one Mt. Orab officer to fix his name badge and called another officer a jealous f***er, according to police records.

Smith also gave conflicting accounts of how the mirror got broken on the night of his arrest. He told Mt. Orab police that an electrician had dropped a ladder, hitting the mirror a week earlier.

But Smith told Union Township police that he threw the bourbon bottle through the mirror, because he was disgusted with himself I remember looking at myself in the mirror and my stomach hanging out, being subconscious about my weight, according to police records.

The victim told Mt. Orab police he wouldnt stop pacing around, calling her names, belittling her, blaming her for every issue she said Mr. Smith threatened to hurt her she believed at that moment, with Mr. Smith just feet in front of her, he was about to choke her, according to the police report.

She stated that in the past, he has choked, punched and slapped her on multiple occasions, and he was drunk every time she stated he held his breath, making his head turn red, and both his fists were balled up and raised in front of him. Then he began to charge towards her she said if she had not gone into the room, he would have choked her like he had in the past, according to the police report.

While she was in the other room, Smith threw a bourbon bottle through a mirror, crashing through the glass, striking her in the chest and leaving a visible and palpable bump, according to the police report.

I observed that (she) had small glass shards all over her, from head to toe, including inside her shoe and bra I placed Mr. Smith under arrest for domestic violence and transported him to the Brown County Jail. Once inside the booking area, Mr. Smith told me I f***ed up, stating ... she had slapped him, a Mt. Orab police officer wrote in his report.

When WCPO asked Smith how the mirror broke, he said: I dont believe I knew she (the victim) was still present in the building. But I just dont remember. I cant comment on it because I dont remember the whole incident.

Nearly a year later, then-Manchester police chief Dakotah Brown felt that Smith deserved a second chance. He hired him in March 2025 to patrol a community along the Ohio River with 1,800 residents that was struggling to revive its police department after it had been defunct for several years.

At the time, I think they wanted me to hire officers at $15 an hour, and I tried to explain to them that the applicants just arent coming. Its not happening, Brown said. I had an open position for like eight or like nine months and had no applicants because they probably saw the pay scale and just laughed, and I dont blame them.

When Smith applied for a police officer position, Brown said he was reluctant to hire him.

I honestly wasnt going to hire him, because I was like, 'This looks like a lot of drama, Im not dealing with this,' Brown said. Even though I got the sense that he was an upstanding person of moral character, and basically, he had a bad day.

Brown changed his mind after speaking with the woman who was hit with the bourbon bottle. She said she had forgiven Smith, Brown said.

One day after his arrest, Lake Waynoka Police Chief Marcus Callahan sent an email to Union Township police about Smiths conduct in the private, gated community where he lived.

I would like to start off by apologizing as I have never had to contact an officers department in my career due to problems and personal conduct issues, Callahan wrote in the May 31, 2024, email.

His email outlined a list of scathing complaints about Smiths behavior, often while wearing his Union Township police uniform.

Since moving into the POA at Lake Waynoka, Smith has violated numerous rules at the gated community I am also still investigating numerous disorderly conduct complaints as Smith is regularly verbally hostile to female front gate employees, Callahan wrote.

Callahan told WCPO that Smith was friendly to male employees but rude to female workers.

Incredibly rude, borderline belligerent, Callahan said.

Callahan provided surveillance video and audio to Union Township police, which WCPO obtained, showing Smiths interaction with a female employee as he tried to enter a gate with an apparently inoperable vehicle sticker.

Heres your faulty ass sticker, Smith said, and then added, Because I told you for the last f*****g three days it hasnt worked, according to the video and police reports.

Smith is highly aggressive toward women and also uses your department and his occupation to intimidate workers and residents, Callahan wrote.

Smith also lies repeatedly to residents and front gate employees when he violates (or attempts to further violate) POA rules and regulations, claiming that he has spoken to me personally and that I have supposedly okayed his actions.

Smith has difficulty speaking the truth and uses his occupation and my name to further intimidate residents and my employees, Callahan wrote.

When WCPO asked Smith about his interaction with front gate employees, he said, I had conversations with individuals there. Some were heated. Because you pay a fair sum of money to be part of that gated community yet they kept having issues with their gates.

After several months of them not fixing the situation, we did have heated conversations; they needed to contact the police chief because this is crazy, I live here, you know who I am, heres my sticker on my car. Why are you not giving me access to my home? Smith said.

Callahan said he also encountered Smith professionally when he was an assistant police chief in Aberdeen, and Smith was a police officer in nearby Ripley several years ago.

To be blunt, Officer Smith had a presence of thinking that this (badge) made him bulletproof, and made him able to do things that nobody else could, Callahan said. And there werent repercussions for that.

The WCPO 9 I-Team reviewed Smiths personnel records since he became a police officer in 2019 and did not find any disciplinary actions. He worked for police departments in Ripley and Newtown, as well as the Brown County Sheriffs office, before being hired by Union Township Police in 2023.

But Smith was convicted in Adams County in 2013 for spotlighting wildlife. This is generally defined as the use of high-intensity lights to stun animals, causing them to freeze and making them easier to hunt.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources officers spotted a vehicle casting a ray of light into farm fields along Bettys Creek in November 2013.

The defendant admitted to me that he and the passenger were searching for animals, namely coyotes and deer. The vehicle was found to contain several firearms, one of which was a loaded .22 caliber rifle located on the front seat between the driver and the passenger seats. Also located inside the vehicle 1-million candlepower spotlight, an Ohio wildlife officer wrote in his report.

Smith pleaded no contest and forfeited the AR-7 Explorer .22 rifle and the spotlight as part of his conviction, according to court records contained in his Manchester personnel file.

That Manchester personnel file also contained the police report from Smiths arrest, in which the victim said he had choked, punched, and slapped her on many occasions. She said she didnt report it because he told her no one would believe her because he is a police officer.

This happens more than just what occurred tonight, and she told Mt. Orab police she was possibly worried about something worse happening when Smith was released from the Brown County Jail, according to the police report.

She said her bedroom window lacked a screen because she had tried to climb out in the past to get away from Smith, and her garage door trim was gone, from where he busted the door open because I had to lock the door, according to the police report.

But Brown said he has no regrets about hiring Smith as a Manchester police officer.

Honestly, that was one of the best hires that I ever made, Brown said. He was an outstanding officer; he didnt have any complaints. He actually got a commendation for outstanding work in the village from the mayor.

Brown also filed an appeal to the Ohio State Highway Patrol to reinstate Smiths access to the LEADS database. This allows law enforcement to search private information such as criminal records and home addresses.

The state suspended Smiths access to LEADS after his arrest, but accepted Browns appeal and reinstated it in June 2025.

"OSHP does not judge the facts of an individual case, as that process is conducted in court. OSHP also does not evaluate the hiring decisions of a local law enforcement agency, as Ohio is a home-rule state. If a court determines that an individual may still serve as a peace officer in Ohio and the administrator of a law enforcement agency attests that LEADS access is in the public interest and that they take responsibility to ensure LEADS is used properly and lawfully OSHP has no grounds to withhold LEADS access, according to a statement from Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Tyler Ross.

OSHP audits departments to ensure LEADS is being used lawfully, and Ross said there have been no complaints about Smith.

Police officers in Ohio cant have felony convictions. Federal law also bans anyone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from having a gun.

Since Smith pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, he can still legally work as a police officer.

However, each agency has its own hiring standards, and some police and sheriffs departments wont hire anyone with a recent misdemeanor conviction.

Obviously, they have to have a clean record, said Union Township Police Chief Anthony Rees. Im not saying we wouldnt hire somebody with a misdemeanor on their record, but there would have to be an explanation behind it. Wed have to know all the details. How far removed are they from that? Did it happen when they were a teenager or in their young twenties?

Before hiring an officer, Rees said his department conducts polygraph tests, mental health evaluations and extensive background checks where neighbors, teachers, past employers and family members are interviewed.

What we cannot and will not tolerate is dishonesty, said Rees, who declined to comment on Smith but spoke generally about his departments high standards.

With great power comes great responsibility Ive got to know that Im hiring a quality person, Rees said. Dont do anything thats going to cause disrepute to you or bring bad press or a bad look to the police department. That is just something we wont tolerate here either.

WCPO asked Callahan if he would hire Smith as an officer in the Lake Waynoka police department.

Absolutely not. Ive passed over applicants for much less, Callahan said.

But Smith said he quit drinking alcohol after his arrest, attended counseling and has worked hard to become a better person. He said he used alcohol to cope with anxiety and the stress of policing, and wants to help other first responders with mental health issues.

I knew that I needed to change who I was as a person, Smith said. I think only now that Ive been on the other side can I understand what people are going through, so I may have more empathy for certain situations.

A Brown County judge sentenced Smith to two years of probation and ordered attendance of anger management classes, a mental health assessment, and not to drink alcohol, according to court records.

Smiths court-ordered probation is set to end in July.

In September 2025, Smith switched police departments, leaving Manchester to become a part-time officer in the neighboring Brown County villages of Sardinia, with roughly 1,100 residents, and Russellville, where approximately 550 people live.

Ive tried my best, and I will continue to do the best that I can do to serve, wherever Im at, said Smith, who now works with Brown in Sardinia and Russellville, where both are patrol officers.

Brown said he left the Manchester police department, where he was the chief, because the village council was unwilling to hire more officers or boost pay.

I had taken the department as far as I could it was time to expand, and I needed more officers to get night coverage, Brown said. I was making $18,000 less than any chief in the county with a higher call volume.

Sardinia hired Brown at a rate of $21 an hour to work full-time, and Smith, as a part-time officer, earned $19 per hour, according to village council records from September 2025.

"If you are a smaller department like some of our departments out east, our villages where there are only four or five officers ... they cant afford to have a lot of officers. They cant afford to pay you a lot, and more importantly, they cant afford to offer you a lot of training," said Rees, noting that hiring is a challenge even at larger departments.

"Its tough to be a police officer in this day and age. The eyes are always on you," Rees said.

Brian Perry, police chief for both Sardinia and Russellville, said Smith was an officer in good standing with no disciplinary action on file, as of early February, when WCPO first reached out to him.

Im glad that hes a cop because hes a good guy, Brown said. He doesnt do anything immoral or unethical, and hes doing a good job.

But not everyone is convinced that Smith should continue to wear a badge.

Am I the deciding factor, without knowing all the information, if he should be law enforcement? Im not that, Callahan said. However, would I be comfortable knowing that he patrolled around where I reside? Not at all. For mine or my familys safety.

Talk about a room with a view: A Warren County business owner has invested millions of dollars in an Adams County observatory that can see objects billions of light-years away.

Dieter Moeller is opening his state-of-the-art stargazer to the public through a partnership with the Cincinnati Astronomical Society (CAS).

One of the main missions of the observatory here is to increase scientific engagement, increase scientific literacy through outreach, said Moeller, owner and chairman of RH Aero Systems in Mason. I love showing kids galaxies here that are 100, 150 million light years away and say, What youre looking at is from the age of the dinosaurs. Thats enough to blow most peoples minds right there.

Moeller has been working on this passion project since 2015, when he bought a dairy farm near Manchester to enjoy its sweeping river views and continue his love of astronomy.

Ive got some roots here in Adams County, Moeller said. My father owned some land here. So, as a teenager, I would come out with a good friend of mine, and we would just spend nights with our small amateur scopes and enjoy the dark skies.

One telescope led to others. Before long, Moeller had a cluster of research-quality instruments that can reach back toward the origin of the universe.

There is one object that is eight billion light years away, that you can actually see here, Moeller said. Before the sun was in the sky and the earth existed, that light left to travel so that it could hit my retina and allow me to go, Wow. Im looking back toward the beginning of the universe. Thats pretty powerful and heady stuff.

WATCH: Learn more about how you can experience The Moeller Observatory

The Moeller Observatory will be a star attraction for the Cincinnati Astronomical Society, where members have received specialized training in how to operate and maintain Moellers equipment. Theyve also been using its most powerful scope to work on Citizen Science Projects for NASA.

This really is a dream come true, said CAS President Bryan Simpson. Our team will come out here and point at a distant star that NASA says is a candidate star. And they can detect that through a sensitive instrument like this and be able to tell all sorts of characteristics about that planet like, How big is it? How close is it?

The Planewave PW1000 1-meter reflecting telescope is a research-grade instrument with precise tracking and advanced optics (that) make it ideal for high-level observing and imaging, said a CAS press release announcing the exclusive partnership with Moeller Observatory. This PW1000 is one of only two in the Eastern half of the US, and one of the largest and most advanced telescopes in the country accessible by amateur astronomers.

Three other scopes are anchored into the hillside by concrete piers and capped by a retractable roof.

While the facilities are open to the public, access to them will be managed by CAS.

The easiest way to experience the Moeller Observatory is to become a member of CAS, Simpson said. We try to hold at least one monthly event, so that our members can come out here. They can camp out. They can bring their own gear.

Founded in 1911, the Cincinnati Astronomical Society is one of the nations oldest amateur astronomy clubs. Simpson said the group has doubled its membership to nearly 400 since 2017 and is the nation's eleventh-largest amateur astronomy organization.

In August, the Moeller Observatory will host an after-party for ALCON 2026, a national conference for amateur astronomers that will convene in Covington this year.

After that, Simpson expects to bring dozens of visitors to Adams County each year, including scout troops and corporate outings. He said he hopes to kindle the same excitement he felt on his first visit to Moellers hilltop oasis.

To be able to see swirls in the clouds on Jupiter is not something youre typically able to do with most high-end, backyard refractors. And to be able to see that here, it just blew my mind, Simpson said.

For Moeller, the observatory is an extension of the scientific exploration he began in the hills of Adams County. It led to degrees in physics, computer engineering and business. It continued with a career that began at Daytons NCR Corp. and continued with his fathers jet-engine tooling company, Rhinestahl Corp.

At heart, I am a physicist, Moeller said. I mean, its shaped the way I think, the way I approach the world.

Rhinestahl grew for decades as an original equipment manufacturer for GE Aircraft engines. It doubled in size with the 2024 acquisition of Hydro Systems KG, a German company that played the same role for jet engines made by Rolls Royce. The combined companies now have about 1,000 employees and annual sales of roughly $500 million.

Do you have a story for Dan? You can contact him here:

Its an amazing company that does a great job of taking care of customers around the world, Moeller said. Itll be interesting to see how it does and how it grows in the future. Ive enjoyed being a part of it and look forward to guiding it to wherever it needs to go next.

As for Adams County, Moeller plans to be a longtime great citizen and local advocate for the ecotourism industry that has been growing in recent years.

A lot of nature preserves out here, and if you think about it, the study of astronomy is the study of the greatest part of nature, not just this environment on the earth but the environment of the whole universe that we inhabit, Moeller said.

President Donald Trump caught Ohios attention Tuesday night when he started talking about data centers.

Even a Cleveland-area Democrat liked his idea.

I disagreed with the vast majority of what Trump said, said Rep. Tristan Rader, who represents West Cleveland and Lakewood in Ohio House District 13. However, theres one area where President Trump and I have at least a tiny bit of alignment, and thats around holding data centers accountable.

Heres what Trump said in his State of the Union Address:

Americans are also concerned that energy demand from AI data centers could unfairly drive up their electric utility bills. Tonight, I'm pleased to announce that I have negotiated the new ratepayer protection pledge, you know what that is. We're telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs. They can build their own power plants as part of their factory so that no one's prices will go up, and in many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community and very substantially down.

Watch: Should data centers 'bring their own energy' to Ohio?

Some critics have questioned whether the proposal will lead to lower utility rates because its getting more expensive to build power plants and generating electricity isnt the only thing that makes data centers expensive.

But Rader applauds the ratepayer protection pledges as a good first step.

First thing we want them to do is to bring their own energy, Rader said. Of course, I would love them to bring solar or wind but even if they could bring any type of energy, its going to help reduce rates because the loads theyre requiring for these data centers are absolutely enormous.

Rader cites a recent report by Monitoring Analytics Inc., which tracks energy trends for PJM Interconnect, a power grid manager for a 13-state region that includes Ohio and parts of Kentucky and Indiana.

They were looking at these capacity market charges and in 2025 and 2026, and the capacity charges that were charged to consumers were $16 billion, Rader said. So, data centers are essentially causing a massive wealth transfer. Thats what they call it, a massive wealth transfer from us ratepayers to these mega data center sites.

Ohio already has five natural gas-fired power plants in the works for data centers. The plants, in Licking and Wood counties, have a combined capacity of 1,000 megawatts, according to Matt Schilling, spokesman for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

The PUCO took steps to rein in data center costs last July, when it required electric service agreements to require financial commitments from developers and discourage speculative projects.

But the new policy impacts only data centers within the service territory of AEP Ohio, which covers all or part of 61 counties.

In a Feb. 12 report to PUCO, the utility said the new initiative reduced a statewide list of projects seeking 30,000 megawatts of new service to a more manageable data load of 5,642 megawatts.

It is clear that AEP Ohios infrastructure has been timely deployed to serve the historic level of data center load demand while protecting all non-data center customers by avoiding any overbuild or excess transmission capacity, said the AEP report.

Encouraged by those results, Rader co-sponsored House Bill 706, which extends AEPs approach to the rest of the state.

Theyre wreaking havoc on our grid, and we need something, Rader said. We need to do something to make sure that these data centers are paying full freight when they show up.

Not everyone is convinced that Ohio or Trump have everything under control.

Do I think that they are going to make their own power to generate? Absolutely. Do I think itll come over into our part of the grid? No, not a bit, said Jessica Baker, a Mt. Orab realtor who has joined with dozens of her neighbors to push back against data center expansion into Adams, Brown and Clinton counties. We might be able to level out our bills but our trade for that is small nuclear reactors in the middle of nowhere in southern Ohio.

Baker is worried that data centers, and the new power plants that feed them, might create a new generation of environmental problems. That leads her to question whether so many computer farms are necessary.

Dont make her choose between country living and her phone, she adds. I know what Im choosing, and its not my phone.

A new regulatory filing shows a proposed data center in Adams County would be among the largest in Ohio, consuming more than 20 times as much electricity as Adams County itself.

The Feb. 3 filing from AES Ohio said a data center in the vicinity of the former Stuart power plant would require 1300 megawatts of electricity by 2032.

That would make it larger than any existing data center in Ohio. And it would be among a handful of planned Ohio projects expected to require more than one gigawatt of electricity to operate.

Adams Countys total energy consumption was 366,401 megawatt hours in 2025, according to the research firm, FindEnergy. The Missouri-based MOST Policy Initiative estimates data centers consume 8,760 megawatt hours annually for each megawatt of capacity.

Based on that, a 1,300 megawatt data center would consume 11.4 million megawatt hours annually, or 31 times Adams Countys total consumption.

People are going to be even more pissed off, said Alex Schaffer, a data center critic who is running for Adams County Commission. The biggest concern people have down there is, number one, its their own back yard. Two, it doesnt fit the landscape/preservation. And three, water and energy consumption.

The filing is significant for another reason: It confirms for the first time that there is a data center in the works in Adams County.

Ohio EPA records, revealed by the WCPO 9 I-Team in a Feb. 5 report, disclosed that 12 light industrial buildings were proposed at the former Dayton Power & Light landfill site north of the Stuart landfill. Neither the EPA nor Adams County officials would confirm that project was a data center.

AES Ohio, formerly known as Dayton Power & Light, confirmed the data center with its Feb. 3 filing. But it declined to name the operator or confirm the project will be on the former landfill site.

WATCH: WCPO's I-Team looks into the filing that confirms the data center project

Its north of the (former Stuart plants) switch yard, is what I can share at this point, said Mary Ann Kabel, director of corporate communications for AES Ohio.

Kabel said the Feb. 3 filing is the first step in a review process to make sure the regions energy grid can handle the increased load.

Its a very thorough process and it could take up to two years, possibly longer, Kabel said.

AES Ohio submitted the document to the Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee of PJM Interconnect, which manages the electric grid and wholesale electricity market in a 13-state region.

AES Ohio has a customer request for service in the vicinity of its Stuart Substation in Adams County, OH, said the filing. Total Data Center load request, associated timelines and load totals were depicted in a chart, showing the data center would start at 100 MW in 2028, and ramp up to 1300 MW, or 1.3 gigawatts, by March 2032.

A WCPO 9 I-Team analysis of similar PJM filings by Ohio utilities in the last two years found the Adams County project ranked third in Ohio, behind a 2 GW data center planned in Mt. Orab and ahead of a 500 GW data center in Wilmington.

Both projects have faced public opposition.

In Wilmington, the citys planning commission tabled an Amazon data center project after company representatives couldnt answer questions about cooling mechanisms, generator types, noise mitigation and other issues. But the project continues to advance, with a series of zoning changes approved by Wilmington City Council Feb. 18.

In Mt. Orab, Village Councilman Eric Lang introduced two ordinances that would ban data centers for 180 days. The ordinances passed on first reading Feb. 4, but require two more readings before final approval.

Adams County residents are raising many of the same frustrations as those in Brown and Clinton counties. They include a lack of transparency, the risk of rising energy costs, and pollution from light, noise and discharged cooling water.

But the Adams County backlash began at an earlier stage.

Thats because Duke Energy first brought the Mt. Orab project to PJM in June 2024, long before details of the project were publicly known. AES Ohio brought the Wilmington project to PJM last February.

The Stuart project, by contrast, came to light two days after AES Ohio introduced it at a PJM committee meeting.

PJMs review of the Adams County proposal could be complicated by the fact that power lines from three different utilities could be needed to serve the site: AES, Duke Energy and AEP Ohio.

Duke and AEP have yet to take a position on the AES proposal.

Adding more complexity, the Stuart plants substation and an adjacent switch yard are owned by AES. But the rest of the Stuart plant site is in AEPs service territory.

PJM will conduct a do not harm analysis on all needs/solutions presented that would identify any potential issues on AEPs or any neighboring transmission owners system, Columbus-based AEP said in a statement. If limitations were identified, AEP Transmission would work with PJM to propose required mitigations.

Schaffer said those complexities could give residents more time to promote land-use planning and zoning restrictions that address community concerns. Monroe Township passed a resolution toward that end last week. Sprigg Township, home of the Stuart plant, has a meeting scheduled for Feb. 23.

"(Adams County Economic Development Director) Paul Worley is saying, Oh when theres a plan in place, well present it. Im like, You know when that happens, its too late, Schaffer said. The county should be taking a proactive approach to this It doesnt matter if they do it or not. Its up to the residents. Theyre the ones that can file a petition and put it in place.

Beyond those issues, developers have yet to secure EPA approval of a wetland mitigation plan that could enable their 12-building industrial park.

Theyve also filed an application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a Nationwide Permit 39, which protects non-tidal waters from damage caused by commercial development.

As those issues are addressed, activist Nikki Gerber is learning everything she can about data centers and sharing it with a 1,300-member Facebook group she created, Adams County Residents for Responsible Development.

Some of our neighbors are going have to deal with 24-hr-a-day construction in the middle of a holler, said Gerber, owner of MoonDoggie LIVERee, a kayak and canoe rental comapany in Manchester. I know how the hollers work. It echoes. Its loud. Theres gonna be lights.

This week, Gerber traveled to New Albany, where Facebook is building the first Ohio data center that exceeds one gigawatt.

The New Albany campus started in 2017, Gerber said. Theyre still building. Those neighbors up there were upset. It was 24 hours a day. Just non-stop construction for the last nine years. The neighborhood we went to, it was about a mile away from the facility. They said they need black out curtains still, at a mile away from the facility.

A new attraction at Northgate Mall could be a bridge to the future for the 60-acre property, as the investors behind Epic Entertainment say they might pursue additional development at their 9-acre site.

We would like to open up another entertainment facility in the mall, said Alex Patel, one of four owners of the indoor adventure park in the former Xscape Theatres space at Northgate. Eventually, I would love to develop a hotel as well.

Patel and his brother, Rosham, paid $1.8 million for the cinema property through their company, Northgate Entertainment LLC, in December 2024. They told a Colerain Township zoning panel they would invest up to $3 million to renovate it.

Patel gave the WCPO 9 I-Team an exclusive tour of his 58,000-square-foot fun zone in advance of its opening early next week.

The project brings new life to the dormant southwest corner of the mall, where a long-vacant Sears store is nearly demolished and Colerain Township is trying to promote a mixed-use development with housing, green space and dining/entertainment attractions.

WATCH: WCPO's I-Team talks to the property's new owner ahead of the opening

Epic Entertainment is going to provide something that I think Colerain has been looking for. It's a central gathering place for family fun and entertainment and we welcome that, said David Miller, development director for the township.

Northgate is the sixth indoor adventure park developed by Patel since 2015. Its the first to feature a two-story rope course, on which guests wear harnesses and helmets as they cross elevated bridges and obstacles.

Other features include a multi-level go-kart track, built to take advantage of high ceilings in the 58,000-square-foot building. Several trampoline attractions allow guests to play basketball, dodgeball and other games.

Patel said Epic Entertainment is geared toward children ages two to 13, although all ages are welcome, as long as those under 18 are accompanied by an adult.

The business plan involves a variety of revenue generators, including food and snacks, six separate rooms for private parties, more than 50 arcade machines and pricing options ranging from a $20 day pass for toddlers to $249 for an annual membership.

He declined to provide details on revenue or attendance projections, but is convinced the business will be successful.

Weve worked super hard, seven days a week, 12 hours a day and everything you see, we have built it, Patel said. A lot of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights. But everything is going to melt when we see the kids walking in here for the first time and their wide-open mouths saying, Wow, and the smile on their face. That really is (when we say) OK, we have achieved our goal.

Within six months, Patel hopes to be ready for his first expansion to a leased space that offers bowling, laser tag and a restaurant that serves alcohol.

This place, we are not serving alcohol, Patel said. We want to keep it as a kid-friendly place over here.

Longer-term plans could include developing a mid-scale hotel on up to two and a half acres in the large parking lot that the cinema property controls.

Hopefully this is the start of something new, Patel said. Ive seen many places where the mall has been dead and they have converted into lifestyle centers where they have fitness centers, entertainment places, residential places, a shopping place, restaurants.

Miller said the malls redevelopment is edging closer to reality, with demolition of a vacant Sears store nearly complete and a 9-acre parcel facing Colerain Ave. close to being acquired by a new buyer. The malls biggest property owner, a Dallas-bank that claimed a 27-parcel parcel after a 2024 loan default, is preparing to list the property for sale through a commercial broker, Miller said.

But the township has yet to identify a master developer willing to take on the redevelopment of the entire 60-acre site.

Were only one owner out of four, Miller said. We were able to secure another grant which will do a storm water analysis of the whole site. So, thatll be something that informs that next developer.

The water fights have reached a boiling point at Hidden Valley Lake in Dearborn County. And that could spell big changes for the gated residential community.

Residents of the 2,000-home development are demanding answers about rate hikes and service outages caused by a $14 million system upgrade.

Valley Rural Utility Co. (VRUC) says its doing the best it can with pipes installed in the 1970s.

While we had hoped that this project would occur 100% perfectly as planned it has not. Most construction projects have their issues, wrote Bill Neyer, VRUCs general manager, in a Jan. 9 letter to the Hidden Valley Property Owners Association (POA).

POA General Manager Jeremy Mayes responded with a Jan. 13 statement to VRUCs board that requested 11 specific reforms, including monthly public meetings to give regular project updates.

Hidden Valley Lake continues to experience an unacceptable frequency of outages, inconsistent pressure, sediment intrusion, and prolonged restoration times, Mayes wrote. These are not isolated events; they represent a pattern that has eroded confidence in the system.

The controversy was among several issues raised by Dearborn County residents at WCPOs Lets Talk event in Lawrenceburg on Jan. 22. So, the WCPO 9 I-Team has been digging into the details to answer questions raised by residents.

Questions like these from Matt Euson, board president of the POA and a 17-year owner at Hidden Valley: Whats your budget? How much have you spent? Whats your schedule? How much of it have you used?

It turns out some of those questions were answered in a public meeting that VRUC hosted in April 2024. Only 35 people attended, including contractors and utility employees.

Thats very disheartening, said Neyer, a former Harrison Mayor who joined VRUC in 2022. We talked about the funding mechanisms, the scope of the project, the impact of each of the five major parts of the project on the customers and probably less than 20 of the people at the meeting were actual customers.

WATCH: WCPO's I-Team spoke to residents and officials about concerns raised in the community

Of course, nothing focuses the publics attention like a crisis. And Hidden Valley Lakes water project got one on Christmas Day, when a retail center across from the communitys main entrance went up in flames.

Our half-million-gallon tank was already empty. We are renovating it, Neyer said. So, we are on temporary water. We have one-tenth of our normal volume of reserve. They hooked onto one of our hydrants and pulled down our system.

Next came two weeks of new leaks and breaks in Hidden Valleys 50-year-old water pipes, along with boil water advisories and dozens of calls asking why this project wasnt better planned.

Now that everyone is paying attention, here are some of those previously disclosed details about the project.

This is the first major overhaul of the water pipes laid by developer James Rupel, who launched the 1,700-acre development in 1970 as a weekend getaway for about 300 property owners.

Over time, Hidden Valley Lake became an amenities-rich, full-time neighborhood with more than 5,000 residents, a 150-acre lake and six smaller lakes, not to mention an 18-hole golf course and an Olympic-sized pool clubhouse.

The original sewer system was upgraded in 2009, with a seven-year project on which the utility still owes about $10 million in debt. That debt is being paid with VRUCs annual sewer revenue, which totaled $2.1 million in 2025.

The water project carries an estimated construction cost of $14 million, offset by a $2 million grant, $1 million in capital reserves and up to $1.8 million in reimbursement for lead abatements.

When the construction ends this summer, Neyer said he expects 30 years of bond debt totaling about $10 million, with the utility paying a subsidized interest rate in the low 3% range.

To pay off that water debt, VRUC enacted three rounds of water rate hikes that amount to a 90% increase. Its minimum rate for 2,000 gallons of monthly water usage jumped from $19.06 to $35.61, while its annual water revenue jumped by $519,000 to $1.2 million.

The water project includes funding to renovate a 500,000-gallon storage tank, replace about three miles of 2-inch pipe thats prone to leaks and install a new section of 8-inch water. That will let water flow both ways in a complete circle around the development making it easier to fix small leaks without shutting down large sections of the community.

POA leaders say they're trying to work collaboratively with VRUC to address residents' concerns. Neyer says that's his goal too.

I will say that I think the general manager right now is doing the best that he can with a very difficult situation, Euson said. I do think hes the man for the job. I think he has the expertise for the job.

Euson also thinks Hidden Valley Lake remains a strong value for home buyers.

"Our HOA fees are low compared to other HOAs for the amenities that you get. Our property taxes are low compared to the Tri-State area," Euson said.

But service interruptions continued into this week, when a water main break impacted two streets. So, residents continue to have questions.

Ive personally experienced three to four outages in the last month, Euson said. The least amount its been out is four to six hours. The most its been out is a day. It means that no ones showering, no ones doing laundry, no ones doing dishes. I mean, its significantly impactful to our lives as residents.

Neyer said about 60% of the projects service interruptions were planned events in which crews shut off water to replace pipes. All of them were disclosed in advance in daily alerts that residents can receive by text or email. But that still leaves dozens of events that were unplanned, like the water main breaks that followed the Christmas fire.

Beyond that, some residents are raising questions about the utilitys 30-year contract to purchase water and sewer services from nearby Greendale. Neyer said the utility has explored alternatives to the Greendale contract, but determined it would be too costly to start its own water and sewage treatment plants.

Euson said those ideas should be explored in a public setting.

Right now, informations in a vacuum, Euson said. I think the customers need to have a chance to voice their concerns directly to the utility, to the board and to the general manager, and have that opportunity to get straight answers from the folks who have access to the financials and the contracts.

Mayes said other Hidden Valley Lake residents have questioned whether the utilitys board has grown too insular. Three of its seven members have served more than eight years, including one who joined in 2003.

Members of our own board do not recall ever seeing an election take place, Mayes said. There should be a rotation of your board members. Every few years a couple people should come off and other people should come on and you get new ideas.

Neyer said three board seats are up for re-election in May. Any Hidden Valley Lake property owner can nominate themselves if two additional owners sign their petition. But no election is held unless there are more candidates than the number of seats available.

Turnover on a board can be very beneficial, or it can be very disruptive, Neyer said. You want to have people on a board of directors that understand what their role is and have either the willingness to learn or the background to step in and be productive.

Mayes said he wouldnt be surprised if new candidates emerge this year. And Euson took it a step further. He thinks the POA take control of the VRUC board.

The POA, its board of directors and its general manager should be the people deciding on the budget, the rate schedule, the infrastructure upgrades, overseeing the capital reserve accounts, Euson said. If the POA took it over, then we would be able to consolidate maintenance budgets, consolidate operating budgets, consolidate capital purchases and save the residents money.

Flammable items are still stored underneath some Hamilton County bridges, despite the devastating fire that occurred below the Daniel Carter Beard (or Big Mac) Bridge just over a year ago, which resulted in a 100-day closure.

The WCPO 9 I-Team toured interstate and highway bridges and discovered combustible items stored underneath: wooden pallets, tires, mattresses, piles of trash, homeless encampments with evidence of fire, tractor-trailers and a dumpster containing used cooking oil.

Im surprised and not surprised, said Casey Jones, a Kansas City-based engineer who featured the Big Mac Bridge fire on his YouTube channel. 

Whats it going to look like 10 years from now? Jones asked. If theres some degree of complacency or  inability to follow through and clean these areas up, its likely only to get worse over time. 

The I-Team toured many of the same sites in December 2024 and then discovered the City of Cincinnati was storing wood guardrail posts, wood form boards, unmarked buckets, barrels of substances and wood pallets under the U.S. 127 bridge over I-75 and Mill Creek, near the Environmental Health Department.

After the I-Team contacted the city in 2024, its crews removed the items. A year later, the site is still clear.

WATCH: The WCPO I-Team brought findings to an ODOT spokesperson. Here's what she said

But the I-Team discovered combustible items stored beneath historically problematic sites during visits on Jan. 21 and 22.

The Ohio Department of Transportation has been worried about some of these bridges for years, such as the I-75 bridge over Benson Street in Lockland, where a restaurant and business on either side of the bridge have been repeatedly warned against storing flammable, explosive or hazardous items.

When the WCPO I-Team visited this site on Jan. 21, a Buffalo Biodiesel dumpster of used cooking oil was stored under the bridge. We brought our findings directly to ODOT.

Thats a fire hazard right there that needed to be removed immediately, said Kathleen Fuller, a spokesperson for ODOT District 8. When we saw the photo, our project manager ... asked the owners to remove that, which they did. They complied.

ODOT is doing a bridge rehabilitation project on I-75 through the Lockland Split. Contractors have already begun to store construction equipment and other items under that bridge, including tanks that appear to contain diesel and propane. But Fuller said the tanks are empty.

Crews inspect nearly 1,400 bridges annually across seven counties in southwest Ohio for safety and document what's stored beneath.

Following the Big Mac Bridge fire ... thats like the number one thing were mostly concerned about, are fires, Fuller said.

The bridge was severely damaged on Nov. 1, 2024, after a playground at Sawyer Point Park, beneath the bridge, caught fire overnight and burned for hours. It was large and hot enough to warp some of the steel beams supporting the bridge.

The fire caused extensive damage that cost at least $10 million to repair. The bridge was closed for 100 days, resulting in massive traffic delays. Four people were convicted for their roles in what happened the night of the fire.

ODOT inspectors often struggle to get property owners to remove flammable materials from under bridges, frequently requiring multiple, increasingly urgent warning letters to get compliance.

We are not an enforcement agency, so our hands are kind of tied at times, Ill be honest, said Fuller.

This is especially true when ODOT doesnt own the land and only has an easement for bridge inspections and repairs. While ODOT frequently fences off its own land to prevent encampments, illegal dumping, and fire hazards, securing privately owned land under bridges is far more challenging.

If its something that is highly flammable, highly suspicious we will take those steps to make sure they are removed immediately, and if that means calling in law enforcement we will certainly call them, Fuller said.

But ODOT can't levy fines to force compliance.

All we can do is work with the law enforcement and ask them to assist us, Fuller said. If we dont own the property and we just have the easement to it, that kind of ties our hands a little bit more.

The Federal Highway Administration urged state bridge inspectors to watch out for flammable material stored beneath bridges after a fire on the Santa Monica Freeway in 2023 and sent photos of what caught on fire.

The I-Team discovered some of the same highly combustible items underneath Cincinnati bridges in 2024 and again a few weeks ago.

ODOT inspectors emailed the city in August 2025, asking for the removal of enclosed homeless encampments under bridges carrying U.S. 50 over Gest Street, which were hindering inspection and creating a fire hazard.

When the I-Team visited the site on Jan. 21, it discovered numerous homeless encampments with evidence of a past fire and gasoline being stored with bedding and personal items.

We notified the city about this, Fuller said.

When the I-Team returned to the site nearly two weeks later, the homeless encampments were gone.

ODOT also has repeated issues with long-term parking of tractor-trailers under bridges.

 They carry fuel. They have diesel fuel in them. They could be flammable, Fuller said.  

There are always trucks stored under the bridge on the north side of Dalton Ave., ODOT structures planning engineer Brandon Collett wrote in a November 17, 2023, email to bridge inspectors laying out concerns about bridge fires in Hamilton County.

There is an agreement that allows them to use it for parking, but prohibits storage of materials, flammable substances, fueling trucks, etc. My concerns here are that we dont know what is in their trucks, and weve had to notify them more than once for storing materials, including a huge amount of steel spools, Collett wrote. If we think about revoking their agreement (which the agreement allows), we would need to put up a fence.

When the I-Team visited the site again on Jan. 21, multiple tractor-trailer trucks were still parked under the bridge at Dalton Avenue.

The I-Team alerted ODOT, and when we returned two weeks later, most of the trucks had been moved.

You dont know what kind of materials are going to be placed in there. You have potential fire from the tractor or the trailer itself, Jones said. You wouldnt allow it on your property, and this is public property. You dont see empty tractor-trailers parked behind the courthouse.

But fire isnt the only worry for ODOT inspectors.

A recent inspection of the HAM-50-1903 bridges that carry US 50 over two railroad tracks and Mill Creek has once again found steel coils stored under our bridge up against the foundations. This is the third time in the last year, and at least the fifth time we found this here. Each one of the steel coils weighs over 23,000 lbs This can cause cracking/failure of the footings, settlement of the friction piling, and/or rotation or differential settlement of the pier, Collett wrote in a Nov. 12, 2025, email to his ODOT colleagues.

A week later, transportation engineer Kristen Stacklin sent an email to Josh Cahill at TPG Noramco/Noramco Transport, If these materials are yours, you are requested to 

 remove this stockpile from under the bridges These steel coils contribute a significant amount of excess loading to the foundations of these bridges. This extra loading, which was not part of the original design, increases the bearing load on the soil and could contribute to settlement at the piers or even failure of the bridge foundations.

The next day, Cahill sent an email back to ODOT, confirming all materials had been removed.

When the I-Team visited the site on Jan. 22, it found steel coils under a railroad bridge, near piers, and in another location where the coils were in an open space. We also found a large pile of wood remnants under the highway bridge.

Cahill did not respond to a request for comment.

Everything has already been addressed, or it will be very soon, Fuller said of the bridge sites the I-Team brought to ODOTs attention. Were just going to continue reaching out to the owners of the property or the materials that have been stored, left behind, or dumped underneath the bridge. 

Thats why it helps to do the story, Fuller said. Were hoping that the people see this and realize were serious, we want you to remove it and be mindful of it and dont bring anything back. Dont put it back under the structure.

Anyone who sees flammable, hazardous, or explosive items stored underneath bridges can report it to ODOT at transportation.ohio.gov/feedback and provide the location.

Adams County leaders may have the ideal location for those controversial data center projects that sparked community backlash in several local counties since December.

Theyre inviting developers to consider two former power plant sites on the Ohio River.

The first thing (data centers) need is a lot of power and the second thing they may need is a lot of water. These sites do check those boxes, said Paul Worley, economic development director for Adams County. "In addition, theyre isolated. You know, the nearest house is probably a half mile away from the project. I know a lot of these other communities are worried about it being right next to their half-million-dollar house.

Worley has signed two nondisclosure agreements with companies exploring potential data center sites in Adams County. So, he declined to reveal the name of those companies or details on the size, scope and exact locations of the projects theyre exploring.

But hes determined to avoid problems that other communities have faced when courting data center projects. Residents of Hamilton, Trenton, Wilmington, Mt. Orab and Maysville, Ky., have all criticized public officials for a lack of transparency. And theyve questioned the wisdom of placing data centers on farmland or near subdivisions.

Weve had lots of different entities looking at these sites, Worley said. But so far, no project has come to a point where they say, Here it is. We want to build this. Whats the community going to do for us? I can assure our residents of Adams County that, if a project gets to that point, we will be transparent. There will be a process for public input and people will have their voices heard.

The WCPO 9 I-Team has been looking into the development potential of the Killen and J.M. Stuart power plants, which closed in 2018 but still contain more than 1,400 acres of coal ash ponds that have yet to be fully remediated.

Both properties have been attracting real estate investors since December 2019, when Missouri-based Commercial Liability Partners bought the Killen plant, followed by Stuart a month later.

As the I-Team reported in 2021, CLP bought the assets and liabilities of the two plants, with the goal of cleaning up the sites and attracting investors willing to bring new industry and jobs to them. Four years later, only one new business has emerged. Ohio River Transit Access LLC is a cargo hub that transfers loads between barges, trucks and rail.

WATCH: WCPO's I-Team sat down with Adams County leaders to discuss their ideas

But Adams County records show more than two dozen parcels have changed hands since 2021. Two companies, controlled by the same three owners, have purchased 790 acres at the Killen and Stuart plants since 2023.

Those companies, High Table LLC at Killen and Energy Strike LLC at Stuart, also signed option agreements to sell a combined 97 acres to Hecate Energy, a Chicago-based company that supplies solar panels, battery storage and gas-fired power plants to data centers.

High Table and Energy Strike are owned by Brett Cooper, a Russellville resident whose friends and family worked at the former power plants, and two Nashville-based investors, Daniel Moore and Paul Ziady. Cooper declined to comment. Ziady and Moore did not return I-Team messages.

Both sites are being marketed as potential data center and power-generation locations by Jim Evans, a Nashville-based commercial broker for Core Real Estate.

The site could offer up to 650 MW of power generation within 24 months per a plan in place by the sellers, said the Killen listing. Massive amount of water resources from private aquifers and the Ohio River (with permits to be obtained) to draw water for cooling or other industrial uses.

In an interview, Evans said Stuart is a premier site because it has a functional substation that provides better access to the grid.

Were just trying to vet everyone that comes in because some people just want to tie up the property and take it off the market, Evans said. We want to make sure we have the best user of the property that benefits the community. Thats the big thing for this group. Theyre community-minded.

Worley said its crucial for Adams County to replace the 700 jobs lost when the Killen and Stuart plant shut down.

We have 10% of our workforce, over a thousand people every day, drive more than 90 minutes one way to work, Worley said. And so, its incumbent on us to find every opportunity we can to create good-paying jobs close to home so we can keep these people local and improve their quality of life.

Property taxes could also improve with data center investments, depending on how big a tax break is needed to finalize a deal.

Manchester schools lost $5.5 million when the power plants closed, Worley said. They went from being one of the most well-funded school districts to one of the worst-funded school districts in the state of Ohio.

Thats why Peebles resident Steven Partin thinks Adams County residents would support a data center project on the former power plant sites.

Partin owns a construction company that installed substation piers at an Amazon data center in Jeffersonville, Ohio. He said he'd love a chance to bid on projects close to home.

Its prime real estate right here on the river thats being unused right now, Partin said. Soon as you get the first project rolling, youll see businesses and different opportunities crop up that may not even necessarily be related. I think this area could boom after it gets put in.

In the meantime, another company may be chasing a different data center project for a 1,016-acre site north of the Stuart plant on U.S. Route 52.

Adams County records show Buck Canyon Properties LLC paid $2.65 million in 2024 for the 1,016-acre site on the Stuart plants northern border.

Dayton Power & Light previously acquired the land as part of a landfill development in 2012. It ultimately closed the landfill in 2018 without dumping coal ash there, as originally planned.

In December, Buck Canyon Properties requested Ohio EPA approval of a wetland mitigation plan to support a light industrial use of the land.

The development will consist of twelve buildings, internal access drives, five stormwater management basins and utility infrastructure, said a 10-page memo in support of the application, which listed a construction start date of Feb. 1, 2026.

The application was submitted by Ramboll, a Virginia-based engineering firm that includes data center site selection among its specialties.

Buck Canyon's owners, Fleminsgburg, Ky. -based power sports enthusiasts Derek Harmon and Darren Royse, declined to comment, citing a nondisclosure agreement.

The I-Team asked Ohio EPA if the project provided any other details about the project, including whether its a data center and if additional permits are required.

The wetland permit application under review does not require details about what is being built, so we do not know the specific type of development proposed, said Ohio EPA spokeswoman Dina Pierce. To date, we do not have applications for a wastewater discharge permit or a stormwater plan.

Worley said the county lacks zoning to prevent data centers from pursuing parcels away from the Killen and Stuart sites. But its willing to use tax incentives to reach a deal that delivers job creation without causing new environmental problems.

Adams County is open to business, but it has to be the right fit for us, Worley said. My job is to bring projects to the table. And I think what were going to find out over the next six months or more is whether the residents of Adams County want a project like this.

An Anderson Township nursing home is under scrutiny after a patients death was changed from natural causes to homicide by the Hamilton County Coroner.

Robert Meyer was a patient at Forest Hills Healthcare Center, on Moran Road near the Clermont County line. He died on Sept. 6, 2025, soon after being transferred to a hospice facility in Blue Ash.

No autopsy was conducted because the original death certificate said Meyer died of natural causes. However, as his funeral approached, his daughter raised concerns about his care at Forest Hills.

Tammy Maham sent the coroner pictures of neck bruises that Meyer incurred in the days before his death.

That led to Meyers disinterment, a Sept. 22 autopsy and a revised death certificate that lists physical elder abuse as the immediate cause of death by homicide.

Watch: We look into Robert Meyer's death at Forest Hills Healthcare Center

The certificate also documented neck and rib cage injuries that happened at the nursing home.

The coroner declined to answer questions or release the full autopsy, citing a pending investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

He was a really strong man, Maham told the WCPO 9 I-Team when she asked us to investigate the nursing home. The day he entered there, he never got out of bed again.

Forest Hills Executive Director Dayna Bennett Frankart declined to comment, referring the I-Team to media relations at CommuniCare, a Cincinnati-based company that operates Forest Hills and over 80 other health care facilities in seven states.

Our top priority is always to ensure the safety and well-being of our residents and staff, said a company statement. We are cooperating fully with authorities and are unable to comment further because of the investigation.

Forest Hills Healthcare Center is a 138-bed nursing home with above-average quality ratings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That includes a five-star rating for quality measures like flu shots and prevention of falls, and four out of five stars for staffing levels.

But it also had 83 complaints in the last three years that resulted in a citation. And it paid a $16,801 federal fine in 2024 for reasons that were not explained on the CMS ratings site.

Forest Hills faced two wrongful death lawsuits in Hamilton County since 2023. The first was dismissed without prejudice a few months after the complaint was filed.

A 2025 lawsuit alleged Forest Hills utterly neglected the care needs of 64-year-old Tommy Jent, who died from complications of pressure ulcers after Forest Hills staff left Tommy lying in one position in bed for hours and hours on end.

In court filings, Forest Hills denied allegations of inadequate care and argued Jent expressly assumed the risk of injuries, damages and death when he was admitted.

The case is scheduled for trial in July.

Maham, who lives in New Richmond, said she was concerned about her fathers care for several weeks last summer, after he pleaded for help in voicemail messages to her.

Get ahold of me real quick, Meyer said in a July 29 voicemail shared by Maham. Treating me like a dog. I aint no dog and I aint sick. Everything they do is something to make money. Please, honey, help me, please.

Maham claims the staff at Forest Hills spent a lot of time on their phones and tablets, sometimes left his bed without sheets and failed to address the pain he endured from severe arthritis.

They werent feeding him in that place, Maham said. They ignored him completely, 100%.

In the five weeks leading up to his death, Hamilton County records show Meyer made four 911 calls, complaining about changes to his medication and pain in his arms, hips and legs.

He did not allege that he was being abused and had trouble remembering his room number and the name of his nursing home, audio files show.

Im just hurting all over, Meyer told a 911 operator on Aug. 27. I really hurt bad.

That call led to a stay at Mercy Hospital Anderson, where Maham noticed Meyer was having trouble moving his arm.

I said, Dad, what happened to your arm? What happened? And he said, Oh, they jerked me over when they were changing my diaper, Maham said.

By September 2, Meyer was back at Forest Hills and Maham was documenting his care.

She took pictures of bruises on her fathers neck, time-stamped on Sept. 2 and Sept. 4. The bruises were light pink and purple at first, darkening over time.

Maham is convinced the photos show finger marks on Meyers neck, but she couldnt convince the medical staff at Forest Hills Care Center.

They were all arguing with me, claiming that this didnt happen, Maham said. And were looking right at it.

On Sept. 5, Meyer moved to Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash, where Maham claims a doctor noticed the bruising but did nothing about it.

Hes by the door, and he turns around and says, What happened to his neck? Maham recalled. I said, You tell me what happened to his neck because I think somebody choked him.

On Sept. 11, Hospice of Cincinnatis medical director, Dr. Manish Srivastava, signed a death certificate saying Meyer died of protein calorie malnutrition, a natural cause.

The document, provided to the I-Team by Mahams attorney, made no mention of bruising on Meyers neck.

Hospice of Cincinnati declined to comment for this story but provided a statement:

Maham continued to raise concerns as the family prepared for a graveside service at Greenlawn Cemetery in Milford on Sept. 12. She asked the director at E.C. Nurre Funeral Home in Amelia if hed ever seen anything like the bruising on her fathers neck.

And he says, No, Ive never seen anything like this. I said, I think they hurt him. And I think they hurt him bad. He didnt say anything. He just let me keep taking pictures, Maham said.

Nurre partner Dan Branham said the funeral home advised Maham to contact the coroners office with her concerns. But it proceeded with the burial and coordinated the disinterment of Meyers body when the coroner later requested it.

Its not up to us to make those decisions, Branham said. That was between the family and the coroner.

Maham finally caught the break she was seeking in the week after Meyers funeral. Thats when a pathologist for the coroners office agreed to look at the pictures of her fathers bruises.

She says, I want him on my table tomorrow. Maham recalled. I said, Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus. Because theres where my answers are going to come from.

Four months after Meyers death, Maham is working with a Cleveland attorney to pursue a possible lawsuit on behalf of her fathers estate.

This is one of the most shocking cases Ive ever been a part of in my career, said Jeffrey Heller, a partner at Nurenberg Paris. My law firms been in business for almost 100 years, and this is the first time that we have had an individual dug up from the grave for autopsy after death.

Heller said the nursing home, hospice and funeral home should have notified the coroner about the concerns raised by Maham.

All of those individuals by law had a duty to notify the coroner when they were aware of the strangle marks on his neck, Heller said. Because of the photographs Tammy Maham has, and their time stamps, we know that the strangle marks were evident to these individuals and the facilities prior to death.

Heller said Maham sent a complaint letter to the Ohio Department of Health, which regulates nursing homes.

And she has communicated with investigators with the Hamilton County Sheriffs Department, which declined to comment for this story.

Hamilton Countys sheriff has not informed us of the specific steps that theyre taking to investigate the matter. However, we do know that they have interviewed individuals at Forest Hills Healthcare center, Heller said.

As she waits for investigators to determine how her fathers injuries happened, Maham is trying to focus on happier memories of her father - like his most recent job repairing lawn equipment and his hunting stories about the deer that got away.

His spine was crippled from arthritis, Maham said. He walked kinda strange. But he never complained. He didnt come in, Oh, I feel bad. He just came in, happy to be there. And he would be telling his stories. Every deer hunting story, every fishing story, he loved that.

But she also wants to get to the bottom of the problems she witnessed at Forest Hills Healthcare Center.

I want justice, Maham said. I want justice for my father. And I want everyone in that place safe.

Two of the largest delinquent taxpayers in Clermont County are the owners of the former Walter C. Beckjord coal plant site, who collectively owe more than $640,000, according to the county auditor.

That money is used for schools, roads, police and fire, parks, libraries and other basic needs in Clermont County, Pierce and Ohio townships and the Village of New Richmond.

We spoke to Allen Freeman, president of the board of trustees in Pierce Township, where voters passed a new levy to fund police in November. Freeman said the news was hard to swallow.

When were asking residents to dig into their pockets for a little bit more to help pay for the police department, and youve got a major developer not paying anything. That doesnt sit well, Freeman said. That shortchanges the community that theyre in and the services that we can provide to the community, to our residents.

Freeman also said that the new owners of the former Beckjord site do not live in Pierce Township.

WATCH: WCPO's I-Team talks to county and township leaders about the property's future

So, there isnt that much of an impact on them, but there is on our residents. And thats not even to mention how much the school is getting shorted, Freeman said. Thats something that were really going to have to push and try to make sure that we get it collected.

Built in the 1950s as a coal-burning giant, the Beckjord plant created electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across Southwest Ohio.

For decades, Clermont County was flush with tax revenue from Beckjord near New Richmond and the William H. Zimmer coal plant in Moscow. It paved roads, built new fire stations and schools, opened a community center and replaced household septic tanks with municipally treated water.

But that revenue is evaporating. Duke Energy closed Beckjord in 2014 and sold the site to Missouri-based Commercial Liability Partners four years later.

Then Texas-based Vistra Corp. closed the Zimmer plant in May 2022  five years ahead of schedule. It has not announced plans to redevelop the site.

In the aftermath, the New Richmond School District has been struggling with budget shortfalls and was placed in fiscal caution by the Ohio Department of Education last year.

Meanwhile, CLP demolished the Beckjord plant and is cleaning up the site to attract new development.

CLP has been fighting the valuation of the property since 2018, claiming the county and then the state were overvaluing it.

It planned to take its case to the Ohio 12

District Court of Appeals, when it finally settled with the county in November 2024, reducing the taxable value on some parcels by hundreds of thousands.

But 14 months later, none of the delinquent debt had been collected, as of last week.

CLP owns the site under its subsidiary, New Richmond Development Corp., which owes more than $290,000 in delinquent property taxes, according to county records.

According to our records, the last payments we received were in 2022. Many of these parcels were involved in an appeal with the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals.  Our office was awaiting the outcome of that appeal before proceeding with any collection efforts.  My understanding is that the appeal was recently completed.  My office has been in contact with the owner(s), and we will work with them to collect the delinquent taxes, Clermont County Treasurer Jeannie Zurmehly said in a Jan. 13 email to the I-Team.

In an email to our I-Team, CLP vice president Jesse Froh said they are "working with the local property tax authorities to pay off the arrearages."

A Brown County farmer and business owner bought 294 acres of that site from CLP in January 2023. Delbert Aicholtz's entity, TBDA Investments LLC, owes nearly $350,000 in delinquent taxes, according to county records.

My understanding is that it (the tax appeal) was just settled. I was told Id get a letter with the information, which I have yet to receive. It will all get worked out, Aicholtz said in a text message to the I-Team.

But Freeman said he isnt so sure the delinquent tax money will be repaid anytime soon.

I think they realize that nobody is going to foreclose on that property because who wants to own it after they foreclose on it, Freeman said. You still have a tremendous amount of environmental issues that still have to be worked through. Millions of dollars of cleanup that still need to be done, and probably millions more that they should do that theyre not doing. They know theyre in that position, so they just hold back.

The site is valuable for its size and access to the Ohio River, but it has some drawbacks.

Thats because six million cubic yards of leftover coal fly ash are stored in manmade ponds along the Ohio River, which is a drinking water source for more than five million people.

These unlined ash ponds are in the rivers floodplain and directly upstream from the countys primary drinking water wellfields, which serve 130,000 people.

Coal fly ash is a by-product of burning coal, which contains contaminants such as mercury and arsenic, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

County leaders told us they worry that coal ash is leaking into the groundwater. 

Last November, the I-Team found that one of two interceptor wells intended to protect county drinking water from a migrating sulfate plume has not been operational since 2023.

Over the years, Clermont County leaders have complained about the lack of information from CLP and mediocre oversight from the Ohio EPA.

The OEPA is indicating that at least a portion of that property is ready for redevelopment, Freeman said. Therefore, now, particularly the Aicholtz portion, they can move forward with economic development at that point, that would certainly indicate that that property value has gone way up because now it's developable.

Some parcels that Aicholtz purchased are on the Ohio River, very close to coal ash ponds. Other parcels are undeveloped land on a nearby hillside where the former Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company operated a long-term ash disposal site bordered by Beckjord, Nelp and Pond Run Roads, according to court filings and auditor records.

Every attempt is made to collect that money, and every attempt is made by our treasurers office to work with those people who are delinquent in taxes to try to come up with some type of payment measure, said Clermont County Commissioner David Painter.

If the county foreclosed on the properties to collect its debt, the land could be sold at a sheriffs sale. If there were no buyers, the county could potentially take over the site through its land bank.

If the taxes werent paid, obviously, the treasurers office would foreclose. A whole lot of consideration would be taken into account at that time, Painter said. Obviously, the county would not want to remediate that liability, nor would we want to take ownership of those ash pits. However, the acreage thats around Beckjord is not bad acreage and could be developed."

Painter said that it could be a riverfront concert facility, similar to Riverbend Music Center, or a site for additional power production. Painter told us whoever is elected as the new Ohio governor, might think that site would be prime for a modular nuclear facility."

Freeman said he'd like to see next-generation technologies and industries that provide good-paying jobs and not storage warehouses, gravel or concrete factories moving onto Aicholtzs land.

Pierce Township has a 30-year springing tax increment financing (TIF) under the former Beckjord property to aid development. However, Freeman said that a developer might not receive that tax benefit if the delinquent debts remain unpaid.

I would certainly not approve providing them with any incentives if they are not current on their taxes, Freeman said. We hope that everybody pays their fair share. But very clearly, they dont.

Many tenants got angry after the real estate investment company, Vision & Beyond LLC, collapsed amid fraud allegations in 2024.

Leslie Carter got organized.

Its been dope, being with the tenants union, Carter said. I love my apartment. I love what I made.

Carter is one of a dozen renters who joined the Cincinnati Tenants Union to negotiate a new lease with the court-approved buyer of a Vision & Beyond building at 2058 Auburn Avenue.

The 25-page document provides a 12-month rent freeze for existing tenants. It prohibits pet fees and security deposits. And it adopts just-cause eviction standards that are common in other cities but have yet to be introduced in Cincinnati, according to Brad Hirn, a volunteer organizer for the fast-growing union.

This is essential for improving the housing stock in Cincinnati, said Hirn, who helped the five-year-old union recruit 350 new members since November 2024. I think we have the potential to be in the thousands of members, to have contracts in dozens of buildings that start to become a model contract for the city.

The WCPO 9 I-Team has been exploring the rise of Cincinnatis tenant movement because of recurring reports about substandard housing, including properties abandoned by Vision & Beyond and mold infestations at properties owned by the national nonprofit, Preservation of Affordable Housing.

We wanted to know what impact a tenant union could have on Cincinnati, where rents spiked in recent years but median asking rents remain well below national averages, according to Redfin.

WATCH: How the union is looking to improve housing in Cincinnati

Tenant unions are on the rise in the U.S. because of rent hikes and soaring eviction rates in the years following the COVID pandemic, according to Greg Baltz, an assistant law professor at Rutgers University who published research on the topic in 2024.

The cities with the largest tenant unions are the cities that also have the strongest renters protections, Baltz said. So, New York City and Los Angeles have two of the biggest tenant movements in the country. But especially in the last 10 years, weve seen this resurgence of the tenant movement in cities and states ranging from Connecticut and San Francisco to Louisville, Kentucky, and Bozeman, Montana.

Kansas City has one of the nations most effective tenant unions, Baltz said. It has more than 10,000 members, whove emerged as a political force that got city council members elected and used rent strikes to force landlords into concessions.

Whether Cincinnatis union can achieve that kind of clout will depend on the results it delivers for tenants.

Every single tenant union starts in one building, Baltz said. Growth is really dependent on whether or not members see real concrete changes in their lives, whether thats their rents going up more slowly, being protected from evictions or repairs being made.

The Cincinnati Tenants Union checks all those boxes for Carter.

He works at Christ Hospital and was happy to find a one-bedroom apartment across the street for $850 a month.

But that was 15 months ago. The luster quickly faded when Carter called Vision & Beyonds management office about electrical problems in his unit.

They were in the middle of fixing my light fixtures, Carter said. He was telling me a little bit about the place. And right in the middle, he just picked up the phone and said, Vision & Beyond is going bankrupt. I have to leave.

It wasnt bankruptcy just a massive foreclosure case triggered by one of the most complicated fraud schemes in Hamilton Countys history. Vision & Beyonds owners, two former Israeli soldiers, were accused of double-booking loans and shifting assets away from investors.

Dozens of properties were assigned to court-appointed receivers, who usually manage foreclosed properties with money from lenders who expect to be reimbursed when properties are sold.

But in this case, lenders and investors are fighting over sale proceeds. No one was willing to pay for building operations while liabilities were sorted.

At 2058 Auburn, Carter struggled to find help with security problems, a broken-down laundry room and roof leaks that left mold stains on the ceiling outside his third-floor unit.

The lights are constantly flickering in the hallway, Carter said. Im on the top floor, so we get all the leaks. When it rains really bad, theres three, four puddles in the hallway, everybody has to go around.

More than 80 buildings were caught in the Vision & Beyond collapse, presenting a big opportunity for the Cincinnati Tenants Union.

About half of its members live in former Vision & Beyond properties. Theyre now working with union organizers to pursue new lease arrangements as the buildings are sold in foreclosure.

At the Kirby Apartments in Mt. Airy, for example, tenants individually negotiated one-year moratoriums on rent increases. But theyve yet to sign a new lease as a group.

At 2058 Auburn, the dynamic was different. By the time real estate investor Jacob Shoushan won a court order to purchase the property in December, Carter and other tenants had already held several negotiating sessions with their future landlord.

We went in depth about the lease, Carter said. We talked about each point, and we signed off on it. Normally, you get a lease and you sign it. Its never a back-and-forth, but this time it was totally different.

In the end, they produced a contract full of tenant-friendly clauses, including one that says the landlord must wait six days to contact a tenant about late rent and 12 days to send a 3-day notice demanding payment.

Another clause requires no security deposit and adds: Landlord shall not charge Tenant for any losses, damages, and/or expenses due to unreasonable wear and tear.

Shoushan declined to comment for this story because hes yet to finalize the propertys purchase. But Hirn said he expects the lease to be signed after the sale and praised Shoushan for being willing to negotiate directly with tenants.

"The landlord saw very clearly, face to face, who was living in the building he was going to be acquiring, Hirn said. And when youre faced with that as a landlord, it becomes a lot harder to just deny someone the basic respect of negotiating towards an agreement.

Hirn is a Cincinnati native who worked as a union organizer in Chicago and tenant organizer in San Francisco before moving back to town in 2024.

Those specialized skills were a game-changer for the Cincinnati Tenants Union, which was established during the pandemic but failed to attract members, said Kevin Hengehold, a volunteer since 2023.

The need for this organization has been around for a long time, Hengehold said. This can grow in a big way.

Hirn is working to develop training programs for new volunteers and residents, using a $50,000 grant from HouseUS, a pooled philanthropic fund announced in 2021 by the Ford Foundation.

It really is intensive work and its serious work, Hirn said. We hope that can make this sustainable in the long term.

In the meantime, hell keep sharing that lease with tenants and building owners, in hopes of establishing a new industry standard.

Its as enforceable as the tenants are organized, Hirn said. If your union is strong in your building and you continue to show management that you are serious about winning fair housing conditions, then that is the strength of your contract.

Construction began Monday on the long-awaited renovation of the historic Lunken Airport Terminal into a boutique hotel, after years of delay.

The terminal is a Cincinnati icon that has been empty since the longtime Sky Galley restaurant closed in 2020.

The city-owned building was supposed to be revitalized years ago, but the Federal Aviation Administration rejected the first design as too tall. It forced developer Guy van Rooyen to reduce the project scale, from 55 hotel rooms down to 30, and prompted city officials to contribute a $2 million grant to finalize the new deal.

I get numerous calls every day about peoples memories at the Sky Galley, or at Lunken Airport Days, said Anthony Cadle, a division manager in the city of Cincinnatis Department of Community and Economic Development. It is certainly a cherished asset people love this property.

WATCH: We look at how the space will be transformed

On Monday, van Rooyens crews began their investigative demolition of the terminal building.

Today is day one of construction. And the name of the game here is to peel back some of the layers of the building to relearn some of the history of it, said Tyler Watkins, development director at The Salyers Group, which is leading the project, as crews cut 20 holes to expose the buildings original steel.

Crews will remove anything that isnt load-bearing or historically significant in the coming weeks, such as the Cincinnati police substation located inside the terminal. Construction set to begin by June.

The Salyers Group transformed an old Coppins Department Store into Hotel Covington in 2016 and then added North by Hotel Covington and First District, a new caf and gourmet market.

Not only are we going to bring back a restaurant, but were going to revitalize this entire structure, Cadle said. The developer is known for Hotel Covington, which largely put Covington on the map. It really highlighted how unique Covington was. We expect the exact same for the East End.

The terminal will be transformed into a first-class hotel with space for weddings, ballrooms, a large restaurant and bar, outdoor patios and gardens, an in-ground pool with cabanas and valet parking.

The design plan includes the historic renovation of the actual existing terminal building, and then on the northern side is a two-story addition that will happen on the rear of it, Cadle said. That will also include a small tower that will pay homage to the existing air tower both (towers) will be these unique two-story units.

City Manager Sheryl Long signed the updated 50-year lease agreement for the $20.8 million project on Dec. 15. Annual rent is $1, and the developer will pay a 1% surcharge on gross revenues to support the operation of Lunken Airport, Cadle said.

This week, we are beginning selective demolition where we can investigate what the electricity looks like, what the HVAC looks like, and what the plumbing condition is a little bit more intimately, Cadle said. From there, the developer will build out a more detailed development plan, and then well start demo and start chugging through what that looks like.

Cadle encouraged the developer to preserve and highlight the historic nature of the terminal, which was built in 1936 when Lunken was one of the largest municipal airports in the country.

The Art Deco features are obviously going to be the highlight. They are going to be the belle of the ball of this rehab, Cadle said. Whether or not the airplane that hangs in the hangar or the Gruen clock comes back are all business decisions that the developer is going to have to explore.

If these historic items, such as the murals that once hung in the terminal, are not used in the new hotel, then Cadle said the city will preserve them for future use or place them in a museum.

If he chooses to use the Gruen clock, then we will celebrate that, and if he doesnt, then we will carefully cherish that asset and preserve it, Cadle said.

Evans Landscaping owner Doug Evans agreed to pay a new $35,000 fine to settle a years-long fight with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost over environmental cleanup.

Yost sued Evans in 2021, accusing him of open dumping and illegal disposal of construction and demolition debris at three facilities in Anderson Township since at least 2014.

Inspectors cited recurring problems with buried waste, open dumping, scrap tires, illegal disposal of construction and demolition debris, and leachate runoff, at times into the Little Miami River.

Evans paid a $550,000 fine to settle the lawsuit in 2022. He also agreed to a cleanup plan that included digging out and removing waste on his Broadwell Road site, monitoring groundwater at his Round Bottom Road facility, and building a cap over areas where debris was illegally disposed of on Mount Carmel Road.

However, authorities say the cleanup didnt occur as planned.

WATCH: Breaking down the years-long fight between Evans and Yost

He thumbed his nose at the entire process. He thumbed his nose at the community. He thumbed his nose at the court. Were done, Yost said in August 2023. We're not going to be OK with him just flipping off the court and not complying with the order.

In August 2023, Yost filed a contempt motion against Evans, asking a judge to put him in jail for 30 days for violating a court order to clean up the sites.

 A month later, Yosts office withdrew the contempt charges after Evans produced proof that he was actively cleaning up illegal pollution. But the legal saga continued for two additional years.

Evans, 63, is a well-known entrepreneur on the east side who built a landscaping empire from a high school job hauling mulch from a pickup truck. He now employs 250 at operations that range from sand and gravel, equipment rental, snow removal, soil and firewood, ready-mix concrete, tree services, and stone works.

The part of Evans business that health inspectors have repeatedly targeted is the recycling of construction and demolition debris operation.

Both sides were back in court in November 2023, fighting about how to clean up the thousands of truckloads of construction waste buried at the Broadwell Road facility. Health officials called the site an illegal landfill.

A visiting judge sided with Evans, allowing him more time and looser restrictions for his cleanup plan.

But health officials showed no signs of letting up on Evans. The Ohio EPA and Hamilton County Public Health issued new violations, including one in November 2023, after discovering a milky white substance with an objectionable odor being discharged into the Little Miami River at his Round Bottom Road headquarters.

Authorities continued to accuse Evans of not following the judges cleanup order.

Yost filed more contempt motions in 2024 and again asked the judge to jail Evans and fine him. But the judge again sided with Evans and declined to make findings of willful noncompliance or contempt in February 2025.

Then state prosecutors appealed to the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals, which was set to hear the case in 2026.

Instead of going back to the courtroom, both sides reached a new agreement on Dec. 11, 2025.

Rather than spend our money defending the appeal, we agreed with the state on the work to be performed at the property and to pay a penalty to the state to resolve the dispute, Evans said in a statement to the WCPO 9 I-Team.

Both sides agreed that Evans would pay $140,000 to resolve the states accusations. But that fine was reduced to $35,000 after Evans met performance incentives related to the construction of a cap over buried construction debris at his Mount Carmel Road facility.

Evans Landscaping promptly completed the required work at the property, consisting of the placement of an asphalt cap over fill material. The state alleged that the fill material contained unauthorized construction and demolition debris (C&DD), which was disputed by Evans Landscaping. We continue to believe that the property never posed a risk to human health or the environment, and the cap was unnecessary and unfairly imposed on Evans Landscaping, Evans said.

Spokespersons for Hamilton County Public Health and the Ohio EPA say they will continue to monitor Evans facilities.

County health inspectors issued a new violation in October at his Broadwell Road facility for uncovered stockpiles of waste material. A spokesperson said that it has been cleaned up.

This is the latest in a long string of legal battles for Evans.

In 2014, Evans agreed to pay $300,000 in fines to settle a complaint with the Ohio EPA over air pollution violations. He also agreed to a $100,000 tree-planting project to serve as a natural windbreak for dust and emissions from his stonework, gravel, and sand operations in Hamilton and Clermont counties.

In an unrelated case, the FBI began investigating Evans in 2013 for minority contracting fraud. Evans insisted that he was innocent, but a jury convicted him in 2018 of using a shell company to win millions in state and government demolition contracts during the recession that were meant for minority and small businesses.

Evans served six months in prison, followed by several months of house arrest.

Then, in July 2025, a Clermont County judge ordered Evans to pay nearly $900,000 in damages and penalties to end a five-year legal dispute with a neighbor, after he stripped thousands of trees to build a commercial park while enjoying a tax break and zoning exemptions meant for working farmers.

Cincinnati has the best-tasting water in Ohio, and perhaps the nation.

The Greater Cincinnati Water Works won the American Water Works Association statewide competition last August and is set to compete nationally in June before a panel of skilled water tasters.

The WCPO I-Team toured the water treatment facility and historic pump station with Jeff Swertfeger, superintendent of the Water Quality and Treatment Division. He leads a team that produces and delivers award-winning drinking water for over 1.1 million people in the Cincinnati region.

WATCH: We learned how Greater Cincinnati Water Works makes the best-tasting water in Ohio

After 33 years, Swertfeger is set to retire Jan. 16. The following is an excerpt from our Dec. 4 interview. Some answers were shortened for brevity.

Q: Describe the water that Cincinnatians drank back in the 1800s before this treatment plant.

A: As we grew up as a city in the 1800s, we didnt do anything to treat our water. We brought the water in directly from the Ohio River. There was a pump station, you can still see the shell of it near the Montgomery Inn. We were bringing the water in from the river, not doing anything with treatment, and wed pump the water up to some reservoirs and let it flow by gravity down to the city.

At the same time, you had cities like Pittsburgh upstream from us that didnt do anything to treat their sewage. So essentially, their raw sewage was going into the river, and then two weeks later, we were drinking it ... As a result of that, we had a lot of water-borne disease around the city in the early 1900s up until about 1907, we saw thousands of cases of typhoid and hundreds of people dying from this one water-borne disease every year. Then, as soon as we opened up our treatment plant in 1907, we saw the impact where the cases dropped dramatically and so did the number of deaths. Then, when we started disinfecting the water, we really eliminated water-borne disease here in Cincinnati we also had cholera, dysentery ... before we started treating our water.

Q: How is this water treatment plant different from others across the country?

A: First, this is probably bigger than most of the treatment plants in the country. Most of the treatment plants in the country will do something like the filtration, and then theyll stop treatment In the 1970s, here in Cincinnati, we were affected by a couple of very large spills of chemicals on the Ohio River. These spills made their way down the Ohio River, got into our drinking water and made us realize how vulnerable we were.

That put us on a decade-long search for the best technology to use to address chemicals ... we came up with the best solution activated carbon this is a coal thats been crushed up and then baked up to about 1,600 degrees. What that does is make this material very sticky to chemicals. We take that activated carbon, put it into a filter and run water over it. The chemicals will stick to the activated carbon. When you get the water out of these filters, the chemicals will be gone.

Q: How do you disinfect the water?

A: One of our first disinfection steps is actually using UV lights we designed this specifically for a very hard organism to kill, which is called cryptosporidium. The UV goes in and hits its DNA, and it kills it, or hurts it enough so it wont cause any disease anymore and theres another one called Giardia.

Q: Is this unique to Cincinnati?

A: Other plants are starting to use this; were one of the largest installations of this, though.

Q: Do other cities look to your operation for ideas or as a model?

A: Yes, absolutely. In fact, this week we had two other utilities, one from Colorado and one from Miami, come through this plant to look at our activated carbon. Theyre thinking of doing something like that; they wanted to see how we do it here ... Just recently, we hosted a group from Korea as well.

Q: How do you monitor whats in the Ohio River?

A: We have a world-class drinking water laboratory. When something happens on the Ohio River, they look to us to help out and figure out whats going on. In one of our laboratories, we do what is called organic analysis ... for the industrial chemicals and spills. That machine over there is what we use to look at the PFAs or the forever chemicals one of these machines is hooked up to the Ohio River directly, so every couple of hours, it takes a sample. Its easy if we know that there is a spill in the river, somebody has reported it or somebody has detected it, and we can take action. But ... if something is not reported and we dont know about it, we need to be able to catch it.

Q: You were here during the diesel spill up at (Duke Energy) Beckjord (in 2014). What was that like?

A: It was very early in the morning, there was about 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the Ohio River we had been working with industries very close to us on the river, and they were one of them, and we told them if you ever have a spill, give us a call so we can take action. They did exactly that We immediately jumped into action and shut our intakes down. We have storage here at the plant, and we can run for a few days without bringing any water in from the Ohio River. One of our first actions when we know there is a spill is to shut down, let the water go by us, and then open up when the water is clean again. Thats exactly what we did ... we did a whole bunch of sampling of the river, went out to see it as it was happening, to make sure it was absolutely safe before we opened up the river intakes again.

Q. And you did that again for the East Palestine (train derailment and chemical spill in 2023)?

A. Yes, thats exactly what we did there. But that spill was a lot further up, so we had a lot more notice. We were able to sample the Ohio River, bring the samples back, and analyze them here. We were able to track the spill as it was getting closer and closer to us. Then we could shut down, let the spill go and once our sampling showed that the chemicals were gone, we opened back up again.

Q. How long was the intake closed for?

A. That one was closed for about a day and a half or so with East Palestine and for the diesel, it was almost a day that it was closed down.

Q. What if there were a spill of the coal ash ponds at Beckjord?

A. Thats something that were very concerned about. We want to watch that. The same location where we had the diesel fuel spill from, thats where the ash ponds are, too. So were very concerned about that. If something like that were to spill, we have contingency plans in place to increase our treatment. First of all, we would shut down for as long as we could. Let that stuff go. But if we had to bring anything in, were developing treatment methods to make sure that we could treat it effectively.

Q. How much lead time would you need if there were an ash spill?

A. If it were a very fast river and the river was high and a lot was coming to us, maybe we would get a 10-hour notice or so. That would be enough time where we could shut down, take invasive action and be able to deal with that.

Q. Why are you concerned about the coal ash?

A. Well, a couple of reasons. One, its a lot of dirt. Its a lot of the solids and particulates but also, along with those solids, theres a lot of metals and contaminants that are in that kind of ash. Thats the ash ... left over after the coal is burnt.

Q. As you retire, what is the next generation here going to look like? What are the changes coming to this place?

A. Ive been really excited about the use of technology ... to help us treat water better its really exciting to see that newer generations are coming in and starting to ... bring that into the treatment process. We have all sorts of A.I. and ... were just starting to scratch the surface on how we can use it to make the water better.

Q. When you are just randomly testing the river water how often do you actually find something, and what would it be?

A. Several times a year, well detect some low-level organic chemical. Its usually something to do with a petroleum type of thing or maybe a gasoline by-product Well then immediately shut down and try to figure out whats going on before we open back up We also do a lot of monitoring for bacteria and algae in the river too ... so we know that we need to adjust our treatment to address that.

Q. Are you able to figure out where those spills come from?

A. If its something that were detecting for a bit, we can ... go upriver and take samples ... to try and figure out exactly where it's coming from. Weve done that a couple of times, and we found the polluter. The polluter has been fined, and weve been able to recover all of our costs.

Q. Are you going to miss it here when you retire?

A. Absolutely. Im going to miss the day-to-day challenges, the accomplishments and working with the people here and feeling like Im part of the community and contributing to the community. Drinking water is so important. Without drinking water, the city wouldnt exist.

Note: Historical tours of the old river station are offered to the public on the first Saturday of each month from 9:30 a.m. to noon. The worlds largest triple-expansion steam engines are housed here. They were built to pump water from the Ohio River. You can register for a tour at https://cincinnatitriplesteam.org

Tours of the GCWW History Museum and treatment process are offered on the first Thursday of each month by appointment, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The public can see how water from the Ohio River is treated to produce safe drinking water. Tour request forms and waivers can be found here: https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/water/about/tours/

The first apartment property sold out of the Vision & Beyond foreclosure case will undergo several million dollars in renovations with no rent hikes for existing tenants in the first year, according to the new owner.

Our plan would be to keep them. We hope they stay and become good long-term clients of for us, said Chris Cook, co-founder of ZerCo Holdings LLC, a Northern Kentucky real estate company that owns and operates about 600 area apartment units.

ZerCos portfolio grew by 116 units on Nov. 12, when it paid $3.3 million for Kirby Apartments, a Mount Airy complex that deteriorated quickly this year when the company that owned it collapsed amid fraud allegations and the arrest of a company founder.

The incident at Vision & Beyond forced dozens of properties into foreclosure. But none of them endured more turmoil than Kirby Apartments, where a sewer pump failure caused backups into basement units and roof leaks led to water damage on upper floors.

Hamilton County Judge Christian Jenkins declared the property a public nuisance in July and allowed the city to make urgent repairs that would be repaid from proceeds of the sale, which Judge Jenkins authorized in September.

WATCH: Cook walks us through the renovation plan for Kirby Apartments

Through it all, about 50 tenants remained at the 55-year-old apartment community, tucked into a seven-acre site near the North Bend overpass on Kirby Road.

Theyve lived through a lot, Cook said. Were doing what we can to keep them here, whether that means moving them into a new unit or making sure that their current unit is a safe, good-quality place to be.

Cook himself is recovering as he wages a court fight against investors who purchased seven of his companies in 2022. Cook accused Reston Construction of reneging on its $3 million purchase agreement in a Kenton County lawsuit thats scheduled for trial in February.

Cook, an entrepreneur who served as president of the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky in 2023, declined to comment on the pending litigation. He said it will have no impact on ZerCos ability to finance the renovation of Kirby Apartments.

Cook owns 50% of ZerCo. Brad Zerhusen, manager of its property management company, owns the other half. The commercial real estate company owns several apartment properties, ranging in size from 19 units to 140. It also owns a flex warehouse building near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and short-term rental properties in Dry Ridge, Ky., Cook said.

Kirbys $3.3 million purchase price is slightly higher than the Hamilton County auditors appraised value for the property.

Weve been following this property for some time, very aware of the collapse of the previous owner, Cook said. We like that this sits a little bit off the beaten path. It really kind of sits down here in its own space, surrounded by the forest. So, it has a unique feel to it for being an urban community.

On a tour of the property Dec. 11, Cook said he was hoping to finish roof repairs and window replacements before winter sets in. New shingles were in place on two of Kirbys three major building clusters, and exterior finishes were nearing completion on one.

The basement of the building at 5469 Kirby was completely gutted, with its walls scraped down to cinder blocks and everything except studs and wiring removed from units where sewer backups took their heaviest toll.

With this being flooded, its hard to tell what was going on behind the walls, Cook said. So, the only way to ensure youve got 100% of the issues taken care of is really to remove it all.

Kathy Peeks, a third-floor tenant at 5469 Kirby, said she's impressed with the progress.

"The new owners are doing a very good job, said Peeks, a tenant since 2018. We see somebody in here every day, doing something. I mean, the hallways are mopped. Theyre swept. Theyre clean.

Dan Monk has been covering this story for WCPO for months. You can contact him here:

But the improvements are also causing concern about future rent hikes.

Theyre putting everything new in these apartments, everything, Peeks said. So, Im sure that theyre going to raise the rent for everybody to market rate. I mean, thats just my fear.

The Cincinnati Tenants Union is hoping the new owners will recognize Kirby tenants as a group, so they can bargain collectively for protection from eviction and rent hikes.

The union's co-founder, Brad Hirn, said he'd also like to make sure the renovation benefits existing tenants.

Were always concerned that a new owner makes a lot of promises but then doesnt prioritize investing in the existing tenants apartments, but rather focuses on remodeling vacant ones, Hirn said. So, that remains a priority for us to make sure the existing tenants get the repairs that they need.

Cook said hes willing to talk to the tenants' union but didnt want to comment on what might come from those talks.

Cook said his focus right now is on the renovation. It will include all new interior finishes with stainless steel appliances, new counters and cabinetry.

Its come a long way, Cook said. Its hard to believe weve only owned it for 30 days and weve been able to improve the quality of life of so many people this fast. And I think thats what were most excited about is to see this project over the next six months to really transform.

In the meantime, court records show ZerCo has a contract to buy another Vision & Beyond property in Lockland. A purchase agreement, signed by Brad Zerhusen on Dec. 5, calls for a ZerCo affiliate to pay $1.95 million for a 19-unit apartment building at 206 S. Wayne Ave.

The deal is subject to court approval for transferring the property free and clear of all liens. Cook declined to comment on the pending sale, but confirmed ZerCo was interested in other Vision & Beyond properties.

We are local. We plan to be here, Cook said. Were not an out-of-state company that no ones ever heard of and you cant put a face with. And were hoping we can continue to partner with the city on additional developments ... we think this is going to be a very successful project.

Matt Jacob thought somebody was setting off fireworks near his home in north Over-the-Rhine this week. It turned out to be the power lines, giving off sparks during sub-zero temperatures on December 14 and 15.

It was like someone just had a Roman candle, just shooting them off for five minutes until finally the lines gave and the power shut off, said Jacob, a senior financial analyst for the Cushman & Wakefield commercial real estate firm.

A part-time developer, Jacob has grown frustrated by recurring power outages in Over-the-Rhine and the rats nest of electric and telecom wires that seem to cluster on streetcorners near his East Clifton Avenue home.

It just doesnt feel like anyones ever come down here and modernized anything, Jacob said. Ive experienced a lot of blackouts down here in north Over-the-Rhine. Ive seen transformers explode. Ive seen sparks a lot of times, probably close to ten times in the last 12 years.

And thats why Jacob was frustrated to learn Ohio utility regulators want to make it easier for Duke Energy to comply with state standards on power grid reliability.

Im sure theres other parts of town where theyre doing a great job but down here, theyre really missing the ball, Jacob said.

SAIFI and CAIDI

The Ohio Public Utilities Commission sets annual targets for utilities, based on their average number of service interruptions per customer and the average duration of those power outages. The first standard is known as SAIFI, for System Average Interruption Frequency Index. The other is CAIDI, for Customer Average Interruption Duration Index.

Duke passed both standards last year for the first time since 2020.

But in May of 2024, the utility proposed changes to its SAIFI standard that would make it easier to comply by allowing an average of 0.87 service interruptions for each of its 760,000 customers. Thats up from 0.75 interruptions in the three years prior to the proposed change.

Duke also asked for its CAIDI standard to increase from 137 minutes to 141.6 minutes.

Duke failed the SAIFI standard for three straight years, starting in 2021. But it complied 2024 by reporting 572,793 service interruptions, which was 0.753 outages for each of its 760,793 customers that year. If its SAIFI standard were 0.87 in 2024, Duke could have reported 89,000 more outages and still met the state target.

Ohio Consumers Counsel Maureen Willis opposed Dukes proposal in a February 2025 filing with the PUCO and called for an evidentiary hearing on the matter.

As consumers are being charged higher and higher utility rates, they have a reasonable expectation that they will receive more, not less, reliable service. But Dukes proposals in this case will make service to consumers less, not more reliable, wrote Willis, leader of the consumer advocacy group since 2023.

In October, PUCO staff endorsed Dukes proposal for service interruptions and proposed a duration standard of 134 minutes. The PUCO has yet to vote on the staff recommendation and continues to take public input on the matter.

Jacob has a different idea: I think they should be held to these standards in smaller geographies than their whole service area.

'Let their lines rot'

Jacob is convinced that his neighborhood has less reliable power service than the rest of Greater Cincinnati. Thats why he took to social media when the sparks started flying at 1705 Lang Street this week, criticizing Duke for not proactively reinvesting in northern OTR where many powerlines have insulation falling off.

He also filed a PUCO complaint on the issue and asked the WCPO 9 I-Team to investigate the mismanagement of power lines in Over-the-Rhine.

Duke shouldn't be allowed to let their lines rot like this, Jacob wrote. Things like this wouldn't be tolerated in other parts of the city, but it feels like my neighborhood is being ignored because of who lives here.

Duke Energy said it responded quickly to both Over-the-Rhine incidents and restored power shortly after arriving. The first incident was caused by a transformer issue. Cold weather was likely a factor in the second.

We have a structured maintenance process, said a company statement. However, we cannot control outside forces such as weather from causing issues with electrical service. Our teams respond quickly to these issues when they arise and work to mitigate the issues when we find them.

Duke declined to comment on the proposed changes to its reliability standards.

Duke customers paying more

Whether it achieves easier standards or not, Duke will have a lot more money to spend on reliability in the years ahead.

Thats because the PUCO adopted a new rate structure for Duke in May that allows it to collect up to $107.5 million from customers in 2026 through a Distribution Capital Investment Rider. Thats up from $83.8 million in 2025 and $57.4 million in 2024, according to the Ohio Consumers Counsel.

A DCI rider funds improvements to a utilitys electric distribution system, OCC said. Dukes rider would cost $8.45 this month to a customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.

Ive been paying into the fund for a long time and it doesnt feel like any of its made it to my street, Jacob said.

Duke showed how some of that money is spent this week, when it invited WCPO to see its Midwest Power Distribution Control Center in Harrison.

Joshua McCord, the centers director of operations, said Dukes self-healing grid technology averted 400,000 outages this year by diverting electric currents around storm damage.

"Duke Energy is always investing to improve the grid reliability for our customers," said Joshua McCord said. "The customer is number one. Every single person in this room is focused on the fact that they know a customer is without power, and they treat it with that level of sincerity and that level of criticality."

Dukes distribution capital investment work plan for 2025 listed $206.5 million in projects, including $28.5 million for grid switches and distribution capacity needed for the self-healing technology it launched in 2021.

Reliability and integrity programs represented Dukes largest spending category at $38.2 million while distribution circuitry ranked second at $33.7 million.

The workplan showed self-optimizing grid improvements were planned this year in Cumminsville, Fairfax, White Oak and Union Township, Clermont County.

No projects were listed in Over-the-Rhine.

Another mother is suing one of Cincinnatis largest low-income housing providers, blaming her 4-year-old sons breathing problems on exposure to toxic mold.

Mariyah Varner is the fourth tenant to file a lawsuit against Preservation of Affordable Housing, or POAH, alleging that mold inside their apartments is causing health problems from severe headaches, bloody noses, skin rashes and asthma to the deaths of two infants.

Hed be coughing so bad at night and I take him to the hospital, and his oxygen was so low they said he could have died, Varner said, describing her sons 10-day stay at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center in August 2023.

WATCH: We spoke to Varner about her lawsuit and the other complaints about POAH properties

She said her son also tested positive for lead twice, most recently in May 2025, and is being bitten by bed bugs.

Theyre not paying attention to their residents at all, said Varner, who filed her lawsuit in Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas on Dec. 9.

Our I-Team first reported on POAH problem properties in July. Cincinnati inspectors have since ramped up their enforcement of code violations and are in the process of inspecting all of POAH's nearly 1,000 units and are forcing repairs.

Varners case followed a lawsuit filed by three tenants in September, including DeNashia Shepard, who blamed POAH for the sudden deaths of her two infants in two years. They are seeking damages and alleging nuisance, negligence and reckless conduct tied to mold exposure.

"I just want justice for my kids, that's all. I want answers," Shepard said. She lost a 1-month-old daughter in 2023 and a 2-month-old son last May. Both autopsy reports list the same cause of death: sudden unexplained infant death.

POAH Communities Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President Sevara Davis declined to comment on the lawsuit or any specific allegation, but offered this statement:

Dublin, Ohio attorney Jedidiah Bressman said POAH needs to do a better job taking care of its tenants.

After De'Nashias story ran, I got a lot of calls from people living in POAH apartments who were dealing with mold in their own units and very similar complaints. Coughing, wheezing, asthma-related symptoms, said Bressman, who specializes in toxic exposure cases and filed both lawsuits. Its almost the same exact stuff. Theres mold in my unit. Theres water damage. POAH is not fixing it.

POAH is a national nonprofit based in Boston that operates in 13 states. It acquired many historic buildings from The Model Group in 2018 in Over-the-Rhine, Pendleton and the West End with help from the city and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

On Sept. 16, City Manager Sheryl Long announced a $1 million award to POAH to help restore a Lower Price Hill building, despite its history of violations and tenant complaints about rats, raw sewage, a lack of hot water and mold.

Varner moved into a POAH apartment at 1223 Republic Street in Over-the-Rhine with her son in February 2022.

The multi-unit brick building was built in 1883, according to the Hamilton County Auditors office.

Shortly thereafter, (her son) experienced escalating and serious health problems: coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, skin rashes, skin irritation, itchy eyes, watery eyes, headaches, dizziness, muscle aches, and fever, according to Varners lawsuit.

In December 2024, Varner reported to POAH a strange odor in the air, and a noticeable substance on the walls and near or around the air vents in the residence after basement flooding Mariyah Varner was told that mold was not present in the residence, but what she observed was from smoke, according to the lawsuit.

Low-income tenants who experience poor living conditions are often unable to move out because there are so few housing options, Bressman said.

Is the next step for them to go to a shelter? Is it for them to be homeless? Would they rather be homeless than live in a unit thats making them sick? Thats the choices that these low-income residents are having to choose between, Bressman said. Whether to have a roof over their head, even if its making them sick, or no roof at all.

POAH agreed to increased oversight after meeting with city officials in July. The citys Residential Rental Inspection program is now overseeing all POAH properties due to the outstanding building code violations, a city spokesperson said.

On Sept. 2, city officials began new inspections of all 148 buildings containing 969 apartments. That was POAHs local portfolio as of July.

The city of Cincinnati actually going out and doing these inspections is very important because it shows that they are taking it seriously enough that they are actually going to be issuing fines, Bressman said. Its more likely that landlords are going to be taking it seriously when their bottom line is affected.

A city spokesperson said inspections have been completed at seven POAH properties, totaling 65 buildings and 409 units, as of last week. Those inspected so far are Burnet Place, Fairview Estates, Magnolia Heights, Losantiville Buildings, Losantiville Apartments in Evanston, Navarre Garrone and North Rhine Heights.

A new round of inspections began on Dec. 10 in Over-the-Rhine for buildings at Abington Race and Pleasant Apartments, and Wesley Estates.

There are currently 170 cases with active violations. The most common violation types are repair smoke detectors, repair floor coverings, insect/rodent control, replace HVAC filters and repair drywall, according to spokesperson Ben Breuninger.

The citys Department of Buildings and Inspections has completed 20 re-inspections, and in all 20 cases the contractor hired by POAH has corrected all violations, Breuninger said.

But Varner questioned whether the city is doing enough to help POAHs residents.

Ive called the city multiple times, Varner said. But I feel like they arent paying attention to this building.

After she complained, Varner said that POAH simply painted over the mold and repainted the peeling in the bathtub where her son takes his bath. She worried that the bathtub contained lead.

My whole bathroom is chipping paint right now. When he gets in the tub, you see the paint floating, Varner said. My doctor told me they are literally supposed to give you a whole brand-new tub. They just paint over it and the paint chips off the next day.

Shepard, who blamed toxic mold for the deaths of her two infants, spent three years living in a multi-unit apartment building at Back Street and Hamer Street near Grant Park.

When I first moved in, my mom smelled the mold; she was telling me it smelled like mold, said Shepard, who moved into the building in 2022. My daughter she always had a runny nose, was always sick. I was always sick too, sore throat and all that.

Many other tenants at that building said the mold made them very ill. They complained of severe headaches, hair loss, rashes, diarrhea, congestion and breathing problems. They believe the source is a basement just below Shepards former apartment.

Black mold is rampant on the property owned and managed by POAH .... no parent should have to bury their child once, let alone twice, according to Shepards lawsuit, which is seeking at least $25,000 per plaintiff.

Michelle Reynolds, who lives next door to Shepards old unit, hired professional mold testing with Action Mold Pros in Newport in July. The company noted an abnormal level of mold in her unit and the nearby unit where Nicole Humphrey lives, as well as a high level of Stachybotrys, commonly referred to as black mold.

Bressman and POAHs attorney went to Shepards old unit on Back Street in late November to conduct mold testing.

That unit was gross, Bressman said. We took off the return to look down there and the supply; it looked like it hadnt been cleaned ever and we found various types of mold that line up with what happened in that unit, people getting sick.

Another tenant, Humphrey, is also a plaintiff in the same lawsuit as Shepard. Her unit is on the opposite side of the same property complex, at 1654 Hamer Street.

When youre in that unit, you can just feel the humidity, Bressman said about Humpreys unit. In fact, I believe the day before we were out there testing, the city came out and issued a fine for mold. Thats how bad this particular unit is.

A city health inspector found mold and water stains on Humphreys ceiling and water damage with signs of a water leak, and bubbling paint due to leaking HVAC system pipes. He issued violations on Sept. 5 for unclean and unsanitary conditions and ordered them repaired and remediated.

The inspector returned to Humphreys home on Nov. 20, saw the same violations, and issued a $300 citation to POAH.

They plan to schedule another reinspection with the tenant in approximately one week. If the conditions are still not corrected at that time, a second citation for $750 will be issued, said Breuniger, the city spokesperson, in a Dec. 11 email to WCPO.

Meanwhile, Humphrey and her family are still living in that unit despite the mold, Bressman said.

We looked in the HVAC closet, which was locked, so POAH locks the HVAC units so their tenants cant access it, and it was wet. The filter was wet, and we know that moisture causes mold, Bressman said. Based on the types of molds that have come back, it isnt safe for people to live there.

Meanwhile, Shepard moved out into a new POAH property in July with her now 4-year-old daughter. She now lives at 1223 Republic Street, in the same apartment building as Varner, who is her cousin.

Both Varner and Shepard had professional mold testing done at their Republic Street units on Sept. 3.

The airborne test results did not show elevated levels of mold in either unit. But results showed heavy fungal growth in a supply vent and high levels of Aspergillus/Penicillium mold in the buildings basement. Cincy Home Inspections and Sporecyte performed the testing.

Shepard and her cousin called the city for help.

City health inspector Damali Gaskin visited 1223 Republic on Sept. 8. She closed the complaint because she did not see wet floors in the basement or visible mold there or in the unit.

A tenant told Gaskin that she saw maintenance workers carrying up two big bags of water from the basement and leaving the door wide open to dry out.

But a POAH representative told the inspector, "There is no water and/or flood down there, and maint(enance) was not bringing up bags of water, so not sure where they are getting that information," according to Gaskin's report.

A POAH representative also said a tenant, "can be seen on camera with a news crew ... and wishes the tenant would stop stating the units have mold when in fact they do not," according to the inspector's report.

If you have a story or issue you'd like to share with Paula Christian, click below.

Iris Roley, a consultant for the City of Cincinnati, got a new contract worth $664,300, which City Manager Sheryl Long signed two days after the election on Nov. 6.

The contract authorized a Summer in Cincy program to help youth and prevent violent crime from June to August, and expanded the Government Square Initiative from mid-August through October. The city agreed to pay $94,300 for that work, which was performed months earlier.

The contract has been controversial and it should not be surprising that the city administrator or the city manager held this until after the election to avoid any more controversy before the election, said Todd Zinser, retired U.S. Inspector General who fought fraud and waste in the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of Transportation, before retiring and taking on the role of citizen watchdog.

WATCH: We're looking into Iris Roley's contract

The WCPO 9 I-Team reported in September that Roley hired her son to work with young people at Government Square, a part-time job that paid $4,400 a month.

In August, the Fraternal Order of Police demanded that Roley be fired for allegedly harassing several on-duty police officers and posted body camera videos of the incidents.

Roley did not respond to several requests for comment.

The I-Team obtained new records showing the city spent more than $1,300 for t-shirts, hoodies and performance shirts for Government Square workers purchased from a company registered to Roley's husband.

Roley submitted invoices dated March 25, from BLG Accessories and Apparel, at 2206 Langdon Farm Road. The bottom of the receipt also stated, Thank you for choosing RoSho Awards & Graphics!

The two companies, RoSho and Black Lives Golfing, are registered to Jesse Roley, under the same Langdon Farm Road address, according to Ohio Secretary of State records.

It does make it look like its a family business, Zinser said. "This kind of transaction doesnt make it look fair.

A city spokesperson provided this statement in response to WCPOs questions: The city has found no violations or conflicts of interest. The contract was executed once terms were agreed upon.

At the end of the day, this is patronage, said Steve Goodin, a former city council member and head of the Charter Committee of Cincinnati, an independent political organization dedicated to good government. If she were an actual (city) employee, none of this would have been allowed. She would not be able to give this business to her husbands company or to hire her son or to engage in the kind of political activity that she engages in.

The city's nepotism policy states that employees should avoid influencing or participating in personnel decisions involving close family members, such as recommending them for work. The purpose is to maintain public confidence that employment decisions and personnel actions are based on principles of equal employment opportunity and merit rather than favoritism shown to a relative of a city employee.

Those rules do not apply to city contractors.

"What shes doing here is not illegal, I want to stress this. But my point of view is it should be illegal," Goodin said.

Roley has been a community activist for 25 years and was inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2022.

The city hired Roley as a consultant in 2022 to advise on issues related to the Collaborative Agreement. Her role eventually expanded to oversee the Government Square Community Care Initiative, to address youth violence at transit centers after school.

Many city leaders have praised her work for bringing food, personal care products and a safe space to young people. Roley said the program was a finalist for a Goldstein Award for excellence in problem-oriented policing.

But Cincinnati officials made a drastic change in their approach after a double shooting in Fountain Square in October. Mayor Aftab Pureval brought CPD's Civil Disturbance Response Team and SWAT to Fountain Square and Government Square from 2 to 10 p.m. every day. He created an earlier curfew, and police said they would intervene with people smoking marijuana or fighting.

Whatever (Roley) was doing didnt work, it failed, and the idea that she gets paid for it after the fact, I think, just stinks, Goodin said. "The contract ... there are no real metrics at all. Part of her job was supposed to be to provide food to folks at Government Square ... and to help reduce violence in those areas and also on Fountain Square. And we had a disastrous summer and fall in both of those locations."

Regardless, both Goodin and Zinser predict that Roley will continue to get new city contracts for future work.

The value of the contract has increased almost 800% since 2022 its on its way to a million dollars, Zinser said.

Yet Zinser warned that city contracts could attract the attention of outside auditors.

These are red flags that outside parties can take a look at and start raising a lot of questions about how the city is operating its contracting operation, Zinser said, adding that the city is playing fast and loose with contracting rules.

Iris Roley invoices by webeditors

Iris Roley contract by webeditors

Black Lives Golfing LLC by webeditors

Its a strategy shift that founder Barney Kroger never could have imagined: The Kroger Co. wants to make its grocery delivery business profitable by rejecting robots and embracing artificial intelligence.

In a series of moves since March 2024, Kroger closed 11 automated warehouses built by the British technology firm, Ocado, while expanding relationships with Instacart, Door Dash and Uber eats.

Kroger said the move will save $400 million a year and make delivery times faster, while introducing agentic shopping experiences to Kroger customers. That will happen with Cart Assistant, an AI tool that Instacart will embed on the Kroger iPhone app early next year.

It syncs with each customers provided preferences, such as dietary goals and purchase history to make shopping more intuitive - supporting meal planning, budgeting, and nutrition at every step, Instacart said in a Nov. 4 blog post announcing the new tool.

In a conference call with Wall Street analysts on Dec. 4, Kroger Chief Financial Officer David Kennerly said Kroger will create new monetization opportunities with advertisers by integrating our customer data and loyalty insights with third-party platforms.

And that has some questioning whether Kroger is creating new problems for itself and its customers, in a quest to make its fast-growing e-commerce unit profitable by next year.

WATCH: We spoke with experts concerned with Kroger's new shift to AI:

We cant trust AI tools like this to act in our best interest, said Sara Geoghegan, senior counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. When an AI chatbot like this recommends a product, we have to ask: Is this being recommended to me because its the best product for me or is it because these companies have a commercial interest in promoting this product?

Scott Beck, a former Kroger employee and loyal customer, is concerned about reduced access to Krogers in-house delivery service, which he prefers to Instacart and DoorDash. And he isnt thrilled by the idea that an Instacart chatbot will have access to his Kroger data.

If Im ordering something through Kroger, my expectation is that stays within Kroger. I do not want my data being used by somebody else, said Beck, a Xavier University marketing professor who worked for Krogers data-mining unit, 84.51. I think its a fair question that Kroger should answer: What will Instacart be able to do with my data, and are you disclosing that to shoppers?

Kroger said Instacart will be its primary delivery fulfillment partner in a Nov. 4 press release. Hoping to learn how that partnership will work, the WCPO 9 I-Team sent a list of 20 questions to both companies.

Instacart declined to answer. Kroger provided a statement that includes:

"Customers who choose Instacart as their delivery provider through the Kroger app pay the same prices as in-store, ensuring transparency and value. By adding Instacarts Cart Assistant capability to the Kroger iOS app, we aim to provide more choice and convenience, helping customers build baskets that align with their preferences and goals."

The I-Team also searched for answers in regulatory filings and public statements made by both companies. And we interviewed experts who follow the grocery industry.

What we found might give you pause if youre a Kroger customer, investor or employee.

Thats because Kroger is expanding vendor relationships with three companies that have faced thousands of lawsuits and increased regulatory scrutiny over the way they pay employees and treat consumers.

In addition, all three companies disclosed artificial intelligence as a risk factor that investors should consider in their most recent annual reports, filed in 2024.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions, and our use of such solutions, could result in reputational harm, competitive harm, and legal liability, said Instacarts filing.

Uber warned AI use could lead to inappropriate or controversial data practices that subject us to lawsuits, regulatory investigations or other harm.

DoorDash said, The use of AI applications may result in data leakage or unauthorized exposure of data.

Kroger didnt mention artificial intelligence as a risk factor in its annual report to shareholders, but its privacy policy says it uses AI to analyze data.

Wall Street analyst Michael Lasser, from UBS Securities, asked about risk factors in Krogers Dec. 4 earnings call.

As you went through your e-commerce review, how did you think about the risk of leaning so heavily on third-party providers to fill a core competency, which is to interact with the customer at the point of delivery, vs having that key function more in-house? Lasser asked.

Kroger CEO Ron Sargent didnt address any specific risks in his answer but said all three companies will help Kroger reach younger customers.

Were looking at these partners as incremental sales opportunities and customer opportunities, Sargent said. The vast majority of our e-com sales come from the Kroger website, and we feel like they give us operational flexibility as well as strategic flexibility.

Kroger has spent billions of dollars since 2018 to find the best way to deliver groceries to its customers.

Thats when it announced a long-term partnership with Ocado to build up to 20 robot-powered warehouses that would efficiently process customer orders, using a hub and spoke system geared toward next-day deliveries.

Greater Cincinnati had the first Ocado hub, a $55 million facility in Monroe that feeds smaller distribution centers in Independence, Indianapolis, Louisville and Columbus.

Since the Monroe hub opened in November 2018, Kroger has opened seven additional hubs and at least 13 smaller spoke facilities.

Those facilities helped Kroger achieve double-digit growth in online orders, reaching $12 billion in annual digital sales in 2023. But they also proved expensive to operate and slower to deliver groceries than the same-day services now offered by Amazon in more than 1,000 U.S. cities.

So, Kroger supplemented its delivery options with Instacarts Delivery Now service in 2021, and it began closing Ocado distribution hubs in March 2024.

State regulatory filings, known as WARN notices, show Kroger has eliminated more than 2,000 jobs by closing three hubs and eight spokes since 2024.

On Dec. 5, Ocado announced that Kroger canceled plans to open a new hub in Charlotte next year. But it is moving forward with a Phoenix facility that will be the companys sixth hub when it opens early next year.

The closures have been costly. Kroger took a $2.6 billion accounting charge against earnings in its fiscal third quarter and agreed to pay $350 million to Ocado for not moving forward with a Charlotte facility.

Thats enough for Krogers critics to conclude the Ocado experiment was a failure.

That was a huge gamble, and obviously, at a minimum, it was a $2.6 billion loser, said John Marshall, a California-based financial analyst for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. But I think $2.6 billion is just the beginning.

Marshall thinks Kroger will eventually take earnings charges of more than $7 billion to close all of its Ocado facilities. And at that point, he thinks it will make Kroger stores less friendly for shoppers.

If your stores are really becoming your distribution centers for e-commerce fulfillment, it has a very negative effect on your inventory levels, Marshall said. You have regular consumers walking the aisles, and theyre essentially in somebody elses workspace now.

Retail consultant Burt Flickinger sees plenty of upside with Krogers recent moves because Instacart has the size, scale and skill to take Kroger into new markets.

It could potentially take Kroger into the food institutional business, Flickinger said. They could start supplying fine restaurants, hospitals, hotels, public schools, commissaries.

Kroger hasnt mentioned institutional sales as an advantage of its delivery restructuring, but it did highlight the potential for new advertising revenue in the companys retail media division.

Our unique approach to collaboration with Instacart, DoorDash and Uber unlocks new media opportunities across both platforms and were already seeing strong interest from several large CPG brands, CFO David Kennerly told investors on Dec. 4. By integrating our customer data and loyalty insights with third-party platforms, we can bring more targeted, innovative media campaigns, reach new customer segments and create additional monetization opportunities.

Kennerly said Kroger was careful to structure deals with Instacart, DoorDash and Uber Eats in a way thats very favorable to our economics. He also said it was important to Kroger that we got to participate in the media opportunities that may originate on their platform rather than our platform.

But that doesnt explain how Kroger plans to use customer data with its new delivery partners.

As a former employee, Beck has high regard for Krogers privacy standards, which call for the use of aggregated (non-personal) insights to help advertisers reach relevant audiences with promotional offers.

But Beck isnt sure how those standards will apply to an Instacart chatbot thats acting as an agent for a Kroger customer on Krogers digital shopping app.

Theyre going to have to release certain things so the transactions can be completed, Beck said. Its a question of what happens to the data afterwards. What is Instacart going to see and what are they licensed to do with that data? Are they allowed to keep that information?

Those are good questions for Kroger customers to ask before using Cart Assistant, said Geoghegan, the privacy activist whose Washington-based nonprofit accused Kroger in February of engaging in surveillance pricing.

That refers to companies that seek the highest price a customer might be willing to pay based on information provided by the customer or inferred from other data sources.

I can afford to pay it because of my zip code. Because my purchasing history suggests I have been researching it for a long time. Because they know I have a newborn baby. So many individual characteristics can show why we might be willing to pay more for a product, Geoghegan said. We frankly dont have a glance of whats under the hood here. So, its impossible for us to know just how this data is being used and if its being used in harmful ways.

Kroger has denied the use of surveillance pricing in the past. And it isnt clear whether the recent changes will lead to such an approach.

But it also doesnt seem likely to lead to lower prices, based on two recent pricing studies.

WCPO's Taylor Nimmo ordered the same five products from a single Kroger store in October. She found Instacarts delivery order was 16% more expensive than Krogers, while DoorDash's cost 38% more.

And a new Consumer Reports investigation found price differences of up to 23% when different customers ordered the identical product at different stores using the Instacart app. These price disparities happened as Instacart was conducting algorithmic pricing experiments on consumers.

Weve seen studies that show that Instacart does lots of experimentation with prices, said the UFCWs Marshall. They are playing psychological tricks on individual consumers, based on their best guess of what will entice that consumer to make that purchase decision. And often, it is dependent on what kind of compensation theyre getting from the consumer product manufacturing, in terms of advertising.

Two of the 72 black vulture carcasses cleaned up from a Clermont County elementary school's campus tested positive for bird flu, according to a release from Clermont County Public Health.

Ohio wildlife officials on Friday morning collected the dead vultures, which were splayed across the ballfields and grass St. Bernadettes School on Locust Lake Road.

Pierce Township officials said the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) initially refused to clean up or test the dead birds and only agreed to help hours after being contacted by the WCPO 9 I-Team.

They were very adamant that they were not coming. There was a recommendation that you just take them, put them in a bag, double-bag them and throw them in the garbage, said Pierce Township Trustee Allen Freeman. It was very clear that there was no help coming Thanks to Channel 9, you guys reached out to ODNR, and amazingly, they started to change their tune.

Staff and teachers returned from Thanksgiving break on Dec. 1 and found dead vultures spread across a campus where more than 200 children are enrolled. The school contacted Pierce Township Fire Chief Craig Wright for help, who said he reached out to ODNR for guidance.

Watch: What ODNR officials said about this "unique circumstance" and how township officials are reacting

(ODNR wasn't) overly concerned with the situation. They really had no intention to come out and do anything for the problem, Wright said. It did upset me. I was a little surprised. Its a wildlife issue. There's no better agency than them to deal with a wildlife issue."

Over the next few days, Wright said he contacted local public health and emergency management agencies for help to come up with a contingency plan, while the dead birds remained at the school.

Its a big undertaking to clean up this many dead animals when you really dont know or have the education or expertise to deal with that issue, Wright said.

An ODNR spokesperson said the agency does not typically collect dead wildlife, but decided to help for this unique circumstance.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) has conducted testing of other dead wild birds in Clermont County, and we have been advised that those other birds are presumed positive for HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) once a presumed positive case is identified in a county, all additional dead birds found in groups of six or more are also presumed to be HPAI and are treated as such. Therefore, the vultures in this case are presumed to be positive for HPAI, however, ODNR is working to collect additional samples to send for testing due to this unique circumstance, according to a statement from ODNR.

In a Jan. 5 release, Clermont County Public Health confirmed that the final lab test results have confirmed the detection of H5N1.

Freeman and Wright both said that ODNR originally declined to test the birds. A spokesperson for Clermont County Public Health confirmed the claim.

As is protocol in situations involving wildlife, the issue was originally reported to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which declined to test the birds, according to a statement from public health spokesperson Krista Rose.

However, given the potential risk to public health, we worked with our state partners to arrange testing. On Friday, Dec. 5, two birds are being delivered to a state animal laboratory for testing, Rose said.

Meanwhile, dozens of seemingly healthy black vultures flew around the school after the cleanup. They perched in trees and on the baseball field fence near the carcasses. Freeman said he worries about more bird deaths.

You also have a lot of geese that are in this area as well. So, all of those are flock animals, and they can be spreading this to countless areas inside Clermont County and we would have no idea, Freeman said. There are a number of people very close by that have cattle operations, and it has been known that bird flu can jump to cattle it starts to open up an entirely new avenue that deals with our food and our food supply.

But Wright urged residents not to panic. If it is bird flu, the current risk to the public is very low, Rose said.

Transmission occurs through contact with respiratory droplets and bodily fluids from live birds. Transmission of bird flu in wildlife can increase in the spring and fall with bird migration. The current strain of H5N1 has been found in the wild and domestic bird populations since 2022 throughout the country, including Ohio, Rose said.

ODNR crews cleaned up eight more dead vultures at the school on Sunday.

Pierce Township residents who find dead birds are urged to contact the township fire department or the Ohio Department of Natural Resources at 800-945-3543 or wildinfo@dnr.ohio.gov.

Two leaders of a union representing Cincinnati Metro employees were accused of severe financial misconduct and ethical violations in an October complaint from concerned members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 627.

The two-page formal complaint and request for oversight was sent to leaders of the unions international affiliate, Hamilton County Commissioners and Cincinnati City Council on Oct. 22.

Our I-Team received the complaint anonymously and authenticated the document by talking to local union members who confirmed theyd seen it and discussed its content at union meetings.

By distributing the complaint to others, union members made it more likely to spark a criminal investigation, according to Ralph Kohnen, a Taft Law partner who worked as a federal prosecutor before launching the firms white-collar defense practice 19 years ago.

Its in the public domain, Kohnen said. That, if nothing else, will prompt investigators from the Department of Labor, and potentially from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, to look into this.

WATCH: We looked into the complaint and talked to Kohnen what might happen next

Our I-Team has been looking into the allegations since late September, when the unions international affiliate placed Local 627 in trusteeship for the disbursement of local union funds without adequate financial controls and other concerns.

In its most recent annual report to the U.S. Department of Labor, Local 627 said it had 1,072 active members and 182 retired members.

Cincinnati Metro has said the trusteeship will have no impact on the bus systems operations, but academic research has shown the loss of local autonomy can make unions less effective at serving their members.

Thats why most trusteeships are limited to 18 months, unless the parent union demonstrates that more time is needed to solve problems that led to a takeover.

The unions initial trusteeship report said Local 627 was placed in temporary trusteeship for issues including the failure to file audit reports with the International Union; the failure to meet financial obligations; the disbursement of local union funds without adequate financial controls; a failure to observe democratic procedures, especially those governing the expenditure of local union funds; and the failure to comply with the Bylaws of Local 627 and the ATU Constitution and General Laws.

In a September interview, ATU International Vice President Gary Johnson Jr. declined to detail specific allegations that were being investigated.

But union members told our I-Team that Johnson provided those details at a union meeting, and that's how they found their way into the October complaint.

The complaint alleges Local 627 President Frank Harper and Treasurer Inga McGlothin repeatedly charged personal expenses to union credit cards, including "$13,558 worth of Apple store purchases, $43,000 in restaurant charges and 24 active devices billed to the union that cost nearly $9,000 in 2025.

The complaint also alleges an unspecified amount of union funds paid for travel upgrades, first-class flights, hotel charges, clothing and personal subscriptions.

The Facebook post below shows McGlothin and Harper pictured receiving awards for their leadership.

The complaint also alleges Harper hired a consulting firm owned by his children, Harper Consulting LLC, without the approval of the unions executive board. State records show Harper Consulting was formed by Jasmine and Jerrel Harper in June 2025.

Harper Consulting LLC was paid $10,600 before the board objected in June, according to the complaint. Then, Harpers daughter allegedly invoiced the union for $27,000 in digitization work.

Our I-Team tried to reach McGlothin, Harper and Harpers children for comment. They did not return calls and emails as of Tuesday evening.

Kohnen said investigators would look for evidence that union leaders enriched themselves with spending that did not benefit union members.

They might also verify that no pension money was accessed by union leaders and check whether they paid taxes on spending that union directly benefited them, Kohnen said.

If the evidence is strong and the federal prosecutors dont have any interest, the county prosecutor or the Ohio Attorney Generals office is going to be interested in it, Kohnen said. If these allegations prove to be true, I would be very surprised if they didnt result in a prosecution somewhere.

According to the unions initial trusteeship notice, Local 627 had negative net assets of -$48,159 on Sept. 24 this year, down from $51,250 at the end of 2024. The biggest difference on its balance sheet was an accounts payable total of $66,159, compared to zero in December 2024, according to its annual report to the U.S. Department of Labor.

That report showed Harper was paid $130,386 in 2024, which is $19,000 more than his predecessor, Troy Miller, was paid in 2022. McGlothin was paid $107,300 in 2024, according to the report.

The unions annual reports to the labor department show Local 627 revenue jumped 65% to $1.1 million between 2022 and 2024, driven by a 27% increase in monthly dues to $100 and a 35% increase in the number of active members to 856.

Disbursements grew by 69% during the same period, reaching $1.2 million in 2024.

The increased spending drained the unions cash reserves, which fell from $60,113 at the end of 2023 to $17,431 on Sept. 24.