Ohio

A year later, here’s how much Beard bridge fire has cost taxpayers so far

Published

8 months ago

October 30, 2025

Press Room

A year later, here’s how much Beard bridge fire has cost taxpayers so far

A year-ago fire under the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge led to a 100-day closure.
Ohio spent nearly $8.7 million on bridge repairs, while Cincinnati will spend about $2 million to replace a destroyed playground.
Four suspects were arrested in connection with the fire, with one sentenced to up to 13.5 years in prison for arson.

Ohio spent close to $8.7 million to reopen the Daniel Carter Beard bridge over the Ohio River following the catastrophic year-ago fire that closed the bridge for 100 days.

The city of Cincinnati will be spending about $2 million more to replace the playground under the bridge, destroyed by the fire.

That $10.7 million price tag – which does not include the cost of city, county or state employees, some of whom continue to manage fire-related work – is less than an earlier estimate of $13 million.

But whatever the amount, taxpayers are the ones footing the bills.

“It’s unfortunately just part of doing business,” said Matt Bruning, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation. “We have to absorb that.”

Fire brings 4 arrests, 100 days of disruption

Cincinnati fire officials were called to the base the Beard bridge at 3:20 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2024.

That’s where fire erupted around 3 a.m. at the 1000 Hands Playground in Sawyer Point Park along the river.

The Ohio Department of Transportation immediately closed the bridge, reopening the northbound side that night and later saying the southbound lanes would remain closed until mid-March. Even though Kentucky owns the bridge, Ohio took the lead because the fire damaged Interstate 471 on the Ohio side of the river rather than the bridge itself.

By Dec. 11, Cincinnati officials had arrested four suspects in connection with the fire, with county officials taking the four to court.

On Feb. 9, 100 days after the fire, the state reopened the bridge in full, ahead of the March target.

That chronology is now part of the history of the Beard bridge, named for the founder of the Boy Scouts of America, opened in 1976, and nicknamed the Big Mac for a shape and color that resemble McDonald’s iconic “M.” It cost $14 million then – what would be close to $75 million in 2025 dollars.

ODOT spent $8.7 million, before staff expenses

Ohio’s transportation department brought on Great Lakes Construction Co. of Hinckley, Ohio, to manage the repair work.

Working with more than two dozen subcontractors, Great Lakes demolished and replaced two sections of I-471’s bridge deck, along with warped steel beams. Contractors also repaired about 70 feet of damaged wall on the northbound side of the interstate.

The state paid Great Lakes close to $6.8 million, part of which went to subcontractors. It paid another $1.2 million for a painting contractor, $433,000 in engineering and other consulting fees, and $286,000 for inspections.

The state’s $8.7 million bill does not include what it paid ODOT employees diverted to the Beard project.

Its communication staff, as one example, produced close to four dozen press releases over 100 days with bridge-related updates.

Lead suspect now serving time in Ohio prison

Some costs of the bridge disaster are harder to quantify.

That includes work by the Cincinnati Fire Department to investigate the case, Cincinnati Police Department to arrest the suspects, and Hamilton County courts and prosecutor’s office to try them. It also includes costs absorbed by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections to jail one of the convicted suspects.

The suspects who created those costs include:

James Hamilton and Kaitlen Hall, who both pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the case. Each was sentenced to probation and community service.
Zachary Stumpf, who pleaded guilty to obstructuring justice and was sentenced to three years of probation.
Terry Stiles, who admitted to one count of arson and one count of aggravated arson. He earned a sentence of nine to 13 ½ years in prison. Now 40, Stiles began serving time at Noble Correction Institution in the eastern Ohio town of Caldwell on June 11.

Prosecutors said Stiles and Stumpf set the fire, with Hall providing transportation. The three had been driving around the area that night, looking for scooters to steal, prosecutors said earlier. Hamilton was not present for the fire, but attempted to help the other suspects evade arrest, attorneys said.

Replacement of 1000 Hands Playground will include public, private funds

Fire-related costs also include $1.9 million to $2.1 million to replace the 21-year-old 1000 Hands Playground destroyed in the fire. Between $600,000 and $700,000 of that will go to playground equipment.

Cincinnati Parks Foundation will raise an unknown portion of those dollars, with the city covering the balance.

The Cincinnati Parks board OK’d a $50,000 down payment for the project in May, with parks officials bringing on Midstates Recreation of Pataskala, Ohio, to design it.

Parks officials will release a preliminary design for public feedback soon, spokesman Rocky Merz said. A final design should be complete early next year, he said.

The new playground will cover 11,000 to 14,000 square feet, to be installed east of the 1000 Hands site and south of the volleyball, tennis and pickleball courts at Sawyer Point.

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Ohio

Cincinnati Children’s opened 6 locations in 2025. Here’s why

Published

7 hours ago

June 12, 2026

Press Room

Cincinnati Children’s opened 6 locations in 2025. Here’s why

Cincinnati Children’s is expanding its access to care across the region, including in Northern Kentucky.

The health system reported in its latest Community Impact Report, released to the public June 9, that six new locations opened in 2025, including facilities in previously underserved communities such as Clermont and Clinton counties. Rural areas often have limited access to specialized and emergency care, placing residents at a higher risk of health challenges and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here are the new locations:

Brandon and Kelly Janszen Union Building, 2015 Children’s Way, Union, Kentucky.
Crestview Hills Urgent Care, 2765 Chapel Place, Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
Children’s Eastgate, 4315 Ivy Pointe Blvd., Union Township, Ohio.
Loveland Primary Care, 10554 Loveland-Madeira Road, Loveland, Ohio.
Wilmington Primary Care, 1150 W. Locust St., Suite 500, Wilmington, Ohio.
New Richmond School-Based Health Center, 1135 Bethel-New Richmond Road, New Richmond, Ohio.

Cincinnati Children’s is one of the top-ranked children’s hospitals in the Midwest. The medical professionals at the system’s more than 50 sites provided care in 1.75 million encounters with patients during the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025 fiscal year, spokesman Barrett Brunsman said.

Some locations are first of their kind

In Boone County, the Brandon and Kelly Janszen building opened at the hospital’s Union location in April 2025, becoming the first in Northern Kentucky to offer both primary and specialty care, including offering behavioral health counselors, lab services, X-ray and ultrasound.

In Kenton County, the hospital opened its first urgent care in Northern Kentucky in July 2025 as part of renovations at the Crestview Hills location, offering residents access to pediatric providers on evenings and weekends.

In Ohio, the Eastgate location opened in October, combining specialty clinics, outpatient surgery and an urgent care center in “the first of its kind on the East Side for Cincinnati Children’s,” where some main campus surgeons and providers now see patients, Brunsman said.

Two primary care centers also opened in 2025: Wilmington, the only primary care in Clinton County dedicated exclusively to children from newborns through teens; and Loveland, which offers closer care to families who once drove farther.

Cincinnati Children’s also introduced the New Richmond School-Based Health Center in September 2025, after reporting over 7,000 patient encounters in 2023 from the village’s ZIP code, including 2,375 without an identified primary care provider, Brunsman said. The new health center is within walking distance for 1,000 middle and high school students, and is open to their families and other children in the community.

The school-based center was funded by a grant from Ohio’s Appalachian Community Innovation Centers program, obtained by New Richmond Schools. Across the other five new locations, Cincinnati Children’s invested around $141 million in renovations, design and acreage, the hospital noted.

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Ohio

Woman sentenced for driving Postal Service truck while intoxicated

Published

17 hours ago

June 11, 2026

Press Room

Woman sentenced for driving Postal Service truck while intoxicated

NEWTON FALLS, Ohio (WKBN) – A woman accused of driving intoxicated while working for the Postal Service in a mail truck entered a plea Tuesday in her case.

Michele Kellar, 47, of Warren, pleaded guilty to OVI, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to court records.

Court records state that she was sentenced to 12 months of probation and her license was suspended for a year, with limited driving privileges. She can also serve three days in a driver’s intervention program.

Trumbull County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kellar in March after those living on Anderson Anthony Road NW in Braceville reported seeing the driver of a mail truck at the end of their driveway had passed out. They reported that they were able to wake the driver up, but said she drove off.

Deputies found the mail truck down the road, where she had driven off into a yard. According to the police report, the woman appeared very intoxicated with glassy eyes and slurred speech.

At the time of her arrest, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service confirmed that Kellar was an employee but declined to comment further. WKBN reached out Thursday for more information on Kellar’s current employment status, but a spokesperson said the Postal Service does not disclose internal administrative actions.

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Ohio

Storms bring down trees and knocks out power to thousands in Northeast Ohio

Published

1 day ago

June 11, 2026

Press Room

Storms bring down trees and knocks out power to thousands in Northeast Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Severe thunderstorms rolled through Northeast Ohio on Wednesday night, bringing down trees and knocking out power to thousands.

The heaviest damage seemed to be in Lorain County in the city of Lorain and Amherst. The Amherst Fire Department said there are large trees down on Jackson Street and Cleveland Avenue.