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Stopping the cycle: How Ohio is trying to stop repeat criminal offenders

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Stopping the cycle: How Ohio is trying to stop repeat criminal offenders


RAVENNA, Ohio — A crowd gathered outside the OhioMeansJobs Portage County office along South Chestnut Street this past Thursday, as it held its first “Re-Entry Fair.”

The event was meant to help aid those struggling to overcome barriers that exist with re-entering society after being incarcerated or involved in the judicial system.

“I like to say it’s for any justice-involved individual,” organizer Bridget Stuntz explained. “There’s just a lot of legal barriers.”

Like a job fair, there are potential employers looking to hire. But it also features someone to help with the BMV, housing, child support, transportation and other known factors that make it more difficult to obtain success after incarceration.

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A 2021 report from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections stated that 32.7% of those released from prison are rearrested within three years.

That amounts to about 7,000 inmates out of the more than 20,000 that are released in Ohio every year.

In Portage County, the recidivism rate remains below the statewide average at 21%.

Expungement Fair in Cleveland leaves community feeling hopeful

Helping former inmates and those struggling to recover from addiction is a personal project for organizer Bridget Stuntz.

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Through her own eyes, she’s seen how high the walls are to climb for those who’ve dealt with alcohol and drugs tied to crime.

“It’s definitely still difficult,” explained Stuntz, who is a certified peer support and case manager at OhioMeans Jobs. “With somebody trying to start over, new in recovery or coming back from incarceration, having those legal barriers can stop a person from having a full life.”

Those at Mantaline, a Mantua-based rubber processor, admit their company used to overlook those types of applicants.

“In our past, we would not hire somebody that maybe had a record,” Vice President of Operations Diane Kruis said.

As she sat inside this re-entry fair looking to fill about eight openings, Kruis told News 5 she’d rather fill their openings with the best people, whoever they are. Right now, she said she’s proud to have about seven employees who had previous run-ins with the law.

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“Frankly, it’s been successful,” Kruis said. “They’re more committed to us because not a lot of companies do hire people with a criminal background.”

Among those attending the fair was Kris Knapp of Kent, who admits for years, he wasn’t perfect.

“I couldn’t even hold a job before and really struggled with my alcoholism,” he explained.

News 5

Kris Knapp meets with a BMV specialist at the Re-Entry Fair.

Knapp told News 5 that spending the afternoon visiting station after station at the fair, sorting out issues like ordering a new driver’s license and social security card, will help clear the way for his future.

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“I was so excited for this day, so hyped for this day,” he smiled. “I’m close to getting these things I have not had. To be able to say that and experience that, it feels great. As life moves, I have to move with it, and this is the stuff that’s going to help continue the process and keep that ball moving.”

Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard or on Facebook Clay LePard News 5

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Thousands of Ohio Duke Energy customers are without power

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Thousands of Ohio Duke Energy customers are without power


CINCINNATI (WXIX) – As of 8:31 p.m., more than 8,000 Duke Energy customers are without power.

At 8:00 p.m., more than 9,000 were reported.

Most of the outages were reported in Butler, Hamilton, Warren and Clermont counties following the storms.

According to Duke’s website, repairs and assessments are underway.

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There is not an estimation of what time power will be restored in these areas.

To report an outage, call 800-543-5599.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

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Remember When: Earle Bruce Took the Ohio State Football Team to See Easy Rider and Woody Hayes Lost His Mind

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Remember When: Earle Bruce Took the Ohio State Football Team to See Easy Rider and Woody Hayes Lost His Mind


The Ohio State football team used to go out to movies on Friday nights before games.

They still watch movies as a team the night before they play, but with technological advances, they no longer need to head out to a theater and can watch something in the team hotel.

For decades, however, that’s exactly what they’d do. One coach would be in charge of finding a movie for the players to watch, the staff would make arrangements with the theater – whether it be the State Theatre on campus or the RKO Theater in downtown Columbus – and the team would go to the movies to think about something other than football for a few hours as kickoff inched near.

In 1969, Ohio State’s “movie coach” was Earle Bruce, who also happened to be in charge of coaching the interior of the defending national champion’s offensive line. But we’re going to focus on his duties as the movie coach and one hilarious choice he made that season.

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“Woody only had two rules about our movies,” star middle guard Jim Stillwagon told the Columbus Dispatch in 1996. “We weren’t supposed to see any love scenes, and we were never allowed to see any hippies. We couldn’t see any sex, but violence was okay. I think Coach Hayes thought that was something that could fire you up.”

“If you could find a John Wayne movie, you were doing pretty good,” former OSU assistant Bill Conley told the Dispatch. “He liked those shoot’em-ups. Now Earle, he was a Clint
Eastwood fan.”

In later years, Woody’s teams saw plenty of Patton, starring George C. Scott as General George Patton. But this was 1969 and Patton had not been released yet, and the team was evidently tired of seeing John Wayne movies.

Earle had to pick a movie and thought he was picking an action movie about motorcycles for the team. From Michael Rosenberg’s classic War as They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and America in a Time of Unrest:

Oops.

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“We were sitting there watching these guys up on the screen smoking grass, and we’re saying, ‘This is great!’” Stillwagon said. “Earle was so upset. He got us out of that theater so fast you wouldn’t believe it. He about lost his job when Woody found out.”

A passage from the book War as They Knew It

Mind you, this is 1969. The country was involved in an unpopular war in Vietnam, and protests were gripping campuses nationwide. Woody, very much a pro-Vietnam War guy in that day, had no time for hippies or what they stood for. You can only imagine how livid he was when he found out about the team’s choice of movie ahead of that Minnesota game.

And that’s the story of how Earle Bruce’s career as the movie coach at Ohio State came to a screeching halt.



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Maxwell Moldovan highlights field for 2024 Ohio Open Golf Championship at Westfield

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Maxwell Moldovan highlights field for 2024 Ohio Open Golf Championship at Westfield


WESTFIELD CENTER — Newly turned professional Maxwell Moldovan and 11 returning champions highlight the 288-golfer field for the 103rd Ohio Open, which begins Monday at Westfield Country Club’s North and South courses. 

The 54-hole, stroke-play event, conducted by the Northern Ohio PGA, runs through Wednesday. A cut of the top 60 and ties will occur after the second round.

The 22-year-old Moldovan recently ended an outstanding four-year career at Ohio State, helping the Buckeyes to a tie for third place in the NCAA championships. A four-time All-Big Ten selection and two-time All-American, Moldovan owns the lowest career scoring average (71.25) in Ohio State history. 

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The Green High School product has played two events on the PGA Americas Tour so far, missing the cut in both. He played in his third straight U.S. Open when he competed at Pinehurst No. 2 two weeks ago. 

Among the 11 returning Ohio Open champions are reigning champ Michael Balcar and Lake High School alum Jake McBride. 

Balcar, a Toledo native and Cleveland State graduate, shot a 14-under 196 last year to set a scoring record for Ohio Opens at Westfield. He was one stroke better than Cade Breitenstine, a Green High School and Kent State graduate. 

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McBride, who played collegiately at North Carolina State, won the 2021 Ohio Open by beating Northwest High School and Malone University product Justin Lower on the first playoff hole. Lower, a two-time Ohio Open winner (2012, 2015), now is in his third season playing on the PGA Tour. 

Other notables in the field this year are reigning Ohio Amateur champion Andrew Bailey; three-time Ohio Open champ and five-time Ohio Senior Open winner Bob Sowards; three-time Ohio Open champ Rob Moss; and the most recent back-to-back winner, Stephen Gangluff (2018-19). 

Three women also will tee it up in the event. They are Tannenhauf Golf Club head professional Mary Suitca, Northern Kentucky head coach Melissa Yeazell and 2023 OHSAA Division I state runner-up Isabella Goyette from Highland. 



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