Ohio
Some small Ohio cities are banning camping in public places. Here is why
Will SCOTUS decision change what it’s like to be homeless in Columbus?
After the SCOTUS ruling in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, Columbus officials said they will not increase penalties for sleeping outside.
Several small cities across Ohio are considering bans on camping or sleeping in public − local ordinances that would impact homeless people who live in outdoor encampments.
The trend comes on the heels of a key decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in June that said banning camping isn’t cruel and unusual punishment.
Later this month, the Newark City Council may vote to ban camping in public parks − a proposal that has drawn support and criticism. Downtown business owners and city leaders are frustrated with the ongoing problem and low-income residents are upset with their limited options. Newark is 40 miles east of Columbus.
In September, New Philadelphia adopted a ban on camping in parks, cemeteries or city-owned properties. Campers would get notice to remove their items within 24-hours. After that, police can clear the camp and issue misdemeanor tickets. The city is about 30 miles south of Canton.
Mentor, a city along Lake Erie east of Cleveland, adopted an ordinance in August that bans using bedding, cooking food or doing other living activities on public properties. Mentor officials described it as a public safety measure.
“This is not an anti-anyone ordinance. I want to underscore that publicly. This is just to address specific behaviors where frankly they will do more harm than good and in fact, place persons in danger,” said Joseph Szeman, Mentor law director, at the council meeting.
Anti-public camping ordinances are also being discussed in Toledo, Wilmington, Marietta, Brunswick and Belpre, according to local news reports and the Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio.
What is sparking this trend? In June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling upholding the constitutionality of a local law in Grants Pass, Oregon, that bans camping on public properties. The majority decision said it wasn’t within the federal court’s purview to decide how local governments address people sleeping outside.
The decision cleared the way for other cities to adopt similar bans.
In Ohio, 11,386 people are homeless, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Of those people, 79% live in shelters. Nationwide, HUD reported in 2023 that 653,100 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2023 — a 12% increase, or 70,650 more people, from 2022.
Marcus Roth, spokesman for the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, said during the pandemic, fewer people were willing to live in shelters and moved to outdoor encampments. That made the problem more visible.
But once someone is unsheltered and living outdoors, they need more help to find housing and support services, he said.
“This criminalization path is tempting for politicians who want to make it look like they’re doing something about homelessness without actually doing something. They’re actually making the problem a lot worse,” Roth said.
Cities should avoid such knee-jerk responses and instead focus on expanding supports for unsheltered people and address the affordable housing crisis, he said.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — As concerns have grown over the impact of social media on young people, lawmakers are pushing to keep protections in tact to keep children safe online.
This week the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ohio’s law, the Social Media Parental Notification Act, requiring parental consent for children under the age of 16 to use social media must be restored. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the act into law in July 2023.
Netchoice, the trade group that represents Tik Tok, Snapchat, Meta and other tech companies contested Ohio’s law in 2024, arguing that it was overly broad, vague and represented an unconstitutional impediment to free speech.
“An unconstitutional law protects no one, and we remain focused on ensuring the First Amendment rights of Ohioans are protected,” Paul Taske, NetChoice Litigation Center Director said.
Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit’s panel does not agree with this view point, determined that the law is not unconstitutional and had the block on the law’s enforcement vacated.
“At bottom, the Act imposes a parental consent requirement,” Judge Eric Clay wrote. “That requirement constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the multi-faceted problem that Ohio has identified: Children’s unsupervised assent to terms and conditions for use of platforms that take advantage of and harm them.”
The Social Media Parental Notification Act is a way to protect children’s mental health against the “intentionally addictive” nature of social media, according to U.S. senator Jon Husted.
The law requires companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines so families know what content would be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson says the ruling is “a win for Ohio families.”
“The court agreed that parents –- not social media companies –- should get a say in what kids see online,” he said in a statement. “We have an obligation to keep our children safe, and today, the most dangerous place for our kids is the internet. This decision gives parents the tools to be involved and provide oversight.”
LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — When you think of wild animals in central Ohio, a black bear likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. That’s why one Licking County family said they couldn’t believe their eyes.
It was an average afternoon drive home for father and son, Justin and Aaron Rhodes, when something walked into the road in front of them.
“I didn’t even think it was real at first, so that’s why I had to do the double take,” Justin said.
Aaron said he thought it was “just a weird looking dog”.
To their disbelief, it was a bear. The sighting comes just one year after the animal was spotted in Licking County for the first time in more than two decades.
“It’s kind of hard to believe that they’re even around this area,” Justin said. “I’ve lived in this area for about 24 years now, so it’s been quite a while, and I’ve never seen one before.”
These sightings are becoming more common. The Ohio Division of Wildlife said the black bear population is growing in the state, and they expect those trends to continue. Ohio saw a record number of confirmed sightings in 2025.
Lindsey Krusling, a wildlife communications specialist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said they are seeing more breeding females establish homes in the state, signaling the species is returning. Experts said the work restoring natural forest land is a big reason why.
“We’re starting to get some black bears coming in from neighboring states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky,” Krusling said. “They’re naturally crossing those state borders and coming back to Ohio because we have more of that habitat available to them, especially those forested areas.”
As the black bear population grows, the Division of Wildlife is expanding its research. They are putting radio collars on some bears they find in the state to help track data, such as if the bears are staying here, how far they’ve traveled and if they’re successfully having cubs.
“We’re trying to get quite a bit of data from these bears, and we’re super excited to see where this takes us,” Krusling said.
The research is in the beginning stages, but they expect population growth to continue, Krusling said.
Sighting reports can be submitted here to help the Division of Wildlife track black bear populations throughout the state.
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