Ohio
Signal Ohio: A nonprofit expands to fill local news gaps in the Buckeye state – Editor and Publisher
Bob Miller | for Editor & Publisher
An Ohio-based nonprofit organization is expanding journalism throughout the Buckeye State and engaging readers to help with public accountability.
Like many nonprofit journalism startups across the U.S., Signal Ohio fills news coverage gaps vacated by for-profit newspapers and broadcast companies. Signal Ohio conducts business operations from a centralized hub, with newsroom spokes expanding across the state, which will focus solely on journalism.
Rita McNeil Danish, an attorney who runs the organization, spent much of her career as a judge, a civil rights advocate and a city attorney in Ohio. McNeil Danish was recruited to become the organization’s CEO to launch Signal Ohio, formerly known as the Ohio Local News Initiative.
Signal Ohio spawned from the American Journalism Project and The Cleveland Foundation. Roughly $7.5 million in seed money was generated to launch the enterprise.
The nonprofit team learned “that people wanted to go back to community-based journalism and that people cared about local news and information — and not so much about national,” McNeil Danish said. “A great deal of the information that you would read in one paper would also be in another. They all were regurgitating the same information, and there was nothing new and different, and obviously nothing focused on the local communities.”
The first spoke created by the hub was Signal Cleveland, which began last November with a 17-person newsroom dedicated to covering the news of the Cleveland area.
McNeil Danish said Signal Akron began on Dec. 5 and is off to a good start.
“With each launch, we learn a lot, and I think we created a lot of energy and excitement,” McNeil Danish said. “Everybody was ready for it; there was an appetite for it. I’m going to have to get a hype person or something because people get all excited at the prospect that it’s coming, and once it comes, they are waiting with bated breath for it.”
In less than a month, NcNeil Danish said, Signal Akron accumulated over 1,000 newsletter signups.
Signal Akron’s website headlines show articles on school board news, the Akron Zoo, nonprofit news and city government.
The Signal operation is tapping readers to help collect the news. Coined the “documenters” program, the organization pays people to attend meetings. From there, they live-tweet coverage and write summaries for meetings. Then, editors decide whether the topics and discussions warrant more coverage and follow-ups. The program allows for more watchdog activity. On its website, the bylines include the name of the community journalism director and “Akron Documenters.” A special section called “Documented and Reported” highlights the citizen-led coverage.
McNeil Danish said the documenters are paid roughly $16 per hour to attend the meetings after training. They take notes in a format that resembles meeting minutes. The reports include notes with questions from the meeting, such as “Could the 2024 CIP plan detail be shared in advance of the meeting so audience members understand the specific plans and priorities for spending in the next year?”
McNeil Danish said in one instance, documenters kept seeing a recurring agenda item regarding casino funds that were not being discussed.
“It turns out the combination of the reporters and the documenters did all kinds of research and that the revenue from the casinos was not going to the community groups where it had been promised,” McNeil Danish said. “Well, they now have a system by which they double-check where the revenue is going, and those community organizations are now receiving the funds.”
Bob Miller has spent more than 25 years in local newsrooms, including 12 years as an executive editor with Rust Communications. He also produces an independent true crime investigative podcast called “The Lawless Files.”
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.”
-
New York1 hour agoAirbnb Turns to Black Leaders in Its Bid to Make a Comeback in New York
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoMetro Detroit braces for Frost Advisory, Freeze Warning overnight before rain arrives
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours ago50 Beagles Rescued From Wisconsin Lab Arrive in Bay Area, SF Activist Faces Felony Charges
-
Dallas, TX2 hours ago
Former Cowboys QB Craig Morton passes away at age 83
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoBrickell Avenue Bridge openings spark rush hour gridlock concerns in downtown Miami
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoWhat we know about accused Memorial Drive gunman Tyler Brown
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoBroncos Ring of Famer Craig Morton, who led Denver to first Super Bowl, dies at 83
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoVictim identified in deadly Seattle beer garden shooting on Lake City Way; suspect sought