MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — A sixth grade teacher in the Middletown City School District might have to take a little time off next school year to compete in the Mrs. America pageant after she was crowned Mrs. Ohio America last week.

Dr. Anedra Million, a teacher at Highview Sixth Grade Center, won Ohio’s pageant for a chance to compete for the title of Mrs. America 2024 in Las Vegas this August.

“Glory to God!!!” Million said in a social media post after the pageant. “I am extremely humbled and honored to announce that I was crowned as the new Mrs. Ohio America!!!!!!!!!! I am going to Mrs. America!!!!!”

Unlike Miss Ohio, Mrs. Ohio must be a legally married resident of Ohio. Contestants participate in an evening gown, swimsuit and interview portion of the competition before judges select the year’s winner.

Each state’s winners then compete in the Mrs. America pageant, with the winner of that competition participating in Mrs. World. According to Mrs. America’s database, Ohio representative Cynthia Pensiero won Mrs. America in 1996.

Our partners at the Journal-News said Middletown’s Susan Perkins was crowned Miss America in 1978. She has been a professional singer, spokesperson and TV reporter and participated in several volunteer activities supporting U.S. veterans.

While the Ohio State Buckeyes are already ranked as the No. 1 recruiting class in college football for 2025, they are still looking to add talent to their future roster.

Later this week, the Buckeyes will learn the decision of one of their key defensive targets in the class.

2025 four-star linebacker Riley Pettijohn will announce his commitment decision on Saturday.

Aside from Ohio State, Pettijohn is considering offers from Texas, Texas A&M, and USC. Lately, the battle has seemingly come down to the Buckeyes and Longhorns.

Pettijohn is ranked as the No. 31 overall player in the entire 2025 recruiting class. He has also received the prestigious ranking of No. 4 among linebackers. Clearly, he would be a massive upgrade for the future Ohio State defense.

Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis has been very high on Pettijohn throughout the 2025 recruiting cycle. He clearly believes that the young linebacker has superstar potential at the college level.

Hailing from McKinney High School in McKinney, Texas, the 6-foot-3 and 200-pound linebacker was originally a safety in his high school football career. After he made the switch to linebacker, his career really took off.

In an interview shared by On3, Pettijohn talked about the position switch and why it worked so well for him.

“Being switched to a new position, it was hard. But we worked through it. I kept working hard at all the little things. I grew some and added weight (30 pounds). It was the right move. I like being a thorn in the side of offenses. I like to fly around and just make plays.”

All of that being said, it will be interesting to see where Pettijohn chooses to commit on Saturday.

Hopefully, Ohio State will add another big-time talent to their 2025 class. He would fit in well and would help become a major playmaker for the Buckeyes down the road.

A southwest Ohio resident’s backyard has been an illegal dumping ground for nearly a decade.

Back in 2016, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency ordered Donald Combs to remove the more than 500,000 cubic yards of scrap waste on his property. But, the Clermont County resident didn’t comply. His case went into lengthy litigation that resulted in prison time and a fine of $1.4 million dollars.

In May, Combs filed for bankruptcy. Ohio EPA Director Anne Vogel said that has cleared the way for the state agency and community partners to begin the work of clearing the debris from the Goshen Township dump site.

“We have great regulations and programs in Ohio to make sure that waste is disposed of properly,” Vogel said. “And this is not how it’s done.”

More than an eyesore

Goshen Township, Clermont County Commissioners, the county prosecutor’s office and health department have all spent years attempting to rid the community of the illegal dump site.

Vogel said it’s more than just an eyesore to the community. It could potentially endanger the other residents of Goshen Township.

“When you have [trash] just being dumped in the backyard, it attracts rodents. It could leach into the soil and the groundwater if there’s any fuel or something of that nature. It attracts mosquitoes which can become dangerous to the community,” Vogel said.

Especially since the site doesn’t abide by the safety regulations of the EPA. Vogel said there isn’t hazardous material on the property, but the sheer size of the dump site made this case a high priority for the Ohio EPA.

“This is not a backyard where you’re throwing your household waste out. This is about three acres of demolition debris,” Vogel said.

A statewide issue

Clermont County is far from the only place in Ohio that has to deal with illegal dumpers.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources recently cleaned up a dump site full of scrap tires in northeast Ohio. And the Ohio Attorney General’s office recently fined a landscape business owner for illegally dumping near the Little Miami River. Vogel said it’s unfortunately a problem that Ohio needs to work to improve.

“Believe it or not, people dump scrap tires into rivers, for some reason, into our most precious natural resource,” Vogel said.

Last year, the Ohio Attorney General launched a campaign called “Shine a Light on Illegal Dumpers” to crack down on these instances. And Vogel said the Ohio EPA has recently launched its own educational campaign to cut down on waste and end illegal dumping.

“For example, an auto repair shop or a tire shop where people might be turning in their scrap tires, teaching those folks how to properly dispose of them so that we don’t create these streams of waste,” Vogel said. “We need to get in front of it because it is a problem in Ohio.”

Vogel said the cleanup of Clermont County’s dump site is a big win for the state – and one that will make a difference for a community long plagued by the trash pile.