Ohio

Defensive battle, NE Ohio nods, Bad Bunny: How was NBC’s coverage of Super Bowl 60?

Published

3 weeks ago

February 9, 2026

Defensive battle, NE Ohio nods, Bad Bunny: How was NBC’s coverage of Super Bowl 60?

CLEVELAND, Ohio – It wasn’t exactly a barnburner as the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots faced off in Super Bowl 60, as each team’s defense stepped up.

NBC brought in more than 80 cameras and 150 microphones to cover the game. If you’re a viewer at home, that’s good. If you’re a bettor and you wagered on the over (45.5), you probably were sick before halftime.

Note: For occasional nationally televised games, we analyze how networks do with coverage. We’re on the lookout for potential bias, smart graphics, quips, quotes and more. Here’s our look at Super Bowl 60 between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots.

Here’s a look at how NBC did with its coverage of Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California:

The announcers

Mike Tirico (play by play), Cris Collinsworth (analyst), Melissa Stark and Kaylee Hartung (sideline reporters) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst).

Storyline / overview

Tirico calls a solid game and Collinsworth offers decent analysis without too much yuck-yuck. It wasn’t a scorching high-scoring game, but it remained mostly close. The quarterbacks are always hyped, but it became clear early on each defense seemed up to the challenge. By the time the third quarter wound down, with Seattle up 12-0, it was a surprise either announcer didn’t tout a team defense as MVP. The Patriots, we heard in the third quarter, had not had a snap inside the Seattle 43-yard line. That changed, but overall it was a defensive game.

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Did you catch …

… Coco Jones singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing?” She’s Donovan Mitchell’s fiancée.

… the bumper to the game coming out of commercials was a collection of circuits, reflective of the Silicon Valley, where the game was held.

… bumper music featuring Huey Lewis and the News? The band formed in the Bay Area. But after a Patriots’ fourth-quarter touchdown, Boston’s “Piece of Mind” played.

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In the air

Pregame, members of four Navy tactical squadrons conducted a unified flyover above the stadium with members of the Air Force. Petty Officer 1st Class Justin Martin, a native of Lyndhurst, was among those supporting the flyover, the Navy said.

Want to know everything about Super Bowl LX? Here are 60 facts on Patriots vs. Seahawks

Celeb spotting

Caught on camera at the game: Roger Federer, Jon Bon Jovi, Jay-Z, Adam Sandler and Hailey and Justin Bieber. Not to mention the much-hyped halftime show of Bad Bunny with appearances from Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin.

Evan Mobley to Chuck Kyle and beyond: Notable Clevelanders predict Super Bowl 60

Sights and sounds

• With 31 seconds remaining in the first half, NBC showed a graphic detailing wind patterns. Notoriously tricky in Northern California, and appropriate as Seattle angled for a field goal.

• With nine NFL games to be played in other countries next season, it was no surprise NBC aired snippets of watch parties around the world, including Cologne, Germany; Melbourne, Australia and London.

The numbers game

• With 3:15 to go in the second quarter, Tirico noted there has never been a penalty-free half in the Super Bowl. Six seconds later: Flag, false start, New England tackle Will Campbell.

• Maye was sacked six times.

• Tirico noted the game is a reflection of the season, with eight of the top 10 scoring defenses making the playoffs.

• Before the first play of the game a graphic showed Sam Darnold’s 30 wins since 2024 are the most by a starting quarterback. (He was with Minnesota in 2024.)

• As the Patriots began their first series, a graphic flashed showing that Drake Maye is the 2nd youngest quarterback starter in Super Bowl behind Dan Marino.

• The Patriots had 30 players in their first year in the league – most ever for a Super Bowl team.

• Seattle became the first Super Bowl-winning team to get through the postseason without any turnovers.

Collinsworth quips

• “There’s been nobody able to cover him one-on-one this year.” – Collinsworth on Seattle receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who played at Ohio State.

• “A pick-six might decide this thing.” – Collinsworth, late in the first quarter.

• “This is getting wild, haymakers being thrown by both defenses.” – Collinsworth.

• “I’ve just got to say what I’m thinking, Mike. They (Patriots) are playing this game a little bit like they did against Denver a week ago in the snowstorm, but this defense from Seattle is having the same impact as the snow.” – Collinsworth (though the AFC Championship was two weeks ago).

• “He’s throwing it before he has to, and they are missing opportunities.” – Collinsworth on Maye.

• “I got nothing.” – Collinsworth on Maye’s horrible pass that was intercepted in the fourth quarter.

Hyperbole of the night

• If you can’t block a four-man rush, “you have almost no chance to win a football game. This has been one of the most brilliant performances I have ever seen in the National Football League.” – Collinsworth after the Seahawks sacked Maye late in the third quarter and recovered the fumble.

Hits …

After New England’s K’Lavon Chaisson pressured Darnold, Collinsworth put the blame on the quarterback, not the offensive line. It’s a good point, not to always blame the O line on every pass-protection breakdown. He also noted the Patriots switched to a six-man front in the fourth because they wanted to force Seattle to pass.

… and misses

A fan ran on the field with 12:54 to go in the fourth quarter, and – per usual – the network didn’t show it. It’s part of what is happening during coverage, and while some will argue showing it will glorify the yahoos, an argument can be made to air it and let viewers have their own opinion.

This and that, Northeast Ohio-style

• AJ Barner – who attended Aurora High School, had a very solid game, with four catches on four targets for 54 yards and a touchdown. Seahawks receiver Smith-Njigba tallied four catches for 27 yards. He left in the second half briefly under concussion protocol but returned.

• Jason Garrett, one of four halftime analysts and former NFL quarterback and coach, attended University School.

Next up

The NFL Draft is Thursday to Saturday, April 23-25, on the North Shore near Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

Bonus

For those who played Super Bowl squares …

First quarter: Seahawks 3, Patriots 0 (3-0)

Second quarter: Seahawks 9, Patriots 0 (9-0)

Third quarter: Seahawks 2, Patriots 0 (12-0)

Final: Seahawks 9, Patriots 3 (29-13)

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Ohio

Ohio woman sentenced in $775,000 Medicaid scheme

Published

12 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

COLUMBUS — A Lake County woman was sentenced this morning to jail time and ordered to pay $775,000 in restitution for fraudulently billing Medicaid, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced. “She inflated her earnings through brazen fraud, but her scheme burst wide open when our investigators got the case,” Yost said. “Cheating taxpayers comes with […]

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‘Catastrophic’ Ohio farm fire kills 6,000 hogs and pigs, officials say

Published

1 day ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

‘Catastrophic’ Ohio farm fire kills 6,000 hogs and pigs, officials say

A wind-swept blaze at an Ohio hog farm complex caused “catastrophic” damage and left thousands of pigs dead, fire officials said, marking another devastating barn inferno contributing to the deaths of millions of animals in recent years.

The massive fire occurred on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at Fine Oak Farms in Union Township, Madison County, located west of Ohio’s capital of Columbus, according to the Central Townships Joint Fire District. Fire crews received a report of a barn fire shortly before 12 p.m. local time.

The incident was later upgraded to a commercial structure fire after Chief Brian Bennington observed a “large column of smoke visible from a distance” and requested additional resources. Multiple local fire departments, along with several other emergency agencies, were called to the scene.

“What our crews encountered upon arrival was a very difficult and heartbreaking incident,” Bennington said in a statement on Feb. 26.

The fire chief described the facility as a large farm complex used for hog production consisting of five large agricultural buildings, including four that housed about 7,500 hogs. When crews arrived at the scene, they found two of the barns engulfed in flames, Bennington said.

Crews were challenged by windy conditions that significantly impacted fire suppression efforts, according to Bennington. Three barns were destroyed in the fire, and about 6,000 hogs and pigs were killed.

Firefighters saved one barn and about 1,500 hogs, the fire chief added. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Bennington highlighted the assistance of the farming community throughout Madison and Clark counties, as multiple farmers responded with water trucks to help with water supply efforts. “Rural Ohio’s agricultural community is tight-knit, and they truly step up when one of their own is in need,” he said.

The incident remains under investigation, and the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office will determine the fire’s cause and origin. Bennington said there is no suspicion of arson and no ongoing threat to the public at this time.

‘Rapidly changing fire behavior conditions’

Heavy smoke from the fire could be seen for miles, and Bennington said first-arriving units were met with fire conditions coming from the opposite side of the hog farm complex.

The fire chief noted that the incident required extensive water-shuttle operations due to rural water-supply limitations in the area. Crews attempted to cut the fire off by deploying multiple handlines and using an aerial device, but “faced extremely challenging conditions throughout the incident,” according to Bennington.

Sustained winds of about 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph accelerated the fire’s spread, Bennington said. The high winds made it “extremely difficult” to contain forward fire progression and created “rapidly changing fire behavior conditions” across the agricultural complex, he added.

After about four to five hours, the fire was contained by fire personnel from four different counties, according to the fire chief.

“Unfortunately, the fire resulted in catastrophic damage to the business,” Bennington said in an earlier statement on Feb. 25. “A significant portion of the agricultural structures were destroyed.”

Latest major fire to impact an Ohio hog farm

The incident at Fine Oak Farms is the latest major fire to cause significant damage to an Ohio hog farm in recent years.

In August 2024, about 1,100 pigs were killed in Versailles, a village about 50 miles northwest of Dayton, Ohio, according to data from the nonprofit Animal Welfare Institute. In March 2022, about 2,000 hogs died in a barn fire at Kenneth Scholl Hog Farm in Brown Township, just west of Columbus.

Before the fire at Fine Oak Farms, the Animal Welfare Institute reported that other barn fires in Ohio this year killed 162 sheep, horses, cows, chickens, and other animals.

Hundreds of thousands of animals killed in barn fires each year

Data from the Animal Welfare Institute shows that hundreds of thousands of animals are killed in barn fires across the country each year. Since 2013, over 9 million farm animals have been killed in barn fires, according to the organization.

As of Feb. 26, the Animal Welfare Institute reported that 118,738 farm animals have died in U.S. barn fires this year, including the incident at Fine Oak Farms. The majority of farm animals killed were chickens in separate incidents in North Carolina and Georgia in January, and another incident in Missouri earlier this month.

“Most fatal barn fires occurred in colder states, particularly the Upper Midwest and the Northeast. New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois had the highest number of barn fires, respectively,” according to the organization. “The amount of cold weather a state experienced appeared to be a greater factor in the prevalence of barn fires than the intensity of a state’s animal agriculture production.”

In an updated report on farm animal deaths due to barn fires in 2025, the Animal Welfare Institute said more than 2.53 million farm animals were killed in barn fires from 2022 to 2024. The organization noted that the high death toll was “driven primarily” by fires at large operations that housed several thousand to over 1 million farm animals.

The majority of deaths in these incidents during that period, over 98%, were farmed birds, such as chickens and turkeys, according to the Animal Welfare Institute. But in 2023, a massive fire at a west Texas dairy farm became the single deadliest event involving livestock in the state’s history and the deadliest cattle fire in America in at least a decade.

18,000 head of cattle perished in the fire at the South Fork Dairy farm near Dimmitt, Texas. At the time, Roger Malone, who is the former mayor of Dimmitt, called the incident “mind-boggling.”

“I don’t think it’s ever happened before around here. It’s a real tragedy,” Malone said.

Contributing: Rick Jervis, USA TODAY; Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch

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Ohio’s LaRose pushes back on voter fraud critics, Democrats

Published

2 days ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Ohio’s LaRose pushes back on voter fraud critics, Democrats

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose discussed voter fraud and Ohio’s efforts to prevent it during a recent radio appearance.

LaRose appeared on “The Bill Cunningham” radio show, where he defended the state’s efforts to minimize voter fraud. A clip posted on X shows audio of LaRose arguing that policies aimed at preventing voter fraud are necessary even though cases are rare.

Here’s what to know.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose says voter fraud in Ohio is rare, compares prevention efforts to TSA security

In the clip, LaRose says that Democrats claim voter fraud is rare, and should be ignored.

“The left claims that voter fraud is rare, so we should just ignore it,” he said. “Well, airplane hijackings are also rare — we don’t abolish the TSA. The reason why we keep voter fraud rare in states like Ohio because we do these very things that they’re trying to take away from me.”

LaRose announced the inaugural meeting of the new Ohio Election Integrity Commission, which replaces what he called the flawed Ohio Elections Commission, in January 2026. The new committee, he says, will be used in “enforcing Ohio’s election laws, reviewing alleged violations, and ensuring accountability in matters relating to voting.”

In October 2025, LaRose said that he forwarded more than 1,000 cases of voter fraud to the U.S. Department of Justice. The cases involved 1,084 noncitizen individuals who appear to have registered to vote unlawfully in Ohio, and 167 noncitizens who appear to have also cast a ballot in a federal election since 2018.

In February 2026, President Donald Trump said Republicans should “nationalize” elections. He also accused Democrats of bringing migrants into the United States to illegally vote, a claim that is not backed by evidence, USA TODAY reports.

Voter fraud in the U.S. is considered rare nationwide, according to NPR, but there are still debates from both political sides on how frequently it occurs.

What is voter fraud?

Electoral fraud is defined as illegally interfering with the process of an election, according to Ballotpedia. This includes in-person voter fraud, absentee or mail ballots and illegal voter suppression.

Criminal penalties can include fines or imprisonment for up to five years, according to U.S. code. In Ohio, election interference can carry a felony of the fourth degree, according to Ohio Code.

Voter fraud is often a topic of debate among Democrats and Republicans, where organizations such as the conservative Heritage Foundation maintains a database claiming to show nearly 1,500 cases of election fraud since the year 2000.

Meanwhile, research by law professor Justin Leavitt published in 2014 found 31 cases of in-person voter fraud among billions of ballots cast from 2000–2014, according to Ballotpedia.

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