Ohio
Ohio pizzeria named 25th-best in the world at international competition
Is it a pizza? Or is it a cookie?
This April Fool’s Day collab between Lion Cub’s Cookies and Mikey’s Late Night Slice is a sweet and savory bit of the flavors of both.
Tucked away about an hour south of Columbus, one small pizzeria is making big headlines.
Lievita, an Italian-American restaurant in Chillicothe, competed in the 2026 International Pizza Expo Pizza Challenge last week, where it says it beat out hundreds of competitors from across the globe. Its cheese pizza, entered in the Best Cheese Pizza Division, won 25th-best in the world and third-best in the Midwest, according to a Facebook post from the restaurant.
The International Pizza Challenge, which debuted in 2007, is described as the largest and one of the most esteemed pizza-making competitions in North America “and possibly the world,” according to the expo’s website.
The bake-off features 680 of the world’s top pizza-makers baking their signature pizza live at the expo, with pies judged by a panel of renowned and accredited chefs. The competition took place over three days from March 24-26.
This year’s results have not yet been released on the International Pizza Expo’s official website.
A couple days after announcing its victory, Lievita shared that it gained around 700 new followers on Facebook, pushing its audience to over 5,000.
The restaurant, located at 85 N. Paint St., also changed its hours to adjust for the “surge in demand” for its pizza, according to an April 1 post. Lievita will close one hour earlier every day except Sunday to optimize labor hours and better manage inventory and prep to avoid running out of items.
The restaurant’s new hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
This isn’t the first time central Ohio’s pizza has recently picked up national attention. Just a few days ago, the New York Post praised Columbus-style pie in an article about the city’s unique pizza, characterized by a thin crust, toppings to the edge and a square cut.
Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at ewozniak@dispatch.com or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ohio
Ohio Chamber wrong. Vivek Ramaswamy’s love of money won’t create jobs here | Letters
(Ramaswamy’s) track record, his priorities and the way he has lived his professional life all indicate that he measures success by the money he has earned.
Ohio governor race turns into toss-up
Cook shifts Ohio governor race to toss-up as Ramaswamy and Acton spar over COVID record, taxes, and big-money spending.
Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t a job creator
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy for governor as the candidate who can bring high paying jobs to Ohio.
So, let’s look at his performance.
One of his start-ups was Roivant Sciences. In 2024, its revenue declined by 46.6%. In 2025, its revenues declined by 11.2%. For the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, revenues declined by 71.6%. Companies that have falling revenues don’t hire a lot of people.
To be fair, a number of spinoff companies were created fromhttps://strive.com/story Roivant. And this start-up gamble did payoff well for the candidate. But the goal was never job creation. Rather, it was enrichment for the founder followed by moving on.
A more recent venture is Strive Asset Management. Its stated objective is an anti-DEI, Bitcoin-based focus on investment and asset management. Again, there is no evidence of any focus on “high paying job creation” except for the founders.
That being accomplished, the candidate moved on.
There is no denying that Ramaswamy is an extremely intelligent, risk taking and wealthy individual. But, his track record, his priorities and the way he has lived his professional life all indicate that he measures success by the money he has earned.
His opponent, Amy Acton, is demonstrably poorer.
In contrast, she can measure her success by the people she has served. Governing is not a business based on moving on. It is not a profession for people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Governing is grounded in public service and in staying with the people you serve.
My first hope is that everyone who is eligible to vote in November does, indeed, vote. My second hope is that we choose a governor who cares for people more than money.
David Gobey, Columbus
Ohio
Humane agents removing chickens from Youngstown property
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — First News is working to learn more information after officers served a search warrant Friday afternoon for a building at the corner of Market Street and Pasadena Avenue
When we showed up to the scene, we found Animal Charity of Ohio had humane agents there.
We could also hear what sounded like roosters crowing, and eventually we saw humane agents bringing out several chickens and roosters in cages from the property. Authorities said they removed approximately 30 pairs of roosters and hens.
That brought us to a residence on Glenwood Avenue near the corner of Stadium Street.
So far, we aren’t hearing anything, but a number of officers and humane agents seemed to be knocking on the front door, and seemingly no one answered.
They then all moved behind the house, and one was an officer carrying a sledgehammer and a crowbar. So far we haven’t heard or seen any action.
First News will update this story as we learn more.
Nick Rich contributed to this report.
Ohio
Canadian wildfire smoke forces cancellation of several events in northwest Ohio
ROSSFORD, Ohio — Smoke from Canadian wildfires forced the cancellation of three community events Thursday, including a multi-day festival, a weekly farmers market and a summer concert series finale.
Organizers of the Rossford Balloon & Fireworks Fest, the Perrysburg Farmers Market and the Whitehouse Summer Concert Series each cited hazardous air quality conditions as the reason for their decisions.
Rossford Balloon & Fireworks Fest canceled
Rossford city officials and the Rossford Convention & Visitors Bureau Board jointly decided Thursday to cancel the Rossford Balloon & Fireworks Fest, which was scheduled to run July 17-19.
The Visitors Bureau’s director Beth Genson said in a statement: “The decision to cancel the 2026 Rossford Balloon & Fireworks Fest was made jointly by City officials and the Rossford Convention & Visitors Bureau Board after careful consideration of the hazardous air quality conditions caused by smoke from the Canadian wildfires. The health and safety of our attendees, volunteers, vendors, performers and staff was our highest priority. We recognize how disappointing this is for our community and visitors, but we believe cancelling the event was the responsible decision under these circumstances.”
Perrysburg farmers market, Whitehouse concert also called off
The Perrysburg Chamber of Commerce canceled Thursday’s farmers market in historic downtown Perrysburg. The chamber’s director of tourism Sally Moore said: “The health and safety of our vendors, customers, volunteers, and staff is our top priority. Based on the current hazardous air quality conditions and the guidance we received, we believe cancellation is the safest course of action.”
In Whitehouse, the final performance of the summer concert series at Whitehouse Village Park was also canceled Thursday out of concern for the safety of concertgoers. A spokesman for the series said organizers are hoping to reschedule the final performance in August or September.
Health experts advise staying indoors
Dr. David Geisinger, a pediatric emergency medicine physician, said residents should limit time outdoors while smoke remains in the area.
“We all need to be extra careful, but the children especially, younger kids, anybody with asthma, chronic lung disease, COPD, bronchitis, they would need to be especially careful,” Geisinger said.
Geisinger added that with current air quality index levels, indoor activities are the safer option.
“With this level of air quality index and the smoke, it’s better to do activities that are inside,” he said.
Smoke from the Canadian wildfires was expected to continue affecting air quality into Friday.
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