• A Coshocton court reporter has accepted a new position with the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington D.C.
• Lynn Els will transcribe proceedings on the House floor for the official Congressional Record.

COSHOCTON − Court reporter Lynn Els has always wanted to see the cherry blossoms in bloom in Washington, D.C., and she’ll get that chance this spring thanks to a new job.

Starting Jan. 12, Els will work as a court reporter for the U.S. House of Representatives on the floor in the Capital building in Washington D.C. She’ll write for 10 to 15 minutes before a new reporter comes on.

The 62-year-old will then go to the downstairs office and enter what she wrote into the official Congressional record before going back to the floor, or what they call the well. One might be able to spot Els during hearings aired on C-SPAN.

“It’s not verbatim like I’m used to taking in the courtroom. Because of parliamentary procedures, things are supposed to be worded a certain way in the Congressional record. So, you have to clean it up or insert special language,” Els said of what she’ll be doing. “Now I always have transcripts hanging over my head. I won’t have that backlog of transcripts, because you’re continuing throughout the day building the Congressional Record.”

Distinguished duties

Els has been a court reporter since 1984 and and started with Coshocton County Common Pleas Court in 1986. She can type up to 300 words a minute. She was one of the first people in the nation to obtain a Certified Realtime Reporter designation in 1995.

“I’m excited for what’s new, but sad because I’ve done this for so long and it’s comfortable,” Els said of leaving her current court post. “The thing about this job is that I always have work to do.”

Along with serving as a court reporter for Coshocton County, Els has also done closed captioning for a variety of events. Everything from Cincinnati Bengals football games to the funeral services of Billy Graham and Whitney Houston to “Fox and Friends” to the royal weddings of Prince Harry and Prince William; all working remotely.

This has also included congressional hearings and recognition ceremonies at the Capital starting in 2013, which was the connection to Els’ new job. She worked as an independent contractor through Alderson Court Reporting.

Landing the job

With a laugh, she said living in a small, rural community was actually beneficial. Since she worked remotely and transmitted captions via landlines, the older equipment in Washington D.C. could keep up better with Els’ transmission, over digital lines from larger cities.

“They always kind of liked it when it was me. They knew they wouldn’t have any disconnection problems. So, I became their preferred writer,” Els said.

She was encouraged to submit her resume for the new position last summer. Els never dreamed she would get it, she just always wanted to travel to Washington D.C. to see what it looked like on-site.

Els went to D.C. for an interview and sat in on a committee hearing. She took notes and then typed them up back at the office. This was followed by a writing test and current events test. Els said captioning for the morning news program “Fox and Friends” helped her with that part.

“Just being there was exciting. I did it. I survived that day and it wasn’t bad,” Els said.

Els was slated to start in October, but that was pushed out due to the government shutdown. She will be living in a condo owned by a court reporter friend who works for the International Monetary Fund. Els said she’s received a lot of questions on her living situation, but she’ll be back in Coshocton when not working.

She’ll also continue to do some captioning work on weekends and her off hours, such as captioning for screens in the stadium for Bengals’ home games.

“I do want to keep my skills built up. It’s like playing a sport with captioning, because it’s fast,” Els said. “If you don’t do it, you lose that skill.”

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 18 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on X at @llhayhurst.

WASHINGTON (7News) — Compass Coffee, the coffee chain founded in D.C. in the early 2010s, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on Tuesday in hopes of selling parts of the chain as it faces legal challenges from a cofounder, several landlords, and vendors.

The company, which has 166 employees and operates 25 cafes across Northern Virginia, D.C., and southern Maryland, said it plans to operate all stores as normal during the Bankruptcy process.

“Over the last decade, Compass has grown to 25 cafes across the DMV. Our original 7th Street cafe has never closed – not for a single day,” a portion of a statement from co-founder Michael Haft read. “Our spaces have been the setting for first dates that turned into marriages, interviews that led to dream jobs, and everyday moments shared over millions of cups of coffee. We have supported countless community causes, shipped coffee to all 50 states and to troops deployed overseas, and helped thousands of people navigate first jobs, in-between jobs, and next chapters.

The chain founded by Haft and Harrison Suarez said customer numbers have remained low since the COVID pandemic, and struggles remained despite also operating a roastery and distribution business. Documents showed the company began putting itself up for sale in 2021, and that the bankruptcy filing was made after reaching an agreement with a possible company.

Compass leadership has requested to end the leases on several properties, including its former headquarters and roastery on Okie Street, Northeast, which was closed in Dec. 2025. The company has seen previous legal disputes with Ivy City over the roastery location.

Suarez sued Haft and his father in 2025, claiming the pair lied about Suarez having an equal share in the company. Suarez, who met Haft in college and both served as Marines, said he was cut from the company in 2021.

Documents show the company has 100-200 creditors. EagleBank, the Small Business Administration, Square, and inKind have filed statements claiming a total of $1.7 million in liens on Compass Coffee.

Compass also owes roughly $5.2 million to over insider and outside investors on unsecured convertible notes, while about 100 others have claims totaling $4.8 million. Most of the $4.8 million comes from past due rent, unpaid purchase amounts for store acquisitions, and unpaid accounts to suppliers and other vendors, according to a statement filed by Haft.

Filing for Chapter 11 could allow Compass to pay back its lenders, both secured and unsecured, according to Haft in a legal filing.

WASHINGTON – Flu cases are climbing sharply across the D.C. region, with new CDC data showing at least 11 million cases nationwide so far. Health officials say a new variant now accounts for roughly 90% of recent infections.

FOX 5’s Stephanie Ramirez says local health departments are urging residents not to wait if they start feeling sick.

READ MORE: Maryland health officials warn of flu surge as hospitalizations rise statewide

The dominant strain this season is H3N2 subclade K, which has been circulating since September. So far, the flu season has led to an estimated 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, with older adults hit especially hard.

Maryland is currently reporting high flu activity, according to state health department data.

READ MORE: Flu cases surging in northern Virginia, health officials say

In Arlington, emergency department–diagnosed flu visits jumped from 19 on Dec. 6 to 120 on Dec. 27 — an over five times increase, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

Fairfax County, a much larger jurisdiction, saw flu-related ER visits rise from 121 on Dec. 6 to 788 by Dec. 27, an over six-and-a-half-time increase.