Ohio

GOP Senate contenders in Ohio face off for their first statewide debate

Published

2 years ago

January 22, 2024

GOP Senate contenders in Ohio face off for their first statewide debate

CLEVELAND — The three Republicans vying to take on Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown this fall in Ohio’s competitive U.S. Senate race clashed bitterly in their first statewide debate Monday, lobbing personal attacks and accusing each other of shifting political positions aimed at wooing GOP primary voters.

Facing off at WJW Fox 8 Studios in Cleveland, businessman Bernie Moreno, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan generally agreed on a few issues. All three, for example, supported some form of federal limit on abortion access, citing pro-abortion amendments like the one Ohioans approved last fall as too extreme. They declined to say anything critical of former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Moreno, and called for fully securing the southern U.S. border.

They split quickly on the latter topic, though, with Dolan accusing Moreno of wanting “to militarize the federal government and deport children” for his stance calling for deporting anybody in the country illegally. LaRose called earlier Monday for Democratic President Joe Biden to deploy three military divisions to the border, which Dolan said was irresponsible.

“We need to work with the Mexican government, we need to be tough with the Mexican government,” he said.

LaRose, who noted he would be the first Green Beret elected to the Senate, defended his support for a strong military strategy and deporting anybody who has come to the country during the Biden presidency. “We don’t want to secure the border because we hate the people on the other side,” he said. “We want to secure the border because we love our country.”

Moreno called LaRose “slick” for couching his support for deportation. Moreno emphasized that he is a “political outsider” — like Trump — running against two “career politicians.” He told moderators Colleen Marshall and Joe Toohey that even a criminal conviction of Trump, who faces four separate indictments, wouldn’t cause him to reject the former president’s endorsement.

Both Moreno and LaRose described the Trump lawsuits as politically motivated and said there’s a two-tiered justice system in the U.S. that targets Biden’s political enemies. The debate moderators noted that Moreno originally tweeted that Jan. 6 demonstrators were “morons” and “criminals,” then later joined those who describe them as “political prisoners.”

Moreno said there were two distinct groups of people in question, while Dolan called that an attempt by Moreno to “reinvent himself.” He also took aim at Moreno for shredding documents as he faced wage theft lawsuits in Massachusetts.

“Public service is about trust, making sure that you’re going to follow through with what you do,” he said, also accusing LaRose of originally saying Ohio’s elections were secure but later, while trying to woo Trump’s endorsement, saying that they had problems.

Moreno, pointing to Dolan, replied: “If you want Liz Cheney to represent you in the United States Senate from Ohio, here’s your choice, because that’s where his position comes from. The reality is it’s sad to see you repeating left-wing liberal talking points.” Cheney, a Republican former House member from Wyoming, has been deeply critical of Trump.

Democrats said the debate showed none of the Republican candidates would “fight for anybody but themselves.”

“In between every barb and insult lobbed at tonight’s debate, Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan made it clear that they have no interest in fighting for Ohioans or the issues most important to their daily lives,” Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Katie Smith said in a statement.

LaRose sought to position himself as the middle-class candidate in a fight against two wealthy opponents. Moreno is a millionaire who made his money building a high-end Cleveland car dealership and Dolan’s family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team; both have provided millions in loans to their own campaigns.

“I live in the real economy, just like everyday Ohioans do,” LaRose said. “I’m not sure that my opponents here sit at the kitchen table and figure out how they’re going to pay their bills the way most Ohioans do. I understand that it’s because of the bad policies of Biden and Brown that Ohio families are suffering.”

On abortion, all three candidates said they see a role for the federal government in setting a limit — generally around 15 weeks. Dolan was the only one who mentioned supporting exceptions after that point. They said Ohio’s Issue 1, which passed in November with 57% of the vote, was too extreme. Dolan repeated the misleading claim that it would allow the return of “late-term abortions,” while advocating that Republicans work toward a federal compromise.

“We haven’t listened. We haven’t listened,” he said.

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Ohio

Matt Patricia sought stability in return as Ohio State football defensive coordinator

Published

8 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Matt Patricia sought stability in return as Ohio State football defensive coordinator

Matt Patricia’s contract extension earlier this offseason included a pay raise that figures to make him the highest-paid assistant coach in college football this year.

But Patricia, who will make $3.75 million in guaranteed compensation as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator in 2026, also held an appreciation for his situation.

“Ohio State is such a special place, not only just the history, the tradition, the football program, the school, but the people here,” Patricia said. “Having a chance to have a little stability with my family, it’s hard when you have to move your family around, your kids and the new school and all that.”

Before he joined Ryan Day’s staff last year, the 51-year-old Patricia had bounced around as an assistant in the NFL for much of the decade.

He spent 2021 and 2022 in a variety of roles with the New England Patriots, then a year as a defensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles. He took off from coaching in 2024. The frequent relocation gave him perspective.

“We had an unbelievable experience settling into Columbus,” Patricia said. “Everybody’s been so nice and welcoming. It feels like home. It’s a big deal for us to be in a place where everybody’s happy. That’s really important.”

Patricia had a significant impact on the Buckeyes in his first year replacing Jim Knowles. Despite heavy roster attrition following their national championship season, he kept the defense atop the Football Bowl Subdivision. For the second straight season, no one allowed fewer points than Ohio State.

The 9.3 points per game allowed by the Buckeyes were the fewest by any defense since Alabama in 2011.

The success made Patricia a hot commodity on the coaching market, rebuilding his reputation as a sharp and creative football mind only a decade removed from his tenure as a Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator for the Patriots. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant.

Patricia said he heard about opportunities in the NFL and elsewhere across the college football landscape, though none of them would pry him away from Ohio State.

“It wasn’t necessarily something where you’re looking to leave,” Patricia said, “but you do have to listen when those things come up. I’m just glad everything worked out.”

His challenge in his second season mirrors his previous one, as the Buckeyes are again managing the loss of eight starters on defense.

But unlike 2025, they have fewer returning pieces, relying on a larger class of transfers to help fill the holes on the depth chart.

“With as much coming into the program for the first time, not only are you trying to catch them up on the football scheme, but you’re also trying to catch them up on everything else,” Patricia said. “This is how we work, this is how we do things, this is the standard we’re looking for, this is how we practice, this is how we prepare, this is how we go to school. That has to be also taught. It becomes a lot, but that’s why you bring in the right guys that have the mental makeup to do all that.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on @joeyrkaufman on X.

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Ohio

Which central Ohio schools get the best results for their money?

Published

21 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Which central Ohio schools get the best results for their money?

Which central Ohio school districts get the most bang for their buck?

On average, school districts in Ohio spend $16,069 per-pupil for education, according to the education think tank Fordham Institute.

However, different district types spend different amounts of money. For example, large urban districts with very high poverty spend around $21,000 per-pupil, but small towns with low poverty spend around $14,900. The district type closest to the state average are those considered rural and high poverty and suburban districts with low poverty.

Aaron Churchill, lead Ohio researcher for the Fordham Institute, said that urban districts – like Columbus City Schools, the state’s largest district – often have higher spending because they can pull more in tax revenue and the state supports them at a higher rate because they are serving a higher proportion of disadvantaged students. Small, high-poverty towns on the other hand, generate less tax revenue from property values and district employee wages, the highest expense for schools, may be lowered by less market competition.

Churchill said schools should be focused on directing their funding toward initiatives that improve student outcomes and achievement.

“It’s making sure we’re focused on quality, we’re focused on performance, and that we’re rewarding performance,” Churchill said. “And we don’t do enough of that in the education system now.”

Churchill said there is a long-running debate among education researchers about whether increasing spending translates to meaningful results for students. Overall, school funding has increased on average over $2,000 per-pupil since 2015 and reached a record-high in 2025, according to the Fordham Institute.

“You can see in the numbers that we’re spending more than we ever have,” Churchill said. “The real million-dollar question is ‘Can our schools spend the money well?’”

Which central Ohio districts have the best results compared to funding?

The Dispatch compared overall spending per-pupil for central Ohio school districts to the ODEW’s performance index, using 2025 state data.

The Performance Index uses the performance level results for students in third grade through high school on Ohio’s state testing. The Performance Index (PI) score accounts for the level of achievement of every student, not just whether they are “proficient.” Higher performance levels receive larger weights in the calculation, but all achievement levels are included. Overall, the state average of performance scores was 91.8, according to 2025 state data.

The central Ohio school district with the highest spending was Columbus City Schools, which spent $24,505 per pupil and received a PI score of 60.7. The district with the highest PI was Grandview Heights Schools, which received a 106 PI score and spent $21,567 per pupil. New Albany-Plain Local Schools was a close second in PI at 105.1 while spending more than $4,000 less than Grandview Heights at $16,923 per-pupil.

Here’s how central Ohio schools stack up by spending versus achievements on tests, according to the Ohio Department of Education (sorted by highest spending per-pupil):

Columbus City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $24,505; PI score: 60.7
Grandview Heights Schools – Spending per-pupil: $21,567; PI score: 106
Bexley City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $21,025; PI score: 102.7
Dublin City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $18,702; PI score: 97.6
Worthington City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $18.573 ; PI score: 94.3
Madison-Plains Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $17,646; PI score: 88
New Albany-Plain Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,923; PI score: 105.1
Westerville City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,815; PI score: 89.7
Olentangy Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,780; PI score: 103.9
Groveport Madison Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,236; PI score: 72.6
Upper Arlington City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16,282; PI score: 103.6
Canal Winchester Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $16.154; PI score: 89.1
Average Ohio school district – Spending per-pupil: $16,069; PI score: 91.8
Reynoldsburg City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,956; PI score: 72.2
Gahanna-Jefferson City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,742; PI score: 89.7
Hilliard City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,694; PI score: 90
South Western City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,600; PI score: 78.5
Whitehall City Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,593; PI score: 66.95
Johnstown-Monroe Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $15,163; PI score: 94.5
Jonathan Alder Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $14,803; PI score: 95.9
Pickerington Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $14,470 ; PI score: 90.9
Big Walnut Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $14,239; PI score: 95.1
London City – Spending per-pupil: $13,750; PI score: 81.3
Marysville Exempted Village Schools – Spending per-pupil: $13,608; PI score: 95.5
Licking Heights Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $13,585; PI score: 85.4
Hamilton Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $12,971; PI score: 82.2
Bloom-Carrol Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $12,720; PI score: 90.89
Licking Valley Local Schools – Spending per-pupil: $12,587; PI score: 85

Cole Behrens covers K-12 education and school districts in central Ohio. Have a tip? Contact Cole at cbehrens@dispatch.com or connect with him on X at @Colebehr_report

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Ohio

Ohio BCI breaks ground on new evidence collection building in London, Ohio

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Ohio BCI breaks ground on new evidence collection building in London, Ohio

LONDON, Ohio (WSYX) — Officials broke ground on a new evidence collection building for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation in London, a project aimed at strengthening the agency’s crime-scene and cold-case work.

The new facility will replace BCI’s current evidence collection building, which is 800 square feet. Attorney General Dave Yost said the new building is needed to better track evidence and bring justice to victims as DNA technology evolves.

“But this story illustrates why it’s so important to have enough space to be able to hold the materials for these cases, to be able to store them properly, to maintain their integrity, so that when the science does catch up, we’re able to process a rape or a murder case and find the person who did it. There’s nothing that keeps me up at night more than thinking about unsolved cases,” Yost said.

The project is expected to take one year.

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BCI also unveiled a new gun range at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in London, intended to boost officers’ training.

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