Ohio

'Putting mud in the clear water of transparency' | Ohio police can now charge up to $750 for body cam video

Published

1 year ago

January 9, 2025

'Putting mud in the clear water of transparency' | Ohio police can now charge up to 0 for body cam video

CINCINNATI — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an omnibus bill Thursday that includes a provision that allows Ohio law enforcement agencies to charge up to $75 per hour of video requested under the state’s public record laws. The law caps the total at $750.

“We’re thankful to the governor for signing the bill,” Michael Weinman, Ohio FOP’s director of government affairs, told WCPO.

The law is intended to help departments recoup labor costs for the time spent to redact and prepare videos for release once a request is made. Officials said they are also hopeful the law will help prevent bad actors online from monetizing “sensational” videos.

“We get flooded with these requests,” Weinman said. “And what they’re looking for is bar fights and different things — something sensational that they can get likes on and get clicks and things like that. And so, what we hope this does is when you increase that charge; it filters those people out.”

Criminal attorney Joshua Evans believes the legislation could backfire.

“It’s like putting mud in the clear water of transparency,” Evans said. “A lot of people have a lot of distrust in police officers already and this could be looked at as another roadblock for poor people not to be able to get what they need, you know, to make a claim.”

RELATED | Concerns arise over possibility of police charging for video in Ohio

Evans said he believes this law, if not challenged, could further erode trust and hinder accountability for law enforcement.

“It’s a public records request,” Evans said. “I think public records should be free. I think there’s a better way of parsing those people out. It kind of sends a message you can only get justice if you got money and that’s never a good message you want to send.”

In his press release about the bill signings, DeWine addressed the concerns around this legislation. In a statement, he said in part:

“I strongly support the public’s — and the news media’s — right to access public records. The language in House Bill 315 doesn’t change that right. Law enforcement-worn body cameras and dashboard cameras have been a major improvement for both law enforcement investigations and for accountability.

However, I am sensitive to the fact that this changing technology has affected law enforcement by oftentimes creating unfunded burdens on these agencies, especially when it comes to the often time-consuming and labor-intensive work it takes to provide them as public records.

No law enforcement agency should ever have to choose between diverting resources for officers on the street to move them to administrative tasks like lengthy video redaction reviews for which agencies receive no compensation — and this is especially so for when the requestor of the video is a private company seeking to make money off of these videos.”

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Ohio

Which central Ohio girls wrestlers advanced to OHSAA state tournament?

Published

5 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Which central Ohio girls wrestlers advanced to OHSAA state tournament?

The Olentangy Orange girls wrestling team pulled away on day two of the district tournament for its fourth consecutive title since the Ohio High School Athletic Association added the sport in 2023 and sixth overall.

The Pioneers (183) finished ahead of runner-up Marysville (131) on March 8 at Big Walnut. The top four finishers in each weight class advanced to state March 13-15 at Value City Arena.

“It gets tougher every year,” Orange coach Brian Nicola said. “This is one the toughest districts in the state. You have all these great teams here and everyone comes in ready to battle. The girls wrestled really hard, so I was very excited.”

Mackenzie Carder (120 pounds) and Lacie Knick (130) won titles for Orange, which will have eight wrestlers at state as its seeks a third consecutive title in that tournament.

Marysville has five state qualifiers, led by 100-pound district champion Avery Riley.

Canal Winchester senior Razilee Wisseh advanced to her fourth state tournament and earned her 150th career win, beating Gahanna Lincoln’s Jordan Mills 9-4 in the 170 final.

Here are the central Ohio state qualifiers from the girls district tournament. When four qualifiers are listed for a weight class, they are in order of finish.

100: Avery Riley (Marysville), Kenleigh Ballance (Pickerington North), Mila Cruz (Watkins Memorial), Aaliyah Dawson (Reynoldsburg)

105: Hali Rayburn (Hilliard Bradley, third), Ellianna Perry (Watkins Memorial, fourth)

110: Ashlynn Brokaw (Mount Vernon, first), Andrea Acheampong (DeSales, third), Delaney Tackett (Orange, fourth)

115: Reagan Johnson (Thomas Worthington, first), Arden Heckman (Westerville North, third), Malaya DiMasso (Olentangy Liberty, fourth)

120: Mackenzie Carder (Orange, first), Cami Leng (Marysville, second), Skylar McCuen (Olentangy, fourth)

125: Kendleigh Dowalter (Grove City), Kara Hockenbery (West Jefferson), Kelly Lemons (Bradley), Sarah Amonette (Orange)

130: Lacie Knick (Orange, first), Mina Gee (Gahanna Lincoln, second), Payton Morse (Watkins Memorial, third)

135: Adison Justice (Licking Valley, first), Chloe Tompkins (Orange, second), Katelyn Norris (Big Walnut, third)

140: Nora Johnson (Hartley, second), Alanna Smith (Orange, third), Cara Leng (Marysville, fourth)

145: Reese Thomas (Jonathan Alder, first), Tara Davis (Orange, second), Andrea Mendez (Marysville, third)

155: KyLee Tibbs (Gahanna, first), Maya Keane (Hartley, second), Tamia Davis (Orange, third), Brielle Proffitt (Watkins Memorial, fourth)

170: Razilee Wisseh (Canal Winchester), Jordan Mills (Gahanna), Grace Glandorff (Bradley), Evelyn Krauss (Delaware Hayes)

190: Mykah Bailey (Gahanna, first), Abbey Enders (Liberty, second), Emma Bolton (Highland, third)

235: Tara Nagel (Madison-Plains, first), Maci Lee (Marysville, fourth)

High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at fdirenna@dispatch.com and at @DispatchFrank on X.

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Ohio

Which central Ohio boys wrestlers advanced to OHSAA state tournament?

Published

17 hours ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

Which central Ohio boys wrestlers advanced to OHSAA state tournament?

The Dublin Coffman boys wrestling team continued its dominance in central Ohio at the Division I level, winning its eighth consecutive district title March 7 at Hilliard Darby.

The Shamrocks scored a tournament-record 263.5 points in the two-day event, easily outdistancing runner-up Olentangy Liberty (153.5). Coffman set the previous record of 247 in 2022.

Coffman had six champions and qualified 10 wrestlers for the state tournament March 13-15 at Value City Arena.

The top four wrestlers in each weight class advanced.

“The [tournament] record was a good goal for the team to set,” Coffman coach Chance Van Gundy said. “We just have to wrestle our best [at state] and see where that lands us.”

In Division II at Wilmington, DeSales won the title (230.5) ahead of CCL rival and defending state champion Watterson (212).

DeSales had three champions and qualified nine wrestlers for state, while Watterson had four champions and advanced eight to state.

“The guys wrestled tough from whistle to whistle,” DeSales coach Collin Palmer said. “Some of them had to dig deep and figure out ways to win matches, and they did just that.”

Here are the central Ohio state qualifiers from the boys district tournaments. When four qualifiers are listed for a weight class, they are in order of finish.

Division I (Hilliard Darby)

106 pounds: Jacob Willaman (Olentangy Berlin), Ryan Noble (Watkins Memorial), Cole Perry (Olentangy Liberty), Ricky Molasso-Matessa (Upper Arlington)

113: Loc Webber (Dublin Coffman), Zac Dodt (Thomas Worthington), Trevor Bridges (Teays Valley), Brian Waller (Marysville)

120: Oliver Lester (Coffman), Brady Todd (Worthington Kilbourne), Nick Coverstone (Hilliard Darby), Mason Spence (Westerville North)

126: Tommy Wurster (Coffman), Josh Zimmer (Teays Valley), Jake Shirck (New Albany), Cole Dodson (UA)

132: Blaze Van Gundy (Coffman), Jack Williams (Marysville), Grant Sedlick (UA), Maddux Nauman (Berlin)

138: Finnegan Cox (Delaware Hayes), Preston Schuler (Olentangy), Alex Mickens (Liberty), Brayden Becker-Shaw (Berlin)

144: Huggy Williams (Liberty), Trent Sharp (Marysville), Austin Rohrbach (Hilliard Bradley), Isaiah Callahan (Coffman)

150: Aiden Milam (Liberty), Cash Clark (Berlin), Landon Moses (Olentangy), Daksh Adengada (Dublin Jerome)

157: Eli Esguerra (Coffman), Mavrik Gregory (Mount Vernon), Carter Shank (Marysville), Jacob Ramirez (Central Crossing)

165: Grayson Woodcock (Coffman), Chase Cone (Berlin), Keegen Andrews (Marysville), Derek Deichert (Westerville South)

175: Kile Sentieri (Marion Harding), Rylan Moran (Westerville Central), Gauge Woods (Bradley), Hamde Bakeye (Whitehall-Yearling)

190: Dylan Frass (Liberty), Michael Feeney (Coffman), Luke Mullins (Mount Vernon), Peter Graham (Teays Valley)

215: Logan Krooner (Darby), Mason Parrill (Coffman), Jackson Lane (Liberty), Cooper Frye (Delaware)

Heavyweight: Daniel Stephens (Olentangy), Tyson Keyes (Darby), Braylon Wright (Coffman), WoJo Moore (Watkins Memorial)

Division II

Wilmington

106: Mark Mobley (DeSales, first), Sid Hunt (Watterson, second)

113: Henry Geiger (Granville, third)

120: Rayce Watson (Jonathan Alder, first), Eddie Vitu (DeSales, second), Nash Finley (Granville, third)

126: Josh Sheets (DeSales, first), Anthony Bergeron (Granville, second), Elias Kline (Bloom-Carroll, fourth)

138: Grayson Debevoise (DeSales, first), Thomas Lindsay (Watterson, second)

144: Blake Eckelbarger (DeSales, second)

150: James Lindsay (Watterson, first), Reed Bodie (DeSales, second)

157: Tommy Rowlands (Watterson, first), Jonah Jenkins (DeSales, second)

165: Luke Sanchez (Granville, second), Joel Welch (DeSales, third), Miles D’Orazio (Watterson, fourth)

175: Paul Byerly (Jonathan Alder, fourth)

190: Landon Lucas (Watterson, second)

215: Michael Boyle (Watterson, first), Tanner Arledge (DeSales, second)

Heavyweight: A.J. DeMassimo (Watterson, first)

Norwalk

106: Brody Miller (Licking Valley, third)

113: Vincent Martiah (Hartley, second)

120: Brady Byler, (Highland, third)

126: Joe Curry (Licking Valley, first), Carson Schehl (Lakewood, second)

138: Ayden Douglas (Licking Valley, second)

144: Kasey Clark (Highland, third)

165: Cael Gilmore (Highland, first)

215: Joe Zang (Hartley, fourth)

Gallipolis

106: Kevin Downing (Circleville, fourth)

190: Eli Wright (Westfall, second)

Division III

Coshocton

113: Conner Wygle (Utica, second)

Troy

106: Parker Frakes (Liberty Union, fourth)

113: Rocco Castricone (Mount Gilead, third)

138: Jimmy Landis (Liberty Union, third)

165: Rylan Puckett (West Jefferson, second)

190: Bobby Kapala (Ready, second)

215: Ayden Cordle (West Jefferson, fourth)

High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at fdirenna@dispatch.com and at @DispatchFrank on X.

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Ohio

At the Buzzer: Ohio State 91, Indiana 78

Published

1 day ago

March 8, 2026

Press Room

At the Buzzer: Ohio State 91, Indiana 78

Quick thoughts on a 91-78 loss at Ohio State:

How it happened

Indiana’s defense was non-existent in the first half of Saturday’s regular-season finale at Ohio State. The Buckeyes feasted on a soft Hoosier defense, scoring 50 points on 67.9 percent shooting from the field. Ohio State scored 1.46 points per possession and led 50-33, the largest halftime deficit for Indiana in a game this season. The Buckeyes were red hot from the perimeter, shooting 8-for-13 on 3s. Three different Ohio State players scored in double figures – Amare Bynum with 14, Bruce Thornton with 12 and John Mobley Jr. with 11. For Indiana, it was a half to forget offensively as well. The Hoosiers shot 1-for-8 on 3s and committed eight turnovers.

Things didn’t get better early in the second half, as the Buckeyes extended their margin early in the half. Ohio State stretched the lead to 24 points at 69-45 on a pair of Thornton free throws with 12:18 to play. The Hoosiers, however, didn’t fold completely and made five of seven shots to cut the deficit to 15 points at 73-58 by the under-eight media timeout. Indiana then trimmed the lead to 13 at 81-68 with 4:48 left on a pair of Tucker DeVries free throws and then to 11 at 81-70 on a DeVries layup with 4:03 to play. The Hoosiers, however, would get no closer than 10 down the stretch as they dropped a critical game and finished the regular season 18-13 overall and 9-11 in the Big Ten.

Standout performers

Lamar Wilkerson led Indiana with 18 points and now has the single-season record for points by a Hoosier in Big Ten play. DeVries added 17 points, five assists and three rebounds.

Statistics that stand out

The Hoosiers were carved up defensively as Ohio State scored 1.34 points per possession. The Buckeyes shot 11-for-24 on 3s and had five players score in double figures. The 91 points for Ohio State were the second-most in a Big Ten game this season for the Buckeyes.

Up next for IU

Indiana begins postseason play on Wednesday night in the 2026 Big Ten tournament at the United Center in Chicago. The Hoosiers will be the No. 10 seed and will play the winner of the No. 15 vs. No. 18 game at 6:30 p.m. ET on BTN on Wednesday.