Ohio
Ohio pastor agrees to stop housing homeless people for now
A pastor in Bryan, Ohio has agreed to stop housing homeless people in his church until he has the proper permits and certifications.
In exchange, the city dropped 18 criminal charges of zoning violations against him.
The agreement follows a months-long dispute over whether the church, called Dad’s Place, has a right to house people experiencing homelessness overnight.
“The city of Bryan appreciates the willingness of Dad’s Place to work with the city to resolve the parties’ differences amicably and to ensure that the services provided by Dad’s Place are delivered in a safe manner,” said Bryan’s mayor Carrie Schlade in a statement. “The parties continue to work together in a concerted effort to bring the case to a final resolution.”
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The dispute started last spring, after the city’s police department started receiving phone calls about inappropriate activity around the church, like trespassing and harassment.
The city discovered the church had been housing homeless people overnight.
Chris Avell, the church’s pastor, said in an earlier conversation with the Ohio Newsroom, that the church keeps its doors open 24/7. It wouldn’t ask anyone to leave unless they pose a threat to the congregation.
“Of course, people who have nowhere else to go, they found sanctuary,” Avell said. “They found a place where they can come and be cared for, loved, not judged.”
But the city claimed the building was unsafe for overnight guests and that allowing people to stay there violated zoning rules. A fire code inspection found 18 violations, ranging from inadequate exit areas to a gas leak from a dryer that was installed incorrectly.
Avell and his lawyer had said they have been working with a landlord to fix those issues, but that the city’s expectations were unclear.
They sued the city of Bryan on the grounds of religious discrimination.
That suit is ongoing, but a press release stated the parties are working to “find common ground” and settle it.
Avell has said would prefer to find solutions outside of the courtroom.
“My hope is we’d be able to sit down together and talk,” he said in an earlier conversation. “I think that’s what people are called to do according to the word of God. But there’s good news for me either way, because I know for sure God will be glorified no matter what the result.”
“I know for sure God will be glorified no matter what the result.”
Chris Avell, pastor of Dad’s Place
Across Ohio, homelessness is on the rise. An annual count found the state’s unhoused population grew nearly 7% between 2022 and 2023.
The rise impacts small communities like Bryan differently than big cities.
“In some communities, they may only have five or 10 people a year who experienced homelessness,” said Amy Riegel, the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. “Now they might be seeing five or 10 people on any given night.”
There’s only one homeless shelter in Williams County, where Dad’s Place is located, and it’s very busy.
“We don’t have a slack season or a heavy season because we’re full virtually all the time,” said Mike Kelly, who runs it.
He routinely sent people to Dad’s Place, next door, if he didn’t have the space. Avell said Dad’s Place cared for about eight to 12 people each night.
CINCINNATI (WKRC) — Sixty percent of children in Ohio are not ready for kindergarten when they start school.
Now, a national nonprofit is working to change that by expanding access to books and promoting early literacy across the state.
Sixty percent of children in Ohio are not ready for kindergarten when they start school. (WKRC file)
Nedra Smith has seen the difference firsthand. Her two young daughters receive books through the program at their pediatrician visits at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
“They love to read now,” Smith said. “We’ll randomly be out and they’ll see a book and want to read a book.”
Reach Out and Read partners with pediatricians to give children books during regular checkups and encourage parents to read aloud with them. The program has been part of Cincinnati Children’s for more than a decade.
“They typically come in and tell us they got new books,” Smith said. “They typically ask me to read the book right then and there.”
Program leaders say early literacy is increasingly being recognized as an important part of a child’s overall health and development.
“Initially, literacy may not have been in the forefront or seen as a health benefit,” said Kristy High, program manager for Reach Out and Read. “Well-child checks focus on shots, nutrition, and those things; but now we want to focus on those main benefits for the development and milestones when it comes to learning.”
The organization is now working to expand its reach statewide, with a goal of serving children in all 88 Ohio counties.
“We know that those first five years of life are the most critical for brain development,” said Steven Lake, executive director of Reach Out and Read Ohio. “If we can intervene as early as possible, essentially, we reach out at birth; we know we can have the greatest impact.”
Smith encourages other parents to participate in the program and read to their children.
“It’s fun,” Smith said. “It’s actually fun to see them light up, and I think they’ll pass that on to their own kids as well.”
Reach Out and Read also partners with providers in Kentucky and Indiana. You can find a participating provider near you on the organization’s website.
If you are a doctor looking to participate in the program, click here.
The Ohio Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 10, 2026, results for each game:
Pick 3
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at 12:29 p.m. and 7:29 p.m., except Saturday evening.
Midday: 8-6-2
Evening: 7-0-5
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Pick 4
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at 12:29 p.m. and 7:29 p.m., except Saturday evening.
Midday: 9-4-7-0
Evening: 0-6-1-8
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Pick 5
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at 12:29 p.m. and 7:29 p.m., except Saturday evening.
Midday: 1-7-3-7-4
Evening: 9-0-8-8-0
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Rolling Cash 5
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at approximately 7:05 p.m.
16-19-33-36-38
Check Rolling Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Millionaire for Life
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at approximately 11:15 p.m.
01-03-20-35-46, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Enquirer digital news director. You can send feedback using this form.
Ryan Day will have some very familiar competition in the Big 10 soon.
The son of the Ohio State football coach, R.J. Day, announced his commitment to Northwestern for the Class of 2027 on Sunday.
Northwestern plays in the same conference as Ohio State and the schools will face each other.
R.J. Day, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound quarterback from — not surprisingly — Columbus, Ohio, has started for three years at St. Francis DeSales HS as he heads towards his senior season.
According to reports, the younger Day had other offers from Purdue, Syracuse, Cincinnati and South Florida, as well as others.
Northwestern has eight quarterbacks on head coach David Braun’s roster.
And the offensive coordinator for the Wildcats is Chip Kelly, who served in the same role for Ryan Day at Ohio State when the Buckeyes won the title in 2024.
Kelly, the former head coach at UCLA and Oregon, was also the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire when Ryan Day was the team captain from 1998-2001.
Most recently, Kelly was the OC with the Las Vegas Raiders before he took the job with Northwestern.
“It’s really surreal when you think about the relationships that we’ve had with those two as a family over the years,” R.J. Day told ESPN earlier this month. “Coach Kelly coached my dad in college, so that adds another layer to it.”
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