Ohio
Severe thunderstorm watch issued for central Ohio
A number of central Ohio counties are under a severe thunderstorm watch issued by the National Weather Service on Sunday afternoon.
Franklin, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Pickaway and Union counties, along with 23 other Ohio counties, are in the watch area. It is set to expire at 8 p.m.
The storms are expected to start this afternoon and return overnight. The main threat is damaging winds, but large hail, tornadoes and flash flooding caused by rain are possible, according to a hazardous weather outlook issued by NWS Wilmington.
The chance of precipitation during the day is 80% and rises to 90% overnight. Less than a tenth of an inch of rain is expected during the day, but rainfall between a quarter and a half of an inch is possible overnight, according to NWS Wilmington’s forecast.
The chance for a thunderstorm continues into Memorial Day on Monday.
Columbus forecast for the week of May 26
There is to be a stormy start to the week before clearing up.
- Memorial Day: Showers and thunderstorms are likely, primarily before 1 p.m. Otherwise, it’s to be partly sunny with a high near 78. Winds could gust up to 25 miles per hour. The chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch are possible, except it could be higher if it storms.
- Monday night: Partly cloudy with a low around 60.
- Tuesday: There is a chance of showers after 2 p.m. Though, it is to be sunny with a high near 75. The chance of precipitation is 40% and less than a tenth of an inch of rainfall is expected.
- Tuesday night: There’s a chance of showers before 8 p.m. It’s to be partly cloudy with a low around 55. Chance of precipitation is 30%, and less than a tenth of an inch is expected.
- Wednesday: There’s a chance of showers. Otherwise, it’s to be mostly sunny with a high near 71. The chance of precipitation is 30%.
- Wednesday night: Mostly clear with a low around 49.
- Thursday: Sunny with a high near 72.
- Thursday night: It’s to be clear with a low around 48.
- Friday: Sunny with a high near 76.
- Friday night It’s to be mostly clear with a low around 52.
- Saturday: It’s to be mostly sunny with a high near 81.
NHart@dispatch.com
@NathanRHart
The Ohio State Highway Patrol arrested online political writer D.J. Byrnes, also known as The Rooster, at the statehouse on June 1 on a misdemeanor warrant.
A patrol spokesman said Byrnes, who posts his stories to his Substack subscribers, was arrested on an outstanding warrant. He was booked into the Franklin County Jail, records show. The patrol did not provide further details.
Byrnes’ colleague, Max Littman, said he believes the arrest is related to Byrnes texting photos of cartoon character Shrek’s penis to a state senator. “If that is in fact true, that he was arrested over that, then it’s blatant targeting a political opponent and journalist,” Littman said.
The arrest warrant for telecommunications harassment came from the city of Kirtland in Lake County. The warrant alleges that Byrnes sent two photos on May 6 to “J.C.” with the intent to harass.
State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, did not return messages seeking comment.
Byrnes routinely works the halls power at Columbus City Hall, Ohio State University and the Ohio Statehouse, looking for tips and ambushing officeholders for his Substack reports. He can be both charming and confrontational.
Recently, he posted a story based on one anonymous source who told him that Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy tried to get into the New York Knicks locker room after the Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA playoffs.
The story, and its spread, so bothered Ramaswamy that he posted a lengthy refute on X, calling it 100% fake.
State government reporter Laura Bischoff can be reached at lbischoff@usatodayco.com and @lbischoff on X.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — A bird rarely seen in North America was apparently spotted in Northeast Ohio of all places recently.
A lesser frigatebird was seen flying over Sippo Lake near Canton, according to several bird enthusiasts and photographers.
A photographer named Alex Eberts was kind enough to share his photos with ABC 6. You can see them at the top of this page.
Another photographer named Austin Rice posted this photo on Instagram and shared the details of what he saw on the night of May 23 in Stark County.
If you don’t know much about the lesser frigatebird, a site called eBird.com offers this description:
The smallest of the frigatebirds, but note that the female is larger than the male. Adults are easier to identify than younger birds. Adult males are almost entirely black with a red throat and white spurs emanating outwards from the body onto the wing. Adult females have a black belly and throat, a white breast and hind collar, with similar white spurs on their sides. Juvenile and immature plumages are variable and are best separated from other frigatebirds by size when comparison is possible. Mostly silent except while breeding in oceanic islands. Strongly pelagic during non-breeding season but wind-blown or fatigued birds can be found from continental coasts.
Eberts said in his own Facebook post that the May 23 sighting in Stark County was only the seventh reported sighting of the lesser frigatebird in the contiguous United States. The bird is more likely to be seen near the Indian Ocean, the Southeast Asian seas, Northern Australia to Western and Central Pacific Ocean, according to birdsoftheworld.org.
BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) — Multiple police departments were responding to the report of a large fight at Boardman Park Sunday evening.
Police told our crew on the scene that they received a call around 8:30 p.m. for a large fight at the park involving over 100 people. Boardman Police Chief Todd Werth said the caller reported someone at the park may have a gun.
Due to the nature of the call, mutual aid was requested for multiple surrounding departments.
Chief Werth said officers determined an argument occurred, but there was no physical altercation. He confirmed there was no gun present.
No arrests were made and no one was injured.
People were being ushered out of the park and the park director shut down the park for the night.
Boardman Township officials say they appreciate the quick response of local law enforcement.
Dominic O’Brien contributed to this report.
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