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Thad Matta saved Ohio State star’s career after a DUI arrest

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Thad Matta saved Ohio State star’s career after a DUI arrest


Former Ohio State men’s basketball player J.J. Sullinger paid tribute to former Buckeyes coach Thad Matta’s retirement by revealing that Matta once saved his career.

On March 16, Sullinger took to social media and said that former Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger wanted him removed from the team before the 2004-05 season.

“When Coach [Thad] Matta was hired … Andy Geiger told him to get rid of me if he ever wanted to be successful… (Said I was a cancer),” Sullinger wrote in an X post.

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Sullinger wrote that on Sept. 4, 2004, he was pulled over for suspected driving under the influence. According to Sullinger, he was brought to jail and called Matta around 2:30 a.m. to let him know about the situation. It was the same day that Matta was to be introduced as the new Ohio State coach during the home-opening football game.

“I just knew my career at OSU was over. … We set a meeting for early that next week, Sullinger wrote on the X thread.

Sullinger said he learned about Geiger’s comments “and a bunch of other things” at the meeting with Matta. Instead of removing Sullinger from the team, Matta had three requirements for Sullinger: complete a drug/alcohol abuse program regardless of how he felt; write a handwritten apology to everyone affiliated with the program (including former players); and run five miles a day, five days a week without missing other workouts.

“Needless to say, I completed all 3 things. … Wrote over 350 hand-written apologies, and was in the best shape of my life for my Junior Season,” Sullinger wrote. “Coach [Matta] could have easily gave up on me, but he didn’t and is a big reason I’m where I’m at today!!”

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“This and this alone is why I’ll always ride for him. He took a chance on me when literally everyone else was telling him not to … Lol!! I’ll say it worked out well for the both of us!!”” Sullinger continued.”

Sullinger ended up playing his junior and senior years with the Buckeyes under Matta. He averaged 10.1 points and seven rebounds per game in the 2005-06 season, when Matta led Ohio State to a Big Ten regular-season title and the program’s first March Madness bid in four years. The Buckeyes earned a No. 2 seed and made it to the second round before losing to No. 7 Georgetown.

“Proud of my guy and I really hope he enjoys retirement!!” Sullinger wrote in the thread.” He earned that [expletive]!!! I love you, Coach!! “Never get tired of preparing to win!!!”

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Matta coached the Buckeyes for 13 seasons and is the winningest coach in program history. Despite retiring from coaching as Butler’s coach, he will remain with the school as special assistant to the president and athletic director.



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Cincinnati Children’s opened 6 locations in 2025. Here’s why

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Cincinnati Children’s opened 6 locations in 2025. Here’s why


Cincinnati Children’s is expanding its access to care across the region, including in Northern Kentucky.

The health system reported in its latest Community Impact Report, released to the public June 9, that six new locations opened in 2025, including facilities in previously underserved communities such as Clermont and Clinton counties. Rural areas often have limited access to specialized and emergency care, placing residents at a higher risk of health challenges and death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here are the new locations:

  • Brandon and Kelly Janszen Union Building, 2015 Children’s Way, Union, Kentucky.
  • Crestview Hills Urgent Care, 2765 Chapel Place, Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
  • Children’s Eastgate, 4315 Ivy Pointe Blvd., Union Township, Ohio.
  • Loveland Primary Care, 10554 Loveland-Madeira Road, Loveland, Ohio.
  • Wilmington Primary Care, 1150 W. Locust St., Suite 500, Wilmington, Ohio.
  • New Richmond School-Based Health Center, 1135 Bethel-New Richmond Road, New Richmond, Ohio.

Cincinnati Children’s is one of the top-ranked children’s hospitals in the Midwest. The medical professionals at the system’s more than 50 sites provided care in 1.75 million encounters with patients during the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025 fiscal year, spokesman Barrett Brunsman said.

Some locations are first of their kind

In Boone County, the Brandon and Kelly Janszen building opened at the hospital’s Union location in April 2025, becoming the first in Northern Kentucky to offer both primary and specialty care, including offering behavioral health counselors, lab services, X-ray and ultrasound.

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In Kenton County, the hospital opened its first urgent care in Northern Kentucky in July 2025 as part of renovations at the Crestview Hills location, offering residents access to pediatric providers on evenings and weekends.

In Ohio, the Eastgate location opened in October, combining specialty clinics, outpatient surgery and an urgent care center in “the first of its kind on the East Side for Cincinnati Children’s,” where some main campus surgeons and providers now see patients, Brunsman said.

Two primary care centers also opened in 2025: Wilmington, the only primary care in Clinton County dedicated exclusively to children from newborns through teens; and Loveland, which offers closer care to families who once drove farther.

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Cincinnati Children’s also introduced the New Richmond School-Based Health Center in September 2025, after reporting over 7,000 patient encounters in 2023 from the village’s ZIP code, including 2,375 without an identified primary care provider, Brunsman said. The new health center is within walking distance for 1,000 middle and high school students, and is open to their families and other children in the community.

The school-based center was funded by a grant from Ohio’s Appalachian Community Innovation Centers program, obtained by New Richmond Schools. Across the other five new locations, Cincinnati Children’s invested around $141 million in renovations, design and acreage, the hospital noted.



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Woman sentenced for driving Postal Service truck while intoxicated

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Woman sentenced for driving Postal Service truck while intoxicated


NEWTON FALLS, Ohio (WKBN) – A woman accused of driving intoxicated while working for the Postal Service in a mail truck entered a plea Tuesday in her case.

Michele Kellar, 47, of Warren, pleaded guilty to OVI, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to court records.

Court records state that she was sentenced to 12 months of probation and her license was suspended for a year, with limited driving privileges. She can also serve three days in a driver’s intervention program.

Trumbull County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kellar in March after those living on Anderson Anthony Road NW in Braceville reported seeing the driver of a mail truck at the end of their driveway had passed out. They reported that they were able to wake the driver up, but said she drove off.

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Deputies found the mail truck down the road, where she had driven off into a yard. According to the police report, the woman appeared very intoxicated with glassy eyes and slurred speech.

At the time of her arrest, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service confirmed that Kellar was an employee but declined to comment further. WKBN reached out Thursday for more information on Kellar’s current employment status, but a spokesperson said the Postal Service does not disclose internal administrative actions.



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Storms bring down trees and knocks out power to thousands in Northeast Ohio

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Storms bring down trees and knocks out power to thousands in Northeast Ohio


CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Severe thunderstorms rolled through Northeast Ohio on Wednesday night, bringing down trees and knocking out power to thousands.

The heaviest damage seemed to be in Lorain County in the city of Lorain and Amherst. The Amherst Fire Department said there are large trees down on Jackson Street and Cleveland Avenue.

Check FirstEnergy’s, AEP’s, and Cleveland Public Power’s websites for the latest outage numbers.

More storms will work through the area overnight, as another disturbance reaches the area after midnight.

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These storms will be ordinary in nature, though they could contain heavy downpours.

Lorain storm damage(WOIO)

These storms should last through the middle of the day tomorrow, before clearing later in the day.

Lightning strike in Brunswick.

Brunswick lightning
Brunswick lightning(Mike Slavin)

West Park neighborhood lightning show in Cleveland.

Submit any photos and videos from storm below.

Check back with the 19 News First Alert Weather team for the latest weather forecast.

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