Ohio
Auto parts maker to lay off 1,200 in Ohio amid fraud charges. Here’s where
First Brands closing corporate office in Cleveland, three other Ohio facilities amid bankruptcy. Its CEO is facing federal fraud charges
More incentives? Higher prices? What car buyers can expect in 2026
Auto industry experts predict car sales will be flat compared with 2025.
A major auto parts supplier is laying off more than a thousand workers and closing four facilities around Ohio, including its corporate offices in Cleveland.
First Brands, whose founder and former CEO is facing charges in multi-billion dollar fraud scheme, notified the state in late February of its intent to permanently close the facilities by April 30. The layoffs created by these closures are also permanent, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices filed with Ohio Job and Family Services.
The company — which supplies Fram oil filters and Anco wiper blades, among others — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2025. In January, First Brands had started winding down some of its operations in North America while seeking a buyer, according to Reuters. However, several potential buyers “have suddenly and unexpectedly withdrawn or narrowed their bids” according to one of the recent WARN notices.
Which facilities are closing? And how many jobs are being lost? Here’s what to know.
First Brands closing four Ohio locations, cutting more than 1,200 jobs
According to WARN notices, First Brands is closing the following facilities:
- Corporate Office, 127 Public Square, Suite 5300, Cleveland. In the first round of layoffs here, 146 workers were cut on Feb. 23, according to a WARN notice sent that date. A second notice dated Feb. 27 for this address advises that the facility will close on April 30, and the remaining 110 workers will be laid off.
- FRAM facility, 851 Jackson St., Greenville. According to a WARN notice sent Feb. 27, this facility will close April 30 and 302 jobs will be lost.
- TMD facility, 1441 N. Maule Road, Tiffin. All 407 employees will be terminated when this facility is permanently closed on April 30, according to a Feb. 27 WARN notice.
- TMD facility, 515 E. Gypsy Lane Road, Bowling Green. First Brands will also close this facility on April 30, laying off 302 workers, according to another Feb. 27 WARN notice.
In total, First Brands is laying off 1,267 workers in these four closures.
Indictment alleges Cleveland auto supplier CEO, VP defrauded lenders. Both plead not guilty
First Brands Group founder and former CEO Patrick James and his brother, Edward, a senior vice president, are accused of defrauding lenders out of billions of dollars before the auto parts supplier fell into bankruptcy according to an indictment made public Jan. 29 in Manhattan federal court.
The nine-count indictment includes charges of running a continuing financial crimes enterprise, bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Both pleaded not guilty on Feb. 4, Reuters reports. A trial is set in July. Both could face decades in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors said the defendants “perpetrated a series of fraudulent schemes” against First Brands’ lenders and financing partners, Reuters reported, including allegedly inflating invoices, double- and triple-pledging loan collateral, falsifying financial statements and concealing substantial liabilities.
“It is very much Mr. James’ intent to go into court and proclaim his innocence,” said Scott Hartman, a lawyer for Patrick James, according to Reuters.
Patrick James and Edward James are Malaysian-born U.S. citizens.
Seth DuCharme, a lawyer for Edward James, told Reuters that his client is not going to “run off to Southeast Asia where he allegedly has all this money.”
What is First Brands Group? Company filed for bankruptcy in September
First Brands, founded in 2013, was one of the world’s largest suppliers of auto parts such as brakes, filters and lighting systems, according to Reuters. It had $5 billion in sales last year.
Prosecutors say First Brands borrowed billions to finance its growth. Those loans were secured by inventory and physical assets like plants and equipment. Reuters reports that this left First Brands vulnerable to cash flow issues and dependent on its access to the capital from those loans.
The company filed for bankruptcy in September 2025. Patrick James stepped down as CEO that October, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.
The Oregon Ducks’ 2026 season is getting closer to opening at Autzen Stadium, and the Ducks have some of the loftiest expectations surrounding the program in recent memory. The Ducks faced their toughest test in the regular season last season when the eventual national champion Indiana Hoosiers visited Autzen Stadium, and faced their toughest test of the 2024 season when the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes visited Eugene.
Oregon Ducks Will Face Hostile Crowd in Columbus, Ohio.
With the start of the season around the corner, there is one game on the Ducks ‘ regular-season slate that stands out as their biggest test of the year.
Perhaps Oregon’s biggest test of the 2026 season won’t be at Autzen Stadium but rather on the road. The Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes on November 7 in Columbus at the Horseshoe for what promises to be another all-time classic. Ducks coach Dan Lanning is 1-1 in his career against Ohio State, defeating them in Eugene in 2024 before falling to Buckeyes coach Ryan Day’s side on January 1, 2025, at the Rose Bowl.
In terms of a game being a “test,” the Buckeyes in Columbus will certainly present one. At the late stages of the season, if the Ducks or Buckeyes both have one loss heading into the matchup, the loser of the game could potentially see their College Football hopes scattered to the wind.
Oregon Defensive Coordinator Chris Hampton Will Have to Slow Down Ohio State Stars
Eug 031623 Uo Spring Fb 06 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
The Buckeyes’ offense could very well be the biggest test new Oregon defensive coordinator Chris Hampton will see all season, as he will be tasked with coming up with a game plan to stop not only Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Julian Sayin, but arguably the best wide receiver in all of college football in Jeremiah Smith.
The Ducks should have the advantage in the trenches as far as the defensive line in nearly every game this season, with the entire starting defensive line having chosen to come back to Eugene for another season.
Oregon Ducks Quarterback Dante Moore Will Have to Have Poise
Ducks quarterback Dante Moore will face a massive test in his own right. The Horseshoe is routinely one of the toughest places to play, and Moore will have to call back on his calm demeanor in the Ducks’ win over Penn State in Happy Valley to put in a respectable performance away at Ohio State.
Dan Lanning Will Have Massive Test Game Planning for Julian Sayin
Perhaps the biggest test in the Ducks’ late regular-season game against the Buckeyes will be for coach Dan Lanning. Lanning has shown that he can game plan well against teams coached by Day, evidenced by the Ducks’ win over the Buckeyes back in 2024, but he will have to do it on the road this time. Lanning has also been prone to big losses in critical stages, with his two losses last year against the Hoosiers and the blowout loss to the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl Game two seasons ago.
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WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) — Police are investigating after a car crashed into a popular fitness center in Warren.
Just before 10 p.m., a car drove into the Planet Fitness on Elm Road. The car has since been removed from the building.
Bystanders tell our crew on scene that two people were taken away by ambulance.
Warren’s Police Department is investigating the cause of the crash.
Alex Sorrells contributed to this report.
A nighttime call about a break-in in small-town Ohio ended with four people dead, including a police sergeant and a 13-year-old girl. Authorities say officers arrived around 9:30pm Sunday in Rittman, about 20 miles west of Akron, and were immediately met with gunfire, the Canton Repository reports. Sgt. Scott Ries, a 10-year veteran of the Rittman Police Department and a former Wayne County deputy sheriff, was fatally shot while responding to what officials described as a disturbance call.
- Four other officers—three Medina County sheriff’s deputies and a Hinckley Police Department officer—were injured, the AP reports. Two were hospitalized in stable condition and two were treated at the scene. A Wayne County K-9, Vick, was badly injured.
The suspected shooter, 38-year-old Brandon Fazekas, died from a wound consistent with suicide, the coroner said. The Wayne County coroner identified the other victims as the suspect’s ex-partner and her daughter, WKYC reports. The coroner said 43-year-old Christine McWilliams and her 13-year-old daughter, McKinley, were both killed in what appear to be homicides. Rittman is a town of around 6,100 people on the border between Wayne and Medina counties.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is leading the probe. In a statement, the city of Rittman praised Reis, 54, for his “honor and courage” and “enduring commitment to protecting others.” “Our hearts are broken with this unimaginable loss,” the city said.
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